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Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters and places from the Harry Potter world, which is trademarked by JK Rowling. However, all plots are my own and are in no way endorsed by JK Rowling or anyone affiliated with the Harry Potter universe.
Chapter 1: September 2016
"Now what?" Lucy Weasley demanded. We've been up and down the whole train and there are no free compartments."
"I guess we have to share one with someone," her cousin, James Potter, replied.
It was their first day of school and both were extremely excited to be finally heading to Hogwarts.
"Louis' compartment isn't too far away," Lucy commented. "Maybe we can ride with him."
James agreed and the two turned their trunks around and started wheeling them back up the hallway. As they passed one particularly full compartment, one of the occupants – a blond haired boy wearing a dress shirt tucked into his trousers and a tie that looked like it should have been choking him – got up excitedly and joined James and Lucy in the hall.
"You're James Potter the Second, aren't you?" he asked excitedly. "Harry Potter's son?"
James sighed and shared a look with Lucy. He'd been afraid of this. He didn't want to be known around school as 'Harry Potter's son', but with his father's reputation, he supposed it was inevitable. "Yeah, that's me," he replied reluctantly.
"I am so pleased to meet you," the boy said enthusiastically, grabbing onto James' hand and shaking it fervently. "I'm Zacharias Smith the Second," he added. "Our parents were the best of friends back in school and I just know that we can continue on with that legacy."
"Sorry… who's your father?" James asked, reclaiming his hand. He was pretty sure Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione had been his father's best friends back in school, but maybe he was forgetting a name.
"Well he was Zacharias Smith the First, of course," Zacharias replied. "I'm sure your father talks of my father all the time, just like my father talks of yours. Such a shame that they both work so much these days and no longer have the chance to see each other. If they had more time, then perhaps we would have met sooner."
"Yeah, it's a shame," James falsely agreed as he vaguely began to recall mention of a Zacharias Smith from the stories the adults used to tell at family dinners. In fact, if James remembered correctly, it had been Uncle Ron who'd mentioned the name, and he'd then described him using a word that James wasn't allowed to repeat. That had earned Uncle Ron an evening of washing dishes without magic by a displeased Grandmother Weasley who'd confiscated his wand. "Well, I guess we'll see you around," James said as he slowly inched his way backwards and away from Zacharias.
"Oh, won't you come join us?" Zacharias asked, gesturing to the compartment he had just come out of. "We thought it'd be fun to get as many first years together as possible to bond before the sorting ceremony splits us all up."
James tried to hide his grimace as he considered the prospect of spending the entire train ride listening to Zacharias. "While that sounds like a wonderful idea, we were just on our way to meet our cousin Louis. He's expecting us you see," James lied.
"Oh, what a shame," Zacharias said. "Well don't be a stranger. Though we'll probably end up in different houses, I'm sure we'll have plenty of opportunities to spend time with each other, just as our fathers did."
"Right," James said, plastering a fake smile on his face as Zacharias bid him goodbye and returned to his compartment.
"And my name's Lucy, by the way," Lucy said to the door once it had shut behind Zacharias. "Not that anyone cares."
"Aww, come on Luce," James said as they resumed their trip to find their cousin. "Don't be like that."
"That's how it's going to be for the next seven years," Lucy pointed out. "Everyone's always going to notice you, and I'm just going to be your invisible cousin."
"That's not true," James insisted. "That Zacharias bloke is just ignorant. He probably takes after his father, and you remember what Uncle Ron said about him."
"Oh yeah," Lucy said with a laugh. "Grandmother Weasley got so mad, I could almost see smoke coming out of her ears."
When James and Lucy finally found their cousin's compartment, they stood outside the glass door and waved innocently.
"Hey guys, how are you?" Louis Weasley asked as he got up and slid the door open.
"We were hoping we could share your compartment," Lucy said. "There aren't any empty ones left."
