Foreword - The Marauders

(Disclaimer: The passage which is, for the most part, in italics, belongs purely to JK Rowling. As does her world, I'm just messing with it.)

James Potter sat on the soft couch of the compartment, his feet tapping on the ground nervously. He wasn't used to this, even at the age of 11; he'd always had a confidence about him, a sense of calm. The unruly haired boy ran his fingers through his jet-black mane, pushing his glasses a little further up his nose and glancing out the window.

From a few meters away, he saw his doting mother and aging father, waving faithfully besides one another. Jack and Evelyn Potter were older than most parents of children James' age, and with just one kid, it was no easy task on their part to send him away to boarding school. Evelyn gave her son a soft wink as the clock hit 11am and the old red steam train began to pull out of the platform.

James took one last look at the photograph his mum had handed him mere minutes ago, of herself and his father, dancing around the Hogwarts courtyard in the snow. His dad looked just like he did, only older. His mum, on the other hand, stood out in the picture, her red hair glowing against the soft white snow in the background, James tucked the photo into his pocket and grinned – this would be a good year, he could feel it.

As if on cue, a slim boy with unnaturally grey eyes entered the compartment.

"Mind if I sit down?" he asked James tentatively. The latter boy nodded, gesturing to the seat before him. "I'm Sirius," he grinned. "Sirius Black."

"Well I'm rather light hearted for the most part, but my names James Potter." The two boys laughed at the pun on Sirius' name, and James could tell they would be good friends. As they got to know one another and talked about their excitement to finally go to Hogwarts, and they barely noticed the two people who were now also in the compartment, catching only a name - Snape. The two pairs continued their respective conversations until—

"You'd better be in Slytherin," A pale, greasy haired boy commented to the girl sitting about a meter from James.

"Slytherin?" the bespectacled boy commented. "Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" Sirius did not smile.

"My whole family have been in Slytherin," he said.

"Blimey," said James, "and I thought you seemed all right!"

Sirius grinned.

"Maybe I'll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"

James lifted an invisible sword.

"Gryffindor! Where dwell the brave at heart! Like my dad."

Snape made a small, disparaging noise. James turned on him.

"Got a problem with that?"

"No," said Snape, though his slight sneer said otherwise. "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy –"

"Where are you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?" interjected Sirius.

James roared with laughter. Lily sat up, rather flushed, and looked from James to Sirius in dislike.

"Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment."

"Oooooo…." James and Sirius laughed again, imitating her lofty voice; James tried to trip Snape as he passed.

"See ya, Snivellus!" Sirius called, but they were gone.

"Snivellus?" James asked the other boy, grinning. "That's bloody brilliant, how'd you come up with that?"

"Dunno," Sirius laughed. "My uncle – the only one I like, funnily enough, and even he was a Slytherin, always called me his little bandit, his favourite little marauder. I've always just had a talent for this stuff I suppose."

"Marauder…I like that!" James laughed. "You'll be in Gryffindor with me, I just know it! I know it. We'll be the Marauders of Gryffindor," he added, beaming.

"Sorry!" a new voice chirped from the open door. "Mind if I sit down?" the boy asked nervously. James glanced at him and was suddenly overcome with pity. He had three deep scratches across his cheek, one of them cutting into his upper lip, and his clothes were ragged and torn. He looked poor – something that was made certain when he lugged his makeshift trunk into the compartment behind him and hoisted it up onto the luggage rack.

"I'm James Potter," James said, offering his hand. "And this is Sirius Black. We were just talking about where we wanted to go when we get to Hogwarts. We're going to be in Gryffindor, where do you reckon you'll be?"

"Remus Lupin," the other boy introduced himself. "And I reckon I'll be in Hufflepuff," he muttered unexcitedly.

"Don't be silly, no one actually reckons they'll end up in Hufflepuff. You seem brave enough, must be with all those scars. Do you live in like a warzone or something?" Sirius asked excitedly.

"Yeah," Remus mumbled. "Something like that." Suddenly, the compartment door slammed open, a young boy flung himself in, and closed it again. Sirius snickered – the boy was short and chubby, and at the moment, didn't seem to be wearing any pants.

"Sorry!" he panted, scared. "Some girl hexed my pants off me as a joke and sent me flying through the corridor!"

"Did you catch her name?" James asked, a little angrily. It was the poor kids first day – what kind of student would do that?

"Said her name was Bellatrix and that I'd do well to steer clear of her…"

Sirius fidgeted uncomfortably.

"Do you know her?" Remus asked knowingly.

"Yeah…she's my cousin, and she was right about the bit of steering clear of her. Don't worry about it…"

"Peter," the chubby boy offered. "Peter Pettigrew."

"Yeah, don't worry about it Peter. You can hang out with us, we'll protect you."

"Really?" the pant-less boy asked nervously.

"Yeah, course," James finished for his new friend. "We'll be the new brotherhood around here. We've already got a name, too."

"The Marauders." He and Sirius whispered in unison.

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