James S. Potter doesn't take kindly to rumors...especially ones about his little sister. I don't own anything.
"Why do you look like that?"
"I'm trying to be calm."
"You look constipated," said Fred Weasley, chuckling under his breath.
He took a deep breath. Thomas Baxter was the kind of bloke that was so damn easy to hate. He smoked too much, studied too little, was the most arrogant son of a witch on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team and, to make matters exponentially worse, he was dating Lily Potter.
Barely looking up from her sketchpad, which was propped up in her lap and resting against the table, Leah Davis said, "Leave them be," She warned, much like an exhausted parent would caution a wayward child to not touch a hot stove, "If you go over there, you are going to ruin her life…"
"Well, we can fix her life later," He grumbled and, in one swift motion, pushed himself up from the table. However, after catching his best friend's glare, he lowered himself slowly to his seat, "I'm sitting now because I want to, not because I'm scared of you," James added and forcefully jammed a forkful of eggs into his mouth.
"Baxter's got absolutely no business with a fourth year."
"I didn't realize we were having hypocrisy for breakfast. Maya Price, Ava Delaney, Hannah Beard," She riddled off in a singsong voice, "James, you are not exactly known for your discretion and moral high ground."
"That's different!"
"Because you're a boy?"
He fell silent and continued to take his frustration out on his eggs.
"Easy there, mate," Fred said, pushing a few stray curls of his reddish-brown afro out of his face, "You go any harder on those eggs and you're going to shatter that plate, you are."
From his spot at the Gryffindor table, he glared across the Great Hall at the Ravenclaw table. Baxter was sitting facing Lily, with his legs open toward her and his arms wrapped around her middle. He whispered something, probably something stupid, in her ear and he suddenly felt the mixed urge to vomit and hex him simultaneously when Lily giggled and turned a brilliant shade of red.
"I think I'm going to be sick," A familiar voice floated through the air. He looked up to find Albus Potter, his younger brother and a sixth year prefect, sliding into the empty seat beside Leah, "Baxter's practically got his hands up Lily's skirt," Albus pointed out nervously.
"I wouldn't have let him live this long if he did," James growled through gritted teeth, but craned his neck at an impossible angle just to be sure he didn't. "Oi, Al," He called, "Go over there and dock points from Ravenclaw...ouch, what the HELL Leah!" He whispered loudly after feeling a swift kick delivered to his shin under the table.
"Both of you," Leah chastised, "Leave them be. I would've have sooner subjected myself to experimental torture than have my older brothers insert themselves into my love life."
"If it were Roxanne," Fred said matter-of-factly, "I would've already turned him into a tea cosy."
James huffed, "Believe me, I haven't entirely ruled it out."
"They're practically shagging on the table," said Fred, shaking his head in feigned disappointment.
Albus whipped his head around, just to be sure, and looked back at his cousin, "No, they're not, you great oaf!" He exclaimed, elbowing his cousin in the rib cage, "I say we go over there right now and put an end to this…"
"You are the king of not helping, Weasley," Leah chided, glowering at Fred. Clearly exasperated, she slammed her sketchpad shut, "The things the three of you were doing at fourteen would make a grown man blush!" She exclaimed.
The three boys exchanged knowing looks. James sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, which had turned very hot, Al suddenly found his half-eaten apple very interesting and Fred lowered his gaze to his breakfast.
"Not very comfortable when your personal life is the topic of conversation at breakfast, is it?" She asked, not really caring for an answer from any of them, "Leave them alone," Leah said emphatically.
"Leah does make a decent point," said Fred Weasley, a bit of uncertainty to his voice. The freckle-faced teenager said and plopped himself down on the floor of the Gryffindor common room.
"Thank you, Fred," said Leah, smiling sweetly. "You are certainly singing a different than you were at breakfast."
James grimaced at that concession. He peeled his sweaty Quidditch robe off of him, and tossed it on the couch. The three of them had just returned from the pitch. Leah, a Beater, had taken to punting more bludgers than usual in James' direction. He guessed that she was still annoyed by his comments from breakfast.
"She does not make a decent point," James sneered, "Lily is too young for a boyfriend. Besides, I don't trust Baxter as far as I could throw him."
"Well, judging by how you were throwing the quaffle at practice today, that must not be very far," said Leah under her breath. "Flying as slow as molasses…"
James' eyes darkened at his best friend's remark, "If I was flying so slowly, it was a wonder your long-range bludger still couldn't find me…"
Her mouth formed a thin, hard line at the insult and she folded her arms over her chest.
