Thanks to everyone who reviewed and guessed what the Hangman puzzle was! Sorry for updating a bit late; I was busy. Anyway, here is Chapter 24.

James stirred his potion without paying much attention. His mind was still on other things.

"You're stirring it too many times," Oliver said. "It's only supposed to be ten stirs; you've done at least thirty."

"What?" James jolted out of his thoughts. He looked at his potion. At this stage, it was supposed to be lime-green. His was more of an olive green. "Oh, oops."

Fred laughed. "Nice, James."

"You shouldn't laugh. Look at your own potion."

Fred's potion was currently bright pink. "Yeah, well, your potion was going fine until you stirred it too much. Mine was always bad."

"True," James said. He was surprised Fred had even managed to get into NEWT Potions. He suspected it was only because their professor liked Fred. James attempted to fix his potion by stirring it in the opposite direction, but it didn't work. The potion just turned an even darker green.

"Time's up!" called the potions teacher. James groaned as he stared at his potion. He knew he would get an Acceptable at the highest; it was a big disappointment for him.

James put some of the potion into a test tube and went up to hand it in. Oliver's potion was, as usual, amazing. It was a bright green and bubbled like it was supposed to. James sighed as he handed in his potion.

"James, what's going on?" Fred asked as the three went to the Hall for dinner. "You've been acting really weird lately."

"Oh, just stress," James replied. "You know, with the third task coming and Moreau stalking me all the time…"

Fred shrugged. "If you say so. But honestly, I think you're worrying too much. You realize, if you just asked your dad to help, the trouble with Moreau would have been over."

"I told you, Fred, forget about it," James replied, annoyed. "I can't go back in time. Besides, it'll be Easter in three weeks, and everything will be good."

"Well, three weeks," Fred said. "Three weeks of worrying and failing your classes."

"Just quit arguing," Oliver interrupted. "It won't get anywhere."

James privately thanked Oliver for stopping their argument. He had a lot to worry about, and fighting Fred would have made it worse.

The three went to the Hall, where they had dinner. A few days ago, there had been an announcement that the sixth-years were to study Apparation. Their first lesson would be today, after dinner. James was looking forward to that, so he had something else to think about.

After dinner, when the rest of the students had left, the sixth years waited in the Hall. The tables and chairs had been vanished, and the Hall was now empty.

"Welcome!" James looked up to see an old man walking toward the center of the room. "My name is Ferrand Cross, and I will be your Apparation Instructor for the next few weeks. Now, apparation is a difficult thing to learn, but I am sure that after practice you all will manage.

"The Headmistress has kindly lifted the Anti-Disapparation Jinx on this room for an hour, so we should all enjoy it while we can. Now, would everyone please move around until they have three meters of space in front of them?"

All the students moved until they had space. James moved toward the back, so he could watch everyone. His father had led James side-along apparation a few times, and James had gotten used to the sensation after a while. He didn't tell anyone, but had tried apparating a few times at home, just for fun. Nothing happened, but he had felt a slight tingling sensation. He thought that today, if he put some effort in, he would be able to manage to Apparate.

"So is everyone settled?" asked the Instructor. They all nodded. "Excellent!" He waved his wand and hoops appeared in front of all the students. "So now, you must learn to apparate. What you must focus upon are the three D's: Destination, Determination, Deliberation. You must focus on your destination, you must used determination, and you must turn with deliberation!"

I know, James said impatiently in his head. His dad had told him this before. He was eager to start practicing.

"So, on the count of three, I want you all to turn on the spot, concentrating on the three D's. Ready, set, go!"

James watched as all the students around him turned and nothing happened. He closed his eyes and concentrated hard on the three D's. It would be a record if he managed to apparate on his first attempt; none of his relatives had ever done that before.

James turned, focusing hard. Nothing happened. Instructor Cross didn't look disappointed, he just watched. "How about a second try? You must focus hard! Think with determination!"

So James tried. He turned with such determination and deliberation that he forgot all about the destination, and ended up on the opposite side of the hall. James gasped. He had managed to Apparate successfully on his second attempt! He looked down at his body for any missing parts. Then he saw that the fingernail on his right thumb had vanished. The feeling of not having a fingernail was strange.

James looked around. He was, for some reason, behind the Staff table, so nobody could see him. He peered around, and saw that Instructor Cross was right in front of him, watching the students fail at Apparating again. Then he turned and saw Moreau, who, like usual, was wherever James was.

Monsieur Moreau was scanning the crowd, almost as if he had a magical eye, and then turned around and went toward the exit of the hall in the back of the room. James hesitated, debating what to do, then went with his instinct. He could get his fingernail back later, but now was the only chance he had of following Moreau. He made sure everyone was too busy apparating to notice, and then ran toward the exit. He opened the door and saw Moreau walking down the hall.

