Title: When September Ends
Chapter 1: The Hogwarts Express
Summary: Marauders in the "Brown Eyes" verse. The first year, how they each felt.
DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Author Notes: Please oh pretty please review after you're done with this chapter and tell me if I should continue or just leave it to rot. Thank you. Love you all.
"So, um, how do they do it?" James asked nervously.
"Oh well when I was sorted I had to fight a Boggart." Came the reply.
"Harrison! Don't say things like that! You'll frighten him!" Came another stern reply.
"Oh, you're not scared are you James?" The other asked as he ruffled James wild black hair.
"Ummm, a bit." He admitted with a deep blush.
"See! Don't listen to your brother, he's just an idiot." The woman said with a glare at her eldest son. Harrison grinned.
"I'm going to have to protest there, I did manage to get 12 N.E.W.T 's after all." Harrison said ruffling his brother's hair again.
"Harry, get off!" James protested and slapped his brother's hand away. Harrison laughed.
"And look what you're doing with those N.E.W.T 's! I mean why on earth would you want to be a Dragon Tamer? Why not go and work for the Ministry like your father?" His mother asked.
"I don't need to explain myself!" He said with a sigh.
"Come on James, I'll help load your trunk." Harrison muttered before grabbing the trunk and heaving it off towards the scarlet steam train. Mrs. Potter glared after her son. She turned her gaze to her other child.
"Now James, if you've forgotten any thing or if you need anything just owl us ok?" She said hugging her youngest to her.
"Course mum." He said returning the hug.
"Done. Last compartment." Harrison said as he returned empty handed.
"You better be off. I'll see you at Christmas if you can tear yourself away from the castle." Harrison said as he waved his brother off as he trotted towards the train. After about ten minutes their mother spoke.
"Will he be ok?" Mrs. Potter asked.
"Course mum." He said echoing his brother's earlier statement as he put an arm around her.
"He'll love it." Harrison said as they watched the train pull out of the station.
James settled himself into the last compartment on the train where his brother had left his trunk. He sat by the window and smiled at his mother and brother. The excitement buzzed inside him like a fly, or more like a thousand angry bees.
His gaze fixed on a girl about his age. She had long red hair and pretty smiling emerald eyes. A lopsided smile found it's way onto his face. He tore his gaze away from her and to a boy about his age. He looked really nervous. He had soft amber eyes and sandy brown hair. James figured he was a first year too.
He then spotted a boisterous young boy, again about his age, bouncing happily along side two girls. One had silver blonde hair and a really snobbish look about her. The other had dark hair and was scowling at the boy.
He seemed either oblivious to their looks of disapproval or he didn't care. Seeing the look of glee on his face as the dark haired girls scowl deepened he figured the latter was most likely.
He turned back to his mother and brother. He gave them another smile. He was startled out of his daze as the compartment door slid open to reveal the sandy haired boy from earlier. He stood their looking awkward for a minute before he spoke.
"Umm, is it ok if I sit down? Every where else is full." He mumbled. James offered him a bright smile.
"Yeah sure. James Potter." He said extending his hand to the other boy.
"Remus Lupin." The boy said shyly accepting the offered hand. Just as Remus had sat down opposite James the rowdy dark haired boy burst into the compartment.
"Sorry. Every where else is full." He said plopping down next to James.
"Sirius Black. Pleased to meet ya." He said with a grin.
"James Potter."
"Remus Lupin."
"Well now formalities are out of the way, which house do you guys think you'll be in?" Sirius asked with another grin.
"Gryffindor I hope." James replied.
"What about you Remus?" Sirius asked.
"Don't really mind as long as it's not Slytherin." He said softly. Sirius screwed up his face.
"Yeah, Slytherin would be awful. Then again so would Hufflepuff." He said with a thoughtful look. James found himself liking the other boys quiet a lot, Sirius was outgoing and really funny, where as Remus was quiet but had a very dry sense of humour. Yes the got on quiet well.
Remus Lupin wasn't easy to scare. Oh no, he was quiet brave thank you very much. But the thought of going away to Hogwarts, away from his mother and father, and with his "problem", well it was safe to say that he wasn't feeling very brave.
