History Repeated

So, I don't own Harry Potter...Damn.

Thanks to those who have followed, favored, and/or reviewed.

Note: I'm tempted to change the rating of this story from T to M because of language. Please let me know what you think.

1 September 2015

James stared at the ceiling and saw stars.

Lying on the rug in his cousin Freddie's room, already dressed in his Hogwarts robes, James found himself missing the Dursley's. Except for Vernon, he'd never miss him. Petunia...maybe, she had treated him decently before he left with Uncle Bill.

He counted each star on the ceiling and wondered if they were lonely up in the sky. He remembered one of his teachers at his old school had said stars were farther than what everyone saw. Not to mention, they were long dead by the time anyone down on earth saw them.

Frowning, James suddenly wondered if the dead were lonely. In their graves, in their urns, in the sky.

Were his parents lonely, wherever their graves were at? Did they have graves or were they cremated, and their urns were shoved into a wardrobe? James imagined he'd have to ask one of his uncles or aunts, he doubted he would be able to ask his grandmother without her bursting into tears.

James looked at the door as he heard a knock and his Aunt Angelina stuck her head in. "Are you alright, Jimmy?" she asked, pushing her black hair behind her right ear. She looked ill but not ill enough to worry if such a thing were possible.

"Yeah, Aunt Angelina," James said as he looked back up at the ceiling. "I'm looking at the stars."

"Really?" He could hear the skepticism in her voice; there were no stars on the ceiling, but that didn't matter to James.

"Yep," he said. "Did you know, the stars you see in the sky at night are already dead?"

"No, I didn't know that," Aunt Angelina said, the tone of her voice sounding more surprised to James.

As Aunt Angelina limped towards Freddie's cluttered desk, sitting down at the wooden chair, James bluntly asked, "How did you get hurt?"

James' aunt frowned. "No one's told you?" she asked, and he shook his head.

"No," he said. "I didn't know about being a wizard until I was seven. I didn't know about my dad being famous until recently and I didn't know he and Mum were murdered until I read it in Grandad's newspaper. People tend to keep things from me and it's really annoying sometimes." He frowned, wondering at that moment if his question to his aunt had been too blunt. "You don't have to tell me about your injury. My Aunt Helen's always said I've been too curious for my own good."

"She sounds smart."

"She reads a lot and has to deal with Uncle Dudley's parents, she always knows how to piss them off."

Aunt Angelina gave him a pointed look, causing him to grin. "Watch your mouth, James Potter," she warned.

"Alright, sorry."

"Sure, you are."

James laughed and his aunt sighed.

"I was in the Ministry of Magic," Aunt Angelina revealed. "I work for the Department of Magical Games and Sports and a group of dark wizards decided to set their sights on my floor." She looked down at her leg, frowning. "I used to play Quidditch professionally like your mum did before she got pregnant with you. She was a Chaser for the Holyhead Harpies, I was a Chaser for Puddlemere United." A smile appeared on her face. "I'll have to introduce you to both teams. My friend Oliver used to play Quidditch with your dad and me when we were in school, he'd be excited to meet you, and your mum's team too."

James nodded as he sat up, no longer interested in laying on his cousin's rug any longer. Freddie had explained Quidditch to him, it sounded brilliant, but he didn't know if he would be good at it. He wasn't a fan of heights and the thought of flying into the sky on a broomstick sounded scary. He didn't share this with any of his mother's family, most of them were Quidditch fanatics and he didn't want to disappoint them in telling them about his fear. He could only imagine how his first Flying class would go, having heard about it from Dominique when he was at her house the previous day.

"Are you nervous?" he heard his aunt ask.

"About Hogwarts?"

"Yes," Aunt Angelina said. "Freddie was too, though he hid his feelings rather well on it. You're like an open book."

"Brilliant," James retorted.

"It's not a bad thing," she said. "Have you thought about which house you'll be in?"

