A/N: Hi Everyone! So, I would just like to say that this is NOT in any way related to my previous story. This is completely on its own, different, and I've started over. I've been toying with this idea for a while, so let me know what you think. It's kind of slow at first but bear with me! This one's going to be much more quick paced, as far as updating goes. I think I'm aiming for every two-three days or so as I have most of it written out!

I hope you enjoy, please read, review, comment, and let me know what you think!

Chapter 1: James

James had returned from his run that morning to his mum cooking some bacon over the stove.

"Morning mum," he kissed her on the cheek.

Ginny Potter smiled at him, "Good morning James. Dad had to rush off to work, but he gives his love."

James Potter lived on a lovely little house in Godric's Hollow with his parents, Ginny and Harry Potter, and his siblings. Lily and Albus.

"Hi Lil," James said ruffling the top of his sister's flaming orange head.

"James you're such an annoying prat," she responded annoyingly, swatting her brother's hand away as James took his seat at the table next to her, she was staring daggers at him, her green eyes piercing.

"Morning James, Lily, mum," Albus said, making his way down the stairs. The only thing that James could see of his brother was an unruly mop of black hair as he sat down for breakfast as well. His face hidden away in some book.

"Morning Al!" James and Lily said. James grabbed for a slice of toast and began smothering it in orange marmalade. Ginny placed a sizzling skillet of bacon on the kitchen table and James reached for it, toast half in his mouth as Lily looked at him disgusted.

"James you're such a pig," she said.

"Oh like you're a little angel," he said swallowing. James swiped some bacon off the skillet.

Ginny scolded them, "Play nice or-"

Neither James nor Lily in particular had heard the "or" because just as Ginny was telling them what kind of way she would find to hext them into another century, a large barn owl swooped in through the kitchen window, not stopping early enough to land gracefully, but plopping right into the porridge, which sprayed Albus in clumps of oats.

"Bloody hell!" Albus exclaimed, looking up from his book for the first time that morning. Ginny simply glared at Albus before he muttered a quick "sorry mum," to follow his outburst.

"Is anyone going to get that, or are you lot going to let it simmer in the porridge?" was Ginny's only reply.

"I'm fine with letting it simmer," he joked with his mum, who didn't find it very funny in the least. "Okay fine," he conceded after she glared at him. That's where Lily had to get it from, his mum, because no one could make you fear for your life the way that Ginny Potter could make her children fear for theirs.

James reached out to the bird and untied its parcel from its foot. The owl straightened itself out and flapped its wings, sending bits of porridge flying in all directions. He saw the familiar green ink sprawled across the front, he smiled, "Letters are here!" James handed a letter each to Albus and to Lily, who would now be entering their fifth and fourth years, respectively, while James himself was entering his seventh.

As James peeled away at the wax seal on his envelope, another owl swooped in, this one was a white snowy owl which was apparently much smarter than the lovely owl that delivered their Hogwarts letters and landed soundly on the back of James' chair.

"Oh good," James said. He untied the letter from its foot and smirked, "Letter for you Al," he said.

"I reckon it's from Hadley," Lily chimed in.

"Oi hand it here!" Albus reached across the table.

"Hadley Finnegan?" Ginny cocked her head to the side, studying her son, "Our Hadley Finnegan?"

"The one and only mum," James said. "Al's been in love with her forever."

"Have not!" Albus said, at this point lunging across the table.

James held the letter high above his head and out of Albus' reach, Lily reached for it and grabbed it. "Just admit that you fancy her!" Lily said.

"She's my best friend!" cried Albus. "Can I please have my letter?"

Lily sighed, "Fine." She held it out to Albus, who snatched it out of her hand almost immediately.

He placed the envelope carefully in his book, as a placeholder. He snapped his book shut and went back to reading his Hogwarts letter.

"Well aren't you going to read it?" Lily asked him.

"Not if I'm going to be scrutinized by you two, so you can analyze my reaction after every word," Albus responded.

James noted that it was probably fair. "You're probably itching to know what's in it Al!"

"Maybe Hadley's the one who's finally had the bollocks to profess her undying love for you, and it's all contained in that very letter that's sitting between the pages of Quidditch Through the Ages, and you'll never know," Lily said with very dramatic swaying.

"You know," Albus said, pretending to contemplate what Lily had told him, "I think I'd be okay with that."

"You really love us don't you Al," James said to him.

"You two are the reason that I decide to breathe in the morning," he responded dryly.

Ginny laughed, "Alright, just figure what you need and we can get to Diagon Alley sometime this week."

James emptied out his envelope to find the typical list of books for the coming year, and supplies. He would need a new pair of dragon hide gloves for herbology, and he wondered if his mum would swing for a new pair of quidditch gloves as well.

"I figure I can get a good couple of books from James," Albus said, "His books are always in perfect condition."

"You sure Albus?" Ginny asked her son, "I thought they'd be falling apart at the hinges."

"No, that's just his Transfiguration book that looks like it's taken a beating from a Hippogriff, it's not because they've been used," Albus continued, "it's from never having been opened."

"You are so like Harry," Ginny said to him.

"Well I really did like it much better when we were poking fun at Al."

"I do prefer this," Albus mused.

It was quiet for a couple minutes, as each Potter child had taken a short bout of time to read their own Hogwarts letters, James emptied his letter out to find his familiar silver badge, etched with a C for captain. He toyed with it in his hands and it wasn't long before Albus let out another, "Bloody hell!"

James' head shot up at his little brother. Lily and James exchanged glances.

Ginny had walked back from the sink, holding her wand up and waving it furiously, "How many times do I have to tell you kids-"

"Mum, I've made prefect!" Albus exclaimed.

