--Beginnings--
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Sirius Black walked into Olivander's Wand Shop with his head held high. He had turned eleven just a few months ago and had received his invitation to Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Not that this had been anything of a surprise considering his pureblood heritage, but still it seemed like a rite of passage. After Hogwarts he'd understand all he would ever need to know about magic. He'd be a real, full-fledged, powerful wizard. He'd be a man. He'd be able to show his mother then. He could be strong and powerful. He could be just as gifted as his younger brother, Regulus. Sirius didn't really have anything against his brother, but Sirius believed he was certainly more gifted than the younger boy. No matter what his mother said.

He'd also have a few nasty, new tricks up his sleeve for Bellatrix.

Olivander's was nearly full to bursting with upcoming Hogwarts students. It seemed to take Olivander an eternity to pick a wand out for a person. Someone pointed this out to Olivander, but he merely gave a kind, knowing smile.

"You must not blame me. It is the wand that takes an eternity to find the wizard."

Sirius groaned; it was going to a long wait. He hated waiting.

Sirius sat down in an empty near the door. Most of the other students were up at the front of the room trying to hurry one another. Sirius didn't see the point in that; he'd been here once before with his mother when her wand had caught fire after a mishap with some floo powder. Olivander had taken forever then; he'd probably take a forever now. Besides, the longer he was here the longer he'd be away from his mother.

The memory of her wand catching on fire still made him smile. That had been fun.

Sirius leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes in boredom. He stretched out his legs as though he were the only on in the room. He may have fallen asleep then, even with the hustle and bustle around him, if that boy hadn't come in and woken him up.

He was a brown haired boy, and didn’t look like he came from a very classy part of town.

Must be muggle-born. Sirius thought absently. All muggle-born children were like that weren't they? That was what his mother had told him. The boy was carrying a large stack of books, mostly for Hogwarts, but there were also a few large volumes that Sirius couldn't figure out what anyone could possibly need for. The boy seemed to be distracted and tripped over Sirius' outstretched legs, sending both himself and his books flying.

"Oi." Sirius pulled his legs back in and bent over the boy who was scrambling to gather his books, "You alright?"

The boy nodded.

"Why're you in such a hurry?" Sirius continued.

The boy looked at Sirius as though Sirius was out of his mind, "I'm getting my wand, of course. I suppose I'm a little over-enthusiastic."

Enthusiastic. A fairly large word for most eleven-year-olds. He must be one of those smart kids. He'd be in Ravenclaw for sure. Sirius thought; to talk to someone who wouldn't be in Slytherin, or to talk to them? Or more accurately, to face his mother's wrath or not? Especially if this boy was muggle-born like he looked…

He smiled to himself; anything to upset his mother would be worthwhile. He wouldn't be seeing her for months anyway.

"Might as well stay back here with me. Olivander takes forever."

The boy smiled shyly, "Alright." And sat down. He was a quiet boy and didn't try to make conversation. If he did, he spoke too softly for Sirius to hear above the noise of the shop. The boy kept to himself and flipped through his stack of new books contently.

Sirius wasn't content however, to just sit in the boy's silence. Sirius stuck out his hand, "I'm Sirius."

The boy looked up from his book and smiled, "I'm Remus. Remus Lupin." He shook Sirius' outstretched hand.

"Black. Sirius Black." Sirius finished his name.

"The Slytherin family?"

Odd that the boy should know that, maybe he wasn't a muggle-born after all. Weird.

Sirius laughed and nodded, "Stuffy as an attic."

Remus suddenly looked uncomfortable and fidgeted with his cloak, "The crowd died down." He stated, "I should go get my wand. My mom is waiting for me." He sounded as though he desperately wanted to get away. Remus gathered up his books and headed up to Olivander. Two wands later, Remus had one to call his own and Sirius came up behind him. Remus tensed again.

"Ah, Mr. Black. Finally received your invitation to Hogwarts?" Sirius nodded proudly and Olivander continued, "Let us see if we can find your wand." As that went on, Remus slipped quietly out the door.

