Here is my story for HARRY POTTA. *crying* Anyway, this is a long term project, so I won't update as much as my other story. Hope you enjoy this first chapter!
CHAPTER ONE: James Potter
"Come on, James!" James Potter rolled his hazel eyes but hurried over to his mother. She gazed lovingly into his face and smoothed his purposely ruffled hair. "Oh, you're so handsome," she crooned, now consciously trying to embarrass him. To his surprise, he didn't feel the sweet touch of his mother's love, at least, it wasn't the first thing he felt.
"MOM, I'm going to miss the train," he complained, pulling away from her with a quick hug. He nodded to his father and took his trunk from the house elf, lugging it towards the train car, puffing.
Inside the train, students ran up and down the narrow corridor, yelling and laughing. No one was sad about school starting up again, like they were in the Muggle world. Not that he payed attention to the Muggles, anyway.
The year before, his parents, Euphemia and Fleamont Potter, had forced him to get a pen pal. He had chosen a suburb at random, and asked his father to access some records that would lead him to a fellow ten year old. When the system had complied, he had sent a letter the next week, painstakingly writing it and rewriting it.
Sirius Black. That was his pen pal's name. Sirius had not told him much about his family, and Fleamont advised him not to look up the Black family, to keep it a surprise. Sirius had, however, sent a picture of himself in their last letter. James held that very photograph in his shaking hand right now.
James had sent a picture of himself before Sirius had, so they would be able to recognize each other. He hoped so. What if Sirius had been playing with him the whole time? His stomach twisted itself into a knot.
Finally, after going up and down the train corridor several times, he saw his pen pal. Sirius had cut his hair since the photograph was taken, and it framed his face in dark brown, curly waves. His eyes were nervous and blue in his oval face.
"Sirius Black!" James called, hoping the other boy would recognize him. He did.
"James Potter!" The two boys ran as fast as they could towards each other while pulling their trunks. They met in the middle, right by an empty compartment. In an unspoken agreement, they turned and walked right into it. A girl about his age, wearing Muggle clothes and sporting bright red hair, was sitting in a seat, her face pressed against the large window. Nothing of interest.
"So, Sirius, is it? Were your parents especially serious the day you were born?" James pushed his trunk up onto the rack above the seats then plopped down under it. His newfound friend looked at him curiously.
"No, Sirius is a constellation, which means I am a star," He said pompously, pushing up his nose like a pig or a snotty Slytherin. James roared with laughter. He had a feeling that, with this boy as a friend, he would laugh like that a lot more.
A knock came at the compartment door. Through the glass, they could see a tall boy with chestnut brown hair covering his eyes. Sirius looked at James with a go ahead expression. James straightened his glasses, mussed up his hair, and slid open the door. A whistle sounded, the train would be leaving soon.
"Hi. I'm Remus Lupin." The boy had a very thin scar going across his face and his dark blue eyes were darting around, occasionally going to James' face, shooting away again. Remus cleared his throat and asked in a small voice, "Can I sit with you? Everywhere else is full." The full part was a lie, James suspected, but he decided to let it pass.
James looked back at Sirius, who nodded. He smiled warmly at Remus. "Of course. If we're all to become best friends, we should start getting to know each other." A few encouraging words should loosen his tongue. He would know soon enough if this nervous boy was worth it.
Twenty minutes later, it was decided. They had told each other a bit about themselves, and were joking when the compartment door slid open again. Sirius had just told a joke and they were all beside themselves with laughter. None of the boys paid the newcomer any mind until he heard it.
"You'd better be in Slytherin." Ah. That was Severus Snape. A greasy, black haired sniveling bat. He had heard about him from his parents, who told James in serious tones, "Don't go making friends with that boy. He's trouble. Just avoid him." Why avoid him? James, being the son of two wealthy parents, couldn't hold his tongue.
"Slytherin?" The two people looked at him. One was Snape, and the other was the red haired girl. She was mildly pretty, but not gorgeous. However, she had almond shaped eyes that were greener than anything he had ever seen. That was memorable. He'd learn her name sometime.
James turned to Sirius. "Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" Sirius didn't laugh or even smile. James felt his throat seize. What did I do wrong?
"My whole family have been in Slytherin," he said somberly.
