"MUM, WHAT IF THEY DON'T PUT ME IN GRYFFINDOR?" the small brunette boy asked his mother as the Potter family made their way through an extremely crowded Diagon Alley.

"James, our family has been in Gryffindor for generations, there's absolutely nothing to worry about." Euphemia replied to her son, holding his hand tightly so he wouldn't get lost in the crowd.

"Don't forget Clara was nearly a hatstall, dear. What a controversy it would have been to have the family's first Ravenclaw." Fleamont teased, laying a hand on his daughter's shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze as he walked behind her closely.

"We would have loved her just the same if she ended up in Ravenclaw, just like we will love you no matter which house you are sorted into, James. I promise." Euphemia assured her son as she held the door to Ollivander's Wand Shop open for her family.

The eccentric old man quirked up as the family entered, "Ah, yet another Potter ready to go to Hogwarts I see! It was only last year young Miss Potter received her first wand, yes? Has it been treating you well?"

"Yes, sir." Clara responded shyly.

"Yes good, good. Pear, 12 inches, dragon heartstring core, and an unyielding flexibility. What a special wand. Dragon heartstring can be quite temperamental, but I never had a doubt you could handle its power, I see great things in your future, my dear." he nodded at the girl before bringing his attention over to the youngest Potter who was so eager to receive his wand, he was practically jumping up and down with excitement.

"As for you, Mr. Potter..." the elderly wandmaker looked James up and down as if he were somehow scanning his entire being to find what he believed to be the perfect match, "Let's try this first."

Mr. Ollivander grabbed a gray box from the shelf and blew the dust away before opening it and presenting it to the boy, "Fir, 10 inches, dragon heartstring core, with a quite swishy flexibility."

James reached up and grabbed the wand, when he held it he didn't feel anything special and was quite confused as to how he would know for sure if it was right for him or not. Not knowing what to do, he looked up at the wandmaker for approval.

"Give it a wave." Ollivander encouraged.

As James clumsily waved the wand, the lantern on the counter glowed brighter and hotter before the glass suddenly shattered causing Clara to jump and stumble back into her father.

"No, no, not that one." Ollivander shook his head as he quickly took the wand from the boy and retreated back to the shelves behind the counter, "Give this one a go. Mahogany, 11 inches, phoenix feather core, with a pliable flexibility."

The elderly wizard presented a maroon box to the boy who grabbed the wand eagerly. It felt different almost the second his fingertips touched the wood. Golden sparks flew out of the wand immediately and Mr. Ollivander gave a delighted laugh.

"Ho ho! That's it my boy, how wonderful! I can see you becoming very gifted in Transfiguration with that particular wand, I foresee it becoming quite useful in your near future."

James turned and gave his parents an overjoyed smile, everything was becoming so real and in a few short weeks he'd be going to Hogwarts to learn everything his parents had learned. After paying Mr. Ollivander for the wand, the family set out back onto Diagon Alley to finish the children's school supply shopping.

"Did you see that Clara? The gold sparks! That was incredible, what did your wand do when you got it?" James was skipping down the cobblestone road next to his older sister as they made their way to Flourish & Blotts.

"Mine glowed bright blue, it was the fifth wand I tried. Mr. Ollivander said I was a 'difficult one to place', makes sense why I was also nearly a hatstall I suppose." Clara responded with a laugh.

James always looked up to his sister in awe when it came to magic. Growing up, James was prone to quite chaotic accidental magic. One time he caused Clara's hair to turn bright blue when she made fun of the jumper their nan had given him for his birthday. Another time he made his bedroom door completely disappear when he was sent to his room for being naughty. Most recently though, he caused the bathroom to flood within seconds when he didn't feel like taking a bath before bed.

But Clara on the other hand, was able to make the bushes in their front garden bloom multicolored roses when she had a laughing fit at only three years old as she and James played outside with their parents. At six years old, she made James's birthday candles keep reigniting because watching him blow them out over and over again made her laugh uncontrollably. Her accidental magic was always more innocent and lighthearted in comparison to James.

"I can't wait to go to school, I hope we're in the same house so we can always spend time together." James smiled at his sister.

