A/N – This chapter is longer than the last, it's still quite slow as the story is just getting going so please bear with me! Again reviews, favourites and follows keep me happy –Emma-

Chapter 2

This is the start, the beginning, the prologue to thetale that you're spinning

Or

First days

The Potter family hurried along the crowded platform at King's Cross Station, pushing their way through the mass of people. There were three members of the Potter family; Natalie, Alexander and their 11 year old son James. Alexander was a tall, well-built, bespectacled man who pushed a trolley laden with trunks and, rather peculiarly, a cage containing a beautiful tawny owl. Natalie Potter was a good-looking woman, her dark hair was pulled back out of her face and she usually emitted an air of elegance and grace, at the moment however she was anxiously checking her watch every few seconds and glaring at anyone who impeded her path.

James looked a lot like his parents, he had inherited his mother's good looks despite being a skinny, messy haired child and his father's bad eyesight. James' face was alive with anticipation and his excitement could not be quelled by the furious glares his mother kept sending him.

"We're going to be late," Natalie said, for what must have been the hundredth time. James had the grace to look guilty for a second but didn't respond to her comment as they had reached the barrier partitioning platform 9 from platform 10. Despite their rush, the whole family stopped and looked at the barrier for a second.

"Together?" Asked James, his voice only betraying a hint of nerves.

"Together" Said his parents, smiling down at their only son.

The three of them started walking towards the barrier as inconspicuously as possible, before Mr. Potter grinned and broke into a run going full speed towards the decidedly sold barrier in front of them. James followed suit and after casting a worried look at the muggles around them, all who were engrossed in catching the train that had just pulled into the station, Natalie did as well. As the bricks of the barrier came closer and closer James forced himself to keep his eyes open for the eminent impact.

And then, he had emerged onto Platform 9 and three quarters

James grinned broadly at the sight in front of him; hundreds of witches and wizards filled the platform in front of him. Some were looking around nervously and clinging onto their parents arms but most were exchanging tales of their summer holidays and speculations on the year ahead. A scarlet steam train emblazoned with 'The Hogwarts Express' sat on the tracks, steam billowing from its funnel and students were heaving their trunks into its compartments.

James looked around as Alexander put his hand on his shoulder and they exchanged a knowing, secret look that reminded James of the excitement of the morning. He looked around for his mother and saw her talking to Mrs. Prewett and her twin sons, catching James' eye she beckoned him over. After formalities had been exchanged Mrs. Prewett told James he was welcome to sit beside her sons, Fabian and Gideon, on the train.

As the Potters were a well-connected, pureblood wizarding family, James had been receiving these kinds of invitations all summer and he had found himself running out of excuses and ways out of these situations. It was that he didn't want to sit next to these people (although Fabian and Gideon were particularly boring despite being on the Quidditch team) but James thought that he should be making his own friends, and with people his own age. Being an only child James had found most of his childhood surrounded by adults or relatives or family friends always a few years older than himself and Hogwarts provided a unique escape from this.

Thankfully, before James needed to respond to Mrs. Prewett's invitation a whistle was blown, resonating against the general hubbub of the station and everyone began scrambling onto the train. The two families parted ways and James found himself finally understanding the expression 'saved by the bell.'

James was engulfed in his mother's arms as she simultaneously attempted to hug him, smooth his unruly hair down and remind him to keep out of trouble. James' hair remained wild and his attitude wilder. Once he'd freed himself, Alexander patted him on the back and nodded once which James took as a signal to board the train. He hauled his trunk into an empty compartment and leant out the window to exchange final goodbyes.

"I love you James" His mother told him, and James thought there might have been tears in her eyes.

"Stay out of trouble" Alexander Potter added with a quick wink that his wife didn't see.

"And remember to write!" Natalie reminded him. The train gave a final whistle and began to move out of the station.

"Bye Mum! Bye Dad!" James call out the window and he waved at them until the train turned a corner and they were whisked from sight.

James sat down and pulled the window closed listening to the sound of the wheels on the track and the general hubbub of people moving around the train. Then he moved his trunk onto the seat next to him, he rifled through the well folded clothes and various belongings until he found what he had been looking for. After glancing at the door to check there was no risk of interruption James pulled out what he had been looking for – the invisibility cloak.

