AUTHOR'S NOTE- I had this story under another account, but I got wrapped up in schoolwork and then totally forgot my stuff for it. So I made a new account and I'm going to be continuing the story now. Original Character's would be really cool, private message me with ideas.
AND SO IT BEGINS
James looked around. This was his first time on Platform 9 ¾ and he had wandered off to explore, losing his mother in the process. He was on the shorter side, so he set his trunk down and jumped on top of it. He began to search the large crowd of witches and wizards who were disguised (poorly) as Muggles. He even saw one man wearing a pair of jeans over a night gown with a top hat. He quickly found his mother amongst all the others. She had decided that James's first year attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was a big enough occasion to wear her special dress.
She wore it very well. It was a slim, floor-length ruby red dress. She wore matching lipstick, and had nice earrings with small rubies in them dangling off of her pale ears. It contrasted very nicely with her long mane of brown hair, which she wore wavy, and her gorgeous gray eyes. James jumped off of his trunk, lifted up one end, and began racing towards her.
He didn't realize how dangerous this was until he accidentally ran into a boy. They both fell, rather heavily, to the ground. James immediately jumped back up. He checked himself over for any damage and, deciding there was none, looked down.
He immediately felt ashamed of himself. The boy looked as if he could curl up and die at any moment. James reached down a hand and the boy gratefully took it. Even as James helped the boy up, he could tell he was forgiven by this strange looking boy. He was a bit tall for only eleven, and had strawberry blonde hair reaching down to his eyes. He looked pale and thin, as though he was sick a lot, and he seemed rather nervous.
James thought this was natural, as he was too. He reached out his right hand and said, "James Potter." with a dazzling smile. The boy hesitated a moment before taking it, and croaked out, "Remus Lupin".
James grinned even wider. "Are you okay, mate? I didn't mean to knock you down there." Remus looked as if he was surprised that he was being apologized too.
"I'm fine," he said, looking around. "Do you know when the train leaves?" James glanced at his watch. "Ten minutes. Shouldn't your parents know that?"
Remus blushed noticeably. "They couldn't stay, so I'm here by myself." James looked past Remus and saw his mom waving. "Come on, then," James said, picking up one end of his trunk and waiting for Remus to do the same, who, after another hesitation, did. James started pulling his trunk along, much slower this time, and led the way to his mother.
"Mum" he said, stopping in front of her, Remus behind him. "This is Remus Lupin, I just met him. His parents couldn't be here, so do you mind if he waits with us?"
"Of course not." She replied, and Remus immediately looked up from the spot on the ground that he had found quite interesting moments before. "Thank you, Mrs. Potter." He mumbled. The train then let out a high pitched whistle.
"Come on, boys, lets get your things on the train." James's mom said. She helped Remus and then James lift there things onto the train, and then moved to come aboard. "Mum!" James cried. "I'm eleven now! I can do it by myself." James blushed, looking at Remus, who had focused his attention on his shoe laces.
James's mom smiled. "Alright, then. Well, come here, give me a hug." James reluctantly stepped forward and gave his mom a hug and kiss on the cheek. The train whistled again. James noticed his mother and quickly blurted out "Mum, I'll be home before you know it!" His mother nodded and stepped backwards off of the train. James waved until the doors closed, and then turned towards Remus. "Sorry about that," James muttered. "Don't be." Remus replied, and for the first time, smiled, showing off a set of perfect teeth. "Shall we find a compartment, then?" he asked, still smiling. James nodded and they took off down the aisle of the train. They realized that they should have gotten on earlier, as all of the compartments were full.
They had almost given up hope of finding one and were considering sitting on the floor when they found a compartment at the very back of the train. It was empty, save for a boy that was in the shadows on the very edge of one of the benches. James slid the compartment door open and cleared his throat.
"Mind if we sit here?" he asked, already moving inside. The boy let out a squeak that James and Remus took as a yes, and they helped each other put there trunks inside the luggage compartment before sitting. The three boys sat in silence for a few moments. James finally broke the silence. "I'm James Potter, and this," he gestured to his left, "Is Remus Lupin. We're first years. What about you?"
The boy let out another squeak and leaned forward, giving James and Remus a better view of him. He closely resembled a mouse, with his long nose and small, beady eyes. He had long brown hair that looked as if it wasn't washed on a regular basis, and when he opened his mouth to speak, he showed teeth the exact opposite of Remus's and James's, as they were yellow and un-even.
