Chapter Two: 1 September 1971

                                    

                                          
The arches of King's Cross Station stretched high above James as he pushed his trolley, owl on top, through the crowd of people. Naturally, he got plenty of stares from Muggles, or non-magic folk, but he was used to that. While normally he and his family dressed in their best Muggle outfits in public, it was difficult not to be seen in wizard robes from time to time, and he was used to them goggling at him as he passed.
                          
James felt Fleamont's hand on his shoulder as they approached platform nine. He knew the entrance to the Hogwarts Express would be secret, but he had never been told where it was until he found himself being steered straight into the barrier between platforms nine and ten.
                          
He saw solid brick wall, Muggles all around him, and felt the sensation within him that he was going to crash. But as soon as he realized his eyes were glued shut, he opened them again. He was standing with his parents on platform nine and three quarters.
                          
The room had an arched ceiling like the rest of King's Cross, but it only had one train. The scarlet red Hogwarts Express blew steam into the air as wizard parents and confused Muggle ones alike ushered their children into the train.
                          
James grabbed his trunk out of the trolley, which he had to readjust his grip on so he wouldn't drop it, and his owl's cage. He hadn't decided on what to name her yet. Maybe when he got to school he would find something that sounded right.
                          
James threw his arms around his parents ("Send lots of owls," said his mother), and with a few minutes to spare, he stepped onto the gleaming train. It was bustling with students of all ages, some already changed into their Hogwarts robes, others in Muggle clothes, some with shiny prefect badges in hand or on their chest.
                          
Near the back of the train he found a seat occupied only by another boy who must have also been an incoming first year. He was rather scrawny-looking, with ruffled brown hair and a pale face. He wasn't yet changed into his Hogwarts robes, and the ones he was wearing looked rather too big for him. The boy looked up as James entered and waved vaguely. James returned the wave, sitting down on the other seat and looking out the window. A bell had sounded somewhere, and the train was beginning to belch smoke as it began to pull out of the station. People were waving from the platform.
                          
The car door slid open and a dark-haired boy strode inside. It was Sirius, the boy he'd met in Diagon Alley.
                          
"Hello again," Sirius smiled as he set down his trunk, propping up one leg against the wall. He turned to the boy beside them. "First year too?"
                          
"Yeah," the pale boy nodded.
                          
"What house are you two hoping for?" James asked eagerly.
                          
Sirius scoffed. "There's no point in hoping--everyone in my family has been in Slytherin. Every one. You?"
                          
"Gryffindor," James grinned. "Best there is."
                          
The pale boy looked up. "I don't really mind, honestly," he shrugged. "I'm a half-blood. My dad was in Gryffindor though."
                          
At this, Sirius crossed his arms and gestured toward James' things. "That's a nice owl," he said.
                          
"Thanks."
                          
"I probably would have gotten one too if my Mum let me," Sirius remarked. He chuckled under his breath.
                          
As the world outside became wilder and less like the neat gardens of London, James changed into his new Hogwarts robes. They were plain black with the Hogwarts crest emblazoned on the breast. He and Sirius talked for most of the way, grabbed some candy from the trolley witch as she passed by, while the scruffy boy across from them mostly kept to himself, except for when he bought himself a chocolate bar and ate it in silence.