This chapter is dedicated to Xylia Dark for being my 400th reviewer! Thank you for all the support so far!

Prongs Rides Again

Chapter Fourteen: Passing Insults

The following day James was tired from his adventures from the previous night. He had no lessons that morning so he was able to rest before going to teach. He wanted to be ripe when he taught Harry. Nevertheless he made himself sleep, catching up on what he had lost. At around half-twelve he woke to the sounds of birds singing. Groggily he sat up, rubbing a hand at the back of his head, making it tousled and sticking up. He yawned. He wanted to go back to sleep but his class was due to start in twenty minutes time.

Swinging his feet out of bed James quickly dressed, conjured up a bit of bread and cheese, gobbled it down, brushed his hair so that it lay a bit flat, and then taking a deep breath walked out of his rooms and into the corridor.

"Are you coming or not?" James asked, turning back to his friend.

The black dog gave a cheerful bark and followed the Professor out into the grounds, where the fifth-years were waiting.

A cool sun beat down upon them, the air chilly but no clouds were in sight. James tightened his robes against his body, uncontrollable nerves wreaking through his being. By Hagrid's Hut, the students waited. Amongst the fifteen year olds he spotted Harry with Ron and Hermione. Everything for his lesson was ready. Professor Dumbledore had taken the liberty of ensuring that James could catch up on his sleep and still be able to teach well. Everything he needed was set up.

As he reached the table, he found a heap of twigs in the centre of it. Bowtruckles. James thought. A nice easy creature to start the year off with. He placed the bag he carried by the table and looked around the class. Gryffindor's and Slytherins. Great.

He clapped his hands together. "Right, welcome to O.W.L year for Care of Magical Creatures. I am Professor Potter. In this class I will concentrate upon the different magical creatures that can be found. I will set homework once a week - which will mainly consist of theory notes or questions on how to deal with certain creatures. We've got a lot to cover this year so lets get the lesson started. Any questions?"

A few hands went up, James pointed out to Parvati. "Yes, Miss…"

"Parvati Patil." She said, "What was it like dying?"

James had expected this question at some point but no one in his other classes had asked that. He was about to answer when a memory invaded his mind.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Unable to avoid the curse, James stood his ground. As it hit him he felt fire racing through his body, his mind fleeing from his body and his consciousness faded into nothingness. He fell to the floor, traces of pain wracking through his battered body and then he was gone…

Voldemort's voice echoed as he faded… "Your pretty Mudblood wife is mine…"

"Professor?" Parvati asked.

James shook his head, his heart beating fast. What could he say? He messed up his hair. "I can't really say," he mumbled, "It's hard to remember."

There was a general murmur of dissent among the group of students. James saw Draco Malfoy's Slytherin gang glaring at him as if daring him to do something. He dismissed them from his mind and decided to get on with the class. That was, after all, why he was there for.

"Can anyone tell me what these are?" he pointed to the sticks on the table.

Hermione leaped to attention throwing her hand into the air. Just as he was about to ask her what they were, James caught sight of Malfoy doing a buck-toothed imitation of Hermione by jumping up and down in eagerness, therefore causing Pansy Parkinson to laugh aloud. James scowled.

"Mr Malfoy!" he called. "I will not tolerate silliness in my class and that includes childish faces and insults. You are nearly an adult. It is time to start acting like one."

Draco Malfoy glared. He would not listen to a Potter. "You can't tell me what to do."

James crossed his arms. "You are the student Mr Malfoy, and I am the teacher. Authority is not governed by blood, as you seem to think it should be."

But Malfoy wouldn't back down. "My father is of higher standing then you'll ever be." He hissed under his breath. "Mudblood lover."

Unfortunately James heard that and anger rippled through him. "Fifty points of Slytherin. I'll be talking to Professor Snape about you language and attitude towards me, boy. Next time I'll refuse to have you in my class."

James turned away and then asked Hermione to explain what the sticks were. Malfoy made a face but remained quiet throughout the lesson.

"So, Miss Granger, can you tell me what these are?"

Hermione spoke with the conviction of knowledge. "Bowtruckle. They are tree-guardians and usually live in wand trees."

"Good. Five points to Gryffindor." James said. "Bowtruckles can be found in the west of England, southern Germany and in some Scandinavian forests. As they are so small they are difficult to spot and are made of bark and twigs with two small brown eyes. Can anyone tell me what they eat?"

Hermione's hand leapt into the air, but James skimmed the class and finally settled on Neville. "Mr Longbottom? Care to take a guess?"

"Uh…um…" Neville struggled. "…Insects?"

"Excellent! Take five points." James said, pleased. "But we will not concentrate on feeding them until we've studied them a bit more. I have collected enough Bowtruckles for one between three. By the end of the lesson I would like a sketch labelling all body parts. Hop to it!"

There was a general clatter of feet as students rushed to collect what they needed. Once everyone was settled, James walked round, looking at people's drawings and asking questions. He came to Harry's group. Sirius was sitting beside them. He had almost forgotten that his friend was there in his Animagus form. James grinned. "I hope he's not causing too much trouble."

