Chapter 2

Lily

Lily made her way down the slowly rocking corridor, looking in vain for an empty compartment. She was sure she would make a fool of herself with any witch or wizard she happened to meet, but as she'd reached the end of the train she knew she'd have to make a decision. Would she sit with the vapid-looking blonde reading Witch Weekly? Never! She retraced her steps and looked in the next window. The gaggle of freckled girls who had been giggling and talking stopped as one and gave her icy, condescending stares until she moved on. It was beginning to look hopeless when Lily heard a voice.

"Oi!" it said in an authoritative way. Lily turned around and found herself face-to-face with her exact opposite. She was a tall, lanky girl with a boyish figure and a spiky look to her all around, with high, sharp cheekbones, long legs, pale skin and blonde hair. Her hair was possibly her strangest feature, being cut extremely short, like a boy's. She wore long, dark jeans with vines embroidered from the waistband down and a black t-shirt that proclaimed 'Out-Of-Order'.

"Come sit with us," grinned the girl and disappeared into the compartment. Lily wasn't so sure about her new companion, but despite her misgivings she soon found herself sitting across from the girl. Well, girls.

"My name's Pandora Agalia Rosalind Fantasia Phillips, but you can call me Box." said the spiky girl, "And this is my devoted lackey, Aubrey Blackstone".

"Hey!" exclaimed the kind-looking girl next to her. "I resent that! And I'll tell you for a fact that it was most certainly not me who carried our owl-cages out of Diagon Alley."

"Well obviously you couldn't, dancing around as you were. I still say that boy from Flourish and Blotts put a hex on you." Aubrey blushed and turned her attention to a loose thread in her sweater.

Aubrey did seem the kind of girl to dance in the street. She was of medium height and build, not stick-thin and boyish like Box and most certainly not as curvaceous as Lily. She had loosely curled nut-brown hair that was swept up into a large bun at the crown of her head from which a few loose tendrils escaped. Her tawny eyes twinkled at Lily as if sharing an inside joke as she asked, "And by whose presence is this humble compartment graced?"

Lily introduced herself, and soon the three girls were chattering like excited sparrows over piles of chocolate frogs as the English countryside whizzed by their windows.

James

James had spent the past two hours happily engaged in conversation with some of the funniest people he'd ever met.(Although this wasn't saying much, seeing as James had had very few friends his own age. But I digress...)He'd wandered the train until he found an empty compartment and was watching England flash past the windows when a loud thump brought him back to reality.

"Sirius! You cannot run through walls!" yelled a voice from further down the corridor.

"But I was winning!" complained the thing that had thumped against James's door.

"Well, not anymore. You owe me two chocolate frogs and a sacrifice to the gods of Wowyousuck." crowed the voice that was slowly coming nearer.

"Remus, this is such a stupid, childish game…" said the Thing in a bored, superior manner.

"Well, my dear old chap, it was you who invented it!"

James watched with interest as, one by one, ten fingers assembled themselves on the ledge of the compartment window. These were followed by a head of smooth black hair and two very blue eyes that looked at James with curiosity.

"What on earth are you looking at?" said a brown haired boy who had just come into view.

"D'you know, old bean, I do believe this chap's snickering at us!"

"Punishment must be doled out. Come now, up with you."

Remus helped Sirius to his feet and opened the door of the compartment. Sirius plopped down on the opposite seat, while Remus sat next to James. They introduced themselves at once, producing a sound like JassriumusPoBlupin.

"Let's try that again, shall we?" said James, and proper introductions were made.

"Sirius Black, Professional Prankster"

"Remus Lupin, Reluctant Accomplice"

"James Potter, Rather Amused. Are you both first-years as well?"

"Indeedy. Ol' Hogwarts won't know what hit it."

At this, Remus gave a rather large sigh.

James looked amusedly at the two boys. They were like Dud and Pete, Gilbert and Sullivan, any cliché double-act you could think of. And he rather thought they would suit him to a T.

"Have you ever blown up a frog?" he asked, half-professionally and half-curiously. He had an idea that these two were almost as good at pranking as he was.

"Only chocolate ones. And that purple one that scared Sirius."

"It's not my fault if Regulus decides to put things in places they ought not to be! How would you have unblocked the toilet?"

At this, Remus guffawed and James collapsed into a fit of giggles, imagining a horrified Sirius confronted by a hysterically croaking toilet. They passed the rest of the journey in much the same way...