Chapter two: An interesting addition

Hours later, the train pulled into the Hogwarts platform and the four of them got off the train with their luggage. As they walked by, James saw Lily and Severus boarding a carriage with two other Ravenclaws. They were chatting excitedly about how they got to do Divination this year again. James felt a pang of jealously hit him in the stomach as he and the other boys walked to another carriage as Lily's carriage pulled away. Sirius saw him staring at Lily as they boarded their carriage and it started moving on its own as well. Sirius smirked.

"Just leave it, mate," Sirius told him. "You know she'll never let you under that skirt of hers." He said. Remus sniggered as he put his books in his satchel and Peter laughed.

"Hey, c'mon. I'm James Potter," James objected as he lounged back against the seat, crossing his arms. "I'm irresistible. Every girl wants me." he said in a cocky tone.

"Well, except Lily Evans." Remus said quietly, grinning to himself. James smacked him over the side of the head as Sirius and Peter laughed.

"She'll want me. Someday soon she's gunna ditch Snivilus and realize just how much she was missing." James ran his hand through his black hair, messing it up further, grinning at the pictures in his mind of Lily finally coming to admit how much he loved her.

"Whatever you say, James." Remus muttered, still grinning as the carriage pulled them towards Hogwarts.

After a short while, they finally got inside Hogwarts. James felt a great soaring feeling inside his body when he stepped into the large castle. He looked around and strutted right into the Great Hall where he saw the four long tables separating them by house and the Hogwarts's staff sitting at the front. He saw Dumbledore sitting, drinking a goblet of wine and talking to Professor Slughorn about something. James also saw Lily sit at the end of the Gryffindor table with her friends and Severus go to the end of the Slytherin table all by himself. James grinned at how alone Severus looked at it made him strangely happy.

James, Sirius, Peter and Remus made their way to the middle of the table and the people at the table immediately split so they could sit down with one another, saying hello to them. James was, as usual, annoyingly loud. "Hey all! Did you miss me?" he asked the Gryffindor table. Many of the people answered him brightly, chatting all at once. He held up his hands. "I know, I know. I feel the same way about all of you." he said, shining with pride. James was very popular amongst the Gryffindor house. In fact, he was known throughout the school as that popular guy who plays Quidditch. Although the Slytherins detested his guts, James was undoubtedly the most popular boy in school.

James was in the midst of talking to one of his fellow Quidditch players when Professor McGonagall came up behind him, looking as stern as usual with her hair in a tight bun and her black robes and her square spectacles. She peered over them at him as he spoke to his friends.

"-Believe the training I did over the summer! I went outside every day to practise with bewitched Quaffles. My mum and dad built me this homemade Quidditch Pitch in my back yard, you see-,"

"Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall said crisply. James turned around, but not before giving the boys a wink (he was always getting on McGonagall's nerves, even though she never allowed people to see the annoyance on her face). James looked at her and smiled brightly, getting up and holding out his hand.

"Ah, Professor! Lovely to see you again!" he said loudly. McGonagall peered over her glasses at his hand and then looked pointedly at his face, turning down the shaking of his hand.

"Mr. Potter, I have come to inform you that you have been chosen to be Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Practises should start in a week or so." McGonagall said quickly. You could see on her face that she wasn't particularly thrilled to giving him the title right here at the table but she didn't have a choice.

James face lit up like a Christmas tree as he stared at McGonagall with wide, happy eyes. Just then, shockingly, James attempted to hug her, which didn't last very long.

"Mr. Potter!" she exclaimed, fighting to get away from his strong arms with a shocked look on her old face. The Gryffindor table burst out laughing as James pulled back and shrugged at them.

"Sorry Professor, got a little too excited." He said happily, grinning at her. Professor McGonagall straightened her askew spectacles hurriedly, looking frazzled.

"Well, uh, congratulations, Potter. I'll see you in Transfiguration." McGonagall said briskly and walked away quickly. James turned to the Gryffindor table and they applauded him as he took in the glory.

"I'm your Captain! I can't bloody believe it!" James exclaimed as he sat down beside Sirius once more.

"Yeah, you can, James." Sirius said, grinning. Even after everyone had stopped clapping, Peter was still wildly applauding him until Remus stopped him with a smirk on his face. "Enjoy it. And you'd better let me on the team." Sirius said. James grinned and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Of course, mate!" James said cheerfully. He was in the kind of mood where nothing could bring him down. Even the fact that he saw Lily roll her eyes at him didn't make him any less happy.

The Sorting ceremony started and finished quickly and James and Sirius spent most of that time welcoming the new little First Years. Remus was too busy staring at the Ravenclaw table because he saw something that caught his eye. A girl that looked in about the same year as them was sitting at the Ravenclaw table. Remus couldn't make out what she looked like because someone moved and blocked her from view, but in the mille-seconds that he saw her, he was mesmerized by her beauty. Peter hadn't noticed much of anything in this time because he was too busy talking to Sirius and James about Quidditch.

When Dumbledore stood up, a hush fell over the student body. Remus took in the older wizard's face as it looked cheerfully out at the students as usual. Nothing about him had changed. In fact, nothing about him ever changed. Dumbledore was very much a creature of habit and Remus was sure that he'd even worn the same dark purple robes every single start-of-year feast that he'd been at. Remus didn't mind that, of course. He himself was, quite literally, a creature of habit. He liked to be organized and didn't like drastic changes.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts!" Dumbledore began. "Now, before we dig into our exquisite feast, there are some start-of-term notices I wish to announce. Firstly, our caretaker, Mr. Filtch has asked me to remind you that the Dungeons are, for the time being, closed to any and all students due to the fact that we are trying to rid them of any troll odor that has been left there in the past. Also, First Years, please note that the Forbidden Forest is strictly out of bounds for reasons that needn't be explained at this present time," Dumbledore said. James and Sirius exchanged looks of mischief (obviously plotting a plan in their minds) with one another while Peter tried to hide his squeaky laughter and Remus ducked his head to hide his blush. When he transformed into a werewolf every full moon, he would go out into the forest. It was petrifyingly frightening because there were many monsters in that forest that Remus himself was scared of, even in werewolf form. Many of his scars weren't from him because, usually, he'd encounter a monster that didn't want to run into a werewolf at night. But, he had to go into the forest or his cover would be blown. Remus almost wasn't accepted into Hogwarts because of his 'condition' but Dumbledore required that he still attend school and that he'd make accommodations for him, which Remus was grateful for.

"Furthermore, we will be holding Quidditch tryouts for anyone who would like a chance to get onto the team. If interested, please contact any of the four Quidditch Captains for further information," Dumbledore smiled. James grinned and motioned exaggeratedly at himself and the Gryffindor table laughed. Remus saw the Slytherin table exchange dark looks when they figured out who the new Gryffindor Quidditch Captain was and they looked around at Lucius Malfoy, a teenage boy with long blonde hair and cold grey eyes and he glared at James, who hadn't noticed them whatsoever. "That concludes my announcements. Everyone, tuck in!" Dumbledore announced, grinning as he went back to his seat.

"Yes, sir!" James and Sirius said in sync, grabbing all the food they could and stuffing it in their mouths as the Gryffindor table laughed loudly. Remus smirked and took a bite of his piece of chicken as he listened to Peter laughing obnoxiously in his ear. He kept trying to glance at the Ravenclaw table to see whether he'd be able to spot that girl that he'd seen before, but had no such luck. He only hoped he'd catch another glance of her tomorrow since his second class was Divination with the fourth-year Ravenclaws. Remus tucked into his meal and chatted with Sirius, James and Peter about how they thought this year at Hogwarts was going to go.