They were soon led from the Great Hall up to their respective dormitories. The shifting staircase was a delight for the first years, who were not one bit trying to keep track of the direction. The Gryffindor prefect stopped in front of a portrait, a lady with a huge sun hat, and gave the password, "Cauda Leonis"
Sirius had never seen something quite like this. The Black family property usually had a macabre aesthetic and the furniture was preferred to be Victorian, dark and cursed. The Gryffindor common room was completely opposite to that. There was a roaring fire, golden light all around. Carpets and tapestries in Gryffindor colours decorated the grey stone of the castle. This was going to be his home for the next seven years and Sirius didn't mind it.
James felt like he belonged here. It was easy and comforting. There were older students playing exploding snap in a corner, gossips in another. A general hum of excitement and eagerness filled the room. And he was a part of it.
The prefect called out the rooms for the first year boys and girls and left them to that. James and Sirius were thankfully in the same dorm and started towards the room.
One boy, langy and thin, was already in the room. He had taken the bed in the far corner and was setting up his bedside table. Sirius took the bed in the other corner, closer to the window and James took the one beside that.
Both of them started to sort out their belongings. And James set out to make new friends. He called out to the other boy in the room.
"Hey, I'm James Potter."
"Umm, hi James. I'm Remus Lupin."
"It was a wicked feast, right? I loved the pudding. And the headmaster was so funny."
"Yeah." Remus seemed uncomfortable. That wouldn't do. James had a mind to acquire a friend and he would try with all his might.
"It was so different from the chocolate frog card's Dumbledore. Oh, would you like a chocolate frog?" James was down to bribing now.
Remus meekly took the chocolate frog and quickly ate it, only thanking James as an afterthought. The chocolate seemed to be the right way to go, because then Remus tried to have a conversation.
"Um, so did you like your sorting?"
"YES!!" James shouted enthusiastically. "I knew I would be sorted into Gryffindor. There was a slight issue, when we weren't sure where Sirius would be sorted,- oh this is Sirius, my best friend-, yeah, but then he got into Gryffindor and I was so excited!"
"Oh, right. Have you known each other long?" Remus was quite skeptical about Sirius Black, yes everyone was shocked at it. But James didn't seem to notice he was a Black.
"No, we met on the train today. And we talked all the way over."
Yeah, Remus wasn't sure James knew how friendships worked. But he had enough to deal with, so he wouldn't go poking around.
Just then, another boy, slightly shorter, entered the room and went to the only bed available. James saw opportunity.
"Hi mate. I'm James Potter. That's Remus, and this is Sirius."
"Hi" the new boy said quietly, no doubt frightened by James's enthusiasm.
"And you are?" Remus supplied.
"Oh, right. I'm Peter. Peter Pettigrew."
"Hi Peter, would you like a chocolate frog?" James offered, sticking with the already working theory of acquiring friends.
"Yes, thank you." Peter took the chocolate frog, out it in his mouth and then said, "Isn't he that Black kid? Everyone's talking about his sorting."
James, somehow understood his garble and was almost regreting offering him chocolate that was getting swallowed at the moment.
"Yes, I am. What's it to you?" Sirius spoke for the first time, and the Black personality was on again. By the looks of it, Peter was already regreting not just asking the question but also his rooming choices.
"Where I get sorted shouldn't be any of your concern. It would do you good to not speak of it again." Sirius's mother would be proud of just how threatening he sounded. As soon as he had the thought of his mother, his resolve broke and he quietly went to the bathroom to get ready for the night.
James wasn't shocked. No, he knew better than to poke fun about the sorting to Sirius. He glared at Peter, he was already uncomfortable and sweaty from the reprimand Sirius threw at him, and then followed after Sirius.
Remus only shrugged at the scene, looked at Peter with pity, then sat on his bed to read Hogwarts : A History.
He was really getting into the interesting part, about the moving staircase, when Sirius, and a grumbling James, came into the room. Sirius swiftly got into his bed and pulled at his curtains. James only kept staring, glaring more like, for a long time. And Peter had quietly stolen away.
Soon after Peter came back and made into his bed, James was still undecided whether to interrupt Sirius or to just do nothing. He had tried to talk to him, but Sirius was quite unmovable. And silent. He heaved a long sigh, defeated, chucked his glasses to the side table and got to bed, bidding, "Goodnight Sirius."
Remus didn't feel bad not getting a goodnight, no. He didn't know the guy, and he had a book to read. Besides, Sirius was his best friend, James had said so. And it wasn't like he was being glared at like Peter. So he was fine. Soon after he too fell asleep, with the book on his face.
