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Chapter Text

"Flight 934 headed to Scotland, Please make your way to gate 7 now as boarding is about to close."

Shit.

James Potter was late. If he missed this flight he'd have to deal with a 9 hour drive to Scotland, and the last thing he wanted to do was miss orienteering. He rushed through the airport, shrugging his duffel bag onto his shoulder. Thankfully he had checked in early and had his cargo luggage taken off his hands, still, why did he have to choose a duffel bag and not a small suitcase??

He weaved in and out of the crowds, dodging people left right and centre. He went to fix his bag as it was slipping again and WHACK he rammed right into someone, knocking them to the ground, "Oh crap I’m so sorry!" James rushed to help the guy to his feet, ensuring he was stable before taking off again, reaching gate 7 just as they were closing the gates, "Wait!"

He calls out to the stewardess, who looks up and shakes her head, "You are very lucky sir, we were just about to close the boarding. Next time please be more careful about your time management, you might not be so lucky." She chides before letting him in, and greeting someone else behind him as he goes.

James walks briskly down the ramp, and greets the flight attendant at the door, who smiles and checks his ticket, before heading towards his seat. Despite the almost full plane, to James’ delight his row was empty, and he has the window seat, life can't get better than this.

He puts his bag in the overhead locker and collapses into his seat. He was about to fix his neck pillow but a shadow cast over him. A boy, no older than him is putting his luggage into the locker above,  before proceeding to sit next to James. James glances at the boy and realises it is the guy he ran into before. The boy notices James staring and James panics, "Oh! Ah, sorry, Hi, I’m James, sorry about bumping into you earlier, I have terrible time management and was trying to make it to the gate before it closed!" James laughs sheepishly.

The boy smiles, "My name is Sirius, it’s okay, I forgive you. Sorry if my English is not very good, it's not my first language." James notices Sirius’ accent, noting that it suits him perfectly "It is part of the reason my parents sent me abroad for university, so I could work on my English."

"University abroad eh? Where are you going?" James queries, sleep forgotten. "I’m going to Hogwarts university. I am studying,” he pauses, his eyebrows furrowing, “buildings?" James has to stifle a laugh, "Do you mean architecture?" Sirius nods eagerly, "Yes, I'm studying architecture, it's very interesting. I like how different buildings can tell stories, like Hogwarts for example. You can tell by looking at it that it was designed by four people. Aside from the fact it is recorded in history obviously."

Sirius gushes, "Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, Salazar Slytherin, and Godric Gryffindor founded the university and took some of the most famous people to study there. My family has been going there for centuries, they've all completed the entry test and got placed into the Slytherin Wing. They all expect me to get in too, to be honest, it’s stressful for me." James exhales, "Jeez, way to support individuality. If you don't mind me asking, who is your family? My parents know quite a few people who went there."

Sirius sighs, "The most noble and most ancient house of Black, I'm supposed to be their heir, don't know why they bother, it's the 20th century for Merlin’s sake!!" James laughs, "A Black eh? My parents have told me about them, and how you're the "Black sheep" of the lot."

Sirius laughs halfheartedly, "I'm planning on running away soon, my uncle Alphard left me some money, I'm going to take my brother with me, he'll be here next year." James nods, noticing the change of seriousness in the conversation, his mother had told him about the methods of control they used still. They were not to joke about. Not one to enjoy seeing people sad, James decided he'd attempt to provide some comfort, "Well, I'm going to Hogwarts as too! Maybe if we get in the same wing we could room together?"

Sirius looks up, grateful for a change in subject, "That’d be awesome! What are you going to study?" James looks deep in thought, "I either want to do P.E or become a physiotherapist, maybe both." Sirius's eyebrows furrow, "P.E?" James laughs, "Physical education, like sports and physical health?" Sirius looks embarrassed, but quickly recovers "oh, that makes sense, I'll probably join the Swim Team if they have one." 

James looks curious, "Why swimming?" Sirius laughs, "My parents told me to choose a sport, expecting me to choose something "Manly". I said swimming to piss them off, it worked, although then I was forced to go to training every week. Then I injured myself and they couldn't have their “precious heir” injured so they pulled me from the team. I've healed now, and they won't let me re-join." Sirius's eyes darkened as though there was more to the story. "Anyways," Sirius adds, changing the subject, "Why did you decide to come to Hogwarts?" 

