Chapter 1

"I'm Lily and this is Severus."

"John."

John watched the two newcomers warily as they sat across from him in the train compartment. They were completely unknown to him and his comrades hadn't mentioned anyone bearing their description. The boy, Severus - Latin, meaning stern - was quiet and cautious. He had dark hair and obsidian eyes, sallow skin, and a hooked nose that, judging by the line of the bridge, hadn't always been that way. The girl, Lily - lilium, flower, purity and love, majesty - was fair-skinned with rose petal red hair and emerald green eyes. Severus was sizing him up in the least noticeable way he could. Lily did not bother to hide the fact that she was watching. Must be because of his eyes. They always drew a few stares. Very annoying for when he wanted to disappear.

"So, um," Lily had decided to try and break the awkward silence. She fidgeted a bit when John turned the full weight upon her. "You excited for Hogwarts?"

John cocked his head, watching her, turning the question over in his mind. Was he excited for Hogwarts? The books had certainly made it seem interesting, but anyone with half a brain knew that books - especially history and school textbooks - were the biggest load of propaganda you could find anywhere. If the information was right, then yes, he was excited. But if the information was wrong, he might just die of boredom. Either way, at least it meant he was away from them, even if the others couldn't get away with him too. Finally he decided on an answer that he thought would satisfy her.

"Yes."

Lily bit her lip, seemingly wanting to say something, but stopped herself, uncertain. John raised an eyebrow and waited. She'd say what she wished eventually. Lily wet her lips before she finally spoke again.

"What house do you think you'll be in? I really hope I get Slytherin with Sev, but Gryffindor sounds nice."

John glanced at Severus. The other boy stared at him a moment before he said quietly, "Slytherin." The first time he'd spoken.

John turned inwards, thinking. Each house had its merits. Ravenclaw would surely open up a treasure trove of knowledge as would Slytherin. Slytherin and Hufflepuff would earn him opportunities to gain allies, though the Hufflepuff ones would probably last longer. Gryffindor sounded like the home of daredevils but that was fine. At least there he would be encouraged to take risks and no one would bat an eye if he kept up his routine. On the other hand, that would leave him open to hostility from Slytherin. Hm…

"Well, I -" John cut himself off, his keen ears detecting yelling that was starting to grow louder. From the sound of it, a fight was starting to break out. "Something wicked this way comes."

John shot to his feet, a confused Lily following a few seconds after. He ignored her confused stammers, instead going out into the corridor and heading towards the source of the commotion.

The yelling was coming from two black haired boys, fellow first years judging by their size. Both were whacking each other 'round the head, fists clenched and teeth bared. A ragtag group of children were standing around, watching and chanting, "Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!"

The two boys broke apart, the taller of the two raising his fist high to swing at the smaller bespectacled boy. John rolled his eyes and reached out, catching hold of the taller boy's wrist in an unyielding iron grip. The boy would later look at his wrist to see a dark bruise staining the ivory skin.

John stepped forward, in between the two. "Oi, knock it off, the both of you. Are you aiming to get yourselves in detention before the school year even starts?"

The taller boy sneered at him, "And who are you to tell me what to do?"

"Someone who'd rather not listen to the inevitable blowup when one the older students finds out and intervenes."

"Oh, why don't you just mind your own business?" The taller boy gave him a shove, a scowl darkening his features.

"Hey, now, why don't you pick on somebody your own size, then?" exclaimed the other boy, his cracked spectacles hanging askew on one ear. He glared at the taller boy, bring his fists up like a prizefighter.

John rolled his eyes, an irritated sigh escaping him, "Hullo, Pot, meet Kettle. And that really isn't necessary; I can take care of myself, you know."

They ignored him, of course, beginning to bicker again as they started getting

up in each other's faces, the taller boy trying to tug his wrist out of John's grip.

John scowled, "Enough of this." He rounded on the smaller of the fighters, drawing his wand. The bespectacled boy froze, staring apprehensively at the length of wood. "Reparo."

The boy hesitantly took off his now whole spectacles, examining them. He whistled, "Wow, mate, you did a good job with these!" He put them back on, hazel eyes fixing themselves on John. He smiled and stuck his hand out, the fight apparently forgotten, though the taller boy was still seething. "I'm James"-From Latin Jacomus, supplanter-", by the way. James Potter."

"John Wolf." And I'm not your mate!

The annoying prat behind them, not to be left out, gave his wrist a tug in an attempt to turn John around. John gave in, turning. The prat wriggled his hand around until he could comfortably grasp John's wrist. "Sirius"-Dog Star, brightest star-"Black, toujours pur."

John elegantly raised one eyebrow, somehow getting the feeling he'd be needing that gesture a lot in the coming months. Is he for real?

"Inbred elitist prat," James sing-songed behind him.

Sirius stiffened, "I am not!"

"Says the one who just spouted off his family motto."
"It's just a motto, something you say after you give your name! It doesn't mean anything!"

"Yes it does, it's French! My, my, your dear Norman ancestors would be so ashamed."

"They're not my ancestors! They're just a bunch of dead people who live on my wall!"

John let out another irritated sigh, dragging one hand down his face in exasperation. "Right, enough of this. Come on, Lily, Severus. Seems like there's no intelligent life to found here." John swept away, ignoring the stiffening of the pompous prats behind him. Severus followed after sneering at both the taller boys. Lily was the only one to glance back as they made their way back to their compartment. And she only did it to throw them a contemptuous glance.

AN: Sorry for the funky formatting; I still don't know how to work the Doc Manager thingy. Anyways, I tweaked the main 3/4 of the gang's meeting, so it should flow better.

DISCLAIMER: I pull ideas from multiple sources, but I don't have the best memory unless I make myself memorize something. So, if you see anything that comes from one of your stories, please let me know and I'll do my best to assign credit where credit is due. However, as you can probably tell, I love to procrastinate, so it probable won't happen right away.

Have fun and please leave a review if you feel like it!