Okay, I have switched to James's story instead of Teddy's. I'm not properly abandoning the story, I just have writers block on it. When I get over it and become interested in the story again I will take it up. For now though, it's James Potter the second's turn! Hope you enjoy.
Freedom!
James opened his eyes, and yawned, stretching. It was late morning, from the look of the light and the sound of his siblings playing outside. He glanced at the clock on his bedside table and saw it was eleven fifteen. Slowly, he pushed back the blankets and sat up. His bedroom was average sized, and it looked like a bomb had gone off. Clothes were strewn about, with the odd Quidditch book in the mess. Only in the corner was there a sizable patch of carpet, where a Quidditch broom was leant against the wall, almost reverently. An old Nimbus 2010 – hopefully he would get onto the Quidditch team, and his parents would get him the Firebolt 360 they had promised.
He stood up and headed to the bathroom. He was tall, with untidy auburn hair and hazel eyes, a straight nose and high cheekbones. He liked how he looked – at least he didn't have to wear glasses like his little brother Albus.
He wandered downstairs to the kitchen, hoping to find the leftovers of his parents' and siblings' breakfast. Sure enough, there were two slices of bacon, an egg and some toast still hot in the pan. He scooped them onto a plate and sat down at the table to eat.
Ginny, his Mum, bustled in carrying a mound of washing. 'Finally, you're up! We're going to Ron and Hermione's for lunch, so you'd better eat fast. And put some clothes on!' James realised he was still in the boxers that he slept in. So much for a quiet morning. 'Oh yes, and James? If you don't get your room clean soon, you aren't getting that Firebolt we promised you, Quidditch team or not.'
An hour later, the family was finally all together in the car, and they could set off. Mum was driving – she never let Dad anywhere near the steering wheel, not after the Bromley Prize Hedge Incident. Lily was between James and Albus, whining about how she was always in the middle of the car. The journey wasn't long, but Mum was still fussing about being late.
Finally they reached the house, a few miles out of Godric's Hollow. It was a little stone house, with a neat garden and geraniums by the gate. Their cousin Rose was on a swing under an apple tree, a book as ever open on her lap, and her little brother Hugo was climbing the tree above her. Aunt Hermione appeared in the front door, waving.
'Come in, the food is ready!' she called. James's stomach gave a massive rumble, despite the fact he had had breakfast under an hour ago. All sorts of cold meats, salads, bread and cheese was laid out on a table in the garden. James sat down between Ron and Albus, and helped himself to some lemonade.
'So, James, you're off to Hogwarts soon, aren't you?' said Ron conversationally.
'Only a week to go!' replied James enthusiastically. 'I hope I'm in Gryffindor.'
'Yeah, Gryffindor is the best,' said Ron.
'But any other house is just as good,' said Ginny sharply, narrowing her eyes at Ron, who quickly started eating salad. James smirked and grabbed a piece of baguette.
A week later, James was looking down at his trunk from his bed. It was packed full stuff. He jumped on top, forcing it closed, and struggled to fasten it. Finally it was properly closed, and he grabbed the handle. His owl, Mercury, was looking thoroughly annoyed about being in his cage, especially when he was swung around rather as James hauled his trunk out the room.
The rest of the family were already in the hall. Dad quickly floated the trunk down the stairs to spare him the arduous task of dragging it.
'Come on, get in the car!' said Mum quickly, ushering them into the car. James was jumping up and down in excitement as they reached King's Cross. Racing Albus down the station, he suddenly stopped, jerking to a halt. In front of him there was a barrier between platforms nine and ten.
Harry caught up with them and stopped, realising where they were. He put a hand on James's shoulder, saying: 'Come on, son, I'll do it with you. It'll be okay.' He pushed the trolley forwards, picking up speed as they sprinted. They were going too fast, out of control, they were going to crash…
And they were through. King's Cross had disappeared, and they were facing a scarlet steam engine, surrounded by kids and parents, shouting and calling to each other.
'Uncle Harry! James!' they turned to see Teddy Lupin coming towards them. He had been spending most of August with his girlfriend, Victoire, who was also their cousin, before going off to Hogwarts for his sixth year. 'And Aunt Ginny, Albus and Rose too! James, you're finally off to Hogwarts!'
