good things fall apart • sirius black

The Marauders

"I swear to Merlin, if you don't hurry up, we'll miss the pissing train!"

The messy haired boy had always been impatient, but on returning to Hogwarts, his inability to wait seemed to become his only personality trait. Weaving around all the Muggles in King's Cross station, you'd think he was running from the law he was moving at such a pace.

This part of the platform was never the problem, it was always as soon as you stepped foot on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, that you had to start fighting for your place. After passing through the barrier between Platforms Nine and Ten, you were always instantly greeted by complete mayhem. Students and their parents everywhere, all jostling to get closest to the train. It was a miracle people didn't go missing in the crowds each year, but somehow everyone always made it on the train eventually. However, that didn't make it easy and the messy haired boy was having to barge his way by people, to ensure that they actually got close to the scarlet steam engine.

His best friend was dragging her trunk behind her in such a haphazard fashion, it was making people jump out of her way, but she was not rushing in the same way he was.

Instead, she merely revelled in her surroundings, letting all the chaos overwhelm her senses. There was just something about the hectic buzz of madness that was just so thrilling. But the messy haired boy couldn't be swayed into dawdling along amongst the crowd. He was up ahead, charging through groups of people and making them scatter like pigeons, his mind set on getting to the train.

They were by no means late, but no one could tell that to the likes of James Potter.

    "Stop shouting at me, this is our fourth year, I think I know what time the stupid train leaves!" The girl had to yell loudly over all the noise of other chatting students and their crying parents trying to stop them from leaving. She nearly took one woman's handbag straight to her face, only narrowly missing the handles flying through the air as she raced after her daughter who'd seemingly forgotten her hat.

As ever though, the pair's playful squabbling came to an end as quickly as it begun, James casting her a lopsided smile over his shoulder. The messy haired boy was only satisfied once they'd given their trunks in to be loaded onto the train, finally letting out a breath he hadn't known he was holding. His eyes were scanning the crowds of other students and parents, all saying their goodbyes, in a constant search for their friends. The summer had been odd, for none of them had seen each other since the first week in July when they visited Remus' home, and after being so close at school, there was a void in both the best friends' lives without them. However, James didn't get to search for long, because his mother bundled him up into a tight hug as soon as they came to a halt.

Both sets of parents had been following the children behind, making no effort to aid the girl who'd been dragging her trunks so tirelessly, or slowing down James as he raced between all the people. They very much believed in letting their children do as they pleased, for whatever they said, the pair didn't tend to listen to anyway.

The departure of the children to Hogwarts nearly always brought Euphemia Potter to tears and her husband usually had to pry her away from her son to allow him to leave. Fleamont Potter inevitably would ramble some nonsense about it not being long until they were back for Christmas, and James would promise to write regularly, but somehow it always seemed to be an overdramatic event. But then all the Potters were overdramatic. It was in their genes.

Ruffling up his son's hair so it stuck up in an even more unruly angle than it usually did, Fleamont then always had the task of pulling his wife away from the girl beside them, despite her having her own parents to be saying farewell to.

James Potter and Ellie Gryffin had been joined at the hip since before anyone could even remember. The messy haired boy would joke the two and a half months before she was born, were the best of his whole life, but everyone knew that was a lie. From babbling babies, to mischievous children, there hadn't been a moment when they weren't best friends. As joyful and animated as each other, they were like watching flames of a fire dance, scattering light wherever they went. From their first day at Hogwarts, it was clear to everyone how close they were and there was a long time where you never saw one without the other. When they welcomed more friends into their tiny circle however, they sort to make them feel just as cared for, so drifted slightly to allow other relationships to grow. Yet, they naturally found their way back to each other eventually, for they were bound by imaginary ties of the strongest friendship the Gods had ever seen.