Here's chapter four! Hope you enjoy it!


Chapter 4

Pretty Little Rich Girls

"James, Albus, Lily, in the car – now!" Called Ginny as they scurried about in a pre-Hogwarts panic.

"I haven't had anything to eat." James.

"That's your own fault for sleeping in, bring something in the car."

"Mummy, have you seen Harvey? I can't find him." Whined Lily, referring to her brand new pet.

Lily had been wandering from pet shop to pet shop looking for a kitten to bring to school when she's spotted Harvey hanging upside down from a rafter in shop number seven and instantly fallen in love.

"He's probably asleep somewhere. Bats are nocturnal after all." Albus pointed out.

Lily had decided she wanted a cute pet, Albus had been surprised when she picked out the beady-eyed Harvey with his spindly claws and turned up nose. He didn't see what could possibly make a bat "cuddlier" than an owl but that was his sister's business, not his.

"That reminds me, Roland is still out hunting." He said quickly, thinking about his own pet.

"Well he knows where to find you." Replied Ginny swiftly, "He'll just have to follow you to school. We really can't afford to leave any later – Where is your father?"

Soon their mother had rounded them all up, hunted out a sleepy Harvey, thrown the trunks into the car and they headed off to Kings Cross Station, Roland arriving back just in time to settle himself on Albus's shoulder.

"I forgot my wand!" Squealed Lily, ten minutes into the journey.

"I've got it." Ginny replied with a sigh, "You left it next to the toaster."

The Potter children were all hyper as they bounced around in the back seat, James and Albus filling their little sister's head with tips and advice.

"Don't forget, just because a staircase led somewhere one day, doesn't mean it will lead there the next." Thrilled James.

"And if you're lost and it's getting late, ask the portraits for directions back to the dorm." Advised Albus, "You do not want to get caught wandering around after hours."

"The caretaker, Heep, he's really creepy, in fact some people think that he's a vampire." James continued animatedly, "He's really pale and he never leaves the castle in the daytime and-"

Lily, who had looked pretty nervous up until now, suddenly gave him a skeptical look, "Yeah, like McGonagall would hire a vampire as caretaker!"

James looked stubbed but only for a second, "I heard that there once was a werewolf teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts! Talk about practical classes." He added, raising his eyebrows.

"No way!" Protested Lily.

"True story!" James insisted holding both hands up, "That was around your time, right Dad? Under Professor Dumbledore – and McGonagall was deputy then. Right Dad?"

"No comment." Replied Harry strategically.

Lily began to look nervous again.

Albus stepped in quickly, "Don't worry Lils, it's not like you'll be crossing paths with Heep. Not if you stay out of trouble - unlike James."

Lily smiled a little.

"Speak for yourself." Scoffed James pointedly.

They reached Kings Cross in no time and bulldozed their way through the throngs of Muggles, gaining more than a few odd looks. As Lily and Albus followed their mother through the hidden entryway to Platform nine and three-quarters, Harry pulled his eldest son aside.

"James, please hand over the Marauder's Map." Harry instructed him.

"What?" Gaped James.

"Don't think I haven't realised that yourself and Albus have gotten into more trouble in the past three years than the rest of your cousins combined and I know your grandfather's map has been assisting you." Harry declared, "I want you to give me the map so that I can keep an eye on you boys."

James pouted.

"You know I can just summon it but James, I'm giving you this opportunity to do the mature thing and hand it over. Maybe it can be the start of a new chapter." His Dad continued.

James pulled his grandfather's map out from his trunk and gave it to his Dad, but he made sure Harry saw him roll his eyes, he wouldn't want him mistaking the gesture as the turning of a new leaf.

"This is ridiculous." He muttered.

"After last year, I think we both know that it isn't." Harry reminded him in his best strict-Dad voice.

With another roll of his eyes, James pushed his trolley through the gate to the train platform and almost ran straight into Tag.

