Operation 5
Disclaimer: I own Harry Potter…Which is exactly why I have less then ten bucks, am only thirteen, and am just as clueless as the rest of the world as to what'll happen in the seventh book… (in case you haven't noticed, I was being sarcastic… I do not have any delusions about being the great J.K.R. I only own what you don't recognize…I might not even own that…)
Vanessa Potter hated Christmas with a passion. With most families, it was a time to relax, get presents, and get out of school. For Vanessa, it was a time of absolute chaos! It was bad enough with just her eleven siblings, but add in Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron's five kids, Uncle Fred and Aunt Angelina's three, Aunt Katie and Uncle George's four, Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur's 2, Uncle Charlie and Aunt Maggie's three, Uncle Percy and Aunt Penelope's three, and then Cousin Lionel, and Chrissy's three, Cousin Dirk and Kiesha's two, and Cousin Alyssa's and Garrett's little one, and Grandma Weasley it made one heck of a group and not a very peaceful time.
Now, Vanessa admitted that it could be a blast to have 20 cousins, three cousin-in-laws and three second cousins at some times, other times it could just be a pain. Like Christmas for instant, when Vanessa, Holly (a cousin), Steven (cousin), Molly (cousin), Melanie (cousin), James (brother), and Sirius (brother) were forced to watch over everyone 11 and under for almost the whole time, and since the Potter mansion was huge, it was almost impossible to keep track of them all.
Today was Christmas, and she and Holly were in charge of Micah (Alyssa and Garrett's kid) and Lyle (Dirk and Kiesha's boy). They had gotten the easiest job this year because they had been in charge of Jessalyn (9) and Kayley (4) last year. Vanessa supposed it was a good thing that she and Holly could work together because then they could talk.
Vanessa and Holly were both fifteen years old and had been best friends since they were babies. They, along with Lia Moon and Paul Longbottom, had probably broken more rules in their five years at Hogwarts then even their parents had, which was pretty amazing. The only exception was perhaps James and Sirius Potter, the sixteen-year-old twin pranksters and their best friend Matthew Boot. And that was who Vanessa and Holly were talking about.
"What am I supposed to do Hol? Now I know how Mum felt about the situation with Dad…" Vanessa whined.
"Hey, look what happened to them! They got married and now they've got twelve kids!" Holly said reassuringly.
"Ha! That's a one in a million chance… I doubt he even knows who I am…" Vanessa said moodily.
"Oh come on Ness! He comes to your house every other Christmas, he's here right now, and he talks to you all the time! I'm pretty sure he knows who you are." Holly laughed.
"No… He knows who Sirius and James' little sister is, not who Vanessa Potter, the person is. But, hey, what about you and Paul? I heard he broke up with Jasmine." Vanessa smiled.
"For the last time, I do not like Paul Longbottom! He's a friend, that's it!" Holly said hotly, turning bright red.
"Riiiiiiight… Just like Sirius doesn't have any feelings for Lia." Vanessa laughed.
"Ness? Holly?" Ginny Potter called up the stairs to the two girls, "Everyone's ready to leave!"
"Coming Mum!" Vanessa yelled as she scoped up Lyle who had been peacefully playing with Vanessa's old stuffed animals.
Holly gently stood up, cradling Micah. The two girls exchanged looks as they walked down the stairs side by side. They saw all fifty-two of their relatives waiting for them in the living room. As soon as they saw the two girls, Kesha and Alyssa rushed forward to claim their kids.
"Holly, we've decided that we're all going to stay here for awhile longer. Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny invited over the Longbottoms and the Moons, and we decided that we're going to stay and visit, okay?" Hermione informed her daughter. Holly just gave her a cheesy grin and a thumbs up.
Twenty minutes later, everyone had left except Hermione, Ron, Holly, Melanie, Austin, and Donnell. Nyssa had to leave because she had to go to work early the next morning.
"Hey, Mum? Are Lia and Paul coming too?" Vanessa asked as she plopped down on the couch that Holly, Sirius, James and Matt were already sitting on.
"I think so… We told them they could bring the whole family again…" Ginny said distracted, she was trying to find her wand so she could clean up the mess everyone had made.
"Ginny, dear, it's on the table." Harry said patiently, pointing to the wrapping paper covered cocktail table
"Oh… thanks…" Ginny muttered, pulling it out of the mess and cleaning up the disaster with a flick of her wand, at that moment, the flames in the fireplace turned green and Luna Moon gracefully spun into the room.
