Here's another chapter for you. Just going to say: Happy Jubilee everyone! God bless Her Maj :') Anyway...enjoy! Read and Review.

Platform Nine and Three-Quarters was absolutely jam-packed. James navigated his way through the crushing throng with all the ease of someone who had already done this before, soon leaving the rest of his family behind to say their hellos to the Weasley family. He'd go and say hi to Hugo and Rose, though- next to Fred, they were his favourite cousins.

Speaking of which...

"Hey, you!" He spun around to see Fred Weasley waving at him, coppery hair framing a mischievous (and freckle-spattered) face. James grinned back happily- his best friend was here. Now the year could begin properly.

"Hi! How are you? I haven't seen you for ages! Help me with this trunk, will you?"

Together, they heaved James' packed luggage on board, stowing it on the rack in an empty compartment along with his new Nimbus 2500. James felt a stab of satisfaction at his friend's envious sigh upon seeing the broom.

"Top of the range." He said proudly. "Birthday present from Dad- he says I'd better get into the school team, now."

"You trying out for the Quidditch team, then?" Fred asked, running a hand through his curly mop. Both boys were avid Quidditch fans, and James never grew tired of hearing about Ginny's and Harry's hair-raising Quidditch stories, especially as Ginny had once been a professional player herself. "I told Dad that I wanted to be a Beater, and he almost shouted at me. Said no son of his would ever be a Quidditch player, much less a Beater, blah blah blah...I've been practising all summer, too!"

James frowned sympathetically. He wanted to be either a Seeker or a Chaser, himself- beating was for those with slightly less brains and slightly more brawn, in his humble opinion.

"Ah, well." He sighed. And, brightening up- "Hey, I've got something absolutely awesome to show you guys. I pinched it from Dad's office...don't tell him I said that."

"Stooping to new lows? I'd never expected it of you...actually, that's a lie." Both boys turned at the lilting tone, James with the smallest amount of trepidation, and saw Catrin Jones leaning against the doorway, grinning at them.

"Jones!" James exclaimed, putting on his cockiest smile to hide his brief nervousness. In his opinion, Catrin Jones was four foot two inches of curly haired, grey eyed unpredictability, with an annoyingly appealing Welsh accent thrown in on top. She'd been with him and Fred in the Room of Reflections earlier that year and- to his eternal shame- had managed to both make his pencil case attack him and insult his friend, Benedict Umbridge, in a way that had made him laugh. This, and the background that she kept frustratingly mum about combined to make her someone that made James feel insecure and, at the same time, weirdly at ease.

Being in a life and death situation together probably did that to a person.

"You doing alright?" She asked now, grinning at them. "I was looking for somewhere to stow my luggage. This seems fine." She dragged her own trunk into view, and scowled at the two boys.

"Help, please?"

James had quickly recovered his wits. "I'll do it for a kiss."

"Get a grip!" She laughed, before whipping out her wand. "So much for chivalry. Wingardium Leviosa!"

The trunk floated gently up into the luggage rack, and Catrin turned to grin triumphantly at them.

"Showing off?" Fred asked, shaking his head. "Shocking."

"Indeed." She said solemnly. "I'd better go and say goodbye to Hestia- before she finds out about the cat I didn't tell her I bought."

Just then, from the luggage rack, came a cautious meow. Catrin glanced up nervously. "Tawel, Bryn!" Then she fairly sprinted down the corridor towards the platform.

Fred glanced at James. "Confusing, isn't she?"

James shrugged. "I don't know much about her, except that she packs a powerful right hook." He stood on the seat and peered up into the luggage rack. A pair of sulphur-yellow eyes stared uncompromisingly back at him. "I already don't like you." He muttered to the owner of the eyes, before dropping down to the floor quickly. "I'd better go and say bye to Mum and Dad. See you later!"

James made his way down the corridor after Catrin. Just then, by the window, he caught a flash of electric blue- or, more accurately, the colour of Teddy Lupin's hair. Teddy had left last year, but it was lovely that he'd come to see them off. Grinning, James jumped onto the platform and made his way towards them, only to be confronted with the back of Victoire Weasley's strawberry blonde head. She looked rather absorbed in what she was doing, so James edged around her to better look for Teddy, and-

"Merlin's beard!"

