The train erupted into chaos, as hundreds of tiny fairy-like creatures sped through the corridors, tugging at the students' ears and hair. Some managed to open bags, throwing their contents through the air, while others tore open the seats, turning the entire compartment into a mess of flying objects. Students scrambled through the aisle, yelling and shouting. A group of first years hid in the bathroom, shaking in fear, as pixies thundered on the door with their tiny fists. Older students tried to stun the troublemakers, cries of "Stupefy" filled the air.
A blonde boy fell to the floor stunned, as he was hit by a spell meant for the pixies. Another boy hurried through the aisle, his eyes wildly looking around in search of his friends, as he spotted the stunned boy on the ground. He waved his already drawn wand over him, as he spoke. "Finite Incantatem." Only on the third try, the blonde student finally stirred and sat up shaking. "What happened?", he asked in confusion and was met with a short, angry answer, before his savior rushed off. "My idiotic friends happened."
Remus found them nearly at the end of the train, barricaded in one of the few –if not only- pixie-free compartment. The two black-haired boys were staring out of the door into the corridor like it was a television, all the while laughing freely. When Remus touched the handle, he found the door locked and resorted to shouting through it. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"My my, Remus, I don't think I've ever seen you this angry." Sirius mocked him. "What do you think, Prongs?" And with the widest grin he turned to his smirking friend.
"I think we should remember our friend as he was. We really shouldn't be watching this." He pulled his wand from his sleeve, bewitching the door to slowly frost. It crept up from the bottom, hiding Remus' feet from view, then his knees, his upper legs and his hips. Out of nowhere a group of pixies attacked, tugging on the boy's brown hair, pulling strands from it and waving them in the air like talismans. He took hold of two of them with his bare hands, yanking them from his head, only to let them drop, as they bit him. They seemed angry now, biting into every part of his body they could reach. It was then that Remus' realized safety was right in front of him. He banged on the door, only his upper chest and head still visible from inside, and begged to be let in. James and Sirius watched him with glee in their eyes and refused to open.
"Don't think so, Moony. Sorry, mate, but we physically just can't open the door. Unless…", James voiced trailed off.
"Unless what?!" Remus screamed on the other side, still fighting the pixies on his head.
"Unless you promise not to tell. We can't lose anymore housepoints before sixth-year has even begun." Sirius finished.
Remus hesitated until only the tip of his brown hair and the pixies pulling it could be seen, then he shouted his promises and the door slid open. The boy slipped inside, just as his friends stunned the two pixies in his hair, a third escaping with him into the compartment. It attacked Sirius and managed to sink its little teeth into his arm, before James stunned it and threw it out the closing door. Moony sank into a seat, clearly exhausted, leaned his head back and sighed, a small smile on his face.
"Sometimes I really hate you."
The rest of the journey was uneventful, except for the continued yelling and shouting in the corridors. The frosted door had effectively blocked the view, so one almost forgot the ongoing fight on the other side of it. As the train came to a halt and the doors opened, the yelling ceased. Watching through the window, the three boys could see hordes of pixies flying out into the dark.
"Wait a second." Remus remarked. "If they leave so easily, why didn't anyone open a window?"
A proud smirk appeared on James face, as he said: "Can't do that if they are jinxed."
Remus stared at him in disbelief. "Did you ever think about whether or not your little prank could injure someone? Especially inexperienced first years? You can't just-"
"Shuqt the prefect talk, Remus." Sirius interrupted harshly. "He said "if" not "when." Besides, I suppose it is now safe to leave the train. We don't want to miss supper." He waved his wand and the door unlocked with a quiet click and slid open. "Speaking of supper. What do you think happened to Wormtail? Think he made it?"
"I'll bet you 10 Galleons he ran off hiding as a rat."
"We can't bet on the same thing, Prongs."
Remus could only shake his head in disappointment, as he followed them to the carriages, drawn by horses he could see, but his friends couldn't. As they took off towards the castle, he observed the night sky, deliberately shutting out his friends chatter. Sometimes it was better not to know. It was getting darker by the second, big clouds hiding away not only the last sunrays of the day, but also the emergence of the moon. Remus didn't mind, even if it wasn't a full moon, he had always been shaky at the sight of it, though this had lessened to a slight nervousness, thanks to his friends. It hadn't even been a year, but he felt like their nightly adventures together had been going on for much longer and it was probably the only times Remus gladly accepted the mischief of his friends, after all the three boys were breaking innumerable school and ministry laws.
The boy was disturbed in his thoughts by James, who shook his shoulder. Both of the black-haired boys, who rather resembled brothers than friends, were barely containing their laughter and pointed towards the carriage next to them. Remus, however, could not find the source for his friends' amusement, he only saw a few second-year Hufflepuffs chatting away in the other carriage.
"Look closely, Moony. Can't you see? There in the front, on the wooden part." Sirius whispered to him, trying to contain a snigger. Now Remus saw it as well, sitting on the part, which connected the thestrals to the carriages, was a fat, grey rat. Unwillingly, a grin sneaked on his face. It seemed like Sirius and James had been right after all.
"Looks like Peter didn't have the time to transform back unseen."
"What if he can't get to the feast in time? Think he'll actually get a detention before us? He would break our record, Sirius." James groaned, suddenly stern and genuinely worried. It really was odd about which things he was worried.
Sirius obviously thought the same thing, though in a different manner, as he impersonated a high-pitched voice. "Are we worried, Jamesie-Wamesie? Worried big old Wormy will steal your candy?" He broke into loud laughter, as Jamesie-Wamesie pushed his elbow into his ribs.
Their banter continued on into the Great Hall until Peter joined them at the table, fully human. He seemed a bit embarrassed and shrank into himself at Sirius remark. "Where were you the whole time? Hiding like a rat?"
The words were a simple figure of speech to the Gryffindors around him, but had much more meaning for the friends. Peter's face was beetle red and the color only started to fade, as the Great Hall fell silent with the opening words of the headmaster. Albus Dumbledore, this year wearing ocean blue robes, spoke like every year of the arrival of the new first-years, which entered through the portal, the very moment Dumbledore had finished his sentence.
This year, however, the sea of first-years was broken by a girl much taller than the others and certainly much older. Remus wasn't the only one who had noticed her, as a murmur broke out in the hall, quickly silenced by the headmaster's sigh. "Ah, I see you have noticed our new arrivals. Surely, you must ask yourselves who our sixteen-year old first-year may be. I am proud to introduce you to our new transfer student from Heliovones, the American School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As the first-years she will be sorted into a house and I except nothing less than a welcoming and friendly welcome from you. May you all become friends." The girl seemed slightly nervous at the attention given to her, her eyes darting through the room. She stopped dead in her tracks, as her eyes met Remus' and he could have sworn she had just inhaled deeply.