The Christmas break went quickly. Remus had enjoyed the time with his parents, but, as usual, was glad to be back at Hogwarts. He knew this term would be stressful with the approach of O.W.L.s in a little over four months, but he wouldn’t start worrying about that for a couple of weeks. Right now, he wanted to find his friends. 

He made his way towards Gryffindor tower to put his things away. His mother had sent him back with her usual supply of homemade chocolate treats, and he was looking forward to sharing them and catching up on the others’ holiday. It had been a quiet train ride. Peter’s parents had been planning to bring him back a day or two early so that they could spend some time in Hogsmeade. He knew Sirius had been planning to come back early since he couldn’t bear to be with his family over the entire two weeks, and James hadn’t been on the train so, Remus figured he must have convinced his parents to let him come back early as well. James had invited Sirius to his parents, but Sirius knew his mother would not have allowed anything that would have been fun for him. Sirius said the only reason he was able to come back to Hogwarts early was a letter he had forged from Professor McGonagall saying he had detentions to perform. The forgery had been risky enough, but sneaking into McGonagall’s office to get the Hogwarts stationary, even under the invisibility cloak, had been evidence of Sirius’ desperation to get away from his family. 

Remus found their room empty, although there were signs of James’ and Sirius’ presence scattered about their beds. Peter didn’t seem to have arrived yet. Knowing him, he would come running in just in time for the welcome back feast. The Marauder’s Map was missing so they were probably working on it, and Remus was anxious to join them. He had a few ideas where they might have gone and after much searching, he finally found them coming from the direction of Hufflepuff House. James was stuffing the invisibility cloak into his robe pocket. When they spotted him, they grinned mischievously. 

“Welcome back, Moony,” said James. “We were just coming to get you.”

“Thanks…been surveying without me, I see. What did I miss?” he asked curiously.

“Not much…we got the entrance to Hufflepuff and actually made it into the common room with a couple of first years. We didn’t get the dorms though,” said James.

“Too much activity with everyone arriving from break,” added Sirius. “Plus, we need Wormtail to get into the girls’ dorm. Bloody sliding stairs.” 

“You mean you decided not to go for Ravenclaw?” asked Remus with a teasing smirk. “I figured you’d want to be able to start tracking Haversham…or Roberts…or Brannigan…or Wilkins or…”

“Alright, we get it,” snapped Sirius with a grin. “We thought you’d like to help with that one yourself.”

As they rounded the corner, they saw Peter approaching from the direction of the main entrance. He seemed a little more distracted than usual and almost walked right past them.

“Oy, Wormtail!” called Sirius. “Wake up!”

“Oh…hi, I was just coming to find you,” he answered.

“You almost ran over us. What’s up?” asked James.

“Sorry, I was thinking about this woman I just saw with McGonagall,” said Peter dreamily. “She’s got to be the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” The three friends rolled their eyes at the familiar statement. 

“That’s what you said about my cousin Bellatrix in first year,” said Sirius.

“And his cousin Narcissa in second year,” said James.

“And Marissa Patil,” added Remus.

“And Victoria Bellmonte, and Caroline…”

“No, really,” interrupted Peter. “I’m not kidding. You should see her. She looks like one of the models out of a Madam Malkins’ catalogue or that French magazine you always nick from Hestia.”

“Well, who is she?” asked Sirius, his curiosity now peaked. 

“I don’t know,” said Peter. “Maybe she’s a new teacher or maybe she’s here to assist Madam Pomfrey since you lot have kept her so busy this year.”

“What makes you think she’s staying and not just here for a meeting or something?” asked Remus.

“Well, she had a trunk and an owl cage with her,” said Peter.

“How old is this woman?” asked Sirius.

“How should I know?” 

“You saw her, didn’t you? Is she twenty or a beautiful forty something?” asked Sirius irritably. 

“What difference does it make?” Peter asked defensively. He never liked being pressed for information.

James and Sirius sighed in annoyance. They often became exasperated with Peter over what they saw as his rather careless attitude and lack of attention. Of course, they didn’t necessarily take into account that what they might see as deserving of attention, Peter might find unimportant. Unlike Sirius, Peter was highly unlikely to actually consider the possibility of becoming involved with the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Therefore, her actual age wouldn’t be of much importance to him. 

