It was the day of his first train ride and James couldn't wait. He put his glasses on not bothering to comb his messy dark brown hair, and got his clothes on in a hurry. All he wanted to do was get to Hogwarts, and James almost forgot his trunk and owl Griffin in his haste to get downstairs. He stumbled into his dresser drawers and lugging his possessions behind him he ran out of the room as fast as he could colliding with a small red head halfway down the hall. She stumbled back and growled and all James could do was gulp nervously as his sister Lily opened her mouth— "WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING JAMES, YOU COULD HAVE KNOCKED ME DOWN THE STAIRS!" James usually wasn't scared of anyone, but his eight-year-old sister was a nightmare when he or his ten-year-old brother Albus did so much as bump into her in the hallways like well…now. James hated his sister, since she always got away with everything when she accused them of the smallest things. His parents seemed to think Albus and him instigated most of the arguments, and fights when it was Lily starting them always and smirking at them as they got the grounding while she walked away scot-free every time.
James wished he could disappear on the spot and was trying to get around his shrieking sister when his mother came around the corner. "Mum…" James tried to explain, but was cut off immediately.
"James whatever you did say you're sorry, so we aren't late, okay? I don't need to deal with this, this morning…" Ginny Potter grumbled, took Lily's hand and they went downstairs together. The only good thing about this was that Lily has stopped making a scene yelling, and was probably telling a big ass lie about what happened in the hallway.
James just groaned internally and his happiness on waking up this morning evaporated completely as he trudged down the stairs. Albus was eating already, and James quickly grabbed a plate of sausages and eggs and began eating as fast as he could since he knew he had slept in and they would need to leave soon for the train.
"Everyone ready to go?" Harry Potter asked his kids cheerily as he entered the room. For once James was grateful his dad wasn't acknowledging the shouting scene that happened upstairs, and the only reason for it was probably because his parents wanted to give him a good send off to school.
Five minutes later they were all in the car and James was starting to feel the excitement again. He ignored the grumblings of Lily, and smirked at his brother.
"So, Al what house do you think you'll be in next year? It might not be Gryffindor…." James had been teasing Albus about this ever since he learned he was terrified of being anywhere else. It was all in good fun, since James never said anything cruel about being in a different house, he just mentioned it once, okay twice… maybe all summer.
"Can you just shut up about it already! I…I…dono…" He heard Al mumbled as he trailed off.
James usually would have peppered him with more "It might not be Gryffindor" quotes until he got a bloody nose from Al, but he didn't want people's first sight of him to be with blood or a bruise on his face, so he kept his mouth shut for the remainder of the ride. When they finally got to Kings Cross Station James's Mum and Dad got a trolley for him and they were off to the platform. When James went through the barrier and saw the red and gold gleaming Express all he wanted to do was to jump on the train and meet people. His father always said that he met his best friend Uncle Ron on the train, so why shouldn't he be able to do the same? Before he could get on his mother grabbed him in a hug and his father padded him on the back. After telling Al to really think about his chances of getting into Gryffindor, and completely ignoring his sister, he hoped onto the train and started to lug Griffin and his trunk down the corridor trying to find a compartment to sit in.
He eventually found a spot in the middle of the train with only three other occupants in it. He actually recognized two of them, even though he's couldn't remember their names, since he thought they had met maybe once or twice in the past; probably at one of those "old friend" parties that James remembers going to when he was like seven or something. Both of the girls he recognized slightly were talking animatedly, as if they had known each other since birth. One was brown skinned, black haired, and the other sandy hair, with blue eyes. Then there was the blonde-haired boy who also had glasses like him, but looked taller than James. He opened the door, and was welcomed in with no questions asked.
"Hi, I think I've seen you girls before, but I can't remember where?" James said a bit sheepishly.
"I'm Joanne Thomas, but just call me Jo k?" The black chick said pointedly.
"Laura Finnigan," The other girl said brightly, "Our parents were dorm mates when they were in school together."
"Oh, oh yeah!" James exclaimed recognition dawning on him. They were the daughters of Dean Thomas, and Seamus Finnigan.
"Well since I really feel out of the loop, I'll just chime in now…I'm Jonny Quinn, and these guys have told me that you'd call me a muggleborn," the blonde boy said to James.
