"Al! Get up, you idiot!"

James Potter enthusiastically whacked his younger brother over the head with a pillow, causing him to groan and mumble "Gerrofandgoaway."

"Sun's shining! Birds birding! Clouds clouding! Come on, Mum's making break-fast!" James didn't normally sing as a rule, but he felt today allowed it. The first day of the rest of his life! Going back to Hogwarts for another year! He'd be able to show his brother the ropes, and they could pull pranks together. The Potter Pranksters had a nice ring to it, he mused as he brutally wrenched back the curtains to his younger brother's room, allowing sunlight to flood the room like a tsunami, casting light onto the piles of Martin Miggs comics, chocolate frog cards, and Falmouth Falcons posters. His room looked similar, apart from the Quidditch teams (James was a devoted Wimbourne Wasps fan)- needless to say, this had been the cause of many fights. Well, at least Mum and Dad couldn't stick their noses into their battles- ahem, friendly joshing- when they were at school.

He turned to face his brother, whose vivid green eyes were narrowed into slits. "Hurry up, slowcoach! Last one down's a Slytherin...although who knows, you might be one anyway!"

He laughed, ducking Albus' badly aimed pillow and yell of anger, and dashed along the corridor to his father's office. As per usual, everything was in a state of disorder, with parchment scattered over the large wooden desk and books piling up on every available surface. Harry Potter took his job as an Auror extremely seriously.

Seeing that he wasn't there, James turned to leave, and then spotted what looked like a large map on the desk. It seemed to be moving... curiously, he moved forwards to have a look. It was old, with the edges curled up with age. With a start, he realised that he was looking at a map of Hogwarts, and those moving dots...they were labelled! With names- he could see a dot labelled Professor Dawlish pacing in his office! This, in effect, he realised, showed exactly what people were doing.

He had to have it. Folding it up hastily, he stuffed the little treasure trove into his pocket, and hoped that Harry wouldn't realise that it had gone until after they'd left. This would be absolutely invaluable for pranking, and avoiding teachers and prefects, not to mention the old- but annoying- caretaker, Argus Filch, and his assistant, Terry Boot.

Looking up, James saw someone staring at him- and jumped, instinctively reaching for his wand, before seeing that it was his own reflection staring back at him. He paused for a moment to study the boy standing in front of him: hazel eyes stared out of his face above a bridge of summer-induced freckles, and was framed by a thatch of black Potter hair, which, true to form, absolutely refused to comb itself into some semblance of order. He scowled, and then grinned, flattening his hair absently with one hand. Yep, Hogwarts was definitely not ready for him and Fred to hit the corridors again.

This accomplished, he glanced into his messy bedroom, where his trunk was waiting expectantly for departure, and then thundered downstairs into the kitchen where his mother, Ginny, was poking at a pan on the cooker, red hair messily tied back from her face.

"Now I know what Mum went through every year." She muttered. And, raising her voice- "Harry, I think the bacon's burnt. You don't mind cereal, do you?"

"I already ate. Sorry, love, I don't have absolute faith in your cooking skills." His father replied, peering over the top of the Daily Prophet, and then raising it to eye level again. "Honestly, the things Pansy Parkinson writes...I swear, she's worse than Rita Skeeter, and I was over the moon when she retired..."

"I came close to punching her several times when she was at Hogwarts." Ginny muttered, wielding the spatula like a sword as she attacked the hopelessly charred breakfast. "I'm so glad she never married..."

"Hey Dad. Mum, bacon smells delicious!" James said cheerfully, flinging himself into the nearest chair with a bang. "How's life?"

"You're very cheerful today." Ginny said from the hob, waving her wand and banishing the bacon to food-limbo. "And the bacon's gone, by the way. You'll have to do with those weird Muggle cereals that you like so much."

"Fine by me. When are we leaving?" James asked casually, sticking his hand into his jeans pocket and feeling the smooth wooden outline of his wand. Honestly, a summer without magic had just about been too much. The amount of times he'd been tempted to hex Al, or curse those annoying Muggles next door into jelly... He promised himself a good jinxing spree as soon as he set foot on the Express. He deserved it, he thought, reaching for the cereal box. He'd been cooped up for the whole of the summer, and he was definitely looking forward to getting back to Hogwarts and seeing Fred. Also, Alice and Catrin, but they were kind-of side friends...bonded by adventure. And adventure was quite possibly the best phrase to use concerning their first year at Hogwarts, in which they had faced down a crazed Death Eater, who was now languishing in Intensive Care in St Mungos.

"As soon as we get the post. Oh, and sweetie, I'm meeting Luna at the Leaky Cauldron for a Butterbeer afterwards." Ginny sighed, bringing James back to the present with a jolt. She ran fingers through her flaming hair and summoned the luggage downstairs with a flick of her wand, before leaning against the dresser and wiping her forehead.

"Yeah, yeah..." said Sweetie absentmindedly, scratching his head with a broken shard of quill. "I'll probably go with Ron to Fortescue's."

Just then, Lily banged down the stairs, hair flying in a fiery corona around her head. "Mum!" She yelled, stumbling on her dressing gown and banging into the walls. "Mum, Splodge has gone again."

"Oh, no..." Ginny sighed at the mention of the bedraggled tabby tomcat. "I don't know why we got that animal. Honestly, once it dies, I'm getting a dog."

"Don't say that!" James called from the worksurface, spraying cereal everywhere. "And Lil, mind my Nimbus!"

A muffled suggestion as to where he could stick his Nimbus floated down the corridor after them.

"Well, better get going." Harry sighed, straightening his glasses and pushing the chair back with a scream against the tiled floor. "I don't suppose I need to remind you to look after Al when he's at Hogwarts?"

"You tell me every five minutes, Dad. I'm not going to be his devoted nursey-pie for the whole year!"

James exclaimed as his father got up to go and hunt down Splodge.

Just then, the post arrived with a resounding bang. James choked on a mouthful of cereal, swore under his breath (because it made him feel cool) and made his way over to the fireplace. Lying there in a slightly smouldering pile of ash was not Strix, their screech owl- though he had habit of zooming down the chimney, for some reason- but instead a thick parchment envelope, with the ends curled up slightly from the heat.

James prodded it cautiously- it was cool to the touch- and then picked it up. Written in thick, copperplate script across the front were the words To Harry and James Potter.

James glanced around hastily; his dad was not there. Should he wait? No. The prospect was far too intriguing for that. Quickly tearing open the thick cover, he reached inside and unfolded a single sheet of parchment. Flipping it open, his eyes roved across the page- and then opened wide in confusion.

I know about what happened in Hogwarts last year.

I know that Death Eaters are on the loose; and it's your fault.

Don't expect this to remain silent for long.

Questions exploded in James' head as he scanned the text; what was this? Blackmail? There was no money involved, though. A power play? Instinctively, his fist clenched, crumpling up the parchment with a dry rasping. He couldn't let anyone else know about this.

"James? Love, are you coming?"

"We could leave him behind..."

"Albus!"

James gave the wad a last guilty glance, and then shoved it deep into his pocket, along with the map and the wand. He'd show it to Fred and Benedict later, and maybe Catrin, if she was lucky enough.

"Yeah, yeah!" He shouted, going over to pick up his suitcase. "Next stop, Hogwarts!"

With any luck, that would be the last they'd hear from the mysterious mailer, although James had a sneaking suspicion that it wouldn't be.

He just hoped nothing too incriminating would come to light.