Slowly drifting towards consciousness one liquid brown eye opened which was quickly followed by the other. The right eye observed through the narrow slit the bed covers and the bed next to him which meant his curtains were open. The left eye observed only white which he believed was most likely his pillow. He felt groggy. Groaning slightly he turned onto his back to stare up at the ceiling of his four poster bed. Then feeling himself balancing on the side of his bed he tried to save himself but with no luck. BANG! His slim frame made contacted with the wooden floor. His right shoulder was in agony. That was the second time in two days. Did he have absolutely no luck at all? Well, he thought to himself, at least it was the other side this time.
'Ouch,' came the delayed response.
'James what on earth are you doing?' said Sage's voice and James opened his eyes again to see the curly-haired boy peering down at him for where he sat in his bed. James groaned and shook his head as if to tell him he no idea. He sat up slightly steadying himself, blinking furiously to try to get his vision to focus. His view became much more focused and he then tried to stand up but yet again luck escaped him and having his legs tangled in his sheets James fell back to the ground with an almighty crash which awakened yet another of his bedroom companions.
Jamesie,' moaned Fred's resigned voice muffled by his pillow.
'Don't ask,' muttered James gruffly as he untangled himself and got back to standing position. He shook his head picking up his sheets and returning them to his bed. He didn't bother to make the bed. He didn't see the point; he was just going to get back in it at the end of the day so making it neat and tidy made no sense. He dragged a hand through the already messy dark brown hair making it all the messier. He glanced at the clock on his bedside table and decided he's might as well begin dressing just as Sage was doing. He pulled off his pyjamas and pulled on his school robes. He threw the tie around his neck not bothering to tie it at present and then stalked over to the bed where the curtains were still closed. Pulling open the curtains he jumped on the owner of the bed who let out a whimper.
'Wakey wakey, rise and shine,' James crowed over the ginger hair that was all that could be seen of Fred Weasley. The covers shifted as there was a groan from beneath them and Fred pulled the covers up over his head.
'Go away, James,' said Fred is voice extremely muffled by the covers.
'Come on Fred,' said Sage as he pulled on his shoes. 'You need to get up. It's the first day of classes. We've got to get our timetables at breakfast so there is no way you can't get up.'
'There's no way he'll miss breakfast,' said James to Sage as he shook Fred. 'Come on Fred or I'll go and get Olly.'
The covers were flung back and Fred scrambled out of the bed hastily, his hair all over the place and his blue eyes blinking sleepily. James and Sage laughed at him as he immediately began to throw clothes on. The threat of sending Olly up always worked. Fred had had the unfortunate problem of having Olly set on him more than once before throughout his years at Hogwarts. Olly was very apt at getting him out of his bed. He'd found himself shoved out, cold water thrown over him, prickly thorns appearing from his mattress and even dangling by his ankle in the air. Therefore, whenever James and Sage wanted to get Fred out of bed all they had to do was tell him that they would get Olly. Fred was master at leaping out of bed and getting ready in double quick time when threatened.
'No need to laugh you two,' said Fred as he swung his tie round his neck. 'Olly is one scary witch when she wants to be.'
'Come on Fred,' said James as he and Sage headed towards the door. 'Let's go and meet the scary witch so we can have some breakfast.'
The three boys went down to the common room which had only a few students milling around including James' brother Albus, his cousin Lucy and Sage's sister Alice. James took one look around the common room and realised that Olly wasn't there yet. He frowned. Olly was always there before them mainly due to the fact that she only had herself to get up and didn't have to motivate Fred out of bed. It wasn't like Olly to be late out of bed even if she was late for everything else. James saw Fred who was looking for her as well. He looked delighted that she was nowhere to be seen.
'Does this mean I can go and get Olly out of bed?' Fred asked with a mischievous grin.
'No,' said Sage with a laugh. 'You can't get up the girls staircase, remember?'
