The universe times it just right. They meet at a certain stage in life where everything is all impulse and curiosity, where you can get away with anything and maybe a scraped knee or detention to show for it, but it never lasts, it never hurts for longer than a week, at least, depending on what you’ve done. Maybe it’s because James Potter is too friendly for his own good, always running his mouth. He sets everything in motion, at least. But Sirius Black has never had real friends before, not like this, and a little brother plus a deranged old house elf don’t count. Even if they both let you win at chess every time you play. And Peter Pettigrew is used to playing along, and Remus Lupin just wants to share his passion for Muggle rock n' roll with someone who understands, you know? So they’re young and so it means everything to share a compartment on a train on a warm day in September, in 1971, and the universe got something right because that one day stretches an entire lifetime. And maybe beyond that, too. Maybe all the way to the other side. - The story of the Marauders and their time at Hogwarts. [1971-1978]