Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

James Potter: Year One

Chapter Four: New Friends

The Gryffindor common room was empty. It was late at night and James and Sirius were sneaking out, resolute on discovering a secret passage. They stealthily crept through the deserted room and pushed the portrait open, relieved to see that they had not disturbed the fat lady from her slumber. They inched carefully down corridors, tentatively nudging paintings and examining tapestries. Sirius and James worked in silence, hopefully anticipating their oncoming discovery.

Optimism had begun to run dry, however, when they'd been searching without success for a long hour and fatigue from their first day of classes was beginning to settle in. James' actions had become robotic, systematically checking a painting, shuffling to the next one and on and on.

'Blimey,' James cried as he fell through a tapestry depicting an ancient battle scene, 'Sirius, I found one!'

'What?' Sirius ran at a speed James didn't know was physically possible and charged behind the antique piece of art.

'Wait up;' James followed Sirius through the shadowy passage, keeping his eyes on his astonished friend, 'where'd you reckon it leads?'

'How would I know?' Sirius shrugged.

'And we're going anyway?'

'Of course.'

'Great,' James laughed and dragged Sirius down the rest of the passage.

The route was a long and winding one with mysterious shadows and steep steps in unexpected places. Inevitably, James and Sirius often tripped and stumbled, dragging the other down with them and laughing at their clumsiness. But when they emerged into a dark and long corridor, they saw that they weren't alone. The silhouette of a scrawny boy was set against the wall directly in front of them.

'Hello? Who's there- James? Sirius? Is that you?' Remus Lupin asked, gazing at James and Sirius with confusion in his eyes, 'why are you out here?'

'We could ask you the same question,' Sirius shot back defensively.

Remus backed away slightly, his eyes suddenly possessed a weary look, 'McGonagall wanted a word.'

Sirius opened his mouth to reply, but James cut him off abruptly, 'I hear footsteps.'

Filch rounded the corner and, to their horror, began to approach them, looking down at his breaking and ill-fitting shoes. James made to run for the passage, but in the exits place was solid wall. Remus saw this and hastily pushed Sirius and James behind the nearest suit of armour. It only fit two. Remus was visibly shaking, but he stood his ground in the centre of the corridor, wiping the sweat of his brow, he adopted a concerned look and walked towards Filch.

'Sir, I was just talking with professor McGonagall,' he started, staring anywhere but at Filch's face and James and Sirius, 'and I was wondering if you could possibly point me in the direction of the-', Remus trailed of at Filch's sneer.

'It was you who set off that dungbomb on the third floor, wasn't it?' Taking Remus' shocked silence for confirmation; he gripped a startled Remus by the ears and dragged him off, promising detention and much worse.

Remus served his detention the next day, and he returned to a sympathetic James and Sirius with blistered hands and vowing never to go near the trophy room again. James and Sirius had tailed Remus and Filch to the irritable and grouchy squibs office. Remus had emerged pale and shaking minutes later, his scars more noticeable then ever. The boys had sat next to one another the following day in lessons and ate lunch as a three.

Over the next few weeks, Remus, James and Sirius became as inseparable as strong magnets, they did everything together; they copied Remus' history notes, they stole one another's breakfast, they joked and they laughed- and they begun to prank.

'Sirius! James!' Remus yelled one Saturday morning, marching down the dormitory stairs, with deep purple hair, 'what did you do to me?'

'Nothing much, you know, little tweaks.' James said innocently, 'nothing noticeable,' he added weakly, staring at Remus' drawn wand and drawing his own, which promptly turned into a rubber chicken. He fled the room immediately, with Remus in close pursuit and Sirius running after them, crying with mirth. But fun was halted by a familiar boy with a hooked nose and greasy hair that contrasted badly with a sickly pale complexion.

'Should have known it would be you three idiots,' the boy sneered viciously at James and his friends, his eyes filling with stabbing hatred and fury, 'who else runs like they've got nothing better to do, I suppose studying is pointless to dunderheads like you- not even Dumbledore could make you understand a thing.'

'Take it back Snivellous, you filthy Slytherin,' Sirius gritted his teeth in rage and his clenched hand was moving towards his wand.

'I expect you're jealous, aren't you?' Severus said, 'you're a Black, but the only one that's a failure enough to be in Gryffindor. How disappointed your mother must be- but by the sounds of that Howler, she won't have to bear that title for long-'

Snape was interrupted by a loud bang as Remus and James simultaneously hexed Snape until his face was no longer recognisable. His front teeth were growing at an alarming rate and he had received a strong stinging hex. Sirius had just walked away. Glancing anxiously at one another, James and Remus ran away from the Slytherin and thoroughly searched the castle for their friend.

They found him in the owlry, staring out of a large and open arched window, at a large tawny owls retreating form. He did not turn, and for a long while did not acknowledge their presence, but sat in silence, hunched on a stiff and splintery wooden chair.

'I'm worried about my brother,' was what he said, when he did finally decide to speak, 'Regulus. He's alright, but he has to spend a year alone with my mother, he'll be corrupted, I know it. A proper little Slytherin by summer, I bet.'

'If he's anything like you, he'll be sorted in Gryffindor before we know it.' James said, smiling and resting a hand on his friends shaking shoulder.

'But that's just it, he's always hated it when I upset or anger mother and father, and they won't be pleased at my sorting. He'll be determined to make them happy. He'll be sorted into Slytherin.' Sirius shook his head and gathered his stuff up, violently shoving it into his bag, 'and he'll have been trained to hate me.'

Again, thanks for reading. Hope you liked the chapter, for those who wanted to know Peter will be coming into the story soon. Please review and stay around for next week and Chapter Five.