Balloons in the air

"JAMES ALEXANDER POTTER", the voice of Lily potter echoed through the gardens." WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING WITH MY SON!"

The father and son duo could only stare as a furious Lily came stomping through the door.

"He's my son too!" James replied in an indignant voice, which was tinted with a little fear "And I am just teaching him how to fly".

Neither had bothered to tell her what they were planning on doing and it seemed as though they were going to pay heavily for it. James was suddenly reminded of the time in his fourth year at Hogwarts when he had charmed the dark red hair of Lily to a bright pink. The broken nose that he had sported for two days after that was reminder enough of Lily's fury.

Lily approached them and stood in front of them, hands on her hips. Although all her anger had melted away on seeing those two with guilty expressions on their faces, she couldn't resist but torture them for a little while more.

"And why, pray tell me, did you think that teaching our five year old son- ", she ignored the tiny voice "Hey I am six!",and continued "-how to fly would be a good idea? "she spoke in a cool voice .

"Um…because …flying is…. good for magic?", James was surprised at his own stupidity.

"Oh, c'mon mum, we were just having a little fun "the soon to be six year old Hayden Potter spoke up, with large green eyes pleading with his mother. Soon Lily found herself confronted by two pairs of eyes giving her the kicked puppy look.

"Oh..All right, quit that expression both of you. Honestly James, you are an adult!".Both the male Potters shared a look of victory." But no more flying today, we have to get ready for the party, and where are those good for nothing friends of yours, James? I seem to recall them promising to help with the decorations!"

"They will be coming any time now." James replied and Lily went back to her kitchen muttering about Potter males and their irresistible charms.

"So, Dad when am I getting a broom?"


James and Hayden were having a war with confetti and balloons, with Hayden sticking confetti on James wild hair and James tickling him senseless, when the fireplace erupted in a shower of green flame and out stepped two men wearing elegant robes. One, a strikingly handsome man, with dark hair and aristocratic features, with deep blue robes and the other a brown haired man with amber eyes, looking tired yet cheerful in dark brown robes.

"Padfoot, Moony!"Hayden jumped up from his place and rushed to them trying to grab both of them in a giant hug and failing measurably.

"Happy birthday, pronglet!"Sirius said and picked him up in his arms,"and how is my favorite godson today!"

Hayden rolled his eyes at his godfather while Remus burst out laughing noticing this action. Sirius put him down as he ran off to Remus who gave him a hug and wished him..

Giving James a one armed hug, Sirius unceremoniously dropped himself on the sofa.

"So what have we got ourselves planned for today? Ice creams, cakes, and beautiful witches cooing over pronglet over here! ", at this he directly looked at Hayden, "I, your godfather, hereby order you to stay with me whenever a fair maiden enters the party" he proclaimed with a exaggerated wink in what he thought was a commanding voice but what came out as a loud squeak.

"The only thing you shall be doing is out in the garden setting the tables", Lily countered coming out of the kitchen.

"Hey Lily", Remus said as he watched her wearing her apron stained with chocolate smudges.

"Hi Remus ,and you mister if I see you flirting with any of my friends, there will be hell to pay ",Lily said with an evil glint in here eye .

"Com now Lily, you cannot deny me my birthright ! Can she Prongs?", Sirius looked at his friend for support.

"Eh..I am with Lily on this one, Padfoot", James replied hesitatingly as Lily looked at Sirius with a victorious look.

"Traitor" Sirius hissed with a pout.

"C'mon you guys, we've got work to do", Lily proclaimed and Hayden watched in amazement as his mother directed the three men to do her biding. The fact that two of them were elite aurors and one of them was a werewolf did nothing to lessen his wonder.

The thought brought up another memory when he had discovered the truth about his uncle Moony.