James grinned, he liked Teddy. Teddy was a Prefect, along with Victoire, and the badge was proudly on his shoulder.
'I'd better go,' said James, turning back to his parents. 'Bye Mum, bye Dad, see you at Christmas! Bye Albus, Lily!' He hurried towards one of the train doors. A young girl with short blonde hair was struggling to get her trunk and cat onto the train. James quickly bent down and picked up the other end of the trunk, helping her lift it into the train.
'Thanks,' she said as he climbed on with his luggage.
'No problem. I'm James, first year,' replied James.
'My name's Olivia, I'm also a first year. Look – there's a compartment! Let's grab it quick!' they jumped in before a group of fifth years could. James stuck his head out the window to try and find his family. There they were, chatting to Luna and Justin Finch-Fletchey, their twins Lorcan and Lysander were in the year above. There was a burst of steam and the train started to pull away, sliding out of the station. James kept waving until he couldn't see his family anymore.
Pulling his head back in, he noticed that Olivia was still in her seat.
'Didn't your family come to see you off?' he asked.
'No. My Dad's too busy, and my Mum left when I was seven. My Dad's Oliver Wood, see,' she said. Then she started talking quite fast. 'He's okay, my Dad, just totally Quidditch obsessed. Like, there was a Puddlemere United match today, and he's the manager now, so he had to go and watch the match instead of seeing me off. Everything takes a back seat to Quidditch, including me and my little brother, Robert. Mum couldn't take it after a while, and divorced him. I'm not sure he even cared. And he wants me and Robby to be amazing Quidditch players. Robby's good, but frankly I don't care about Quidditch.' She stopped, panting slightly, and looked up at James for a reaction.
'My Dad is Harry Potter,' he said. 'He's constantly off doing Auror work, or having meetings with the Minister for Magic, or doing some other thing he has to do.'
'Yeah, I suppose we both have it tough, famous parents wise,' she said, laughing slightly. The compartment door slid open, and a young boy their age appeared. He had neat brown hair, with just two thick locks falling over his forehead, and serious grey eyes.
'Hi, can I sit here? Everywhere else is full,' he said.
'Sure. I'm James Potter,' James held out a hand for him to shake.
'Maximilian Bartholomew. I know it's an awful name; my parents had a cruel sense of humour when it came to names. My sisters are called Octavia and Araminta!' he smiled and sat down, stowing his luggage away. 'Call me Max, please.' They laughed and sat back. James pulled out a set of Exploding Snap cards.
'Anyone for a game?' he offered.
'Hey, I'm the King of Exploding Snap!' replied Max.
They whiled away the journey telling stories or playing games. It was revealed that Max's father left when he was a baby, and he hadn't been seen since. Also he had a cat rather like a tiger, except with black fur and orange stripes and a mane around his neck.
It was spattering with rain and pitch black by the time they reached Hogsmede. Wrapping cloaks tightly around them, they hurried outside. James saw Hagrid waving a lantern around, and led the others over. Hagrid had his arm around a boy, who looked about six, but was six foot tall.
'Hello James! Good to see yeh at Hogwarts. This is me son, Ruben, 'e insisted on comin'.' Ruben grinned down at James. 'Righ', everyone 'ere? Good, le's go!' They set off out of the station and down a treacherous path to the lake, where twenty or more little boats were fastened. 'Four to a boat!'
James hopped in with Max and Olivia, and a silent dark haired girl. He noticed his cousin, Louis, sitting with Lorcan and Lysander a few boats along. The rain had stopped, and the surface of the lake was as smooth as glass, reflecting the night sky above. Hogwarts stood before them, majestic and huge with its hundreds of twinkling lights. There was complete silence as they looked up with wide eyes.
Hagrid led them through a wide set of doors into a marble hall, complete with sweeping staircase. Neville Longbottom was there waiting for them – he winked at James, smiling. James glimpsed the Great Hall, with its four house tables and High Table, before Neville led them away into a smaller side chamber.
