I'm sorry I took so long to post this up. This had actually been written on the 26th. Ahaha, don't kill me!


Staring at one of the many large windows of the Hogwarts Express train, James Potter scooted around his seat to get into a more comfortable position. Sure, he was excited about finally getting into Hogwarts and sure, he was pretty hyped about finally getting exposed to magic since he was in one of the most respected family types. He was a pure blood wizard, people can be quite boastful about it. He was also rich... So that was a big boost to his alter ego.

Despite all the reasons that would want him to feel excited about this, the brunet was nothing close to feeling pleased with having to sit on an uncomfortable seat for a few hours till reaching destination.

He heaved a lazy sigh and slumped down deeper into the uncomfortable material beneath his buttocks. Just as he was starting to feel a little bit more comfortable, a dark headed boy approached him by stealing the seat right across him.

The boy didn't say anything, he silently took his seat and begun to gaze out the window. James, however, was puzzled as to who this boy was or what his deal, if any, is.

However, he pushed away those thoughts, and stuck out his hand for a handshake with him, hoping to start something. It is better to travel with friends than alone, but why not make friends while travelling?

"James," he said, with his palm out, hoping for a response. The dark haired boy looked at James' hand and back at his face to make eye contact.

"Sirius," he replied, with a calm voice, as he took James' offer to shake hands. The two gave each other an assuring handshake.

"So, Hogwarts, huh? School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You excited?"

He had hoped to start a meaningful discussion, but he received no response from Sirius. He just continued to gaze out the window. However, he wasn't done. He decided to try once more.
"You know the four houses right? Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin, yeah? Apparently, the one that puts you into one of the four houses is a magic talking hat."
This got Sirius' attention. As he made eye contact with James, James let out a grin of success.

"A…talking hat? Why, that's preposterous. I mean, sure, it is Hogwarts after all, but a talking hat?"

Sirius was really confused and was now thirsty for more details. He wasn't in very good terms with his family, so he wouldn't actually know much about the school nor magic; he didn't even bother looking the school up anyway.

"Yeah, that's what my father says, at least. Which one do you want to belong in?"

"I don't know, it all comes down to the hat anyways. How about you?"

"Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart. My father was in Gryffindor, so I reckon if he was famous there, they'll see the resemblance within me," James boasted, with a smile on his face.

Sirius, however, remained unimpressed. James noticed the blank expression on his new friend's face and began to frown instantly,
"What? Something on my face? Is there an issue?"

"Not at all, friend," was the simple response he got back. He wanted to pursue the matter further, but before he could even breathe a word, James was interrupted by two boys that were sitting parallel to them on the train.

"Gryffindor, huh? Sounds fun, take me with ya," said one of the boys, who was the skinnier one out of the two. The skinnier one had hair that was combed to the side, whereas the other one had his slicked back. He looked back at his friend, who was seemed to be slightly overweight.

"What do you think, Peter? Gryffindor?" question the boy as he placed his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Oh, uhh, I suppose so," he nervously replied. He appeared to be less confident than the other and somewhat socially awkward.
"Whoops, pfft! Silly me, where are my manners?" the skinnier one cheerfully said with his hand over his face.

"Name's Remus, this here's Peter, as you just found out." Remus stuck his hand out to James first, as he was the closer one, politely. Peter just gave a small friendly but nervous wave.

"James," he confidently introduced once again with a nod and a firm shake.

Remus then turned his attention to Sirius.

"Sirius," he announced as he gave a handshake similar to James'. The somewhat odd couple took a seat with Sirius and James. The four talked cheerfully and loudly for hours on end, introducing themselves to each other into more detail. The new quartet discussed matters about each other and Hogwarts. To some of the other passengers on the train, they appeared obnoxious and annoying.

"Ahh, I'm feeling so bloody boring! How long have we been going for already?!" James exclaimed with a frustrated tone. It was loud, so the entire carriage heard him, but his other friends were just laughing at him. He wasn't wrong though, it was a long train ride.

"Ugh, y'know what? You guys just as bored as I am here?"

They all nodded, agreeing with him, in sync. He leaned forward and convinced the rest to do the same to huddle up, as if they were a sports team, discussing a new strategy.

"You boys wanna have some fun?" he questioned with a grin on his face.
Sirius was the first to reply,
"I suppose, but how?"

"I'll show ya. Move over, tubby."

