Hey everybody! The first chapter, admittedly, sucked, but now you get to meet the Marauders! Yaaay!

Legendary

September 1 found Riley at King's Cross Station with her parents, following Dumbledore's instructions to the platform. Her trunk was packed, and she had read all of her course books at least 3 times but wasn't even done with the first chapter of Hogwarts: A History yet. Hopefully she could get more reading time on the train. The first chapter was all about the founders and how they came together. Riley was very anxious to get to Hogwarts, there were no pictures in her book and she didn't know what it looked like. The wall at the platforms came into view, and Riley took a deep breath. Here she was, about to go off on her own to a place where she had no idea where it even was. She turned to her parents.

"Goodbye Mum, Dad," she said, trying hard not to cry. She knew if she cried, her parents would cry, and she'd miss the train with all their hugging and crying and goodbyes.

"Oh, bye, sweetie," Joanne said, hugging her daughter. "I'll miss you so much."

"Have fun at your new school, Ri-bear," Marcus said, also hugging Riley. Riley rolled her eyes at the nickname, but hugged him back.

"Dad, I have to go now," she whispered. Marcus let her go, and looked at her with pride in his eyes.

"All right, Ri-bear. You go and make lots of new friends. And don't forget to write," he replied. Riley nodded her head, took hold of her trolley, and walked swiftly through the barrier. She felt a pleasant whoosh sensation, and she opened her eyes to see a whole different place. Her green eyes widened at the amazing Hogwarts Express that stood on the tracks. Wizards and witches-some her age, some nearly eighteen-rushed by, all trying to get onto the train. Riley made her way through the crowd, giving Amber(her owl) to a handler who put him on the train among other pets. With great effort, Riley lugged her trunk onto the train and through the hallway. None of the compartments she saw were empty, and she would rather not sit with a bunch of teenagers, so she found a compartment that only held two boys that looked young, around 11, and carefully slid open the door and poked her head in.

"Excuse me, do you mind if I sit with you?" she asked. Both boys turned to look at her. They both had black hair, though one's was short and messy, while the other had slightly longer hair. The short haired boy had hazel eyes behind round framed glasses, while the other had grey eyes.

"I'm James Potter," said the bespectacled boy, motioning for her to sit next to him. Riley stowed her trunk away and sat.

"And I'm Sirius Black, of the Most Ancient and Bigheaded House of Black," said the other. James laughed, but Riley just gave him a confused look.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"My family is big on supporting witches and wizards with magical parents, in other words, pure bloods. I, fortunately, have escaped their influence," replied Sirius. Riley let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. If Sirius wasn't like his family, he wouldn't hate her for having non-magical parents.

"So, mystery girl, what's your name?" asked James.

"Riley. Riley Stevens. I'm Muggleborn," she answered.

"All right then, Riley, since you don't already know about the Houses, we therefore cannot ask you which one you would like to be in," said Sirius.

"But, if we tell you about them, would you be interested in enlightening us with a prediction of your future and House preference?" asked James.

"Huh?" said Riley, confused.

"There are four Houses. Gryffindor, for the brave, courageous, and noble, Ravenclaw, for the clever, smart, and grades-obsessed, Hufflepuff, for the nice, honest, and hardworking, and the occasional loser, and Slytherin, the obnoxious, loud-" James cut Sirius off.

"Ambitious, cunning, and usually people like Sirius' family," he finished.

"Oh, that makes sense. I'm probably headed for Ravenclaw. What about you two?" Apparently this had been the wrong thing to say. The boys gave identical gasps, their faces masks of shock.

"No! Ravenclaw is for the nerds! Join us in Gryffindor!" said James. Sirius nodded frantically.

"Sorry, but that probably won't happen. I'm not brave, I'm scared of the dark," Riley replied, shrugging. "Plus, I like books and reading. Speaking of that, there's this really interesting book called Hogwarts: A History that I've been dying to continue," Riley pulled said book out her bag, but as she turned to page 11 and began to read, the book was yanked out of her hands by Sirius.

"Hey, give me my book!" she snapped. How dare he? She just wanted to read!

"No. You will not spend the amazing first ride to Hogwarts reading a book! You must talk and have fun, Riley," said Sirius, putting the book on the seat beside him. Riley opened her mouth to say something, but someone else beat her to it.

"Do you three mind? I've got nowhere to sit," a sandy-haired boy in the doorway, who looked pale and sickly, looked around the compartment nervously.

"All right, if you don't mind violence, because I'm about to give Sirius a severe-" Riley's words were drowned in Sirius' palm, which was now covering her mouth.

"Come on in! What's your name?" he said cheerfully. The boy just sat down at the seat opposite Riley, near the window. He took out a book identical to Riley's and began reading, only to have his copy taken from him too.

"Seriously, you people need to learn. Reading this evil book is not a good way to spend a train ride," James said, putting the boy's copy on top of Riley's.

"There's no point arguing with them, they're just stubborn," Riley said, smiling at the boy. He just looked at the floor and scooted closer to the window.

"Don't be so shy. I suspect you're a Ravenclaw wanna-be too," scoffed Sirius.

"Yes, I wanna be in Ravenclaw," replied the boy. Sirius looked dumbfounded. This boy was smart.

"Maybe you won't be. Maybe you'll be with us," he said.

"Yes, but that is highly unlikely and since we might never speak again, there's no point in speaking now," said the boy, and began gazing out of the window.

"It's not as unlikely as you think. Come on, be our friend," pursued Sirius.

"No," said the boy.

