The Chosen Ones
by Daphne Li
Chapter 2.
"Three—two—one."
The light above the door flashed green, then the door swung open, revealing a tall, gangly young man. His dark hair was messy (as usual) and his green eyes twinkled with eagerness.
"Hello Uncle Draco." He crowed, giving the older man a 'manly' hug. Draco stepped back and smirked. James was the spitting image of his father, right down to the glasses on his nose. Even his crooked grin was reminiscent of Harry.
"Hello, James. I'm glad you came. We've missed you."
"I've missed you more. You have no idea. Anyway, where's Jason?" James rattled off, as they walked down the hallway to James's old room. Draco snickered and opened the door, revealing large a sun-lit bedroom decorated in greens and whites. James looked around his room in satisfaction. Nothing had changed since he had been here last.
"Jason's on an errand with his younger brother and Violet. Kaitlynn is out shopping with Marina, Jasmine's at Starr's house, and Serenity is wandering around outside—probably on the beach." Draco said after thinking a moment. James smiled, remembering that walking on the beach used to be one of his favorite past-times when he was alone with her.
"I'll just unpack, then." He said, throwing his trunk onto at the foot of the bed and heaving a sigh of relief. Draco chuckled again and left the room to allow the boy some time to get used to his new surroundings. James quickly walked over to his bedroom window, from which he could she the nearby ocean and beach. He quickly unlatched the windows and pushed them open, allowing the salty breeze to blow the sea-green curtains around. He took a deep, satisfied breath and grinned.
"Life has just gone from bloody awful, to heaven on earth." He muttered, going over to his trunk and beginning to unpack. It took less than half an hour, and when he was through, he contented himself with sitting on the window-seat, gazing out at the water. After another ten minutes or so, he heard a door downstairs slam shut, and voices murmuring back and forth. James turned his head towards the open door, so he could listen.
"Uncle Draco? Are you home?" James immediately recognized this as Violet's voice.
"Apparently not." Came a voice that James wasn't sure he'd heard before. It was fresh and young, though it held a I-know-all tone to it that made him smirk. That must be Darren.
"Whatever. I'm going up to my room." There were heavy footsteps on the stairs, and a few moments later, a tall blonde young man strolled into view.
"'Lo, Jason." James called out in a casual voice.
"Hey, James." The blonde walked past the door without a glance, then:
"JAMES?!?!" Jason dashed back to the door, his eyes impossibly wide and his mouth agape. James burst out laughing and winked cheekily at his shell- shocked friend.
"A little slow on the uptake, are we?" He teased. Jason's face cleared and it lit up.
"James!!! You're here! Wait! What are you doing here?" He shouted all in one breath, clapping the dark-haired boy on the back. James grinned.
"Your dad invited me. It was supposed to be a surprise."
"I'm surprised!"
"Good. Where are the others?" James asked in curiosity.
"Well, Jasmine's at Starr's house still, Marina's on a errand with mum, Darren's reading a book downstairs in the living room, Violet's in the kitchen making dinner (it's her turn tonight), and Serenity is still on the beach, I think." Jason said, rubbing his neck as he thought. James smiled as he remembered how much the girls used to get after Jason for doing this. He usually rubbed the back of his neck when he was either thinking, nervous, embarrassed, or lying about something. Of course, James couldn't talk. He didn't know how many times Jasmine had yelled at him for running his fingers through his hair while in the same situations (though for some reason, Starr, Violet and Serenity had never had any qualms with it).
"So how's everything in England?" At this question, James became serious and his eyes went to the floor. He didn't notice that his hand was, even now, reaching up to run through his hair.
"Not so good. That's actually another reason I'm here. I had—to get away for a while."
"That pretty little Tiger-Lily sister of yours getting nosy?"
"Yeah, that plus my friends got a-hold of your latest letter and accused me of being gay." James muttered. Jason burst out laughing.
"That's just wrong!"
"No kidding. And when Lily told me that I was starting to act like a Malfoy—"At this, Jason's laughter faded and his face grew serious. James immediately felt guilt enter his chest.
