Hey! So, I've woken up early to get some extra work done on this story - I hope you enjoy it!
James, Remus and Sirius followed Snape solemnly into the potions dungeon. James reached into his pocket and tried to hit him with a fizzing whizzbee, but he was out of arms reach. Swearing under his breath, James followed Remus and Sirius to the table Peter had saved for his idols. Harry, Ron, Akyra, Hermione and Lily had occupied the table next to them.
As Snape slammed the dungeon door behind him, all sound died instantly. He surveyed the class, his face expressionless.
"50 points from Gryffindor" He said.
Remus dropped his cauldron at these words. It fell to the floor with a clang.
"Why?" Sirius demanded stubbornly, folding his arms and glaring at Snape. "We were only a few minutes late, its not that - "
"Silence" Snape lazily raised one hand, and instantly got his desire.
"50 points each for tardiness. I do not tolerate disruptive behaviour. Furthermore," the corners of his lips twitched slightly to suggest a smug grin. "10 points from this young man here from further delaying my class. Now, if these three would kindly - ah, permit us to continue with the lesson"
Snape effortlessly, and instructions appeared on the board. Remus was still thunderstruck, and Sirius was muttering harsh insults and death threats under his breath as he viciously began cutting his roots.
"We weren't even that late, who does that old bat think he is" Sirius snapped, attacking his roots violently.
"Well, what do you guys expect? Guess who he is" James replied, chucking his own roots into his cauldron and adjusting the flames.
"Yeah, he does look familiar" remus commented, recovering from the shock and retrieving his cauldron.
"Good old snivellus" James added, grinning. Their reactions were as James had predicted. Sirius brought his knife down so hard it became stuck in the bench. Remus accidentally dropped his quill into his cauldron, turning the contents black. }
James bit his lip to muffle his laughter.
"No way" Sirius breathed. "I wonder how Harry and them cope? How come you haven't taken it up with the school?" Sirius asked, glancing over to where Harry was working.
His question was instantly answered.
James S hurriedly packed up his things after class was over, and advanced a couple of row up to speak to his mother.
"Hi. You must be Ginny Weasley?" He asked.
She nodded. "Yeah, I'm Ginny. You must be Jeremy? One of the new students who comes from South England"
"Yeah" He replied. After a brief silence, James decided to take a risk. "So, um, I heard you know Harry Potter?" He asked, crossing his fingers behind his back and hoping she didn't roll her eyes.
She gave him an understanding smile, however James couldn't help feeling there was a hint of annoyance in there as well.
"I know Harry. He's my brother Ron's best friend" She turned her attention back to packing up her books, but James couldn't surpass the fact her cheeks had gone a light pink, and she was wearing a feint smile.
"Could you introduce me sometime?" James asked, disgusted in himself. He decided his best chance was to play the admiring fan card.
Ginny frowned. "I'm not normally bias, but that depends"
"Meaning?" James asked, getting the feeling he was about to receive his first piece of information.
"Do you believe all the trash the Ministry's come up with about Dumbledore and Harry?" She asked, him, her hands on her hips.
James gave her a puzzled look.
"You know, saying Harry's mentally instable and Dumbledore's a liar? Come on, you must have heard about all the you-know-who stuff even where you live"
"Enlighten me" James replied instantly.
Ginny raised an eyebrow at him and folded her arms. This disapproving look was one James received on a regular basis in his own time, so it was nothing new. However, it didn't make it any less scarier. James still flinched under her icy glare.
"Harry Potter is a hero and Dumbledore is the greatest wizard whom ever lived" James added.
"Now THATS what I wanted to hear" Ginny said contently, smiling smug now. She gave him a light punch on the arm.
"Prepare yourself for persecution" She warned. They walked out of the transfiguration classroom together. After a brief silence, James decided to remind her of the topic.
"So - why does the ministry hate Harry and Dumbledore?" James asked boldly - he had been dead scared about asking questions along this line at home to his mother. It would usually result in raids of his room, confiscating all pranking items. But James wouldn't be the master of stealth if he didn't have a few sneaky hiding places up his sleeve
"Well, I guess it starts when you-know-who himself tried to get into the school to steal the Philosophers stone. After that, he - "
"The Philosophers stone!?" James interrupted.
Ginny hit him with one of her infamous icy glares that made James flinch.
"Sorry. Continue. But start from the beginning - tell me about the Philosophers Stone"
Ginny gave him a strange look. "I don't know why I'm telling all this to a stranger I've never met before - I guess you're just one of those trustworthy people" She smiled warmly at him.
