"Sirius, have you got everything?" asked Mrs Potter.
"Yes", said Sirius.
"James? What about you?" he heard her ask her son over the noisy crowd clambering onto the scarlet steam engine.
"Yeah Mum, don't worry", said James as Mrs Potter gave him a big hug, "Gerroff Mum, I need to go".
Sirius smiled at his friend's embarrassment as Mrs Potter turned to him.
"Sirius, dear, don't get into too much trouble, and don't do anything too dangerous", she said to him.
"Why would I do something like that?" Sirius joked, before giving Mrs Potter, the closest person he had to a mother, a hug and saying good bye.
Sirius helped push James's trunk up onto the train, receiving help from Mr Potter with his own trunk. This would be the last time he started a new Hogwarts year and he was feeling strangely nostalgic. He and James reached their compartment, where Remus and Peter were already sitting, along with the Prewett twins.
"Hey everybody!" said Sirius cheerfully.
"Ready for another exciting year?" asked James sarcastically, "Full of exams and study and homework, as well as our N.E.W.T.s!"
"Not really", said Gideon.
"By the way", said James, "I'm Head Boy!"
"No way!" exclaimed the twins together.
"Yes way", replied Sirius, "We couldn't exactly believe it ourselves. Of course, we expected Remus to get it. He's been bitter ever since he found out-"
"Shut up Sirius", said Remus snappily, "I'm very happy for James, maybe now he will become more mature".
"Not a chance of that!" said James excitedly, "Now that I run the place, I can do what ever I like, whenever I like, and however I want to do it".
"Not likely", said Remus quietly.
The compartment grew quiet. Sirius noticed that the twins looked happy and somewhat excited, and had the air of people waiting to tell some news.
"We forgot to write", burst out Fabian.
"But Molly's had the baby!" announced Gideon.
"And it's a little boy-"
"Named Percy", he finished after Fabian.
"Percy! What a- um- pretty name", said Sirius sheepishly.
"That's great!" James congratulated them.
"Another boy. Is that their third?", asked Remus.
"Sure is, I think Molly had been hoping for a girl", elaborated Fabian.
"Her and Arthur are thrilled either way", smiled Gideon.
"Nearly forgot!" Remus remarked, looking at his battered wrist watch "James, we have to go."
"What?" asked James.
"To the prefect meeting", explained Remus, "Now that you're Head Boy, you have to come as well."
"What! Oh well", James grumbled, "Better get going for the goody-two-shoes convention".
"Have fun!" called Sirius as James followed Remus out of the compartment.
"We told Frank we'd go and give him the latest issue of Which Broomstick", said Fabian.
"Bye", said Gideon.
Sirius was left sitting all alone in the compartment with Peter, who was looking through his trunk for something. He kept moving his clothes around, searching.
"What are you looking for, Wormtail?" Sirius inquired.
"My sandwiches", sighed Peter, "Mum said I had to pack some from James's house, and that I couldn't have anything from the trolley."
"Not to worry, Pete", said Sirius, "I'll get you something."
"But I'm hungry now, and their corn beef, my favourite", Peter explained.
"Fine, give your trunk here, I'll help", Sirius moved so that he knelt beside the trunk on the floor.
He began to rummage through Peter's school trunk with the aid of his small friend. There was soon a mess of socks and school robes inside the trunk, and a portion of that spread on the floor. There was no sign of Peter's sandwiches anywhere, and just as Sirius was about to give up, a warm, bread-like something touched his left hand. Sirius grabbed his friend's sandwiches and reefed them out from underneath the large Herbology volume they had been wedged beneath. The sandwich was freed, and as Sirius brought it from the trunk, it sailed out of his hands, through the air, and out of the compartment doorway. Outside the compartment someone let out a small yell of surprise.
Peter and Sirius looked at each other, worried about who they might of hit with their delicious projectile. Sirius stood up, brushed a stray sock from his leg, and moved cautiously out of the compartment. In the compartment opposite him, someone was bending over, examining what he suspected to be Peter's sandwiches on the ground. The person in question was a girl, wearing a dark blue T-shirt with the Six Jinxes logo on the back. Sirius instantly recognised Ariella Hartley.
"Sorry about that", he said to her back.
"What- Oh, Sirius, it's you", Ariella turned around, startled.
"And that was Peter's sandwich, do you mind if I have it back?" Sirius asked.
"Sure", Ariella picked up the sandwiches from the empty compartment into which they had flown, and handed the to him, "I've never been one for corn beef, and besides, it hit me in the face."
"Merlin, sorry, that was me", Sirius apologised.
"No, no, I'm sure I'll get over it," Ariella said, "Why where you throwing a sandwich around anyway."
"Well obviously I didn't mean to", Sirius began, "Peter had lost them in his trunk, and I was helping him look, and I found it, grabbed it out, and sort of let go."
"I see.." Ariella said, looking into Sirius's compartment.
Peter was inside, packing things back into his trunk. As Ariella peered through the door, Sirius was distracted by the light in her hair, which was down around her shoulder's for once. She looked pretty, more carefree than usual.
"Sirius?" Ariella asked him, snapping him to attention, "You do realise you could have just used a Summoning Charm, don't you?"
Realising his own stupidity, Sirius laughed. Ariella and Peter did too, and Sirius could not help but notice the crinkles around Ariella's eyes as she laughed.
"I need to go, sorry", Ariella said, adjusting her brown shoulder bag, "I was actually on my way to meeting Kass down the other end of the train."
"Better let you get going then", Sirius said happily, standing to one side of the corridor to let her pass.
"See you", Ariella gave him a small smile, which nevertheless managed to light up her warm blue eyes.
The brown haired girl walked away down the train's corridor, and Sirius watched her go, the light still igniting her hair, making look as if it where gold.
When he returned to his compartment, Sirius realised he had failed to notice James and Remus return from their Prefect meeting. Remus was taking a book out of his trunk, and Peter was sitting patiently, still waiting for his sandwiches.
"Here you go, Wormtail", Sirius said, throwing the food to his friend, who began to unwrap and eat it at once.
As Sirius sat down opposite Remus, he noticed that James had a glazed look in his eye. He seemed far away, yet happy nonetheless.
"What happened to him?" asked Sirius, bewildered.
"What happened, was the Head Girl", said Remus.
"He finally found someone he loves more than Evans?" Sirius was shocked.
"No! The Head Girl is Lily", said Remus exasperatedly.
"Oh, well, I can believe that", said Sirius, it was fair enough.
"It's great", James smiled, his mind returning to the compartment, "I really think Evans will do a good job at this."
"Of course you do," Sirius sighed.
"No, I mean it", James defended himself, "I really think she'll do some good for the school, not like the last two, they were shocking."
"James is right", Remus piped up, "Lily's sensible, but she's passionate too, she'll get the job done."
"You'll be great too, James", Peter said, taking a break from his sandwich.
"I don't know Pete", James looked slightly doubtful, "I think I might need to try a fair bit to be that good. I will try though."
James's gaze drifted back out to the sunny landscape beyond the carriage window, a slightly furrowed brow replacing his earlier daze. Peter began to munch on his corn beef sandwich in quiet contention, and Remus opened his book and began reading, his caramel eyes moving quickly from side to side, devouring the words. Sirius looked out at the green hills, stained golden by the afternoon sun, the same light that had tangled itself in Ariella's long hair. Sirius found it strange that he could not stop thinking about the image of her blue eyes and hair in the sunshine. He felt warm inside too, happy from his earlier encounter from her. He suddenly came to notice his tiredness, and drifted into a soft sleep.