Sugar & Spice

The second I started up the stairs I realised I didn't have a clue where I'd be sleeping. I shrugged it off though; I was sure it wouldn't be too hard to find.

I made my way up the stairs, struggling with my trunk and trying not to let it clunk on the steps as I did so. I may as well not have bothered - I think I'd woken up half of Hogwarts by the time I finally reached the third floor and found my dorm.

I studied the brass sign that had been nailed neatly to the door. It had been engraved with the names of the girls that lived there;

Sandra Flemming
Lily Evans
Georgia Roberts
Nadia Brown
Rosie Tamsworth

Taking a deep breath to steel myself, I pushed open the door.

Four girls who had presumably been sitting on their beds talking stared up at me with wide eyes. They looked as though they'd just seen a ghost.

I suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable all over again.

"Hi, um, I'm Rosie. I'm supposed to be in this dorm." I said, forcing myself to speak loudly, like my stomach wasn't all knotted up with tension.

This wasn't something I was used to; having friends, meeting people my own age - living with people my own age... it was something that other people did. I just wasn't used to it.

What if they think I'm weird? I thought suddenly, and then kicked the thought right out of my head. I sighed quietly to myself, feeling a bit like I'd been dropped in the deep end.

The red-headed girl who was sitting in the bed opposite the room from me spoke up.

"You can't be." I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms, dropping my suitcase to the floor with a muffled thunk. This wasn't the time to be inhibited, I could tell.

"I can assure you Red, I am. My name's on the door. Look." I retorted, pointing to the plaque. The girl stood up to have a look and when she was satisfied she turned back to me.

"Huh. What do you know? Dumbledore sent us a transfer student." I smiled tightly at that. I had a feeling I wasn't going to like this girl.

"Which bed is mine?" I addressed the rest of the room, wanting nothing more than to unpack and then go to sleep. I'd had a long day, to put it lightly. One of the brunette girls slid off the freshly-made bed beside the one Red had been sitting on.

"This one," She said, moving to sit on Red's other side. They all stared at me as I picked up my trunk's handle again and dragged it to the foot of my bed.

I completely ignored them as I opened up my trunk and extracted my clothes, hanging them up in the empty wardrobe beside my four-poster. A minute or so into this the girls turned back to their conversations, but I could feel their gazes flicking to me every so often.

I nipped into the loo through the other door in the room, noticing how nice it was. If it were daytime I would be able to look out over the grounds and light would be pouring in through the large leaded windows.

I had a quick shower, brushed my teeth and changed into my warmest, most comfortable red flannel pyjamas. When I came back into the dorm I crawled straight under the covers and drew the curtains around my bed mostly closed. It was wonderfully warm already (either by magic or more likely, house elves) and I felt my eyes begin to close of their own accord. I tentatively called over my shoulder, "Goodnight!"

A couple of girls mumbled lowly in response and to my surprise I grinned before shutting my eyes and falling into a dreamless sleep.

Well it was a start, anyways.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning I woke up as the last couple of girls left the dorm. This fact didn't quite register and I rolled over onto my front, prepared to sleep for a few more hours.

Then my forehead creased and I opened my eyes, staring around the room. A huge grin spread across my face. I flopped back on my pillows and planned out my day in my head, still grinning madly.

It was now - I looked at the alarm-clock on Red's bedside table - 8:13 on a Tuesday morning, so presumably I'd go to Diagon Alley with Hagrid, buy my required school-things and then come back and... mingle.

I felt a little spasm of panic at the very thought of socializing.

It was pathetic and I knew it, but truth be told I'd never actually had friends before, unless you counted my brother (which I didn't, although he was my best friend in all senses of the word). I hadn't really ever even talked to boys before. My father had never been quick to introduce me to anybody because he'd thought I was a squib and I'd never been to Muggle school.

I wasn't stupid, though. I'd read most of the books in our substantial library, plus all Tom's old school books, so I knew quite a few things; I just lacked the practice.

I lay in bed for maybe ten more minutes before I decided it was time to get up. I stood and stretched deeply, even my toes and fingers, and stumbled into the bathroom with my eyes barely open yet.

I had a very nice range of beauty products, thanks to my brother. Father had never given me so much as a penny, but he practically threw money at Tom. Though I'd protested at first, he had insisted that he didn't even use half of it, and so took it upon himself to give me a weekly allowance, a fact I was extremely grateful for.

