The Ties That Bind

The Ties That Bind

Chapter Four: Off to Hogwarts

August 31, 1971

"One day and counting," Sirius sighed happily, laying on his back in his bedroom. His father would be taking Bellatrix, Andromeda and him to Platform Nine and Three Quarters in the morning. Since Sirius was still not too keen about his father knowing of his friendship with the Potters, he remained home that evening so not to arouse suspicion. He was gone enough as it was.

The sound of his door opening broke him from his thoughts and he lifted his head. Kreacher, one of the house-elves and his mother's favorite, had entered with a tray of food. Kreacher looked like he'd rather be given clothes than be bringing supper to Sirius. Of course, Sirius wasn't surprised. Kreacher loved Mabelene and it had been a proven fact that Mabelene didn't like Sirius very much. Probably because he wasn't his brother and his mother adored Regulus. Kreacher doted on Mabelene, feared his father, listened to Regulus, and ignored Sirius. Or if he had to do something for Sirius, requested by either his father or mother, then he'd do it grudgingly and with a scowl, throwing distasteful glances in Sirius' direction.

"Just leave it there," Sirius said and Kreacher set down the tray, deliberately slopping some of the soup.

"Yes, young Master Black." Kreacher threw one last dirty look at Sirius before disappearing out the door. Sirius hauled himself out of bed and walked over to the food. He picked up the piece of bread, munching. If there was one thing he'd change it'd be to get Kreacher kicked out. The annoying house elf was becoming eccentric as he became older and though Sirius could care less that he hated him; he didn't like having to put up with the attitude.

Downing the goblet of pumpkin juice, he headed downstairs to see what his cousins were up to. He found Bellatrix sitting in one of the leather chairs by the fire in the den, a book open on her lap. Narcissa was sitting right by her, looking at the older girl in rapt attention. Sirius leaned against the door way, watching the interaction. He knew Narcissa loved him and he loved and took care of her. But Bellatrix had always been Narcissa's complete and utter idol and she followed the older girl around, asking questions. Bellatrix was quiet, but she carried a strength that even Sirius wasn't going to mess with. Ever since they were little, Bellatrix had always been the leader of their little renegade group. Since attending Hogwarts, Bellatrix had been rarely seen around the manor, as Sirius knew his father was taking her into his study for private lessons.

The way he figured, Andromeda would probably be sorted into Ravenclaw for her wit, but, as all the Blacks had been, she might very well become a Slytherin, joining Bellatrix. Narcissa, he was sure, would be a Slytherin. Not because she was nasty or cruel, but she carried a fierce will and she was quite sly for being so young. She could con any adult into giving her anything she wished, even his father, who never showed weakness. Though he was sure James would get Gryffindor, as all the Potters had, Sirius sort of wanted Slytherin, not because of the house, but the fact that his cousins were in it. And he wanted to be with them. He was torn between his best friend and family. True, he hated the manor and everyone except his cousins, who were the only thing that made it bearable. What would Hogwarts be like? And what would happen if he was placed in a different house other than Slytherin? God, what if he was a Hufflepuff?

He shuddered at that thought and turned away from the scene in the den. He walked silently through the halls until he reached the library, pushing open the large doors. Through the large Gothic windows in the back, he could see that a light rain was falling outside, casting shadows into the lamp-lit room. He found Andromeda curled up on a dark green plush sofa by a large lamp, a ratty book in her hands. From the way the yellowed parchment cracked between her finger tips, he knew it was one of the older books.

"How'd I guess?" he asked, smiling as he walked over to her.

She looked up and smiled brightly. "Hi, Sirius." She laughed, looking at the book. "It's nasty weather outside; I figured a good book would pass the time."

He sat down on the other end of the sofa, looking at her. "You and books, something I'll never understand."

She set the book on the table, looking back at him. "Yes, well, the books always did want to hit you rather than you hit them, even when Uncle was trying to teach us the history of our family."

He made a face. "That was the most boring thing in the world. I'd rather pull weeds in Mother's garden then do that."

Andromeda laughed. "I could just see you hacking away at weeds."

"I'd use magic."

"You can't."

"True, bugger." He sighed and then brightened. "I could mess up the biscuits that Kreacher makes for Mother."

"You could, but you'd be in trouble."

