A/N: How did everyone like the 6th book? It definitely wasn't what I expected! Anyway, here's another wonderful chapter of goodness! I have to say, when I got 24 whole reviews for chapter 3, I was thrilled! Keep up the good work. :) This isn't the most exciting beginning…but it does get better! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Thank you:
Lapis Dragon: Glad you like!
Lara Jor-El: No, I've never used my brother as inspiration…but I should try that sometime! Yah, I could imagine my brother instead of James wreaking havoc in Transfiguration…it's kinda scary.
Blazora: Yup, James is adorable! He's all snuggly and lovable…and I'll stop now.
Silver Mayflower: -sweatdrop- Yeah, I didn't think that the dutch translation was right. I was going to use Latin, but I couldn't find a translator. There was no particular reason I used dutch, the language was just…there I guess. It sounded the most unpredicatibe! Thank you very much for offering to translate for me. I'll defiantly e-mail you if I ever need to know! And I'm glad your enjoying the story.
demonic angel23: I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the previous chapters!
Slytherin-Angel44: Yes James is cute. I'm glad the story seems cute too!
EmeraldHazel: I'm afraid that I've run out of chibi James'. I guess that you'll have to try checking Pathmark:) I hope this chapter is a good one!
Remus'Fiance: Thanks for letting me live :). Lily is being sweet. Can't you see her heart melting? And I'm glad you think that I'm doing a great job so far! That chapter was a lot of fun to write.
Lady Taliesin: I'm glad you like it. Well, I actually wasn't going to make the "plotting" significant…but now that you mention it, maybe I will. But there will probably be more plotting in the future!
astaf: I probably wouldn't have thought of the idea either except I was just thinking about how much I love chibi stories then I was like hey! I should write one! And I just happen to adore Lily/James so it worked out perfectly!
The Big Dance: I'm glad you think James' character is good. I was wondering if I made him too…un-childish. Yes I am going to be the author and tell you to wait and see :). And I would love to help you with your stories! I've already read and reviewed them. I actually sent you an e-mail, I don't know if you got it.
Procrastinator-starting2moro: The thing that James did when he was three was a completely spur-of-the-moment; though I am very proud of myself for coming up with that all by myself! I'm not the most creative person you see. And I hope Lily is doing her job well!
Prongsie4028: I love the bubbles too, though I have no idea where the idea came from. James getting a hold of Lily's wand was especially sneaky. I hope that gives some insight on his character!
the-power-of-love: Well, here's an update! Hope this was fast enough!
Miss Myrtle360: I never thought about the fact that chickens can't fly…but I guess that it doesn't really matter. The…thing is still a deformed combination of a chicken and a turtle; you're right, that is a weird combination. Belle's dress is really pretty. And don't worry, you're always appreciated! Especially the feedback…
Mimi: Cute is what I'm aiming for! And fluffy too…fluff is good.
Mistress del Mare: A five year old James Potter probably would have a steep price. After all, everybody wants one. As for the store? I guess you can try Pathmark…they might be sold out thought :)
Coco-Pop: Glad you like. I wonder which would sell out faster, a 5-year old James Potter or a 16 year old James Potter. Must remember to ask.
J.E.A.R.K.Potter: That chapter is defiantly one of my favorites! Hope you enjoy this update as well!
a thousand pieces: I'm sorry, I think that I took a long time with this chapter. Please forgive me! And yes, James gets cuter every time!
sarah k.: It's ok, at least you reviewed this chapter! I'm all sold out of little James', but you can try Pathmark! I hope it's original, and at least I now know that I'm doing a good job on James' character!
chikichiki: Yup, James is one adorable kid. As for his girl fans? Let's just say that if Lily wasn't protecting him, he would have been suffocated by now :).
Andie Potter: Glad you like the story! Wow, James probably has one hell of a big head now! Every reviewer says how cute he is!
silverpheonix2: It's ok; at least you reviewed this chapter! As for hugging James, just don't suffocate him! If you do, all his fans would probably kill you :). And that wouldn't be good 'cause I would have one less reviewer! (just kidding)
Chapter 4
Lily decided to try leaving James in the tower during classes and see what would happen. She didn't want another mishap like in Transfiguration to occur. Imagine if he tried something during potions! Professor Herbert would have a fit. Then again, would she rather risk coming back and finding the whole place in ruins? Well, there really wasn't any other choice.
After breakfast, Lily hurried to Gryffindor tower to drop James off. "James! Come on, I have to get you to the tower before classes start."
James pouted. "Why can't I come with you today?" he whined. "I'll be bored all by myself."
"Remember what we talked about James." was Lily's stern response. James sulked the rest of the way to Gryffindor tower.
"Snitch" Lily said to the portrait of the fat lady. The portrait hole swung open revealing the common room. "Now don't cause any trouble and I'll be back to bring you to lunch." With that, the portrait swung closed, subjecting James to have a very boring morning.
