A/N: This is my first fic so it's going to be a little messed up
at first. And since this is my first,
be easy with criticism, 'k? I already
know that it's not perfect and could be better, and I'm not in the mood to hear
anyone agree with me about that! I
would like you to review when you are done though. I want you to even if it is just to tell me my mistakes. And
before I forget, I gotta thank my beta readers, James and Sirius.
Disclaimer: All Harry Potter (Or James Potter in this
story) and related characters are not mine.
Only their thoughts and actions are mine. (Some of their thoughts and
actions) Everything worth having
belongs to the wonderful J.K. Rowling.
Only a few of the minor characters belong to me, and you don't really
want them anyway.
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Chapter
One – James
"James you are going to go to
Hogwarts tomorrow! I can't believe how fast you are
growing up. Before we know it, you are going to be graduating from Hogwarts,"
Julie Potter exclaimed wiping a tear from her eye with her left hand and
holding her son James to her with her right. "Then hopefully get a decent
job, get married…" her voice trailed off.
"It
doesn't
seem all that fast to me!" James'
muffled voice said, muffled because his mother was holding him so close. James
tried to push her away, but for how small she was (he was just three
centimeters shorter than her) she was amazingly strong.
"Julie,
let go of the poor boy. He can't breathe!"
Nick Potter, James' father, said sanding up and stepping towards the two but doing
nothing else to help James out of the uncomfortable position. Julie held James
tight for a moment longer and let him go.
James looked a great deal
like his father. They both had the same black, untidy hair, and the same dark
(almost black) eyes. Nick was very tall, while James was short compared to his
father, but was still pretty tall for being only eleven, and James believed
that he would grow to be as tall as his father, someday.
Julie Potter couldn't
really be described by saying that she looked the same as James and Nick, but
it would be lying to say that she looked nothing like them. She had dark blonde
hair, which was neat and clean. She had light brown eyes, and she was a very
small and delicate woman. From that description she sounds nothing like Nick
and James, but there is something about her, that when you see her, she reminds
you that she is related to them. Something in her eyes and face.
James rubbed his sore face
and then muttered under his breath, "Gosh mum! At least I know she'll miss me."
His mother, besides her
super strength, must have wonderful hearing because she replied briskly, "Course
I'll
miss you. And so will your father, I suppose . . . " Her
voice trailed off and she sighed. "My how quiet it is going to
be around the house during the day with only Seth and me! But then when your
father gets home from work, it surely won't be quiet. It certainly
will be easy cleaning the place up. And I won't fear being blown up while
I'm
sleeping. Or while awake for that matter. But I must say that I will miss the
explosions. Not the damage from them, for sure, but I've
become so accustom to them, that they seem natural."
Julie smiled slightly, sniffing.
"Jeez,
if you're going to miss them that much, Julie, I'm
sure I can find a few dungbombs lying around and set them off in the attic,"
Nick said, trying to hold in his laughter. "Maybe I can talk Seth into
setting something off. He might do it if I give him a book or two." This
comment must have seemed more amusing to Nick, because he burst into laughter,
and had to sit down on the couch unless he wanted to fall down.
After Nick had finally
regained his sanity (although just barely) Julie continued talking, although on
a new subject.
"Now,
James. Normally I would say, 'Don't
get into any trouble,' but seeing as how I know
that is impossible, I'll just say try not to get
in too much trouble. Okay sweetie? And send us an owl, everyday, all
right? I'm glade we got you that owl. You can never trust the school's
owls."
James flinched at being
called 'sweetie' but since no one was
around to bug him about it, he chose to ignore it. This time. "Alright.
Gotcha. Not too much trouble. But some trouble is to be expected."
"…Yes… But
of course no trouble would be better."
"Oh,
but mother dearest you already told me that you would be disappointed if I didn't at
least ruffle McGonagall a wee bit," James said, pushing his
glasses back up the ridge of his nose. James hated his glasses. He had just
gotten them a few weeks ago, and he still didn't feel comfortable wearing
them. It was nice, because he could see, but he felt like a geek. Simon, James'
friend he went to school with until now, said that was to be expected. James
had asked his mother why glasses were necessary. Couldn't
they just do a spell on his eyes so he could see well? Julie refused. She had
read in the Daily Prophet that the specialists in that area of magic often made
mistakes leaving their unfortunate victims…uh I mean, customers blind.
Sometimes they were only blind for a few weeks or days, but sometimes it lasted
longer. Sometimes it lasted for life. This scared James into not pushing into
the matter further, but sometimes he wished that he had.
"James!
I never said that!" Julie exclaimed.
"It
probably was me," Nick replied, still holding his side from laughing so hard.
