James kissed his mother and father goodbye on the Platform. It was embarrassing, really, the fuss they made over him, but he supposed he could put up with it. After all, he was going to be away from them until Christmas.
"Don't forget to write, dear!"
"And be good James - we expect to see a future Prefect in you!"
The boy sighed, but agreed. He was used to his parent's demands for perfection. Allowing himself a lapse, he grinned inwardly. Now, finally, they would have no real control over him, and he could pull all the pranks he had dreamed of for the past decade.
"Goodbye, Mother, Father! See you at Christmas!"
Giving them both a last hug, he snatched his trunk and dragged it quickly over to the train. In his other hand, he held the cage of Scout, his barn owl. Mounting the steps, the boy shoved the trunk into the first available compartment, following it with his owl and himself. Reaching to let Scout out of his cage, he didn't know the door of the compartment had opened again until someone cleared their throat.
He turned around, hoping maybe to see his cousin Mundungus. Mundungus was a fourth year, who had a great talent for comedy, though his practical jokes weren't so great. Still, funny is funny and who cared if it was a different type of humor? In any case, Mud was one of the few people who understood James's predicament, and so they got along very well.
However, instead of Mud, he matched looks with a pair of oddly familiar brown eyes.
"YOU!"
James hadn't even realized he'd shouted until the thief's eyes opened wider and he swallowed hard. He remembered that night very well, as it was the only time the Potters had ever been robbed. The mansion was spelled against thieves and robbers - only an untrained wizard could have gotten past the spells, and even then, it would take a freak chance of unfocused magic to open the windows. And yet, James had walked into his room and found himself face to face with this very kid.
"Yeah, me. I stole your candlesticks. So sue me. At least I wasn't hungry for another couple of weeks."
James swallowed. He didn't care about the candlesticks, they were a set of ugly things that he'd been begging his parents to let him get rid of for ages. Heirlooms, they were, and his parents kept telling him the story of how great-great-great-great-great-grandmother Potter had enlarged them to blockade the door to keep Muggles from flooding the house during the English Civil War. James didn't care, but he did think they were ugly.
No, it wasn't the loss of the candlesticks that had bothered him, but the fact that this youth had only been fed for a couple of weeks by them. James had never really believed that people went hungry, or didn't get enough to eat. Not until now, anyways. It's hard to believe that when practically every meal is a feast.
Swallowing his pride, he gestured to the seat across from him in open invitation.
"So what's your name?"
The thief looked startled for a second, then grinned, taking the seat.
"Sirius Black. You really don't care that I stole from you?"
"Nah, we're way too loaded for our own good, as I'm always telling my parents. Besides, those candlesticks were uglier than my dog's face."
Sirius barked a laugh.
"Yeah, you're right. I had to melt them down before anyone would even think of buying them. Got a lot more for some of the jewelry I stole later that week. Got me enough to buy my supplies and some new clothes. And Scorn."
James noticed then that despite his slightly greasy hair, tied loosely at the nape of his neck, and the slightly emaciated look of his face, he was wearing new clothes, all black, but most definitely new. He was about to ask about Scorn when the door opened again. A lean youth walked in, followed by a sleek grey cat who immediately leapt onto Sirius's lap and began to purr. The boy sat down next to Sirius. He was wearing clothes a bit ragged on the edges and his crystal clear eyes seemed to sparkle a interesting shade of blue-green. What was really odd about him though, was the fact that his hair was a steel grey, streaked with strands of black and white.
"James, meet Remus. Remus, this is James."
"Hello, Remus..."
"Lupin. And you are James Potter, I presume?"
Remus offered a wolf-like grin to James, who smiled back.
"You presume right."
"Interesting."
The two turned they're attention back to Sirius, who was holding a card and staring in fascination at it.
"They move."
Remus thumped Sirius on the head, while James frowned at the card. It was a chocolate frog card. He'd had one on the way to the station, and since there were no wrapped in sight...He checked the pocket he'd placed the card in. It was gone.
"Hey! How did you do that?"
Remus looked at James blankly, but Sirius only grinned and handed the card back to James.
"Tricks of the trade, my dear boy."
With that, a Knut that came from nowhere began to roll itself around his hand, twining itself between his fingers. The other two now stared at him in fascination.
"What trade?" That was Remus.
"Thievery. I told you before, Remus."
"You mean you really are a thief ? I thought you just didn't want to tell me how you got all that money!"
"Nope, I was telling the truth."
James's mind was working in over-gear. A thief! This was great! Now they could put their heads together and think up some great pranks. He opened his mouth to say something, but a bang at the door interrupted him, followed by a muffled shout and the sounds of a fight. He jumped to the door, but Remus beat him to it. By the indignant hiss behind him, he figured Sirius had dumped Scorn on the ground and was right behind Remus and him.
Remus opened the door- and stared. James and Sirius did too, but James broke out of his shock soonest.
