People hurried up and down the platforms, some boarding trains, some waiting for returning friends or family members. No one seemed to pay too much attention to a boy with messy hair, who stood between Platforms nine and ten looking down at the parchment in his hands.
“Platform nine and three-quarters,” he murmured and then looked up from the letter.
He turned back and looked around the railway station. He couldn’t see a platform with the number nine and three-quarters. His gaze fell upon his parents; they looked at him with an all-knowing smile.
“Your mother will show you how to do it,” his father reassured him, as he placed his hand gently on his son’s shoulder.
His mother smiled at him, and then quickened her steps, leaned against the wall between platform nine and ten and then¯ she was gone. James blinked two times, but his mother was still gone. He had grown up with magic, but this was new for him.
“Come on, James! This is the beginning of a wonderful journey,” his father said, putting his arms around his son’s shoulders.
“What if I don’t like it?” the boy asked.
“You’ll like it, son,” his father said, the smile still lingering on his lips, but then he became sober. “Write to your mother regularly, boy!” he warned with a squeeze on James’s shoulder.
“Yes, Father,” James said dutifully and then looked at his owl, Lux. He had got it for his eleventh birthday. It was a gift from his favorite uncle.
“Come on now!” his father said and ushered him towards the wall.
James made a bolt for it, and then fell out at the other end. A red, steaming engine towered above him and as he looked around, after getting up, he could see the whole train. Students bade farewell to their parents and climbed onto the train. His mother waited not far from the wall and his father soon joined them. As he looked back, a family arrived through the wall. The boy was tall and handsome; the mother wore a worried expression on her face; and the young daughter, who was around five, was looking around curiously.
“Where is he?” she wanted to know.
Her mother turned around and around and then suddenly her face broke into a smile. She looked now simply beautiful. James could see a boy hurrying towards them. He was tall, had handsome features and a slightly pale complexion. His jet-black hair was short, but some strands fell into his face. He was smiling too.
“Sirius!” squealed the little girl, and the boy bent down and gave her a kiss and a hug.
“How is my favorite cousin?” the boy asked, jokingly.
“I’m fine, thanks,” she said with a mischievous smile playing on her lips.
“James,” his mother required his attention.
“Yes, Mother?” he said and turned to her immediately.
“Write, please, as soon as possible,” his mother said while caressing his face.
James saw from the corner of his eyes that the boy was staring at them. The boy named Sirius wore a wistful expression and James thought he understood why.
“Come now, Jasmine!” his father said and put his arm around his wife’s shoulders. “Goodbye, James!”
“Goodbye, Father!” he said, took his father’s outstretched hand and shook it.
He hugged his mother and then took his trunk and Lux’s cage, turned away from them, and hurried to the train. They talked it over, and James decided he didn’t want a long goodbye scene on the platform.
“But he is so young,” he heard his mother and then his father: “He will be fine, Jasmine.”
He was halfway down the already full train as he heard steps next to him.
“Hello!” the boy from before greeted him.
“Hello!” he returned the greeting.
“You’re looking for a compartment to sit in?” Sirius asked and continued after James’ nod. “There’s one at the very end of the train, if you want to sit with me,” he offered.
“Thanks,” James said and then hurried alongside the boy towards the end of the train. They climbed in, and no one else was sitting there.
“My cousin is a Prefect, he has to patrol the train, but he will join us later,” Sirius informed James.
James heaved his trunk onto the luggage rack and then took place next to the window. The boy sat down opposite to him. James stretched out his hand.
“Hello, my name is James Potter,” he said, smiling slightly.
“Sirius Black,” the boy introduced himself. “Those were your parents?”
“Yes.”
“Fine people,” he said, that longing expression reappearing on his face.
“Yes, they are,” James agreed. “Your owl looks pretty,” he complimented, pointing at the cage.
“His name is Mercurius, a gift from my cousin,” Sirius explained.
“The little girl or the boy?” James asked.
“No, not from Alcyone or Prometheus, but from their mother, Mira,” Sirius replied.
“Your cousin?” James asked, perplexed.
“My mother and her mother are sisters,” Sirius explained.
“I see. They have interesting names,” he remarked.
“A family tradition,” Sirius stated.
“And what do you call Alcyone or Prometheus?” James asked, curiosity taking the best of him.
“Ally, and mostly Theus. If you really want to annoy the hell out of him, call him his full name: Prometheus Jethro Mill,” he added with a smirk.
“He is a Prefect, you say? How does one become perfect?” he asked curiously.
“You are made a Prefect when you are perfect. No, I’m only joking. He had top grades and did much for his house. You know about the houses, don’t you?”
“Yes, of course. My father was in Gryffindor, my mum in Ravenclaw,” he said before sighing.
He knew that one of them“ or maybe both of them- would be disappointed after this evening. Sirius nodded understandingly.
“Theus is in Ravenclaw, his mother was in Ravenclaw, too.”
James was aware that until that point Sirius didn’t mention his parents at all. He assumed now that they are dead.
“Which house do you belong?” he asked.
Sirius laughed out loud as an answer. He had an interesting laugh, as if a big dog had barked.
“You think I’m second year?” he could finally ask back, after his laugh subsided.
“To tell the truth, third year,” James confessed.
“I’m first year, just like you,” Sirius said, letting out a laugh again.
“No way!” James exclaimed incredulously.
“But I am,” Sirius asserted. “Do you have a brother or sister?” he asked suddenly.
“No, I don’t have any siblings. What about you?” James asked back.
“A younger brother named Regulus,” he said, sounding downright bitter.
“And where is he now?” James asked, curiously.
“He is with my parents, in London,” Sirius told him with a dark undertone.