"Luna! Oh, it's so good to see you again!" Ginny gushed, spinning around to see her old friend.
"Hello Ginny, Hermione, Harry, Ronald. It's good to see you again as well. Thomas, and Lia should be on their way. Oh, hello Holly, Vanessa, Sirius, James, Matthew. It's so good to see you all. It's been an awful long time." Luna smiled, and turned to sit on an old high backed chair.
"Hi Luna." Vanessa grinned.
Vanessa had always had a sort of soft spot for her godmother. While Luna may have been rather odd, she often seemed to know and understand things that no one else did, simply because they were unwilling too. Vanessa had always been closer to Luna then she had with any of her Aunts and Uncles, even Hermione.
Then with another spinning of the fireplace, Thomas Moon, Luna's husband, stumbled into the room. His cloak full of ashes, and his brown hair sooty, he looked just as disheveled as he always did. While Luna was always very graceful and well organized, Tommy was always bumping about and losing things. However, they were a perfect match, and were made for each other.
"Hello everybody!" Tommy said cheerfully, trying to dust himself off.
"Hi Tommy." Hermione smiled.
"Good to see you again." Harry grinned, shaking his hand.
"Well, Lia should be here any minute girls. Said she just needed to grab some things." Tommy said, nodding to Holly and Vanessa.
"Oh! Do you think she's bringing them?" Vanessa said, her face aglow with excitement.
"I hope so! That'd be awesome if she was!" Holly exclaimed.
On that note, the flames turned green again and a girl with waist length, light blond hair and big blue eyes elegantly twirled out of the fire laughing merrily.
"Oh, I love traveling by floo! It's so much fun." Lia Moon said sincerely.
"Lia's here!" Holly squealed, and with that, jumped up and hugged her.
"Hello Holly. It's good to see you to." Lia laughed, with her tinkle of a laugh.
"Hey Li." Vanessa giggled, looking at Holly and Lia, who had randomly started playing ring-around-the-rosie together.
"Ness!" Lia yelled, pulling Vanessa into the game.
Just as they said 'We all fall down' the fire once again turned green, and Neville Longbottom fell out.
"Ouch..." Neville grumbled.
"Hi Neville. Nice of you to drop in." Ron grinned.
"Hi guys. Paul, Rachel and Susan should be here soon." Neville said, referring to his wife, Susan, and his kids, Paul and Rachel.
"Cool." Tommy remarked.
Neville straightened himself out, and then took a seat on the loveseat. Vanessa silently laughed to herself. Neville Longbottom was a klutz, there was no doubt about it, however, he was fiercely loyal and an excellent dueler with a flair for Herbology.
A couple of minutes later, the fire turned green again, and a girl with a long plait down her back stumbled out. It was Rebecca Longbottom, a very clumsy, loyal, smart twelve year old.
"Becca!" Flora, Vanessa's twelve-year-old sister, exclaimed, hugging the girl.
"Hey Flor!" Rebecca giggled.
"Hey, wanna go upstairs and do something?" Flora asked.
"Yeah, if that's okay with you guys…" Rebecca said, looking at the adults in the room.
"Of course it is Rebecca." Ginny said kindly.
"Let's go!" Flora grinned, and with that the two girls bolted from the room.
Then, the fire turned green, and a round-faced boy with blue eyes fell out of it, closely followed by a woman with dark hair. They both stood up laughing. It was Paul and Susan.
"Hi Paul, Hey Susan." Vanessa said.
"Hi Nessa, Hi Hol! What's new with you guys?" Paul said cheerfully.
"Nothing much… Hey Mum, mind if we go to the attic?" Vanessa asked.
"Why would you want to go up there?" Ginny asked confused.
"Mum." Vanessa whined.
"Fine, just please don't make it any messier than it already is…" Ginny sighed.
"Let's go." Vanessa muttered, and Lia, Paul and Holly stood up and started to go, but just then, Sirius spoke up.
"Mind if we come with you?" he asked, gesturing to himself, James, and Matt.
Vanessa exchanged glances with her friends, then shrugged her shoulders and walked away with Lia, Paul and Holly followed by the twins and Matt. As soon as they were out of the living room, Vanessa whirled around to Lia and Paul.
"You got it?" Vanessa asked breathlessly.
