Disclaimer: I forgot to do this at the start of the last chapter, so for all those weird people out there who are actually bothering to read this, I don't own the Potter empire, just James Potter Jnr, Lily Potter Jnr, Ruby Potter, Druicien Malfoy and any other new people who might pop up along the way! By the way: in this fic Sirius never died because somehow he escaped from the Department of Mysteries, and I can't believe that J.K.Rowling killed him off.
Anyway, enough from me, here's chapter 3!
Harry glanced up and watched his son sprint out of the Great Hall, with Draco Malfoy's kid in tow. He stood up, tipping his chair over backwards, and raced after them.
About ten minutes later he found James crouched at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. He had a black eye and was covered in scratches and bruises. "Son? Are…are you okay?"
James raised his head slowly, as if it was painful to move. "Yeah, sure… never been better…"
"I'm going to sue
Draco Malfoy for every penny he's got."
"No, Dad! Look- if
you start stirrin' you'll just get me in more trouble. I'll
sort this out my way, alright?"
His father looked at him carefully. James showed the same determination and courage as him, but sometimes went too far. "Promise me you won't do anything stupid." His son nodded. "Good. Then I suggest that you show Malfoy who's boss- simple stuff works best. I'd try a bit of transfiguration on him and his cronies, you know- extra noses, botoxed lips, the works."
James stared at him with new-found admiration. "Thanks, Dad." Harry helped him to his feet and they walked back to the castle together, James supported with a single, muscular arm by his father.
That evening (Halloween night)
Hermione, levitating in the air 10 feet above the ground, surveyed the scene below her with satisfaction. Professor Flitwick, who was still going at the grand old age of 102, was bewitching pumpkins to jump on anyone who passed- Professor Snape was the first of many to turn a fetching shade of orange as he strolled down the Great Hall.
They'd done it. She knew everything was going to be alright. Witches' Coven, the band hired, was setting up in the corner and the hall looked perfect, with bats flitting across the dark, stormy ceiling and more spiderwebs than usual covering each statue. The final touch was when the students entered, almost all-sporting weird facial disfigurements. Hermione chuckled happily as Ardal Finnigan (a sixth year) came in, with bright green arms, purple ear hair and a spider hanging from each nostril.
She floated slowly down into her seat, thinking back to her Halloweens at Hogwarts. The first was probably the most eventful- after all, being attacked by a twelve-foot troll is not something you forget easily. In her second year, she'd missed the Halloween feast yet again after having to attend Nearly-Headless Nick's Deathday party and the third year had resulted in a "mass murderer" breaking into the Gryffindor tower. This "murderer" had turned out to be Harry's godfather, and now had 4 other godchildren (Lily, James, Ruby and Ron's son, Cannon) and a daughter of his own, Hazel. After several pleas from Harry and Hermione, he'd agreed to be the assistant Care of Magical Creatures professor- living with a hippogriff for years teaches you a whole lot about "magical" (dangerous more like, thought Hermione) creatures.
Hermione suddenly realised that Harry and James weren't present and cast a worried eye over the mass of students in front of her. Maybe there'd been another Quidditch practise scheduled and Harry had gone to watch, she thought. But this couldn't be, for she could see the captain of the Gryffindor team busy discussing tactics with his chasers. She breathed a sigh of relief as father and son entered, with James limping ever so slightly. One eye looked swollen and painful- the other was clamped shut. Hermione ran down the Great Hall to them.
"James?! Whatever happened to you? Why is your eye so puffed up that I could see it from the top table? Speak to me James!"
"It's fine, Mum. Dad sorted it. Now just let me sit down and speak to my little sister." Ruby had appeared and was tugging on James' robe.
Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Well, if you're going to be like that…" and marched back up to her seat, dragging Harry behind her.
Lily arrived a few minutes later and sat the other side of James. "Whoah! So who decked you this time, bro?"
"Guess," groaned James.
"Not Malfoy." Her brother nodded. "James, that's the third time this term! You've got to make a stand, fight for what you believe in!"
He couldn't surpress a smile at his sister's corniness. "Lil, have you been watching those muggle hippie films again?" This time it was Lily who nodded shyly. "Ha! Anyway, don't worry- I have an idea…"
"Last time you said that we were sitting detentions for a month! No way am I following one of your stupid "ideas" again." She sniffed haughtily and began talking pointedly to Kate Longbottom.
James was stunned for a few seconds at Lily's point-blank refusal to help, then remembered he had two sisters… and one adored him so much that she'd do anything for her brother… anything…
Sorry it's such a short chapter but hopefully they'll get longer as I go. (Fear the last chapter, believe me. It'll probably take you 3 hours to plough through.)Just realised that nothing really happens in this so far, so I'm going to try and make it more interesting! Thanks to all my reviewers- I'm aiming for 15 reviews! Oh, and merry Christmas to all peeps on fanfic, and a happy new year!!
