Chapter 1- Tree Tops

Near ten years had passed since that fateful November morning, but little in the Dursley household had changed. Infact, if one were to look in through the window of No. 17 Leggit Way, they mightn't have thought any time had passed at all. The only changed thing was the photos on the mantle piece, changing from photos of what could only be described as a little, dark-haired beach ball in multiple types of hat, to photos of two boys. Both had black hair, both brown eyes, one of dirty-dishwater, one of enticing hazel, one round-faced, one thin-faced, one had short, chubby legs, the other scrawny, knobbly knees. The two boys looked amicable in every single one of the photos, whether they were on holiday in Cannes, or playing football in the park in Woking.

As you can tell, James Potter was still alive and well, and to many peoples surprise, still living with Dudley Dursley. He was fast asleep, but soon to be woken as he was every morning, by the sound of his Aunt Carol.

"Up! Get up! Now!"

James woke with a start, and rolled over in his bed, he had never been a morning person.

"Up James!" Aunt Carol shouted again, before opening the door to James' bedroom, "James Sirius Potter if you do not get up this second I swear to god that I will make you stay here all day!"

James wriggled in his bedclothes before falling to the floor with a resounding thump. Aunt Carol chuckled slightly, as she went to give her nephew a hand up. She was firm, but fair, she didn't like to cause children pain.

"Give me a minute Aunt Carol," James said, standing up and ruffling his messy black hair.

"Does it really need messing up anymore?" Aunt Carol said disapprovingly.

"You know it won't make any difference if I don't!" James said irately, pulling clothes out of his cupboard, "I'll be down in a moment, I just need to get dressed."

"Okay," Aunt Carol said sternly, "But I did mean it about you staying home, Dunstan really wants you to come too, you know."

"I said I'd be quick!" James said, as his aunt left the room, closing the door firmly behind her. The movement caused a disturbance in the piles of junk that littered James' bedroom floor. His was the smallest room in the house, as well as the messiest, Aunt Carol would never let any room she had to spend as much time in get so messy, but James didn't mind. Actually the mess made him feel safe, he was often lonely.

James thudded downstairs, and could hear the sounds of his cousin opening his presents. Today was the 17th of February, Dunstan's 11th birthday. It was a constant source of annoyance to James that he was younger than his cousin, but the gap was only of a month, so made little difference to him either way. But it certainly created yet another thing Dunstan had up on James.

"Happy birthday, Dunners!" James said happily as he entered the kitchen, the smell of bacon wafting towards him, "Get many presents?"

"Uh-huh!" Dunstan said through a mouthful, spraying bits of bacon and egg all over his father, who wiped his face politely with a napkin.

"Dunstan, don't talk with your mouth open!" Scolded Aunt Carol, "You were quick James," she added, "Here's your bacon."

James smiled to himself, and sat down at his usual seat, before tucking into the delicious bacon sandwich. On the table in front of him was Dunstan's loot of presents, James counted quickly in his head, there were 15 presents, two less than Dunstan had received last year. They included an x-box 360 (Dunstan broke his last one), a digital camera, a mobile phone, a game called Call of Duty 4, and much to James' surprise, a book.

"15 presents, Dunst," James said ironically, "That's two less than last year…"

"I know," Dunstan said, "They're getting me two more when we go to Go Ape today."

"That's cool, Dunst," James said, snickering at how spoilt he was behind his hand, although he got on with his cousin, he did think he was a bit of an idiot, "I'm quite jealous."

"Not as cool as that scar though," Dunstan said enviously, "I'd give all my presents to have that."

"No, Dunst, you wouldn't," James said sullenly. This was another thing which annoyed him about his cousin, he ad not yet realised that bringing up James' scar was not a compliment to the boy, infact, he hated it. James had always resented his scar, it had made him stand out, but mainly because of what had happened to cause it.

James remembered the first time he asked what had happened to his parents, and he also remembered the answer he had received. It was almost all he knew about them.

"Auntie Carol, how come I don't have a mummy and daddy like Dunstan does?"

