Hey! So, a lot happens in this chapter, and in not so long an amount of time...sexual tensions are rising is all I'm gonna say.

"James!" came the voice of my mum from downstairs, sounding frantic. It was two weeks after the summer holidays had started, and I was woken up by Mum's voice drifting up the stairs.

"What?" I grumbled, looking up towards the clock: 10 AM. Great. What on earth possessed her to wake me up at this hour? I might not be as bad as Rose about mornings, but you'd think she'd cut me some slack at the start of the holidays.

"JAMES SIRIUS POTTER!" You'd be wrong. I sat up as she came up the stairs, holding a large envelope.

"What's that?" I asked anxiously, suddenly feeling much more awake.

"What do you think it is?" she asked impatiently, throwing it to me, "Open it!"

With slightly trembling hands I ripped open the envelope and read:

Ordinary Wizarding Level

James Sirius Potter has achieved:

Astronomy: A

Care of Magical Creatures: E

Charms: O

Defense Against the Dark Arts: O

Herbology: E

History of Magic: P

Potions: A

Transfiguration: E

"Bloody Hell," I whispered as I read through the grades several times, trying to process them. During my career advice meeting with Uncle Neville, I'd discussed with him the fact that I wanted to become a Gringotts curse breaker like my Uncle Bill, and he'd told me that I'd need top grades in Transfiguration, Charms, and Defense Against the Dark Arts if I wanted to proceed. I got those! It took me a minute to realize that I actually got them. Two O's. TWO! That's even more than Dad, and he took down Voldemort! I felt lightheaded.

"Well?" It was only when Mum spoke that I remembered that she was still standing at the foot of my bed, looking nervous.

"Excellent," I said breaking out into a grin, "Really excellent. Look!" I showed her the parchment, and she beamed.

"I knew you were this smart!" she said, before continuing in a sterner tone, "Image how much better you'd have done if you'd spent more time studying and less on creating mischief..."

"Yeah," I said, "But where's the fun in that?" I was pleased to see a small smile appear on her face.

"Well," she said, handing me back my scores, "I'm off to make breakfast. What do you say to bacon and eggs?"

"Sounds great," I said, "I'll be down in a minute, I'll just write to Steven, Em, Daniel, and Robert first."

"Alright, but be quick about it," she said, closing the door with a snap.

When I returned from breakfast I found Lynx waiting with my letters, one from all four of my friends. I opened Steven's first.

Hey mate,

Those look great! Here are mine:

Astronomy: A

Care of Magical Creatures: A

Charms: E

Defense Against the Dark Arts: O

Herbology: E

History of Magic: P

Potions: E

Transfiguration: O

Do you think these'll be good enough for me to be an auror? I hope so. I wrote to Em to ask about her scores and to tell her mine. I hope she writes back soon, I really want her to get the scores to be a healer. I bet she will, but still. See you back at school!

Steven

I grinned. His scores were definitely good enough to be an auror, and I knew he'd be top at Transfiguration. I also found his worry over Em's scores funny, and I couldn't help but smirk as I turned to her letter.

Hey James,

I'm glad you got the scores to be a curse breaker. These are mine:

Astronomy: E

Care of Magical Creatures: E

Charms: O

Defense Against the Dark Arts: E

Herbology: O

History of Magic: A

Potions: O

Transfiguration: E

I think they'll let me be a healer with these, don't you? I do hope so....I've seen Steven's scores, and written him with mine. They're quite good, aren't they? I'm glad he gets to be an auror. You can be a curse breaker too! We'll all get to do exactly what we want, thank God it's over though. See you when school starts!

Lots of Love,

Em

I grinned even more at her marks, and her mention of Steven, before turning to Daniel and Robert's letters. They both got the scores to go into their chosen careers. Daniel wanted to play keeper with Puddlemere United, his dad's old team, so his scores didn't matter as much, but he still did really well, and Robert got what he needed to become a member of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad. I felt a lot happier knowing we could all start 6th year on the right foot.

"Hey guys!" said Em as she entered our compartment. It was just me and Steven, because Daniel and Robert had opted for their own compartment. "Good Holiday?" she asked, sitting next to Steven, partly because Lynx's cage was on the seat next to me and partly, I was convinced, for other reasons...

"Great," said Steven, "We were in Scotland with family for a while, which was nice, and then I just sort of relaxed. You?"

"Fabulous," she said with a grin, "My Mum and Dad took Erin and I to Italy for a month," Erin was Emily's sister, "and it was amazing. How was your break, James?" she asked.

"Not so bad," I said, "I got to play a ton of Quidditch, which was nice. Speaking of, we've got an amazing team lined up for this year, and will definitely thrash Ravenclaw."

"Totally," said Steven, "We've got you as seeker, Hugo and Fred as our beaters, Daniel as keeper, and Robert, Roxanne, and Peter as chasers. There's no way we can loose!" Peter was Dean Thomas' son, and a third year, like Roxanne and Fred.

"Agreed," I said.

"Before you guys go on a Quidditch tirade," said Emily, "What classes are you all taking this year?"

"Well," said Steven, "I'm taking Herbology, Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. I think they'll let me in to all of them..."

"They will," she assured him, "I'm taking the same. You, James?"

"I'm taking the same, minus potions, plus Care of Magical Creatures."

"That makes sense," said Steven, "You'll need to know as much as possible about the dragons if you ever decide to retire from curse breaking and work at the bank. Plus, you don't really need potions to be a curse breaker."

"My thinking exactly," I said with a smug smile, that vanished when Steven kicked me from the other side of the car.

The rest of the ride passed amicably, and then we were there...Hogwarts. We got off the train and headed into the a carriage, where we were joined by Robert and Daniel.

"Hey guys," said Robert, "Good holiday?"

"Yeah," I said. "You?"

"Yep," they chorused in unison, before Daniel continued, "Can you guys wait until the first match of the season? With a team like this we'll win for sure!" Robert and I jumped on a chance to discuss our Quidditch prospects, but I saw out of the corner of my eye Steven whispering something into Em's ear as she was rolling her eyes that made her giggle.

So, I hope you liked it! We're getting close to "When Fate's on Vacation" which I will be doing a chapter to cover, so be excited! (for those of you that haven't read it, please do...) It won't be the next chapter, but possibly the one after, I'm still shifting things around a bit in terms of order. Tell me what you thought!

XOXO

GossipGirlHere