TITLE: Double Back

DISCLAIMER: All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.


Wednesday, 18th September

Defence Office

Hogwarts

"Junior?"

James looked up from his pile of parchments at the call, cocking an eyebrow at hearing Sirius' voice calling through the floo from the other room. "Yeah, come on through." He called out automatically, finishing off marking one of the parchments as he heard the floo flare up and someone step through.

This morning had been quite quiet thankfully, giving him the chance to catch up with marking the third year essays he'd received yesterday and make plans for the second year lessons he had through today. "Sirius?" He asked, watching as Sirius came into the office room, looking around curiously at everything around the office.

"Nice place, swanky." Sirius grinned over in amusement, noticing the pile of parchments on his desk. "Can't believe you turned out to be a Professor." He gasped, shuddering in mock horror as he collapsed into one of the seats around the office and lazed there casually. "A figure of authority, oh the horror, the shame..." He howled dramatically, resting the back of his hand against his forehead.

"Did you actually want something, or are you just visiting to annoy me?" James asked, glaring over as he put the parchment essays aside for now.

"Can't I do both? But actually, yeah, kinda needed to know what to do with this." Sirius admitted with a sigh, dropping the act and tapping a rolled up newspaper on his knee. "Got another letter from Cissy this morning. Well, figure it's from Lucy again really, but he's writing through Cissy to keep his name out of it."

"Probably," James nodded in agreement. "Any idea what he wants?"

"No clue," Sirius muttered with a frown. "You know Cissy, she can write two pages of the stuff and still not end up saying anything worth a damn thing."

"Pretty sure she took lessons from Dumbledore in that," James snorted in amusement. "Alright, ask what he wants, if it's nothing too dodgy, can see what he's poking around for."

"Any ideas?" Sirius asked curiously, looking over at James now to see what he thought.

"A few," James mused, tapping his quill casually against his lips as he thought things through. "The attack on Godric's Hollow, he's probably trying to sell the names of the people behind it." He mused aloud before smirking in amusement. "He's trying to set himself up as a Snape." He explained when Sirius looked at him curiously.

"Snivellius?" Sirius asked, wondering what that greasy git had to do with anything.

"Snape was Dumbledore's spy in the Death Eaters." James explained with a shrug. "Sounds like Lucy is trying to buy his way into our good books and turn spy for us instead."

"Snivellius was a spy?" Sirius snorted out, shaking his head in amusement at that piece of information. "I don't buy it, he was a dark bastard even in school, when Lily told us he was a Death Eater, I believed it without a second thought, but I don't believe for one second that he changed sides over it."

"Me neither." James shrugged. "I'd bet good money that he was just playing both sides, so whoever won, he came out a winner."

"THAT sounds more like Snivellius." Sirius nodded in agreement. "And Lucy too. Snakes, the lot of them."

"If he's got anything we can use, I'll listen to him." James nodded thoughtfully. "He did hand over the horcrux he had, that's a pretty big leap to make just to try and stay on good terms with both sides."

"Still don't trust the slimy bastard." Sirius groused in complaint.

"Wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw Hagrid." James snorted in agreement. "Hear him out, if he's got anything worth listening too, I'll see what he wants in exchange."

"Sounds like dealing with the devil to me." Sirius muttered back.

"Probably," James nodded back. "But if he's heard something about what Voldemort's planning or where he's hiding out?" He mused thoughtfully. "Something like that could really help us."

"Yeah yeah, I just don't like dealing with snakes like this." Sirius muttered, shaking his head. "Lucy bought his way out of Azkaban last time around, everyone knows it."

"And if he starts getting up to his old tricks again, I'll blast his head clear off his shoulders without a second thought." James said firmly, making sure Sirius knew where he stood with this. "Just because he might be useful, doesn't mean I'm giving him a pass on anything else."

"Alright, guess I can listen to what the git has to say." Sirius nodded back.

"That's all we're doing." James nodded firmly.

"There's this too," Sirius said, holding up the rolled up paper in his hand. "Didn't know if you'd seen it yet?"

"No?" James asked, holding out his hand for the paper. "I had breakfast up here, didn't bother going down to the hall this morning." He said by way of explanation as Sirius handed the paper over.

"Don't get your own copy?" Sirius asked in amusement.

"And give the Daily Propaganda the time of day?" James snorted back, shaking his head. "If I need emergency toilet paper, I've got enough of Bathilda Bagshot's books around to see me through." He explained as he unrolled the newspaper and glanced at the headline. "The-Boy-Who-Lived?" He read aloud. "Question mark?" He asked curiously, looking at Sirius. "Reeta Skeeter I take it?"

"You want the quick story or want to read it yourself?" Sirius asked, nodding in confirmation of the author.

"Fill me in, I don't have time to wade through Skeeter's verbal diarrhoea at this time in the morning." James muttered, tossing the paper back to Sirius in disgust before reaching for his mug of luke-warm coffee and casting a heating charm over it.

"Mostly it's all back story fluff about Godric's Hollow and how Harry and you... you know what I mean, survived the attack back then." Sirius explained with a dark expression on his face. "Lot of bullshit about why Lily died, since she was the only muggle-born in the house, how could she have stood up to Voldemort anyway? That sort of pure blood crap."

"Anything else?" James asked firmly, clenching his teeth together as he considered what to do about this.

"Bunch of bullshit saying that Prongs and Lily must have been up to something dark to protect the house like that, and that Voldy interrupted one of their dark rituals, that's what blew him sky high like that." Sirius explained. "Questioning if Harry, you, really did survive the killing curse since everyone's thinking Prongs survived as well now. She's all but calling James and Lily dark, saying he targeted them because he didn't want the competition. It's the biggest pile of shit I've seen since my old Care of Magical Creatures lessons when we had a heard of Hippogriffs taking dumps in the forest." He said bluntly. "I'm not letting her get away with this shit, not saying crap like that about Prongs and Lily."

"Definitely not." James muttered with a dark frown, considering all the ways he could actually deal with Skeeter this time around. "Alright, lunch time we'll..." He trailed off as there was a knock on his office door, causing both him and Sirius to flick their attention over to it. "Yes?" He called out, waiting a beat before the door opened, admitting Minerva and someone else he didn't recognise behind her.

"James, do you... ah, I apologise, I didn't realise you were busy." Minerva said with a small nod over to Sirius. "It is good to see you are recovering well from your ordeal Mr Black." She said, favouring Sirius with a small smile as he stood up from his chair.

"Getting there," Sirius admitted with a grin. "Couldn't believe you offered this prat a job though." He smirked, nodding over to Junior with a wide grin.

