Chapter 4: Train Rides, Fistfights and First looks.

It was the first of September and Lily Evans was doing a few seconds of last minute packing. She had forgotten to put her school books into her trunk and was frantically stuffing them into the small spaces left. She glanced at the clock worriedly. It read 10:30. 'Oh Nooo, I'm going to be late.' She thought. As if reading her mind, her mother called up the stairs, "LILY, hurry up. We are going to be late!"

Lily rushed down the stairs dragging her heavy trunk behind her. "I'm here. Could you help with this? It's really heavy."

Lily's dad smiled and heaved her trunk into the (errr…) trunk of the car. "There you go, dear. Get in the car, hurry before we miss the train."

Lily and her parents arrived at the King's Cross train station at 10:53, seven minutes before the train was due to leave and she still didn't have a clue how to get on to the platform. Looking around, she noticed a boy hurrying towards the ticket booth between platforms nine and ten. It wasn't the boy, however, that caught her eye, it was the strange things on his trolley. Lily watched him, and for a moment it looked like he was going to smack into the wall before he disappeared. If Lily hadn't have already been late, she would have questioned her sanity for even thinking of following this boy, but since the train was due to leave in five minutes, she gave her parents hugs goodbye and took a run at the wall, half expecting to smash into it. The world went dark for a moment, and then suddenly there was a scarlet train in front of her. It was getting ready to depart so Lily sped towards the nearest door, dragging her trunk behind her. The trunk was so heavy that she couldn't lift it up the stairs and for a second, she thought she would get left behind, before her trunk moved out of the way and she felt two arms grab her around the waist, pulling her onto the train as it started to move. Two boys with reddish-blonde hair stared down at her intently.

"Are you…" One of the twins started to ask.

"…Alright?" the other finished.

"Yea, I'm good. Thank you soo much. I thought I was gonna get left behind for a moment there. Lily Evans." Lily answered with a smile, offering her hand.

"Gideon," the first boy said, shaking her hand.

"And Fabian," The second said, shoving the first aside in order to shake her hand.

"Prewett." The first one, Gideon, finished with a grin.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

James Potter had been up since five am. He had not slept well because of the exciting prospect of going to Hogwarts that loomed over his head. Uncharacteristically, James was completely packed and ready to go. On normal days, James made it his policy to be late for almost everything and never rise before twelve pm, which just emphasised how excited he was on this particular morning. At ten am, James checked that he had everything and made himself some breakfast. His mother entered the kitchen a few minutes later and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl on the table.

"Your Father would like to speak to you in his study, James." She said, stifling a yawn.

James stood up and walked down the hall to the stairs before climbing to the third floor, where his fathers study, the library, and his parent's room were all located. He knocked softly on the study door.

"Enter." The faint sound of his father's voice drifted through the door.

James pushed open the door to see his father digging through an old chest. He pulled out something silky and shimmering. Upon closer investigation, James noticed that the material flowed, almost as though it were alive. His father held it out for him and James fingered the silvery material in wonder.

"What is it??" He asked voice filled full of awe.

"Put it on." his father suggested.

James threw the material over his head.

"Now look down."

James looked down at his body, only to find it missing. "Woaah. Where did my body go? That's totally wicked!"

"It's an invisibility cloak. This particular cloak has been handed down to the eldest son of the Potter family for generations. Your mother does not wish for me to give this to you, but it is my belief it will be useful for you at school. Please try not to get into too much trouble with it. Also, I would appreciate it if your mother did not find out about this." His father explained.

"Wow! Thanks dad, this is so cool!" James exclaimed, running to his trunk to add the cloak to his possessions. He gently placed it under a pair of black robes. His mother appeared in the entrance hall and they took a portkey that Dumbledore had arranged for them. James hugged his mother and she hugged him back tightly, for a moment it almost seemed like she would cry. When James managed to struggle out of her grip, he was glad to see her eyes were dry. His father embraced him and James smiled, promised to be good and set out for the train, ready to cause all sorts of mischief.