"And yet you still couldn't put the quaffle through the bloody goalposts!" cried Leah, slapping her own forehead indignantly, "Ladies and gentlemen, James Potter, the world's most overhyped Chaser and sexist extraodinaire," She said with a whole lot of bravado, and emphasis on the word 'sexist'.
He shot up from his seat on the couch, "Watch it, Davis! I'm not above hexing a girl," James threatened.
"If we're judging by how you threw the Quaffle today, I've got to say I'm not entirely terrifi - "
"ENOUGH!"
"We are not going to beat Ravenclaw if you two can't get on the same page!" Fred bellowed, causing the group of second-years congregated in the corner near the fireplace to clear out. He winced when he noticed; Fred wasn't the most diplomatic, but he did have a soft spot for younger students. "James," Fred said breathily, turning to his cousin, "If you get to flirt with everything that walks, Lily does not have to be Mother Theresa."
Leah smiled satisfactorily, "Thank you Fr - "
"And you," Fred said, whipping around to face Leah and cutting her off mid-sentence, "He's got a right to hate his little sister's boyfriend. Even if the bloke was decent, he would still hate him. It's practically what big brothers are designed to do."
Leah started to respond, but the sound of the Fat Lady's portrait swinging open and the laughter of girls could be heard in the corridor outside the common room cut her off.
"He said they shagged in the astronomy tower."
"I didn't know Lily Potter was such a tramp."
"Oh yeah," One of the girls said, "It's the quiet ones you have to watch out for."
She looked at James, who was chewing intently on the inside of his cheek. She knew he had heard them and she also knew that look. Fred knew it too. "James, you cannot fight a group of fourth-year girls," Leah warned and rested a calming hand on her best friend's shoulder.
He recoiled at her touch. "No, but I can kick a sixth year's butt," He hissed and started toward the stairs that led to the boys' dormitory. "Fred, are you coming or not?"
"Against my better judgment," replied Fred, following James to the stairs.
"Al! Where is the map?"
"Don't give it to him, Al - "
"Godric's bloody chesthairs...someone put that damn light out."
He stood over his sleepy brother and, wordlessly, dimmed the light on his wand. "Sorry," James said quickly, "Where is the map? I need it."
"Why, what's going on?" The sixteen year old said, now wide awake and sitting on the edge of his bed.
James sighed heavily. "I'm going to take care of a problem," He said shortly, aware of Fred's disapproving glare.
"Baxter has said some...eh, crass things, about Lily. And James intends to make him take them back," Fred explained softly, not wanting to wake any of Albus' roommates, who were still surprisingly asleep.
"It's in my chest, between my Potions and Transfiguration textbook," Albus said quickly. "That nasty little bleeder, I knew I should've taken points from him at breakfast."
After rummaging through his brother's chest, James found the famed Marauders' Map. "Are you coming?" He asked Albus.
"I'm a prefect," Albus reminded him, "I'm on track to being Head Boy next year and Gryffindor's this close to winning the cup. I'd rather not have to bear witness to a murder and have to dock my own house points," He said sleepily, falling back onto his pillow.
James nodded, stifling the urge to laugh, "Right, then. Fred, come on."
"This is a bad idea."
"Then you should've stayed in Gryffindor tower. Do you know the answer to the bloody riddle or not?"
"Here is the riddle. Answer it and you will enter," The eagle door knocker, the guardian of Ravenclaw tower spoke deeply, "You can always find me in the past, I can be created in the present, but the future can never taint me. What am I?"
"History," Fred said confidently. The four of them stepped back as the door swung open. They walked through a short tunnel and paused at the end, just before the entrance to the common room.
"She was pretty easy, practically begging me." The voice very clearly belonged to Baxter, and the laughter was that of his cronies.
James inched forward, wand at his side but was stopped by Leah gripping the sleeve of his cloak.
"We don't know that he's talking about Lily," Leah whispered thoughtfully, "No reason to start a fight if - "
"Honestly, if Harry Potter knew what a slut he raised…"
Surprisingly, at those words, Leah was the first to produce her wand and pelt out of the tunnel, followed closely by James and Fred, also with their wands drawn.
"Well, well, I'm surprised you lot were able to make it past the riddle," Aiden Hanover, Baxter's co-captain and Head Boy expressed, folding his arms across his chest. "Gryffindors aren't exactly known for their...wits," He said slyly. "Look at you all, wands drawn already."
"You know, Hanover, I have no idea how those badges stays on your cloak when they're pinned to slime," said Leah.
