Cardinal

First Year

"What house are you hoping for?" Averie asked James.

"Gryffindor," James said proudly.

"Awesome! I'm hoping for Ravenclaw or Slytherin!" Averie tucked one knee under her and the other pulled to her chest.

"Isn't that known for evil wizards?" Peter squeaked.

"Salazar Slytherin wasn't evil. And neither was the great Merlin himself and they were both in Slytherin," Averie pointed out.

Sirius laughed as Averie smiled. The four started chatting as the train departed. Halfway through their conversation, the cabin door opened and a boy with shaggy brown hair opened the door.

"I was wondering if I could sit in here?" He asked avoiding their eyes. Averie scooted over.

"Of course! Here," She motioned to the seat next to her. The boy shut the cabin door behind him as he sat down.

"What's your name?" Sirius leaned his elbow onto his knees to look more at him.

"Remus," The boy mumbled.

"Well, Remus. I'm Sirius," He smiled. Remus just looked up and shyly smiled back, hiding the left side of his face.

"I'm James,"

"Averie,"

"Peter," They all introduced themselves.

For the next few hours, the five children talked. Talked about their lives, their family, Hogwarts, magic. By the end of the train ride, they all knew they would end up as friends no matter their house. When the train stopped night had fallen and they all made their way off and onto the platform.

Tons of groups of students began walking off. When the first years tried to follow, they were all stopped.

"Where ya think you're goin?" Someone asked. All of the first years turned to face the voice. A huge man with long hair and a long beard stood torch in hand. "First years take the boats,"

He turned around and walked down a small path that led to a lake with boats lining the shore. "Four to a boat,"

All of the students started piling into them. James, Sirius, and Peter all got into a boat with a blonde girl, leaving Remus and Averie on the dock.

"Wait, Ver, you can go here." Peter starts to get up.

"No. It's okay. I've got Remus," Averie looks over and grabs Remus' hand. His eyes widened at the sudden contact but he didn't pull away.

"Okay, we'll see you at the school." James waved as the boat sailed away.

Averie turned to Remus as they walked to another boat. The two got into the boat and waited for two more people. Most of them were gone but a red headed girl jumped in before they could decide to head off. 

"Sorry, do you mind?"

"Of course not," Remus answered. 

"Lily Evans," She introduced herself followed by Averie and Remus. 

The boat ride across the lake wasn't very long, but the three didn't need more than five minutes alone for them to know each other. Lily and Averie connected over their love of art and Lily and Remus over their love of books, but all of them connected over their love for fairy tales. They talked about all the stories they were read as bedtime stories and those that they made up it their heads. By the time they reached shore they had decided they would all make a story together. 

They climbed off the boats and made their way over to where the others waited from them. The blonde girl from earlier seeming to be arguing with James.