Chapter Five

The Houses Divided

Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in

~Robert Frost

James' father levitated James' trunk up and onto the train. James stood by watching his father as his mother busily fussed over him, her eyes glassy with tears. James, also upset over his impending departure, allowed his mother to continue her ministrations without even a look of disgust. As strong as his desire was to start his adventure, to meet and interact with people his own age, he was still going to miss his parents and the life and routine he had established over the past eleven years.

"Alright then," Fleamont said, quickly checking his ornate antique pocket watch. The Potters, being an old wizarding family had a lot of heirlooms. The old pocket watch his father used was definitely his favourite because it had belonged to Fleamont's great-great-great-great-grandfather. James, for his part, couldn't wait until he came of age and, as his father had promised several years prior, he would be gifted the pocket watch.

"Well, it's five to eleven," Fleamont continued, "probably time for you to be heading aboard and finding a seat, James. Don't want to miss the train on your first day!" His voice was light and jokey, but, as James turned to look up at his father, he saw the same tear-filled, glassy eyes as his mother. Almost instantly, James felt tears welling up in his eyes. He quickly threw his arms around his parents, not caring about how it looked to the others on the platform. In that moment, all that mattered was that he received some comfort from his parents.

He dug his head into his mother's stomach and pulled his father close to his side. After a brief moment, in which James assumed they were surprised, his parents enclosed James with their arms in a loving group hug.

"I'm going to miss you guys," James mumbled, his voice unclear because of the fact that his face was buried in his mother's stomach.

"We will miss you, too, Jamie," his mother responded, rubbing soothing circles onto James' back, "write to us as much as you want. There are school owls you can use. Maybe we'll even look into getting you your own owl so that you don't have to worry about borrowing one from school. We'll write back as soon and as often as we can. Now, as hard as it may be, you need to head off onto the train." At his mother's last few words, James hurriedly pulled away. His normal bravado had returned and he confidently climbed onto the train.

James' eyes grew wide as he took in all the sights of the train. The small alleyway down the middle of the train was filled with loud, boisterous students. Various magical toys and items, including Fanged Frisbees and toy brooms, were being thrown around the hallway while various kinds of magical poppers and flashbangs were going off in the air. It was like a giant party on the train; students were celebrating their return to school, their ability to perform magic, their being with friends and possibly away from parents and family, and all the Quidditch games and other events they would experience and partake in.

James smiled at the sight before him, imagining all that he would experience once he arrived at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Instantly, all trepidation and sadness that he had felt about leaving his parents vanished and James excitedly moved forward to join in on the celebratory chaos. He wadded through the crowd, pulling his trunk along behind him. He quickly began looking for an empty or partially empty compartment to store his things so he could join in with the celebratory mood that pervaded the hallway.

He found an empty compartment about halfway down the alley of the car he was in. While he was in the middle of attempting to heave his trunk onto the rack above his seat, the train whistle blew; it was about to depart. James quickly shoved the trunk onto the shelf and headed for the window. The cacophony of celebration out in the hallway had quieted down and, as James stuck his head out the window, he realised part of the reason. All along the train, students hung out of windows waving to the people left behind on the platform. James quickly located his parents and waved enthusiastically as the train began pulling away. His parents, his father's arm slung around his mother's shoulder in a comforting gesture, waved back.

He didn't wait until the platform was out of sight before pulling his head back into the train. A knock had sounded only about half a minute after the train had begun departing and James pulled his head back in to address the knock.

Standing at the door, wearing impeccable dress robes was a boy about his age. The boy had long, shaggy hair and dark eyes. He held himself with a slight air of superiority. James momentarily wondered if the boy was possibly a few years older than him and knew that James was only a first year. Then it hit James; he had met this boy before. It had been at Madame Malkin's, while James was getting fitted for his robes. Though, as much as he searched his mind, he couldn't for the life of him remember the other boy's name.

"Can I sit in here?" they boy asked, eyeing the nearly empty compartment. James, who had been excited about meeting and interacting with people his own age, was instantly excited.

"If you can find room," James joked before standing to help the other boy stow his trunk and other belongings on the rack above. The other boy, whom James had assumed came from a high-brow pureblood family based on his clothing and posture, collapsed onto a seat across from James. He spread his legs out in a comfortable manner, basically letting them go akimbo. In that moment, the boy looked the complete opposite of a high-brow individual.

"I'm Sirius, by the way. This is my first year. How about you?" the boy asked.

"James," he responded, "James Potter. I'm a first year as well. We've actually met before. At Madame Malkin's." James hedged, hoping that the other boy would remember him. They hadn't really interacted, but James still hoped he'd made some sort of impression on the other boy.

"Right!" Sirius exclaimed. "We got fitted for robes together." As soon as he said the words, his face reddened, and he looked away from James' eyes. James thought it was strange but decided to change the subject before he lost this potential friend.

"Are you excited about starting?" James sat a little forward in anticipations of the other boy's answer.

"I've been waiting for this day for quite some time. Glad to be heading off to school." Sirius' voice was excited, but there was also a slight edge to it. He only briefly looked back up at James before dropping his gaze once more. James thought there might be something more to what he was saying, the reason why he was glad perhaps. However, he didn't push the other boy on the matter.

"I packed a brand new deck of cards. Want to play a game?" James asked, pulling out the cards from his pocket. Sirius smiled in response and sat up. James quickly dealt cards and the game began. James loved exploding snap because if they didn't move quickly enough, the cards could explode and start small fires. It made a simple card game much more exciting. The excitement quickly began to build and, with each turn and each explosion, both boys became increasingly rowdy.