"Sadly needs must," Minerva said wryly, looking between the two of them. "Good Merlin, it's just like the seventies all over again." She muttered to herself, shaking her head at the sight.

"Hey!" James muttered in defence, frowning over at the pair as he paid close attention to the smaller and frail looking wizard that was standing behind Minerva and watching the interactions with pale blue eyes.

He was old, with a capital O. The sort of old that made Dumbledore look like a first year student. His face was gaunt and thin looking, with white hair falling down to his shoulders that matched the rather drab and faded cream robes he was wearing.

"Ah yes, may I have the pleasure of introducing Nicolas Flamel to you both." Minerva said quickly, catching on to where James' attention really was. "Mr Flamel came to retrieve his property, and asked for the full story of what happened that night. Upon hearing what had happened, he requested time to meet you."

"Honour to meet you," James said with a surprised smile, standing up from his desk and stepping over to offer his hand to Nicolas.

"Minerva told me about your confrontation with my old apprentice." Nicolas said in a dusty and soft voice as he shook the offered hand gently. "I must thank you for protecting my property like that."

"It was nothing," James smiled over. "Honestly, I was more focused on Voldemort and Dumbledore than I was the stone."

"Yet you knew it was there, and made no effort to claim it for yourself?" Nicolas asked curiously, looking James over and appraising him with a glint in his eye.

"Who wants to live forever?" James asked rhetorically with a small smirk. "Please?" He asked, gesturing to one of the seats in his office as Sirius stepped away quickly, clearing way for the ancient alchemist to make his way to a chair, and watching with an awestruck expression on his face.

"May I leave Mr Flamel in your capable hands then gentlemen?" Minerva asked, casting a mild glare to both James and Sirius in warning for them both to behave themselves. "Unfortunately I have other duties that need my attention this morning, or I would stay and talk with you both."

"Of course," James nodded quickly, looking at Sirius and seeing him holding his hands up in surrender in response to Minerva's glare.

"Very well," Minerva nodded with pursed lips as she evaluated both James and Sirius. "Do send a elf if you require my presence, but for now..." She paused looking back to Nicolas. "It was an honour to meet you sir."

"The pleasure was all mine my dear," Nicolas chuckled with a raspy voice, causing Minerva to gently blush before she nodded back and hurried out of the room, closing the office door behind her.

"Do you want a drink or anything? Tea? Coffee?" James asked, looking over at Nicolas Flamel in awe for a second. He'd never thought he would actually meet the famous immortal alchemist like this, let alone hearing that Flamel had actually come here and sought him out in person.

"I am fine, thank you for your concern though." Nicolas nodded politely back. "I notice you took Albus' wand when you defeated him." He said, his eyes never leaving the wand on James' desk.

"The wand came to me," James said, catching his breath when he realised Nicolas Flamel very likely knew the truth about the wand's history as well.

"Your friend is trustworthy then?" Nicolas asked, sparing a dry glance over to Sirius who was watching the by play with a curious look on his face.

"Trustworthy? Never, but he's loyal, I probably owe him more than that though." James chuckled with a small nod, drawing an offended glare from Sirius.

"You know where Albus received that wand then? The truth behind it?" Nicolas asked in the same crusty voice as he returned his attention to James. "The real truth, not the fabricated stories that everyone believes and quotes when they talk about the war."

"He took it from Grindlewald before locking him up in Nurmengard." James nodded back, ignoring the shocked and strangled sound coming from Sirius.

"Not many people are aware of that," Nicolas said, twitching his head to the side as he looked James over more thoroughly this time. "Most believe that Albus killed Gellert in the war."

"He wouldn't kill anyone if he could get away with it, especially not his old boyfriend." James said with a small shrug as he moved to the desk, sitting on it next to the wand and doing his best to ignore Sirius' horrified reactions.

"He visits twice a year still, offering redemption he knows Gellert will never accept." Nicolas nodded over with a sad expression on his face. "Do you know why he took the wand for his own?"

"The same reason he tried to take the cloak from my family." James said after a moment's pause, deciding for himself that learning anything from someone like Nicolas Flamel was worth the risk of revealing a few secrets.

"I see," Nicolas nodded slowly. "You know the history of both of the artifacts I assume?" He asked with a curious expression on his face. "The truth of the family they originally belonged to?"

"There's the children's story, it's just a story though, I don't believe it for a second." James said with a small smile, ignoring the way Sirius was looking at him and practically demanding an explanation now.

"You don't believe?" Nicolas asked curiously.

"In who the story says made them?" James shrugged. "Probably not." He admitted. "I think it's more likely just to be a story they made up to bolster their fame. Make themselves seem more important than they really were."

"An intriguing hypothesis Mr Potter." Nicolas slowly nodded at that. "And the story of someone that could wield all three?"

"Just a story." James said with a shake of his head, unable to stop the feeling that he could almost hear Nicholas Flamel's bones grinding against each other with every movement.

"Ah, I see, you have the stone as well then." Nicolas said with a small smile of acceptance. "Albus was searching for that for quite some time. It became somewhat of an obsession of his."

"I always thought he wanted it just to call back his sister, maybe apologise to her." James nodded, seeing no point in denying it now, especially not to someone like Nicolas Flamel. "It explains why he's so big on forgiveness, it's the one thing he wants more than anything, and it's something he'll never get."

"From his sister, or from you?" Nicolas asked curiously, tilting his head to the side as he scrutinised James thoroughly.

"Both, neither." James said after a moment, staring across and locking eyes with Nicholas.

"I heard he has wronged you greatly, do not rush to call vengeance on him for his crimes." Nicolas said softly.

"I won't, and it won't be vengeance, it'll be justice. I'll simply return everything he's done to me on him." James nodded back. "He's way down on my list of things to deal with. If he stays out of my way, I'll stay out of his." He explained calmly.

"I am sure Albus will appreciate that," Nicolas chuckled raspingly back.

"He'll live longer anyway." James mused aloud, inwardly chuckling that he'd already destroyed the cursed ring and saved Dumbledore's life anyway, and he'd done it without Dumbledore even knowing he was saving his life in the process. The irony was almost annoying.

"I'm certain he will," Nicolas said softly in reply. "Coming from The Master, I'm certain that means more than even you know."

"It really doesn't," James muttered, shaking his head in response. "You knew what he was really like then, Dumbledore. Not the eccentric old grandfather mask he puts on for everyone?" He asked, changing the topic of conversation bluntly.

"He never could fool me," Nicolas slowly nodded. "But then, we all wear our masks, don't we?" He asked, eyeing James curiously.

