Author's Note: Thanks for reviewing everyone! Also, what do you think of the sorting hat's song? If you don't like it, let me tell you: I tried!
Chapter Two: The Hogwarts Express
A week later, James Potter, along with both his mother and father, were standing in front of a huge red steam engine in the station of King's Cross. James had been able to get through the barrier with no problem, and he was all set to go to Hogwarts, though his mother wasn't so keen about letting him go.
"Are you sure you don't want to wait another year?" His mother said through tears. "I'm sure Dumbledore would under-"
"Oh come on," argued Mr. Potter, "think of his reputation if he stayed home his first year!"
"Yeah mom," James agreed quickly, "I'll be fine."
"I can't believe my baby's-"
"Mum you're embarrassing me!" James said, looking around nervously.
There was a loud whistle that signaled there was only five minutes until the train left.
"Hun," said his father, "he has to go. He'll be fine!"
"Really?" His mother said sarcastically. "I'm sure that's what your father said and look how you turned out, or at least how you were!"
"What was wrong with how I was?" Mr. Potter demanded.
"I really need to leave now," said James, not wanting to listen to another argument over his father's job.
"Well bye then," his mother said, "giving him a tight hug. I love you!"
"Love you too mum," James muttered as he was pulled into another hug by his dad.
A few minutes later he was aboard the Hogwarts Express and was walking through the walkway, trying to find a place to sit. Somewhere in the middle of the long train James managed to find a compartment that was filled with laughing, rowdy students that were years older then him. There was only one other resident in the compartment, a small skinny, light brown haired boy. His faced looked pale and haggard, and his robes looked like old, torn hand-me-downs. He was leaning his head against the window, looking deathly bored, like he was trying to get to sleep but couldn't amongst all the excitement.
"Do you mind if I sit here?" James asked slowly, not wanting to bother the boy.
"Go ahead", mumbled the boy.
James threw himself onto one of the seats and leaned against the side of the train. He then figured that if he was going to spend two hours on the train with this guy, he might as well say something.
"I'm James Potter," he said gleefully.
The boy looked like he just realized someone was there.
"Remus," he said nervously, "Remus Lupin."
"Cool," James said, "are you first year?"
"Yeah," Remus admitted.
"Not much of a talker are you?" James asked.
"Just tired," replied Remus, "wake me up when we get there."
"Whatever you say," muttered James. He hoped all the first years weren't going to be this anti-social.
A few minutes later Remus was asleep, and James was just beginning to dread the long, silent, journey ahead of him when there was a knock at the door.
"Come on in," James said, dying for any company.
To his surprise, it was the Black kid he had seen at the Quidditch store.
"Hey," James said cooly.
"You again," said Sirius with no emotion, "care if I sit here?"
"Go ahead," replied James, "so you're Sirius Black."
Sirius stopped when he heard his name.
"How do you know my name?" Sirius asked coldly.
"Oh- my father told me when he saw me talking to you," James explained.
"What, did he tell you to stay away from me?" Sirius said, clearly bitter and familiar with having to deal with people making assumptions about him.
"No," James said, "I think he felt sorry for you actually."
"Well that's a first," Sirius snorted.
"So," James began, "not sure what to say next, you hoping to get into Slytherin then?"
He knew right away that was the wrong thing to say.
"You always know the right thing to say, don't ya?" Sirius shot sarcastically. I'll kill myself is I get into Slytherin. I'm not gonna fall into the same thick trap every other lowlife in my so called family has fallen into! I'll get into Gryffindor, like my uncle, if it's the last thing I do!"
"Okay then," said James, taken aback by Sirius' sudden outburst.
"Who's he?" Sirius asked, nodding towards Remus.
"Remus Lupin," said James, "didn't say anything except 'wake me up when we get there'."
"I've heard rumors about his family," said Sirius, lowering his voice, "heard my dear old mother talking about how they're so poor and a disgrace to the wizarding population. Of course, that's mum speaking, so I wouldn't count her word."
"You don't get along with your family, do you?" James asked.
"You think?" Sirius said dryly, "they'd disown me if I got into Gryffindor, so I'm praying."
James let out a laugh at this and said, "Yeah, I'm hoping I get in Gryffindor too. I expect my dad'd kill the Sorting Hat if it placed me in Slytherin."
