Lanya's note: I've moved my account and my story here ! This story is completely about the story of the four Mischief-Makers in the year 1971 their first year at Hogwarts. James is who I base the story around, I hope you all enjoy it :D! Most of the characters (94.6% of them) in this story are owned and are copyrighted of Jo Rowling! These character do not belong to me.

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Chapter 1: The Beginning

Summer was once again coming and going. It was another cloudless day, but the September winds seemed to be blowing through more often than the weeks before; it was the first day of the last week in August. The day seemed perfect, but it wasn't as perfect as it should have been for an 11-year-old boy by the name of James Potter.

James sat outside of his house leaning against what seemed to be an old elm tree; his arms were relaxed behind his head. His gentle hazel eyes stared out from behind his glasses into the horizon while the wind swept over him every so often. The wind would breeze through his hair causing it to grow messier than it was. Oddly enough, his hair was already naturally messy, and it stuck up from the back. His attire seemed quite different from what you would usually see in your neighborhood. Not only was his attire different, but also was his family.

James' family belonged to a long line of wizards and witches; both of his parents were of these. Since his parents were both full wizard and witch this made him what everyone called a 'pure blood.' James didn't even bother with this thought. To him, he didn't really care who or what he was, but he just wanted to enjoy what he had. His family was quite fortunate for they were quite rich.

He looked quite dazed as he continued to look at the sky. Something was amiss in his heart; he didn't know what this feeling was. Nothing too dramatic had happened to him, but he felt abandoned, this wasn't the first time he experienced this feeling. The night before was much worse, the dream he had received gave him a bone chilling feeling. There was an agonizing scream of someone that seemed very dear to him, a strange and evil laughter of betrayal, then a sudden flash of green light, and finally that eerie aching feeling from deep within his heart. It felt so real that it haunted him while he was awake. Did it mean something important? Something he should know or be aware of?

"James!"

The boy shrugged and rumpled his black hair making it stick up even more.

"What's up mum?" he said lazily. "I didn't hex the toilet if that's what you're asking."

"No—" his mother began, but just realized what James meant. "You did what to the toilet?!"

"I was trying to make it flush automatically…" He mumbled to himself, "…Is it my fault I have nothing to do?"

His mother walked toward him, she didn't look angry nor did she look extremely happy. Her black hair was tied back with a barrette, and she wore a nice white blouse with a black skirt and deep red tie. She looked like a professor of some sort especially because of her stern and strict expression as she approached her son. When she finally reached James her stern expression faded and a small smile pressed on to her face.

"Always at it aren't you James? I'll deal with what you did to the toilet later." She said sternly to her son, "Now, shouldn't you be at Diagon Alley collecting your items? I gave you the money this morning; you should have gotten them by now! We've already been to Diagon Alley so don't make the excuse that you don't know how to get there. You have been bugging me all last year that when you were to go to Diagon Alley you wanted to go alone!"

"What's the point?" James said solemnly stretching his arms carelessly.

"W—What's the point?" she stared at her son quite surprised, "You've been so excited about going to Hogwarts for the past 3 years! What do you mean what's the point!?"

"Didn't you see it, mum?" James exclaimed.

The boy stood up from where he sat and shoved his hand into his front pocket and pulled out a folded piece of parchment, he then unfolded it and handed it to his mother. She took it into her hands and read through it a few times; she didn't seem to see anything wrong with the introduction letter nor the list of books and items. After reading it through the fourth time she looked up at James, her face rather puzzled.

"Well, did you see it?" James asked rumpling his hair again.

"Actually, I didn't see anything wrong with it."

James stared at her rather stunned. He quickly grabbed the parchment and skimmed through it then pointed harshly to a sentence at the bottom of the letter. It read:

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS.

His mother merely smiled at her son who was now fuming with rage. If James wasn't allowed to have a broomstick this meant that he couldn't play the famous sport of Quidditch that year. Apparently you had to be in your second year to play, or you would have to reserve for a spot to try out the next year. Either way, James wanted to play Quidditch this year; he didn't want to wait another whole year to do it! He sighed hopelessly messing with his hair some more.

"James, I'm sure you'll at least get to see them play it." She said patting her son on the head gently.

"See it? That's nothing compared to playing it!" he wailed practically pulling his hair from his head.

"Don't worry, you'll have a chance on a broom. They're just going to teach you the basics; like how to fly." She said again, this time trying to calm James down.

As soon as James had quieted, his mother had to drag him into the house. Their living room was none like you would ever see in a regular house, it was extremely magical and full of life. The pictures that hung on the walls moved in their frames and their whole left wall was full of strange and interesting books that seemed quite alive and breathing. James had grown up in this environment so it was only obvious that he didn't find any of these things strange.

