The Witnesses

The Report on the Wireless

The night sky over the Potter house was clear as James stuck his head out his open window. A large owl was flying towards him through the inky blackness. Pulling his head back through the frame, James looked at the piece of parchment in his hand, rereading it.

Sirius-

Remus wrote to say that the next transformation is September 4, third day back at school. Dad's letting me take the invisibility cloak again, despite the incident last year, so that'll help us get out of the school. We'll meet in the common room after everyone's asleep. By that time the teachers will have got Remus to the shack. From now on, if you have to talk about the plan, use our marauder names. Got that Padfoot?

I'm going to Diagon Alley in two days, can you meet me there? My parents have gone mad I think, they say you and Remus can stay until school starts again. Peter's on holiday, so he can't come, but Remus already said he could. Send an answer with Ari.

-James

The barn owl flew gracefully in through the window, landing on James' bed. "C'mere Ari." James spoke to the bird, and she hopped over to him, any semblance of grace she had while flying now long gone.

"I need you to fly this to Sirius for me, okay? He'll send a response back with you, so stay at his place for the night." Ari ruffled her feathers importantly and stuck her foot out as James tied the rolled up parchment to it.

"Good girl." He gave her a friendly pat on the head, and she bit at his fingers affectionately. Raising her wings, the barn owl took off into the starry sky, her brown feathers fading into black as James watched.

He couldn't sleep. School started in five more days, and it was bound to be an exciting year. Ever since the day in first year when James, Peter and Sirius had found out that one of their best friends, Remus, was actually a werewolf, James and his friends had donated every ounce of their spare time to becoming animagi to keep Remus company. James transformed into a stag, Sirius to a dog, Peter to a rat, and Remus, of course, into a wolf. The marauder names were Prongs, Padfoot, Wormtail and Moony. Ever since fifth year, the marauders had transformed monthly, and despite difficulty of the animagus transformations, for James they had become a part of life as normal as breathing.

James shivered in the warm air as his mind wandered onto what his father, Andrew Potter had told him earlier that day. Just this week there had been an attack outside of London. Too close for comfort. All summer, James had heard similar reports, murders, attacks, torture, many of them more to horrible to think about, Voldemort was gaining power. Many thought it was only a matter of time before there was a battle for Hogwarts. It was his last year in the sheltered world of the wizarding school, and James wasn't sure how he felt; he was looking forward to adult life, maybe a career as a writer, a family... but with the war against the Dark Arts on, anything could happen. Not wanting to think about what could happen if the marauders transformed at the wrong time, James turned his mind towards more pleasant thoughts. He tried the best he could to get to sleep, finally drifting off as the sun began to rise.

"James? It's time to get up." James sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Wha..." He squinted up to see his mother looking half annoyed, half amused.

"It's one o'clock in the afternoon, and even I have my limits. Wake up!"

"I'm at it..." James muttered sleepily as he lay back down. The blankets were warm, dark and warm. His mother pulled them off, and suddenly it was bright and cold.

"I'm serious, James! Time to get up."

"All right, all right." He frowned as he stood up.

"You've had an owl. Rather, Ari just came home."

"Oh, good." Some of James' daytime sanity was returning. Turning to his mother, who was standing idly in the doorway, James rolled his eyes good naturedly.

"Bye mum, I need to get dressed."

"Oh, right. Sorry." Mrs. Potter smiled and hurried out of the room, leaving James in peace. James looked around his room, one of the smaller in his family's old manor house, but comfortable, and very much a part of the wizard world he lived in. His bedside table held a treasured wizard picture of him and his friends from Hogwarts, including a very pretty girl named Lily Evans, until recently, his girlfriend. The walls had posters of his Quidditch team, the Wimbledon Wasps, and in the corner was a perch for his owl. His top of the line Nimbus 1000 broomstick was on its shelf on the wall, and hanging under it were his Hogwarts robes; dress robes, Quidditch robes and the black ones he wore daily. James reached past these and into his closet, where he grabbed a pair of Muggle jeans and a t-shirt. He put them on, and walked downstairs to breakfast.

In the kitchen, James' mother was already there.

"G'morning mum." James sat down at the table. His mom came over, and with a flick of her wand conjured a table setting, two glasses of milk, and two bowls of soup.

"Soup, for breakfast?"

"Not breakfast, dear. It's past noon. I told you that."

"Where's dad?"

