Chapter 35

Letters

James sighed for probably the millionth time.

"James dear, I know how you're feeling but you just have to wait." Euphemia Potter told him, trying to find a mix between being a parent and giving her son whatever he wanted.

"But mum, if we wait too long they may be gone." He complained putting his head down on his arms, which were resting on their kitchen table.

"James I am not going all the way to Diagon Ally just to get you a broomstick that you don't need for another two months. Your old one works just fine."

"But mum." He wined.

"Think of it this way son. If you wait, maybe they'll come out with an even better one that you can get instead." His father added to the conversation. James thought about this for a moment.

"True." He said and got up and went to his room for a while. He smirked, he really loved being spoiled and still somehow not a complete brat.

He considered calling Sirius, but Sirius warned him not to call a lot. If Sirius' mum found out that Sirius was talking to him, under her own roof, Sirius was positive she would flip, and almost positive that there would be more than just yelling to deal with. Which of course worried James to the point that he had told Sirius that he would rather Sirius just called him instead of the other way around. This, of course, caused Sirius to roll his eyes and change the subject.

He's only been out of school for two weeks, and James was already bored. He was starting to worry, was it natural to get bored during the summer? This must have been how Sirius felt during Christmas break.

"James, son," he heard his mother call from the kitchen. "You have a letter from Remus."

"Okay, Mum." He jogged out of the room and found an unfamiliar owl on the table. It was surprisingly the first time he had actually heard from Remus. This made him feel bad, he should have owled Remus a long time ago. He picked up the letter and was a little confused that it was in an envelope. His father gave him an amused look.

"I'm assuming his mother raised him a bit more than his father did." James gave him a confused look before he understood that it must have something to do with muggles.

"Not really, his dad was trying to hide magic from his mum, because he forgot to tell her about it before they got married." His father burst out laughing and he could hear his mother giggling from behind a cabinet door.

"That wasn't the smartest idea." Fleamont said imagining what his wife's reaction would be to that. It wasn't looking pretty. James nodded and opened the letter. He sat down to attempt to decipher Remus' messy scrawl.

Dear James,

Sorry I've been out of touch lately. I was going to send you a letter a while ago, but Dad said you more than likely didn't get 'muggle post', whitch to me seems really weird, but you probably have no idea what i'm talking about. He then took forver trying to describe to me how I could even consider contacting you. It was just really annoying. I was thinking that when I got home things would actually make sence, boy was I wrong. Dad's now trying to make up for hiding this stuff, by teachimg me everything he should have done while I was growing up. And he is trying to do it in one summer, needless to say, I'm not going to get a break from learning for a while.

Sorry if I'm rambling, I'm not really used to having someone to talk to besides my parents, it's kinda weird. My parents got me this owl for my birthday. I've never had a pet before and I'm a little worried about keeping it alive, but I've done quite a bit of reasearch on them. They aren't really common pets, or not for us anyway.

I think my mum is finally started to forgive my dad for not telling her he's a wizard. She isn't making him clean the house, or glaring at him as much anyway. He still has to clean all the dishes by hand though, but I think that isn't ever going to change. She hates doing them and is enjoying not having to do it.

By the way, how's Sirius doing? I haven't heard anything from him at all, it's making me worried. I know I was the one trying to convince you he was fine, but I guess I am not so sure myself. Do you think it's safe to send him a letter?

I've got to go, Romulus, (my owl) is looking at me like he is going to peck me to death if I don't hurry up. He isn't the most patient post bird in the world it seems.

I really hope he can find you house like the store lady promised because I have no idea how he's going to do it.

Remus Lupin

James laughed, it was interesting seeing Remus get used to the real wizarding world. Things were a lot different at Hogwarts then they are outside of the school.

"How's he doing?" His mother asked she had instantly liked Remus from the first time they met.

"He's fine, worried about Sirius, of course, but fine." He petted Romulus thinking about the strange name. He was a little surprised that it stayed, it must want to make sure Remus got a response. For being a new owl it was already very loyal, that was rather surprising, usually it took like a month before they cared enough to annoy the recipient until their owner got a letter back.

James went to his room and sat on his desk, not surprised that the owl followed. He got out a quill and a piece of parchment.

Dear Remus,

Don't be sorry, It is just as much my fault that we haven't been in touch as yours, maybe more, as I already knew how to get a hold of you. I feel kind of bad for not writing. I don't know why I haven't, it's not like I've been busy, or anything. Oh well, I'm writing now guess that's what matters.

First things first, don't write to Sirius, That would be really bad, if you need to (or even want to really, I don't mind) talk to him, you can send it to me and I can read it to him over the mirror and send you a response,

He is fine though, all she's done so far is yell, just like he said she would. The only problem is Sirius is getting a little discouraged, Regulus abandoned him too. He'd been hoping he would at least give him a chance, but Regulus is just mad at him. Poor guy, it would stink to loose a brother like that, but the past is the past, and I'm trying to help him move on. He's doing all right other than that.