The two of them continued passed the living room and toward an old fireplace. James's mother reached up from a nearby shelf and pulled down a small box filled with grayish sand or powder. James unmistakably knew that it was none other than floo powder, how else could James quickly get to Diagon Alley?

"Well off you go." She said tossing the powder into the fireplace. "I'll come pick you up at eight o'clock sharp, understand? Meet me at Leaky Cauldron."

The fireplace was suddenly filled with greenish flames that were burning quite brightly and rather strongly. James simply walked into the fireplace and mumbled the words "Diagon Alley" and the green flames enveloped him.

"Don't get into trouble, and hopefully nothing wrong happens…" his mother whispered to herself. "With that mysterious mass muggle murderer around these days anywhere is unsafe."

Within seconds, James had disappeared completely.

James was no longer standing in the middle of green flames; instead he was now standing in the middle of another fireplace in some other house. He didn't take any time to get out of that fireplace for there were people staring at him and waiting for him to step out. Transportation by floo powder was probably the one James hated the most since it often made his head spin afterward. It would also give him a strange sensation all over his body and it often disturbed him.

He pulled out the folded parchment to see the list of items he need, the first thing on the list were his attire for his uniform. As he skimmed down the list he thought to himself that there was no other place to get such items except Diagon Alley; it was the best place for everything you needed for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

As he walked out of the house, which he had just transported from, he entered a rather large street full of people. James was pretty much just a small boy in a really large crowd and at times it became too squishy for him to even get to where he needed to go. When he seemed to be at a fairly decent resting spot away from the crowd, he finally got a chance to take a look at his list of items again.

"Hmm… Let's see…" James mumbled to himself as he read the things he need for the uniform. "Three sets of black plain work robes… One black plain pointed hat… One pair of protected gloves, the dragon hide kind… and lastly one black winter cloak. Black seems to be a trend here…"

"Did you just say my name?" asked a rather charming voice.

James quickly spun around; he was quite surprised by the sudden voice. When he turned to where the voice came from he came face to face with another young boy who looked about his age. This boy looks extremely good-looking and he had black eyes and dark hair, which fell to his eyes. This boy seemed quite well to do because of the fact that he wore really nice clothes and seemed rather mature. For some odd reason, James felt some sort of immediate connection with this stranger and wanted to get to know him. Apparently the boy was thinking the same thing since he seemed to be embarrassed now.

"I—I don't think I said your name." James sputtered. He was quite in awe at how handsome this stranger was. What was his secret to looking so good? "Unless of course your name is Dragon Hide."

The other boy seemed laughed a bit then extended his hand in an act of friendship.

"No, of course not!" the boy said smiling, "You didn't happen to have said 'black' did you? Well, the name's Sirius, Sirius Black."

They shook hands with each other, both smiling widely.

"I'm James Potter. Pleasure to meet you Black." He said cheerfully.

The two seemed quite comfortable talking amongst themselves that before they knew it 20 minutes had passed. It only seemed like a few seconds when James realized that if he didn't get going he wouldn't be able to meet up with his mother in time.

"Well, it was nice meeting you." James said sighing, "I've got to get a few things before I meet up with me mum. You wouldn't know the name of the shop where I can buy a uniform, would you?"

"I believe it was called, Madam Malkin's Robes for all Occasions." Black replied thinking about it for a second, "I'll see you around then."

About two hours passed and James nearly got everything on the list that he needed to get for Hogwarts. He checked over the list again to see if he missed anything and found that he had collected everything for his uniform, all his course books, and all of the other equipment except his wand and an animal of some sort. He knew that his mother was expecting him to buy an owl and so he entered a shop called Magical Menagerie.

Upon entering, he could tell that this was definitely a place to buy just what he wanted because of the fact that there were shelves upon shelves of owls lined up. James looked at each one of them and picked the one he found the best. He finally chose an owl that had gray feathers and glowing amber eyes; he named it Cinder.

He shrugged; he had to carry everything he had just bought. He was holding bag upon bag of items and he wished more that someone was there to help him carry the large load. With all his stuff weighing down on him, he struggled to the famous wand shop, Ollivanders. When the shop finally came into view it looked quite tiny and rather shabby looking. When he had finally entered the shop, he nearly dropped everything in his hands, including Cinder. With a last effort of strength, James heaved all that could fit onto the chair in one of the corners and everything else at the base of it. Apparently it was quite empty except for the front desk and the chair James had left his things on.

"Good afternoon." Said a soft voice. James had had enough people startling him that day and he wasn't that taken by surprise by the sudden appearance of someone in the room.

There was an old man standing in front of him now. The man had wide, pale eyes that looked like shining moons that loomed over him. James felt quite uncomfortable with this old man, who he presumed to be Mr. Ollivander himself, staring at him, but said nothing.

