Hey peoples!
Its me again, here with yet ANOTHER wonderous chapter of CotP. Now, I'm totally psyched I got more than a scarce two reviews this time around. I get the feeling its all because you have differing takes on Jimmy. To love him or not to love him, THAT is the question...::wags his finger at Jimmy, then slips him a cookie:: Ok, now that thats taken care of, onto the replies!
REPLIES, REPLIES, WE ALL LUB REPLIES!
Spider-man281: I'll reply to both your reviews in one, cause I'm a lazy sod. Now. Isn't it great that Harry finally told them a thing or two? I thought that was great, and I'm glad you did too. Only reason Sevvy didn't complain more was cause Dumbledore would bitch slap him. =D Now, why don't you like Jimmy? I personally love him. Yeah, he's a LITTLE overdone in the beginning and too James-rip offish, but thats just because its from HARRY's POV. Harry views him as this embodiment of what HE would've been like had he not grownup the way he did. So, Jimmy seems just a BIT off just because Harry's take on him is very beautified. And the reason I get the chapters out so fast is very simple, mate: I am God.
Musicfan013: Awww, I'm flattered that you'd think of me so dearly. ::gives Music a chocolate frog:: I'm happy to have you as a fan =)
VoldemortsVeela: First of all, LOVE the name. Secondly, I'm grateful you decided to read the first one. Most people find out about it too late and then the whole experience is ruined for them. Its very tragic. And I didn't know I spelled Ern's name wrong! AGH! I do things like that all the time though. One of the menances of not having a Beta. Thanks for still liking the story, despite my sporatic blonde moments.
Harry reached over and turned the volume up on the car's radio. With a little bob of the head to the song, he leaned back over and loaded a duffel bag into the backseat of Jimmy's navy blue Mitsubishi. Tossing in two more bags, he pushed the passenger's seat forward again and turned to see Jimmy dancing down the stone walkway towards him, box in arms.
"What's that? " Harry inquired, closing the door slightly and stepping out of the way.
"Ah, parting gifts from the other kids," Jimmy replied, setting the small box in the trunk. Rubbing his tongue in his cheek, he quickly did a mental checklist of everything that now resided in his car. Blanket that Mia knit him: Check. Three duffel bags containing all his Muggle clothes and school uniform: Check. School supplies: Check. Wand: Check. Peri's things: check. Periwinkle:....
Jimmy frowned and looked back up at the old brick building that was crumbling at the corners and desperately needed its shutters replaced. "Peri?"
Harry closed the trunk and stood besides his brother. A shiver ran down his spine at the thought 'my brother'." Who's Perry?"
"Periwinkle, my-" Jimmy started, then broke out into a grin as a little animal came frolicking towards them. With a great bound, a sandy ball of fur landed on the roof of Jimmy's car. "There she is!"
Harry rose his eyebrows and peered at the creature. It was a cat. No, wait. Harry gave a smile as he saw the golden fur trail into a long tail and swishing at the end was a dollop of dark brown hair." Its a Kneazle."
Jimmy chuckled as the animal nuzzled his cheek affectionately," Course its a Kneazle. And her name is Periwinkle, Peri for short."
Harry leaned closer, not being able to help a little laugh at the sight of the creature. Periwinkle was a deep golden yellow with gray blotches all over, including her lion-like tail. She had a peculiar patch of dark gray fur around her left eye that looked almost like a wisp of smoke. Her underside was a few shades lighter than the rest of her. Hanging around her neck was a periwinkle colored collar. Dangling from it, a tag almost identical to her owner's pendant; A metal circle with half of it a bright yellow for a crescent moon, and engraved along the arch of the moon was the name 'Periwinkle'. The tag tinkled gently as the Kneazle licked Jimmy's cheek lovingly and lightly pawed at his chin. Harry could tell that if the female had perked up her ears, they'd be long and upright. "She's beautiful."
Periwinkle mewed appreciatively.
His mind moved to the most obvious problem at hand," How did you manage to keep her tail?"
Jimmy grinned," I kept her pretty much hidden since I found her."
"Found her?" Harry asked astonished. It was mostly unheard of to FIND such a beautiful Kneazle just lying around.