"No, that's more terrifying than starting school."

Aunt Angelina smiled. "You're not wrong on that one," she agreed. "I remember my sorting and was very happy when I got into Gryffindor. I met my best friends in that house, and George, and everyone I'd come to enjoy being around, even if they weren't my friends."

"I had a best friend, back home," James revealed as he looked back up at the ceiling. "But she moved when I was seven. Not many kids liked being around me, saying I was weird for not having parents and whatnot."

"That wasn't very kind of them."

James shrugged. "My cousin Callum scared them off every time he saw them picking on me," he said. "I did hit one of them, though. He said some nasty things about my Mum, and I punched him in the mouth. He lost all his front teeth and I got in trouble from my school because it had been during lunch." He looked at his feet, away from his aunt's line of sight. "No one picked on me after that, but they acted like I didn't exist. Even my teacher that year."

"How old were you?" his aunt asked.

"Eight, I think," James said, frowning. "The boy I hit had beaten up other kids too, but everyone still treated him the same. Some friends, some not friends. After I hit him, everyone acted like he had been the one being bullied, and I was a bully." He glanced at his aunt. "I only hit him because I was tired of being treated badly. Him mentioning my Mum made me angry. Was it wrong to hit him?"

Aunt Angelina frowned. "You were defending your mum, you had every right to retaliate," she said. "Hitting him might have been extreme, but he had it coming if he'd been beating up other kids. It's fair for you to have been punished for hitting another child, but it wasn't fair for him to not be punished as well for everything he had done. I take it he never got in trouble?"

James nodded. "His mum was a teacher there," he said. "And none of the teachers liked her, I think. She was strict."

"That's not right," Aunt Angelina said, looking upset. "Just because she was a teacher, her son shouldn't have gotten special treatment."

"People are weird."

"You're not wrong there." His aunt rose from her seat and said, "Come on, Jim. We'll be leaving soon, and you still need some breakfast."

"Alright," James said, and he picked himself up off the floor before following his aunt out of his cousin's bedroom, wondering if he'd make any friends at Hogwarts.

Teddy stared at the mirror in his room, watching as he changed his appearance from color to color and so on. Black hair, no. Red? No. Blue, maybe. Orange, he'd rather die before he'd ever had orange hair. He smirked as his hair became grey, and to top it off, he added turquoise highlights as his eye color became a light pink color. He ruffled his hair as it became messier and shorter enough it was no longer in his eyes.

Glancing down at his Hogwarts uniform, he shrugged off its half-arsed attempt at putting himself together. His shirt wasn't tucked in, his Hufflepuff tie loosely hung around his neck and he wasn't even wearing his normal school shoes in favor of his purple converses. It had become standard procedure, Hogwarts students coming onto the train already dressed in their school robes. It helped separate them from anyone attempting to sneak onto the train, which had happened a few times too many in the past. Teddy didn't understand why wearing school robes separated the students from any intruders, but he didn't even mention it out loud. He was just glad the compartments weren't assigned by house and year like the Ministry attempted to enforce. Merlin, it probably was, but no one ever paid any attention to it, Teddy sure as hell didn't.

Looking away from his mirror, he turned towards his desk and picked up his new but dented Head Boy's badge and wondered if McGonagall was losing her marbles or not. Sighing, he shoved the badge into the pocket of his trousers before walking out of his bedroom, shutting off the light as he left.

Walking down the stairs, he passed old photographs of dead people. His Grandpa Ted, who died during the mid-months of the second war. His Mum and Dad, who died mere weeks after he was born in the school he was currently attending. His godfather and his wife, who died in his grandmother's ancestral home that had been passed down to Harry through his godfather, who had been Gran's cousin. He'd always spend his free time at Grimmauld Place, looking for old, cursed items Kreacher the House-elf raved about and piss off the portrait of his dead great-great-aunt or something like that. He'd always get in trouble doing that, but it was always worth it, seeing the painting get angry enough that she'd yell for her curtain to be closed. Jimmy always laughed, too, which egged Teddy to continue with his annoying antics.