"Don't rich people want to be powerful though?" Sirius asked curiously. "You know the saying, money's the root of all evil."
"We're not that rich," James lied, blushing from embarrassment.
"Yeah right," Sirius snorted, "you've got more luggage than half the people on the train!"
"Do not!" James argued, though decided to let it go. "Got any friends back home?"
"Nope," replied Sirius cooly, "just me and the boring city of Liverpool."
"I thought Liverpool was big and exciting," said James.
"Whoever you talked to was lying," said Sirius, "though I'm sure it would be if you didn't have to spend the whole summer cleaning the flat the Muggle way."
"My summer was probably just as boring," said James dully, "spent the whole time in my room creating all these pranks and experiments to use on nobody but occasional guests. Eventually I got caught and, well, that put a stop to that. Mostly." James grinned evilly, and Sirius laughed
"Sounds cool," he said, "I stole enough of Regulus' money to buy me a broom for next year. Merry Christmas to me."
"Staying at Hogwarts over the break?" James asked.
"Most definitely," answered Sirius, "no way I'm going back there if I don't have to."
An old lady with a cart full of sweets interrupted their conversation.
"Anything off the trolley?" She asked sweetly.
Sirius shrugged, showing that he had no money.
"Here," said James, handing the women five galleons. He then took out a few sickles and nodded to Remus. "We'll get him something to just in case he wakes up before we get there."
Soon Sirius and James were digging into a pile of Chocolate Frogs, Every Flavor Jellybeans, and various other goods and chatting about random Quidditch games. Fifteen minutes later Remus woke up and was surprise to see two rowdy eleven year old boys pigging out on more junk food then he had ever seen in his life.
"Who's he?" Remus asked James tiredly.
"Sirius Black," answered Sirius, shaking Remus' hand.
There was another knock at the door at the moment, and this time it was Sirius who went over to answer it.
"What do you want?" Sirius asked as a short girl with light brown hair stepped in.
"Just wanted to tell you that the conductor said that we'd be at the castle in no less than ten minutes. I'm Skye by the way. Skye Dullard, thanks for asking," Skye said, glaring rudely at Sirius.
"Sirius Black," said Sirius, brushing off her last comment, "this is James Potter and Remus Lupin."
"Nice to meet you," Skye said dryly. "And you're welcome."
With that, she spun on her heels and marched off towards a group of chatty girls.
"Their names are Sirius Black, James Potter, and Remus Lupin," Skye informed the girls.
Sirius sighed at this.
"Girls," he muttered.
The three boys changed into their schools robes, Remus' much shabbier than the others, and Sirius' slightly small. James felt guilty among the three boys because his were brand new and fit perfectly. As the gigantic and breathtaking Hogwarts Castle rolled into view they planted their faces against the window, staring at it in awe. Remus stared at it as though it was the greatest thing he had ever seen.
"Wicked," he muttered as the train pulled up to the Hogwarts station.
As the train screeched to a stop, the students started to pile out.
"First years this a way!" A deep, hoarse called.
"Woah!" Sirius gasped as the man revealed himself to obviously be a giant, or at least half.
"Rubeus Hagrid at ye service," Hagrid said gleefully, receiving nasty glares from the Slytherins. "First years fill up the boats. Four each, no more, no less."
James and Sirius made a mad grab for the first boat lined up, and dragged a tired, but excited, Remus behind. Sirius jumped into the boat the exact moment James had put his foot inside, causing James to flip forward into the cold dark depths of the lake.
"Sorry about that mate!" Sirius called; an amused grin swept across his face.
Even Remus had started laughing, and James decided that it had been a good way to break the ice as the two helped him back into the boat. He shivered despite the warm autumn air; he couldn't wait to sit down to the feast inside the castle.
"Mind if I join you?"
The trio looked up to see a small, short and skinny boy with brown hair and a face that reminded James of a rat.
"Sure," James shrugged, figuring they'd have to have a fourth person anyway.
"What's your name?" Sirius asked, making the boy jump a little.
"Peter Pettigrew," the boy stuttered.
"Sirius Black" Sirius offered, shaking hands for what seemed like the millionth time that day.
"Remus Lupin," Remus still sounded as nervous as ever.
"James Potter," said James rather proudly.
"What house do you think you'll be in, Peter?" Sirius asked.
