Author's Note: I'm terribly sorry that I was unable to update before this. This chapter was actually ready for posting for quite a long while now. However, I was waiting for some kind of signal from my beta, but the reply never came. It dragged until now. I'm really sorry. Well, here's the chapter you've been waiting so long for. Don't forget to press the button at the bottom left hand corner! Cheers.


Chapter 15

If Only


The week of Christmas holiday had passed with a twinkle of an eye. Sirius couldn't believe that it had ended so fast; happiness was indeed short. He and James spent the last day finishing their holiday homework and packing their trunks. Although the time spent with the Potters was short, it was the best holiday he had in his life. He and James spent the days playing Quidditch in the back yard during the week. They had helped Mrs. Potter with her chocolate chip cookies too, they were the tastiest that Sirius had ever eaten.

They dragged their trunks to the threshold and both of them hugged Mrs. and Mr. Potter, asying their good-byes. They stepped out into the lonely streets of Godric's Hollow and looked at each other blankly.

"Ain't your dad or mum gonna take us to the castle?" Sirius asked.

"Nah," said James. "We're eleven, remember?"

"What's that gotta do with be being eleven?" Sirius asked, confused.

"We're taking the knight bus," said James, messing his hair absentmindedly.

"We aren't knights," Sirius reminded his friend.

"Of course we aren't!" James laughed heartily. "It's a magical transport for witches and wizards. It's very fast, I heard. I've never taken it before."

"How do we board it?" Sirius questioned. "Wait at a bus stop or something?"

"It's not magical for nothing," said James, rummaging for some sickles in his pockets. "Just throw your wand hand out – " James flung out his right hand –

BANG!

A purple triple-decker bus presented itself in front of the two boys who stood before it, looking at the bus with awe. It just appeared out of thin air!

"Welcome to the knight bus," said a young man with distinct pimples, "Emergency transport for any stranded witch or wizard. I'm Matthew Shunpike and I'm your guide and conductor for your trip. Each ride costs eleven sickles and it only takes fifteen for a hot chocolate or a toothbrush with the color of your choice." The two young wizards stared at the conductor blankly. "What are you waiting for, step on board!"

The two of them handed twenty-two sickles all together to the conductor. He seemed fairly young to James, he could hardly be older than twenty. The doors to the bus closed and just as James was about to take a step forward, the driver had pressed the paddle. He flung straight to the end of the bus and his glasses smashed to the floor.

"Here," said Matthew, "Reparo. Where are you two going to?"

"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Sirius offered, helping James up who was putting on his glasses.

"Hogwarts?" said Sean. "Right you are. Ern, Hogwarts!"

Ernie Prang, the driver of the knight bus, heard the message and gave a thumbs-up sign. James and Sirius hung on to a pole near them for their dear lives; they couldn't risk dying on a triple-decker bus. The bus braked violently each time a passenger left the bus. Finally, they reached the Hogwarts castle.

James, seeing that they had arrived at their destination, heaved a great sigh of relief before hitting his nose flat on the ground as the bus halted to a sudden stop. The both of them left the bus hurriedly.

"I'm never going to board that bloody bus again!" said James, as soon as he saw the purple bus disappear with a loud bang.

"That's a horrible trip," said Sirius.

"Of course it is," said a voice. Sirius and James spun around and grinned at their dear old friend.

"Remus!" cried James. "What are you doing out here?"

"I returned a day early," said Remus, grinning. James thought he looked paler than usual, but his broad grin assured him that nothing serious had happened. "So you arrived with the knight bus, eh?"

Sirius nodded and muttered, "Ruddy bus."

"I'd advise you to take anything but that bus," said Remus. "First time I rode it, I never wanted to be on it again."

"But it's the fastest transport," said James, "besides Apparation." He added.

"Right," said Remus. "How was your holiday?"

"Brilliant!" the pair chorused.

Remus helped them with their trunks up the stairs. They were ridiculously heavy.

"Did you guys bring everything home with you for break?" grunted Remus.

"No," replied James. "We just got a lot of things for Christmas that we needed to bring back."

They were concentrating hard on not dropping the trunks that they didn't notice that the got off the stairs at the wrong floor. Pretty soon, they were in a hallway they didn't recognize at all. They put the trunks on the floor and looked around.

"Do either of you know where we are?" asked Sirius.

"No idea."

They wandered down the hall a bit without their trunks, trying to figure out how to get somewhere they knew. With no luck, they went back, picked up the trunks and continued forward.

"That map sure would come in handy right now," gasped James.

"What map?" questioned Remus.

"We'll tell you later, you never know who's listening in these halls," said Sirius, looking around suspiciously.

Suddenly, James stopped short, causing his end of the trunk to go smashing to the stone floor.

"What'd you do that for!" screamed Sirius.

James didn't answer, he just went over to a tapestry that was handing on the wall and stared at it.

Sirius looked at Remus. "Do'ya think he's alright? He hasn't lost it, has he?"

They looked back and James had disappeared. Raising their eyebrows at each other, they went over to investigate. Remus folded the corner of the tapestry up to reveal a passageway. He stepped inside, lighting his wand with "Lumos." Sirius followed suit.