"Yeah. I was around six when it happened. I didn't know my way around, see, since Ol' Snidley kept me inside the orphanage every second of the day. So, somehow, I found myself outside the gates and walking down the road. I managed to find my way to the town, where I spent the good part of the day looking around. Come nightfall, I barely realized I didn't know my way back...Found myself in an alley sooner or later. I had just reached what I thought was a dead end when I saw these two eyes gleaming out from the shadows," Jimmy motioned to Peri now, who perked up her ears importantly." She leapt down from a trashcan, and ended up leading me back home...We've been inseparable since."
Harry watched as Jimmy gave the Kneazle a loving kiss on her head, who returned it with a deep purr.
"But that doesn't explain how they let you keep her tail un-Glamoured. Didn't anyone notice?" Harry pressed on, more intrigued than ever by his long-lost brother's life.
"Not especially. Peri had the sense to duck under my bed whenever the Muggle kids came round. And at school, well, my room mates thought I was downright impressive to have kept Peri this way and didn't say much about me not having a license for her...Of course, I DID keep her out of sight of Thurman and Lazzaryth. They'd be only too happy to-"
"Who?"
"Huh?" Jimmy frowned, startled at the question.
"Thurman and Lazzaryth. Who are they?"
"OH!" Jimmy smiled." They're two dormitories at Dunlap. See, there're three boys' dorms and three girls'. The boys're Thurman, Lazzaryth and McDermly. Girls are Hartthroat, Craven and Goodhope."
"So, they're houses?" Harry inquired.
"Well, I guess so. I read some stuff on Hogwarts a few years back, came across it when I was doing a paper on the founders of my school. Its like a muggle boarding school, right? Four houses, get sorted into it, all that?"
Harry nodded, leaning comfortably against the car.
"Right, well, Dunlap and every other school round here's more or less the same. Only we get 'sorted' by the Council."
"What's the Council?" Harry asked, not being able to help his curiosity.
"Each dorm has a Council, made up of elected students. They sit down during the summer, with Surlan observing, and sort through the new students coming in. Each Council sees fit to admit a student that they think would best fit their dorm. Yanno, earning them points and winning the Quodpot and Quidditch Cup and stuff." Jimmy replied, adjusting the bags in the backseat.
"You have Quidditch here!?" Harry blurted out.
Jimmy chuckled," Duh. Course we got Quidditch. Its a WIZARDING sport."
Harry blushed, feeling rather foolish now," So, what dorm were you in?"
" Martin McDermly Hall," Jimmy stated proudly.
Harry smiled," I'm guessing it was a good dormitory."
"Course, one of the best in my opinion. Good people, good as they get. Not like Lazzaryth," Jimmy finished with a vicious spit.
"What? They horrible?"
"The WORST! Wouldn't be a day that one of my brothers ,thats what we call fellow classmates in our own dorm, didn't get tormented."
Harry rolled this over in his mind. Lazzaryth sounded ALOT like Slytherin." So, all the dorms have their distinct characteristics?"
"Pretty much, yeah. Thurman is full of the stuck-ups, mostly purebloods or half-bloods who ACT like purebloods. Same as Hartthroat .Both of them think the WORLD of their good looks. Craven's in the same league as Lazzaryth, only worse. Man, can those girls hold grudges. Goodhope puts out the best girls though. Had a lot of girlfriends from that hall. As for McDermly, well, " Jimmy grinned and pointed to himself." The results don't get much better than this."
Harry laughed and crossed his arms. Jimmy would've gotten along with Fred and George Weasley incredibly well. As his brother walked back around to shift boxes around his huge trunk, Harry peered over at Periwinkle, who was watching her owner with interest, her head cocked to the side.
"So, why'd you call her Periwinkle?" Harry asked as he scratched behind the Kneazle's ear.
"Her eyes," Jimmy's voice responded from deep within his trunk.
Giving her a closer look, it was so blatantly obvious, it almost caused Harry embarrassment. Periwinkle's eyes were just that, periwinkle. A dazzling shade echoing her current excitement at the prospect of a trip. Naming her something else seemed almost treacherous.