“It makes a huge difference, Peter,” said James.

“Well, she’s young…probably just out of school or early twenties or so,” Peter said hesitantly.

“Now we’re getting somewhere. Is she married?” asked Sirius as Remus rolled his eyes and laughed.

“You are such a lecher, Padfoot. You haven’t even seen the woman much less learned anything about her, and you already want to know if she is married,” said Remus.

“Well, if she’s married there’s no need to learn anything else about her, is there?” asked Sirius reasonably.

“At least you draw the line somewhere,” said Remus thankfully.

“Actually, that depends on how badly Wormtail is exaggerating her good looks,” he said with a devilish grin and waggle of his brow.

“Evans is right, you are a cad,” said James evenly.

“So, is she, Wormtail?” asked Sirius ignoring James.

“Is she what?” asked Peter.

“MARRIED, you pillock,” said Sirius.

“Well, how should I know?” groaned Peter. Remus felt sure Peter was sorry he had brought it up.

“By looking to see if she was wearing a ring, maybe?” asked James condescendingly.

“Really, Wormtail, remind me never to send you on a reconnoiter mission,” said Sirius. “You see what you say is the most beautiful woman in your life and you don’t even check to see if she’s available?” He shrugged in complete disgust.

“I guess if you want something done right, you should do it yourself, Padfoot,” said James.

“Right…let’s go. Check the map to see if we can spot McGonagall.”

James looked around to make sure they were still alone and unfolded the parchment. He tapped it and said quietly, “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.” A partially drawn map of the school appeared and was suddenly covered with swarms of tiny moving dots.

“We have to figure out how to add a searching feature to this. There are just too many people. It’s too hard to find anyone in particular,” said Remus as he looked over James’ shoulder.

“Good idea. Why don’t we work on that after the feast tonight?” said James.

“Check the main hall,” said Peter hopefully. “They were by the stairs near the entrance.”

“No sign of McGonagall,” said James. “But, who is this? I don’t recognize that name.” He pointed to a stationary dot at the top of the stairs.

“Lindinara Dellington… I don’t recognize it either. That’s probably her,” said Remus.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” asked Sirius as he turned to go towards the main hall.

As they made their way through the maze of hallways and staircases, James glanced at the map to see if she was still there. He informed the others that she had been rejoined by McGonagall. They were headed down the main hall in the direction of Professor Dumbledore’s office, and if they wanted a glimpse before she disappeared up the spiral staircase, they better get moving.

“Wait a minute. Look who it is,” he said still looking at the map. “We have got to plot the Slytherin area. They could have come up right behind us.”

Dots labeled Snape, Grayson, Rosier and Dagget suddenly appeared in the passageway they knew led to the Slytherin dungeons. They were on a collision course with the Marauders and that was never a good situation.

“Come on, let’s just hurry. I don’t want any trouble our first night back,” said Remus.

“Aw, Moony, don’t be a kill joy,” said James with a dangerous tone.

“Besides, we owe them for that stunt right before end of term exams,” added Sirius with a glint in his eye.

“I thought you were anxious to see if Ms. Dellington is as delectable as Peter claims,” said Remus hoping to divert their attention from the approaching Slytherins.

“Right…we can take a peek and still be ready for Snivellus and his slime brigade,” said Sirius.

Remus sighed heavily. It looked like they would be starting out second term with a clash even though he would really rather find a way to peacefully coexist with Snape and the rest of the Slytherins. But, they really made that impossible didn’t they?

They approached the entrance to the Main Hall and halted just short of the opening to the Slytherin corridor where Snape and the others would enter the hallway. From where the Marauders stood, they could see several suits of armor lining the Main Hall.

“We’ll take them here. Then we go into the Main Hall. They’d have to be bigger berks than we think to come after us right in front of Dumbledore’s office. That way, it’s fast, clean, and over in time for the feast,” said James eagerly.

“Right, you stand lookout, Moony. Make sure McGonagall doesn’t come up behind us,” said Sirius. “If we get caught you can still say you tried to talk us out of it, like a good prefect.” He patted Remus on the shoulder to show there were no hard feelings and grinned as he mentally planned the upcoming duel.

“Yeah, Moony, just do the ol’ prefect number and tell us to knock it off,” said James.

