Author's note: I'd just like to thank my reviewers again, since I've had a couple of anons leaving me messages and I won't be able to reply to them directly... Particularly Icy W for all her compliments... You're making me blush =$

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Chapter Thirty Six

After the first couple of weeks, James was adjusting to his new working life, and though he still pretended to hate it more than anything, the truth was, he was beginning to enjoy it. Sarah, the other employee, was always nice to him, and kindly helped him with everything he needed in the beginning. She was perhaps ten or fifteen years older than him, and he was surprised he could get along so well with an actual grown up. Because despite being of legal age and using it as an excuse to do as he pleased, he'd never really thought of himself as an adult.

George was always around, as he and his wife lived above the shop most of the time now Roxie was at school and Fred had his own place, now he was playing Quidditch professionally. Angelina showed up occasionally, and she always laughed at something silly James always had to say to her, even though his uncle didn't seem too appreciative of it. And what was once noise to his ears became routine, and he learned the names of the regular customers, and began inquiring after their families when they came by. It was a strange feeling for him not to be constantly scanning the room for targets, but not at all unpleasant.

One day, near the end of July, James had stayed late cleaning up - a particularly messy group of children had come in right before they closed the doors, and had made an enormous mess -, and after he was done, he went looking for George, to let him know he was going, as he always did. He tried the back room, the supplies room and even upstairs, but the place seemed deserted. As he was coming down again, he noticed for the first time the trapdoor that led to the basement, and now the lights were off and the sun had set, he could see clearly the yellowish gleam escaping through the chinks in the wood.

His heart began beating a little faster, as if he was doing something wrong - and he wasn't, right? After all, just because he hadn't been told the room existed, it didn't mean he was forbidden to go there, right? -, and he carefully opened the door, going down the wooden steps as quietly as he could. Once he was all inside the room, he let his eyes wander around, and couldn't help the amazement as he realized it was a huge lab with all sorts of ingredients spread around the walls, three large countertops, one of which holding an empty caldron and the other two with what was undoubtedly projects for new products, and bits and pieces of colorful things spread all around.

On the furthest counter, he found his uncle sitting with his back turned to him, one of his elbows resting on the surface, his hand propping up his head, and the his wand on the other hand moving slowly in an apparently haphazard fashion. He continued walking, trying to see what the redhead was doing, and as he got closer, he tripped on something forgotten on the floor and went down face first, getting the man's attention.

"James! Are you alright?" George asked alarmed, jumping up his seat and rushing to help get the boy back on his feet.

"Yeah, I'm okay, uncle George." He smiled, rubbing the place where he hit the floor and a bruise was already starting to form.

"Hold on, let me take care of that." He replied, nodding his head towards the injury and conjuring a bag of ice. "Here, put this on there. And once you're done with that, I know a spell to disappear with that bruise." He pushed the bag on the boy, who couldn't help jumping back and letting out a surprised sound at the temperature shock. George's lips curled up slightly at his reaction, and he indicated the stools where he was sitting. "What are you doing down here anyway?"

"I just wanted to let you know I was leaving." He replied with a light shrug. Somehow, once he was down there, it didn't feel quite right be there. "What were you working on?" He asked, finally getting a good look on the round object on the table. It resembled a rubber ball, slightly bigger than the snitch. But knowing his uncle, that was probably the last thing it was.

"Oh, just something..." He hesitated for a moment, and swallowed hard to undo the lump on his throat. "Something Fred and I were working on before the war." He completed, avoiding the boy's eyes.

He suddenly understood why it felt so wrong: that was the space his uncle shared with his dead brother, the one nobody ever talked about. Probably nobody was ever down there either. "I-I'm sorry." Was the only thing he could think of.

"It's alright." He ruffled the boy's hair with a sad smile. "Your dad tells me you like to pull pranks on people."

"Yeah, well..." He smiled, a little embarrassed. After risking Albus's life, he hadn't even had any ideas for anything. Besides, he'd been busy with his finals, and then work, and they both had worn him out too much for anything else to cross his mind.