"Probably," James admitted, looking away from Nicolas' piercing eyes.

"He was a good man once, I can see that you never saw it, but it is the truth." Nicolas said with a look of regret on his face. "Like others before him, he fell to the promise of power and began to believe his own legend." He explained in a dry and dusty voice. "You, most of all, must know that power corrupts."

"Only if it's used for evil." James replied, turning his attention back to Nicholas.

"There is no good, or evil." Nicolas shook his head. "Only the appearance and viewpoint of both." He said softly. "What is good for you, a dragon might disagree with."

"Fair point," James admitted. "But things like manipulating peoples lives? Planning for innocent children to die? Destroying people to further one persons cause?" He pointed out. "I never believed in Dumbledore's greater good, and I'm not going to start to now. Dumbledore was someone that'd allow children to be abused and killed if it got him further to his goals, as long as he kept his hands clean and it worked towards his plans, he'd just turn a blind eye to it."

"You wouldn't sacrifice a single life to save a hundred?" Nicolas asked curiously.

"My life? I'd take that curse without thinking about it. To save a hundred innocent kids? To save ten? To save just one? It wouldn't make a difference." James said firmly. "But there's a difference in sacrificing myself, or manipulating someone else to do it without telling them."

"The difference between what is right, and what is easy." Nicolas nodded back. "You would chose what is right."

"I never took the easy path." James said with a small smirk of his lips.

"No, Albus always chose what was easy." Nicolas nodded with a sigh of regret. "What was easy for him, and what was hardest for those he believed he had the right to control. He always thought that right must equal difficult, purely because it was in balance to easy." He explained softly. "I am happy to see you are not the same type of man." He said with a small nod. "Though he was never evil, misguided and manipulative certainly, but he never acted out of spite or for evil. The reasons for his actions may not make sense to anyone but him, but they were certainly never for evil."

"Anyone that lets child abuse go on when they could have stopped it is evil, so you could have fooled..." James trailed off, looking up at another knock at his office door. "I swear, it's like Kings Cross in here this morning." He muttered as he stood up from his desk, heading over and opening the door, then glancing down in surprise as he saw Hermione standing there, nervously holding a Defence text book in her arms as she looked up at him.

"Professor? Um, is this a bad time?" Hermione asked hesitantly.

"Probably not," James chuckled down, stepping back into his office with a small grin as he thought about the thrill he was about to give the young witch as he beckoned her to follow through into his office.

"Oh! Oh I'm sorry, I can just..."

"Hermione, stop." James chuckled, holding his hand up to stop Hermione from running out of the office. "This is Sirius Black." He said, introducing Sirius who was watching the interaction curiously. "And Nicolas Flamel." He introduced after a moment's pause, watching as Hermione squeaked in shock and her eyes went wide at that introduction. "This is Hermione Granger, the smartest witch in her year, actually the smartest witch I've ever known, by quite a bit really." He explained with a small smirk.

"My pleasure young lady," Nicolas smiled gently up at her.

"Hey," Sirius nodded over, catching James' eye with a questioning glare.

"She's going to outdo all of Dumbledore's records, I can promise you that." James grinned over, knowing full well from his future that Hermione actually managed better on her NEWT's than Dumbledore did, and that was with her taking a year out for the Horcrux hunt and everything else that had happened during their school years.

"A witch to keep my eye on then," Nicolas said, favouring Hermione with an appraising smile of his own. "One you are looking for as an apprentice of your own perhaps? To pass on your legacy too?" He asked, staring across at James with an intense look in his eyes.

"No," James shook his head, drawing a shocked look from Hermione in the process. "Her specialities are more brainy than I could ever dream of catching up with. She's too smart to get stuck in my style of martial magic, it'd be a waste of that big brain of hers." He explained with a chuckle as Hermione blushed vibrantly at the praise. "She's more talented when it comes to Charms and Potions, things like Arithmancy and Enchanting are going to be second nature to her."

"I see," Nicolas nodded, accepting James' reasons as he returned his attention to Hermione now. "I myself dabbled in martial magics for some time, back in the seventeen hundreds. That was an interesting few decades, but unfortunately I failed to find any satisfaction in the art." He explained with a dry laugh.

"Actually..." James mused aloud, looking to his bookshelf and thumbing down the various charms, curses, wards and defence books he had until he came to the very small section he had on Alchemy at the bottom. Finding the book he was after he pulled it out quickly, smirking as he identified Nicolas Flamel's name embossed along the spine as the author. "Would you mind?" He asked with a cheeky grin, opening the book and holding it out for Nicolas while grabbing a quill in his other hand.

"It has been a long time since I wrote this." Nicolas chuckled dryly, taking the quill and looking up at James, catching his eye flicking over to Hermione before giving him a small smile and a nod, then signing the inside cover of the book with a declaration to Hermione. "Three hundred years I think, perhaps more." He said softly as James turned the book around, reading the inscription with a smile before blowing on the ink to dry it, then retrieving his wand to cast a preservation charm over the front page. "Yes, the sixteen hundreds, I'm certain of it." He said as he scrutinised the cover of the book in James' hands.

"Close to four hundred years then," James smiled back, holding the book out for Hermione to gingerly take with shaking hands. "Look after it." He said with a wink as Hermione looked up at him in shock, her mouth opening and shutting without any words coming out as she gingerly opened the book and stared in awe at the inscription inside with her name scrawled above it.

"I'm certain we have more to say to each other, but my time here today is limited." Nicolas interrupted, giving James a nod of approval. "You are a very surprising man, and to my pleasant surprise, a worthwhile man." He explained with an curious glance. "We will talk again soon young Master. There are things that even you do not know of yet, perhaps things that will surprise even you." He said, turning his attention to James and then to Hermione. "The pleasure was mine young lady. I'm certain we shall meet again in the years to come." He said with a small smile, before vanishing silently from the chair, without even a pop or crack of apparition, he was simply gone.

"I swear, the older they get, the sneakier they get." James chuckled, leaning back and sitting on his desk in amazement at what had just happened.

"That... that... that was really Nicolas Flamel?" Hermione croaked out, still staring at the book in her hands in amazement.

"You know about Nicolas Flamel already?" James asked, raising an eyebrow to Hermione.

"He... I've read all about him of course, just some light reading while the others were working on their Potions homework that I'd already finished... But... you... he..." Hermione tumbled out, unable to understand exactly what had just happened.

"Light reading?" Sirius gaped at her. "Anything that mentions Flamel isn't going to be light reading."