"Hufflepuff," Peter said quietly. The way he sounded so ashamed of himself made Sirius laugh.
"Come on," said Sirius, "there has to be more in you then that."
"I'm hoping for Gryffindor," James said after a moments of silence.
"I'm praying for Gryffindor," said Sirius.
"I'm with James," agreed Remus, "though Ravenclaw wouldn't be that bad."
"As long as it's not Slytherin," Sirius said, "I'd have to kill myself, then come back and haunt my bloody mother. " Peter looked up, interested.
"Long story," noted Sirius, "no time."
Peter nearly leaped out of the boat when it magically started moving and gasped for breath as if he were already drowning.
"Muggle-born aren't you?" Sirius asked.
"No," Peter said shyly, "I'm just the first in my family to go to Hogwarts."
"I heard it's wicked cool," said Sirius.
"Yeah," said James, starring dreamily at the castle, "my dad's told me countless times about his school days. Seems great."
"What subjects are you looking forward to?" Remus asked.
"Defense Against the Dark Arts," said Sirius, "I hate being anything like my family, but you have to admit, it does sound really cool."
"Yeah," said James, "one day, I swear I'm going to become some hero using that spell fighting stuff."
"Dueling?" Remus suggested.
"Yeah," James sighed, "that."
"Turning into an animal would be cool though," Sirius said, a far away, wondrous, grin on his face as though he were already hatching plans.
"I can imagine that," laughed James, "Sirius Black, the amazing yapping lab!"
"What about being a werewolf though?" Sirius asked. Luckily, he didn't see that Remus had turned slightly pale and shaken.
"That's be bloody awful," said James, "I'd hate that."
A few minutes later the boats seized to a stop in front of the Lake's shore. The students hoped out and followed Hagrid into a magnificent hall with a gigantic staircase on the other end. Standing by a pair of large, wooden double doors there was an elderly witch whose hair was already turning gray.
"'tis Professor McGonagal," said Hagrid, "they're all yers."
Hagrid then went through the double doors, though cracking it open just enough for him to get through (which was actually quite a lot) so the first years couldn't see through.
"Through these doors," McGonagal began dramatically, "a new life begins. You'll be sorted into four houses: Slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. The house will be your family at school. You earn points for good deeds and great tasks and loose points for any mistakes. All right then, come along."
With a wave of her hand, the doors swung open and the students gasped when they saw what was in store for them.
The magnificent room, which James had heard someone called the Great Hall, had four long tables with one horizontal one in the front. A line of teachers sat in place behind the grand table, with who James knew was Dumbledore in the middle. A slim witch with blonde hair with purple highlights sat to his right, and to his left was an empty chair which James assumed belonged to McGonagal. A nasty looking wizard of about thirty five glared at the group of boys as they walked in, and James found him rather interesting. He had dark coal black colored hair. The professor looked like he hadn't had a wink of sleep and days, and you could tell that his tired brown eyes were burning. James' observations were soon interrupted by a booming singing voice. To James' surprise, it was no other than an old raggedy hat.
"I was just a youngster, no more than two or three
When an old man came and gave word to me
He said he had a job, an opportunity not to miss
And I was surprised when what he reported to me was this:
To Hogwarts school where I'd do my work randomly
To place young wizards into different families
They'd be segregated then educated until their time ends
But though in separate houses, they should still be friends
Into four houses they would be put
And to get in, personality it took
There were the loyal Hufflepuffs who would always try
And knew right where their morals lie
Young Ravenclaws were clever and smart
When it came to school, learning was a work of art
Slytherins were power-hungry,
and would do anything to rule
Yet there was still the Gryffindors,
who knew bravery the best
Having all the combined personalities,
some may say they're the best
But no matter what you want
Your conscience will decide
You have strength more than you know
And we start the sorting now
To see which family you know inside
The whole of the Great Hall clapped, while Sirius leaned over to James and whispered: "Well that was interesting." Wasting no time, McGonagal started calling out names.
"Adkins, Christopher," she called out unemotionally.
Chris sat at the hat and in just moments the hat shouted "Hufflepuff!"
"Berkins, Danika!" McGonagal called.
Danika walked nervously up to the hat. No sooner than she sat down, the sorting hat called out "Ravenclaw!" and Danika hopped off the stool and made her way over to the Ravenclaw table, where she received cheers from the whole house.