James looked up from his letter when his mum opened the door.

"Are you more hungry for spaghetti or Pork Chops?" She asked obviously trying to figure out what to make for dinner.

"Which one dose Dad want?"

"Pork Chops."

"Spaghetti then." She gave him an annoyed look.

"You're just trying to make things difficult aren't you." It wasn't a question though she worded it that way. He smirked and nodded. "You weren't this hard to deal with before you went to school."

"I know."

"You're not helping your chances of getting that broomstick any faster you know."

"But Mum!" He whined and she rolled her eyes.

"Tell Remus I said hi." She left the room, closing the door on her way out.

He laughed and returned to his letter.

You know I think I'm starting to become more like Sirius. I'm purposefully annoying my mum. I've never done that before, I mean I'm just teasing of course, but still. It was just something I never did. I don't know, I think I'm just changing, I hope it's for the better.

Oh before I forget Mum wanted me to tell you she said hi.

I kinda feel bad for your dad. Doing dishes by hand would be the worst, but I guess muggles have to do it all the time huh. Poor muggles. I hope your mum at least lets him use magic after a while, it must be a lot faster that way. He probably deserves it though, lying to someone for twelve years about something that important is something deserving of harsh punishment if you as me, especially if that person is your wife.

Happy Birthday! Sorry it's late, you've never told me when your birthday was so I hope it isn't too late. I'll have to buy you a candy bar or something for your present. Hehe, I like shopping for you, you're really easy to buy for. I like your present from your parents, he's a very good looking owl, and loyal too. He is siting here waiting for me to get done with this letter... Oh I know what you mean about staring at you murderously though, he's doing it to me too. I probably shouldn't have looked at him. I'm a little curious about the name choice though, What does Romulus mean?

And don't worry about him being able to find someone's house. Owls have their own type of magic, they can find it easily. All they need is a name. Usually first and last though, there are a lot of people with similar names though. If it was possible to owl Sirius you probably wouldn't need a last name though, not many people would name their kid after a dog star. The Blacks are just plain weird if you ask me.

I should go, your owl looks like it's going to eat me. I would probably get him checked out if I were you. It is starting to seem like people are a part of his average diet.

James Potter

James laughed and rolled up the parchment, before tying it to the owls leg. It glared at him the entire time, as though it knew he had just insulted him.

"Don't look at me like that, you know it's true." He told it and carried it over to the window where it flew off. He laughed as he watched it.

"James, dinners ready!" He heard his mum yelling. James walked to the kitchen wondering whether his mum had had made spaghetti or pork chops. He was surprised when he got to the kitchen and saw she had made tomato soup. His dad smirked at him from behind the Daily Prophet.

"I thought you were making spaghetti." He teased while sitting down.

"You both are exactly the same." She accused refusing to comment further.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Two hours later found James in their library talking to Sirius. He left the mirror on a desk in the room while looking though the shelves, he didn't feel like holding it when he could hear Sirius just fine from where he was, especially when Sirius didn't feel like holding it either.

"Remus sent me a letter today," James said, choosing a random topic for conversation out of his head.

"Really. How's he been?"

"He's fine. Turns out he's the second oldest of our group."

"His birthdays soon?"

"Over with. He got an owl from his parents, that's how he was able to talk to me. You should see the thing Sirius. At first it makes you think it's a perfect little thing, but if you keep it waiting it starts glaring at you." James told him, causing Sirius to laugh. "I'm not kidding, it looked like it was going to eat me."

"I'd like to see that." He said still chuckling.

"Have you found a way to make it so we don't have to steal Professor Flitwick's paint for our pranks yet?" He asked stating the reason he was in their library in the first place.

"Not willing to leave my room long enough to look." He answered. "We won't have anything useable anyway. The only books we have are on black magic or how to torture someone. Maybe a few on the history of purebloods if I looked hard enough."

"Right, I forgot." He said, pulling out a book that seemed promising. "Remus asked me about you." He said returning to the subject of Remus' letter.

"He was worrying wasn't he."

"How'd you know?"

"He, unlike you, is obviously a worry wort. What did you tell him?"

"Just that you were fine, but depressed." He said flipping though the book.

"Of course, you just had to tell him I'm depressed. I'm not really all that depressed you know. Only once in a while."

"I'll believe that when pigs fly."

"Oh, I can easily make Bella and Cissy fly. Don't tempt me." Sirius laughed.

"Huh?" James said causing Sirius to sigh.

"Bellatrix and Narcissa, my cousins." James busted out laughing.

"That was a good one, Si." He said after he calmed down.

"Thanks. If only I could do it without my mother finding out." He said obviously liking the idea of throwing them around.

