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Scared Little Seagulls


There was no stopping the story from spreading through the train - no stopping the chaos that ensued. Students of every year, every house, were frantic. Misunderstandings were had in the process of the story being passed about from compartment to compartment in whispered tones and by the time James got to the Marauders’ compartment, it was to find Sirius Black pacing. “They said you saw it happen?” he asked.

“What?”

“Liam Harding being killed? Murdered at Kings Cross?”

“Bloody hell,” James muttered, “Is that what they’re saying? No. Liam was murdered over the summer. Walter Grant and the other first -- well, I guess they’re second years now-- found out in the lot at King’s Cross, so Lily and I were taking care of the little seagulls.”

Sirius didn’t look much appeased.

Everyone on the train was a right mess. There was a good deal of crying and carrying on. In the compartment that Dexter Cardwall, Oliver Kent, and Wally Grant were in, Wally was angry. He punched the wall so hard his hand smarted and complained -- “Why are they all acting like he was their bloody friend? None of them knew him! None of them were his best mate like I was! Selfish bastards. Listen to them, blubbering on like it’s them that’s lost something.” He was shaking he was so angry.

Ollie snuffled into a handkerchief.

“None of us are safe,” Dexter murmured, “The Dark Lord’s gonna kill us all.”

Wally punched the wall again.

Remus stopped in on their compartment several times during the ride, checking on them more than he was anyone else because he knew how upset they were but Wally didn’t want to talk to him about it, and would just insist everything was fine. Remus could tell this wasn’t true by the look of worry on Ollie’s face, but there wasn’t anything he could do but leave and promise to come back to check on them again soon. He felt terrible for Wally, who had lost his best mate, but he also felt bad for Ollie, who had never gotten along as well with Liam as Wally had - yet Ollie was crying, too, and it was all in empathy for Wally, he imagined, in wanting to be there for Wally, but not being able to. Remus sighed -- Sirius would be like that, inconsolable, he imagined, if anything ever happened to --- but Remus stopped the process of thought there. Nothing would ever happen like that, so thinking on it was silly. He pushed the thoughts from his mind, and went on worrying about the first - no second years.

When they arrived to the platform in Hogsmeade, Remus and Lily helped herd the students from the train and in telling the many, many first years that were fumbling about to go to Hagrid, who stood in his usual spot with a big lantern shouting, “Firs’ years, over here!” at the top of his voice, looming over the heads of the older students who stampeded for the thestral-drawn carriages.

Lily spotted Siris coming down the hall with Peter and, walking a couple steps behind them, tugging his robes on and biting his wand between his teeth, James. She nervously tucked her hair behind her ears, straightening up as quick as she could. “Hey there Evans,” said Sirius as they reached her and he stopped, blocking up traffic in the corridor as James stowed his wand in his pocket and pressed his back to the wall to allow space for people to pass by. He nudged Peter and Sirius to do the same as they did - a herd of fourth year Slytherins pushed past - including Barty Crouch Jr., but no Regulus…

James wondered where he was and glanced back down the corridor.

“How was the rest of your summer, Sirius?” Lily asked.

Sirius grinned. “Well, I snogged Moony and I learned Yoga and I got these --” Sirius yanked his school robe sleeves up so Lily could see the tattoo about his left wrist - the full moon and the trees and he said, “It moves with the moon cycle see? And there’s others…” he sort of grazed his fingers across the places on his arm and chest and said, “And on my back, too.”

Lily took his wrist and studied the art there a moment and then said, “These are so you... Yoga though? Really? You?”

“Yes - very peaceful. I’ll show you sometime if you like.”

Lily laughed, “Alright.”

“We’ll do it on the astronomy tower, under the stars ---”

Peter snorted and nudged James, “Hear that, Prongs, Paddy want to do it with Lily.”

“Shut the fuck up Peter,” Sirius said.

James only half smiled, not really finding the joke funny, either.

Peter sighed because if Sirius had made the joke because he had worded something that way it would’ve gotten a good laugh, but because it was him who had made it, it wasn’t funny. Typical. He sighed and stared down at his toes.

Sirius asked, “You seen my Moony?”

“Out by the carriages,” Lily answered, “He was supposed to help Maryrose at getting everyone into the carriages.”

James looked up. “Maryrose?”

“Yes, she’s a prefect this year.”

James blinked in surprise, “Seriously?”

“No Maryrosely,” Sirius said.

James rolled his eyes at him.

“Yes, seriously,” Lily answered.

