By Zetta Zofia
Disclaimer: Characters are Not Mine! Belong to the wonderful, fabulous, absolutely amazing genius J.K. Rowling.
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Chapter One- The First YearsJames Potter fell in love before he'd even set foot in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Her name was Lily Rose Evans, and she was from a Muggle family. She had red hair, green eyes, and pale skin, and he met her right outside of Platform 9 and ¾, she standing with her family, and he waiting alone.
He'd been waiting for his best friend Sirius to get there. His parents had gone inside with his trunk and cat after they made sure he knew how to get to the platform, and now he was free from their strict supervision, and soon would be free for even longer.
He used the time wisely, plotting how to get Sirius to eat a Cockroach Cluster and an Acid pop. His dad had taken him to Diagon Alley a week before, and had bought him a whole bag of candy and a bunch of other neat things. His favorite was the new racing broom, though he couldn't bring it to school. There was a stupid rule about first years not being allowed to ride brooms, and he and Sirius had spent a lot of time complaining about it over the past summer, ever since they'd gotten their letters.
But all that was put aside for the moment. He noticed her as soon as she and her family came around to the platform. It was all he could do not to stare at her, she was so pretty. She had both of her parents and a sister, and her cart was loaded with her trunk and a bowl with a little frog in it, and some water.
She wore Muggle clothes, a sweater that matched her eyes, and a black skirt, and was looking around with unease on her pretty face. "I don't see it," she said, and James decided he liked her voice. It was soft and pretty.
"Well," her father said, looking a little worried. "It's got to be here somewhere. If that Alley was really there, I can't imagine that the platform won't be."
Her sister, a pencil thin girl with curly blond hair, made a face. "I bet it's all just a big joke. And whoever did it is laughing at you right now. Honestly, I can't believe you're encouraging her to believe this rubbish, mother."
James decided he didn't like her sister very much.
Before he could go over and tell them where the platform was, there was a loud crash behind them.
The girl and her family all turned to look, as did most of the train station and even some of the people who were already on the trains.
James looked and grinned. A dark haired boy had crashed his cart into a bench, narrowly missing a group of people. His owl, who was in a cage on top of the cart, hooted painfully, flapping its wings.
"Sorry!" the boy said, and continued to push the cart down to the platform. He saw James and grinned widely. "Potter!" he said, and they slapped each other on the back, much like their fathers did every time they met. Then the boy reached in his pocket at the same time as James, and they both looked at each other eagerly.
"I've got something for you," they both said at the same time, then looked disappointed as they each held the same thing, a bunch of candy that would have been anything but nice.
But then they grinned at each other again. "Maybe Peter's hungry," Sirius suggested, and James nodded, agreeing.
"Are your parents here?" James asked, looking around for the Blacks. "Mum and Dad were looking for them. They wanted to ask about you coming over this summer."
Sirius shrugged. "They're somewhere. I thought they were right behind me, but then Athena saw something in one of the Muggle stores, and I might have left them there. Accidentally, of course." He grinned. "Oops."
"Mine are already inside," James said. "They took my stuff in too."
The girl he'd noticed early finally approached him, looking somewhat shy, and quite nervous. "Excuse me," she said, standing a careful distance away from them. "But, are you going to Hogwarts?"
Sirius beamed at her. "Nope. I'm going to, uh, Straw-goh." He had to think for a minute before he could figure out how to say Hogwarts backwards, but once he had it, he beamed. "It's in, er, uh, D-nal-tocs."
"To where?" Lily asked, looking puzzled.
James rolled his eyes. "He's just talking backwards. Ignore him, or you'll hurt yourself trying to follow his logic, because he really doesn't have any. Yes, we are going to Hogwarts."
Her family was watching them too, and all but the sister looked relieved to hear that. "Oh good," she said, smiling. "I'm afraid I can't find the platform, and I don't want to miss the train."
"We'll help you," James said.
"I'm James," Sirius said. "This is my friend, Sirius."
James scowled. "Like I said. Don't listen to him. I'm James. He's Sirius."
The girl grinned back. "I'm Petunia. She's Lily." She was obviously lying, for her sister's glare nearly burnt holes through her back.
