AN: I do not own any of these characters. They belong to the amazing JK Rowling. I simply wanted to write a story focused around the Marauders. I hope you like it! If you're new to reading this story please bare with me while I'm editing years one and two. I know there are several grammar mistakes and I'm trying my best to improve my writing.

Severus Snape drug his trunk down half the train until he found the compartment he was looking for. He doesn't even have his hand on the knob and the red head girl jumps up to greet him.

"Severus! I'm so glad you were able to find me." She beams at him.

"It was easy enough," he lies, then the two lift his trunk up onto the racks. "Now yours," he says. Once they have the trunks in place they collapse into the seats opposite of each another.

"I'm sorry my family couldn't come to the station with yours. Petunia wouldn't hear of it. Mum and Dad practically had to drag her here kicking and screaming."

"I told you that you don't have to ever apologize to me on behalf of your family, Lily. I understand," Severus says.

Lily smiles at him. "Did your family come to see you off?"

"Mum did." Severus offers a weak smile. "Dad was busy though, like usual."

Remus Lupin is still on the platform with his parents. He is clinging to his Mum.

"Don't worry," she whispers in his ear, "just remember Professor Dumbledore has it all figured out, and he'll have everything you need each month. Just like we do at home."

"I just don't want the other kids to know. They won't like me."

His father kneels beside him and places a strong hand on his shoulder.

"Remus Lupin, you are by far the most likable kid anyone will ever know. And if anyone says they don't like you, just let me know and I'll send them a right nasty howler."

Remus laughs a little and pulls away from his Mum to look at his Dad.

"You have to say that, you're my dad," he laughs.

"A dad with the right to send Howlers to kids that upset my son. But I don't think they'll be in any danger of that."

A whistle blows, signaling that the train will leave in exactly 5 minutes.

"Best be off. You need to find some kids your age to sit with, make some friends, alright?" Ms. Lupin says.

"Alright," Remus says.

He walks down the aisle of the train looking for a compartment to join, but they all seem to be filled with groups of older kids who all knew each other. Finally he came across a compartment with only one person in it. He was a plump little boy, biting on the buds of his finger nails looking as nervous as Remus felt, though he hoped he hid it a little better.

"Excuse me," Remus says, making the boy turn quickly from the window, "I'm Remus, do you mind if I join you?"

The boy shakes his head 'no' rather quickly. Remus pulls his trunk in and decides it best to just shove it under a seat.

"How'd you manage to get yours up there?" He asks, nodding to the boys trunk above him.

"A Prefect helped," he says, "I'm Peter. Peter Pettigrew. This is my first year."

"Mine too." Remus smiles; glad to see he's not the only nervous first year.

Feeling rather bold, James Potter decides to go around and find a compartment with older students to sit at. He gets turned down several times, but lucks out when he asks in a compartment that already has a boy that looks his age in it as well. The boy has hair as dark and wild as James's.

"What's you name?" An older girl asks him before letting him into the compartment.

"James."

"Your last name," she says, rather annoyed.

"Oh, Potter," James says quickly. A whistle blows, warning the train will leave in one minute.

"Potter, that's pureblood right?"

"Yes," James says.

"Then have a seat," the girl says. "Sirius, scoot over, make some room for Potter." James squishes in beside the black haired boy.

"I'm Bellatrix Black, that's Drew McNair, and my sister Narcissa Black, and Callum Clawery. Oh, and Sirius Black there beside you. My cousin."

The train whistle blows and there's a slight rocking to the whole train. James looks worriedly at the window, he's the farthest away and he had promised to wave goodbye to his family.

"Oh bloody hell," Bellatrix says, "The two of you go wave goodbye to your mummys and daddys." The others in the compartment laugh as James and Sirius jump up to the window and wave. Sirius spots his younger brother Regulus, who is waving like mad. James beams to him mum and dad, and finally the train is out of the station and their families are out of sight. James and Sirius squish back into their corner together. The others jump into lengthy discussions about NEWTS and what classes they'll be taking.

"So..." James whispers to Sirius. "This is your first time going to Hogwarts too?"

"Yep," Sirius says.

"Any idea what house you'll be in?" James asks.

"I'm a Black, all the Blacks have been in Slytherin. You?"

"Dad was Gryffindor. But we are pureblood so, I don't know."

"What about your mum?"

"Didn't go to Hogwarts. My granddad was working in France while she was a kid, she went to Beauxbatons."

"Have you ever been to France?" Sirius asks, but James doesn't get to answer. Bellatrix laughs loudly, drawing the two boys from their own private conversation.

"Mudbloods!" She cackles. The older kids all laugh, leaving James and Sirius looking at them all rather confused. Finally Narcissa says, ",maybe you two should explore the train."

James and Sirius stand and leave, then walk down the aisle of the train talking.

"So have you?" Sirius asks.

"What?" James asks.

"Been to France."

"Oh, right. Yeah once, when I was really little with mum. But I don't remember it well. We were visiting my Aunt Wendy. I just remember her house was tiny and I had to sleep curled up on the love seat."

Sirius laughs a little. "France sounds lovely."

"Beautiful," James laughs.

"Sirius?" A voice behind them asks. They turn to find a Slytherin Prefect.

"Hi Andromeda," Sirius says.

"What are you doing wondering around the train. You know that can get you in trouble."

"We weren't," James lies, "we just stepped out to see if we could see the snack trolley, we were wondering if she was getting close."

