Hi everyone, and welcome to the first chapter of Of Darkness and Light, the sequel to Starting Over. I suddenly realised that I had a brilliant sequel in James, so I decided that I'd better get my butt in gear and post it! I think (read: hope) that all you guys who loved Starting Over will love this, so please tell me what you think!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any related character. All the kids belong to me except Teddy and Victoire.

Of Darkness and Light

Chapter 1

James Lucius Malfoy was in trouble yet again. The seventeen year old grimaced as he tried unsuccessfully to block his father's rant out of his mind, to no avail.

"What were you thinking?" his father demanded of him suddenly. "No wait, don't answer that, you weren't thinking at all!" he began his ranting again, from what James was fairly certain was the beginning, where he'd started reading the riot act to his son almost an hour ago. James was certain he heard the words 'insane', 'brainless' and 'adopted' coming from his dad's now almost unintelligible tirade.

James knew he wasn't adopted. He'd heard the story surrounding his parents' courtship too many times now to know that his dad was simply being dramatic. He also knew that he was in serious trouble. His dad usually didn't go off like this, not even when James had misbehaved in the past, but when his dad got angry like this, he knew it wasn't going to be pretty.

He was saved by his father entering the room. "Harry, my love, you've started from the beginning again. No doubt he tuned you out half an hour ago." He chuckled. James resisted the urge to grin, knowing that to do so in his current situation could result in his premature death.

"Besides, he's late for Potions. He was supposed to be there fifteen minutes ago." Lucius Malfoy added, winking slightly at his second son.

Harry Potter-Malfoy stopped his seething and looked up at his husband. He scowled and threw his hands up in the air. "Fine, get going. However," he glared at his son. "We are not finished yet young man." He promised.

James gulped, but nevertheless kissed his dad on the cheek. "I'll see you tonight Dad." He said quietly, before allowing his father to tow him from the room and towards Potions.

Lucius threw his arm around his son's shoulders as they walked towards the dungeons together. James looked up at his father. "You're not going to yell at me too?" he asked.

Lucius sighed. "I'm not going to pretend I'm not disappointed in you James." He said slowly. James winced. His father's quiet disappointment was almost as bad as his dad's raging temper. "Your severe misuse of your powers has got you into trouble too many times now. Queen Maerad has taught you how to control your powers since you started at Hogwarts, but your control seems to allow you to think that you can do anything you want with them. I'm sorry, but tormenting Ariel's boyfriend is not what you're supposed to do with them."

James saw the merest flicker of a smile cross his father's face, and grinned too. "Ah. You don't like him either, do you?" he said.

The smile on Lucius' face grew. "No. He's what you and your sisters would call a 'jerk', and what Draco would call a 'prat'." His face grew serious again. "But Ariel has to find that out for herself. We can't interfere, no matter how much we might want to."

"So we can't say… fail him on purpose then?" James asked slyly.

"That wasn't me, that was Severus." Lucius said immediately, although James was sure it was a collaborative effort. "He's rather overprotective of his little girl."

James snorted. "Like you're any better." He muttered.

Lucius chose to ignore the comment. "Nevertheless, you cannot go around using your powers so irresponsibly, that is what your dad and I are trying to get through to you. Each time you do something like this, you do something worse. Your dad and I are concerned that one day you will do something truly awful with your powers, something that no one can fix."

"I didn't really hurt him though did I?" James asked.

"Enough." Lucius said. "But your dad has some rather unpleasant memories surrounding that spell, which is why it upset him so much that you used it. What happened yesterday scared him, I think."

"What happened?"

"That, son, is a story for another day. Come on, we're here." His father said, and pushed him into the Potions classroom.

Harry sighed as James and Lucius left the Hospital Wing together. He was getting concerned about James's more and more frequent abuse of his power. Harry didn't think his oldest son even realised that the way he used his magic was wrong, he just didn't think about what he did before he did it; which could be potentially more dangerous than knowingly using his powers for dark purposes.

His musings were interrupted by Draco's arrival. "Did you read him the riot act?" he asked.

Harry sighed. "Yes, for all the good it did." He replied. "It's worrying me Draco."

"We knew this might happen Harry." Draco said. "We knew the moment he started displaying these Faerie powers that he would want to use them. Maerad warned us something like this was possible."

"I know, but I wish he'd understand how dangerous his powers can be." Harry sighed.

There was silence before Draco broke into a grin. "How hard was it not to laugh instead of yell?"

