September 1, 1971

King's Cross Station

Just as it was at the beginning of every term, Platform 9 and 3/4 was hectic. Families were seeing their children off; young witches and wizards were dragging heavy trunks, sometimes accompanied by owls, brooms, cats, toads or all other kinds of animals.

First-year James Potter was running late because he'd forgotten his broomstick at home and they had to go back; and he'd saved packing for the last minute anyway, of course. His mom had barely just gotten him out of bed, so his dark hair was even more unkempt than usual. His glasses were slipping down his nose as he raced through the crowd.

Meanwhile, there was another first-year who was supposed to be getting on the train—Sirius Black. His parents both looked irritated about something, plus his mother was trying to restrain a screaming kindergarten-age child.

"Regulus, STOP SCREAMING!" Sirius shouted at him.

"Don't you yell at your brother!" Mrs. Black screeched, but then she was the one who did the screaming as Regulus took off into the crowd.

"REGULUS!" Sirius hollered in frustration, tearing into the crowd after his kid brother. "I'M GOING TO MISS THE—hey, watch the elbows, mate!"

Sirius had just collided headlong into James, who had been pelting towards the train, albeit slowed a little by his broomstick and trunk.

"Sorry," said James.

The two strangers blinked for a minute, then Sirius remembered his mission. "You seen a little brat about this tall running through the crowd, kinda looks like me, only way more spoiled?"

"No, but I'll help you look for him!" James and Sirius were both running through the crowd, until little Regulus finally smacked into the behind of a huge witch, knocking him onto the ground and stunning him for a bit. James snatched him up and handed him to Sirius.

"Thanks!" Sirius grinned. "Now I won't have to deal with him until Winter Break."

"Hey, I'll save a seat for you in Compartment 2, okay?" James called over his shoulder.

"Right!" Sirius confirmed, then went to return Regulus to his mother.

James Potter made it onto the train with hardly any time to spare. Just like he promised the boy he'd bumped into on the train platform, he rushed to Compartment 2 to save a seat. It was empty, save for one student.

"Hey!" James smiled. "Mind if I sit here? Save a seat for my friend too?"

The boy in the compartment just made a sort of whimpering noise. James was confused because at first he couldn't see his face, but then he lowered the thick book he was reading. His hair was mostly neat, although sticking up in places, and it was a gentle, light brown. There was a big scratch mark across the bridge of his nose, as well as quite a few more on his bright-red cheeks; they all had the pink, slightly puffy look of cuts that had been there for a while but were still healing. One hand had been holding the book; the other was holding a gigantic chocolate bar, half of which was already gone. Upon closer inspection, young James saw that this boy was visibly shaking, but he still wanted to be friendly.

"What's your name?" James asked, sitting down next to the boy. "My name's James Potter, but you can call me James. I like flying on my broom, do you? What book are you reading? How's that chocolate taste? WOAH, how'd you get those scratches?"

The boy made another whimpering noise, this time much louder, and curled into a ball.

"Hey!" James prodded him with the end of his broomstick. "I'm talking to you!"

"I made it!" Sirius panted, slipping into the compartment and shutting the door behind him. "By the way, I forgot to ask—what's your name?"

"I'm James Potter," said James. "You?"

"Sirius Black."

"I hope we get sorted into the same House!" James was happy to meet a social butterfly like him. "I also met another new friend, but he didn't really talk to me. He wouldn't tell me his name."

"Weird." Sirius looked at the third boy, who was still in the fetal position, seemingly mortified.

Just then the bell clanged, and the train gave a jolt. The brown-haired boy's face went from red to almost completely pale. James enjoyed the feeling because it reminded him of flying, but he turned to his seatmate with a look of concern.

"Oh, you get motion sickness, do you?" James asked, and the pale boy nodded. "That sucks, especially if you want to play Quidditch. Luckily, I never get it."

"All aboard!" yelled the conductor, and the bell clanged. Sirius and James cheered; they were finally getting to go to Hogwarts! They grabbed onto the poles sitting next to the seats so they wouldn't fall off when the train moved. The third boy had his hands over his mouth, though, so he couldn't, and when the train jerked violently, he was dislodged from his seat and went flying onto the floor, smacking his head onto the ground. James and Sirius hurried to pick him up, and when they plunked him back into his seat, he looked as if he was going to cry.

