This chapter is dedicated to Lady Taliesin and LiLaZnGrLy for correctly guessing what subject James will teach at Hogwarts! Well done!

Prongs Rides Again

Chapter Eleven: Dumbledore's Job Opportunity

The beginning of the new Hogwarts Term came too fast for James' liking. He had hardly met his son when he was back to school. On the morning of the departure, mayhem occurred in the house, with the Weasley Twins making it exceptionally difficult for the others to get ready. With Mrs Black's screeching echoing throughout the house, and the rushing of feet up and down the stairs, James found it a struggle to even get a chance to speak to Harry.

Finally he managed to extract Harry from the hustle and bustle of the main house and lead him into a side-room where he could speak to him in peace without the constant interruption from Fred and George. Looking at his son, James felt immensely proud. On the night of his death, the last time he had faced Voldemort, James had feared that he would never see his son again. In fact, if he hadn't been given a second chance, he wouldn't have seen Harry at this age anyway, instead his son would be left with just images of his parents and wondering whether his parents had truly loved him.

"Harry," James began, "I want you to promise me something."

Harry swallowed, waiting.

"I know that I was a rebel at school and I never did what I was told but you, Harry, are important to me. I don't want to lose you, especially after what happened last year to you." his mouth felt dry. "I want you to promise me you won't do anything drastic. Remain safe and don't venture anywhere where you know you could be hurt. I know I can trust you with this, but please, I would like a promise."

Harry saw pain reflecting in his father's eyes. How could he not refuse him? James was his father and cared for him. He had made a similar promise before when Sirius had been on the lose and the Weasleys had believed him to be trying to murder Harry. Mr Weasley had asked Harry to promise him to not go 'looking for Black' and Harry had kept that promise. James would be disappointed if he didn't do what he asked. With Voldemort on the loose anything was possible.

"I promise dad. I'll stay at Hogwarts, apart from going to Hogsmeade on the weekends we can go. Fair?"

James nodded, and ruffled Harry's hair. "Thanks. Have fun at Hogwarts. Live your childhood while you can. You deserve it after all you've done."

Stepping forward father and son hugged. Neither knew when they would see each other again. They had barely got to know one another, and now they were parting. And it was this that made James feel bad. He needed to be near Harry in order to keep his promise. How could he do that when his son was at Hogwarts and he was working for the Order?

James watched Sirius say farewell to Harry. Since the hearing nearly three weeks ago, James had discovered how much Sirius cared for his godson. Though he hadn't had the chance to raise him, Sirius had explained to James that he had tried to look out for Harry after his escape. He had even said that on the night he had sneaked into Gryffindor Tower and into Harry's dormitory, he had stood looking at Harry before proceeding to try and kill Wormtail. At least Sirius had thought of Harry even when Harry had no clue about Sirius' true motive for escaping Azkaban.

Harry glanced at his father, waved and smiled, turning towards the door where Mrs Weasley stood waiting and then stepped out into the street. James sighed, wishing that he could go with his son to the station, unfortunately Dumbledore had asked to speak to him with Sirius, therefore preventing either Sirius or James from accompanying Harry.

"I miss him already," James murmured.

Sirius turned to look at him. A frown was on his face, but his eyes were sad. "At least you're still here, James, I won't be bored out of my mind."

Laughing James turned to walk down the hallway to the kitchen where Dumbledore was due to the meet them. "I might not be here for long, Padfoot. I have a feeling Dumbledore might have something for me to do."

Sirius scowled in annoyance.

"He did ask to see you as well. Maybe you can come along too."

"Unlikely, since he told me I can't leave the house. My safety is more important."

Folding his arms, James retorted: "He's right, you know, I don't want you thrown back in Azkaban for something you didn't do. If you go outside you might be caught. You said it yourself, Fudge wouldn't even hesitate to give you to the Dementors."

Sirius remained silent and followed his friend through Grimmauld Place to the kitchen. As they entered the small room, they found Albus Dumbledore sitting at the table, looking old and wisely at them.