"Any book she considers light reading, you'd consider a deadly weapon." James shot back with a grin. "You'll want to keep that safe," He chuckled, reaching over and closing the book in Hermione's hands gently, watching as she cradled it with an awestruck expression on her face. "I don't think he signs many books out there, so that's one of a kind." He said softly.

"It's priceless!" Hermione breathed out reverently. "I'll pay you back! For the book! I mean, I'll..."

"It's a present," James chuckled, shaking his head at her. "Now, what did you actually want?" He asked curiously.

"I... Um..." Hermione stammered out, torn between looking at the book in her hands and up to Professor Potter. "I can't remember." She squeaked after a moment, causing both James and Sirius to chuckle at her panicked face.

"You broke your little firstie," Sirius laughed, relaxing in his chair and watching in amusement.

"Go and put that in your trunk somewhere safe," James laughed, shaking his head in amusement. "Come and find me when you remember what you wanted alright?" He asked, receiving a very quick flurry of nods from Hermione in response.

"Nice meeting you," Sirius laughed over with a casual wave as James stood up to open the door for Hermione to walk out of, still with a shocked and somewhat disbelieving expression on her face as she shuffled her way out into the corridor.

"Think she's going to be alright?" James asked with a small smirk over to Sirius as he lent on the door, watching as Hermione was walking away in small steps like a zombie.

"I wasn't joking, I actually do think you broke her," Sirius laughed over. "Bloody Nicolas Flamel? How in the name of Merlin's pants did that happen?"

"I've got no idea," James laughed, ruffling his messy hair in amazement. "I never met him before, he... I've got no idea." He exclaimed with another laugh. "I always thought he died, after... well, Dumbledore said that he destroyed the stone, so I thought the Flamels had both died afterwards. If you trust Dumbledore on that though, which as I'm saying it sounds pretty damn unlikely."

"Why's he here?" Sirius asked as James closed the office door.

"Dumbledore had the Philosopher's Stone, well, his stone I guess." James said as he returned to his desk and sat on it, still a bit stunned over what had just happened. "I guess he was here to collect it this time instead of Dumbles smashing it or keeping it for himself."

"Merlin," Sirius breathed out. "And that stuff about Grindlewald?"

"A long story," James admitted.

"Grindlewald's still alive?" Sirius demanded.

"Yeah, he's locked up in Nurmengard." James nodded over. "Dumbledore didn't kill him, that's just what he lets everyone think." He explained with a shrug. "Like anyone would actually believe he killed his old boyfriend." He said with a snort and a shake of his head.

"That... I have no idea what to say to that." Sirius muttered to himself, surprised at that piece of information.

"I didn't know until after the war, my time anyway." James mused aloud. "Six or seven years, something like that. Voldemort tracked him down and destroyed the place, he was after Grindlewald as well."

"Bugger me," Sirius frowned over. "He broke Grindlewald out?"

"Killed him," James corrected, seeing the surprised look on Sirius' face. "Can you see Voldemort sharing power with anyone?"

"Probably not," Sirius admitted with a grimace at the thought of both Grindlewald and Voldemort running free.

"Grindlewald's war was world wide, Voldemort's a little fish compared to him. He never even took his war out of the country." James shrugged over as he glanced up at the clock on the wall. "I've got a second year class in a minute." He said, changing the subject as he pulled his coat off the rack and shrugged it on, pocketing his wand for now.

"So..." Sirius grinned, standing up as James opened the door, letting them both out into the empty corridor ahead. "That's her then? Your muggle-born?"

"She's not mine," James said firmly, glaring at Sirius as he closed the office door and locked it behind him.

"You know what I mean," Sirius smirked back. "Things going well with the pup and her then?"

"They're friends," James nodded as he walked, letting Sirius walk alongside him down towards the defence classroom. "To be honest, he's probably being a better friend to her than I was to her back then." He admitted.

"She seems nice, bit bookish." Sirius shrugged. "Doesn't really stand out or anything. With you and Amelia, and Julia, figured you were into blondes and girls with more up top?" He said, moving his hands around in front of his chest to indicate both Amelia and Julia's larger assets.

"She's the only one that stood by my through everything, literally." James said firmly, ignoring Sirius' comment about Amelia's chest. "She was there when everyone else abandoned me, she even lost her parents, everything because of it. She ended up with nothing, and walking away from the magical world after sacrificing everything for a world that still treated her like shit." He bit out, giving Sirius a mild glare.

"I was just saying..." Sirius said quickly, holding up his hands in surrender.

"If it's a choice, between letting the pure blood bigots stay in charge, and me taking Harry, her, and a few others away from all of this? Letting Voldemort destroy the Ministry and take over?" James frowned over at him. "I'll burn down the Ministry myself and open the doors for him." He said firmly as he walked into the empty defence classroom.

"You can't mean that Junior." Sirius said in shock.

"I'm serious," James said firmly. "I gave them twenty years to change. Twenty years to stop being bigoted arseholes and deal with the corruption and all the shit that's practically running this world." He explained as he moved to the desk at the front of his classroom. "That's more than enough time. What's this world ever done for me? Lies and bullshit, a dead family, lost chances and a bunch of sheep who happily believe whatever lie is printed the longest." He explained bluntly. "I don't owe them shit." He bit out. "What did the world ever give you? A bigoted family, bullshit and abusive arseholes. A corrupt government and a decade in jail for a crime you didn't even commit."

"But... you said there was a prophecy?" Sirius frowned over.

James quickly glanced around, making sure he couldn't see anyone out of the door in the corridor before he shrugged. "The prophecy says I'm the only one who can defeat Voldemort."

"So?" Sirius frowned over.

"CAN," James emphasised. "Not will, not has to, not will bloody well be forced into it." He explained. "Just because I can, doesn't mean I have to."

"But... that... you have to!" Sirius shouted over.

"I told Amelia all this, I'll deal with Voldemort if everyone else deals with the pure blood shit in this country." James explained with a shrug. "I'm not risking my life to face Voldemort again for a country that treats muggle-borns like something they've scraped off of their shoe."

"And if they don't?" Sirius demanded.

"Then Voldemort can have them, they deserve him." James said bluntly, looking past Sirius to see the corridor outside where students were starting to walk past now. "The kids'll be here in a minute. I'll come to The Manor at lunch time, then we can deal with Skeeter and The Prophet."

Sirius simply nodded dumbly at that, not really sure how to respond to what Junior was telling him.

"You can..." James trailed off as he saw Tonks coming into the classroom. "Either catch up with Tonks, or head back to the manor, doesn't bother me which."

"Tonks?" Sirius asked, spinning around to see the pink haired metamorph in question staring at him in confusion.