"You must be James Potter, am I right?" the man said softly. James merely nodded in return. "Why yes, shall I see what kind of wand would suit you? Let me measure you. Oh don't worry about you're things, just leave them there. I'll get someone to bring them to Leaky Cauldron for you."

Mr. Ollivander measured James through and through; nearly every single angle on his body was measured! James found this rather strange, but he then realized that he met stranger people so he continued to remain silent.

"So, Mr. Potter, let's see what kind—" Mr. Ollivander was cut short in his sentence when James mumbled something under his voice. "Hm?"

"I was… thinking of mahogany." James mumbled, his voice cracking.

"Mahogany? Why, Mr. Potter, you do know that the wand is really the one that chooses the wizard, do you not?" Mr. Ollivander said curiously glancing back at James. "But if you prefer mahogany, it wouldn't hurt to try."

The tape measure began to measure James on its own while Mr. Ollivander went to his shelves and pulled out several dozens of boxes all of which said 'mahogany' somewhere on the box. Right when the tape measure finished measuring him, it rolled back up and disappeared behind the counter. Mr. Ollivander approached James again, but this time there was a gigantic pile of long boxes stacked behind him.

"Here we go, all mahogany. Shall we try them all?" said Mr. Ollivander, his round moon shining eyes beaming at James. "It will be mere luck if any of these wands choose you Mr. Potter, but I must say you're the first person to actually request a certain type of wand from me."

James gulped, he felt as though a couple dozen weights and been added to his shoulders. Mr. Ollivander reached for the nearest box and opened it.

"Ahh…" he said pulling out a wand from the box. "Here we go, try this, a mahogany wand, just like you requested. Eleven inches. Pliable."

James took the wand from Mr. Ollivander and felt an oddly warm feeling coming from the wand. Mr. Ollivander stared at James with awe and wonder as he moved the wand downward causing a sudden shimmering light to fill the room. Mr. Ollivander clapped his hands together, "Quite amazing it is, Mr. Potter. It's as though you were destined for that wand. Curious indeed."

James merely smiled, he seemed to really like his new wand, and it was exactly how he wanted it to be. It was perfect! He turned to Mr. Ollivander and couldn't help but smile.

"It's a slightly powerful wand and it's perfect for Transfiguration." Mr. Ollivander said walking up to the counter and jotting a few notes down on a piece of paper. "I can see you like it very much. Ah, if I were you I would like it as well."

When James turned to where he last placed all of his things, he noticed that they were all gone. Since when? James didn't even notice they had disappeared and they were in the same room!

"Don't worry, your things have already been sent to Leaky Cauldron. You will just need to ask the front desk for them." Mr. Ollivander said walking out of the empty room and into one of the back rooms. James was rather excited; he walked toward the counter and placed some money upon it.

He then slipped his new wand into his back pocket and walked out of the shabby shop. In an instant, James knew that there was something terribly wrong happening. The street he was currently standing on was almost nearly deserted and he had a strange feeling that there was a fight occurring somewhere nearby. There were still people walking a by happily, but they didn't notice anything strange going on. James could feel it. His terrible sense for adventure over took his conscience and he was dead set on finding out about what was going on. He first asked a very beautiful looking witch who was sitting down drinking some sort of liquid.

"Excuse me," James said, "I was wondering if there was something going on cause the streets aren't usually this empty."

The witch merely smiled at him.

"I saw a group of wizards taking a small boy down that way. The boy was wailing as screaming for help, undoubtedly no one helped him of course. I feel sorry for the boy, usually you don't want to get caught up in a group of wizards like that. That's why the streets are deserted." She said in a wispy voice.

After taking in this information, James said his thanks to the witch and started toward the place she had just pointed to him. As he continued forward, he realized that this was leading to the infamous place Knockturn Alley. It was the place most people wanted to avoid; James on the other hand found it rather interesting to explore though. His mother would be so mad at him if he were to set one foot into the place, but he just had to find out if the kid was okay.

As he continued to pass the old shops, he was suddenly yanked from behind harshly and pulled into an extremely small alleyway. Out of instinct, after watching his father do it so many times, James pulled out his wand and pointed it in the direction whoever had just yanked him.

"H—hey! Watch where you point that thing!" said a familiar voice. It was the boy he had met earlier on, it was Sirius Black. James was somewhat surprised again by Black's sudden appearance. He once again pocketed his wand and looked up at Black his expression quite skeptical.

"Didn't you realize there was no one on the streets? You could be an easy target for them!" whispered Black looking around cautiously. "If you don't want to get caught by them you shouldn't walk on the open streets, mate."

"Who's them exactly, Black?"

Sirius Black seemed to look rather pale after he asked that.