"Thank you for coming."

Seating themselves so they were facing the headmaster, James spoke the unspoken question. "What did you want to speak to us about?"

"I came to offer you a job."

"A job?" Sirius scoffed. "Seriously?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Well, James the job."

"What is it?" James asked, excitement rising in the pit of his stomach. Was he going to go to Hogwarts? Was this an opportunity to spend the year with Harry?

"Rubeus Hagrid has yet to return from the Giants. I do not know when he will arrive, therefore, James I would like you to, if you are willing, to teach Care of Magical Creatures to the students. I would have asked you to take the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts, unfortunately one of Fudge's lackeys have got the job. He appointed her to look over Hogwarts and see how Fudge can influence the public to see Hogwarts as being run wrongly."

"Who is 'her'?"

Dumbledore smiled. "Dolores Umbridge, the senior undersecretary to the Minister, and Fudge's most loyal supporter. It is quite unfortunate that she is teaching the fifth years, as her teaching methods are quite different from what they have had so far."

James frowned. "Doesn't seem fair that the Ministry is keeping watch on Hogwarts." he sighed. "Do you want me to take this job?"

The headmaster nodded. "I would. It would give you an opportunity to spend time with Harry and keep a look out on him."

"It would be nice, yes, I will take the job." James announced. The prospect of spending time with Harry was too much to turn down. Though he would have to teach Slytherins, James found he was not entirely fussed over it. At least he could hand out detentions to people instead of receiving them himself. He grinned at Sirius who wore a look of disappointment.

"What about Sirius? Can't he come to?"

Sirius sought out Dumbledore's eyes. All the other time he had requested to leave the house had been denied, he doubted this would change now. However…

"As long as Sirius remains in his Animagus form throughout the day and in the company of students, I do not see why not he cannot be allowed to come with you, James. Only in your rooms could you be in human form."

"I can leave the house? Even when you've told me that I'm not allowed?" Sirius asked, surprised at Dumbledore's change of heart.

"I am doing it because James would not want to be alone. Also I can rely on James to defend you if you were discovered. Of course, it is up to you if you want to put your life on the line. Do be aware that if you are discovered or caught, it is likely that you won't be given a chance to explain yourself."

Sirius nodded. He understood the risks and this was his only chance of being with James. True he would be outside but could he stand being a dog for so long? Of course he could. Besides he couldn't chicken out saying he was afraid. If someone discovered him, he could get out. James would protect him. He glanced at his friend who was staring at him with wide eyes, waiting for his answer.

A smile crept onto his face and he grinned. "I'll take the risk."

"Yes," James punched the air, happy that his best friend could join him at Hogwarts. "Excellent. We can have so much fun."

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "As the school term starts today, I expect you two to arrive this afternoon, ready for the Feast. Classes will begin tomorrow."

James nodded. "We'll come as soon as we can."

"I'll see you later, gentleman." And then, with a bow, the Headmaster left, leaving the two Wizards to exchange glances and then laugh. It seemed impossible that James would be teaching students.

"At least you can pass on your superior knowledge of Magical Creatures. Maybe you should show them your Animagus form."

James scowled. "That is my secret. If they knew I was an Animagus they might begin to question the fact that you might be the dog. It's common knowledge that you were my best friend."

"Good point." Sirius mumbled. "Hey, do you even remember anything about magical creatures?"

James frowned. "I remember some things. As long as I have lots of books on them, I'm sure I can do fine."

"We'll see just how good Prongs can teach the Prongslet and his friends."

"Don't call him that!"

James walked into the Hogwarts Great Hall with Sirius (in his Animagus Form) at his side. The students wouldn't arrive for another couple of hours so James was free to wander round the school. The last time he had been here, he had been eighteen years old. He had missed the school and had always hoped to come back one day to see Harry graduate. At least he had the chance - and the possibility - to do so now.