Fred's ears turned a Weasley red as he remembered exactly why he couldn't get up get up the stairs to Olly's room. Back in fifth year Olly had played a prank on Fred which made him look like his twin sister. He couldn't quite understand why male students kept eyeing him up and trying to chat him up. He thought the whole male body had lost their minds. When he had found out what had been done to him and who had done it he had immediately tried to get up the girl's staircase to shout at Olly. Unfortunately, what he didn't know was that the stairs turned into a slide and had deposited him on his backside in the common room making all the students present laugh. Olly had relented and reversed the spell after that but had made Fred promise not to get revenge. She said she would put the spell back on if he did.
'You'd have to go back in time to get Olly out of bed anyway, coz,' said Lucy with a grin. 'She's been awake for a while now. She just went back upstairs to get her bag. She said if she waited on you lot any longer she'd probably not have time to come back and get it before her first class.'
James grinned.
'She should know by now to bring her bag on the first day of classes,' he said. 'We have to get Fred into a routine.'
'Why do you make me sound like a child?' Fred asked petulantly.
'Because you are a child,' said Olly's voice as she appeared from the girl's staircase her bag slung over her shoulder. She hadn't bothered to tie her school tie yet. Just like James and Fred she had it draping around her neck and the top two buttons of her shirt weren't done up. Sage was the only one who bothered to tie his tie before breakfast. The other three complained that restricted their throats whilst they were trying to eat.
The four of them made their way down to the Great Hall with Lucy and Alice in their wake whilst Albus waited on Rose. Sage and Olly chattered away about what class they were likely to have first and James talked to Fred about Quidditch. Quidditch was James' passion in life. A more excitable Quidditch fan could not be found anywhere. James lived, dreamed and breathed Quidditch. He desperately wanted to become a professional beater after he had left Hogwarts and he wanted to play for his favourite team, Puddlemere United. His mother had been a chaser for the Holyhead Harpies and he couldn't wait to begin playing professionally. Both his parents supported his passion to the fullest. Harry had often said that nothing would make him prouder than to come and watch James play Quidditch for Puddlemere United. His dad's old Gryffindor Quidditch captain Oliver Wood had played for them. Nathaniel Wood, Gryffindor's current keeper, was Oliver Wood's younger son. Nathaniel's older brother, Liam and his older sister, Marilyn had both played for Gryffindor. Liam was the keeper until he had left three years before and Marilyn had been a chaser until she had left two years ago. James knew that Nathaniel had hoped to be Quidditch captain but had to admit that James deserved it more than he did. James was looking forward to the beginning of the Quidditch season. He couldn't wait to get back in the air.
The four reached the Great Hall which already had most of the student population seated around having breakfast. James slipped into a seat with Fred on the far side of the Gryffindor table while Sage and Olly sat opposite them. James immediately reached for some poached eggs and toast. He loved poached eggs. Granma Weasley, the best cook in the world according to anyone who had ever eaten her food, made the best poached eggs ever. Olly shared James' love for poached eggs and had taken some for her own breakfast. James watched her carefully as she bent her head to begin eating a curtain of her black hair falling over her face. He smiled and bent his head to his own breakfast. After a few minutes he heard Sage laughed.
'I have never seen anyone eat poached eggs like you two,' said Sage indicating both James and Olly's plates. They had both carefully cut and eaten their way around the yolk of the poached egg so that only the yolk was left upon a small piece of toast the same size. This was the point that they would scoop up the piece of toast with the intact yolk and put it in their mouth. James normally smiled when the yolk burst but Olly made some rather interesting noises of pleasures which usually made the males in the area look at her speculatively.
'Olly got me into it,' said James with a rueful smile over the table before he scooped up the yolk and popped it into his mouth. He smiled as he chewed.
'It's just the best way to eat poached eggs,' said Olly who followed James' example and scooped the yolk into her mouth. She closed her eyes and let out a small hum of pleasure which made some of the male students turn to look at her resulting in evil glares from James, Fred and Sage. Out of the corner of his eye Fred could see Albus elbowing Will Thomas in the stomach. Obviously Thomas had not taken Sage's threat seriously yesterday.
'Olly, you need to stop making those kinds of noises,' said Fred turning his attention back to her as she opened her eyes.
'What noises?' asked Olly innocently. 'I didn't realise I made noises.'