I quickly washed my hair with my almond shampoo and conditioner, then my body with my honey shower scrub. Finally, I stepped out of the shower feeling deliciously clean and warm, and towel-dried my hair in front of the mirror as my toes curled against the cold tile.

I never bothered with hair dryers or anything. I read magazines - I saw how so many girls went to ridiculous lengths to look pretty in the morning, with the whole mousse-blow-dry-spray-straighten-hairspray-makeup routine. I just parted my hair on the side, fluffed it up and let it fall wherever it wanted, allowing my fringe to fall just above my eyes. I put a tiny, almost unnoticeable amount of eyeliner around the outside of my eyelashes, and a bit of rouge on my cheeks.

I breezed back into the dorm, only wearing my towel, and began to get dressed. I threw my black straight-leg jeans on which were artfully ripped (I hoped; I'd done the job myself in my more rebellious phase a while ago) and had zippers on the pockets. Hardly glancing at what my fingers touched next, I pulled a plain, tight white t-shirt over my head. I zipped up my favourite black bolero hoodie and grabbed my scuffed red converse.

Glancing back to see if I'd left anything I might need, I turned and trotted down the winding staircase into the common room; there I selected a random armchair and sat down so I could slip my shoes on more easily.

*Sirius's Point of View

I was lazing around on a large, comfortable couch, waiting for Prongs, Moony and Wormtail to come down so we could go down to breakfast.

I felt completely exhausted and battered, as it had been full moon the night previously. Moony's werewolf hadn't wanted to play so much as fight last night and Prongs and I had quite a few injuries. I didn't know about James, but I had a shallow gash on my leg, a strained ankle, and I was nursing a long, deep scratch across my chest.

It was painful, but I already had many more scars than those would form, and it wasn't the worst I'd received, so I sucked it up and endured it in silence. We'd all long since made a pact never to let Remus know of the trouble we went to for him - he deserved it one hundred percent and more, and it would only serve to make him feel guilty.

Running footsteps from the girl's staircase pulled me from my thoughts and I looked up.

It was the girl, Rosie.

I watched as she sat down on one of the armchairs nearby and started putting her shoes on, her short hair falling in her eyes as she struggled with the laces. As I watched her I realised there was something about her that was just so feminine and... sexy. I tried to swallow but my throat was suddenly drier than carpet and I nearly choked.

She looked almost rocker, but not in the stereotypical way. More like a rebel with her own easy, unique sense of style.

Suddenly she looked up at me and smiled. I felt my cheeks get really hot and thanked God that I'd never been one to blush. I cleared my throat.

"H... hi," I greeted lamely, not quite meeting her eyes. Jesus, what was wrong with me? I, Sirius Black, who has had loads of women, do not blush and stutter like an imbecile. Ever.

"Morning," She replied cheerfully, turning back to her shoes. "Scared me there. Black, isn't it?"

I nodded, not trusting my voice. She finished then, and stood up, still smiling.

"I suppose I'll be seeing you around."

"Yeah," I said softly, watching as she turned and strode to the portrait hole before hopping out and disappearing from my sight. I found myself rubber-necking, trying to keep watching her as she rounded the corner.

I sighed, and turned back to watching the bottom of the boys' stairs, waiting for the rest of the Marauders.

*Rosie's Point of View

I left the common room and found I didn't have any clue where I was going.

I huffed at my idiocy - I should've asked Black before I left - but decided it didn't matter. I strolled down the corridor, and noticed how many people stared at me as I passed. After about the tenth stare I realised it was because I was dressed like a muggle.

I found I didn't actually care. I was pureblood as far back as the beginning so people could stare all they liked as far as I was concerned.

Eventually, I came across a smallish-looking boy who looked friendly.

"Excuse me?" I asked, ducking so that I could see his face. He blushed and looked up. "Do you think you could tell me where the Great Hall is?" I remembered that this was where people ate as it was one of the many things Tom had told me.

"I'll show you if you like," He offered shyly and I smiled.

"Please."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I took a seat at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, amazed by all the choices of food that were arranged before me.

There was porridge, pancakes, fruit salad, toast, eggs cooked in all sorts of different ways, cereal, bacon, waffles... Even the most picky eater could find something tasty here.

I decided I'd go healthy (sort of) and have a cup of very creamy coffee and scrambled eggs with toast and bacon. I had a feeling I had a long day of shopping ahead of me.