James had to smile at her. A lot of girls would have started crying when Sirius did that stupid name-switching thing, but not this girl. Her eyes were sparkling and she looked ready to laugh at them. He decided he really liked her. "Nice to meet you Petunia-Lily."
Sirius nodded enthusiastically. "Me and him are first years too. I'm going to be in Gryffindor, and so his he. Our other friend, Peter, might be in Hufflepuff, but we hope he's in Gryffindor too."
James snickered. "Hufflepuff is a stupid house, but it's better than Slytherin."
"I want to be in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw," Lily said. "But anything's good, as long as it's not Slytherin." Lily's mother coughed politely, and Lily turned. "Oh yeah. This is my mum, Rose Evans, and my dad, David Evans. I don't know her name for sure, but this is my sister. She might be Petunia or Lily, depending on who you are."
Sirius scowled. "James already told you our names, so she has to be Petunia."
"Like I'd ever want to be Lily anyway," Petunia said huffily.
"Well I wouldn't want to be Petunia, either," Lily said, but looked a little hurt.
James frowned, and then remembered what was in his hands. "Want some candy, Petunia?"
Sirius snickered, but the girl didn't seem to notice. "Not unless it's real candy, and I don't think your kind even has that." She turned and leaned on the post that led to ten.
Lily looked a little embarrassed, so James decided to change the subject. "You should say goodbye to your parents out here. Sometimes Muggles have a hard time getting back out once their inside the platform, and you're probably not on the Floo line, so they can't just Floo back."
Lily stared at him, confused, then shrugged. "Okay." She turned around and hugged her mother, who was crying, then her father, who looked quite sad. "I'll write as soon as I can," she promised.
Her mother sniffed. "Oh, Lily, are you sure you want to go?"
Lily sent her a patient look, one James recognized. He'd just give his parents the same look a few minutes ago, when his mother had started blubbering on about how much she'd miss him. James hid a smile in response to Lily's obvious exasperation, and noticed that Sirius was rolling his eyes as well. They exchanged an amused look. Parents. Who could ever figure them out?
"Write to us if you need anything," her father said. "We'll, er, owl it to you."
"Bye!" Lily said, a little too eager to see them gone.
The three waited for them to round the corner, and then they looked at each other.
"Let's go in," James said.
"Where is it?" Lily asked, frowning at them. "We looked all over for it."
"Right here," James said, pointing to the post. "You just gotta walk through it."
Lily gave him a disbelieving look, and crossed her arms. "I don't like getting made fun of," she said. "I'm not stupid enough to believe that."
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Girls," he said with a sigh. "Honestly. If we were making fun of you or some such, we'd have told you to get on the wrong train or something like that that would have actually been funny. Or maybe we'd have sent you through the wrong post." He tilted his head to the side, considering that. "We'll have to try that next year, James. I'll meet you on the platform." And he glanced around, then pushed his cart through the post.
Lily's eyes widened as Sirius disappeared, and her mouth dropped open a good bit.
James gestured towards the post. "After you," he said. "You should run at it if you're scared."
She lifted her chin and walked into the post, though once he couldn't see her face, she was wincing, just knowing that it was all some sort of joke.
She came out on the other side, on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
Sirius was already talking with another boy their age, and Lily walked forward a little, her eyes trying to take in everything.
"You want to sit with us?" James asked from behind her.
He didn't look as though he thought walking through walls was anything abnormal, so Lily tried her best to hide her amazement. She smiled. "Okay."
Sirius didn't look surprised to see her with James, but flashed her a friendly smile as the other boy who'd been with them went off. "Put your trunk up here," he said, and helped her get it up. His eyes widened when he realized how heavy it was. "Haven't you ever heard of feather weight spells?"
They pushed it in. "I've heard of them," Lily said. "And I tried to do it earlier, but I couldn't get it to work right. It made my mum's favorite perfume bottle explode all over."
Sirius nodded sadly. "That happened to me once. Mum almost killed me."
Lily grinned mischievously. "Well, my mum doesn't know yet."
Sirius hooted with laughter, and James smiled at her. "We'll sit in here," he decided, pulling the door to the last compartment open. There was a boy already in there, and he looked up as they opened the door. He was tall, pale, and tired looking, and his robes were frayed a bit. There was an old gray cat on his lap, and the cat looked up as they entered, but made no move towards them.
