Chapter One

Blood's Thicker than Foamy-Water

"You're sure you have everything, dear?" scoffed Mrs. Potter as they walked into Kings Cross Station.

"Yes, mum." James said in a long-suffering voice.

"And you have some money for the food trolley?"

"Yes, mum."

"And we definitely picked up all your uniform?"

"Yes, mum."

"And you have the key to your dormitory?" Chimed in Mr. Potter.

"What! I don't remember anything about a key! I read the letter nearly sixteen times, and I'm sure there was no mention of a key! Why does he need a key? Do you think they give key to people who've forgotten them on the train? Oh how could I have forgotten his key!

Mr. Potter took his wife by the arm. "Relax, just a little joke." He said with a smirk as he received a slap on the arm. "I'm sure James has everything, right son?" James nodded a little sarcastically. "There, see?" he said, ruffling his son's hair, with the tiniest smirk.

James had stopped just in front of platforms nine and ten ... the best part of a year away from his parents ... he couldn't decide how he felt, but he knew one thing for certain; Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was going to be interesting.

James and his parents walked onto the platform nine and three quarters, which was the only thing James had been worried about, he'd heard terrible stories about whole families who'd chosen the wrong wall. He grimaced at the thought.

"Are you okay, dear?" his mother's voice brought him back to reality.

"Yeah," he replied.

Then the worst thing James could have imagined happened, he had been dreading it for a week, and would much rather have eaten a flobberworm. His mother, in full view of everyone else, stooped down and pulled him into a bear-hug. She seemed to be trying to fit a years-worth of mothering into the next five minutes.

His eyes widened, "Dad!" he pleaded, his mother took the hint and stood up with a frown, "Oh, don't be so funny! Look at that poor boy over there …" she said, gesturing towards a lanky boy with circles under his eyes. His shabby clothes were punctuated by some neatly combed long hair and a nervous expression. He was watching two people walk away; he looked like he would have more company in solitary confinement.

"Go and talk to him, dear. You could be looking at your new best friend." James frowned in the boy's direction, but complied … any excuse to get away from constant questioning and embarrassing hugs.

After stomaching one more, and a ruffle of his hair, courtesy of his father, he set off with his trolley towards the boy, who now looked fascinated by his feet. "Hi, you alright, mate?" James offered with a grin.

The tall boy had looked up immediately when James approached, his face broke into a small smile. "Yes, I'm okay, and yourself?" He realised now that he was closer to the boy, that he in fact had a kind look about him and, with some sleep, he could probably attract some attention from the ladies.

"I suppose," said James with a slight smirk. "Just escaping the chief mourners over there." He cocked his head towards his mother and father, and when he realised they were watching intently, he immediately did the same movement towards the other side, giving the appearance of somebody stretching their neck.

The boy hadn't missed this, he gave a small good-natured chuckle, and James decided that he wasn't nearly as hollow and soulless as he first appeared. "What's your name?" he asked, they boy now fully smiled.

"Remus Lupin. And yours?"

"James Potter. So, d'you want to get a seat on the train? Or are you waiting for someone?" The boy made a sudden scramble of air-quotes and stuttered slightly, this suggested he was afraid to loose James' company, he answered very quickly. "No, not at all."

James turned and waved at his parents, who waved enthusiastically back and he boarded the Hogwarts Express.

He caught sight of a levitating clock in the corridor, it was ten to eleven, and there wasn't a chance in Azkaban that they would get an empty compartment.

They walked down the train, peering in all of the windows, there were several compartments filled with much older people, and a seemingly endless row of compartments filled with nothing but first year girls. Finally, in the last compartment, on the left, they saw what looked to be a mix of people who didn't already have a group to belong to. Each person had their own space on either side of them, and they weren't talking.

There were three girls, one was looking more nervous than the others, who sat up straight and appeared to be quite confident in themselves. There was also a bored-looking boy, as James looked at him, he seemed to define the word 'cool'; he was leant against the wall with his feet up on the seat, his dark hair fell into his eyes in just the right place to make it look like something deliberate rather than accidental, and he looked bored, but handsomely so. James decided that the girls must have joined him in the compartment.

James and Remus looked at each other, and with an unspoken agreement, both entered the compartment. "Alright if we join you lot?" James asked.

"Yeah, sure." Said the boy, as though it didn't really make any difference, then, with another thought, he looked as though he'd come out of his trance of boredom and looked up at them with a smile.