"Are you okay?" Sirius asked, but then the train hit a huge bump in the tracks; most older students would have hit their heads on the ceiling, but since the three boys in the compartment were all around the same size and not very big, they were protected. In fact, James and Sirius rather liked it.

"Wanna hear a train joke?" said James.

"Hit me," said Sirius.

"Okay…what happened to the wizard who took the 5 o'clock train home?"

"I dunno, what?"

"He had to bring it back!"

The two of them exploded into laughter, while the train-sick boy looked further agitated. The door to the compartment slid open and there was a girl standing there.

"Hi," she said. "There were no other compartments that would take first years, is it okay if I sit here?"

The girl had her dark-red hair pinned back slightly with a barrette that looked like a lily; she was wearing a green T-shirt and jeans shorts. She was smiling brightly, with her eyes as well as her lips.

"Sure," said James casually. "What's your name?"

"Lily Evans," she replied. "Sorry about walking in on you and your friends like I did. I was a little late—you know, my family's all Muggles, they don't understand about stuff like this—"

"Wow, your family's Muggles? That's—" James had, at first, been talking to Lily like she was anyone else, but he froze when his hazel eyes met her green ones and they finally got a good look at each other. For once, his mouth snapped shut, and a little bit of color rose in his cheeks; James Potter wore the unmistakable expression of an eleven-year-old boy who had felt the stirrings of love for the first time.

"It's what?" Lily looked bewildered.

"That's…that's really cool." James smiled a bit.

"Thanks!" Lily smiled back, then her smile faded slightly as she noticed the train-sick boy. "Say, is he all right?"

"We don't know," said Sirius. "He won't talk. But we think he has train sickness."

Lily grabbed onto the poles next to the seats and made her way over to the seat next to the train-sick boy, who had a look on his face like he was about to be executed.

"Hi, I'm Lily," she said sweetly. "I used to get motion-sick too. But my mom taught me a good trick that helps. Want me to show you?"

The train-sick boy nodded, so Lily told him to hold out one of his wrists. Lily was a little surprised when she saw that he had halfway-healed scratches on his arms like the ones he had on his face, but unlike James, she had enough decency not to ask about it.

"This is called a pressure point," she explained, pointing to his wrist. "If you gently press here, it makes you feel a little less sick. You should also take nice deep breaths."

After some help from Lily, some color finally came back into the boy's face, and for the first time, they saw him smile.

"What's your name?" she asked, but he looked frightened again, so she continued, "It's okay. Everyone is scared on the first day of Hogwarts."

"I'm not scared," said James loudly, but she ignored him.

"Because it's a new place, maybe your first night away from home, and you don't know anyone," Lily continued soothingly. "But soon you meet new friends, and you learn new things, and it's not just a place to get an education, it's a place to have an adventure."

"Besides, you already have three friends," Sirius reminded him. "Me, James, and Lily. Now will you tell us your name already?"

"R-Remus," he said, his voice sounding a little squeaky. "Remus Lupin."

"Nice to meet you." Sirius was now smiling, but James was just gaping at Lily, amazed at how she had gotten Remus to talk. Apparently, poking him with a broom had not been the way to go. The flush still in his cheeks, he squeezed in between her and Sirius, about to speak, when the compartment door slid open yet again.

"Sevs!" Lily shrieked. "Oh my God, I thought you hadn't made it!"

"Of course I made it," said the boy at the door in a very nasal voice.

"Well, wait are you waiting for, come sit down!" Lily ran up and grabbed his hand, then led him to sit down next to her, on the other side of the compartment, so that there was Remus sitting in the corner, James sitting next to him, then Sirius, and finally Lily, encouraging the newest person to sit near her.

"Who's this?" Sirius asked apathetically, shoving a piece of gum into his mouth and chewing it loudly.

"This is my best friend, Severus Snape!" Lily giggled. "Isn't he great? He's coming to Hogwarts too! He wants to become a Potions Master!"

