Starting Hogwarts
James slid down the bannister of the stairs, and once at the end, jumped off and ran inside the kitchen.
"Hi dad!" He grinned, sitting down at the large table.
Fleamont winked at his son, before piling food onto a plate for him.
Euphemia walked in, kissing her husband's cheek. He filled up another plate for her as she made tea for them all.
"Jamie, sweetheart. Where are your things? I told you to put them in the hall yesterday."
James' eyes widened and he jumped out of his seat before running back upstairs.
Euphemia shook her head with a grin on her face, "that boy. I'll go help him pack."
She made her way up to James' bedroom, opening the door and seeing James whizzing around.
"Mum! Hi!" James grinned at her as he sped around his room, throwing things into his trunk.
Euphemia sighed and sat on the bed, neatly folding the clothes he threw in.
"Go on. I'll finish this, you go eat your breakfast."
James shook his head, "I should help, it's my things."
After a moment, Fleamont came upstairs, balancing three plates.
"Breakfast is served", he smiled and sat down on James' bed.
They all ate while packing James' bags, sometimes throwing each other food to see who could catch it the most.
James won, and Euphemia kissed his forehead while Fleamont hugged him.
"You're the absolute best at everything you do", Euphemia said, ruffling his head in affection.
•
"Remus Lupin get your ass down here!" Hope called from the bottom of the staircase.
"Wait one fucking minute Mam!" He called back.
Hope rolled her eyes and headed to the kitchen.
She started making tea before opening the fridge and finding no milk left.
"Lyall, We're out of milk", she said to her husband.
Lyall lifted his head up from the paper and looked at the clock on the wall, "I don't think we have time to go into town this morning. We have to leave in less than twenty minutes."
Remus came down the stairs, hair still wet from a bath.
"Just use whipped cream, you just need to stir it more." He said, taking the squirty cream from the fridge and squirting it into the tea cups.
Hope kissed his head, "genius boy."
Lyall got up, reaching for his tea, "Spoken like a true ravenclaw, huh."
Remus shrugged, sitting at the small round table, "I don't really mind what house I get into."
Lyall sat back down, "Houses don't really matter. You'll have a lot more to worry about."
Hope gave a look to Lyall and he ducked his head.
"I'm sorry. Just have fun, eh?"
•
"You have a duty to this family as heir. We expect perfect marks, perfect behaviour."
Sirius stood, back straight, as he nodded at his mother's words.
He tried to keep the smile off his face as Lucretia, standing behind their mother, made rude faces.
"Toujours pur, Sirius. Remember that." Walburga said, as Lucretia stuck her tongue out and wiggled it. The corners of Sirius' mouth twinged upwards.
Walburga stopped talking as she realised Sirius' attention was on his sister.
"Lucretia. Go upstairs, you shall be summoned back down when we are leaving."
Lucretia nodded, and walked away.
"Your cousin, Narcissa, is still at school. You shall follow her example. No consorting with blood traitors or anyone less than pure."
Walburga walked away to the study, "make sure everything is packed then get kreature to bring your bags down. We leave in ten minutes."
•
"Mum, we need to leave… Mum!" Peter said, grabbing her arm.
Lydia turned around, "Oh sorry. One minute Pete, then we'll leave."
Peter grumbled, 'We're going to miss the train."
"Going to a fancy boarding school, huh?"
One of the teenagers said from the sofa as Peter flopped down on it.
Peter nodded, excitedly.
The teenager pinched his cheek, " Do they play that game", he frowned, "that one with the clubs and the balls and the horses… ya know the one?"
Peter shrugged, "I guess."
Lydia came over, smiling and pulling Peter off the sofa.
"Come on, we better get going".
Peter's face lit up and he scrambled to get his bags in his excitement.
Lydia stayed by the sofas and leaned over to the teenager, "Georgie. You better not be high right now, you said you were getting clean?"
Georgie, the teenager, looked ashamed.
"Right, stay here till I'm back. We're gonna sort this out, find you a job and get you off the streets for good."
Lydia sighed and looked for Peter, "Pete love, let's get going or we'll be late."
"I've been ready for half an hour! It's your fault we're late!" he grumbled as he sat by the front door.
•
"James, get back here!" Euphemia yelled, as James bumped into another family.
He apologised to the family before running back to his own, grinning.
"I've packed some lunch for you, and a little bit of money to buy some sweets for you and Marlene, or any new friends you make." Fleamont said, handing James a large money purse and a lunchbox.
"Where is Marlene?" Euphemia said, looking around.
James shrugged, "probably already on the train, most people are now."
Euphemia turned back to him, and pulled him into a hug.
"Have fun, and work hard. We'll miss you so much."