Harry shook his head. "No, he's fine here." he reached out and scratched the back of the dog's ears.

"Good. Can I have a word with you for a minute, Harry."

"Sure." Harry got to his feet and followed James away from the class so that no one could hear their conversation. Harry looked apprehensively at James.

Biting his lip, James said: "I heard about your shouting match with Umbridge. She gave you detention?"

Harry nodded. "I suppose you're angry?"

James sighed, a small smile fidgeting at the side of his lips. "I'm not angry, just annoyed at the Ministry for labelling my son insane and a liar. I mean, they can't even see that you could be right! But, Harry, I know its frustrating for no one to believe you, but in time they will see it. Voldemort can't hide forever. He will show himself eventually. There's something I want you to promise me."

"What's that?" Harry asked.

"That you won't rise to Umbridge's taunts. She's trying to get you expelled. If that happens there will be no hope left for the Wizarding World."

Harry's brow creased. "I don't understand."

"You will someday," James promised, laying a comforting hand on his son's shoulder, "just promise me that you won't do anything that could get you expelled or put in detention."

Harry nodded. "I promise dad."

"Thanks." James ruffled his hair. "Go on, go and finish your work."

Harry walked off and joined Ron and Hermione. At least he had the chance to help his son through the school year. He only wished Voldemort and Pettigrew would reveal themselves. When that happened, the Minister would have to apologise to both Harry and Sirius for what he had subjected them to. James looked forward to that day.

With the day closing, James and Sirius packed up their lessons and went back to their room. Transforming back into a human, Sirius settled himself on the armchair. "So, how did you like teaching Harry?"

"Fun, but I hate that Malfoy kid. He's so…full of himself."

Sirius grunted. "All the Slytherins are. They think they are better then anyone else because of their pure blood. Are you really going to talk to Snivellus?"

"Yes. I have to. If I don't report him he'll think he can get away with insulting Lily. I will not have him degrade her memory with that filthy word. It's time he learnt respect."

"I suppose so." Sirius muttered. "When are you going?"

"Now."

Sirius made a move to transform but James stopped him.

"No. You're not coming. I promised to keep you away from him." James remembered. "I'll go alone."

"Tell me how it goes then." Sirius said.

"What? No fight?" James laughed. "You have changed, mate."

Sirius just glared. He was not in the mood to argue with his best friend. Besides he had no desire to go and see Snivellus anyway. "Just go."

James shook his head and left his rooms, heading towards the dungeons at a quick pace. The dungeons looked exactly like he remembered. Dull and dreary, they suited Snape. Thankfully, Snape was in his office alone when James arrived.

"What do you want, Potter?" he asked, sneering.

James folded his hands across his chest. "I came to talk to you about the attitude of one of your students."

"Let me guess," Snape asked sarcastically, "Malfoy?"

James scowled. "Exactly."

"What did he do this time? Insult your son perhaps?"

"No. He called me a 'Mudblood lover' and I know you think the same as him. I fell in love with a Muggle-born and there is nothing wrong with that. Lily was the same as all of us. A witch and an extremely powerful one. She does not deserve to be remembered as that. I realise that as a Slytherin that is what Malfoy believes but I can't have him insulting my Lily like that. She deserves peace and quiet now. If there is anything you can do to make him respect me more then he does then I would be grateful. I have taken fifty points from Slytherin, possibly a bit too much but it was a spur of the moment decision."

Snape nodded. "I understand about Lily, James. I will talk to Malfoy but I can't see what I could say that would help him see the wrongs of labelling someone that. Nevertheless he is wrong to dishonour the dead."

"I appreciate this, Severus." James smiled warmly, possibly the first 'nice' smile he had ever given Snape. He was learning to respect him as an equal, rather then an enemy. He left the office, wondering if he could begin calling Snape a friend.

"I think this place needs a bit of fun!" Sirius announced as James walked into his rooms. Fred and George Weasley were sitting on the floor, pouring over the Marauders Map, (which they had asked if they could borrow from Harry) and were conspiring with Sirius.

"Oh, god, what are you planning now?" James asked, apprehensively.

Sirius grinned. "It's not me, it's them." he pointed to the twins, who looked up. "I'm just giving them pointers."

James sighed. "You mean you're conspiring with them but you won't be caught because no one knows you're here."

"No, I would never put a fellow mischief-maker into a dangerous position where they could be caught!"

James raised his eyes, unbelieving. "Yeah, and what happened when you nearly got Snape killed?"

"That's different. Snivellus isn't a mischief-maker."

"But Remus is." James replied, steely.

Sirius frowned. "Fine. Nothing like that will happen again."

James nodded and turned the twins. "What are you planning?"

Fred glanced at the map and placed a finger where the Slytherin Common Room was. "Well, we were thinking of turning the hallway into a slide, but we don't know if we have the talent to do something like that."

James grinned. "I'm not helping. I'm responsible."

Sirius laughed out load. "I never thought I'd see the day when James Potter admitted he was responsible!"

Scowling James whacked Sirius on the backside of his head. "Hey!"

James grinned. "That's my final word. No Potter will help you get want you want. I'm not stopping you from aiding them in this cause, Sirius."