"Your parents died in a car-crash when you were a baby. Now, be a good boy and don't ask questions."

That had always been a rule in the Dursley household. Don't ask questions. It was the only thing Uncle Dudley and Aunt Carol ever really got angry about, questions. James couldn't ask anything about why he was living with his Aunt and Uncle, why he had a scar, why he couldn't go to see his parents graves, or why he didn't have a granny and grandpa like Dunstan did. He didn't like Dunstan's granny and grandpa. They looked at him like he was dirt, and treated him like it too.

James continued to munch on his bacon sandwich, trying not to think about his last visit to he great- Aunt and Uncles. It had not been a pleasant one. Uncle Dudley got up and folded his newspaper in two, before marching out of the room - probably to comb his moustache, James thought. Dudley was a very quiet man, who liked to keep himself to himself. James couldn't ask him about his father either, they only answer he ever got was "Harry Potter saved my life, and for that I'm eternally grateful." At least that's more than he got out of Aunt Carol.

"Do the washing up, James," Aunt Carol said sweetly, gesturing to the plates, which James picked up grudgingly before tromping to the dishwasher and slipping the plates up. At that moment, the doorbell rang, and Aunt Carol rushed to the hallway singing, "I'm comiinng!"

She opened the door warmly to reveal Stanley Egginton, a small blonde boy in James and Dunstan's class. He was not a friend of James', as James was an out going boy, who had immediately clicked with Cygnus, another boy in their class who shared James' love of pranks. He looked similar to James, only he had green eyes, and floppy hair which fell gracefully around his eyes. He would not be coming on their day out, much to James' dismay.

Stanley tromped into the Dursley's kitchen, smiling and carrying an ornately wrapped present for Dunstan, his blonde mother followed. She was a good friend of Aunt Carol's, and she would be joining them at Go Ape. James liked Stanley's mother as little as he liked Stanley, as she was an unattractive woman who wore far too much make-up, and Stanley was just mean. The five of them set off to the car, Uncle Dudley was not coming, as he had work. James at in the back next to Stan and Dunstan, who were discussing Dunstan's new x-box. James didn't know much about x-boxes, as Dunstan rarely let James play on his before it was broken…

"and how are you James?" Mrs. Egginton sneered from the front seat of the car.

"I'm fine thanks," said James, "How about you, Mrs. Egginton?"

"I'm fine too thanks James," she said too-pleasantly, in a nasal voice.

"Are you sure? Because you sound as though you have a cold coming on," James said sarcastically. Dunstan sniggered next to him, at least the boy had a sense of humour, James thought.

"No, I'm fine thank-you," Mrs. Egginton said curly, continuing to gossip with Aunt Carol.

Aunt Carol shot James a warning look from the front of the car, and he sat still and quiet, listening to Dunstan's iPod for the remainder of the car journey. He missed Cygnus, and now was the moment that he wished he had a phone, or that Cygnus had a phone, as before then he had never needed one. James looked out of the window at the cars driving past, they were stuck in a traffic-jam, and the car next to them had two red-headed children in the back, one of them could have been James' age. He smiled at the boy, who smiled back. The father, who was driving, was also red-headed, he turned around to see James and waved at him. James could have sworn he was missing an ear…

They came to the edge of the motorway, and Aunt Carol turned off in the big 4x4, but not before James could wave goodbye to the boy and his father. It was strange to think that he would never see them again, that the little red-head had his own life, his own friends, his own parents. But James didn't have his own parents. He sighed and lay his head on the car door, closing his eyes and reflecting on his tiny life.

"Out, James!" barked Aunt Carol, she was always so defensive when she was wit Mrs. Egginton, "Quickly, we haven't got all day! The tickets are booked for twelve o'clock and its 11.58 now!"

James un-strapped his seat belt and hopped from the high-up car. Aunt Carol and Mrs. Egginton were still gossiping, and Dunstan and Stanley were play fighting on the little green by the dusty car park. It was far too cold to be on a day out, but Stanley loved Go Ape, so Aunt Carol had promised him a day there for his birthday. James simply couldn't understand why Dunstan even liked climbing trees, he couldn't get up them because he was so big. Aunt Carol and Mrs. Egginton led the way to the entrance, and James slowly followed, dragging his feet along the ground.