"Hello," he said. His voice was high pitched and strained, as though he didn't like the situation he was in. "My name is Peter Pettigrew. I'm going into the first year as well." He said it as though he had rehearsed the line many times in front of a mirror.
James and Remus both shook hands with Peter, and the three boys began to talk rather animatedly. They were in a very heated discussion about which Quidditch team was the best (Remus swore it was the Chudley Cannons) when there was yet another knock on the compartment door. Remus made a move to open it but it slid open before he could reach it.
Standing there was another boy, but this one different from the rest. While the other three boys were rather lively, this boy looked as if he were sadness incarnate. He wore black dress pants with a matching button up shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows showing his forearms, which were bruised in several places, as if he had been grabbed roughly and pulled somewhere.
He had shoulder length wavy black hair, and on anyone else it would have looked feminine, but on him it just added to his sharp features. He had a pointed chin and dark, thin eyebrows that you could find resting over a pair of beautiful brown eyes.
Everything about him seemed dark, and this apparently scared Remus and Peter, because they sat frozen, staring. "You don't mind if I sit here, do you?" he asked. His voice wasn't what James had expected, a dark rasp or anything, but it was gentle and kind. "Everywhere else is full." They all shook there heads and he moved inside.
The boy appeared scrawny, but turned out to be rather strong, as he picked his trunk up and above his head by himself and stashed it away with the others. He then sat down next to Peter, who squeaked and slid back into the shadows. They rode in silence for a while. As they came out of a tunnel, the boy looked around. "Sirius. Sirius Black. And you are?" He asked, looking at each boy in turn. They all introduced themselves.
"Well," Sirius said, leaning back in his seat and closing his eyes. "Thank you for letting me sit with you." And with this, he apparently fell asleep.
James stared at the boy for a while before starting to talk about Quidditch again, and Remus and Peter joined in as if there had been no interruption. The conversation drifted from professional Quidditch to the Quidditch teams at Hogwarts and, eventually, to Hogwarts itself. "I hope I'm in Gryffindor," James said. "I hear it's the best House."
Remus shook his head. "Ravenclaw is definitely the House you want to be in. The Minister of Magic himself was a Ravenclaw." He said, matter-of-factly.
Peter spoke up, too. "I'm probably going to end up in Hufflepuff."
"Why would you want to go there? I hear they haven't won the House Cup in ages!" James shouted at Peter. "Come on, tell me honestly that you don't want to be a Gryffindor."
"Well," Peter said, looking down at his shoes. "I wouldn't mind it. But I'm not sure I've got the smarts to get in there." He blushed.
James immediately went to console him. "Don't say that." He said. "You're plenty smart. At least you don't think the Chudley Cannons are 'the greatest team in the world'" he said, mimicking Remus.
Peter laughed as Remus gave James a playful punch in the arm. "I for one," Sirius said, making the other three boys whip there heads around to look at him. "Hope I get into Slytherin."
James stared at Sirius, who had leaned forward and opened his eyes. "Why?" James asked. "Why would you want to go there, of all the houses?" James sincerely wanted to hear Sirius's answer. After all, there wasn't a witch or wizard that had gone bad that hadn't come from Slytherin House.
"Because," Sirius said taking a breath. "My whole family has been in Slytherin house, since the school started. And now I'm expected to be in Slytherin, too." James thought he heard a hint of sadness in Sirius's voice during the last sentence, but that might have been his imagination.
"Well, mate," James said, moving to sit on Sirius's right side. "You don't have to go into Slytherin. It's your choice, not your families." James gave Sirius a cheerful smile, and Sirius returned it.
Just then, they heard a tinkling sound, and yet another knock on the door. James wondered if it was another first year boy as he got up and opened the door but no, it wasn't. This time it was a beautiful young witch wearing a scarlet floor length skirt with a matching blouse, and she was pushing a cart of sweets. "Anything off the cart, boys?" she asked. She had an Irish accent, clear and distinct.
Peter slowly edged his way around James with a handful of Knuts and started looking through all of the candies. There were Licorice Wands, and Cauldron Cakes, and even Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.
James and Remus quickly exited the compartment to buy a few treats as well, while Sirius just stayed in his seat, staring out the window. Peter, James, and Remus walked back into there compartment with there arms overflowing with sweets, and each in turn dumped there's onto the one of the two empty seats before picking out a few of there favorites and sitting down.