Sirius sighed. "Fine, so Prongs won't help. However I do have an idea that can help you pull this prank off…" he trailed off, looking expectantly at the twins.

James shook his head. "I think I'll leave you three alone to sort things out."

"Where are you going?" Sirius asked, slightly amused that James didn't want anything to do with mischief making.

"I need to look over my notes for the next class. I'll be on the third floor if you need me."

Taking up papers and books, James exited his rooms and headed through the castle, looking for some peace and quiet.

TBC

James really needs to have some fun! Unfortunately he doesn't want to give Umbridge the excuse to expel Harry.

Thank you's to the following people: Inumaru12; supernova8610; ambereyes2873; shannyauburn; PrincessSkywalkerOrgana; LunaticPandora1; zippyfox; Loonie Potter; Crazy-Physco; Barbossa'sApples; Eric2; darkdanny; FutureGoddess; HarryPotterknoitall; squiddie03; IamSiriusgrl; Werewolves Are People Too; HarrysGrrl (sorry no Remus); amrawo; empathicallychosen; emuerz; Shania Maxwell; Xylia Dark; Virginia Riddle-Malfoy and Padfoot's Sidekick.

queen-of-monkey-magic: Thank you for your awesome review. It brought a smile to my face. Thank you! The reason why James and Harry didn't tell the others about the wish is that if they knew Harry had had a wish that came true then others might start wishing for things and if they don't come true then people will feel that it is unfair for Harry to get what he wants and they do not. I will do try and keep to my deadlines however with Easter break coming up, updates will be rare as I am very busy. Thank you for the review!

magicgirl45852: You asked me about reading a story about slash. Well, I do not like slash, however it depends how graphic the writing is, however I would not flame it. I am willing to look over the quality of the writing and beta-read for you, if that is what you want. You can e-mail me using my e-mail address found in my bio and we'll discuss this further if you wish.

luna-rocker: On that night Remus didn't take the potion to turn himself into a harmless wolf. If he was a harmless wolf it would be no fun for James and Sirius in their animagus forms because Remus would not fight them so they could go exploring the grounds. That is why Remus didn't take the potion in the last chapter.

angelicmayuka: Don't worry about forgetting to review - I don't mind! You get to see the memories in chapter 16 (however due to foreseen circumstances you won't be able to read it until the middle of April - this will be explained next chapter). I know that James had already used his animagus form for the twins but he hadn't the chance to test himself in it properly (like running round the grounds) so he wasn't sure if he had complete control over the transformations. I hope you liked Draco and James. Thank you for the review!

LiLaZnGrLy: You get to go to China? Lucky! I've never been there! James will get to speak to Harry about his detentions - eventually. I do have a Yahoo Group for this story but nothing really happens on it. All I do is post messages about updates to the story and that's it. I do not have instant messenger however I can go online via another website I've found on the Internet. If you let me add you to my contacts list there is a chance that we can chat, however as I live in the UK it might be hard, however normal e-mails are perfectly acceptable. Plot Information: if you want some information then e-mail me and ask me what you would like to know. I do not want to write any information in a review, in case others read it and spoil it. Onto your 'actual' review: Thank you for pointing out my grammatical errors. It's a pain when that happens. About your other questions you asked me if you wish to know the answers then email me. Your scene with James and Draco was funny. I hope your shoulder is better, and I'll check out your story when I can!

Lady Taliesin: I really hate it when doesn't show the chapter. I hope you didn't have the same problem with this one! No, I didn't laugh about you not knowing how to use e-mail. I once didn't know how to either, so that's no big deal. Don't be ashamed. The offer for plot information through e-mail will still be there when you learn how to use e-mail. You CLOSED my fic! How could you? (I'm over-reacting I know, but that's what I do!) Yes, your story sounds interesting and when you get it up, I will read it! Draco was in this chapter. What did you think of him and his characterisation? I think every HP fan wants Umbridge to die, even me. Yes! Insaneness (sort of) but really interesting scenarios. My favourites was number 4 and 5 and 2. Dumbledore only agreed to allow the potions because of Umbridge's connections to the Minister of Magic. She is bound to get written permission anyway and also James decided that of he can cause Umbridge to be shocked then…well…you'll have to wait and see what exactly happens. There was a grammatical mistake in the Fred/George part and I'll correct it when I've finished writing the story (whenever that will be!) None of my parents are teachers but my mum works in a school as a secretary. However my best friends mum is a school teacher and she hates writing lesson plans so I based that on her. I have to agree with you: Padfoot and Prongs are cute. I love writing about them. They are after all my favourite characters…closely followed by Remus and Lily. Right about James' transformation. When he showed Fred and George he did not get the chance to properly move around and make sure that he could actually keep in his form for a long period. That full moon was his test to make sure he could remember and sustain the transformation. I hope that makes sense! Once again, thank you for a marvellous review and your wonderful input! I hope you liked this chapter!

Next Chapter: A Few Talks - in which James and Harry converse several times and Snape actually smiles! You can read this chapter on Saturday!

See you all next time!

MissBlackPotter