XxXxXxXxXx

A very nervous and excited Remus Lupin was pacing his room, carefully going over a mental checklist. Once he was certain he had everything he slammed the lid of his trunk shut. Dragging the heavy item behind him, he trudged downstairs to eat a small breakfast before departing for the platform. His owl, Hermes, flew through the window, dropping several letters for him and his father on the table, before settling on his cage. Remus sorted the mail, pulling out two letters for himself and setting his fathers mail on the counter. One letter was from his cousin, no doubt wishing him luck about school. Stashing this in his robes so he would have something to do on the train, he turned to the other letter. This letter was curious, with scrawling script and an intricate seal that made Remus suspect it came from a pureblood family. Frowning slightly, he opened the envelope. Unfolding the letter, he scanned it quickly before growling in disgust and tossing it in the fireplace. His father walked in, took a look at the shrivelling note and asked his fuming son quietly, "What was that?"

"That was a letter from my mother. They seem to have found out that I'm going to Hogwarts and are now suddenly interested in my future." Remus said glaring at the letter. "She wanted to arrange a meeting, but I am not willing to do that. She doesn't get to just walk back into my life after five years."

"Are you sure Remus? Do you really want to pass up the opportunity to get to know your mother? Are you positive she doesn't deserve another chance?" Daniel asked his son.

"How can you ask that? Do you think she does? She walked out on us when we needed her the most, when I needed her the most. She can't just be here for the easy things, dad." Remus said in a tone that signified 'end of conversation'. "We should probably get going because I would not like to miss the train."

"Alright then, Dumbledore gave us a portkey for us because the floo system gets overloaded on Hogwarts days. Grab your stuff." Daniel replied, dropping the subject for the moment.

Ushering Hermes into his cage, Remus grabbed his trunk and followed his father to the portkey.

Arriving at platform 9 and ¾, Remus gave his father a quick hug goodbye and hurried onto the train, hoping to make some friends and determined to prove that he deserved to be in Hogwarts.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

It was the morning of the first and the Pettigrew house was in turmoil. Peter's trunk had fallen down the stairs and he was frantically trying to gather his stuff, muttering curses under his breath. His father came out of the kitchen to yell at him.

"Hurry up you clumsy, good for nothing, shit for brains. Your going to miss the train you idiot. Faster boy, hurry up!" His father roared.

Peter struggled to find his stuff and his father wasn't helping by yelling at him. His mother appeared at the top of the stairs. She watched for a few seconds before muttering a spell and flicking her wand. All of Peter's belongings flew into the trunk. Peter winced; undoubtedly his mother would pay later for helping him. She walked calmly down the stairs.

"Peter, dear, please get your shoes and cloak on before we are late." His mother requested.

"Sure, mom." Peter said, hurriedly pulling on his shoes and shoving his arms in his cloak.

"Robert, we need to take Peter to the train station immediately. It wouldn't do for his father, the Minister of Magic, to not see his only child off to school, now would it? Come along."

Peter followed his mother and father outside to the car his father always used when he needed muggle transportation. The driver opened the door for them, placed Peters trunk in the back of the car and speeded off, towards Kings Cross train station in downtown London. Arriving at the train station, the driver let them out, loaded Peter's trunk onto a trolley and informed them that he would wait in the car until their return.

Escorted by his parents, Peter stepped through the barrier and onto platform 9 and ¾. The blinding flash of cameras went off and his father, putting on the happy family face, hugged Peter. His mother hugged him tightly, telling him how proud she was and that she had every confidence he would do well. Peter gave her one last wave and stepped onto the train to the flash of cameras, glad to finally be getting away from it all.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Sirius Black's morning started as pleasant as any other, with his dear mother telling him to get his lazy ass out of bed. Sitting up slowly, Sirius checked the time. Groaning because it was only 7:45 which, to any person older than nine and younger than 25, was defiantly too early to be awake and moving, he slipped out of bed and headed to the bathroom. After a nice refreshing shower, he realised what day it was. Feeling wide awake, he collected the few things he had not packed and shoved them in his trunk. Sliding down the banister of the stairs that connected the upper floors to the entrance hall, Sirius arrived at the kitchen door, just in time for breakfast. He sat down at the table, grinning like a maniac. After he ate a satisfying breakfast, satisfying because it was the last one he would be eating in this kitchen for a while, his mother drilled him hard about school.

"You will be on your best behaviour. No foolish pranks or consorting with mudbloods. You are expected to get into Slytherin. Do not disgrace the Black name or embarrass us. Do you understand?" Walburga Black demanded.

"Yes, mother." Sirius muttered. Trust his mother to take the fun out of going to school, not that he was actually planning on following her rules.

"Good, now go upstairs and finish packing. We leave in 20 minutes."