He shrugged. "Since when does that bother me?"

"Don't you get bored with torturing Kreacher?"

"That nutty house-elf is touched in the head, and it's not like he doesn't deserve it. After all the stuff he's done to me? I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to poison me."

"Aunt wouldn't be happy if he did."

"Really?" he scoffed. "I didn't think she cared."

She looked at him seriously. "That's not true."

"Oh, it isn't?" He arched an eyebrow. "She's down right horrible to me, she never fails to pick on me, always making a fuss about this or that. I can't do anything right in her eyes. And Father isn't any better. He never fails to find something wrong about what I do, or what I wear, or how I act." His breathing began going a little faster as he was beginning to get worked up. His hand gestures only amplified that and he began pacing. "I don't like it here, my parents are horrible. Uncle is the only decent one in the lot. And the only other people I can stand are you and Narcissa."

Andromeda looked around before standing. She set her book down and walked over to him, grabbing his arm. She was at least a foot shorter and barely stopped him from pacing. He looked down at her. "Sirius, please, stop."

"You just wait; you'll see I don't belong." He turned and strode from the room.

~***~

"You're going down."

"Fat chance," James smirked. "I'm a Potter; of course I'm going to win."

Leon Bones smirked back as he hovered above the air on his broomstick. They were going to race through an obstacle course Bryon had made for them. Since Sirius had to be at his house that night to go to the Hogwarts Express the following day, James was hanging out with Leon. They were good friends, not as good as him and Sirius, but good none the less. He knew that his parents were extremely close with Leon's, as James had been playing with Leon since before he could remember. The Bones were a powerful wizarding family and Leon's older brother and sister, Amelia and Edgar, were no exception. Top of their houses, they showed great promise.

"Go!"

James blinked out of his thoughts in time to shoot forward. "Cheating! You started first!" he yelled after Leon, who was laughing. James leaned into his broom, making it speed up as they shot through hoops, around bends, under bushes, and finally on the last stretch. He was side by side with Leon a falcon suddenly zoomed in front of him, making him pull up, and nearly miss a branch from a local tree.

"You alright?" Leon asked, flying over to James, who was hovering the air.

A falcon? There must be something wrong. The last time a falcon appeared here, it was for my father, and when he had to go to his headquarters.

"James?"

James looked at Leon and then put on a big grin. "Of course!" he waved it off, laughing, though it was only to hide the uneasiness he had in his stomach. "I meant to do that."

"Sure." Leon smirked but pulled down to the ground. "I beat you fair and square."

"You keep on believing that." James landed and puffed out his chest. "No one beats a Potter." Especially not my dad, he added silently.

As Leon threw him a ball to play a simple game of catch, James found his mind wandering to what was happening inside his house. The falcon always meant business, and, though he did try and respect his father's wishes, he was still an eleven-year old boy and very inquisitive. Finally fed up with waiting, he motioned for Leon to follow and crept around the house to the back.

"What are you doing?" Leon whispered as James began climbing the trellis on the side of the house, covered with ivy.

"Finding out what that falcon is doing here," he whispered back and continued his climb. Finally reaching the window of Bryon's study, he took out a small device Sirius had given to him for his birthday. He slipped the almost invisible end right under the sill and put the other end in his ear. Now he could hear perfectly what Bryon was saying.

James felt the trellis shake a little as Leon, a slightly larger boy, climbed up after.

"How can you hear anything?"

James motioned to the wire that was attached to his ear and the window sill.

"Wicked," Leon whispered. "Can I hear too?"

James rubbed his fingers over the wire and another ear piece appeared. He let Leon place it in his ear and soon both the boys were leaned up against the house, listening.

"Roger, I'm telling you, I know what I saw," they heard Bryon say.

"Roger is my dad's boss," James whispered to Leon who nodded.

"And I'm telling you, Bryon, don't assume automatically that the wizarding world is going to its downfall. This wizard, Voldemort, you say, is behind these attacks, but we have no solid proof. You know as well as I do that the Ministry isn't going to believe a word we say without evidence. I believe you, Bryon, that he might be responsible, but I'm not going to send our Aurors on a wild goose chase."

"I'm not saying that, I'm just saying we should check it out, see what's behind this. You're the one that sent the falcon to me, you must have found something."