"Sirius?" Tonks asked in shock, flicking her eyes between James and Sirius.

"Take him, get him to show you the passage through to honey-dukes." James muttered, fishing a few galleons out of his pocket and handing them over to Tonks as she came over. "I want some chocolate and some butterbeers for the office." He said with a small smirk as Tonks took the galleons.

"Right'o boss." Tonks grinned over.

"Wait, you're little Nympha..."

"Don't call me that!" Tonks glared over, making sure Sirius got the message as her hair flushed red. "Come on, lets get out of here before he ropes us into being his target dummies for the day." She said with a smirk over to James as she led the still confused and bewildered Sirius out of the classroom and back into the corridor.

"I swear..." James muttered to himself as he paced around his desk, watching until Tonks and Sirius had left the room before he pulled his coat off and tossed it over his desk, pulling his wand out and casting a wide warming charm over the entire room in preparation for his first lesson of the day.

Thinking about Nicolas Flamel, the Deathly Hallows, and what he should actually tell Sirius about them could wait, at least until after lunch, and certainly until after he'd dealt with Rita Skeeter.

For now though, he had an entire class of sixth year Hufflepuff and Ravenclaws to teach, and in retrospect, he'd much rather take dealing with a Dark Lord instead of forty or so twelve year old kids.


Hogwarts Library

Hogwarts

Lunchtime

"You alright?"

Hermione looked up from her book in a daze as she recognised the voice that was addressing her, spotting Daphne and her friend approaching she tried to give them a small smile at least.

"Just asking, you didn't say anything at lunch, then you're... well..." Daphne trailed off, gesturing to where Hermione was sat at the library table simply staring at the book in front of her with a blank expression on her face. "Weasley saying stuff again?"

"No," Hermione shook her head at that, both her and Neville had ignored Ronald Weasley completely when he'd tried to bug them into helping him with his homework over the last few days. The ginger boy was still apparently in a huff about it, but after seeing Harry with Hermione and Neville as friends had decided not to push the matter any further.

"What's wrong then?" Daphne asked curiously, sitting down at the table and making space for Tracey to join them. "Advanced Alchemy and Transmutation?" She asked aloud, raising a perfectly sculpted eyebrow as she read the title of the book in front of Hermione. "Aren't you jumping ahead a bit there with reading that sort of stuff?" She asked curiously.

"I... I went to ask Professor Potter about... I wanted to know what he meant by all the intent stuff he was talking about in our lesson about the knockback jinx." Hermione admitted quietly.

"Right?" Daphne nodded thoughtfully, she didn't understand intent based casting fully herself either, so she could understand why Hermione would have asked for a better explanation of it. "And?"

"He... he was in a meeting with Nicolas Flamel." Hermione explained in a whisper, the awe evident in her voice as she continued to stare down at the book in front of her.

"Wait... THE Nicolas Flamel?" Daphne demanded, looking between Hermione and the book in front of her. "The Alchemist? The Immortal? The..."

"Yes," Hermione cut her off, nodding sharply. Happy that someone else was equally as stunned at this as she was. "He... he signed the book and gave it to me." She whispered.

"That... wow," Daphne breathed out, sitting back in her chair as she contemplated this piece of news. "What were they talking about?" She asked, thinking hard now as the ramifications of this filtered through into her brain.

"Who's Nicolas Flamel?" Tracey asked firmly, looking between the two and getting a bit annoyed at being the only one at the table who apparently didn't know what was going on her.

"An alchemist, really really famous. He's over six hundred years old, he's a genius." Daphne rattled off quickly.

"He invented the Philosophers Stone, it makes the Elixir of Life, he's basically immortal because of it." Hermione nodded in confirmation.

"It can turn anything into gold as well, don't forget that." Daphne pointed out thoughtfully. "Wonder why he was here?"

"He was there with someone called Sirius Black?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Just as famous, or infamous I should say." Daphne nodded thoughtfully as Hermione looked over to her with a expression that demanded the information she needed. "Sirius Black was a friend of Professor Potter's before the war. He ended up in prison, it was a corrupt Ministry Worker that threw him in jail though, it was a big scandal just before we started school." She explained.

"Wow," Hermione breathed out, frowning as she contemplated the fact that apparently the Ministry of Magic had their own problems with corruption.

"The Potter's are really famous for potions, I'll bet they must have known Nicolas Flamel for years now." Daphne mused thoughtfully. "With how closely alchemy and potions are linked, it'd make sense that they knew each other like that."

"Professor Potter's famous for potions?" Hermione asked. "I haven't read anything that says that."

"Not Professor Potter, his father." Daphne pointed out. "Fleamont Potter, but The Potter's invented tons of the potions that people sell today, from Sleekeazy's Hair Potion to Skele-Gro." She explained. "They've always been famous potioneers, it's in their blood."

"In their blood?" Hermione wrinkled her nose as she asked the question. "What does on earth that mean?"

"A lot of the old families are like that," Tracey explained with a shrug and a sideways nod towards Daphne. "Like the Ollivander's, they've been wandmakers for centuries, it's in their blood." She explained with a shrug.

"Good example," Daphne nodded in agreement. "Professor Vector's family have been Arithmancy Masters for a few generations as well. Magic just follows patterns like that, like some families will be better at charms, or potions, or enchanting, others will be better at other things." She explained with a small smile.

"Magic can run in families like that?" Hermione asked, frowning at the thought.

"Oh yeah," Tracey nodded happily. "Just like the Malfoy's blonde hair, Daphne's family have been great with ice magic since her great grandmother's time."

"Cryomancy," Daphne smirked at her friend who could never remember the name of it. "Mum'll start helping me get better at it when I'm older." She explained. "Professor Potter's family must just be good enough to be friends with Nicolas Flamel and probably other famous potioneers and alchemists." She said with a small shrug.

"That... I didn't know magic could run in families like that." Hermione explained with a frown, not liking that gap in her knowledge at all. "The books don't mention anything like that."

"They do, it's just talked about in more of the NEWT's stuff I think." Daphne mused aloud. "Look up things like Metamorphmagus, that's probably the most famous one. Professor Potter's new assistant is one, that's why her hair keeps changing colour all the time." She explained with a smile.

"I thought that was just some sort of charm?" Hermione asked, really curious now about this new side of magic she hadn't heard about before.

"Nope," Tracey shook her head. "I heard the Black family used to have tons of metamorphs, but there hasn't been one in the family for ages now. It's like really advanced transfiguration, she can make herself look like anything, anyone she wants, I'm so jealous of her." She explained with a small pout at the idea.

"She's a shapeshifter?" Hermione whispered in awe.

