Outside of meeting Sirius and James and being sorted, the first few days of Hogwarts were pretty much the same for any new student. I was busy trying to learn the names of other students, learn the rules, learn where in the hell I was going. I was simply too busy learning to do anything else. But, there are some highlights to share.

Of course, on that first night at Hogwarts, I entered the Gryffindor Common Room for the first of many times in my life. It was a really nice place, all warm and cozy decorated in deep reds and gold. I really felt at home in there, which was good because it was going to become my home away from home for the next seven years of my life. And I can honestly say, those next seven years, and the two to follow was really the best and happiest time of my life.

After a couple of days, Sirius, James and I started to get to know more people in our house. We were a great trio, but that trio soon became for with the addition of another boy named Peter Pettigrew. Now, to be honest none of us really invited him to become part of our group. He simply just followed us around because he didn't really have any other friends.

The other person I got to meet was that girl who had helped me figure out what to do during the sorting. Her name was Lily Evans. I wasn't sure what it was, but there was just something different about her. Of course, I didn't see her as some of the other guys in our house did. I remember sitting in the common room one evening and Lily just happened to walk by. Of course, when she walks by, every guy seems to just go silent and watches her pass on by. I on the other hand, well, didn't. She was just some other person who happened to be a Gryffindor.

Of course, I soon came to learn that Lily wasn't' just some other person in Gryffindor. She was like, one of the smartest people ever. I don't mean just in class, I mean common sense wise as well, which was something the average eleven year old boy lacked in severely. I was never really sure if I fit that description, average. I mean, I wasn't really average. I had some of the top grades, a little bit taller than the other guys, and of course I was hiding my big secret. So, I guess you could say I wasn't average. I was in my own completely different category. But I didn't mind, because no one else seemed to notice that I wasn't average, that I wasn't normal and that made me feel really good. I didn't want everyone else to know. It was my secret and I wanted to keep it that way.

Anyways, back to Lily. You see, Lily Evans was one of the only people, other than maybe my professors who knew my secret who asked me if I was feeling ok on a day before and after a full moon. Those 18 days in the school year where my life was true hell. I would look so pale, and to tired, and just feel completely miserable, not to mention the almost unbearable headaches that lasted the whole week before that dreadful evening. And of course, there was the aftermath, coming in to classes the next day so exhausted I could barely keep my eyes open. In fact, around March I had become the expert in sleeping while sitting up perfectly straight. I could sleep in class and you wouldn't even know it. Plus, I had a lovely collection of scratches, scars and gashes from my monthly romps in the Shrieking Shack…

Ah, the Shrieking Shack, the home of my werewolf self. Very few people knew why the house was built the summer of 1971, but I do. It was built by Dumbledore just for me. It was a safe place for me to go and transform once a month. This was before wolfsbane was created though. I thank Merlin everyday for the creation of that truly magical potion.

Anyways, back to the Shrieking Shack. Yes, the most haunted place in Britain wasn't really haunted at all. The shrieks and cries of pain that the people heard once a month were actually just me. Which, makes me really wonder exactly how pitiful I must have sounded for people to think the place was haunted. And of course, with the Shack in Hogsmeade I needed a safe way to get there. So, Dumbledore planted the Whomping Willow. The willow guarded the secret entrance to a tunnel that lead straight up into the Shack. Dumbledore was always a smart man, always thinking about ways to help people out.

I was always glad that the Shrieking Shack was there. It was my little safe place to be when I was very unsafe. Even if you go in there today I'm sure you can see my path of destruction. Pieces of furniture ripped up, scratch marks on walls, bite marks, all sorts of things. These added up over the seven years, growing even larger in number around fifth year.

But, enough about me being a werewolf, I'm pretty sure I've gotten that point across. After all, that's not the only thing that ever happened to me. I did have a life outside of classes and being a vicious monster once a month. After all, I had friends now.

One of the greatest things about going to Hogwarts, every year you get to head out to the pitch and see six live quidditch matches a year. Now, before going to Hogwarts I knew about quidditch, but I had never seen a real live game played in front of me. It was amazing to watch, simply amazing. And the fact that my best friends were very into the game as well made it even more fun to sit in the stands enjoying the match. We really got into the matches too. We would show up on the pitch with our faces painted in red and gold, ready to cheer on the Gryffindor team whenever they were playing. Simply put, we were crazy about the game. And at every match, James had to remind us that one day, it was going to be him we were cheering on. As an ambitious eleven year old, James was convinced that he was going to be a professional quidditch player one day. Of course, being an eleven year old myself, I believed he was going to be one.

