The Very Beginning
Written by Firefly of Earth,
as part of the collection at The
Marauder's Pensieve™
The scarlet train on platform 9 and 3/4 was sounding the last signal, calling to all the scurrying students who still had not climbed aboard. In three minutes time, the gigantic train, "Hogwarts Express" emblazoned upon the side, would be carrying eager boys and girls back to school. Amidst the few remaining children who were still pulling their trunks on board or hunting for empty seats was a dark-haired boy of about eleven. He wore round glasses over his sharp hazel eyes, and seemed as if he had just ran a marathon. His thick hair stuck out at odd angles as he bent over, hands on his knees, to catch his breath.
Two minutes remained before departure as James Potter struggled to shove his trunk and owl-cage into the last remaining empty compartment. As he finally settled down in his seat, one last bell sounded, and the train began to pull out of the station.
James waved to the man and woman, two of many parents, standing at the platform seeing their child depart for the first year of school. When his mother's pink petticoat was clearly out of sight, he turned to inspect the compartment and the boy sitting across from himself.
"Is this your first year at Hogwarts too?" asked James after a full minute of sitting still.
The other boy, thin with sandy hair and quite a pale complexion, looked up from his book and nodded.
"I've heard a lot about Hogwarts from my mum and dad already. I can't wait to see it for myself," said James eagerly, "The castle is really old and they say there are secret passageways in every corner. I can't wait to explore them this year!"
The thin boy across the table looked up and this time gave a small but amused smile. James was afraid he would return to his book, but to his delight, he had already put it aside and now seemed interested in starting a conversation.
"My name's Remus, what's yours?"