The train journey had been a long one but, as it had been filled with wizard chess, Bertie Botts' Every Flavoured Beans and countless games of Exploding Snap, it had been thoroughly enjoyable. Remus, James and Sirius thus all traipsed off the train in high spirits, the latter two continuing their emotive criticism of the first-year broomstick ban, as they began to follow the throng of students that made their way towards what looked, quite simply, to be a giant. The fierce looking man had long, straggly hair and flailing arms, to which enormous hands clutching an old, grubby lamp were attached. This vicious image however was betrayed by a warm smile, making him immediately likeable.
"Firs' years! Firs' years, this way! Firs' years follow me!" he called out in a booming voice as students continued to pour off the train. James grinned at Sirius and Remus as the first years all swamped around the giant and huddled together, teeth chattering from the cold. Once the large man had counted the students, checking everyone had got off the train, he proceeded to lead them away from the main body of pupils, down a muddy slope and onto a narrow path. Remus assumed that they were going through a wood or some kind of forested area, as there were branches on either side of him that nipped at his robes and bare hands, but it was too dark to tell. They all trudged gradually down the steep path until the enormous man made a sudden sharp turn.
"Yer abou' to get yer firs' glimpse of Hogwar's," he said cheerfully. James, Sirius and some of the more excited members of the group surged forwards. Remus however hung back slightly; he was strangely nervous about seeing the school. He had heard so much about it and pictured it so often that, when he finally stepped forwards and saw it illuminated against the dark, moonlit sky, it seemed surreal. He was not the only first year to gawp at the castle. It was precariously perched on the top of a mountain and sported a variety of ancient towers and turrets. It looked perfectly picturesque, like something out of a muggle fairy tale.
"Blimey," said James. Remus looked at the boy's awestruck face and grinned, pleased to not be the only member of their group so enamoured and overwhelmed by the castle's presence. James' face however quickly turned from one of admiration and wonder to an unsatisfied frown as he studied the murky water that lay before them.
"All righ' firs'years, settle down for one momen'. I'm Rubeus Hagrid, and I'm the groundskeeper at Hogwar's," he said proudly to his hushed audience. "Now, it's no more'n four to a boat so if you'd like to ge' yourselves seated and we'll be off!"
James facial expression changed again, this time to a sly grin as he eyed the convoy of small boats that Hagrid had referred to. He made a hasty, apologetic excuse to Remus, promising to see him up at the school, before whispering something quickly to Sirius. The two of them had then speedily scampered off with mischievous smirks imprinted onto their faces. Remus could hardly stifle his laughter when, moments later, he saw them eagerly sat in the same boat as a disgruntled Lily Evans and Severus Snape.
...
"Do you think that this boat is stable, Sirius?" asked James playfully as the boats magically sped towards Hogwarts.
"Oh I'm not so sure about that James, it feels like it could break at any moment," Sirius replied solemnly, before grinning at his co-conspirator and stamping his foot down rather hard on the bottom of the boat, causing a slight wobble.
"Yes, it does seem rather old now that you mention it. I'm sure it's very easy to… oh, I don't know, capsize it, too."
"Yes, especially if we do this to it." The two friends beamed down at Lily and Severus as they began to violently rock the boat from side to side. The only response they prised from Lily's stony face was a cold, hard stare. This however left them unperturbed as Severus had already gripped the sides of the boat in an action clearly indicative of panic.
'What are you doing?!' he shouted, 'Stop it!' The two other boys however laughed and continued to rock the boat harder and harder, causing water to splash over the sides and terror to seep into Lily's bottle green eyes.
"Sirius, stop!" James shouted suddenly, realising the legitimacy of the fear that they were causing their two companions.
"Huh?" said Sirius quizzically, giving the small boat one final heave.
Lily's gasp, Severus' high pitched scream and James and Sirius's fantastic swearing was only momentary as the four students tumbled into the dark depths of the lake. They were submerged for another short burst of time before resurfacing. This, however, was long enough for both James and Sirius to overcome their initial shock. They practically beamed at each other, revealing in the surrounding appreciative laughter of the other students. Having caught their breath and attempted bowing to their audience, they both swam off to clamber on board another of the now uniformly stationary boats. Lily made a similar decision (sans bowing), and was immediately helped aboard by three girls who fussed over her, attempting to lend dry cloaks and sympathetic, if not slightly amused, smiles. Severus Snape, however, could not swim. He thrashed hopelessly about in the water, repeatedly resubmerging. What had at first been assumed a comedic display, and thus met with roars of laughter from other students, now began to appear more serious. The first years with increasing fervour all instinctively looked towards Hagrid for help who, aside from incomprehensibly mumbling about how he wished he'd bought along his umbrella, appeared utterly incapable of aiding the situation.
Severus began to splutter and his movements weakened significantly. Without thinking, without even realising he'd consciously come to, or even entertained the decision, James quickly stood up and jumped again into the water. With a few, powerful strokes he was able to swim over to the dramatically drowning boy and lock his arms around his waist, pulling him upwards, allowing Severus to take a couple of deep breaths (and earning himself gasps of admiration in the process) before being lowered again back into the water. James had hoped that this would be enough and enable Severus to overcome his original shock, and thus swim back to a boat without any assistance. The boys' renewed thrashing when left unassisted however proved otherwise. James once again grabbed Severus around the waist, but this time, instead of lifting the boy above the water to breath, he attempted to haul him in the direction of another boat.
It was strenuous work, and was made harder still by Severus' continued panicked movement. It didn't however take too long for James – with the eventual help of the boat's occupants (Sirius, a lanky black girl and a rather chubby boy) – to haul Snape up and out of the water. Once securely aboard, Severus frantically coughed up a lot of water and took numerous deep breaths whilst glowering at James. His gaze however was quickly redirected to the concerned faces watching him, and he promptly turned bright red, realising for the first time the extent, or maybe even the existence, of his audience. There was an unbearable silence.
'You alrigh' there?' called Hagrid finally, four boats away from the half drowned boy. James waited for Severus' response. Another silence.
'Yeah, we're fine. He's fine,' responded Sirius, cutting through the muted apprehension of the first year onlookers. Whilst initially hesitant, a round of applause, quickly accompanied by cheers and whoops, began to fill the air. Needless to say, by the time that they arrived at Hogwarts Castle the whole year thought that James Potter was a hero.
Well, almost.