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James was up early the next morning, ready to jump on the Hogwarts Express at six in the morning. Unfortunately, the train didn't leave from Platform 9 ¾ until eleven o'clock, so James was forced to sit in his room or in the kitchen or in the living room for the next four hours, when his parents would finally take him, via-side-along-apparition, to King's Cross.

He was tempted to take out his trunk and repack it again, but was too lazy. Instead, he decided to take out a single book (The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1) and skim through it, picking up spells that he could show off while on the train.

It lasted him the whole four hours; it was only when his mother rapped on his door and informed him that he had to get going that he finally put it away.

Something caught his attention when he was shoving his book back into his trunk. Apparently, part of a cloak had slipped out of his bag. But it wasn't a cloak James recognized. It was lighter and gauzier; sort of silvery and strange. He tugged at it until it came free of the trunk, and held it up to the light. He couldn't tell exactly what it was about the cloak, but he felt the need to put it on. James swung it over his shoulders and looked down to readjust it…

But there was nothing there. His feet, legs, body… it was all gone. He pulled off the cloak, and his body reappeared, unharmed and perfectly normal. It didn't take long for him to put it together. This was an invisibility cloak. An invisibility cloak! The perfect aid for any determined mischief maker. It must have been his father's—his mother would never approve—but why hadn't he seen it before?

He stuffed the cloak back into his trunk, not bothering to fold it, and shut it before dashing down the stairs. "Dad?" he said, running up to him in the kitchen.

"How are you, James? Excited for the start of term?" his father asked, smiling.

"Dad… in my trunk upstairs, is that an invisibility cloak?"

"I'm sure I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about, James," he said, casting a glance at his wife before bending close to his son's ear. "Family tradition… just don't let your mother know, she'd kill me!"

He straightened up just as Mrs. Potter walked into the kitchen, carrying Godric in his cage. "Charlus, could you get James's trunk for me, I…"

"Of course, dear! Be back in a jiffy." James couldn't help but chuckle at his father's earnestness. He obviously didn't want the invisibility cloak discovered.

Half an hour later, James and his family were standing outside the barrier that shielded platform 9 ¾ from muggle eyes. His parents led him through, and he finally caught his first glimpse of the crimson Hogwarts express, belting white steam from the engine. It was a beautiful sight; more magnificent than anything he could have pictured. He took off from his parents and ran toward the train, pushing his cart with all his belongings towards the baggage compartment. His parents followed, but were quickly stopped by family friends and were caught up in conversation.

There was only one other boy by the baggage compartment: He was young (a first year, James hoped), with rather long, stylish black hair and grey eyes. James thought he was rather cool looking; he gave off an aura of being very sure of himself. This was the type of guy that James wanted to hang around with. As long as he wasn't a Slytherin, of course.

"Need help?" James asked, lifting up the other side of the boy's trunk and helping him to throw it in.

"Nah, I could've gotten it," he said, assisting James now. Once everything was stored away, the two boys stood looking at each other a bit awkwardly.

"Sirius," said the boy, offering his hand after a moment. "Sirius Black. You?"

"James Potter," he said, taking the hand that Sirius offered. "What year are you in?"

"First," Sirius answered, as if challenging James in some way; he clearly knew how to stand up for himself.

"Me, too."

"Really?"

"Yup!" The two boys smiled at each other, pleased to have found someone they could, at the very least, sit next to on the train without question.

"So, er, where's your family?" James asked, trying to strike up a conversation. He couldn't see anyone around them that looked similar to Sirius. No one close seemed to have his cool composure, or even his facial features.

Sirius scowled, and James suddenly felt back for asking. What if his family was dead and he seemed like an insensitive git? Sirius pointed off to the left, however, and James' anxiety was relieved. Back in the corner of the station were a group that James hadn't even noticed.

"Oh…" Sirius's family was nothing like him. They all looked cold, very unlike Sirius's welcoming face and expressions. There were three of them: a man and woman who were older, and a young boy that looked almost identical to Sirius, but with an ugly scowl on his face, as if he was being dragged here against his will. They all had the same dark hair and striking grey eyes.

"My mom, dad, and little brother Regulus," he said, pointing them all out in turn. "I'd uh… better go say goodbye now. I'd rather not, but I figure…" he trailed off. "Want to meet up in the back of the train? I'd like to start out this trip with a friend."

"Absolutely," said James, smiling, "I'd better go say bye to my own family. Er… see you in a few." Sirius nodded, stuck his hands in his pockets, and with a determined look, shuffled towards his family. James rushed off to his own, throwing himself in his mother and father's waiting arms.

"Have a good time," his mother whispered to him, squeezing him tightly.

"Write often," his father added.

"And stay out of trouble!" James looked at his mother disbelievingly, and she looked back sternly. The tension broke after only a moment, and the family found themselves in the midst of a group hug.

James finally pulled himself away and, still waving, climbed aboard the train. As soon as he could no longer see his parents, he began to jog straight to the back, finally opening the last compartment on the left, behind a group of rowdy boys. Sirius was already sitting down, along with a small redheaded girl with her face pressed against the windowpane. James thought she might have been crying; Sirius kept shooting her nervous looks, as though unsure if he should leave.

