James stepped off the platform onto the train, shutting the door behind him hesitantly; it was his last ride on the Hogwarts Express and he planned to savour every moment on that train. It was where most of his happy memories had taken place; there was only one Hogwarts Express and only several times you would sit inside its compartments. Everything would flash past in a blink of an eye and then those seven years would be gone.

He shook his head, turning away from the window and beginning his trek down the corridor, tugging his trunk along behind him. James pushed past several groups of students before he found their compartment.

The four Marauders had all first met in that same compartment he was standing in front of now. All of them had come to Hogwarts without friends, without knowing anyone. His parents had been older ones who attended tea parties with people like old Bathilda Bagshot, who lived two miles down the road; Sirius had been kept from the outside world because his parents feared he would not love the Dark Arts like they had and, because they lived in a muggle square, they would not have him mixing with muggles; Remus had been cursed cruelly at a young age and it was only by chance he had even been able to attend Hogwarts, let alone see the world itself; and Peter had muggle parents and had never seen anyone in the magical world or met anyone.

"Prongs!" announced a jovial voice, and James found himself broken out of his musings when a hand shot through the compartment door and yanked him roughly inside. He laughed as Sirius plonked him down beside a disgruntled looking Remus, whose book had been knocked to the floor. "You finally made it! We thought you were late or something."

Remus shook his head, picking up his book as James grinned around at his friends. "How was your summer, James?" said Remus, putting the book inside his rucksack with a small smile.

James grinned at his two best friends, folding his hands behind his head as he kicked his legs up on the bench opposite. "Good. Mum and Dad were out too much – St Mungo's was crazy according to Mum, and the Auror Department was working overtime for Dad. I was pretty much left alone with the house elves, but they didn't seem to mind much."

"No summer could be worse than mine," said Sirius, suddenly becoming very gloomy. "I had a row with mother again – she tried to make me join the Death Eaters again, and then I ran away."

Shocked faces met his statement, every jaw dropped as they stared at the despairing man across from them. "I've got an apartment in central London; it's far enough away that they won't find me again and close enough to Potter Manor that I can Floo there in a matter of seconds."

Shakily, both boys nodded, looking each other in the eye before turning their worried gaze towards the nonchalantly grinning boy. The wide grin on his face didn't quite reach his eyes, however. "Are you sure about this, Sirius? You're always welcome at our house," said James, Remus nodding in agreement.

"Yeah," said the dog Animagus, turning his gaze to the window before quickly changing the subject. "So the Quidditch Cup this Christmas break? Who's playing?"

Remus and James exchanged looks, knowing that, if they pushed Sirius further, he would snap at them, and decided to let the subject drop. "The Irish versus the French," responded James immediately, shifting uncomfortably.

He and his friends spent the train ride playing Exploding Snap, which resulted in Remus losing one eyebrow and Sirius to lose two inches of hair. James sat back as the train's brakes screeched to a halt, grinning smugly at his friends as they grumbled and lifted his trunks. He silently thanked his cleverness when it came to building the stakes.

The three jumped off the train as one, James messing up his hair as Sirius grinned and Remus winked wolfishly at the girls nearby, causing them to giggle and flip their hair as they admired them appreciatively.

They gave the Gamekeeper, Hagrid, a wave and enthusiastic grins before they sprinted right past the carriages they had meant to sit inside. Remus quickly pulled ahead, tugging Sirius behind him.

"Come on, Prongs!" yelled Sirius, looking pleased that his best friend had decided to pull him ahead. James rolled his eyes and sped up, pushing past Sirius, who looked quite put out.

The carriages had begun to trundle up the hill, but the boys reached the doors before they could. "Ha!" said Remus triumphantly as the trio noticed the rain begin to trickle down upon the heads of the other students.

A group of second year Hufflepuff's sidled past them, looking nervous, but the boys just grinned at them and let them past; the doors weren't open anyway.

James ran a hand through his hair as he turned towards the doors, just as they opened into the smiling face of Flitwick. He squeaked to them, looking mildly annoyed, "You ran here again, didn't you?"

The trio nodded in unison, giving him identical mischievous grins as he sighed and, with difficulty, held the doors open to let them in.

Hermione pulled the hood over her head, swallowing nervously. She had agreed to be sorted in front of the whole school, but now... well, she was regretting all of that Gryffindor bravery that damned hat had told her she had. Hermione felt the doors open behind her and turned around, facing the school and taking a shaky step forward.

It seemed that every eye in the hall had turned to her collectively. She gulped again, taking a few steps forward. Confidence suddenly filled her as she passed the Ravenclaw table, and she threw the hood back off her face. Hermione strode over to the stool, her steps filling the hall and echoing slightly in the alcoves of the room itself.

As she sat on the stool, she felt a voice in her head and the hat being lowered on top of it. "Hello again, Miss Granger. I seem to have met you before, according to your thoughts." Hermione nodded, not trusting her voice much, but the hat continued, "You have attributes that all houses would value, dear girl, but the thing you seem to value most is your courage and bravery. Because of this, Godric seems to have won yet again... Gryffindor!"

She sighed with relief and handed the hat to McGonagall, giving the older witch a smile and a quick thanks before joining the first years. If she sat anywhere else, she feared she might be cornered by older students. Thankfully, the first years just preferred to ignore her presence altogether and spoke to each other as if they hadn't know she was sitting with them, and for that she was very thankful.

Hermione's eyes unconsciously flickered down the table, noting the considerable loss of red hair the House had once prided itself on. She sighed and looked down at her plate, knowing she would have to stay healthy in order to properly be fit enough to take on the Dark Lord. Ha, he'd better wait until I get my hands on him... She gave a small chuckle at her own thoughts, sighing as she swallowed a forkful of potato.