"I did too. We did." He replied quietly, letting his eyes wander around the room, undoubtedly remembering all the things he'd done there with Fred. "That's how the idea for the shop was born. We always had good ideas, that nobody else seemed to have. And, of course, after we tested them, we thought it would be fun for others to have access to them as well." He picked up what seemed like a miniature airplane wing. "This was supposed to be a new way of flying. We were testing it in small scale to see if it worked, then we'd build it on the proper size. We saw it once in one of those muggle things that have animated pictures. It was like a board, with people flying on it. The boy watching it said it wasn't real, it was just... what did he call it?" He looked up, searching his memory for the right word. "I don't know. One of those weird things they seem to have everywhere now. But Fred and I knew we could make that for real."

"Did it work?" James asked curiously, and his uncle shook his head.

"We... didn't have a chance to finish it. We were having trouble controlling it, so it wasn't safe."

"Think it would one day substitute brooms?" He suggested with a smile.

"It wasn't supposed to fly that high. Just a foot or so off the ground, just for a little fun. And then it would throw you out. We were still developing a safe way for people to land, as well."

"And... Why didn't you continue?" He asked quietly. Nobody in his family ever told him not to talk about Fred, but he'd long ago noticed the subject was taboo among them, and felt very uneasy to bring it up.

"It was pointless without Fred." He replied quietly, putting the object away. "And I can't seem to make anything work without him anyway. Not that I can really try."

"I'm sorry." He said again, searching for something he could say to cheer the redhead up. "What about... New things? That... wouldn't depend on..." He let his words die, realizing he hadn't changed the focus at all.

"I didn't have any ideas after he was gone. I just kept the shop because I know that's what he would've wanted me to do." He gave a faint smile. "That's what I would've wanted him to do, if it'd been the other way around."

They remained quiet for the next several minutes. "Can you... Show me how that works?" James asked, pointing to the toy in front of them.

He shrugged. "I suppose it won't do any harm." He replied quietly, picking up another toy shaped like a person and putting it on top of the board he was holding a couple of inches from the table. "You'd get on it, and then, depending on how you lean on it, it goes either way." He explained, demonstrating with the miniature man. "And then..." He said, pointing his wand at the character and having him stand on its own. "When it detects the magic coming from you, it activates." He explained, and then gave different commands as they watched the board move around the table. Then, suddenly, it rushed forward and up, completing a loop and dropping the man half-way through. As the two parts lost contact, the board was deactivated, landing softly on the counter. "That always happens." He added, putting his wand down.

James took the two parts and looked at them for a long time, the bag of ice forgotten on one side. "May I... borrow this?" He asked quietly, and the other man shrugged.

"Sure, why not? I'm not doing anything with it anyway." James smiled at him, putting the toys in his pocket. "Here, let me fix that." He offered, holding the brunet's chin and turning it to one side, giving him better access to the purple spot on the boy's face. "It happened all the time when we tested out things." He explained, waving his wand over the bruise. "I think I can still... Ah, there you go. Gone."

James ran his hand over the spot he hit on the floor, surprised not only not to find any swelling, but also to feel no pain. "Thanks, uncle George." He said with a large smile.

"Well, anyway. We've talked plenty for today, haven't we? Your dad will worry. Off you go."

James nodded quickly, jumping up and making his way back to the shop without looking back. After the first few days, they managed to connect the upstairs fireplace to the one at Grimmauld Place, and he didn't need to go all the way to the Leaky Caldron just to Floo home. He was very quiet that day during dinner, and instead of going straight to bed once he was done eating, he headed for the study and left the room with a pile of books in his hands. Both adults raised their eyebrows when they crossed him on the corridor, but said nothing. It was about time the boy started taking some interest in his studies.

James stayed up late every night that week, and for most of his day off he was locked in his room. The first thing he did was learn how to detect which spells had been cast on the toy, so he knew exactly how it worked. He then studied all he could find about them, and after almost two weeks of very hard labor - not that he perceived it as so, as he was as interested and focused as he didn't remember being -, he figured out what was wrong with the flying board and could barely contain his excitement when he arrived at the shop the next day.

