To my great surprise, Sirius sat down next to me in Arithmancy.

I usually sat alone because Aleya and Lina were sitting next to each other. Usually, Sirius shared a table with Remus, but he had decided to sit next to Lily Evans, because her friend Marlene McKinnon had given up on the class about a week ago.

It was the first class after breakfast, so I was still half asleep when someone sat down next to me. Once I had realised that this person was Sirius Black, I was wide awake, all of a sudden.

"How's the head doing?" He pulled out his book, parchment and quill.

"Ehm, fine," I stammered, still not quite sure whether I was hallucinating or just dreaming. Why would he sit down next to me?

I didn't want to be too pushy, so I kept quiet and just focused on the lesson. I needed it. I wasn't bad at Arithmancy, but it was still one of my worst subjects, and I didn't particularly enjoy doing this whole maths stuff, but I found the idea of the subject so fascinating that I chose this class. And I wanted to get better.

I suffered in silence and to my surprise, Sirius did, too. He kept quiet, listened to Professor Vector and did his calculations.

The lesson continued for way too long, and when the bell finally rang I'd wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep. Luckily, my next lesson was Defense against the Dark Arts, and it was a more action and magic filled class, which I hoped would wake me up for the rest of the day.

As the Ravenclaws shared that class with the Slytherins, Sirius waved me goodbye with a "Bye Freya" and took off with Remus Lupin following close behind.

~~~

At lunch, sitting with my back towards the Gryffindor table, I got distracted from my pasta by someone whisper-yelling my name.

Valerie, who was sitting next to me, and I turned around, only to see James and Peter waving at us from their place at the Gryffindor table. They were sitting with their backs to the Ravenclaw table, directly behind me, and a tiny part inside me wondered whether they had done that on purpose. I mean, what were the odds, right?

I tilted my head at them and raised a questioning eyebrow. "Hi, what is it?"

"How is your head?" Peter asked with a red head and I smiled at the kind gesture.

"Very well, thank you."

"That's not all, though," James said. "Can you meet us outside of the Great Hall, once you're done eating?"

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. What did they want? Did Sirius still feel guilty and wanted to apologise by interacting with me to be polite? I supposed I wouldn't find out until I met them, so I agreed and nodded.

"Cool, thanks," James winked secretively and turned back to Remus and Sirius.

I gave Peter one last smile and turned around again, too, only to be greeted by the confused faces of Lina, Aleya and Valerie.

"Since when are you on speaking terms with the marauders?" Lina asked incredulously, but grinning.

I shrugged. "Since Sirius Black hit my head with a Quaffle."

"What?!" Aleya bent forwards. "When did that happen? Why didn't you tell us?"

I shrugged sheepishly. "Yesterday. You didn't ask."

"Damn", Lina grinned and wiggled her eyebrows. "You've got to tell us everything!"

I hesitated. 'Everything' would include Sirius' trouble at home and I didn't know if he wanted everyone to know about everything. "Well, Remus Lupin and I got paired up for Prefect duties, and I met the rest of them through him. I ran into Sirius yesterday and he asked if I wanted to play a little Quidditch with him, since we're both Beaters. I agreed but got distracted for a brief moment, and that's when I got hit on the head."

I decided to leave the part out, in which the marauders kept me company in the hospital wing.

"Hmm," Valerie returned to her plate. "I somehow expected this to be more exciting."

I shrugged. No need to spice the story up just to please them.

"Is your head okay?", Aleya asked me, and I gave her a grateful smile.

"Yeah, don't worry. Madame Pomfrey fixed it in no time."

"That's good to hear."

I returned my attention to my lunch and hurried to finish it, just so that I'd know what James wanted from me.

With a 'See you in Potions', I ungracefully stood up and left the Great Hall.

Once I reached the door I noticed that the marauders were already there, waiting for me on the left side of the hallway.

"There you are." Remus noticed me first and pushed himself off the wall he'd leant on. "Hi," Sirius said and James and Peter nodded at me.

"You're probably wondering why you're here," James opened the conversation and gestured me to follow him through the hallway, along with the rest of the marauders.

I nodded and Sirius spoke up. "Well, we thought that you might be able to help us with some marauders business."

I didn't even try to hide my surprise. "Me? Help you??"

James nodded with a somewhat bitter expression. "Yes. We've tried and tried it over and over again, and the only person better at Charms than us are some Ravenclaws."

"And since we've recently spoken to you quite a lot, we've decided to ask you," Remus said.

"You seem trustworthy enough," Sirius explained further. "And this is secret marauders business, you can't tell anyone! You have to swear!"

I looked back and forth between the four boys, eyebrows raised in confusion. But they appeared pretty serious.

"So?" James asked eagerly. "Are you in?"

I blinked in confusion. I was confused why they were so open towards me, and I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to agree. But I didn't want to turn them down when they had specifically chosen me and my curiosity got the better of me as well.

I caught myself nodding. "I'm in."

"Yes!" Peter said triumphantly. "Thank you!"

James patted my shoulder. "Cool."

"You're welcome," I smiled. I didn't even know why, but their dynamic just had that effect on me. "But what is it, now?"

Sirius stepped in front of me, making me stop abruptly to not walk straight into him. He held one finger up. "First, you have to solemnly swear that you won't tell a single soul about anything related to this project, and that you will carry this secret to your grave until we tell you otherwise, understood?"

I didn't even hesitate. "Okay. I solemnly swear."

Sirius nodded contently and looked at James, who gave me a smirk. "Very well. Meet us at that secret spot behind the carpet, at six o'clock."