"Stepped out from which compartment?" Andromeda Black asks, smiling and crossing her arms, curious how this kid was going to lie his way out of this one.

James looks to his right, and is thrilled to see two young boys sitting and chatting. James flings the door open, making both boys inside jump from fright, and steps in.

"No snack trolley yet," he announces. Sirius catching on quickly and steps inside too.

"So tell my cousin here, the Prefect-" He adds with raised eyebrows. "-that we had only stepped out for a minute, Pettigrew." He's relieved that he actually recognizes one of the boys and is able to call him by name.

The skinny boy smiles weakly at the Slytherin Prefect while Peter nods his head yes quickly and nervously.

"Right. Well I'll be coming back by. I better not find you out and about again."

"Nothing to worry about here, A," Sirius says. He flops down on the couch beside the skinny boy and throws his arm around his shoulders .

Andromeda leaves the four boys alone.

"Thanks for that," James says, taking a seat beside Peter.

"No problem," Peter mumbles. "Hi Sirius," he says.

"You two know each other?" James asks.

"Sort of. Peter and I met at some function about a year ago. I don't even remember what it was but family had to come and all that crap. You know how it is being a pureblood."

James agrees, but he doesn't, his family doesn't see the importance of pureblood status like other families do.

James decides to introduce himself, and Remus does the same. And quickly the four boys hit it off and find themselves talking about Quidditch, their spell books, and the fact that they all want to own an owl.

Lily and Severus share a pack of Bertie Bott beans and dare each other to eat the gross ones. Lily is surprised at just how many flavors there are. She's had some before, as Severus has always been kind enough to sneak her a couple whenever he was able to get some. But he always brought her the good flavors like chocolate cake and orange sherbet. Now she was chewing on a bean that is what she imagined a mix between old leather and wood would taste like. Severus insist she had an earwax early based on her facial expression to the sourness. She had tried a bean that, from her memory of eating mudpies as a small child, was dirt flavored.

Finally Severus suggest they change into their school uniforms, and he looks away shyly as Lily gets dressed. She blushes a little but smiles when she sees he's being respectful and is facing the corner, picking at the threading on the seat. The train starts to slow as Lily puts on her robe, and together she and Severus look out the window, curious to see the train station. Lily has a gitty feeling, part of her always wondered if Severus was lying to her, and if somehow, with a slight of hand type of magic, he was trying to convince her he was a wizard and she was a witch. But that never explained all the things she could do on her own, like making a flower bloom in her palm. Then, even with further conformation that she truly was a witch, she still had slight doubt; because she didn't want to be heartbroken when it wasn't true. But now, now she was arriving at the magical school, with Severus, just as he said they would.

And she couldn't be happier nor more scared for what was to come.

The four boys, Remus, Peter, Sirius, and James, clamber into the aisle of the train with the large crowd. James and Sirius try to look out the windows of the compartments they pass, and as James looks around a corner he's bumped into by a skinny boy with long, greasy black hair.

"Watch it," James says, then he smirks when he sees the boys appearance. He has on old worn robes and shoes that look too small for him.

Severus doesn't like the way the messy haired boy with glasses is looking at him. "It wasn't my fault," Severus says, "you came around the corner."

James, not liking the boy talking back to him, fires back an insult. "I just don't want your greasy hair smudging my new robes."

"James..." Remus warns, not wanting to start trouble. But for the good of everyone, they are ushered forward and don't have time to keep arguing.

Upon exiting they hear, "First years, come over here please!" It's a skinny lady, with graying hair and a long pointed noise. She wears a hat stitched out of many different purple and blue fabrics, and a dress made a what looks like a heavy brown fabric. A group of first years gather around her, then after she's confident she has them all rounded up, she leads them down a pathway with a few twist and turns and rock steps that lead them farther down toward a dark glassy lake. The only light provided comes from a quarter crescent moon, reflecting on perfectly still water.

James spots the boat house only moments before the torches around it spring to life, flooding a large area around it with a yellowish glow of light. Peter nervously eyes the boats, thinking there is no way they can row across the lake.

"Five to a boat please, the lantern will light once you step inside," the old witch says. Sirius and James spring for a boat, both wanting the front seat, but settling for the middle when a very cute girl with blonde hair smiles at them and asks to sit up front.

"Thank you," she says through a smile. Sirius, shrugs it off like its no big deal, and James smiles back, then motions for Remus and Peter to come sit on the bench behind them.

Lily and Severus sit beside each other in the back of a boat, whispering to each other about how exciting everything was. Lily, the perkier of the two, shows enough excitement for the both of them.

The boats move forward on their own and a silence falls over the group of first years. It isn't until the yellow glowing form of the castle sitting upon large rocks starts to materialize that noise erupts from the group of students. Many yelps of excitement, oooos and aaaas, and kids shouting "look" spread like wildfire.

Lily beams upwards as the castle grows larger. "Can you believe it!?" She asks Severus; who, for some reason, looks almost gloomy.

But he plasters on a smile. "It's much larger than I imagined," he says.

James and Sirius both point out the towers and James can't help but spot the golden rings of a Quidditch pitch off to the side of the castle. Remus, still a mix between nervous and excited, is thankful that everything he feels inside mirrors on Peter's face. Because in just a minute, they'll be at the castle, and he'll be surrounded by hundreds of strangers. And he's worried they'll know what he is the moment they see him.