The silence that followed was answer enough. James knew that Bryon had to be speaking through the fire. James didn't know how else he could be.

"Is it really that bad?" Leon whispered.

James looked at his friend, whose parents were top Aurors like his father. Their families were the most powerful wizarding families on the good side, and Leon had heard enough to understand what Bryon was talking about.

"My dad doesn't sound too happy, that's for sure."

James felt the trellis shudder as a strong gust of wind nearly blew them off and he clutched at the window sill to prevent his fall. However, in doing so, the device pulled free of the sill and reverted to its small form, dropping into James' pocket. Suddenly being free of the wire, James lost his footing and in the next instant, he was falling, the air whooshing around him. He didn't really have time to yell out, just used his reflexes to reach out and grab the trellis, nearly pulling it off the house. He saw Leon fall past him and reached out, grabbing his hand and pulling him to the trellis as well.

"Thanks, mate, that would have been nasty," Leon breathed, his face flushed.

James looked down at Leon. "Don't worry about it." He heard a snap and immediately knew that it wasn't a good sort of snap. Flying through the air, he definitely knew it hadn't been a good snap. Suddenly not moving, the snap was forgotten as he looked around, seeing what had happened. His eyes landed on Bryon's face, looking down at him, not too happy.

"I was practicing flying?" he said lamely, wincing a little as he waited for his dad to reprimand him. Though Bryon liked joking around and was more or less an easy going guy, he could be very serious when needed. And although Bryon let James get away with a lot, listening to a private conversation wasn't one of them.

"Nice try, James." Bryon looked up at Leon. "Why don't you head home, Leon, my son and I need to have a talk."

James closed his eyes. Oh just brilliant, now I'm in for it. He felt Bryon let him down onto the ground and he stood.

"Bye, Leon, see you on the train tomorrow," he called after his friend.

"Bye!" Leon waved and left to walk home.

James turned to his father, who had already begun walking back into the house. Following, he stopped when they entered the den. Samantha was out shopping for the day, so there wasn't another soul in the house. James stood silently as he waited for his father to speak.

And Bryon didn't waste much time. "You know you're not supposed to listen in on conversations regarding the Order."

"Yes, Father."

"Then why did you do it?" Bryon stood in front of his son, his arms folded in front of his chest.

"Because I saw the falcon, I wanted to know what was going on." James looked up at his father.

"You could have asked."

"You wouldn't have told me."

"Very true."

"So what would be the point?"

"The point is that you know better, James. Everything I do is secret, and when the occasion arises that holds information that you are allowed to know, I tell you. But other than that, you cannot know." Bryon ran a hand through his hair. "I don't keep this from you to just hold secrets, you know that. And I don't ask much of you. So when I set rules, I expect them to be obeyed." Bryon had a stern look to his face and his voice. "Is that too much to ask?"

"No, Father."

"Good, then, we're in accord. Help clean the house with your mother, and without magic."

"But -"

"James," he said warningly.

"Fine." Knowing that his father was done with him, he turned and trudged out of the den, none to happy.

~***~

September 1, 1971

RING RING RING

"Uh-huh... more sleep." A hand reached out, knocking the ringing alarm clock to the floor.

RING RING RING

"Fine-fine." The figure rolled over, stretching. Reaching down, shutting off the alarm, the figure stood and walked to the window, opening the curtains. Lily looked out at the dark sky, rubbing her eyes. "It's 5 a.m., this is too early for a sane person," she muttered. She stifled a yawn as she walked away from the window, nearly tripping over her trunk. That brought her immediately to awareness.

"The train!" Her eyes went wide and the bubbling excitement filled her as she pulled out a skirt and blouse, dressing quickly. They were leaving at 6 a.m. to head to Kings Crossing. Glad that she had packed the night before, she grabbed her checklist and opened her trunk, looking at the neatly piled books and folded clothing. Going over her list, making sure she had everything, though she had checked ten times the previous night, she put on shoes and ran downstairs.

A very sleepy Petunia sat at the table, munching on french toast. "Morning, Petunia!" Lily chirped as she took a seat at the table.

"My, Lily, you are full of energy this morning," Rosemary said, smiling as she set Lily's breakfast down in front of her.

"I'm going to Hogwarts!" She was bouncing so much in her seat she could barely eat her eggs and sausage.