'Welcome to Hogwarts. The Sorting Ceremony is about to begin, where you will find out your house. This is a very important ceremony, as your house will be like your family for all your time at Hogwarts. Good behaviour and things like answering questions right in lessons will earn house points, and bad behaviour will lose house points. The house with the greatest number of points at the end of the year wins the House Cup! I hope you all uphold your house's honour and glory. Now – the Sorting!' he took them into the Great Hall, where they walked down the middle of two tables.
Neville picked up an incredibly old, dirty and patched hat, slightly singed, and placed it on a three legged stool, and stepped back. Everyone was staring at the hat, so James looked at it, just in time to see a great rip appear just above the brim, like a mouth. Then the hat started singing:
'A long, long time ago
Four magic folk were born
Their powers of great sorcery
Were known across the region
All four wizards had a wish
For seeds of magic to be sown
To young sorcerer's heads!
Brave Gryffindor, of strength and sword
The bravest of them all.
Sly Slytherin, of great cunning and power
By far the most ambitious
Clever Ravenclaw, of wit and learning
Her intelligence was best
And sweet Hufflepuff, where loyalty lay
Her kindness beat the rest
So these four, from times of yore
Had the same ambition
To build a school of magic
The greatest in Britain!
They took the children most suited
Either brave, clever, cunning or kind
And taught them the best.
But then the great conundrum came
Of how to Sort when they were dead.
So Gryffindor took me off and said:
This Hat shall sort for ever more!
So come along, put me on
I do not burn or bite
And you will find, without a fight
Which house will welcome you most!
Everyone cheered and clapped, and Neville pulled out a long scroll, that trailed on the ground.
'Allen, Veronica!' he cried. Veronica, a tall girl who was thin in every way – thin body, thin arms and legs, thin face with a long thin nose and two thin plaits that reached her waist. The Sorting Hat only sat upon her head for a few seconds before shouting: SLYTHERIN!
'Bartholomew, Maximilian!' was soon after. Max stepped up to the stool and the hat dropped half-way down his face. James crossed his fingers, hoping for: GRYFFINDOR!'
James waited ages for his name to be called out. Finally, Neville said: Potter, James and he headed up and sat down on the stool. The hat had barely touched his head when it cried: GRYFFINDOR!
Grinning widely, he went and sat down opposite Max. Teddy, who was sitting with third year Dominique, leaned over to shake James's hand.
'Well done mate,' said Max. Olivia became a Gryffindor, so James was very pleased about the way they had been sorted.
'Excuse me, could you pass the potatoes?' James looked round to see the girl in between him and Teddy looking up expectantly. She was a first year, with straight black hair that reached halfway down her back and brilliant blue green eyes. He realised it was the girl who had shared a boat with him, but he hadn't seen her features properly in the dark.
'Yeah, sure,' he grabbed the dish. 'I'm James Potter, by the way.'
'Ooh, the famous Potter's son,' she said, almost sarcastically. 'I'm Alexia Livingstone.'
'Pleased to meet you,' James grinned.
'Can I have the potatoes?' repeated Alexia.
'What – oh, right,' James realised he was still holding the potatoes in mid-air like an idiot. Hurriedly he set them down on the table, before turning to Max, who was shovelling food into his mouth. His twin cousins Arthur and Georgina were sitting on his other side. They were the middle children of George and Angelina, and looked completely different. Artie was skinny, lightly built, with light brown hair and pale skin. Georgina was smaller, and stocky, with dark brown hair and curly black-brown hair.
After the feast, Teddy led them upstairs to the Gryffindor Common Room.
'Jobberknoll,' he said confidently to a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.
'Correct,' she smiled at the first years and swung forward, revealing an oval shaped hole that you had to scramble through to get into the Common Room. The Common Room was decorated in red and gold, with comfortable armchair around a roaring fire, and desks and bookcases for working. Two flights of stairs led up to the boys' and girls' dorms. James was pleased to find that he was sharing with Max, Louis, Arthur and Nigel Longbottom. Dumping his trunk by his chosen bed, he went to look out of the window.
He was at Hogwarts. He had freedom!
