Author's Note: This was written for the Interviews round of "The Hunger Games Competition" on HPFC.
Disclaimer: Everything is JK's!
Harry's nerves were frazzled. Completely and utterly fried. In the past half hour, he'd run his hands through his hair so many times that he looked for all the world as though he'd just suffered a sudden electric shock. As he was pacing up the hallway in Grimmauld Place for the fifth or sixth time, he heard the rattle of a key in the lock, and the front door swung open.
"I'm home," he heard Ginny call from the doorway.
Harry almost jumped out of his skin at the sound of her voice, which right at this moment was not, he had to admit, the most comforting noise in the world. He raked his fingers through his hair once more, before going cautiously to meet her.
"H-hi," he said, wincing internally as Ginny's beady eyes fell on him. He continued, in a brave attempt at nonchalance, "How're your parents?"
"Where's James?" said Ginny, looking slightly suspicious already. Harry's heart sank.
"He's – erm – he's…"
"Harry…"
"I can't exactly find him." There was a moment of silence, before Harry said, feeling rather nervous, "Gin?"
When she finally spoke, it was in a voice so icy that Harry almost physically recoiled. "You. What?"
"He can't have gone far," said Harry quickly. "I mean, he's still in the house… I just-" He trailed off, seeing Ginny's eyes flair dangerously.
"You've lost him."
"I haven't lost him, I've just – ummm – mislaid him."
Even as he the words were leaving his mouth, Harry knew this was the wrong thing to say. For a moment, Ginny just glared at him, and then like a mother dragon guarding her eyes, she exploded. "What the hell do you mean, you've mislaid him? Oh, the marvellous Auror Potter can find seven Horcruxes and three mythical Hallows, no trouble, but give you a child for a few hours and suddenly he's nowhere to be found!" Her voice was laced with sarcasm, and Harry couldn't help but flinch.
"I didn't say that, I-"
"Because of course, the Chosen One has no problem searching out bits of scattered bloody soul, but when it's his own living and breathing offspring, everything's different!"
"To be fair," said Harry tentatively, "I only had to find three of the Horcruxes. Not seven."
Ginny drew in a deep breath, her nostrils flaring in a disconcertingly McGonagall-like way. "Harry Potter. You are going to tell me where you last saw James and when, and if the best answer you can come up with is 'in the house', then so help me God, you will have bats flying out of your every orifice for the next six months. And I mean every orifice. Got it?"
Harry gulped. "Got it."
"I'm bored," said James, stretching out the word 'bored' longer than Harry had realised was possible.
"I know."
"Why can't I play with Al?"
"Because he's gone to Grandma and Grandpa's house with Lily, so that we can take you to Diagon Alley in the afternoon. You know that."
James pouted up at Harry. "But I'm bored," he said again.
"Well, why don't we play a game?"
This seemed to cheer James up immediately, and a smile broke out across his face.
"OK," he said cheerfully. "Can we play hide and seek?"
Harry grinned at him. "All right."
"'Cause I've got a really good hiding place this time! You count and I'll hide."
"If you say so, boss!" Harry joked.
"Close your eyes," said James imperiously, staring at Harry. "No peeking."
Harry obediently covered his eyes, though he left a slight gap between his fingers, just to make sure James didn't get into trouble.
"Ten," said Harry slowly. "Nine. Eight…"
Just as he'd suspected, James lost no time in padding over to the window at the end of the living room, where he pulled the curtains just a little bit open, hopped onto the window ledge, and drew the curtains back again. This had, in fact, been James' 'really good hiding place' every single time they'd played hide and seek over the last few weeks. Even now, Harry could hear James giggling quietly to himself.
"Three. Two. One," finished Harry. "Ready or not, here I come!"
Harry smiled to himself. Where should he look first? He wandered around the living room, glancing around at the squashy sofa and armchairs, and the big cupboard in the corner.
"Oooh, is James in the cupboard?" he said, opening it up. "No! How about under a chair? Nope."
He was pretty sure he heard a muffled laugh coming from the curtains, and he grinned. Harry continued in this vein for some time. As he went on, the spots he checked grew more and more bizarre, until finally, after determining for absolute certain that James wasn't perched on top of a picture frame or squashed into a minute drawer, he decided it was time for the game to come to a close.
