Author's Note: This is my first attempt at a fanfiction. A Next Generation story from James' pov. I don't own Harry Potter or the names or whatever etc etc. Will probably update every few days. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter One: The Snow

Snow fell onto the grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, covering the trees and the castle with a crisp layer of white. James Potter looked out of the small, round, steamy window of his Divination class, gazing at the still trees of the Forbidden Forest in the distance, feeling dreamy, as he always did in this class. He wasn't sure if his haze was a result of the dull class or the scented candles the teacher lit during the lessons, or perhaps both. 'The smell will help you find your inner seer and to seek the future' Professor Trelawney had told the class, in her usual dreamy voice. If that's all it takes, thought James, then Professor Trelawney would have had some luck by now, surely. James' dad always seemed annoyed whenever James talked of his Divination teacher. He wasn't sure whether this was because he hadn't enjoyed the lessons either or because he knew Trelawney on a personal level or was for some reason fond of her, either way James thought she was an old fraud.

It was the first Monday of December, and it was already snowing heavily with a cold chill in the air. Today's timetable looked bleak, like the weather - he'd had double Potions in the morning (dull) and now had double Divination (more dull) followed by History of Magic (most dull). Currently in his second Divination lesson, he felt tired - tired and bored.Despite his high achievements on an academic level, James had a certain disregard for lessons, specifically dull ones such as these. He couldn't wait to get outside, selling Weasley's Skiving Snackboxes and setting off fireworks with his friends. He looked across the classroom and caught the eye of Amelia Brown, an extremely attractive fellow third year towards whom he felt a very deep underlying interest. He smiled at her and she proceeded to look away, apparently uninterested. Unfortunately for him, Amelia didn't share this interest and despite his many attempts at flattery he always came away with nothing but a broken heart. Jack Scamander noticed his attempt and grinned at James, who grinned back and winked. A few other girls in the classroom tried to catch his eye, in hope that he would smile at them, but he did not. After what felt like forever, Trelawney finally dismissed them, and James quickly packed up his stuff and headed down the old, blue ladder and out of the classroom. "To History of Magic" he shouted once the class had descended from the classroom and onto the stairs. Everyone cheered.

Professor Binns' hour long lecture on Centaur rebellions and wars turned out to be even more boring than the last two hours he'd spent looking at tea with the intent of finding doom and despair (one of Trelawney's favourite pastimes). He, Jack Scamander and Frankie Longbottom sat on their own at the back, talking, in detail, of the pranks they planned to play in the coming week. Their first ever Hogsmeade visit was coming up on the weekend, and none of them could wait. They talked animatedly about what they planned to buy from Zonko's Joke Shop and what they'd feast on in Honeydukes. "I hear they let you get anything for free in the last hour before it closes" Jack told them.

"I can't wait to stock up at Zonko's" said James

"And I think it will be exquisite to visit the tea shop, too!" said Frankie. They all laughed loudly, though Binns took no notice.

That evening, at the feast, he spoke to Victoire Weasley, his seventh year cousin, about visiting Hogsmeade. "I'm sure you'll find all you need at Zonko's!" she assured him, after his many questions of what they stocked and for what prices. "Though your mother told me I must stop you from pulling all these pranks, she thinks you need to study more...laugh less, too, probably". They laughed.

"Rest assured, Victoire, I will ignore you. Do Zonko's have Weasley products then?"

"You bet! They stock most of their stuff, alot more expensive than in Diagon Alley though. I do hope George opens a shop in Hogsmeade village. He's always talking about expanding the business." James noticed someone waving at him in the corner of his eye. He looked over to the Slytherin table where Albus and his short, pale, blond friend Scorpius were waving at him, he waved back just as Albus stuck out his tongue. Albus had settled into Hogwarts even quicker than he had. When he was first sorted into Slytherin he was mortified, but he quickly made friends and was now insufferably proud of his house. Albus was very popular amongst his school friends, probably as a result of having such a cool, creditable brother such as James Potter. And despite only having been at the school for a couple of months, Albus had found himself in more than a few sticky situations. He was always getting in to trouble, sneaking into the restricted section of the library, roaming the corridors at night...

James couldn't exactly criticize him for it though, in fact he was rather proud of his brothers mischief, though he would never tell him so. His friend Scorpius, however... James did not trust him. His family were pureblood maniacs, they were in a league with dark wizards, they'd done bad things in their time. They may have redeemed themselves, mostly by escaping arrest, but he was still dubious. The kid seemed nice enough but what would his dad say if he found out Albus was friends with a Malfoy? Did he already know? James' dad and Mr. Malfoy were on speaking terms but from what he'd heard they hadn't been the best of friends in the past.

The next day's timetable turned out not to be as bad as the previous one. Transfiguration, double Defense Against the Dark Arts, Care of Magic Creatures and Potions. D.A.D.A was by far James' favourite lessons - apart from when his dad came into teach, which often caused major embarrassment, even though the class were always impressed by his skills and told him he had 'the coolest dad'. He couldn't deny that he was a great teacher though. He'd been encouraged to take a permanent place at the school but had turned it down many a time. Frankie was always going on about how embarrassing it was that his dad was a teacher so perhaps this was for the best. He wouldn't want his dad watching over him all the time, like Frankie's often did, anyway. Especially not with his record of trouble-making. First, Transfiguration. Frankie, Jack and James entered the headmistresses classroom, quickly, being slightly late. "Copy down what's on the board" said Professor Mcgonagall.

Animal-Teacup Transfiguration

Lesson Two

Look at the ways in which to transfigure animals without fault and the practices in which to do so. Homework - complete five page essay on Animal-Teacup transfiguration to be handed in on Friday.

The rest of the lessons proved to be just as boring as the chalk board kindly suggested to them that it would, but James suffered through it. His dad turned out not to be lecturing that day's D.A.D.A lesson, which was greeted with a groan from the class, Harry Potter's lessons were always amazing fun. James was relieved by the time Care of Magic Creatures arrived. As well as being outside and in the fresh air, Professor Hagrid's lessons were amongst the best. Today they were looking at and studying unicorns. Halfway through the lessons snow started falling like they'd never seen it do before, the rate at which it was coming down was lethal. The class ran into the building were they waited for cover. As well as being wet everyone was extremely cold. James handed out Weasley products which 'warmed you from the inside'. "Cheers James" said Frankie

"Thank you, James!" squealed a small, awkward and very cute girl called Hannah. Amelia took hers grudgingly. "She likes you, really, James" said Hannah, whose nose was red with cold.

"What, like...?"

"I don't know, but she doesn't hate you, of course she doesn't - who does? She's...playing hard to get, ha ha". James laughed.

"Thanks. Good to know". James, being the self-confident person he was, had already suspected this.

That night James' slept easily and well, despite nerves about his first Quidditch game of the season, the following day. Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff. It was going to be a hard game - Hufflepuff were the best team by a mile and had won against them for the last two seasons - the Hufflepuff team weren't that great, they just had a flawless seeker (he'd already been scouted by Puddlemere). James had been told many times about how he was the best Keeper Hogwarts had seen for many years, of which he was proud. He dreamt of heroically winning the cup and celebrating in the common room, snow somehow falling from the ceiling.