“Can’t I just tell you to knock it off now, before you actually get started?” asked Remus hopelessly. 

“Nah, I haven’t hexed Snivellus in three weeks. My wand is itching to get him,” said James as he handed Remus the map.

Remus looked at it dismally and saw that Professor McGonagall and Ms. Dellington had halted outside Dumbledore’s office. He watched for a moment as McGonagall entered, but left the other woman in the hallway.

“Well, she’s out there waiting, if you want to go check her finger, Padfoot,” he said quietly.

But, they could hear the Slytherins by now.

“You go, Moony. Check her out for me.” Sirius winked and reached for his wand.

Remus rounded the corner, looking down the hallway towards Dumbledore’s office. She was standing about twenty feet away with her back to him, as she studied the portraits and tapestries lining the walls. So far, so good. She had long, thick chestnut hair that hung a couple of inches below her shoulders. It gleamed in the flickering light of the torches mounted on the walls. She was holding a plain black cloak and was wearing robes that looked very like…an unsorted Hogwarts uniform? Could Peter’s beautiful woman actually be a new student? he wondered as he started to walk towards her.

Suddenly, the sounds of hexing could be heard from the hall around the corner. Remus winced at the sound of the first spell making contact, as the woman turned, startled by the noise. She jumped back slightly when she saw him coming towards her, and he was struck by her beauty. Peter had not been exaggerating this time. She was truly stunning. Not in a fresh-faced youthful way, she was a woman: dark and sultry. She looked so familiar. She watched him as he drew nearer, her dark eyes widening with panic as the sounds of hexing grew louder. But Remus was temporarily distracted from the battle being waged behind him. The image of his fantasy, taken from the pages of a childhood story book, stood before him. Princess Milena had been with him during the innocent, imaginary games of his youth and the not-so-innocent imaginings of his burgeoning adolescence…and here was this girl with flowing dark hair, sun kissed skin, and unbelievable brown eyes looking back at him as if she had climbed out of his fantasies. The only things she was missing were the brightly colored robes and her crystal ball. Remus felt completely mesmerized until she jolted him back with a squeal. A red flash came flying into the hall from the corridor where his friends were now engaged in a fully fledged battle.

“What is going on back there?” she whimpered.

He glanced back just as Peter came scurrying around the corner, followed by James and Sirius. They took cover behind three of the suits of armor lining the hall. The next thing Remus knew, a blast of yellow light was coming towards him from the corner. He ran at the girl quickly and dragged her to the floor behind the gargoyle guarding the door to Dumbledore’s office.

“You better stay down,” he said as he reached for his wand. Clearly this had gotten well out of hand. Snape and the others had obviously been joined by more Slytherins. Remus shook his head at the carelessness of his overly confident friends. It was not a good idea to attack when they were right in the path to the Slytherin house.

“Alright, that’s enough!” he shouted. “Everyone, lower your wands!”

“Who’s going to make us?” shouted a Slytherin.

“I’m a prefect so break it up!” He peeked around the statue as another bolt of light flew by, barely missing him. He dove back down and looked at the girl crouched beside him. She flinched every time a spell was cast and looked up at him fearfully. Once again, he forgot what was happening as his eyes locked on hers. She had large, thickly lashed eyes. They were a rich, deep brown. Sirius would definitely call those bedroom eyes. Remus realized he must have held her gaze too long because she blushed and turned away as though she had read his mind. 

Suddenly, the office door opened and Professor McGonagall looked down at him and the girl huddled together on the floor. Her eyebrow flew up and she pursed her lips disapprovingly.

“Mr. Lupin?” she said tersely. “What in the name of Merlin are you doing?”

He stood up to address her and was rewarded with a blob of thick green slime smacking the side of his head. The girl screamed as she jumped to avoid the splattering mess.

“What is the meaning of this?” shouted McGonagall as she stepped out into the corridor and walked briskly to the corner. She glanced around it and grimaced before turning to James, Sirius and Peter. “I should have known! All of you, in my office at once!” she said hotly. She walked back to the statue where Remus stood covered in slime. The girl was now standing against the wall holding her cloak up protectively.

“What happened here?” she asked Remus brusquely. 