"Uncle George! Uncle George! I have something to show you!" He exclaimed right off the fireplace, smiling broadly.

"Down here, James!" Came the reply, and he rushed downstairs. "What is it?" He asked with a sympathetic smile. He was behind the cashier, counting the money before they opened, as he did every morning.

"Just... Just look." He replied, taking the two objects from his pocket and putting them on the counter. He then pulled out his wand and tapped it on the little man figure, who walked to the board and hopped on it. Then he was taken for a short ride before being dropped off, this time from a safe height. "I don't know what to do about the fall, I don't know much about those kinds of spell, but I was thinking, maybe if we could get him to bounce off the floor until his momentum had died, or perhaps bounce back to his feet, I think we could make it work." He explained, tapping the man with his wand again to deactivate it and looking up.

George's eyebrows were raised in surprise. "I-I don't know what to say." He replied, a smile forming on his lips and tears pooling to his eyes. "It's... it's been so long... I thought... I just..." He began, a million thoughts running through his head.

"Uncle George?" He called hesitantly.

He shook his head. "That's... that's fantastic, James."

"Are you sure? You're not mad at me or anything? Because-"

"No, I'm not mad." He smiled again, wiping his eyes and shaking his head to get himself back under control. "It's just... I never thought it could be done, you know, without Fred."

"Maybe I shouldn't have, then." He said quietly, feeling very self-conscious. Maybe he was out of line again, and his parents were right in saying that some matters should be left alone.

"No, no, of course not, Jamie." He smiled again, tapping the toy with his wand to watch it work again. "It's great, what you did."

"You think so?" He asked hopeful. He'd never been praised for something like that before. Actually, since he went to Hogwarts, he hadn't been praised much. His parents had been too busy reprimanding him.

"Yes, of course." He assure. "Why don't we talk more about later? We still have a shop to open." He suggested, and the boy nodded vehemently, readily rushing to the back room and getting started.

After that day, the two began spending an hour or so every day discussing not only that project but some others the twins had come up with and never had the chance to see through. James was really excited to find something he loved as much, if not more, than Quidditch, and was already planning to take some of the ideas to work on while he was at Hogwarts - after all, he needed some entertainment, right?

A week before he was due to return to school for his last year, George asked him to sit down for a chat, after they'd closed the doors and finished cleaning up the shop. The brunet was a little tense - he couldn't really recall a good, properly good, conversation he'd ever had with a grown up. The two of them walked to the basement in silence, and sat at their usual counter at the end of the room.

"What's up, uncle George?" He asked with a smile.

"I know you probably got this from your parents and your Head of House, but I'd like to talk to you about your plans for the future." He said seriously, and the boy sighed.

"Must we? I hate talking about that."

"Why?"

"Because! Because I never know what I want to do with my life, and then I have to keep listening to people telling me what to do."

"You know, when your dad asked me to let you work for me, he just wanted to instill in you some sense of responsibility. And I thought that was a great idea; from all I've heard about you, you most certainly could use it. But I think... I think we both got more than we were expecting out of this experience."

"What do you mean?" He asked, frowning.

"I don't know what your thoughts about this are, but I think you're really good at doing this." He explained, meaning the work they'd been doing together.

"Yeah, well, it's fun." He replied with a smile.

"I know that you, like Fred, really enjoy Quidditch. And from what I've heard from your parents about your school performance, that's the way you were aiming for, wasn't it?"

"I was never too sure, but I always figured that, if everything else failed, I could always try that. I mean, I'm good enough to make it into a team, so it never worried me."

"But now you've been banished from the team, isn't that right?"

He shrugged his shoulders, embarrassed. "Yeah." He replied quietly.

"Don't worry, I've been there and it's not so bad." He smiled. Ever since they started working together, James had been witnessing that more and more, and so had Sarah and Alicia. Nobody dared comment on it, for fear it would make the redhead return to what he used to me, but they were all very happy about the change. "But that's not my point." He replied, turning serious again. "What I'm trying to say is..." He sighed. "I think you're really good at this, and if you enjoy it as much as I think you do, you should really consider it as a career for after you graduate."