He flopped on the lush, velvet couch, trying to decide what to do to pass the time. The common room was deserted; everyone else was at classes. To James, this felt strangely like a time-out. Was he being punished?
James pondered on this thought thoughtfully. He didn't do anything wrong recently…or anything too destructive anyway. James decided to go up to the other dormitory (the boy's dorms) to see if he could find anything interesting.
He leapt off the couch and sprinted up the stairs. Upon opening the door however, he was met with a room that looked like it was hit with a hurricane. James gingerly poked something on the floor with his toe. He could have sworn that it moved. "Ewww" James said, wrinkling his nose. Suddenly exploring didn't seem so appealing anymore. Deciding that the risk of getting eaten by something wasn't worth having some fun, James closed the door and went back down the stairs.
James tried going up to the girl's dorms. After about and hour of searching, he found a puzzle in Lily's drawer. He vaguely remembered his mom saying something about them. They had a few at home; she claimed they were very educational.
James sat cross-legged on the floor. After dumping out all the mis-shaped squares, James began trying to match the pieces.
When Lily entered the common room three hours later, she saw an almost finished puzzle and James staring at in with intense concentration. It was almost comical to see a 5 year old with that expression. Kneeling down, she said "It's time to go to lunch."
James looked at her, those big hazel eyes filled with surprise. He didn't even notice her enter. "Wait, I'm awmost done." Then his attention was directed to the puzzle once more.
Lily smiled at the look of deep concentration was etched on his face once more. She remembered how she used to love doing puzzles; they were perfect for a rainy day.
"Done!" James exclaimed proudly, admiring the finished picture. It showed a peaceful country scene with trees and flowers and a bird or two.
"Very good!" Lily said, admiring his work. He was very smart for his age. Not many 5-year olds could have the patience to finish such a big puzzle and have all the pieces in the right place!
"Now can we go to lunch? I'm starving!"
After eating two sandwiches and drinking a goblet of pumpkin juice, James was once again dropped off in the tower as Lily went to ancient runes.
James was getting bored. He didn't feel like doing another puzzle. It was time for some mischief. Being good for too long can rot your brain. He would probably have better luck in the girl's dormitory; less chance of getting injured by some unknown object anyway. James happily skipped up the stairs and opened the door.
The room was still impossibly clean as always. Maybe there's something in the drawers... James opened every drawer he could find but all he found were clothes, clothes, and more clothes. They don't even have awny pranking things! Pouting, James flopped on his bed. What was a five year old to do?
Then his eyes spotted a vanity table that he didn't examine yet. Upon opening its drawers, he found something very interesting. "Oooh, shiny." James said in awe. He reached in and grabbed the stuff inside and sat down to have some fun.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
"What's the matter Lily?" Arabella asked. "You haven't stopped fidgeting since classes ended."
"It's nothing." Lily said, distracted. "I just have this weird feeling that we won't like what we'll find when we get back to the tower."
"Oh James is fine Lily." Sapphire said. "Have some faith. You said he was doing a puzzle before right? He probably found something else quiet to do."
"I hope you're right." Lily said grimly.
"Hey Lily!"
The three friends turned around to see Remus and Sirius running to catch up.
"Where was James the whole day?"
"Oh I left him up in the tower." Lily said casually.
Both Sirius and Remus paled at this. "You did what!" they said together in shock.
Lily looked puzzled. "I didn't think it was a good idea to bring him to class because of what happened in Transfiguration yesterday."
"But it's better to have him in sight. Do you know what could have happened by now! A bored James Potter is a very destructive thing!" Sirius said in panic.
Now Lily was annoyed. "He was doing a puzzle when I went to get him for lunch! I don't think he could have done that much damage."
"Trust me on this, he would have done something by now." With this, Remus and Sirius started sprinting down the hallway to Gryffindor tower.
"Hey, wait up!" Lily and her friends followed suit.
They all reached the portrait hole out of breath. "Snitch" Arabella gasped out. They all entered.
Lily breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the common room was untouched. She turned to the Marauders smugly. "See, I told you nothing would happen."
Then footsteps were heard coming down the stairs to the girls' dormitories. James came into view. "Hi Lily!" he said brightly. They all stared in shock.
"Oh my god..."
Remus and Sirius were now rolling on the floor in fits of laughter. "Blackmail" was all Sirius choked out before he started taking pictures. Sapphire and Arabella were trying hard to hide their amusement but were failing miserably. Lily was still in shock.
James was covered from head to toe with powder of all different colors. His hair looked like a whole bottle of glitter was dumped in it. And his cheeks...
"James, it that- is that lipstick?" Lily said horrified, brushing away a little of the bright red covering his chubby cheeks. James' grin, if possible, became even bigger.
Then Lily dashed up to the dorm only to find the once spotless room covered in makeup and glitter. James had used makeup and glitter to decorate the floor and walls of the room.
"Oh no..." Lily groaned.