FLASHBACK

Hayden was in bed and his mother arranging the books in his room, when the wards alerted her that someone had rushed in the hall through the flu. Her eyes widened and she immediately ran towards the hall. Hayden astonished at this ,slowly woke up. It was early in the morning and the sun was just showing its visage. Wondering as to what might have caused his mother to act like that, he slowly followed his mother. On reaching the door, he could hear muffled moans of pain, and he immediately recognized the voice .It was his uncle moony .Another voice broke out, "easy there Moony, you are going to be alright,Lily's here", another familiar voice ,that of his godfather spoke. His mother spoke, "What happened Sirius?" .

"The wolf was particularly vicious today. Without Prongs, I could only control him to an extent. He somehow knocked me out and inflicted these wounds on himself. I don't know why he hurt himself though" Sirius replied

Hayden was confused from these words, but he came to the conclusion that his uncle Moony had been hurt badly by some wolf. The man had been quite depressed for the past few days ever since the murder of his parents-John and Mary Lupin and only the sight of Hayden would pull him out of his sadness. He immediately made to open the door and comfort him and help his mother when the next words from her froze him in his steps

"Maybe the wolf inside him couldn't control his rage at his parents' murder. Werewolves have a strong subconscious, which comes out during their transformations. It is possible that Remus blames himself for their death and the wolf inside him thinks so too".

Hayden was shocked beyond words. He couldn't find himself to open the door and immediately ran back to his room and sat down thinking what had happened as his mind ran through the memories of his uncle moony, how he would always bring him the raspberry candies that were his favorite, how he would laugh with Hayden as they watched Padfoot and his dad being berated by his mother, how he always listened with patience as Hayden complained about his parents giving out unfair punishments when all he did was 'borrow' his dad's wand to play with it. he thought of all the times when he would just snuggle up to him and ask him questions on magic and the world an how he would explain it to him in detail, though he didn't understand half of it, he always liked the way he spoke and he often teased him along with his dad and Padfoot that he was too much like a teacher. Did all that change because he was a werewolf ? Was he not the same Moony who used to give him piggyback rides and taught him how to play chess, the one to rescue him when Sirius tickled him? But the teacher in his primary school had mentioned werewolves to be dark ,vicious creatures. His mother had once told him that good or bad does not come from the light or darkness nor from who you are but from your choices and intentions. But Moony….

His musings were disrupted when his mother came in ,wearing a tired look yet a smile on seeing him. "Uncle Moony has had a bit of an accident. he is in his guest room now. Would you like to go see him?"

Nodding his head subconsciously, Hayden started towards the room. As he opened the door, he found Remus on the bed, looking extremely weary. He had a huge gash across his chest and several cuts across his torso. Yet when he looked at his face ,he saw his smile ,the smile that always used to break out on his face whenever he saw Hayden, and at that moment Hayden made up his mind. He went and sat silently next to the werewolf on his bed

"I know you are a werewolf", he finally spoke up.

Remus' face changed into one of horror ,then into despair, embarrassment and finally resignation and sadness showed clearly on his face. As he silently dropped his head in shame and a couple of tears made their way to his eyes, Hayden spoke up once again,

"But you will always be Moony for me. Even if you change into a furry thing every month, you shall still remain my favorite uncle. You will never be a monster "

.

He saw astonishment in Moony's eyes, as his sorrow vanished and he grabbed Hayden in a bear hug, tears streaming down his face .

"Does this mean I get more Raspberry drops", Hayden cheekily replied ,his face buried in Remus's robes. Roars of laughter echoed through he house.

END FLASHBACK

His parents and Sirius had been extremely proud of him after that. He had also learnt never to take anything on face value or as it was presented by the people. Who said he had just inherited his eyes from his mother?

All the marauders along with Lily and Hayden were in the kitchen.

Lily was preparing the huge chocolate for the party as Sirius and James stared at it with greed in their eyes. As soon as Lily turned Sirius called up that famed Griffyndor courage and thrust his hands towards the cake, his mind already imagining the heavenly taste of chocolate as it would melt on his tongue.

Thwack!

Sirius hands were swatted away by what looked like a particularly angry saucepan. Apparently Lily's talent in charms had shown itself again." You didn't think I would leave the cake unprotected with you two ogling at it!"

Sirius pouted and sat down near James complaining about his job.

