Disclaimer: Characters, setting, some parts of the plot, ect. are owned by J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros., not me. I wish I was rich, famous, and British, but unfortunately I'm not (though I have a lovely British Beta who makes this fic seem British).
Peter was overwhelmed by the feast in front of him. Again and again he would take a slice of pork, or a chicken leg, or mashed potatoes off of the platter only to watch another one appear in the same spot. Overwhelmed by the food, he was oblivious to Sirius chewing his lip. It would have bled, had Remus not intervened.
"Sirius, mate, you haven't eaten a thing," Remus told him, a worried expression on his face.
Sirius chewed his lip farther.
James tried a different approach. "What's it taste like?"
Sirius paused and faced James. "What do you mean?"
"Your lip," James specified. "What does it taste like?"
"Not good," Sirius replied.
"Like chicken?" Peter eagerly asked.
Sirius shot him a weary look. "No, Peter."
"Well," James continued, "in that case, have some food. Guaranteed to taste better."
Sirius gave a half smile. "Well I guess one slice of beef wouldn't hurt."
Remus laughed as Sirius began gorging as much food as possible into his mouth.
"Was o unny?" Sirius asked, some sort of unidentifiable mush dribbling down the corner of his mouth.
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"Sirius, come with me."
"Why, James?"
"Because I need to send a letter to my parents."
"Why?" Remus asked.
"Because I need to tell them what house I'm in."
"Yeah, I'll come," Sirius replied.
"You, too, Remus." James added.
Peter's eyes grew wide as he saw the three leave him. He watched their backs as they walked away, heads tall, eyes forward. Three heads that made eyes turn. And although they were only first years, they're confidence was obvious. He looked around him, at the scrawny girl to his left, at the boy a little down the table offering him a shy smile, and back at the three retreating figures. Peter made a split-second decision. He grabbed five muffins for his usual midnight snack and ran towards the doors.
"Hey, Sirius, James, Remus, wait up!" he called.
Sirius turned. "What?"
Peter stood, hands on knees, huffing, when he realized that he didn't have an excuse to follow them. Quickly, he brought the five muffins out of his oversized pocket. They were to be his midnight snack, a meal that he simply could not go without. It was comfortable, routine, and necessary to end the nightly growling of his rather large stomach. He knew that he would need five to be able to satisfy his stomach enough so he could return to sleep.
Peter held out the muffins and offered them to Sirius. "I brought some muffins for later."
Sirius grabbed two of the muffins and stuffed one into his mouth. James took two as well. Remus looked at the remaining muffin and then looked at Peter. He finally took the last muffin after Peter held it out to him.
It seemed as if Peter would not be having his midnight snack.
Sirius smiled at Peter. "Common. We're going to the owlery."
"Do we know where that is?" Peter asked.
"I'm sure we can figure it out," Remus replied.
"But what if we get caught?"
"That's half to fun," responded James.
"Getting caught?" asked a slightly apprehensive Peter.
"No," answered Sirius with a gleam in his grey eyes, "the thrill."
"Wow, you lot are idiots!" said Remus in mock horror.
"And proud of it!" said Sirius as Remus threw his muffin at him.
Sirius caught it in his mouth and took a bite while saying over his shoulder to Remus, "Cheers mate! Banana-Nut is my favorite"
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After much wandering around the castle, the boys arrived at the owlery two hours later. Remus immediately located for quills, pieces of parchment, and ink, and everybody began writing.
Dear Mum and Dad,
I'm in Gryffindor! The hat shouted my name before it even was placed fully on my head.
I met some friends already. They're all in my house. Their names are Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. They're all funny, even Peter. Although it seems like that one needs to let loose a little.
I also wanted to thank you again for the invisibility cloak. I can't wait to show it to my friends!
Love,
James
Dear Mum and Dad,
It's great being able to come to Hogwarts. I can tell that it will be worth it. Professor Dumbledore made an announcement about the newly planted Whomping Willow tree. It was a bit embarrassing. It's going to be hard not to tell anyone about my condition. I met some new friends today: James, Sirius, and Peter. They're really great. And they really like me. I don't think I'll tell them about my condition. Not yet. I don't want a repeat of what happened last year. Remember? When Eddy found out what I was and told the school, and then I had to transfer? I don't want that happening here. But these kids are nice. And they really like me. I'll just have to get away once a month, but that shouldn't be to hard. By the way, I'm in Gryffindor!
Love,
Remus
Dear Mum,
I made some friends today. They're really cool. And now all the other kids think I'm cool! Well, sort of. I'm having a great first day. And, oh, I'm in Gryffindor!
Love,
Peter
Dear Andromeda,
Ok, don't freak out. I'm in Gryffindor. Don't tell my mum or dad! They'll kill me! Well, no, but it won't be good when they find out. Oh, no, Bellatrix will probably tell them. I'm in deep shit. I didn't ask to be in Gryffindor. I guess the damn hat knew that I don't agree with mum and dad's views on pure-bloods being elite. I guess I can't pretend that I do anymore. Please don't tell them, Andromeda. I'll tell them myself. Never-mind, I'll simply defend myself after Bellatrix tells them. What's the worst they can do? Well, I'll ask Dumbledore, who doesn't seem half-bad, about the possibility of me staying in Hogwarts over Christmas vacation. Once again I repeat, I am in deep shit.
