The Train Game
Inspired by a true story.
Sirius Black was eleven years old and going to Hogwarts for the first time ever. He had been packed and ready to go since he got his letter in April. Who wouldn't be? With a brother like his and a school like that? So, when his mother entered the room to wake him up, she found him dressed and all ready to go.
"You're wearing that shirt?" She screamed at him. Sirius was dressed in a pink puffy shirt and saw nothing wrong with it.
Unfortunately, his mother was very stubborn, "I am not letting a son of mine go to Hogwarts wearing a shirt like that!"
"You're not the boss of me!" Sirius screamed, putting his hands on his hips and wagging his finger in his mother's face angrily. His mother glared—Sirius glared back. 15 minutes later, Sirius was wearing a new shirt and his mother was apparating him to Platform 9 ¾ in King's Cross Station.
"I wanna go!" whined Regulus, Sirius's younger brother and the clear favorite of the family.
"You can't! You're only 10!" Sirius sang smugly. Regulus pouted.
"It's okay, sweetums, mummy will make it up to you once we drop your brother off," his mum said, glaring at Sirius.
"Ha!" Regulus grinned, then pranced off with their mother looking after in dismay.
"Wow mother—great job!" Sirius said sarcastically, "I'm going to get on the train now."
"See you in June. Oh, and don't bother coming home for Christmas, we're going to France," his mum said, turning to leave.
"Gee, thanks. Love you too!" Sirius said to himself, wishing he had left on his pink shirt to comfort him. However, he quickly took a deep breath, stopped crying, and slowly and deliberately walked to the loading deck, pulling his trunk behind him. The train wasn't at the platform yet, because it was 8AM, and the train didn't leave until 11AM. So Sirius sat down on his trunk. That was when he met James Potter. James bounced in at 8:11AM, dragging his mum and his trunk behind him.
"See? We're not too early! Someone else is here! Hi, someone! I'm James Potter." James beamed down at Sirius.
"Hi, I'm Sirius," said Sirius.
"Don't worry, nothing's wrong with me, I'm just excited," James beamed girlishly. "Yeah," Sirius smiled back, "Me too."
Mrs. Potter groaned, "Excited or not, you are both three hours early!"
But neither boy was listening to her anymore, but had started a conversation about Quidditch.
"Chudley Cannons all the way!" James grinned.
Sirius blinked and then stifled a laugh, "Oh yeah… personally I favor the Appleby Arrows; but if you think Chudley's going to break a ten year losing streak…" Sirius grinned.
"Winning isn't everything!" James countered, "And besides, my cousin plays chaser for them, so I get good seats every game."
"Score!" Sirius gave him a mock thumbs up.
The two boys continued to talk while Mrs. Potter sighed, sat down on a nearby bench, and resigned herself to a long wait. Due to the fact that James had woken her up at 3AM, she quickly fell asleep. The two attentionally-challenged boys quickly got bored.
"I have an idea!" Sirius exclaimed, "See that tree over across the tracks? Let's see who can run there and back the fastest!"
"Bet I can do the army crawl faster than you!" James grinned.
"I—I'm sorry," a small, pale boy interrupted hesitantly, " I don't think that's a good idea. You could get hurt. Or die," The boy told James and Sirius solemnly.
James rolled his eyes, "The risk is what makes it fun! Besides, the train isn't coming for hours!"
"I'll laugh when you die," the boy murmured.
Sirius grinned, "You'll regret saying that once we're dead. Ready James?"
James grinned back, "Ready Sirius!"
"One, two, three!" The boys jumped onto the tracks and began to slowly inch toward the tree.
"Choo chooooo!" shouted Remus (the pale faced boy). James and Sirius bolted up and ran, as if for their lives. Mrs. Potter twitched in her sleep.
"Wait, where's the train?" James asked. Laughing, Remus ran off the platform, leaving James and Sirius gaping behind him.
"He's good," Sirius announced, impressed.
"Real good," James agreed.
"Wanna race again?" Sirius asked.
"You're on!" James grinned. The boys spent the next two hours racing back and forth across the tracks in various ways.
"Wanna crawl with our eyes closed?" Sirius suggested.
"You're on!" James smirked. The two dropped to the ground and crawled off.
"Choo Choooooo!" came a train whistle. Sirius gasped, and then ran off screaming for his mommy. James wasn't far behind. They both arrived, safely, on the platform out of breath. Remus was smirking as the train pulled up.
"That…was…AWESOME!" James panted.
"We almost DIED!" Sirius cried.
"I know! You should've seen your face!" James laughed.
Suddenly, Sirius grinned, "Let's do it again!"
Remus' mouth fell open, "Suicidal adrenaline junkies," he muttered, climbing onto the train. He found a seat by a window and watch the two boys somersault across the tracks. Suddenly, James fell limp. And that was the end of James Potter. Or so Remus Lupin thought. However, when a panicked Sirius Black ran over to him, the boy jumped up and began pointing and laughing. Sirius tackled him, and the two began to fight. They were fighting so loud that they didn't hear the whistle of the train coming on the tracks that they were on. So when they heard a "Choo Chooooo!", they assumed it was Remus. And thus, history was changed.
"The end!" said Albus Potter. The rest of the class blinked, then cautiously applauded. "That was, er, interesting," Professor Binns said, "But when I said to give a history report about how 3rd century goblin policy changed history, I meant that it should be about 3rd century goblin policy!"
Albus blinked, "Oh…"