"Not on an empty stomach." Rosemary laughed, tapping Lily on the nose and went to clean up the dishes.

"I don't see what's so special," Petunia grumbled, swallowing a mouth full of orange juice.

"Don't be such a tart, be happy for your sister," Rosemary chided as she washed.

"I don't want to." Petunia stood up and stomped out of the kitchen. Lily stared after her sister, mouth open, a forkful of eggs about to go into her mouth.

"Well," Rosemary said, drying off her hands. She smiled at Lily. "Seems Petunia isn't going to be coming with us. Better get ready; your father will take your trunk out to the car." She walked over to Lily, handing her a paper bag and kissing the top of her head. "This is for the train, in case you're hungry."

"Thanks, mum." Lily ran up the stairs, past Richard who was already pulling down her trunk, and into her room. Her snowy owl, Elana, ruffled her feathers as Lily passed by. "My dad will take you in a tick, Elana, be patient."

She smiled at her owl, giving her a treat, and then walked over to the bag that sat on her bed. She checked to make sure she had her robes and such to change into on the train, and placed the paper bag her mother had given her inside.

"Is my girl all ready to go?"

Lily turned around to see her father standing in the doorway and smiled. "All ready!"

"Then we'd better get on the road, long drive." Richard smiled, taking Elana's cage in one hand and wrapping the other around his daughter's shoulders. Lily took her bag in her hand and let her father lead her down to the parlor. Rosemary was already there and as Richard left to put Elana in the car, Lily looked around for Petunia.

"Where's Petunia, mum?" Lily looked back at her mother.

"She refuses to come out of her room." Rosemary looked quite unhappy. "That child, she can't even see her sister off."

"I'll be right back, mum." Lily didn't wait for her mother to protest and bounded up the stairs and down the hall to Petunia's room. "Petunia?" She knocked softly.

"Go off to your stupid school. I'm not going."

Lily looked crestfallen. "Please, Petunia, won't you even say goodbye? I'll be back for Christmas."

"I don't care."

"But -"

The door opened and Lily took a startled step back as Petunia appeared in the doorway. "What part of that don't you understand? You think I care about some stupid school that my spoiled little sister is going to? Our parents might adore you, but you're a freak, waving around that stick of yours."

Tears welled up in Lily's eyes. "Why are you being so mean? You weren't like that before."

"Maybe I just realized you for what you are."

"It's that boy of yours, Vernon," Lily sniffed. "He's making you hate me."

"Don't bring him into this. It's all you. Just get away from me," Petunia snapped, slamming the door in Lily's gobsmacked face. Petunia had met Vernon about a week ago, right after her fourteenth birthday. They were probably dating, who knew, but Lily had noticed a change in Petunia's attitude recently, and Lily just knew that that fat slob was the reason.

She sniffed, turning away from the door and wiped the tears from her eyes. There'd be no point in her parents seeing her cry, it would only make them mad, and she didn't want that. Once she was sure her tears were dried, she glanced once more at Petunia's door and headed downstairs where her mother waited.

"Come along. Mrs. Roberts is going to check up on Petunia while we're gone, so no need to worry about your sister."

Lily merely nodded and let Rosemary lead her to the car.

~***~

"I see it! I see it!" Peter squeaked as he jumped up and down in the crowded Platform at Kings Cross. He could see Platform Nine and Ten in the distance and raced for it, pulling his trolley behind him, his parents laughing as they ran after him.

"Wait up, Peter!" Winston laughed, dodging people and finally catching up to his son, who stood at the threshold of Platform Nine and Three Quarters.

Peter grinned up at his parents. "I made it!"

"Yes you did," Charlene said, smiling and hugging her son around the shoulders.

"Well, shall we head on in?" Winston asked and Peter nodded excitedly. Looking around, the three disappeared through the barrier, appearing on the other side. The sound of owls hooting, kids chattering loudly, families saying goodbye, and the whistle of the train. Smoke billowed from the scarlet train, flooding the tracks and the entrance out.

"Wicked!" Peter exclaimed, still grinning broadly, looking around. As they made their way up to the train, Peter turned to his parents to say goodbye. "I'll miss you." He hugged them tightly.

"We will too, love," Charlene said, stroking his hair.