"Can we sit here with you?" James asked politely.
The boy nodded and moved his book off the seat next to him. "Go ahead," he said, and it came out very quietly.
"I'm James Potter, this is Sirius Black, and this is Lily Evans," James said, taking a seat across from him. "Who are you?"
"I'm Remus," he said. "Remus Lupin."
"Here's Peter," Sirius said, leaning out the door. "He can fit in here too, I guess."
"I just met them," Lily informed Remus. "As near as I can say, Sirius is a bit odd, and James is very nice. I don't know who Peter is, but Sirius said he might end up in Hufflepuff."
Sirius grinned. "That I am, and that I did."
James shrugged in his response to her comments about him. She thought he was nice? He wanted to grin at her, so he did. He thought she was nice too. "I just felt bad for you," he said. "Being Muggle-born and all that. I'll be mean to you soon, I'm sure." He grinned at her. "After all, you'll be an easy target."
Remus tilted his head. "You aren't against Muggle-borns, are you?"
James shook his head, offended that someone would even think that of him. "'Course not. Sirius is half Muggle."
Sirius grinned. "And half magic, of course. But my mum thinks that I'm more magic than that, with all the trouble I get into."
"Hi," another boy said. He climbed up into the compartment. He was short, round, and had a head full of blond and brown hair. "Who're you?" he asked, looking at Lily and Remus.
"That's Remus, and that's Lily," Sirius said. "This is Peter. He's the one who should be in Hufflepuff."
"I should not," Peter said, frowning at him. "I'm going to be in Gryffindor."
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Want some candy?"
Peter backed away from him immediately. "Not from you I don't!"
James snickered and moved over so Peter could sit on his right side. "Last time Sirius gave him candy, it burned a hole in his tongue and made him start to float away."
Sirius sighed sadly. "But then my mum got him down and yelled at me. But it was funny when it happened!"
"Do you have one more seat?" a soft voice asked.
They all looked and saw a girl there, short and blond and very nervous.
Lily smiled. "Hi! I'm Lily. This is James, and Sirius, and Remus, and Peter."
The girl stepped in. "I'm Christie," she said, and took a seat next to Lily.
"Sirius Black! Sirius!"
Sirius looked out the window and sighed. "Mum found me," he said unhappily. "You think I can manage to keep away from her 'til the train leaves?"
James smirked. "Probably not."
Sirius gave him a smirk in return. "We'll find out."
James snickered again, stood, and leaned out the door. "Mrs. Black, we're over here!"
Sirius hit him upside the head. "Great job, Jimmy. Now she's gonna come over!"
"Don't call me that," James complained, and his cat hissed at Sirius. James patted the cat. "And does that mean your embarrassed 'cuz of your mummy wanting to give you ickle huggies?"
Sirius swiped at his head, but James ducked and snickered at him.
"You don't like being called Jimmy?" Lily asked, grinning. "Okay, Jimmy."
"Okay, Lily-Billy," James said back, smirking when she pouted.
Mrs. Black and her husband reached the compartment. "Honestly, Sirius Black. One day you'll run off and I won't be able to find you again. You'll be kidnapped by some horrid man, and then you'll regret it."
Sirius beamed. "My kidnapper would just get sick of me and throw me back where he found me."
Mrs. Black huffed, looking more amused than anything. "You're probably right."
"Well," Mr. Black said, looking inside. "I know you, James, and you, Peter, but the rest of you, I'm afraid I don't recognize."
Sirius sent them each warning glares. "Let's keep it that way."
James ignored him and smiled cheerfully at his best friend's parents. "This is Lily, Christie, and Remus."
"Nice to meet you," Mrs. Black said. "If Sirius gives you any troubles, please let me know and I'll see that he regrets it."
"We will," Lily promised.
The whistle blew, and Mrs. Black sighed. "I'm going to talk to your parents, James. Have a nice time! Be careful! And don't get in to any trouble!"
Sirius crossed his finger. "We won't! Bye, mum, bye, dad."
He sat down again, then stood. "Let me take that seat," he said, and took the seat on the farthest side from his parents, across from Remus. James sat next to him, then Peter, and the train started moving along, slowly at first, but gaining speed quickly.
