26th December, 2004. OK, so I saw Philsopher's Stone on TV last night and suddenly thought of the Hogwarts' Express. Hence this and the next one. How's the style? Does it work?

Remus trekked through the Hogwarts Express, from carriage to carriage. He was nervous and his eyes were flicking around him as he walked. His luggage was safely stowed and he carried a small satchel containing only a book and some money to last him for the first term. He found a small compartment near the front of the train and curled up in a corner, looking out of the window as the view blurred past.

---

James Potter stumbled along the train. He had boarded at the back but had found all the carriages full of people much older than himself. Although not one to appear shy, James most definetely was, especially on this, his first day at school. He had changed into his robes and now all he wanted was a seat.

---

Remus was shaken out of his daydream by the swish of the compartment door opening. A short, round boy stood in the doorway.

"Um," he said, gesturing at the seat opposite Remus. "Can...?"

"Oh, of course!" Lupin said. "Have a seat."

The boy perched on the edge of the seat and looked around the carriage, avoiding eye contact as hard as possible. He finally plucked up the courage and mumbled "been here before?"

Remus shook his head. "No, it's my first year."

The boy sighed and relaxed into his seat. He seemed to be glad of the company and someone to speak to. "My name's Peter, by the way. Peter Pettigrew."

Remus smiled. Meeting people wasn't so difficult after all. "Remus Lupin," he said.

---

Sirius stopped by a window and raked his long hair out of his eyes. It was embarrassing, being the first one to go to Hogwarts. Regulus was smirking at him this morning, little git. Just because he was nervous. Wait until it was his first day at school. He wouldn't be getting any help from Sirius Black, no way. Still, it was quite daunting. But he was determined to succeed. And without the help of the slow-witted morons his parents had grouped him with at the start of the day. Now he'd escaped them. He set off and abruptly walked into another boy, with bright blue eyes and messy hair. The boy rubbed his arm and looked wounded. Sirius sighed.

"Sorry," he said, shrugging.

James looked up and smiled. "It's ok," he said. "Didn't hurt that much anyway. So, were you...er, heading somewhere?"

"Not really. All the carriages are full. I've been wandering around for the past half hour."

James nodded. "Same here."

---

"I still think my parent's were shocked!" Peter said, smiling widely. He had warmed up a lot more and was now sitting in his seat with his legs crossed. "I never was that good at magic."

"Not as shocked as mine," Remus stated. "They're both Muggles." He was enjoying himself. It was such a relief to get on with someone. His confidence swelled inside him and he smiled. "I hardly know anything about Hogwarts. What's it like?"

---

Sirius and James were still laughing. They had just opened a compartment door to find a fifth year and his girlfriend kissing in the privacy of their own seats. The look on both faces as two first years gaped at them was priceless and the two boys had simply ran away, laughing loudly. They came to a stop against the windows of another compartment. Sirius was enjoying the company of his new companion. They were getting on like a house on fire and just as dangerously, it seemed. James nudged him in the ribs and he stopped laughing long enough to see what James was pointing at.

"Do you think they'll let us in?" he asked.

"They look just as clueless as you, they're probably first years. I don't see why they shouldn't," James replied.

"I'll ignore that clueless remark. Just watch out, Potter." Sirius knocked on the door.

---

The sharp rap turned both heads in the carriage. Remus gestured and the long-haired boy pulled the door open. His friend stuck his head in.

"Do you mind if we join you?" he asked.

"Yeah," said the taller one, "we've been all over the train and everywhere's full or, um, occupied." His friend started giggling behind him.

Remus and Peter shared a glance. Then, as Peter seemed to be captivated and nervous again, he spoke up.

"Come in. I'm Remus." He gave Peter a look but he still seemed to be incapable of speech. "This is Peter. I'm sure he'll regain the power of speech some time soon."

Peter blinked and smiled. "Yeah, I...I'm Peter. Have a seat."

James and Sirius took the remaining seats, Sirius beside Remus, James opposite him. James held out a hand.

"I'm James. Nice to meet you." Remus and Peter shook his hand and then turned to his long-haired friend.

"And you are?" Remus asked.

Sirius glanced around the compartment. James seemed clever, and had the same sense of humour as he did. Remus also seemed to be witty and a nice guy, friendly and open, just the sort of person Sirius liked; and Peter, well, Peter would probably come out of himself at some point.

"Sirius Black," he said, grinning.

"Nice to meet you, Sirius."

He liked this group already.