"I'm currently trying to see what they're up to." James said, "I heard the lot got an innocent boy."

"Innocent boy?!" Black cried color returning to his face, "Why don't they just leave him alone, I'm going to go have a talk with them. I'm sure the kid's a half-blood or something for them to choose to beat him, and you can call me Sirius. Is it alright if I call you James?"

"Sure." James said walking back onto the open street. Sirius followed behind, clutching his wand in his hand. They both knew that they weren't supposed to use their wands, but would if they really had to. They continued to walk, but before they took a sharp turn around a corner, they heard scowling voices from beyond. They silently decided to peer over the corner first before they turned just in case they came face to face with some strange summoned monster.

Just as they peered over they corner, they realize that is wasn't exactly what you would call a group of people for there were only 2 people cloaked in black. The two people were standing in front of the entrance to Knockturn Alley, and there was indeed a wailing boy with them. They were apparently trying to force the boy into Knockturn Alley. James lunged forward; he had to do something to help the boy. He pulled out his wand and pointed it at the two people and they swung around, their eyes glaring down at James.

It was apparently a girl and a boy who were torturing the boy and they looked about the age of sixteen or seventeen. This didn't bode well for James; he had just received his wand and these people looked more experienced that he did. The two of them looked at each other and nodded then raised their wands to attack James. He tried to remember any blocking spells that he had read in his father's book, but none of them came to his mind and then Sirius stepped in.

"What did that boy do to you?" Sirius asked, scowling at the two of them.

"Ah… Sirius." said the woman in a soothing voice. "The downfall of the Black family; why do you interfere?"

"You know just as well as I, that the Ministry of Magic is watching you, Bellatrix!" Sirius stated glaring at her.

The woman, Bellatrix, gave a look of hate toward Sirius then merely kicked the whimpering boy whom Sirius and James were trying to save. James and Sirius glared fiercely at the two, of whom Sirius apparently knew.

"Fine then," Bellatrix stated, her eyes looming down on the two children who stood in her way, "but I'll be telling your mum about this. Come on, we're leaving Rodolphus, we can have more fun later with, Sirius."

Bellatrix and Rodolphus left without another word, but they continued to glare harshly at the lot that had just stopped them from having their 'fun'. When they had finally disappeared from sight, Sirius spat in the direction they had just left. James walked up to the shaken boy. He had really blonde hair it looked almost colorless and he was rather small and quite pudgy.

"They're gone, it's alright, and you can stop crying." James said looking down at the boy. The boy stood up, wiped his tears and pretty much hugged James. James was quite taken aback by this but didn't want to exactly push the kid off him. Sirius stood there merely staring at them; he seemed to be enjoying the moment.

"Um… I think you can let go of me…" James said trying to pry the boy off him.

With a final sniff the boy let go, allowing James to breathe again. He was still shaken by whatever Bellatrix and Rodolphus had done to him, but he seemed really thankful to James and Sirius. James on the other hand glanced back at Sirius rather interested.

"You knew them?" James asked.

"Yeah, I knew them. Bellatrix is my cousin." Said Sirius in a disgusted tone. "I wish it weren't so, though. Bad to the core that one, Rodolphus is her partner in crime. Why'd they pick a fight with you anyhow?"

"I—I accidentally ran into them." Said the boy.

"So what's your name?" James asked. The boy seemed really harmless and quite uncomfortable at the moment. "I'm James and this here is Sirius."

"Pleasure." Sirius sighed.

"Well… I'm Peter. Peter Pettigrew."

James found it odd. He had made two friends in one trip in one day! It must have been a record for him because he seemed quite happy with meeting the both of them. James noticed that it was about thirty minutes to eight, but he really wanted to spend time with Peter and Sirius. It would really stink if he only got to talk to them a few times every year in Diagon Alley so he just had to ask them, "Are you two going to Hogwarts?"

"Most definitely." Said Sirius, combing through his hair with his hand.

"Y—yeah." Peter said softly following behind James.

"That's great! I'm going too. What house do you think you'll be in? I'm probably going to be in Gryffindor, me mum and dad were there." James said he was quite ecstatic when he heard they would be going to school with him.

"I'm not sure…" Peter mumbled his head hung to his chest.

"What about you Sirius?"

"Well, almost everyone in my family so far has been in Slytherin." Sirius said in a low voice. "Not that I really want to go there, but if I do, there's nothing I can do."

James and Peter looked at each other, then back at Sirius. It seemed as though, there was much more to learn about Sirius's character and who he really was.

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Cliffy Hangery... I actually don't know how to do cliffhangers, so they kinda suck... Anyways! Please review; give me comments, flames, pointers! Anyone of those is fine cause if I don't I won't post the next chapter ... Till then!