A/N: This is my first Fanfiction so no flames please. I should be posting a chapter every other day, unless something crops up. Please review with some constructive criticism. Also, sorry if it's a bit long or a bit short or I go into too much or too little detail. I'm not so good at this D:

Warning: Contains mild-strong language, child abuse and slash (SB/RL)

Rating: M

Nightmares Can Fill The Mind With Hope.

Chapter One

He felt the rumbling of the train behind him. His fingers curled around the handle of his large oak trunk anxiously. He bit his lip unknowingly whilst his grey eyes searched the crowd. He couldn't see them. He looked at the enourmous clock, it was only 10:45. Just as his eyes flicked back to the crowd, a familar face was just coming through the wall. He smiled broadly, his heart stopped beating fast and he let go of his trunk. The familar face was running towards him, leaving his trolley behind for his mother to bring. Arms wide open he embraced him in an effectionate hug.

"Sirius! It's been too long, mate." The familiar face spoke out. His hazel eyes sparkled behind the circular rim of his glasses as he leaned back to get a closer look of Sirius. He was just about the same as before they last saw each other. He still had his raven coloured hair that rested just above his shoulders. He was still rather short and hadn't put on any weight over summer.

"I know, did you see Remus or Peter on your way through?" Sirius asked. His eyes switched from James to the crowd then back at James, awaiting his reply. Sirius noted that James seemed to have grown. He was now taller than Sirius and more muscular too. Sirius frowned when he realised that James was probably going to beat him in their next play fight.

"Not that I can recall. How long have you been here?" James looked around for anyone that looked remotely like Sirius, that could be his parents. James had never seen Sirius' parents before and Sirius very rarely spoke of them. All James knew was that they were pure-bloods and hated anyone other. He had only seen Regulas Black, Sirius' brother, once when he was getting sorted into the Slytherin house. Other than that, he had never seen Sirius' family before.

"Only about 5 minutes... Oh there's Remus and Peter now" Sirius tilted his body slightly so that he was on one foot, stretching to see his friends soon approaching. Remus gave a slight nod and a smile, whilst Peter was simply looking at the floor whilst he walked, a slight depressed atmosphere surrounded him. James' mother came over and kissed him on the cheek, wishing him luck for the year and saying her farewells. She soon left James' trolley by him and moved over to where she was before, standing with James' father. His father nodded at him and smiled his perfect smile.

As Remus and Peter drew ever closer, Sirius noticed Remus had gotten skinner over summer. Was this possible? Remus was already the thinnest out of the four of them. He was also the tallest and smartest. James had already started lifting his belongings and putting them on the train. As soon as the other two had approached them they embraced each other in a hug before getting onto the train to find an empty compartment. Once they had found a suitable one towards the back of the train, the four of them sat down and looked at one another.

"Peter... What happened to your face?" James frowned as he noticed 3 large cuts going down his face and a number of bruises on his neck. Sirius and Remus both glanced over at Peter, awaiting his reply. The cuts looked painful and quite deep, though it was quite hard to tell as Peter tried to cover it.

"Oh.. erm.. I fell over and I tried to heal the bruise on my face, but you know what I'm like with spells..." He laughed awkwardly then looked out of the window. Ignoring the conversation that continued.

James, Sirius and Remus all looked at each other in doubt. They knew Peter was clumsy and they knew he was truly terrible at spells but there was something he was hiding. Something that he didn't want to tell the other Marauders. They decided to leave it for another time, now clearly wasn't a good one.

"I cannot wait for Quidditch this year. Gryffindor are a shoo'in to win! I've already been figuring out positions and possible candiates." Smirked James as he looked proudly towards Sirius. They both knew that he was going to be Quidditch captain this year. In fact, pretty much everyone at Hogwarts knew. James was amazing at Quidditch, he'd been practising ever since his father had got him a Nimbus 500 for his 8th birthday. He was going to be a chaser. Remus shook his head and smiled lightly, chuckling silently at James' boasting. He reached into a small dufflebag and took out "The History of Magic". Opening the book to where he had last closed it, and continued from where he left off. James and Sirius both snorted a "nerd" comment before facing each other. James had a look of admiration and lust in his eyes.

"You're thinking about Evans again aren't you?" Sirius asked rhetorically. Of course he was thinking about Lily Evans, he had not stopped since they were in their first year. James nodded and smiled his cheesy grin, before reaching up and ruffling his hair, making it look messier. That was his signiture look. It made him look more handsome according to some fourth year girls. Before long he stood up and his face changed to that of determination. "I'm going to ask her out." James declared. Remus looked up from his book and, in unison with Sirius, groaned. "You've asked her out like a billion times! What makes you think she's going to say yes this time?". Sirius ached. James just laughed before sliding the carriage door and wandering off to find Lily.

"He'll never learn" Remus sighed before looking at Sirius with familar eyes. They both knew what they meant. They were that of "I've missed you" eyes. Sirius half-smiled before looking over at Peter who was now fast asleep, snoring quite quietly. Sirius moved over to where Remus sat and wrapped his arm around him. "We have to tell them sooner or later y'know". Remus sighed, of course he knew. But he didn't want to be even more of an outcast, first being a werewolf, and now being a gay werewolf. He looked down and nodded once before resting his head on Sirius' shoulder. They stayed like that for some time before they heard a loud 'bang'. Sirius jumped over to where he was sat before and watched as James came back, black all over his face and his hair standing up in every direction. His glasses were cracked.

"Blimey! Didn't know she hated you that much!" Sirius joked, not resisting a chuckle from his lips. James gave Sirius a look of death before sitting down and looking to Remus. "Fix it please". Remus giggled before placing his book down and getting out his wand. Pointing it to James' glasses, Remus quietly says the word 'Reparo' and a small beam of light comes from his wand and hits James' glasses, the crack in them disappearing. Once he had done that he pointed the wand to James' face and says the word 'Scourgify', the black dust disappearing from his face. He placed his wand back in his pocket before smiling at his work. "Thanks mate" James responded, before trying to fix his hair. "So what exactly happened?" Sirius questioned. "I'd rather not tell" James answered, laughing awkwardly.

"We should put our robes on... We're near Hogwarts" and with that, they woke Peter and the four of them got out their Gryffindor robes and placed them on. Getting ready for the year ahead.