James faltered, not prepared for the change in subject, "What? Oh, my parents met each other here and they made it sound amazing so it was really a no brainer when the time came to choose a place to continue my studies." Sirius nodded thoughtfully, "My parents also came here as I’d mentioned earlier, they were sent there by their parents to make them learn English, of course my parents didn’t want to teach us so they hired people and would send us off to boarding schools. They sent me here as there is a lot of heavily based English studies and because they want me to replace them for the family business. They don't know that I plan to run away when I come of age though, or that I chose architecture instead of accounting. I'm going to tell them tomorrow once classes start and they can't do anything to change them. They prefer my brother anyways." James can sense that it is a sensitive subject and doesn't press . 

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have begun our descent into Edinburgh. Please turn off all portable electronic devices and stow them until we have arrived at the gate. In preparation for landing, please ensure your seat back is straight up, your tray table is stowed away, and your seat belt is fastened." 

James looks at Sirius, who has paled slightly, "Hey, when we land, do you want to stick together?" Sirius looks relieved, "Yes thank you, that would be great. I struggle with airports, they confuse me and are so busy." James nods and looks out the window. As they land the sound of the plane hitting the landing strip rips through the plane. James notices Sirius clutching onto the armrest, his knuckles white and breathing heavy. "Hey mate," He says as they land, "Are you alright?" Sirius's grip loosens once the noise stops, "I-Yess I’m alright, thanks for checking."

They wait until the flight assistants clear them to leave and make their way towards the boarding ramp.  They exit the ramp into the airport and are hit in the face with the hustle and bustle of airport rush hour. James looks at Sirius, his eyes are large, taking in his surroundings in awe. They clear security with the usual irrational thoughts of, "Did I somehow manage to pack something illegal?" but otherwise it went pretty smoothly.

They head towards the drop-off and pickup zone, hoping to find the bus they were supposed to be taking, with Sirius staring the whole way and asking James questions. They walk around lost, until a worker approaches them, "You alright lads? You look lost." James blushed and admits, "Just a bit, We're trying to find the Hogwarts Express?" The man laughs and points them towards a red bus with the Hogwarts shield printed on the side. James proceeded to thank the man and followed Sirius to the bus.

Chapter Text

James and Sirius board the bus, their suitcases being stowed away in the compartments beneath them as they roam the isle, looking for seats. James notices a guy sitting next to a window reading alone in a booth of four, he takes a seat, putting his bag on the floor and beckons Sirius to sit next to him before turning to talk to the boy. "Hey! I'm James Potter,” he motions to Sirius, “And this is Sirius Black."

The boy looks up from his book and studies them, his eyebrows creasing and relaxing before cracking a small smile, "Hiya, Remus Lupin, " Sirius raises an eyebrow, "Lupin? Nice name, I like it" Remus's smile widens "Me too, reminds me of the Lupus constellation. I like your name as well, it’s the brightest star in the sky right?" 

Sirius nods, "Yeah, my family is really into astrology, my brother is Regulus, my cousins are Andromeda, and Bellatrix, there are a few Orion's, Cygnus’, you get the picture." Sirius rubs his neck awkwardly, cringing at having over shared. Remus's eyes widened, "That's so cool! I love astrology, the names are pretty. My name is from Roman Mythology, have you heard of Remus and Romulus?" Sirius shakes his head, leaning back against his seat, arms behind his head,  “No I haven’t, you’ll have to tell me about it sometime.” Remus’s eyes widen and his ears turn the slightest shade of pink.

James's head has been moving backwards and forwards, trying to keep up with the conversation, "This is like watching a tennis game!" He jokes. Remus turned towards James, fully taking him in this time, slowly looking him over.  James' face flushed, not used to being analysed. Remus's gaze softened and a laugh escaped his mouth, "Nice to meet you James, what are you going to be studying?" James was glad that Remus liked his joke. "I want to study physiotherapy and P.E, you?" James is curious, trying to sift over Remus, eager to spot something that might give it away. "I'm studying film animation and history" 

James's mouth drops, "Wow! That's so cool, you must be an amazing artist then." He notices a sketch book poking from within his bag. Remus's ears turned red and he shrugged, "I guess, I prefer the old animating style to the newer one and want to keep it alive, it feels more unique." Sirius nods in understanding, "It's the same for me regarding architecture, I prefer buildings that incorporate history over the new modern boxy ones. That's why I want to study architecture so I can bring back the historical style buildings."

 Remus nods thoughtfully, “I agree, the newer buildings can look boxy, repetitive too.” James begins to zone out, looking outside through the windows and drifting in and out of sleep, somewhere along the line he’s pretty sure Sirius stole his phone and added him as a contact, as well as Remus and another boy, Peter, who had come and joined them at some point. James had said hello and talked before dozing off again to the sound of the rain that had begun to cascade from the sky.