"James, it's past noon. He's at work." Frowning at the sarcastic tone in his mother's voice as she once again pointed out that James had slept late, he picked up a spoon and began to eat.

"Ah." James' mom put a sheet of parchment on the table.

"Here's the owl you received last night." James shot a sharp look at his mother, who sighed.

"No, I didn't read it. Lord knows I'd rather not know what you and your friends get up to." James scanned the parchment, recognizing the handwriting of his friend Sirius.

"Who is it from?" his mother asked.

"Sirius."

"Oh. Can he come to stay?" James' mom sounded like she sincerely hoped Sirius couldn't come. James didn't blame her; after a visit from his friends, the Potter house was usually left a smoldering ruin.

"I dunno, hold on a second, mum." James opened the parchment all the way and began to read to himself.

James-

About Diagon, I can go. I'll meet you and Remus at the Leaky Cauldron at 11, okay? Yeah, mum says I can stay at your place for the last few days. She says I've been driving her mad anyways, don't think she'll miss me too much.

Right about September fourth, common room sounds good. DON'T FORGET THAT CLOAK!!! We'll need it. And not just for the plan I'd starve to death without that thing! See you tomorrow then-

-Sirius

"What'd he have to say?" James' mother was looking at him questioningly.

"He can come tomorrow, so it looks like you'll be dealing with Remus, Sirius and me for the next three days."

"No Peter?"

"He's on holiday in Spain. He'll meet us on the train, but he can't come."

"That's too bad." He's a nice boy. Keeps you and the others in check, I might add."

"Well, Sirius and Remus will have to do. We'll be good, mum." James smiled winningly, and Mrs. Potter rolled her eyes at the thought of three of the marauders giving their pranks a test run around the house.

"I can't imagine the fun I'm going to have. And as for you, don't think I'll be spoiling you like this much longer! One in the afternoon, honestly... Now, you should start getting packed for school. I want to see your trunk down here with homework and robes and broomstick in it by tonight!"

"Yes, mum." James finished his soup and walked back up the stairs.

"Where are you going?"

"Upstairs?" James finished, his voice trailing off.

"Clear the table first." James sighed and waved his wand, sending the dishes back into the cupboards.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." James trudged back upstairs, and pulled out his trunk from under the bed. It was going to be a long half of a day.

***

And it was. By the time night fell, James was tired already, despite sleeping half the day. With all his things packed for Hogwarts, his room looked oddly empty. Just two more days and he'd be back, oddly enough, as Head Boy. "I wonder how Sirius'll react..." James knew his friend was quite likely to be shocked and maybe a bit angry by the fact that a marauder had been made Head Boy. The news that James was a prefect had shocked Sirius back in fifth year, let alone Head Boy. He wondered vaguely who was Head Girl, deciding after only a few moment's consideration that Lily would be the choice. True, it was his job now to set a good example. "But," he thought, wickedly. "If I don't get caught, I can't be setting a bad example." And on that note, he fell asleep, happily thinking of the havoc he could quietly cause at Hogwarts this year.

***

The Leaky Cauldron was a mob. It seemed as though every student from Hogwarts had waited until the last minute to get their supplies like James had. As quickly as he could, James fought his way to the back, where he entered Diagon Alley. Sure enough, standing outside were Sirius and Remus.

"Hey!" Sirius waved over at James.

"I'm coming." Still fighting through a crowd, James made his way towards his friends.

"How's life, Prongs?" asked Sirius.

"Not bad. Yourself?"

"Same old. Crowded today, isn't it?"

"I know! Never seen it this bad before. Getting supplies is going to be a pain," said Remus.

"Yah, I suppose we should get started. Where to?"

"Ollivanders." Remus frowned as he said the words.

"What for? You have a wand?" Sirius sounded confused, as usual.

"No, I had a wand. My cousin came to visit, and he found the wand, and broke it."

"Your cousin broke your wand?"

"Yes, that's right."

"I always thought they were unbreakable."

"They aren't." Remus sounded very put out about the subject, so James decided to pursue the matter no longer.

***

Ollivanders was the least crowded shop in the alley, but it had a fair share of first years standing around by it. James opened the door and walked in.

He saw Mr. Ollivander busy with a box of wands.

"Try this, dragon heartstring and ebony, ten inches, rigid. That's it. 3 galleons, yes that's right." James heard the jingling of coins, and saw a very happy first year walk out, examining his new wand.

