Escaping Destiny

Chapter 1

The Hogwarts Express waited patiently in the station, waiting for the time that it would be able to take off. Students were milling around the platform with parents and friends, each with luggage most with owls, cats, or other various pets.

One particular group of boys stood out. One stood tall with messy black hair and glasses. His hazel eyes were sparkling with mischief as he spoke to his friends. Another of the boys had light brown hair and golden eyes. He stood with a tired demeanor and looked fairly ragged. The third boy was shorter than the other two and seemed slightly withdrawn. His blond hair was plastered to his head with gel and his blue eyes seemed slightly dull.

Each of these boys were in their fifth year. James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew were their names and they were such close friends that they could have been brothers. Each of these boys were incredibly intelligent, although Peter really had to work hard to keep up with James and Remus. They also all really enjoyed pranking, only to different extremities.

James enjoyed a good prank against anyone, although he mainly limited it to the Slytherins and especially Severus Snape. And not only did he extremely enjoy pranks, but he also didn't really care if he got in any trouble. As such, he went to unnecessary extremes for a good laugh. James was the one who usually carried out the pranks. Sure Remus and Peter helped, but when it came to execution, it was all James Potter, baby.

Remus liked pranks as well, although he was more reserved about them than James was. He enjoyed having fun, but he also thought that sometimes they went too far. Like that one time with Snape in the Great Hall when he randomly stood up and starting singing random love songs, using a vegetable as a microphone. Anyways, he was usually the mastermind behind the pranks. The one who made them as close to being flawless as they possibly could. No one could perfect a plan, and a back-up plan, like Remus Lupin.

Peter was a different case entirely. He actually didn't care for pranks. He was just as content sitting in the Gryffindor common room playing exploding snap with James or Remus. He looked up to the two boys and did almost anything that they wanted him to. Unless food got in the way. If he had to chose, Peter would chose food over pranks any day. But he was a good sidekick. He was the one that usually got the assignments that the other two didn't want. Like being the lookout, for example. Of course, he tended to be more of a hindrance than help when it came down to the actual pranks, but his presence was still greatly appreciated by the other two Gryffindors.

They had been friends since their first year when they had met on the Hogwarts Express, which they finally decided to board. Over the past four years, the three had managed to become stronger and better friends, refusing to betray or abandon each other. When they had found about Remus's "condition", they had promised to keep his secret and remain his best friend. When James fell in love with Lily Evans in his third year, the other two boys did everything they possibly could to get the two together, even if it was completely in vain as of right now. And when Peter's mom died, they supported him by attending the funeral with him and giving him two sturdy shoulders to cry on.

Yes, they tried to be there for each other no matter what. They sometimes fought like all friends but they usually didn't last long. They sometimes went to bed hating the other's guts, but the feeling usually evaporated over night. They sometimes got tired of each other, but their intense love for each other usually drowned out that emotion. Yes, they were good friends. Best of friends. Brothers, really. And that's how they liked it.

There was another person who stood out on the platform, looking lost, confused, angry, and mildly hurt. He stared about, looking at all of the friends and parents around him and felt a stab of jealousy. His dark black hair fell across his face, covering one of his grey eyes and half hiding the other one. He held himself stiffly and haughtily.

This was Sirius Black. He was the heir of the Black family fortune, which would have been fine except he didn't want it. Should he? After all, with the family fortune and name came the obsessive mudblood hating and insane dark magic. That was something Sirius hated, something that he didn't want it. It was a power that he had never wanted.

Of course, his parents thought that they could train Sirius to desire the money, title, and power. As such, they sent the unfortunate boy to Durmstrang, a school that more or less officially taught dark magic. And of course, Sirius didn't find this to his liking. So he did what was natural. He wreaked havoc all around the school until, finally, at the end of his fourth year, he was expelled. Overjoyed, Sirius managed to convince his parents that he would be better off at Hogwarts than just completely ending his education. And that would bring him at the platform.

His parents weren't normal parents though. They didn't love him, they loved their money. They didn't want him, they wanted their power. They didn't care about his welfare, they cared about destroying all mudbloods on the planet. As such, Sirius had been unceremoniously dumped at the station, angry and hurt at his parents' lack of love. But he was used to by now. After fifteen years, one tends to adapt to environments. And he had adapted to his cold, unloving parents, brother, and house.

Sirius sighed and pushed his black hair out of his eyes. He might as well board now. He wasn't doing any good just standing there and his feet were starting to hurt his feet, considering his shoes were too small. Again. So he began to head to the train, wondering if he would have real friends who really cared for him. At Durmstrang he had friends, but only friends who cared about his title and money. Considering those were the two things in his life that he hated most, he resented their friendship.

And so he boarded the train, wondering. What was going to happen to him? Would everyone freak out when they realized that he was a Black? Probably. One can't have the darkest wizard family without getting some kind of a reaction of dislike. He wondered what house he would be in, praying above all prayers that he would not get into Slytherin. But he knew that the chances were slim. After all, one cannot escape his destiny.

A.N. A new story. A new set of readers? I hope so. Please read it and if you do read it, please review. Thanks a bunch.