As he walked into the little corridor leading into the kitchen, he could hear his grandmother talking to someone.

"—You've got a lot of nerve coming here, Narcissa," Gran said in a hushed tone. Teddy frowned, familiar with the name his grandmother had said but not with the woman herself, despite her being his great-aunt.

"I didn't have many options, Andromeda," came the clipped tone of Narcissa Malfoy, whose scowling face was the first thing he saw when he entered the kitchen. She and Gran were sitting at the wooden table that was scorched with burns from when Teddy accidentally set it on fire when he was six. Cloaks and candles never mixed well, especially when one was thrown on top of the other.

His great-aunt was first to notice Teddy as she turned her cold eyes towards him and said, "Is this the half-breed?"

"You must be the half-cunt," Teddy quickly responded as he sat down next to his grandmother, who promptly hit him on the shoulder. "Ow! What the fuck, Gran?"

"What have I said about your language, Edward?" she demanded.

"To watch it."

"And have you?"

"How do you expect me to watch my language?"

"Merlin, I don't understand how you were made Head Boy."

"That makes two of us, then. McGonagall's going mad if you ask me."

"Clearly," Gran said as she shook her head before turning her attention back to her sister and saying, "And you: get out of my house before I return you to your husband in pieces!"

"Please, Andromeda," Narcissa said, her voice straining. "I can't go back to the manor. You don't understand what's happened there. And I can't go to Draco because I don't want to endanger him or his son."

Teddy glanced from his great-aunt to his grandmother, who still had a thin frown on her face, but she looked less like she wanted to kill her sister than she did before.

"Explain," came Gran's short response.

When Narcissa looked at Teddy and Gran noticed, she sighed. "Fine," his grandmother said as she glanced at Teddy. "Go get your things, Teddy. We have to get you to the station anyhow."

"I could go—"

"No, dear," Gran said, her voice wavering. "You know how I feel about you going to the station alone. Even at seventeen, I don't want you there by yourself should anything happen."

Teddy frowned, but he didn't bother to argue with his grandmother as he stood up and left the room. He could feel both Gran and her sister's eyes on him as he walked into the sitting room, where his trunk and owl cage were at. His owl, Romulus, was sleeping, his wing still bandaged after he returned home a week ago, injured.

Sighing, he pushed a few fingers through the bars and lightly stroked his owl's heads, who jumped in surprise and opened his wide yellow eyes before physically relaxing and nuzzling his head against Teddy's fingers.

"Sorry, Rom," Teddy muttered before pulling his fingers back and picking up the cage. With his other hand, he lowered it as he raised his right leg, pulling out his wand, which had been lodged into his shoe and hidden under his trousers.

Pointing his wand at his trunk as he straightened his back and lowered his leg, he whispered, "Reducio!" and his trunk shrunk to the size of a small paperweight. He reached down and picked up his trunk, pocketing it into his pocket before returning his wand to its previous place.

Looking down at his wristwatch, he sighed at the time. 9:55, too early for his liking. He'd rather be upstairs, sleeping away the day. Instead, he was going back to school for the final time. His last year at Hogwarts, he'd hope to never return there. He got good grades and seemed well-liked, but he was tired of classes. He was tired of hearing other students talk about their troubles and he was tired of watching them act shocked when discovering something terrible.

Gran wanted him to become a professor at the school, saying it was safer to be employed there than his preferred career as an Auror. Mum had been an Auror. Dad, at least for a time, had been a professor. Both had been bloody good at what he did, from what he had been told. And yet, both died. Neither of their jobs had been safe, Teddy knew he would never be safe no matter what job he got. He didn't want to sit back and hide behind a desk, teaching kids as they thought about whether or not their families were safe; he wanted to be out dueling whoever was causing all the fear the Hogwarts students were having.