"Just tell us your name," Riley spoke up, trying to meet the boy's golden eyes.

"No," he repeated.

"Come on, I'll probably be in Ravenclaw, too. If we end up there together we can be friends," she said. The boy sighed, and finally looked her in the eyes.

"Fine. I'll tell you. But only you, because the chances of them getting into Ravenclaw is like Hogwarts randomly turning pink," he said. Riley switched seats and put her ear close to him. He cupped his hands and whispered two words into it.

"Remus Lupin," whispered Remus, and then returned to his window gazing.

"What is it?" asked Sirius, turning to face Riley.

"Not telling," she replied, smirking.

"Tell us and we'll give you your book back," James said.

"No," she answered.

"You're beginning to sound like him, you and your "no's". Why won't you tell us?" Sirius persisted.

"Because he didn't want you to know, so he didn't tell you. If you two get into Ravenclaw, maybe he'll tell you then. But he trusted me, so I'm keeping my lips shut," said Riley, and the tone of finality in her voice meant the conversation was over. James got the hint and changed the subject to Quidditch. The two raven-haired boys spent the next hour telling Riley all about Quidditch, while occasionally asking Remus some questions. When he didn't answer, they sighed and turned back to Riley. The rest of the train ride passed like that, while the three discussed classes, the Headmaster, Diagon Alley, broomsticks, wands, and pranks. They spent an especially long time on pranks, James discussing in a loving tone all of his pranks on his cousins and such.

"You know what we should do, James?" asked Sirius.

"What?"

"Pull a prank at the feast. We'll be legendary! First years pulling a prank within their first hour at Hogwarts!"

"That's a cool idea, but won't you get in trouble?" Riley asked, looking from James to Sirius.

"Yeah, but it'll be worth it. We don't know much magic yet, though, and it'll be hard to plan in the next few hours we have on this ride," replied James.

"Maybe just something simple, like let off a few dungbombs, fireworks, and then we do a weird stunt so we're noticed, and we get the first detentions of our Hogwarts career," Sirius said, with a gleam in his eyes.

"What are dungbombs?" Riley asked.

"They're like Muggle smoke bombs, except bigger, you light them, and they're like a giant fart, green clouds of air and a big stink," answered Remus, speaking up for the first time in three hours. James and Sirius gasped.

"He speaks!" said Sirius, eyes wide. Remus just glared at them.

"Maybe you two could, I don't know, steal the Headmaster's hat and impersonate him," suggested Riley. Sirius and James looked at each other.

"That's a great idea!" they said, simultaneously. Remus groaned.

"Don't go giving them bad ideas, Riley, I thought you were a Ravenclaw!" he said.

"I am, but as long as I'm not involved, they can have their fun," she replied, smiling at him.


The four stepped off the train later, newly clad in their Hogwarts robes. The night sky was cloudless, a million beautiful stars lighting it up. They walked over to a large man with a bushy beard who was calling the first years to him. Sirius and James had taken to asking Remus questions about his name, which he refused to answer. The large man, who James had identified as Hagrid, led them over to the lake, where they saw the magnificent castle. Many lights were alight in the hundreds of windows scattered across the beautiful walls of the castle. Hagrid instructed them to load into the boats that lay near the shore of the lake, with no more than four people in one. Remus reluctantly joined Riley with James and Sirius as they loaded in.

"Here, I'll hold the lantern," Riley said, taking hold of the lantern on a long stick that lay in the front of the boat. James and Sirius sat in the middle, and Remus sat in the back. Once every first year was in a boat, they magically began floating across the water.

"You know, in Hogwarts: a History it says that there's a Giant Squid in this lake," said Remus.

"Really? I'm reading that, but I'm only on page ten, thanks to some people," Riley said.

"A Giant Squid? That sounds awesome! Hey, James, let's look for it!" exclaimed Sirius. The two boys began leaning over the side of the boat, to the right.

"Guys, don't lean like that, you'll tip us over," said Riley, putting her hands on the sides in a desperate attempt to steady the boat.

"Relax. We're careful, we will-" but what they would do remained a mystery, because at that moment, the boat promptly capsized. James and Sirius fell outside of the boat when it tipped completely upside down, and Remus managed to swim to the boys' side.

"Wait, where's Riley?" Remus asked, panicking. The boys looked around, but Riley was trapped under the canoe, and with no warning to give her time to hold her breath, she was quickly running out of air. Her vision was blurring, her lungs burning, and she slowly gave into the darkness. Suddenly, Remus' golden eyes appeared, shining through the dark of the lake. He spotted Riley, and grabbed her wrist, pulling her out from under the canoe. The two surfaced, Riley gulping in air and inwardly thanking the heavens she did not drown.

"Riley, are you okay?" asked Sirius, concern etched on his handsome face.

"Yeah, Sirius, I'm okay. I just hit my head and I was a little stunned. I'm fine," she said, still taking in the cool air.

"You four, you all righ'?" Hagrid called from his boat at the front of the group.

"Yeah, we're fine!" James yelled back. The three boys managed to tip the boat back over and crawl in, then pull Riley in.

"You sure you're all right? You look a little, I don't know, but it's worrying me," said James, looking at Riley's face.

"I'm fine, I'd do that again in a second, that was fun," she replied, cheerily. After all, it wasn't often that first years capsized. They were already making history, and they hadn't set foot in the castle yet. The boys accepted her answer, and by the time they reached the castle, three of the four were laughing at their experience.

Awesome! If I were them, I'd be excited. Tipping in your boat would be something to remember. Please review!