sink or swim - r.a.b

𐙚 halloween

You woke up well rested, which came to you as a shock. After not having a decent night of sleep in almost a month, you felt amazing. You woke up around nine. Although it was Friday, you didn't have any classes. Instead people could do whatever. You were very pleased at having a three-day weekend, and not having classes the next day so you could sleep in after the Marauders' party. Meaning that you could stay however long you wanted to, but you knew you'd probably want to leave by eight

You went about your normal morning routine other than the fact you weren't waking up in the middle of the night, so you were faster. You went down to breakfast to only find a few people scattered around. This was only your third time making it to breakfast, and every time, the great hall was practically empty.

Over at the Gryffindor table, James and his friend group was crowded around a piece of paper. There were a few people at the Hufflepuff table. You recognized one girl, her name was Alice, and she was in James' year. At your table, there was only you -- you were quite shocked at that. At the Slytherin table, there was Regulus and his little trio.

You weren't mad at the obsidian-haired boy today. He hadn't caused you a restless night, and you wondered if that was the reason you'd get so mad at him for no reason. You still were a smidge irritated at him, but it was okay. As long as he wasn't going to throw you any glares, you were sure you could be civil with him today.

A few minutes passed, and neither of the girls showed, so you walked over to the Gryffindor table. You wanted to see what the boys were fussing about over that paper, so you walked over there, and sat yourself down beside Sirius and Remus. James and Sirius were fighting over the piece of parchment, and Peter was very interested in his scrambled eggs.

"So what's the fuss over the parchment?" You interrupted their antics.
"It's mine, these two idiots are simply fighting over it." Remus cut in. You peered at the paper that the boys had stopped fighting over, and froze whilst the paper was in-between them on the table. It was folded like one of the Hogwarts maps you received in first year, but it was blank.
"Is it a map or something?" You pondered aloud. The group of boys exchanged glances.
"I think we should let her know, she's my sister, what's the worst that could happen?" James asked. Everyone kind of nodded. "Okay, with that settled." -- He pointed his wand at the parchment. -- "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." He muttered.

The map did some kind of credits thing, and it said it was the 'Marauder's Map'. They unfolded it, and you could see the whole castle, along with a bunch of footsteps and names. In the center of the map was the great hall. You could see yourself, along with the quartet of boys at the table titled 'Gryffindor'. You could also see everyone in the great hall in their respective places. You looked at the map with awe, sure you were a witch, but that was the most magical thing you'd ever seen.

"When did you guys conjure this up?" You asked.
"It was mostly Moony." Sirius replied.
"Wow," You responded "Remus this is awesome."
"It wasn't even really just me, all of us put effort in." He responded, flushed.
"He's just being modest." James resolved. "He was the one that still had his map and was making little notes like annotations."

You looked down at the map again and saw that Emi and Pandora were coming in, so you dismissed yourself, but not without James making you pinky-promise him you wouldn't tell anyone You rolled your eyes, but complied anyways because you knew this was their secret. You arrived at the Ravenclaw table, and sat in your previous spot as the girls walked in groggily. Emi was still in her pajamas, and you silently laughed to yourself about it.

Pandora went to go say good morning to her brother, and Emi walked over to sit beside you. She looked exhausted. You poured her a cup of coffee, and added a sickeningly sweet amount of creamer, just how she liked it. She thanked you, and chugged it, not before stealing your last bite of Moony toast. You didn't mind, because you weren't going to eat the remaining bite anyway.

You were attempting to keep Emi awake when Pandora returned. "Did she get any sleep last night?" You asked Pandora. She just shrugged in response. Eventually, you just gave up, and let Emi fall asleep, resting her head on your lap. She was snoring before you knew it. You looked up at the main clock to see that it was eight-thirty. Usually, Emi was up and running by now.

You shrugged it off, and waited for Pandora to eat her food before the pair of you woke Emi up, and half- led, half-dragged her up the many flights of stairs to the Ravenclaw tower. When you arrived she mumbled something about 'not being able to go on', before falling back onto a blue sofa, and succumbing to her slumber.

You shrugged at Pandora, and the two of you made your way up to the dorm, and grabbed a blanket along with some assignments you still needed to work on. You still needed to finish your star-chart for astronomy. Pandora pointed out both the Regulus star, and the Arcturus star to you. The only stars that were charted on there originally were Sirius, and Orion. You thought it was interesting how you were both close with the Black brothers, but knew the other in different ways. You shrugged that thought off, and continued looking in your textbook to finish.