"Seriously?" He asked, his eyebrows raised in surprise. It was quite the compliment, coming from that particular uncle.

"Yes, well, consider it at least. I'm sure your parents wouldn't oppose you working here with me, if you'd like to."

"Yeah, that would be amazing!" He smiled, his whole face lighting up.

"But there's another side to this that you need to know, James."

"What?" He asked, frowning.

"It's not all fun and games here. It takes a lot of study to do what Fred and I did. I'm sure you've already noticed you had to read a lot to solve some of the problems we've encountered." The boy nodded. "And from where I'm standing, it doesn't seem like you're that dedicated to your education. You need to understand that what they teach you in school is important, and it'll make a lot of difference in whatever you choose to do with your life, be it work here with me or anything else."

"It's not that I don't care, uncle George, it's just that it's all so boring." He made a face, but the redhead didn't seem amused.

"Boring or not, it is important. And it'll take a lot of advanced magic to put some of your ideas into practice, and you can't do that if you haven't mastered the basic skills."

"But dad said you never finished school. And that you were always up to something and-"

"Did he tell you both Fred and I got Outstandingin all out O.W.L.s?" He questioned, an eyebrow raised.

"No..." He muttered, embarrassed.

"Mom never properly congratulated us because we got her busy lecturing us on something..." He mused for a moment, remembering the occasion. Then he turned back to the brunet. "And I'm sure we would've on our N.E.W.T.s as well, hadn't things turned out the way they did. We didn't finish school because we were at war, James, not because we didn't care about our education." He replied severely, and the brunet cowered in his seat a little. "What I'm saying is, it's your last year at Hogwarts. There are plenty of things you've been forbidden to do, but that's not reason to quit school. Enjoy your last year there, and learn all you can, because out here in the real world, things aren't as easy as they are in there."

"I-I'll try, uncle George." He replied, slightly embarrassed.

"And you know what? I have a challenge for you. It's something Fred and I used to do, and I think it'll help you be more interested in school."

"What is it?' He asked, curious.

"For every new thing you learn, I want you to come up with either a new product for it, or an application for it for something we're working on. And I want you to note it all down for me." He smiled.

"I think I can do that."

"Good. I think you can as well, and you might just figure out how useful all that can be. "

They smiled at each other before focusing on the latest problem they'd encountered with the product they were working on. George feared all that talk - as usual - would go in through one ear and out through the other, but it really got stuck in James's head, and he spent long hours thinking about what the redhead had told him. And thinking back, he'd been studying a lot, and it hadn't felt like a burden as it always had. Maybe he just needed a little push after all.

"And James?" He called as they boy got ready to enter the fireplace.

"Yeah?"

"Be good to your brother. You're lucky you still have him." He said with a small nod, and the brunet smiled and nodded back before disappearing behind the flames.

James thought a lot about what his uncle said on those last few days of holiday, especially the part about his future career. It was true he'd never given school a second thought, he was more interested in his pranks and Quidditch, and when he'd been forced to choose what he'd study in his sixth year, he pretty much just took the classes he qualified for. But now things felt different for him, and he was decided to dedicate himself to learning - the way most students are for perhaps the first week of class, but he'd never been before.

On the day before they were due to catch the train, he'd been relieved from his position at the shop so he could pack properly, and short after lunch, his parents had him sit down on the study with Albus and Lily. Judging by the atmosphere over them, even before either said anything, he knew it was something serious and, more than that, something bad. His first instincts told him to run, or start making jokes, but instead he just sat there and listened.

"There is something very important your mom and I have to talk to you about." Harry said with a tired sigh. The forming dark rings around his eyes gave away he hadn't rested much, if at all, that night.

"The most important thing we want you to know is, we both love all three of you very, very much, and none of this is your fault."