"Black, Sirius," McGonagal said. For some reason, when she said his name the Great Hall went into a hushed silence.
"Ah," whispered the Sorting Hat into his ear, "a Black, and an interesting one at that."
"I'll kill myself if I get sorted into Slytherin," Sirius promised.
"Now we don't want that do we?" The Sorting Hat laughed. "All right then- Gryffindor!"
Many former anxious faces from the Slytherin table turned into angry glares as Sirius hopped off the stool, smiling as though he had just won the lottery.
"Thanks!" He muttered under his breath.
The sorting continued.
"Dullard, Skyeler!" McGonagal called.
"Hope she's not a-" but Sirius got cut off.
"Gryffindor!" Which received groans from James and Sirius and cheers from what seemed like her fan club.
"Evans, Lily!"
A medium height, medium sized girl made her way up to the stool with the sorting hat. She had long shiny red hair. When she sat facing to the audience, James notice that she had what he thought was the most gorgeous green eyes he had ever seen.
"Please Gryffindor," James muttered.
"Gryffindor!" The hat shouted.
James let out a sigh of relief and muttered a word of thanks under his breath.
"What was that?" Remus said, his eyes narrowing.
"Nothing," James said, eyes focused on the sorting hat.
"Fitzgerald, Aria!" McGonagal called. By now her voice seemed almost restless.
A pretty Asian girl with long silky black hair stepped up to the hat.
"Gryffindor!" The hat called.
Aria leaped off the stool, smiling as well. She rushed over to the Gryffindor table where she sat in between Lily and Skye.
"Hadler, Kirsten!"
And there was the second Ravenclaw.
"Luntz, Daniel!"
The hat thought a minute and then shouted "Slytherin!" Daniel walked over to the Slytherin table, looking like he didn't know what to think while the older Slytherins jumped up and cheered.
"Gits," James muttered as Peter laughed a loud, annoying laugh behind him.
"Lupin, Remus! McGonagal called.
"Good luck," James whispered.
Remus squirmed in his seat as the Sorting Hat immediately spoke.
"Ah," he said softly, a werewolf.
Remus jerked suddenly, receiving weird looks from the audience. His eyes subcontiously danced around.
"Don't worry," whispered the Hat, "they can't hear me. Now, you're very difficult, yes. Almost more difficult than your friend Black."
"He's not exactly my friend," Remus thought.
"He is indeed," said the Hat, "and I expect great things out of the two of you."
"Can you just sort me?" Remus asked, annoyed.
"Well your kind should be in Slytherin" the Hat said.
"Please no," Remus groaned.
"What?" The Hat asked. "Or you'll kill yourself too?"
"Huh?"
The Sorting Hat chuckled.
"Come on," Remus thought, irritated, "I finally got a somewhat group of friends."
"But can you handle the bravery?" The Sorting Hat asked. After a long pause he said, "Well then- Gryffindor!"
Breathing a long sigh of relief like Sirius had Remus smiled proudly and dashed over to the Gryffindor table.
"Took long enough," Sirius muttered when he got there.
"Stupid hat," Remus whispered.
"Newsome, William!"
This one took a bit longer, about as long as Sirius' sorting. Finally the hat called out "Gryffindor!" and the sorting continued.
"Noxell, Blake!" Soon became a Slytherin and soon after "Noxell, Grace!" Oddly became a Gryffindor.
"Pettigrew, Peter!" McGonagal called next.
Nervous and shaking, Peter crept up to the Sorting Hat, taking to what the bystanders thought was hours.
Think you can handle Gryffindor? The Hat asked immediately.
"Huh?" Peter asked.
"That's where your friends are, aren't they?" The Hat said.
"Friends?' Peter thought.
"Lupin, Black and Potter," said the Hat.
"Potter?" Remus thought, confused. "But he hasn't been-"
"Our secret", the Hat said. "I'm also here to warn you."
"Warn me?" Peter asked nervously.
"Dark times will come," said the Hat mysteriously, "stick with your friends and be strong."
"Are you- predicting the future?" Peter thought slowly.
"Our secret," whispered the Hat. "Now if you keep that secret, I can give you a great reward."
"What?"
