I do not own Harry Potter, I do not own the Marauders, nor do I own the Hogwarts Express (sadly).
This chapter is dedicated to HalfBloodBanana
Sirius chuckled as he flopped down onto the seat beside James, enjoying the frustrated look on Remus' face as he attempted to explain (again) some aspect of something or other. (Sirius had never been paying attention. That was probably part of what had Moony so irritated.) Prongs wasn't paying attention either, staring out the window with the blank look on his face that Sirius had come to learn meant that he was trapped in memories of the events of the summer. Being the sensitive, caring friend that he was, Sirius remedied the situation by kicking one of the crutches into Prongs' ankle with enough force that the Ravenclaws in the next compartment over were probably able to hear the resulting crack.
Prongs startled of course, but came back to where they were and what was going on pretty quickly, (that was getting better) and, after throwing Sirius a completely undeserved glare, was caught up in a discussion with Wormtail about different exciting things that had happened on the train in the past.
He himself had gathered a large collection of memories of the Hogwarts Express over the years.
Last year on the way home for Christmas vacation, (Or rather, to the Potter's home. Like hell was he going to spend Christmas at the Grim Old Place ever again.) Peter had blown the largest bubble they had ever seen (it had taken four and a half sticks of Drooble's) and then promptly gotten it stuck in Narcissa's hair (On accident, but it was still awesome. Anything that messed with Little Miss Priss was awesome.)
James had first asked Evans out on the Express. It was the end of second year and it hadn't gone too well. (It had been hilarious, who knew that shade of purple even existed.)
On their way to Hogwarts in second year, Remus had held a concert in their compartment. Remus really could play the violin very well, even when he'd been twelve, and it had been a nice change from listening to James ramble on about Evans or Peter ramble on about anything and everything. (Or, Remus said later when Sirius voiced this opinion, Sirius ramble on about anything and nothing. Mr. Padfoot chooses to ignore this statement.)
It was on the Hogwarts Express that Sirius had finally broken down and admitted to the other Marauders just how bad his home life was. (After Remus had set up about a dozen different privacy spells.)
In Fourth year, on their way back to Hogwarts from Christmas vacation, James and the younger two McKinnon sisters (Elaine and Marlene) had gotten into some sort of competition in which they spoke with very (very, very) strong brogues and tried (and succeeded) to confuse the others. Sirius had tried to join in but the three highlanders had just laughed at his attempts. (So had Moony and Wormtail. Traitors.)
It was on the Hogwarts Express that Sirius had kissed his first girl. (He was thirteen, she was a fourteen year old Ravenclaw. It had been a disaster. Not that he would ever admit that.)
It was on the Hogwarts Express that he first cursed Bella. (And Merlin's beard did that ever feel good! It didn't make up for all those years of…everything, but it did help.)
He and James had even managed to get the earliest detention ever on the Hogwarts express. They had accidentally pranked the head boy and girl in third year. (They had been aiming for the Hufflepuffs next door. They weren't stupid enough to deliberately target the only two people on the train with the power to hand out detentions. Moony and Wormtail had nearly laughed themselves sick.)
But the best memory of all, Sirius mused as he watched Wormtail trying to tug Moony's book away from him (He was using it as a shield to block the crutch that Prongs was trying to whack him with.) was his very first one. The very first person he had ever met outside of the Black's supremacist circles. His very best Hogwarts Express memory, was meeting James Potter.
It had changed his life after all.
And here is the second chapter! Hopefully this fic will get less introspective and have more action as I gain confidence. For this one, I apologize for all of the parentheses. Sirius' mind goes on even more tangents than mine does.
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