"Actually, I should have taken it as a compliment, but I was seeing red by then and didn't have much control over what I did."
"What did you do?"
"I blew up at them all. I remember shouting something about being tired of everything and them making me sick, and then I ran out of the Great Hall. Luckily dad understood and let me off easy. Actually, it's Lily who's in trouble. She's grounded for the first half of our summer. I feel bad about that—she didn't know what she was saying." James commented, reclining back on his bed. Jason smiled slightly.
"She probably didn't mean it as a compliment, though." He teased. James was about to respond when an annoying ring filled the silence. Jason groaned and took a cell-phone from his pocket.
"Hello?" There was a pause.
"Why can't Aunt Rachael do it?" Another long pause.
"Fine. I'll come and get you. Be there soon." Jason hung up and sighed.
"Jasmine needs a ride home. I'm going to pick her up. You want to come?"
"No thanks. I'm going to try to find Serenity. I haven't seen her yet." James said, standing up. Jason nodded, but looked regretful.
"Whatever. Be back soon. Then I'll show you my car!" With this, he walked out of the room. James followed him downstairs, but then wandered towards the back door and out into the daylight. Once he was on the beach, James grinned and stretched luxuriously, relishing the warm day. The waves rushed softly up onto the shore, then retreated back into the vast ocean. The sky was cloudless, and the sun warmed the sand beneath his feet. Closing his eyes, he leaned into the breeze as he enjoyed the quiet of the day.
Suddenly, a tingle ran up his spine, and he felt a presence behind him. Turning slowly, he caught his breath. All thought left his mind, as his eyes caught sight of the person behind him.
It was a girl with long auburn hair that curled at the ends and blew lightly in the breeze. Her skin glowed lily-white and was accented by the flowing green summer dress she was wearing. She was petite and delicate boned. But beyond all this, it was her eyes that intrigued him the most. Blue-grey orbs that pierced him like a knife, seeming to see right into his very soul; at the same time, however, they were warm and kind...eyes he knew all too well.
"Serenity." He breathed, unable to tear his eyes from hers.
"Hello, James." Her voice was soft and light, like the breezes that were sweeping around them. Her lips formed a smile and her eyes lit up at the sight of his shocked face. Slowly, she walked toward him, her skirt rippling around her knees as she moved.
"You've—grown up." He finally managed, running a hand nervously through his hair. Her silvery laugh filled the space between them.
"Of course I have. You have too. We haven't seen each other in quite a few years, after all." She reminded him.
"Four years, two months, and nineteen days." He muttered darkly.
"You've kept count?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. James felt his face heat up and stayed silent.
"You got mad, didn't you." She murmured suddenly. It was a statement, not a question.
"Lily called me a Malfoy." He said defensively.
"And you got angry." She said pointedly. James sighed.
"Yeah. I should have taken it was a compliment, but she said it like a disease—"
"I understand." She put her hand on his arm, and he felt his arm tingle warmly, causing him to smile slightly.
"Why don't we go back to the house? Have you seen anyone else?" She asked, turning back in the direction he had come.
"Only Jason. I managed to miss everyone else, so far." He chuckled, remembering Jason's reaction to him. Serenity smiled.
"Well, then all the more surprise for the rest of them." She giggled, opening the door. They walked in, and were immediately greeted with the smell of dinner, and their first victim.
"Serenity, a werewolf's death cry is paralyzing, isn't it...?" A young boy walked into the room and stopped short, staring at James. Now, normally James would have balked if anyone had called a boy 'beautiful', but there was no other way to describe this one. His yellow-gold hair shone in waves around his bright young face, and sky-blue eyes twinkled with life. He was small, but held an air of maturity in his countenance that made him seem bigger.
"Darren, you remember James, don't you?" Serenity introduced. The younger boy's eyes lit up.
"Oh, yeah! Hey, James." Darren slipped easily into a familiar attitude, despite the fact that is was not likely that he actually remembered James that much. He hand only been five the last time James had been there.
"Hey, Darren. You've..."
