"Sirius!" James whisper-shouted, trying his best to get the boy's attention without attracting his mother. James braced himself to call again but then Sirius looked back in surprise. The boy glanced at his family before he side-stepped away, getting 'lost' in the crowd. James found him a moment later. He looked back, his sight falling on the smaller boy who had been next to him, "Who was that boy with you?"

"You mean my brother?" Sirius asked, following his line of sight back to his family. He narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched his parents say their goodbyes to his little brother, not caring that he had vanished.

"You have a brother?" James asked curiously as he peered through the crowded train station. While he had grown a few inches over the summer, he was still quite short compared to the upper class men. He stood on his toes a bit to see better but it didn't help all that much.

"Of course I do," Sirius practically snorted at the prospect of being an only child. "What self-respecting Black would risk having only one heir to the family fortune? What if I'm a screw up? Or worse."

"Right," the boy muttered in response. He fell to his regular height with a huff. "Let's find a compartment before they're all taken, shall we?" James took off toward the train, pushing through some of the people who didn't seem to want to move. Sirius nodded, before following after the boy. James glanced behind himself as though he were looking for something, "So why didn't you invite your brother to come sit with us?"

Sirius snorted at this, "That's funny. Sometimes I forget that you're actually quite funny, James."

He frowned at this, "Well, I wasn't trying to be funny."

Sirius let out a sigh as they stopped in front of a compartment. "Look, even if I wanted to - which I don't - the second he heard that I was sitting with a Potter he'd run and tattle to our parents. Believe me when I say that neither of us want that."

James raised an eyebrow but conceited the point before the pair entered the compartment. The two stopped when they saw what looked like a lump of clothes by the window. "You would think that they would clean the train up before we got here."

Sirius nodded in agreement before he reached forward, pulling the jacket off and the pair jumped back in surprise when they saw that there was a boy under the jacket. "Who's that?"

James gestured to the luggage that was above them. "Remus Lupin," he informed him, "Think he's a first year?"

"Looks like it," Sirius shrugged as the two took their seats. "How long until Peter shows up?"

James let out a sigh, "Probably not long. It's like he's got the nose of a wolf or something when it comes to finding us."

"Who knows, maybe he's a werewolf," Sirius replied. "He's weird enough that I wouldn't be surprised." James threw a wrapper at the boy and Sirius smacked it away. "Hey! You know I'm right. Besides, I told you we should steer clear of him. Wouldn't want to catch anything, if you know what I'm saying."

"I hardly think that's how that works, you moron," James pointed out.

Sirius rolled his eyes, "Whatever you say."

The boy who was tucked away in the corner made a noise and the two turned to look at him. James frowned, "Remus?"

The boy's eyes fluttered open, and he sat up quickly, "What - what's going on?"

"Sorry," James apologized, "We were looking for a compartment and this one looked empty at first." He stuck his hand out, "James. James Potter."

Remus cautiously took the boy's hand, "Remus Lupin."

"I know," James said and Remus raised an eyebrow at this. "This is my best friend, Sirius Black. We're both second year Gryffindor's. Along with Peter."

"You are?" Remus asked as he looked between the two. His gaze stayed on Sirius's for a second longer before he turned to James. "I'm joining you this year."

"You are?" Sirius asked. "How'd that happen?"

"Um," Remus shifted uncomfortably. "I had a health issue that Hogwarts wasn't able to accommodate last year so I couldn't attend in person. I did all my work from home. But Dumbledore was able to fix something up for me this year."

"Health condition?" Sirius inquired and James kicked the boy in the shin, causing him to yelp. He put his hands up in surrender, "I was merely asking."

"It's alright," Remus said, "I get chronic migraines. So I tend to be out for periods at a time. Dumbledore built an extension to the infirmary for me."

James smiled slightly, "Well that was nice of him." He turned to Sirius, "I'm gonna go hunt down the cart, did you want anything?"

"Everything," Sirius said and James rolled his eyes before leaving the compartment and making his way through the hallway.

James turned around to try the other way when he bumped into someone. "Oh!" he said as the books the boy had been holding fell to the floor. James immediately knelt down to gather the books, "I'm sorry, I didn't-" His breath caught in his throat as his eyes locked with the greyest eyes he had ever seen. "Sorry."

He stood up, handing the books back to the boy. He was a foot taller than him and the boy looked up at him with furrowed brows, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

James shook his head at this, "Er, like what?"

Regulus narrowed his eyes on the boy. "Like that," he said accusingly.

"I'm not looking at you in any way, I'm just looking."

"Then stop," he demanded, tugging the sleeves of his jacket down.

"I-" he began when someone shouted from behind him.

"Regulus, what's taking you so long?" Barty asked and James turned around at this. The former immediately scowled, circling around so that James had to turn in order to face him. James glanced around the boy to peek at Regulus who just looked irritated before turning back to Barty, "What are you doing?"

"I was looking for the cart with the food," he explained, gesturing with his hands, "Have you seen it?"

"Stay away from us, blood traitor," Crouch sneered and James frowned slightly. "Or I'll have to teach you a lesson."

"I'd like to see you try," he countered, his hand moving toward his wand. "You haven't even started lessons yet. I wouldn't get too cocky if I were you."

"Hey, we should-" Regulus began but Crouch shot him a look that shut him up. He took a step back and shot James with what seemed to be an apologetic look.

"You wanna think again, Potter?" Crouch suggested, pulling his wand out and pointing it at the boy. James looked down at it with a raised eyebrow. He was freaking out on the inside but somehow on the outside he kept his cool. "Huh?"

"No, I don't, but thanks for the option," he said simply. "You, on the other hand, may want to rethink what you're doing here."

"Barty," Regulus said cautiously.

"Why would I do that?" he asked with a sneer. He stepped closer, his wand pressing against the boy's throat, "I have the upper hand here."

"Do you?" he asked curiously, his voice not giving away any of his anxiety. "Because one of the first things they teach you in Defense class is to never press your wand against your opponent."

"Why's that?"

"Because then I can do this," James said before he moved his hand up, pulling the wand from the boy's grasp before pulling his own wand out and taking a step back. "Here," he said, tossing the wand back to the surprised boy. "It wouldn't be fair for us to attack an unarmed kid."

"Us?" he asked in confusion.

"Barty," Regulus repeated and he finally turned around. His eyes widened a fraction of an inch when he was greeted by two more second year boys.

"Oh," was all he said, his wand dropping slightly.

"Maybe you should let this one go?" Regulus suggested, a pleading expression on his face. "You can't beat three of them."

"But we could."

"No, no we couldn't," he shook his head. "But it's okay. We'll get them in a few years. You'll see."

Barty narrowed his eyes at this but dropped his wand anyway, tucking into his pocket. "You got lucky, Potter, count your blessings."

James held his hands up in faux surrender, "Ooo, scary." Eventually, the boys left, Regulus glancing back for the briefest moment before disappearing into a compartment. James turned to Peter and Remus, "Sirius stayed behind?"

"He came with us but then we got here and he disappeared," Peter explained. "Not sure why."

Remus shot the boy an incredulous look and James grinned, "Let's get back before he thinks we're dead."