"A good name for it," Daphne mused, not being familiar with the term but thinking it quite fit what a metamorph really was.

"What is your family famous for then?" Hermione asked, looking at Tracey now and hoping to learn more.

"Nothing really," Tracey sighed, shaking her head. "My gran's a muggleborn, on my dads side, and my mum's one too. I'm only the third generation with magic in my family, so I haven't got any idea what I'll be a good at yet." She explained with a shrug.

"Me neither," Hermione frowned, looking around the library. "Professor Potter seemed to think I'd be good at charms and arithmancy, he said he wouldn't take me on as an apprentice in martial magic." She explained, looking disappointed at the comment Professor Potter had made.

"Spellcrafting and enchanting then?" Daphne whistled in appreciation. "He must think you're really good at delicate and precise work then. That's some of the hardest magic out there."

"It is?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"Merlin yeah," Tracey nodded in agreement. "It doesn't take much skill to cast curses and hexes at each other, just magical power really, but learning to enchant things and weaving charms into stuff? That takes some serious skill." She explained. "If Professor Potter thinks you're good at it, you should give it a go and see. He doesn't seem the type of person to try and get you looking into something that wouldn't do you any good."

"I still can't believe you've got an alchemy book signed by Nicolas Flamel," Daphne whispered, staring at the book in awe. "You'll have to keep it somewhere safe."

"I was going to put it in my trunk, but I wanted to read it first." Hermione explained with a smile. "It's really fascinating. Mr Flamel said he wrote it sometime in the sixteen hundreds." She said wistfully. "I can't imagine what sort of things he must have seen. Six hundred years old, the world must feel so different to him."

"I bet he gets bored really easily," Tracey explained with a small laugh when Daphne and Hermione looked at her in surprise. "What, he's six hundred years old? Do you think there's anything out there he hasn't seen, tried, or done yet?" She asked in amusement.

"That... I hadn't thought of that." Hermione frowned, thinking about what she would be like if she'd lived for six hundred years. "He must know things nobody else alive does."

"Probably," Daphne agreed easily with that. "I wonder if he'll come back to visit Professor Potter again, I'd love to be able to talk to him and ask him some questions."

"Me too!" Hermione beamed across in agreement.

As Tracey laughed at the two intellectuals meeting, she happily settled back in the library chair to watch as Daphne and Hermione continued chatting about what questions they'd like to ask Nicolas Flamel and what sort of answers they would likely get from him.

All three of them failed to spot the two Slytherins sat a few tables away, one blonde haired and one with black hair, both paying very close attention to everything that was said by the three girls and watching with thinly veiled disgust at their friendship.


Defence Classroom

Hogwarts

Sirius Black was torn between amused, proud, and shocked as he stood in the doorway at the back of the classroom watching as Junior actually taught the sixth year Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw class. He was only going over simple stuff really, shields and disarming charms, stuff that the kids should have mastered last year really, but it seemed quite a few of them were still struggling with it in the first few weeks of their NEWT year.

Shopping with Nymphadora around Hogsmeade had been a welcome distraction as well as a nice chance for him to actually spend some time with his niece, and she'd been more than happy to constantly badger him with questions about Junior, his skills and what sort of magic he could teach her, along with asking for funny stories and gossip about him.

Returning to the class with a large bag full of chocolate and butterbeer had been the end of their fun trip out, but as Nymphadora returned to helping Junior out in the classroom, she'd arranged for another day out with her mum and Sirius next time, so she could be there and have fun when Sirius and her mum met properly for the first time since he'd been locked up in Azkaban.

Watching Junior teach was a bit of a shock to Sirius' system, as much as he'd joked about it and been amused by him becoming a figure of authority, it was surprising to see just how good he really was at teaching. It was clear that the kids loved learning from him, they were all practically sat on the edge of their seats as he talked and walked them through the different types of shields and how their intent could change how they cast properly.

"He is quite something, isn't he?"

Sirius looked around in amusement, raising an eyebrow as he saw Professor McGonagall walking down the third floor corridor towards him.

"Never thought I'd see him be a professor, that's for sure." Sirius admitted with a grin as Professor McGonagall came to stand next to him in the doorway to watch the end of the lesson.

"I'll admit, I did have some reservations myself." Minerva said softly, watching the classroom with an appraising eye. "It actually came as quite a surprise when he excelled at teaching, quite beyond my expectations really."

"The kids seem to love him," Sirius nodded in amusement, watching as two of the Hufflepuffs got up to test their shields against tickling charms cast their way by Junior. "I don't remember DADA ever being this much fun."

"He does have a way of keeping his classes engaged and full of laughter," Minerva admitted with a wry smile. "He should be winding down now ready for lunch." She said as the two laughing Hufflepuffs returned to their seats.

"Alright you lot," James grinned as he returned to the front of the class and hopped up on his desk to sit there comfortably. "You all feel better about your shield charms now?" He asked, looking around as the entire class nodded and answered at once. "Last question for today, then it's lunch time." He said with a grin, laughing at how quite a few of the class cheered at that. "Silent casting was supposed to be covered last year, at least to get you into the NEWT classes. How many of you are actually good at it?" He asked curiously. "I'm not judging here, I just want to know where you all are so I can start prepping you for point casting if you're all good with silent casting. So if you're good enough at silent casting to get away with it, put your hands up."

Looking around he wasn't really surprised to see about a third of the Ravenclaw students putting their hand up, with less, maybe around a quarter of the Hufflepuff students putting their hands up.

"Who was teaching silent casting last year?" James asked in confusion at how most of the NEWT class apparently didn't have a handle on silent casting yet. "Alright, Friday afternoon we'll brush up on silent casting, I'll try and get you lot onto point casting before Christmas if I've got the time." He said with a grin before spotting one of the Ravenclaws holding their hand up. "Yes?" He asked, nodding over towards the Ravenclaw.

"What's point casting, I've never seen that in a Defence textbook before sir?"

"The next step after silent casting," James explained with a shrug. "Everyone starts off the same, incantations and wand movements. That's your first five years." He explained, watching as the entire class was listening to him. "By fifth year, you should be ready to move on to silent casting. No incantations, just thinking the spell you want and matching it with the wand movements." He explained, watching as the class nodded to show they were following what he was saying. "So point casting is the next step, bet you can all guess what we lose this time?" He asked with a grin, looking around the class.

"Wand movements?" A few of the Ravenclaws asked at the same time.

"Exactly," James grinned over. "Takes a bit more focus than silent casting, but it can be a godsend in a duel. It's fast, decisive, and without any wand movement or incantation, your opponent has absolutely no idea what you're casting at them."

