A/N: Sorry this one took a little longer. I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I'm not JK Rowling!

James Potter and the Giant Squid
by The Scottish Fae
Chapter Three

James spent the week leading up to September first packing, only to tear everything out again to skim over his textbooks or to try his robes on once more. This meant that when the first day of school finally arrived he spent the early morning madly throwing all his required possessions in his trunk while his parents impatiently waited by their front door.
"James," his father shouted up the stairs, "you best hurry, the taxi will be here any moment."
Unfortunately Kings Cross Station had no fireplace and considering how many witches and wizards would be making their way to the train station that day, any other form of magical transportation would have been far to conspicuous, so they called a cab. James was very excited, he'd never been in a car before.

He quickly packed the rest of his things and dragged his heavy trunk down the hall to the stairwell. As he got to the top of the stairs he caught snippets of the conversation his parents were having down below.
"-safe there?" Came the end of his mother's thought.
"Hogwarts is one of the safest places in Britain." His father said reassuringly.
"I know," his mother replied. "It just feels awful sending him away with everything that's been happening"
His father's response was obscured by the loud thud James' trunk made as he dropped it against the banister. His parents jumped and his father ran upstairs to help tow his heavy luggage outside.
Not two minutes later their taxi arrived.
The car ride to the station was a long one and James' enthusiasm quickly dwindled. After twenty minutes he'd convinced his parents to play a muggle game Laura had taught him called I Spy which they all quickly tired of, and after an hour his head lulled against the window as he slept.
When they did eventually arrive at the station James' mother gently shook him awake and helped him with his trunk while his father fumbled with muggle money as he attempted to pay their driver.
Once the taxi had been handled they quickly found a trolley, loaded up the trunk, then made their way to platform 9 ¾.

James had been warned about the passageway, but having something described to you and actually having to do it are two very different things. He watched a few other trolley toting students pass through the entryway before he lined himself up between platforms nine and ten and, taking a deep breath, set into a trot toward the brick wall.
The closer he got the more desperately he wanted to pull away but the heavy trolley had enough momentum that it dragged him straight through the barrier.
When he emerged on the other side James was startled at how many people crowded the platform. Students milled about greeting friends, stowing luggage or saying teary farewells to family members. Some already wore their school uniforms, many of whom, James noticed, had badges pinned to the front of their robes.
"Can all students please board, the train will be leaving in five minutes!" James heard one of these students yell.
It was then James turned and noticed the gleaming, red vehicle perched magnificently on the tracks. Steam poured from its chimney coating the platform in a thin layer of smog.
"Just in time," he heard his father say
He turned toward his parents who had come through the passageway behind him, a huge grin on his face.
His mother smiled and brushed his messy hair back leaving a kiss on his forehead, while his father bent down and placed single galleon in his palm.
"Buy yourself something nice on the train," he said with a grin.
James thanked his father then hugged his mother around the legs before lugging his trunk up the train steps.
He ran into the nearest compartment and hung himself out the window to wave to his parents one last time as the train doors were slammed shut and the warning whistle sounded.
It wasn't until the train started moving and he'd slipped his head back inside that he realised he wasn't alone.
A small, fiery haired girl sat in one corner, deep in conversation with a sickly looking, hooked nosed boy whose dark locks framed his hollow face in greasy curtains.
Another boy lounged across the seat opposite theirs and when James turned around he smiled and shuffled over to make room.
James gratefully settled in then extended his hand.
"I'm James Potter," he said.
"Sirius Bl... I'm Sirius," stumbled the boy, a flicker of worry passing through his eyes. "Are you a first year too?" He continued, covering his concern.
"Er, yeah." James replied.
"So are we," smiled the red head, looking up from her conversation. James met her eyes and noticed how spectacularly green they were.
"I'm Lily Evans and this is Severus Snape." The girl continued.
The boy she was with barely looked at them.
James smiled, nodded and repeated his name.
"What house do you think you'll be put in?" He asked them all.
Lily was the first to respond.
"I'm not sure but I would like to be in the same house as Severus." She said with a smile.
James nodded then looked to Sirius who only shrugged and said, "The hat will put me where it puts me."
"The hat?" Lily asked.
"Didn't I tell you?" Snape finally spoke up. "An enchanted hat reads your thoughts to work out which house you're best suited for."
Lily looked a little concerned by this news.
"It only hurts a little," Sirius said with a smirk before asking James, "Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"
James lifted an invisible sword.
"Gryffindor, where dwell the brave of heart! Like my dad."
Snape made a small, disparaging noise. James turned on him.
"Got a problem with that?"
"No," Said Snape, though his slight sneer said otherwise. "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy-"
"Where are you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?"
Snape raised an eyebrow, "Slytherin if you must know." Then added under his breath, "Some father. Who'd want to follow in those footsteps?"
"Sev!" Lily scolded.
"You don't know my father!" James growled.
Snape simply shrugged, "I know of him, and I know that he's unimpressive."
James jumped up, ready to pounce on the greasy boy in front of him but Evans quickly placed herself in his way.
"You're being ridiculous, both of you!" She snapped before grabbing Snape by the arm and dragging him from the compartment, glaring at James as she went.
"Git," Sirius murmured.
James nodded.

James and Sirius spent the next few hours finding new ways to amuse themselves.
They shared chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott's Every Flavour beans which James bought with the money his father had given him, they speculated as to what Hogwarts Great Hall might look like – James was sure he'd been told its ceiling had been bewitched to match the weather outside but Sirius wasn't so sure, and they continued to discuss the pros and cons of each house.
With only ten minutes to go until they arrived at the castle, Evans and Snape slipped back into the compartment.
"What are you lot doing back in here?" James huffed.
"We need to change into our robes," Lily said, climbing up on a seat to access her trunk. "And I see you're both already dressed so would you mind leaving while I get mine on?"
"And miss the show?" Sirius said cheekily.
Lily glared at him and he raised his hands innocently before backing out the door. James followed him out, giggling the whole way.
"Teach us to get ready early," James said to Sirius as they wobbled about in the corridor.

The train pulled up on the platform before the two of them were allowed back inside and people began pushing to the exits.
James glanced at the compartment door and asked, "Should we leave our trunks behind?"
Sirius looked at the empty handed students around them and shrugged. "I guess so."
They let river of bodies carry them off the train.