Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything related to him. If I did, I would have a small island fortress in the South Seas and an army ready to take over the world. I don't. At least that's what the government thinks…
Chapter One:
The Game
Harry James Potter sat in a rather comfortable wing chair on the first floor of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place.
It was a dark, stormy night, but that was fine. It was just a common summer storm in England. Light rain and a few bits of lightning weren't anything worth panicking over. He, Ron, and Hermione had been living at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place since they had graduated from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Lupin had stayed there as caretaker of the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix for some time now. Harry had of course let him stay even though there was now precious little for the Order to do. Ginny was there for the summer. He and Ginny had started dating in his last year at Hogwarts and had continued a romance since. Ron seemed to have a problem with Harry sharing a room with his baby sister, so Ginny slept in the room down the hall from him. She kept complaining that his bed was more comfortable than hers was.
Harry leaned back to take a sip of his tea. He was thoroughly relaxed living in his Godfather's home. Apparently Sirius had left the home to him, and the money in his Gringotts account to Remus. His Godfather had been the closest thing he had to a father, and he missed him immensely, especially with his birthday so close. Only a week until he turned 20. Harry was amazed he had lived this long at all. What with the chaotic mess his childhood had been, it was semi-shocking he didn't spend all his time in a corner gibbering about purple squirrels and stuff.
Suddenly his thoughts were rudely interrupted by a knock at the door.
***
The young man kept glancing at some weird note Dumbledore had given him to memorize, and now he was standing on some weird street, here in front of some weird house that had popped out of nowhere, and had a weird broken doorbell to boot. His day was weird. His mom was right. He shouldn't have even come looking for stuff about his father, but something had compelled him to come to his native country.
He had never seen his father, and the first news he heard of him was the letter from Dumbledore telling him that his father had died protecting his godson. It also explained how he had been innocent of whatever charges had been brought against him. He'd been fourteen at the time. He was nineteen now.
He reached up and knocked again.
A young man with rather mussed hair, green eyes, and a lightning bolt scar on his forehead answered the door. He stared in shock for a moment and promptly passed out.
"Great even more weirdness," the young man muttered, stooping over the other to check his pulse.
***
Hermione Granger came down the stairs, and as she skipped the last step like she always did, she noticed something odd.
Harry was lying on the ground apparently unconscious. A young man with long black hair was crouched over him, either checking his pulse or stealing his wallet.
"Don't move," Hermione snarled as she drew her wand and aimed it at the boy. She had been taught to always be ready for battle at Hogwarts. "Stand up slowly."
"Which is it?" the figure asked, still crouched over Harry.
"What?" she asked.
"Well, you first told me, 'Don't move.' And now it's, 'Stand up slowly.' Which is it?" The young man was being pretty reasonable for someone who had attacked Harry moments before. Most of Harry's attackers were pretty delusional.
"Stand up," Hermione told him.
"Oh. Good. I love women who take charge." He stood up to his full height but kept his head down. He was only a couple of inches taller than Hermione.
"Hands up!" she snapped.
"I didn't attack him," the boy told her. "He just looked at me and passed out."
"I said hands up." There was sincerity in his voice, but she would wake up Harry first.
"No, thanks." There was a note of anger in his voice. He popped his head up and looked directly into her eyes.
"Sirius!"
"No. I'm James." The young man raised his wand toward Harry. He was left-handed. "Enervate," he muttered. "I'm going to find the den."
***
"Who are you?" Harry asked without hesitation as he sat down.
"I'm James. James Remus Peter Delacour-Black. I hope that's not too much to remember." In the light of the den, Hermione could see that his eyes weren't the same as Sirius'. They were much brighter, and there was no deadened look of an ex-Azkaban prisoner. He also had an ear piercing, a blood red stone from the look of it.
"Black?" Harry asked.
"You're Sirius's son," Hermione said.
"Yeah. I'm his son. And who are the two of you?"
"I'm Harry Potter. This is Hermione Granger." He was silent for a second. " I really have no clue what to say."
"That's fine. Neither do I." James reached into his coat and pulled out an envelope stamped with the Hogwarts crest. "Dumbledore said to give this to you." He handed Harry the letter.
He opened it immediately and scanned it once. "Okay. I guess we have a lot to discuss. Would you like some tea?" Harry asked a bit awestruck.
"Against my religion," the boy said quickly.
"What?" Harry asked, positive he had misheard him
"No, thanks," James told him.
"Okay. Hermione could you leave us alone for a while?" Harry asked. He seemed really nervous about something.
"Okay." She didn't want to be kicked out, but she didn't want to intrude on what was obviously a private matter.
"Thanks." Harry began reading the letter again.
"It was nice meeting you," James said, standing and opening the door for her. "I hope the next time we meet, it will be under better circumstances."
"Me too." She swept out of the room.
"She's cute." James turned to Harry. "Is she single?"
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Hermione looked into the den. It was around eight-thirty in the morning, and both James and Harry were asleep. James was asleep on the couch and Harry on the love seat. A bottle of Ogden's Old Firewhisky between them on the coffee table. Luckily it was still more than half full, so she wouldn't get thrown up on if she woke them up. Hermione couldn't stand dealing with drunks. She went over to the table and re-capped the bottle of firewhisky. She looked between Harry and the letter in his hand. She resisted the urge to read it and instead took off his glasses. She set them on the coffee table.
