Yeah okay, I'm actually sure she suspects something.
Harry internally sighed.
Well, just keep out of her way, all right? And try to act like a normal dog.
Sirius looked at him and slightly tilted his head to the left.
What's "normal" mean?
It was a mistake not to look where he was going, as Padfoot soon discovered.
He ran headfirst into a small, chubby boy, sending both of them flying.
Ow! Shit! Fuck!
Harry tried not to laugh as the boy fell backwards, right onto his godfather and tackling the huge black dog to the floor. The poor kid just avoided slamming his head against the stone the way Harry had.
Smirking, the marauder in training helped the small boy up.
"Sorry for that. My dog is a bit irresponsible and tends to... knock things over."
Hey!
"Oh, it's quite all right", the brunette huffed.
"I'm dead clumsy anyways- one more fall doesn't make a difference. I'm Neville, by the way, and who are you?"
Harry smiled. His godbrother seemed like a nice boy, if a bit goofy.
"I'm Harry Potter. And the clumsy dog is... Buck.", Harry said, cheekily naming his dogfather after Sirius' favourite book character. During a particular cold winter, Harry had read Call of the Wild and Sirius had listened, quite enjoying the story.
However, this name was not the name he fancied.
Hey!, he protested.
Couldn't you name me Thunder or Lightning or something like that? Something cool?
Harry internally snorted.
You love Buck.
Yeah, but the name sucks!
Harry decided to ignore his childish godfather. Instead, he smiled at the flustered, blushing Neville.
"You wanna sit with me?"
"Su-sure", the boy stuttered.
"Well, come on then", Harry said cheerily, heading towards the scarlet train. His suitcase was heavy, but he was a very strong boy. Harry might be skinny, but he was rather muscular from all the exercise he got. Harry enjoyed climbing trees and playing football with his not at all stolen ball.
They settled down in the compartment the marauders had always sat in. Harry immediately claimed the seat by the window that looked into the driving direction. Neville sat in Peter's old seat.
Harry traced his fingers over the bending wood of the window frame, searching the carving Sirius had told him about. When he finally found it, the breath caught in his chest.
J. F. P.
I'm gonna make him proud.
Of course you are, pup.
The other marauders had placed their initials there as well, but Harry could not care less right now.
One day, I'll add H. J. P. But not today. I'll wait a few years.
"You all right?", Neville asked concerned.
"Yeah", Harry smiled sadly.
"I just wish my parents were here today. Don't you?"
Neville made a surprised face.
"How did you know?"
"Someone told me. Besides, Alice is my godmother, so I ought to know."
"We're godbrothers?!?"
Harry grinned and nodded.
"Yeah, we are. Our mothers were best friends and our fathers apparently got along quite well. We've met already- before the incidents, we were friends. Would you like to renew that friendship?"
Neville was beaming now and Harry suspected he hadn't expected to find a friend on his very first day, especially not Harry Potter.
"Of course! This is Trevor, by the way. My grandma gave him to me when I got my letter. They didn't really think I would get in, see."
He pulled out a toad. From Sirius' stories, Harry remembered that Peter had had a toad at the start of first year. It had vanished around Christmas.
"I keep losing him though."
"That must suck. I've got Hedwig and Buck. The good thing about owls and dogs is that they're loyal as anything. They don't just run away."
Neville grimaced.
"Well, I'd have preferred an owl, but I was grateful to get a pet at all."
Harry smiled at him, sympathetic of the boy's situation. After all, most of his possessions were stolen, so he understood what it was like not to be able to buy what you want.
"If you want, we can share Hedwig. We are a family, after all. But I'm not sharing Buck with anyone."
Neville smiled back.
"Understandable. That dog sure seems to mean a lot to you. Besides, I'm a bit scared of it anyways."
Harry laughed a little. He was glad that Neville was warming up to him and had stopped stuttering.
Why the hell would he be scared of me? I'm the best dog in the world!
Technically, you're an omen of death.
Sirius huffed and curled into a ball under the seats.
"He's a bit of a mood, but he won't bite you", Harry laughed.
"And I should know, I've had him since I was four. Just had to keep him a secret from my aunt and uncle."
Neville nodded and opened his mouth to say something when the compartment door opened. In peeked three gingers, the youngest of them with a nervous but slightly mischievous grin on his freckle-splattered face. His bright hair was short and a bit messy, but just from lack of combing. Everything else on him seemed long; stretched, almost. His face, his tall, gangly body, his nose, his big hands and feet- he looked similar to Padfoot's description of a young Arthur Weasley. The other two, who appeared to be twins, looked similar to him: they were tall and heavily freckled as well. Their hair was the exact same shade as their brother's and they shared some features with him. Like a badge or trophy of sorts they wore their troublemaker grins and messed-up hair. It would not have made any difference in their appearance if you inked "teacher's doom" on their foreheads.
"Hey", the youngest redhead spoke up nervously.
"I'm Ron Weasley. They're my brothers Fred and George. Can we sit here? Everywhere else is full."
Harry grinned at them.
"Sure!"
They came spilling into the compartment, Ron sitting down opposite to Harry. Sirius' spot. His two brothers settled with sitting next to each other, on seats that were always empty in the seventies.
You're just missing a Moony.
