Chapter 2 part 2 – September 11th

Just as he was about to pull out his wand and show them what he could do, a young professor Flitwick walked by. Jay didn't stare, but he knew that his father had enjoyed the old professor's class, at least when he was old – and his grandmother, who was currently standing beside him, certainly aced them. He felt a little strange and more out of place than he had been for the last couple days.

Jay sighed, Lily, Remus and Peter towards the classroom. Sirius and James were lagging behind, most possibly to play pranks on other students, whatever their houses were, but the students from Slytherin (and some of the younger ones who didn't know any better) took the brunt of most of their pranks anyway.

When they finally sat down, Jay slammed his head onto his table. Lily, who was sitting beside him, stared quizzically. He gave her a weak smile. He murmured, "Life sucks. I made a bad impression already; it's barely been a week. Usually it takes about the first month before I blow."

"Really?" asked Lily teasingly, "You have that much control?"

"Yeah," said Jay. "It's just here – everything's so familiar, yet different, y'know?"

"No, but I can try to understand. Just tell me how you feel," said Lily smiling.

"Sure, later," said Jay.

James stared at Jay with a slightly miffed expression, while Sirius suddenly found his books very interesting.

"Hey, don't worry about it man," said Remus, patting James on the back. "Jay's got his eyes on someone else." Remus stared out of the corner of his eye, at Sirius, who was still staring at his books, but a light flush was spreading over his cheeks.

Peter just stared at his friends with a clueless expression painted over his face. He was too busy worrying about his friends' antics and wondering when he'd be able to share in their pranks or at least be treated as an equal by Sirius and James that he failed to notice the burgeoning attraction that Jay seemed to hold for Sirius and vice versa.

"Today, we will be covering the Removal Charm," said Professor Flitwick.

"This is easy," murmured James.

Sirius nodded in response. Professor Flitwick continued, ignoring the fact that students were already losing interest.

Instead of paying attention to Professor Flitwick, James snuck glances at Lily, who despite being bored to death, took note of the petite professor's lecture.

The practicum was easy. It was the mirror of the Sticking Charm. If one were to use a sticking charm, one would be to push the wand forward, to the right. And the removal charm was to pull back towards the left. Pronunciation of the incantation though was easy as well: amoveo.

Sirius poked James, who grumbled. "Yes?"

"I think this charm would be good for removing hair, yes?" asked Sirius.

"Been there done that," said James, "remember Curtis Diggory?"

"Right," said Sirius, his laughed lightly.

Lily chose that moment to glare at them, displeased at their childishness. Jay just shook his head, smirking slightly. Remus sighed, thumbing through his books and encouraged Peter after each failed attempt to master the seemingly simplistic charm. And, Peter struggled with the charm for a bit, then finally, when he mastered it, gabbled a little too excitedly, causing the other students to stare at him and anyone who associated with him a little askance. Lily and Remus congratulated him for his hard work.

In the meantime, Jay was scribbling and trying to continue working out how the portrait of Mrs. Black could be removed. For the longest time, he and his family members had been helping Teddy and his mother try to remove the blasted portrait. And they still hadn't found a way. He continued to scribble away – thoughts and ideas formed in his mind.

Why didn't amoveo work? It was the best removal charm there was – simple and effective. But the portrait and its evil occupant remained. It was best not to disturb her. Growling softly under his breath, he didn't notice when he was the only one still sitting at his desk, until Lily poked him on the arm.

"Hey, firebrand," said Lily, "let's go."

"Sure thing, firecracker" said Jay, his previous frustration melted away, as he stared into his grandmother's eyes.

Their nicknames had to do with their hair and personalities. Jay was easy going, but he could be explosive. He was also a bit of a prankster as well – he had told them all stories from his own time about the pranks that he and his cousins had played. He seemed to have toned down though in the presence of the greatest pranksters of all time, though his uncles Fred and George had come close. He and his own generation had vowed to surpass them. Thinking of them, he was saddened by the thought that he might never get back. He sighed a little.

"Hey, you okay?" asked James.

"Yeah," said Jay, unenthusiastically. "Just thinking about my family, I've never been so far away from them before." And so close, he thought, privately.

James nodded, seeming to catch his unvoiced thought. Jay smiled at the older boy.

"So…" said Remus, "what now? We still have time to spare before dinner."

"I want to fly," said Jay.

"The Quidditch pitch then," said James.

They walked there in silence. Jay's melancholy mood affected all of them. They had come to view themselves as friends, and maybe even family, disregarding the blood relations between James, Jay and Lily. Even with melancholy in the air, there was it was a comfortable silence – like communion or mutual understanding and empathy.

"It must hurt for you to suddenly leave your family like this," said Sirius, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, I don't know if – no, when I might see them again," said Jay. "I just hope I don't stay here, grow up without my brother and sister…" and get killed during this war or the next, the rest of his sentence was incomplete.

"So what are they like?" asked Sirius.

"My, you're rather talkative. I thought you were avoiding me?" asked Jay.

"You're the one avoiding me," huffed Sirius.

"Right, of course," said Jay airily. "I believe that. You are difficult to ignore."

"I thought you were going to tell us about your family," said Lily.

"Right," said Jay. "I have a heck of a lot of cousins, but that's what being related to the Weasley's is like. Let's see, I've also got a bunch of dead relatives. Um...okay, my dad," Jay paused, wondering how to tell them without revealing too much. "My dad, he's your son, James, just like we established. He's He's a great man, Auror. He catches stray Death Eaters and other crazy homicidal maniacs. My mom, she's a Weasley. She's as strict as her mother, but she's great. I've got a younger brother and sister. My brother's entering to fifth year and my sister, third. We are all in Gryffindor. My sister is most like our mother. We, my brother and I are more like our father. And our family is insanely obsessed with Quidditch. Mum's used to play for the Harpies."