"We're off!" Sirius said happily.
James grinned and sat back, relaxing, and studied the other people.
Remus had gone back to reading, Christie was staring at her hands, a worried expression on her face, and Lily was staring out the window. She was no longer smiling, and looked rather worried as well. Peter was already trying to get comfortable enough to sleep, and Sirius was looking out the window, watching the trees fly by with growing excitement. "Eight hours to go!" he said happily. "And then we'll be at Hogwarts!"
James rolled his eyes and went back to casually looking at Lily. She was very pretty, he decided. He hoped she was in Gryffindor. He wanted to get to know her better. He looked away from her just as her eyes flickered to him, and looked out the other window. "What house do you want to be in, Remus?" he asked.
Remus looked up from his book and slipped his glasses off. "I want to be in Gryffindor," he said, but there was a note in his voice that said he didn't think he had a chance.
Sirius apparently noted it to. "But?"
Remus looked down. "I'll probably be in Slytherin."
Lily looked at him curiously. "You don't look evil," she said. "And everything I've heard and read says that Slytherins are quite a bit on the evil side of things."
Remus shrugged. "You don't know me."
Sirius snorted. "She's a good judge of character. She figured out I was odd. But she was off on James. He isn't nice at all. He's a git."
"And you, sir, are a monkey," James said in return, and they grinned at each other.
Peter rolled his eyes at them, and Lily looked at Christie. "What about you?"
"Ravenclaw," Christie said wistfully. "But Gryffindor's my second choice. My mum was a Ravenclaw, and my dad a Gryffindor. But I'm not much on the brave side of things, so I figure I'm better off being smart."
"Mine were both Gryffindor," James said proudly. "I'll be in it too, have no doubt of it."
"My dad was in Gryffindor," Sirius said. "So was my uncle, and the rest of my family. My mum's a Muggle," he explained to those who'd missed it. "So I guess I'll end up in Gryffindor too. But that's okay, because Gryffindor's the best house."
"My mom was a Hufflepuff," Peter added sadly. "And my dad was a Ravenclaw. I don't think I'm going to get in to Gryffindor, but I really want to. But I guess anything would be okay, so long as I just don't get sent back home."
"You can get sent home?" Christie wondered, horrified.
James rolled his eyes. "It hasn't happened before. Though you might be if your letter was a fake."
"Fake?" Lily wondered, worried.
James shrugged. "You know, if someone sent a Muggle or a Squib a letter and then got them convinced they were Magic."
"You're just trying to scare us," Lily accused. "No one would do that."
James grinned. "You're right."
"Do you all already know magic already?" Lily asked, looking at Sirius for a straight answer. It was clear that this was something that had been bothering her for a while, because her expression was clearly a worried one.
Sirius shook his head. "I've learned a few things, but don't worry about it. Technically, we're not even supposed to use magic until we've finished at Hogwarts, so most people don't teach their kids. My dad's an Auror though, so he believes we should all know how to defend ourselves. He taught me how to do a shield thing, and a few other neat tricks. Jimmy-boy knows lots more though."
James sent Sirius a look. "Not a lot. My dad's in the Ministry, so I had to learn all that stuff too. And then one day I was in Dad's office and I figured out how to get my name on the list of people allowed to use magic whenever they want, you know, the adult list. Sirius is on it too, so now we can do it all the time."
"We still don't know how to do much," Sirius admitted. "But we learned enough to pull some awesome tricks on people."
"I know the words to a bunch of spells," Christie said, envying the two boys. "But I haven't ever tried them. My parents would flip if they so much as knew I knew that much."
Peter was the same. "My parents would kill me if I did. They own a bookstore in Diagon Alley, right near the ministry. So they're real careful not to let anything happen that might get them in trouble with the ministry or anything."
"That's how we met," James explained. "Probably two years ago, now. Me and Sirius were in the Alley looking for Quidditch stuff, and Pete was in the bookstore and came out to look at the new broom model. We hit it off then, and we've been friends since."
"What do your parents do, Remus?" Lily asked, trying to include him in the conversation.
He looked up again. "My mum's a nurse at Saint Mundgo's." He didn't mention his father, and no one asked.
