The first thing James Potter noticed about Lily Evans was her laugh.
Like the sound of tinkling bells it drifted, a summer breeze swirling through the thick steam emitted by the Hogwarts Express onto platform 9¾. James didn't pay much attention to it at the time- he was too busy walloping Sirius over the head for calling him a girl- but he noticed it all the same. Of course, James didn't know who the laughter belonged to then and there; it was simply a sound he caught through the midst of the chatterings of excited students, the hoots of their owls and the worries of their tearful mothers.
In fact, his very own tearful mother seemed to be trying to smother him that minute.
"Now Jamie, promise me you'll be a good boy at school won't you? Follow the rules, do your homework, I don't want to hear any of this pranking nonsense, you hear me?" Elizabeth Potter said this all very quickly, crushing James in a tight embrace he struggled to free himself from.
"Alright, alright, calm down mum, I'll be fine!" James assured his mother, "No pranking, okay? And yes, I will write every week, and yes I will miss you." Sirius smirked at him from his seemingly safe position next to James' father. James shot his best friend a look that plainly said 'don't you dare say a word Sirius Black'. He was pleased however, when his mum let go go him and moved over to an alarmed Sirius with a "Oh come here you!" James took the opportunity to speak to his father, who was watching the scene with an amused expression.
"She's just exited you know," Harold explained fondly, "she'll miss you both, yes, but really, she just knows you'll have a great time. I do too. Me and your mother, we'll be proud whatever happens. Just don't do anything too stupid, your mother will have kittens and I'll somehow get the blame," Mr Potter's brow creased slightly at this thought, and James chuckled. His dad bent down to give him a hug, and as he did so, whispered in James' ear, "take the door to the right of the main staircase in the entrance hall, and follow the corridor until you come to the painting of a bowl of fruit. Tickle the pear, and it'll turn into door handle- go through." Straightening up, Harold smiled knowingly at his son and said, "you can thank me later James." James smiled back.
He turned to grab his trunk, so excited he could hardly contain himself. Although he was- dare he say it?- a little apprehensive too. No, he thought. James Potter doesn't get scared of going to school. The feeling was pushed to the back of his mind.
"Alright?" Inquired Sirius, who had come to take his trunk. "I can't wait! Been waiting for this for so long... I- you don't think I'll end up in Slytherin do you?" James looked at his best friend, his brother, in astonishment for a second, before replying,
"I don't think you will, I just think you need to think so too..." Sirius frowned, working over what James had said. "You're not like them, Sirius," James added softly. Sirius jerked his head up to look at him. "Only if you chose to be." "Yeah..." Sirius agreed, still looking a little unsure, "yeah, I suppose you're right." He took a deep breath, plastered a smile on his face and cried, "Well, let's go then!"
After James and Sirius had allowed Mrs Potter to give them numerous kisses, hugs, and food stuffs, there was just enough time to board the train, and wave out of the window as it moved away. The two eleven year old boys pulled their heads back inside the train, looked at each other and grinned, eyes sparkling.
The the chatter started up again as old friends caught up, talking and laughing, beginning to find compartments to settle down in. New students looked slightly at a loss for what to do, taking in their surrounding carefully before making any decisions.
"C'mon," said James, "let's go and grab compartment, before they're all taken and we have to sit next to some God awful Slytherins." Sirius agreed heartily, and with that, the boys grabbed their trunks and eagerly started to lug them along the carriages. James' mind wandered as he thought blissfully about having a whole new school to explore, a whole new set of pranks to pull, and a whole new gang of friends to make- nothing was going to get in his way.
Except maybe, possibly, a small girl with fiery red hair and vivid green eyes.
And James was brought painfully back down to earth.