"How would you like to be a- Gryffindor?" The hat said, shouting the last word.
Feeling dazed and confused, Peter slowly made his way over to the Gryffindor table.
"Nice going mate!" Sirius said, punching him playfully in the arm.
"Thanks," Peter mumbled.
"Plerkins, Nicholas!" then became a Hufflepuff.
James was now growing nervous. What if he didn't get called? What would Sirius think, or Remus; they both seemed so grateful to know someone. Or what if he got into Slytherin?
"Potter, James!" McGonagal cried.
James, barely able to walk steadily he stumbled over to the Sorting Hat. When he sat down, he glanced over at the Gryffindor table. He saw Peter looking very nervous, even scared, and when he saw James looking over, he quickly looked down and stared at the floor earnestly. Sirius gave him the thumbs up sign, and Remus still looked relieved, though still tired and haggard, to be there.
"Another Potter," the Hat said, "not too hard."
"Just please say Gryffindor," James thought.
"Well then, I don't have much to argue about here," said the Hat. "Gryffindor!"
James sighed gratefully, and made his way to Gryffindor. He didn't even hear the next few sorting because as soon as he sat down, he and Sirius started chatting about their futures at Hogwarts. However, his head jerked up when he heard Snape, Serverus, being called.
"Well isn't he wonder boy?" James laughed.
Snape had long, greasy shoulder length hair, a pale face and long nose. As he stepped up to the Sorting Hat, he sneezed, and really, really loud.
"Heh," James laughed, "Snivellus."
"Sniffelus?" Sirius corrected questionably.
"Snivellus," James said confidently.
"Slytherin!" The Hat called.
After Snape, no other student stood out, and James and Sirius continued their conversations about their futures. James was in the middle of discussing the peak of his Quidditch career when Dumbledore interrupted his talk.
"And so begins another year," Dumbledore said with a broad smile, "but before we begin this wonderful period of time, I have a few important notices to make. Firstly, the newly planted Whomping Willow tree is out of bounds to ALL students."
"Wicked," James whispered to Sirius as they exchanged evil glances. James could've sworn Remus turned pale at the mention of this, so James turned to him and asked, "Up for it?"
"Sure," Remus said, giving a nervous smile.
"Secondly," continued Dumbledore, smiling at all the students, "Caretaker Filch would like to announce that the dungeons are out of bounds as well. Lastly, Mr. Filch has also posted a list of forbidden items in all corridors."
"What do you bet we can bewitch that?" Sirius asked as James snorted.
"Well, without further ado, tuck in!" Dumbledore said, smiling brightly over his old, aged and wrinkled face.
The first years all let out a gasp of awe as wonderful food filled the vacant spots in front of them. Mountains of potatoes, meat, and puddings now took up every inch of the table, except, of course, that of which the students were eating. After forty-five minutes of food, feeling as though they may be sick any second, the first year Gryffindors followed their prefect, Brian Winthrob.
"The boy's dorm is up the stairs to your left, girls, the same to your right," said Brian professionally, "the common room is where you'll spend most of your free time. Go on now, make your way. Oh, by the way, the password to get inside the common room is Lion. Don't tell anyone where the common room or doors are located, and especially the password. If you forget the password, come to me, the Gryffindor Prefects, the Head Boy or Girl, or a teacher."
The first year Gryffindor boys, still stuffed from the feast, walked slowly up to their dorm.
"I'm beat," announced Sirius, throwing himself onto a bed next to the window, "and this is my bed, I don't care what anyone else says, I'm too stuffed to move anyway."
James laughed as he jumped onto the bed to the right of Sirius, and Remus cautiously took the bed to the right of James. A boy who James remembered at the sorting as being announced as Newsome, William took the bed to the left to Sirius, which left Peter the last bed, which he willingly took.
"Hey," said William, sticking out his hands to shake James'.
"Hey," James greeted, shaking the hand as Sirius did next, "James Potter."
"Sirius Black," offered Sirius, "and that's Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin. He pointed to each boy in turn."
"Aren't you William Newsome?" James asked.
"Will," Will corrected, "I hate it when people say that."
They didn't have much energy for any further conversation, and James didn't argue when everyone mutually agreed it was time for sleep. Settling into his sheets, James stared at the ceiling and smiled, his last thought being a wish that this wasn't all a dream.