James smiled back and held his hand out. "James Potter."

"Sirius Black," the boy said, taking his offered hand and shaking it firmly. "And?" Sirius continued, turning to Remus.

"Remus Lupin," he said, accepting a handshake.

James sat next to Sirius, and Remus sat across from them, beside the three girls. "I'm Morrigan." Said the one closest to him, turning to her, he replied "Nice to meet you."

"Isabel Viellard," said the next one along, her eyes boring into Sirius' with half a smile, Sirius returned her smile with a slightly confused expression that was barely hidden by his raised eyebrow.

Naturally, everybody looked towards the girl near the window, who was the only one left to introduce herself, she looked as though she would rather be transfigured into a slug than be in the compartment with them. "Lily Evans." She said, a little timidly.

"I like your jeans." Isabel said, and nobody in the compartment had any doubt that she wouldn't have said it if it was not true. Therefore Lily smiled and thanked her, and looking more relaxed, started a conversation about fashion, to which Morrigan rolled her eyes and turned to Remus. "So, where are you from?"

"The West," Remus replied, smiling at the invite to a conversation, "… yourself?"

"The North, have you done a lot of magic before?"

"Not really, but I've seen enough of it, are both your parents magical?"

"Of course," she said with a slight laugh, "I wouldn't really be fit to do magic properly if they weren't, would I!" The compartment was tensely silent for a long moment. Sirius took a breath to say something with a furrowed brow, but Isabel got in first.

"Yes, actually, you would. I'm halfblood, and I can do all the magic I've tried perfectly well, for your information." She said angrily.

"Well, you probably can, it's the harder spells you'll have trouble with." She continued, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Now, who you've really got to feel sorry for is those muggle-borns, haven't got a chance have they!" This was clearly meant to provoke side-splitting laughter. Lily made a quiet noise in the corner, and stared harder out of the window, informing everyone in the compartment that she was without doubt a muggle-born.

"Well, at least my parents got round to the 'discrimination is wrong' part of upbringing!" Isabel retorted, her anger clearly rising. A similar expression had affixed itself to the features of Morrigan's face.

James and Sirius exchanged a look the screamed 'mental note: Don't get on the wrong side of these girls.'

"How about you agree to disagree?" Offered Remus.

"Fine."

"Whatever." Isabel snapped, pouting and turning to Lily who was looking apprehensive yet grateful towards her.

Ten minutes later, the train had started and picked up speed. The mood in the compartment had lifted slightly, Lily and Isabel were talking about what subjects they would like to take once they had the option, Morrigan and Remus were having what looked to be a very serious conversation about Hogwarts history, and James and Sirius were having an animated yet friendly debate about which Quidditch teams were the best.

Just then the door opened to admit a stout boy and another boy who had hair that would not have been dissimilar to Sirius', but it was very greasy and slicked back in a way the made Isabel cringe in disgust, and as she looked at the mad hair of the stout boy, she decided that they weren't even clean enough to be dragged in by the tabby cat she had in a basket on the luggage rack.

The stout boy seemed aware that he wouldn't do well asking James or Sirius to move, therefore he turned to his right and looked at Morrigan, "Shove up, please." Is all he said.

Morrigan simply sighed. "I'll give Miss. Moral-High ground her wish, shall I!" she said almost to herself, casting a scathing glance at Isabel and standing up, she now looked at the stout boy. "You can just have my seat; I'm off to find Bella." She heaved her luggage off the rack. "See you later, Remus." She finished and left the compartment.

"Good bye," he replied, a second too late, the stout boy, who's features were coloured solidly with indifference, now climbed onto the seat next to him, his legs flailing about.

"Erm … I'm Peter Pettigrew." He stated, as if throwing out the comment in case anybody cared.

"Nice to meet you," Sirius greeted, trying to make the best of a bad situation. "I'm Sirius Black."

At this, the greasy-haired boy, whom nobody had really noticed, snapped his head up to look at Sirius. "Black?" he said quietly.

"That's right." Sirius replied, his expression hardening, daring the boy to go on. The boy, however, held out a pale hand in his direction.

"Severus Snape, it is a pleasure to meet somebody from the noble house of Black."

Sirius narrowed his eyes dangerously, a passionate look of defiance blazed in them, James, meanwhile, frowned towards the boy and looked to have had an amusing thought. His voice shook with mirth as he asked "What did you say? … Snivellus?" Everyone in the room gave a bark of laughter with the exception of the boy.