Her eyes met a pair of curious hazel ones and she shifted in her seat, not daring to move more. James Potter gave her a small smile and quick wave before punching the boy next to him, who reminded her very much of her third year DADA Professor. Hermione smiled and returned to dinner.

It was not long before she felt another pair of eyes on her, and she immediately looked up and into a pair of smoky grey eyes. Sirius Black smirked at her, obviously thinking he had managed to make her swoon, but she unnerved him further by smirking back.

She stood up and pushed her plate away, pulling her hood up again as she left the Great Hall, not even thinking about it until she found herself in front of Evanna, who smiled at her.

"Phoenix," she murmured, not trusting her voice to say much more, and the portrait swung forward to admit her entrance. Hermione collapsed in her bed a few minutes later, feeling as though she had been trampled by a herd of elephants. Her hazel eyes remained wide open as she lay in the dark, musing over yesterday.

"The Marauders," she breathed, finally letting her tears fall. Her best friend's father had looked at her, smiled at her, waved at her. Her best friend's two father figures had grinned at her, smirked at her, smiled at her.

Her insides were emptied a few moments later as she rushed to the bathroom, both looking and feeling sick.

This was going to be very difficult.

A few moments later, the three Marauders had positioned themselves right in the centre of the Gryffindor table as the Hall began to fill. Students narrowly avoided Peeves the poltergeist as he blew raspberries at them, cackling with laughter.

"Hey there, Peeves!" announced Sirius, high-fiving the Fat Friar as he whizzed past. The Grey Lady rolled her eyes and shared brief greetings with them before joining Flitwick for a small chat before the Sorting Ceremony. "This year's going to be the best for us yet," he said, grinning, "I can tell."

Remus nodded, "There is something about the air that seems as if everyone is waiting for something amazing to happen. I think maybe they think we're going to pull a prank." He pulled out a book and propped it against the milk jug, absently resting his chin on the heel of his hand.

"Let the Sorting begin!" announced a voice, and the students turned as one towards the entrance, where the Headmaster stood, beaming at them. He led a group of first years up to where McGonagall stood, her lips pressed in a thin line, with a stool and the hat.

"Abbott, Susan!" announced McGonagall, and the little girl was sorted into Hufflepuff. The trio clapped and cheered louder than anyone whenever a first year joined them, but they weren't really interested in anything but the plates that had been set out before them; when the sorting was over, the plates would magically fill with food that the house elves in the kitchens prepared for them.

When every first year had been sorted, the students turned towards the plates expectantly, but nothing happened. An amused chuckle ran through the hall and each head turned towards Dumbledore, who smiled. "I am sorry to keep you from your food," he said, his eyes twinkling with amusement, "but there is still one more student to join your midst.

"Miss Hermione Granger has transferred here to complete her seventh year at Hogwarts. She has agreed to be sorted in front of the school, which we believe is very brave," his eyes sparkled as he looked at McGonagall, who looked very proud indeed to have met this 'Miss Granger'. "So, without further ado, I present, Hermione Granger!"

When the doors opened, there was no applause. The Great Hall held their breath as a tall figure stepped into the room, their hood drawn over their head. A hand reached up and pulled the hood down, however, when they reached the doorway, and a tanned, beautiful face met their suspicious looks.

Her hair tumbled out of the robe in wild, untamed locks of soft brown, reaching her waist in length. A pair of bright hazel eyes scanned the room carefully before the tanned, warm face's owner stepped into the light.

Hermione Granger walked confidently through the silent hall, her heels clicking loudly against the stones as she reached the stool. She sat down gingerly before the hat was placed upon her tresses, and just as it did, it declared, "Gryffindor!"

James was the first to clap as Hermione Granger sat down at the end of the table with the first years, her eyes twinkling as she scanned the table. Her eyes paused on him for a moment longer than they had done anywhere else and he unconsciously ruffled his hair as his eyes locked hers.

She seemed to be shocked he was there, but she shook herself and turned to her plate, which Hermione Granger had filled with the lightest foods on the table. Sirius eyed her appreciatively as she daintily ate, ever with the grace of a swan.

"Looks like James likes the new girl," said Remus quietly, unable to keep the amusement from his voice and the teasing grin from his face. James rolled his eyes and cleared his throat, shifting uncomfortably.

Sirius smirked as the girl looked at him, but she just smirked back at him before returning to her food.

Yes, it was true. Hermione Granger appeared to be an anomaly not even the Marauders could figure out, decided Remus as he watched her excuse herself and stand to leave the Great Hall, her cloak billowing out behind her.

I'm sorry this is so short, but I had to take some time of school these past few days because I'm not feeling too well. If it's not up to standard, I apologise for that, but I will update in a few days' time, and maybe that will make up for it.

Also, on a completely different note, I will be continuing Ava Miranda Dakedavra's 'The Return Trip' sometime soon. I'll have to somehow download it, and I'd appreciate it if someone could tell me how the heck can I do that before next week's up? I hope you'll enjoy that story just as you have loyally loved this one.

Thank you so much for your support and reviews! I think I cried last night and I saw however many followers and favourites I had :) Now I know how Voldemort felt when he sat in his Death Eater meetings.

A special thank you to Lionswing, who had me wake up and see that James needed introducing, or, quite frankly, you'd miss out on the awesome Marauder's antics. I'm also going to apologise in advance if my version of their pranks is crap, but I have never pulled a prank before in my life, despite my love for them myself. I'm just weird.

Anyway, I won't keep myself any longer - I need to continue on this for all of you! Hope you liked the chapter!

Reviews are always welcome and PMs don't annoy me as much as they should do!

Love,

Marlene.