It's A Complicated Thing

Prologue

Mrs Stark looked down at her five-year-old daughter and the child smiled up at her cheekily. Her husband came over to them and picked up the little girl.

"How are you my little Willowtree?"

"I'm good papa. Do I have to go to the Potters' with you and mama?"

"Yes, they are our family, and besides, they have a son that is your age."

"Really? Why haven't I seen him before?"

"He gets into quite a bit of trouble with all the pranks that he pulls."

"Pranks?"

"George, you've just said the one thing I thought we'd agreed not to tell her?" he grinned sheepishly at his wife and put their daughter down.

"Sorry Maeve, it just slipped out," she sighed and kissed his cheek.

"Like father like daughter. We should be going, Juliette will be wondering where we are," the three Starks walked out the front door and over to their neighbours house. They knocked on the door and waited.

"Maeve, George, so glad you could make it. And this must be Willow," the woman had long black hair and hazel eyes that sparkled with mischief.

"Jules, don't scare the poor child," a man said as he carried a boy down the stairs.

"I don't wanna!" the kid was saying, Willow giggled and hid behind her mother's skirt.

"You don't have a choice in this James; do you want to leave Miss Stark to play by herself for the whole evening?"

"Who's she?" James asked as he was placed on his feet, he looked up at his parents. Willow stepped out from behind her mother and put her hands on her hips.

"I'm Miss Stark, though I like to be called Willow," the four adults smiled at each other as their children started to bicker.

"Okay, that's enough from the two of you, dinner will be starting soon and you will be sitting with Mr Malfoy's son, Lucius," James made a face as they were ushered into the large dining room; Willow covered her mouth to keep from laughing. They were sat at a table where a boy with bleach blonde hair was already sitting; he was about three years older than them and had the arrogance that many pure-blood children had. Willow hated that type of arrogance.

"I'm Lucius Malfoy, and you are?"

"James Potter."

"Willow Stark. Do you like pranks?"

"Most certainly not, they are childish and inappropriate, and they are beneath our kind."

"Our kind?" Willow frowned as James glared at the boy.

*if he says pure-bloods I might just murder him*

-You know that you aren't allowed to do that anymore-

*well... I'll pull the biggest prank ever pulled on him*

-Ooooh, so scared (note the sarcasm)-

*shut up*

-Why don't you make me?-

*I don't make trash, I bury it*

-Does that make you trash then? This is your mind after all-

*Sod off*

"You know, pure-bloods, pranks are beneath us, they are the work of filthy mudbloods," Willow stood and went over to her mother and father. Her father leaned down to hear her.

"I don't want to sit with that blond boy, he is rude and insufferable and he called muggleborns the bad word," she whispered into his ear. George glanced over at the boy and sighed, he and Maeve hadn't taught Willow how to deal with this sort of thing yet, not without their help. He looked up at Christian Malfoy and saw the man getting up. He stood as well and took Willow back to the table.

"I want you to be civil Lucius; we do not speak vulgar words or be rude when there is a lady present, I know you know the rules."

"Yes father, sorry father," Christian walked off. And George pulled out Willow's chair.

"Mr Malfoy, I would appreciate if you keep your opinions about muggleborns and half-bloods to yourself for the remainder of dinner."

"Yes, sir," George nodded and kissed Willow's forehead before going back to his wife. Lucius glared at Willow, she just took a drink from her glass and looked at herself in the reflection of her spoon. The food was brought out and the three children ate silently as they listened to the adults talk.

"So," James started after a while. "Are you two looking at getting into Hogwarts?"

"Yes, I plan to be in Slytherin like my family has been for generations. What about you?"

"I think I would like to be in Gryffindor, the house of the brave and noble," Willow snorted at this and James turned to her. "What?"

"You just want to be able to pull of pranks without being called evil by the whole school."

"There is that," the pair grinned at each other, Malfoy rolled his eyes and continued to eat his food. "What house do you want to be in Willow?"

"Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, I'm not sure which yet, I'll figure it out when I get there," they finished the three course meal in silence and Malfoy went to his parents. James and Willow snuck around the room; they had a balloon full of red wine. They threw it at Lucius Malfoy and ran. They went up to James' room and laughed. They played a game of exploding snap before lying down on his bed and talking.

George, Maeve, Juliette and Henry walked up the stairs to James' room, they knew that their children were responsible for the state that Lucius Malfoy had left the party in. They opened the door, ready to reprimand the two five-year-olds, but stopped when they saw that they were asleep on James' bed. They looked so peaceful that they couldn't bear to scold them, or wake them up to do so.

"Juliette, I'll come by tomorrow and collect Willow, I don't want to wake her," George and Maeve kissed their daughter's cheek and said goodbye to their friends before going home.

"I think that she and James are going to become very close to each other, like siblings."

"I believe that you are right dearest husband."

James and Willow squealed as they were splashed by their mothers in the waist high water of the pond and swam away from them. They had been friends since the party almost four years ago and they were almost inseparable.

"James, Willow, get out of the pond and come dry off, Henry is taking you out for a surprise," the two children looked up at George, then scrambled out of the pond and ran into the house. They were dressed and ready to go in ten minutes; they ran back down the stairs and crashed into Henry.

"Where are we going?" they asked at the same time, they looked at each other in horror, they had never spoken at the same time. Henry and George laughed and they each took a child's hand and apparated away.

"That was the coolest thing ever," Willow was still bouncing around her bedroom. James was laughing at her antics. Henry and George had taken them to a Quidditch match between Puddlemere United and the Chudley Cannons. Puddlemere had won.

"Did you see the Beaters? They were so cool, and they hit the Bludgers so hard and fast that it was a wonder that they only bruised and broke bones of the other players and didn't knock anyone out. I wanna be like that."

"Well, try out for the Quidditch team at Hogwarts; we are going there in two years."

"You're right Jamesie-poo."

"Never call me that again," he groaned, realising his mistake too late.

"Jamesie-poo, Jamesie-poo, Jamesie-poo, Jamesie-poo, don't you know better than to tell me not to do something, Jamesie-poo, Jamesie-poo," she skipped around him, chanting the new name. He growled and dived after her; she squealed and ran from the room. They ran around the house for a while, before she tripped and fell down.

"Will! Are you okay?" James knelt beside her and helped her sit up.

"I think I broke my arm," there were tears in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Maeve and Juliette ran into the room and over to their children. Willow looked up at her mother and the woman sighed.

"Okay, to St. Mungos it is," she lifted her daughter and took James' hand, knowing that the boy would want to come and that Willow would want him there. She apparated and they landed in the waiting room of St. Mungos.