'Well you do,' said Sage with a smile. 'The kinds of noises that make every bloke in the vicinity stop what they are doing and stare at you practically drooling.'
'Yeah cause with you lot around,' countered Olly, 'they are going to do anything about it. I can't help what noises I make. It's just so deliciously gorgeous when the yolk bursts.'
James shook his head with a laugh as Olly looked dreamily into the distance. Olly had eaten poached eggs that way since he could remember. When he had first tried it he couldn't believe what he had been missing. Everyone who ate their poached eggs the normal ways were missing out as far as James was concerned.
'Here come our timetables,' said Sage as he spotted Professor Longbottom and Fred's twin sister Roxanne slowly making their way up the Gryffindor table handing out timetables to each student.
'I hope we have Defence first thing,' said Olly before she shook a sip of her pumpkin juice. 'I adore Defence or maybe Transfiguration. I am so close.'
Olly was going to attempt turning into an animagus. She had been studying how to do it for three years now. She was getting very excited about finally being able to attempt it. Professor McGonagall and Professor Frobisher were saying that she was getting very close to being able to attempt it. Therefore Olly paid extra attention in Transfiguration even though she was technically ahead of the class with all the extra studying that she did.
'Do you think you do it this year?' asked James who had been considering the animagus idea for a little while now. He had spent a lot of time with Olly as she study the art. It was the only thing that Olly truly studied. Everything else came to her naturally but she knew how dangerous it could be transforming into an animagus and she didn't want to get it wrong. James didn't want her to get it wrong either. He was hoping that once he had finished school and was a professional Quidditch player then he would be able to attempt becoming an animagus as well. Olly had tried to persuade them all to join her but Fred and Sage they were happy as humans and James had told her that he wanted to concentrate on Quidditch in his final years of Hogwarts.
'I'm not sure,' said Olly with a grin. 'I think I might. McGonagall said I could do it this year. What do you think I'll be?'
'A pig?' suggested Fred with an air of innocence. 'Or maybe a donkey? Just because you're bloody stubborn.'
'Ha ha,' laughed Sage. 'What about a bull?'
'Very funny,' said Olly good-naturedly pushing Sage slightly.
'What's your patronus again?' asked James with a grin.
'A large cat,' Olly told him. 'Not a house cat though. It's far too big to be a house cat. I think it's a leopard.'
James looked at Olly curiously. They hadn't had a lot of practice with the Patronus charm so they hadn't really had much opportunity to see each other's forms. He had imagined that Olly's would either be a cat or a dog. A cat because she was extremely graceful but with a fierce natures and a dog because that's what her grandfather's patronus and animagus form was a great black dog.
'You're animagus form will probably be very similar to your patronus,' said Sage logically. 'You should asked McGonagall if that's how it usually happens. Had you not thought to ask her before this?'
Olly shook her head but was stopped from answering by the arrival of the timetables.
'Hello you lot,' said Professor Neville Longbottom looking down at the four students as he handed his son his timetable. 'Are you behaving?'
'Of course Professor,' the four of them chorused back looking very innocent.
'Here you are James,' said Roxanne as she caught up to where Neville was and handed her cousin his timetable. 'Fred, there you go.'
'Olly here's your,' said Neville giving Olly her timetable before he and Roxanne continued down the table. The four looked down at their timetables. Fred groaned.
'Potions,' he moaned. 'Nobody should have Potions first thing. Why did I agree to take Potions for Newt level?'
'Because the rest of us were,' said Sage shaking his head at Fred. 'You said there was no way that the three of us were going to take Potions without you.'
'I know,' said Fred miserably, 'but first thing? Does someone want me to die?'
'Don't be such a drama queen,' said Olly with a smirk on her face.
'I am not a drama queen,' Fred responded.
'Are too,' said James.
'Am not.'
'Guys, let's not start this again,' interrupted Sage before the argument could get any further. 'You just have to accept the fact that you are a drama queen, Fred. Just like James has to accept that he's more likely to get married to a bludger than he is to a girl.'
'Hey I objected to that,' said James.