The conversation continued until lunchtime, when a witch with a cart came by. The boys loaded up on sweets, and Lily bought a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans, which all four boys highly recommended. The first one she tried was green. "It tastes like grass," she said, confused. She gave the box another long look.
Sirius laughed. "Of course. They're every flavor." Then he put one in his own mouth, chewed it, and made a disgusted face. "It's... It's... Toe Fungus!"
They all laughed at him, and the train continued on.
* * *
They arrived at Hogwarts at seven o'clock, and the six climbed out of the train and looked around in wonder.
"Leave your bags on the train" said the announcement, so they did.
Lily tucked her toad inside her pocket, and followed the boys out. Christie stuck close to her, and they climbed in a boat near to the four boys, who'd climbed in together. They waved to her and Christie, who waved back.
"I'm so scared," Christie said, sitting on the far side.
Lily sat next to her and nodded. "Me too."
Two other girls joined them in their boat. "I'm Athena," the taller one said. "And this is Tiffany."
"Hello," Tiffany said cheerfully. "I'm hoping to get into Ravenclaw," she said. "How about you?"
And their friendship began.
* * *
A stern looking young woman called Professor McGonagall told them what would happen so that they would be sorted, and then left them alone. Lily, Christie, and their two new friends went over to join them.
"Nervous?" James asked, noting the way Lily was looking all over.
She blinked and smiled. "Well, a little. But I was looking at all the paintings. They're moving!"
Sirius laughed. "Of course they do. Aren't the Muggle pictures so boring? These are so cool. I heard that the entrance to the houses are all guarded by paintings, and you have to tell them the passwords to get in, and if you get it wrong, they jump out and curse you."
The professor returned before Lily could comment on that tidbit of news.
"This way, please," she said, and they followed her inside.
The entire school was watching them, and Lily hugged herself uncomfortably. She noticed that James and Sirius had lost some of their energy and were looking somewhat nervous.
Good, she thought. It wouldn't have been fair if they were completely calm.
Professor McGonagall drew her attention then. "Sit down on the stool, and place the hat on your head. It will call out the house you'll reside in." She called out a boy's name, and someone Lily didn't know went up. He placed the hat on his head, sat, and a moment later, the hat, which suddenly had a mouth, shouted out "HUFFLEPUFF!"
McGonagall waited until the Hufflepuffs had quieted, then called the next name. "Ambrosia, Tiffany."
Tiffany let out a quiet squeak, and those who heard it laughed a little.
Pale and shaking, she made her way up front. She sat for a moment, stiff and unmoving. Then the hat spoke. "RAVENCLAW!"
The table that was mostly blue let out a loud cheer and stood up, and Tiffany was directed over to the table.
"Black, Sirius."
"Atta boy, Sirius!" a girl yelled from the red table, and there was more laughter.
"His sister," James explained to Lily. "She's a lot older than him, and she's in Gryffindor." They waited in silence until the hat opened its mouth. "GRYFFINDOR!"
James grinned. "Good," he said. "Now he'll be in with me too. I'm getting in Gryffindor no matter what."
"How do you know?" Lily wondered.
He shrugged. "I just do."
Two more boys and a girl were called, and then Lily was called.
Her palms were sweaty and she felt like fainting, but she put the hat on her head and waited.
When it began talking, she nearly fell off the stool, but quickly recovered, and listened to it arguing with itself about where to place her.
Gryffindor, with Sirius, Lily thought hopefully. Then James and Peter and Remus and Christie will be in there, and then everything will be fine.
To her surprise, the hat seemed to agree. "GRYFFINDOR!" it shouted, and a cheer went up.
Lily caught James' eye and he winked at her, and she grinned back.
She took a seat across from Sirius, who was talking animatedly with a girl who had to be his sister.
More names were called out, and then Remus joined them in Gryffindor. Christie sent them a sad wave when she went to Ravenclaw with Athena, but Peter was placed in Gryffindor with them.
James, who went right after Peter, had barely placed the hat on his head when it shouted for him to join the Gryffindors.
Few other names stood out in Lily's mind, though one boy in particular did. His name was Severus Snape, and the look he gave off was one that screamed Slytherin. The hat screamed Slytherin too, but only after almost a minute of considering.
Once that was completed and everyone was sorted, an old looking man with a long white beard stood up from the Head Table. "That's Dumbledore," Sirius told her. "He's cool."