"Very." Harry admitted with a smile of his own. "I like the boy about as much as you do."

Draco grimaced. "The kid's a creep. I can't wait until she wises up and gets rid of him. What did James do to him that got you so riled anyway?"

"Wrapped him in rose vines and suspended him from the Entrance Hall ceiling." Harry growled.

Draco winced. "Aside from the pain those thorns would inflict, that's a variation on…"

"On what Maerad did to Ron, seventeen years ago, I know." Harry sighed. "I'd like to know who gave him the idea, so I can give them a piece of my mind. On the bright side, the guy's also allergic, and James bloomed a giant rose right in front of his face."

Draco laughed at that. "I wondered why the kid's face was the size of a quaffle when he came in." he sobered. "Still, I know that night holds some bad memories for you."

Harry shrugged. "Minerva's given him about six months worth of detention, so hopefully that'll keep him out of trouble for a while." He said.

They were interrupted when the door opened and a small first year girl came in nursing a burnt hand. Clearly a Potions accident. Both Mediwizards sighed. "Time to get back to work." Draco groused, even as he smiled kindly at the girl.

Harry chuckled. "When have we ever stopped working?" he asked, and Draco grinned in reply.

James was coming out of Potions and was about to head towards lunch when he was pulled into an empty classroom. Turning to face his assailant, he was faced with a rather furious Ariel. "What is wrong with you?" she hissed at him.

"Erm…" James said, pretending to be confused.

"Don't you try and pull that innocent act with me James Lucius Malfoy!" she shrieked, causing James to cast a hasty silencing charm around the room. No one else needed to hear the dressing down he was about to get from the irate girl. "Well, what do you want me to say Ariel? That I'm sorry? Cause I hate to tell you this, but I'm not."

Ariel clenched her teeth. "You should be!" she told him furiously. "That's my boyfriend that you suspended from the Entrance Hall ceiling!"

"He's a tool, Ariel." James said frankly, "He's only with you because he thinks he can get some. I've heard him say as much." He sighed. "I didn't do it for the fun of it Ari, I did it because he's going to hurt you."

Ariel seemed to deflate a little. James was generally a quiet boy, didn't say much, and only tended use his strange faerie powers out of curiosity, although it usually ended up going horribly, horribly wrong, which was why he was constantly getting in trouble with his dad for 'misuse of power'. If he said he was trying to defend her, he was probably telling the truth.

Finally, she sighed. "James, you need to let me find these things out for myself. Or, if you're truly concerned about me, you should just come and talk to me, rather than taking matters into your own hands."

"Would you have listened to me?" James asked her.

Ariel sighed. "No, probably not." She admitted. "But you shouldn't use your powers first and ask questions later. Promise me that next time you'll try and talk to me first."

James nodded. "I'll try." He assured her. "So, what about him?" he asked her. "Are you going to stay with him?"

"Of course not!" Ariel chirped happily. "The moment I find him, he's gone! I always knew he was a loser!"

James grinned at her. "That's my girl!" he laughed. "I always knew you were smarter that that!"

She grinned back. "And just for the record, as I recall, your last boyfriend wasn't exactly wonderful either."

James groaned. "Don't remind me!" he grumbled.

Regardless of the fact that Ariel dumped the problematic boy not half an hour later, James soon discovered that Harry's lecture was not over. Not by a long shot. So, after listening to his dad's ranting for forty-five minutes, he headed up to his dormitory in the Gryffindor tower grounded for a month, with another two months worth of Saturday detentions with Professor McGonagall on top of that, which meant that he could effectively kiss goodbye any trips to Hogsmeade in the foreseeable future.

He was on his way out of his parents' suite when he was accosted by his three sisters. Antigone and Ismene, known to family and friends as Annie and Izzy, where twelve years old and in the Second Year, and nine year old Miranda, who still lived in the suite with their parents until she was due to start school in a few years. Around their necks, the twins wore amethyst pendants, made for them by James the day they were born. Miranda also wore a pendant, with an agate gemstone hanging from the chord, yet another gem James created for the protection of his youngest sister. The twins were the spitting image of their father, Antigone with her silver-blonde hair cut so that it brushed gently against her shoulders, and Ismene with hers reaching almost to her waist. Both girls had their dad's brilliant green eyes. Miranda on the other hand, looked nothing like any of her older siblings. Her hair was a dark red, much like her grandma Lily's, although she too had inherited Harry's eyes. James himself took after Harry, although he had Lucius' eyes.

