"Ready for another dull, boring year at Hogwarts?" Mira Black said, slipping into a compartment with Lily Evans, and Marlene McKinnon. Marlene snorted, rolling her eyes at Mira. "Honestly, Mira, you're as bad as your brother sometimes; school isn't that much of a painful experience, surely?"

"Believe me, I am /nothing/ like my brother." She muttered, pushing her trunk onto the shelf above their seats. Mira was one year younger than her brother, Sirius Black, and happened to be Regulus' twin- although, when they were in school, her and Sirius had nothing to do with Regulus. In fact, he may as well be a stranger. She pushed her long, black hair impatiently out of her face, sitting own opposite the pair. She smiled at them both, her light blue/grey eyes sparkling. "So, who's going first?"

"I'll go." Lily sighed, not looking her usual, chirpy self. "Petunia got engaged this summer, to that awful man… she's the definition of bridezilla."

Mira pulled a face of sympathy, and Marlene sighed. "You knew it was going to happen, Lily… has she really been that bad?"

Lily shook her head "Worse. She keeps making me feel so… inadequate. Saying I'll never amount to anything, or get married or-"

They were interrupted by the compartment door slamming open, and a loud, familiar arrogant voice. "I'll happily do the honours, Evans-"

Mira exchanged an amused glance with Marlene, watching the pair begin their first argument of the year; already.

"Get out Potter." Lily snapped, standing up. James merely laughed at her, sitting down beside Mira. "Alright, mini Sirius?"

Mira's look of amusement turned to ice, glaring at James. "I wish you wouldn't call me that; I'm nothing like him, the only thing we happen to have in common is blood."

"She's right… I don't think Sirius quite has the sense or the wisdom Mira does." Remus Lupin chuckled, joining the group. Mira let her eyes flicker to him for a moment, flashing a quick grateful smile.

Remus was the only sensible Marauder; it was a known fact, and it remained a mystery why he hung around with James, Sirius and Peter. James and Sirius were the obvious leaders, the troublemakers, the show offs. Peter was their loyal follower, who's job was to worship the ground they walked on. But Remus? Mira only assumed that he was the brains of the group, helping out here and there with pranks, to make them successful.

He smiled back at her, before smiling at the rest of the group. "Good summers?"

"The best." Marlene grinned happily "though, not all of us had a particularly good time…" She glanced at Lily sympathetically, which did not go missed by James.

"Everything alright?" He asked her, his brow creasing in concern. Lily shrugged "It's fine, really. I'm just glad to be back at school."

Everybody else murmured in agreement, and everybody started chattering. Remus and James got onto a topic of something, and Lily, Mira and Marlene did too. Marlene leant in, whispering to Mira. "Don't think we didn't see that."

Mira raised an eyebrow, confused. "Huh?"

Lily giggled, glancing over to Remus. "I think you /know/ what we're talking about."

She followed Lily's gaze, catching on. "Oh please. He's one of my brothers best friends!"

"But you fancy him."

"No."

"Yes, you do."

"I do /not/ fancy him!"

"What's this?" A loud voice interrupted, that belonged to Sirius Black. He waltzed in, fashionably late, sitting down beside James. "You better not be fancying anyone-"

"I'm allowed boyfriends, Sirius." Mira groaned; her brother had the tendency to be over protective. Lets just say that her last boyfriend didn't come out of their relationship in such a healthy condition.

"Not ones that are going to treat you like rubbish, Mira!" He protested, earning a slap on the arm by Marlene. "Leave her be! So what if she fancies someone?"

"Which I don't." Mira interjected, glaring at Marlene and Lily. They both laughed, ignoring Sirius' whines as he rubbed his left arm.

"So, looking forward to 6th year, Mira? Still can't believe that someone related to Sirius was made prefect." James grinned. Mira chuckled "I'm really looking forward to it."

"Like I'd want to be a /prefect/, having to do patrols and being responsible…" Sirius rolled his eyes, making Remus laugh. "Ignore them Mira, being a prefect is a wonderful opportunity, and an honour."

"Maybe you two could do patrols together. I'm sure Lily could arrange that, being head girl." Marlene smirked, earning a warning glare from Mira. Remus, seeming oblivious to this, nodded. "Yeah, that'd be great!"

Sirius nodded in agreement too. "Good. I don't want her having patrols with some git who'd hit on her-"

"Oh please." Mira snapped, folding her arms. The boys laughed, and the girls just rolled their eyes. The rest of the journey ran fairly smoothly, everyone caught up, had a laugh and a joke, until they finally arrived at Hogwarts. They all walked into the Great Hall together, sitting down at the Gryffindor table, watching the sorting. Mira found her eyes straying over all of her friends, smiling fondly at them. Remus looked her way just as she looked his, catching his eye; her heart skipped a beat, and she quickly looked away. Now, what was all that about?