Disclaimer: I don't own the Marauders, the Hogwarts Express, or Hogwarts itself. I also don't own Lily Evans, Mary MacDonald or Alice.

Sirius Black

September 1st, 1977

I could feel my heartbeat in my throat as the train slowly came to a stop in Hogsmeade Station. I was holding four Pumpkin Pasties in my hands, but they were soon in my pockets.

Why I was so excited to see Shane, I didn't know. I had seen her not even a month ago, so why did I miss her so much? Truthfully, I missed her smile, her laugh, her jokes, her eyes, her sincerity, her obsession over books, everything about her. I missed it all.

I thought that we'd become closer when she visited for the Quidditch game, but I hadn't realized just how close. It was nice to have someone who knew how I felt when it came to family.

So, I followed James and Remus through the train. My fingers tapped anxiously at my thigh, and my eyes bounced around. My stomach was strangely churning, and I had to keep taking deep breaths to keep from hyperventilating.

As we stepped off the train, I immediately began to search for her. Being as desperate for her as I was, I looked everywhere except for the most obvious place. It was the last place I looked, naturally. But, my eyes did eventually rake over her brown hair.

She was standing next to Hagrid, smiling up at him attentively. A large, meaty hand flew and pointed directly at me, and then I saw the gold eyes.

A smile lit up my face as all tension and anxiety disappeared. I ran through the crowd, pushing a few first years in the process. She did the same, but was sure to refrain from pushing anyone younger than her (which was everyone, seeing as she was my age, only younger by two months) as she did.

"Sirius!" She yelped as she jumped into me, wrapping her thin, pale arms firmly around my neck. I wrapped my arms around her waist and held her against me tightly. God, I'd missed her.

"How've you been?" I asked quietly, keeping my arms in their places.

"Alright, you?" She answered quietly as well, though her voice clear in my ear.

"Alright." I said, setting my chin on her shoulder and taking a deep breath, breathing in her smell. She smelled like bubblegum, fresh bread and mildew.

"I don't mean to be rude, but I'd like a chance." Something in me snapped. I wanted to turn around and hit Remus for interrupting, but he was one of my best mates.

Shane flew from my arms and straight past me. I knew that she was already hugging Remus just as she had me. I turned around cautiously, wincing when I saw Shane and Remus holding hands. James gave Shane a one-armed hug, careful to keep their hands joined.

I shook my head and set a smile on my lips. I'd known this would happen. Always had. It shouldn't have come as a shock that Moony and Shane were most likely going to start dating, but it did anyways.

"We better get going, or we'll be stuck in a carriage with Snivellus." I said, shoving my hands into the pockets on my robes and fingering the Pasties.

Shane nodded and pulled her fingers from between Remus' gently, throwing herself onto my back. "Alright, let's go!" I smiled and wrapped my fingers around the backs of her knees as we began to move towards the carriages that pulled themselves.


Shane was watching the sorting ceremony with interest. The first time the hat had spoken, she'd flinched and then come to be in an entranced shape.

I kept glancing at her as I thumb wrestled with Prongs. I thought that, with all of the times that she'd had afternoon tea and lessons with Dumbledore in his office, she would've been used to it. She spent more time in that room than even Dumbledore himself.

"I'd've thought that you'd be used to this by now." I said as I fished my thumb out from beneath Prongs'.

"Ravenclaw!"

"Actually, the Sorting Hat doesn't really talk to me. The only word it's ever said when I was in its presence was, and I quote, "mutt." After that, we just haven't been willing to converse." She said, glancing over at me and quickly refocusing on the Hat.

"Is that why Dumbledore didn't bother to have you sorted?" Remus asked as he looked at her over his shoulder, for he'd also been watching the sorting with interest.

"Hufflepuff!"

She nodded. "He knew the Hat would put me in Slytherin, as it is the house I despise." She smiled, her white teeth shinning brightly.

"I still don't see how you could find it interesting at all." I pulled my hand away from Prongs' and turned slightly, so she knew that she had my full attention.