As Peter dug into a box of Every Flavor Beans, and Remus nibbled on the end of a Licorice Wand, James pulled random sweets from the piles, eventually deciding on a Muggle sweet called "Lemon Drops". They were actually quite good in his opinion, and he was nearly to the bottom of the box before he noticed that Sirius still hadn't moved.
James picked up a Chocolate Frog and tossed it to Sirius, who caught it with a surprised look on his face. "Well, are you just going to gawk at it, or were you going to take a bite?" James asked sarcastically. Sirius gave him a polite little nod before opening his chocolate frog. As the frog squirmed in his hand, Sirius's eyes grew large.
"Look at this!" he demanded, leaning over the pile of candies to shove something in James's face, knocking a few Cauldron Cakes to the floor as he did. It was the back of a Chocolate Frog box, except instead of being it's usual blue with golden designs, there were golden words printed, tiny, yes, but readable.
"Starting this October," the card read officially," Chocolate Frogs will begin selling Collecting Cards with each purchase of a Chocolate Frog. These Collecting Cards will feature Famous Witches and Wizards, and we hope they are very successful."
"Wow," James breathed. "That's going to be huge. Everyone's going to be buying these things now." When Remus launched a confused look there way, James threw the little ad towards him. Remus took one look at it, snorted, and went back to his Licorice Wand. "Won't last a month." He predicted. Peter however, who had been looking over Remus's shoulder to stare at the center of conversation, clearly sided with Sirius and James. "This sounds amazing! I wonder who they'll put on there. I bet Gorgona the Gruesome will be there!"
And just like that, they were all talking, Sirius too, about there favorite witches and wizards of all time. Before they knew it, it was dark outside and the train was slowing down. They all made a mad scramble to get in to there robes before the train stopped, and Peter had just pulled his head through the proper hole when the train jerked to a stop.
They grabbed a few Cauldron Cakes each, shoved them into there pockets, and filed out into the hallway with the other kids, slowly moving forward. As they stepped into the night air, they all took deep breaths in, and let them out slowly. The air was a bit chilly, but not too bad. The majority of the children were moving forward, and the boys turned to follow when they heard a deep voice bellow out, "Firs' years! Firs' years this way!"
The four boys turned around and were greeted by the largest man they had ever seen. He was easily the height of three grown men stacked on top of one another, and twice the width. He had a long mane of dark, shaggy hair that ran into a beard equally as long. Peter whimpered again, and Sirius wondered briefly if that would be a normal thing with him, while Remus wondered what could make a man so large. James, however, went right up to this man.
"Hello," James said. "My name is James Potter, and I'm a first year."
The man looked around for a second before thinking of looking down. "Oh!" he said in surprise. "Hello there. Didn't see yer. Well, just keep goin' down ter the boats there." He pointed towards a fleet of boats that were on the edge of a large lake.
James waved the other three boys over to him and they walked down to small hill towards the boats. "Four kids ter a boat!" the man shouted. Remus noticed that he got a boat all to himself.
The four boys all jumped into a boat together. "How are we getting there?" asked Remus, looking around for oars.
"Everyone in a boat, then? Alrigh', go!" and the boats began to move forward by themselves. Peter stared in wonder as a tentacle broke the surface of the lake, while Remus stared straight ahead, looking for any sign of Hogwarts. James and Sirius, however, were bored and started thumb wrestling. Remus stuck his hand out of the boat and let his fingers glide on top of the water, leaving a wake as the boat kept moving forward.
Peter was the first to see Hogwarts. He let out a gasp. Remus snapped his head up and looked forward. James stopped celebrating his win over Sirius, and they all stared in amazement. Hogwarts had been described to each of them many times upon request, but seeing it with there own eyes was completely different. It was like no school they'd ever seen, more of a castle, really, complete with towers and turrets.
The boats angled toward land and as soon as everyone got out of the boats, the large man led them all to a wide set of double doors and threw them open, ushering them inside. As he passed him, James stopped and looked up at the man. "What's your name?" James asked him. The giant of a man looked down at him and smiled.
"Rubeus Hagrid. I'm the grounds keeper here at Hogwarts." He gave James a slight nudge with his large hand and then came in behind him. All of the first years stood in a big hall. There were many doors and paintings, tapestries and carpets. There was a large staircase, and on top of it stood a strict looking woman of about thirty. She had brown hair pulled back into a tight bun and wore rectangle spectacles. She had a floor length emerald-green robe and her hard face looked like it didn't smile very often.