"Yes. Yes I do." Lia commented dreamily.
"You Paul?" Holly asked.
"Course I do! How could I forget it? What, with all your nagging and constant letters." Paul laughed.
"He's rather got a point." Lia said amused.
"What are you talking about?" James asked confused.
"You'll see. Come on, we need to get to the attic." Holly explained.
"Wait… is this why you've been spending an abnormally large amount of time in the attic?" Sirius asked.
"What are you talking about?" Vanessa asked, widening her eyes, feigning innocence.
"Oh don't play innocent with us…" James sighed.
"You'll see…" Holly smiled.
The group had finally arrived in the attic, and Paul pulled out a small journal. It had a brown, leather cover and the words 'A Troublemakers Guide to Trouble; Getting in it, Getting out of it, and Everything In-Between ' embroidered on it with gold thread. Then, Lia swung a rather large leather bag over her head and off her shoulder. She sat down, with her big light blue peasant skirt settling gracefully around her on the floor. She pulled out a number of things from the bag.
First, She pulled out her wand, some of her schoolbooks, then a ratted and tattered copy of 'Hogwarts, A History'. She also pulled out fifteen diaries that all said 'Luna Lovegood, year' with numerous school years on it. There were three fourth year diaries while every other year only had two. Finally she pulled out a very old set of school books that all had the name 'Phylicia McKinnon' written in very neatly on the front.
"What are you doing?" Matt asked slowly.
"Not letting our legacy die out." Holly answered swiftly.
"What legacy?" James questioned.
"Our legacy."
"Which legacy is that?"
"The legacy of the biggest troublemakers in the history of Hogwarts."
"Yeah right." Sirius snorted.
Vanessa just threw him a disgusted look, but did nothing else. She then started rummaging around in the boxes that were spread all over the dusty attic floor. Finally she pulled out an old, worn sheet of parchment. She grabbed her wand out of her jean pocket and tapped the paper muttering, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
Lines started crisscrossing every which way and soon the Marauders Map was there in all its glory. Vanessa spread it out in front of Lia who had opened the 'A Troublemakers Guide to Trouble; Getting in it, Getting Out of it, and Everything In-Between' and continued working on what seemed to be a map of the third floor of Hogwarts. On the page before it, was the second floor.
"Whoa. How long has that taken you?" Matt breathed.
"Well, since we've had to hand draw it all, it's taken us about three months." Vanessa said simply.
"Why don't you use magic just to copy over the Marauder's Map?" James asked.
"Because then we'd have had to figured out how to erase all the people… and besides, they missed a few passages." Paul pointed out.
"Oh. Right." James mumbled.
"What else are you including?" Sirius asked, clearly impressed.
"Well, we're going to tell them pretty much how to do everything we've done, Mum, Dad, Aunt Ginny, Uncle Harry, Luna and Neville did, and hopefully how to do everything the Marauders did. So we'll be including things like how to start an illegal defense society, how to become illegal animagi, and how to do all sorts of stuff." Holly explained.
"Why, you're just handing it to them on a platter! They won't have to work at all!" James howled.
"Yes they will. First of all, the only thing we're handing to them on a platter is the Map, secondly, we've put a curse on it, so should they try to copy any of the things we've done exactly (except the illegal animagus stuff), they, well, let's just say it won't be pretty…" Holly smiled mischievously.
"Look, I'm going downstairs. I'm thirsty and I want something to drink really badly." And with that James Potter II left.
"What's his problem?" Lia asked, not in a mean sort of way, but as though she really wanted to know.
"No clue…" Sirius said.
A couple of minutes went by in silence. Then, suddenly the house started shaking back and forth and back and forth. Everyone was knocked about and everyone was screaming. Then with a pop, Vanessa, Holly, Lia, Paul, Sirius, and Matt were gone.
A/N: Sorry, I know this chapter wasn't very good but please bear with me, it'll get better but, I had to get a lot of facts down on paper so you could kind of understand what was going on and who everyone is. The next chapter will just be the Weasley/Potter family tree so you can understand who everyone is and thus not get so confused later on when I mention a whole bunch of names and such, Okay? Also, the next chapter's point of views will be more direct and less screwed up. Lastly, this story is about Lily and James getting together, it's just that this motley crew has to get there first. If you have any questions, comments or the like, please review and I'll answer to the best of my ability. -P.E.E.V.S.Y.