"Oh sure," Louis replied, stepping aside to let his cousins in. "Justin, help me get their trunks up there," he ordered, gesturing to the racks above the seats where student's trunks were supposed to go.
"Thanks," James said in gratitude as he dragged his trunk inside behind Lucy's.
"By the way, James, Lucy, this is my friend Justin Spinnet. Justin, these are my cousins Lucy Weasley and James Potter," Louis said, gesturing back and forth between the parties. "James, Luce, we were about to go find the candy trolley, you want to come with us?" he asked.
"Thanks, but we're fine," Lucy replied. "We'll just sit here for a while."
"Suit yourself," Justin said. "But I'm not giving either of you any of my licorice wands," he added before he and Louis went into the hall and shut the door, beginning their quest for the candy trolley.
JjJjJjJjJjJ
The train ride to Hogwarts passed quickly, and before James knew it, they had arrived at Hogsmeade station and the first years were being herded towards Hagrid.
"Hey Hagrid," James greeted the Professor warmly. Hagrid was one of his father's oldest friends. In fact, he'd known Hagrid since before Uncle Ron or Aunt Hermione.
"Hello James. Lucy," Hagrid responded. "Excited fer yer sorting?"
"Nervous is more like it," Lucy replied honestly.
"Ah, don' be. Everyone's always happy with the hat's decision."
The trip up to the castle was just as James had been expecting. Teddy had told him all about the boats and the lake, and when Hogwarts finally came into view, James was prepared for the overwhelming feeling of awe that came over him.
In no time, the first years were all gathered in the Entrance Hall and Hagrid knocked three times on the doors of the Great Hall. It was answered by Neville – another of James' father's friends from his school days – and after a word of greeting the group began to file inside.
"Adams, Alexandra," the first name was called after the sorting hat had sung it's song. Alexandra walked up and sat on the stool and Neville placed the hat on her head.
"SLYTHERIN!" the hat cried out. James watched as the girl happily took a seat with the Slytherins became aware of Lucy tensing up next to him.
"What's wrong?" turning to his cousin, as the next name was read.
"Just worried about getting sorted somewhere other than Gryffindor," Lucy muttered. "I know it's stupid. All the Weasleys go in Gryffindor, so I really have nothing to worry about."
"You're right," James nodded. "This is all just a formality anyway. Everyone in this room knows where we're going to end up. Just remember to be confident when they call your name. The hat will sense if you're afraid."
"Right," Lucy muttered. "Be confident."
The sorting seemed to drag on and on, but finally it was James' turn.
"Potter, James," Neville read. Sucking in a breath, James held his head up and confidently walked towards the front of the room. Neville smiled at him as he took his seat on the stool, and as the hat was lowered onto his head, James shut his eyes.
"Ah, James Potter," the sorting hat whispered into James' ear. "You're not like your father at all, are you?" it asked. James felt a flutter of nerves when he heard this. He'd been so sure he was getting into Gryffindor – was the hat telling him he'd been wrong? "No, your father was a difficult placement, but you're one of the easiest minds I've seen today," the hat went on. James wondered at that for a moment, but didn't have much time to process the hat's words as it kept on talking. "Yes, there's no doubt about it," the hat said. "You belong in… GRYFFINDOR!"
James let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding as he leapt up from the stool in glee and went to sit with Justin and Louis. He was so happy and relieved that he didn't even bother to think about what the hat had said about his father being hard to sort.
When Lucy was finally called towards the end, James tried to send her calming thoughts. He could see fear in her eyes and he hoped the hat wouldn't think she was too cowardly for Gryffindor. There was a moment of uncertainty once the hat was on her head before it declared anything, but then the word Gryffindor rang out across the hall and James and his entire table jumped up and started cheering.
As Lucy joined her cousins at the Gryffindor table, Neville finished reading the names of the last three students to be sorted. Finally, when Woolsey, Sebastian went to Ravenclaw, Headmaster Slinkhard stood up and announced the beginning of the welcome feast.
