Disclaimer: Me? Own Harry Potter? I think I just died laughing…
Falling Stars
Chapter 1: The Platform
11-year-old Harry Potter stood just inside the doorway of the kitchen at Godric's Hollow. His parents were still eating breakfast. Bacon and eggs. His dad, James, was making a point of pretending not to notice Harry and eating as slowly as possible. His mum, Lily, was playing along. Harry cleared his throat loudly.
"Are we going, or not?" he asked impatiently.
Lily smiled at him. "Be patient, dear. The train doesn't leave for another hour."
"Yes, so shouldn't we be leaving soon?" Harry asked.
"We have to wait for Sirius." James said, finally turning around to face him. "We went over this last night. Sirius will be portkeying ahead of us to check that it's safe, then you and your mum will follow him, and I'll follow you."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Nobody's going to attack the platform, dad. They don't even know I'm coming!"
"And what if there is a spy?" James countered.
Harry shrugged. "I think you're making a big deal out of nothing."
"I don't think so." said a rough voice from behind Harry.
Harry spun around to face the owner of the voice, drawing his wand as he did so. A tall, cloaked figure stepped forward and grabbed his wand out of his hand, then picked him up and carried him into the kitchen, dumping him in a chair next to Lily. Harry noted that his parents did not have their wands out, and were trying very hard not to laugh at him. He stood and looked his attacker up and down.
The man barked a laugh as he pulled back his hood to reveal a very familiar face.
"Padfoot!" Harry shouted. "You stupid mutt! You're so immature!"
Sirius grinned. "Thankyou."
Harry glared. "Can I have my wand back now?"
Sirius handed Harry back his wand, which Harry quickly tucked into its sheath inside his sleeve. Having done this, Harry smiled and hugged him.
"You're so horrible."
"Of course I am." Sirius teased. "It's my job, as your godfather, to be as horrible to you as I can possibly manage. Seriously though, I was just proving your dad's point."
"I knew it was you." Harry stated.
"Oh really?" Sirius asked lightly. "Why'd you scream?"
Harry blushed. "Shut up."
Sirius pretended to think about this for a moment before replying flatly, "No."
James stood. "Padfoot, as much as I enjoy watching you torment my son, I think we should be getting to the station sometime soon."
Sirius nodded. "You got your mirror?"
"Of course."
"Okay then. I'll see you in a bit."
James took an apple from the kitchen bench and threw it at Sirius, who disappeared as he caught it."Where's your trunk, Harry?" James asked.
"It's in the hall." Harry replied. "Are we leaving now?"
Lily smiled. "We have to wait five minutes. You know that."
Harry sighed and nodded. He slumped down into a chair at the table to wait out the five longest minutes of his life so far. His dad ran upstairs abruptly and came back carrying a plain cardboard box. He handed it to Harry.
"You might find these useful this year." he said, smiling nervously at Lily.
Lily frowned as Harry opened the box and pulled out an invisibility cloak and two pieces of parchment.
"James," she started warningly.
James shook his head. "We want him to be as safe as possible this year, right? Well, these things will help a lot if he gets into trouble. Not to mention they'll make his year more fun if he thinks up, um… other uses for them."
Lily sighed and rolled her eyes.
Harry, meanwhile, was examining the cloak.
"You're giving me your invisibility cloak, dad?" he asked in an awed voice.
James nodded.
Harry frowned at the bits of parchment. "What are these?"
With a grin, James pulled out his wand and tapped the larger piece of parchment with it, saying the words, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
Harry's eyes widened as thin ink lines began to spread out and cover the map from the point that James' wand had touched. They formed themselves into words at the top of the parchment, proclaiming:
Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs
Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers
are proud to present
THE MARAUDER'S MAP
Underneath that was a map with a few dots moving around it, labelled with the names of people that Harry had heard were to be his professors for the coming year at Hogwarts.
"This is The Map." James said proudly.
Lily gasped lightly at the sight off the tattered old piece of parchment. "This is it? This is the infamous Marauder's Map?"
"You said it got confiscated in your sixth year." Harry said, confused."I asked Dumbledore to get it back off Filch for me a few years ago." James explained. "These," he pointed out some passageways, "Are the routes out of the school. You'll need to check them out as soon as possible to make sure that they're still useable just in case, Merlin forbid, you ever need to make a quick escape."
Harry nodded.
"To close the map, you just need to tap it with your wand, like so," James tapped the map, "And say, mischief managed."
He folded the map and handed it to Harry, who pocketed it immediately.
"What about this?" Harry asked, pointing to the smaller piece of parchment.
James tapped the parchment with his wand. "Who's trying to spoil my fun?"
Words appeared on the parchment in much the same manner as before.
Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs
Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers
are pleased to inform you that the nearest professor is
Professor M. McGonagall
and
She is too far away from you to have any chance
at all of spoiling your fun.
James tapped the parchment again. "Mischief managed."
Harry grinned and pocketed that as well. "Thanks dad!"
"Prongs!" Sirius' voice called from the mirror that James had left on the kitchen table.
James walked over and picked up the mirror. "Padfoot? Is everything ok?"
"It's all clear as far as I can see." Sirius answered. "You can send Lily and Harry over now."
"Ok. We'll see you in a bit."
"Will you put the cloak in my trunk for me, dad?" Harry asked.
"Sure thing kiddo." James replied.