He worried about James and how his godbrother was going to react seeing his peers, most of whom had grown up in the wizarding world and knew about the attacks and had loved ones directly affected by it.

Merlin, Jimmy was going to need all the help he could get. Though, he couldn't help but feel relieved he hadn't grown up like other wizards and witches his age. There was no doubt he was affected by what he had already known, his parents' deaths, which were probably the cause for his nightmares, but Teddy digressed. He knew no good would come from being so pessimistic, so negative, especially around Jimmy. It wouldn't be fair to him. His godbrother already carried the burden of being the orphaned son of Harry and Ginny Potter, no use giving him more things to stress about.

The compartment was nearly full when Lucy entered. James was there with Freddie, reading his muggle book while Uncle George's son quietly rummaged through half-done essays. Teddy was across from James by the window, sleeping as though he hadn't slept in days. Lucy frowned, wondering why he wasn't in the Prefect compartment if he was the Head Boy. She could only imagine how the Head Girl felt, whoever she was. Victoire, as Ravenclaw's newest Prefect, was probably pissed at the no-show of Teddy Lupin.

Dominique and Louis were on the same side as Teddy. Dominique's hair was cropped to her shoulders and Louis looked bored as he played with a Umbridge on Unicycle, controlling the toy with a controller.

Stepping over Louis' toy, causing it to scream out: "I really hate children," Lucy sat next to James and said to no one in particular, "Isn't Teddy supposed to be in the Prefect compartment?"

"Yep," Dominique said as she kicked Teddy in the shin, he barely moved. "The full moon's not until the end of the month, so I don't know why he's sleeping so much. He was at our house a few days ago and he spent most of it sleeping."

"Isn't it supposed to be a blood moon this month?" James asked, causing everyone to look at him. "Why does the moon matter if Teddy's sleeping a lot?"

"His dad was a werewolf," Dominique explained. "He's not one, though, at least we don't think he is. The full moon's always been iffy for him."

"What's a blood moon?" Louis asked something Lucy was wondering herself.

James frowned, not saying anything for a few moments before saying, "It's a lunar eclipse. The moon's passing over earth's shadow, which can cause it to turn a reddish color, I think."

"That still doesn't explain why Teddy's sleeping," Lucy said, frowning.

James shrugged. "I don't know anything about werewolves, or their non-werewolf children. It probably affects them differently from normal full moons."

"How do you know all this, Jimmy?" Freddie asked and James' face became red.

"I like learning."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"I don't know," James said as he shrugged again. "I just do."

Dominique smirked. "Another book worm, then," she said. "Whatever you do, Jimmy, don't get sorted into Ravenclaw. Vic and Molly are in that house, and Molly's rather stingy about classes and learning and whatnot. She'll make your life miserable there."

"And Vic?"

"She's nothing like Molly but Molly's always trying to kiss her arse for some reason," Dominique said nonchalantly, making Lucy laugh. "See, even her sister agrees."

"That's because Molly's like our Dad," Lucy explained, grinning. "He's always been a nightmare about our education, drives me and Mum up the walls."

"Wasn't your mum in Ravenclaw?" Freddie asked.

Lucy nodded, smirking at the irony of her cousin's question. "Yeah," she said as a girl in Ravenclaw robes and mud-brown hair entered, storming towards Teddy as though she was going to slap him. Her shiny Head Girl badge was pinned to her cloak and Lucy knew immediately what was about to happen.

"OI! LUPIN!" the girl screamed, but Teddy remained unfazed. "WAKE UP! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE IN THE PREFECT COMPARTMENT FIFTEEN MINUTES AGO! WAKE. UP!"

Lucy bit her lip as the girl's face turned red and turned her head towards Dominique.

"Why didn't you wake him?" the Head Girl demanded.

"Why didn't you?" Dominique retorted seamlessly.