JjJjJjJjJjJ
The next morning dawned bright and early, and James and Lucy were full of enthusiasm for their first day of school.
"I'm so glad we have Herbology first," Lucy said to James as they congregated with the rest of their class outside greenhouse one. "It'll be nice to have Professor Longbottom teaching our first class."
"Well, well, well, if it isn't James Potter," an approaching student drawled. "Look at you, standing there all innocent. You think you can walk into my school and not even acknowledge me? Who do you think you are?" the boy said.
"Sorry," James said, "but, I don't know who you are." James noted that the student in question wore Slytherin colors, and though he wasn't sure why this particular student seemed to hate him, he knew it couldn't be good.
"Don't play games with me. You know who I am and you know what you've done. You think you're going to get away with it? Think again," the boy said.
Just at that moment, to James' relief, Neville came running around the corner, his arms full of textbooks and scrolls of parchment. As he raced towards the classroom, already running late, he tripped and fell over, sending the contents of his arms tumbling to the ground.
"Neville, are you alright?" James cried, running to the aid of the old family friend. As he helped his professor gather up his things, he could hear the rest of the class snickering behind him and he realized his mistake. He'd accidentally called his professor by his first name. "I mean… Professor Longbottom," James corrected himself, but it was much too late for that.
Neville, on the other hand, didn't seem to notice James' verbal fumble, and simply thanked him for the assistance as he unlocked the greenhouse and let everyone inside. James deposited the scrolls he'd been carrying on his professor's desk and joined Lucy at the back of the room, in the hopes that in the back, he would receive less stares.
"I can't believe that just happened," James mumbled as Lucy patted him on the back in an attempt to be comforting.
"Alright first years, welcome to Herbology," Neville said enthusiastically. "Rather than start off with a bunch of boring note-taking, I thought we'd start with a hands on approach to the subject. In this pouch, I have a mixture of seeds, all different. Each of you is going to plant one of these seeds, and over the course of the first term, you are going to care for them as they grow. We will be studying all these plants over the course of the next three and a half months, and by the end of term, I'd like you all to be able to identify your plant," he said.
"Gee, sounds like fun," James muttered sarcastically to Lucy. In reply, Lucy hit him on the shoulder.
"So to begin, I'd like you all to fetch a pot from the back and fill it with soil. Then you may come up front and receive your seed," he said.
Since James and Lucy were at the back of the room, they were closest to the pots and got to them first. Once they'd filled their pots with soil, they turned around to go and get their seeds, only for James to bump right into the Slytherin boy from earlier, causing him to spill his soil all down the front of his robes.
"Watch where you're going," the Slytherin boy said angrily.
"Watch where I'm going?" James asked incredulously. "You're the one who was standing an inch away from me."
"Don't blame me for your incompetence," the boy cried.
"Boys, boys, is everything alright over here?" Neville asked, hurrying over to break up what was possibly turning into a fight.
"Everything's fine, Professor Longbottom," the Slytherin boy said, stressing that last part in mockery of James. "I was just about to fill my pot," he added before going to do exactly that.
"Are you alright, James?" Neville asked when the other boy was out of earshot.
"Fine," James replied. "Just confused. Do you know why he hates me so much?"
"Probably just Slytherin-Gryffindor rivalry," Neville said cautiously. "I'll try to put an end to it," he added before returning to his desk.
"This is so exciting," Zacharias Smith exclaimed, showing up next to James unannounced, and causing James to jump. Had there been any soil in his pot, it would all have split. "It's just like when our fathers were at school together."
"Come again?" James asked, not following.
"Oh, you know," Zacharias said. "Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy were mortal enemies, and now Jason Nott has it out for you on the first day? It's history all over again."
"So that's his name?" James asked. "Jason Nott? Doesn't ring a bell."
"You don't know him?" Zacharias asked in surprise.
"No, do you?" James asked hopeful for some answers.