"Don't say 'you've grown'. I get enough of that from my aunts!" Darren groaned, causing James and Serenity to burst out laughing.
"Fine. You've gained an attitude." James corrected himself. This comment earned him a playful shove from the younger boy.
"What all the noise about?" Came Violet's voice from the next room. They all turned to see her standing in the doorway, a bag of salad in her hands. Her chestnut locks fell in curls to just below her shoulders, and her violet-blue eyes gleamed with curiosity.
"'Lo, cousin." James waved his hand nonchalantly, and grinned when she gave a happy cry.
"James!"
The salad was dropped onto a nearby table as the girl rushed over and hugged him. James received this treatment amiably.
"We've missed you!" She exclaimed, pulling back to look at him. James grinned, looking happier than he had been that entire year.
"So I've been told."
"And you will be told again. We missed you!" Came the teasing voice of Kaitlynn Malfoy. She came up behind him and hugged him lightly, before moving so he could see her. It had become all too obvious that Serenity had taken after her mother when it came to looks. They were nearly identical, save for the eye color and the slight graying of the mother's hair.
"Oh! Marina, come meet James. You've heard me talk about him, remember?" Kaitlynn turned, revealing a small blonde-haired child no older than five, standing behind her. Sky-blue eyes gazed shyly up into his. Marina had only been a newborn when he had last seen her, and seeing her as she was now was a little bit of a surprise for him.
"Hello, Marina. Nice to meet you." He murmured, bending down to be closer to her height. She stared at him for a moment, then smiled cutely.
"'Lo." She whispered, looking at the floor, a finger wandering into her silky blonde curls. James grinned and scooped her up, resulting in a delighted shriek from her.
"I like this one! Can I please keep her?" He pleaded jokingly, making puppy- eyes at Kaitlynn. She just grinned and shook her head.
"Go ahead. We have plenty already." Jason shot back, as he walked into the room.
"NO! You can't have her! She's mine!" A figure whizzed past him, blonde hair flying. Marina was torn from his arms and barricaded protectively behind Jasmine Malfoy, who grinned cheekily at him.
"I win!" Without further ado, she rushed into his arms, hugged him, then kissed his cheek.
"You're back, you're here, I'm starving. When's dinner?" She said this all in one breath, causing James and Jason to roll their eyes as the others laughed. Marina returned to James' side, obviously attached to him already.
"Right now, if you all help me set the table." Her mother laughed. At this, the group disbanded and rushed to help, laughing as they shared the responsibility. Within minutes, dinner was on the table and James was seated at his place of honor, between Jason and Darren and across from Serenity.
And for the first time in a long time, James felt like he finally belonged. "Now this...is a party!" James shouted over a blast of loud music. Jason grinned at him and shot him a thumbs up as they continued to dance. All around them, rowdy teenagers were bumping into each other as they danced to the wild beat of the song. Every once in a while, someone would recognize Jason and yell out to him, causing the blonde boy to shout back a retort. James watched this in half-awe, half-amusement. He had never been to a party like this, and to make things better, it was a no-alcohol party (not that you could tell this by the hyper teens around them...). They did serve butterbeer, but only one bottle was allowed, per person.
The boys were presently in a large party room, that joined with a long hallway just beyond the doorway. There was another room down the hall, where other young people had settled down to watch a movie on the big- screen TV. The building they were in was a beach house designed especially for young wizards and witches like them to go to and hang out, without their parents worrying about them (much). When Jason had first suggested it over dinner, James had been hesitant, but reluctantly agreed when the girls had announced that they were going as well.
"Isn't this great?!" Jasmine shouted, as she bounced by with several other girls in her wake. James couldn't help but laugh as he watched them dancing around wildly. It surprised him that all of these young people around him were witches and wizards, and it startled him even more when he realized that they didn't really care who he was, as long as he was having fun. Several boys his age had randomly started up conversations with him earlier, not even caring who he was or who he was related to. For this, James was eternally grateful.
"Hey Jason! Good to see you!" A boy shouted as he came up to dance next to them.