James felt tempted to somehow make them rush to the end of the conversation, but he bit his tongue to stay quiet. He might not be fond of such approaches, but perhaps for the first time, he understood that, if that's how they chose to talk to them, there might be a reason behind it.

"Your mother and I have talked a lot, for a long time. And we've made a decision, which I'm sure you won't be happy about, but it needs to be made." He said firmly, looking from one child to the other before exchanging a quick look and nod with the redhead woman. "Your mom and I... We're getting a divorce."

"What? But, but, you can't!" James said alarmed, his untrained self-restraint proving to be very weak. "I mean, why?"

"We believe it's for the best, Jamie." Ginny assured, knowing the decision would have to come from both of them for the children to accept. "We have tried to make our relationship work, but we no longer can, and instead of insisting on it and keep having arguments and hurting you, we decided to go our separate ways." She explained.

"It doesn't change anything in our relationship with you." Harry said with a tentative smile. "We are still both your parents, and that's the most important thing."

"We haven't decided the details yet, and once you've gone to school, I'll be staying at the Burrow for a while, until I decide what to do. I'm sure I'll have everything sorted out by the time you come home for Christmas. But whatever you need, you just have to owl me, okay? All three of you, for anything." She smiled, leaning forward.

"I'll stay here, at least for now. And I'm here for you as well." Harry smiled.

James was having a hard time keeping his mouth closed, he was very likely shocked from the news. As he tried to absorb what he was hearing, his eyes went from one parent to the other, and then to his siblings sitting next to him. Albus seemed deep in thought, certainly as surprised and confused as himself, and Lily had tears in her eyes. He could only imagine how hard it must be for her, being so young. At least he was all grown up already, he thought.

"Lily, honey, it's not that bad." Ginny said with a sad smile, reaching one hand to the girl, who jumped up and ran to her lap. "Oh, don't worry, it's going to be okay, I promise." She whispered, caressing the girl's back in an effort to calm her down.

"What are you boys thinking?" Harry offered gently.

"I-I just can't believe it." Albus whispered. "I mean, I know you've been arguing a lot more lately and all, but... It never really crossed my mind something like this would happen, even though it was probably the most obvious solution."

"I just thought..." James began, trying to organize his thoughts. "I don't know what I thought. I guess I never really paid much attention. I always figured you'd be like grandpa and grandma, you know, together forever or something."

"But you do understand this has nothing to do with you? That we're not splitting up because of you, it's exclusively because of me and your mother?"

"I know dad." Albus nodded, still very quiet.

"I suppose." James agreed.

On Ginny's lap, Lily's tears were beginning to cease, and Harry caressed her head softly. "And you, love? You know this isn't your fault either, right?" He asked gently, and she nodded the best she could.

The five of them sat in silence for a long time after that, all of them absorbing the changes and doing their best to deal with the situation. James had a lot on his mind when he went to bed that night, and the more he thought about it, the more he remembered his parents arguing because of him and Albus. Because his brother had gone to Slytherin, because he was friends with Malfoy, because James wouldn't stop picking on them. And he couldn't help wondering if only he'd been more supportive of his brother, his mother might've accepted it better and not had been forced to take his side, thus causing further arguments with his father.

The morning of their departure felt very solemn, like it was the last thing they'd do as a family. Not even Lily was talking that morning, and they left Grimmauld Place and arrived at the station as scheduled, no delays, no running around the house, no typical chaos. It already felt like everything had changed.

Ginny didn't feel the need to lecture them as she always had; she didn't have the necessary energy and knew they could take care of themselves. She spent a long time wondering if they should've told the children sooner, to give them time to adjust to the imminent changes before going away to school but she had agreed with Harry it was for the best that way. At least school would provide them with first-rate distraction and avoid them having too much time to overanalyze the situation and blame themselves.

James was also quiet that day as he said goodbye to his parents, both his siblings having already boarded. And as he made his way into the scarlet train, George's advice came back to him. Be good to your brother, he'd said. And now his family was on the verge of breaking up, it felt more important than ever that he made amends with Albus. If only it was that simple, he thought, disappearing inside the train.