"Ah, James Potter. Mahogany and phoenix feather, eleven inches. Pliable and good for transfiguration, no?"

"Er..." James never knew how to react to the eccentric little man.

" Very powerful wand. One of my finest...what brings you back here?"

"Actually, It's me." Remus stepped forward, frowning at the broken remains of his wand.

"Remus Lupin, Twelve inches, Pine and unicorn hair, nice for curse work." Said Mr. Ollivander, mistily. His eyes fell on the broken wand.

"And what on Earth did you do to it?" Mr. Ollivander looked very reproving as he examined the pieces of Remus' wand.

"I was just..."

"Never mind, try this one. Nine inches, dragon heartstring and oak, good for charms, dear me, not that one..." It went on for quite some time before Mr. Ollivander found the right wand.

"Here, Hickory and phoenix, odd combination, one of the few I've ever made. Rather bendy and good for defensive work. Yes now, there, that's perfect. Try and take better care of this one, Mr. Lupin. Let me see, 4 Galleons." Remus pulled a handful of gold out of his pocket, and handed it to Mr. Ollivander.

"Thanks." Muttered Remus.

"Good day to you, Sirius, Remus, James." The three boys walked out of the wand shop and back into the bright street.

"Where now?" Sirius was looking off down the street, at Quality Quidditch Supplies.

"Look..." James turned around to where Remus was pointing. Walking up the street, James saw an oily, tall boy with black hair. He was frowning, as usual.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't James Potter and his gang of weirdoes." The boy's mouth twitched at the corners, hinting at a sadistic smile.

"Quite a complete bunch too. Black, hit a few too many times with a Bludger I suppose."

Remus rolled his eyes, and, James noticed, tightened his grip on his wand.

"Lupin, watching the..."

"What do you want here, Snape?" James spoke coldly, knowing not to let his temper get him, or he'd be expelled from Hogwarts for dueling in the summer.

"I'm just trying to get my school things without having to get through trash like you three. By the way, where's your other sidekick, Pettigrew?" Snape got no response other than building tension in the street.

"You know, the short, stupid kid? Surely you remember him, he's always tagging around you lot like a little puppy."

"Out of our way, Snape." Snape stood still, standing right in front of James' face.

"Make me, Potter." James and Snape stood, staring each other down. Finally, Snape turned and walked off.

"Honestly, what an arse. Why does he always seem to randomly turn up just when I'm starting to have a good time? Never fails..." Sirius swore, finally turning and walking off towards the main center of Diagon Alley. Remus was still standing in the road, his face a mask of horrible anger.

"Hurry up Remus, I have things to buy, come on!" shouted Sirius from down the road. Remus frowned after him, and James shrugged, following Sirius.

"Come on, Remus. We'll worry about Snape later."

***

An hour later, Sirius was still staring at the newest broomstick. "Nimbus One Thousand and One," he read in a tone of breathless awe. "Acceleration from zero to one hundred kilometers in five seconds, precision brakes..."

"Wow." James stood looking at the broom for a few moments, before Remus, coughing loudly, pulled him out of his stupor.

"It's very nice Sirius, we still haven't gotten our books, come on!" said Remus, hopefully. James knew it was a lost cause. When Sirius started with Quidditch and brooms, there was no hope of him ever moving on. As much as James loved Quidditch, he couldn't bring himself to the broomstick worship so characteristic of his best friend. Remus stood in a corner, pointedly looking at his wristwatch.

"Sirius, we've given you an hour in here. Now hurry!"

"But it's so..."

"Good. Now we know what to get you for Christmas!" James sighed, leaving Sirius gaping at the new broomstick display.

"Let's go Remus, let Quidditch head over there catch up with us. Sirius!" James shouted.

"What?" Came the reply, Sirius still not looking away from the broom.

"We're going to Flourish and Botts! Meet us there!" James and Remus walked out of the store, and continued over to Flourish and Botts. Ten minutes later, a happy looking Sirius walked up to them, holding an oddly broomstick shaped package.

"Sirius, you didn't," said Remus, reprovingly.

"Yes, I did, as a matter of fact. Wasn't that much, either. Only twenty five galleons."

"Twenty five? Not bad." James looked appraisingly at the broomstick.

"I know! Plus, I needed a new one, and it was my money." Sirius smiled happily.

"Do you have any money left?" Remus sounded as if he doubted this very much.

"Yes!" Sirius smiled brightly.

"How much?"

"One galleon, ten sickles and twenty Knuts."