Aiden's facial expression turned grim. He didn't like being embarrassed in front of his friends, especially not by a girl. "Get out," He ordered, "Or Gryffindor is going to be in the negatives in a matter of moments…"
"I came to have a chat with your friend," James spoke over his threat, stepping in front of Leah. He looked at each of them, daring them to challenge him, until his eyes fell on Thomas, "You're going to leave Lily alone. And you're going to tell everyone at breakfast in the Great Hall that you lied."
"No," was the unbothered response, "Now, Potter, if you don't mind, I'm busy."
"Yeah, it sounds like you've been really busy," James returned. He pointed the tip of his wand at Thomas' chest, "Busy being the kind of prat that's begging to get his butt kicked. It wasn't a request, Baxter. Leave Lily alone, while your legs still bend only once."
The chatter in the Ravenclaw common room among the group of boys stopped, and the four boys pulled out their own wands. Thomas rose from his seat on the couch, not appearing terribly frightened to be on the end of James' wand, and stood toe to toe with him, "What are you going to do, James? Hex me? You don't have it in you," Thomas growled through gritted teeth, "Do it. I'll even make it easy for you," He said, resting his wand on the couch behind him.
"James, he's unarmed," Fred reminded him. "Let's just go."
Leah tugged on her best friend's sleeve, "Easy," She whispered. "He's baiting you. James." James, not without a great deal of hesitation, lowered his wand slowly and stepped back. "You leave her alone, Baxter."
"Or what..."
"If I have to come back here, we'll settle this one on one, without your little goon squad and without my friends, and I won't be as nice," James finished, making his threat plain, "I'll be waiting on your apology at breakfast in the morning." The look in Thomas' eyes was self-explanatory.
"We're finished here," said Leah, backing slowly toward the tunnel leading to the entrance, her wand still at her side. "Let's go, while we've only broken less than ten school rules…"
But he didn't budge. It was as if his feet were glued to that spot.
"James," Fred said. He knew that look, and he didn't like it one bit, "He's not worth it. Let's go."
He bit down hard on his lip, "If you know what's good for you, Baxter," James hissed, "You won't go near Lily again." Heeding his friends' multiple requests, he slowly started to back away. He didn't quite trust this lot enough to walk away with his back turned.
"I wonder if your mummy is as easy as your sis - "
"JAMES, NO!" cried Leah.
"I am going to strangle your son," Ginner Weasley-Potter said flatly, unrolling the bit of parchment tied to Eilwen's leg, Professor McGonagall's Eurasian owl. She hadn't even properly read it yet, and she knew it was about her oldest son.
"My son? Odd, I could've sworn you were there for some of it."
"When he's incorrigible like this, he is yourson! This is the fourth letter in two days. The owls must've passed each other in flight."
Dear Mrs. and Mr. Potter:
It has come to my attention that James Potter, Fred Weasley and, their friend, Leah Davis, were involved in a brawl in the Ravenclaw common room. Aside from them being out of bed well past curfew and sneaking into Ravenclaw tower, multiple injuries were sustained. Your son, James, not only stunned an unarmed wizard, but also put his friends in harm's way. Fred is in the hospital wing with a moderate concussion and Leah Davis suffered a broken nose. I must add that the four Ravenclaw students also sustained a multitude of injuries too numerous to list, before Professor Flitwick and two prefects were able to put a stop to it.
As I understand it, this stemmed from a disagreement between James and Thomas Baxter, a sixth-year Ravenclaw, involving your daughter, Lily. I am not at liberty to disclose all the details of the disagreement, but can assure you that, while your son's actions are still very much reprehensible and he will be sitting out for the next three Quidditch matches, he was well-intentioned in defending both Lily's and Ginny's honor. I urge you to consider that before flooing into Hogwarts.
All my best,
Headmistress Minerva McGonagall
"I don't care whose honor he was defending, he stunned an unarmed wizard! He was not raised like that!"
"Ginny," Harry said calmly, placing his hands on her shoulders, "But he was raised to defend his family. I don't feel right punishing him for that. Tell me that any one of your brothers wouldn't have gladly gotten expelled defending your mom or you. Can you honestly tell me that?"
"No, I can't," The redheaded witch said somberly.
"Exactly. I am disappointed that he turned his wand on an unarmed wizard, but knowing James, it was probably all he could come up with at the time," said Harry, running a thoughtful hand through his hair, "Break is in about a week. I'll talk to him then, okay?"
Ginny nodded, "Okay."