Soon enough though, Sirius was bounding down the walkway after Remus, much to the latter boy's dismay.

"Can I help you?" Remus asked uncomfortably.

"You dropped it." Sirius dropped a large volume on top of Remus' stack of books, causing Remus to make an odd 'woof' sound. Sirius gave Remus an odd look, which caused Remus to fidget even more than he previously had been.

Sirius eyed the stack of books, "Why've you got so many?"

Remus shrugged, "I like to read."

Sirius gave an incredulous look, "You're really weird."

Remus looked down and kicked at the dust at his feet, "Yeah. I guess. Hey, I'd… I'd better go." Remus turned and began to walk away briskly.

"I'll come too!" Sirius said with a smile, "I don't want to go find my mum." He trotted along side the other boy.

Remus didn't argue, but neither did he agree.

"First wand… Can you believe it?" Sirius said excitedly, "I can't wait to try it out. You read a lot, know any good spells?"

Remus gave a shrug, "I read about one that sounded interesting, but I don't really know what it does."

"Who cares?" Sirius urged.

Remus attempted to pronounce a word he clearly didn't know as Sirius pointed his wand at a trash bin and repeated the word. The bin erupted in smoke and the people near let out startled screams. As the smoke faded the two boys looked at each other in glee.

Sirius patted Remus' head, "Good weird kid."

A mother busily fussed over her young boy's hair. A common scene at the entrance to platform 9¾.

"Oh, why won't your hair stay neat?" The boy's mother was distraught.

"Mum! Mum, it's fine mum!" The boy waved his arms around about in a vain attempt to convince his mother to stop combing his hair.

"I'm just so proud of you, Jamsie. I want you to look nice!"

"I look fine." James said grumpily.

The couple watched children go onto the platform and the boy looked at his mother, "I'm going to miss the train."

The mother wrapped her arms around her son, "Be careful. Stay safe. Write me all the time." She let go, "I'm so proud of you."

The sincere, caring tone in the mother's voice made the boy smile, "Bye, mum!"

"Don't forget to change your underwear!" The mother called and James flushed, hurrying off towards the platform.

"Sirius!" A black haired girl walked through the open train cabin door, "You certainly got here early."

"Hi Bella." Sirius' reply wasn't a greeting as much as it was an obligatory acknowledgement of her existence.

"Ah, the bottom of the barrel. I would've hated it if I wasn't a Black." Bella laughed with a cackle, "I know other people did."

"What do you want?" Sirius said in annoyance.

"To tell you, you should be proud to be a Black!"

"This again?"

Bella ignored him, "You've always taken it as such a joke! You're going to Hogwarts so you can't do that anymore! Other people would kill to have your name!"

"Go away Bella." Sirius said shortly.

A brown haired boy walked over to the compartment, "Hi Sirius…" The voice trailed off as he looked to Bella.

"I'm sorry." He turned to walk off.

"Hey! Remus! Wait! Bella was leaving now!" Sirius hopped off his seat.

"God! Are you fraternizing with mudbloods?"

"I'm not muggle-born, actually." Remus said quietly, though the simple mention of the term made hurt him.

"Who cares if I am? Go on and tell my mum! I'm not seeing her until next year anyway!"

Bella used a "big-kid" word neither boy understood, but her wand wasn't out as she walked off in disgust, so Sirius assumed it was a profanity and not a curse.

"Did I do that?" Remus asked, watching Bella storm off.

"No." Sirius smiled, "She's always like that."

"Who was she?"

"My cousin." Sirius sat down and kicked the seat across from him lightly, as an offer for Remus to sit also.

Remus closed the door behind him and sat, "Is everyone in your family like that?"

Sirius nodded, "Yeah. Well, my dad is pretty calm. My brother's okay. And my cousin Andromeda is okay too. And my uncle Alphard is funny. But everyone else is like Bella."

"You have a really big family."

"Uh-huh." Sirius nodded again, "What about you?"

"It's just my mom, dad and I, really. I have an aunt and cousin living in Wales somewhere, but I don't know them." Remus was quiet for a moment before asking.