His mother fussed over him as his amber eyes scanned the crowd. He didn't know anyone. He'd known he wouldn't. All his friends had gone to Draco Academy in Bath or Panther College' in the south of France.
He sighed. He wasn't good at making friends ever since he'd been bitten. He kept worrying that he'd lose control and bite one of them. He knew this was stupid, as he was kept locked up and secure when he was in his werewolf state, but it didn't stop the worry.
"Now are you sure you've got everything?" His mother asked.
"Yes. I'm sure." Remus replied softly.
"Oh Susana, stop worrying. Remus will be fine. And if he's forgotten anything he can owl home and we'll get it for him and send it on ok?" Benjamin Lupin said with a soft smile at his son. He ruffled the boy's hair and gave his wife's hand a reassuring squeeze.
"I wish Sam had gone to Hogwarts too." Remus said with a sad smile at his parents. He was talking about his best friend Sam Grest; he'd gone to Draco Academy. He'd been desperate to go to Hogwarts with Remus but his parents decided that Draco Academy would be better equipped to dealing with their needs.
Basically they didn't want Sam so far from home and Bath was a lot closer than Scotland. Remus had then begged his parents to let him go to Draco Academy but they said no. They'd both gone to Hogwarts and assured him it was the best wizarding school the side of the equator. But he still missed his friend like crazy.
Remus let his attention wander to a dark haired boy; he was practically bouncing around two older girls. They looked like they were in their seventh or sixth year, both looked fairly mean. They boy on the other hand had a certain warmth around him, Remus smiled slightly.
"You should get going son. The train's set to leave soon." Benjamin said with a soft smile at his son. Remus nodded weakly. He grabbed one end of his trunk, and with a final smile at his parents, made his way towards the scarlet train.
Remus cursed himself as he wandered the length of the train. Each compartment he saw was full. When he came to the last one he sighed in relief to see it only had one occupant. He'd dropped his trunk off at the front of the train so he just slid the compartment door open timidly. He shuffled his feet uncomfortably.
"Umm, is it ok if I sit down? Every where else is full." Remus mumbled. The dark haired boy gave him a cheery smile.
"Yeah sure. James Potter." The boy said offering Remus his hand.
"Remus Lupin." He said timidly as he took the boy's hand. Remus had just sat down when the excitable boy he noticed earlier bound into the compartment.
"Sorry. Every where else is full." He said plopping down next to James.
"Sirius Black. Pleased to meet ya." The other boy said, with a slightly mad grin, his longish dark hair falling into his smiling grey eyes.
"James Potter."
"Remus Lupin." Remus offered softly. James, it seemed, was a nice and excepting person, someone he could see himself befriending. But this other boy, Sirius Black, he didn't seem like he would be as accepting.
"Well now formalities are out of the way, which house do you guys think you'll be in?" Sirius asked with another grin.
"Gryffindor I hope." James replied.
"What about you Remus?" Sirius asked. Remus was snapped out of his thoughts; his earlier fears vanished as he took in the smiling face of the other boy.
"Don't really mind as long as it's not Slytherin." He replied softly. Sirius screwed up his face.
"Yeah, Slytherin would be awful. Then again so would Hufflepuff." He said with a thoughtful look. Remus smiled.
"Yes, I suppose it would. But at least if you were in Hufflepuff you would be known for being a good friend." Remus said with a quirk of his lips. Sirius grinned again.
"What about you, where do you think you'll go?" James asked Sirius. Sirius screwed his face up again.
"You'll get wrinkles if you keep doing that." Remus said with another small smile, maybe Sirius wouldn't be so bad after all. He seemed to have found not one friend but two. And neither of them seemed to be at all like Sam. Sirius grinned at Remus.
"Well I suppose I'll need you to remind me of that in future. And I'm pretty sure I'll be in Gryffindor." Sirius said. Remus smiled brightly; yes he'd defiantly made two friends, friends he intended to keep.
