Chapter 2 – Old Hat, New Tricks
1st September 1971
A/n: Contains an extract from the Deathly Hallows concerning S & J's first meeting with L & S. All characters (and extract) belong to J.K.R
The Hogwarts Express stood polished and gleaming reflecting the red bricks of Kings Cross station. Shrieks of laughter and excited chatter from children boarding the train, greeting old friends and waving goodbye to parents filled the air. Handsome and self-assured even at 11, Sirius was nonchalantly watching the scene. He had formally said goodbye to his parents at home, neither of them believed in emotional farewells, and it was an unctuous house elf who stood quietly next to Sirius as he looked around taking in his fellow students.
He recognised and immediately looked away from some familiar faces in the crowd, the children of pureblood families he had been forced to play with growing up - Marek Mulciber and Dom Avery, whose interminable conversation was only matched by the depth of their stupidity. More interesting was a young bespectacled boy laughing and running through the crowd, chased by an elderly witch and wizard.
"Who's that?" he questioned his house elf abruptly, knowing the slimy creature kept tabs on all the wizarding families at the behest of his mistress.
"James Potter, a pure blood Master, but a blood traitor. Mistress would not want you associating with him" whispered Kreacher in his ear, which quite made up the matter in Sirius's mind.
Since that awful day 4 years ago, Sirius had begun a subtle war of attrition with his parents. He had never openly disobeyed them again, but every rule he had found a way to silently circumvent, every edict he refused to believe, never again would he trust them and always he would remember the innocent muggles they had killed.
"You may go" Sirius said dismissively, walking away before the house elf had even bowed. He did not see the look of deep dislike Kreacher threw at his back, and would not have cared if he had.
Making to follow James Potter onto the train he stopped to watch his parents finally catch the curly-haired boy before planting enthusiastic kisses onto his hair and extorting promises from him to write to them. Climbing up the stairs after him he shouted
"Oi Potter, you dropped something"
Turning in surprise, the other boy faced him, dark curly hair rumpled as if he had been caught up in a strong gale, hazel eyes blinked at him owlishly from behind his glasses.
"What?" James said, turning and seeing a young boy with the face of a prince but with the smile of Lucifer himself.
"This" said Sirius grinning, holding out a bag of (illegal) indoor fireworks.
"They're not mine…" began James, then he became aware of the look of devilment lurking in Sirius's eyes. "Hi" he began again, "I'm James Potter".
"I know" Sirius smirked.
Sometime later, when all the fireworks had been exhausted, and a group of screaming Third year girls had threatened to hex them, Sirius and James stumbled laughing into a carriage with only two occupants sat in it.
Sirius looking up, caught tear-filled almond-shaped green eyes of a young girl, until the owner turned her head away and swept her red hair over her shoulder. Glancing at her companion, he dismissed him instantly as a nobody, with his patched robes and greasy black fringe stuck to his forehead.
"You'd better be in Slytherin" the nobody was saying encouragingly to the red-haired girl, his hand on hers as she looked out the window.
"Slytherin?" James bounded into the carriage and sat himself down opposite the girl looking at her with undisguised interest. She, on the other hand, was studiously ignoring everyone in the carriage. Sirius flung himself down gracefully next to James and afforded the sallow looking wizard opposite another mocking look. "Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" James remarked to Sirius.
"My whole family have been in Slytherin" he responded deadpan, not taking his eyes from the dark-haired wizard opposite.
"Blimey" said James "and I thought you seemed all right"
Sirius turning, smirked at him "Maybe I'll break tradition" he responded "where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"
James faked lifting an invisible sword above his head waving it around "Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart! Like my dad"
The nobody sat opposite them scoffed derisively.
James immediately turned on him "got a problem with that?"
"No" replied the sneering boy "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy…"
"Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?" interjected Sirius mockingly.
James fell back against the seat laughing. The red-haired girl shot both Sirius and James a look of intense dislike and grabbing her greasy-haired companion's hand dragged him from the carriage.
"Come on Severus, let's find another compartment" she said disdainfully.
