Disclaimer: I don't own any of JK Rowling's.

Chapter 2- Aboard the Hogwart Express and the Marauders

"Hullo Lily," Ellen smiled

"Hey Lil. You don't mind if I call you Lil, right?" Carrie stood up and shook her hand.

"No, not at all. I'm glad I found you guys. I don't think it would've been too pleasant to travel all the way to Hogwarts alone."

"Yeah. But apparently the twins have this very good radar to find people. They actually recognized me!" Carrie exclaimed.

"We should have, we saw you just last week!" The twins said in unison.

"Yes but..."

"Anyway, which house you think we'll be in?" Lily interrupted.

"Dunno, I do hope I don't get into Slytherin. A seventh year told me that every single Slytherin goes bad," Carrie replied.

"I don't think we'll get into Slytherin, we overheard these boys saying that muggle-borns never get into Slytherin, and even though I don't know what the heck muggle-borns are, everyone calls us that so..." Ellen remarked.

"Maybe muggle-borns are people whose parents are, er, non-mmagical people, I guess," Lily said.

"Probably, I mean-" Esther began but was interrupted by a girl who barged in the compartment, grinning widely and looking behind her back. It was the girl they'd seen at Diagon Alley, Alexandra Owens.

"Oh, oh. I didn't know people were in here. I'm sorry. It's just that I accidently spilled this potion on James's hair that turned it pink, and for some reason he's really pissed off. You don't mind if I hide here, do you? I assure you guys that he won't do anything to you. Hang on a sec, do I know you girls?"

"Yes, you can hide and yes, you do know us, we saw you screaming at these boys over at Diagon Alley," Carrie replied.

"Oh, right. You were the ones with Prof. McGonagall. Ah, here he comes," Alexandra said.

Right on cue, a boy with untidy pink hair barged in the room, just as Alexandra had done. "You, you-" he screamed at her.

"Most clever witch? I know, I know. We didn't even start Hogwarts and I already started pranking on you, and it took you a while to notice the hair."

"I was thinking of you more as a hag... Now before I do something to you, change my hair back. Now!"

"Er— There's a tiny problem, James. I, er, don't want to you to get angry, ok? Well, you see, it lasts for a day, and it's, irreversible."

"WHAT!" Just before James jumped at Alexandra, three other boys appeared and took holdd of James. They were all laughing openly, so that it was a little difficult to hold James back. The girls all raised an eyebrow and after a moment of silence they joined in the laughter. James, hearing the laughter, looked at them and a slow blush crept on his face, matching his pink hair.

"Awww, Jamesie-poo, are you blushing because the girls are seeing you with pink hair?" The tallest boy, with long black hair asked.

"Shut it, Sirius. Alex, you're going to pay for this. You're going to receive payback for every single hair you turned pink."

"But James, you must admit that pink really is your color. I think it brings out your hazel eyes, right, girls?"

"Er, James, let's get going, maybe I can find the counter-potion in one of the Zonko stuff we brought," The boy with brown hair said.

"Exactly, Remus. You read my mind. Come on, James, er, Alex, I don't think James will like it too much if you're there, so why don't you just get your stuff, and..." Sirius said.

"Yeah. Er, you girls don't mind if I sit here with you, do you?"

"No, do you Lily, Carrie?" The twins asked.

"No."

"No, you can sit with us."

"Thanks. I'll go get my stuff," Alexandra said. She arrived five minutes later carrying an owl and a cat, along with other things.

"I thought you could only have on pet," Ellen said when she saw her two pets.

"Yeah, but my mum gave me the owl just for today, in case I forgot anything. This is Artemis," she said pointing to the female Great Horned Owl, "and this is Bastet," she said pointing at the female Russian Blue cat.

"You're from a wizarding family, right?" Lily asked Alexandra.

"Yeah. My family is very old, the Owens. Unfortunately, the manor is right in front of the Potter's manor. Hang on, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Alexandra Owens, but you can call me Alex."

"Lily Evans."

"Ellen Schlotzsky."

"Esther Schlotzsky."

"Carrie Williams. Who were the boys?" Carrie asked

"The one with pink hair was James Potter, the one with long black hair was Sirius Black, the one with the brown hair was Remus Lupin, and the small, blonde one was Peter Pettigrew. I've known them all my life."

"Oh. Do you know what's a muggle-born?" Carrie inquired once more.

"Muggle-borns are people whose parents are muggles. Muggles are non-magical people," Alex added after she saw the blank look the girls had.

Just then the food trolley arrived and the 'muggle-born' girls bought a little bit of everything. Alex kept looking at them with a weird look on her face and finally she asked them, "Are you all that hungry or you just want to taste those?"

"Just tasting. Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans? What's those?" Lily answered her.

"They mean it when they say every flavor. It's just these jelly-bean-like thing that has different tastes. Sirius swears he ate a puke one once."

"Ugh, that's gross. These aren't real frogs, are they?" Esther asked, holding up a box of chocolate frogs.

"No. They do jump though."

They spent the rest of the trip asking Alexandra questions about the wizarding world and Alexandra asked them about the muggle world. They were interrupted during the end of the trip when James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter appeared. James hair still hadn't turned back, causing Esther and Ellen to fall in a fit of giggles. He told them that they better change into the robes because they were already arriving at Hogwarts, very annoyed at the fit of giggles. Then they all told Alex that they had thought of a name to call themselves, the Marauders. Alex laughed and said that that was the most pathetic thing she'd ever heard and the boys went back to their compartment, with an offended look on their faces.

Finally, they arrived at Hogwart, all of the first years with an equally nervous look on their faces. A voice said, "First years, this way!" and they all followed this big man to the lake, where boats were waiting for them. "Four to each boat, be careful," He cautioned them. The 'Marauders' went into one boat together, and so did the girls, except for Alex, who went with other girls. James and Sirius tried to turn over the girls boat, but failed. Instead they earned a glare from all of the girls.

They entered the castle and waiting for them was Prof. McGonagall. She greeted them with a cold look, and said, "Follow me. Thank you, Ogg."

"Very well, welcome to Hogwarts. The feast that opens the years will begin in a while, but before you sit on your tables, you must be sorted into houses. The Sorting is a very important cerimony, because during the time you remain in Hogwarts, your House will be a type of family to you. You will go to classes with the rest of the students from your House, will sleep in the dormitories of your House and will pass your free time in your common room.

"There are four Houses, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Each House has an honorable history and each one has produced great witches and wizards. While you remain in Hogwarts your good deeds shall earn you House points, while you misdeeds shall make you lose House points. In the end of the year, the house with the greatest amount of points shall win the House Cup, a great honor. I hope each one of you is a motive of pride for the house you'll be sorted in.

"The Sorting Ceremony will be performed in a few minutes. I suggest you tidy yourselves up as best you can," her eyes flew from James untidy hair to a number of uuntied sneakers.

"I'll be back when we're ready for you."