"What are you doing here?" James managed to say before Lily cut him off with a high-pitched squeal.

"Simon! You came!"

"Of course I did." Tag grinned, "I couldn't let you run away to Hogwarts without even saying goodbye."

"And what do you plan on doing for the year?" James asked bluntly, "Enrolling in the village school?"

"Nah, I'm in the school of life, Jamesy." Tag informed him in his usual sing-song voice, "It's actually a great teacher for those of us living in the real world."

"What's that meant to mean?" James demanded, before Harry stepped in and separated them.

"James, why don't you help me put the trunks on the train and then you can go and find your friends?" He suggested sensibly.

"See you Jamesy! Bisou!" Called Tag.

They loaded the trunks onto the train and James quickly hugged his mother and father goodbye before setting off up the platform.

He saw Julius Binns, a Ravenclaw in his year who was tight with Molly's boyfriend, Leopold. Then he spotted Rangi's friend Oswin struggling to escape his fussing mother and dodged past Tybalt Tyne and his brother without being seen.

Eventually James located his friend Alexander Prince on the platform chatting with a couple of giggling girls. He had barely seen him all summer thanks to his parents grounding him but for once he'd made a fair effort at writing frequently – in fact he had gone from one letter a month to at least one per week after his long separation from his best friend.

James walked up behind Alex as the girls laughed at a joke he made.

"Hey! What's up?" Grinned James.

Alex glanced over his shoulder and immediately his face lit up,

"James! Finally."

"Oh James!" Exclaimed one of the girls, April, who was in James's year in school but in Hufflepuff, "Is it true that you were kidnapped while trying to rescue your cousin?"

Since James walked onto the platform he had been expecting questions like this, people kept staring and whispering and pointing but April was the first to speak out.

"Eh… yeah." He replied.

"How did you escape?" Her friend asked looking gobsmacked.

"I eh… swam." He mumbled not wanting to go into a whole description. He had come over here to talk to Alex after all.

"Wow…. That is so brave." She sighed.

"April!" Called a voice from the crowd.

"Oh! We'd better go!" She said looking somewhat disappointed, "See you at Hogwarts!"

The girls turned and hurried away, nudging each other and giggling.

"Damn! I wish I had material like that to work with… All I've got is embarrassing stories from the Canaries." Groaned Alex.

James grinned, suddenly feeling pretty happy with himself as the girls glanced back at him before disappearing into the crowd. He shrugged at Alex,

"It's good to see you again."

"No kidding! How's your summer been?"

"Uneventful." Replied James.

"I would've thought you could do with a bit of 'uneventful' after last year." Alex joked.

"Are you kidding? Holed up in London with only Al and Lily for company?" James groaned.

"That reminds me–"

Alex suddenly crouched down and lifted something from behind his trunk, he stood up again and handed a glass tank to James, "I took care of your snake while you were gone. Fed her every day. She's not that bad when you get used to her."

James opened the glass case and peered down at his grass snake coiled up inside.

"Your friend is an idiot…" Said the snake in parseltongue.

"It's good to see you, Valkyrie." Replied James.

"It's good to see you too, Dominum."

"That," Alex grimaced, "Is still freaky though…"

James smiled and thanked him, as Valkyrie slithered up his arm and settled herself around his neck.

"Come on, let's find Blue and nab a compartment before all the good seats are gone." Said Alex, hauling his trunk towards the train and the ever-growing crowds of parents and children.


"Another year at Hogwarts…" Blue sighed wistfully as the train began to pull out of the station, "Did you miss it, James?" He asked, closing the window and taking a seat.

James shrugged but the answer was yes. He had missed all of it; his friends, the castle, even some of the classes. There was a stability to Hogwarts, a homeliness. But he wasn't going to be a sap and say all of that, even to his closest friends.

"I'm hungry, when's the trolley coming around." Demanded Alex.

Blue looked at James with amusement.

"I think it's going to take a while." He replied.