"Severus!" He corrected sharply, and returned his eyes to Sirius, his hand still outstretched. "… Snape." He repeated pointedly.

"You need to understand something, Severus," Sirius answered coldly, "… I am absolutely nothing like my family, okay?" everybody knew this question did not require an answer.

Severus withdrew his hand and threw a look of malice towards everybody in the room, then turned sharply in the direction of the door and left, his lip curling.

"I don't like him." James and Sirius stated at exactly the same time, there was a smile and an unmistakable air of understanding between them.

This whole scene left a thick layer of renewed tension in the compartment, broken by Isabel, who appeared to have zoned out the entire time that Severus was present. "Who's Bella? She said that like we should know who it is." She said with a frown.

Sirius seemed grateful for the change of subject and smiled at her kindly. "I think she means Bellatrix Black, I don't know why she would expect you lot to know her, but I do. Bella's my cousin. Not the nicest witch in the world either. And if Morrigan has decided to affix herself to the … er … gang that my cousin has, it won't surprise me if she ends up in Slytherin."

Isabel gave a bit of a mutter that sounded very like 'Wouldn't surprise me.' Remus looked at her harshly. "People only know what their parents teach them." He stated angrily, "… from what I could tell, she appeared to be a perfectly friendly person." Isabel looked down, she hadn't intended to make enemies on her first day.

"Sorry," she said, giving the impression of a five-year-old who'd just been caught with her hand in the cookie-jar.

"Erm … So. What are all of your names?" asked Peter.

"Sorry," James replied. "I'm James, this is Sirius, Remus, Isabel and Lily." He continued, indicating each person as he said their name. "I got all those right, didn't I?" Everyone nodded.

"Wow, and I was told by a reliable source that the journey to Hogwarts was boring!" Remus exclaimed, earning himself a chuckle from everybody.

James rummaged around in his pocket, and after Sirius sniggered, he hastily pulled out some cards.

"Want to play Exploding Snap?" he asked the compartment.

Everyone made an agreeing noise. Isabel was out almost immediately, soon to be followed by Peter. Next it was Lily and it was left to be a close competition between James, Remus and Sirius.

In the end James emerged the winner, and Sirius began exclaiming with laughter how he had cheated.

"Any other victims?" James said with a smirk.

About an hour later, the laughter had died away slightly, and Sirius stood up on the chair and started rummaging around in the luggage rack. The tabby cat of Isabel's stood up in its basket and walked over to him; he picked it up, stepped down and looked to everyone. "Who's is this?" he asked.

Isabel looked up from reading the back of a packet of chocolate frogs, she was frantically searching for the amount of calories she had just taken in. "Oh, he's mine."

Sirius smiled. "He's cute, what's his name?"

"Tabby, not original I know but I think it suits him."

"Yeah, especially with him being a tabby cat!" Lily spoke up, causing everyone to realise that she was not as nervous as she appeared. Then everyone looked to Isabel, who was giggling.

"Yeah well."

"He really is cute though," said Sirius, putting him back into his basket, he curled up and purred when Sirius stroked him. "Anyway …" Sirius said. "… What I came up here for originally… was…" He was feeling around in his bag for something. "… this." He concluded, and took out a Fanged Frisbee, holding it at an arms length.

"Wow!" James exclaimed as though all of his Christmases and birthdays had just happened at once.

Peter looked mesmerised. "That … is so cool!"

"Hmm … Now, who do you want to throw it at?" James looked like he had just grown a very long beard.

"I have just the person," Sirius said, his eyes looking up evilly through his soft dark hair. "Joshua Smithe."

"Who's that?" Remus asked.

"He's a personal favourite of my passionately pureblood parents. The perfect little example of what they want me to be, a snivelling, idiotic git who couldn't be more in love with himself if he was a self-confessed narcissist."

"He sounds like the perfect candidate." James laughed. They peered out of the compartment and down the corridor.

"Oi!Smithe!" Sirius shouted down the train, one of the compartment doors opened, and out popped the sleek blonde head of another first year, looking supreme in his arrogance.

"What do you want, Black?" he said, sneering at Sirius.

"I just thought you might want a look at this!" Sirius said, and flung the Fanged Frisbee at him very hard. Sirius then immediately shut the compartment door, they all heard a scream that very easily could have belonged to a girl, and everybody in the compartment were soon in tears of side-splitting laughter.

