The Beginning

A muffled beeping sounded as James Potter opened his eyes warily. Today he would start his first day at Hogwarts. He grinned excitedly as he noticed what day it was and scrambled to get up. He ran into his parent's room, jumping on their bed while they were sleeping.

"Mum, Dad, Wake Up!!" James exclaimed while his parents groaned for him to go back to sleep. It was only 7:00 in the morning and they didn't have to be at the train station for another 4 hours and James was already packed and ready to go.

James was as excited as ever when he had received his letter to Hogwarts. He knew that it was coming for him but that fact that it arrived had been even more of a thrill to him than anything he had ever imagined. His parents had gladly taken him to Diagon Alley for all of his school supplies later on that day. He was ecstatic about picking out a wand and was completely amazed when the red and gold sparks flew out of the wand at the touch of his fingers. "Sign of a Gryffindor" Mr. Ollivander had told him. James was quite proud.

After 15 minutes of pleading his parents to get up, he ran to the shower to get washed. After he scrambled out, he ran down to the dining room to find his father sipping coffee and reading the Daily Prophet while his mother brought in James' favorite breakfast from the kitchen. She sighed as she laid it down in front of him.

"Minny is quite disappointed that you're leaving today so she had your favorite made," Mrs. Potter said while sitting down and cutting her eggs up on her plate.

"I'm really going to miss her, you know," James said while taking a bite of his toast. "She always did take good care of me while you were both away on work. I really appreciated that," James said, looking up at his parents.

His father finally set the paper down and took another sip of his coffee. "She'll be fine without you here, James. And you'll be fine at Hogwarts too James. It may take some getting used to, but Hogwarts is the best wizarding school in the country and I'm sure you'll do just fine," Mr. Potter said to his son. "Plus," he added, "You'll have Severus there with you." James rolled his eyes at this comment. Severus Snape lived a few houses down the road from him and was the only other wizard his age around the area. "I never really did like him all that much," Mrs. Potter said. "It will be good for you to make some new friends."

James nodded in agreement. He wondered how many friends he would make today.

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Sirius Black stood at the bottom of the stairs in his family's old mansion with his brother Regalus. "You'll tell me all about Hogwarts, won't you?" Regalus asked Sirius eagerly. "Of Course, what kind of brother would I be if I didn't give you all the corny details?" Sirius answered. Regalus shrugged as they started to walk towards the kitchen.

Kreacher was washing dishes muttering to himself about 'filthy mud-bloods' and 'blood-traitors'. He turned around when he saw Sirius come in and eyed him for a moment. He then turned on his heel and stalked back out the door in his ragged loin cloth. Mrs. Black then walked in with Kreacher following her right back in, with a dreamy look plastered on his face as he looked up into her face.

"Finally, my son will go to Hogwarts and be sorted into Slytherin. Hopefully you'll follow in your cousin. Bellatrix's footsteps," She said proudly. Sirius merely rolled his eyes behind her back and nodded to her face. "I hope so too, Mother," he said through gritted teeth.

If there was a family he hated the most, it had to be his. The Black's were all about the Dark Arts, but Sirius thought differently. He didn't like the idea that Lord Voldemort had. He thought that anyone with magical powers should be given a chance. But his parents didn't notice his opinions. They only listened to what they wanted to hear, so he didn't bother to voice his own opinions to anyone but Regalus who would listen to him intently, but disagree with what he had to say because he was too afraid to stand up to their parents.

The ministry car which his father had rented finally arrived outside number 12 Grimmauld Place and Mr. and Mrs. Black, along with Sirius and Regalus hopped into it. The drive to Kings Cross was a long one for Sirius. "Your cousins will be watching you," his mother had told him. "But I would prefer you to stay away from Andromeda. She's too nice for her own good," she told him.

Andromeda was his favorite cousin of the three. He found that Bellatrix and Narcissa were just plain evil, although he had no choice but to put up with them throughout his childhood. They could see right through him and knew that he was the bad seed in the family.

Sirius sighed and blocked out the rest of what his mother was saying to him for the rest of the drive. He couldn't wait to get to Hogwarts.

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Remus awoke in his bed, finally recovered from his "condition". He got dressed and walked into the living room to find his trunk set by the door. He sighed and walked into the kitchen. He was nervous about Hogwarts. It wasn't about leaving home, it was the fact that someone might find out what he really was.