Sirius bolted upstairs, double checked that he had everything and gave his room one last sweep, hiding things he did not wish his family to find. While cleaning, he found a few prank books. Smiling to himself, he shoved them into his trunk. Satisfied that everything of importance was either packed or hidden, Sirius coxed his owl, Boodschapper or Bood for short, who was named after a Dutch word he had seen meaning messenger, into her cage. Sirius dragged his trunk down the stairs. His mother strode into the entrance hall followed by his father and his brother.

"The floo systems are overloaded but since our house was one of the first few connected, we should be alright." His mother said, grabbing the bag of floo powder off the mantle and passing it around.

Each of them took a handful. "Platform 9 and ¾." his mother shouted stepping into the green flames. Sirius and Regulus followed and Orion took up the rear. Sirius' parents said a swift goodbye and went to speak to some pureblood families, leaving Sirius alone with Regulus.

"I'm going to miss you, Sirius." Regulus stated quietly. "Lessons are going to be extremely boring. Good luck and have loads of fun ok?"

"Alright, Reg. Try not to get into too much trouble while I'm gone." Sirius said embracing him quickly before boarding the train, giving him one last wave.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Sirius found his way to an empty compartment. He placed his luggage on the luggage rack and pulled out his prank book. Grinning, he started to plan a prank for his first ever Hogwarts feast. As the train started moving there was a disturbance in the hall. Sirius opened the door to see Lucius Malfoy and his own cousins picking on that boy they did every dinner party they could, the Pettigrew kid. Another boy, one Sirius guessed was about his age, with black messy hair and wire glasses stepped into the hall.

"What the bloody hell is all this noise? I was trying to sleep!" He shouted, glaring to everyone.

Bellatrix turned to glare at the boy. Muttering something to Malfoy and Narcissa, she aimed her wand at him and sent something flying his way, something that sounded like a brutal curse. The boy waited to the last minute before neatly and causally dodging it, throwing a disarming spell back. Taken off-guard, Bellatrix just barely dodged it. She muttered something else to the other two and Malfoy turned to help. Sirius watched from the sideline, quietly calculating everyone's reaction time. Feeling the time was right, he stepped out of the compartment, disarming Narcissa. He then turned around planning on taking Malfoy out; only to turn right into the disarming hex said foe had thrown at him. Sirius made a dive for his wand. Missing, he ended up tackling Malfoy instead. In the distraction, the other boy managed to disarm Bella. Sirius and Malfoy rolled around on the ground throwing punches. The other boy skirted around them, pulling the Pettigrew kid to his feet. Sirius vaguely heard what the black haired kid was saying.

"Potter, James Potter." He said, introducing himself.

"Peter Pettigrew." The other kid said shaking his hand.

The boy, now identified as James Potter nodded his head in Sirius and Malfoy's direction. "Friends of yours?"

"The one with light hair is Lucius Malfoy, the other is Sirius Black." Peter answered. "Black has a deep hatred for Malfoy. It's helped me out a few times. Do you think we should maybe break them up or something?"

"Na… this is more entertaining. It surprises me that the Black kid hates Malfoy. Blacks and Malfoys are usually tight. That Black kid is really kicking ass though…"

Sirius gave Malfoy a few more shots before collecting himself. Pocketing his wand, he returned to his compartment, leaving a bewildered James and Peter, and a very sorry Malfoy and crew, in his wake. James, not being one to back down from a chance at new friends, followed him and Peter, not wanting to be left alone, followed James. Sirius, who had gone back to planning his prank, glared at the intruders. Stashing his book in his robes, he stood up.

"Can I help you with something?" He asked with cold politeness.

"Nope." James answered, flopping down on the opposite seat of the compartment, and beckoning Peter to do the same. "We figured we would join you, because the last compartment I was in was occupied by this greasy-haired, hook-nosed kid that had Slytherin written all over him.

Peter, who had sat down when James had gestured for him to, spoke up quietly. "I never even got to a compartment before I was ambushed by Slytherins."

Sirius grumbled something about having to share and about getting landed with a dumb family with stupid values that were going to get him stuck in a lame house. In the middle of his mumbling rant the compartment door opened again and a sickly looking boy entered the compartment. Looking around, he sat tensely beside Sirius.

"Sorry, everywhere else is full. I'm Remus Lupin." The boy introduced himself, nervously.

"Hey Remus! 'Member me? Peter Pettigrew." Peter said a little relieved to see someone he recognised. James was ok… but he made Peter feel a little awkward. "This is James Potter and the silent, sulky one is Sirius Black."