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After about two hours, you were bored out of your mind, and Emi had woken up for real this time. She wouldn't give you your 'boo baskets' yet, though. She insisted you wait until tonight, and you shrugged. By the time you allowed yourself to stop doing your school work, it was eleven. You decided to go check up on how the boys were doing with setting up for the party, promising the girls you'd catch up with them at lunch.

When you made it to the Gryffindor common room, Remus was struggling to work Sirius' record player, and failing miserably. How was it that the one Marauder that was raised around muggles, was having the hardest time trying to work something muggles used in their everyday lives? You walked over to help him, and he jumped when you accidentally snuck up on him. You laughed in good fun, and started to explain how to work it.

After that was done and over with, you turned to the staircase, and the other the boys were coming down the stairs from the boys dorms. You exchanged greetings with them, and helped them set up decorations.

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By the time you were done, it was lunch time. You walked to the great hall with the Marauders, and said goodbye to them when you departed to the Ravenclaw table. Pandora and Emi were saving you a spot when you got there. You ate your lunch without another word, and by the time the three of you were done gorging on your lunch, it was around one.

As the three of you made your way back up to the common room, Pandora pointed out the fact that it was technically night, and you agreed, wanting to give your friends their gifts. Emi reluctantly allowed it to happen, and the three of you went up to your dorm, and grabbed the gifts you bought for one another. You grabbed the plush blanket you got for Emi, and the book you got for Pandora. Emi got two cute baskets filled with little goodies out, and Pandora got out three little boxes that jewelry came in.

You passed the girls their gifts, apologizing that it wasn't much. They both claimed they loved them. Pandora was next, she passed you both a box. When you opened it up, there was a sapphire jewel in the center of a silver-chained bracelet. You looked at Pandora wide-eyed. You were ready to start refusing the gift because of how expensive it looked, but she talked first.
"I know what you're going to say. That it's too expensive, but I had extra money packed in my trunk, so please accept them."

You didn't know what to say, and it seemed that Emi didn't either. So you just nodded at Pandora, and clipped it onto your wrist. Emi was last to give you two your gifts. They were cute crochet baskets, that you learned she made herself, and inside there was a blanket along with a plain [y/f/c] hoodie. She also threw in Chocolate Frogs, and Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. All of you thanked each other, and made your way back to the common room to finish the work you'd abandoned earlier.

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You'd worked yourself till dinner, and finally finished your seemingly never-ending pile of school work. When you did make it down to dinner, however, you ate until you thought you were going to explode, because when you went to the party afterwards, there was sure to be alcohol. This little development started last year at their second Marauders Halloween party. You hadn't drank last year -- curtesy of James -- but this year, he reluctantly said yes when you had asked over the summer.

When you and the girls finished your meals, the three of you made your way up to your dorm to get ready. You put on a simple black dress, and curled your hair. you touched up your makeup, and put on a pair of heels Emi let you use for tonight. They were black like your dress. Since this wasn't a costume party, you clasped on your new bracelet from Pandora, and called it good enough.

You waited for the other two to get ready, and they didn't disappoint. Emi was wearing a white dress, and a pair of sneakers whilst Pandora was in a midnight blue dress, and white flats. You all had your bracelets on, and were all dressed to kill.

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After finally arriving to the Gryffindor common room, your feet were already killing you. You beelined for James, loosing the girls of the way. "Oh, hey [n/n]. You look very grown up tonight." He raised his eyebrows sarcastically at you.
"Whatever you say, James." You retorted.
"No, I'm being serious, my baby sister looks so old." He pretended to tear up. Sirius walked over, thinking James said his name.
"What's up, Prongs?" He pondered, his hand already around some random girls waist.
"Oh, nothing mate, just telling our baby sister how old she looks. She'll need a cane soon." Sirius snickered at that. You rolled your eyes.
"You're right, Prongs." He pretended to look at you thoughtfully. "What should the memorial say?" James pretended to think for a moment.
"How about.. fastest aging person discovered? Then we list off family names." He nodded to himself, and grinned at you. We're kidding [n/n], you look nice tonight." James wrapped you in a bone-crushing hug, and Sirius patted your back.
"Well, I'm off." And he disappeared.

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The party passed in a blur, the alcohol you drank made your head feel fuzzy, and you stomach ache. You swore to yourself you wouldn't be drinking again any time soon. You stumbled back to your dorm. Almost getting caught at least five times. You took off your tormentious heels very ungracefully, before falling into your bed, and passing out. The dreams of Regulus didn't resurface that night.

𐙚 A/N
this is 2000 words on the dot what.. (not including a/n)