Chapter Fourteen: The Shadow Lengthens
In the aftermath of Gryffindor's dramatic victory over Slytherin House in the first game of the season, everyone was eagerly analyzing Gryffindor's chances to win the House Cup that year. After all, this was very similar to the Slytherin Team that had gone all the way the year before. If Gryffindor could beat them, then who could stand in their way?
James and Jeremey were eagerly discussing this topic over breakfast in the Great Hall when Andrew stumbled upon something in the Dailey Prophet. Something that, unlike most of the news in there, was actually of genuine interest and importance.
"Ravenclaw is falling apart! They just replaced Keith with Jason! And I know Jason's our friend and all that, but he's no Keith! I have no idea why they got rid of him" Jeremey was saying, arguing against James' point that Ravenclaw's roster could very well defeat their own. Apart from Slytherin, Jeremey was most concerned with Huflepuff, whose Seeker Billy Hewitt was supposedly one of the best around.
"The guy does nothing but practice all the time and have you seen him James? Cause he's good! He's really good! Plus Hufflepuff's got The Nash Brothers, and those two are unstoppable!" The two Hufflepuff Beaters were a pair of brothers named Scott and Calvin Nash. The two were amongst the biggest and toughest kids at Hogwarts, and that only made them even more lethal on the Quidditch Pitch. Players had been known to drop the Quaffle on purpose, rather than take a Bludger from one of them!
The two were interrupted in their arguing by Andrew, who could no longer restrain himself from sharing the article that he had found. "Guys I think you should see this. Especially you James, it's about your father…sorta."
The two immediately stopped talking and crowded around Andrew to read the Prophet article over his shoulder.
Voldemort Revisionist Movement at it again!
The infamous Voldemort Revisionist Movement, or VRM as they have been called, has come out of hiding after seven years in seclusion. For those who do not remember their height, the VRM emerged shortly after the Downfall of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in the Spring of 1998, insisting that You-Know-Who had actually been a charitable, and virtuous man, whose message was misunderstood and corrupted. Rather than try and destroy us, the VRM claim, that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was actually tying to unite the Wizards of the world under one banner, until his brutal murder at the hands of the scheming villain Harry Potter.
Though it is obvious to any normal person that these claims hold no validity, the VRM have attracted many to their fold, especially those with Pure-Bloodist Beliefs. But now that the VRM is out of hiding, what is their goal?
The VRM made a public announcement last night that their goal is to prove the crimes committed by Harry Potter, through the use of a "Lost Relic from the Battle of Hogwarts", though what this relic is was not said.
The Ministry of Magic has dismissed this message as an idle threat to instill fear and terror in the Wizarding population, so soon after the end of the Second Wizarding War.
The boys stared at the paper in shock, James had to reread the article two or three times before he believed that he had actually read the words. Then, after reading it for the fourth time, he threw the paper down and laughed. "What a load of rubbish." He said, "That anyone could actually believe that! Ha! What a bunch of morons!"
Jeremey and Andrew exchanged glances before Andrew said "Erm, James, I think that you may be missing the bigger issue here." Andrew sounded nervous, frightened even, clearly whatever this bigger issue was it was something pretty big.
"Alright, what's the big deal that I'm missing here?" James asked, rolling his eyes at Andrew's needless fear. However, it was Jeremey, not Andrew, who answered him. "If the VRM is after this Relic, regardless as to whether it exists or not, they'll be coming to Hogwarts to try and get it!" Taking a deep breath, he concluded "And that means that they'll be coming here! And no matter how stupid they may be, I don't want Dark Wizards knocking on my front door!"
James realized that they were right, and it occurred to him that if the Relic really was still at Hogwarts, then all of the students there, himself included, could be in grave danger. Still, Hogwarts was a fortress…surely it would be impossible for anyone to break into the grounds.
But most people were not so sure, as the Great Hall was soon filled with nervous students scurrying from table to table in order to discuss the news with friends as they heard it. Like any hot story in a school setting, the word about the VRM spread like wildfire, and soon the entire Great Hall was alight with feverish conversation concerning this mysterious, and probably dangerous, organization.
"Have you guys heard?" came a voice from behind them, and the boys turned to see Erin Malloy, standing there petrified and clinging to her brother Jason's shoulder for support. The whole thing would have been rather amusing if it had not been so terrifying to all of them.
"Yea Erin we've heard." Said James in a softer and gentler tone than any which he normally used. "Don't worry about it; I'm sure everything will be fine. There's no way that anyone could break into Hogwarts."
Erin's tension began to lift somewhat, and Jeremey jumped in saying, "It's all gonna be fine. I mean come on, who on earth would be crazy enough to try and break into this place? Just think of all the enchantments that must be protecting this Castle! If it could withstand a siege by You-Know-Who, then I doubt we need to worry about any old saps like this."
Erin smiled and said "I guess you guys are right. I'm gonna go make sure that Nick knows. Come on Jason." And with that, the two disappeared into the flowing mass of students.
"Who was that?" Teddy asked, leaning across the table with a smirk on his face.
"Erin Malloy, what's it matter?" asked Zach, who had never really liked Teddy despite the others assurances that he was cool, and had not been trying to get them into trouble that night.