"Stop teasing her, Dom," Teddy said as he yawned. Lucy looked at him as he opened his pink-colored eyes, staring at the Head Girl lazily. "Why aren't you at the meeting?" he asked.

The Head Girl looked as though she wanted to kill Teddy. "I can't be at the meeting because I had to come and track you down because the meeting can't start without both the Head Boy and Head Girl! And guess what you are, Lupin."

Teddy blinked. "The Head Girl?"

The Head Girl shook her head and said, "Merlin, Lupin. I don't know how your mother deals with you."

Lucy froze when she heard the Head Girl say this. Teddy's parents being dead was widely known throughout the wizarding world, though obviously not many witches or wizards remembered this. There were too many dead to remember all the names.

Lucy watched as Teddy's eyes darkened to a purple-like color. His hair remained the same and his face remained calm, but his eyes said everything they needed to.

"My mother died during the Battle of Hogwarts, Smith."

The Head Girl visibly paled. "Ah…" she forced out. "I—Ted—"

"Save it, Edith," Teddy said as he stood and walked past her.

Edith Smith stood in the middle of the compartment for a moment before Louis ran over her foot with his Umbridge on Unicycle as it screamed: "I will have order!" causing her to leave with her head hanging and her face even redder than before.

No one said anything until James broke the tense silence with: "Yeah, I'm not going to Ravenclaw."

"Same," Lucy said and Louis only nodded his head.

Lucy noticed Dominique pulling out a pack of cards, saying, "Exploding Snap, anyone?"

"Sure."

"Why not?"

"What's that?"

"Watch closely, Jimmy," Dominique said as she began to shuffle the cards in her hands. "We'll teach you everything we know."

"At least until the trolley comes with sweets," Louis commented. "Then we're leaving you out to dry."

James smirked. "Let's get started then," he said.

In all his years at Hogwarts, Rubeus Hagrid had never thought he'd ever see another Potter again until he saw Harry's son on the front page of The Daily Prophet. He had been angered by Skeeter's meddling and disregard to the boy's privacy, but then he cried.

He was happy but he was also sad.

James Potter was alive, but his father was dead. Hagrid still remembered taking Harry to the Dursley's, the time he took him from that dreadful home, and everything in between. All the times he had spent with Harry and his friends, he treasured those memories. He watched the green-eyed boy with the lightning-bolt scar on his head grow into a man any parent would have been proud of. Harry survived You-Know-Who so many times, only for him to die on his son's second birthday.

Hagrid heard from Ron and Hermione that James had been raised by his father's oafish cousin and it made his blood boil. The thought of Harry and Ginny's son being raised the same way as his father—Hagrid wanted to throttle whoever sent the boy off to them.

He watched with his beetle black eyes for a boy with brown hair and eyes. There, of course, several boys fitting that description, but he knew which one to look out for, no thanks to that blasted newspaper. He wondered what James was like. Was he quiet as Harry had been? Was he like Ginny, hexing anyone she disliked? He could imagine the boy would be rather good at Quidditch, seeing as both his parents were brilliant at the sport. He could imagine a million things about James Potter, but he had to meet the boy first. He couldn't expect the boy to be just like his parents, no matter how much he wanted to. It wouldn't be fair to James. He wasn't Harry, he wasn't Ginny. He was himself, and that meant more to Hagrid than seeing another Harry Potter walking up to him, eager to learn about a world he had been denied knowledge of for years before he had gotten his letter.

Letters, Hagrid had to correct himself, remembering how the Dursley's failed at their attempts to run from Harry's acceptance letter.

He smiled when he finally spotted the Potter boy, standing next to two children who were clearly Weasley's, though neither had their family's trademark red hair. He was tempted to go up to the boy but stopped himself.

James didn't know him, and Hagrid had a job to do. He could properly introduce himself to Harry's son once he and the other students were safely inside the walls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

So, what do you think?

Please, review, like, and/or follow. That would great.

Until next time...