"Seriously Prongs, you take a holiday and Rufus drops all the work on me ! No matter what you say, I still believe that he's taking his revenge on me "

"Maybe you should have thought that before spiking his coffee with magma hair potion " Remus countered. Lily turned around faster than a snake at this statement and stared at Sirius with fury.

"Or maybe Moony over here should know when to keep his mouth shut..."Sirius said but was silenced by the look on Lily's face.

"You what ? I knew you were reckless but I didn't know you were stupid enough to spike your boss' coffee!", she said incredulously .

"Oh .it was all for fun."

"Your idea of fun is everyone else's idea of torture". Lily replied with a raised eyebrow

. Remus nodded sagely at that while James was whispering to Hayden about something.

"Really dad! Thank you thank you", Hayden suddenly spoke up and bounced with excitement and ran upstairs. Lily narrowed her eyes at James.

"What!"

"That devilish smile on your face and Hayden's excitement strongly suggests that both of you are up to something. And that means trouble. So spill it," Lily commanded.

"And what if I don't?", James challenged with a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Then my dear husband, you will be cleaning up after the party and sleeping on the couch for the next week". She said swiftly

James knowing that she could fully carry out her threat accepted defeat ."I was just going to let him use my invisibility cloak for a while. You don't have to get all fiery on me" he replied pitifully.

Lily simply smirked ."See to it that there is no trouble". Suddenly a house elf popped and said "Mistress Lily, the zabini family has arrived".

"Thank you Wocky, see to it that the cake remains untouched" she said and left.

"Don't worry mistress, I wont allow Master Hayden's cake to be harmed", Wocky replied with a mischievous smile towards Sirius and James.

"She has you whipped mate!" Sirius spoke up glancing at lily's retreating form.

"Wouldn't have it any other way mate, wouldn't have it any other way" James spoke with a small smile.


The Zabinis had been family friends with the Potters ever since their days in Hogwarts. Cassidy Zabini nee Hitchens was the best friend of Lily and they along with Jane Meranus were inseparable during their days at Hogwarts. Although Cassidy and Jane were Ravenclaws and a year older than Lily, yet it never seemed to affect her friendship. After they had once found Lily crying by the lake clutching a letter from Her elder sister petunia in her first year, they had taken her under their wing and the friendship blossomed. Cassidy had married Leonard Zabini, and even after marriage both the families had remained close friends.

"Cassidy!", she exclaimed and hugged her friend ."Hey Leonard, where are the kids?"

A tall broad shouldered man gave lily a quick kiss on the cheek and replied," They rushed off to find Hayden."

"Hiya, Leo, Cassidy, thanks for coming to help, Lily's going mad about the preparations. You would think it was Hayden's wedding or something", James said coming from a distance .Lily glared at him while the Zabinis laughed.

"I'll have you know Mr. Potter that Hayden's wedding will be much larger than this." Lily replied with a smirk. James paled at this.

"You mean you already have it planned! "James cried out in mock horror and looked at Leonard." See what I mean , I am not allowed to teach my boy quidditch but she has the right to plan his wedding. "

"I sympathize with you mate. God knows its difficult to handle them.", Leonard replied and both of them dissolved in a fit of laughter.

"On the couch tonight you", two female voices spoke simultaneously directed at their respective husbands. Both of them threw up their hands in surrender and quickly went to pacify their wives.

"You wouldn't want me on the couch tonight would you? "James whispered in a husky voice .

"EWWWWWWW" echoed three voices just as James had managed to capture Lily's lips in a kiss. James immediately separated from his wife and looked around to see Leonard doing the same.

With a flick ,a silvery cloak flew from nowhere and landed on James' hands exposing three kids. A boy with dark brown hair, amber eyes and sturdy built, and a girl resembling Cassidy in her beauty but with black hair and brown eyes and another boy with black messy hair and emerald green eyes each sporting a look of disgust.

"I see that you have shown Hayden the utility of the invisibility cloak", Cassidy spoke up in amusement.

James merely shook his head "Ah Hayden, when I told that This could be used for spying I didn't mean that you should spy on me" .

