- My First Year at Hogwarts -

-September 1st, 1971-

"Is someone sitting here?" I looked up from my huge book on underwater creatures. A thin boy with black messy hair and hazel eyes stood in the doorway, staring at me expectantly. Slightly surprised, I nodded. He grinned and sat down.

"Hey, do you mind?" Another boy appeared in the doorway. He had longish, black hair that framed his face and chocolate brown eyes.

"Oh, no. Not at all. Take a seat, my friend." The first boy motioned to a seat next to him. I looked at them both for a second and returned to my book. After a few minutes, my book was snatched out of my hand. My head popped up and I saw the second boy had it and was staring at it like it was the plague.

"Excuse me? May I have that back?" I questioned, politely. He raised an eyebrow.

"How can you read this? It's like 7,000 pages." He made a strange face at the still open volume.

"Actually it's 900 and it's quite interesting. Would you mind terribly giving it back?" I held out my hand. He shrugged and handed it back.

"While your attention is away from that… thing, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm James Potter." The first boy held out his hand.

"Nice to meet you, James," I gently shook his hand, "I'm Remus Lupin." I turned towards the second boy.

"Sirius Black." He offered, not bothering to reach out and shake my hand. He just grinned and rolled his eyes.

"Nice to meet you as well," I smiled at him, "Would it be terribly rude if I just continued reading?"

"No." James replied.

"Good." I shot his a half smile and returned to the author's description of the odd effects of the moon cycle on types of Scottish Water Nymphs. Suddenly there was a thud outside the door. The compartment door was thrown open and a terror-stricken boy was revealed.

"Help!" His voice came out like a squeak. Without waiting for a reply he dove under the seat and sat trembling

"Have any of you seen a little rat face kid?" A huge, dark haired boy questioned from the doorway. I set down my book and stood.

"No, I'm afraid not. I heard a thump a few seconds ago. It sounded like it came from nearby," I walked to the door and noticed a pair of skid marks on the floor, "There see. I think, whoever it is, slipped here. But it looks like they got up and hurried down that way." I smiled at the boy.

"Oh, yeah. Thanks." He grunted back.

"No problem. Have a nice day. I hope you find whoever it is you're looking for." I nodded and closed the door. James and Sirius were gaping at me. The boy came out from underneath the seat.

"Thanks!" He squeaked. I nodded, sat back down and picked up my book. Then I noticed the two other boys were still staring at me.

"Yes?" I inquired as the new boy sat on the seat next to me.

"How can you just lie so easily? You didn't even seem to plan it or anything." Sirius answered incredulously.

"It's not that hard. Some of it was truth. The best way to lie is to use mostly truth and just replace some of the more incriminating details." I shrugged.

"Never thought of it that way. 'Course I always get caught anyway. I'm an awful liar." Sirius sighed. James had an odd look on his face.

"I have the best idea!" He exclaimed suddenly. We all turned to look at him.

"Yes?" I prompted as he let the dramatic pause continue for longer the necessary. He shot me a quick glare.

"No, not yet. I have to work on it for a little while." James began to mutter to himself. I turned to the newest boy.

"I'm Remus Lupin." I told him, holding out my hand.

"Peter Pettigrew. Thanks a lot for helpin' me back there. I wouldn't have crossed the guy if I knew he'd hunt me down like that." Peter sighed.

"What'd you do?" Sirius asked.

"Stole some money from 'im. He doesn't need it and my parents didn't give me enough to survive on for a week. So I borrowed some." The blond boy shrugged.

"How'd he find out?" Sirius looked impressed.

"One of the boys nearby ratted me out. I'll have to get him back for that…" Peter said the last bit more to himself, "Who are you two by the way?"

"Sirius Black. And this crazy person is James Potter." Sirius jerked his head at James who was still muttering to himself.

"Nice to meet you all. Does anyone have any food," Peter looked around hopefully. The rest of us shook our heads, "Damn…" I smiled slightly and returned to my book, hoping to get through some of it without more interruptions.

We shared a boat on the way to Hogwarts. A woman called Professor McGonagall told us when we'd arrived in the Entrance Hall that we would be sorted soon. I tried to remain calm as my hands began to shake. James was grinning broadly and Sirius looked like he engage in a relationship with a noose. Peter looked almost as shaky as I felt.

"Come with me." Professor McGonagall opened the doors and we all trooped in. There were hundreds of people and they were all staring at us. I gulped. The professor led us up to the podium where Professor Dumbledore sat. He smiled and nodded at Professor McGonagall. She picked up a patched old hat and began to call people forward.

We stood in a small line, most faces filled with nerves. We watched as Arum Steven was sorted into Hufflepuff and a dark hair girl named Black, Bellatrix was sorted into Slytherin. Sirius' face darkened even further and when the called his name I could tell he imagined Professor McGonagall as his hang man. It took the hat a long time to pick a place for him. Suddenly it yelled out "Gryffindor". When McGonagall removed the hat I noticed a relieved look on his face.

Several more shaking students were called before "Lupin, Remus". I gulped again and headed for the podium. I sat on the three-legged stool and Professor McGonagall lowered the hat onto my head. I was startled when the hat began to speak as though in my ear.

A werewolf, hm? I've never sorted a werewolf before. Let's see… You have brains, to be sure. A love of learning. But I'm not sure Ravenclaw is the right place for you. You're loyal… especially to your parents… Hufflepuff would not suit you either, however. Hm… Bravery. You seem to have bravery and lots of it. And I see you really want to be with these new friends of yours. Alright then Gryffindor!

I sighed with relief. It hadn't even considered Slytherin. Smiling slightly, I stood as soon as McGonagall had removed the hat and hurried to join Sirius. The boy was practically beaming. Peter was the next of us to be called. It took the hat almost as long to decide his fate as it had Sirius'. Finally he too was sorted into Gryffindor. Finally, James was called. The hat barely touched his head before it cried out "Gryffindor". James was grinning broadly and there seemed to be a strange glint in his eye we would all come to recognize.

The ending has been redone. I finally got around to fixing the order they're sorted in. Too much is going on in my life right now… Anyway, Review!

Cheers.