"That … was … hilarious!" James exclaimed, clutching his stomach.

"You could very well get in trouble for that you know." Remus stated, but even he couldn't suppress a chuckle, though, arguably, it could have been blamed on the laugh that was emerging from Peter. Who was wrenching his breath from the air so hard that more than one of them was considering asking him if he was an asthmatic.

"Are you alright?" Lily asked in a concerned voice.

"Yes, I … think so." He said, and Sirius decided he had a fan.

Just then there was a knock at the door, everyone braced themselves from the retaliation of Smithe and his friends, and James was drawing breath to say something that was probably highly offensive in the direction of the door when it was opened anyway by the fabled 'Lady with the Food Trolley'. "Anything from the trolley, dears?" she asked.

James had quickly shut his mouth, but now opened it again to ask for some 'Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans'. Then Sirius got some more Chocolate Frogs, and the only other person to get something was Isabel. "Have you got any Honeyduke's chocolate?" she asked with a smile that James was sure could get her anything.

"Certainly Dear, dark or white?"Asked the Lady, beaming back.

"Erm … dark please." Isabel said, widening her grin.

When everybody had paid for their stuff and the Lady had left, James and Sirius were offering things around, and when everybody looked at her expectantly, so did Isabel, and it was noticeable that this was a new thing to her.

"Remus?" James said, offering the box of beans to him. "Want to try your luck?"

Remus looked at him, apparently stunned at what he was hearing. "What's wrong, mate? Never had anybody offer you something before?" Sirius chuckled, but he had no idea how close to the truth he was. Remus had never had anything except sneers offered to him by anybody except his parents, he was simply not used to this.

Remus pretended to laugh along with Sirius' little joke. "Nno … thank you."

"You're sure, you're alright?" Lily asked, he realised the whole compartment had watched him go through this in his mind.

"Yes, I'm quite alright." He smiled. "I was just … thinking. Oh look, it's about time we changed into our robes." He said, looking at his watch with more admiration than he had previously held for it.

Isabel looked at her watch too, "Ooh yeah, you're right there. C'mon Lily …" The girls fished their robes out of their trunks and departed into the corridor.

Once wandering amongst the compartments, Isabel looked at Lily. "So, what do you think?" she asked, her insides had been ablaze for an hour wanting to ask.

"About what?"

"The guys."

"Oh right, I hadn't really … they're nice." She finished awkwardly.

"Who's your favourite?" Isabel asked excitedly.

"Oh err …" Lily really hadn't thought about this, and was now making her brain work double-time. "Remus seems nice, level-headed and intelligent, y'know?"

"Well, I'm torn between Sirius and James, they're so funny!"

"… And not a little arrogant." Lily added.

"I guess so." Isabel smiled at her, and Lily was sure she didn't know what the word meant.

They came to a compartment that seemed full of first year girls, and opened the door. "Is there room for two more?" Isabel asked cheerfully.

All of the girls looked up, and evidently there was not room for two more, or at least not these two. A girl with pointed features and a dark expression stood up. "Depends … who are you?"

"Oh, well hi … I'm Isabel and this is Lily." Isabel smiled, apparently unaware of the threatening glances that were being shot at her.

"I thought as much," said the girl, Isabel's smile fell from her face, but rekindled slightly as she spotted the long-haired girl that was sat in the corner.

"Morrigan," she said. "You remember us, right?"

"Oh she remembers you, in fact she told us exactly why she will remember you, little miss peppy-half-blood."

Isabel's eyes flashed dangerously. "My name, as I said is Isabel," she replied, "… and I'm guessing you're Bella." Isabel thought back to her previous conversation with Sirius, this girl definitely fit the bill.

"Good guess." Said the girl, "So …" she continued, turning on Lily. "You must tell us … how's life as a filthy mudblood?" Everybody in the compartment let out a shriek of shrill laughter. All except Morrigan, who Lily was sure bore a bit of apology in her eyes. Isabel gasped and looked horrified.

"C'mon Lily, we can find a place around nicer people to change." She said, opening the compartment door. "Oh and Bella …" she added, turning slightly. "I wouldn't be seen dead wearing those shoes with that top." She gave a huge, sarcastic smile and they were gone.