Fighting furiously to the left of the door was a red haired girl about their own age and a blond boy a little older than them. By the looks of it, the girl was soundly beating the boy, despite a black eye blossoming on her face. James had never seen anyone fight so well, but he knew that if it didn't stop soon, they'd all get in trouble. Wading in, he pulled her off the boy, while Sirius used his superior height to restrain the blond. With her arms pinned behind her back, she couldn't do anything, James thought, and stopped struggling after a moment. After she stopped trying to explode, he relaxed, but didn't release her, mainly because he could still sense her formidable anger.
That was a mistake, he discovered. The girl stomped on his instep, causing him to yelp in pain, release her, and hop around on one foot, holding the other carefully. She lunged for the blond boy still restrained by the theif, but Remus put a hand on her shoulder and glared into her brilliant green eyes, causing her to glare defiantly back. He raised an eyebrow and she grumbled, but ceased her efforts to attack the other.
James's eyes finally stopped watering in pain, and he was able to get a good lok at the boy.
"Lucius Malfoy."
His tone was flat and accusing, but the effect was ruined somewhat by his need to lean against the wall for balance. The blond smirked and shrugged his way free of Sirius. His nose was bleeding, and broken by the odd look of it, and both eyes were turning purple, but the second year held himself as if he owned the place. James didn't like Lucius, never had, despite the fact that his parents were good friends with Malfoy's parents. All four of them had been in Gryffindor together, but the Malfoy's son had been Sorted into Slytherin.
"James Potter. Going around protecting Mudblood's now, are you?"
The girl lost her control and slugged him in the jaw, but didn't do more than the one hit. James looked at her.
"And who are you?"
"I'm Lily Evans, and I'm not a Mudblood. I don't even know what it means, but he says it like it's something despicable."
"You're right. Mudblood is a dirty term that only the likes of him see fit to use. And we all know he could use some manners."
Sirius shoved Malfoy down the hall.
"Go find yourself a life, Malfoy."
The blond stumbled a bit, but managed to stay upright, gave the four a scathing look, and took himself into a nearby compartment to soothe his wounded pride and pains.
"You have a compartment yet Lily?"
She shook her head. James then noticed the trunk to the right of their door. He made amove to pick it up, but she beat him to it.
"Then you can share ours."
"What if I don't want to?"
The belligerent tone made him look at her in surprise and she shook her head ruefully, causing the mussed ponytail to completely fall out.
"Sorry, I just...well, anyways, thanks."
She preceded him into their little corner of the train, stowing her trunk away under the seat. For the first time, the youth noticed she was wearing rather holey jeans, sneakers, and a worn out t-shirt. She saw him looking at her attire and shrugged.
"Comfort over appearance."
"I agree most heartily, my dear Lily."
Lily raised an eyebrow at Sirius, who realized he'd mis-stepped with this tomboy.
"Er....my....er....Lily?"
She grinned and patted him on the cheek.
"That'll do, kid, that'll do. Hey, what's your name, anyways? And yours?"
"I'm Sirius, but not serious" - she groaned at the pun- "and that's Remus."
"Ok, let me figure out everyone. James, you're the rich heir, right? Sirius, you are someone of lower class....a thief, maybe? Remus, you're different, special, how, I don't know. Maybe it's just because you understand people but you're not filthy rich?"
James and Sirius stared at her with open mouths, while Remus pierced her with a penetrating look. It was he who spoke first, with no small bit of trepidation.
"How did you know that?"
"Well, when one's father is a psychiatrist, one tends to learn these thing. Remus, you're easy. You seem wiser than everyone else, like you know what you're doing, but tired as well. And your clothes aren't very -erm- new. James, you carry yourself like you expect everyone is watching, which I already know is going to annoy me to no end. And your clothes are high quality. Oh, and you talk like you expect people to obey. That means servants. Well, don't expect me to obey. I'm no one's servant. Right Sirius?"
"Er...right....but how did you know about me?"
"Well, you have a little Cockney in your voice, but not a lot. I don't know why you don't have more, so you're going to have to tell me, or I may well beat it out of you. Your clothes are all extremely new - my guess is that this is the first time you've worn them. You look like you haven't had a good wash in a while, just made do with the rain. No offense, right? After all, I hardly smell like a daisy, what with my mother's stables and all. You're rolling that Knut around on your knuckles, with incredible dexterity. All that sort of combines into thief."
"Yes, well...Anyways, the reason I don't speak much Cockney is because my teacher, Beck, wouldn't let us talk that way. Said it makes us stick out. And it did, I suppose, when we picked the pockets of the upper classes."
The four looked at each other and grinned. With the niceties done with, the four began planning their escapades, interrupted only when the snack witch came by. James bought for everyone, and the only change in their surroundings was the addition of many candy wrappers that became strewn around the cabin. Scorn watched both Artemis and Scout with disdain and Lily's cat Jeeves with feigned boredom. Jeeves was black with white front paws and a white splotch underneath his chin, which made him look like a butler. He didn't act like one though, playing like a kitten with the empty candy wrappers and managed even to get Scorn playing with them and him.
A knock on their door told them they ought to change into their robes, so Lily went to get a drink of water while the boys changed and changed herself in the loo. She came back looking quite respectable, or so James thought, wearing a white polo and pair of black jeans under her witch's cloak.
A few minutes later, the train pulled into the station, and the four companions disembarked the train together, ready to begin their new life.
