Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or some of the plot! (unfortunately) Maybe my fanfiction career will give me enough money to buy Harry Potter!
Hazy grey smoke billowed out of the shiny scarlet steam train as Sirius Black numbly walked towards his one-way ticket to freedom. He majestically flipped his hair out of his eyes, just as he'd practised, and strode (with a slight bounce in his step) over to place his luggage on the train. As he was doing so, with uncertainty he glanced around. Expectations had followed him everywhere as a child and now that he was finally a Hogwarts student, young Black had no clue how to make up his mind through the raging battle taking place in his mind.
Sirius's desire to be the odd one out, the white sheep in a black family went hand in hand with wanting good friends, friends he could rely on and trust with his life.
"Sirius Black," Walburga Black screeched at the young first-year, causing many others to jump. "I do not want to hear of you causing trouble for the teachers at the school. You don't want to tarnish the Black name with such undignified trouble making!" It was no surprise many students were afraid of the intimidating Walburga Black, her long blonde hair framed her mean face and added to her incredible height, Sirius often nicknamed her the Tower of Terror.
"Whatever you say, mother," Sirius begrudgingly said, before running off to the train, his robes billowing out behind him.
"Don't take heed on what your disgraceful brother does Reggie," Mrs Black told her youngest child Regulus.
"Don't worry mum, I won't," Regulus said in a quiet voice. He looked up to Sirius, his disobedient yet loyal older brother. Regulus feared he would never have the courage to stand up to his parents and defy them. He knew Sirius was planning to be a Gryffindor instead of Slytherin, and the very thought made his blood run cold.
"He'll never learn, will he?" Regulus asked his cold-hearted mother.
"I'm sure Hogwarts will teach him, if not he is certainly a hopeless case," came the reply as the mother and son watched Sirius bound off, the start of his future, his life.
'Let's hope he makes the right decision.'
Despite having 10 minutes until departure, the Hogwarts express was already near packed full of excited students, so finding a compartment was difficult, but Remus Lupin was not one to give up when problems get in his way. He had dreamed of this day for years, his nights were so often filled with his father's stories of his Hogwarts years, his mother listening with fascination and yearning. Shaking his brown flecked blonde hair out of his green, sparkling eyes he used his supernatural senses to find the right compartment. Laughter sounded from a cabin three doors down, coming from a student in the younger years of Hogwarts. Remus hesitantly knocked on the door, he realised when Professor Dumbledore came that he needed to choose his friends carefully. All because of it… It was ruining his life.
"Hi, may I join you?" Remus nearly stuttered, he caught himself just in time. He looked on to see a boy with black, messy hair and glasses nod and another boy with blue-grey eyes and long black hair move over. Remus grinned, they were both first years. "Remus Lupin," he held out his hand to the boy next to him. The boy look amused at the formality before accepting.
"Sirius Black"
"James Potter," came the reply when the other boy shook his hand. Suddenly he grinned, a grin full of mischief, "We seem pretty formal, how about a game of Exploding Snap to cheer up the mood?" He pulled out a deck of slightly smoking cards and spread them out on the table in front. "We'll have to play Patience; I don't know the others."
"Sweet!" Sirius enthused, but then they both looked at Remus with a frown as he spoke.
"Umm… Exploding Snap?" Remus flushed under their stare, "My Mum's a muggle and Dad doesn't play too many wizard games."
"It's alright mate, we'll teach you," Sirius smiled as he spoke, glad to have something to offer his new friend.
Just then the Trolley Witch came to the door with the cart full of Honey duke snacks. A round boy with mousy blonde hair and watery blue eyes bought a slab of chocolate, one of the biggest on the cart. Sirius and James jumped up immediately, ready to buy as much as their arms could carry but stopped when they saw Remus continue to stare out the window.
"You coming Rem?" James asked him, wondering if he felt well.
"No, I have no money on me," Remus replied, going a deep shade of red, "Plus… I don't know what most of the foods are."
James and Sirius opened their mouths in horror and the round boy stared in disbelief, "You don't know these?" Sirius turned to the trolley witch and bought four of everything, inviting the other boy, whose name was Peter, to join them.
"Oh, you didn't have to," Remus said, again turning red. 'Damnit, this stupid blush!' he thought, wondering if his head was going to explode in embarrassment.
"Nonsense! We can't have a fellow firstie missing out on the treats of the trolley!" Sirius exclaimed, looking high and mighty. Seeing Remus chuckle, the three boys began pressing all types of sweets towards him, and they enjoyed watching Remus's face as they made him eat a Urine flavoured Bertie and Bott's.
Peter believed that not knowing about Fizzing Whizzbees, Sugar Quills or the amazing Honeydukes chocolate was close to a crime, and Lupin seemed a bit shaggy and ill, so seeing him enjoying himself as Potter and Black fed him sweets after sweets. Seeing this scene made him smile, but something about it puzzled young Pettigrew. The eldest and probably the most powerful heir to The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black doesn't just hang around Half-Blood's and Blood Traitors.
Peter wanted to find out why Sirius was betraying his family customs.
"Hey, guys, which house do you hope to be in?" He asked them all, hoping this would clear it up.
"Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart," James announced with a grin, causing Sirius to whack him.
"Prat! That's exactly what you said earlier to Evans," he said, earning strange glances from Remus and Peter. They briefly explained of their meeting with Lily Evans and Severus Snape. "Anyway, the only house I don't want to be in is Slytherin," Sirius stated. Peter started, so he was defying his family!
"Really? Aren't all the blacks in Slytherin?" Peter asked cautiously, not wanting to upset a pure-blood. Sirius pulled a face and James grew a dark look on his face.
"Yes, but I'm not all Blacks," Sirius replied calmly, it seemed he was expecting the question and had the answer prepared. A grin, "Anyway, who would want to be a slimy snake?"
James had had doubts the second he laid eyes on Sirius Black, after all, his family weren't exactly rainbow enthusiasts, they had delved further into the Dark Arts than many families James had ever seen or heard of. The Black family was known for 'activities' known as Muggle Hunting, Muggle Baiting and, well, anything to do with discriminating Muggles. As humans with no magical abilities, Pure-bloods often targeted the innocents, thinking them less worthy.
"Anywhere but Slytherin,"
James was shocked that a Black felt so much negative emotion towards Slytherin, but knew at that moment that he was different to the rest. The warmness in his blue-grey eyes and the kindness and loyalty he had shown already was stupendous.
Remus was fine, a good chap and had Gryffindor written all over him, even if he didn't see it. Sirius the same, James knew they would be best friends, though he knew that Sirius would, at some stage, need a haircut. There were two problems. The first, Peter didn't seem as friendly as his first appearance. This could be an issue, Pranks turned nasty were not what he needed. The second, all his Pure-blood training as a child had taught him to see through lies. Though Remus had told no lies, he was certainly keeping a big secret.
Putting aside their differences, James decided that this year, and the next seven, were going to be the best of his life if the people in his compartment were his roommates and friends. Best friends.
Hi, guys! This isn't my first Fanfiction, I deleted my others when I decided to discontinue them, so if you've seen me writing before, don't forget to mention it! Please, if you have any comments, feel free to review. When I say feel free, I mean PLEASE review your opinion!
By the way, I doubt any other chapters I write will have the P.O.V (point of view) of all the marauders, so if you weren't a fan of that don't worry.
IMPORTANT: The next chapter won't come until late this week, early this week, so please don't expect chapters 2 days in a row, even if this chapter is really short. I'm going to be putting a lot of effort into this story so I hope you enjoy!