Sirius Black wasn't sure if his mother would approve of James Potter, even though he was a pureblood; the Potters were blood-traitors like the Weasleys. Though to Sirius, James seemed like a nice bloke, even if he did kick that little ginger cat out of his way at the Hogsmeade station.

"Don't worry about it," James had said. "That's Ginger. More trouble than it's worth, really."

Sirius took in a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself. He felt like an inflated balloon was trying to make its way up his stomach. Stepping out of the Hogwarts Express felt like stepping into a whole new world. Everything was awe inspiring: the tiny station, the floating lamps, the dark forest, the giant of a ground keeper Hagrid, the black lake and the magnificent castle that was Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. 

James on the other hand strutted about with a smug expression, looking as if he owned the place. He even knew Hagrid.

"Dare you to touch the giant squid," James whispered while they were on the boats. "What?" Sirius asked confused.

All the other kids were still busy oohing and aahing at the elegant towering castle that stood on the other shore, but not James. He was busy tossing bread into the lake.

"The giant squid. There's one that lives in the lake," he said and plonked another piece of bread into the lake. "My dad told me."

"Are you sure?" said Sirius, looking uncertainly at the undisturbed pieces of bread still floating on the surface.

"Of course I am!" James said indignantly. "Unless... unless he lied." He looked up shaking his hands free of the bread crumbs. "He does that a lot, he thinks it's funny."

Sirius opened his mouth to say something, but before he could utter a word, James was on his feet. "Oi Hagrid!" he said. "Is there a giant squid in the lake?"

Sirius smiled apologetically at the other two kids who were sharing their boat, sure that Hagrid would rebuff James and he would end up making a fool out of himself.

"Yeh damn righ' there is," Hagrid replied. "Nice fella, peaceful- hey! Sit righ' back down there James." Hagrid had finally noticed that James was standing up.

He sat down with a triumphant look on his face. "Told you there was," he said. "Say, one sickle if I touch it then?"

"You're crazy," said one of the other boys on their boat ,but Sirius's eyes were already twinkling.

"I say two if I do it before you," he said.

They both smiled and started chucking bread into the lake at once, much to the other two boys' horror.

_______________________________________________________________________________

A/N: Hope you liked the story so far.
Please let me know how I'm doing in the comments. I'd really love to know your feedback. Also don't forget to vote if you liked this chapter. :)