"If I'm a Gryffindor, there's no doubt you will be too. We'll be stuck to each other like glue, I promise." she said, nudging his shoulder with a warm smile.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✧・゜・。.

A few weeks after their trip to Diagon Alley, the Potters made their way to King's Cross Station for Clara and James to make their way to Hogwarts. Euphemia held a tight grip on her son's hand as the boy had made a habit of running ahead when he was excited.

"Mum, hurry! We're going to miss it!" James said as he pulled against his mother's arm in vain.

"Darling, we have plenty of time. It's only half past ten."

"But I want Clara and I to get a good compartment!" James whined.

He could see the brick wall between Platforms 9 and 10, but he felt a million miles away from it as his mother moved at what he considered to be a snail's pace. Clara walked next to her father who was pushing their luggage cart behind James and Euphemia.

"You'll look after him, won't you? I get the feeling that we may be getting quite a few letters from Professor Dumbledore this year." Fleamont asked his daughter.

"I always look after James, I'm the only one he listens to aren't I?" Clara chuckled.

"Yes, you'll have to tell me your secrets." her father teased.

Despite being only a little over a year apart in age, Clara was always much more responsible and serious than her little brother who loved to cause trouble for a laugh. Their parents always said Clara took after their mother while James 'unfortunately' (as Fleamont loved to joke) took after their father.

As the family reached the entrance to the platform Euphemia turned to Clara, "You and James go first and we will follow."

The second their mother released his hand, James ran over to Clara and grabbed hers. Without warning, he pulled her forward and caused her to stumble through the wall, practically being dragged behind her younger, yet much stronger brother.

"James!" she shouted as she steadied herself.

"Clara, can you believe it? I know I saw it last year when you went, but this time I get to go!" James ignored his sister's exclamation and admired the crimson train sitting before them.

Clara couldn't stay upset with him, especially when he was this thrilled. What James Potter was experiencing was pure childlike wonder, it was as if this was the first time he had ever seen magic. She wondered if he had been more amazed than the muggle-born students who truly were experiencing the Wizarding World for the very first time, it certainly seemed that way.

A moment later, their parents appeared behind them and the four weaved their way through the crowd towards the train. Clara was looking around on her tip-toes trying to find her best friend when she finally spotted the young girl with wild blonde curls standing with her own parents. As Marlene met her gaze, she jumped up and gave Clara a big wave before running over to them.

"I missed you!" Marlene exclaimed as she pulled Clara into a tight hug.

"I promise I missed you more. This is my brother James, by the way. James, this is Marlene." Clara said as she pulled out of the embrace.

"Great to finally meet you, James. I suppose you'll be in Gryffindor just like Clara, won't you? Although we do consider her an honorary Ravenclaw these days." Marlene smirked with a sidelong glance at her friend.

It was true, Clara spent a majority of her time in Ravenclaw tower and even ate meals at their table when she could get away with it. After a while, all the students ignored the red and gold tie around her neck. She fit in with them all so well that she sometimes wondered if it was possible that the Sorting Hat had somehow made a mistake.

"I want to be in Gryffindor, I don't know what I'll do if I'm placed in a different house." James replied.

"James, you're the definition of Gryffindor. If you get sorted into any other house I'll eat my own tie." Clara joked.

The three of them laughed as the train whistled, signalling that it was nearly time to depart. Clara looked over her shoulder to see that her father had thankfully already loaded their luggage for them. The two Potter children quickly made their way over to say their goodbyes to their parents. There were kisses, hugs, and desperate pleas for James to behave himself this year as they boarded the train followed closely behind by Marlene.

"Don't suppose we'll get our own compartment this year." Marlene groaned behind them as they passed compartment after compartment that were already occupied by students.

"It's not looking that way." Clara responded, clasping James' hand tightly as they made their way down the train.

When they had nearly reached the end of the train, as if by a miracle, they found a mostly empty compartment. The only occupant was a raven haired boy who instantly seemed equally as mischievous as James.

"Mind if we sit here? Everywhere else is full." Clara asked the boy.

"I suppose, though you'll have to squeeze around all my imaginary friends." he replied sarcastically as he gestured to the empty compartment.

