Peri looked around Platform 9 ¾. Lily's red hair was easy to spot. I wish I had hair like that, she thought wistfully as she flagged her over, rather than this awful black mass.
"Hi, Lily," Peri greeted her. "So you got onto the platform all right?"
"As you see," Lily grinned. "I didn't really like the idea of walking straight into a brick wall, so I ran."
"Good idea," Peri commented. "Shall we find a carriage?"
HPHPHPHP
Sirius pulled his trunk behind him and made his way to a carriage.
"Sorry, but can I join you?" a voice came from the door.
Sirius hadn't even noticed the door open, but he looked up. A small, mousy-haired boy, with orange goo under his nails, was standing there. "Make yourself comfortable," Sirius shrugged, gesturing at the seats in the compartment.
The boy sat down quickly. If I'm with Sirius Black, Snape won't hex me again. "I'm Peter, by the way. Peter Pettigrew."
"Sirius Orion Black," Sirius said, as if Peter didn't know already. "And yes, my initials do spell Son Of a Bitch. She really is one, too."
Peter looked rather shocked. "Sirius Black!" came a voice from outside the compartment. Peter flinched; was Snape back already?
"Nice to see you too, James Potter," Sirius grinned. "Care to join us?" he added, in an exaggeratedly refined tone.
"Don't mind if I do. Oi, Remus, come here and be sociable," James added over his shoulder. He dragged a scrawny boy into the carriage after him. "Sirius, this is Remus Lupin. Remus, this is Sirius Black."
Sirius smiled warmly at Remus, who smiled uncertainly back. Uh-oh, Black alert, Black alert. Breathe, Lupin, breathe.
Sirius had a funny feeling that this boy was a half-blood. They were the only ones who responded to him like that. Purebloods looked down their noses at the Black rebel. 'Blood traitors' like the Potters were considerably warm to him, not only because he didn't hold with his family's ideas, but because he wasn't afraid to say so, like his cousin Andromeda, who was secretly dating a Muggleborn. Muggleborns themselves had no idea of his rebellion and treated him the same as they did every one else. Half-bloods were slightly afraid of him –marrying outside of the wizarding world detached the witch or wizard. This meant that Sirius' attempts at rebellion didn't reach their ears – or, if they had one, their Floo network.
"Sit down, Remus," James commanded. "Sirius won't bite you!"
HPHPHPHP
"What's this?" Lily asked, holing up a limp stick of liquorice.
"Liquorice Wand," Peri replied, choosing a Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean with care.
"Does it do anything?" Lily asked eagerly.
"It just flops around," Peri shrugged.
Lily tucked into a cauldron cake instead. She didn't like liquorice.
HPHPHPHP
"I take it that you met Severus Snape?" James said, indicating the orange goo under Peter's fingernails.
"Oh, yeah. I dropped my trunk on his toe, so he hexed me. I don't think he likes me."
"You don't want Snape to like you," Sirius pointed out. "He's the biggest git on the planet. I don't know where he gets off; making out that he's such a wonderful pure-blood. His parentage isn't exactly private."
"Hypocrite, that's what he is," James agreed. "Do you want us to get him back for you?"
A.N: This is a pre-DH story, written and finished way before Book 7 was released. As such, DH canon is not being incorporated into it. Reviews are always appreciated!