James decided to make it a positive conversation again. "Blimey, and I thought you seemed alright!" That broke Sirius's frown. He grinned, revealing pearly white teeth straighter than the tracks they were now chugging along on. Remus chuckled and opened his book again.
Sirius broke his smile to say, "Maybe I'll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you've got a choice?" James lifted an invisible sword, holding it triumphantly in the air.
"'Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart'! Like my dad." His words were greeted by a small, repulsed noise. It was that snivelling Snape. He turned towards the other boy. "Got a problem with that?"
The Snivelling Snape sneered. "No. If you rather be brawny than brainy-"
Sirius had something to say about that. "Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?"
James failed to hold back the lion's roar of laughter that thundered up his throat. He slapped his knee like an adult and felt back in his seat, gasping for breath.
The red haired girl stood up, blush on her freckled cheeks, and scowled at them. "Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment." She stalked out, Snivellus in tow.
Sirius and James mocked her. "Oooooooo." On a roll, James stuck out his leg to trip Snape. He failed, but oh, did it feel good to throw his weight around.
As they disappeared, James couldn't resist calling Snape by his new name. "See ya, Snivellus!" He stood and slammed the compartment door, falling against it with laughter. Remus shut his book with a laugh of his own and Sirius fell off the seat. For the rest of the train ride, they forgot about the two wet blankets and joked around some more. Remus added a few things in, but mostly kept to himself, reading. James didn't find it annoying, but he did wish the boy would talk a bit more. It was okay. They'd break him of the habit.
They were lined up in the Great Hall. It looked exactly like James had heard, high ceilinged, a mirror image of the sky. Four, enormous House tables taking up the majority of the space. A stool stood in front of the staff table, where a strict-looking Professor McGonagall waiting with a long roll of parchment. She called out a few names, and the students sat and were Sorted, going off to their respective Houses. Sirius Black walked slowly to the stool. James watched with concerned eyes. The Sorting Hat waited a few minutes before screaming "GRYFFINDOR!"
When the name "Evans, Lily" was called, the red haired, freckled girl stepped up and sat on the stool. McGonagall placed the Hat on her head. After a few seconds, it screamed, "GRYFFINDOR!" Lily smiled and ran to the table, looking back at the line. James noticed that she made eye contact with Snape and frowned to himself.
Sirius, bless his little Black-raised heart, scooted over to make room, but Lily obviously recognized him from earlier and turned away from his sheepish smile.
"Lupin, Remus!" James snapped his attention back to the front of the Hall. The nervous, chestnut haired boy speed-walked to the front, almost tripping over his school robes. James heard Snivellus snicker. He had to resist tackling the boy. He could do it. Just a few… names… left. After Remus had seated himself at the Gryffindor table, across from Sirius, who grinned and fist bumped him, Potter let his attention wander.
"Potter, James." McGonagall looked at him sternly as he ran to the stool. He smiled innocently up at her. In response, she placed the battered Hat on his head. It covered his eyes, so he waited in darkness, panicking.
A brave heart. Full of courage… intelligent, sometimes.
James felt his cheeks burn. What do you mean, sometimes?
The hat chuckled and did not answer. Arrogant, fueled by wealth. Hmm… Brave, loyal, sometimes smart. I know exactly where you should go.
Out loud, it screamed, "Gryffindor!" James smiled from ear to ear and sprinted off to his new House table. His new Housemates cheered for him, as they did for all new recruits. He smiled at Remus and Sirius, who returned it. After a couple more minutes, the feast started, and James barely remembered anymore of that night.
A gust blew in through a window, chilling the Gryffindor first year. James had not touched it since two weeks past, and he scowled as he realized who had opened it. "Sirius!" A snicker from under the covers in the next bed over. James threw his shoe at the scarlet and golden lump, striking it squarely in the rounder part. A yelp, and James snatched his shoe away from the hand that reached out to grab it, laughing. Sirius burst out from the comforter and lunged at James, tackling him, trying to take the shoe.
"Guys, you're going to be late for class!" Remus scowled at the pair of them tussling on the floor. Sirius grinned.