Looking around to make sure nobody was following, James quietly followed Moreau. If only he had his invisibility cloak, everything would be perfect. But he didn't have it, so he would just have to be extremely careful. If Moreau turned around at all, his plan would be ruined. Not that he had a plan.

Moreau went up a flight of stairs and then stopped, all of a sudden. James quickly ducked behind a statue, in case Moreau turned around. Moreau looked around, but, assuming nobody was following him, went into the boy's bathroom.

James let out a sigh of relief; Moreau was just going to the bathroom, nothing else. But that couldn't be the case… there were plenty of bathrooms on the first floor. Why would he have to use this one? James debated what to do, then opened the door of the bathroom. If Moreau caught him, he would just lie and say he had to go to the bathroom. There was nothing wrong with that.

James took a deep breath and pushed open the door. He held it open a crack, and then peered over the side of the door. He was surprised and curious at what he saw.

Moreau was tapping his wand on the far wall in some pattern. When he finally finished tapping, he put his wand to his side and waited, looking around to make sure there was nobody there. James closed the door for a second so Moreau wouldn't see him. Then he opened it again.

James gasped. The blank wall had separated in half, and both sides were rotating 90 degrees. When they had fully turned, there was now a blank space in that wall. Then something slowly came out from the darkness.

It was a tray. There were small objects on the tray as well, but James couldn't see what it was. Moreau picked one up. James couldn't make it out the best, but it was small, round, and red, like a berry. Like a berry…

James realized what it was and quickly closed the door before Moreau saw him, dashing away from the bathroom and running back to the Hall.

"Where have you been?" Oliver asked as James returned to the Hall, through the back door. "You were here one minute, and then you were gone the next!"

"I'll tell you later," James replied. He went to his old spot and picked up his fingernail. He wasn't sure what to do with it, so he just put it on his thumb, even though it didn't fit together. When Instructor Cross told everyone to apparate again, James turned. This time, however, he focused on all three D's. He turned, and appeared in the hoop. He didn't lose any body parts this time.

Oliver stared openmouthed at James. "How did you do it?"

James shrugged. "I don't know."

After Instructor Cross fixed James's fingernail and fussed about how talented he was at apparating, James told his friends about what had happened. Fred and Oliver both looked interested at James's description of the secret room in the boy's bathroom, and even more curious at the weird red object.

"So you're thinking that it's a Fierberry," Oliver said. "Aren't you?"

James nodded. "I think so. I just have to find out for sure."

"Wow, James," Oliver said. "Your life just gets more and more interesting, doesn't it? What were the chances of you apparating over there just as Moreau left the room and decided to go to that bathroom?"

"Pretty high," James replied. "I've been practicing apparating for a while, and Moreau only left because I wasn't there."

"You practiced apparating before? Isn't that illegal?"

"Er… I didn't think so."

While the Easter holidays grew closer and closer, the amount of homework grew greater and greater. Luckily for Rose, the smartest student it her year, she managed to do all her homework easily, and watched Albus and Scorpius suffer while she relaxed.

"Why can't I just copy your essay?" Albus whined one evening, doing his History of Magic essay while Rose read one of her favorite books again.

"I told you, you'll never learn if you just copy," Rose replied. "And besides, the teacher will know I let you copy if we have the same essay."

"I'd change it up a bit, obviously," Albus retorted, but Rose didn't give in. She returned to reading her book.

"All Weasleys or Potters, we're having a family meeting!" Rose looked up from her book again to hear James shouting about a family meeting.

She groaned. "I can only read one page at a time without getting interrupted."

"I wonder why James wants a family meeting," Albus wondered. "We'd better go. Scorpius, do you want to come.

"Nah, it's a family meeting; I don't want to intrude," Scorpius replied. "I need to work on this, anyway."

Rose shrugged, and then followed Albus to where James was sitting with their other cousins. "Why are having a family meeting?"

"You'll find out later," James replied. "When everyone gets here."

"Do you want us to watch the sixth floor again?" asked Dominique.

"What?" Rose asked. "What do you mean by again?"

James glared at Dominique. "Thanks for telling them."

"Telling us what?" Albus asked. "What are you all talking about?"

"Oh, James just asked us to watch the sixth floor before the first task," Dominique replied. "It was a long time ago."

Rose was still suspicious, but she didn't say anything as the rest of the family got to the Weasley's section of the common room. Lucy and Louis appeared, and sat down on a couch.

"Okay, well, since everyone's here, I just wanted to confirm who's going home for Easter. And if anyone of you want to bring guests, you can, as long as Grandma agrees with it." James said.

Rose was relieved. The family meeting wasn't about anything complex or strange; it was just about Easter.

"I need to tell Grandma Molly and make sure," James explained. "Since nobody else is doing it, and I'm one of the oldest, I guess I'd make sure."