"No, I just assumed you did, since he hates you so much," Zacharias replied.
"I only wish I knew why," James muttered as he got back in line to get more soil.
JjJjJjJjJjJ
After Herbology, the first years were scheduled for potions class in the dungeons with Neville's wife, Hannah. After what had happened first period, James had had enough of Jason Nott, so when Jason took the seat directly to James' right, he wasn't very happy.
"What are you doing?" James hissed as Hannah – Professor Abbott-Longbottom, he reminded himself – began the lecture.
"Just sitting," Jason replied. "Is there a crime against sitting? I guess you'd know if there was one," he said venomously.
"What are you talking about?" James asked in confusion.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Jason replied.
"No, I really don't," James insisted. When it seemed that Jason was going to refuse to explain himself, James glanced over to his left, where Lucy sat, hoping for an explanation, but she only shrugged.
When he turned back, he decided just to ignore Jason, which proved difficult since the boy continued to whisper to him throughout the whole class. When it was finally over, all James wanted to do was leave and go to lunch, but of course, Jason wouldn't have it.
"Oops, I'm so sorry James," Jason cried out as he knocked James' bag out of his arms, sending all his books and supplies flying across the room.
"Seriously?" James cried, finally reaching the end of his tolerance. "Was that really necessary?"
"I'm sorry, it was an accident," Jason replied, feigning innocence.
"It was not, you did it on purpose, and now you're trying to make it seem like an accident so that I come off the bad guy," he cried.
"Look, I'm sorry I knocked over your stuff, but I really don't see why you're so upset," Jason said.
"Is everything alright boys?" Hannah asked, hurrying down from the front of the classroom to break up the argument.
"No, everything is not alright. He's been harassing me all day, and now he's just knocked my things everywhere," James cried.
"It was an accident," Jason defended himself. "James is being unreasonable."
"Alright, I think I've heard quite enough," Hannah interrupted the two. "I heard you both talking all through my class, and clearly you can't get along, so I'm giving you both detention. I'll see you both here tonight at seven o'clock," she ordered.
"Typical," Jason muttered at James once Hannah had gone back to the front of the classroom.
This time, instead of questioning him, James ignored the comment and shoved past Jason in his haste to get out of there and get to the Great Hall for lunch.
JjJjJjJjJjJ
Unfortunately for James, the rest of the day flew by. His dread for detention that night only grew the closer it came, and he couldn't believe that he'd managed to get in trouble so soon into the start of the year. He thought it was a little unfair that Hannah had given him detention rather than just deducting house points, but he didn't want to fight it, knowing that she would probably tell his father everything, and he didn't want arguing with his professors to be added to his list of wrongdoings.
When seven o'clock finally rolled around, James reluctantly walked up to the door to his potions classroom and entered to find Jason already there and sitting at one of the desks, on which there stood two buckets of something with an unpleasant smell.
"Ah James, you're here, excellent. Now we can start," Hannah announced when he entered. "Tonight, you will be separating slugs. I want you to pick out the fatter slugs and put them in the empty container between you, and throw the skinnier, sickly looking slugs away in the disposal buckets on the floor," she explained.
"That's so gross!" James whined.
"I know," Hannah said with a smile. "That's what happens when you get detention," she added.
"Ugh," James muttered as he plunged his hand into the vat of slugs and pulled out his first one. How do we know if it's fat or skinny?" he asked.
Hannah looked up from the lesson plan she was working on and assessed his slug. "I would consider that a fat slug, but any skinner and I'd throw it away," she replied.
Not too much later, there was a knock on the door and Neville walked in. "Can I have a word, Hannah?" he asked.
"Sure," Hannah replied. "You two better behave while I'm gone," she instructed. "I'll be just outside," she added before following her husband out into the corridor.
As soon as Hannah was gone, Jason turned to James and spoke.
"You're going to regret getting me detention," Jason threatened as he tossed a slug into the disposal bucket.