They wandered down the passage, fully aware that James was nowhere to be found. Soon, they could see a figure leaning against a solid wall. He turned around and put his finger to his lips, motioning them to be silent. There were voices coming from the other side of what obviously was not a solid wall. Then the voices stopped and there were footsteps indicating that they had left. James turned around to face the other two.

"Who was that?" asked Remus.

James shrugged.

"What were they talking about?" Sirius asked.

Again James shrugged.

"Where are we?"

James grinned. "That one I can answer." He lifted the wall and Remus and Sirius looked out. They were right outside of the Fat Lady.

"Wow," whispered Sirius. "This is going to come in handy."

They followed the passage back to where they had abandoned the trunks. They brought them back and set them out side the portrait.

"Gummy bears!" he told the Fat Lady and she swung aside to let them in. They headed towards their dormitory and collapsed on their beds with exhaustion. Sirius sat up, grinning mischievously, and threw a pillow at Remus.

"Hey!" said Remus, he quickly snatched his own pillow and hit Sirius. James was roaring with laughter which he almost immediately ceased as the two room mates approached him with pillows and started hitting him with them.

"Exploato!" James flicked his wand and the pillows burst, feathers were flying around the room merrily and the three laughed.

There was a knock on the door and the pudgy blond boy opened it with wide eyes.

"Did I just miss something?"

They spent the day exchanging events that happened during the holidays. Peter actually laughed when he learned that they had carried up their trunks by hand and not magic. James and Sirius also told the other two about their idea to make a map of Hogwarts. Remus and Peter agreed at once. The very next day, all the staff and students had returned to Hogwarts and the usual timetable started again. The Quidditch season had begun and James just couldn't wait to watch the upcoming one: Gryffindor versus Slytherin.

The rivalry between the two houses was at its highest point. Even as a first year, James had encountered several minor jinxes and curses from the Slytherins. The Slytherins were positively attacking the Gryffindors. Although the Gryffindors explained to the Slytherin's Head of House, the Potions master, he refused to believe the fact and docked points from Gryffindor for irritating him with rumours.

After several weeks of waiting, the day of the Quidditch match finally arrived. The Gryffindors had drawn a banner supporting their own house; all of them wore crimson and gold scarves.

"GO GRYFFINDOR GO!" James yelled at the top of his voice with the other house members. Sirius was cheering with his best friend, but Peter was eating Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans and Remus seemed uninterested in the game. Davey Gudgeon, a third year Ravenclaw, was commenting on the match.

"Here enters the Gryffindor team!" he roared into the magical microphone. James didn't really catch any of Gudgeon's comments; he was busy looking at the Quidditch players. The Gryffindor Quidditch team was dressed in the scarlet and gold robes, shining with majesty. The emerald-green and silver Slytherin Quidditch team flew into the pitch and was immediately welcomed by the "Boos!" of the audience.

Madam Hooch, the Quidditch flying instructor and the referee, came into the pitch flying on her broom, her hands carrying a wooden box. She kicked open the wooden box and the snitch was released with the bludgers. She held the Quaffle in her hands between the two teams and threw it into the air. A Gryffindor Chaser caught it but a Slytherin Chaser smacked his hands and snatched it away.

"That's a foul!" James argued. "Why couldn't they just stay out of the nasty Slytherin's reach? Those che–"

"James!" said Sirius, who was waving his hands with excitement. "We scored!" James just couldn't calm down, he cheered along with the others with loud claps. He found so many faults with the current Gryffindor Quidditch team. If only, if only he were playing…

He was so light, as light as the golden snitch on his broom. He swerved his broom easily and caught the Quaffle with both of his arms. He accelerated towards the goalpost and did a quick trick with the Slytherin keeper by flying to the left and right continuously. He could tell that the keeper was already confused with his motions and he threw the red Quaffle through one of the high goalposts. It went straight through it –

"210 to 140, GRYFFINDOR WINS!" James, awakened from his daydream, applauded loudly and ran down the stands, where everyone was throwing the chaser who scored the most points into the air, cheering loudly.

Only James wished silently that he were the one in the air. If only he could play the game and bring glory to the house and himself. If only he was part of the Gryffindor Quidditch team…


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Author's Note: That was some exploring chapter, isn't it? There is more to come, don't worry. I'd like to thank Erica, my beta, for taking her precious time to edit the chapter. Thanks! Cheers. I've spent some time inmy holidays (which is coming to an end in just two days' time. Sigh) to update the previous chapter's reviews corner. Do review too! Thanks for reading.

If you had any problems regarding the chapter, do drop a note by reviewing or email me. Thanks.

Kilikapele: Thanks for reviewing! Sirius and James do share a much more closer friendship with each other compared to Remus and Peter. They are brothers to each other. The marauders are considered as a small family to Sirius.

BrennQT: I'm glad you liked the chapter! That's Remus' problem, I guess. There are all these horrible transformations he had to go through, I'm sure you know that. sigh You're a Sirius lover eh? Hee. Sirius is, compared to the other three, the most difficult character to develope. I just had no idea how Sirius is going to react to situations. He is a nice guy, but reckless all the same. He is rebellious in this story and he treats friendship very seriously.

Maddie: A new reviewer! Keep reading, keep reviewing! Cheers. Glad you liked the chapter. Hee.