Three hours earlier

"James Potter, if I come up there and you're not ready…" Natalie Potter left the warning hanging unfinished, either for effect or because she couldn't think of a suitable threat.

James lay on his bed, still clad in his pyjamas and decidedly not ready. He was throwing and catching a replica of a golden snitch that is father had bought it at the last Quidditch match they had attended – a thrilling game between Argentina and Wales, ending in an unfortunate defeat for the latter country – and thinking about the day ahead. James would never admit to being nervous on his first day at Hogwarts, and in years to come he would mock the terrified looking first years as they filed into the Great Hall, but right now he was downright terrified.

A knock on his door broke James from his reverie and he had a moment to consider feigning getting ready in case his mum should walk in, before the door opened admitting Alexander Potter.

His father looked at his messy room and unprepared state being saying unnecessarily, "Your mother's going to be furious when she sees you."

"Don't tell her?" James asked, standing up and collecting a few items from the floor, "Plus she'll be angry anyway, she's in a rotten mood this morning."

"She just upset that you're leaving, the house will be quiet with you gone." Alexander said, sitting down gingerly on the end of James' bed. James contemplated commenting on how the house was always quiet as neither of his parents ever seemed to be at home and it hadn't seemed to bother them before now, but couldn't be bothered with the argument that would surely arise so merely nodded.

"Excited?" His father asked and James nodded again, it struck him how awkward this situation was. He and his father had never been close, they would talk at breakfast and dinner time and Alexander would take James to Quidditch matches but they would always be with at least one other person, they never partook in father-son bonding time. An uncomfortable silence ensued and James continued collecting his belongings from various places in his room.

"James, I have something to give you." James stopped what he was doing and turned to his father intrigued. "But, if I give it to you can you promise me one thing?"

"What?" James asked, slightly apprehensively.

"Can you try not to get into too much trouble?" Alexander finished with a sigh and he took his glasses of to polish them, already looking as though he regretted coming into James' room.

"I…What?"

"You'll understand once I give it to you I suppose." And Alexander pulled out a cloak that had been folded into a pocket in his own robes, James thought his father was being annoyingly mysterious about the whole topic.

"How can I get into trouble with a cloak?" (Lots he would soon find out in later years, but for now he was young and naive to the possibilities this particular cloak presented him)

"Ah well, try it on." Still confused, James took the cloak from his father and pulled it around himself. It was a heavy thick material unlike any he had felt before and the fabric rippled and shimmered when it moved, he threw it over his shoulders. He stepped back and looked at himself in the mirror on his wall, mainly out of politeness to his father rather than a desire to see how he looked. Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw there.

His head was floating a few feet from the ground but his body was completely invisible. James knew what this was, an invisibility cloak, he also knew how rare and sought after these were and was astounded that his father had one. After standing in awe for a second James began moving around, admiring it from all angles. He pulled it over his head so he disappeared entirely, then emerged laughing, he looked over at his father who was smiling too.

"My father gave it to me on my first day at Hogwarts, so I thought it only fair if I do the same." Alexander told him, they both stood looking at the cloak for a little longer before the older man stood up and surveyed the room around him. "You'd better finish packing, I'll send Twitchet up now to help."

He moved towards the door, pausing at the door frame, "You won't tell your mother about this will you? I have a feeling she'd kill me if she found out."

"I won't if you won't" James said, grinning. Then as his father moved to leave he added as an afterthought, "Oh and dad? Thank you"

His father nodded at him and left. James looked back at his half invisible body and laughed again, suddenly the year ahead looked a lot brighter. With the customary loud crack, Twitched the house elf appeared behind him and an idea suddenly occurred to James.

"Hey Twitch, fancy helping me out with something?"

The door to James' solitary compartment opened causing James to jump and hastily burry the cloak under his school robes out of sight. He looked up to see who had disturbed his peace and found a boy his age looking hesitantly at him.

"Can I sit here?" The boy asked, looking at the number of empty seats around James and, although slightly irritated by the interruption, James nodded his consent. The boy sat down and as they stewed in uncomfortable silence James took time to study his companion.