"Nice ta meet ya, Remus." James replied over Peters excited chattering.

Remus grinned and reached across to shake James' hand. Turning he offered his hand to Sirius. His gesture went ignored, so Remus turned back to James and Peter and they started talking about Hogwarts.

"I wanna be in Gryffindor." James stated. "It's the best house. Both my parents were in Gryffindor."

Peter grinned. "That's where I wanna be too. My mother was a Ravenclaw and my father was in Slytherin. I don't wanna be like him… Knowing me though, I'll probably be in Hufflepuff."

"Gryffindor sounds cool, but I don't think I'm brave enough for that." Remus said quietly. "Ravenclaw sounds alright, so maybe I'll be in there. My parents were both in Ravenclaw."

"I think a lot of the time people end up in the same house there parents were in." James said.

"Great, then I'm stuck in Slytherin." Sirius muttered, making the other three jump. "Not that I was expecting to be sorted elsewhere."

"That's right! I forgot your whole family has been sorted into Slytherin over the years. Muggle haters, aren't you? Why was I stupid enough to come sit with a stupid, muggle hating, pompous, sulky pureblood who happens to be full of himself." James said is a mocking tone.

"Maybe you shouldn't make assumptions, Potter. At least I'm not a self-absorbed, big-headed, egotistical prat who thinks he knows everything." Sirius said maliciously.

James was about to yell back when a girl with auburn hair and two boys with lighter red hair entered the compartment.

"Sorry to bother you," The girl said politely. "but could you please be a bit quieter. There's a girl in the next compartment who is feeling awfully sick."

James couldn't stop staring at this redheaded girl. Peter and Remus traded a look.

"Yea, sure, no problem. Tell her that we are sorry for bothering her." Sirius said quietly.

"Alright, thanks mate." One of the boys said. "By the way, I'm Fabian Prewett."

"Sirius Black. Pleasure to meet you." Sirius said shaking his hand

"Gideon Prewett." The other boy said shaking Sirius' offered hand.

Remus and Peter were in shock. The fact that Sirius was being polite, even nice to someone was shocking.

"Lily Evans." The girl said with a slight smile. "Is there something wrong with your friend?" Lily pointed at James who was almost drooling, his mouth gaping opened.

"Nope, he's just struck dumb at your beauty, my dear Lily." Sirius said with a grin.

"Uhh… yea… you might wanna let him know he's drooling." She said turning to Remus and Peter. "Hi, I'm Lily. Who are you guys?" She asked, sitting down beside Remus. Gideon and Fabian sat down on one side of Peter.

"I'm Remus Lupin, he's Peter Pettigrew and the gaping one is James Potter." Remus answered, half amused. Sirius gave James a nudge.

"Potter, snap out of it. You're drooling all over the floor."

James jumped, shocked out of his daydreams. "Right, sorry."

Sirius pushed him into the empty seat beside Remus. He then went back to planning his prank quietly, listening partially to the others' conversation.

"I don't really know a lot about Hogwarts." Lily was saying, "I'm a muggleborn. I'm kind of worried that I'll be behind everyone else."

"You should probably be careful who you tell about your heritage until after the sorting. Some people have problems with muggleborns." James said quietly, staring at Sirius.

Lily followed his gaze. "Are you saying Sirius has a problem with me?" Lily asked shocked and almost laughing. "Sirius is too nice, I think you're mistaken."

"Yo, Black, do you not have a problem with muggles and muggleborns?" James asked.

"I was raised by people who hate muggles so that I would hate muggles and muggleborns, but I have never believed in judging people by the traits they can't control. You judge too quick, Potter." Sirius replied in a calm, quiet voice.

"See?!? He's not a bad person… At least, I don't think he is." Lily said, smiling.

"Seems like a nice guy to me." Gideon said

"Yea, seems kinda shy and a little quiet but defiantly doesn't have to bad of character" Fabian agreed.

Sirius jotted down a few final things in his prank book before closing it with a snap, grinning triumphantly. He glanced out the window and a little gasp of amazement escaped him. The rest of the crew turned to see what was worthy of a gasp from Sirius and this time James wasn't the only one shocked speechless.

"Oh wow! It's so pretty," Lily murmured quietly. The others uttered words of agreement as the train slowed to a stop. An announcement rang through the compartments. "We have arrived at Hogsmead station. Please leave your baggage in the racks, it will be sent to your living quarters later. Please exit in an orderly fashion. Thank you for your time, you may now step onto the platform."