The two broke apart- a feat in itself, judging by the way they were wrapped around each other. James goggled at them, unaffected even by Teddy's most poisonous glare, as they stared down at him. Victoire raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow in a dangerous sort of way.

"What are you doing?" James blurted out, before deciding to go the whole hog and grin cheekily at them. Teddy's face went a pleasing shade of puce in response.

"I," he said, with considerable dignity, "am saying goodbye to Victoire."

"Looks like it." James sniggered. "You're snogging her!"
Teddy- and Victoire- flushed even further.

"Go away, James!"

James smirked, and then saw that the former looked very ready to curse him. In fact, his hand was drifting ominously towards the pocket where he kept his wand. James had to content himself with a last snigger, and another gleeful "You are, aren't you? Snogging! Hah!", and then he sprinted down the platform to find his parents, bursting with this momentous news. Snogging was one thing, but in full view of everyone? Disgusting! You'd never catch him doing it, that was for sure.

He spotted his parents near the barrier, and made his way over to them, attracting their attention with a "Hey!"

James divulged his information at top speed, and was more than disappointed to see their laid-back reactions to the whole thing. "Our Teddy!" He said, urging his parents to react. "Teddy Lupin! Snogging our Victoire, our cousin! And I asked Teddy what he was doing-"

"You interrupted them? You are so like Ron." His mother said, shaking her flaming her in despair, but James was not going to be distracted.

"-and he said he'd come to see her off! And then he told me to go away. He's snogging her!"

This, sadly, did not produce the desired results, only a whisper from Lily that it 'would be lovely if they got married'. James ruffled his hair somewhat violently with frustration, until he caught the magic words 'invite him to live with us and be done with it.'

"Yeah!" He said, immediately distracted and thinking of the ensuing chaos with enthusiasm. "I don't mind sharing with Al- Teddy can have my room!"

Or Al's room.

Harry's refusal only put him off slightly- he'd get round his father somehow. He'd better get on the train soon, though. He shrugged off Ginny's entreaties to see Professor Longbottom. Being a cool teacher was all very well, but he was still a teacher. And you didn't talk to teachers unless you absolutely had to. Accepting her hug with a martyred expression, he gave his dad a quick grin, and turned to leave, glancing over his shoulder as he headed back down to his compartment. "See you later Al. Watch out for the Thestrals..."

His brother's dismayed cries followed him back up the platform. Chuckling, James slipped back inside the train and made his way back to the compartment, where Fred, Catrin, that Jordan girl, and Alice were sitting, along with another boy. This one had curly hair, and a rather flat face, giving him an odd, toadlike look. He gave off an air of smugness, and didn't seem to notice the filthy glances Catrin was casting his way- their enmity, like Teddy and Victoire's attraction, was common knowledge.

James, meanwhile, was pleased to see him. Ugly though he might be, self-obsessed though he certainly was, Benedict Umbridge was an excellent prankster- although James had put off telling his dad about him, because something caused him to suspect that Harry Potter might not take to 'Slimy Creep' as much as his son had.

"Benedict!" James said, pleased. "How are you?"

He ignored Catrin's muttered 'intolerable as always' and Fred's eye-roll. Benedict stood up pompously. "I am well, thank you. Are you ready for another year at Hogwarts?"
"You bet." James said with relish, as the train lurched into motion with a squealing sound. He looked out of the window and waved to his parents'- and Lily's- smiling faces, and then, as the grey houses of London started to flash by, produced an Exploding Snap packet from his back pocket.

"Who wants to play?"

The journey passed extremely quickly thanks to Exploding Snap and some good old-fashioned talking. Although he and Fred had seen each other often during the summer holidays for bouts of Quidditch with their other cousins, they hadn't seen any of the others. Benedict, it transpired, had been to America with his parents, and, from what James could make of it, had complained the entire time. The Jordan girl- Mary- had helped her father- and Fred's- in the joke shop that George Weasley owned; Alice's family had packed up their home in the Three Broomsticks for a month and gone on an expedition with the Lovegoods and their two young twin sons. They hadn't found any Crumple Horned Snorkaks, whatever they were. Catrin, it seemed, had been settling in with her Aunt's family. She didn't say much about it- James didn't even know why she had needed to be adopted in the first place- but he reasoned it didn't really matter, since they spent more time at Hogwarts than at home these days.