"C'mon, Peri. In we get," Jimmy said, once he was done rearranging. With one graceful leap, Periwinkle was settled on the passenger's seat. Turning round, Jimmy gave a heavy sigh as he gazed over the orphanage he'd called home for over sixteen years.
"Gonna miss it?" Harry asked, flanking Jimmy supportively.
"Nah. Never belonged there anyways," He replied, then pulled his car keys from his pocket.
"All set?" Lupin asked as he approached the two, the Order of the Phoenix trailing behind.
"Yep," Jimmy started firmly, determined never to look back.
"Good. Here is the allowance meant to be given to you at the beginning of the term for the past seven years," Professor Dumbledore said, handing over an envelope.
Jimmy took it, peering inside. His eyes widened as he saw a stack of hundreds and fifties." This is MINE?? Thats gotta be over five hundred in there."
"One thousand and four hundred I believe." Dumbledore said with a smile.
"Why so much?" Jimmy inquired, ogling at the amount of money he was in possession of, and not having to race for it.
"We discovered that Headmistress Surlan had been withdrawing two hundred dollars from your savings each year, only giving you half of that. With the other half, she confessed she had been using to refurnish her office." McGonagal answered, looking rather sympathetically at Jimmy.
"Why that nasty fu-"
"EH!" Lupin quipped before Jimmy could finish.
"So, what happened to the rest of it?" Jimmy asked safely, skirting away from the reproving look on Lupin's face.
"Sent directly to your new account at Gringotts in London." Dumbledore answered with a smile.
Jimmy nodded and tucked the envelope in the pocket of his jeans.
"Alright, then I suggest we depart. We're already running a bit behind," Dumbledore said, heading towards Harry's Volvo.
The others followed in suit, minus Lupin. He gazed over Jimmy's flamboyant vehicle, giving it a disapproving frown.
"What?" Jimmy asked innocently once he caught sight of his Godfather still standing there.
"Well, this thing will attract A LOT of attention taking off into the air, Invisibility or not," Lupin replied.
"Oh, no problem," Jimmy responded, pulling out his eleven inch mahogany wand, with a Hungarian Horntail's heartstring as its center. Mumbling a few worded spell, he lightly tapped the tip of his wand to the hood of the car and like milk poured into blue water, the car slowly turned white.
Scrunching his mouth to the side, Jimmy muttered another spell and blotches of shaded puffs popped up all over the body of the car. Standing back, he smiled at his artwork.
The sports car now donned an exact replica of a patch of clouds, light blue peeking through the fluffy cumulus's.
Lupin shifted," Where'd you learn a spell like that?"
"A book called '101 Ways To Meddle With Muggle Motors'," Jimmy replied simply, running a finger over a particularly dark area of cloud.
"Well, at least you're reading," Lupin responded uneasily, unsure whether he should be scolding the boy for reading a book with those contents or proud that he could do spells that difficult so easily.
"Wow," Harry muttered, admiring the Mitsubishi's new look. "Think you could do something for MY car?"
"Sure!" Jimmy replied, bounding over to the silver Volvo.
"Ah, no, please, Jimmy. Don't. We don't want to look conspicuous," Lupin attempted as his Godson stood in front of the vehicle.
Jimmy kept glancing between Harry and his car, obviously looking for inspiration. After a few seconds, a wide grin spread across his face." A-HA! Perfecto."
With a gasp, Harry leapt back from his car as it gave an almighty BOOM. Threatening storm clouds raged from the front fender, spreading across the hood like fire as the rest of the car turned a pitch black. Thunder echoed across the dark gray clouds as they trickled over the tire rims. With a frightening flash, a bolt of lightning streaked across each side of the car, scarring it a whitish yellow. As suddenly as it began, the storm was over and permanently painted upon Harry's car.
Harry stood back in awe, his mouth unable to close.
Jimmy grinned proudly, blowing sharply at the tip of his wand, "My best work yet."
"Cause THAT'S not conspicuous." Snape grumbled, folding his arms at the monstrosity.
"My god. It looks AMAZING! Thanks, Jimmy," Harry breathed, running his hands over the meticulous detail of each lightning bolt and roll of cloud. Blinking, he noticed the bolt was the same shape as his scar.
Jimmy smirked, seeing his brother notice the detail," That's where I got the idea from."