The stranger had long, dark hair even messier than his own and a thin, handsome face; James noticed he was also dressed in the awkward ensemble of clothes customary to a pureblood wizard not used to wearing muggle attire. He had an unusually eloquent voice for a boy of his age but sat slumped in the train seat with forced nonchalance. Both boys eyed each other with distrust and as the other boy seemed as though he would not relent and break the ice any time soon, James decided to make an attempt at conversation.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Sirius" The boy answered shortly, he was glaring sullenly at James now.

"Sirius what?" James pressed, wanting to test his theory on the boy's blood status.

"Black."

"Black?"

"Black."

Sirius looked James straight in the eye as though daring him to comment on his family but James just nodded and turned to stare out the window. The Black family were renowned for being cruel and outspoken on their beliefs of pureblood superiority, they were an old family much like the Potters but much more traditional in their values. James had often eaten his meals listening to his parents speaking disgustedly about them.

Armed with this new information James tried to form an opinion on Sirius, he seemed moody and anti-social and had thus far given James no reason to suspect that he was not exactly like the rest of his family. Despite this, James did not want to spend the rest of his first journey to Hogwarts in silence so in his loquacious manner he tried again.

"I'm Potter, James Potter." Sirius just nodded, obviously not wanting to talk. But James Potter was not one to give up easily once committed to a cause and at the moment his efforts were directed towards having a conversation with one of the infamous Blacks.

"So, what house do you want to be in?" James asked amicably, as though they were great friends.

Sirius shrugged, "Not given it much thought," Then as an afterthought, "You?"

Progress, thought James.

"Gryffindor" Said James surely and the confidence in his tone seemed to peak Sirius' interest at last and he stopped toying with a loose piece of thread from his seat to look at the boy sitting in front of him.

"Why?" He asked.

James opened his mouth to answer but faltered. All his life James had wanted to be in Gryffindor, it was the house of his Mother and Father and of the brave. It was a dream so long desired that he had never had to explain his longing for it. Until now.

"Because…because it Gryffindor. I mean, I'm sure you know how the song goes 'Where dwell the brave at heart, their daring, nerve, and chivalry set Gryffindors apart' so that pretty much everything I want to be, I mean maybe not the chivalry part but you know what I mean." For this, James received a begrudging smile, "My parents were in Gryffindor as well so I guess Gryffindor is where I belong. Or where Iwant to belong anyway."

Sirius was quiet for a moment, mulling over the other boy's words. The way James spoke of Gryffindor gave it a certain appeal that Sirius could not deny and he found himself intrigued by the enthusiasm in his words. All his life Sirius had done his utmost to distance himself from his family, he hated them with a passion that should not be felt by an 11 year old boy, but he had good reason. Joining Gryffindor would be a way of proving to himself and everyone else that he was nothing like his kin.

"My whole family were in Slytherin" Sirius said, testing the other boy's reaction.

"Oh" Was all James said, "So I guess you want to be Slytherin then?"

Despite everything Sirius still wasn't sure what the answer to that question was, so he merely shrugged again and turned back to watching the barren scenery flying past the window. "It doesn't really matter, the hat thing chooses for us."

"Yeah, sure" But James didn't sound convinced and he didn't initiate conversation again.

As the silence stretched on, James started rooting around in his pockets for the money his mother had given him to buy lunch from the trolley and, despite it still being early morning, decided it was time to go in search for food. He had risen to his feet and was walking towards the compartment door when it door slid open and a girl appeared in the doorway.

Now, James had obviously seen girls before but none quite like the one that stood before him. She had the most vibrant red hair he'd ever seen and the brightest green eyes. Everything about her seemed to glow with colour and radiance, at once James was captivated.

Behind her stood a very pale boy who looked vaguely ill and uncomfortable, his clothes were far too large and hung of his small frame. His hair was dark and greasy and there was immediately something about him that James did not trust.

"What do you want?" James asked, after a brief awkward silence. He realised, too late, this may not have been the most tactful way of phrasing a question towards a pretty girl but tact had never been his strong point. To her credit she looked more annoyed than taken aback and returned his slight hostility.

"I've been asked to tell you to change into your Hogwarts robes at about 5 o'clock," She told him and James thought she had a nice voice, if bossy.

"Right, okay. What's your name?" He added as she turned to leave.

"Lily Evans"

"I'm James Potter"

"Good for you."

"Come one Lily," Said the boy behind the red head, tugging on her sleeve to encourage her to leave.