"Why did Bella think I was muggle-born?"

"We're related to all the pure-bloods in England. I guess if we don't know you, we assume you're muggle-born. Are you?"

"No, both of my parents are magical. Do you not like muggles?"

Sirius shrugged, "I've never met one. My parents avoid them. I think it's a Black thing."

"Oh, so you're Aunt Dorea's son? Aunt Dorea was the one who married Charlus Potter right?" A redheaded girl named Andromeda asked looking to her sister. She didn't wait for an answer though and turned back to the messy haired boy, "I can't remember the last time I saw your mum and dad. I don't think they came to the last reunion."

"I can't remember any time I've seen you." A blonde girl, Andromeda's sister Narcissa, said to the boy.

"I haven't ever been to a reunion." In truth, James Potter had never heard of the girls before, "I want to find a cabin before they're all full." James said and hurried off down the corridors.

"You will not believe what Sirius is doing!" Bella pushed her way pass James and towards her sisters.

James opened the first cabin door he reached and slumped into the seat. He looked at the seat across to see a mousy blonde boy with light blue eyes staring at him curiously. He held a drink in his hand that had been stopped mid-way to his mouth.

"Err. Can I sit here?"

The blonde boy nodded, "I'm Peter."

"James."

"Why were you running?"

"What?"

"Your face is all red. Weren't you running?"

"Oh. There were some Slytherin girls talking to me."

"They're pretty scary."

"The Slytherins or girls?"

"Both."
James laughed and the train began to roll along the tracks.

For the half hour that passed, Remus and Sirius had not stopped talking. Remus seemed to know a little bit about everything and Sirius could make anything funny. Remus had long since forgotten Sirius' heritage and Sirius had begun to honestly enjoy Remus' company, instead of just using the boy's presence to annoy any family member who found out.

There was a light rapping at the cabin door before it opened. A kind looking woman peered in.

"Hello boys. Would you like some candy?"

"Do you have chocolate?" The look of excitement in Remus' eyes surpassed anything Sirius had ever seen.

The candy-lady smiled and laughed, "Of course." She pushed forward the cart and both boys began to pick out candies.

"Ms! Ms! You skipped our cabin!" Some students were hurrying down the hall.

The candy-lady smiled, "Are we finished here boys?"

Remus and Sirius nodded, mouths full with chocolate, and the candy-lady turned away to the students running towards her. For a while the boys sat comparing Famous Wizard Cards before Remus' hand fell on some money left on the seat beside him.

"Sirius! We forgot to pay her!"

Sirius shrugged, "She'll come back then."

Remus shook his head; "I'm going to go take it to her."

"Well hurry up, I want to finish telling you the story about the floo powder!"

Remus wandered up and down the corridors of the train, but it seemed that no matter where he went, the candy-lady wasn't there. Perhaps she had gone into some backroom? He was pondering on how to find said backroom of the train, if there was one, before he heard the rattling of the candy cart down the corridor.

"Ms! Ms! Wait!" Remus bounded down the hall and ran head first into a slightly round blonde boy that stepped out of his cabin to pick something up.

"Oof!" Both boys fell to the ground with a thud.

"I'm not a Miss." The blonde boy said in an offended tone, picking himself off the ground.

"I'm sorry!" Remus exclaimed looking around quickly as he sat on the floor, "I'm looking for the candy-lady!" There was the rolling squeak of a cart and the candy-lady stood over the two boys and smiled down at them.

"Are you boys alright?"

Both nodded and stood up. Remus handed the candy-lady his money.

"You left before we could give it to you."

The candy-lady smiled, "I guess I did. Thank you. Would you like something else?"

Remus shook his head and the blonde boy seemed to be preoccupied with the candy he'd salvaged from the crash. The candy-lady left. Remus stepped back to turn around as the blonde boy cried.

"Hey! Stop! You'll squish it!"

Remus looked down, "Squish what?" And there was a chocolate frog hopping out from underneath his foot. As it made it's way down the hall both boys rushed after it. The frog hopped into a cabin and the boy within caught it.