'Olly needs to accept that no matter how many slimy gits she punches that they are always going to stare at her, chat her up and ask her out and that no matter what we will always be there to stare men down.' Olly frowned. 'And I need to accept that I study far too much than is healthy and that, if it weren't for you three, my life would probably be very boring.'
'Your life wouldn't be boring Sage,' said Olly in a comforting voice. 'You live in the Leaky Cauldron after all.'
Sage rolled his eyes and then got to his feet swinging his bag over his shoulder.
'Shall we go to class then?'
Fred took a last bite of toast and then jumped up with James and Olly and the four of them headed off to the dungeons for Potions class with Professor Vaisey, the Head of Slytherin House. Olly was one of Vaisey's favourite students although he did have time for James, Fred or Sage. Sage was extremely lucky to have taken after his mother where Potions was concerned so he wasn't a complete dunce. Olly however was registered Potions genius and she loved Potions. It was hard to choose between Potions and Transfiguration which subject she was best at. Sage's best class was Herebology, James' was Defence Against the Dark Arts and Fred's was Charms.
'What do you think we'll be learning this year?' asked James as they lined up outside the classroom.
'I hope we learn the Blood-Replenishing Potion,' said Olly enthusiastically, 'and how to make Felix Felicis. Apparently, it's very tricky to make and I've been just dying to have a go.'
James rolled his eyes.
'You would Olly.'
'Don't look now,' muttered Fred under his breath as Josef Bletchley, Tate Bole and Jacob Zabini walked up the corridor to join the queue for the Potions class.
James took a firm grip of Olly's arm. Olly had the habit of punching Bletchley down to a fine art. He was a foul, slimy git which made all four of them hate him. Bole wasn't any better although he hadn't been punched or hexed as many times as Bletchley. As for Zabini, he didn't really take much notice of them and so they took very little notice of him. He was the quiet sort that didn't bother much with anyone.
'Let's not start a fight on the first day back,' said James quietly into Olly's ear.
'I'll try,' Olly replied in a whisper glancing covertly at Bletchley and Bole. 'If they start it though ...'
She shrugged her right shoulder to indicate that she wouldn't be responsible for her actions if Bletchley and Bole decided that they would start a fight. They had been even more irritating than usual last year. They still continued to insult them but spent every other opportunity eyeing Olly up which made the three boys furious. They normally did it whilst Olly wasn't looking because if she had caught them then she wouldn't have hesitated in punching them both or hexing them both.
'Oh look,' said Bletchley's familiar low grumble, 'its Potter, the famous, Weasley, the stupid and Longbottom, the sad case. I didn't realise that they let you stay on for Potions this year Weasley. I thought you were too stupid to take this class.'
Fred's ears turned red and he balled up his fists in anger.
'Just ignore them. Just ignore them,' chanted Sage under his breath.
'What's that Longbottom,' asked Bole in a cruel sneer, 'talking to yourself just like your sad case father?'
'Shut up,' said James furiously turning round momentarily letting go of Olly's arm.
'What is it Potter?' said Bletchley. 'Can't handle the truth about your friends? Or is it that you're afraid I'll start on you, the son of the famous Harry Potter and a two bit whore?'
There was a flurry of black curls and robes as Olly dived forward her fists balled and her wand in one hand. Fury was on her face as he raised her fist in order to punch Bletchley in the face but was restrained by three pairs of hands. She fought furiously against James, Fred and Sage desperate to get her hands on Bletchley and Bole so she could punch both their lights out.
'Olly don't,' said Sage. 'They're not worth it.'
'Oh and look there's Black,' said Bole. 'Your mother and her mother have at least one thing in common except being blood-traitors, eh Potter? They're both slappers.'
'Let go of me,' shouted Olly struggling hard against James, Fred and Sage. 'Let go and I'll show everyone that their big man attitude is just to make up for having small pricks.'
Everyone froze for a moment when they heard Olly's words and even Olly stopped struggling in surprise. Then Fred, James and Sage burst out laughing. Olly looked at them and then laughed herself which made the three boys laugh even more whilst the two Slytherin's just stood there staring at them. Olly took her opportunity and, before James, Fred or Sage could do anything she had flung herself forward and punched Bletchley in the nose. She then turned to Bole who scrambled for his wand and she kicked him in the sort parts. Bletchley groaned and clutched his nose as Bole doubled over clutching his groin in pain.
