A/N: Ok, this is my attempt at a second-generation story. It began with "how must James Sirius Potter feel about being the son of the Boy Who Lived Twice"? And it's kinda progressed from there. It's a bit of a work in progress, so please! No flames! Each chapter (for now) will deal with the different relationships James has with his family and people, etc. Although some chapters have been combined and some will be split up…..please review!
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The Life and Times of James Sirius Potter
Chapter One:
The Potter-Weasley Clan
He would never complain about his life: he had a very loving and ridiculously large family he was never abused, unfed, unclothed or unloved. He lived in a nice house, had a nice broom, had loving and understanding parents, and he was never wanting of company, thanks to his thousands of cousins.
But it was not easy being James Sirius Potter.
Albus had it worse of course, having two famous and unusual names and having the green eyes and black, messy hair of their father. At least he didn't have glasses. Lily had it easy: her red hair allowed her to blend in with the multitude of Weasley cousins. Until, of course they learned her name. Then there was no doubt she was a Potter.
But James' messy black hair and his glasses made him look almost identical to his father. He had begged and begged for corrective eye surgery, but his parents continued to refuse him. At least he had his mother's brown eyes…
But that hadn't stopped people from stopping him in the street. They didn't stop Albus nearly as often since he was younger. And had no glasses. James was the eldest son of the Boy Who Lived Twice and the first Weasley girl in centuries. And when you were named after two famous (and infamous) pranksters, womanizers and brave War heroes and had Harry and Ginny and Harry Potter as parents, there were certain expectations.
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Fred and James were as good as twins. They were born barely six days apart and were nearly inseparable since. If George had been disappointed when he first had heard the word "heartbeat" rather than the plural, he wasn't when Fred and James turned two and had hid a gnome in one of Grandmum's cupboards. He still had no idea how they managed to move a garden gnome, but he knew from then on that James was Fred's twin. Fraternal and different parents, but twin none the less. They spent nearly every waking hour together and on some occasions, even completed the others' sentences. George would never admit it, in fear of his mother's and sisters-in-laws' wrath, but James was his very favorite nephew.
While James and Fred liked to frequently prank their cousins, aunts, uncles and Teddy (and their Uncle Neville) they never did so maliciously, or out of spite (although revenge was fair game). They were also not exclusive: Albus, Lily, Dominique, Roxanne and Teddy were frequent "prank collaborators". Dominique was a surprisingly good prankster and showed "great promise".
Fred and James were also the greatest Beaters since the Weasley twins themselves. They were on the team since their First Year and James was the first Beater to be Gryffindor captain in decades, if not a century.
Fred and James may have been "twins", but they had different personalities, different strengths and different taste in women. Which came in handy when they were "out wooing birds". Fred was outgoing, theatrical and sarcastic like his namesake. He was the creative mind of the pair. James had outgrown most of his "Ronness" although he occasionally still managed to be completely oblivious. He was good for a laugh, friendly and like his father was a patient and excellent captain, although he sometimes lost his 'Weasley temper'. He was the orchestrator of the pranks; he organized, planned and set them in motion. Frequently adding in extra flourishes.
James was also about five inches taller than Fred. Fred was built like his father and his Uncle Charlie, shorter than Ron and Bill and stockier. James was nearly as lean and tall as his father, but since he was a Beater he had a bit more bulk than his old man.
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James had always known that his parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents were famous. Or at least well known and important. Someone's picture was always in the paper or they were always going to "events" without the children. People would often stop them in Diagon Alley or at Quidditch games. He knew his mother had once played Quidditch and now occasionally wrote about it and he knew his dad was an Auror, but it wasn't until he got to Hogwarts that he learned the truth.
They would only ever say how brave Grandma and Grandpa Potter had been, now brave and wonder Uncle Sirius, Uncle Remus, Aunt Tons and Uncle Fred had been, how wise and brave Professors Snape and Dumbledore were. They only ever said, "Your dad, Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron, defeated a very bad wizard who had killed many good and brave people. With the help of your Mum, Grandmum and Grandpa and all your aunts and uncles, especially Uncle Neville.
Teddy and Victoire, of course, had learned the truth. James remembered that Christmas when Teddy came back from school and locked himself in his room with his dad. James remembered he came out, his hair a sad, sandy brown and his eyes a hazel, the combination Teddy rarely ever sported.
He remembered when Victoire came back after her first year she rarely left Teddy's side (more than usual) and looked at all of the adults with a sort of reverance.
But they never had told him what had happened. Not that he would have believed him anyway. He wasn't nervous when he was waiting to be Sorted: he was going to be in Gryffindor. Teddy and Victoire were. His parents had been. His aunts and uncles, grandparents, Teddy's dad and his Uncle Sirius had all been Gryffindor. There wasn't any doubt that he and Fred were going to be anything but Gryffindors.
But when his Uncle Neville had called his name with his usual, big, goofy smile, everyone grew eerily quiet. Until he heard whispers of 'Potter'?
The hat had barely touched his head when it yelled 'GRYFFINDOR'. Teddy and Victoire greeted him first with words of reassurance, "Don't worry, Jamie," Teddy smiled, his hair it's usual turquoise, "everyone stared at me when the first called me."
Victoire tucked her long, sleek blonde hair behind her ear, "Me too," she smiled and winked, "I was the first Weasley in a while."
James smiled back and waited eagerly for Fred to join them, but he still didn't really understand.
But after his first History of Magic class he did.
Firenze taught the first few classes that dealt with the more recent events, things that Professor Binns hadn't exactly experienced.