He sat down at the table by his mother who ran her hand through his hair. "Feeling better, dear?" she asked smiling hopefully. Remus nodded and nibbled on a bit of toast.

Moments later, his father apparated next to him. "I've just informed Dumbledore about your 'condition'. He said he will inform the teachers but the students will not be informed. Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse will heal you after you've transformed, since I can't be there with you. He even has a place set up for you to be when you transform," he said while smiling.

"It's not as bad as you may think, Remus," Mrs. Lupin said with her hand placed on his shoulder. "You'll get to live your life normally at school, except fall ill once a month. It's not so bad when you come to think about it. I'm sure it won't be too complicated to catch up with your studies."

"I hope you're right," Remus said finally.

>>>

Peter stayed in his room away from his father for as long as he possibly could. It was a daily routine to stay locked in his room until he was forced to leave. He couldn't wait to get away from his father and go to Hogwarts.

His father frightened him. He beat his mother whenever they had a disagreement, and she didn't have the courage to fight back or to leave so she always took it. Mrs. Pettigrew was the only comfort Peter had ever received in his family.

A gentle knock came from the door and he immediately knew it was his mother letting him know that his father had left for work. He opened the door and found a fresh bruise on her face. "Mom, why do you always take it?" he asked her while she pulled him into a hug. She merely broke into tears saying over and over "Oh, Peter".

They climbed into the car with his trunk and drove towards Kings Cross. "You're lucky you're leaving the house today," his mother told him. "It's a horrible place for a boy to grow up, especially with a father who thinks everything his son does isn't good enough."

Peter stayed quiet the whole ride. In the back of his mind, he secretly wished his father was dead.

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After a long good-bye with Minny and the longest drive James had thought he had ever experienced, he and his family had finally reached Kings Cross. James pushed his cart enthusiastically towards platforms nine and 10 looking for platform 9 and ¾ but he couldn't find it. He looked up to his parents with a slight look of confusion.

Mr. and Mrs. Potter looked down at him and chuckled. They had forgotten to tell him how to get through the barrier. Mr. Potter placed his hand firmly on James shoulder. "Watch your mother" he said as she started to walk quickly toward the wall between Platforms 9 and 10. James' eyes lit up as he watched his mother disappear into thin air.

"Just push your cart towards the barrier quickly like your mother was walking and you'll go right through to the platform," his father said. "Don't worry about crashing. It's never happened before." James nodded that he understood and headed towards the barrier, slightly nervous. He closed his eyes tightly as he neared and opened them when he didn't crash.

He found his mother smiling at him and a bright red and gold train with scarlet lettering on the side entitled "The Hogwarts Express". In a moment, his father appeared at his side. Mrs. Potter pulled him into a tight embrace and told him to write. He promised that he would. He shook hands with his father and then headed off to find a compartment.

His trunk had already been packed in the storage compartment so he found his way towards the back of the train where a boy with shaggy black hair sat looking out the window with a hateful look plastered on his face. James slid the door open and the boy turned and glared at James. He ignored it and approached.

"Do you mind if I sit here? Everywhere else seems to be full," James said. The boy looked him over for a moment then finally nodded. James grinned and stuck out his hand. "James Potter". The boy looked at it reproachfully and finally accepted. "Sirius Black," he finally said and went back to staring out the window.

James didn't like the awkward silence. "Are you a first year too?" he asked. Sirius nodded, not taking his eyes from the window. "Any idea what house you'll be placed in?" James asked. Sirius looked over at James. "My whole family has been placed in Slytherin, well not my whole family but for the most part it has been. I'm hoping I'll change it. I'd really like to be in Gryffindor, but with my luck it won't happen," he said seriously. "What about you?" he finally asked. "What's your story?"

"Well," James began, "My family was all Gryffindors, so I'm hoping that I can follow in their footsteps and be one too." Sirius nodded that he understood.

A whistle sounded and the train began to move. After 5 minutes of talking about quidditch, the door slid open to reveal a pudgy boy with a mousy look to him and a tall and slim boy. "Could we sit here?" The tall one asked. James looked over at Sirius who nodded. The tall one sat next to James. The mousy boy hesitated to sit by Sirius but finally sat down.