James hugged her back, "I'll miss you too."
Fleamont then pulled James into a hug as well, "If you need anything, owl us or go to Minerva, okay?"
Euphemia spoke, "Oh, speaking of Minerva. Did you pack the gift for her?"
James nodded in reply.
"There also may be a small surprise for you in there as well."
James grinned, "what is it?"
Euphemia rolled her eyes and laughed, "it's a surprise."
The conductor leaned out the door, calling all students aboard before the train left.
"I've got to go."
"Alright, come here." Fleamont said, holding his arms out again.
James hugged him again and Euphemia joined the hug as well.
"Remember not to use the cloak for anything too naughty, only lighthearted fun, got it?"
James nodded again, picking up his bags to get onto the train.
"I love you", both his parents called.
"I love you too", he called back, as he got on the train.
He searched for Marlene, and found her in a cabin with another girl and boy who looked around his age.
"Hey Marls", he said to his friend, "Hi, I'm James Potter", he said to the other two.
The other two kids turned to him, the boy sneered at him and turned away as the girl smiled slightly.
"I'm Lily Evans, and he's Severus Snape."
James nodded, sitting down next to Marlene.
As the train left the station, James found out Lily was a muggleborn and started asking her questions about muggles.
"Lily", Severus pulled on her sleeve and whispered to her, "We're going to Hogwarts, don't you want to learn more about the wizarding world beforehand?"
Lily nodded, and Severus started telling her about the different subjects she could study.
Another boy ran in, quickly shutting the door behind him as loud shouts sounded.
He sighed, out of breath, and sat down next to James.
James grinned at the chaotic energy surrounding the boy, "Hi, I'm James Potter."
"Marlene Mckinnon", Marlene said, saluting to the newcomer and barely lifting her eyes off the page as she read her magazine.
"Hello, I'm Sirius."
James, Marlene and Sirius talked for a while. While Lily and Severus whispered to each other.
"What house are you hoping to be in? My parents were a gryffindor and a ravenclaw and my brother was a hufflepuff so it's anyone's guess what I'll be", Marlene said.
"My whole family has always been in Slytherin", Sirius replied.
"Blimey", said James, "and I thought you seemed all right!"
Sirius grinned. "Maybe I’ll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you’ve got the choice?"
James lifted an invisible sword, "'Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!' Like my mum and dad."
Snape made a small, disparaging noise and James turned to him.
“Got a problem with that?”
“No,” Snape said, though his slight sneer said otherwise. “If you’d rather be brawny than brainy-”
“Where are you hoping to go then, seeing as you’re neither?” interjected Sirius.
James and Marlene laughed as Lily glared at them.
"Come on Sev, let's find somewhere else to sit", Lily got out of her seat and threw a glare over her shoulder at the three sitting in there.
James grinned at Sirius and turned to Marlene, elbowing her in the side. She kicked him in the shin in return and Sirius laughed.
"Marls, Sirius is my new best friend. Your position has been revoked."
Marlene put her feet up on the now empty seats, "I'm fine with that, I could find hundreds of friends twenty times cooler than you."
The trolley lady came and James smirked at Marlene, "guess you don't want any sweets if I'm too uncool to hang out with you."
Marlene stood up to look at what was on the trolley, she grabbed a pasty and sat back down.
"You just have to buy my friendship with these", she said, waving the pasty in the air.
"Done", James said, paying the lady the price of the pasty.
"Want anything? On me?" James asked Sirius.
Sirius shrugged, "My parents don't let me have sweets much, I'm not too sure what I like."
James grinned, "I'll get a variety, then. Marlene will eat anything you don't like."
Marlene nodded, her pasty almost all gone.
A couple of hours later, a prefect came into the carriage to announce they would be arriving soon, so they should change into their uniforms.
"I'll use the toilets", Marlene said, digging through her bag to find the clothes before leaving the carriage.
Sirius and James finished getting changed just as the train pulled up into the station. They ran out the train, pushing past people. They heard a loud voice calling for first years to follow him, so they made their way over.
"four ter a boat", the giant said, getting into his own.
James and Sirius got into an empty one nearby, soon joined by Lily and Severus who stood on the shore looking for any spare boats before resigning themselves to theirs.
James spotted Marlene chatting to other kids in another boat close by, he waved to her and she waved back before poking her tongue out at him. He stuck his own tongue out and she turned away laughing.
As the boats set off, Sirius started slightly swaying the boat absentmindedly.
"Can you stop", Snape snapped.
Sirius rolled his eyes and continued doing so with more vigor.
"It's harmless, Sev. Don't worry". Lily said, pulling on Snape's sleeve.
"He could tip the boat over and we'd be completely soaked. There's a giant squid that lives in the lake, it's dangerous." Snape explained.