"Just think, you'll be back for Christmas," Winston said, clapping him on the shoulder. He smiled. "Have fun, don't work too hard." He chuckled and Peter smiled.

"Thanks, Dad. I'll try not too," he said.

"That's my boy." His parents hugged him again and then the man at the entrance of the train helped Peter haul his trunk up the stairs, while Peter carried Marvin, his tawny owl. He waved once again to his parents and followed the man up the stairs.

~***~

Remus had found a compartment near the back of the train and had shut the door, keeping out the majority of the noise from the corridor. A book lay open on his lap and he leaned his forehead against the cool glass, looking out over the crowded platform as families said goodbye and the other students boarded the train. Romulus had already met up with some of his friends that were going to Hogwarts this year also and had disappeared with them. Remus was happy, not wanting his brother to be ragging on him for something or other.

He still thought about Lily, the girl he had met in the bookstore. She had been so nice, but of course, she hadn't known what he was. Would she still be that nice if she found out? The sound of the compartment door opening brought him out of his thoughts. He brushed some of his brown hair from his thin face, looking towards the person that now stood in the doorway. He was short, a bit chubby, and had a mop of dark brown hair.

"O-oh, sorry, I didn't think this was taken," the boy squeaked, very much resembling a mouse at that moment as he stepped back.

Remus took a few moments before answering. Should he invite the boy in, or remain alone? As long as the boy didn't know what he was, he should be safe. That's right, he just wouldn't speak of that, and it would all go smoothly, or at least, he hoped it would.

"It's alright," he said finally, motioning the boy into the compartment.

"You sure? I mean, I could always go find somewhere else -"

"Yes, I'm sure. Have a seat."

"Thanks so much!" The boy shoved his trunk under the booth seat and placed his caged owl on the seat as he flopped down in relief. He smiled. "There weren't any compartments free; I didn't know what I was going to do."

Remus smiled a little, unused to it. "It's fine. My name's Remus."

"I'm Peter." The boy looked around and then back at Remus. "So, are you excited to go to Hogwarts?"

"Sort of." Remus leaned back, putting his book away and studied the boy. He seemed nice enough. But so had they all in the beginning.

Peter looked surprised. "You mean you're not?"

Remus shrugged. "I don't see it as any different from the other places I was in when I was little. The kids are always the same, always treating me the same. I'm not expecting this place to be any better."

"Well you can't know until you give it a chance, right?"

"Maybe." Remus looked outside as he felt a rumble beneath his feet. The train had begun to move. Hearing the whistle, he watched as the platform fell away, revealing green forests and blue skies.

Peter watched Remus for a few minutes, thinking him nice, if a bit odd, and then reached inside Marvin's cage, petting his feathers and feeding him a treat.

~***~

"This will be good," James whispered to Sirius, grinning, barely controlling his laughter as he pointed his wand at the unsuspecting robes in the unguarded trunk. With a whisper of a spell, the once black robes were now bright pink. The best part was the robes wouldn't turn pink until they were put on.

Sirius grinned back and closed the trunk. They backed up to leave the compartment when they heard voices and the door open.

"Quick, over here," James hissed as both he and Sirius, under the cover of the invisibility cloak, scurried over to one corner of the compartment. Moments later, Lucius Malfoy and Rudolphus Lestrange walked in, taking seats opposite of each other.

The Prefect badge on Lucius' jumpers gleamed in the light from the window.

"Slimey git doesn't deserve it," James hissed and Sirius kept an arm in front of his friend, to keep James from leaping out and starting a fight. Sirius knew James hated the Dark Arts with a passion, and here before them were two people from two of the most prominent Dark wizard families.

"So you talked to your father?" Rudolphus asked, taking a wrapped candy and sitting back. He unwrapped it and placed it in his mouth.

"I did. You're well on your way," Lucius said, his hand running through his silvery blond hair to the leather strap that bound it at the nape of his neck.

Black eyes from under carefully groomed black hair looked back at Lucius. "Good. I know that we're not to talk of such matters here, but I wanted to make sure," Rudolphus said, taking another candy.

Lucius frowned at the candy but his silver eyes remained cool. "Understandable. So let's get to matters that concern this time. Have you spoken to Bellatrix?"