Only a moment after he sat down, the compartment door opened once more. This time it was a greasy haired kid with a large nose who seemed slightly familiar to James. He sat down next to the girl, who finally turned around. Her face was streaked with tears, and it was obvious that she wanted only to talk to the new boy. James and Sirius both looked determinedly away from them, pretending not to notice.

"I don't want to talk to you," the girl said.

"Why not?"

"Tuney h-hates me. Because we saw that letter from Dumbledore."

"So what?" the boy asked. He clearly saw no problem with whatever it was that they were talking about.

"So she's my sister!"

"She's only a—" but the boy cut himself off. A what? James couldn't help but wonder. He thought about asking, but didn't. That might be rude.

The boy picked up the conversation again. "But we're going! This is it! We're off to Hogwarts!" There was a slight pause. "You'd better be in Slytherin."

James couldn't help himself. He looked at the pair. "Slytherin?" He turned to Sirius. "Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

Sirius wasn't smiling, and James had that dreadful feeling of saying something insulting by accident again. "My whole family have been in Slytherin." James could feel his jaw drop at this statement, and tried to recover.

"Blimey, and I thought you were all right!" he chuckled, trying to pass it all off as a joke.

Sirius finally cracked a smile. "Maybe I'll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"

James lifted an invisible sword.

"' Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!' Like my dad." He heard the other boy in the compartment make a small, disapproving noise.

"Got a problem with that?" James asked, whipping his head around.

The kid sneered. "No. If you'd rather be brawny than brainy—"

"Where are you going, seeing as you're neither?" Sirius said nastily. James couldn't help but laugh.

The red headed girl finally decided to enter the conversation. James couldn't help but notice that she was pretty, though her face had a rather displeased expression on it.

"Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment."

"Oooooo…" James mocked her; he heard Sirius join in.

James stuck out his leg as the greasy kid passed, and on a sudden inspiration shouted, "See ya, Snivellus!" The compartment door slammed behind the two of them, and Sirius burst out laughing.

"I guess I really shouldn't, seeing as my whole family's been in Slytherin, but… Snivellus? What a slimeball. Too bad the redhead's with him, she was kind of pretty wasn't she? Why, in a few years…" Sirius trailed off, probably imagining himself being flocked by older girls.

"You think they were like… together? Like dating?" James asked, kind of upset by this view of things. He didn't like the idea of that ugly git getting a girlfriend before he did, especially when the girl was so pretty. He should be the first one in his year with a girlfriend. One of the first, anyway.

His thoughts were momentarily interrupted when the compartment door slid open yet again, revealing a rather scrawny and shabby looking boy, who immediately muttered, "Sorry, sorry," and began closing the compartment door. Sirius grabbed the handle before it completely closed, however, and waved the boy inside.

"Come on in. What're you apologizing for? It's not like you walked in on us snogging or anything," he laughed, pulling his feet off the seat in order to make more room for the boy. He was already wearing his robes, and had a strange, mixed look of both excitement and complete fear at being talked to by strangers.

"Oh, you know," the new boy stammered, clutching a book in his hands so hard his knuckles turned white. "Just didn't want to… I'm Remus. Remus Lupin," he said, blushing.

"Sirius," Sirius said, sticking out his hand. "Sirius Black." Remus grabbed his hand tentatively, shook it quickly, and let go.

"And I'm James Potter," James followed, raising his own hand in greeting. Remus smiled slightly and sat down.

At first look, James had to admit, Remus looked… like a loser. His robes were patched and frayed, he was ridiculously thin, obviously shy, and had bags under his eyes as though he hadn't slept in a while. He looked like he wanted to say something, but couldn't bring himself to spit it out.

It was difficult to say why James took such an immediate liking to him. Maybe it was because he gave off an aura of intelligence, which James thought a valuable quality in an accomplice and friend. Or maybe it was because underneath his outer appearance, James spotted something about Remus that he liked: something tough, sneaky, and fierce.

"We were just talking about houses," Sirius said. James snorted; last he checked the conversation had definitely been about girls. "Which do you think you'll be in?"

"I'm—er—not sure, to be honest. I think it's a toss-up where I'll go. If any of the houses even want me." His expression became very solemn, and James thought he even looked a little ill.

"I don't think you can not be sorted into a house. I mean, that's what Hufflepuff's for, isn't it?" Sirius laughed. Remus still looked solemn.

"'What's wrong? Listen, we won't bite you!" James exclaimed, kind of put out by Remus's total rejection of any conversation. He didn't think he was a bad guy, and he seemed like he could make a good friend and fellow prankster… if only he would lighten up.

Coincidentally, it was at this moment that Remus burst out laughing. It was a nervous little laugh, but a laugh nonetheless. "Bite…" he choked. "Bite. Oh, Merlin…"

Sirius caught James' eye, and he shrugged. Remus's laughs slowly faded into silence, during which he apologized.

After a moment or two of struggling for conversation, the compartment fell silent once more. James was racking his brains; there had to be something more to talk about. Suddenly, it came to him.

"So… guess what I've got in my trunk right now?"

