AN: Queen Rowling
James Potter sat at the breakfast table, waiting impatiently for the arrival of his cousins Percy and Frank. "Good morning, Jamie" Dorea Potter said as she entered the kitchen. James' spoon fell in his bowl with a clatter "MUM!" he yelled, jumping up and barrelling into her, giving her a tight hug.
"When did you get back? And where is dad? How was your mission? Damn! You look like hell, Mum."
Dorea Potter laughed, "Slow down Jamie. We got back late last night; you were already in bed so we didn't wake you. The mission was fine and of course I look bad. You should see your dad he looks worse; we spent two weeks surviving on wild berries."
James looked closely at his mother, she looked pale and thin, with dark bags under her eyes. But apart from that she looked fine. At least this time she did not come home wrapped in bandages. "Where is dad?"
"Still in bed. Much like your brother. He is never going to learn is he?
James grinned shaking his head as Dorea nodded. "So how about we get some breakfast and exchange stories?"
"I already had breakfast, but I could do with some orange juice. And go sit down, I will ask Mippy to get you some solid food."
Dorea grinned at her son before gracefully sitting down at the breakfast table. James settled next to Dorea as Mippy placed a plate of toast, bacon and eggs in front of her, accompanied by tea.
"So, how was your term? I am sorry we missed out most of it. Did you get in a lot of trouble?"
James grinned conspiratorially, "We didn't get in much trouble this term. Probably 3 weeks of detention as a whole."
Dorea spluttered, "Since when have you been so well behaved?"
"Since the Marauders became the resident pranksters."
"Weren't you boys calling yourselves that this summer?"
"How did you know about that?"
"Please! I am your mother, an Auror and a Black, not necessarily in that order."
"Mum! Can't a bloke have any secrets from his parents?"
"Not if the bloke is James Potter and has Sirius Black for a brother."
He sighed in defeat. "Okay, fine. Yes, we are the Marauders but no one at school knows who the Marauders are, well except Frankie. We caused as much havoc as we used to, maybe more but no one has caught us yet."
She shook her head, "I knew it! The four of you can't behave yourselves, even if your life depended on it."
James grinned, "Says the woman who dunked ice cream on Sirius' dad's head when she was 17."
Dorea stared at him, "How do you know about that incident?"
"Please! I am your son, a Marauder and I really can't think of the third thing, but I am supercool."
"Well, I will have you know that Orion was being a humungous git. He deserved it."
"Of course he did." James said in a placating tone.
"MAMA P." Sirius yelled as he entered the kitchen, making James and Dorea jump. He ran to her, hugging her tightly. "When did you come back? Thank Merlin! You are alright. I was worried sick. Damn! You look like a mess. You need to eat to be your beautiful self again. Not that you look any less beautiful now, but-"
"Sirius! Calm down!" James cut in to stop Sirius from blabbing himself silly. "Sit down! Mippy will get you some breakfast."
"How are you Sirius? Are you excited about your introductory ball?"
Sirius spluttered on his juice, "Introductory ball?"
"Yes, Introductory ball. James and you will be formally introduced to the wizarding society this Christmas. Don't tell me you forgot about that?"
James groaned as Sirius pushed his eggs around his plate. "But Aunt Dorie. Who would introduce me? It's not as if father would throw a ball in my honour."
Dorea snorted, "Of course he won't. He has always been a git. We settled it before we left. We would be throwing the ball for the two of you. Orion and Walburga would have to attend it though, to keep appearances. I am your aunt, so no one will think of it as something odd."
Sirius nodded mutely as James frowned. "Cheer up" Dorea said, "You will get to dance with a lot of pretty women and the catering is being taken care of by the Dragon Fire. The food would be good. And you can invite all your friends."
Sirius perked up a little but James kept on frowning. "What is it Jamie?" Dorea asked.
Sirius smirked, "Jamie is upset because the girl he wants to invite to the ball would probably hex him on sight."
"Who is this firecracker then?" She asked smirking.
"You know her." Sirius said grinning as James blushed, "She is the only one he talks about."
"That Evans girl? I thought she was your archenemy."
"Exactly Mrs.P; she was his archenemy. He has been pining for her like a lovesick puppy since the last term. It was driving us mad."
"Oh Jamie! You are growing up so fast." Dorea said, ruffling James's hair, "Don't worry; she will realize what a catch you are."
Sirius snorted in his food. As Frank, Augusta and Graham Longbottom entered the kitchen followed by Charlus Potter. Anthony, Althea and Perseus Potter joined the family by lunch; after much excited chattering everyone drifted off to the drawing room to plan the ball which they would be holding in 4 days.
James, Percy, Sirius and Frank spent the afternoon having a snowball fight and discussing their love lives and teasing James about Evans. By tea the four cold and wet boys trudged back inside and hurried off to change their clothes and warm up a little. Feeling hungry, James wandered down to the kitchen where he found Althea Potter sipping her tea and going through a list of some kind. She smiled at James as he entered; offering him some tea and strawberry cake.
Althea Potter was a strikingly beautiful woman. She had tanned skin, thin face with high cheekbones, wavy black hair and bright blue eyes. Unlike Dorea Potter who looked delicate, she looked sturdy with a naturally curvaceous figure and well toned arms and legs. But what made her a remarkable woman was the laughter and kindness in her eyes, they never left her even in the worst of situations, Althea Potter always had a smile and kind words. She adored James and James adored her.
As James sat next to her on the breakfast table in the kitchen, Althea Potter sighed. "What is troubling you Aunt Thea?"