“I don’t know exactly,” he said. It wasn’t a complete lie, and he couldn’t snitch on his friends, could he? He really didn’t know exactly what had happened, but McGonagall looked unconvinced.

“Come now, Mr. Lupin, your friends are up to their eyeballs in this and you right here… but you had nothing to do with it?” she asked suspiciously.

“He didn’t, Professor,” said the young woman in a quivering voice. “He was already here when it started, and he tried to tell them to stop but they started trying to hex him for it.” She sounded like she was still very much shaken.

“I see,” said McGonagall sounding still slightly suspicious. “In that case, Lupin, please go to the Entrance Hall and gather Miss Dellington’s trunk and cage and take them to my office.” She pursed her lips unpleasantly when she looked at the side of his head. “Then go see Madam Pomfrey.” She turned to the girl. “Follow me Miss Dellington, the Headmaster is waiting. He wishes to discuss your year.”

“Yes, Professor,” she said as she looked back at Remus. “Well…Thank you,” she said awkwardly and headed towards the spiral staircase.

He watched as she walked--actually, she swayed—to the steps. Remus decided it was settled; she was gorgeous, with a rather spectacular body to go with that face. She turned back one last time and smiled as she threw him a tiny wave. Suddenly, recognition flooded over him. No wonder she had seemed so familiar. It wasn’t just her similarity to his gypsy princess…he had actually seen Lindinara Dellington before. It had been at the Three Broomsticks, a couple of years ago. Remus remembered being intrigued by her for a while…and Sirius had tried to chat her up…He was brought out of his reverie by a tingling sensation on the side of his head where the green slime was hardening. He felt his scalp and realized it was starting to blister and his hair was coming out. He decided it was time to transport the trunk and get to hospital pronto.

When he arrived at the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey was busy with several of the Slytherins but, seeing him there, she left them to check him at once. He had a feeling he was one of her favorite patients even when she gave him a disapproving scowl. She was able to repair the damage to his head quickly, although he thought the hair in that spot still had a greenish tint to it. She told him to be thankful he still had hair and sent him on his way. 

He gave the password to Gryffindor Tower and entered the common room to find Sirius, James and Peter sitting before the fireplace talking excitedly.

“It was worth it to get Snivellus back,” said James heatedly. “I hope Madam Pomfrey takes her time removing the horns!”

“Moony!” called Sirius as Remus crossed the room to join them. “Can you please explain how you managed to be the only Marauder casualty in a battle you didn’t even take part in?”

“Well, I was a little preoccupied trying to keep Miss Dellington from getting cursed her first day here to pay attention to you three cowering behind armor,” he said sarcastically. “You call yourselves Gryffindors.”

“We need brains as well as bravery don’t we? And when you’re outnumbered three to one, sometimes discretion is the better part of valor or something like that.” James waved his hand absently. “Besides, we got Snivellus and so our mission was accomplished,” he added gallantly.

“How about your mission? You had to have gotten a good look at her since you were practically on top of her. What’s the verdict?” asked Sirius.

“Is Miss Dellington really delectable? Or does Wormtail just need a date?” asked James. 

“Peter is right about her. She is delectable. Wait till you see her. We’ll have to put Padfoot on a leash.” Remus didn’t know why, but he hesitated to tell them she was the girl Sirius had tried to chat up two years ago. “But, I’m pretty sure she isn’t going to join the staff.”

“Then why does she have a whole trunk with her if she’s just visiting?” asked Peter going on the defensive.

“I don’t think she is just visiting. I think she’s a new student…She must be a transfer or something. Professor McGonagall said Professor Dumbledore wanted to talk to her about her year, whatever that means. But you’re right, Peter, she does look like a woman.” Peter smiled at Remus gratefully.

“So, assuming I’m right, will you three be watching her sort or will I have to fill you in after you get back from detention?” Remus asked reprovingly.

“Our week’s worth starts tomorrow,” said James.

“I wish I had stayed in Hogsmeade with my parents,” said Peter dismally.

“Well,” sighed Remus. “I guess I can get a head start on class work this week.”

“I’m just glad the full moon is next week instead of this one,” said Sirius. “I don’t think I could stand having detention over that. But let’s not let detention ruin the rest of the night. I, for one, want a look at this Delectable Dellington. So, come on. The feast will be starting soon.”