"What's after that then?" A different Ravenclaw asked this time.

"Ambitious lot aren't you?" James grinned over, looking at the books on that Ravenclaw's desk and snapping his hand up, summoning the book to his hand in a quick movement, much to the shock of the class that all gasped openly at him. "Wandless casting. Don't expect for me to cover wandless this year. Maybe next year, if there's time, but it's a hell of a lot harder than silent casting or point casting, so don't expect much of it alright?"

"Why's wandless so hard Professor?" One of the Hufflepuff's asked this time. "Don't you need to be really powerful to learn that?"

"Not at all," James shook his head. "Everyone things that because it's flashy and makes people think you're really powerful, but honestly it's no better than using a wand." He explained, getting comfortable on his desk. "The two advantages you get with wandless casting are that you can't be disarmed, well, unless you mean literally disarmed with a cutting curse to the shoulder." He explained with a grin. "And it's a great way to stay on the right side of the Statute of Secrecy."

"But don't you need to be really powerful to learn wandless casting?" A Ravenclaw asked in shock.

"Nope," James shook his head. "It's all about focus and determination, willpower if you want." He explained with a shrug. "Castelobruxo down in Brazil and Uagadou in Africa, both teach wandless magic from their first year. Wands are more of a novelty in those countries." He explained. "Binns should be teaching this stuff instead of his yearly waffle about Goblin rebellions." He muttered with a sigh, much to the class's amusement. "Wands are a European invention, they're not really linked to magic, you don't NEED your wand to perform magic. Think about apparating and animagus transformations, neither of them need your wand, and they're both really advanced pieces of magic." He explained.

"In America, the native tribes there used a staff instead of a wand, Japan uses the same, but India uses bracelets and other types of jewelry. I've heard of some places that uses rune enchanted rings instead of wands for focusing, but we just use enchanted rings for more common purposes. Every country out there has their own quirks and ways of teaching magic, wands are just what the ancient wizards designed when they started learning, so it just became a tradition." He finished with a shrug as the bell rung.

"Right, I'll be covering silent casting properly on Friday. I want to get you lot at least proficient with it before we move on to anything more advanced." He explained, standing up from his desk and raising his voice slightly to carry over the excited chattering of the class. "If you feel you're good enough with silent casting that you don't need to brush up, either bring a book to Friday's lesson and work on your own, or skip it and use the class to do homework from another class alright?" He asked, looking around the students to make sure they all heard him properly.

It didn't take long for him to receive a lot of friendly waves as the students started filing out of the classroom, leaving him to lean back on his desk and smirk in amusement as he saw Sirius and Minerva come into the classroom from their position by the doorway.

"Just so you know, I am in the process of finding a replacement for Cuthbert." Minerva explained as she eyed James curiously. "Though finding a replacement with the right qualifications is proving harder than I expected." She admitted with a small sigh.

"Probably because he's been so useless at teaching history for so long, that there's no-one in the country who has any real idea about it anymore." James explained with a shrug.

"Sadly I'm finding that is quite close to the truth," Minerva admitted with a small sigh as she came to stand in front of James' desk with Sirius. "While going through the administrative paperwork, I did find out that Albus was still claiming Cuthbert's wages, but having it paid into a vault at Gringotts belonging to an Arabella Figg?"

"Ah," James smirked, nodding to show he recognised the name. "One of Dumbledore's little spies, so he was actually paying her to spy on Harry out of Binns' wages? Sneaky old git." He explained with a dry laugh.

"I see," Minerva frowned through thin lips as she contemplated what she was being told. "I have cancelled the payments now, once I can find a replacement for Cuthbert I will figure out what to do with the remaining money."

"Buy some new brooms for the school," James said with a shrug. "Those things are ancient and probably the cause of half the accidents every year."

"That is probably true," Minerva admitted with a thoughtful nod. "I shall put some thought into it." She mused aloud. "Regardless, I would like for you to join me for a meeting shortly. Since you started all of this, I feel it would be beneficial to have your input while we continue."

"Oh?" James raised both eyebrows looking over at Minerva and wondering what she was planning now. "I was going to..." He sighed, trailing off before nodding to himself. "Sirius, fancy handling the Daily Prophet on your own?"

"Sure," Sirius shrugged, looking between James and Professor McGonagall now. "You don't want to handle it yourself?" He asked curiously.

"You have a word with them first, if you don't get anywhere, we can go back after dinner and make it clear then." James said with a firm nod. "If Skeeter gives you any hassle, let me know and I'll get down there earlier if I can."

"Sure thing," Sirius shrugged at that. Handling irritants like Skeeter and the Prophet was easy enough really. "Fancy a trip to Diagon?" He asked, looking at Nymphadora now with a questioning glance.

"Lets leave the kids to it," James smirked, getting a mock glare from Sirius as he grinned and led Minerva out of the classroom before glancing back to Nymphadora. "Lock up when you leave alright?"

"Sure thing boss," Nymphadora shot back quickly as James and Minerva headed out into the corridor where Minerva started leading him towards the main staircase.

"Alright, what's this meeting about then?" James asked curiously, idly following Minerva with his hands in his jeans pockets.

"The Weasley Twins," Minerva explained patiently.

"What have they done now?" James muttered to himself, rolling his eyes as he continued to follow Minerva up the main staircase towards the floor that led up to the Headmistresses Office.

"Surprisingly, nothing." Minerva admitted with a small smirk. "I had a rather frank talk with Aurora about their work, along with several other of their professors. They all agree that the turn around in the last week from the previous years has been nothing short of shocking."

"Not surprised there," James said with a simple shrug.

"Exactly how well do you know the twins?" Minerva asked curiously as she led the way up the corridor and into the spiral staircase leading up to her office.

"Well enough I guess, probably a bit better than most." James admitted with a small frown, trying to make things sound as vague as possible about his interactions with the twins. It wasn't like he could outright say everything he knew about the twins was from growing up with them and fighting alongside them.

"And you still believe their mother chose their OWL courses without any input from them?" Minerva asked, raising an eyebrow towards him as she led him into her office.

"What are they taking?" James asked with a curious glance around the office. A few things had changed since the last time he'd been in here with Nymphadora, but now looking around, it didn't seem like Dumbledore's office anymore, but was well on it's way to looking how he remembered Minerva's office looking in his future.

"The standard core subjects, along with Care of Magical Creatures, Muggle Studies, and Ancient Runes." Minerva explained, walking around her desk and gesturing to one of the collection of seats around the front of her desk, indicating for James to take a seat there.