Ten minutes later, Lily and Isabel were walking back to their original compartment. Lily felt confused about what had happened, she didn't even know what that name meant. Isabel however now wore a pout, and was walking like her mother did if her father ever came in drunk from a night out.

She wrenched open the compartment door and after throwing her things into her trunk, she sat down heavily, waiting for somebody to ask her what was wrong. Eventually it was Peter who took the bait. "What's up with you?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing." She said quickly, and James could tell that it was anything but nothing. So he said "Are you sure?"

"Well, we just had a run-in with your dearest cousin," she said looking at Sirius, "and your best friend." She added, now shooting a look at Remus. Lily could hardly disguise a giggle. She had to hand it to Isabel; she certainly knew how to get the attention she wanted.

"Charming, Bella, isn't she?" Sirius sniggered, "Don't read too much into it, Isabel … she probably got wind of you two being mates of mine."

This seemed to satisfy Isabel, as she gave no response, and leaned back into her seat with something that resembled a miniscule smile on her face.

There was one thought running through James, Sirius, Remus and Peter's mind at that moment: 'Women.'

At that moment, there was a screech and the train ground to a halt. Lily looked outside the window and a sign was swinging from a post in the wind. 'Hogsmeade Station'.

"Great! We're here!" James grinned. Remus was also looking out of the window.

"It looks cold doesn't it? We'd best wrap up warm." He said.

"Yes, mother." James replied. Everyone exhaled a laugh and they left the compartment, dragging their luggage with them. Isabel was having trouble with hers, mainly that there was too much of it, she had her trunk, a bag and Tabby to carry.

"Oh, dear. Why didn't I think of this before I set off?" She was mumbling to herself.

"I'll take Tabby if you want." Sirius offered he'd always been partial to cats.

Isabel smiled. "Yeah … thanks." She handed him the basket and they, James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Lily and Isabel, all got off the train together.

Lily was looking around for where to go franticly, before she spotted a man that could not be missed even in the darkness of the evening booming "Firs' years! This way please!" repeatedly.

They all walked in a huge group until they came to a shoreline and a lot of rowing boats. Isabel stared at them wide-eyed, she was sure rowing would be the most arduous task she would ever partake in. And James had a sudden look of fulfilled amusement in his hazel eyes.

They had to pair up and get into the boats, James went with Sirius, Remus went with Peter and Isabel with Lily, they also realised that just along from them, Morrigan had gotten in one with Bellatrix, and that Severus was alone and looking very small in the boat by himself.

Isabel looked most relieved when she realised that the boats were enchanted and were taking the first years across the river independently. It was Lily's turn to have an urgent question answered. "What was with the quick change of heart about the Bella situation when we got back?"

Isabel looked at her as though the answer was obvious. "Didn't you hear him? He said we were his mates!" Her face broke into a grin. Lily rolled her eyes and laughed, even though she was quite shallow, Lily was sure Isabel's heart was in the right place really, and decided she had made a friend.

Meanwhile, in James and Sirius' boat, Mr. Potter had hushed his voice to a low whisper. "Well, my dad did it, he thought it would be err … amusing. But I reckon he never expected me to actually use it, he used to be a bit of a prankster you see. And when he saw it and had the idea … well, let's just say it was bewitched and in my pocket before he'd even stopped laughing."

"But what exactly is it?" Sirius asked, looking perplexedly at the powdery ball.

"It's a bath bomb, but well … it's a tad more powerful than your average one." Said James, trembling with excitement.

"How much more?" Sirius asked, his eyes widening with anticipation.

"Let's see, shall we?" James said, and closing his eyes, chucked it as far as he could.

There was a colossal 'BANG!', and a few students, Isabel and Lily included, screamed. Right before everybody's eyes, bubbles the size of cars sprung up in the river, and the strong breeze carried them across the water, like some huge, bubbly water skiers.

The huge man didn't seem to know where to place himself, and eventually boomed "Se'el down!" at the loudly surprised students.

Even though they tried to muffle the noise, the uncontrollable laughter from James and Sirius' boat carried over the din. They had already shared a 'high-five' and their laughter was infectious, soon most people were highly amused by the huge, foamy guests that were present on the surface. "Nice … one … dad!" James choked out, and then clutched at his sides again.

After what the huge man decided was the most original journey across the river he'd ever experienced, the students got out of the boats and walked up to the castle doors. The huge man pushed them open and allowed all the first years in.