"Hey," said Sirius, "let's play twenty questions."

"No," said Jay shortly, "I've already said too much."

"It was nothing important," whined Sirius, pouting.

Jay had to avert his eyes, otherwise, he'd give in and that would only lead to disaster. There was the horrible realization that he had fallen in love, only two weeks into falling through time into the past and meeting his father's godfather. The most horrible fact was that he had fallen in love with his father's godfather. He groaned, hitting his forehead with a fist.

"Are you okay?" asked Remus, after shooing James, Sirius and Peter away. Lily stayed behind.

"No," growled Jay. "No. How can I be okay? I've just fallen in love with my grandfather's best friend. And I don't even belong here in this time. I've pretty much screwed myself over doing this. I almost told you guys everything, about my past and your future. It would have changed everything. I have to exist and in these circumstances. Everything happens for a reason…I can't change any of this. I would not be here, if I told you everything. There will always be things I can't you guys, whether I make it back or not."

"Oh," said Lily, "is there anything we can do for you?"

"Make sure Sirius never finds out that I am in love with him. Not only will he freak out, but he will see it as an opportunity to weasel everything from me, or use me. I do not want that to happen," said Jay.

Unbeknownst to the three of them, James, Sirius and Peter were listening. They stared at each other wide eyed. Sirius hung his head. He could not believe that Jay thought that lowly of him, despite claiming to be in love with him.

"C'mon," said Lily, "let's go to dinner."

"Go without me," said Jay.

"If you say so," said Lily, doubtfully.

"I'm not desperate enough to do something that stupid," said Jay. "Thanks. I might as well come, after all."

Jay smiled at Lily, who smiled back.

"You're welcome," said Lily.

Remus stood a little while away. "Let's go. They're going to start without us."

During their little conversation, James and Peter had to drag Sirius from the behind the bleachers.

"Ah…we didn't fly after all," said Jay, a little disappointed.

"You can do that next time," said Lily. "And you said that you took advanced classes. Why aren't you in any?"

"I purposely failed the tests the professors gave me," said Jay. "I like you guys too much to leave you guys behind."

"I think that's nice of you," said Remus smiling softly.

"It's wonderful," said Lily. "We'll be great friends for however long you are here."

The three of them walked in together, as they talked about their studies and hobbies. Sometimes Jay would experience a pang of homesickness, as he remembered playing Quidditch and chess with his family members, mostly the Weasely cousins and of course his siblings. He could remember being shown Sudoku, a Euro-Japanese muggle game based on Euler's Latin Squares by his cousins Hugo and Rose.

Entering the great hall they were assaulted by the noise of the masses. They moved towards the Gryffindor table and saw James waving at them. They slid in next to him. Jay could not help but notice that Sirius was staring at the table and hadn't looked up.

"Hey," said Jay, "what's up with him?"

"It's nothing," said James, covering for his friend's slight depression, and their eavesdropping.

"I can see that," said Jay sarcastically. "You're obviously lying, James."

"I heard you," said Sirius, "I was hiding behind the bleachers."

"I see," said Jay, quietly. "Strange, are you feeling guilty?"

"Look," said Sirius, "I don't like that you think so lowly of me. And yeah, I'm sorry. It was obviously something I shouldn't have heard, so of course I feel guilty."

"How can you be so callous about this?" snapped Jay, standing up. He towered over Sirius's seated form.

When they were both standing, Sirius was only half a head shorter than Jay, who had been tall. It was something he had inherited from his mother's side of the family. Staring up at Jay, Sirius realized for that it was his very first time, seeing Jay this angry. And it scared him, a little.

Sirius was speechless. He had nothing to say to Jay. The taller boy stared him down. He shivered a little and tried to make himself as small as possible.

"I'm sorry, really," said Sirius meekly, "I didn't mean to eavesdrop."

"No," said Jay, "you were curious. You meant to eavesdrop. You just didn't mean to find out and care, then get caught, I know. Whatever."

Jay turned and walked away, leaving Sirius there stunned. His friends and Lily turned to look at him, surprise and concern were written on their faces. Lily, sighed and stood up.

"Take care of this one, while I talk to Jay," said Lily to James.

"S-sure," said James, looking after her hopefully. He had wanted to follow her and Jay. Jay was his grandson and he needed to make sure he was okay.

"It's okay," said Sirius. "Go after her. Besides, Remy and Peter can keep me company."

Following Lily, James left Sirius to Remus and Peter. He found them at the astronomy tower. They were huddled together.

"Hey," said James. "How are you guys?"

"Good, now leave us alone," said Lily, without looking over her shoulder.

"It's okay," said Jay, "the guy's my grandfather."

"He's still an irresponsible idiot," said Lily.

"Yeah," said Jay, "but he's still family." Just like you. You're the grandmother, my sister's named after. He did not complete his thought. He did not want to force her to marry James. No, their love had to develop, and there was still time for him to make sure they would be together until the end of their days.

"Let's go down to the kitchens," said James.

"I'm not hungry," said Jay.

"Yeah, but we can talk over tea," said James. "We'll be more comfortable there."

"Fine," grumbled Jay. Then he leaned over and whispered into James's ear, "trying to put yourself into Lily's good books?"

James chuckled, "This is as much for you as it is for her, grandson."

"Sure, old man," said Jay, smiling a little. "Let's go. I might be a little hungry after all."