"Hey relax kid…it's Zach right? I'm just curious to know what the name of Jamie's little girlfriend is." He said, staring at James and asking "So, are you going to ask her out or not?"
"Can it Teddy!" Andrew said, "James and Erin are just friends alright!" He turned away from Teddy, but then caught sight of James' face, which was bright red. "Oh, you're not…" Andrew began.
"Yea, I do alright!" James snapped, "Why'd you have to go running your mouth Teddy! I told you that in confidence!" But Teddy just laughed and said "It's for your own good James, trust me."
What had happened that morning didn't come up again that day, until the four First Years returned to their Dormitory late that night. James was sitting on his bed apparently deep in thought, and Jeremey was just staring at him blankly.
Finally, James couldn't take it anymore and snapped "What on earth are you staring at me like that for Jeremey? God!" He didn't need to deal with this right now, was Jeremey really that immature?
"You like Erin?" Jeremey said simply, "You like, like her?" he asked, his voice sounding oddly distant and hollow.
Shaking his head James said "Yea Jer, so what if I do? What are you five years old? You think girls are icky and have cooties or something?" What was he on about? Hadn't Teddy made that perfectly clear that morning at breakfast.
Jeremey was silent for a long while, until finally he looked up at James and said "If only it were that simple." And then looked down again, seemingly fascinated with the floor beneath his bed.
James had no idea what Jeremey was talking about, but apparently Andrew had figured it out as he had leapt to his feet and was no pointing at Jeremey and shaking his head "No!" he said, "No way! You're kidding right, you're just messing with me!"
Jeremey did not answer, but looked mournfully up at Andrew and nodded his head twice before looking back down. Andrew immediately slapped his palm into his face and collapsed on his bed, as though he had never heard anything more stupid in his entire life.
James no longer had the patience for all of this back and forth so he shouted "What? What are you two talking about. I swear to god if you don't just come out with it I'll…"
"Oh isn't it obvious you moron!" Andrew snapped at James, sitting up before pointing at Jeremey and saying "Your best-friend has been trying to tell you all morning but you haven't been listening to him! You two bone-heads have fallen in love with the same girl!"
Immediately, Jeremey snapped upright and said "Shut the hell up Andrew! I was gonna tell him in like ten seconds, and you had to blurt it out!"
James was staring at Jeremey, unable to believe what he'd just heard. "You're kidding me right?" he said, waiting for someone to laugh and tell him the whole thing was a joke. Shaking his head he said "Well, you can't like her because…I owned up to it first, so I get dibs! That's how it works!"
"What are you talking about?" Jeremey shouted indignantly, "You can't call dibs on a human being?"
"Yes you can." Zach said in a bored tone from where he lay on his bed. "It's in the Bro-Code. You two are best-friends, therefore you're bros, and because James admitted to liking Erin first he gets her, end of story."
"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my entire life!" Andrew said, "The Bro-Code? Are you serious? There's no such thing!"
"Yes there is!" James insisted, "It governs how Bros live with one another, and part of the Code is that you don't go after a girl that your Bro already called dibs on!"
"Alright can it James!" Jeremey shouted angrily, "First of all you cannot call dibs on a person, no matter what this stupid made up code says. And second, who ever said that we were Bros?"
Neither of the other two, including Andrew, could stop from laughing at Jeremey at this. "Dude, you two so are." Andrew said between spurts of laughter. "You two do everything together!"
"I think that's a bit of an exaggeration." James interrupted, "We don't do everything together."
"Yes." Said Zach, "You really do." When Jeremey and James started to protest he said "You always sit next to each other, and Andrew and I get kicked out of our seats if we try and get in the middle of you two, you do your homework together every night, you practice Quidditch together everyday when the rest of the team is resting, you laugh at jokes that only the two of you get…just face it, you're Bros."
Jeremey and James turned away from Zach and faced each other, each one staring at the other like he'd like nothing better than to strangle his 'best-friend' right there on the spot.
"Well then, maybe the two of us shouldn't be friends anymore!" James said bitterly.
"Maybe you're right!" Jeremey spat back.
"Fine!" James said with a hiss as he climbed into his bed and swung the curtains around it, hiding himself from the view of the others.
"Are you really going to let some stupid girl get between you two?" Andrew was saying, "You're eleven, my god, stop being so overly dramatic!"
There was a whisking sound as Jeremey's curtains closed around his bed as well, and then silence.
"Aw, they'll get over it in the morning." Zach said, as the lights in the room went out and he and Andrew turned in as well.
As James lay there in his bed fuming, he wondered how he had ever thought that a backstabbing traitor like Jeremey could be his friend. He had probably only pretended to like Erin out of spite, to try and beat out James at something. Yea, that was it. There was no way that his feelings for her were genuine, he decided as he went to sleep.
In the next bed, a single tear fluttered down the cheek of Jeremey Hall, unseen by anyone else…
Authors Note: Last night, Friday October 13th 2010, at 10:29 pm, I finished the writing of James Potter and the Continuous Legacy. I will continue writing the Second Book in the series, I'll reveal the name in the last chapter of this one, as I upload a few chapters of this Book every day. Keep reading, and reviewing guys thanks so much for the support!