Sirius hadn't been paying much attention to their conversation, as he had been busy thinking of a way out and some way to turn both the Slytherins' hair blue. But when he heard his cousin's name, his ears immediately perked up. He glanced over at James, who was glaring at the other two boys, and looked out through the cloak.

Rudolphus smirked and Sirius wanted more than anything to wipe that smirk off his face. True, he and his cousin weren't close, but that didn't mean Sirius had to like Rudolphus, a boy that had been dating his cousin since last year.

"I have. She's ready to join. She says her uncle has been instructing her over the summer."

Lucius nodded. "That's good. As I'm in my last year here, we'll need someone to head up the group. You two would do well, especially since you still have two years. You know the group, and you'll be able to leave behind someone suitable as well."

"Right. What about that Severus fellow that we ran into earlier?"

Lucius smoothed some folds out of his pants. "We'll see."

Sirius felt a nudge and looked at James. James mouthed the words 'come on'. At that moment, the door opened and Walden Macnair appeared in the doorway, black hair and eyes identical to Rudolphus'. "Lucius, we've got trouble in the back. Avery and Snape."

Lucius and Rudolphus both stood, Lucius not looking too happy. "They should know better," Lucius said coldly and left the compartment, following Walden. Rudolphus was close behind. Immediately, Sirius and James went for the door, following the Slytherins. As they came to their compartment, James ducked in and Sirius couldn't help but mutter a spell that turned all three of the Slytherins' hair bright blue.

Stumbling into the compartment and slamming the door shut, he collapsed into laughter, both in relief that they hadn't been caught, and what he had just done.

"What did you two do now?" Leon asked, laughing as he saw James and Sirius appear from beneath the invisibility cloak, collapsing onto the booths.

"Pink robes, blue hair," was what Sirius got out, still laughing.

"They deserved more," James said, frowning slightly.

"Lighten up, mate," Leon said, nudging James. "You look like you just ate something nasty."

"Slytherins do that to him," Sirius said as he regained control. "You have to admit, James. That was brill."

James didn't say anything and then a smile appeared on his face. He laughed. "It was."

"There we go, all better." Sirius grinned, clapping James on the shoulder.

"You two," Leon said, laughing. "You'll be pranksters yet."

"Count on it." Sirius said, still grinning.

"We'll be the famousest," James said with a straight face.

"That's not a word," Leon pointed out.

"I know," James said and they all laughed.

"WHO THE BLOODY HELL DID THIS??!?!!" a yell came from outside and they recognized it as Rudolphus'. It sent all three of them into peals of laughter, making them collapse onto the floor.

~***~

Remus and Peter both heard the yell as well and poked their heads out of the compartment. They had been playing Wizard's Chess, a game Remus was quite good at, playing with his mom all the time. He had been teaching Peter a trick or too when they had decided to investigate the commotion out in the corridor.

They saw the three Slytherins standing the middle of the corridor with bright blue hair. Even Remus couldn't help but smile at the obvious rage and embarrassment. With a wave of a wand, their hair was turned normal. Remus recognized Lucius Malfoy, if not for the white-blond hair, for the cold sneer on the pale boy's features.

People had gathered around, most laughing. Two tall boys stood out the most, both having wide grins on their faces. One with glasses and unruly hair, the other with jet-black hair. Another boy with blond hair joined them and Remus looked back at the Slytherins.

"Who did this?" one of the black-haired Slytherins demanded.

"Tell us!" the other said, jabbing his wand at a small boy.

"Just because you three had a bad hair day, doesn't mean you can pick on the younger students," a tall dark-haired boy said, a Prefect badge shining on his robes.

"Stay out of this, McKinnon," Lucius said coldly. "It doesn't concern you."

"Alex, they're not going to listen to you," a boy at McKinnon's side said, placing a hand on the taller boy's arm.

"Frank, I don't care. They can't just pick on any one they like. Even if one of them is a Prefect," Alex glared at Lucius.

"You Gryffindors just don't know when to shut up, do you," one of the Slytherins said, shooting glares right back at Alex.

"Macnair, no one asked you," Frank retorted.

"What's going on here?" They all turned to see a boy striding towards them, a Head boy badge pinned to the breast of his robe.

"Slytherins causing trouble," Alex said. The three Slytherins just stood silent, sneering.

"Well, that's what they usually do, don't they," the boy said. "Malfoy, go off and bother someone else. There's nothing to be had here."

