As many of you know, I have recently written quite a lot of James, what with my other story, so it was quite fitting actually, that the next chapter on my list was a James one. Some of the stuff I cover in this chapter will be reiterated later in Something New, so sorry to those loyal and beautiful people who read both. Speaking of… Shout out to TwilightMoonbeams who very kindly has started reading my stories and reviewing every chapter. I feel very appreciated :3 So here is our 25th chapter, a WHOLE YEAR after starting writing this story James gets inked. Enjoy! Bg.97 xx

James gets inked (December 2019)

James was an adult. 17 years old, and a fully-fledged Wizarding adult. He'd done well to make the most of his privileges so far, between buying firewhiskey, and wandering down to the club in Hogsmeade. This felt a lot more like the solidifying of his new adulthood though. He stood outside the Hogsmeade store, stared up at the sign and took a deep breath.

"Are you sure you want to do this Jamie?" Fred questioned beside him.

"Yeah, James, I don't know how Mum and Dad are going to react to this." Al said nervously.

"I'm an adult. I can make my own decisions." He nodded his head vigorously to reaffirm this statement; and with his confidence restored, he pushed open the door of the tattoo parlour.

As he walked in, his eyes widened slightly at the dark demeanour of the place, and the emptiness of it. He felt Freddie lay a hand on his shoulder,

"There's still time to escape."

James smirked as he walked up to the main desk. "Never."

He rang a bell and waited for someone to appear, as his brother and cousin jittered slightly behind him.

"Calm down, Al! You're not the one getting a tattoo."

Al laughed awkwardly, brushing off James' comment quickly. His laugh was cut off as the door to the backroom was opened, and from it stepped forward a young witch, probably only a couple years older than James. She smiled as she stepped to the desk.

"Hogsmeade Body Art- For all your muggle and magical tattoo needs. Do you have proof you're over 17?"

James smiled as he pulled out his wand and performed a quick charm.

"Brilliant." The witch flashed him a bright smile. "Do you know what you want?"

James nodded, and pulled a piece of paper from his coat pocket and unfolded it.

The witch nodded with approval, her eyes taking in every little detail of James' drawing. "I can definitely do that for you. We just need to discuss what you want done with magical ink, and what with muggle, and where you want it and what not. Follow me through to the back." She began to saunter back into the parlour, her pink hair swishing behind her, and James hurriedly followed. Freddie and Al stayed still but looked at each other, each prompting the other to move.

The tattoo artist called back over her shoulder. "There are magazines in the corner, or a pub down the road. We'll be done in an hour tops. See ya later!" and with that she slammed the door in their faces.

"I guess we're leaving then…" said Albus, feeling offended at being shut down. Fred just rolled his eyes at him and the two of them left the shop to head to the Three Broomsticks.

In the back, James spoke animatedly as he explained his design to the tattoo artist, whom he now knew to be called Alex. Her eyes looked directly into his, her excitement matching his by this point.

"So let's just review the design shall we? We've got a giant snitch as the centrepiece, with one wing pointed to the left and one pointed upwards. We'll use magical ink on the wings so they flutter slightly. Lying against the wings, we have a quill, lightning bolt, wooden spoon, and a goldfish. Sat on the middle bit of the snitch we have a rubber duck, a lily-pad, a pair of antlers and the drawing of a lion that your brother gave you. Is that everything?"

"Yeah, that sounds right. Quill for mum; Lightning for Dad; Spoon for Nan; Fish for Granny Potter; Rubber duck for Granddad, Lily pad for Lily pad; Antlers for my namesake and 5 year old Al's crappy attempt at a lion." He grinned massively.

Alex laughed at his long list of family members. "And the snitch? Who does that represent?"

"Why me of course," James answered with a wink.

"And you want this on the right hand side of your hip, right? So that one wing sits on top of your waistband, and the other goes up your torso?"

He nodded excitedly once more.

"Well pop your shirt off and we'll get started." Alex smiled, but her eyes widened slightly as James removed his t-shirt.

He tried to play it cool, acting as if he couldn't see her checking him out. "Is something wrong?"

His voice shook her alert. "Nope, not at all. Let's get this tattoo done, shall we?"

After waiting at the pub for what felt like ages, and having spent all their money on food and hot butterbeer, Fred and Al were getting fed up of waiting for James. They placed their money on the table and made the executive decision to walk back to the castle. When they arrived, they were surprised to find James already sat on the sofa of the Gryffindor common room, skimming through a Quidditch magazine.

"Jamie! What the hell, we were waiting for you." Al shouted at his brother.

The older Potter boy shrugged. "I was sore. Came to rest up. Also TJ insisted that she had to be the first one to see my new ink."

"That I did!" shouted Tara from her spot by the fire amongst a few of the other seventh years.

Freddie smiled excitedly. "Let's see it then. Since you were actually brave enough to do it- I definitely want a glance."

James rolled his eyes, but pulled up the bottom of his t-shirt to reveal his raw skin, upon which sat a tattoo that took up a quarter of his upper body. The two boys looked in wonder.

Al crossed his arms against his chest. "Okay, I'll admit that it's pretty cool. I like that you managed to get the family in there."

"You're my blood, Albie. Of course I want permanent signs of you on my body."

"Even that shite drawing I did when I was little?"

"Especially that shite drawing you did! In fact, I think that might be the best part." He said, looking down to the little lion on his abs.

Al smiled back. "Wait until our parents see this! They'll lose their shit"

He was surprised as his best friend appeared beside them. "It would be a bit hypocritical of them, wouldn't it, considering your Dad has that Hungarian Horntail tattoo?"

James and Al looked to each other before bursting out laughing.

"Where on Earth did you get that from Scorpius?"

"My Dad said that everyone used to say that at school? I take it they were wrong."

James managed to nod before exploding into laughter further. When he had calmed down, he chuckled one more time. "Damn it. Now I wish I'd got a horntail tattoo instead!"

"Maybe it would help you pick up girls," Tara added as she threw herself onto the sofa beside them.

"Oh about that… I may now have a date with Alex the tattoo witch…"

The others around him all laughed. James never failed to stir excitement into the cauldron.

This was short and kind of random and completely irrelevant, but James' family tattoo makes me happpppyyyyy Please review and I'll update as soon as possible. BG.97 xx