James felt a twinge of guilt at these words, but it was quickly stamped out as Ginny plunged into her action packed story.
Harry's concentration was impecable. He was focused hard on slicing his bezoars precisely to the right thickness so Snape would have no reason to target him - knowing Snape, he would probably fin a reason, anyways.
What Harry didn't notice, however, was that the potions master was standing directly behind him, wearing a sickeningly smug smirk as he looked upon Harry's work. James had noticed it, though. His glare was fixed upon Snape, as he absent-mindedly threw roughly hacked roots into his cauldron.
"I swear, Snivellus" He muttered, ignoring his cauldron which was now bubbling threateningly. "If you so much as - "
"Potter!" Snape's voice echoed of the dungeon walls and broke the stony silence that had followed it. Harry's focus was broken so abruptly, that his sharp knife sliced his hand instead of the bezoar. Blood splattered the wooden workbench.
Snape clicked his tongue in a disappointed tone, when James knew that internally his insides were probably doing the conga out of happiness.
"Ten point from Gryffindor for clumsiness" He said. He waved his wand curtly, causing the contents of Harry's cauldron to vanish instantly.
He did not adress Harry's maimed hand, but no-one expected any different. No-body, that is, expect for -
"Sir, what about his hand?" The entire class whipped their heads around instantly to look at the person brave enough to make the retort. Even Snape froze on the spot. Hw turned around slowly.
"Name" He demanded.
"Lucy, sir. Lucy - Cavert" Lily boldly kept her eye-contact with Snape. She, too, had recognised this man, and refused to believe he became nothing better than what James Potter had been.
"Well, Cavert, that will be a further 10 points from Gryffindor" Snape said.
"But sir, shouldn't he go to - " She caught Harry's eye, which she realised were hauntingly her own. He shook his head vigorously.
"I'm fine" He mouthed at her.
Lily nodded curtly, but refused to let this rest. She concluded she would revisit Professor Snape soon - she stubbornly refused to give in to the fact that the friend she had known at Hogwarts for the longest became the person who was now bullying Neville Longbottom for adding bees instead of bezoars to the potion.
She distractedly stirred her potion. This was not over.
Harry and Akyra were the first to leave potions. They had hastily mentioned something about not wanting to remain on Umbridge's bad side, and had fled the potions room, with James in close pursuit of them, wishing to consult his son about Snape.
"Hey!" James called after the pair. They whipped around to watch him running up the dungeon stairs.
"What was up with that teacher, eh?" He asked.
Harry merely sighed and rolled his eyes, while Akyra called him something that would have lost her uncountable house points.
"How long has he been teaching? Surely your parents wouldn't have let him teach, the way he treats students" He looked particularly at Harry at this question. "And Dumbledore! What was Dumbledore thinking!" He protested angrily.
"Well, My Dad couldn't do much good, could he?" Akyra attempted to smile, but there was no mistaking the coldness behind it.
"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to them?" He asked her gently.
Akyra sighed sadly. "He died fighting of death-eaters" She mumbled, her eyes fixed upon her shoe to conceal their sadness.
"I'm sorry" He said solemnly. He couldn't think of anything else to say here.
"I'm proud of him, though" she added proudly, and smiled for real this time.
"And you mother?" James asked.
Her smile instantly fell, and she made no effort at concealing her sadness this time - Was it sadness? More - could it be, anger?
James turned to Harry, and gave him a puzzled look. He shook his head in response.
"Um - don't worry" James covered up quickly, though he concluded to uncover the full story. "Anyway, I know what Its like to lose someone you care about. My Uncle died fighting them, too. And I couldn't be prouder" He added.
Shockingly and horrifyingly, Harry nodded. James froze. "I know what its like to grow up not - "
Much to James' annoyance, Professor McGonagall came striding down the corridor, and scowled at them.
"What on earth are you three doing here? There is no time for leisurely chats, get to class!" She wove them away briskly.
Defence wasn't too far from the dungeons, and it looked as if McGonagall was heading in the same direction, so James couldn't further pursue the subject. But it awoke a whole new area of thought - Had any of his friends died? The daily Prophet had shown Bellatrix Lestrange had been sent to Azkaban for torturing and murdering people - but who?
Professor McGonagall saw them off at defence, and gave them - was it a pitying look? and strode of in the opposite direction.
They entered the classroom, and sat down in the back row.
"Who takes this class?" But no sooner than James had asked, an extremely stout woman in a sickeningly pink cardigan significantly resembling a toad trotted into the classroom.
