Chapter Text
1st September, 1974
Circe stood on tiptoe, straining her eyes as she scanned the crowd in front of her. Students and parents milled about, lugging large trunks behind them. She could see some first years getting teary eyed, but still could not find James Potter. His crop of dark, messy hair usually bounced around the crowd, but he seemed to have disappeared all together.
“Wonder where Fleamont and Euphemia went,” her father said from behind her. She looked back at him, standing tall among the hordes of children. A few first and second years stared looked at him, eyes wide. Circe could see a woman pointing to her father and her lips forming the words, “Edgar Macmillan, Minister of Magic” very clearly as she spoke to the man next to her, probably her husband. Circe just rolled her eyes. She had gotten used to the stares. It was terrible during her first year, when her father had first shown up on platform 9 and ¾, pushing her trunk like any normal parent would. But the wandering eyes, and the ‘Macmillan heir’ jabs towards her had lessened manifold since then.
“Well, you better get on the train or it will leave without you.” he said, bending down to hug her, almost engulfing her with his big frame. She inhaled the very distinct smell of maple wood she associated with him. “Don’t starve yourself, please. I have told the house elves to not give into your protests” Circe said as he pulled back. “What would I do without you?” Edgar laughed and shook his head, “Have a great fourth year my dear, have your fun before the OWLs attack your sanity next year”.
“Oh please, don’t remind me” Circe kissed her fathers cheek, “Bye dad”.
She turned and boarded the train, immediately latching onto the closest window as it started to move. “Write to me everyday!” Edgar called out, waving. Circe rolled her eyes, though she couldn’t help smiling. She waved until her father was a dot on the receding platform.
She turned and started moving down the corridors, packed with students trying to find empty compartments. She bumped into a girl with familiar ginger hair. “Oh Circe, thank god I found you, I can’t seem to find Mary or Marlene anywhere.”
“Well hello to you too Lily” Circe said and Lily laughed.
“Yes, yes, hello there, how was your summer?” Lily looped her arm in Circe’s as they walked down the corridor. “ Eh, normal. I had the house to myself most of the time, so it was mostly homework and wandering around outside. Oh you will be rather pleased to hear this, I read Emma by Jane Austen.” Circe grinned proudly.
“OH WOW. Did not see that coming. I didn’t know wizards read Muggle literature” . “Oh yeah, they don't, I-” before Circe could complete, Mary Mcdonald came hurtling down the corridor at herculean speed.
“What are you two even doing? Come on, we’ve got a mighty great compartment down there.” Before anyone could say anything, she had taken off towards the ‘mighty great’ compartment. Circe and Lily followed her. Mary slid the door open and Marlene Mckinnon sat there. “Where the bloody hell have you two been?” she said, an expression of mock annoyance on her face.
“I could ask you the same thing” Circe said, as she flopped down opposite her, playfully kicking her leg in the process. They all fell into an excited babble about their summer holidays. Marlene was super hyped as she was trying out for the quidditch team that year. She had been training all summer with her brothers, whizzing about their front lawn. Mary was full with her stories of visiting America during the summer.
She had a cousin who lived there and had gotten married over the summer. “They all seemed so amazed every single time I spoke. They were all like, oh my god, your accent is so weird” Mary said, trying to do her best American accent, “ Bitch, YOU have an accent, not me.”. Lily’s summer had been as usual, stories of Snape that no one was rather interested in. Circe looked out of the window, the rolling hills and open fields whizzing past her. She rested her head back on the seat and let out a content sigh. She turned her head back to her friends who were now discussing Lily’s new cat. The autumn sun filtered in through the windows, casting a warm golden glow across the seats, spilling onto their laps. Circe loved this, the journey to Hogwarts, there was something so comforting about it, going back to somewhere that felt more like home to her than the big, empty Macmillan Estate.
Her reverie was broken by the compartment door sliding open. James Potter’s messy head poked inside, Sirius Black leaning lazily over his shoulder. “There you are!” James exclaimed, stepping inside as though he owned the place. “I’ve been looking everywhere.” Circe arched a brow. “You weren’t on the platform. Neither were your parents. Where have you been?” James only shrugged in that infuriating James way. “Places.”
She rolled her eyes but handed him a small tin from her bag. “You left this at my place when you came over. Figured you’d want your broom to actually shine for once.” He had been at her place a few days before, and had forgotten his broom shiner there. James’ grin was immediate and blinding. “Oh I have been looking EVERYWHERE for this. Knew there was a reason you were my favorite. Thanks, Cee.” He mussed up her hair as she batted his hand away.
James’ eyes then fell to Lily, who was sitting right beside Circe.”Oh, uh, hi Evans” his ears turning the faintest shade of pink, as he sheepishly ran his hand through his hair. “Potter,” Lily said coolly, not even glancing at him. Circe shook her head, concealing a smile.
Behind James, Sirius leaned in. “Ladies,” he drawled with a little half-smile, giving a mock bow, dark eyes sweeping the cabin. Mary giggled. Marlene rolled her eyes. Lily didn’t bother reacting. Circe quietly noticed him.. Taller than last year, shoulders broader. There was something sharper about him now, like summer had carved him into someone new. Her gaze lingered an instant too long before she forced it away. But for a fraction of a second, when his gaze held hers, she felt as if he looked older somehow, like the summer had stolen something from him.
