James Potter I and "I have something to tell you," – 2/50 for the Time Travel Boot Camp Challenge at HPFC.

Also written for week six of the 52 Weeks of Writing Competition with the prompts: mouse, spoon, 'Now I know what a House Elf feels like.'


"Peter?" James pulled the boy's hangings back to reveal tangled sheets and the quivering form beneath them. "What are you doing? It's Saturday and you know how much I love Saturday breakfasts. Get up!"

He poked the shaking boy and sighed loudly. Remus could be heard singing in the shower, and he wasn't quite sure where Sirius was (or whose bed he'd gotten into the previous night) but everyone seemed to be against him that morning. All he wanted was food. Was that too much to ask for?

"Peter… Oi, Wormtail!"

Only the boy's nose emerged from beneath the covers, and James sat down heavily beside him. "Hey," he said, quiet now because nothing else seemed to be working and he was desperate. "What happened?"

A loud sniffle startled him, and James moved back a little.

"I… James—I…I have something to tell you." Peter sniffed again. "I travelled back in time today when I was practicing my Animagus transformation."

James' eyes widened. Breakfast was all but forgotten, wiped from his mind by surprise. "What are you talking about? You can't just… travel back in time! It's not possible!"

"It's true, I did. I went back in time and this woman—a Muggle—was wearing the most atrocious gown I have ever seen! She started screeching about mice in the house…"

"You were in Animagus form when you travelled back in time?" James' voice was flat, obviously doubting his friend's words. "And then what happened?"

"So I was running around, hoping not to get flattened by whatever she was throwing at me… She had… she had a strange accent, like she was speaking some old form of English… but I think she wanted to shoot me and put me in some stew…"

Peter's eyes began to fill with tears, and James, alarmed, patted the boy on the head. Peter was still partially under the covers, but his black eyes were visible and wide with fright.

"So then I ran over a huge spoon and managed to push it over and onto the floor. She slipped on it, fell, hit her head on the ground, and lay there—James, what if I killed her?"

James laughed, and Peter's brow furrowed.

"It's not funny!"

Remus, exiting the bathroom with a towel around his waist, cleared his throat and asked, "What's not funny, Wormy?"

Peter's scowl grew deeper. "I went back in time, knocked a woman out with a spoon, and then when I transformed back into human form I was brought back here. A House-Elf found me in the corridors and… Now I know what a House Elf feels like. Sort of bony, not as squishy as you'd imagine..."

"Er—"

"What?"

James and Remus made sounds of confusion.

"See…" Peter hedged. "I kind of hugged the Elf… I was frightened after the… trauma of the experience so—"

"You hugged a House-Elf?" Sirius' drawling tone joined the conversation, and Peter seemed to retreat beneath the covers at the sound of his voice.

"Y-yeah…" Peter stumbled over his words. "But… If we could never bring this up again, that would be great…"

James and Remus shared a look after seeing the mean-spirited glint in Sirius' eyes. He'd probably gotten kicked out of some girl's room that morning.

"Yeah," Remus looked toward the door. "We should get down to breakfast."

"Sirius," James hissed. "Breakfast. Now."

Then, as he remembered that it was Saturday and that his favourite breakfast was going to be served, James grinned and forgot about the whole fiasco with Peter, rushing ahead of his two other friends to run to the Great Hall.