"Honestly, Sirius, you have your priorities very, very wrong.." Remus looked in jealously at the new packages in Sirius' hands.

"I don't think so!" Said Sirius, sounding very affronted.

"Oh, who really cares! Just buy these and get out of here!" The three paid for the seventh year books and went back to the Leaky Cauldron to enjoy a butterbeer before James' mom came to pick them up.

***

"Don't look now..." Remus frowned off at someone entering the pub.

"What?" James looked up with mild curiosity.

"Not that git again." Sirius took his wand out and laid it very visibly on the table in hopes of intimidating Snape as he walked by. James thought furiously of convenient comebacks, but in vain. Snape merely smirked at the boys and walked by. Sirius looked surprised, staring back down at his wand.

"Didn't really expect that to work."

"Point is, it did." Said James, in a much better mood now that a confrontation had been pleasantly avoided.

"What was he carrying though?" Remus looked suspiciously after the oily black hairball retreating into Muggle London.

"His school books? Give it a rest, Remus. We have all of school to get him expelled. Just concentrate on your butterbeer. Things resumed to normal as James, Sirius and Remus waited for Mrs. Potter to arrive.

***

A few short minutes later, the boys and a very flustered Mrs. Potter were stepping through the Floo fire, heading back to James' house in Bath.

"Really, I don't know when I've even seen Diagon that crowded, next year we're going early." Mrs. Potter stepped through the hearth and into the house, carrying several packages.

"What are those, mum?" said James as he peered curiously at the packages.

"For your birthday. Hands off! I'll owl them to you in November!" James made a leap for one of the packages, but was stopped by his mother.

"Oh, there you are. Hello Remus, Sirius. Glad you boys could stay. Do you have all your things?"

"Hello Mrs. Potter...they're upstairs in James' room."

"Hi...yes, got my trunk." Remus reached into his pocket and pulled out a miniature trunk. He tapped it once with his wand, and the tiny trunk expanded rapidly.

"Nice wand this is, better than the old one." Remus regarded his new wand happily.

"Yes, very nice, Moony. Anyone up for Quidditch?" asked Sirius, grabbing his broom at the same time. James grabbed his, Remus close behind with his Shooting Star.

***

A few hours later, James, Sirius and Remus walked back to James' house, exhausted after playing Quidditch.

"Honestly Remus, you're a damn good Chaser, dunno why you aren't on the house team." Remus shrugged. Sirius and James both played Quidditch at school, James as a Chaser and Sirius as a Beater.

"Don't have the time. Unlike some people, I actually do school work. I wish I had been Head Boy though, I rather thought I would be." James squirmed guiltily, and Sirius turned to Remus in disgust.

"What? Why'd you want to do that for? It'd be so boring! Honestly, it's bad enough the two of you are prefects." He shook his head, imagining the horrible life of a Head Boy. Sirius shuddered again, and James said nothing, deciding that now would not be the best time to tell his friends he was the new Head Boy.

***

James opened the door to his house, stopping short as he saw the table. His mother smiled brightly as James and his friends took in the new décor.

"Do you like it? I found the tea set in a Muggle store next to the Leaky Cauldron, oh I couldn't resist! I got a book on the cooking, it should be fairly good." James looked from his mother, back to the table which was decorated in a very Asian fashion, down to the fact that the legs of the table were only a few inches high. Paper lanterns hung from the ceiling, and there were chopsticks on the table, next to the willow patterned dishes. James raised his eyebrows.

"Don't you think you've gone a little overboard here, mum?"

"Well, it didn't take much time, and all the decorations were delightfully cheap, I accidentally gave the Muggle store owner a sickle though, I wonder if he noticed." A pensive looked crossed Mrs. Potter's face.

"No matter, sit down! I'll serve you in a moment!" The boys looked at each other and shrugged, sitting on the cushions cross-legged. Ten minutes later though, James had to admit that the Asian craze his mother was experiencing worked out rather nice for him; dinner was very, very good.

***

Halfway through his plate of lo mein, James looked up in surprise. The radio had been playing music, his mum's favorite singer, Saria Bencanti, but now, a news bulletin had interrupted. The marauders and Mrs., Potter all sat up in attention as the broadcast played.