"Is there really?" Lily gasped, leaning over the boat to look in the water.
The boat leaned to the side with her, Snape pulled her back.
"Don't do that. It'll tip over", he protested.
James and Sirius looked at each other, then grabbed the sides of the boat and started rocking it as much as they could.
Lily tried to steady the boat and started telling them to stop, along with Snape.
After a few seconds, the boat rocked a bit too far right and all four of them fell into the water.
They all swam to the nearest boat they could find, and were helped up by other students.
"That was awesome!" A blonde chubby boy said, grinning.
James grinned back and high-fived Sirius who had just gotten into a nearby boat.
They reached the castle and got out of the boats.
"What happened ere", Hagrid exclaimed, at the sight of the dripping wet students.
"We fell in", Sirius said.
"Actually they tipped the boat over on purpose", Lily said, glaring at James and Sirius.
Hagrid waved his hand, "oh nevermind. Professor McGonagall will sort ya kids out."
He brought them into the castle and McGonagall stood there, looking over at them all.
She welcomed them all to Hogwarts and told them about the housing system, then asked all the students to wait there till they were ready in the great hall.
As she left, she noticed the soaking wet students.
"What is the meaning of this?" She sighed at James, as she noticed he was one of the wet students.
"Hello Minnie", he grinned.
"It's Professor while you're at school, Mr Potter. Now tell me, why are you dripping water onto the carpet?"
Lily stepped forward, "Professor. Both of them were tipping the boat side to side and caused us to fall into the water."
Mcgonagall sighed, "I'm going to take 5 points each from whatever house you are sorted into. Please refrain from causing mischief again."
Sirius and James nodded, and McGonagall highly doubted either of them would listen to her. She waved her wand to dry the students clothes and left the room.
Sirius pulled a chocolate frog out the pocket of his robe and grabbed the frog before it could bounce away. He discreetly put the frog on the back of Snape's cloak and it jumped onto his head with a croak.
Snape screamed and Lily tried to capture the frog, as it hopped around Snape's head.
Lily finally grabbed the frog and showed it to Snape with a curious expression.
Snape took it off her, "it's just a chocolate frog", he let go of it and it hopped away.
"Is your hair a bit slimy now, Snape?" James asked, barely containing his laughter.
"It was slimy before, must be the greasiest hair ever now." Sirius added, not even trying to hide his laughter.
James burst out laughing at the comment, as well as some of the other students.
Mcgonagall walked back into the room and led them into the great hall, Lily glared at them, Snape and her walked further ahead.
"I think I'm a little in love with you", James said, grinning at Sirius.
Sirius laughed and grinned back.
The sorting ceremony commenced.
•
McGonagall was onto the B's now. Which meant Sirius would soon be called to try on the hat. Which meant James would soon find out Sirius was part of the Black family and would probably never speak to him again. And also meant his family was either about to be sorely disappointed in him, or he'd be sorely disappointed in himself.
"Black, Sirius". McGonagall called loudly.
He walked quickly to the hat but as he sat to put it on, he caught sight of James. His new friend looked shocked at finding out Sirius was a Black.
He put the hat on his head, and it started speaking to him.
"A Black, are you? You're very… different though, courageous and brave. Daring and bold, seeking to fight injustices. It's obvious where you belong. But are you sure you want to go there? It'll lead to tremendous heartache, pain, and loss. But it'll also be the only place you'll find true friendship, trust, and love."
Sirius glanced to where he saw James standing and nodded, "yes."
"Gryffindor!" the hat yelled out.
A few gryffindors clapped, likely those who didn't know his family. But then he heard loud cheering from the middle of the hall, James was clapping and whooping.
Sirius grinned and sat at an empty seat on the gryffindor table. James pumped his fist in the air.
"Gryffindor!" he mouthed, grinning from ear to ear.
Sirius laughed and grinned back at his new friend.
A few minutes later, McGonagall called "Evans, Lily."
Lily walked up to the hat, excited.
"You could do well in Ravenclaw, witty and inquisitive as you are. Hmm… but you may do better in Gryffindor where you can better find people to relate to."
"But Severus- he's my best friend and he wanted us to be in Slytherin."
"I'm sorry. I'm afraid you wouldn't fit into Slytherin too well."
Lily nodded in acceptance, they could still hang out no matter the house they were placed in.
The hat shouted, "Gryffindor!"
The gryffindor table clapped and cheered and she sat down a few seats away from Sirius.
She turned around in her chair to find Severus. He was staring at her, an angry look on his face. She shrugged her shoulders, an apologetic smile on her face.
More students got sorted and soon McGonagall called out "Lupin, Remus."