"And I will never be doing that again, not after this!" Hayden replied his face still scrunched in disgust.

"Hello Uncle James ,aunt Lily", the other two kids replied.

"Hey Selene, Ryan ,hope Hayden here hasn't been corrupting you "James replied.

"Hey there ,everyone, My my Cassidy, you seem to grow more beautiful every time I see you", Sirius spoke coming from the manor along with Remus.

Everyone present rolled their eyes at Sirius' antics .Remus greeted everyone and Leonard smacked Sirius playfully on his back.

"Quit flirting with my wife Sirius, she's mine I tell ya,all mine". Leonard replied in mock outrage .

"Ya ya,keep telling yourself that!"


Soon enough, all of them were in the massive garden of the Halls of Silver otherwise known as Potter mansion in a white gazebo. Hayden looked around to see various people around him .His parents on both sides and his uncles smiling at him. Ryan and Selene stood with him. The Tonks family stood near Sirius with their daughter Nymphadora or Nimmy as he used to call her to prevent her wrath. Professor Flitwick ,the Hogwarts charms professor ,stood near Lily beaming at him. He was glad to see all his friends present there. There had been some security issue over the party and he had thought that he couldn't invite all his friends ,but his parents had taken care of that. His parent's friends that he had come to know over the years were there too .

"C'mon Hayden its time to cut the cake", Lily spoke up in a soft voice. Immediately ,a smiling Wocky came carrying a huge chocolate cake shaped like a giant snitch.

"And of course ,you are not encouraging him to be a seeker!" Sirius spoke up seeing the cake and the crowd laughed.

As various tunes of the happy birthday song echoed throughout the garden, Sirius singing it in the tune of his favorite muggle song "Hotel California", Hayden blew out the candles only wishing for this joy, those smiles to last forever.

The party was on in full swing. All the kids had gathered around Nimmy, who was the eldest of the lot and was making all sorts of faces using her metamorphmagi ability. As Professor Flitwick passed them, She immediately turned to face him ,her face an exact replica of his, and spoke "Mr. Flitwick,10 points from Ravenclaw ",and all the kids along with Flitwick laughed at this.

Recovering from laughter, he made his way to where James ,Sirius and Leonard were sitting ,the expressions on their face somber.

"Hello professor ", James greeted him

"Quit with it already, James. you are no longer my student. You call the headmaster by his name and still call me professor. Makes me feel older than Albus" .The others chuckled at this.

"Too bad he couldn't make it. He always has a thing for parties. And Lily made lemon tarts especially for him."

"The usual order business is keeping him. Along with the ICW conferences, he is not left with much time these days. And he also just returned from the annual Transfiguration council meet of the ICW, he was representing both himself and Minerva.."

The mention of the transfiguration professor brought about solemn and grave expression on all of their faces.

After a moment of silence, Leonard spoke "I still cannot believe that The Joseph Mcgonnagal is no more ."

"Yeah, he was one of the finest fighters that I've ever seen . Our first Knight. ",Sirius spoke up.

"For the first time in my life have I felt so vulnerable. If Voldemort was able to defeat a man who is no less than a legend…",Leonard said.

"It was not just him, the dark prince was their too. Both of them cornered him and killed him.", James replied with unhidden anguish.

"Poor Minerva, she was truly shaken with this. But as the strong woman she is, she has sworn to avenge her husband's death.",Flitwick said.

James glanced at his family, in a distance he could see Lily wiping out an invisible smudge on Hayden's face and Hayden trying to brush her off.

"I know I would do anything to save my family."


"So how was it?" asked an eager Ryan.

"Awesome ,Dad had held me tightly, but let me tell you the feeling is unparalleled .I could feel the wind flowing through my hair. I just wanted to grab the broom and dance around in the air.", Hayden replied with a large smile.

"How could you feel it exciting? A thousand feet above the air, with nothing but a twig to prevent you from crashing !",Selene questioned with a shudder.

"Just because you are scared of heights doesn't mean it is not fun", Hayden answered with a taunting smile.