His eyes flew to the Gryffindor House Table. There had been many memories sitting there. Small laughter found its way into his throat and he chuckled as he remembered a time when he and Sirius had caused Snape's hair to turn bright red and gold using a potion they had created and dipping it into his food. The joke had been priceless and the two, unfortunately, had been caught. A month's worth of detentions hadn't deterred them from doing it again, even when Lily Evans had made them stop.

Sirius looked up at him, growling softly. Turning his head, James saw the source of Sirius' growl. Severus Snape was walking towards them, a perpetual scowl in place, however Dumbledore walked beside him, therefore preventing James from shouting an insult.

"Severus." He said, politely, trying to act civil, though he realised it would take time before he recognised Snape as one of Dumbledore's own.

"Potter." Snape spat, looking livid. "I see that you are well."

"Severus." Dumbledore warned.

"Apologies headmaster. I do not mean to sound so disrespectful."

The headmaster fixed Snape and James with a glare and then spoke in his soft, wisdom voice. "I want you to two to stop this petty squabbling. You are working together at this school. You may hold a certain dislike for each other, but that was in the past. Just be civil with each other. We cannot have Cornelius Fudge finding out about silly hatred arcs between teachers now can we?"

James shook his head. "No." He held out his hand. "I'm willing to start again, if you'd let me, after all, I do regret everything that I ever did to you. Lily made me see that. I am sorry for everything, and I know it is not enough, but I'm willing to try." James smiled. "James Potter, Professor of Care of Magical Creatures."

Reluctantly, it seemed, Snape took James' hand and shook it. "Sorry, isn't good enough, Pott - James. I can't forget what you put me through for seven years, but I am open to working alongside you, on one condition." His eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Oh, and what's that?" James asked.

Sirius growled. A sudden urge erupted within him. He wanted to bite Snape for rejecting James' offering of peace.

"You keep him away from me." The Potion's Master pointed to Sirius in his dog form, his eyes flashing dangerously.

James considered him for a moment, but then, with hardly an ounce of delay agreed. "All right, as long as you be civil to Harry. I know you hate him because of me. I'll keep Snuffles away from you, as long as you don't torment Harry."

Snape glared but reluctantly took up on the offer. James grinned down at Sirius who whacked his tail on the floor.

"It's wonderful to see you again, James."

"You haven't changed a bit, Professor." James returned.

Minerva McGonagall laughed. "You won't get away with that now, James, I can tell you. But, please, when in the company of other teachers you have my consent to call me Minerva. You're not a student any more. It won't harm you by calling me by my first name."

James grinned, delighted.

She wagged a finger at him. "And I'd better not find you teaching the Weasley Twins tricks and jokes to play on us older types."

Laughing, James replied: "I doubt I'd get the time. Being a teacher seems like hard-work. Plus I've got to patrol the corridors on a Tuesday night. Much as I am looking forward to teaching, I'm not entirely sure I know the subject that well. I mean, out of the four of us, Care of Magical Creatures was the subject that we hardly learnt anything in. Remus did well in it, but that's because the magical creatures fascinated him. He was also good at defence."

"Much as I recall, you were exceptionally good at Transfiguration. You were a good student at everything." She laid a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure you'll do fine. The students will be pleased to have you for a teacher, anyway."

"Why would that be?"

"You've seen death James. The first person to die and return. Their will be lots of questions. Students will admire you for continuing on in your life, even though you've lost the life you once had. You are a hero to them."

James swallowed. As McGonagall headed away, James looked at Sirius who was laying by his feet. "Do you really think I will be admired?"

Sirius only barked in reply.

TBC

So, Snape is now in the equation…he, he, and Umbridge is not far behind (who will debut next chapter!).

Thank you's go to: Eric2; Elizabeth Annette; shannyauburn; Xylia Dark; Kim Kotchanski; magicgirl45852; darkdanny; ambereyes2873; Silverspecter; Loonie Potter; Crazy-Physco; Marguerida; Handsoff; Olympics 2012 london; Werewolves are People Too;shazia)Riavera and PrincessSkywalkerOrgana.