"Who's your boyfriend?" James asked and the girl rolled her eyes irritably but stepped out of the way for the boy to introduce himself.

"I'm Severus Snape," He said in a quiet voice, his black eyes not meeting anyone else's.

"Good for you" James said, smirking. Lily glared at him.

"You're not funny. Come on Sev, let's go." She turned to leave again but James stopped her for a second time.

"Wait, why don't you sit with us for a bit? You've obviously got nothing better to do." I reiterate that tact was not James' strong point.

"Why on earth would I want to sit with you? I've known you for about a minute and you've already shown me that that is more than enough time to spend in your presence." There was something about the messy haired boy that really got under her skin.

"You started it."

"I did not!"

"Did to!"

"This is ridiculous. I'm not arguing with you."

"You're already arguing with me in case you didn't notice."

"I did and now I'm goin-"

"In case anyone was wondering," Sirius interrupted looking incredibly amused about the scene in front of him, two flushed and angry faces turned to him, "I'm Sirius Black."

"Good for you!" They said in unison and with a final glare at James, Lily Evans stalked from the compartment taking Snape with her and slamming the door behind her.

Slowly James tore his eyes from the door the redhead had just exited and turned to Sirius. Their eyes met and, simultaneously, the two boys broke into grins.

"Well she seems nice" James commented and they started to laugh. He sat down again and seemed to be deep in thought for a moment, then he added, "Want to hear something funny? Well today I was nearly late for the train because…"

Five and a half hours earlier

Or

2 hours before the train leaves

Twitchet the house elf was a free elf. She could leave the Potter house-hold at any time she wanted, and at times like these she wondered why she didn't.

Twitchet had been serving the Potter's since James was born and had watched him grow up. She had been there when he was sitting in his high-chair flinging bowls of baby food at the walls, when he was an unruly toddler rampaging through the halls of the Potter household. She had witnessed his first accidental piece of magic (a moment that was scarred into her mind forever) and his ensuing attempts at controlling his talent. She had kept him company during the long hours when his parents were absent and kept him sane through gruelling dinner parties where James had been forced to stay on his best behaviour. Over the years, Twitchet was proud to call James her friend.

That didn't mean she had to like this idea, however.

She walked nervously into the dining room, thankful that neither Alexander nor Natalie were present and turned to the empty space next to her and whispered "James?"

There was no answer. Twitchet squinted around the room, searching for any sign of her young master. "James?" She repeated.

Twitchet twisted her hands uncomfortably and was about to talk to the apparently empty room again when she heard muffled chuckling from the corner of the room.

"James!" She said indignantly and the accused head appeared from thin air, a wicked grin on his face.

"Sorry Twitch, I just can't help it." James said, his apology less sincere as he was still smirking. Twitchet sighed and turned away from the boy so that he wouldn't see her smiling.

"Right, let's go." James said, disappearing again and Twitchet followed him – or assumed she was following him as she couldn't see him – into the kitchen.

The kitchen revealed a relative haven of food. The table closest to the house elf were piled high with pies, bread, meats and salads. The smells were mouth-watering and Twitchet felt a pang of pride that it had been her fellow house-elves and herself who had created this feast.

The Potter's were hosting a dinner party that night for a number of high-profile ministry officials. They claimed that the party coinciding with James' leaving was purely because they knew how much he hated the gatherings but Twitchet expected that it was more to provide the older Potter's with a distraction; they were taking their only son leaving harder than they would ever admit.

There was another table at the end of the room however that was the centre of both Twitchets' and James' attention. It was laden with the most impressive array of cakes, biscuits, trifles and tarts that either of them had ever seen. Three-tiered sponge cakes slathered in icing sat next to mounds of profiteroles and meringues swirled with whipped cream and strawberries. Bakewell tarts, treacle puddings and brownies produced on an industrial scale, lined cooling racks along the kitchen cabinets their steam filling the surrounding air with a gorgeous sweet aroma.

James had spent most of last night and the morning, attempting to pilfer one of the magnificent puddings but all his ploys were foiled. Mrs. Potter sat on one of the stools in the kitchen filing in paper work and drinking cup after cup of coffee and even with James' unique cunning he was unable to sneak past his mother.