Sirius
Once they all finished their letters, they looked at each other expectantly, each expecting the others to know know how to catch the school owls. Unfortunately, none of them did.
"What do you mean, you don't know how to catch one of these things?" Remus asked.
"Sorry, mate," Sirius replied, "but I've never needed to send a letter before. Well, it can't be too hard. I've seen it done loads."
"So, you gonna do it?" asked Peter.
"Come on, Sirius," James encouraged.
"Alright. How hard can it be?"
Sirius made a grab for one of the owls. Immediately, it flew in the opposite direction, squawking. The heads of the owls turned to face Sirius and all began scrambling around the owlry, trying to escape the madman who had tried to hurt their comrade.
Remus closed his eyes so not to be blinded by the flailing feet and beaks, and felt his way over to a corner of the room that seemed safe from the swarming owls. He opened his eyes, drew his wand that had been kept protectively in the insides of his robes and shouted the only spell he knew, the one that his father had taught him when Remus was having trouble lighting the logs in the fire place with muggle matches. "VENEFLAMMA!"
Red sparks flew from Remus' wand, singing the wing of one owl and directly hitting Sirius in the back. Flames leapt from Sirius' robes. Sirius turned his head to see what hit him.
"I'M ON FIRE!"
Sirius began running in circles around the room, trying to escape the flames, an impossible feat, as the flames were on his back.
Remus blushed and muttered, "I guess I should work on my aim."
Meanwhile Peter, who was on the opposite side of the room from Sirius, was being bombarded by owls are flying as fast as they could away from Sirius.
"Somebody help! The owls are PECKING me!"
"Pecking you my ass! I'm on fire! By the way, how did I get on fire?"
"Umm, mate," James responded. "Remus there set you on fire."
"REMUS! You are very high on my hit list, very high indeed!" Sirius threatened menacingly as he turned to chase Remus.
Remus' eyes opened very wide. "I was just trying to help! It's the only spell I know!"
"Remus," Sirius growled, "didn't you mean to set the owls on fire?"
"My aim was off..." Remus offered weakly.
Sirius began chasing Remus at full speed, while Remus ran in what he guessed to be the opposite direction. It was hard to tell, as when Sirius started running, the owls began swarming away from him.
"Ow!" Remus screamed. "I got an owl talon in my face!"
"Serves you right!" Sirius screamed back.
"Thanks, guys!" Peter yelled above the screeches of the owls and the flapping of wings. "The owls aren't pecking me any more!" The owls had flown to the opposite side of the room to get away from Sirius. Wait, Peter thought to himself, if the owls are on the opposite side of the room, that must mean Sirius is--
"Oof! Sirius," Peter screamed. "You ran into me!"
"Calm down, mate," Sirius replied. "I'm right here you know. You don't have to scream."
"Ow, Sirius, you elbowed me," Remus said.
"Remus! I'm not done with you!" Sirius yelled in reply. "I'm going to set you on fire." Sirius began running backwards in hope of hitting Remus with the flames on his back.
"Sirius!" James called from the side of the room. "When Remus fell on you he stiffed out the flames!"
"Figures..." Sirius mumbled.
"Now, as for this business about catching an owl..." James said to himself. He stood, watching the owls. He would have to be more clever than Sirius. He would have to have a plan.
"There!"James had spotted the owl whose wing had been singed by the flames from Remus' spell. It was flying slower than the others. James ran up to it and grasped it. "I caught an owl!"
The other crowded around him, watching in awe the owl struggling in James' hand.
"Wow," Peter commented, "the school owls are feisty."
"Aren't they just," James replied.
It was Remus who noticed it first, "Umm... James..."
"Yeah?"
"We only have one owl to carry all four of our letters."
"Nah," Sirius replied, "Owls can carry letters to different locations. They just drop off one letter at a time."
"But, Sirius," Remus responded, "This owl in quite small."
"Stop worrying," said James. "It 'll work."
Remus only made an expression of doubt.
It was soon clear that he had been right as the foursome watched the owl struggle to fly with all four letters attached to his leg. He could only fly up about four inches before he was pulled back down to the table by the weight of the letters.
Peter was the first to state the obvious: "I don't think this will work."
"Whatever makes you think that?" James asked sarcastically.
Peter was quick to respond: "Well, you see the owl is being weighed down by the letters, and can't--"
"I know," James interrupted darkly.
"Listen, I have an idea," Remus said.
"What?" asked Sirius.
"Well..." Remus replied hesitantly. "We could send out the most important of our letters now, as it seems that this owl can only carry one, and come back tomorrow to send the rest when our owls have been unpacked."
"I don't really like that idea." Sirius stated.
"Well," Remus snapped, "So you have a better one?"
"No," admitted Sirius.
"So," James began, "Who has the most important letter?"
"I think you do," said Peter. "Because you were the one who wanted to come up here in the first place." The others had to admit that this was true. After James' letter was sent, they all trudged back down the stairs.
When they entered the Great Hall, a few students looked up from their plates. Most of the students had retired to bed, and the first years had been ordered to follow the prefects to their houses. The foursome understood that they now needed to find their house, and promptly left to look for it. As they left the Great Hall, they attracted the attention of the remaining students, for everybody knew that as first years, they would become hopelessly lost, yet they projected confidence. And together they left in search of Gryffindor.
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