"This stupid list! Every year we throw this damn ball! Why can't we make a permanent list of things required and get done with it?" She muttered angrily.
"But I thought you love the Yuletide Ball."
"Of course I love it. What's not to love? There is good food that the restaurant provides, good music, merry people and your uncle gets drunk enough to dance without complaining much." She concluded, smirking.
James grinned before frowning. "At least you get to dance with the one you wish to dance with." He muttered dejectedly.
"Ah! Your mother did tell me. You boys are growing up a bit too fast. Next thing we know, you are married and expecting children of your own. I am too young to be a grandmother and I would be too young for at least the next 15 years." She said pouting.
James laughed. "Better not tell Percy that. He would throw a fit. You know how he adores Alexandra. Everyone knows they would end up together before they leave school."
She sighed, nodding before perking up. "So, what is this anonymous prankster business your mother was telling me about?"
"Seriously? It's like we can't have one bloody secret in this family! Do you have to be such gossip mongers?"
"Yes. Our lives are mundane; we have fun gossiping about you kids." She answered cheekily.
"Yes. Peter, Remus, Sirius and I have created our alter egos, depending on our patronuses and now we have an anonymous group named the Marauders to blame for our pranks."
"Are you sure it's just your patronuses and not your inner animals?"
James choked on his tea, "What are you talking about?"
"You know at Circe's they teach us this ancient form of magic which enables one to recognise shape shifters. Circe herself was a shape shifter or what you call a metamorphmagus and she created this spell to detect all types of shape shifters. The magic is so ancient, that once you successfully cast the spell it has a permanent effect. Not many people can cast it successfully so they teach us the theory, but in my curiosity, I tried and I was successful. Now I can feel a shape shifter before I see one. I can't explain the feeling to you but I know that Sirius and you are shape shifters but unlike Remus. What did you do James? And don't lie to me."
"Fine. But swear that you won't tell anyone." She nodded, "Sirius, Peter and I became animagi to help Remus with his transformations on full moon. A werewolf is dangerous to humans, as animals we can keep him company and not fear any extreme consequences."
"That's an extremely dangerous thing to do! You could have died! Why didn't you ask your parents or us for help?"
"Would you have allowed it, after knowing our intentions? It's not Remus' fault, why should he suffer alone then? He used to chew himself to the bone in his loneliness. How is that fair? At least with us there he is sane enough. We didn't do anything wrong!" James said folding his arm across his chest, his chin jutting out stubbornly.
"Oh James! I am not saying you did something wrong. It's just that it's a dangerous branch of magic; you could have been grievously injured. You are so much like Percy; loyal to a fault. I guess, there is no point dwelling over it, what's done is done. I am proud of you though. That's quite an achievement at such a young age. What are you as an animal? I hope you are strong enough to handle a werewolf."
James grinned, "I am a stag. Sirius is a huge shaggy dog. The two of us are able to keep Remus in check." Althea nodded, staring absently at her list. They sat in silence as Althea's quill continued to scratch the parchment in front of her.
"Aunt Thea?"
"Yes, James."
"Can I as you something?"
"Sure."
"Umm… When we were trying to become animagi and failing, I started writing down my frustration and fears in the form of these letters addressed to Lily. I never planned on sending any of those to her but it kind of became a habit for me and I continued to write to her. Well, she found one of those letters in an empty corridor at school yesterday. Since I always signed those letters with my animagus form's nickname; the one I use as a Marauder now, she is curious about me. Sirius says this is my only chance to make her see the non- prat side of me and that I should continue writing to her as Prongs and then reveal my true identity later. I like the idea, but I would like your opinion."
Althea Potter took her time in figuring out a good enough response.
"Imagine coming across a letter addressed to you, which is intimate and signed by a mysterious name. You would be curious right?" James nodded.
"Now imagine receiving several such letters, maybe even having a proper correspondence with this mystery person, to the point that you start thinking of them as a friend or maybe more. And then one day you find out that your mystery person is the person you hate or dislike. How would you feel?"
"Betrayed. I would feel stupid, as if someone successfully made a fool of me and my emotions. But I love her! I won't ever do that to her."
"Agreed. But would you trust the other person? Would you believe him/her when they say that they genuinely care about you?"
James shook his head. "Why not?"
"Because I would have a solid reason to dislike or hate that person so, if they appear to be the mystery person, I would think of it as a sick joke. I would believe what I see. Maybe I would give them the benefit of doubt but I won't be able to trust them."
"You have your answer then. If you want to write to her I can't stop you. But then alter your behaviour around her too. If you continue being a prat in front of her, how will she ever trust you?"
"Thanks, Aunt Thea." James said, giving her a hug and a kiss on her cheek.
"See, I told you! She loves you more than she loves me, her only child." Percy said entering the kitchen and snatching up some strawberry cake as he sat down on his mother's other side. Percy and James could have passed off as identical twins with jet black messy hair and similar face structure but Percy had inherited his mother's bright blue eyes, instead of his father's ice gray ones while James had inherited his father's hazel eyes. Also, Percy was several inches taller than James.
"What are you complaining about?" James retorted, grinning impishly "I swear, you can commit as many crimes as you want and mum would still argue that the sun shines from your face."
"That's because I am perfect, Baby Potter!" Percy said, reaching out behind his mother's back to smack James lightly on the back of his head.
James swatted away his cousin's hand, "Don't call me baby Potter!" he complained. Althea Potter rolled her eyes as the two cousins bantered, muttering 'boys' under her breath.
AN: You know what to do, read and review! Happy Reading. If you have any queries, please do let me know.
