A/N This is my first fanfic, not counting the original I posted earlier. Onto the must do stuff...
Harry Potter and all related characters, places and terms belong to JK Rowling and/or (not sure which) Warner Brothers.
OK, now to the story…
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Chapter 1: Trouble all over
It was relatively early on a cold Spring morning, with the world still waking up. The sun was rising over the horizon, and the first of the day's light was beginning to ooze into the sleepy streets of Godric's Hollow.
Godric's Hollow was one of those quiet little villages that great heroes come from in fairy tales. They're usually found in musty old books, or, in this case, a secluded wizard part of London. It had popped up at the turn of last century, founded by a group of friends looking for somewhere safe for their children to grow up in. The Potters had been one of the families that had helped to found the village, and so ever since the houses had been built there had always been at least one Potter living in number 6 Hollow Lane. The current residents were Mr James and Mrs Lily Potter, and currently at number six, mayhem was already starting to get into full swing.
James Potter got quietly out of bed, and started to put his robes on. Tiptoeing around the room trying to collect his things for work, he forgot to look where he was going, and suddenly tripped over, falling flat on his face. This was followed by a loud miaow. James stood up and tried to brush himself off, attempting to nudge the ginger cat out the door. It was being extremely stubborn, though, and by the time James had persuaded the obstinate feline to make it's way out of the room, several claw marks had been scratched into the plush carpet.
A sleepy looking head, complete with tousled flaming red hair, popped up over the covers of the bed just as the cat's bushy tail disappeared around the doorframe.
"James? Is that you? What are you doing?"
James grit his teeth, still trying to get his arm through the sleeve of his navy work robes. "Nothing Lils, just trying to get my stuff together for work, go back to sleep..."
But it was too late, as James found out when his arms miraculously found their way into their sleeves, and his head found the neck hole. Lily was still trying to straighten him up even as James pushed her back into bed. He hadn't meant to wake his wife up, but Sirius' cat had sneaked into their room again. In fact, it didn't really seem to matter because it looked like Lily had gone back to sleep. James wasn't surprised. After all, it was early in the morning and she was five months pregnant. He leant over to check his wife, just in case. She really had gone back to sleep, and he reached over and kissed her on the forehead.
James staggered down the steps that lead from the top story of their house to the bottom. Finally managing to twist his robes around so they were straight, he narrowly averted tripping over the cat again. Resisting the temptation to kick it out of his way, he finally made his way down to the kitchen, where Sirius Black was calmly making himself a pot of coffee. James' best friend was living with them while he was between houses.
He looked up and smiled brightly, holding up the kettle. "Morning James! Would you like some of my miracle brown stuff?"
James, who, to tell the truth, wasn't really fully awake, gave Sirius a dirty look. "What are you smiling about? It's six thirty in the morning, we're both up before the sun, and you're standing there cheerful as anything asking about 'miracle brown stuff'."
Sirius sipped on his coffee, cheerful as ever. "You never were a morning person, were you James?"
He poured a mug and handed it to his friend.
James took the cup and drained the whole thing in one go. "Can you please do something about that cat of yours?" he said, bustling around trying to make some toast. "I tripped over it and fell flat on my face in our room, then I nearly tripped over her and broke my neck coming down the stairs."
"Aw, Spark wouldn't have done anything on purpose. You're ten times bigger than her, just shoo her away."
"That's not the point. She woke Lily up! You know she needs all the sleep she can get."
Sirius laughed. "Excuses, excuses, James Potter. It's shameful! Lily's OK, she sleeps fine. In fact, Lily likes Spark. So it's two against one. My cat's staying here."
James stood defeated, buttering his toast. He handed a piece to Sirius. "Imagine. I've been beaten by a cat. Just keep her out of our room, OK? It's cluttered enough without a cat roaming around in it."
"Sure thing James," Sirius said. "Are you ready to go? The earlier we get in, the earlier we get to go home, remember?"
"Yeah, just a sec, I'll go say bye to Lily. And bring some of your miracle brown stuff, and make it strong. We need something to keep us awake." He ran upstairs and said goodbye to his wife, then went back downstairs with a sigh.
"OK Padfoot. Off we go, I guess."
* * *
On a recommendation from Albus Dumbledore, and also due to the fact that the Ministry was in desperate need of Aurors due to the ever-present threat of one Lord Voldemort, the Auror Academy had made an exception to their over-twenty rule for James and Sirius. They had been accepted straight into the Academy only months after they had come out of Hogwarts, just as James turned 18. This was both a blessing and a curse, because even though the pair were both courageous and resourceful in the field, they had never really been given the chance to grow up. Therefore, whenever they were at the office, it was practically assured that somewhere in the office someone would be a victim to a Marauders Inc. creation.
James and Sirius really did enjoy their jobs, but the reason they were so reluctant to go was because currently they had been assigned to (or as Sirius would say, serving time) answering angry letters and howlers demanding explanations about why the Dark Lord hadn't fallen yet. They'd been doing this for the last two weeks, after the Head of the Academy had found himself trying to give his introductory speech to the new recruits with a wand that kept spurting out bursts of muggle classical music, namely Beethoven's Choral Symphony and bits of Fur Elise. To say the least, he hadn't been happy.
James groaned as the first owl of the day swooped in through the window, hoping and wishing as hard as he could that it wasn't another howler. His robe was crumpled and a bit dirty, but it was one of his favourites, and he didn't really want a hole burnt in it.
But it wasn't a howler. In fact, it wasn't even another abusive letter. This was something new – it was addressed to him.
Mr J. Potter
The desk in the corner
Auror headquarters
Ministry of Magic
James broke the wax sealing the envelope. Knowing full well that only one person would address a letter like that, James unfolded the parchment inside.
Dear James,
I need you to come up to Hogwarts as soon as possible. I've just received some information that concerns you and your family. I've asked your supervisor to let you off for the day, please get up here soon -
Albus
James prodded Sirius in the back, and showed him the letter.
"Lucky bugger," he hissed, gesturing to a rapidly growing pile of letters on his desk. "You don't have to do all this! And before you ask, I'm not doing your share, all right. Do it yourself tomorrow."
James shrugged, put the letter down and, smiling smugly at Sirius, vanished. Anything to get out of work.
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Like it? I've got the next chapter written up, so if you give me a couple of reviews then I'll upload the next one.
22/1/03 Updated, I hope it's better. It's longer at least.
~*Lady*~