Sirius was bored. Things weren't moving fast enough. He was desperate to be on the train, in Hogwarts, be sorted, and most importantly learn magic. He bounced around Bella and Nar. They were in seventh year and sixth year and had been allowed to do magic outside of school over the summer. It had been great; he'd annoyed Bella so much that she'd turned him into a big, shaggy, black puppy. He'd loved it. He'd been quiet upset when his mother had turned him back, saying Bella was setting a bad example for Regulus. He smiled as he thought of his younger brother. He'd been quiet upset that he still had four years before he could go to Hogwarts.
"Bell?" He asked with a grin.
"What?" She snapped.
"Nothing." Sirius said with another grin. Nar gave him a cold glance.
"Nar?" Sirius asked. She gave him another cold glance but turned to him none the less.
"Will you still love me if I'm not in Slytherin?" He asked sarcastically.
"I don't love you now. So you don't have to worry." She snapped at the young boy. He gave her a lopsided grin.
"That's good to know cousin." He said before resuming his excited bounce around them.
"Good God. Come on Nar; let's go get a compartment. I don't think I can put up with this anymore." Bella said with a cold glare at Sirius. He grinned like a mad man at her.
"Bye! See you later!" Sirius called at his cousins retreating forms. He rubbed his hands in glee and made for the train as he dragged his trunk.
Sirius dropped his trunk off at the front of the train and bound down the corridor. When he came to his cousins' compartment he grinned and waved at them. Bella glared coldly and Nar ignored him completely.
"Ahhhh family." He muttered before heading to the end of the train towards a compartment he'd seen another guy about his age disappear into.
He plastered another grin onto his face and bound in.
"Sorry. Every where else is full." Sirius said plunking himself next to a boy with messy black hair and glasses.
"Sirius Black. Pleased to meet ya." Sirius said offering them a grin as his dark hair fell into his eyes.
"James Potter." Replied the boy next to him.
"Remus Lupin." The boy he'd seen entering the compartment said softly. A troubled look crossed the sandy haired boys face but it quickly passed so Sirius didn't comment.
"Well now formalities are out of the way, which house do you guys think you'll be in?" Sirius asked, grin firmly in place.
"Gryffindor I hope." James replied.
"What about you Remus?" Sirius asked. Sirius liked the look of the other two; they seemed to be the type of people he'd befriend easily, aka not Slytherins.
"Don't really mind as long as it's not Slytherin." Remus replied softly. Sirius screwed up his face.
"Yeah, Slytherin would be awful. Then again so would Hufflepuff." He said with a thoughtful look. Remus smiled.
"Yes, I suppose it would. But at least if you were in Hufflepuff you would be known for being a good friend." Remus said with a quirk of his lips. Sirius grinned again.
"What about you, where do you think you'll go?" James asked Sirius. Sirius screwed his face up again.
"You'll get wrinkles if you keep doing that." Remus said with another small smile. Sirius grinned at him.
"Well I suppose I'll need you to remind me of that in future. And I'm pretty sure I'll be in Gryffindor." Sirius said. Remus smiled brightly; Sirius returned it.
"Are you muggle born or are you're parents wizards too?" Sirius asked. James gave him a lopsided smile.
"I'm pureblood. I've got an older brother too, he left Hogwarts last year." James said.
"I'm technically half and half. My father's pureblood but my mother was a muggle born." Remus said.
"I'm pureblood too. Don't see the difference myself. As long as you've got magic in your veins then it shouldn't matter but my parents are really against muggle-born's and half bloods. I can't wait till they find out one of my friends is a half blood. It'll be great!" Sirius said with glee. Remus gave him a smile.
"Glad I'll be of some entertainment." He said wryly. James grinned.
"My mum and dad don't care. Then again I think I've got a 5th cousin some where who's a squib so that's probably why." James mused. Sirius grinned, it would be a great year and so far he had two great friends to share it with.
AN: Well that's chapter 1. Please let me know if I should do another chapter or leave it as it is. Thanks, Draco shaped cookies to all.
REVISED: Ok I've decided to leave this as it is. But there will be a sequel. They will befriend Wormtail, but I don't think I could do that very well. I'd be to tempted to blow him up in a potions accident. So Wormtail won't be making an appearance just yet, or at least not a big one.