When We Were Kids

One

James couldn't believe his luck. His first year at Hogwarts hadn't even begun, and he was lost. He had gotten on the train, said goodbye to his parents and everything, but now he didn't know where to go. The train was bustling with people everywhere and James was utterly lost. He found himself in the back of the train, opening the last compartment. His last hope. Inside was a young boy, a first-year by the looks of it. He had long, black hair and grey-blue eyes. He looked sad, so James decided this would be his best option. Better than the one compartment with a snide boy with long blonde hair. He had steered away from that situation immediately.

"Good afternoon! First time on the train?" James asked the boy, sitting across from him.

"That obvious?" The boy smiled sheepishly at him. "I've been looking forward to this day ever since I got my letter, but now that it's here, I'm honestly scared. I have wizard friends, but none of the older ones like me enough to talk to me. I had no idea what to expect."

"That's terrible. I had some friends explain to me about first year, but nothing could've prepared me for this. The train is crazy!" James replied, a smile prominent on his face.

"You're right. I'm Sirius by the way. Sirius Black." The boy, Sirius, avoided eye contact as he said his name. Almost embarrassed looking. James, of course, knew why. The Black's were famous in the wizarding world. A pureblood, dark magic family. Being a pureblood too, he recognized the name immediately. But he wasn't scared by the mention of it. Sure, Sirius' family weren't the best people, but that didn't mean Sirius would inherently be bad. James' parents had taught him well.

"Nice to meet you, Sirius. I'm James Potter." James extended his hand to the boy, shaking hands with him. Sirius tentatively took his hand, not sure how to read the situation. Normally, people shied away from him the minute they heard his name. He expected it now. But this boy, James, he didn't even flinch. He didn't seem to even care.

"You heard me, right? I'm a Black." Sirius continued, perplexed by the boy.

"Of course I heard you. I'm not deaf." James joked, but after not getting a reaction from the boy, he continued. "I don't care that you're a Black. A name doesn't mean anything. You could be completely different from your family. You're just 11, I'm sure you're not casting death spells left and right just yet, am I right?"

"I guess so" A laugh escaped Sirius. This boy seemed different. "But how do you know I'm not evil?"

"You don't exactly look it. But, I don't know. I don't like judging people based on a name. I'd prefer to get to know you before I do that."

"You're... nice."

Before James could reply, another boy opened the compartment door. He was abnormally tall and nervous looking. When he opened the door and saw the other boys, he stood frozen, not sure what to do.

"Hi. I'm James Potter. What's your name?" James took the liberty of speaking. He was always pretty good at making friends, so he didn't even bat an eye. Sirius looked slightly uncomfortable, but there was something about the new boy that made him feel like he wanted to know him.

"Remus. Remus Lupin. I was just looking for an empty compartment, but it seems there aren't any." He avoided eye contact with either boy, taking an extreme interest in his shoes.

"Well, you can sit in here with us. We don't mind, do we Sirius?" James said, looking to Sirius for an agreement. Sirius nodded, moving over to make room for the boy. James had taken up the entire row of seats because he had propped up his feet. Remus came in and closed the door behind him, putting up his trunk and sitting a little down from Sirius.

"Are you both first years?" Remus asked tentatively. He seemed uncertain about the whole situation.

"Yep." Sirius said, popping the 'p'. "My name is Sirius. Black. Sirius Black."