The boy slowly walked up and pulled the hat far down so that he couldn't see the stares of the other students.
"hmm… you would fit in well with most of the houses. But to be fully accepted as your entire and true self, you will find Gryffindor as your greatest match… Gryffindor!"
Remus walked to the table, as students clapped and sat further down from Lily and Sirius.
More students were sorted, Marlene went into Gryffindor, sitting down opposite Sirius and next to Lily, with a huge grin on her face.
"Pettigrew, Peter" McGonagall next called up.
The blonde, chubby boy walked up and put the hat on his head.
"Now… you are a difficult one, Mr Pettigrew. You hold both strong traits of ravenclaw, slytherin and a gryffindor."
Peter spoke up, "could I be in Gryffindor, please."
"There is no doubt you could fit in well there, if you learn bravery and loyalty from your housemates."
Peter nodded, pleadingly, he wanted to prove he was brave.
"Gryffindor", the hat shouted and Peter thanked it before walking to the gryffindor table.
He sat next to a first year girl, Mary Macdonald, and a seat away from Sirius.
Peter said hello to the boy a seat away from him, however he seemed to be too invested in a silent conversation he was having with another first year student who hadn't been sorted yet.
So Peter turned to his other side and introduced himself to the girl. She was poking a sleeping boy next to her but turned around as Peter spoke.
"Hi, I'm Mary. Nice meeting you."
Peter questioned her about why she was poking the other boy, and she told him it was to try and wake him up.
At that moment, another person came over on their way to sit down but hearing their conversation, he offered help.
"I'm great at waking people up. My parent's even joked about locking their door at night because of it", he said as if it was something to be proud of.
"Why do you need to wake him? He looks tired, leave him alone", Lily spoke, as she heard the conversation.
James thought about it and nodded, "we'll wake him up when the food comes. In case he's hungry."
Sirius grinned as James sat down by his side and the two started talking, almost whispering to each other in a fairly serious tone.
Soon enough, Snape was sorted into Slytherin and Lily frowned, mouthing to him that she was sorry.
The feast started and everyone started eating.
"Should we wake him up now?" Mary said, glancing over to the still sleeping boy next to her.
James nodded and got up. He got close to the boy, and whistled into his ear.
Remus woke begrudgingly and rubbed his ear, he looked around for a few seconds before deciding the lights of the great hall were much too bright and hid his face in his arms.
"Come on. Dinnertime, don't you want food?" James said, moving a tray closer for the boy to smell it.
Remus mumbled something in reply, and lifted his head slightly to see the food on the table.
He grabbed the tray right in front of him and piled it all onto his plate, then ate as quickly as possible before closing his eyes again.
James laughed and returned to his seat, "he seems cool."
Sirius raised an eyebrow, "he has the table manners of an ape."
"Not everyone eats like the Queen'', Marlene joked.
Sirius threw a pea at her.
"Now who has terrible table manners," James laughed and Sirius stuck his tongue out.
The prefects soon came round to show the first years to the common room. Once they got to the common room, the prefects told them a few rules, then split up the boys and girls to individual staircases. The prefect went up first and gestured for the boys to follow him.
"This is your room", the prefect called, "Don't go into any of the other boy's dorms without knocking, but if you need something feel free to knock. There's one bathroom for the four of you, which isn't too bad. Just learn to share. I'll leave you too it."
The prefect left, closing the dormitory door behind him.
James ran to one of the beds, "this one's mine."
Sirius grinned and ran to one next to it.
Peter took one the other side of James, and Remus walked over to the remaining bed next to Sirius.
The boys began unpacking their things, James put up a load of quidditch posters, asking if anyone minded.
He opened the curtains of Remus' bed to ask him, but Remus was laying in his bed looking as if he was already asleep.
James found the surprise that his parents had left him, it was a small gift basket of toys and sweets. A note was written in his father's handwriting, 'to Jamie, to keep you out of trouble. we got the toys from a muggle toy shop, your mum and I may have played with a few. they're very fun. We hope your first day goes well. we love you!!'
The sweets were all wizarding sweets, but the toys were new. A small pink shimmering bouncy ball, some kind of metal spring that was labelled as a 'slinky' and a small disc labelled as a 'space fidgit'. He decided to play with them tomorrow.
They slowly got ready for bed, after unpacking.
Once everyone was in bed, their curtains closed, Remus got out of bed and went to the bathroom to change.
Sirius heard footsteps so he peered round the curtain to see Remus heading to the bathroom. A few minutes later, Remus came back into the room in his pajamas. He walked over to the windows and looked outside, checking the locks on both. Then he looked underneath his bed and the other kids before getting into his own and shutting the curtains.
Sirius thought the boy was a little strange.