Author's Notes: This better work! Okay, this chapter one, part deux. was mean to me, in the fact that they screwed up my font. And I forgot to add my notes in. Jeez. Ah well. Anyway, I suppose I should be explain. You are about to read One Step At a Time, a fanfiction following James Potter through seven years of Hogwarts, and if I get popular demand, up until his death. Now, if you ever read a Marauders' fic before, you may have come to expect a few things such as: James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus being best friends from the start and James noticing Lily right away and confessing his love to her. Nope, not here. But, I think I kept you long enough, so I will say just two more things: One, I will try to update weekly, but I cannot make any promises. Et deux:
Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be. Get over it.
One Step At a Time
There was a lot of things that James Potter would humbly admit to not knowing. He did not know why muggles liked to blast their tellies at three in the morning, when normal people slept. He also did not know why left socks often went missing. Yet, most of all, he did not know why Mums were insistant at waking their wonderful sons at five thirty in the morning. It was something James often pondered. Once tired of pondering, James asked his mother why.
'Because my little boy needs his breakfast.' Mrs. Potter replied. James wished to say that if he ate from five thirty until when he actually had something to do, he would never be able to fit in Diagon Alley, which would be quite the bummer, as he rather enjoyed the place. He decided not to answer though, because his mother was like a house elf, if you annoyed one, you might find something wrong with your next meal.
However, today was a very special day. Today was the last day he would have to deal with his mother waking him up so early. From now on, he was free to wake up when he pleased. Ah, the joys of freedom. Oh, also, James was going to Hogwarts for the first time today. But that fact was shoved behind the much better fact that he was free from his mother! At the thought of this, James finally began to wake up.
"Get up, son." James looked over his thin sheet to see a giant blur standing at the door frame. Reaching over for his glasses, James quickly put them on to see his father leaning against the wall, with a smile on his face, "Your Mum has cooked you a special treat and she says if you're not downstairs in ten minutes, the dog's getting it."
James nodded and slowly kicked back his sheets, revealing his thin body. It was a Potter curse, James' appearance. Most Potter men were short, not short short, like goblin short, but short, never could be a Keeper because they have to block all three hoops with their body alone. They were also skinny and pale. One of James' uncles, Poindexter, tried to break this habit by moving to the Caribbean Islands. In a month, he moved back to gloomy England with a horrible burn and no more heavy than when he left, even though he claimed to feast every night. Finally, all the Potter men and women had black hair. James' grandfather, David, told him that the reason all Potters had black hair was because his grandfather's great-grandfather tried to steal a sorcerer's riches.
'Women always ruin our lives, Jim.' His grandfather told him, before being hit in the back of his head by his grandmother. It was with the advice that James continually walked with. His mother always reminded him to be kind to others, his father said to never be kicked when he was down and to always fight back, and his grandfather shared that he should always fear women. Always.
Apparently, that was supposed to help James become a man. The very thought made James laugh as he finally got out of bed, letting his feet fall to the cold wooden floor. He stretched his body to its max, relishing in the sound of his bones cracking. He looked down at what he was wearing. It was just a pair of plaid boxers. He never really wore anything else to bed. Up in the attic where he slept, it was always so warm and stuffy. James moved into the attic after his baby sister, Alexandra, was born. He was only four, but the sounds of her crying were too loud for him to sleep to, and his parents refused to put a Silencing charm on her. James smirked, remembering how mad he was at his little sister for always getting the attention and never shutting up. Even now, seven years later, it was the same way. All she ever did was talk, mostly about some new drawing she made.
Pulling a white tee-shirt over his chest, James began to wonder if he would actually miss his sister. He doubted it. The little brat was always going through his stuff and making him play with her. For once, he would have mates his own age.
Well, he did have one friend his age. Frank Longbottom. He lived in the house next to James'. The two houses were the only Wizarding ones in all of Roger Street. As such, even though both boys were Pureblood, they knew way too many muggle games. James regretted entirely when Alex learned Hopscotch. It was an extremely foul game that annoyed James to no end.
It was on the thoughts of Hopscotch, that James finally went downstairs to get his food. Two flights of stairs later, he found himself in the kitchen, where his family had already gathered around to eat. Mrs. Potter looked up once at her son, shook her head in disapproval, and then immediately started to cry. Alarmed, James ran over to his mother, nearly stubbing his toe by running into her purse on the floor.