"Oh dear," said Harry loudly. "I hope I find James soon! Wait a minute – I wonder if he's behind the curtains…" He strode over to the curtains and yanked them back. "There he-"
The window ledge was deserted.
Harry's mouth fell open, and his stomach plummeted. He'd been certain James was there! He'd watched him take his position, for Merlin's sake! He'd heard him giggle! And yet James was not there. Panic beginning to rise in his throat like bile, Harry tore around the living room, searching places that he'd already checked, just in case.
He found no James.
Maybe he wasn't in the living room after all. Harry leapt into the hallway and began rifling through the coats, just in case James was behind one of those. He wasn't, and with a surge of fear, Harry wondered if he'd gone into the kitchen. He could have burnt himself, or cut himself, or any number of terrible things, all because Harry had failed to keep an eye on him!
"James? Where are you? James, the game's over!"
There was no answer. Harry had no choice but to keep searching.
Ginny stared at Harry, her mouth slightly open. "You mean to tell me that, for the last half hour, you've been searching for James because he – and might I remind you that he's five years old – succeeded in outwitting you in a game of hide and seek?"
"I wouldn't say outwitted…"
"Harry, you can't find him. It's a game that revolves around you finding him, and you can't. I think that counts as being outwitted."
"But I just don't understand where he's got to! I've looked everywhere!"
"Clearly you haven't. Have you checked the attic?"
"Yes."
"The laundry room?"
"Yes."
"The-"
"Ginny, I really have checked everywhere!"
Ginny sighed, dropping down into a chair. "You don't think he would have gone outside, do you?"
"I don't think so," said Harry dully. "Though who knows?" He paused, and a sudden idea occurred to him. He raised his wand, and said, "Accio J-"
"Harry Potter, you are not going to summon our son!"
At the look in Ginny's eyes, Harry faltered, and tucked his wand away again, feeling slightly sheepish. "Why not?"
"He could hit his head on a doorframe or something." She rolled her eyes. "Honestly, sometimes I can't believe you're a functioning adult, let alone a role model for half the wizarding world…"
"Hey…"
Ginny stood up and walked around to the back door, Harry hot on her heels. She tugged on the handle, but the door was still locked.
"All right," she said. "He can't have gone out the back way, so hopefully he's still inside."
"Which leaves us back at square one."
"I suppose so." Ginny paused, staring down at her feet. "James!" she called. "Where are you?"
"I told you," said Harry, "I already tried calling him, he-"
"Hi, Mummy!" came James' voice from a few feet in front of them.
"What the…?"
There was a slight rippling of the air in front of them, and then James' head popped into view. Soon, the rest of his body materialised, leaving James standing in front of them with a silvery material cradled in his arms.
"Merlin's bloody-"
"Not in front of James," said Ginny quickly. "Though I share the sentiment."
"Have I won yet?" said James.
Harry just gulped several times, lost for words.
"Yes, I think you won." Ginny's lip was twitching, and Harry could see her shoulders beginning to shake with silent laughter.
"That little-" Harry took a deep, shaking breath.
"Why didn't you come out when Daddy called you?" said Ginny.
James looked at her as though she was a moron. "He was playing the game."
Harry closed his eyes, letting out a long, slightly shaky breath.
"You had my invisibility cloak all that time?" he said, once he'd regained a certain amount of composure.
"Yeah." James shrugged. "I saw it on your desk."
"And you thought you'd use it for hide and seek. Fantastic."
"Can I have some lunch now?"
By this point, Ginny was laughing harder still, and Harry was sure he could see tears forming in her eyes. He groaned, and collapsed into a chair at the kitchen table, letting his head fall onto his folded arms. He wasn't quite sure whether he felt relieved, angry, or just like a bit of an idiot. Probably a bit of all three.
"Why the hell," he said, his voice muffled by his sleeve, "did I think it was a good idea to name him after my dad and Sirius?"
James giggled.
Author's Note: Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the story – I'm still a bit unsure of it, so any reviews are greatly appreciated if you have the time/energy/willpower! :P