"You're just jealous you can't beat me in arm wrestling!" He teased. James snorted. It was true. Remus looked put out for a moment, but failing to earn their pity, smiled a little. James grinned and reached up to ruffle his hair like a father, rubbing his fist into it so Remus had to bend over, allowing Sirius to attack him from behind, shoving him onto his bed. Remus stood up quickly, flustered, and announced himself to be going to Transfiguration. He left, reaching up and spinning the clock around so the two jokers could see it.
It was five minutes till classes.
James screamed and dressed as fast as he possibly could. Sirius looked in the mirror, threw on a robe over his pajamas, shoved his shoes on, put some books in his bag, and ran out the door. James swore and shoved his shoes on, following him. His owl, Marmalade, hooted what seemed to be a sarcastic wish of good luck after him. James scowled but laughed as he ran down the steps.
The two boys ran as fast as they could to Transfiguration, cuss words spilling out of their mouths. As soon as they entered the classroom, thirty seconds late, their teeth turned in little bars of soap. The class was a shared one with some Hufflepuff first years, and they were kind enough to only snicker a little bit. However, the other Gryffindors, Remus included, laughed heartily at their pain.
Coughing and spluttering, James sank to the ground and leaned against a desk, trying not to choke on the suds now foaming out of his mouth. Just as he felt his lungs constrict, his teeth resumed their normal shape, but left him with a taste of soap in his mouth. Sirius recovered a second after him, his Gryffindor robes falling open to reveal Snitch patterned pajamas. This made even the quietest of Hufflepuffs snort in mirth.
James stood up shakily and slunk to his seat, a cat after someone has sprayed it with water. Sirius followed him, sitting in his seat and sliding down until only his eyes, forehead, and hair were visible.
"As I was saying," Professor McGonagall continued with a sharp look at the two boys, "Transfiguration is not about the wand waving, it is about your notes and how you comprehend them. Today, I will demonstrate, you will take notes, and then you will attempt it yourself. A ruler into a spoon. Watch carefully."
She turned to a silver ruler on the desk. It looked like the kind from Astronomy. James leaned forward, always eager to watch an experienced witch or wizard do magic. He suddenly remembered to take notes, and frantically dug a piece of parchment out of his bag, along with a bottle of ink and an eagle feather quill.
"Ortholigula!" McGonagall said, jabbing her wand at the ruler. There was a small pop, and the ruler turned into metallic silver spoon, narrowing and fanning out at the end. It was more of a stirring spoon, really, as the ruler was so big, but whatever. James made sure to include that.
Spell is othroliegoola. Jab wand at subject and stand up too. Also be firm and put stress on the liegoola part. Spoon turns into a stirring spoon because the ruler was so big. Also you need to scowl when you say that. And you need to have just turned two boys's teeth into little soap things because you are a strict old lady. Focus too.
A throat cleared behind him. He looked up to see McGonagall leaning over him, frowning deeply, reading his notes. He smiled sheepishly at her, and for a second, he thought she would turn him into a pig for bacon. He certainly ate enough of it to fill a pig. When he got enough time to eat in the mornings, that was.
"'Spell'," McGonagall read out loud, "'is othroliegoola. Jab wand at subject, and stand up too. Also be firm, and put stress on the liegoola part. Spoon turns into a stirring spoon because the ruler was so big. Also, you need to scowl when you say that. And you need to have turned two boys' teeth into little soap things because you a strict old lady. Focus too.' If you ever need notes, class, come to Mr. Potter here if you want to fail. Can anyone tell me the correct information?" Snickers.
James felt his cheeks warm and start on fire, and as McGonagall moved to the front of the class, he sunk down as low as Sirius had been moments earlier. His friend was now hunched over his desk, scribbling furiously. On the other side of the room, Remus was chewing on his pencil.
Lily Evans' hand shot into the air. "Yes, Ms. Evans?" McGonagall asked. Lily responded with the answer.
"The proper pronunciation is ore-tho-lie-goo-la," she said with a look at James, "and it's spelled O-R-T-H-O…"
James tuned out and thought about that morning. He wasn't going to be embarrassed anymore. He was going to make a name for himself, reinforce that Potter Privilege. And it needed to start now. The Gryffindor sat up straighter, and schemed about how he could start marauding this castle.
They won't know what hit them. Get ready, Professor McGonagall.