"Shut up you prat",she glared at Hayden but still with a smile.

"Remember the time when we were young, and we were on the second floor balcony of the manor. The snitch we were playing with went off to another room. we went to recover it leaving her all alone on the balcony .She just looked down from there and screamed like hell!"Hayden spoke and broke out in fits of laughter with Ryan.

"It wasn't funny you guys, I was small", she protested and then rounded on Ryan who had tears in his eyes from laughing." And why are you laughing Mr. I don't like rats?"

Hayden immediately spoke up" I still remember when uncle worm tail transformed for the first time infront of me and he shrieked like a girl and ran through the house waving his arms", Hayden complemented the speech with a poor display of hand waving.

"You did not just say that", Ryan spluttered seeing Selene laughing hard at him.

"What are you gonna do about it ?"Hayden asked with a bold face.

Ryan simply flexed his arms getting up and heading towards Hayden with a malicious glint in his eye.

Hayden immediately got up and ran with Ryan following him at an equal pace.


Lily and Cassidy were talking about their Hogwarts days when Hayden sprinted infront of them with Ryan at his heels, both screaming in laughter.

"He seems so much like her", Lily said in a sad tone looking at Ryan.

"Yes, every morning I wake up and see him at the breakfast table and I cant help but see Jane in him. The way she used to talk ,her way of arranging things ,all her actions are reflected in him. When he looks up at me with those amber eyes, I can almost feel Jane behind them." Silent tears sprung up in her eyes as memories of her best friend flooded Cassidy.

"Remember during her graduation, she had gone up to professor Dumbledore and had demanded that when her child stepped into hogwarts,she would like it to be more cheerful than the haunted castle look that it provided" Lily said with a watery smile.

"I believe her exact words were-'Bloody hell Dumbledore,you better clean up this castle. I wont have my child coming to a haunted place to study!' and that was after Peeves spilled pumpkin juice in her hair" Cassidy added ,tears still in her eyes.

Glancing at Ryan, she said "She would have been proud of Ryan, you know."

"Of course she would have, and she would have been proud of you too, the way you have brought him up like your own "Lily said

"Now come, I wont have tears in my house especially on my son's birthday. Its getting late. Lets call the others for dinner before James and Sirius manage to pilfer my desserts."


After dinner, everyone returned to their respective places. Even Remus had to leave, claiming that he was tired. The full moon from the last night still had its effects on him. The Potter family along with Sirius were returning to the house when the gates opened once again to allow Albus Dumbledore into the grounds of the manor.

"Albus, how are you", Lily said on seeing him and rushed to greet him.

"I am fine Lily. Happy birthday Hayden ..Sorry I couldn't make it to your party. But I do believe you had a fabulous time today", Dumbledore spoke handing Hayden a brightly wrapped present.

"Thank you Professor Dumbledore",Hayden replied.

"Come inside Albus .I have managed to save some lemon tarts for you" Lily spoke and ushered them in.

Once inside ,they retired to the family drawing room, with coffee and lemon tarts. James on recognizing Dumbledore's grave look said," Hayden why don't you go up to your room and open your presents while we talk with Professor Dumbledore here. Zwinkly" .A house elf slightly bigger than the previous one appeared." Take Hayden's presents to his room."

Hayden, used to this , left silently without protest. After he left, James spoke up," What is it Albus?".

"It is as I feared James, Voldemort has taken steps to prevent his death. What measures he has taken, I know not. But I am certain that at present ,he is not mortal as any of us. "

"But how can that be Albus? Immortality is something that not even the greatest sorcerers have been able to achieve.", Lily asked in a concerned voice.

"I do not know, Lily. But Tom has a knowledge of dark arts that is unparalled. That is what I was most afraid of. His remarkable intelligence combined with his power ."

"What of the dark prince?", James suddenly spoke up.

"From my knowledge, I do not think that the dark prince has taken any such steps. However he has been trained in the dark arts by Voldemort himself and him being an heir to Slytherin means that his raw magical energy is likely to be of great magnitude."