"Useless, worse than useless, and... actually, I can see them doing well in Runes." James mused aloud with a nod. "Creature hour and Muggle Studies is a joke though, the two of them won't ever do anything with either of those, and Muggle Studies is so far behind the times that it should just be called Muggle History instead."

"So you've said," Minerva sighed. "I can only focus on one problem at a time, once I have worked out the problems with replacing Cuthbert, then I will take a look at the Muggle Studies course." She explained, frowning over at James. "So you believe that..." She trailed off as the office door knocked. "Enter." She called aloud, watching as James looked around curiously to see Aurora Sinestra walking in, leading the Weasley Twins into the office.

James had to smirk at the way the Weasley twins both looked a bit nervous at being called into Professor McGonagall's office like this, especially since they were now there with the headmistress, head of Gryffindor, with him there simply smirking at them.

"Messrs Weasley. Right on time." Minerva said, pointing to the seats arranged in front of her desk. "Take a seat gentlemen."

"Whatever it is, we didn't do it!"

"Honest professor!"

"We haven't had time to do anything yet this year."

"Really!" They both finished off earnestly as they sat in the offered chairs, leaving a spare chair between them and James which Aurora promptly took, making them both edge slightly away from their head of house.

"We are here to talk about your OWL subjects gentlemen." Minerva said, silencing the two with a light glare. "Not whatever else you might or might not have done this year." She explained, thinning her lips down into a line as she stared across her desk at both of them. "Care of Magical Creatures, and Muggle Studies?" She asked, raising an eyebrow over at the twins. "Are the both of you considering future careers at The Ministry?" She asked curiously.

"No!"

"Merlin no!"

"Really, a world of no Professor!" Both twins answered emphatically, shaking their heads firmly at that idea.

"I didn't believe so, I found it rather curious that you would take exactly the same OWL courses as your older brother, Percy in this case, though Charlie did quite enjoy Care of Magical Creatures I believe." Minerva explained thoughtfully. "Would Professor Potter then be right in assuming that neither of you picked these courses willingly?"

It was obvious to everyone in the room just from the twins expression what the answer was.

"Let me take a guess, Molly filled in the course choices for you, did she even ask you?" James asked, turning to the side to look past Aurora and watch the twins reactions. "Didn't think so." He smirked when the shock on the twins faces showed that he was right on the money with his guess.

"Is that indeed the case?" Minerva asked, raising an eyebrow at the twins.

"Yes Professor." The twins answered in tandem.

"And the courses you would have picked?" Minerva asked curiously. "Professor Potter?" She asked, looking at him now for his guesses.

"Arithmancy to match Ancient Runes. Spellcrafting and enchantment is what these two need to be looking into. Creatures and Muggles Studies isn't going to do anything for them other than giving them a few hours of boredom every week." James explained with a small smirk. "Divination is useless, and none of the other classes are going to be worth their time, at worst, they're just going to be a distraction." He explained with a shrug. "Arithmancy and Ancient Runes for their OWL's, then use the extra free period to catch up on everything they've missed in Potions."

"Would you agree with that?" Minerva asked, glancing to Aurora now.

"Provisionally," Aurora admitted with a small nod. "The last week or so, their work has raised far above where it used to be. Where their grades used to sit firmly around acceptable with the occasional exceeds expectations, I've noticed at least three outstandings from them each in Potions, and one each in Ancient Runes, while their Care and Muggle Studies work has shown little to no improvement at all."

"Would moving your courses from Care of Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies to Arithmancy be amenable to the two of you?" Minerva asked, looking at the twins now to gauge their reactions.

"Is Arithmancy really useful for spellcrafting and enchanting?" One of the twins asked, looking over at James now.

"Indeed," Minerva answered instead of James, drawing everyones attention to her. "It is one of the harder classes offered, but if you are serious about learning the rather daunting task of enchanting, then it is a rather essential course."

"Take everything you're learning in charms, and start taking it apart with what you'll be learning in Arithmancy. You guys will easily figure out how to enchant shield charms into hats or gloves, self inking quills, or fireworks that fly around the sky like dragons." James explained, drawing them in with hints of their future ideas that he knew would entice them further. "Or extendable charms worked into bags? Never have to carry a big bag of books or potions supplies again, just one little bag and everything fits inside it." He explained with a smirk, thinking back to Hermione's undetectable extension bag that had saved their lives so many times.

"That's all enchanting?" Both twins asked in awe.

"Indeed," Minerva answered with a small smile at how enthralled both the twins were with what James was saying. "Enchanting is run as a two year NEWT course if there is the interest, likewise with Alchemy and Advanced Arithmancy. Perhaps by your sixth year, you would both consider it for your final years here."

"Yes Professor!" Both twins eagerly nodded at that idea.

"Very well, this change will of course be dependant on your grades gentlemen." Minerva said with a firm glance at both of the twins. "Professor Potter seems to have faith in you two and believes you can do far better than you have been. Do not let him down." She said firmly.

"We won't Professor!"

"Never Professor!"

"Never!" Both Weasley's finished simultaneously, shaking their heads eagerly with wild grins on their faces.

"Then I will make the necessary changes to your schedule and Professor Sinestra will hand you your new one in the morning." Minerva said with a nod, a small quirk on her lips as she saw how eager the twins were to actually learn new things now.

"Thank you Professor!" Both twins grinned over happily.

"You can thank Professor Potter, he was the one that mentioned the belief that your mother chose your courses without your consent." Minerva explained. "And I'm certain he will be following your grades closely as well."

"We won't let you down Professor Prongs!" Both Weasley's said with a grin and a salute over to their favourite teacher.

"You may both head down to your lunch now, I will organise a time with Professor Sinestra to acquire the necessary text books for your new courses." Minerva explained with a small smirk at the title they had apparently given James.

"Thanks Professor!"

"Really, thanks!"

Both twins were out of their seats in a shot, grinning wildly as they dashed for the door, whispering between themselves about what sort of ideas Professor Potter had put into their head for future experiments they could conduct.

"Those two could even wear out Peeves," Aurora muttered as the twins left the office, closing the door behind them with a loud bang. "How in Merlin's name did you cope with them for two years already?"

"A wee dram of scotch every night does wonders." Minerva answered with a completely straight face, causing James to snort with laughter and shake his head at the thought. "And while we're on the subject, perhaps James would care to expand on this nom de plume the twins have apparently graced him with? Professor Prongs? Really?"

James' groan was the only answer that matched the roll of his eyes before he launched into the explanation of his patronus lesson and a quickly fudged explanation of the name that wouldn't raise any more questions than had been already thought up.