She looked at Sirius's son. He was actually kind of cute. He looked like a troublemaker. She peered at him. He looked very similar to Sirius, but his nose was smaller and his lips were fuller. The resemblance was still rather shocking. She blinked, and when she opened her eyes, his were too.
"Hi." He sat up.
"Good morning," she answered, preoccupying herself with the bottle of whisky. She made as though she had to go to the kitchen. He followed.
"Can I help with breakfast?" he asked, surprising Hermione.
"Normally we just have leftovers. No one can really cook around here," she had tried to get people to start cooking regularly, but the only one who thought that was a good idea was Tonks, who only dropped in to visit Remus.
"I can," he said cockily.
"Oh, don't trouble yours-," she began, but he cut her off.
"It's fine. How many am I cooking for?" He began opening cupboards randomly until he found a skillet.
"Seven. Including yourself."
"Thanks." He leaned into the icebox and removed a carton of eggs.
"Do you need any help?" She wouldn't be much help, but she felt she had to try.
"I got it." He began mixing eggs into a large bowl.
"If you need any help, I'll be over there," she pointed to the large wooden table at the end of the kitchen.
"What time does Remus Lupin wake up?"
"Soon. He's an early riser."
***
"Who's he?" Ron asked groggily, sitting down across from Hermione a few minutes later. Lavender sat beside him, and Hermione was glad she had remembered to add her to the seven James was cooking for. Sometimes she spent the night and sometimes she didn't.
"This is James, Sirius's son." She looked at him. He was filling a bowl with something, and his face was hidden from view.
"Sirius had a son?" Ron shouted, apparently having woken up.
"Don't sound so happy," James said as he levitated a plate of fried ham to the table. Ron stared at his face as he set a bowl of fried eggs next to it. James walked back over to the cooking area and returned with a stack of plates. Now Lavender was staring. "You're making me nervous with all this staring," he added after an awkward silence.
"Sorry," Hermione apologized.
"You're the only one I wouldn't mind," he told her, helping himself to some eggs.
"Come again?" she asked.
James was saved from anwering by Remus's arrival.
***
Remus J. Lupin didn't expect much to happen that day as usual. He was planning on reading a bit and possibly having a relaxing dinner with Tonks, Molly, and Arthur. He did not expect to be sitting at the table was Sirius's double. It took him a full minute to recover from the shock. By then he realized it was James.
After Sirius's death, Dumbledore had told Remus everything. How James's mom was his Secret Keeper and how she had completely refused to let Dumbledore tell Sirius of his own son's whereabouts. He'd been rather shocked that Claudette would believe Sirius was a Death Eater. Then again, he had believed it too.
James stood up. "Remus Lupin, I presume?"
"Yes." He looked the boy over. "James Black?"
"Yep," James answered, looking nervous but trying to play it cool.
"I suppose we have a lot to discuss." Remus sat on the other side of Hermione at the table.
"Later. Harry and I stayed up late talking." He didn't really seem tired.
"How long are you staying?" Ron cut into the conversation for the first time.
"I'm not sure," James said thoughtfully. "My mom and I had an argument."
"Not a bad one I hope?" Lavender leaned forward and peered at him closely.
"Depends on your opinion of a nasty argument." James leaned back.
"What happened?" Remus asked, surprising everyone besides James. Remus wasn't usually interested in sordid family arguments.
"She said I shouldn't come here. I called her a bitch. She said she never wanted to hear me call her that again. I cursed the bitch's ears off," James said, running his hands through his hair. Remus smiled.
"You're just like you're father."
"I'm not that good a man."
"You're father wasn't that great a man either," Remus said. "But he was the best friend I ever had."
"I'd like to hear more about him," James said.
"I'd like to tell you more about him."
"Coffee?" James asked.
***
James, Remus, and Harry had gone to get some coffee. James had dragged Harry along even though he was still half asleep. They were still out.
Hermione sat down on her bed and started rubbing Crookshanks' head. He purred deeply.
Ginny was unhappy about missing James, but considering they'd been gone for hours now, they should be back soon. She said she wanted to meet Sirius's son. He apparently sounded like an interesting person.
Hermione wondered about him. He was cute and hadn't mentioned a girlfriend. Lavender seemed interested, but she was interested in every guy besides her boyfriend. Ron really deserved better. He should really be asking out Luna.
Someone knocked at the door. Hermione stood up and walked over to it. "Who is it?" she asked.
"Bloody Baron," Ginny answered.
"Come in." Hermione opened the door and walked back to her bed.
"They're back." Ginny closed the door behind her and sat down next to Hermione on the bed.
"What did you say to Harry?" Hermione asked. She knew Ginny liked to torture Harry sometimes.
"Nothing at all. I just waved to Remus and checked out James. I'll make it up to him tonight," She had a hint of mischief in her voice. Hermione decided not to ask for details. "You and James would look good together," Ginny said after a second.
"Looking good together has nothing to do with it."
"He's single, and he asked me about you," Ginny told Hermione with a coy smile.
Hermione was just about to answer when they heard shouts from downstairs.
***
A\N: I'm sorry I had to restart The Game, but I just couldn't continue. I could hardly believe Rowling killed Sirius. It shocked me speechless. By the way Kreacher WILL show up. Can't assure you of his survival, but he will show up eventually. So will Tonks and a lot more fifth book characters. I plan to make this much better than its predecessor. So it should able to be called "decent" or maybe even "okay" at some point or another. Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading this, and I hope you review after you read it.
Thanks to Anna Black. A fantastically smart Beta reader who fixed everything I screwed up on.