"I," she announced to the room at large, "am Professor McGonnagol. Hagrid, thank you for bringing the children across the lake. You may join the feast." She pointed to a large door to the left. Hagrid strode through the door and when he opened it, the first years could hear the noise of hundreds of talking children, and it died just as quickly when he shut it. Professor McGonnagol cleared her throat, silently demanding there attention.
"In a few minutes, I will lead you through those doors. Before you can join the feast, however you must be sorted." She then went through the door that Hagrid had, leaving the children to talk and wonder.
"Sirius," James whispered, already bored with the buzz of excitement running through the room. "Know any spells yet?"
Sirius gave James a quizzical look. "Yeah," he said. "I've been able to do the hovering charm for months now." James's facial expression went from bored to happy so fast, you'd think he had spotted Merlin. James bent his head close to Sirius's and began whispering very quietly and hurriedly, with the excitement that everyone else was feeling, but for a different reason.
A few minutes later, Professor McGonnagol came back for the first years. "Follow me." She ordered, spinning on her heel and throwing the doors open once more.
All of the children in the Hall immediately quieted down as Professor McGonnagol led the children past the House tables to stand in front of the staff table, facing there fellow students. Somewhere near the middle of the line, sitting two feet in front of a freckle faced girl, was a three legged stool with a ratty old hat sitting atop it.
Professor McGonnagol pulled out her wand and waved it, conjuring up a long roll of parchment. "As I call your name," she said, loudly and clearly, her voice carrying to the corners of the Hall, "you will step forward, sit on the stool, and place the Sorting Hat on your head." A few breaths of relief were heard among the first years. There had been a rumor involving Transfiguring a cat and a couple of Mountain Trolls.
"Ronan Brennan." She said loudly. A small, pale boy moved forward with, for some reason, blue hair. He sat on the stool and placed the Hat on his head. "Now?" Sirius whispered to James, but James shook his head. "Ravenclaw!" The hat roared. One of the tables erupted into applause, but the first years were too focused to notice which. Ronan ran to join the table that was second to first from the right.
"Briana Beharry." A dark girl with even darker hair and eyes moved forward. She sat on the stool and, like Ronan, put the Hat onto her small head. Just as the Hat opened it's wide mouth though, James nodded. Sirius slid his wand out of the sleeve of his robe and whispered, "Wingardium Leviosa!" The hat then slowly lifted off poor Briana's head, and it quickly shut it's mouth. A gasp rang out, not just from the first years, but all of the students. Nobody had dared do this before.
Professor McGonnagol pointed her wand and the hat zoomed onto the small girls head, shouting out "Ravenclaw!" once more. Briana ran off and found a seat next to Ronan.
"Julie Johnston." A small white girl ran forward, seemingly very excited. Sirius thought she was a bit cute. She had dirty blond hair reaching down past her shoulders, and wore glasses. When she opened her mouth and laughed, she revealed a set of braces.
She set the hat onto her head, when Sirius whispered once more, "Wingardium Leviosa!" The hat once again lifted up into the air. Professor McGonnagol once again raised her wand, but this time she shouted, "Accio Troublemakers!"
James and Sirius were lifted off of there feet and propelled forward by an unseen force, landing in front of the angry Professor. "Names." She said briskly. They gave them to her reluctantly. James looked over his shoulder and saw a worried looking Peter, next to a disappointed Remus. "Detentions, both of you."
And then a tall man stood up from his seat at the center of the staff table. "Now, now, Minerva. It's there first day here. Let's let them off the hook, just this once."
The man was, while not nearly as tall as Hagrid, still rather high up there. He had a long mane of silver hair with a beard that was quite a bit longer.
"But Headmaster," she said. James stared. So this was there Headmaster. He liked him already. "They've already broken school rules, they're bound to be troublesome students!" Headmaster Dumbledore let out a hearty laugh.
"A danger to themselves, perhaps. But no, Minerva, not to the rest of us. Now please, let them back into the line." The Professor looked furious, but she waved her hand at them. The hat was placed back onto Julie Johnston's head, and after a minute or two of thinking, the Hat decided her to be a Hufflepuff. She dashed forward.
"Sirius Black." McGonnagol said the name with apparent dislike. Sirius swaggered forward and after perching on the stool, placed the hat on his head. The hat sat still for a good five minutes without saying a word. And then, a surprise. "Gryffindor!" The table to the left of Ravenclaw's clapped and laughed merrily, having gotten one of the troublemaking first years that had already made a name for himself.