"We should've sat at the front," Alex grumbled, "All the good stuff will be gone by the time it reaches us."

The fourth years' had managed to find themselves a quiet compartment at the very back of the train. James disagreed with Alex on the matter. The back of the train was always the best place. It was secluded, the most private and the furthest from the prefects and he pointed this out.

"Speaking of prefects – I heard your cousin's Head Girl now." Alex remarked, stretching along one side of the compartment with his feet up on the seat.

"Yeah." James replied, "No surprises there. I always knew she had her eye on the position."

"And Leopold Rankin's the new Head Boy." Commented Blue.

"Ugh, those two are gonna make a formidable team." Groaned James.

"Pretty impressive really considering what they're up to behind closed doors," Alex considered, "Or in this case, under the third floor corridor."

Leopold Rankin was a cousin of Alex's and he knew all about his exploits in the school's secret passages where Rankin ran his club out of, though the school population in general – and the teachers in particular – would have a hard time believing model student Leopold Rankin was the one organising the illegal gambling and trading going on in the school. And it was some organisation too.

The Club consisted of three levels of exclusivity; bronze, silver and gold membership levels and its location and membership were kept a strict secret. In order to gain access, one had to be invited by three current members and invitations were limited at best. James had struggled last year to gain access and had only succeeded because Leopold was amused by Molly's opposition to his presence. This year, he wanted to build up his reputation and get in to the Silver Membership section.

When he mentioned his plans to his friends they seemed doubtful.

"You think you can get Silver Membership?" Alex asked, "I dunno, James, last year you barely made Bronze. Is it really worth the trouble?"

"Alex," James began, "I'm Gryffindor Seeker and the son of Harry Potter, I kept quiet about the Club last year so that should build up their trust. I think I have some chance."

"If you can keep out of trouble." Blue pointed out.

Anyone who was a liability against the secrecy of the organisation stood no chance of making it very far within it.

"And if that doesn't pan out," James shrugged with a devilish grin, "I know who's in charge and I bet they don't want that getting out."

"Blackmail?" Blue gave him a dirty look, "No teacher would take your word over Rankin's and then you'd be out of there for good."

"And he'd probably have his hit men sent after you." Alex pointed out casually, "Remember Knuckles?"

Knuckles was a sixth year who worked security in the club. His nickname had been well earned.

"Or he could send Molly after you." Smirked Blue.

James shuddered, "Okay, I get it! I wasn't being serious anyway."

Just then the door to their compartment began sliding open.

"Food! Finally!" Exclaimed Alex though it was still way too early for the trolley to come around.

The door opened to reveal a small, cross-looking girl with long, jet-black hair.

"Seriously! Are there any free compartments on this train?" She exclaimed exaggeratedly, preparing to slam the door shut again.

"Nope." Alex replied with an amused smile plastered on his face, "This is the end of the line, sweetheart, so unless you've got food I suggest you go back up the train and find a free seat."

James looked at the girl, blind and deaf to Alex's comment, she looked somewhere beyond frustrated.

"Are you on your own? Why are you looking for an empty compartment?" James frowned, "Surely you don't want to sit by yourself."

The girl looked at him and was brought suddenly back to reality.

"Well, I don't know anyone else here," She said blinking at him in surprise, "I spoke to one other first year in the station but she was so rude – and the rest everybody else seems just as bad. Running around, making things explode or ooze or – whatever!"

Alex was laughing now.

"I tried to request a private carriage but apparently it isn't facilitated." The little girl said with disdain.

"I'm sorry, you requested an entire carriage to yourself?" Blue asked with disbelief.

"Don't you people know who I am?" Demanded the girl.

The boys exchanged looks of incredulity.

"My father is one of the top hip-hop artist in Britain and his latest album won a Grammy Award last year and my mother's band just sold out a world tour and your seriously telling me you don't know who I am?" Cried the girl hysterically.