Responses:

empathicallychosen: I really do like your story. It is different and unique, it's just that some people have probably never seen a story like that before and are reluctant to try it out, or that they've found that not many people have been interested so they don't read, but whatever you do don't give up writing it. I will try my best to catch every update but I'm not sure if I can, it would depend on what I've got to do in my spare time. Thanks for reading. (P.S Molly won't be in it much so don't worry over her)

HarrysGrrl: Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear HarrysGrrl. Happy birthday to you. (This is for last Wednesday). Enjoy this chapter!

IamSiriusgrl: James isn't teaching DADA, Umbridge is, so she's still in the story.

angelicmayuka: James did excel in Transfiguration but no one can replace McGonagall, unless she dies. More memories will come in the near future, I promise.

LiLaZnGrLy: I'm glad you liked Molly being the Godmother. Oooh, will Peter be in this story? Well, since he isn't in the Order of the Phoenix book then he shouldn't be in this story, however (you'll find out more about what Voldemort's doing later) Peter will turn up sometime near the end to do a dastardly deed for his lord. Don't get too excited: that won't happen for another twenty chapters or so. Harry has seen a Pensieve in the Goblet of Fire in Chapter 30 where he sees the trial of Crouch's son and the Lestranges. And CONGRATULATIONS on guessing what subject James teaches. You and Lady Taliesin were the only two who guessed correctly, which is why this chapter is dedicated to both of you. I hope you liked this chapter!

Lady Taliesin: Another long review! Yay! Anyway…sorry about the personality thing. You put so much work into reviewing and commenting that you make me feel you're standing right by me pointing out my mistakes, for which I am grateful. Basically, in a simpler sense, you've come alive for me. I have to agree with you about chat-speak. I hate it, and also I don't use it so I don't understand it very much either (which is a bit sad really especially since I'm 17 and people my age should know that, and I don't, but then no one LIKES me at school for some reason. I'm not odd or weird I'm just not into the same stuff the others are. Liking Harry Potter makes me an outcast, but I don't see why, oh well, I like being who I am anyway). Onto the response for the review now…right, I want to show James at different points of his recovery. He still is but there will be less of him falling apart now as he's getting used to it. I have read the Western Stars series: they are excellent stories. I just haven't put them on my fave lists yet. Thank you for your continuing appreciation of my characterisation. I didn't think that I was doing Harry that well. James is a bit easier because you don't know much about him and you can sort of create him as your own character. I have noticed that people seem to think Harry shouldn't go through the temper turns he does in the book as they think he's out of character and he's the type of person who wouldn't do that. But I have to disagree with that. Harry's a teenager! He's expected to be angry and temperamental with what he's been through. Honestly some people think he should just be all happy and thinking that I am popular. I don't see why people don't like Harry showing his anger! I honestly think he'll be worse in Book Six because of what happened at the end of book 5. Oh, and another one of your little scenes: a little over the top, but still funny and had me laughing for a while. I'm glad you like the memory. James was certainly a bit big-headed when he was at Hogwarts…trying to charm Lily into liking him…and causing Snape hell. I absolutely loved the way you described the Marauders in your review: Moony was acting all indecisive prefect, Wormtail was acting all dimwitted and traitorous (not really, but…too bad. Don't like the guy. Don't know anyone who does), Padfoot was acting all hot and haughty, and Prongs was…a bit stupid, actually, but oh well. Still cute ). That just made me laugh, and by the way, I don't mind Wormtail. He's all right up until he became a Death Eater, but my opinion my change when he see what his fate is in Book 6 or 7. I didn't expect many people to guess Molly as the Godmother but I saw her as the most logical choice being the motherly type and she does love Harry in that way, so I had her as the Godmother. I'm glad you liked the last chapter, and I hope this chapter met your expectations (in fact I hope the rest of the story meets to your expectations). I do get most of your ramblings, so please, don't stop doing them. Enjoy!

Next chapter is entitled 'Meeting Longbottom' in which James is introduced to the school and Umbridge makes an appearance…this is a short chapter: sorry. Read it next Wednesday.

Thank you for all the reviews!

MissBlackPotter