Lily held out a quill to Harry and he touched the end of it. He felt a tug behind his navel and a brief falling sensation before he arrived, feet first, on platform 9 ¾. Sirius rushed over with Remus, who'd been on the platform all morning, to greet Harry and to help Lily to her feet.
"I hate portkeys." Lily grumbled as she accepted Remus' hand.
"One would think you'd be used to them by now, Lily." Remus said with a laugh. "After all, you've been using them since Harry was born."
"But she's still not managed to perfect the landing." Sirius mumbled through a mouthful of apple.
Harry grinned. "I don't see how you can hate them, mum. Portkeys are fun!"
Lily made a face.
Sirius ruffled Harry's hair, smiling proudly at him. "Such a lovely boy, Lily."
"What'd I say?" Harry asked, bewildered.
James chose that moment to portkey onto the platform, a little too close to Lily.
"Lily? Lils? Where are you?"
"I'm right here, James." Lily said, sounding half-frustrated, half-amused.
James looked down. "What are you doing on the ground, love?"
"You knocked me over you great oaf!"
James helped his wife to her feet and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "All better?"
Lily smiled. "I think I can forgive you."
"Ew! Mum! Dad! That is gross! Can you not do that? We're in public, remember?" Harry groaned, covering his eyes.
"James! Lily!" Sirius said in mock outrage. "How could you? You've scarred the poor boy for life!"
James grinned and kissed Lily as dramatically as he could manage. Lily made no attempt to stop him.
"Oh man." Harry hid behind Remus. "You're going to give me nightmares."
"Sorry kiddo." James said as insincerely as possible.
Harry rolled his eyes. "You're disgusting, you know that?"
"He's actually improved since he and Sirius graduated and stopped sharing a dorm." Remus said lightly.
James and Sirius turned to look at Remus.
"What are you implying?" Sirius asked.
"Only that you two are the messiest people that I've ever met." Remus said defensively. "Honestly! You're very gifted."
"Gifted?" James said suspiciously.
"Yeah, what do you mean by that, Moony?" Harry asked, looking up at Remus.
"Well, Harry, when two eleven year old boys make such a mess in a dormitory that it is almost impossible to even open the door; when the contents of their trunks and their drawers are strewn all over their beds and the surrounding areas; when even they aren't sure which articles of clothing belong to who; and when neither of them even own a hairbrush or a comb, I say that they are very gifted."
"But why 'gifted'?" Harry asked, oblivious to the scowls of his father and godfather.
"They'd have to be gifted to have made it this far through life without drowning in their own mess." Remus said simply.
James covered Harry's ears. "No corrupting my son on his first day at Hogwarts, Moony! You should know better than that!"
"Harry, you've got to get on the train soon if you want to get a compartment." Lily commented, becoming aware for the first time that the platform was beginning to get crowded.
Harry broke free of James' grip. "Come on dad! Can you help me with my trunk? Did you put the cloak in there for me? Where's the best place to sit? Can I use magic on the train? Who's going to be in my year?"
"Whoa there, Pronglet! Slow down!" Sirius laughed.
"One question at a time kiddo!" James agreed. "I put the cloak at the top of your trunk, so you can find it easily if you need it before you get to Hogwarts."
"James, I really don't think you ought to be encouraging -" Lily started.
"I'm not encouraging him to make trouble. Merlin knows he can do that himself. I'm just keeping him informed." James said defensively.
Lily narrowed her eyes. "I really believe that."
James smiled and put an arm around her shoulders. "I knew you would."
Harry quickly hugged James and Lily goodbye. "I'll see you in a few months!"
Lily pulled her son close to her. She hugged him tightly and kissed him on the forehead. "You had better. And write to us every day, you hear?"
"Argh! Mum! You're embarrassing me!" Harry cried, pulling away from Lily.
James scooped Harry up in his arms and held him there for a moment while he struggled.
"Dad! Stop it!" Harry blushed, desperately hoping that none of the other kids were looking.
James put Harry back on the ground with a grin.
"Don't you forget to write to us." he said warningly.
"I won't, dad." Harry promised.
Sirius ruffled Harry's hair. "And don't forget to write to old Padfoot, either, will you? 'Cause if you do, he'll come after you and tickle you to death."
Harry nodded and turned to Remus. "I won't forget to write to you, either, Moony."
Remus smiled widely and put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "If you forget, I'll sick Padfoot on you."
Harry shuddered. "In that case, I'll be writing twice a day."
Sirius made a show of looking hurt. "I resent that."
"Bye Padfoot! Bye everyone!" Harry said brightly.
He picked up one end of his trunk, and without looking back, dragged it onto the Hogwarts Express.
A/N Comments anyone? Thanks to all you people who reviewed!
anonymousy – Yeah, I realise I'm not very good about updating. I just don't have enough time to update every week. Sorry. I will try harder though. I'm glad you like my fics.
Indiangurl – Who's to say he doesn't already know about the prophecy? There might be a flashback coming to do with that, but I haven't quite decided that yet. Sirius isn't staying with the Potters – he has his own house - he just checks on them very frequently. He's a bit paranoid. Um… Here's Remus! Harry won't be like the Weasely twins. I think that is a bit overdone, and I'd like my fic to be different. He will be very different to what he was in the books, though.
athenakitty – How Harry got his Hogwarts things should be explained in the next chapter, as well as what the world is like. Yes, Neville still has his parents.