The three entered the compartment, Marlene sat next to the boy while James and Clara sat across from them.

"I'm Clara, this is my friend Marlene and my little brother James."

"I'm Sirius. What houses are you in?" he asked the older girls right away.

"I'm in Gryffindor." Clara said, which seemed to pique Sirius' interest.

"I'm in Ravenclaw, and Clara pretty much is as well, regardless of what that she or that stinky hat says." Marlene smirked.

"So, no Slytherins." Sirius seemed to relax in his seat as he was surrounded by people who he knew were nothing like the family he had quickly grown to resent in only eleven years of life.

"Who would want to be in Slytherin? I think I'd just leave, wouldn't you?" James interjected.

"James!" Clara hissed at her brother's remark.

"My whole family has been in Slytherin." Sirius replied casually with a shrug.

A red flush grew over Clara's face in second-hand embarrassment at Sirius's response. Of course he would be from a Slytherin family. James had quite the talent of putting his foot in his mouth. It was something Clara detested as it always somehow dragged her into uncomfortable situations.

"Blimey, and I thought you seemed alright." James replied to the boy, earning him a sharp elbow in the ribs from his sister.

But Sirius didn't seem bothered by James' comments, if anything he was amused, "Maybe I'll break tradition. Where're you headed if you had the choice?"

James stood up, pretending to wield a sword, "Gryffindor of course! 'Where dwell the brave at heart' just like my parents and my sister."

A sudden jolt caused James to stumble onto the floor as the train departed the station, ruining his heroic appearance as the others laughed. Before James could pick himself up off the floor, the compartment door slid open once more. They were met by a pretty young girl with long red hair who had a pale boy with long greasy hair and a scowl prominent on his face hiding behind her.

"Sorry to bother you, everywhere else is full. If there's room, could we join you?" the red haired girl asked politely.

"Of course." Clara responded as she stood to sit next to Marlene and Sirius instead, leaving room for the two new members of the group to sit with James, who coincidentally was still on the ground, seemingly entranced by the girl who had just entered.

"Why are you on the floor?" the quiet girl asked.

"I uh-" James stammered as he picked himself up to return to his seat, before Sirius interrupted.

"James here was giving us his best Gryffindor impersonation - before he fell over that is. It's in his blood, this one here's a lion."

The pale boy across from them let out a disgusted scoff under his breath, which seemed to instantly annoy Sirius.

"Is there a problem?" Sirius asked the boy.

"No. Not if you'd rather be brawny than brainy, I suppose." the boy sneered.

"What was your name again?" Sirius inquired in a bitter tone.

"Oh, I'm sorry. This is Severus and I'm Lily." the redheaded witch interjected.

"Snivellus? Got it. And what house do you want to be in? Seeing as you've got neither brains nor brawn."

"I think that's enough." Clara interrupted the boy next to her before the situation could escalate further.

Sirius looked over at the older witch, wondering how she could possibly be related to the boy he already had such a good impression of. She seemed much more serious than her brother and, quite frankly, a lot less fun.

From that point, he decided he wasn't the biggest fan of Clara, though he did think she may end up being a fun target for some pranks down the line.

"Whatever." Sirius rolled his eyes.

The remainder of the ride was quite awkward as the compartment remained mostly silent for the rest of the trip. When the train finally reached the station in Hogsmeade, Clara was quite thankful to get out of there as the tension felt nearly suffocating. She all but ran out of the compartment with Marlene tailing close behind her.

Suddenly Clara realized that she had completely forgotten about James. Stopping in her tracks and trying to find him in the sea of black robes, she turned around to see him exiting the train laughing with Sirius. As the two followed the other first years to the boats, Clara noticed that the boys were keeping a careful distance from Severus and Lily, although James did sneak a glance or two at the redheaded witch across the way.

Marlene tugged on the sleeve of Clara's robe to get her attention, "Let's go before we get stuck with the last carriage, he'll be alright."

A soft smile grew on Clara's lips as she watched James disappear into the crowd of first years. She knew he would be alright, James would always be okay. He was far more brave and capable than she was and although he always admired her, Clara knew even back then that James truly was the best of them.