James moved over to the door on the left which is suppose to connect the carriage he was in to another. Coolly, he yanked on the door an it opened easily. He stepped over to the other room and then beckoned the rest of his new friends to join in.

Anyone could have been his next target, but apparently, only two people occupied the whole carriage. One was a red-headed girl, the other was a scrawny boy with dark black hair partially covering his face. He looked like the perfect person to be picked on... What was that scrawny little boy doing with a pretty red-head anyway?

James turns to face his new posse with a confident smirk across his face.

"Yo, check this out."

He went on ahead and strutted towards the quiet but occupied seats. Lily notices a figure on the corner of her eye, marching confidently and smoothly towards them. She lets out a face of worry, which notifies Severus, who turns his head very softly and as little as possible, but still enough to see what Lily was looking at.

James reaches the two passengers and casually rests one of his arms on the top of the seat Severus is sitting in. He gives Lily his 'cool' face with the use of a smooth smile and a wink.

"Sup, good looking. What's your name?"

"Oh yeah, that was smooth James. She must be swooning over you right now."

At least, that's what he thought until he noticed how quiet and nervous she seemed. Again, just like Sirius, he refused to let this go and went for another shot.

"My name's James. Relax, don't need to be shy, little lady," he somewhat politely said to Lily, sticking his hand out for a handshake, hoping for some kind of spark.

Lily was about to accept his offer, merely out of shyness since James was a dashing looking little boy, but before she could even come close to coming into contact with his fingertips, Severus lightly pushes James' hand away. James' attention instantly turns to Severus, noticing how quiet and unapproachable he appears to be.

"I don't think she wants to talk to you," piped Severus quietly yet at the same time, daringly.

"Whoa, take it easy. Just trying to make a new friend, y'know. Just stay calm, pretty boy," James sarcastically said. He called him pretty boy because of the length of Severus' hair.

"If you were really trying to develop new friendships, I suggest you improve your social skills. You should be able to plainly see how uncomfortable this lady here is right now."

"What was that?" Challenged James incredulously, no one talked back at him. No one backed mouth James Potter, and it should stay that way.

A few moments went by swiftly and not a word was said from both Severus and Lily. So, out of pure annoyance, James gave Severus a shove. A light one, but still had enough power in it to make the dark-headed boy fall out of his seat.

James looked back at his posse and saw them having a laugh among themselves and giving him thumbs ups.

"Severus!" Lily cried out, standing out of her seat now just so she could help her friend.

"Severus?" Bursted Sirius with a fit of laughter, "what kind of name is 'Severus?'"

"Sounds like some snake to me, honestly," chipped in Remus, laughing uncontrollably.

"Oh hey, hey, you know what's funny? Why don't we just call him Snivellus? Since he's such a pretty boy and all," sing-songed James, smiling like at idiot. Severus thought he looked like a huge fool walking around with two left feet.

"Hah! Snivellus, perfect!" Boomed Sirius, wiping a fake tear from his left eye corner. Apparently, he thought James was a very cool guy. Praise everything magical that they met.

"Awh, Snivelly is ignoring us, what should we do?" inquired James when the laughter died down. He reached over and ruffle around Snape's considered long hair, messing it up as much as possible.

Even though, everyone was very familiar that what the four boys are doing now is practically bullying, Severus said nothing and kept his head down. He wanted to dig into a hole an hide in it forever. How embarrassing it was to have Lily watch him get bully, Severus was pretty sure it was, in fact, very embarrassing.

Looking anywhere but anything that belonged to the red-headed female, Severus frowned deeply. Curse these boys.

The boys were about to push on Severus' buttons yet again but before they could do anything, a voice roared at them, "STOP!"

Lily was mad. She was now standing tall above everyone. She immediately took charge and changed the outcome of what could have resulted in a casualty.

Everything went silent. Not a word was said.

James pouted, spitted on the floor, and started moving back to the carriage coolly. Leading his new gang to the direction of where they sat before, he looked back at Severus with a sky smirk and exited into the other carriage. He knew he would see him around Hogwarts in the years to come.

Severus and Lily sat back down quietly and somewhat awkwardly. After a situation like that, the rest of the trip wasn't going to be easy for either of them. However, neither of them wanted to bring it up.


Written on 26th December 2013. Posted on,6th January 2014.

Happy new year!