The brothers exchanged a grin before Snape growled, "May we leave now? Or are there more cars you'd like to destroy?"
Harry brushed off Snape's obvious dislike of everything Jimmy and climbed into his freshly painted car," Oh, you're just angry cause now you have TWO Potters in your classes, Professor Snape."
Jimmy laughed and settled into his own car, revving up the mighty engine. Lupin climbed in besides him.
"You drive well, right?" He asked hesitantly, buckling himself up in the extensive harness Jimmy had for a seatbelt.
"Course. I DID race for money for over three years now," Jimmy answered, locking the doors and letting Periwinkle curl up in his lap.
"Why am I not comforted by that?" Lupin said nervously .Side glancing , Lupin observed a most mischievous grin embroidered on the boy's face. His stomach sank. "Oh no, Jimmy..."
With a loud," WOO!" Jimmy shot off down the road. Looking to his left, he saw Harry matching his speed. Both were laughing happily as their passengers cried out and clung to anything they could.
In complete unison, the brothers rose their cars into the air and disappeared into the clouds, screams echoing through the sky.
//------
Over the next two weeks, the Order of the Phoenix and Jimmy traveled all over the rest of the United States. Never before had Jimmy seen so much, experienced so much, in so little time. No matter what anyone did, they couldn't stop him from grinning. More than once, Jimmy had proven just what kind of a wild child everyone suspected he was. He had scared Professor McGonagal right out of her skin when he turned up with a particularly nasty clabbert, claiming it looked lonely. She disposed of it somewhere in Montana.
Harry woke one night to find himself staring into a pair of gleaming white eyes when they stopped in northern Washington. Apparently, Jimmy had stumbled upon a rogue pack of Thresals and had thought it nice to invite them inside their room because it was raining outside. Harry slept on the couch.
No one seemed safe from Jimmy's antics. On a regular basis, one of the Order found some sort of prank embedded in their food or awaiting them when they opened a door. Dumbledore seemed the only one amused greatly by Jimmy's "enthusiasm", as he liked to call it.
Needless to say, the whole trip was far from boring. Despite all the gags and constant encounters with creatures only Hagrid would deem cute and harmless, Harry enjoyed every single second with his twin. Their late night talks and bonding during a lull in recruitment allowed him to get to know his brother rather well. So, by the time they arrived back in London, the two were positively joined at the hip.
"I still think it wasn't necessary to shoo that beautiful Vipertooth away. It looked pretty tame to me."
Harry glanced over with a hidden grin.
" You have a warped version of what's tame and what's not," Snape snipped as he walked across the threshold of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place."Though I hardly expect a POTTER to fathom common sense."
Jimmy mocked him wordlessly behind his back, then casually turned to ponder over a nearby painting with much fervor when Snape glanced back at him sourly. Harry grabbed Jimmy by the elbow and dragged him upstairs. Setting off into a detailed tour of the house, (" And this is where me and Ron usually sleep." "That's where Kreacher, nasty bugger, stole some old linens." " Ignore that tapestry, it gets cranky in the mornings.") Harry lead his twin all the way to the attic.
"And this was Sirius' room, now mine when I come to stay here."
Jimmy strolled across the room, looking everything over with his interested green eyes. He even sat on the bed and gave it a couple of good bounces.
"See he liked Britain."
Harry nodded as he took a quick glance at the Quidditch poster in question on the adjacent wall.
Jimmy looked over, startling Harry with a deep frown." Miss him?"
Harry's eyes flittered away, not expecting that question so simply put. "Yes." He mumbled.
"There's nothing wrong with missing him, Harry. Its always hard to miss someone you barely knew but loved greatly," Jimmy replied, sensing an urge that Harry needed some massive comforting.
Harry walked over and joined his brother on the bed." I feel like...He was stolen...He left before I really got to know him. I KNOW there was so much more to him than what I got to see over the two years...Its not fair..."
Harry felt an arm slowly wrap around his shoulder and the weight felt reassuring.
"Never said it was fair...But life's like that...All you can do is move on...You know he'd want you to."
Harry nodded a bit, forcing back the all too familiar sting behind his eyes and the ache in his throat.
"Don't worry, Harry...We'll find a way to bring him back."