"James! You caught it!" The blonde boy exclaimed and James handed the frog to him.

"You really got to stop loosing them like that, Peter."

"I'm sorry about all that. I didn't mean to run into you. I was in a rush, is all." Remus said, stuffing his hands into his pockets, "We've, my friend and I, have some more candy in our cabin if you want some."

Peter and James looked at each other in awe. Was someone offering complete strangers his candy? Candy! of all things. This brown haired lad was certainly a rare type of child.

The three boys walked back to Remus' cabin to find Sirius examining a Berty Bots Every Flavored Bean.

"Hey, do you think this is Marshmallow or Pus?"

James walked over to it and squinted at it, "Marshmallow."
"Who're you?"

"James. Who're you?"

"Sirius."

Peter looked over to the candy that littered the seat, "So…can we?"

"Sure." Remus smiled.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing!" Sirius exclaimed as Peter and James reached for the candy.

"He said we could!" Peter pointed to Remus, who nodded in return.

"He what! Remus! You don't just go around giving away candy! Not my candy!"

"I nearly destroyed his. I only thought it was fair that…"

"But you didn't, did you?"

"Well, no… But…"

"Then you don't owe them anything! Away from my candy you mu…" Sirius caught himself there. This was, perhaps, the first time in his young life that he had ever been with people un-like his family. Mudblood seemed to be a much worse curse in the outside world.

The other three boys looked at him, but only Remus seemed to have any idea as what Sirius was going to say.

"You what?" James asked, folding his arms.

"Mummy's Boys." Sirius finished shortly and began to intently examine the bean again.

"I already told you that was Marshmallow." James said, still blatantly irritated at Sirius.

"Well maybe I don't trust you." Sirius retorted and threw the bean in his mouth.

"But you just ate it."

"I figured it out myself." Sirius chewed contently for a moment before his face contorted into disgust.

"What?" Remus asked in concern.

"Pus…"

"Eugh."

"Serves you right." James smirked.

"That's it! You! Out of my cabin!"

"Who's up for some cards?" Peter said quickly, not wanting to get thrown out or have anyone start fighting.

"Do They Explode?!" Both James and Sirius shouted unanimously before looking at each other in shock.

"Boom?" Sirius said, as if asking James if like explosions as well.

"Boom." James replied with a smile, which could mean yes to the previous question. This was what Remus half-heartedly explained to Peter although neither boy was sure that was the answer.

This was, perhaps, the first instance of what would come to be referred to as "Marauders' Speak", and soon enough Remus and Peter would be included in that new language. Or speech impediment as the teachers would come to call it.

Peter took the cards out of his pocket and nodded, "I think they do. I haven't actually played with them yet."

James made a grab for them and began to deal, "What's the game?"

"Who cares? Let's just throw them around and make them explode!" Sirius' face lit up and he grabbed the cards from James and began to fling them wildly about.

"AHH!"
"Cough. Cough."
"Sirius! Stop it!"

"MUWHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"You're psychotic!"
"He is!"
"Make him stop!"

"MUWAHAHAHA!"

The smoke that found it's way under the door and down the corridor attracted the other students from nearby cabins.

A prefect walked up to the door and swung it open, only to be engulfed by the smoke the tumbled out. When the smoke cleared enough for anyone to be able to see, the four boys sat on the floor of the compartment with their robes askew, hair an unholy mess and faces covered in soot.

"Were we too loud?" Peter asked.

"We didn't mean to worry anyone." Remus added.

"Which house are you boys in?" The prefect asked.

"Don't know yet." James said as the train began to stop.

"Lucky for them then. No one wants to start out by loosing points before the year has even begun.

"Can they do that?" Peter asked Remus, who simply shrugged.

"Students! Time to leave!" A man called from outside the train. The four boys stood up and began to shake their cloaks.

"We should do that again!" Sirius said with a broad smile.

James nodded enthusiastically.

It promised to be a very interesting first year.