"The start of a new year," Dumbledore said, and the hall was surprisingly quiet except for his voice. "Let us hope that it will be a good one, and that our newest additions will be welcome ones. Tuck in!"
Food appeared on the plates before them.
The Gryffindors celebrated by grabbing food and filling their plates, occasionally tossing something at some of the younger students, just to find out what they'd do. The new Gryffindors, not about to put up with this, threw back, and before long, a food fight was raging amongst the tables, despite Head Boy Lucius Malfoy's furious screams that they had to stop.
It was a tradition that would continue for the remaining years that Sirius Black and James Potter were among them.
* * *
James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were joined in their room by a somewhat obnoxious boy named Greg Piper. He complained the entire first night about how horrid it was that he was forced to be in a different room than all of his friends, who were second years.
James managed to ignore him for the most part, until early the next morning when Greg woke him up complaining again.
Sirius was just as unhappy, and the two mischievous boys immediately decided to get to work on a good prank for him. Remus was approved as a good chap when he offered them the use of one of his books: Four Hundred Eighty Nine and a Half Excellent Pranks For Beginning Witches and Wizards to Pull On Unsuspecting Foes, Friends, and Evil-Doers. Though the title was long enough that Sirius had to take a break mid sentence, they all agreed that it would be a great help.
Once they'd woken Peter up, and they were all dressed, they made their way downstairs, where Remus easily led them to the Great Hall for breakfast. The hall was already crowded with students, including Lily, who was cheerfully chatting with one of her roommates. She smiled as they sat down, but seemed more interested in the conversation she was having with the girls around her.
The four boys piled their plates and began flipping through Remus's book. When the morning owls came in, the four barely even noticed, though James heard Lily gasp with surprise, and a few other Muggle-borns make comments.
Their schedules handed out, breakfast finished, the four boys went off to find their first class, Transfiguration with Professor M. McGonagall.
Lily caught up with them halfway there, which cheered James up for reasons he couldn't begin to imagine, and the five young Gryffindors entered the classroom in excellent moods, though they were a few moments late arriving.
"She's not here yet?" James wondered, sliding into a seat.
"We haven't seen her," Greg said.
James rolled his eyes. He'd already noticed that Greg was the type who had a comment on everything.
Sirius stood and turned around, watching the door. He missed seeing the cat on the desk begin to transform. "We ought to pull a prank on her or something-" James nudged him, his eyes slightly wide as he watched Professor McGonagall take shape. Sirius recovered without missing a beat. "But that would be rather horrible, especially since she seemed like such a wonderfully interesting person."
"Sit down, Mr. Black," McGonagall said, apparently not fooled.
Sirius turned around innocently. "Why Professor, when did you get in here? I was just telling-"
"She was the cat," Lily interrupted. "She heard everything. How did you do that, Professor?" Lily asked, her eyes sparkling with amazement.
Professor McGonagall forgot her irritation with Sirius. "Ms. Evans, correct?" When Lily nodded, she continued. "I am an Animagus. I became one once I had mastered the fine art of Transfiguration, which is a way of changing one object, living or otherwise, into another object, living or otherwise. This will be one of your most difficult classes, and I shall be one of your most difficult teachers. Today, we will begin with something that is quite simple. On your desks are a few jars of beetles. I expect by the end of this hour, they will be buttons. Now if you'll pay attention and watch me, I'll show you how it's done."
The class listened for fifteen minutes. Within another five, James had transfigured his beetle into a perfect white button. Amazed by the speed and skill it was done with, she gave James fifteen points. Sirius, who transfigured his into a misshapen polka-dotted button, got five. They were the only ones in the class who managed to get it all on their own.
* * *
History of Magic followed that, and they had that class with the Ravenclaws. Lily sat with her Ravenclaw friends, and they giggled all through the hour.
Professor Binns, who was at least eighty years old, didn't seem to notice.
After the lunch break, the Gryffindors went into their Potions class, which they had with the Slytherins. The teacher was a mean old hag who lisped when she spoke, and favored no one. Sirius explained after class that she, like the Potions masters before her, and those that would follow her, was the Head of Slytherin House.
