The Marauders Tale: Year 1
Disclaimer: This stuff all belongs the J.K. Rowling and I'm just playing with her characters and storyline. No sueing, please, but I'd like some reviews.
A long lanky boy stood, nearly trembling in anticipation, outside the Platform 9 and 3/4 at King's Cross. Tall, though only eleven, his inky hair cascaded under his wire-rimmed glasses into his hazel eyes as he eagerly watched the brick wall opposite him.
Seeing no one around, he began to run toward the wall, pushing a heavy trunk with all of his might. One of the closest guards glanced at him for a moment, as though wondering exactly what a young boy could be doing racing toward a solid wall, then decided he didn't really want to know and looked away, eyes falling instead upon a small group of men with suspiciously bulging overcoats.
Had he continued to watch the boy with the trunk, the guard would've seen something to confuse him magnificently. Instead of stopping just before he ran smack into the wall, the dark-haired boy slid through it. He came out unscathed on the other side, eyes wide as if he could not believe what he had just accomplished.
Looking around, he eyed the mass of people around him. There were over a hundred groups and families and nearly all the children were pushing trolleys much like his own. He smiled as a young woman with wavy blonde hair rushed past him, chasing a ginger cat and yelling, "Sweetie, come back! We're going to be late!"
The smiled faded as someone slammed into him from behind, knocking him off his feet so that he landed in a heap on the concrete.
The boy looked up, rubbing his elbow. A young man about his age stood over him, midnight-black hair falling into his blue eyes. The other boy's mouth was stretched into something oddly like a smirk, though he was clearly embarrassed about running into another person.
He reached down, saying quickly, "Sorry `bout that, mate. I couldn't see where I was going, it's only my first year. I'm Sirius Black."
Brushing at the knees of his jeans, the first boy smiled grimly. "It's okay. I probably should've moved further away from the gate." He extended a scraped hand, offering, "James Potter," as the new boy accepted the greeting with a firm handshake and a nod.
Sirius glanced toward the scarlet train taking up most of the platform as it gave a strangely owl-like whistle. He jerked his head toward it as James slowly set his trolley upright and asked, "So, on the train then?"
James shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. I've never done this before either."
The two sprinted toward one of the doors and slipped into a nearly empty compartment where they stowed their trunks away and nervously took their seats across from one another. James found himself sitting next to the only other occupant of the compartment, a young man with light brown hair and a serious face. The boy's face was buried in a thick book and he didn't look up.
Sirius stretched in his seat and looked out the window. "Where's your folks, then?" he asked and James jumped.
"They're...busy," he muttered, the reason for his nerves returning to him. "Dad had to be at the Ministry and Mum was off with my little sister..."
Sirius gave an evil grin. "You've got a sister? Tough luck, mate. My family's a nightmare, but at least I'm an only child." He chuckled as though James' predicament was a source of great amusement for him.
James kept his eyes down, not certain why Sirius seemed to already be so comfortable with him. His stomach gave an interesting lurch as the train gave another loud hoot and began to roll out of the station. Out the window, he could see people waving cheerily to their children and younger kids giving large sighs at not being sent off to school.
Only now that the train was moving did the sandy haired boy look up from his book. He noticed for the first time that he had company and set the text aside, shifting uncomfortably in his seat as he tried to inspect the other two without staring rudely.
Sirius saved him the trouble of making the first move by reaching over an cheerfully punching the young man's arm. "Are you new too, then?" he asked, grinning as though without a care in the world.
The quiet boy frowned and rubbed his newly bruised arm. "Yeah," he replied in a soft voice. "First year."
"What's your name?" Sirius prompted and the boy winced, clearly expecting another sock on the arm.
"Lupin," he muttered. "Remus Lupin." His hand crept toward his book again, but Sirius seemed bent on making friends and he slapped the thick volume away.
He leaned forward, still giving that devil-may-care grin. "So. Do you guys like pranks?"
James' ears pricked up. Back in his younger years, when he'd been only five or six, his dad had filled him with stories of his own days at Hogwarts, the school James and the others were even now riding towards. The man had evidently been quite the trouble-maker, always fooling around with his best friends and wreaking havoc all over the castle. Ever since then, James himself had looked forward to the days where he would have his own band of friends and could become the legend that Marcus Potter had been.