“But she wasn’t prefect last year,” James argued.

“So? They can change you know, year to year, depending on who’s earned the title and the like. Sort of like how Head Girl or Head Boy can go to somebody that wasn’t a prefect. It’s rare to happen, but it does happen.”

Sirius perked, “Why the hell is Remus still a prefect then? I made sure he did terribly at it last year by taking up all his time and he’s still a bloody prefect? He thought it was because it doesn’t work like that, getting fired from prefect duties, I mean.”

“Because,” Lily said, “There has to be a boy prefect from our year and I mean, really, which of you lot is Dumbledore supposed to replace him with if he takes Remus off prefect duties? Certainly not you, Mr. Flying Motorbike.”

Mrs. Flying Motorcar,” Sirius replied pointedly.

Peter snickered.

“Which was Remus’s idea,” Lily pointed out.

“I know, I’m so bleeding proud… and speaking of him… there’s his tall, lanky ass frame, reflecting moonlight off that gorgeous head of hair he’s got… Gotta go play at making him smile, like the queen’s guard.” Sirius grinned as he tripped out the train car door.

Peter scrambled after him and James started forward, but Lily stepped quickly into his path, blocking him… He raised his eyebrows, “Evans?”

“I just wanted to thank you,” she said.

“Thank me?” he asked.

Lily nodded, “For helping with Wally earlier.”

“Oh… no problem.”

“I really appreciated it. I wouldn’t have been able to do it alone.”

James ran a ran through his hair, “No worries Evans, always happy to help.”

“Well you were very good,” she said.

“So were you,” he replied.

They stood there awkwardly a moment.

“Well. I s’pose we better… uh…” James motioned to the door of the train car.

“Right,” Lily nodded and she turned quickly and James followed behind her. They stepped out onto the Platform together and Lily looked around for first years to assist, but they were already crowded about Hagrid at the far end of the platform, getting ready to walk down to the little boats on the shore of the lake and Lily sighed heavily as she watched them dart and swarm about the groundskeeper. “They look so frightened,” she said.

“They always look frightened, they’re first years,” James said.

“Yes, but … even more than usual. I mean, it must be terrifying. Think how afraid we were --”

“I wasn’t afraid, I was bleeding ecstatic.”

“-- and then compound that with having heard a boy your age was murdered over the summer,” Lily shook her head, ignoring James’s boast. “I feel so bad for the little seagulls.”

“Using my nickname for them now, are you, Evans?” he asked, raising his eyebrow.

Lily crossed her arms over her chest, “It isn’t as though you’ve trademarked the slogan.”

James laughed.

“I do hope they’re alright, crossing over that lake!” she watched as Hagrid counted them as they ran by toward the shore and looked at a clipboard he held before him. He had the tri-headed dog, Fluffy, at his heels, and he turned and headed down the path after the last of the firsties had gone past.

“He’s had loads of experience at it, Evans, I’m sure he’ll be alright. C’mon before the last of the carriages takes off without us and we have to bleedin’ walk all the way to the castle in this dark.”

They headed for the carriages, and even from a distance they could hear Sirius telling Moony how it was that he could quit and they could make Peter be a prefect instead.

“Maybe it was better with him not knowing,” Lily murmured.

“It’s always better when Sirius doesn’t know things,” James answered.




In the Great Hall, the sound of the student body talking echoed off the walls, the name Liam Harding hot at every table as people leaned and asked for details from others that might’ve better heard what happened. Darcy was asked and kept repeating the story how he’d read about it in the muggle paper that the building Liam had lived in had been destroyed, that Liam and Giana Harding had been killed in the blazing fire, which the aurors had described as a strange, green flame…

“Feindfyre,” murmured Frank Longbottom when he heard that.

James was staring at the doors of the Great Hall, staring off to the entrance hall, to the doors that led down to the boat landing, waiting for a glimpse of the new Hogwarts first years. He looked at Sirius, “I’m going to go check on the firsties.”

“What?” Sirius looked over.

James felt stupid, but he said, “Evans is right. They were more scared than usual, with all these rumors about Liam buzzing about the Hogwart’s Express. Imagine what they’re going through? Remember how scared we were when we were first years?” Sirius would remember how nervous James was, there was no use in pretending he’d been anything besides scared that day to Sirius Black. “And add on top of it rumors of a murder of a kid their age?”

Sirius frowned. “I’ll go with you.”

