Immortal Memories -part one-

Chapter 1: Where the Red Train Goes

September first. The scarlet steam engine rattled along the tracks, making dull metallic sounds as it went along. The constant gentle vibration roused the sleeping boy sitting in a compartment with his friends. As his eyes flickered open, the sound of the trolley bell reached his ears.

"Ah! Finally!" one of the boys proclaimed, a voice he recognized as Remus'.

Peter snatched a glance at him. "Sirius!" The boy obviously knew he was awake. But he didn't want to get up, not just yet. He looked up at James, whose shoulder he'd been sleeping on; he looked as if he'd just woken up as well.

"Come on guys, the trolley's coming," Peter announced.

James sighed. "Better get up. You know how he is."

From his position at the compartment door, Remus was muttering something not meant for the others to hear, but he was unintentionally loud. "Ugh, it's Malfoy and Snape. And—he's hot; wonder who he is?" After a short pause he continued, though not as loudly. "Damn...a girlfriend. Or is...sister...them here before."

"Out of the closet, eh Remus?" Sirius teased.

"Oh, and you're not?" came the sharp reply.

Standing up, James walked to the door casually. "Let's see—" After a few moments he exclaimed quietly, "You're fawning over him? Look at her!" He waved Sirius and Peter over, but the two mystery beauties had gone back into their compartment. "Tough luck this time, but you'll see them again."

Peter spoke now, genuinely interested. "Who do you suppose they are?"

"No clue. Ask Miss Meg, maybe she knows," Sirius offered.

So they did. "Don't really know," was her response. "I've seen all kinds, but they're just beautiful aren't they? But hanging around with those two...they're gonna lose that beauty if they're not careful."

"Never truer," James replied. "Say, have you got any of those spice charms left?"

"Of course," she said. "Free of charge. The rest you have to pay for."

"You are so evil," the boy joked.

After they'd gotten enough of everything for all of them, they sat down and spread out the sweets. James passed out the spice charms, made up of cinnamon juice, peppermint and other various unknown flavors, all mixed in a magically sealed shot glass.

Remus raised his glass. "To Sirius, happy sixteenth."

The other three raised theirs as well and clinked them together before downing the liquid in one gulp. Peter nearly choked on his, as he'd never had one before. Sirius patted him on the back saying, "Deep breaths. You'll get used to it."

James put his arm around Sirius' shoulders and pulled him into a warm embrace. Sirius wrapped his arms around the other boy's waist, who kissed him on the cheek and whispered, "Happy birthday, love."

It was raining when the train arrived at Hogwarts. The four boys, being in the last compartment, were the last to get out. Remus and Peter scanned the crowd for the mystery beauties, but found no sign of them, while James and Sirius were preoccupied trying to find an empty carriage, which they proceeded to climb inside when they did.

When the other two finally showed their drenched faces, Sirius looked relieved. "What took you so long? We thought you'd drow—oh my god..." At this, the other three turned to look out the window at what he was staring at, and had precisely the same reaction. Outside a short distance, clad in identical full length black trench coats, walking hand in hand over the rocks up the path to the castle were the mystery beauties, obviously having no intention of riding in a carriage. One of the station attendants told them they would catch their death if they stayed out in the cold and wet, but they graciously declined, thoroughly baffling the attendant, and continued their walk up the path.

But the strange thing was, when the carriages arrived at the school, the two of them were already there. It was physically impossible for anyone to move that fast, especially in the rain, cold and over slippery rocks. There was no way they could have apparated, since there were magicks protecting against it. Unless they'd somehow managed to get into one of the lead carriages. But then that wouldn’t explain the fact that both of them were completely dry, as if they'd never been in the rain at all.