Not saying any of this aloud, he simply nodded and leaned forward in his seat. Lupin, though looking cautious, stopped reaching for his book and let his curious amber eyes burn freely into Sirius' open handsome face.
Happy with the sudden attention, Sirius seemed to poof up a bit. "You do then. Like causing trouble, I mean."
Lupin's face hardened a bit. "I'm not one for that, no."
"Aw, come on! Don't be a worry goblin," Sirius admonished. "We won't get into lot's of trouble, just play a harmless joke now and again."
James laughed. "I'm in."
"All right!" Sirius reached up for a high five, still smiling. He turned his gaze on Lupin. "How about you?"
"Come on," James urged. "It'll be fun!"
The boy sighed and thought for another moment, before letting a wary smile cross his face. "Okay. I'm in too."
Sirius let out a whoop and James slapped his new friend on the back, brown eyes gleaming devilishly. Lupin scooted back in his seat a bit, warning, "But not too much trouble. I don't think my dad would fancy it if I was expelled in my first year."
"We wouldn't fancy it either," James assured him happily. "We won't do anything too drastic..."
Lupin sighed in relief and then looked toward the door as if hearing something they couldn't. "I think someone's coming," he said in his usual soft voice. Sure enough, an old woman bustled in through the door of the compartment, pushing a tray laden in snacks ahead of her.
"Something off the cart?" she asked them in a bored voice.
Lupin seemed to shrink down further in his seat. "No thanks. I've got...stuff..." He refused to meet Sirius' eye.
The other boy, however, dug deeply in his pockets and pulled out a handful of gold Galleons, silver Sickles, and bronze Knuts. Handing them to the wizened woman with a flourish, he began to scoop handfuls of the candy off the cart and onto James and Lupin's laps. Grabbing some for himself, he waved the woman off with another bright grin.
"Dig in," he told them happily, unwrapping a Chocolate Frog and watching it hop in his lap with great amusement until it seemed to lose all energy. He popped it into his mouth and chewed it, making loud smacking sounds of ecstasy.
James wrenched open a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans and popped a handful in his mouth. He immeadiatly regretted it and made a face as spinach mixed with carmel, chocolate and tripe.
Sirius, looking up from his Famous Witch Card, burst into hysterical laughter as James whipped out his wand, scraped it over his tongue, and wondered desperatly what good learning to be a wizard would be if he couldn't even remove disgusting tastes from his mouth.
Lupin rolled his eyes as he bit into a rolled slice of ham. Sirius cocked his head at the other boy.
"Why don't you try one of these?" he asked, tossing a Frog at Lupin's face.
The quieter young man shrugged it off. "It's your's. It's not my place to take..."
"Oh, stuff it," Sirius snapped impatiently. "Just try it, I'm not worried. Lord knows my disgusting family is rolling in enough Galleons to pay for that and billions more, so just eat the bloody thing!"
Lupin shrank down in his seat again, but obediently unwrapped the sweet and stuffed it uneasily into his mouth. Then, obviously too afraid of getting another sweet forced down his throat by the somewhat frightening Sirius, dove for his book again and didn't lift his head again until a tall boy wearing a badge and black robes stumbled through the door.
"Robes on," he barked, gripping the door frame to keep from falling on his face. "We're nearing the school."
The younger boys nodded and he turned on his heel and staggered out.
Sirius leapt for his trunk and tugged his black Hogwarts robes out with another cheerful war whoop. "We're almost there mates! Soon our reign of terror will begin!" He gave a mad cackle and Lupin frowned.
"Sirius," he warned, pulling a rather shabby, second-hand set of robes over his head. "We're not doing a lot of damage, okay?"
"Maybe you're not," Sirius shot back, straightening his robes excitedly. "Jamesey and I'll just have to do it ourselves if you decide to cop out on us."
James shrugged into his own robes and smiled at Lupin. "Don't worry. I'm sure that between the two of us, we can keep this joker in line."
Lupin managed another meek smile. "Right."
The train let out a high whistle and jerked to such a sudden stop that the three boys were sent flying into their seats. James bashed his head against the window and Sirius somehow ended up upside down with his head bumping against the floor.