The boy jerked his head up, meeting with his twin's determined eyes." You're the only person to have ever said that...Not even Dumbledore says he can come back."
"If there's a will, there's a way. And with the two of us on it, we'll find a way. I promise."
The brothers shared a mighty hug, finding more solace in the few minutes they'd been talking than over the whole of their lives.
//-----
"This is it...Think we can handle it?"
Jimmy glanced at Harry, set his jaw and nodded, "We have to."
" True." Harry replied simply. "You ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be.." Jimmy mumbled.
Harry took a deep breath and pushed the door open of the dormitory, then led the way downstairs. The two had arrived at Hogwarts late the previous night. After the unanimous agreement that Jimmy would be in Gryffindor, despite his apparent dubious nature, they discovered that Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagal had saw fit that they were to be given a dormitory room all their own. The Order thought it best that the brothers return in the middle of the night, as to not alert anyone just yet. The staff was informed of Jimmy, all thoroughly shocked but eager to meet the new Potter, and, of course, sworn not to breathe a word of it outside the school grounds. Jimmy was given most of Harry's classes and a handful of advanced level classes he tested into, though he insisted he didn't need them since he planned on becoming the world's first ever traveling wizarding show. Harry suspected he was only kidding; McGonagal, however, found it less than amusing.
So, there they were. Pausing at the foot of the stairs from the boys' dormitories, holding their breath in anxious anticipation.
"Is...Yanno...Anyone going to make a particularly big fuss?" Jimmy inquired quietly, eyeing a few Gryffindors sitting idly in the Common Room, evidently waiting for their friends so they can go to breakfast.
"Well, I'm not sure...I would suspect possibly, Ron. Maybe even Malfoy," Harry whispered, almost as nervous as Jimmy looked. He knew he shouldn't feel as if great big fish were flopping around in his stomach, but he couldn't help it. Yes, he himself was proud to call Jimmy his brother but...What if the others didn't take to him? Sure, it'd be hard and almost impossible to conprehend why not, but...all the same...Harry wanted his brother to fit in perfectly, just as he was .He wanted Jimmy to feel as if Hogwarts was his home and not Dunlap Academy...He wanted to give Jimmy a home here, just as it was his own home the past seven years. Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony.
"Well, now or never..." Jimmy mumbled and licked his lips.
Harry caught his arm and leaded the way across the room. No one seemed to notice at first, the brothers walking in practically perfect unison. But Harry had to test it...Better to start with the Gryffindors before they encountered any other houses, particularly Slytherin.
So, with a gentle cough, Harry stopped and pretended to search for something in his bag.
Jimmy paused as well, having taken a few more steps in the wake of such an abrupt halt. "What'd ya miss?"
Harry glanced out from beneath the curtain of black hair dangling in front of his eyes, checking to see people's faces," Um...I think I left my ink.."
"Well, you can borrow mine, can't you?" Jimmy asked, nervously taking peeks at the Gryffindors by the fire.
"Course, but I need-"
GASP.
Harry and Jimmy looked over to see a second year girl with her eyes practically popping out of her head. She hastily tugged on her friend's sleeve, muttering something. The friend looked over to where the 1st pointed, who in turn gasped. Before they knew it, every pair of eyes were on Harry and Jimmy.
The new Gryffindor shifted in his shoes, not knowing what exactly to expect.
Suddenly, a girl with tightly curled brown hair squealed what they were all thinking," THERE'RE TWO OF 'EM!"
In an instant, the brothers were surrounded, being poked and prodded and asked a dozen questions. After explaining that Harry did NOT clone himself or had a serious jinx put on him over the holidays, Jimmy was rounded on, being asked anxiously for his tale. He stuttered, never before receiving this much undeserved attention. He got through a very short summary of how Harry had bumped into him while they were on vacation and now they were here.
The group gave excited "OOOHS!' and the girls seemed to be getting rather flustered.
"OY! Whats goin' on 'ere!"
The crowd parted as a head of flaming red hair came shoving through. Ron stopped in front of them, his scowl turning instantly into a grin." Oh, hullo, Harry. I was just going to look for you! How come you weren't here last night? I was worried and thought -"
Ron had finally caught sight of Jimmy. The twin gave a nervous sort of smile as the Weasley's face went slack with shock.