"You forget, dear Sirius." She said, sticking her pointer finger in the air and looking back to the sorting. "This is my first and only Sorting Ceremony. I want to pay attention."

"Gryffindor!"

I brought my hands together out of habit and clapped for the new first year. But, of course, Shane had all of my attention. I didn't even bother to look at the kid.

"It surely is a wonderful experience." Moony said as he smiled at her, the Sorting Hat forgotten. "It would've been a shame had you not shown up 'til this year." She nodded and smiled at him.

"Now, tuck in!" Dumbledore's voice spread through the Great Hall, and he glanced at Shane as he sat down. Food appeared on the table in front of us, and all conversation was lost. I had to refrain from laughing (seeing as I had stuffed a mixture of bread, chicken and gravy into my mouth) as Shane stuffed her face, earning stares from the people around us, especially the first years. Of course, they could've been staring at James.

Speaking of Prongs, Lily kept curiously glancing our way. I smirked as I looked at Prongs, trying to catch his eye. Of course, he was too interested in the peas on his plate.

"Slow down, Shane." I looked to Remus as he smiled and snatched the fork from her hand.

"Pay, giff thab back!" She snorted, a small amount of bread crumbs spurting from her mouth. She swallowed with an audible gulp. "It's not funny!" She was smiling, though.

I hadn't even realized I'd started laughing. Prongs and Wormtail had obviously done the same thing. We all laughed, the Hufflepuff table behind us shooting glares. But, we just continued our reign of chuckling.


I watched Shane slowly walk into the common room, a smile on her face. But, as I watched her face and eyes closely, I knew that she wasn't really feeling that way. Her eyes were hard and her jaw was set.

"So, what happened?" Prongs asked as she approached, plopping herself down on the couch beside me.

"Nothing, really." She said, flashing another fake smile. "Dumbledore just wanted me to move into the 7th Year Girls' dormitory. He said it would be "better" if I got some "girlfriends."" She added the quotes in with her hands.

"Now I see why you're in a fowl mood." I said as I kicked my feet up on her lap.

"I'm not in a fowl mood!" She groaned, her eyes darkening and her brow furrowing. She pushed my feet from her thighs and glared at me.

"Or is it just that time of the month again?" That one earned me a rather solid blow to the shoulder. "Ow!" I gasped and grabbed it, feeling the bruise that would be there in the morning.

"Lily-Pad!" All pain was forgotten as I smirked and looked over my shoulder at the hot-headed red head standing behind me, glaring at Prongs.

"You didn't show up at the Prefects' Meeting on the train." She growled.

"So?" Prongs shot back, a smirk still on his face. "You didn't really expect me to show up, did you?"

The glare on Evans' face was rather frightening. She looked like she would've killed him, had it not been against the rules. "Yes, I did. You could at least show respect for your position, Potter."

"It's not my fault Dumbledore made me a Prefect!" Now, Prongs was on his feet. He looked genuinely mad at his precious Lily.

"Maybe not, but he trusted you with a position of authority!" She yelled, taking a quick step closer to him. They were now face to face, their faces red with anger. "Personally, I think he's finally lost it, setting you as Head Boy! Please, James Potter could never, ever, do anything worthwhile." Her voice slowly got quieter, until it was just a harsh whisper.

James looked absolutely shattered. Anger was still plastered on his face, but his eyes looked broken and empty. "I chased you, didn't I?" He asked, whispering now. "Goodnight." Then, he was gone.

Lily snorted. "Good-for-nothing nitwit…" She mumbled. "Anyways, there was a trunk in our dorm near Mandy's bed. It had the initials S.S. on it. Do you know anyone new with those initials?"

I smiled at her as she stared at me, and then looked to Shane.

"Hello, you must be Lily." She forced a smile and stuck her hand out. Lily, of course, seemed to think the smile was real. "I'm Shane Spencer."

"Is that an American accent I hear?" Lily said as she grabbed Shane's hand, shaking it gently.

