Standing up, the four Marauders gestured to Ginny, Hermione, and Draco to follow them. Without hesitating, the three of them did so, trailing the older students out of the Great Hall.
"So what year are you guys in?" Sirius asked, turning around and giving Hermione a quizzical look.
She blinked, surprised that he had asked her a question. "Oh...erm...me and Draco are in 7th, and Ginny is in 6th."
Ginny nodded, as if to verify Hermione's response, and shot a glance at James. He was gazing at her with a look she could not place, but it made chills run down her spine - in a good way. Trying to shake this feeling off, she smiled at him, then turned to Lupin, who was talking to Peter.
Just then, a female voice called out, "Hey you four, what have you been up to lately?"
A pretty, petite girl with short, auburn hair and large, green eyes was approaching the group, smiling at them. She wore robes with a badge that read "Head Girl" pinned on her chest, and carried her schoolbooks in a black bag slung casually over one shoulder.
"I see you've found some new victims to pick on," she said, smirking and tilting her head over at Ginny, Draco, and Hermione. "I'm Lily," she added, reaching out a hand to the trio.
Oh so this is the famous Lily Evans, Ginny thought as she shook Lily's hand and introduced herself. I can see why James was so taken with her...she's gorgeous. As she looked over at her friends, she could tell James wasn't the only one. Draco, who had not said anything for a while, was gaping at Lily with a look that read "You're hot, please sleep with me" written all over his handsome features.
"H-h-hi," he stuttered, gulping and attempting to smile at Lily. Instead, his face twisted into something of a cross between a grimace and a sneer. It was not pleasant, and Ginny felt so bad for him that she decided to intervene.
"This is Draco Malfoy," she said quickly, patting Draco awkwardly on the shoulder.
Lily nodded and gave Draco a look of confusion, then turned back to Sirius, who was still talking heatedly with Hermione. "Hey, Black, look over here and introduce your pretty friend."
Sirius' head whipped around, and the expression on his face was quite like a deer caught in the headlights. He quickly recovered though, and introduced Hermione to Lily.
The entire time, James had remained quiet. Now that the flurry of introductions was over, the attention turned to him.
"You're awfully quiet there, Potter. Got anything on your mind?" Lily inquired, playfully poking him on the chest with her wand. "He's usually really loud and obnoxious," she added jokingly. "Dunno what's wrong with him...maybe he ate too much at lunch?"
James flushed bright red, and muttered something under his breath.
"Come again?" Sirius asked loudly.
"Nothing, lets just get up to the common room. I have homework to do," was the somewhat flustered reply.
Ginny raised an eyebrow and glanced over at Lily. The head girl shrugged her shoulders, signaling that she had no idea what was up. Meanwhile, the rest of the group was heading down the hallway again, so the two girls followed them, chatting about school and boys.
Upon reaching a portrait of an old man with a long beard, Remus murmured the password (which was "wingardium leviosa") and it swung open to reveal a very comfortable looking Gryffindor common room.
Unlike the one in the future, this common room had a worn down wooden floor. Scarlet and gold couches and chairs, which were faded after years of use, lay scattered in random areas, and a fire crackled merrily near the far wall. Students lounged casually here and there, playing games of wizard chess or excitedly discussing the last quidditch match. No one paid attention to the large group of students who had walked in.
"This is our common room," Sirius half-yelled over the chatter. "It's er...not usually this loud. Or busy," he added, giving Hermione a sheepish grin.
They headed up the stairs and into the 7th year boys dormitory. Nothing had changed in the arrangement of the beds; each bunk bed lay in the same spot as it did 27 years into the future. The four Marauders each collapsed onto a bed, and Lily perched on top of a desk that lay in the far corner of the room. Sirius gave a lazy shake of his head to let the three younger students know they could make themselves comfortable.
Once everyone was settled down, they began discussing plans for the night.
"We were going to go up to the astronomy tower and look at the stars," Remus said. "You three can come if you want. It's gonna be cold though, so bring your cloaks and blankets."
"The famous astronomy tower, eh," Hermione said, grinning.
"You've heard of the astronomy tower? Where from?" Peter asked, sitting up and giving Hermione a curious look.
She blushed. "I uh...well I mean, I've just heard passers by talk about it in the hallways," she stuttered, struggling to save herself.
"Oh...okay," Peter said, shrugging and lying back down.
"Anyway," Sirius said, giving Peter a glare, "as Moony was saying, we're going around midnight. Meet us in the common room about half an hour beforehand. Dumbledore knows you three are staying, right?"
"Er..." Ginny said, not sure of how to answer.
"Of course he does," Remus put in. "That man knows everything that goes on around here."
"Okay then. Draco, you can stay with the girls or you can stay with us...either way is fine."
Draco, who was still staring at Lily with a hungry look on his face, gave Sirius a look of surprise. "Huh? Stay with who?" he asked cluelessly.
"Nah he'll stay with us," Ginny said pointedly.
Draco blinked and nodded slowly, obviously deciding that he'd rather stare at Lily than waste time arguing with Ginny about something he had no idea about.
"It's settled then," Lily piped cheerfully. "We'll see you three later tonight."
Standing up, Ginny nodded. "C'mon you guys," she said, tugging at Hermione and Draco's sleeves. "We have a lot of...stuff to discuss."
Draco and Hermione stood up and followed Ginny out the door, leaving the five others to plan for what would turn out to be one of the biggest nights of their lives...