The tables, however, had turned with the addition of the invisibility cloak to James' garrison of schemes. So armed with his newest gift James set out to steal his culinary prize, Twitchet thought it typical that James would use something as valuable as an invisibility cloak to steal food.

Twitchet's job in the proceedings was to distract Mrs. Potter enough so that she wouldn't notice a pudding floating out of the ample batches. Feeling unnecessarily anxious about the task in front of her, Twitchet approached Mrs' Potter and cleared her throat tentatively.

Mrs. Potter looked up looking slightly shocked, she had been so immersed in the papers in front of her she had not seen the elf approach, "Twitchet, hello."

"Hello, Mrs. Potter." She said nodding at her mistress and desperately racking her brains for something to say.

"Has James packed yet?" Mrs. Potter asked.

"Yes, well nearly. He wants to take his blue jumper but he can't find it." Twitchet allowed herself a moment of pride for her lie which was quickly replaced by guilt.

"Is it not in the laundry?" Natalie asked tiredly. Twitchet noticed a cinnamon swirl disappear behind her.

"No Ma'am, I've looked there." A lemon tart floated into oblivion.

"The library? He often leaves his things in there."

"I've checked – oh!"

"What is it Twitchet?" Mrs. Potter said, sitting up and looking alarmed. Twitchet's shock had stemmed from a huge centrepiece trifle that had begun to hover across the kitchen. Twitchet tried to regain control of the situation and divert her Mistress's attention from the phantom pudding.

"I just remembered where it might be, sorry Miss." She said, and Mrs. Potter nodded warily and returned to her papers. Twitchet remained where she was shifting her feet anxiously, the trifle had only completed half of its journey across the room.

Mrs. Potter looked up expectantly, and asked politely "Is there anything else Twitchet?"

"Well…I…Um" Twitchet's voice always rose higher when she was under pressure and now it was nearly a squeak. Natalie put down her pen and looked concernedly at her house elf. Twitchet looked around the room for inspiration, on the notice board just above Mrs. Potter's head a leaflet for 'Mr. Halsa's Salsa Classes'.

"I was thinking of taking up dancing" Twitchet blurted out.

Why? Why would she have said that of all things? No one said anything for a moment and during the quiet Twitchet heard a stifled snort from the direction of the invisble James, she loyally coughed to cover it up. The things she did for that boy.

"Really?" Asked Mrs. Potter looking incredibly confused, "That's nice dear."

The silence which ensued was one of the longest and most uncomfortable of Twitchet's life. The pudding finally exited the room.

"Thank you Miss that will be all" Twitchet said and practically ran from the room. Mrs. Potter ran a hand wearily through her hair and took another gulp of coffee.

Out in the corridor Twitchet took a few deep, steadying breath and shook her head as if to dispel the memory of what had just happened. She walked slowly up the stairs to James' room rather than apparating like she normally would in order to have a few minutes to compose herself. When she opened the door into her young master's room she found him sitting on his bed triumphantly surrounded in sugary treats.

"You did well Twitch, really subtle" He said, his mouth struggling against a smile. Twitchet tried to glare at him but after a few seconds she broke and began to laugh, soon she and James had tears rolling down their faces.

"Dancing?" James gasped in between chuckles.

"You didn't have to steal a whole trifle!" Twitchet wheezed.

"I know but I thought I'd go big, first time using the cloak and all that." James said, looking admiringly at it on his bed. "Here this is yours" He added, throwing her a pumpkin pie that he knew she was particularly partial to. Twitchet looked at it guiltily.

"I've already lied to Mrs. Potter, I can't steal from her as well" She said ruefully.

"I think you've definitely earned it" James told her, "Plus there's so much food, she won't miss one pie."

Twitchet opened her mouth to answer but was interrupted by a shriek from downstairs.

"James Potter get down here this instant!"

"No," Said Twitched grinning, "But I think she'll miss a trifle."

James Potter and Sirius Black now sat companionably in the small Hogwarts Express compartment, laughing and telling stories in between mouthfuls of sweets. Neither boy had ever had much of a childhood or a proper friend yet somehow over those few hours on the train they made a connection that would last a lifetime. Sirius looked out of the rain streaked windows as James finished telling a wholly inappropriate joke and found himself feeling lighter and safer than he ever had ever felt in his life.

That was when Sirius Black decided Gryffindor was where he wanted to belong.