"This just in! The Department of Mysteries, with help from Ministry Hit wizards and Aurors have just unearthed a secret society of Death Eaters in London! The group, rumored to comprise of fifteen men, was intercepted at a meeting last night. The Wireless networks are not being allowed to disclose the whole story, for reasons of "magical security." Mr. Neal Black, from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement had this to say on the matter-"

"That's my dad!" Sirius' eyes widened as the rest of the marauders hissed at him to shut up. Sure enough, the strong voice of Mr. Black was filtering through the radio.

"The situation is under control. We have apprehended the criminals, and they are awaiting trial for their crimes. No names are being disclosed at the moment." Mr. Black's voice was cut out, and the announcer came back in.

"Typical Ministry statement. I wish I had a bit more to go on with this one, sounds like quite a hit for our side! No news on what they were planning, conniving, sneaky little..." James raised an eyebrow at the lack of broadcast professionalism demonstrated by the radio wizard, and Mrs. Potter switched the radio off.

"So that's where he's been!" She said with a meaningful glance at James' dad's seat at the table. His father, Andrew Potter was a member of the Department of Mysteries. Even James usually had no idea what his dad was doing.

"My dad was on the radio..." Sirius sounded quite impressed by this.

"Well, he'd better be home soon! I hate this job of his!" Muttering audibly about dangerous work and not having enough time for the family, Mrs. Potter cleared the table and stood up.

"You three should head up to sleep now. School's starting soon!" Rolling his eyes, James and the marauders headed upstairs, where they spent the night talking and planning for the upcoming year.

***

Breakfast came too early, the day that James was to head off to Hogwarts. Still essentially asleep, James and his friends ambled down to the breakfast table, where Mrs. Potter was waiting for them with eggs and bacon. James poked listlessly at the food, finally spearing an egg and holding it over the fire.

"James!" said Mrs. Potter, sharply.

"Stop playing with your food, for heaven's sakes! You're seventeen, not two!" James was about to put the bit off egg back on his plate, when the bearded face of Andrew Potter materialized in the fire.

"Thank-you, James," he said, eating the piece of egg.

"Hello, dad." James said, quite surprised to see his father, even though this mode of wizard communication was used quite frequently in his life.

"Oh! Andrew!" Mrs. Potter whirled around, seeing her husband suspended in the flames.

"Morning, Marian. I was just checking in here to see if everything's all right here."

"We're fine, were you involved last night? Where are you going? Are you hurt? When can you come home? Is everyone there okay?" she said, quickly and breathlessly spouting out a list of questions. Mr. Potter drew in a deep breath, and started to answer them.

"Yes, I was, I can't say anything else, top secret. I wasn't hurt."

"Are you coming home?"

"Not tonight, I don't know when. We have a lot to do, to clean this up, and there's more..." Mr. Potter shook his head, seemingly overwhelmed by the tasks at hand.

"I don't know when I'll be back, but I'll let you know the minute I find out." He stopped, not answering the last question. James knew his mother would see through that, and sure enough, she asked again.

"Was anyone hurt?" James heard his dad sigh, answering slowly.

"Tim Bones was hurt pretty badly, he's in Saint Mungo's now."

"Tim? That's terrible! How bad is he?" asked Mrs. Potter, sounding horribly worried. James felt his stomach turn a bit. He knew the Bones', they were old friends of his parents.

"I haven't heard, I only saw him right before the raid, sorry, I'm in a hurry dear, I'll be back when I can. Good luck at school boys!" Without explaining any more, and after a quick kiss on the cheek from Mrs. Potter, James' dad disappeared, leaving the whole kitchen a little confused.

"I do wish he'd tell me what's going on, I don't care how secret it is!" said Mrs. Potter, in a very agitated voice.

"I hope you're all ready to go, we only have a few hours!" With that, Mrs. Potter hurried out of the room to make sure James had all his things.

***

The last few hours of freedoms sped by for James. The boys spent most of the time playing a violent game of Quidditch, and talking quietly about the plans for the school year. Before James could believe it, he was standing at platform 9 and 3/4ths loading his trunk into the scarlet Hogwarts Express.

"Good-bye James, remember to send us owls! Put your badge on!" James rolled his eyes as his mother scolded him for not wearing the silver badge.

Reluctantly, he pinned the gaudy medal on his robes, trying in vain to hide it behind his owl's cage. Sirius turned to him in shock.

"Head Boy? You?"

"I don't know! I just got the badge a few days ago!" James frowned as Sirius burst into uncontrolled laughter. James looked at Remus, and seeing his scowl smiled weakly.

"I didn't ask for this!"

