Sirius looked at King's Cross with a churning in his stomach and - dare he say - the slightest twinge of fear.

"Sirius?" asked his father. "Sirius, are you alright?"

"Yes Father," said Sirius, trying to be calm. "I'm fine. I'm a Black."

"Here we are," said his father. "Platform 9 3/4."

"It's great!" said Sirius, smiling. He looked at the brick wall and stared for a moment. Once he passed through that wall, he would be going to Hogwarts. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was almost too much to take in.

"Sirius?" asked his father. "Sirius, are you alright? Just run into the wall."

Even if that sounded completely ridiculous, Sirius gave a dry nod and prepared himself. Grabbing his trunk, he ran at top speed, hitting and passing through the brick wall to find himself at a busy train stop.

He saw a redheaded girl standing next to a boy with a hooked nose, but forced himself to ignore them, holding his head up high and walking towards the train.

"Bye Dad!" called Sirius.

"Atta boy!" shouted his father. "Have fun at Hogwarts!"

Sirius pulled his trunk onto the train and turned his head to the left, feeling like someone was watching him.

A bespectacled boy stared at him. Sirius mentally noted his hair was a mess and the right part of his glasses was practically being held on the inside of his ear, but that wasn't important at the moment.

"I'm James Potter," said the boy, and Sirius let out a sigh of relief. Potter was a pureblood name.

"I'm Sirius."

"I understand you're a serious person, but I thought you were going to tell me your name."

"My name is Sirius. Like the Dog Star."

"Siriusly?"

James and Sirius cracked up, and Sirius couldn't help but smile longer than the joke had lasted. Maybe Hogwarts wouldn't be so bad after all.

They quickly found a empty compartment and talked in the corner for a few minutes, not bothering to acknowledge the crying redheaded girl that came in. They liked the same band, the Moody Blues, and both had a less than complementary opinion of the pop singer Jessamine Jones.

"I mean, her songs are terrible." said Sirius.

"One True Love?" responded James. "Gag me with a stick."

The hook-nosed boy Sirius had seen on the platform came into their compartment and began talking to the redheaded girl, but neither James nor Sirius paid any attention to their conversation until the boy mentioned Slytherin.

"Slytherin?" asked James. "Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

He directed this question to Sirius, who winced.

"My whole family have been in Slytherin," he said, offended.

"Blimey," said James. "And I thought you seemed all right!"

Sirius grinned, although it wasn't easy considering he had just thought of his mum's crime. "Maybe I'll break the tradition. Where are you headed if you've got the choice?"

James lifted a invisible sword. "Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart! Like my dad."

The hook-nosed boy snorted, and James wheeled on him.

"Got a problem with that?"

At that moment James reminded Sirius of himself, ready to strike if someone insulted his family.

"No," said the boy, sneering. "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy-"

This is going to get ugly, thought Sirius.

"Where are you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?"

It was a split second decision, but it seemed to work. James roared with laughter and the girl glared at them in dislike, her face flushed.

"Come on Severus, let's find another compartment," she snapped.

"Oooo..." said Sirius. "Come on Severus, let's find another compartment!" he said in a high-pitched voice.

The boy and girl stood, James trying to trip the boy as they passed.

"See you, Snivellus!" shouted James as the compartment door slammed.

"Snivellus?" asked Sirius.

"Some boys in my neighborhood use it as a insult," shrugged James.

And so their friendship began.

Author's Note: Did you like that chapter? Is it okay that it's longer? By the way, JK Rowling, don't sue me, these characters belong to JK Rowling and I did use parts of the dialogue in the Prince's Tale. Next chapter is the Sorting! And you'll see some OCs who are 'filler characters' (one of Sirius's girlfriends, the boy who does something, etc.) Stay tuned for that! Flames will be fed to my dragon.