"Oh he's powerful, that I know", James spoke in a distant manner recollecting the spells performed by the dark prince.

"How did the meet of the general assembly of the ICW go? "

"The ICW has refused help. According to the international laws of the Confederation, it shall not provide any military aid for an insurgence. Voldemort has targeted only the provinces under Magical Britain. Due to this the confederation has ruled out any help. They recognize our need for assistance however the laws prevent them from doing so. "

"WHAT? They do realize that Voldemort wont stop at Britain .He shall spread out his minions and with his power he shall soon have the entire magical community of Europe under his control.", Sirius voiced his outrage.

"The high masters of the supreme council understand that. But the law binds them. Similar requests for aid were requested during the rise of a dark wizard in Australia and were turned down on similar grounds few years after the fall of Grindelwald. For many members of the council ,it is just a public uprising to overthrow our government. As they claim,' The ICW was created to maintain peace among magical nations not to help the existing governments rule their people'.", the frustration in the tone of the aged wizard was evident.

"It means we are on our own now.", Sirius said in a slow voice.

"Voldemort is getting stronger. I have doubts that by the time the ICW realizes the need to assist us it might be too late. I have lived long enough to see various dark wizards rising and falling. But none have troubled me as greatly as Tom. His powers are growing with every passing day and so is the strength of his army. I believe our only hope lies in the prophecy".

At this both James an Lily cast a silent look at each other before bowing their heads.

"Listen to me, I have already spoken to the Longbottoms. They have agreed to go into hiding for the time being. Voldemort knows the first part of the prophecy. The only thing stopping him from attacking Hayden and Neville is that he doesn't know the exact date of their births. I may have managed to keep the birth records of every magical person born in the last ten years well hidden, but that will only delay him. You must hide for the time being.",Dumbledore spoke in a concerned tone.

"The Potter Mansion has enough wards to keep him out", James replied, "We don't have to hide anywhere."

"While the wards on your ancestral property are extremely powerful, even paralleling those at Hogwarts,but it will not keep you safe from the dark forces of Voldemort. I have already spoken to you about this. The only solution is the fidelius charm. But the Magic in the Potter mansion and its ancient wards along with its massive size make it impossible to cast the fidelius over it. You must move to someplace smaller and safer."

"We will think about it, Albus",Lily replied .

"Please inform me of your decision soon. If not for your sake ,then for the sake of Hayden. "With this he got up to leave, leaving behind his three finest comrades in the war in deep thought.

"I don't know what to do. Hiding would mean giving up on everything that we intended to achieve. Hayden already complains about the amount of time he has to spend in the manor. And I don't blame him. He should be able to roam around, play with his friends instead of having to spend his entire time in loneliness in the manor. ", James said his head buried in his hands.

Lily came and put his arms around her husband. "But the situation is far from normal James. Hayden will understand. He's a good kid. We will do what we can. Everything will be alright",Lily gently rubbed small circles on James' back.

"Yeah mate, and besides Hayden's not getting bored .You know I have already told him most of our stories during our marauder times.", Sirius replied with a smile.

Lily rolled her eyes," He has been asking me to teach him about magic. He seems extremely fascinated by it, almost like I was when I discovered I was a I perform magic, he begs me to tell me all about how I did it "

The conversation on his son cheered James to some extent."yeah,yesterday night I cast Lumos and he asked me how I did it. I simply told him I charmed my tip of wand to produce light. And do you know what he did. he concentrated for a while and his finger tip was glowing with light!"

"That is not accidental magic! He is performing wandless magic. Why didn't you tell this to me earlier?"

"Er..with today's plans, I kinda forgot about it", he smiled sheepishly.

"Pup sure is smart. He has inherited your intelligence Lily, since that is one thing I can assure did not come from Prongs' genes."

James glared at him. But soon found himself smiling.

"He'll grow up to be a strong man.

"And handsome as his godfather."

Lily could only look upstairs as the words of the prophecy resonated in her ears.


A/N-there it goes, my first chapter. The next shall be even more interesting. This is my first fic .So please review.