"Ow..." James muttered, gripping his wounded head as he staggered to his feet. "They couldn't have warned us about that?"
"Woulda made it all the less fun," Sirius said optimisticlly, the blood still rushing to his face.
Lupin pressed his face against a window and announced, "Everyone's leaving the train. We'd better go too or we'll end up lost..."
"Worry goblin," Sirius said charismatically, climbing off the bench and heading for the door. "We'd never get lost. Don't you know who the headmaster is here?"
"Of course," Lupin replied frostily. "Albus Dumbledore is the only reason I'm able to come to Hogwarts at all."
"Why?" James asked. "Are you a muggle-born?"
"No." Lupin shook his head hard, as though wishing he had never said that at all.
"Why then?" Sirius demanded, half-way out the door already.
"Never mind." Lupin continued to shake his head from side to side as he pushed past Sirius and slipped out the join the crowds. With confused shrugs, the other two followed him.
A tall, disturbingly hairy man waited for them outside, yelling, "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!"
He looked down at a small red-headed boy. "Are yeh alrigh'?"
Instead of answering, the boy doubled over a retched. The large man patted his back.
"Ah, well...better get yeh to th' nurse, eh?" he said with a shrug. Then, straightening up, he called in a loud booming voice, "Got all the firs' years? Good, good. Name's Hagrid, for those o' yeh who don' know. Gameskeeper for Hogwarts. I'll be takin' yeh up to th' castle now, so if yeh'll follow me, please..."
He wasn't difficult to follow, James was happy to see as the man led them toward the glistening lake where small wooden boats waited almost patiently.
"Right yeh go, four to a boat now," Hagrid said pleasently. "In yeh go, in yeh go there...got everyone? Good. Off we are, then!"
At his words, the boats began to move at a swift, comfortable pace. Sirius, beside James in a boat, bounced a bit and Lupin, across from them, looked around in wonder at the castle before them.
Soon enough, they had gone the length of the lake and the boats had stopped for them to get out. One boy took so long in leaving, James noted with some sense of glee, that the boat simply tipped and the boy was tossed ashore.
Hagrid led them up to the castle doors and left them there, announcing, "Yeh'll jus' hafta wait here then. Professor McGonagall should be wit' yeh shortly..."
And then he was gone, leaving the mass of students shiftng uncomfortably. Lupin was still looking around and Sirius was still bouncing but James' eyes had fallen on the fuss going on in one corner.
A boy, short, chubby, and blonde-haired, was being tormented by several taller boys, one of whom had long dark hair that looked like it hadn't been washed in ages. As James watched, the dark boy glared at the boy and snarled something that sounded like, "I don't like being followed," before shoving one of the other boys out of his way with his shoulder, making it clear that he wasn't friends with them either.
Those boys didn't seem to care. One of then reached out and flicked the short round boy's nose.
By now, most of the hall had begun to talk in loud, nervous tones. Sirius and Lupin had taken note of the boy's woes and Sirius was urging the others forward with him.
As the tallest of the boys reared back a meaty fist, Sirius tapped him pleasently ont eh shoulder, He whirled around angrily and set his glaring eyes on Sirius, who waved.
"Hi mate," he said in greeting before driving a fist into the bigger boy's mouth.
The brute wailed in pain and glared even more hatefully at the one who had defied him. His friends pounced on Sirius and before James knew it, he was in the fray too, trying to tug one of the boys off Sirius' back. Lupin, too, was fighting, mostly defending himself, and James found himself wondering if the boy would be squashed or if he'd actually manage to continue handling himself.
Before he could wonder too long, the boys were forced apart by invisible hands. Sirius was hoisted off his feet and James was pressed back into a wall. Lupin, who had lowered his fists, merely slid back several inches.
A severe woman wearing a tall black hat and green robes strode forward. "Not fighting, are we?" she asked sternly. They shook their heads mutely and she gave a curt nod. "Good, because if you were, you know that you'd recieve automatic detentions and possible expulsion?" She raised her thin eyebrows as they nodded again. "Good. Now, if I may, I'd like to welcome you all to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
"If you'll follow me, we can get the Sorting underway."