Sirius stared at him quizzically. "Robes?" he asked, "Books?"

"Yeah, yeah but besides that. You'll never guess."

"Well if we'll never guess, then why would you ask?" Remus piped up, looking slightly shocked at his own nerve.

"Well, because… just… that's besides the point. Guess!"

"Why don't you just tell us?" Sirius said, rolling his eyes.

"Fine." James paused dramatically. "An invisibility cloak."

"No!" Remus exclaimed, clearly awed.

"Seriously?" James nodded. Sirius cocked an eyebrow. "You know what we could do with an invisibility cloak, right?"

"Well… if we all get sorted into the same house. Otherwise…" James trailed off.

"What? We could still do things. It just wouldn't be as…"

"Easy?" asked Remus.

"Possible," clarified James. "I mean, think about it. I don't really know where any of the common rooms are, but they probably aren't close. Think of how much time that would take to collect everyone."

"True…" said Sirius glumly. "Damn. And you're going to be a Gryffindor for sure. I wish I had a different family… one where being sorted into a house other than Slytherin wasn't a crime."

"And I wish that…nevermind," muttered Remus.

"No, what?" James pressed.

"Well… I just… like I said, I don't think I fit into any of the houses well. Not even Hufflepuff. I doubt even she'd see any good in me."

"Remus, Hufflepuff saw good in everyone. One of the reasons my parents hate the house almost as much as Gryffindor. They think she'd have taken muggles into Hogwarts if someone had offered."

"Do you really think you're headed for Slytherin?" asked James.

"Well… I desperately hope I'm not. I don't want to turn out like the rest of my family. We don't… get along very well. They're all for pureblood mania… they think that old Slytherin had the right idea when he tried to make the school more pure."

"So do they support Voldemort?" Remus asked bitterly. It was the most emotion that he had showed all day. Sirius looked so shocked at his tone that he flinched a little.

"They, well, yeah, they think he's got the right idea. They're not Death Eaters, or anything… they haven't gotten in that far. But yeah, they've rallied behind his ideas and all. But not me!" he exclaimed, almost frightened at the look in the little Lupin's eyes. "I'm nothing like them. Any life's a life, right? And if you can do magic, then a wizard is a wizard is a wizard. There's no need to discriminate. And my family's so screwed up anyway… I'd love to be sorted into Gryffindor and shut them all up once and for all."

Remus relaxed a little at his words, but still looked a little bit tense. He began impulsively rub his upper arm on one side, eventually scratching it through his robes. James didn't even bother asking. This Remus kid was beginning to weird him out a little.

Even so, the three boys continued polite conversation for another hour, until little Peter Pettigrew stumbled in, raving about a "lunatic girl" who had just tried to Jelly-legs Jinx him as he wandered the compartments looking for James.

"Let me guess… Lots of curly hair, heavy-lidded eyes, shrill, annoying voice?" Sirius asked.

"Well… yeah," said Peter, obviously confused.

"That's my cousin, Bellatrix. I suggest you stay away from her; she's a rather nasty piece of work. Just stay in here with us—she won't bother you while I'm around. Not since I bat-bogey hexed her," he smirked.

"You can do that? That's a third or fourth year spell, isn't it?" Peter asked, awed. Sirius looked immensely pleased with himself and continued to tell a rather thrilling tale about stealing his mother's wand, a deranged house elf, and cursing his cousin.

It turned out that Peter had a knack for getting people to cough up interesting facts about themselves. Sirius and James demonstrated their already impressive magic skills (much to Peter's delight), and even got Remus to admit that he had a knack for dealing with dark creatures. He opened up a bit after telling a fantastic story about escaping a Hinkypunk while on vacation.

By the time the lunch trolley came around, the four boys felt they knew almost everything there was to know about one another.

Eventually, the train stopped, and the four boys looked at one another mournfully, knowing that this could be the end of their fantastic time together. If they got sorted into different houses, it would be much harder to talk to each other and plan pranks; even Sirius, the most laidback of the group, looked terrified. He knew that if he were to be sorted into Slytherin, his time with the other three boys would be at an end.

They stayed silent as they worked their way off the train and into the little boats that herded the first years across the lake. It seemed to be a mutual agreement between them all: This was their way of saying goodbye, without actually having to say it. After all, they would look pretty dumb if they had their heartfelt goodbyes and then ended up rooming together.

Peter was the one who broke under the pressure. "It's hopeless!" he cried as he tripped getting out of his boat. "All of you are brave and smart and accomplished; you'll get into Gryffindor or Ravenclaw together for sure!"

"Oh, shut it Peter. If anyone's got to be worried it's me!" Sirius snapped. "My family's been in stinkin' Slytherin for generations! You saw my cousin, I told everyone what my family was like! It'll be a miracle if I escape the trend!"

Remus opened his mouth, but closed it quickly as his face drained of color; James didn't press him for information. He looked as if he were going to be sick.

In a wild blur that James barely took in, he and the other first years were herded into the chamber outside the Great Hall, heard a strict professer speak, and were lined up inside the Great Hall in front of the Sorting Hat. The four boys looked at each other, took a deep breath, and prepared for the sorting to begin.