"Actually, yes. But, I feel it's starting to sound a little bit more… British." She said, smiling and pointing at her throat. She was right, her voice had changed slightly. She had started pronouncing her L's different.

"Well, that'll just make everything more interesting. Now, you have to meet the other girls. Alice, Mary, Sam!" I watched as the three girls slowly appeared in front of us.

"What is it, Lily?" Mary asked, her voice clear and loud.

Mary MacDonald was rather tall for her age. She was well built, too, seeing as she played Quidditch with James and I. She had long, auburn hair that curved and curled here and there. Her appearance spoke her personality, as well. She was very confident and indomitable. She was always loud, and would play a prank on the Marauders every now and then, just to put us in our place.

The one on Mary's left was Alice. Alice was just like Mary in many, many ways. For one thing, she was also a Quidditch maniac. Her personality was also the same, except for her increasing stupidity. It's not that she wasn't a brilliant witch, don't get me wrong. She was an excellent witch. It's just that she was constantly doing some idiotic stunt or dare. But, she was physically the opposite of the beautiful, gorgeous Mary Macdonald. She was short, standing at 5"1. But, that made her quick and agile. Her hair was cut short, almost like a bad buzz-cut. Her face was thin and rather attractive, though, when you thought about it. She was alright in my book.

The last girl, the one standing timidly behind Lily and Mary, was Samantha Josephs. Sam had always been a little nervous, especially around guys. Her eyes were always staring at her shoes, and her cheeks were always flushed. Of course she didn't really have anything to be shy about. She was blessed with the look of an angel. Her black hair fell gracefully down her back in dark ringlets, a shade lighter than the rest of her hair. And her eyes, God her eyes… They were bright blue, and looked even brighter against her pallid skin.

I'd dated Sam for a few weeks in third year, and then again in January last year. So, whenever we saw each other, it was a little awkward. Much more so for her than me.

"Sam." I said softly, a slight frown settling on my lips.

"Sirius…" She whispered, her tiny voice barely reaching me. Yet, it still sent chills down my spin. She sounded like an angle as well.

I turned to Shane and stood. "I'll see you tomorrow." I said before turning and walking over to the archway that led to the boys' dormitories. I slowly climbed the stairs. I was thinking about my day. It had probably been the best first-day-of-school I'd ever had.

As I slowly stepped into the dormitory, I yawned. I was tired after a day of being reunited and so forth. And, as I turned to go to my bed, I saw Prongs sitting beside his window scratching his owl, Screech, with one hand and rubbing his Prefects' badge with the other.

"You okay, Prongs?" I asked as I paced closer to him.

"I'll be alright, mate." He said as I sat down next to him. He glanced over and I saw the sadness in his eyes. "I'll get over it, just like I always do."

I sighed and leaned against the stone that bordered the gothic style window. "You know, I bet you'd have a better chance with Lily if you matured a bit."

"Mature? I'm mature!" He yelled, causing Screech to flap his way to his cage.

"Mate, the only mature marauder is Moony, and he can be quite the little devil when he wants to be." Prongs' eyes softened and he slowly looked to the window again. He knew I was right.

"Mature…" He whispered to himself, glancing at his hands. "Alright, I'll be mature. Well, not mature, but better. Yes, I'll be better. Not so cocky. More like Moony."

I chuckled and reached over so I could ruffle his hair. "Good, take Moony lessons." I said as I stood up, walking over to my bed. I didn't even bother to change, I just tossed myself underneath the covers and closed my eyes.

A/N: I have everything planned out now! Everything is set up and thought out, although the research is still going to be strenuous! I'M SO HAPPY! Oh, and I have two days off of school next week! That means more writing time.

Along with that, I have a poll up that pertains to this story. GO TO MY PAGE AND VOTE PLEASE!

Now, I need an idea of what I can have James get Shane for her birthday. It has to be over-stereotypically American (thank you, CuteLikeMomiji) and completely something he would buy. I already know what Sirius is getting her, and I have a basic idea for Remus

Review please!

R&R