Their group, containing Lily, James, Peter, Remus, Sirius and the Prewett twins, stepped off the train.

"First years, this way! Come on first years." A man, entirely too large, called out to the first years.

"Woah… he's very big… kinda intimidating…" Lily muttered under her breath to Gideon.

"That's Hagrid. He's the grounds master at Hogwarts. My mother says he's harmless." Fabian whispered as they followed the big man towards the lake.

Once they reached the lake, the group split up. Gideon, Fabian and Lily left to find the girl they were originally riding with and James, Remus, Peter and Sirius entered a boat.

"Joy… do I really have to ride with you people?" Sirius muttered his protest half-heartedly. He would never admit it, but he enjoyed the company.

"Unfortunately for us, there are no other boats free." James muttered back.

"Great… I have to ride with a bigheaded, stuck up prat all the way to the castle? This just isn't my day." Sirius muttered back, as the boats started moving.

James and Sirius continued to argue, until James said something that he shouldn't have.

"You just think your soo great don't you Sirius fucking Black? Think your soo wonderful cause you come from a "supreme" pureblood family, don't you? Well Black, I have news for you… Your family is SHIT, and you're probably the worst out of them… the heir to the great Black name. You're just like every other murdering scumbag out there."

"You're wrong Potter. Don't even pretend to know me… and don't pretend you're any better. You walk around with your nose so far in the air, it's a surprise you don't walk into walls. Don't judge me, Potter." Sirius said, making the boat rock because he had practically jumped to his feet when James had started.

Standing up, James gave Sirius a push. "Don't think I believed a word you said to that girl in the compartment. You totally believe that pureblood bullshit. You're just a sad, pathetic, weak-willed fool who believes anything his parents tell him. You make me sick."

Remus knew James had pushed Sirius too far. Sirius seemed done with words as he punched James in the face. James stood shocked for a moment before pushing Sirius hard. Sirius toppled over the side, grabbing James shirt in the process. The two hit the surface of the lake with a resounding splash. It was a miracle that nobody noticed. Sirius surfaced a moment later. Remus glanced around, looking for James, as Sirius swam for the boat. When he didn't see James anywhere, he started to panic.

"Sirius… SIRIUS! James didn't surface," Remus yelled at Sirius.

"Serves him right, the prat, pushing me in like that." Sirius grumbled.

"Sirius… what if he can't swim? Maybe you should see if you can find him? What if he drowns? Oh my god… James is gonna die." Remus was in a full blown panic attack.

"Alright, sheesh, calm down… I'm sure he's fine. I don't even like him. Why should I look for him?" Sirius grumbled.

"You're already wet, and I'm not a good swimmer. Besides, if he really is drowning, would you be able to live with the guilt of being able to save him but not?" Remus said still freaking out a little.

"Fine, fine… I'll go look for the idiot." Sirius answered, looking around.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

James landed in the water with a splash. He swam upwards and broke the surface of the water, taking a deep breath. He was swimming towards the boat when he got dragged down. He looked down at his leg and saw a large tentacle wrapped around it. That tentacle had to belong to something huge and that thought was making James panic. He struggled as hard as he could; hoping Remus and Peter had noticed he was missing. He continued to fight as it pulled him deeper and deeper. Just when he thought he was going to die, he felt a hand grab his shirt and pull. Looking up at the person the hand belonged to, he was surprised to see the person he least expected to save him. Sirius Black was making hand signals. He pointed to James then upwards before pointing to himself then James leg and the tentacle. James nodded and started swimming upwards a strong as he could but he was running out of air fast. Sirius was dealing with the tentacle that was trying to kill him. A few seconds later, when James was about to give up, the pressure on his leg let up and Sirius was pulling him to the surface. Dragging him over to the boat, Sirius took in great gulps of air and shoved James towards the obnoxiously waiting Remus and Peter. Heaving himself into the boat, they continued on as if nothing happened. Sirius, the master of many tricks, used a drying spell on himself and James before collapsing in a heap, completely worn out.

"Anyone got any food? That swim made me starving." Sirius asked.

James and Remus stared at each other, slightly confused. Sirius Black was defiantly a strange kid.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Authors Note: Sorry guys... took a little longer than I wanted and I didnt really like the ending... but hey. its here! I have the next 2 chapters written except for a few parts that I'm having a little trouble on. I hope you all enjoy the chapter. Feel free to point out any mistakes.

Ta, Swordy