I wolfed it down and then looked at my watch, surprised that it was 09:30 already. I stood up and downed the dregs of my coffee before heading out of the Great Hall.

I was looking down at the shoe laces of my converse, trying to decide if I should get different coloured laces when I literally bumped into somebody, rebounding with so much force that I lost my balance.

A tall, hardbodied somebody whose sculpted pecs I didn't mean to feel when I brought my hands up to shield my face. Before I could feel the hard shock of the stone floor, the person swooped down and deftly caught me.

I looked up to see it was that boy, Black. For some unfathomable reason, I blushed.

"Oh hi, Black. Sorry about that, I was in my own little world there." He was biting the inside of his cheek so that only one side of his face was turned up in a crooked grin. My face got a little hotter.

"Hmm? Oh right, yeah... don't mention it," He murmured distractedly. He still hadn't returned me to a standing position.

"You can put me down now," I said pointedly, frowning a bit.

"Oh! Sorry," He said quickly as he set me upright again. My frown morphed into a wide smile.

"Well I have to go now. Try not to knock any other unsuspecting girls over." He flashed me a quick smile, avoiding eye contact, and hurried into the Great Hall, hands shoved deep in his pockets.

As I walked back up the stairs leading to the first floor I pondered his strange behaviour, but pushed it from my mind as I tried to concentrate on finding my way to the common room.

In the end I had to resort to asking somebody for directions again.

When I finally found the right corridor it was to see a huge man wearing a large, black, fur-trim coat standing near the portrait hole. Somehow I got the idea that fur-trim was for practicality more than a fashion statement. I felt a bit intimidated by how large he looked, but continued to walk towards him nonetheless.

"Hello?" I asked tentatively, looking up into his face. His hair was a bit on the long side and very curly and he had a few days worth of stubble, but he looked very warm and friendly. "Are you waiting for someone?" He nodded.

"Don' know the password, though," He said chuckling. He suddenly looked at me more closely. "Hey, maybe yeh can help me! There's a new girl - name's Rosie - an' she's meanta be meetin' me here 'bout now. She's in dorm 9. Reckon you can find 'er fer me?" He asked hopefully.

"So you're Hagrid?" I asked, realising suddenly and beaming. I stuck out my hand.

"You Rosie, then?" He asked, grinning widely and taking my hand. His palms were the size of dinner plates, but his grip was surprisingly gentle. I nodded. "Welcome ter Hogwarts! Dumbledore's tol' me a bit 'bout yer... situation," He whispered the last part. "Bu' I know yeh'll do jus' fine. Now." He clapped his hands together. "All ready ter go shoppin'?" He asked enthusiastically.

"Oh, yes! But, um... you couldn't just give me a moment, could you?" I said, and then ran up to my dorm to grab my emerald scarf, hat and gloves before sprinting back out of the common room.

Hagrid explained that we'd be going via apparition, as he couldn't fit into fireplaces for floo travel.

We walked down the carriage-way, presumably heading towards the tall iron gates I could see at the end. As we walked I looked around, trying to remember where everything was. It really was a beautiful day. Crisp, cold, clear and bright, but with an opaque white sky. A light breeze ruffled the leaves of the trees in the nearby forest. I couldn't quite pinpoint why I was wary of it, but it was dark and didn't look like a place I would voluntarily wander into anytime soon.

In next to no time at all we arrived at the gates, which were topped by winged boars. Hagrid turned to face me.

"Righ'. What yeh gotta do is hold real tigh' ter me arm. An' no ma'er wha' happens, do not let go of me arm." He said seriously and I nodded, a bit nervous. He made it sound quite dangerous. Of course Father and Tom constantly apparated everywhere, but I never knew it was so important to hold on tight with side-along-apparition. I wondered what would happen if I let go, and then cringed at the thought.

I held onto his arm for dear life as he turned on the spot. I suddenly felt like I was being compressed through a very tight tube, and I was sure I could feel my eyeballs press deeper into my head.

As soon as the thought popped into my head that something had gone wrong and that I might actually suffocate, the feeling disappeared and we appeared in a certain busy cobbled street. I felt my chest, searching for the feeling of suffocation, but it had disappeared as quickly as it had come.

I looked around me for the first time and grinned broadly when I realised where we were standing. I'd always loved Diagon Alley.