James and Fred walked slowly out of class that first day, ignoring the stares and whispers of their classmates. "Did you -"
"No. Did -"
"No."
They stared at each other. "Merlin," they whispered simultaneously. James frowned, "I - I'm going to go talk to Uncle Neville."
Fred nodded and watched his best mate walk down to the greenhouse; he couldn't begin to imagine what James was thinking.
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"Dad?"
"Jamie, what's wrong?" He patted the spot on the couch next to him and folded his paper, "come here."
"Why didn't you tell us?"
He watched his dad sigh and run a hand through his still very messy and still very black hair. His emerald green eyes met his, "You all are so young, James, you understand. We didn't want you to have to, I'm not sure - worry?" He frowned, "You aren't mad are you?"
James shook his head, "Just confused." He looked at his father, his sad, bright green eyes, "Were you too sad to talk about it?"
Harry smiled at his son, ruffling his unruly black hair, "Not as sad anymore," he hesitated, "Teddy was very angry with me, you know. But I never lied to any of you. Your grandpa and your Uncle Sirius and -"
James nodded, "I know, dad." He watched him closely, "But I think Al and Lils should know. And Rose and Hugo. And everyone." He hesitated, "Rose will be angry."
Harry laughed, "She will," he shook his head, "just like her mother." He looked at his eldest son again, "I'll talk to your mum. And grandmum too. And Auntie Mione."
"Dad?"
"Yea, Jamie?"
"Why - why didn't you tell us you were a hero? And Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione and Uncle Neville?"
Harry smiled, "Would you have believed me?"
James grumbled, "Well now I do."
Harry laughed heartily and pulled his son into a hug, kissing the top of his head, "Go and see your mum. Remind her your dad's a hero, yea?"
James frowned, "Shouldn't she already know that?"
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All the cousins - who had been deemed "old enough" - and Teddy sat in the library of Hugo and Rose's house, and stared at each other.
"You knew since -"
Teddy nodded at Albus, "Since First Year, yea. But Da - your Dad didn't want me to tell you lot."
Victoire nodded, "And I just couldn't tell you," she frowned, "I barely believed it anyway."
Lily and Albus looked towards their older brother, "So, Dad -"
James nodded, "More important than we thought."
"And mum and dad," Rose started and shook her head, "no wonder mum won't let me read the new revised Hogwarts, A Complete History." She stood quickly, hurrying to the shelves, "Teddy? James? Fred? Help me look?"
Teddy stood to help her, "It's exactly what they told you, Rosie."
Rose nodded, "I want to make sure."
Lily frowned, "Jamie, do they - do they treat you any different? Because you're a Potter?"
Fred smirked, "He's a Potter and a Weasley. He gets treated just like me and Vicky and Teddy," he winked at James. No need to worry them quite yet.
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James and Fred always teased Albus when he was worried about being Sorted into Slytherin, until his mum told them to stop. "Nothing wrong with Slytherin," she smiled at Albus before sending James a warning glare, "Don't listen to your brother. Slytherin is just a good a House as any." She paused, "But Hufflepuff -"
"Gin," Harry warned, "Hufflepuff is a good House too. Cedric Diggory, the Hogwarts Champion was from that House."
"Co-Champion, Dad," James corrected, "you were in it too."
"And Auntie Fleur!" Lily piped up.
Harry chuckled, "Point is, we'll be proud of you no matter what house you're in. Won't we, James?"
James messed his brother's hair, "Course we will, Squirt."
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"Now," Ginny smiled fondly as she attempted, yet again, to tame his hair, "don't be too overprotective of your sister, all right?"
"Mum," he rolled his eyes, "I promise I won't be a git like Uncle Ron was."
"Oi!" Ron said from he was saying goodbye to Hugo and trying not to mention 'Gryffindor' or the word 'disown'. "You were my babysister! And you always had a new boyfriend."
Ginny rolled her eyes and turned back towards her son, "You've been relatively good with Dominique and Rosie, so you have to promise to not be overprotective of Lily. Or Roxy."
"But be nice to them, I know, mum. I promise."
She smiled and laughed when she heard him mumble, "She is only 11," as he walked towards the train.
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Fred sometimes felt as though perhaps his pranks weren't daring or original enough. He wanted to be remembered like his father and uncle were, like the infamous Marauders were. Thanks to James, of course, they had gotten far fewer detentions because they were rarely caught. Everyone, good ol' McGonagallincluded, knew it was them, but they could never give substantial evidence. And good ol' Peeves, thankful for new "icky kiddies" to play with, never tattled on them. They did have some fairly epic pranks; the giant squid dancing up the front lawn; the fake birds "defecating" all over the Slytherins after they had lost the Quidditch Cup (they'd gotten a month's detention but it had been so, very worth it); the very hungry kneazles that had "found" their way into the Great Hall and stole everyone's food. But were any of these going to be remembered in 10 years? 20 years?
His dad would always recount their pranks fondly and their most remembered, the one they pulled before leaving school was discussed at length in the Hogwarts, A Complete History. George was very proud and impressed with his son's pranks, as well and Angelina would often just smile and will her eyes. George never pressured him into "taking over the business", as long as Fred and Roxanne - and James - promised to be on the Board until they died.
Fred enjoyed spending many of his summer days at the shops - he, of course, preferred the original one, the Diagon Alley location. But his parents promise a trip to one of their international locations as a graduation present: he and James were still debating whether they should go to Australia or Hong Kong.
But Fred still wanted to pull the biggest, longest, most creative, original and epic prank. He just didn't know what it was yet.
A/N: Thoughts? I know it's a bit disjointed, but….what do you think? PLEASE REVIEW!
