first year - the potters
James and Peter had been best friends since before they could walk. Their mothers had become close friends once they were expecting their first child, and every holiday since had been spent together. The Pettigrews and Potters had been a conjoined family since their boys got along so well. No one was more excited than their mothers when the boys got their Hogwarts letters, and the families once again joined together in their hunt for school supplies, and as they celebrated an early birthday for Peter, despite his protests. He had a trunk stuffed full of sweets, that was for sure. James and Peter walked onto the train, waving goodbye to the pair of parents standing next to each other.
They had entered a mostly full carriage, spotting an empty section and running over to steal the spots. They hadn't noticed the small boy sitting by the window until the door was flung open by the taller, dark-skinned boy. James took all of two seconds to introduce himself to Remus, extending his hand to shake the other boys'. both James and Peter sat down, talking to the other boy, only pausing to wave at all their parents as the train left the platform. They had only begun to discuss the Hogwarts houses, James and Peter hoping to be in the same, as they weren't new to sharing a room, with the amount of sleepovers held as they grew up. Their conversation was interrupted by the door sliding open once more, revealing a good-looking boy that they had noticed on the platform, alongside the scariest witch James thought he had ever seen in his life.
"None of you are related to me, are you?" the boy jokes, "Don't think so," James replied, grinning. "James. James Potter."
"Potter?! Oh good, Father told me not to talk to you," The long-haired boy slung his bag up into the overhead compartment, and sat down next to the quiet boy who had been sitting alone in the carriage.
The sorting ceremony had been a dream, James felt like he was floating when he, Peter, Sirius, and Remus had all been placed into the same house. He ignored the slight terror in the back of Sirius' eyes as he was sorted, the tension creeping into his shoulders before he skipped down to the Gryffindor table with his new friends. James scribbled a letter to his mum about his house, reminding himself to send it up to the owlery the next morning.
That had been slightly forgotten, in the chaos that pursued the following morning. James had always been an early riser, being dressed and ready for his first day of school, allowing time for him to convince Peter, and by extension Sirius, out of bed in the morning. The night before, the boys had called dibs on their beds, James and Peter sharing one side, Sirius and Remus the other. It was funny to James how it had matched their seating on the carriage.
James and his best friend shared an excited look as they slipped on their ties, buttoned up their shirts to the utmost button (for the first and only time ever), put on their robes, and walked down to the Great Hall that their Hogwarts lives had begun in. Sirius managed to get out of bed in time, still doing up his tie as they walked down, with about three buttons askew. Remus had already been in and out of their dorm and waited for the three boys in a spot at the breakfast table. As James shared his plans to send his letter to his mother that morning, Owls swept through the open windows, delivering last-minute books, supplies, and thoughtful letters from parents.
A tall dark owl swooped over the boy's head, dropping a letter directly onto Sirius' plate, thankfully missing the pile of toast he had already built. The boy stared at the envelope like it was on fire, and James had only understood once he saw the letter open itself, and transform into a sour face, projecting the screeching voice matching that witch at the train station just the day before.
Her cruel words were ringing in James' head the whole morning afterwards. An angry Walburga Black had made her point that Sirius was a disgrace to the family, and his cousins would keep a close eye on him if he continued to decide to disappoint their family. James couldn't understand how Sirius brushed off the terrifying howler and stares of every person in the great hall and continued to eat up the toast stacked on his plate.
The next few weeks had been spent a little shaken, the boys quickly figured out when Sirius was walking the hallways alone, his relatives and other Slytherins had a tendency to bother him. It worked well that the four were never really separated, but James made the extra precaution to make sure his friend never walked alone.
The weeks of their first term flew by, and soon enough Christmas had made its way to Hogwarts. The boys were to split up for the two week break, over the 22nd to the 5th, just after New years day. James and Peter were to arrive back home, and the Potter and Pettigrews would spend the Christmas by the Potter House fire, and whiz their brooms around the back yard. Now they had some flying classes, all James wanted to do was practise to make the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Peter, as usual, was content to tag along on his antics, and the boys spent their afternoons flying in the brisk temperatures, being forced inside when it began to snow too much.
James thought of his two new friends, which he had dutifully told his parents all about. Even Fleamont slightly grimaced at the idea of Walburga, having known her from his time at school. "Never a nice one, she was. I can't believe she would have kids." Euphemia would slightly tut at all the cheek the boys had been up to, his father would snicker at their antics, slightly egging the boys on. James never really stopped thinking of how Sirius and Remus were, the boys having to deal with crazy matriarchs, and Remus staying at school, despite his mother's sickness that he couldn't quite understand. Euphemia was a healer, and James had grown up thinking magic could fix anything. It hurt his heart to think about a sickness that couldn't be healed, as he had asked his mother all about it in a letter he would send home at least weekly, and his mother had to explain the complexities of muggle diseases, and how not everything could be fixed. Not only that, he couldn't imagine harm coming to his own mother, and felt terrible that his best mate was going through the festive season feeling like that, and alone in the school building, not even spending the holidays with his parents.
He vowed to send letters to his friends every other day, sitting at the dining table, or by the warm fire with the Potter's cats, taking turns with Peter to ask questions about their day to day life, and recount their adventures. Funnily enough, they never received replies from Sirius, only getting an owl back from Remus every other couple of days, commenting on the fun and mischief they were up to, and the quiet halls of Hogwarts now that they had been at home. Still, they sent their letters out anyway, hoping their friends could read them.
The days flew by, and soon enough, their parents were organising the big Potter and Pettigrew new years eve party, the countdown until school closing up to only 5 or 6 more days.