"Hello, I have tickets," Aunt Carol said proudly as though she was the queen, "Five, for me, my friend and the three boys."

"You the boys' muvva?" the man in the office said lazily to Aunt Carol, "Coz I need the permission of their parents before I can let you on, 'right?"

"I'm the guardian of one, mother of another," Aunt Carol said stiffly, and the man gave James a pitiful look. He hated when people did that, like just because he was an orphan he was helpless. He was far better at everything that Dunstan, that was for sure. But that look he got from strangers made him feel lonely. He had, after all, never been unwelcome at the Dursleys', simply unloved, and uncared about. He usually slipped along in the sidelines, never truly being part of the family. He wished he had a family, brothers and sisters and cousins. Real cousins, after all, Uncle Dudley and Aunt Carol weren't his real Aunt and Uncle, they were his dad's cousin and his wife. Not real family.

James put on a harness for Go Ape, and went through the safety regulations, not that he needed to, he had never hurt himself in his life. Whenever he fell from a tree, he came out with no more than a bruise. When he was learning to swim, he could hold his breath for longer than any of the other children. And when he and Cygnus were running away from the Headmaster and he ran into a wall, neither were hurt. James begun to climb the intricate ladders and ropes up the trees of the course, he was miles ahead of Dunstan and Stanley, although he didn't look it, James was very fast.

He had soon finished much of the course, he was high in the trees, he felt like he was a bird. Like he was flying. He loved being up high, it was almost as though he was born to be in the air, born to fly. He loved the feeling of the wind rushing past his ears, sweeping across his hair and face. He felt free. He felt as though nothing could hurt him. He threw caution to the wind, and unclipped his harness, he was now completely alone up a fifty foot tree. But he didn't mind. He felt safe. James could see Dunstan and Stanley scrambling along on the lower courses below him, they were ants to him, he could stomp them out with one foot. He looked at his feet, and had a brilliant plan, he could jump down from the tree! He edged towards the lowest part of his higher course before lifting his leg, and jumping.

The wind was truly rushing through his hair and ears now, cold and fresh, whipping his skin. He could see the forest floor approaching. He was going far too fast, and he suddenly regretted his decision to jump. But he had stayed in the air far too long. And he landed on the ground with an almost inaudible thud, far too lightly.

"James Sirius Potter!" his Aunt's cry woke him from his trance. She had been watching him, she would be angry.

"Yes Aunt Carol?" James said sweetly, grinning angelically at her. He had a very persuasive smile.

"What," she asked angrily, "was that, young man?"

"I jumped from the tree?" James said, shrugging.

"A tree that must be over fifty feet tall! What were you thinking?"

"I wasn't."

Aunt Carol scowled at him, "Well, you're going to have to sit out until we go home. We can't have you pulling another stunt like that and ruining Dunny's birthday."

James also scowled, but agreed to sit down anyway, he had finished the course, so there was nothing more for him to do anyhow.

The journey home was a thoroughly sordid affair. Dunstan and Stanley were sill play fighting over Dunstan's new toy which Aunt Carol had bought him for his birthday, and Mrs. Egginton kept shooting James dirty looks, as if he were a pile of dog poo on the floor. James didn't enjoy it, and simply wished that the little red-headed family would drive past again, and wave to him…

"James, mate, how was your half-term?" Cygnus asked him on Monday morning when they got back to school.

"Dull," James replied, "It was Dunstan's birthday, we went to Go Ape."

"Surprised he could climb up the tree," Cygnus said, sniggering into his hand.

"I tell you, it looked like a battle," James said, and the two fell about laughing, besides, they were only eleven.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Black," the teacher said from the front of the room, "kindly report to the head's office at once. I've had quite enough of your tom foolery!"

James and Cygnus clambered to their feet and trudged out of the classroom, followed by the eyes of the pupils in their class.

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Cygnus's last name... dun dun dun!

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