"James Potter, Head Boy, what was McGonagall thinking?" Sirius tried to control his laughter, and failed, quite miserably.

"Oh shut up. Bye mum!" James climbed into the train, and walked down to the end compartment he and his friends always occupied. By the time he, Remus and Sirius arrived in it, Peter Pettigrew, Lily Evans and her best friend Celeste Warick were already seated and talking excitedly with a few other of their Gryffindor girlfriends. James smiled as he saw a gleaming Head Girl badge on Lily's robes as well, feeling the characteristic lurch of his stomach upon seeing her. He shook his head, remembering that they were fighting, and bit back his smile. Lily glared at him, and went back to talking to Celeste.

"Hey, Pete! How was Spain?" James called out to his friend.

"Great! Toledo was rather depressing though. Honestly, the Muggles there..." Peter shuddered at the thought.

"No matter, that was ages ago. Nice to see you again, Wormtail." Said Sirius, casually waving away the atrocities of the middle ages.

"Hi girls, did you miss me, honey?" Sirius smiled jauntily at Celeste and she gave him a quick peck on the cheek and turned back to Lily, talking animatedly about the latest rock concert she had seen. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Some girlfriend, right?" Remus and James laughed, settling down for the long train ride.

***

The time on the train flew by, as the friends dared each other to eat dangerous looking Bertie Bott's jelly beans. James was stuck with ash, mushroom and a bubotuber pus. Sirius roared with laughter at the expression on James' face, until he had to eat a sardine flavored one. Hours later, James felt the train come to a stop, and watched the first years get off the train.

"Hi, Hagrid!" James yelled out a window. A huge giant of a man waved back through the rain and wind, and James turned back around, pulling his immense trunk off the train.

***

The Hogwarts Great hall looked the same as always. It was decorated in the Gryffindor colors, the prize of last year's House Cup, and was filled with people waiting for the sorting to begin. James took a seat at the Gryffindor table, and anxiously counted the number of first years to be sorted before he could eat. The hall filled with silence as Professor McGonagall placed the ancient sorting hat on a stool. It opened at a rip in the brim, and began to sing. James half paid attention as nervous first years turned green while they were sorted.

Aran, Tomas went to Ravenclaw, followed by two Hufflepuffs.

"Where are we going to eat?" Remus bent over and asked James.

"There are only twenty six first years, not too long." They clapped as Cooper, Lynn joined the Gryffindor table. Dart, Amena joined Ravenclaw, as did DeSalvo, Santiago.

Kinssag, Benjamin, went to Slytherin, and so the list continued, ending with Zartes, Macera- HUFFLEPUFF!

"I have a few announcements." The hall turned towards the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, as he stood up at the teacher's table.

"For those of you who are new to Hogwarts, welcome! My name is Albus Dumbledore, and I am the headmaster of this school! Just a few brief announcements before we get started on dinner." James saw Dumbledore sneak a glance at the plate waiting for him.

"First, I'd like to introduce our new Care of Magical Creatures instructor, Professor Kettleburn." James looked up and saw a young wizard with an energetic smile wave at the students. There was some applause before Dumbledore went on.

"Secondly, I should remind students that the Forbidden Forest is, in fact, forbidden, as the name implies. Now, a word of recommendation. Dig in!"

Professor Dumbledore turned around and a sat down as a grand feast materialized on the tables, including everything from grilled chicken to a bowl of Muggle candy, specifically, Lemon Drops.

"Finally!" Sirius raised his fork, taking a bit of almost everything on the table and beginning to eat like it was the last day of his life. James helped himself to potatoes, some chicken and a large quantity of pumpkin juice before the hall doors opened and the students were ushered out.

***

James sighed, and shouted to the first years.

"Gryffindor, over here! I 'm Head Boy, follow me." He wasn't really up to this job, yelling and herding people wasn't a favorite pastime of his. He turned around and smiled weakly, seeing Lily Evans again. She gave him a stern look, and herded the Gryffindor girls through the portrait on the wall.

"Password is bubotuber, just say it and the portrait will open up. James walked through the portrait hole, smiling as the first years gasped in awe at the large common room with its numerous squishy chairs, and a roaring fire.

"Welcome to Hogwarts." He heard himself say. "Any questions, I'll be in the seventh story dorm." James walked upstairs, carrying his trunk, and shoved it next to his bed. Exhausted after a long day, he flopped on the bed and fell asleep.