"Oh, I'm James Potter."
"Cool so do you skateboard?" James was thrown off by the question and had no idea what Jonny was going on about.
"Umm…what's a skateboard?" James asked.
"Ah… no way, do you know anything about the regular world?" Jonny asked back.
"I know some stuff, like what a motorbike is, cars, and the telly, but I don't watch much of it to be honest," James replied.
Then Jonny was off explaining all about skateboarding, and something called BMX biking. Jo and Laura had stopped their own discussion to listen intently to Jonny's favorite things. When the candy trolly came around they all got a lot of each and James settled in; he was excited about being friends with Jonny and the girls. Jo and Laura who both knew what skateboarding was but never tried it was eager to do it if the other wanted to. James was all for it as well. Soon enough they all had to change into their robes and the train was slowing down at long last.
James and his new friends disembarked and made their way over to the huge bushy bearded man James knew as Hagrid. The four of them got into a boat with one other quit boy and they were off. James's eyes were popping out if his head looking at the magnificent castle for the first time. He barely paid any attention when they got off the boats and only started tuning in right after Professor Longbottom was finishing giving the speech to all the first years about houses.
He could feel the sweat glistening on his forehead, and pooling under his armpits. James's always hated how he started to sweat a bit when nervous, since he thought it made him look like a loser. He tried to ignore it and the chatter around him when finally, Professor Longbottom came back and escorted them into the great hall. After the sorting hat's song people started being called up.
James only started to really pay attention when the people he met came up… "Finnigan, Laura!" James crossed his fingers behind his back and smiled and clapped when the hat announced, "Gryffindor!"
When Professor Longbottom finally got to the P's James's ears perked up again, "Potter, James!" James tried to show some confidence as he walked to the stool, but he didn't know if it looked very cool or highly ridiculous. When the hat got shoved onto his head, he heard the whispering. Well, you don't seem too difficult, brave, courageous, a bit of a daredevil…oh you're easy… "Gryffindor!" James smiled brightly as he made toward the cheering table of red and gold. He saw some of his older cousins give him a thumbs up as he nodded at them before sitting in the first-year section with Laura, and some other girls who had been sorted into Gryffindor already.
Soon enough James heard, "Quinn, Jonathan!" James saw Jonny run to the hat and slam it on his head, James's breath caught in his throat and then— "Gryffindor!" He clapped and whooped as his new friend joined him at the Gryffindor table. There were now only five students left to sort.
"Schultz, Ryan!"
"Gryffindor!"
"Voigt, Connor!"
"Gryffindor!"
"Warrington, Desmond!"
"Gryffindor!" The hat had taken a lot longer for Desmond, and there was a small shocked silence when the boy was finally sorted. James recognized him from the quite boy he shared the boat with, and he sort of understood the silence; James has heard from his parents and other relatives that most of the Warrington's were always Slytherin's and that there were very few in different houses let alone Gryffindor, but then the clapping started and the green tinge on the boy's face disappeared slightly as he sat down close to James. James gave him a small smile in greeting before looking at the next person brought up.
"Williamson, Trenton!"
"Ravenclaw!"
"Zabini, Shaun!"
"Slytherin!"
After Zabini sat down at the Slytherin table, the Headmaster that James didn't know the name of since he only started last year (after Headmistress McGonagall's retirement) stood up and just said, "Tuck in!" The food appeared and James dug in.
Only when James was halfway done with his dinner did he emerge to converse with his new friends and the other boys he would be sharing a dormitory with. It turned out that Connor had moved here from America just last year, and was still not used to most British slang, he kept saying 'dude' instead of 'mate' which James thought was kind of funny. Ryan was from a wealthy muggle family from Hertfordshire and was getting to know Desmond who was warming up to him and Connor very quickly. James let his three other dormmates to it and started chatting Jonny, Jo, and Laura up on skateboarding tricks again. When the desserts came and went James felt very full and sleepy.
He half-heartedly listened to the start of term notices before follow two Gryffindor fifth year prefects up to the dormitories. An eternity later they were finally past the Fat Lady, "The first password of the year is lions paw so don't forget it!" One of the prefects had said. James was just relieved when he got to the first years boy's dorm and fell onto the bed where he found his trunk at. He was too tired for anymore talking and fell asleep at once.