Ginny's glare softened, "Albus, I'm so proud!" she hugged Albus so that his glasses had fallen off into his porridge, and James could see nothing but a tuft of black hair.

"That's fantastic Al!" Lily congratulated her brother with a hug.

"Thanks Lil," he smiled.

James nodded approvingly at his brother, "I now have someone to aid and abet me while I'm wandering the castle."

"Fat chance James," Albus laughed.

Ginny creased her eyebrows, "Please tell me that was a joke, I might not believe you, but tell me anyways."

"It's a joke mum," James smirked. "But really Al, congratulations. Can't say I didn't see it coming though."

"Dad'll be thrilled!" Ginny exclaimed, "I can't wait to tell everyone, I'm writing to him right now!" she said excitedly. She then wandered out of the kitchen going on about sending out an owl to everyone in the family, looking for spare pieces of parchment and a quill.

James watched Albus excuse himself from the table, "Writing to Hadley?" he called after him.

Albus stopped in the middle of the stairs and turned around smiling, "Yeah James, now quit butting into my relationship."

"Oh but what's the fun in that?" James followed Albus up the stairs, he turned right at the platform, and Albus turned left.

It was a couple of days before the family made it to Diagon Alley, James had still not convinced his mother to buy the new quidditch gloves, he had really tried to play the, "but mum, I need them," card many times, unfortunately to no avail.

"I'm meeting Scorp and Hadley, I'll catch you later!" Albus had said to him, once they arrived.

"And I'm going with mum to Madame Primpernelle's," said Lily. "You can come with us if you'd like."

"You're very funny, you know that Lily?" James asked her. Madame Primpernelle's Beautifying Potions, was the full name of the shop. James would rather streak through Diagon Alley than be caught dead in that shop.

This left James alone for the afternoon. Not that he minded. He was just so used to having people around all the time that being alone was extremely rare. His best mate, Finn Bates wasn't able to make it that afternoon, and the girl he was seeing, Emily Holt, was away on vacation in France until the beginning of the school year.

James wandered into Flourish and Blotts to buy his school things when he ran into Zoe Mason and Alex Lockwood. They were both sixth years on the Gryffindor quidditch team. Zoe was James' counterpart chaser and Alex was their keeper. James had heard them shagging in the locker room one evening after practice, and he thoroughly enjoyed waiting to see when the two of them would come off it and tell everyone.

"Mason! Lockwood!" James greeted.

"P-Potter!" Zoe stuttered, "fancy seeing you here."

"I could say the same for the two of you," he smirked. "Shopping for school supplies."

"Yeah, just about," said Alex, "Sixth year's s'pposed to be more relaxed I hear."

"Yeah, you're prepping for NEWTs, but not killing yourself for OWLs," James agreed. "Your scores must've come back haven't they?" James asked.

"Yeah, not too bad," Alex smiled.

"Decent enough," Zoe chimed in.

James then said, "Well I'm sure you two have much to do, I'll see you when term starts?"

"Yeah, Potter," Alex said.

Zoe hugged James and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "Bye James, we'll see you soon."

And just like that, James' two teammates disappeared into the crowded streets of Diagon Alley. James was soon helped by an old wizard who was working at the shop that day. He was very happy to know that James was the son of Harry Potter, and thought that he was the spitting image of his father.

James knew that the man couldn't have been more wrong. While he did have his father's unruly hair. He hadn't inherited much else from him. He thought he looked more like a mix of his parents. He'd certainly inherited a mixture of their eyes.

He'd gotten his mother's eyesight, thank Merlin. Albus had inherited his father's blind eyes, and James always thought Al was the spitting image of Harry. Lily on the other hand, looked just like her mother, except for their father's glowing green eyes.

Regardless, James was quickly helped with his books and he left Flourish and Blotts with significantly less money than he'd come in with in addition to at least seven textbooks that were weighing him down. James wandered through Diagon Alley amidst the occasional gawking and staring. He'd gotten quite used to it, being the son of Harry Potter, yet sometimes, he wished that he was simply James. James Potter.

He hated being compared to his father, who in his eyes was a great man, a great wizard, and a great dad. James however, just wanted to make his own path, not carved out by anyone else. It wasn't his life though, and James had come to terms with it, but it didn't mean he couldn't wish for something else.

After stopping by Broomstix to stare at the newest model broom until his eyes watered, James made it back to the Leaky Cauldron, where James was going to meet his mum and Lily. The Leaky Cauldron was a dingy little pub that made James feel nothing less than at home. He'd been there dozens of times, and when he walked in he was greeted by Hannah Longbottom, Neville Longbottom's wife, who owned the Leaky Cauldron.

"James it's just lovely to see you," she beamed, "my, how you've grown."

"Hi Mrs. Longbottom," he embraced her in a hug. She was a plump middle-aged witch with a smile and a temperament that matched. She was one of the kindest people that James knew, a strong drinker too. James had Hannah to thank for slipping him a firewhiskey every so often.

"Now your mum and Lily, are seeing Neville, they're upstairs, you know the way don't you?" she asked.

James nodded, "Thanks, I'll wait for them down here, I trust they'll be down soon."

"Can I get you anything dear," Hannah asked him.

"A butterbeer is fine," James smiled. Since Hannah was tending bar, she was stuck behind the counter. As she was coming to James' table to hand him his butterbeer, Albus stepped into the pub as well.

Minutes later, down from the stairs came Ginny and Lily. Ginny thanked Hannah dearly, and they soon returned back to their home in Godric's Hollow.

The days slipped by agonizingly slow after their trip to Diagon Alley. James was extremely excited for the beginning of the school year. It was his last year, his seventh year, and so each day for the next three weeks resembled something equivalent to watching grass grow.