"Man, are you in trouble." Antigone teased.

"Tell me about it." James groaned.

"I thought dad was going to kill you for a moment there." Ismene told him.

"Me too!" James replied.

"James is in trouble! James is in trouble!" Miranda sing-songed cheerfully.

"Hush you!" James retorted good naturedly, ruffling his sister's hair. "Anyway, I'd better go, I've been given strict orders to go straight back to Gryffindor Tower."

"Okay. Goodnight big brother. We've only come to say goodnight to dad and father and then we're heading back to Slytherin." Ismene smiled and hugged him, as did Antigone and Miranda.

"Night you three." James laughed and headed out of the fourth floor suite (next to the Hospital Wing) and up the stairs towards the seventh floor.

When he entered the common room, he found his best friend, Teddy Lupin, waiting for him on a couch. With him was his other close friend, Victoire Weasley, who was in her Sixth Year, a year below them. Coincidentally, she was also Teddy's girlfriend.

Teddy was the son of Remus and Nymphadora Tonks. Sirius had been on the run from the Ministry right up until the final battle, and Remus and Tonks had been together at the time. Sirius had been cleared of any involvement in the murders of the thirteen Muggles not long after the battle had ended, and Remus then was free to resume his long time relationship with Sirius. Tonks had been quite happy with this, having known that she and Remus had never been in love themselves. Her pregnancy had been a shock to all parties, but they had nevertheless agreed that they would attempt to raise their child together, to the best of their abilities. Sadly, the injuries that the young Auror had sustained during the final battle had proved too much for Tonks, and with the further strains of pregnancy added to that, the young woman had not survived childbirth. Baby Teddy had been left in the custody of his grandmother, while Remus and Sirius had tried desperately to gain custody of the little boy they both loved so dearly. While they had been able to visit Teddy often, the Ministry believed that an ex-felon and a werewolf were not suitable guardians for the child. It had taken both Andromeda Tonks, and Harry's involvement for the Ministry to change their minds. So now, Teddy, adopted by Sirius, his mother's cousin, lived happily with his fathers, and was still doted on by his grandmother. And he loved every minute of it.

"Mitchell and Alyssa wanted to know if you were in the shit." He told James lazily. Mitchell and Alyssa referred to Mitchell Weasley and Alyssa Zabini. Mitchell was his cousin, Aunt Hermione and Uncle Charlie's oldest child, and Alyssa was the daughter of my dad and older brother's friends, Uncle Blaise and Uncle Neville. She was also Mitchell's best friend. Put them with Antigone and Ismene, and there was some serious trouble to be had, regardless of their different houses, they shared a lot of classes because they were in the same year.

"Of course I was in the shit. You cannot imagine the pile of shit I was in!" James replied theatrically, throwing himself onto the couch on the other side of Victoire. "I'm pretty sure dad was losing his voice by the time he'd finished yelling at me."

Victoire sniffed. "Well, did Ariel dump the fucker after all that?" she demanded.

James grinned. "Yep!" he carolled.

"Well, that's something isn't it." Teddy replied. "So how many detentions did Professor McGonagall give you?"

"Two months worth." James moaned. "The only way I'll see Hogsmede this side of Easter is to get to the train station to go home for the holidays!"

"What about Uncle Severus?" Teddy asked

James laughed. "He gave me twenty points as I was leaving Potions!" This sent both his friends into peals of laughter.

"But Dad's confined me to the Tower whenever I'm not in lessons or using the library." James grumbled.

"Are you really so surprised?" Victoire asked him.

"No, not really." James sighed.

"What about your father?" Teddy queried.

"He tried to be strict, and he backed dad on everything, but I think he was glad to see Ariel get rid of that tosser." James replied with a small smile.

"Well," Teddy said, heaving himself of the couch. "I'm going to turn in. Double Herbology in the morning." He kissed Victoire's cheek and looked at James. "You coming?"

"Maybe later." James replied. "I think I'm going to go for a walk. Clear my head a bit."

"I thought Uncle Harry confined you to the tower?" Victoire said.

"He did, but I'm not going to go far. I won't be long." James promised her. She nodded, pursing her lips together, only softening when her cousin kissed her cheek. "I'll be back soon Vic, I promise."

She scowled at the nick name, but smiled at his sincerity. "All right, but be careful. Goodnight Jamesy."

"Night." Teddy echoed from the dormitory stairs.

"Night guys." James waved before disappearing out the portrait hole.