A smile spread across James' face. This had been what he'd been hoping for at Hogwarts. He loved his parents, truly believed he'd had a spectacular upbringing, but he still felt as if something was missing. He was an only child, raised by elderly parents in a large country estate. His family was either much older or much younger than him. He rarely spent time in the nearby village, a result of his parents' abundant caution. He was their miracle child, the child they never thought they'd have. They ensured he was continually safe and kept close.

However, all this resulted in James spending a fair amount of time alone. For years he'd desperately wanted a friend, a playmate his age to keep him company. It was with this desire that he turned his attention to his acceptance to Hogwarts, and began tirelessly anticipating that day when he would board the train, head off to school, and make the best of friends.

Now, as he sat on the train as it barrelled north towards the Scottish Highlands, crazily playing exploding snap with Sirius, he felt his desire had been achieved. He may have just met Sirius only a few minutes before, but James could tell he and Sirius would be good friends. Their boisterous actions throughout the game made it clear to James. They were kindred souls, two young, outgoing boys. James may not have known much about Sirius, had felt he may be hiding things, but their similar personalities was enough for James in that moment.

He looked up at the other boy and met his eyes. In that moment, James felt that Sirius was thinking similar, if not the same, things. Both had independently decided they would become friends.

The moment was ended by a light, musical knock on the door. It was carefully, or perhaps hesitantly, opened and revealed a young red-haired girl standing in the doorway. Her hair fell a little past her shoulders and was held off her face with a light pink ribbon. She clutched a book to her chest, almost as a safety blanket. Her expression, though mostly her dazzling green eyes, was one of sadness and anger which James found confusing and out of place.

"Can I sit here? My old compartment was too full." Despite her expression, her tone was strong and forceful.

"You're the girl from the station," was all James was able to get out in response, still preoccupied with her out-of-place expression.

"Yes, I'm Lily. Thank you for helping us find our way through. Now, may I sit here?" Her tone was impatient and James simply nodded in agreement that she may, indeed, join the boys in the compartment. She sat down in a seat by the window and gazed out of it, no longer acknowledging either James or Sirius. The boys turned back to each other. Sirius shrugged and then the pair returned to their rowdy game of exploding snap.

James and Sirius were in the middle of an extremely enthusiastic game of exploding snap, rapidly playing cards, shouting and exclaiming as they did so. They were so wrapped up in their game that they barely recognized or paid any attention, to the entry of a skinny, long-haired boy already in his school robes. The little attention that James did pay to the boy was a result of the fact that they were barely out of London and still had several hours before they arrived at school and needed robes. However, James believed that the boy, much like himself really, was simply excited to be starting school. He then paid the boy no more attention and focused on the game.

The boy sat across from the girl, Lily, and had a quite conversation. Both Sirius and James ignored the other two. Then, suddenly, the boy exclaimed, his voice filled with uncontained enthusiasm. Sirius and James left their cards alone and began to eavesdrop.

"You'd better be in Slytherin," the boy spoke. James turned up his nose at the suggestion and turned to look at his companion. Sirius had stiffened slightly at the mention of Slytherin. James thought it was a slightly exaggerated reaction; James hated Slytherin too, but he didn't think the mere mention of someone wanting to be in Slytherin would make his go rigid. He filed the reaction away to discuss with Sirius at a later date, then turned to the other two.

"Slytherin?" James asked, his tone surprised and filled with incredulous disbelief. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sirius relax slightly. "Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" Here James turned to Sirius. The long-haired boy had returned to his at-ease lounging position. James was smiling at him, looking for enthusiastic agreement. He spoke without returning James smile, which made James a little worried about what he was going to say.

"My whole family have been in Slytherin."

"Blimey," James responded, without missing a beat, "and I thought you seemed all right!" James' tone was light and joking. He'd been expecting something a lot worse, like Sirius revealing that he wanted to be in Slytherin himself. The fact that Sirius' lineage was so firmly routed in Slytherin did not taint James' opinion of the other boy. A large smile broke across Sirius' face.

"Maybe I'll break the tradition," he spoke, hope and also mischievousness filling his voice.

The small group of four first years then lapsed into a brief conversation about which house they wanted to be in. James announced he wanted to be in Gryffindor, which elicited an excited reaction from his new friend.

The other boy, the one already in his school robes, made a disparaging noise when James made his proclamation. Instantly, James and Sirius turned on the boy, whom Lily had referred to as Severus, mocking him and taunting him. Lily, acting as Severus' protector, quickly and angrily stood and, still being taunted by the boys, pulled her friend out of the compartment.

Sirius and James cackled in joy, even after the compartment door had been slammed shut. James, who did not consider himself a bully or a mean person, justified his cruel actions in a variety of ways. Firstly, Severus had started it. James and Sirius had been friendly discussing houses before Severus chose to insult James. He had simply been standing up for his future house, the same house that Potters had been sorted into for years. Secondly, anyone willingly choosing or even openly desiring to be placed into Slytherin was not a good person. Slytherin was a house of superiority and hatred; only evil seeds went into that house. Finally, neither he nor Sirius had said anything nasty, terrible, or disparaging. It was playful mocking, not hateful mocking. They hadn't done anything wrong.

The two new friends spent the remainder of the train ride in excited, friendly conversation about themselves and their hopes for their year at Hogwarts. They also played several more games of exploding snap and other magical card games. Finally, as the sun was setting over the Scottish Highlands, the train pulled into Hogsmeade Station. James turned to Sirius, an excited smile on his face.

"Here we go!" he exclaimed.