Deer are social creatures and, much like man, have a definite social structure. With this social structure comes a complex set of rules with which every deer in the herd must comply. These rules within the deer herd demand a method of communication whereby deer can react and respond to each other, establish herd hierarchy, or pecking order.[1]
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James Potter absently ran a hand through his tousled hair as he walked down the main corridor of the train. His chin jutted out proudly as he glanced into each carriage, idly dismissing the ones filled with older students. As he neared the end of the train, he saw a boy and a girl stiffly ignoring each other. The girl was in Muggle clothes, sitting next to the window and sobbing hard, whilst the boy was in stiff Wizarding robes rolling his eyes. James slid open the door, and entered the compartment, sitting across from the boy with a regal air.
"And you are?" the boy asked, his eyebrow raised.
"Potter, James Potter. Yourself?" James could see the other boy consider his name briefly. Obvious signs of being from a Pureblood family, or a family aspiring to be Purebloods. James hoped he was a Pureblood, he wasn't looking forward to having to traipse down the corridor to look for a suitable companion again.
"Black." He tossed out, and James smiled slightly. "Sirius." He gave his first name as almost an afterthought. "So, am I to assume that you're the Potter heir?" James nodded once in response, and tilted his head in question to the Black boy. "I am heir to the Black's. Both lines, my cousins are female." James let himself chuckle slightly, a subtle sign that he knew where the wealth lay - with him and the Potter line, not with the Blacks. There was a short pause in the conversation as both boys realised that the formalities had been dealt with, until-
"Hey, have either of you got a tissue?" the girl next to the window spoke, her voice thick with tears. Sirius rolled his eyes at James, and looked away, only looking back with wide eyes when James spoke.
"No," he said coolly. "Wizards do not carry tissues." The girl shrank back at the cold tone, but sat forwards and thrust her chin up.
"Well the wizard that told me I was a witch had one!" she countered angrily.
"And who do you think knows more about Wizarding culture?" Sirius sneered at her. It was James' turn to widen his eyes. "Him, or you?" The girl sniffed again, leaving James and Sirius to attempt to communicate through rapid eye movements. Before they could manage to pass any relevant messages, another boy slid open the carriage door. The red headed girl glanced over at him, then looked away.
"I don't want to talk to you," the girl said, her voice rough. James and Sirius's heads both turned, assuming that she was talking to them, but the other boy beat them with a response.
"Why not?" he edged closer, talking gently. James and Sirius looked at each other in mild confusion. If the girl were Muggle born, how would she know another student? Through their confusion, they missed a few hushed words, but their ears pricked forwards, eager for clues.
"But we're going!" The dark haired boy said, his hand tilting her chin up. "This is it! We're off to Hogwarts!" He was a first year too then. They didn't look alike though, so they couldn't be related… "You'd better be in Slytherin." James snorted.
"Slytherin? Who wants to be in Slytherin?" James said derisively, looking down his nose at the pair. "I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" Sirius didn't smile, instead he grimaced. James raised an eyebrow as the other boy told of his family's penchant for being Sorted into Slytherin.
"Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?" Sirius asked conversationally.
" 'Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!' Like my dad," James lifted an invisible sword, and put on his best 'King' impression. "Though his brother was a Slytherin… We don't get on with him much." James frowned slightly as the dark haired boy scowled at him.
"That's fine, if you want to be brawny instead of brainy…" he began, only to be interrupted by Sirius.
"Where are you going then, seeing as you're neither?" James and Sirius roared with laughter as the pair exited the carriage, both boys catcalling after the pair. It took a moment for it to register that they were finally on their own, and as soon as they did, their eyes met with sudden solemnity.
"You spoke to a Mudblood." Sirius said, quite calmly into the silence.
"As did you." James returned. His head tilted to one side slightly. "I play by my own rules. I am not my father, and nor am I his father. Are you your father?" Sirius bristled slightly, a fact that James was very aware of.
"No, I am not my father." He said darkly. James cocked his head, sure of some ulterior motive, but unaware of how to divine it. With a shake of his head, the idea rid itself of his mind.
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James stood impatiently waiting to be sorted. To him, the idea of doing things alphabetically seemed idiotic. Why not just sort the more important people first? The Pure-bloods, then the Half-bloods, then the Mudbloods last. He watched in mild shock when Black, the boy he'd been seated with on the train was sorted to Gryffindor. They'd be together then. Perhaps James would have a chance to right how cold he had been on the train.
The Mudblood girl was sorted into Gryffindor too, James noted with a sneer. The hat could probably sense that there'd be too many in Hufflepuff. He frowned as he saw Black - he'd have to remember to call him Sirius - move over to give her a seat. She smiled at him, then scowled as he moved back over when she went to sit. James smiled again. Balance had been restored.
Finally, his name was called and he strode forwards and thrust the hat onto his head. Gryffindor was called almost immediately. He threw his chin up high as he took off the hat and made his way over to the seat next to Black - Sirius. The other boy moved to the side without a word. He knew where the power in the relationship lay. From what James could see of the others who'd been sorted into their House, he and Sirius were the most closely matched in wealth and status. The other two boys' surnames hadn't registered with him, so they must only be half-bloods or Mudbloods. Perhaps, however they could be useful…
Late that night, he and Sirius snuck down to the common room. The fires burned low and they sat alone.
"My family will hate me for being sorted here," Black - Sirius said glumly.
"No matter what you do, you won't be good enough," James replied. "So why don't we do something different?" Black's - Sirius's - head popped up a little.
"Different like what?" He asked with a narrowing of his eyes.
"Let's cause havoc!" James grinned manically, leaning forwards to look at the other boy. "Look at this place, it's so boring. I've heard tell that the only ones who break rules are the Slytherins. We should do that. Let's break every single rule. Bet we can pass off half of the blame to the Half-bloods if we 'make friends' with them." His hands raised to make quote marks as he said the words make friends, obviously showing to Black - Sirius - how serious, or not, he was about the endeavour.
"Yeah, okay then." Black - Sirius - nods. "Let's do it. Just watch out that they don't get too close."
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"Okay, students, I need everyone in groups of four for this exercise!" The Defence Professor calls out across the classroom. James doesn't have to look behind him to know that his group has already gathered. He smirks as he turns around. "Pick one person to be in charge - this person will be leading the spell!" Still, James doesn't have to say a word. Black - Sirius - raises an eyebrow at him, and tilts his head slightly. The other two, the half-bloods nod along, readily agreeing. "Now, the person in charge will decide on the strength of the hexes you'll be casting at each other, and also how long the bout will last for. I want you to work on your speed casting, rather than your accuracy at this point."
"Snape," James mouths the target to his group. That tatty Slytherin boy from the train really gets on his nerves. Pretending as if he were a Pureblood, a fine thing to aspire to, sure, but then speaking with the Mudblood Gryffindor? What a pitiful freak.
Just as James had planned, as soon as the teacher leaves them to practice, two fairly strong, and two weak hexes hit Snape. One of them, James is sure it's Lupin's hex, serves only to make him cry.
"Ha! Look at Snivellus!" James roars with laughter as the greasy git is dragged to the Hospital Wing by the Mudblood. He knows full well that he's already been labelled - runt.
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[1] Deer%