Walking through the seventh floor corridor, James though about what had happened in the last forty-eight hours. He didn't exactly go out of his way to cause trouble, but it seemed to attract him. He had used his powers against Ariel's now ex-boyfriend because he had been a loser that was going to hurt her. Before that… well, let's not go there. Let's just say that this wasn't the first time James' powers had got him in trouble during his time at Hogwarts.

A sudden meowing noise made James jump and look around. There, standing behind him, was Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat. James groaned as the cat trotted off, no doubt to find her master. Through his mild panic, James wondered if the old, moth eaten cat would ever die. It had been ancient when his dad had been a student.

Looking around for a place to hide, pacing worriedly, he saw with relief that the door to the Room of Requirement had appeared in the wall. Relieved, James pushed open the heavy door and darted inside. Listening quietly at the door, he heard Filch stalk past, cat in tow. "Student out of bed, my pet? Don't worry, we'll catch 'em!"

James shuddered at the crooning voice the revolting old man used to address his cat. The man really was disgusting.

Now that the danger seemed to have passed, James surveyed the Room. His hiding place was a large, cluttered room full to the brim with junk. Deciding he might as well explore a bit, James began to sift through the piles of stuff. "Looks as though generations of students have been hiding their crap in here." He mused to himself. He opened an old cupboard, coughing a little as the dust stirred. Inside was an old copy of Advanced Potion Making. Picking it up and leafing through the pages, James saw that there were notes written in the margins. Being relatively good at potions (something he inherited from his father, rather than his dad), James knew that some of these notes would be useful. He pocketed the book and kept wandering.

Eventually reaching the far corner of the vast room, and having found nothing more of use, James was about to turn and head back towards the door when something caught his eye.

It was a portrait, ancient and dusty, sitting propped up against the wall in the corner, covered with an even dustier blanket. Intrigued, as if he were being pulled towards it, James lifted the dirty cover off of the heavy gilded frame. Blowing the dust off of the portrait, he couldn't help but gasp at the gruesomeness of the painting. It was as dark and disgusting looking as the rest of the room, and as James blew some of the dust of it, he wasn't sure quite not to make of the scene depicted there.

Dark, ghastly looking creatures dancing what looked like a war dance in the middle of a dead garden, a large fire the only light. In the background there was a terrifying looking creature sitting on a throne of thorns and dead branches. James couldn't tell if it was the dust and grime on the painting that made it so frightening, or if the painting truly was that disturbing. Reaching out, James attempted to brush some of the dust from the oil painting.

The moment his fingers touched the canvas, he felt a jolt. In the next instant, he knew something was wrong. He cried out in both shock and pain as he felt his magic being pulled from him and into the painting. He wrenched his hand away from the horrid thing staggering back against a large cabinet as the dizziness from having his power drained swept over him. As he looked on, the portrait, which had remained still until now, came to life, and the gruesome creatures sprang about, as if finally completing their war dance. But the painting wasn't just moving, it looked like it was morphing, almost as if James' magic had created a vortex within the painting. James watched, horrified as the creature on the throne blinked slowly and shook itself, as if shaking off a powerful enchantment. Slowly the creature smiled, looking directly into James' eyes.

"I thank you, little sorcerer." It said. Its voice sounded like nails on a blackboard. "Thanks to you, I am free."

There was a screeching cheer from the other creatures, and before James could react, they had vanished. Not out of the portrait like a regular painting, but into the distance, still within the boundaries of the frame.

James sat leaning, terrified, against the cabinet for what felt like a life time, too tired and drained to move. Suddenly there was a bright light beside him, and a beautiful woman who was both young and ancient knelt beside him. "James?" Maerad, Queen of the Faeries, asked him gently. "Are you all right?"

"I… portrait." James gasped, the events of the last few moments catching up to him at last. "It… sucked my magic out of me!" he could feel himself starting to become hysterical.

Maerad looked around, wondering what he could be talking about. She gasped as her eyes rested on the now empty painting, vacant but for the still crackling fire. "Oh James!" she cried. "What have you done?"

"I don't know!" James sobbed, his fear overcoming. "I-it wasn't my fault! I just t-touched it a-and…"

"I know James. I know it wasn't really your fault." Maerad sighed. "But still, we have a very big problem on our hands." She helped the boy to his feet, even though he towered over her. "Come on lovey, we have a rather urgent appointment with the headmaster."

Please tell me what you all think!! Reviews would be lovely!