The pair of them got up, slipping away from the table silently - unnoticed, even by Remus, who was busy talking to Frank and Alice. Sirius and James rushed ‘round the mouth of the door of the Great Hall and scurried across the entrance hall, pulling open the door that went down ot the landing… and there stood the first years in a great cluster on the stairs, waiting.

“Hullo you lot!” James said, smiling down at them, “How is everybody?”

“Wet,” came a cry from the back. A short boy was wrapped up in what looked like a ratty old scarf so thick and long that it had to have belonged to Hagrid.

“That kid fell in,” said another boy to James’s immediate left. “Leaned over trying to see the bleedin’ squid.”

“IS THERE REALLY A SQUID?” cried a girl to the right.

“There sure is a squid,” Sirius said, “Seen him with my own eyes. James here levitated him once! Hovered him right over the surface of the water!”

“COOL!” cried the sopping wet boy in the back.

James waded through the firsties to dry the poor kid off, drawing his wand from his pocket as he went.

“So everyone have a good ride on the Express, then?” Sirius asked, patting the head of a crying little girl. He flicked away her tears with his thumbs and smiled into he eyes as she gulped back her nerves.

“Did a kid really die on the train?” asked a boy.

“No, absolutely not,” Sirius answered, “He was killed over the summer. Not on the train. Or at King’s Cross.”

A little girl’s voice trembled, “We aren’t safe.here are we? We aren’t safe here from You-Know-Who!”

“You are safer here than anywhere else in the world!” James said, “You know how many people here would rather die themselves than allow him to lay even a single finger on you? Loads! Myself included.” Having dried the one boy off, he moved over to her and he bent down so they were eye level. “I won’t let him even so much as muss up your pretty hair, love.”

The little girl looked pleased by this.

“Are you Dumbledore?” asked one boy.

“No, idiot, Dumbledore’s an old guy.”

James laughed, “My name is James Potter,” he told the boy.

“And I’m Sirius Black,” said Sirius.

A ripple of fear went through couple of the first years who recognized the name Black and they looked worried about having heard it spoken, despite how nice Sirius was being. Sirius frowned slightly.

Suddenly the door opened up and there in the frame stood Professor McGonagall, her stern face looking over a scroll as she stepped out onto the landing before the first years and she looked up just as James was standing up among the first years. He and Sirius were both head-and-shoulders taller than the eleven year olds that pooled around them and she stared about at them.

You two,” she said. “What are you two doing here? You should be in the Great Hall with the other students!”

“They looked scared, Professor,” James replied.

“Couldn’t let them stand here in the dark all alone and scared, could we, Professor?” Sirius said.

McGonagall eyed them, then looked ‘round at the first years and could see many nervous faces among them. She sighed and said, “Well…. Thank you for looking after them. Now, Mr. Black, Mr. Potter - back to your house table with you both.”

“Yes Professor,” said James and he made his way back out from among the first years, followed by Sirius. James ducked ‘round her and headed into the entrance hall.

Sirius paused at the door, looking at her, guilt twisting in his stomach. “I hope you had a good summer, Professor,” he said.

McGonagall nodded, “And I hope you did as well, Mr. Black. Now off you go, hurry up, we’re about to start the sorting.”

“Yes professor.” Sirius followed after James.

“Mr. Black.”

He paused, looking back.

“I’ll be needing to see you tomorrow after breakfast in my office, please.”

“Yes, Professor.”

McGonagall nodded and waved them off and Sirius and James ran across the entrance hall to the Great Hall quickly, ducking through the door and back to their seats.

“Where were you just now?” Remus demanded, glancing at them as they dropped onto the benches.
James replied, “Checking on the first years.”

He didn’t notice it… but Lily Evans looked back at him in surprise.

“They were upset, I felt badly for them, so Sirius and I went and just chatted with them… told them they were safe here, that sort of thing…” James continued, “Didn’t want them being scared and ruining their memories of arriving here…”

Remus looked ashamed, “I should’ve thought to do that. Prefect duty, that is…”

“Uhoh,” Sirius said, “Looks like you’re fired as a prefect. Give the badge to Prongsie and you and I will shirk off supper and go snog in the Trophy Room Passageway.” Sirius grinned suggestively.

Remus gave him The Look.

And there from the side parlor door came McGonagall then, carrying her scroll under her arm and leading the first years to their place at the front of the room, stopping them before where a little stool waited. She turned and produced -- the Sorting Hat.

A ripple of excitement filled the room… as the hat’s bri opened wide… and it began to sing.