Moony the second will join us soon.
"Which houses are you in?", Harry asked.
"Judging from Fred and George's grin, I would either say Gryffindor or Slytherin."
The two pulled a face.
"Us, in"
"Slytherin?"
"We're"
"GRYFFINDORS!"
"Sorry, you just seem like pranksters and I don't suppose Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws care much for pranks. Do you like pranking?" Harry was leaning forward eagerly, surely hoping so. The twins lit up.
"We love pranks!", they chorused.
"I like pranks too", Ron spoke up a bit angrily. He did not seem to like that Fred and George got all the attention.
"I just don't prank as much as they do because I have no partner in crime."
Harry's grin was so wide his face ached.
"Well then, you have now. Neville, would you like to join us?"
"M-me?" Neville apparently was back to stuttering. He seemed pleased, though- as if he'd kind of hoped for this all along.
"Yes, you. We need four people anyways. Like the marauders. I'm planning to follow in my father's footsteps."
"Your father was a marauder?!?"
Harry wrinkled his forehead. How did they know about the marauders? As far as he knew, Molly and Arthur were a few years above his parents and he was pretty sure the tales of their antics had long since abandoned the ancient walls of Hogwarts.
"How do you know about the marauders? Did your parents tell you about them? My father was Prongs, the unspoken leader and the one that came up with the most pranks. It would be an insult not to continue his legacy."
Fred and George exchanged glances, deciding on something immediately. It pained them to let it go, but Harry deserved this.
Fred pulled a spotty parchment from his bag and Harry gasped.
"How did you get that? Do you know how to open it? That's how you know about them?"
He took the parchment from Fred, fingering it gently. Then he fumbled for his wand, finally finding it in his bag.
"I solemnly swear I'm up to no good."
Thin lines of black ink spread over the worn parchment, forming a map of the most magnificent castle Harry had ever seen. Only teachers and Filch were moving there now, Mrs Norris by the caretaker's side.
Ron and Neville gaped at the parchment Harry was holding in his shaking hands.
"That's wicked!", Ron finally breathed.
Harry smiled.
"It's brilliant. You have no clue how much I have been longing to hold this- a creation of my father and his friends."
"How did you know the password?", one of the twins questioned.
"Someone told me."
They had not been talking for long when a woman with a cart full of sweets appeared.
"Something off the trolley, dears?", she asked them, smiling.
Before any of the others could object, Harry had already purchased enough for all of them all, if not too much.
The children had just began tucking in when two people entered the compartment. A dark skinned boy was greeted happily by the twins, but Harry paid him little mind. Instead, his gaze was fixed on the girl behind him.
She looked to be his age, a little older probably, and had very bushy hair along with big front teeth. Her face was triangular and pretty in its own way, and she stood like she knew something they did not. With the large book tucked under her arm and her neat school uniform, he knew immediately she was a candidate for Moony 2.0.
"You should probably get changed", she said in a bossy tone, skipping introductions altogether.
"We're due to arrive soon."
Harry grinned at her cockily.
"Sure, once you tell us your name, that is. That's Neville, that's Ron, Fred, George- I think, but might be George and then Fred- and I think you know Lee. I'm Harry. And do have a seat."
She up her nose at them just a little bit, but went to sit in Remus' spot despite them being uncivilised barbarians.
"Hermione Granger."
"Pleasure to meet you. I take it you like reading?"
Her whole face lit up.
"Oh, I love reading! This world is so interesting, I'm a muggleborn you know, it was such a surprise when the letter came, I must have read all the schoolbooks at least ten times, I've learned them all by heart, I just hope that's enough, by the way, what houses do you want to be in? People say Gryffindor is the best house, that's where Dumbledore himself was, but I suppose Ravenclaw would be fine as well."
She said all that very fast, and Harry wondered how she did not put knots in her tongue. Also, that was probably the longest sentence he had ever heard.
With a glance at Ron and Neville, he reassured himself they did not learn the schoolbooks by heart either.
"Errm... Well, you're well prepared. Personally, I'd like to be a Gryffindor, what about you, Ron, Neville?"
The two boys, still in a bit of a daze, nodded.
"Perfect!", Harry grinned and leaned forward towards Hermione.
"Tell me, Hermione", he began mysteriously,
"What do you think of pranking?"
She looked a little put-off at this.
"Well, I've never really thought about it", she said.
"Isn't pranking against the rules? I've never really broken any rules. But I read that pranks are a big part of boarding school- at least, that's the way it's in muggle books: the characters are permanently pranking each other, and it sounds fun. I suppose that maybe I would like it."
Harry's smirk had widened.
"Well then", he cried dramatically, flinging his arms out.
"Welcome to the junior marauders, Hermione Granger! You are hereby assigned the position of Moony, the brains of the group!"
Sirius sat up straight and barked. Neville somehow couldn't help grinning. Ron gave a little cheer before he could stop himself. The air around the map seemed to scintillate. The twins and Lee Jordan looked at them in awe.
"Wait a moment", Hermione said.
"What are the marauders? And what's a moony?"
I'm so sorry- this is a terrible chapter. It's just that I never really imagined how the train ride would go, but I think the next chapters will be better and will come faster. I'll try at least, and with time, I'll get into the story! Promise!