"What's wrong, Mum?" James asked quickly, wondering if did something wrong. He couldn't think of anything, but maybe he had forgotten. He was still half asleep.
"Nothing, dear," She finally replied, wiping her eyes with her robe, "It's just that you're going to leave me to go school and I won't see you until the summer hols." Behind her back, James' father rolled his eyes.
James, however, gave her a half smile, "I'll come home during Christmas break and write loads of letters. And if it makes you feel better, I'll even bring home all my friends from school, that way you'll have a year of trouble with me, compressed into about a month, then you'll never want me home again."
James' mother nodded sadly, "Okay, but you better write or I'll send you a Howler. Now sit down before your pancakes get cold."
Women. James thought, remembering what his grandfather said. They're enough to drive anyone crazy. It was at that moment that James looked down at his Snitch shaped pancakes. But maybe they're good for something. All other thoughts were driven from his mind as he piled his pancakes with what seemed to be half the syrup bottle. He quickly and quietly began to eat.
Ten minutes later, James was told to go upstairs and 'make sure he had everything'. While this seemed quite ridiculous to the boy, he did as told, not wanting to upset his mother anymore than she already was.
Once back upstairs, James fell back on his bed, knowing it would be his last time until December. Not that was he going to be homesick. The very idea was laughable. However, he was a bit nervous. It was a big change to knowing everyone on your block to only knowing one person in the entire school. James didn't tell his fear to anyone though, he figured he'd make friends soon enough. All he had to do was put on the Potter charm and find his way into everyone's hearts.
A bit bored, James went over to the only window in the attic. He opened it, feeling the cool Autumn breeze blowing back at him. He shuddered, but continued his mission. Outside his window there was a long rope that connected to Frank's house, specifically, the window is Frank's room. On the rope, near James' side, was a little pail. Making sure that he pail was, indeed, on his side, James ran to the small desk in his room and wrote a note on an empty sheet of parchment:
'Come on over. I'm bored.'
As he walked back over to the window, James carefully folded the note, so it would be able to fit in the pail without falling out. He then dropped the parchment into the little device they set up two years ago, and pulled the top rope so that the bottom rope holding the pail would go towards Frank's house. James stopped pulling the rope when it hit the window, but then pulled on the bottom rope a few inches, then the top one so it hit the window again, and then repeated the process until Frank came to the window.
Frank was the kind of person who blended in with the crowd. He had very sharply cut brown hair and was a medium build. However, James tended to believe that in a few years, he would be one of the tallest people in their year. He just had that look to him. Not that James minded.
It wasn't until Frank opened the window that he saw his blue eyes seemed to be filled with a sort of anger. He took one glance at James, then the pail in front of him and grabbed the note. He read it quickly, then picked up a near by quill and wrote a reply. A few moments later, he pushed the pail back with the new note.
'You prat. What time is it?'
'About six, I think.'
'Fine. Let me write a note to Mum. She's not even up yet, you know. And since you woke me up, I'm demanding breakfast.'
James smirked and waited for his friend to show up. About three minutes later, a much more awake (And slightly wet in the face) Frank pulled himself across the rope. The first time Mrs. Potter saw Frank climb into James' window in such a manner, she nearly fainted. However, for the boys, it was just routine to travel to their friend's house with it. Besides, if they fell (Which they might have done once...or twice...) it just proved they had magic because they would do something to protect theirselves.
Once Frank was done shimmying, the two boys went downstairs to the kitchen. Mrs. Potter was in the living room this time, but she entered the kitchen once hearing footsteps. She took one look at Frank and sighed, "Frank, how many times must I tell you that we have a door you are welcome to use at any time."
Frank just shrugged and the two boys started looking for food.
"Just think," James whispered to his friend, "We can do this at Hogwarts, too. Dad told me last night how to get to the Kitchens. Then we can have whatever food we want, whenever we want it. And Dad gave me an Invisibility Cloak so we don't get caught."
Frank grinned widely, "Wicked. We'll be able to whatever we want and not get in any trouble."
James feigned a look of innocence, "Well, maybe not all the times. We'll get in trouble every now and then."
"Detention," Frank asked, looking very unhappy at the idea, "But why would we want to get in trouble when we don't have to?"
"Adds a little spice to life, don't you think?" James replied with a grin.
Frank, however, just sighed, beginning to dread their first year.Top of Form 1Bottom of Form 1
