A/N- All characters and locations belong to JKR. Enjoy :)
When James Potter had been sorted into Gryffindor in his first year, he'd never felt so proud in his life. Like his father before him, and his grandfather, there had never been a Potter in any other house.
Luckily, his newfound friend, Sirius Black, had been sorted along with him. The other boys- Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and Frank Longbottom, were all good blokes whom he knew he'd get along with.
As he followed the Gryffindor Prefect to his new home, he beamed, both inwardly and outwardly. His house was known for courage, and his mother had always told him he was brave.
Sirius Black fell in step beside him, looking at him with a silly grin on his face. James' new friend had explained his fear of being placed in Slytherin house on the train ride in. Much like the Potters, the Blacks had a history of being placed in one house. Sirius, being one of the white sheep of the Black family, had been ecstatic to not follow through with the legacy of his ancestors.
Remus Lupin, one of the other boys he'd befriended on the train, walked close to the Prefect. James was surprised the small, sandy haired boy wasn't stepping on the older boys heels.
Peter Pettigrew stood by the back of the group, looking around at everything around him, a shocked expression on his face.
The final person he'd met on the train that had been sorted into his group walked just in front of James, her dark red hair bouncing slightly as she made her way up the stairs.
"Watch your step, the false stair has already had a few victims today," called the Prefect attempting to catch the attention of the first years, most of whom had become intrigued by the moving paintings lining the stairs.
James watched as Lily's bouncing slowed to a more cautious climb up the stairs, one at a time. He'd never seen a girl with red hair like that before though. And it had seemed like she hadn't liked him on the train.
James and Sirius had burst into her cabin, collapsing into the seats before realising they weren't alone. Having only known each other for about half an hour, James and Sirius had begun a game of "let's see how much candy we can sweet-talk out of the candy-cart lady." They'd been doing pretty well until she had noticed Sirius pocketing a Chocolate frog. They'd run at that point, looking for empty compartments., eventually collapsing into their current location.
James looked from the red headed girl to her companion, and dark haired boy with a hooked nose and an unpleasant expression. He'd never seen either child before, and he was interested. He lowered himself into an extravagant bow, introducing himself.
"Good afternoon sirs and madams, I'm James Potter, Gryffindor House, and this is Sirius Black, my brother. " Sirius went along with the act and waved regally.
The girl shot him a confused look. The hooked nose boy with the unpleasant face raised his eyebrows. "Well how do you know what house you're in already- Potter, is it? The sorting ceremony isn't until school."
James just grinned. "Well isn't it obvious? Gryffindor is obviously the best house! Brave, determined and courageous! I know I'm going to be in Gryffindor. Everyone else in my family is. It would be rather stupid not to be in it, wouldn't it? It's not like I'd be put in Slytherin. Who'd want that?" The boy looked at the red haired girl.
"Lily. It seems we have unwanted companions. Do you want me to report it to somebody?" Lily looked at James.
"Snape and I would like you to leave now please. I don't know what you've said, but it seems you've said something offensive." With that, the girl stood up and shooed the two boys out of the compartment.
Sirius looked at James as they walked through the corridor, looking for a new one to hide in. The candy lady was nowhere to be found. "She must be muggleborn, not knowing what houses are." He said, opening up a compartment to find some older kids in it already.
"Yeah. I guess. It's weird meeting somebody like that. Everybody I've met has come from a wizarding family. What did you think of that boy she was with? The one with the unfortunate looking everything?" James returned, waving to some kids as he closed their door.
Sirius laughed. "I can tell you two won't be getting along. He seemed like the serious type to me. Like he'd be in Slytherin. Now I really hope I'm not in his house. I'd much rather be with you in Gryffindor House- oh here's one. There are just two blokes in here." James joined his friend in the doorway to the compartment, where two wide eyed boys stared back at them. The sandy-haired boy on the left held a thick book open on his lap. Looking up at the two new strangers, through shaggy bangs, he nodded at them. "I'm Lupin, Remus Lupin. It's nice to meet you."
The boy on the right, also blonde, sat had been munching on a wrapped sandwich, presumably from his mother. "I'm Peter Pettigrew. You can sit down if you'd like. There's still quite a bit of time left till we get there." James and Sirius had sat down, and the four boys had talked all of the way to school, where they'd been sorted into the same house. Snape had, of course been sorted into Slytherin, where to Lily's dismay, she had not been placed. Instead, Lily had been sorted into the same house as the four boys.
And now, she paid no attention to James and Sirius as they walked behind her towards the Common Room. Why doesn't she like me? She's in Gryffindor… it's not like I insulted her or anything. James explained the situation to Sirius, who nodded and told him to run after her.
James easily caught up with Lily, who looked at him and rolled her eyes. "What do you want?" James thought this unfair.
"I want you to be nicer to me- what was your name? Evans?" He continued after she answered. "I'd like to know what I did to make you not want to talk to me." James looked at Lily, who stared back at him with large green eyes.
"Nothing." Lily's response was short and simple. And it confused James even more. He slowed down for a moment, then looked at Sirius, who shot him an encouraging look, motioning with his hands at Lily's back.
"Then we can be friends?" He asked as he reached her side again. Lily thought hard about this before shaking her head. "Well," he continued, "I don't need your permission to talk to you. You don't need to respond." James had run out of things to say. It didn't make sense to him that someone didn't want to be his friend. He adjusted his glasses, and looked around, trying to find something to talk about.
"Hey, erm, our outfits… they match…your hair! Look at that coincidence! That's…funny." James heard a laugh from behind him as Sirius eavesdropped on his very one-sided conversation. He turned around and shot his friend a look. Lily took this chance for escape, running up to walk with Lupin and the Prefect.
James walked back to Sirius, mumbling grumpily for the rest of the day.