"Hey Randy. This is James. He's here for the summer."
"Awesome! Nice to meet you. Hey, Jay, are your sisters here?" The boy, Randy, looked around after saying this. Immediately, both Jason and James stiffened slightly, going into their protective modes.
"Yes. Careful, Myers. I don't want to have to pound you." Jason warned, only half joking. The boy paled and quickly moved away. Jason shot a weary look at James.
"Why don't you go find Serenity and Violet. I'll keep an eye on these two." Jason said, jerking his head at Jasmine and Starr. James nodded and wandered out of the room, down the hall, and into the other room. Violet was on one of the large, curving couches, surrounded by a group of girls who's eyes were glued to the TV screen. She immediately turned around when he touched her shoulder, and she motioned outside. He smiled, understanding what she meant. He silently slipped back out of the room, careful not to bother the movie-watchers, and quickly made his way outside onto the high deck.
As he walked down the stairs, he noticed that several students had started a bon-fire, and couples were seated snugly around it. He smiled and shook his head, as his emerald orbs turned to search the beach for some clue as to where Serenity was.
"Looking for me?"
James didn't have to turn to know that she was standing behind him. The light scent of lavender and vanilla that always seemed to linger around her filled his nose, and he grinned lightly.
"Yeah. Overprotective brother mode, sorry." He said, turning around. She let out a tinkling laugh and took his offered arm, as they made their way out onto the beach. Having known him for this long, Serenity was used to James' mannerisms. After a quick stop to take off their shoes, they continued on down the beach, towards 'Lookout Ledge', a favorite place of theirs. They carefully walked up the winding trail to the top of the cliff. It was a grassy area, so it was easy for them to find soft places to sit as they looked out over the ocean. Far below them, the sea foamed up on the sandy beach, it's roar duller here, creating a sort-of lullaby for the two listeners.
"I come up here a lot...to think." She finally spoke. James sighed and looked around in contentment. The sky was dark, and stars were twinkling high above them in the night sky. The nearly-full moon was slowly rising, casting an eerie white glow about the place.
"I like it here. It's almost like I don't have to worry about anything." He murmured, looking over the moon-lit ocean below them. She shook her head.
"Maybe not. But you can't run away from your problems forever, James. You family needs to know." Her voice soothed him.
"I know. But I also know what would happen if I do tell them. Mother will hate my dad...and me for all of this, Lily would never speak to me, Margaret would treat me like an ogre, and my friends would avoid me like the plague." He groaned.
"Not necessarily. If your family loves you, and I know they do, they will accept it. And if your friends leave you, then they are not friends at all."
"I suppose. But they'd still be angry." He fell back onto the grass, closing his eyes tightly as the coolness of the grass seeped into his shirt.
"Can you blame them? They were raised to hate Malfoys. It will take some time for them to get used to us. But believe me, they will." She assured. She turned her body so her back was to him, then she laid back and rested her head on his stomach, looking up at the stars.
"I'll take your word for it." He muttered, unconsciously running a hand through her soft hair. They lay in silence for a while, listening to the waves crash against the shore below them. The wind rustled the grass around them, brushing their hair into their faces occasionally. Crickets chirped their evening ditties, adding to the night music.
"I wish we could just freeze time." He said suddenly, keeping his voice at a quiet note. She shifted her head to look up at him.
"Why?"
"Because this is perfect. Just here and now. You and me, no other people around to bother us." He sighed. She smiled.
"But it will have to end." She murmured, looking back up at the sky.
"I guess it is getting late." He said regretfully.
"And Jason will be looking for us." She added with a hint of laughter in her voice, knowing how her brother was. James groaned.
"I don't wanna get up." He whined. She laughed and got up, leaving the place where he head had rested feeling cold.
"Too bad. Back to the party." She smirked lightly.
"How long is this party supposed to last?"
"As long as we want it to!" She called over her shoulder, as she dashed back to the path. She shot a mocking laugh back at him and he growled at the challenge.
"You'd better run fast, vixen." He hissed, as he raced after her.