"I'm afraid you'll find that means nothing to most of the kids at this school." Blue told her calmly, "James, why don't you take her to your sister's compartment to be with the other first years."

This wasn't a bad idea. If there was anyone on this train sympathetic enough to look after this girl it was Lily.

"That's not a bad idea. I wanted to check in on her anyway." James admitted standing up and stretching for a moment, "I think we've said enough on the previous subject anyway."

"First rule of Fight Club…" Alex said.

"What?" James frowned.

Blue laughed and waved him out of the compartment.

He led the first year up through the carriage looking out for Lily.

"What's your name anyway?" He asked the shell-shocked girl.

"Oh, I'm Sapphire." She said glancing up at him with deep blue eyes.

"I'm James, my little sister, Lily is also in first year." James told her casually, "Hogwarts is a weird place, especially if you're not from a magical family but you'll get used to it quick enough." He assured her.

The train was noisy and full of little bangs and whizzes as children, free from their parent's watchful eyes and the out-of-term ban on magic, tested out new charms, hexes and the latest releases from wizarding joke shops.

"Here we are," James said, guiding Sapphire in to an open compartment where Lily sat with her cousins, Hugo and Lorcan.

Sapphire stopped dead, "Uh-uh, no way. That's the girl from the station!" She gasped, pointing an accusatory finger at a second girl, sitting next to Lily, "I'm not staying here."

"And you're that spoilt brat who had her chauffeur push her trolley through the barrier." The girl said pulling a face, "I told you it wouldn't work. You can't go through the barrier if you're not magic."

"You tried to take my luggage." Sapphire accused the girl whose dirty blond pigtails framed her face from under a beany hat.

"I was helping you! Who brings three trunks to Hogwarts anyway?"

"Someone who actually cares what they look where and brings more than one outfit." Sapphire replied with disdain.

"We have uniforms, you dimwit."

"We have weekends, you-"

"Enough!" Cried Hugo, "Who cares?"

"Exactly." James agreed, "Lily, how're you getting on?"

"Great!" Lily thrilled, "This is Evelyn Fawley, she's in first year too."

"You can call me Evie." The girl said with an easy-going smile as she shook his hand.

James knew the name Fawley, it was a pureblood name, much like Potter or Prince. He knew they had connections with Gringotts Bank. There was a Jack Fawley in Slytherin one year ahead of him.

He regarded Evie with some suspicion, she wasn't quite what he would have expected as she bore little physical similarity to him but he supposed they could be unrelated.

Before he had a chance to ask, Jack Fawley stuck his head into the compartment,

"Hey Evie! Is it true your sitting with the incoming Potter-Weasley kids?" He called laughing a little, then he noticed James, "Oh, hey James, didn't see you there."

He paused for a second, "I didn't mean that in a bad way, just surprised Evie isn't sitting with people who might actually end up in the same house as her." He grinned.

"Go away, Jack!" Cried Evie, "I don't want to be in Slytherin with you!"

Jack simply laughed and gave a fake sigh, "Sisters, huh? See you at Hogwarts."

Jack swished his long dark fringe out of his eyes and gave James a quick wink before disappearing.

James wasn't too fond of Jack. He wasn't as bad as the Slytherins in his own year though. He saw him frequently in the club below the school, playing cards. He'd earned the nickname Jack of Hearts both for his card skills and his popularity with the girls who seemed to be drawn to his easy charm and rock star hair. He was just a little too sleazy for James.

"I'll trust you to make peace between these two." James said turning back to Lily.

"Wait, you're leaving?" Sapphire asked looking at him with alarm.

"You'll be alright." James shrugged, "I'll swing by again later."

With that he escaped the first year compartment and left Lily to deal with any ensuing drama.


Couple of new characters here to round out first year. I figure if anyone can be a Muggleborn, why not the kid of a pop star or someone? Figure Sapphire's going to have some major adjusting to do. Please review! More soon! Bisou!