"Doesn't it look better now?" James asked uncertainly. Lily didn't seem happy. "Aren't you happy that I decerated the woom for you?"
Then Lily exploded. "Happy! HAPPY! Do I look happy to you? I leave you here for a few hours and look what happens!" she screamed gesturing to the room. By now her friends had come up to see what was wrong.
"We'll clean this up for you." Sapphire said quickly.
Lily however, ignored them. She was looking at James. Her heat wrenched at the sight of his face. Tears were rolling down his face at an alarming rate.
"I- I was j-just t-t-trying to m-make the r-r-room l-look p-p-pretty!" he sobbed.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell." Lily said soothingly, feeling extremely guilty. He was only a child after all. She knelt down and pulled James into a big hug. James just clung to her robes and cried into her shoulder.
"Shh, it's okay. I'm not mad anymore." Lily gently pulled away from James and wiped his tears away from his face with her handkerchief, smudging some powder and lipstick.
"Now let's get you cleaned up shall we?" Lily said getting up from the floor. James nodded slowly. Lily turned to Arabella and Sapphire who were watching the whole scene. "You guys will be okay here?"
"Yeah we'll be fine." Arabella said. "You and James go ahead."
Lily went into the bathroom and filled up the tub with warm water. She even added bubbles and a rubber ducky for good measure. "Now come on" she said pulling James into the bathroom. In one swift motion, she pulled the robe over his head and dunked him in the water.
After shampooing James' hair vigorously to get all the glitter out and dumping water over him, she let him get out. After James was all dried and dressed, Lily tried taming the wild black bush he called hair with a comb.
"I wouldn't bother trying" James informed Lily. "My mommy said that it was impossible."
"I could see why" Lily muttered. Then she heard his stomach grumble. "Are you hungry?"
James nodded. Lily checked her watch. "Well we missed dinner...let's go down to the kitchens and get some food."
James immediately lit up. "What are we waiting for? Let's go!" With that he dragged Lily out of the bathroom and down the stairs. Lily laughed at his enthusiasm.
Remus and Sirius were still in the common room. "Where are you going?" Remus inquired with questioning eyes.
"To the kitchens!" James said excitedly.
"Then you might want this" Sirius said taking something out of his pocket.
"Is that an invisibility cloak!" Lily exclaimed with wide eyes. "But they're so rare!"
"Yup. And this actually belongs to James." Remus said. "Dead useful it is."
"So that's how you pull off all your pranks!"
"Yes, but don't tell." Sirius said with a wink.
James grabbed the cloak from Sirius' hand and examined the material critically. "So this will turn me invisible?" James said doubtfully.
"Just try it. Have fun in the kitchens you two!" Remus and Sirius walked off to go to their dormitory.
James and Lily slipped under the cloak and left for the kitchens with Lily leading the way. After tickling the pear ("that's so cool!"- James) and entering the kitchens, they were bombarded with house-elves.
"What could Toby get for Miss Evans and the child?"
"Um, I guess some food left over from dinner." Lily responded. Toby left immediately and reappeared 5 seconds, her arms overflowing with chicken, rice, a large roast beef, and almost anything you could think of.
James looked around slightly overwhelmed. There was just so much going on! Lily watched in amusement as he looked around every which way, taking everything in.
As soon as James spotted the food, his eyes lit up. Lily grinned at this. Boys and food, there's never one without the other. She watched in fascination as James managed to finish off at least half of what the house-elves brought- and that was saying a lot. Lily didn't understand how one so small could eat so much!
"Still hungry?" Lily asked after they had eaten dessert.
"No. I'm stuffed!" James said with a yawn.
"Are you tired? Maybe we should head back now." Lily said concerned. James nodded in agreement. The two went back to Gryffindor tower with the aid of the invisibility cloak.
She practically had to carry James up the stairs he was so tired.
"Hey Lily?"
"Yes James?" Lily said while crawling into bed.
"I'm sowry."
She looked at him in surprise. He looked so innocent sitting on his bed with his Gryffindor pajamas on and his glasses off; revealing the milky, chocolate orbs.
"I didn't mean to make a mess."
"It's alright. Just don't do it again okay?" Lily said, practically melting into a puddle of goo.
James just smiled and nodded.
As Lily rolled over, she thought I really need to start punishing him whenever he does something bad. But he's just so…cute! It's almost impossible to believe that he could me so mischievous!. That's probably why he always gets away with it…
A/N: First I must thank my wonderful beta redpillow for fixing the horrid mistakes in this chapter. What would I do without her? Anyway, how'd you guys like this chapter? Of course Lily tells him not to make a mess again…but she never said anything about something worse! Look out for some fun next chapter! Any guesses on what James will do? I'll give you a hint, it occurs in potions. Looks like Lily is starting to warm up to James now doesn't it? But you have to love James; especially in chibi form :) Review!
P.S. Which would you prefer, a 5 year old James Potter or a 16 year old James Potter? Question inspired by Coco-pop.