Once inside the Entrance Hall, he paused and turned to the amazed-looking first years – who were all looking at anything and everything in the cavernous hall. Even James and Sirius wore a look of mild astonishment. "Sorry, I forgo' ter introduce meself. I'm Rubeus Hagrid, I'm gamekeeper here a' the school."

Noticing how kindly he sounded now he wasn't struggling to make himself heard, most of them smiled up at him. "Oh an' err, whoever did tha' …" he went on, gesturing towards the doors. "… Ought ter be worryin', our Headmaster don' miss a trick!"

James and Sirius shifted uncomfortably.

Then a sharp-looking witch with her hair in a tight bun stepped out of a small door to their left.

"Good evening first years, and welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. My name is Professor McGonagall and I am Deputy to Professor Dumbledore, the Headmaster.

"In a moment I shall take you into the Great Hall, call you up one-by-one alphabetically and you will be sorted into Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin.

"Whilst you are here your house is to be treated like your family, each house has its own common room and dormitories. You are not permitted to venture into the common room or dormitories that are not those of your own house.

"There are two cups that are awarded to one of the four houses at the end of each year, the House Cup and the Quidditch Cup.

"The House Cup is awarded to the house that accumulates the most house-points. You will be rewarded with points for good work and personal triumphs. However, you may also loose points for things like late homework and rule-breaking. A prime example is currently floating atop the river." She said, casting a stern glance over them.

"The Quidditch cup is more self-explanatory, it is simply awarded to the house that wins the inter-house Quidditch tournament that takes place throughout the year.

"Now, if you have any more questions to ask, I'm sure one of the school prefects will be happy to answer them, but presently, we'll go and get you sorted." She finished this speech with an ever-so-slightly bored expression; she looked like she had recited those very same words at least twenty times before.

She turned on her heel and the doors opened slowly, this drew the attention of all the older students in the school, who looked to the new arrivals, some with curiosity, others with amusement.

Professor McGonagall walked briskly forward, and the first years were all assembled in front of the staff table.

Then the legendary Sorting Hat began its song and proceeded to sort the first years into their houses.

When it came to their turns, Peter looked worried and Lily saw Isabel mouth 'Hat hair!' to her, but neither heard the word 'Slytherin' being shouted whilst the hat was on their head, and so both visibly relaxed.

Both Peter and Isabel, as well as James, Remus, Sirius and Lily got sorted into Gryffindor.

Morrigan, Severus, Joshua, Bellatrix and her friends all got sorted into Slytherin.

An hour after the sorting had finished and the last of the magnificent feast had disappeared from the now startlingly white plates, everybody stood up to go to bed.

The first years were told to follow their house prefects to their dormitories.

Lily noticed that Snape, Smithe and two of his brutish cronies had lagged behind to talk to Professor McGonagall, who looked gravely interested in what they had to say, Lily saw the Professor give a nod of thanks and bid them goodnight.

Isabel appeared at Lily's shoulder. "What is it?" Lily nodded over to where Professor McGonagall was gaining on James and Sirius, who were chatting, blissfully unaware of their impending doom as they made their way out of the Great Hall.

Isabel fell silent and watched the scene unfold with Lily from their safe vantage point of next to the doorframe.

"Potter, I have just been informed of your hilarious antics including a bewitched bath bomb and the school lake." She plainly stated, making it impossible for anyone to gauge her anger. James and Sirius had abruptly stopped laughing and turned to her. "Have you anything to say for yourself?" she demanded.

Seeing no way to charm himself out of this one, James was about to answer 'No.' when Sirius spoke up.

"I convinced him to do it, Professor. I am as much to blame as he is." He said quietly, giving the startlingly good impression of one who is genuinely regretful.

James looked at Sirius, true thanks and liking in his eyes, and gave him a 'sad' smile. "Well that's very admirable of you Mr …" Professor McGonagall began.

"Black, Professor. Sirius Black." He dared to look up as he said this.

"Very admirable. However, Potter wasn't the only student I had come to see, Fanged Frisbees are not permitted on the Hogwarts Express."

Sirius looked dumbstruck. "So," Professor McGonagall continued. "That will be ten points each from Gryffindor and detention for both of you in my office tomorrow night, and on your first day as well." She said regretfully. "Don't dally, girls." She added, casting a glance at the startled Isabel and Lily.

"Goodnight." She concluded, and swept away down a corridor to the right, taking James and Sirius' Tuesday-night with her.