Hogwarts Express

James pulled open a random compartment door, waving goodbye to his parents who were standing on the platform. They shouted back their farewells and tried to hold back tears. He's growing up so fast, Mrs. Potter told her husband last night, I don't know if I'll let him go. True to her word, Mr. Potter had to gently coax his wife off of their son, but James didn't seem like he wanted to let go either as they huddled under a deserted alcove.

James was secretly glad they picked a secluded area; he didn't want his future classmates to think he was mummy's boy.

He was a Gryffindor!

… Unofficially, yes, but still!

Nevertheless, the ruby red train gave a lurch, so James reluctantly sat down on one of the seats once his parents were out of view.

"Oh great," he sniffed. "Two minutes into the train ride and I'm already missing my parents. I'll never get into Gryffindor!" He threw open the compartment door – with a little too much gusto, for he almost tripped forward - and sighed in relief because his trunk and owl hadn't been stolen.

James flitted through his things once he sat back down, searching for his favourite book: Quidditch Through the Ages. That always helped him when he was down … and remind him of the joyful summers back home.

Oh dear … it was going to be a long train ride.

All of a sudden, his compartment door was shoved open and a black-haired boy zoomed inside. The boy hurriedly closed the door and the compartment window's curtains, and ducked under the seat opposite from James.

He did this so fast that James wondered if this was part of some sort of show Hogwarts was putting on. Dumbledore was strange, after all.

Blinking profusely, James stared back at the peculiar boy who, in turn, eyed James wearily like he wasn't the one crouching under the seats, and opens his mouth. He promptly closed it, however, when they heard the door to the compartment slam open again.

A blonde girl with icy blue eyes, pale skin and a prominent posture stepped inside.

"Have you seen a boy, about … this high, dark hair and grey eyes?" She asked haughtily. Her voice was high and shrill and James had an urge to cover his ears, but restrained himself.

Instead, James subtly glanced across the compartment to where the boy was hiding. The boy was using frantic motions, pointing to the girl and then to himself, putting his hands around his neck to mime strangling. James wasn't good at charades, but he took a shot in the dark and guessed the girl would kill Sirius if she found him here, so instead he said:

"Er, no. I can't say I - " The girl exited before he even finished his sentence. The boy crawled out once the coast was clear and dusted his robes off. They looked expensive and would've looked impressive had there not been mud stains on them.

"Thanks so much for that, mate!" He grinned, sticking out a hand. "I'm Sirius Black."

"I've never met anyone serious about their colours..." said James with a half-smile. "But I'm James Potter."

"Black's a shade! Well ... at least I think." Sirius slumped on the seat across from the messy-haired boy. "Potter, you say? I've heard of you."

"You have?" This wasn't strange for Mr. Potter was a high-ranked Auror in the Ministry.

"My parents hate your parent's guts." Sirius said nonchalantly and when James' eyes widened, he said, "They're into the Dark Arts, see … " he went on explaining how his parents treated others with a lesser blood status and how he absolutely detested it and that he was glad he was at Hogwarts because he could finally just be himself.

James blinked. He had expected Sirius to boast about how he was higher than James because his family studied Dark Arts. James was prepared to fight him – with wands (even though he didn't know how to use one) or fists (when the first option failed). But he felt himself pitying the boy once he heard his side of the story.

James could probably see himself friends with him.

Sirius glanced at the book on the boy's lap. "Do – do you like Quidditch?"

Scratch that – James definitely saw himself friends with him.

After about ten minutes into the ride, the conversation started to drift towards who had the best stats in the league and then over towards Grug Crenshaw and his 'lucky' socks. When the boys started to argue on whether or not that one player on the Harpies were human or not, the door to their compartment slid open.

A girl with hair as red as a crayon and bright green eyes stood by the door, "Uh, do you mind if we sit with you guys? The other compartments are all full, and I don't really fancy sitting in the halls all day …"

"Sure!" replied James excited to make more friends. The girl smiled brightly, walking out of the compartment and coming back a few seconds later with her trunk in tow. A skinny boy with sallow skin and dark eyes followed the girl in, nodding his head at them.

"My name is Lily Evans and this is my best friend, Severus Snape." She introduced primly and the others followed her lead.

I don't feel sick to my stomach anymore ... James thought that was a good sign. As he listened to Sirius chatter on about the houses in Hogwarts, he felt himself smile. Nothing can go wrong.

How wrong was he.

A/N: That last bit sounded scary .. like someone was going to jump them or something hehe

Anyway, thanks to anyone who reviewed/subscribed/faved! You all get unicorns I 'borrowed' from Hagrid :))