About halfway through the trip, the girls left for a toilet stop- why they all had to go together was a mystery to James- and he seized his chance, drawing out the map he'd taken from Harry Potter's office.

"Look! I- ahem- found it in Dad's office."

"What- in the name of Merlin's fluorescent beard hair clippings...is this a moving map of Hogwarts?" Fred breathed, sounding awestruck.

"Yup."

"We...can do anything with this map! Take over Hogwarts and rule from on high!" Fred was getting carried away, but James could hardly blame him. "We could set up a teacher trap- and actually prank whoever we want to, not just hope that we get the right person!"

He turned to James, an awestruck expression on his face. "Your dad...is a genius!"

Slimy Creep- ahem, Ben- jumped up in excitement-and then hit his head violently on the luggage rack. "My broom!" James yelped. Swearwords and luggage cascaded around them- including an extremely irate tabby with sulphur-yellow eyes. All three boys went very still as it surveyed them regally. Fred reached slowly for the open cat basket.

This was war.

Which was soon brought to a violent end when Benedict did a spectacular flying tackle across the compartment, scooping up the cat. Many scratches and swear words ensued before they bundled the irate cat back into the wicker basket. The opposing parties glared at each other, both nursing injuries.

That was when they heard rapid footsteps along the corridor.

"Quick, quick!" The cat basket was chucked back onto the luggage rack, accompanied by a strangled screech, and the rest of the luggage followed. James nervously wiped a trickle of blood from a scratch on the eyebrow and glanced at the others. Fred was sporting several arm wounds, matching the thin white line he had gained last year from Lestrange. Benedict had the worst injuries due to his heroic stunt, with a thoroughly ripped sweater. He looked like he'd come off worst in a fight with a cactus.

It wasn't Catrin who burst through the compartment, though: it was Albus, flushed and panting, hair tousled and green eyes wide with panic. And with bruises of his own. He slammed the door so hard the glass cracked, and leant against it, panting.

"Al?" James asked, nonplussed. "What's wrong?"

It took several breaths before he could gather enough breath to speak. "Met some...Hufflepuffs...on the corridor. I...accidentally...tripped one up...and then I laughed! They...weren't too happy so I...ran off. They're...following me!"
Right on cue, two burly fifth year Hufflepuffs shouldered their way into view, spotted Albus, and swept open the compartment door. The window groaned ominously.

"Problem, boys?" James asked lightly, surreptitiously reaching for his wand. He scanned the group and inwardly swallowed- brawny and tall, they looked rather like half-giants to him. One of them had a rather impressive duelling scar on his forehead beneath a crew-cut. Hopefully that meant he was bad at defending himself.

"Yeah. Little idiot. Nobody insults Philip Belby and gets away with it!"

Why did Albus have to pick the guy most likely to have a mental instability? James almost groaned- and caught himself just in time.

"Well, he didn't mean it." Fred pointed out. "I'm sure that if Al said sorry, then you could go."

"Sorry!" Al squeaked, causing a wave of protectiveness to flood James. They'd touch his brother over his dead body!

"Now you can go!" He exclaimed, noticing that Ben had slunk into the shadows and was trying not to be noticed.

Was it his imagination, or did they suddenly look at lot more menacing?

"Hey! Back off my cousin!" The boys jumped and peered around to see Louis Weasley's blue eyes glaring daggers at the Hufflepuffs, wand in hand. As handsome as his sister was beautiful, he nevertheless was a skilled duellist, and a fifth-year himself. James grinned, suddenly feeling more confident. Back up!

"I heard that a pair of half-trolls were attending Hogwarts...but I didn't believe it until now." Louis scratched his chin with some mock-thoughfulness, and a lot of the reckless Weasley spirit. "Or maybe you got on the wrong side of a punch? Apologies for that, my friend. I'd have done it sooner, if I could."

The two sides squared up to each other. James mentally reviewed all the hexes and jinxes he'd learnt from his parents. Just when it was shaping up to look like a really good fight, the train jerked and groaned to a stop. They had arrived at Hogsmeade, and in the nick of time.