"Hey, are you saying I'm irresponsible?" Fred asked.

"I didn't say anything about that," James said. "Anyway, so far I have me, Fred, Oliver, and Albus."

Rose looked at Albus in surprise. "He asked me one day, and I said yes," Albus replied. "So what?"

"So who else is going home?" James asked.

"Albus and I already told our parents that we were going home," Rose said. "I didn't know we had to tell you."

James shrugged. "So you're going home too, Rose?"

She nodded.

"Any guests?"

"Maybe," Rose said. "I have to ask later."

"So that's a maybe," James said. "What about the rest of you?"

Dominique, Roxanne, and Molly all agreed. "Charlotte has to go home," Dominique said, referring to her best friend. "She can't come."

James nodded. "So what about you two?" He motioned to Lucy and Louis.

"Can Lorcan and Lysander come?" Lucy asked. "Their parents could come too, and we could have a big reunion."

"I guess so," James replied. "Luna's a good family friend, and she helped a lot in the war. So I think that would be nice. Did you ask if she wanted to come?"

"Not yet," Lucy admitted. "But I asked the twins if they wanted to come, and they agreed. I'll tell them to send a letter to their parents later."

"Okay. So, so far I have me, Fred, Oliver, Domininque, Roxanne, Molly, Lucy, Louis, Lorcan, Lysander, and probably their parents, Rose, Albus, and maybe a friend."

"What about Lily and Hugo?" Lucy said. "You forgot them."

"Well, they're back at Hogwarts, so I guess they'll tell their parents themselves," James replied. "Okay, family meeting over. Rose, you'd better ask who you want to ask soon."

Rose nodded, and returned to her seat. "Hey, Scorpius, do you want to come to The Burrow for Easter? Our whole family and some friends are coming."

"No thanks," Scorpius replied. "I'm just going to stay here at Beauxbatons during Easter. My parents are going to Italy during Easter, and they wrote to me telling me to stay at Beauxbatons."
"Well, why don't you just come to our home?" Albus asked. "If you're going to stay here anyway, it's not like your parents want you to go to their house."

"No, I'll just stay here," Scorpius said. "I don't think my parents would want me to go to your home anyway. My family and yours don't really get along. I have a feeling if I sent them a letter, asking, they'd say no."

"Well, we still have one week, so why don't you send them a letter just in case?" Rose suggested. "If they say yes, then you get to come. If they say no, then nothing happens."

Scorpius shook his head. "My dad gets angry even hearing the Weasleys' name. You should have heard him when I got into Gryffindor… I hated that whole summer. If I went to your home, I would never want to see my parents again."

"Scorpius," Rose said gently. "Remember when you said one day you'd tell us why you're scared of your dad?"

Scorpius sighed. "Well, in reality he's actually not that bad. It's just when I do really stupid things, like get into Gryffindor or become friends with his worst enemy's children, he gets really angry. I mean, he doesn't hit me or do anything physical. It's just the way he stares at me, and the speech that sometimes accompanies it. He makes me feel like I disappointed him. And I just hate that. Because I don't think my dad is proud of me."

"Oh," Rose and Albus said together.

"I know, it's stupid for me to feel that, but… I don't know, it's a long story. I mean, usually my dad is a really good father. And he is. It's just, I don't think my dad's ever been proud of me."

"So, right now you're just trying to live up to your father's expectations?" Albus questioned. "You're trying to be the good child, who doesn't go off with his friends and have a good time?"

"Scorpius," Rose said. "I'm sure your father wouldn't mind you having some fun. After all, you are his only child. Just write to him, and I'm sure he wouldn't say anything. I can always get my dad or Uncle Harry to write back."

Albus nodded. "Yeah. I mean, you're thirteen already, almost fourteen. In three years you'll be of age, an adult. You should start standing up to your parents, not trying to always do what they want you to do. Have you ever heard of Sirius Black?"

"Of course," Scorpius replied. "His whole family hated him."

"Yep," Albus said. "His whole family was in Slytherin, but he ended up in Gryffindor. And he had fun there. In his sixth year, he ran away from home. Do you know what his mom did? He burned his name off their family tapestry, which is basically saying that he's not part of the family anymore. But did Sirius care? No."

"Thanks for telling me this," Scorpius said.

"So are you going to write to your parents?" Rose asked. "Please?"

Scorpius sighed. "Alright."

Rose watched as he pulled out a piece of paper and began writing a letter. She just hoped that his father said yes.

I know I exaggerated a bit about James apparating so soon—is it even possible for somebody to apparate on his second try? Well, I guess it's possible. It let James find the fierberries! And the part about Scorpius... he is only thirteen, so he has to be scared of his father a little.

The next chapter is going to take place at Easter, back at The Burrow, where the whole family is reunited! :)

Please review!