"Oooooh…" laughed Sirius and James, mocking her lofty tone.
"See ya Snivellus" shouted James after the nobody, sticking out a leg to try and trip him.
That excitement over with, the boys changed into their Hogwarts robes and eagerly speculated on their future houses, each trying to out boast the other about their prowess on the Quidditch field. Sirius had not been allowed to fly very often, but he had the natural recklessness and over-confidence that lent itself well to the sport and he was itching to try out for the Hogwarts Quidditch team. With James at his side, his future at the Castle seemed infinitely brighter, and for the first time he was genuinely excited about the next 7 years ahead of him.
He reflected again on the red-headed girl and wondered why she'd been crying. Her hair long and curling brought back uncomfortable memories of Karen and shaking his head, he tried to dismiss the thought from his mind.
Several hours past in which the children disembarked the train at their final destination only to be greeted by a hairy man who looked like a giant.
"Awesome", Sirius heard James muttering.
The children were herded into small boats which automatically set out drifting onto the water once the right number of occupants had seated themselves. Straining to gain their first glimpse of Hogwarts castle, Sirius and James bobbed up and down on seats excitedly, ignoring the green colour of a small mousy boy opposite them and then shouting when they finally saw the turreted Castle rising majestically into the night-sky.
A little while later, even Sirius and James were quiet significantly awed by the splendour of the Castle, and trembling in excitement as they entered the Great Hall, with the eyes of a hundred older students upon them, as they walked with the rest of the First Years up to the front, where an old weathered hat sat waiting for them on a stool.
Sirius was one of the first to sit on the stool, the hat placed upon his head, slipping down slightly and covering his view of the Hall.
To Sirius's great astonishment, the hat began to speak to him "Well, well, well, another Black come to Hogwarts I see, to bring honour and glory to the House of Black I have no doubt".
Not bloody likely mused Sirius grimly, and reflected on his determination to be the exact opposite to everything his family wanted him to be. He thought he heard the Hat chuckle only to shout out loud to the whole Hall "Gryffindor!"
Elated Sirius jumped up, and breaking centuries of Black family tradition he went and sat himself down on the wrong side of the room, looking over to the stunned faces of Mulciber and Avery with a kind of demonic glee.
Soon the red-haired girl ("Evans, Lily!") was sorted to his new house, she sat down next to him but seeing who he was, quickly turned her face away. Around Sirius his new house mates congratulated him and her welcoming them to Gryffindor, Sirius smiled politely but quickly turned his attention back to the Hat and his new friend sat beneath it. "Come on, come on, come on" he muttered, his fingers crossed.
However, no sooner had the Hat touched the curly hair of James Potter then it declared "Gryffindor!" and James raced towards the table to high-five Sirius, squeezing in between him Lily, much to her disgust. She ignored his high-five and looked sadly at her friend Severus as he was sorted to Slytherin, and walked slowly towards the table on the opposite side of the Hall.
The feast began soon after that, and James, egged on by Sirius's wink and smile of devil-may-care took to stuffing his pockets with cakes and scones for a "midnight feast! All Gryffindors invited!"
Lily affected to ignore both of them, and the quiet boys opposite, the small mousy boy, less green now and the tired-looking brown haired boy. She instead kept glancing over at the Slytherin table on the other side of the Hall and Severus, the greasy-haired boy who was stoically tucking into his food, not talking to his neighbours.
The feast over, prefects began to lead the various First years to their House dormitories. Sirius who had grown up in a magic house, who had been around strange and fantastical things all his life, had not expected to feel awed by Hogwarts. But as he watched the staircases shift above him, an Armoured Knight walking sentry past a shadowy doorway, a ghost of a nearly headless man drift pass nodding at the ghost of a grim-faced Baron with bloodstains down his robes, he acknowledged to himself that Hogwarts was very, very cool.
He then looked round at the mischievous face of his new companion walking next to him, who, after winking at Sirius, cautiously opened the pocket of his robe to display an indoor firework which he was just casually lighting. It was, as Sirius thought to himself, going to be a brilliant 7 years.