Disclaimer: This stuff all belongs the J.K. Rowling and I'm just playing with her characters and storyline. No sueing, please, but I'd like some reviews.
A long lanky boy stood, nearly trembling in anticipation, outside the Platform 9 and 3/4 at King's Cross. Tall, though only eleven, his inky hair cascaded under his wire-rimmed glasses into his hazel eyes as he eagerly watched the brick wall opposite him.
Seeing no one around, he began to run toward the wall, pushing a heavy trunk with all of his might. One of the closest guards glanced at him for a moment, as though wondering exactly what a young boy could be doing racing toward a solid wall, then decided he didn't really want to know and looked away, eyes falling instead upon a small group of men with suspiciously bulging overcoats.
Had he continued to watch the boy with the trunk, the guard would've seen something to confuse him magnificently. Instead of stopping just before he ran smack into the wall, the dark-haired boy slid through it. He came out unscathed on the other side, eyes wide as if he could not believe what he had just accomplished.
Looking around, he eyed the mass of people around him. There were over a hundred groups and families and nearly all the children were pushing trolleys much like his own. He smiled as a young woman with wavy blonde hair rushed past him, chasing a ginger cat and yelling, "Sweetie, come back! We're going to be late!"
The smiled faded as someone slammed into him from behind, knocking him off his feet so that he landed in a heap on the concrete.
The boy looked up, rubbing his elbow. A young man about his age stood over him, midnight-black hair falling into his blue eyes. The other boy's mouth was stretched into something oddly like a smirk, though he was clearly embarrassed about running into another person.
He reached down, saying quickly, "Sorry `bout that, mate. I couldn't see where I was going, it's only my first year. I'm Sirius Black."
Brushing at the knees of his jeans, the first boy smiled grimly. "It's okay. I probably should've moved further away from the gate." He extended a scraped hand, offering, "James Potter," as the new boy accepted the greeting with a firm handshake and a nod.
Sirius glanced toward the scarlet train taking up most of the platform as it gave a strangely owl-like whistle. He jerked his head toward it as James slowly set his trolley upright and asked, "So, on the train then?"
James shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. I've never done this before either."
The two sprinted toward one of the doors and slipped into a nearly empty compartment where they stowed their trunks away and nervously took their seats across from one another. James found himself sitting next to the only other occupant of the compartment, a young man with light brown hair and a serious face. The boy's face was buried in a thick book and he didn't look up.
Sirius stretched in his seat and looked out the window. "Where's your folks, then?" he asked and James jumped.
"They're...busy," he muttered, the reason for his nerves returning to him. "Dad had to be at the Ministry and Mum was off with my little sister..."
Sirius gave an evil grin. "You've got a sister? Tough luck, mate. My family's a nightmare, but at least I'm an only child." He chuckled as though James' predicament was a source of great amusement for him.
James kept his eyes down, not certain why Sirius seemed to already be so comfortable with him. His stomach gave an interesting lurch as the train gave another loud hoot and began to roll out of the station. Out the window, he could see people waving cheerily to their children and younger kids giving large sighs at not being sent off to school.
Only now that the train was moving did the sandy haired boy look up from his book. He noticed for the first time that he had company and set the text aside, shifting uncomfortably in his seat as he tried to inspect the other two without staring rudely.
Sirius saved him the trouble of making the first move by reaching over an cheerfully punching the young man's arm. "Are you new too, then?" he asked, grinning as though without a care in the world.
The quiet boy frowned and rubbed his newly bruised arm. "Yeah," he replied in a soft voice. "First year."
"What's your name?" Sirius prompted and the boy winced, clearly expecting another sock on the arm.
"Lupin," he muttered. "Remus Lupin." His hand crept toward his book again, but Sirius seemed bent on making friends and he slapped the thick volume away.
He leaned forward, still giving that devil-may-care grin. "So. Do you guys like pranks?"
James' ears pricked up. Back in his younger years, when he'd been only five or six, his dad had filled him with stories of his own days at Hogwarts, the school James and the others were even now riding towards. The man had evidently been quite the trouble-maker, always fooling around with his best friends and wreaking havoc all over the castle. Ever since then, James himself had looked forward to the days where he would have his own band of friends and could become the legend that Marcus Potter had been.