"Getting you detention?" James asked. "You earned this all on your own," he insisted.
"If you hadn't started yelling, we wouldn't be in this mess," Jason accused.
"If you hadn't been such a jerk, I wouldn't have had to yell," James retorted.
"Is that so?" Jason asked, glaring at James.
"Yeah," James replied, not noticing the evil glint in Jason's eyes.
Without warning, Jason suddenly knocked James' vat of slugs over into his lap, causing the slugs to spill out all over James.
"What was that for?" James cried, jumping up and trying to shake all the slugs off him.
"I told you you'd regret getting me detention," Jason smirked.
"Ah, now I stink!" James cried, wrinkling his nose in disgust.
"Serves you right," Jason said.
"What did I ever do to you?" James demanded angrily, his nostrils flaring. "What did I do to make you hate me so much?"
"It's not what you've done; it's what your father's done. It's what your family's done. It's what you all stand for," Jason said, wrinkling his nose in disgust, whether at the smell of the slugs or the thought of the Potters, James would never know.
"You mean defeating Voldemort?" James asked in confusion. Generally, people celebrated that fact. James had never been hated because of his father before.
"I don't care about that," Jason said. "All I care about is my father, and the fact that I will never know him outside of Azkaban."
"What do you mean?" James asked.
"My father did nothing wrong," Jason cried. "He didn't know who he was helping; he thought he was doing a family friend a favor!" James was still as confused as ever, but Jason was still yelling. "I wasn't even born yet when your father arrested my father. He threw him in Azkaban with a life sentence. A life sentence!" he cried. "I didn't even get to meet him until my tenth birthday because of prison rules. And it's your fault: you, your father, and your family; all of them."
"Look, I'm really sorry – " James began, but Jason wouldn't hear of it.
"Spare me," Jason cried. "I don't want to hear more fake apologies. The only thing you could do to make things better is convince your father to let my father out of Azkaban."
James looked away sadly. "I'm sorry, but I can't do that," he said. As much as he wished he could, not only to end their feud, but also because he could hear the pain in Jason's voice, there was nothing he could do. If Jason's father was a convicted Death Eater, then his fate was sealed. And his father never incarcerated someone without being sure they deserved it.
"So I was right," Jason said quietly. "You're just like the rest of them."
JjJjJjJjJjJ
Detention lasted until right before curfew, when Hannah finally allowed the boys to go.
Look, Jason," James said once they had been dismissed and were on their way to their respective common rooms. "I feel really bad about everything that's happened… maybe we can start out with a clean slate?" he asked, hopefully. He felt bad for the boy, he really did. And while he couldn't ask his father to release a convict from prison, he could do his best to befriend Jason.
"You just watch your back, Potter," Jason threatened. "I'm going to make you sorry for everything your father's done," he added, shoving James into a suit of armor. James cried out in pain when he made contact with the sword, and a large gash appeared on his forearm. "Oops," Jason smirked before sauntering away.
James fumed. All the sympathy he'd felt for the boy vanished. He'd tried to be nice, but this was too much.
JjJjJjJjJjJ
When James returned to his dormitory, the only thought on his mind was changing out of his horrible smelling robes.
"What is that smell?" one of his dorm mates asked. James hadn't really gotten the chance to know his dorm mates yet, and his heart sunk at the thought that this was how he was going to start.
"Sorry, Jason Nott dumped a vat of slugs all over me in detention," James apologized.
"He really has it out for you, doesn't he?" the boy asked.
"Yeah, he seems to," James replied, choosing not to reveal why.
"So, are you going to get back at him for this?" the boy asked.
"I don't know…" James said hesitantly.
"Well if you decide you want to, I'm more than happy to help. Anyone who's going to make my roommate smell this bad is an enemy of mine," the boy said.
"Thanks," James replied. "What's your name?"
"Andrew MacDonald," the boy replied. "Now please, change your clothes before I lose my sense of smell completely.