"Wha-...Who-....How-...HUH??"
The Gryffindor on-lookers quickly launched into an explanation, much to Ron's irritation. "Get to breakfast or detentions for the lot of you!" He bellowed.
Immediately, the students scattered out the portrait hole, whispering feverishly to each other.
"Now. WHATS going on here? Harry?" Ron asked, thoroughly flustered.
"Well...Ron...I'd like you to meet Jimmy, my brother." Harry said as calmly as he could manage.
Ron sputtered for a moment, unable to form logical words. Instead what came out was something like," Whasocomitajig."
After a few minutes of letting Ron sort this around his head, he blurted out," BROTHER!? Harry, you're kidding right?...BROTHER?"
Harry nodded as Jimmy thrust out his hand.
"Nice to meet ya. Your eloquence has put me in a much better mood," Jimmy said with a grin.
Ron shook the hand identical to his best friend's and mustered a cracked sort of laugh." So...So, this isn't some sort of joke? Not a spell you came across?"
The 2 shook their heads as Jimmy replied," You can prod me if you like, or even take a DNA sample."
Ron decided neither was necessary and allowed the thought to fully sink in. Like clockwork, a grin spread across his face," SO! A TWIN, eh? Wait till Mum hears about this. She'll be itching to fuss over you as well."
Harry grinned, relieved beyond words that his best friend was now shaking his brother's hand heartily, welcoming him to the school. Of all people, he wanted Ron above all to like Jimmy.
As they made their way down to the Great Hall, attempting to deal with all the startled looks as they passed, Ron investigated about Jimmy's past.
"So, you play on a team back at your old school?"
"Course," Jimmy replied with a smile, not used to all the stares quite yet.
"What position?" Ron asked on, pausing at the tall doors.
"Chaser."
Ron stopped short and rounded on him," WHAT!? Chaser?? Are you SERIOUS!? Harry! Harry, we found our new Chaser!"
Harry frowned, confused at first, then broke out into a wide grin, turning to Jimmy who looked thoroughly lost." I'm Gryffindor's Quidditch Team Captain."
Jimmy gave an "oh!" and nodded.
"We lost one of our Chasers a few weeks ago and I've been looking for a replacement since...Any good?"
Jimmy gave a nonchalant shrug, his cocky smile giving him away," I guess...Depends on how you define 'good'."
Ron lead the way through the doors, saying over his shoulder," Given who's blood you got in you, I'd bet a thousand Galleons you're brilliant."
Jimmy was just in the middle of a blush when a series of gasps and surprised squeals broke out across the Great Hall. The three boys stood fixed to their spot, all gazes turning towards the new addition to their numbers. Harry ushered Jimmy along, seating him between himself and Ron at the Gryffindor table.
The Gryffindors were in particular curious, wondering how another likeness of Harry had suddenly appeared in their midst.
Suddenly a loud clap made all their attention turned to the front of the room. There Dumbledore stood, teachers flanking his side with both encouraging and anxious smiles. His held his hands apart slightly in front of him, waiting for the murmurs to die down.
"Well, now, I welcome you back. All had a productive Christmas, yes?" He said, looking around the room at faces that clearly stated they didn't want to discuss the break. "Well, I trust you all have no doubt, discovered our new member.."
Again, glances and whispers were taken on Jimmy and Harry's account.
"Let me be the first to introduce you to our newest Gryffindor, Jimmy Potter."
A rush of instantaneous talking burst from the students, all almost prickling with excitement.
"Please show Mr. Potter the same respect and consideration you've shown his brother," Dumbledore finished, putting emphasis on the last word 'brother'.
The mumble of the room increased at this, looks were more often and less subtle as students from across the Hall stood up on their seats to get a better look at the brothers.
Harry felt as if it were his first day at Hogwarts after they had gotten through breakfast. In every one of his classes, people stared openly, whispered behind their hands and walked right up to them to ask if Jimmy truly was Harry's brother.
Ginny was almost besides herself when she had come upon them making their way to Transfiguration later that afternoon. She had stopped dead in her tracks as two sets of Potters waved and said hello to her. She didn't speak well into the evening.