Author's Note: I'm still undecided on whether to continue this story or not, so I'd really appreciate any reviews to let me know if this story line is any good. This is some of the first fanfiction I've written, so please excuse my amateur writing. ALSO: PLEASE NOTE THAT THE UNDERLINED PORTIONS IN THE CHAPTER BELOW DO NOT BELONG TO ME. THEY BELONG TO JK ROWLING, FROM THE FLASHBACK PART OF CHAPTER 33 OF THE DEATHLY HALLOWS.

~VictoryNike

Disclaimer: None of the characters mentioned belong to me. The characters, the Harry Potter Universe, Hogwarts etc. all belong to JK Rowling. Only the plot is mine. However, the underlined portions are JK Rowling's work, from the flashback part of Deathly Hallows, Ch. 33.

Eleven year old James Potter adjusted his round glasses as he took in the sight around him with an exhilarated air. A puffing scarlet train crawling with students stood in front of him. James had been waiting for this moment for as long as he could remember. At last, he would be on his way to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Mom! Geroff me, the train's going to leave!" he whined with embarrassment as his mother kissed him goodbye.

James pretended not to hear his father's warnings not to get into any mischief and muttered a hurried goodbye to his parents before wheeling his suitcase toward the train. He heaved his suitcase onto the train and lugged it through the hallways in search of a place to sit.

"Sorry, Sorry!" he said quickly when he opened a compartment door and found it full of fifth year girls. James closed the door quickly and hurried away. He pulled open another compartment at the end of the car. He found an angular dark-haired boy lounging across the seats on one side of the compartment.

"Mind if I sit here?" James asked him.

The boy shrugged indifferently. James studied the boy. He appeared to be around James' own age, eleven or so, with grey eyes and a haughty look about his face.

There came a sudden sob from the corner, causing James to jump. For the first time, James realized there was another person in the compartment, a girl with thick, dark red hair. She had her face pressed to the window and was huddled in the corner, evidently crying.

"I wouldn't bother talking to her, if I were you," the boy said, in an explanatory tone. "She's been like that for the past ten minutes, she won't say anything at all," he said, glancing at the girl.

"Why," James wondered aloud, "would anyone cry on their way to Hogwarts?"

"Beats me," the boy replied, grinning,

James laughed. The girl seemed to be trying to blend into the wall.

"I'm James by the way, James Potter," he told the boy.

"I'm Sirius. Sirius Black," a shadow seemed to fall across his face as he said the word "Black". James vaguely recognized Black as the surname of a strictly pureblood family.

Just then, they felt a jolt beneath them as the train roared to life. James peered out of the window in time to wave to his parents. He felt slightly chagrined as he caught sight of his father clutching James's broomstick in his other hand as he waved.

James had, in fact, attempted to sneak the broomstick onto the train to Hogwarts. James loved to ride his broom, and was rather good at Quidditch, which he hoped to play on his house team. Unfortunately, first years like himself were not allowed to bring their own broomsticks to Hogwarts, or play on the house team. James, who was never one to follow the rules, had been caught by his father trying to bribe a sixth year Gryffindor to take his broomstick into school for him. His father had confiscated the broomstick, as well as the money James had been using to bribe the sixth year. Now James would have to make do with the slow, cheap school broomsticks. He scowled at the thought.

There was a creak as the compartment door slid open. A skinny boy with repulsively greasy long hair that hung to his shoulders stepped in and sat opposite to the girl, though as far as possible from Sirius. James fiddled with his trunk nonchalantly, his mind still on his Nimbus 1500 broomstick as the greasy haired boy spoke to the girl.

"You'd better be in Slytherin,"he heard the boy say to the girl. James looked around at him, taking in the sallow complexion, the hair that hung in oily curtains around his face.

"Slytherin?" James said, quickly, "Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" he asked Sirius.

"My whole family have been in Slytherin," Sirius said, darkly.

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

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

"'Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!" James exclaimed, hefting an imaginary sword. "like my dad," he added proudly.

The boy made a disparaging noise. James turned to face him. "Got a problem with that?" he asked.

"No," the boy said, sneering slightly, but if you'd rather be brawny than brainy-"

"Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?" Sirius interjected, causing James to roar with laughter.

The girl sat up suddenly, and James noticed she had startlingly green eyes. She looked from James to Sirius with an expression of dislike, her face red from crying.

"Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment." she said to the boy, and they hurried out of the compartment.

"Ooooooooooooo" James and Sirius echoed her words jeeringly. James tried to trip the boy- Severus- as he passed.

"See ya Snivellus!"Sirius yelled as Severus slid the door to the compartment shut.

"Snivellus? I ask you...that was bloody brilliant!" James said, laughing.

"Did you see his hair?" Sirius sniggered.

"He probably rubs it with grease every morning!" James said, erupting into a fit of laughter. At that moment, the compartment door opened once more.

"Oh! Er, hi. Mind if I sit here? Everywhere else is full," the boy who had just entered had evidently expected the compartment to be empty. James nodded. The boy had light brown hair and deep circles under his eyes.

"Who're you?" Sirius asked him as he pushed his trunk onto the racks over their heads.

"I'm Remus Lupin," the boy said quietly, sitting down next to James. "And you are?"