"My name is Remus Lupin," the boy next to James said. "And this is Peter Pettigrew," he added. Peter nodded his head while Sirius eyed them both like he did with James. He finally shrugged and turned his attention back to the scenery outside.

The trolley finally came around and the four boys bought most of the sweets on it. Sirius had finally lightened up and was having a great conversation about what he thought was to come at Hogwarts.

"How do you suppose we're sorted into our houses?" Peter piped up. "Hmmm I've never really thought of that," James said. "Suppose we have to fight a dragon? Or perform really high standard spells?" Sirius said. "I highly doubt there would be a dragon at the school, considering they're illegal. Plus, why would they make us do magic when we don't know any yet?" Remus said. Sirius shrugged, "Just a thought."

Halfway through the afternoon the door slid open and a boy with long black hair staggered in. "James! I've been looking everywhere for you!" He exclaimed. He then looked around at the other boys and sneered. "Have you been in here the whole time with these goody-goodies?" he asked with a hint of disgust in his voice. James nodded. "Severus, if you have a problem with my new friends then go find someone else to follow around, because I'm not gonna take it," James said. Sirius looked at him wide eyed and shifted his gaze to Severus. He gave him a hard stare and Severus finally slammed the door shut and stalked off.

"Who was he?" Sirius asked, staring down the corridor after him. "Severus Snape, he lives two houses down the road from me so I've put up with him my whole life. Very untrustworthy," James answered. "More like Snivellus" Sirius muttered. They all laughed. When Sirius wasn't being so cautious and serious, he was actually quite funny.

"I vote that that's what we call him from now on," Peter said to them. James grinned as they all agreed. "Did you mean what you said about us being your friends?" Sirius asked curiously. "Of course," James said, "Unless, that is, you don't want to be friends." "No no, that's not what I meant," Sirius said. "It would defiantly be nice to have some real friends for a change," Sirius said lost in though. He saw the three boys staring at him. "My brother was the only one in my family who would listen to what I had to say, but he wasn't brave enough to stand up to my parents. I stopped trying considering they wouldn't listen to what they didn't wanna hear."

"It must be terrible to live like that," Remus said. Peter looked at the floor staying quiet. "Something wrong Peter?" James asked. "Well, I-I don't wanna talk about it right now, sorry," he said shakily, thinking back to his mothers bruises. He sighed. He wanted to tell them, he really did, but he didn't think they would understand quite yet.

Remus wondered if he should tell them, but decided he shouldn't. Who in their right mind would wanna be friends with a werewolf? He wouldn't tell them, not ever. They just wouldn't want to be friends with him, and this was also one of the first times he's had real friends. Ever since the werewolf had bitten him, he had been an outcast. For the first time in a long time he felt like he fitted in. He wasn't going to change that.

The day passed and the food trolley went by several times, unloading many colored candies and cakes for them to munch on. They talked animatedly about their lives at home for quite some time, except for what Peter and Remus decided to not say at that moment.

Sometime in the middle of the afternoon, four girls walked in. One, which caught James' eye, had flaming red hair and bright green eyes. He stared at her in awe while she smiled at the four boys. "Hi I'm Lily Evans" she said. "And these are my friends Belle Valentine, she's from France" Lily added, indicating to a short girl with long wavy black hair and violet eyes. "Emma Darlington" a plump blonde girl with pigtails waved happily to the four boys. "And this is Alexis Maricole" she said pointing to a quiet looking girl with brown hair, blonde highlights and icy blue eyes.

"We've just been meeting the first years around the train and we'd thought we'd stop and meet you" Lily said happily. You are in your first year, aren't you?" Lily asked. Each boy nodded. "So what are all of your names?" Belle asked. "Well, my name is Sirius Black, This is James Potter, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew" he said gruffly, but at the same time watching Belle.

The sky grew darker and they knew they would arrive at the school very shortly so the girls left to go back to their compartment to get their robes. The boys thought it would be best to get changed into their robes, so they wandered around looking for the change rooms, finally stumbling across them after fifteen minutes.

The train came to a stop and they all got off of the train. "Firs' years over here," a voice called. They walked over to a very large man with a long bushy beard who beamed at them. Suddenly James was tapped on the shoulder by a gaping Remus. James looked in the direction that he was and his mouth opened slightly too. The beautiful castle was lit up across a silvery lake under a sky full of shining stars. The four boys stared in wonder at the school, awaiting the years to come.