The Marauders Era

The Beginning of Brotherhood

James Potter put his trunk away in an empty compartment and then jumped back onto the platform at Kings Cross Station. He hugged his parents goodbye and then settled down in a corner of the compartment, underneath his trunk in the luggage rack. "Mind if I sit here?" a boy with dark shoulder length hair had slid open the compartment door. "Yeah, sure." James replied, jumping up to help the boy put his trunk away. Once they had slumped back down into seats another boy arrived, he looked tired but was smiling. "Can I join you?" he asked. "I'm Remus Lupin by the way." he added as he slid the door shut behind him. "James Potter." James replied. "I'm Sirius Black." the other boy said. "Really?" James asked. "I know what you're thinking, but I'm not like the rest of my family." Sirius assured them. "It's all good mate." Remus said, sitting down. "You guys play Quidditch at all?" James asked. Just then however the door slid open yet again and a short and slightly fat boy entered. "I'm Peter Pettigrew, can I sit down?" he asked.

Just as the train started to move a girl entered the compartment, James was busy rummaging in his trunk and didn't see the girl settle down. He didn't pay her any attention and soon after a boy with black greasy hair entered and squeezed past them to sit opposite the girl, who he seemed to know. After a few minutes the two by the window started to discuss houses and James and his new friends got into a slight argument about Gryffindor versas Slytherin. In the end the boy left the compartment, the girl following him. James didn't really mind, he didn't much like the greasy haired boy, although he'd thought the girl was quite pretty.

They talked and laughed and ate sweets throughout the whole ride, by the time the train slowed down and they pulled on their Hogwarts robes, they felt like brothers already. In the boats on the lake they all craned their necks for a glimpse of Hogwarts and once the castle appeared in view they all gazed up at it in awe. They clambered out of the boats and hurried up the front steps to the massive castle doors. Remus couldn't believe he was here, Peter thought that the castle looked very intimidating, and Sirius and James just felt so excited.

Sirius was sorted first out of all of the group. "Black, Sirius." was called from Professor McGonagall's list and no one in the hall had any doubt where this Black should belong. James crossed his fingers, as did Remus and Peter. When the Hat called out "Gryffindor!" Sirius thankfully put the Hat back on the stool and ran off to the Gryffindor table, while whispers swept the hall. A Black in Gryffindor? James grinned at Sirius from across the room, but his attention snapped back to the Hat when Professor McGonagall called "Evans, Lily." to be Sorted. The girl with long dark red hair from the train hurried forward and James felt his legs turn to marshmallow. Why hadn't he realised how beautiful she was before, the way she smiled, her eyes, the way she seemed to float up the Sorting Hat. He couldn't stop looking at her, but he thought that he probably should. Lily was placed into Gryffindor and James' heart skipped a beat, suddenly picturing them together in the common room.

After more people "Lupin, Remus." was called. James crossed his fingers again, hoping against hope. "Gryffindor!" the Hat announced to the Hall and James grinned as Remus ran off to sit opposite Sirius. A few more people were Sorted then Peter was called. James watched nervously as the Hat considered. It thought for a very long time then it yelled "Gryffindor!" and Peter hurried over to sit beside Remus. When he watched Peter sit down he noticed that Lily had decided to sit beside Sirius, this made him smile even more and he didn't even know why. "Potter, James." the Hat then called and James eagerly sat down on the stool. Within seconds the Hat called "Gryffindor!" to the Hall and James thankfully put the Hat back on the stool and went over to the Gryffindor table. He sat beside Lily who held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Lily." she said. James took her hand and felt his whole body fill with warmth and he shook it. "Hi, I'm James." he replied, smiling.

Another few people were Sorted and then Professor McGonagall called "Snape, Severus.". James noticed Lily had her fingers crossed and asked "Do you know him?" "Yeah, he's my friend." she replied happily. James' insides twisted with jealousy. That moment however, the hat had called out "Slytherin!" and Lily's crossed fingers fell limp into her lap. James couldn't help grinning.

After the feast that night the other three boys all fell gratefully into their four poster beds and fell asleep almost instantly. James however couldn't sleep, everytime he got close Lily would pop in his mind, smiling at him, light dancing in those brilliant eyes, the long dark red hair falling in front of her face.

The next few days were some of the best of James' life, he got four detentions in three days because of messing around with Sirius. They explored the castle and snuck out at night. That was until Remus told them he had to go.

"I've got to go guys, I'll be back in a few days." Remus said. "What?" James asked. "Why?" Sirius asked. "Where are you going?" Peter asked. Remus hesitated. "Um... well, my mum is sick. I'm just going to go and visit her." he said. "Oh, that sucks." Sirius said. "I'm sorry mate." James said, giving him a pat on the back. "I'll see you in a few days." he said, swinging his school bag onto his back.

The next few days didn't feel as fun without Remus, the boys worried about him and sent him letters. However after three days he returned, everyone noticed how much more tired he looked, but they suspected he hadn't slept very well out of worry for his mother.

A few more weeks passed, all four of them had got a bit of rep for being mischievous. They would crack jokes in the back of lessons, pull pranks and when they learnt how to make things levitate they bewitched their mattresses to fly out of their dormitory in the middle of the night and had mattress races down the stairs. Peter would usually win, much to everyone's surprise.

Then however, Remus disappeared again. He said his mother had got worse and he needed to go really urgently. Sirius lay awake at night, his hands behind his head, listening to the rain outside, listening to James' breathing and Peter's snoring, missing Remus' calming deep breathing that he would usually breathe along to at night.

This continued on and on. At Christmas James heard that Sirius was staying at Hogwarts for the holidays. Although he really missed his parents, he decided to stay as well, so Sirius wouldn't be by himself. It was late on Christmas Eve and the dormitory was dark. Snow was falling outside the window. James and Sirius sat on the floor, leaning against their beds, eating chocolate from a large stash Remus had put on the shelf. He'd said that chocolate was the best way to help with anything and had told his friends to eat it in bulk if they ever needed to. They started 'chocolate duty', every month it would be another boy's turn to buy more chocolate for their stash.

So now James and Sirius sat on the floor, eating chocolate and talking. "How come you didn't go home for Christmas?" Sirius asked. "Because I didn't want you to be alone for the holidays. How come you didn't go for Christmas?" James replied. Sirius took another piece of chocolate. "I didn't really want to." he said, his mouth full. He swallowed and continued. "I don't like my parents, they're such purebloods, proud more of their blood and their Slytherin traits than their own kids. They haven't sent me a single letter, they'll think it's the biggest disappointment to have a Gryffindor in the family." Sirius said. "Sirius... I-" James didn't really know what to say. "It's fine, besides I'm more worried about my brother really. I was the one who protected him from our parents. Little Regulus, he doesn't even have a clue what he's doing, just wandering along blindly, doing whatever he's told." Sirius said. "I never knew." James said. "I never knew you were raised like that, I never knew you haven't even got a letter, I didn't even know you had a brother." he said. Sirius gave half a laugh, nodding his head. "Yep, well come on then, we might as well just go to sleep."