James Sirius Potter never was the most organized person on the planet.
He realized this right after he had finished his seventh year. He had been sitting on his bed, looking over the floor of his room.
Clothes from his school trunk were sprawled out all over, as well as hanging off the wardrobe, desk, and the desk's chair. His school books were hidden beneath old essays that he had yet to dispose of like he promised himself a week before the school year ended. Extendable Ears from Weasley Wizarding Wheezes, that of which he previously used with Albus to listen to their sister's nonsense gossip, were hanging off the edge of Phineas Nigellus Black's portrait frame. Somewhere in the mess, he had misplaced something important.
He sighed as he pushed himself off the bed and walked over to the portrait of his distant ancestor. "Phineas!" He also was impatient. "Phineas!"
"No respect nowadays," a voice in the portrait mumbled. Seconds later, the former headmaster appeared in his portrait at Grimmauld Place. "What is it, Potter?"
James scratched the back of his head, laughing nervously. "Well, I need your help."
Phineas arched an eyebrow. "You do realize that I am a resident of a portrait, right? If not, then I fear for your intelligence, boy."
"No, no," James scowled. "I was just curious if you saw where I may have misplaced something. Y'know, that gift for my girlfriend."
"I remember. For some reason beyond my knowledge, you decided to share it with me. I don't see what the problem is with telling your parents and siblings, but it's your ludicrous choice." Phineas shrugged and scanned the room himself, his eyes widening with each second. "How do you even walk in this room? I don't even remember a boys' dormitory at Hogwarts being this disastrous ."
"Yes, and I do remember my dad telling me that himself." James rolled his eyes. "Now, as I asked, do you know where I misplaced that gift?"
"Oh, right, well, if I remember correctly, you were over there in that corner." The elder one nodded towards the desk. "Though," he continued when James kicked aside an old Potions book, "it may also be on that beside table. Your younger brother came in here looking for something and came across it over there. I, however, don't know if you misplaced it elsewhere since then."
James groaned, throwing another book on the floor from his desk. "Not here." He made his way to the other side of the room, this time having to kick aside an American football and jump over his stereo. He made his way to the bedside table and threw an old Herbology essay onto the floor. "Aha!"
"You found it?" Phineas questioned in a bored tone.
"Yes, thank you."
"You're welcome. Now may I return to my other portrait? I was in the middle of an enticing debate with Dexter Fortescue."
James nodded and waited until the portrait was empty before picking up the little black box and fleeing the room.
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A/N: This idea came to me just randomly. It's nothing special, but I figured 'Why not?'. :]