“How come your parents weren’t there?” James spoke faster as he could think. “Sorry, that’s not my business. I didn’t want to sound judging or¯”
“Never mind! Truth is I’ve told them that I’d like to be in Gryffindor house. So they got angry and decided that I wasn’t worth a good-bye.”
“They were in¯?”
“Slytherin, of course,” Sirius said with a bitter smile.
The door slid open and a girl stepped in, with two big girls in tow. She had jet-black hair and cold blue eyes. She seemed to James somewhat familiar.
“Cousin, I’ve heard you are here,” she said.
“Sod off, Bella,” Sirius hissed.
“And you are?” the girl asked after turning to James.
“None of your business, Bella!” Sirius answered the question.
“You’ll be in Slytherin, cousin! Watch your tone; I’ll be your Prefect.”
“I won’t be in Slytherin and even if I should be, I don’t care.”
After the girl left the compartment with a threatening glare and the two girls in tow, James looked at Sirius questioningly.
“Who was that?”
“Bellatrix Black, a cousin of mine,” he explained.
The door slid open once again and the man with the trolley looked inside.
“Cauldron Cakes, Chocolate Frogs?” he offered.
Sirius bought Cauldron Cakes, Chocolate Frogs and Pumpkin Juice. James looked at the trolley and then bought two Chocolate Frogs.
“Aren’t you hungry?” Sirius offered him Cauldron Cakes, but James shook his head.
“No. We had breakfast at the Leaky Cauldron,” James explained.
“I haven’t eaten anything this day. Never have a quarrel with your parents during breakfast, James,” he advised with a smirk.
James smirked back and then pulled owl treat out of his pocket.
“Would you give something to Mercurius, too? I have forgotten to buy him owl treats.”
“Of course,” James said, nodding, and then put the food into the cages.
Mercurius and Lux hooted gratefully. James tore his Chocolate Frog open and looked at the card.
“Paracelsus, again,” he sighed.
Sirius tore his open and peered inside.
“Merlin,” he announced before opened the other ones.
“Morgana and Da Vinci.”
“You want Paracelsus?” James asked him, seeing the way Sirius looked at the card.
“I did have him, but I gave it to Ally. Theus told me he comes quite often, but since that this is the first I have seen.”
“Here,” James said and handed him the card.
“I have three Da Vinci’s. Do you want this one?” Sirius offered.
“Yes, thanks,” James said. “I’ll look into this, too,” he said, picking up his other Chocolate Frog.
“And? Who is it?” Sirius asked curiously.
“Dumbledore,” James informed him.
“I don’t have him,” Sirius whispered, as if it was something to be ashamed of.
“Come on! He must come more often than Paracelsus!” James exclaimed.
“I had four of him, but my father found them and destroyed the cards,” Sirius admitted.
“But why?” James asked perplexed.
“He hates Dumbledore. Don’t know why, but he truly hates him.”
“Here,” James said and handed him the card.
“Thanks, but I don’t have any to give in exchange.”
“It’s all right; I have about 250 cards, Sirius,” James reassured him.
“Thanks.”
Slowly the sky got darker, and the landscape rougher. They were chatting about Quidditch when Theus joined them. Sirius introduced James to him and told him that James might be in his house, because his mother was in Ravenclaw.
“Really? My mother too,” Theus said.
“Sirius already told me,” James told Theus and smiled at Sirius.
“And your father?” Theus asked James.
“Gryffindor, yours?” James replied.
“My father is a Muggle,” Theus informed James, smiling. “I saw Bella heading this way. Was she here?” he asked Sirius.
“Yes,” his cousin nodded.
“You haven’t provoked her, have you, Sirius?” Theus asked with a wary sigh.
“Of course not!” Sirius cried indignantly. “She provoked me. She told me no matter what I want, I would be in Slytherin and she would be my Prefect.”
“I have already told her not to bother you, but I see now I wasn’t rude enough. I don’t care; we’ll win this year’s Quidditch Cup.”
“You play Quidditch?” James asked the older boy.
“Yeah,” Theus said proudly.
“He is Ravenclaw’s captain, James. If you want to be on a Quidditch team watch out for him. Especially when you are on the other team,” Sirius added, grinning.
“I’ll remember that,” James said, smirking at Theus.
Theus went on patrolling and they were left alone again. Five minutes later the door slid open. Sirius looked at the intruder annoyed, but then saw that it wasn’t Bella. A sandy blond haired boy stepped in. Behind him there was another boy, looking anxious. He was short and round faced.
“Hello!” the sandy-haired boy greeted them. “Have you, by any chance, seen a toad?” he inquired in a calm voice.
“A toad?” James asked taken aback.
“Yes. He hopped this way. Peter lost him,” he said, pointing at the worried boy.
“No, we haven’t seen any toads, have we?” James looked at Sirius questioningly.
“No, some extra big cockroaches, but no toads,” Sirius joked.
“Thanks. By the way, my name is Remus Lupin,” he introduced himself and stretched out his hand.
“Nice to meet you,” James responded and shook the offered hand. “I’m James Potter.”
Remus turned to Sirius, who stretched out his hand too.
“Sirius Black,” he introduced himself.
“Nice to meet you. I’ll get going; we have to find that toad. If he should hop by, would you be so kind and hold him till we get him?”
“Sure,” James assured with a nod and saw as the boy closed the door of the compartment.
“Quite polite, that boy,” Sirius summed up their thoughts.
“Yes, the other one could have introduced at least,” James said.
“Yes. Maybe he was frightened of us,” Sirius said, laughing.
James joined him, and then they turned back to their conversation. Theus came and told them to change into their school robes since they were arriving in ten minutes.
TBC
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