Chapter 1 – First Encounters
"Now, you've remembered everything right? Your cauldron? Your robes?"
"Yes mum." James Potter was standing on platform 9 ¾ with his parents, his excitement bubbling over, threatening to envelope him. He was going to Hogwarts! This was it! After 11 years of waiting for his letter to arrive it finally did. James ran a hand through his already messy jet black hair, making it stick out in different directions. His brown eyes swept the station drinking in the view; the gleaming scarlet Hogwarts express, the meowing cats, the screeching owls. James' own owl, Taimes, screeched indignantly when a young boy nearby dropped his toad and ran after it, in the process crashing into a large pile of trunks which cascaded to the floor. James' eyes were, however, drawn toward a young girl with dazzling red hair and sparkling green eyes.
The girl appeared to be arguing with another dark-haired girl who looked like a muggle. James adjusted his glasses and edged closer to try to hear their conversation:
"…I'm sorry Tuney, I'm sorry! Listen…" the red-head was saying as she grabbed the others girl's hand. Tuney (or whatever her name was) tried and failed to pull way. "Maybe once I'm there – no, listen, Tuney! Maybe once I'm there, I'll be able to go to Professor Dumbledore and persuade him to change his mind!"
"I don't want to go!" spat the dark-haired girl. "You think I want to go to some stupid castle and learn to be a … a … you think I want to be a … a freak?!"
'That wasn't fair,' James thought angrily 'I am not a freak, my parents aren't freaks, and that other girl certainly doesn't seem like a freak.'
The red-head seemed to be thinking along the same lines, because she released her friend's (or sister's… James wasn't sure) hand and muttered "I'm not a freak, that's a horrible thing to say."
At this point James turned away from the two girls. He quickly kissed his parents good bye, promising as he did so to write every week, and climbed onto the train.
Still thinking about the girls on the platform, James walked down the train, his trunk trailing behind him, past compartments full of chattering students, some already in their school robes. All the compartments were full, except for one which was empty except for another boy who looked like he could also be a third year. He had long dark hair, stormy grey eyes, and a sort of haughty, proud look about him. The boy looked up as James entered.
"Hi, can I sit here? It's just there's nowhere else." James asked.
"Sure." The boy grinned and as he did so his whole face seemed to come to life. "I'm Sirius Black."
"I'm James, James Potter."
"Potter? As in Edward Potter? The Minister for Magic?"
"Yeah, he's my dad."
"Woah!" James laughed at the look on Sirius' face just as the door slid open and in walked the pretty red-headed girl James had seen on the platform. She didn't show any sign o acknowledging the two boys and just sat by the window. James was shocked to see she'd been crying.
"Err… hi?" said Sirius. When the girl didn't reply Sirius looked at James, perplexed.
"So what do your parents do?" James asked Sirius. At his words, Sirius looked at his feet and frowned.
"My dad works in the ministry and my mum just stays at home. My great-grandfather was once headmaster of Hogwarts, but he wasn't very good. I hate my family." Sirius muttered darkly.
"Hey don't beat yourself up about it. We'll be haring a dormitory! I've just realised! And my dad told me how to get into the kitchens!" James' said enthusiastically. Sirius cheered up quite a lot after that as they discussed quidditch and hidden passage ways James' dad had found when he was at Hogwarts.
Suddenly the door slid open to reveal a skinny boy with greasy black hair falling past his shoulders and a rather large hooked nose. He was already in his school robes and he looked quite ill until he saw the girl in the corner and his face lit up. "Lily! Hey Lily!" the boy cried excitedly. James watched him sit down opposite her and managed to catch snippets of their conversation.
"…and now she hates me!"
"But this is it! We're going to Hogwarts, Lily! You'd better be in Slytherin-"
"Slytherin!" interjected James, "Who'd want to be in Slytherin?! I'd leave wouldn't you?" he asked Sirius. Everybody knew that almost every Slytherin was cruel and hated muggles and muggleborns. The dark wizard Voldemort was a Slytherin.
"My whole family was in Slytherin." Mumbled Sirius gloomily.
"Blimey! And I thought you were okay!"
"Well you never know, maybe I'll break the tradition." Sirius grinned. "Where are you going? If you had a choice…"
"Gryffindor! Where dwell the brave at heart! Like my dad!" James pretended to raise the legendary sword of Gryffindor.
The boy by the window smirked.
"Got a problem with that?"
"No," sneered the boy maliciously, "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy-"
"And where are you hoping to go seeing as you're neither?" spat Sirius as James sniggered. Lily stood up rather red in the face and looking at them in disgust.
"C'mon Severus, let's find another compartment." She said, stalking out the door.
"Oooo… come on Severus let's find another compartment." Sirius mimicked as James tried to trip up the boy following Lily out the door.
"See ya, Snivellus!" James and Sirius fell about laughing as the door slid open yet again and in walked another boy, this time with sandy coloured hair. His clothes were shabby and had patches on them but he smiled warmly at the two boys clutching their stomachs in laughter.
"Hi, I'm Remus Lupin, can we sit in here?" It was then that James realised the boy was not alone, but as being followed by a small chubby kid with watery eyes and tufty brown hair. "This is Peter Pettigrew."
James and Sirius invited them in and introduced themselves. The rest of the journey ran as smoothly as a river of pumpkin juice. Several games of exploding snap, cauldron cakes and swapping of chocolate frog cards later the Hogwarts express came to a halt at Hogsmeade station. As the four boys exited the train, trunks and James' owl in tow, they heard a booming voice above all the excited chattering of the students. "Firs'-years! Firs'-years this way! Firs'-years over her! Firs'-years!"
"Hey! Hey, Hagrid!" James called and he found himself face to face with a huge being. Two times the height and five times the width of a normal man, Rubeus Hagrid had known James for a very long time as he was good friends with James' dad. Hagrid was rather ferocious looking, with a mass of wild tangled hair covering most of his head and face, but James knew Hagrid was really harmless.
"Yeh all right there, James?" said Hagrid warmly.
"Fine thanks." Said James, laughing at the awed looks of Sirius and Remus' faces and a cowering, whimpering Peter who looked like he was about to wet himself in fright.
"Firs'-years are comin' with me." Hagrid said brightly, leading them and the other terrified new students down the path away from the older kids. Eventually they reached the edge of a great black lake that stretched as far as they could see and in the distance silhouetted against the shining half moon stood Hogwarts, its many towers and turrets looming over the lake. In front of them was a small fleet of boats. "Right, four to a boat and keep yer hands an' feet inside the boat at all times." There was hurried scrambling as people rushed to get into boats with their friends. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter all squeezed into one of them, their knees knocking into the sides. "Right then, everyone ready? FORWARD!" bellowed Hagrid as the boats began to drift over the vast expanse of water toward the huge castle before them.