"You sound like they've gotten on your nerves recently." He observed.

"They're staying the night."

"Oh, I feel bad for you. Bellatrix is going to be civil, right? I mean last time we saw her she attacked you."

"Bella doesn't know how to be civil. She's tried to get a few shots at me, but Andy is keeping her from trying anything big."

"Andy is the one that likes you right, is that her real name? It is way to short to be a Black name." James asked causing Sirius to laugh.

"It's only two letters shorter than mine, but no it isn't just a nickname. Her full name is Andromeda."

"That's better." James laughed. "You're the exception," James said standing to put the book away. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I miss school." James laughed.

"I missed school the second I got on the train."

"Ya, but you have a reason. I just miss it because I'm bored."

"Bored? You mean you can't find anything at all to do?" Sirius sounded like he couldn't understand that.

"Ya, that's exactly what I mean.

"I live with Hitler's evil twin, and you're complaining that you're bored." He teased.

"Very funny, Si."

"Go prank someone or something. That's how I'm entertaining myself. Cissy is still trying to get the gum out of her hair." James could almost hear the smirk on his face. He sighed.

"Unfortunately, I can't. It wouldn't really be all that funny if I did it."

"Why wouldn't it be funny?" He said obviously not able to understand a prank that wasn't funny.

"My parents are ninety years old. I wouldn't know of course, but I can't imagine pranking ninety-year old's to be funny."

"Ninety? They're that old?" He said shocked.

"Dads ninety-eight and mums ninety-five."

"Dang, they waited a long time to have a kid." James laughed, he always got the same reaction when he told someone how old his parents were.

"Not on purpose, they meant to have me at a younger age. It just sorta happened. It's why they spoil me so much. I'm their little treasure." He said the last line rather mockingly as though he was tired of hearing about it.

"Dang, you know most people stop, you know, doing it long before that time," Sirius said. James turned green.

"Sirius! You do realise you're talking about my parents right?" He yelled feeling rather sick.

"Woops, sorry. Um... Time for a change of subject. Um.. Are you trying out for Quidditch next year?" Sirius couldn't have picked a better rabbit trail and he knew it. James' obsession with Quidditch was always a good distraction.

"Oh ya. I'm going for Chaser. Trying to convince mum to get me a new broom, but she just keeps putting it off." James said forgetting completely about the previous subject.

"James, you have two months till you need it, why are you so worried?"

"What if all the good ones get taken?"

"They restock their stores, James," Sirius said exasperatedly. "Man you are spoiled aren't you." James blushed.

"Are you going to try out?" James asked trying to drive the subject away from him.

"If I can get a broom. You know my mother isn't going to get me one. She snapped my old one in half sometime last year." James quietly moaned and held his face in his hands. "Maybe I'll sneak out and get one, I think I still have access to our Gringotts account."

"Thanks, Sirius. Boy, do I feel good. You need to start yelling at me or something when I start acting spoiled." Sirius laughed.

"Roger, captain." he joked.

"Oh! I've got it, when's your birthday?"

"August 20th." He answered, curious as to why he cared.

"That's surprising, I could have sworn you were older than Peter," James said surprised at the date.

"You mean I'm not? So I'm the youngest then. Man, that stinks." James laughed.

"Anyway, I'll get you a broom for your birthday. So we can try out together." He said knowing his parents wouldn't really care about buying two. They had enough money that it didn't matter.

"Oh that's right you weirdos actually celebrate the day that means you're another year closer to death, right I forgot." James rolled his eyes. "You don't have to do that, I'll just steal..."

"No, you won't. You do and I'll break it and give you it anyway." Sirius laughed.

"Alright, alright. Geez, if you want to spend your money on me go ahead; I'm not complaining." He said laughing. "Don't bother spending a lot, though, I don't need it. I'm good enough with out it." James rolled his eyes.

"Trust me we can afford it."

"Probably, isn't your family as rich as mine?"

"More than likely." James laughed. "To tell you the truth, I think my parents could afford to feed a third world country for quite a while." Sirius laughed.

"I know my parents could feed a third world country. They would have to, to be able to feed me for eleven years." They both laughed. "I've got to go, from the sounds coming out from the hall, Bellatrix is trying to break though Reg's door again, I want to see if he's finally going to hex her or not." James laughed.

"Alright Si. Talk to you later." James put the mirror back in his pocked and sighed before resuming his forgotten search though the library. It was times like this that he wished his parents had had a kid a bit younger. If he had a big brother he probably wouldn't be so bored right now, and he definitely wouldn't be feeling guilty for being so spoiled. He really needs to learn to stop complaining about stuff like that, especially with Sirius.

A/N) This was kind of a useless chapter, but I really like it. ^_^

I'll try to update a little faster, I've just been a little lazy lately.

Edit (5/3/2016) Edited the Potter's names