Trinity

Mae took a deep breath.

She had been here before, but dropping Michael off was a lot different than coming to leave herself.

All of a sudden, the smells, sounds, tastes, everything was new.

The kids running, the smell of coal, the laughter and screams, she was a part of it now.

“Alright, c’mon, let’s get going,” Michael said, dragging Mae behind him.

Their parents were talking to James’ parents, and James was rushing towards the two of them.

“Hey M&M, how are you?” James asked.

Michael grinned.

“Good, are you excited for Hogwarts?” Michael asked.

“Ready to be in the Gryffindor Common Room in a matter of hours,” James replied.

“Shame you two won’t be joining me in Hufflepuff,” Michael said.

“Well now Michael, we aren’t badger material, lions however…” Mae replied.

James nodded, high fiving Mae, and Michael laughed.

“Anyways, other M, how are you?” James asked.

“Ready to become a lion,” Mae said assuredly.

“Alright well I’m off, stay in trouble, see you later,” Michael said, heading off towards a group of older students standing a few feet away.

“I’m almost insulted,” James said with a smirk.

“Why?” Mae asked.

“That he thinks we were ever be out of trouble,” James replied.

Mae grinned and with a quick wave to their parents, they hurried onto the train.

James stuck his head into every compartment, before settling on one he thought was empty.

“Right, here we are M, our very own Hogwarts compartment,” James said with a smile.

“Maybe if you had eyes you could see it wasn’t empty Potter,” Mae said, gesturing towards the lanky kid in the corner.

He seemed neutral that the two had invaded his space and Mae only hoped James’ overt friendliness wouldn’t scare him away.

James cleaned his glasses and turned to look.

The boy wasn't paying them any mind, his focus was concentrated on the book in his lap.

James stuck his hand out with a grin.

“James Potter,” James said.

The kid looked him up and down, unsure what to make of him.

“This here,” James said, indicating his head towards Mae, “is Mae MacMillan, my best friend.”

Mae grinned.

“Nice to meet you, I apologize for James’ excessive kindness, it is sadly incurable,” Mae added.

The kid grinned at her.

“Remus Lupin,” He said, shaking James’ hand and then Mae’s.

“Nice to meet you Remus, what’s your story?” James asked as he settled into the seat across from him.

Mae sat next to James as Remus began.

“Wizard Dad, Muggle Mum, met when my mum ran into a Boggart in the woods. Mum’s ill, I reckon I’ll have to visit her a bit this year, Healers say it's a matter of time. Maybe I should have been a bit cheerier in my introduction,” Remus replied.

“James is cheery enough for all of us, believe me,” Mae said.

“What is she ill with, if you don’t mind the question?” James asked.

Mae elbowed James in his ribs but Remus shook his head to show he didn't mind the question.

“Cancer, no Muggle or Wizard remedy so…” Remus trailed off.

“Well I’m sorry you have to deal with that Remus, isn’t fair for anyone,” James replied.

“Life isn’t fair,” Remus said.

Mae nodded.

“What House are you hoping for?” James asked.

“Gryffindor, that’s where my dad was. Not sure I’m cut out for it though, hope I don’t end up in Ravenclaw,” Remus replied.

James nodded.

“We’re gunning for Gryffindor too, Mae’s older brother is a Hufflepuff, her parents were both Ravenclaw’s. My whole family has been Gryffindor,” James replied.

“Does Mae ever speak for herself?” Remus asked with a grin.

“I try sometimes but James talks enough for the both of us,” Mae replied with a smirk as James grinned.

The compartment door opened to a grinning Peter.

“There you are! I thought we were going to meet on the platform, then I realized we never really talked about it,” Peter said, squeezing into the seat between James and Mae.

Mae sighed, getting up and joining Remus on the other side of the compartment.

Remus shot her a questioning look.

“Remus Lupin, meet Peter Pettigrew. He’s a Muggleborn, grew up near James and I,” Mae said.

“You a Wizard too? How many Wizard friends have you two been hiding from me?” Peter asked with a grin.

Remus raised his eyebrow slightly at Mae, who shrugged in response.

She was selfishly a bit glad her new friend didn’t warm to Peter automatically, she was not a big fan herself.

“Yeah, I’m a Wizard, a half-blood. Means my Mum is a Muggle and my dad is a Wizard,” Remus replied.

Peter grinned.

“HoneyDukes Trolley,” said a young woman, opening the compartment door.

James, Remus, and Mae grinned, pulling out their bags of coins as Peter stared openmouthed at the candy.

“Wizards have their own candy?” Peter asked.

“Course, how could we be magic and not have magic candy,” James replied with a grin, tossing a chocolate frog over to Peter.

Peter gasped as the container hopped off his lap onto the ground and Mae grabbed it for him.

“Got to keep a firm hold of it, Pete, they’ll hop away if you let them,” Mae said.

Peter nodded and watched the other three eat their candy, being careful to copy them exactly.

He eventually settled on a box of jellybeans, and pretended to enjoy them all.

"I think I ate too many..." Peter groaned, heading off in search of the bathroom.

The other three shared a small grin.

"No thanks, I imagine I can find much more entertaining companions in just about any other compartment," a loud voice said from the hallway.

The group turned to the corridor and the not-quite-closed door and the argument coming from the corridor.

“I would think a Black would be glad to be invited in.”

Mae and James scooted closer to the door and looked through the window.

There were two young Wizards in the corridor, and they could see many other compartments had tuned into the argument.

One of the wizards was a taller boy with unruly black hair and grey eyes, smirking at the other boy.

The shorter boy also had black hair, but where the taller boy's hair was shiny, the shorter boys was greasy, and he seemed to be the angrier one of the two.

“Well now, I imagine you can find some other Black to hang out with, I’m not interested in the Slytherin way of life,” the taller boy said.

The shorter boy narrowed his eyes and palmed his wand.

The taller boy grinned and ducked into their compartment, swinging the door closed behind him.

Once he was in the compartment, he slumped into the open seat next to James.

“Sirius Black,” the boy said, raising his hand in a salute to the group.

James grinned and Mae turned to the boy.

“Black?” Mae asked.

Sirius nodded with a smirk.

“I see my family’s reputation precedes me and I hope it’s a positive thing that I plan to demolish their reputation,” Sirius said.

"You're succeeding thus far, joining a compartment of hopeful Gryffindor's," James replied.

"Good, add me to the list, I would look great in red," Sirius said with a grin.

Remus looked the boy over quietly before extending his hand.

"Remus Lupin, and I imagine anyone looks better in red than green," Remus said.

Sirius nodded.

"I'm Mae MacMillan, and the bloke next to you who seems above introducing himself is James Potter. You'll have to forgive his lack of manners, usually we don't let him out of the house," Mae said.

"How long have you all known each other?" Sirius asked.

"Mae and I have known each other since birth, we grew up together. We just met Remus here, but it's starting to look like we're all going to be seeing a lot of each other," James said.

"Did you guys replace me already?" Peter squeaked from the doorway as he opened the door.

Sirius raised his eyes looking to Remus and Mae as James stood up.

"Peter this is Sirius, Sirius this is my Muggle friend Peter," James said, settling on the ground in the middle of the compartment so Peter could sit on the bench.

The five spent the rest of the trip getting to know each other, and Mae wondered if they would all really get into Gryffindor.