"Good afternoon class" She said, in a high girly voice that made James want to vomit. "Well, well, half the class is late, that won't do, will it"
"Professor Snape kept us in" Akyra lied easily.
"Did she now? And why have some of you arrived early?" She asked, adding in a wide toad-like smile.
"He let us out early because we're his favourite students"
James stifled a laugh. He was absolutely astonished that the teacher hadn't picked up the sarcasm - was she really as stupid as she looked?
"Ah. Very well, then. Well, you three know what to do, so - hang on a second" She trotted out from behind her desk until she was standing in front of James. He didn't know if she was trying to be intimidating by the way she leant over to look at him. It wasn't very effective, either way.
"I see we have a new student with us today" She said, still smiling. "How - lovely"
"Um, I'm here because of the new ministry OWL rules" James replied tentatively.
"Why didn't you see me?" She asked, in her falsely sweet voice.
"umm..." the answer was because Akyra told them not to, but James didn't really think telling her that was the best idea.
"Well, isn't it obvious? A good headmaster of the school would have known instantly, and since Dumbledore didn't need telling - its not our fault you can't live up to his expectations" The words were out of Harry's mouth before he could help it, but he didn't really care, anyway. It was amusing to watch the contorted rage rise on her face.
"Detention, Mr Potter. Do not let me catch you lying again. Since you don't seem to be getting the message, how about you meet me in my office instantly after this lesson?"
She turned around and walked away.
Akyra made a rude hand gesture behind her back, but unfortunately for her, Umbridge turned around at that exact moment.
"Join your friend Mr Potter this evening in my office" She said simply.
The next hour was spent pointlessly reading a useless book on defensive theory. Even Lily couldn't tolerate it.
The lesson ended, and Harry and Akyra bid their friends goodbye, and left in low-spirits to their detention.
James returned to the common room along with the rest of the marauders.
"Wow" was all Remus could say before collapsing headfirst into his bed. "Just - wow"
"I know" Sirius replied, following his friends' lead. "I still can't believe James had a son. Anyway, we have a problem" He sat up and looked at them all in turn. "What're we going to do when the full moon comes?"
James S was shocked. Who would have guessed that his father was involved in deadly battles with dragons and giant three headed dogs by the time he was James' age. He was kind of starting to get why his dad hadn't told him anything earlier - but it was still thrilling and spectacular to hear - especially since he knew his dad made it out of all of them alive!
And the best part was, that wasn't even it! Ginny had said there were some things she didn't know if she should tell me, and to wait for Dumbledore - well, that wasn't going to stop James from finding out.
"Hey Lily, hey Al" He whispered to his younger siblings who were sitting by the fireplace. Albus was reading and Lily was snoozing lightly on the couch.
"Hey, James. How was your day?" Albus asked, closing his book and sounding slightly gloomy.
"Wonderful. I'm in most of the same classes as mum! She told me heaps" Albus' gloom instantly disappeared, and was replaced by excitement.
"C'mon. Room of requirement" he said, glancing around the common room and noticing people giving them curious looks.
After they exited the common room, James took out the legendary marauders map and skimmed it quickly. Then he threw the cloak over all three of them. They walked to the seventh floor in silence. When the reached the statue, they walked past it three times, thinking about a room they could share their secrets without disturbance.
They entered a room that strongly symbolised their living room from their time. Lily jumped instantly into her favourite couch, and Albus and James occupied the two vacant ones.
"Okay..." James started, smiling slightly. Retelling the story was going to be fun...
"So, now we've sorted out the matter of the full moon, where are Harry and Akyra?" Sirius asked.
Peter shrugged. "Probably still at detention"
James shook his head. "What detention stars at four and ends at seven?" He asked, but he he wasn't completely certain himself.
Just then, the portrait door swung open, and Harry and Akyra walked in.
They looked exhausted. Harry's face had been drained of some of its colour, and Akyra had bags under her large brown eyes.
"What happened?" James asked automatically, being overcome by parentally concern for the first time in his life.
"Detention" Akyra muttered, and rubbed her eye with her right hand - James noticed she had wrapped her left hand in a scarf.
"What happened to your hand?" Remus asked.
"I - tripped?" She lied feebly. She noticed the disbelieving expressions on everyone's face. "Look, guys, it doesn't matter, okay? She made us write lines, and our hands are sore. Please leave it at that" She begged.
Something strange was going on, but whatever it was, James wouldn't let his son and his friend last through another day of whatever the detention was - and for that, James had a plan...
sorry guys, I know its not original, but the next few chapters will be, I promise... I know James' plan is at least...
Anyway, please review, and the next chapter will be different to this one, I promise :)