Not saying any of this aloud, he simply nodded and leaned forward in his seat. Lupin, though looking cautious, stopped reaching for his book and let his curious amber eyes burn freely into Sirius' open handsome face.
Happy with the sudden attention, Sirius seemed to poof up a bit. "You do then. Like causing trouble, I mean."
Lupin's face hardened a bit. "I'm not one for that, no."
"Aw, come on! Don't be a worry goblin," Sirius admonished. "We won't get into lot's of trouble, just play a harmless joke now and again."
James laughed. "I'm in."
"All right!" Sirius reached up for a high five, still smiling. He turned his gaze on Lupin. "How about you?"
"Come on," James urged. "It'll be fun!"
The boy sighed and thought for another moment, before letting a wary smile cross his face. "Okay. I'm in too."
Sirius let out a whoop and James slapped his new friend on the back, brown eyes gleaming devilishly. Lupin scooted back in his seat a bit, warning, "But not too much trouble. I don't think my dad would fancy it if I was expelled in my first year."
"We wouldn't fancy it either," James assured him happily. "We won't do anything too drastic..."
Lupin sighed in relief and then looked toward the door as if hearing something they couldn't. "I think someone's coming," he said in his usual soft voice. Sure enough, an old woman bustled in through the door of the compartment, pushing a tray laden in snacks ahead of her.
"Something off the cart?" she asked them in a bored voice.
Lupin seemed to shrink down further in his seat. "No thanks. I've got...stuff..." He refused to meet Sirius' eye.
The other boy, however, dug deeply in his pockets and pulled out a handful of gold Galleons, silver Sickles, and bronze Knuts. Handing them to the wizened woman with a flourish, he began to scoop handfuls of the candy off the cart and onto James and Lupin's laps. Grabbing some for himself, he waved the woman off with another bright grin.
"Dig in," he told them happily, unwrapping a Chocolate Frog and watching it hop in his lap with great amusement until it seemed to lose all energy. He popped it into his mouth and chewed it, making loud smacking sounds of ecstasy.
James wrenched open a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans and popped a handful in his mouth. He immeadiatly regretted it and made a face as spinach mixed with carmel, chocolate and tripe.
Sirius, looking up from his Famous Witch Card, burst into hysterical laughter as James whipped out his wand, scraped it over his tongue, and wondered desperatly what good learning to be a wizard would be if he couldn't even remove disgusting tastes from his mouth.
Lupin rolled his eyes as he bit into a rolled slice of ham. Sirius cocked his head at the other boy.
"Why don't you try one of these?" he asked, tossing a Frog at Lupin's face.
The quieter young man shrugged it off. "It's your's. It's not my place to take..."
"Oh, stuff it," Sirius snapped impatiently. "Just try it, I'm not worried. Lord knows my disgusting family is rolling in enough Galleons to pay for that and billions more, so just eat the bloody thing!"
Lupin shrank down in his seat again, but obediently unwrapped the sweet and stuffed it uneasily into his mouth. Then, obviously too afraid of getting another sweet forced down his throat by the somewhat frightening Sirius, dove for his book again and didn't lift his head again until a tall boy wearing a badge and black robes stumbled through the door.
"Robes on," he barked, gripping the door frame to keep from falling on his face. "We're nearing the school."
The younger boys nodded and he turned on his heel and staggered out.
Sirius leapt for his trunk and tugged his black Hogwarts robes out with another cheerful war whoop. "We're almost there mates! Soon our reign of terror will begin!" He gave a mad cackle and Lupin frowned.
"Sirius," he warned, pulling a rather shabby, second-hand set of robes over his head. "We're not doing a lot of damage, okay?"
"Maybe you're not," Sirius shot back, straightening his robes excitedly. "Jamesey and I'll just have to do it ourselves if you decide to cop out on us."
James shrugged into his own robes and smiled at Lupin. "Don't worry. I'm sure that between the two of us, we can keep this joker in line."
Lupin managed another meek smile. "Right."
The train let out a high whistle and jerked to such a sudden stop that the three boys were sent flying into their seats. James bashed his head against the window and Sirius somehow ended up upside down with his head bumping against the floor.