'Olly,' said Sage in an exasperated voice, 'it's the first day back.'
Olly turned back around and rejoined her friends. James swung his arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze still laughing a little. Just then Professor Vaisey arrived. He swept into the dungeon not noticing the two Slytherin's in pain at the back of the line. All the students trooped in after him. Fred, James, Sage and Olly all grabbed a table in the middle of the class. It had been an unwritten rule since first year. Olly and Sage had wanted to be at the front of the class and Fred and James had wanted to be at the back. Therefore, they had compromised and now sat in the middle.
'Welcome back class to your final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,' began Professor Vaisey as the class settled down. 'For our first lesson we are going to be attempting to make Amortentia as a recap of last year. You will of course be working in pairs. I will be putting the instructions up on the board. Read them carefully.'
The Professor glared at their table for a moment but then pointed his wand at the blackboard upon which writing began to appear. James watched Olly as her face lit up and her eyes scanned over the instructions on the board.
'Well what did you smell, Sage?' asked James later as the four of them made their way to the Great Hall for lunch.
'Coconut, some kind of flowery scent and fresh ink,' said Sage. 'What about you?'
'Peppermint, broom polish and something that I can't quite put my finger on,' James replied. 'Olly?'
'Poached eggs, sweat and the smell of summer rain,' Olly said with a big smile.
'You smelt sweat?' questioned Fred with a bemused look on his face.
Olly nodded.
'I suppose that probably refers to Quidditch,' said Sage logically. 'Still a little strange but hey, what do we know. If sweat is what attracts you. Fred what did you smell?'
Fred opened his mouth but never got speak as there was the sound of shouting just round the corner.
'YOU COMPLETE JERK, MALFOY!'
'Three guesses who that is,' said James rolling his eyes.
'Rose,' said the other three together and sure as they turned the corner they saw Rose Weasley standing in the door of the Great Hall furious and covered in red ink. Malfoy was standing opposite with red ink all over his bag. Rose's ears were red from embarrassment and anger. Malfoy was looking a little pink.
'Well, it's not my fault that you can't look where you are going, Weasley,' Malfoy retorted in a cool voice.
'YOU WEREN'T LOOKING WHERE YOU WERE GOING, MALFOY AND YOU COULD HAVE APOLOGISED!'
James looked at his friends who were all smiling and shaking their heads. Olly wasn't the only one who could get into a fight on the first day back. Rose and Scorpius Malfoy were constantly fighting. For some reason the two of them had never taken to the other. It had resulted in some interesting fights that most of the student population enjoyed watching but had also made most of the students think that Rose and Scorpius were just trying to avoid the fact that were head over heels in love with each other. That was why James, Fred, Olly and Sage had started a betting pool on whether the two would get together. All of the Weasley's had taken part in the bet except from Granma Weasley, Aunt Hermione, Uncle Ron and Uncle Percy. The reason why Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione hadn't been included was obvious.
'Look Weasley I have better things to do that stand around talking to you,' said Malfoy in a calm voice as the four past the furious Rose.
'WELL I HAVE BETTER THINGS TO DO THAN TO TALK WITH A DEATH EATER'S SON,' Rose stormed.
James and Fred chuckled.
'She is always throwing that in his face,' said Fred.
'Yeah but poor Malfoy can't retaliate because we'll kill him,' James said grinning broadly.
'I can't believe it's only lunch time,' said Sage shaking his head as he took a seat at the Gryffindor table. 'It's been an interesting first day back.'
'Just the beginning of an interesting year,' Olly told them slipping into a seat next to Fred as James sat down next to Sage. 'I hope those two get together this year,' she indicated Rose and Malfoy, 'I would hate to not be here when they both realise that they're madly in love with each other.'
'Speaking of people who are madly in love,' said James through a mouthful of food, 'did you know that Al is madly in love with Alice?'