"Woo!" James waved his hand in front of his nose exaggeratedly. "What smells like old gym socks?"

Snape's black eyes flickered to James, then back to Lily. James had a point; Snape didn't smell very good, and his hair was a bit greasy, but Lily didn't seem impressed.

"That's not nice!" she told him, looking upset. "Severus is a good person."

"Does he play Quidditch?" James asked. "I can play Quidditch. See that broom there? It's mine! It's a 1971 Cleansweep! I got it for my birthday. I'm really good, so I'm gonna play when we get to Hogwarts…"

"Let's see if they let a first year join the team," Lily said coolly. "Come on, Severus, do you want to see if the snack witch is coming by?"

"You'll be back?" Remus asked quietly.

"Of course," said Lily, leading Snape out of the compartment.

"What's a girl like her doing with a slimeball like him?" James exploded, as soon as the door slid shut. "Just look at him, he's full of Dark Magic! And he smells horrible! I'd bet my Cleansweep he doesn't use deodorant! She smelled nice, maybe he could borrow hers…"

"I don't think girls wear deodorant," said Sirius knowingly. "They smell that good naturally. They're not boys, you know."

"Of course girls wear deodorant." Remus looked slightly irritated. "They might be girls, but they're still human."

"We'll leave that one as undecided, then," said James thoughtfully, as though they were studying for a test. "But it is medically impossible for a girl to fart."

"No, that one's not true," said Sirius. "See, every time we have my Aunt Elladora 'round for dinner—she's the one who likes cutting off elf heads—"

"She what?!" Remus's head spun around.

"Yeah, she started the tradition of beheading house-elves when they became too old to carry tea trays," Sirius explained, "and then we mount their heads on the wall. The one we have now is named Kreacher and I can't stand him, it'll be great see him beheaded—"

"Your mom lets you watch?" James and Remus both asked at the same time; James looked excited, while Remus looked horrified.

"Oh yeah. It's a ceremony."

"Cool!" said James. "You sure sound like you have an interesting family."

"Interesting is one way to put it," said Sirius. "You know that kid, my brother—Regulus? Well, we had his Tapestry Ceremony a couple months ago when he turned five. It was so boring, and like my parents don't spoil him enough already…See, in my family, you get put on the family tree, and if you do something bad, you get burned off of it."

"Have you been burned off of yours?" Remus asked.

"No, but I can't wait 'till I am."

"When I do something bad," said James, in a mock matter-of-fact tone, "my mom just grounds me."

Sirius burst out laughing, and Remus did too this time. The compartment door slid open at just the time James wanted—with the entire compartment laughing their heads off at a joke he had just made. Lily and Snape were standing there.

"The snacks witch is coming by soon," said Lily. "Later the blankets witch will be too, so we can take a nap if we want. It's going to be hours until we get to Hogwarts, you know."

"Lily! Hey, Lily!" said James. "Sirius here was just telling us about how his aunt cuts off elf heads and his mom's gonna burn him off his family tapestry!"

Now it was Lily's turn to look horrified.

"Well, my family is stupid," said Sirius quickly, remembering suddenly what his parents thought of witches like Lily, who came from Muggle-born families. One of the reasons why they weren't particularly happy with Sirius was that he showed no signs of being a blood purist like they were.

Snape was already sitting down at that point, next to Sirius. James spread his legs wider apart, taking up as much space as he could, and rubbed the back of his hair with one hand, letting out a loud, agitated sigh; he wanted Snape to leave, and he wanted him to leave now.

Lily wasn't sitting down like Snape was, so when the train suddenly sped up, she was swept off her feet and with a loud shriek she face-planted into the laps of Snape and Sirius.

"Better watch out there, Lily," said Sirius, standing up and hoisting Lily up by the armpits. Then he set her down, only to be knocked onto the ground too. With a grunt, he grabbed the side of the seat and wrenched himself into the remaining space between Snape and Lily.

"So sorry," he told them.

"Not at all," Lily said distractedly. Now, she was sitting next to James, with Sirius on her other side. James grinned at her and Sirius both; Snape glowered; Remus moaned with pain, because he was feeling the beginnings of a headache. This was going to be a long ride.