"Ow..." James muttered, gripping his wounded head as he staggered to his feet. "They couldn't have warned us about that?"
"Woulda made it all the less fun," Sirius said optimisticlly, the blood still rushing to his face.
Lupin pressed his face against a window and announced, "Everyone's leaving the train. We'd better go too or we'll end up lost..."
"Worry goblin," Sirius said charismatically, climbing off the bench and heading for the door. "We'd never get lost. Don't you know who the headmaster is here?"
"Of course," Lupin replied frostily. "Albus Dumbledore is the only reason I'm able to come to Hogwarts at all."
"Why?" James asked. "Are you a muggle-born?"
"No." Lupin shook his head hard, as though wishing he had never said that at all.
"Why then?" Sirius demanded, half-way out the door already.
"Never mind." Lupin continued to shake his head from side to side as he pushed past Sirius and slipped out the join the crowds. With confused shrugs, the other two followed him.
A tall, disturbingly hairy man waited for them outside, yelling, "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!"
He looked down at a small red-headed boy. "Are yeh alrigh'?"
Instead of answering, the boy doubled over a retched. The large man patted his back.
"Ah, well...better get yeh to th' nurse, eh?" he said with a shrug. Then, straightening up, he called in a loud booming voice, "Got all the firs' years? Good, good. Name's Hagrid, for those o' yeh who don' know. Gameskeeper for Hogwarts. I'll be takin' yeh up to th' castle now, so if yeh'll follow me, please..."
He wasn't difficult to follow, James was happy to see as the man led them toward the glistening lake where small wooden boats waited almost patiently.
"Right yeh go, four to a boat now," Hagrid said pleasently. "In yeh go, in yeh go there...got everyone? Good. Off we are, then!"
At his words, the boats began to move at a swift, comfortable pace. Sirius, beside James in a boat, bounced a bit and Lupin, across from them, looked around in wonder at the castle before them.
Soon enough, they had gone the length of the lake and the boats had stopped for them to get out. One boy took so long in leaving, James noted with some sense of glee, that the boat simply tipped and the boy was tossed ashore.
Hagrid led them up to the castle doors and left them there, announcing, "Yeh'll jus' hafta wait here then. Professor McGonagall should be wit' yeh shortly..."
And then he was gone, leaving the mass of students shiftng uncomfortably. Lupin was still looking around and Sirius was still bouncing but James' eyes had fallen on the fuss going on in one corner.
A boy, short, chubby, and blonde-haired, was being tormented by several taller boys, one of whom had long dark hair that looked like it hadn't been washed in ages. As James watched, the dark boy glared at the boy and snarled something that sounded like, "I don't like being followed," before shoving one of the other boys out of his way with his shoulder, making it clear that he wasn't friends with them either.
Those boys didn't seem to care. One of then reached out and flicked the short round boy's nose.
By now, most of the hall had begun to talk in loud, nervous tones. Sirius and Lupin had taken note of the boy's woes and Sirius was urging the others forward with him.
As the tallest of the boys reared back a meaty fist, Sirius tapped him pleasently ont eh shoulder, He whirled around angrily and set his glaring eyes on Sirius, who waved.
"Hi mate," he said in greeting before driving a fist into the bigger boy's mouth.
The brute wailed in pain and glared even more hatefully at the one who had defied him. His friends pounced on Sirius and before James knew it, he was in the fray too, trying to tug one of the boys off Sirius' back. Lupin, too, was fighting, mostly defending himself, and James found himself wondering if the boy would be squashed or if he'd actually manage to continue handling himself.
Before he could wonder too long, the boys were forced apart by invisible hands. Sirius was hoisted off his feet and James was pressed back into a wall. Lupin, who had lowered his fists, merely slid back several inches.
A severe woman wearing a tall black hat and green robes strode forward. "Not fighting, are we?" she asked sternly. They shook their heads mutely and she gave a curt nod. "Good, because if you were, you know that you'd recieve automatic detentions and possible expulsion?" She raised her thin eyebrows as they nodded again. "Good. Now, if I may, I'd like to welcome you all to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
"If you'll follow me, we can get the Sorting underway."