Gryffindor's Head was always the Transfiguration Master, Hufflepuff's the Herbology Professor, and Ravenclaws, the Charms Master. Of the four House Head, McGonagall was the youngest and newest, Professor Sprout of Herbology the second youngest, and Professor Flitwick of Ravenclaw and Professor Judas of Slytherin both seemed to be equally ancient.
Potions turned out to be quite easy for Remus, who partnered up with Sirius. James ended up partnering with Peter, but knew before he'd even started that he'd regret it. Fortunately, Lily was partnered up with someone and was seated next to him, so he had high hopes that if things got really bad, he could always just swap cauldrons with her or something.
Then he bit back a sigh, because he knew he couldn't ever do that to Lily. She was just too nice and sweet. He liked her too much.
A little angry with himself because he didn't understand why he felt that way about her, he glared at his notes and began writing again, this time focusing completely on the teacher, and doing his best to ignore the inquisitive redhead to his right.
* * *
The next day their classes continued. The Gryffindors had Defense Against the Dark Arts, which all of the Gryffindors seemed to enjoy, Charms, and Herbology.
The third day was a mix of the classes they'd already had and a late night class of Astronomy.
All of them had gone to it and made jokes about what a nice place it would be to visit with a girlfriend, or in the girls' cases, a boyfriend. Of course, none of them were about to admit that, because, while the idea was intriguing, it was also a little bit frightening.
Especially when, on the return to the common room, Professor Sinistra ran right into a pair of Hufflepuffs giggling and holding each other on their way upstairs. Everyone in the group snickered as Sinistra proceeded to yell at them and take points away, but James could tell that more people were embarrassed than amused, though they tried to hide it.
The Gryffindors returned to their Tower, and the Ravenclaws to theirs, and James spent the night wondering why he kept imagining him and Lily being the ones sneaking up to the tower... without being caught.
* * *
After their first full week of school, the four boys decided it was time to let the rest of Hogwarts know that they'd arrived. Using the Invisibility Cloak Mr. Potter had given James, they snuck into the Great Hall in the middle of the night, and rigged the tables so they would throw off any food that was placed on them. It took all of their combined skills and a lot of luck to get it to work, as the spell they had to use was somewhat difficult for most first years. Then they snuck back upstairs and Sirius put hair dye into Greg's shampoo, knowing that the first thing the other boy did in the morning was take a shower- and use up all the warm water in the unscented tap.
Then, finished with their pranks, the boys decided to head off to bed.
Greg woke up and went down to breakfast. It took five minutes of people laughing at him before he realized his hair was pink, four times longer than it had started as, and sticking straight out at the oddest angles.
James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter arrived and silently thanked Sirius's sister for buying Sirius the hair-dye at a joke shop over the summer. And then they congratulated themselves when food began flying off the table, covering staff and students alike.
Seeing as the food was flying everywhere, the four boys were soon covered with it as well. But they, like much of the rest of the school, were laughing and grinning.
Professor McGonagall was furious. With potatoes on her head and her robes soaked with pumpkin juice, she proceeded to tell everyone in the room that whoever had done it would receive detention for two weeks.
It was at this point that Sirius informed James, Remus, and Peter of his desire for the most detentions. And he wasn't about to get them on his own. "Professor McGonagall," he said cheerfully. "I certainly think you need to be more specific. Are you talking a detention for every day? Five days a week? Doing what exactly?"
The entire room was staring at them, and James, while not totally comfortable with it, decided that it would be worse if people knew he wasn't okay with it. He grinned as well, acting quite nonchalant, as if the idea of Professor McGonagall glaring at him didn't terrify him. He was, after all, a brave Gryffindor.
"Are you the ones responsible for this mess?" McGonagall demanded.
Professor Dumbledore beamed. "Wonderful," he said cheerfully. "Very impressive that ones as young as yourselves could manage this. However, as Professor McGonagall says, this cannot go unpunished. Two weeks of detentions with Mr. Finch shall do you well, I suspect. And that's five days a week."
Sirius beamed. "Thank you sir. My father will be quite pleased to know I'm off to a good start on getting the most detentions."
And he led the others in sitting down.
Greg left their shared room the next day and moved into the spare bed in the second year room.
James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter celebrated by finding the location of the kitchens.
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