Then James clapped him on the shoulder and muttered something about Peter eating all the sweets, and the spell was broken. Sirius straightened, smirked, and followed James out into the corridor. The compartment filled again with Marlene’s chatter, but Circe found herself staring at the door long after it had slid shut. Something was different about Sirius this year.
The ceiling of the Great Hall twinkled. Candles, suspended in mid air, floated above their heads as they watched nervous first years get sorted. Circe still remembered her sorting. Macmillans usually were sorted into Hufflepuff. They even had a few Slytherins back in the day because of their ministry ties. Her father was the first Macmillan to ever be sorted into Ravenclaw, Circe had half expected to be sorted into Ravenclaw too, she still scored as high as them in class, but fate had other plans. She was the first Gryffindor Macmillan. Her father had been immensely proud, and honestly he would’ve been proud if it had been any other house as well. He didn’t care about that stuff.
As the last of the first years to be sorted settled down at their new house tables, Professor Dumbledore walked up to the enchanted podium. She used to see Dumbledore often, even during the holidays, he would visit her father, always remembering to greet her. She liked him a lot and respected him, but always had the feeling he knew more than he let on. The chatter dulled when he spoke, his eyes twinkling. “Welcome, welcome, to another year at Hogwarts!” he said, spreading his arms wide as though trying to embrace the whole room at once. “It is a joy to see familiar faces return and to greet new ones. Our corridors will be louder, our kitchens emptier, and our portraits more entertained with each of you here again.”
A ripple of laughter went through the hall. “Outside these walls,” he continued, his tone gentler now, “the world stirs and changes, as it always does. But here, you will find learning, friendship, and, if you’re very lucky, the occasional midnight feast. May we use all three wisely.” He clapped his hands together, “And with that, let us eat!” The hall erupted as golden plates filled themselves, the weight of his words quickly buried under chatter and clinking cutlery.
“Well, that was ominous,” Remus said from beside her.
She nodded, “There have been reports of attacks on muggles, you know.”
He gave her a look, “What?”. “I overheard my dad talking to some Ministry blokes. There haven’t been many but there have definitely been attacks.” She looked at Remus who was piling his plate with roast chicken, a contemplative look on his face. “Well, we’ll have to wait and see won’t we?”.
Circe nodded. She only ever talked about things like this with either Remus or Lily. She had told Lily about it during the carriage ride to Hogwarts. These may have been some attacks by some mutant group but the way her father had spoken about it, it hadn’t seemed like it. Circe tried to forget about it for the time being, and focus on the exquisite food in front of her.
“I’m telling you, mate,” James said, from a few places down, “this year, Gryffindor’s going to sweep the Cup. Just you wait. I can practically feel it.”.
“You say that every year,” Sirius teased, buttering a roll with exaggerated care.
“And one year I’ll be right.”
Circe smiled faintly at the exchange, but her gaze slid down the table almost against her will. Sirius had been laughing and being his sarcastic self all night, doing bits with James, teasing Peter and trying to get a rise out of Remus. He caught her eyes for the briefest second, smirked, and looked away. Nothing out of the ordinary.
By the time the pudding had vanished from the tables, everyone’s stomachs were full and warm. Dumbledore clapped his hands to dismiss them. The first years followed the prefects as the ten fourth year Gryffindors headed towards their common room. Circe fell into step with Lily, as Mary and Marlene walked somewhere ahead of them. “You’ve been awfully quiet,” Lily said to her. Circe hesitated for a second. “Um, well. I couldn’t help but notice that there’s something off about Sirius.” Lily raised an eyebrow, “Seems normal to me. He’s being the same level of annoying as he always is.”.
“I don’t know. Maybe I’m reading into things too much” Circe replied.
“Yeah. I don’t get why you’re friends with them anyways.”
None of her friends understood her rather weird friendship with the boys. James and her were childhood friends, their fathers had been best friends during their time at Hogwarts, so they had grown up together, spending summers and holidays at each other's place. He was almost like her brother. At Hogwarts he had his own friends and she had her own, but their friendship cemented their presence with the other’s friend groups. Mary and Marlene liked the boys, only Lily found them annoying. Circe believed it mostly because James had been very visibly in love with her since, well, forever. Remus, Sirius and Peter liked Circe as well, sometimes consulting her for pranks when stuck in a particular quandary. She wasn’t part of their troop, not really, but she was close enough to the fire to feel its warmth, and sometimes its smoke which, surprisingly, she didn’t mind.
When they finally reached the Fat Lady’s portrait, they waited for the first years to enter while keeping an ear out for the new password. The Fat Lady swung open to admit them, the Gryffindor common room just as warm and inviting as Circe remembered. A cheerful fire crackled in the grate, casting a golden light over the squashy armchairs rapidly filling with chattering students.
Circe stepped inside, smoothing down her robes, when she felt someone fall into step just behind her. She glanced back to find Sirius ducking through the portrait hole after her, his dark hair a little longer than last year, falling into his eyes. “Back to the old tower,” he said, voice easy, as though they hadn’t just spent two months apart. Circe gave him a small smile. “Feels like we never left.”. “Except,” he smirked, sweeping his gaze around the room, “it already smells worse. Must be all the first-years.” She rolled her eyes, but it was fond. “Whats with the hair?”she asked. “Ah,” He ran his fingers through his hair which he had grown out over the summer, “Just trying something new.” “Looks good” Circe said, walking towards the girls dormitory stairs, “Very you”.
He gave her a rare, genuine smile. “Thanks”.
She smiled back and went upstairs.