The train's whistle blew, reiterating the conductor's call for the train to leave. A sandy-haired 11 year-old boy looked up at his parents and smiled nervously, "I guess I need to go, don't I?"
The boys mother tried to comfort her son with words of encouragement "we'll write every day" and "We'll see you during the Christmas break" but the small boy still looked slightly scared.
"What if someone finds out about me? What if I get kicked out? What if nobody likes me?" The boys father grabbed him in a tight hug and replied, "Even if someone finds out, it won't be the end of the world, you'll be fine, and you'll make plenty of friends, just try not to spend all of your time reading." The sandy-haired boy looked at his parents and smiled before quickly saying his good-bys and jumping on the train as it was about to start moving.
The boy quickly looked out the closest window and waved to his parents as the train sped away, then he turned to find a seat. Unfortunately, most of the compartments were full, but finally after a few encounters with some very mean 6th years, claiming to be Slytherins he found a compartment with only one other person in it. "Umm, sorry to bother you, but can I sit here?" The boy looked up from the owl he was patting and raised an eyebrow.
"There are plenty of compartments, I highly doubt they are all full, but if you must, I guess you can sit here," The boy in the compartment stood up and moved his trunk out of the seat across from him and stowed it away, leaving room for the new boy.
"Thank-you very much. My name is Remus Lupin. What's yours?" The sandy haired-boy stuck his hand out to the boy across from him, who looked like he didn't brush his black locks that morning.
"James Potter, I'll let you sit here, but you better realize that we are not friends, I will only be friends with those who are sorted into the same house as me, you could end up a Slytherin, but I'm betting you'll be a Ravenclaw, you look like a bookworm." James replied as he eyed Remus' outstretched hand. Remus swallowed nervously and nodded, "Okay, we're not friends, I understand."
The rest of the ride was spent with Remus reading and James talking to various people that stopped by the compartment, not even a single person even acknowledged Remus sitting in the corner. As the train slowed down James stood up and grabbed his trunk and made his way out of the compartment, before he left he tapped Remus on the shoulder to get his attention, "We are pretty much there, and good luck with the sorting, hope you get into the same house as me." Remus smiled at his almost-friend, before gathering up his stuff and exiting the train.
Please don't make me a Slytherin, please anything but Slytherin!
"Hmm, not Slytherin, but you would do well there, your entire other family has been there thus far, but don't worry I thinking you are better suited to GRYFFINDOR!" Sirius Black jumped up with a victorious shout and ran over to the Gryffindor table with the hat still on his head, it wasn't until Professor McGonagall reminded him of it that he smirked and brought the hat back up to the stool "You mean I don't get to keep it Professor?" He laughed as he handed her the hat, then skipped back to his seat.
Sirius sat next to another first year, though he couldn't remember the boy's name, was it Jason? Or Jordan? Ah, right, it was James! From the Potter family, notorious for being goody-two-shoes. The complete opposite of his own family who were on You-Know-Who's right hand. Sirius jumped and James spoke to him, "bloody-hell, I can't believe they stuck you here, isn't like your entire family from Slytherin?"
Sirius glared at the boy before replying loud enough for the entire table to hear, "just because my entire family were evil bastards who don't care about anyone but themselves, doesn't mean I am anything like them! I will not be compared to any of those idiots, and if you do compare me to them, I swear to Merlin I will hex you into next year!" The surrounding people just stared at him for a few minutes before going back to their own conversations. James looked at Sirius and smirked, "so, if you are going to be one of us, how do you feel about a little prank on the Slytherins, show them to stay away from us?" Sirius grinned back and clapped James on the back, "my-boy, I do believe this is the start of a wonderful friendship. So, do you know how to do the levitation spell?"
The boys continued to mutter to each other stopping only to welcome Remus when he sat down beside them. "Remus, do you by any chance, know how to get to the dungeons from here?" Remus raised an eyebrow before confirming his knowledge and joining in the conversation with a calculating look and a smile.
And thus the Marauders were born, Peter Pettigrew joined them soon after when the boys stopped a few 2nd year Slytherins from picking on him, he was never much of one to do anything but follow the others lead, but he had a fair amount of input every so often. With James' ideas, Sirius' bravery, Remus' smarts, and Peter' unfailing loyalty, the group soon became the most worshiped (and most feared) group in the entire castle.