James and Sirius introduced themselves. There came a knock on the compartment door. "Would you like anything from the trolley, dears?" Sirius got up and slid open the door to reveal a plump lady pushing a trolley laden with snacks.

James felt his mouth water. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of Galleons. Remus had already advanced towards the cart and returned to his seat, his arms laden with snacks, predominately chocolate. James felt his eyes widen. "Surely you're not going to eat all that!" he asked Remus.

"Watch me," Remus muttered thickly through a mouthful of chocolate, unwrapping another chocolate frog. James nearly bought out the licorice wands, which he had always been partial to. Sirius didn't bother to buy anything, but simply mooched some candy from Remus's enormous pile whenever he wasn't looking.

Suddenly, James had an idea. "I'll bet you both a Galleon you can't stuff more chocolate frogs in your mouth at once than I can," he told the others, snatching a frog from Remus's stack.

"I'll bet I can!" Sirius replied, stuffing three frogs into his mouth at once.

"I'b gothd more in my mouf than botf of you alreafy," Remus cried, his mouth full, gesturing to a pile of discarded wrappers and cards on the seat beside him.

James grinned. There was nothing he loved like a good competition. "Bring it on!" he said, before madly unwrapping chocolate frogs and stuffing them into his mouth. James had managed to get seven in his mouth before they heard a cry from the corridor outside their compartment. "NOOOOOOO! I didn't take those, I swear!" came a voice.

James shoved open their compartment door and stuck his head into the corridor, wondering what was happening. Others were doing the same up and down the hall.

A fifth year Slytherin had a chubby first year with mousy brown hair by the scruff of the neck. "I think you're lying," the Slytherin was saying to the first year, with a malicious grin "I think you did take my Pumpkin Pasty. And you're gonna have to pay for it,"

"Y-you can have my money," the first year squeaked, pulling a galleon out of his robes, "Take it all! Just p-please d-don't hurt me!"

The Slytherin pulled out his wand. "Confun-"

"Protego!" James yelled, barely conscious of having pulled his own wand out and casting the spell. His shield spell wasn't strong enough to reflect the jinx, but just managed to repel it. The Slytherin dropped the chubby boy and began advancing toward James. James did not move. He simply stood his ground, staring up into the hard, cold grey eyes of the Slytherin. James gripped his wand more tightly, sure the blond Slytherin was going to jinx him, instead the Slytherin stopped.

"Move aside. That little idiot there is none of your business. That wasn't half bad magic for a firstie, though. You'd do well in Slytherin," the Slytherin paused and gave James what he evidently thought was a kind, mentoring smile.

To his surprise, James realized the chubby boy was now cowering behind him. Sirius stood at his side, his hand clenched around the handle of his wand inside his pocket, but did not draw it out. Remus seemed frozen in fear and shock. "No," James said, straightening up, "I will not move. And don't associate me with Slytherin scum like you,"

The Slytherin drew himself up angrily and pulled out his wand. Luckily for James, the trolley lady, who was returning from the end of the train with her now empty food trolley arrived. "Now then, all of you know the rules about magic on the train! Wands away. Now!" she cried. The Slytherin reluctantly pocketed his wand. James slid his wand back into his own pocket warily. "You," she said to the Slytherin,"should be in the Prefect's compartment. The meeting started five minutes ago," For the first time, James noticed the shiny new Prefect's badge pinned to the Slytherin's chest. The Slytherin slunk toward the front of the train, but not before casting James a threatening look over his shoulder. James met his eyes, his expression defiant.

The trolley lady gave James a disapproving look before wheeling her trolley after the Slytherin. The other students retreated back into their compartments as well, giving James appraising looks. One even patted him on the back and congratulated him on taking on a fifth year. James grinned, trying to look as if it wasn't a big deal. He turned back into his compartment, to find the brown haired boy he had just rescued sitting next to Remus. The boy's face broke into a goofy smile. "Oh man, thank you so much! I swear, I nearly died-"

"You weren't going to die, you git, you would just be seriously maimed. What were you thinking, messing with a Slytherin, and Lucius Malfoy on top of that?" Sirius scoffed.

"Lucius Malfoy? That's his name?" James muttered to himself. It was rather fortunate that the only one of his schoolbooks he had bothered to open before tossing them carelessly in his trunk was his Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook. It was even more fortunate that the one spell he had actually read about was the shield charm.

"It was just one pasty, I didn't think he'd notice," the chubby boy said, blushing.

"What's your name?" Remus asked the boy.

"Peter Pettigrew," the boy said, looking around at them. "You took on a fifth year!" he gushed at James. "I can't believe it,"

"Stop being such a ninny, Pete," Sirius said casually.

"Who are you guys?" Peter asked, looking at James and Sirius adoringly.

"James Potter,"

"Sirius Black,"

"Remus Lupin,"

Peter looked from person to person with the same goofy smile stuck on his face. Remus cleared his throat slightly. "Er... I believe we were in the middle of a chocolate frog contest. Peter, you in?"

Peter, it turned out, could stuff a whopping 14 chocolate frogs into his mouth. Not only that, but the boy would try any and every flavor of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. By the time the Hogwarts Express pulled up at the station and they had scrambled into their robes, the four boys had started what they felt was sure to be a very promising friendship.