Lucius just sneered. "And you should learn to not stick your nose where it doesn't belong, Wood." He turned and walked down the corridor. With final sneers, the other two Slytherins followed.

"Jeff, we didn't start it this time," Frank said, looking at the boy.

Jeff held up his hand. "I don't care who started it. It's done and over with." He turned and walked down the corridor.

"There's no show here, back inside," Alex said as he walked along. Peter and Remus ducked back into their compartment, looking at each other.

"That was funny!" Peter laughed.

"Who do you think was responsible?" Remus asked, leaning back and playing his next piece on the chess board.

Peter shrugged. "Don't know, but it was wizard!" He grinned and they continued to play.

~***~

"Pranking isn't going to get anyone anywhere," Lily said as she stepped into her compartment, taking a seat on one side. Jaina, the girl she had met in the robes shop, sat across from her. They had met up on the platform and had taken a compartment together.

Jaina laughed. "Oh come on, it was funny! I think it was worth the look on those Slytherins faces."

"But what's the point?"

"They're Slytherins."

"So?"

"So they deserve it."

"Why?"

"What's with the twenty questions?" Jaina took a bite out of a Cauldron Cake. "Just enjoy the fact that someone on this train has the smarts to finally get a good prank on them."

"I don't see what's so brilliant about it." Lily took a sip of her pumpkin juice and looked out the window.

"Then we'll just have to fix that, won't we?"

Lily looked at Jaina, who was grinning. "You know, you grinning like that can't be good."

Jaina laughed. "Innocent, swear." She made a makeshift halo on top of her head.

"Doubtful." But Lily was smiling.

At that moment, the compartment door flew open and two boys barreled in, shutting the door. "Okay, James, next time, we run faster!"

"Not my fault that you almost got us caught, Sirius."

The two boys turned around and looked as if they had suddenly realized there were two other occupants. "Oh, hello," the boy with glasses, James, said. He was looking at Lily, smiling and ran a hand through his hair as if to try and straighten it.

"You two can't just run in here, what if we were getting dressed?" Lily said, standing. She faced James, who seemed persistent not to move.

"We're just borrowing the space for a minute. Don't get your knickers in a twist over it," James said smoothly, still not budging. Lily reached around for the compartment handle, but James moved, blocking it.

"Do you mind?" Lily glared. She could hear Jaina snickering behind her. Lily turned, none too happy. "Jaina, you're not helping!"

"Sorry." Jaina put on a serious face and stood, but she was barely containing a grin. "Time to leave boys." She got her hand on the compartment handle and slid open the door, making both James and Sirius tumble back into the corridor.

"She bites, better watch out," Sirius said, grinning up from his position on the floor.

"I'd listen to your friend," Jaina said, smirking and closing the door. "See, now, Lily, that wasn't so bad."

"He's insufferable! He was deliberately standing in my way," Lily huffed.

Jaina chuckled. "They're boys, you can't expect much else."

"Are they all like that?" Lily asked as she sat down on the booth.

"They all like what? Which they?" Jaina flopped down on her back on the opposite booth, looking over at Lily.

"Boys, wizarding boys."

Jaina laughed. "Most likely."

"Just peachy, I'm in for a long ride," Lily sighed, laying down and closing her eyes.

~***~

"I meant to do that," James said with a serious face as he sat up on the floor.

Sirius smirked. "Sure you did." He chuckled, standing. "You just don't know when to keep your mouth shut, do you," Sirius helped James up from the floor. A few people walked down the corridor had stopped when they saw the boys fall out of the door but had continued on after having a good laugh. Of course the boys just laughed as well.

"Not really, no." James laughed, brushing his pants off. "That was fun though."

"The girls or the getting knocked flat on your arse."

"The prank."

Sirius laughed. "Yeah, that was good. Carrots will be sprouting from Nott until he gets to Hogwarts."

James grinned. "His fault he was ahead of me in line for the restroom."

Sirius just shook his head, laughing as he walked towards their compartment. "I'll just make sure I'm not ahead of you next time then."

"Only Slytherins get that treatment."

"Good. You had me worried." Sirius grinned before ducking into their compartment.

James stopped. "Did I really?"

Sirius laughed, poking his head back out. "No."

James just laughed and followed, closing the door behind him.