Sirius looked back at James with a helpless look on his face, and James immediately understood. Sirius was expected to be a Slytherin, and nothing else would be acceptable. By the terrified look on Sirius's face, his parents would be furious.
"Remus Lupin." Remus stepped forward and placed the hat on his head. "Gryffindor!" It decided again. Remus went to sit on Sirius's left.
"Peter Pettigrew." Peter placed the hat onto his head, like all the others before him. The Hat formed it's mouth so that it looked like it would say Hufflepuff, but seemed to change it's mind, instead screaming "Gryffindor!" Peter went to sit across from Sirius and looked up towards James.
"James Potter." The Professor said his name with the same malice that she had used for Sirius's. James walked forward, slowly. This was the moment of truth. He slowly lifted the hat and put it on his head. "Hmmm." A voice was filled inside his head, one he assumed must belong to the Hat. "Yes, yes. Very brave, Gryffindor needs kids like that. And yet, you don't have too bad a mind either. Ravenclaw is full of children like you, all exceedingly smart." The hat seemed to know all of James's thoughts. James, who really wanted to be in Gryffindor, thought of some of the spelling tests his mother had given him when he was younger at home. "Oh dear," the Hat said. "Not as smart as I thought, now are we? Well in that case, it better be Gryffindor!" The Hat shouted the last word for all of the Hall to hear. The Gryffindor table exploded in applause once again, as James hopped off of the stool, tore the hat off and ran to sit on Sirius's right. The Sorting lasted another ten minutes or so, and when Christopher Zunich(Slytherin!) sat down, Dumbledore rose out of his seat.
"We've all had fun," he said in a strong, clear voice. "But now we must suffer for a few minutes through a boring speech." This was met with laughter from the students, and Dumbledore smiled. "I'd like to welcome all of our newcomers to Hogwarts, and all of our old students, I'd like to welcome you back! Now, I have a few announcements that I want to get into your head before the delicious food gets into your stomachs. The Forbidden Forest is off limits to all students unless under special circumstances. There has also been a new tree planted on the grounds. This tree is very rare, and very dangerous. It is called a Whomping Willow." He waited for the whispers to die down as everyone wondered why he would put students into potential danger. "But as long as you don't go near it, it will just be another tree. Now, our Caretaker Argus Filch, who couldn't make it tonight, has asked me to remind all students that magic is not allowed in the corridors, and there is also a very, very long list of items that he has banned from the school. You may look at it in his office any time you'd like,
"And now, let's eat!" Dumbledore clapped his hands and the golden plates that James had been examining filled with food. The four boys quickly forgot anything that was plaguing there minds and enjoyed the feast.
Peter, James, Sirius and Remus all walked into the room that they would be sharing for the better part of seven years together. All of there trunks were already there. They all opened theirs and changed into their night clothes and then jumped into the bed nearest them. They all stayed up talking for a while, about how the next seven years would be a great adventure. Soon, however, Peter drifted of to sleep, and then Remus, leaving James and Sirius room to talk a bit more freely.
"My mum is going to kill me," Sirius joked. "A shame, too. I finally found a few decent mates." James laughed along with Sirius.
"She can't be that disappointed, can she? Gryffindor is a great house."
Sirius shook his head. "I know that. But my mom…" Sirius hesitated. "My mum is a pure blood perfectionist freak." He whispered. James listened intently. "My mum hates everything that isn't pureblood and from Slytherin House. And now I'm in Gryffindor, full of half-bloods, and blood traitors. She's going to explode."
James shook his head. "Well, if she explodes, you can come live with me instead." Sirius looked up from the corner of his bed sheet that he'd been observing. "Really?" Sirius asked. "You mean it?" James nodded. He had only just met this mysterious, seemingly troubled boy, but he already knew that they would be great friends. James then picked up one of his three pillows and threw it at Sirius. "Now go to sleep!" James commanded. "Tomorrow is going to be even better than today."
Sirius doubted this. Would he meet three great new friends tomorrow? Somehow, he didn't think so. But he soon dozed off, leaving James to ponder a few things.
But James soon found his eyelids too heavy to keep open and, curling into a ball on his side, fell asleep. And this, he thought, was a pretty great end, to such an amazing day.
END CHAPTER