"You
probably did say it one time or another dad, but mum said it in her eyes, just
now."
"I
did not!" Julie said quite offended.
James'
brown eyes twinkled. It was quite fun to provoke his mother. "Believe
what you want, but I know the truth. You want to see her frustrated out of her
wits, because she was head girl when you where a second year and she was mean
to you. Dad's told me the story. You want to see that old bat get ruffled! You
want me to show her a thing or two! You want me to make her pay! Admit it!"
Julie sighed. "Well,
I guess that I can't hide anything from you. You may have been going a little over
board, but I can't deny that I want you to ruffle her feathers a little. I still
can't
believe that she gave me detention for falling asleep in the library."
"Uh,
feathers? Mum, why didn't you tell me she was a
bird? That isn't safe. The public should know about this. The insanity of it all!
Does Dumbledore know?" asked James, pretending to
be shocked; he really looked like he would like to faint. "He
should. She might…Well, peck someone's eyes out! Mum you poor
dear. Being caught by a bird while you were waiting for some boy to come. Sorry
he stood you up."
Julie blushed a deep red
and muttered something that James believed to be, "Two
boys," but
it was hard to tell. It could just have easily been 'mayonnaise'.
She then said, clearly, "James, I put up with your
jokes and sarcasm, but some of the teachers might not find you funny. You are
in for a lot of detention if you don't shape up your act young
man."
"But
I like my act fine just the way it is. It's a great act! People from
all over the world gather just to watch my act. It's
more popular with the muggles than the wizards who stick swords down their
throats. The girls love it! It's…"
However Nick and Julie never got to find out what else it was for at that
moment Julie put a silencing charm on her son (the most painful one possible,
making him bit his tongue). James let out a scream, that wasn't
very loud seeing as how his mouth was sealed shut.
"James!
This is just what I'm talking about. You need
to watch your mouth. No, not literally. James, I'm serous. I don't
want you to ruffle McGonagall too much. I almost feel bad for the poor
professors. Not quite though. Now they'll see what I have had to
put up with for the past eleven years!" Julie sat down and put her
head on her hands. Sometimes that boy was impossible.
"Julie,
I'd
like to talk to James man to man before he goes. Maybe I can talk some sense
into him," Nike said, offering his wife a hand to help her up.
"Oh
Nick. I know very well that you are just going to make sure he packed all the
dungbombs and he is bringing the invisibility cloak your father left you. Oh
well, I might as well let you come up with some ideas of how to torture the
professors. At least you'll be thinking and planning
instead of just running into the teachers lounge and…Nick
you were so foolish…"Julie stood up, without
Nick's hand,
and started walking out of the room. "Although I'm
sure you'll do something stupid anyway, even with the planning…"
After Julie had left, Nick
took the silencing charm off of James, and the first thing James said was, "Well
dad, what plans are we going to make? Yes, I have all dungbombs and the
invisibility cloak."
"I
just wanted to say, don't get into trouble and…"
"Dad,
mum isn't listening. You can tell me whatever it was now."
"Okay,
okay. When I was at Hogwarts, my friend Dolong Longbottom made the record for
most detentions. It was 416. I was right behind him with 413. I would be
honored if you would break that record. No telling your mother now."
James grinned and said, "What
do you think I am? Thick? I'd have to be to tell mum a
thing like that. I'd love to get at least 417 detentions. I have to live up to
the family name, after all, right?"
"Right!
Okay, go and pack now. And remember, not a word to mum."
"Alright.
My lips are sealed…or were a minute ago at least. So where is Seth anyway?"
Seth was James'
little brother. He was four years younger than James, and the complete
opposite, both in looks and in temperament. He had blonde hair and it was
always kept neat and perfect. His blue eyes were watery and small.
James sometimes wondered
how he could have a brother that was so different from him. Seth was a perfect
little angel. He would no sooner think of pulling a small prank then James
would think about going to a muggle museum and looking at the artwork of the
Renaissance.
James was very glad that he
would have four years, Seth free, before the little brat was sent off to
Hogwarts as well, for he was sure that once Seth got there, it would ruin his
reputation that he was planning on building. How would it be if he were
catching McGonagall's hair on fire, and then
along comes little, perfect Seth? Seth would surely put out the witch's
(literally yes, but that wasn't what James was thinking
about) hair? Everyone would make fun of him for having such a twit of a younger
brother. All his friends (he didn't have any yet, but he
would) would believe him silly.
James just hoped that perhaps Seth would turn
out to be a Squib. That sounded like a really mean thing for Seth's own brother to think, and
indeed it was, but James just couldn't help it. If only Seth had been a little more like
James…or even if they had
gotten along. But they didn't and
there wasn't
anything to be done about it.