Another one of my memorable memories of first year was my first Christmas at Hogwarts. That was something completely different than I had ever experienced in my life. Everything was just so festive, I had never seen so many Christmas decorations in my life. And it was all over the castle too, not just in a couple spots here and there. It was everywhere! But the coolest part was in the Great Hall, which boasted the biggest Christmas tree that I had ever seen in my life. It was so big people had to use levitating spells to put the ornaments on the top. If it was one thing I really liked about Hogwarts, it was that they knew how to decorate for the season.

And the presents! Normally I just get one or two presents from my parents on Christmas morning. But here, I woke up to find not only the presents from my parents, but ones from both Sirius and James. Of course, I had a terrible feeling in the bottom of my stomach knowing I didn't get either of them anything. Then again, they both had a lot more funds to spend on things like Christmas presents than I did. Which of course, made me feel even worse. I quick grabbed some parchment and quick made them each a little Christmas card. Hey, it was the thought that counted right? Besides, to be really honest, I can't even remember what it was that James and Sirius had gotten for me that Christmas.

Of course, that Christmas also started something else that would just escalate further over the next seven years. James's relationship with Lily. Up until that point, Lily was rather neutral to James and James, much like everyone else in the house thought her to be rather pretty. But, one single action changed that all. Well, rather just how Lily saw James.

The four of us, James, Sirius, Peter and I, were all outside playing in what was a rather large amount of white, fluffy snow that laid on the ground. Of course, Sirius gets this bright idea, makes a rather large snowball and chucks it right at James's head. James just laughed and soon, all four of us were caught in this large snowball fight. Soon enough, we got tired and we all just sat in the snow. Of course, Sirius gets bored, and he and James decide to start throwing snowballs at random passer bys. One of those people just happened to be Lily.

As she passed by, James happened to make a rather large snowball and threw it at her, hitting her right in the back of the head. Lily was not amused. She didn't laugh and throw one back like the other people had done, but instead turned around looking over at a laughing James. She was pissed.

"What did you do that for?" she asked him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You were there," James said simply.

"Oh, so you throw snowballs at anyone who walks past you?" Lily asked, looking more upset by his response.

"Yeah, pretty much," James said nodding, not seeing a big deal at all. "Do it to everyone, nothing personal Evans."

"Oh! Boys!" she muttered as she turned around, heading up into the castle, brushing the snow out of her hair. Sirius and James on the other hand just laughed at her walking away. And that, is the only the start of a long run of events that gave Lily her ammunition for calling James arrogant and a jerk.

First year really was a platform from which everything else just launched from. It was definitely a very influential year for me. I learned so much more than what was taught in my lessons as well. I learned how to function in society more effectively. I was making friends, interacting with people more rather than just sitting up in my dorm or in a corner by myself. For me, that was a really big step in personal achievement.

But along with learning new social skills, I did learn a lot in my lessons. And honestly, I did really well. I worked hard to earn my grades, doing each assignment to the best of my ability, studying for my tests and practicals. After all, I wanted to make not only my parents proud, but myself, my professors, my friends. I wanted everyone to be proud of the work I did and was capable of doing. I was in terrible need for acceptance and approval. I liked being told and reassured that I was doing well. So, I figured if I did exceptionally well in my classes that I would get that.

Of course, I worked hard all the time to get the grades that I got. James and Sirius on the other hand started slacking off half way through the year and still seemed able to get the same grades that I did. I was always jealous of them for this. I had to sit and read the book for an hour to get the same comprehension of something that they got from skimming the text. But, I got over it. I knew that one day it would catch up to them and in the end I would be rewarded for working hard all the time.

I think I was rewarded when exams came around. I studied so hard for them, falling asleep in a chair in the Common Room, a book in my lap, several times. I wanted to be prepared, I wanted to ace those exams. Finally when the time came to take them, I passed them with such ease that I surprised myself. After the end of my first year, I honestly believed myself to be a more educated and completely different person than I was when I first stepped on that platform at King's Cross Station at the beginning of the year. I was starting to slowly become the Remus Lupin that everyone so fondly remembers.