A/N: Disclaimer, there is a bit of JK Rowling's work in here to tie it it with the books. I wish I could say that I wrote it but unfortunately her genius mind is far superior to mine.

Anyway, ENJOY!


CHAPTER 3: My House

As the train turned the corner and his mother disappeared from sight, Remus sighed and leant back in his seat in the empty compartment. It was real now. He was going to Hogwarts. Remus smiled and rolled over, pressing his face against the cold window and closing his eyes, hoping to get some sleep.

James Potter walked along the corridor of the Hogwarts Express, looking around in search of a vacant compartment, not wanting to admit to himself that he was beginning to feel quite nervous on his own. Excited, but nervous.

'Hey, is that compartment over there empty?' came a voice behind James. He turned to see a muscular looking boy, an inch or two taller than himself walking behind him, also peering around looking for a place to sit down. His head was slightly lowered and facing the ground and his long hair fell over to hide his face.

James gazed in the direction that the boy had nodded to see a compartment with only one inhabitant.

'There's only one person in it. I think he's sleeping,' came James's reply.

Without another word the tall boy started forward and opened the door, putting his belongings in the overhead compartment and reaching down to help James with his. Together they sat down opposite each other with James beside the sleeping figure and the other boy lounged across the seat opposite. James noticed a nasty looking bruise on the boy's left eye, but decided to not mention it.

'I'm James,' he said, offering his hand to the stranger.

'Sirius,' the tall boy replied, shaking hands with James.

'Any idea who this is?' asked James, pointing to the sleeping form next to him with his thumb.

'None at all. He looks quite ill. Maybe we should leave him to sleep,' Sirius suggested, craning his next to try and get a look at the sleeping boy's face. He was incredibly pale, with dark circles under his eyes and was very thin and small. His light brown hair was long, yet shorter than Sirius's and neater than James's, but looked unkempt somehow, and his clothes were shabby and seemed to be hanging off him in their bagginess although whether that was because they were simply too big or because he was so thin, it was hard to tell.

Suddenly a loud crashing sound came from the corridor and a short, slightly chubby boy pulled open the door looking panic stricken.

'Can I sit here?' he asked, his small watery eyes looking around taking in the sight of the three boys. Deciding that they weren't going to hurt him, he relaxed a little.

'Sure. Here, let me help you with your stuff,' Sirius said, standing up to help the newcomer heave his bags into the overhead compartment with a loud thud.

The noise startled Remus into awakening. He groaned quietly and stole a glance behind him to see that three boys, all of whom seemed to be his age, had joined him. With a sigh, he turned away from them and looked out the window at the trees going by. He was always afraid to make friends because he knew that as soon as they found about that he was a monster they would leave him. The very thought scared him.

'I'm Sirius, by the way, and this is James,' said Sirius, gesturing to himself and the other boy as he spoke.

'Peter,' introduced the new boy, sitting down next to Sirius. 'Who's that?' he added in a whisper, pointing to the frame of the smallest boy who appeared to still be sleeping.

'Don't know. He was sleeping when we arrived, we thought it best to leave him to it,' James explained.

Remus smiled. At least the boys were considerate.

'Well, I'm awake now,' he stated, turning around to face the others in the compartment. 'My name is Remus.'

'Welcome to the land of the living, Remus.' Sirius cheered, grinning at the small boy. He was about to offer his hand but decided against it, thinking that he would only end up snapping the boy's bony fingers by accident.

The boys all talked as if they had known each other for years when a girl with long, dark red hair entered, followed in quick succession by a lanky boy with greasy, shoulder length hair. The boys looked up briefly at the newcomers, who were now talking, in fact seemed to be arguing, before shrugging and continuing their conversation.

'But this is it!' said the greasy haired boy, with obvious excitement in his voice. 'This is it! We're off to Hogwarts!'

The red haired girl merely nodded but smiled in spite of herself.

'You'd better be in Slytherin,' the boy continued.

At the mention of the house, Sirius's head flipped round to look at the pair whilst James turned as well.

'Slytherin?' James repeated. 'Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?' he continued, directing the last question to Sirius who was unsmiling.

'My whole family have been in Slytherin,' he said resentfully.

'Blimey,' said James, 'and I thought you seemed all right!'

Sirius grinned at his new friend.

'Maybe I'll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?'

James grinned back and drew an invisible sword and begun to brandish it around.

'Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart! Like my dad.'

The Slytherin boy snorted. James spun around and pointed his invisible sword at him.

'Got a problem with that?' he challenged.

'No,' said the boy, slightly sneering, 'if you'd rather be brawny than brainy-'

'Where're you hoping to go seeing as you're neither?' Sirius interrupted causing James to roar with laughter.

'Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment,' the redhead girl said, throwing James and Sirius a glare of dislike.

James and Sirius continued to laugh, and James made to trip up Severus as he left calling 'See ya Snivellus!' as the boy was practically dragged out by the girl. A slightly awkward silence reigned after they left which James broke.

'Which house do you think you'll be in then Peter? Remus?'

'Hufflepuff,' Peter said, hanging his head, earning a snicker from Sirius.

'I don't know. I've not really given it much thought. Maybe Ravenclaw,' Remus said, looking at James.

'So, Slytherin, huh, Sirius?' James teased, winking.

'Shut up, Mr Invisible Sword,' Sirius retaliated.

'That sounds like a challenge!' James cried, mocking shock.

'EN GARDE!' Sirius called, lunging at James with his own invisible sword.

The play fight continued over the whole train journey with all four boys eventually joining in. Sirius couldn't get the grin off his face but he couldn't get the thought of Slytherin house out of his head. Looking at James, he found himself praying even more so that he wouldn't get put in the house. If James was going to end up in Gryffindor, he would never be able to stay friends with him from Slytherin, and he honestly felt that he had found a great friend in James. Remus looked up at the other three boys, with a half smile. He was happy and he was actually having fun. 'Is this what it is like to have friends?' he thought. Still he couldn't help but keep a cautious distance. Remus knew that he couldn't get to close to his new friends. If he did it would only hurt more if they ever found out about his secret. No one in their right minds would want to be friends with someone like him if they knew. Peter brandished his sword along with the others, hardly believing that he was part of it. He had always found it difficult to make friends. A part of him was worried about being put in Hufflepuff. He had nothing against Hufflepuff and was frankly so happy that he was going to Hogwarts he would go into it gladly if that was where he was meant to be, but he had managed to make friends and he was having fun and he didn't want to be separated from them. James grinned manically at the chaos he had started as four boys traipsed across the compartment, Peter jumping on the seats, himself standing on the table, Sirius hanging off the overhead compartment and Remus standing on the ground, looking cautious but still joining in. Inside, James was praying that he was in Gryffindor, he had never wanted anything more but as he looked around at his friends he recalled them in their house predictions. James, a Gryffindor. Remus, a Ravenclaw. Peter, a Hufflepuff. Sirius, a Slytherin. Even though his father's old prejudice had been passed down to him and he despised Slytherin to his very core, if he was with Sirius maybe it wouldn't be such a bad house to be in. He couldn't see himself in any house but Gryffindor, he didn't want to be in any house but Gryffindor, however he thought to himself that as long as he got to stay with his friends he didn't care as much.