History Repeated

So, I don't own Harry Potter...Damn.

Thanks to those who have followed, favored, and/or reviewed.

1 September 2015

As the boats crossed the lake, James stared at the castle of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with wide eyes. The dark sky shimmered as the stars blinked at him. A smile grew across his face as he examined everything within his line of sight.

For a moment, he thought he was in another time, visiting the castle of a long-dead king he'd only hear about in history books.

"Blimey," he muttered under his breath.

Behind him, Louis and Lucy sat, he could hear them talking about Quidditch and only briefly commenting on the appearance of their new school. If he weren't so mesmerized by the castle in front of him, he'd turn to them and ask why they weren't as amazed as him.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" James heard the girl sitting next to him say, her Scottish accent sticking out to his ears.

Turning his eyes away from the school, he stared at the girl, who had one hand gripping the edge of the boat, but her eyes were still firmly planted on the castle. Her sandy red hair was in a loose, messy braid and her robes were as messy as his was, as though she too spent the morning staring at the ceiling as he did. He wondered if she thought of stars too.

As he looked away, James said, "Yeah, it is," before looking back at the girl, whose brown eyes were staring back at him.

"I'm Gemma."

"James."

James watched as the girl shoved her hand inside the pocket of her robes and pull out a packet of Smarties chocolate. "Want some?" she asked, holding it out to James.

"Sure, thanks," he said and held his hand out. Gemma poured some into his outstretched hand and he grinned. "I didn't see these on the trolley."

"I know," Gemma said as she poured a few of the candies into her hand before pocketing the package back into her robes. "I brought them from home. My Mam got them for me yesterday. Dad wanted me to get some wizard sweets, but I've always preferred the muggle kind since I was raised in that world."

"You were raised in the muggle world?"

Gemma nodded. "Mam's a muggle, Dad's not," she explained. "What about you?"

"Both my parents had magic," James said after throwing the chocolates into his mouth. "But I was raised by my aunt and uncle in the muggle world."

"Do you know which house you want to be in?" Gemma asked.

"No," James admitted. "Both my parents were in Gryffindor."

"Same to both," Gemma revealed. "Well, only Dad, not Mam obviously."

James smiled. "Have you read the Percy Jackson books?" he asked, figuring that since she lived in the muggle world, she must have at least heard of them.

"Yeah but I prefer reading manga."

"Manga?"

"You have so much to learn, Jamie."

"Yeah, wait...Jamie?"

They would talk until the boats docked and the incredibly large man at the front of the group led them through the large doors of the castle until Professor Longbottom arrived to lead them to the Great Hall of Hogwarts.

James barely listened to the man's speech; he was too invested in watching the paintings around him interact with themselves, gossiping about the incoming students and a poltergeist called Peeves.

"—And please," James soon heard, causing his head to snap towards Professor Longbottom as the man spoke. "Despite these times, remember to enjoy your time here. Hogwarts is the safest place in our world."

James frowned as Professor Longbottom caught his eye, pressed his lips into a quick smile before the man continued to address the first-year students. "Everybody form a line and follow me, please," the professor said as turned and began leading everyone to the large double doors that led into the Great Hall.

James found himself in front of Gemma, who, when turned his head, looked as nervous as he felt. Despite that, Gemma smiled, so James did too.

As his feet began to move like they were working without him, James heard Louis muttering under his breath in French in front of him. Normally, James would wonder what his cousin was saying, but he was caught off guard by the real-looking stars in the ceiling as stepped inside the Great Hall.

"Blimey," James muttered. He barely noticed the four rows of long tables filled with students dressed in their uniforms, with the colors of their house sticking out. His eyes stayed on the ceiling, staring at the night sky and grinning. He hoped there were more rooms like the Great Hall, he could imagine himself staying there for hours and watching the stars as though he were outside.

He only stopped when he bumped into Louis, causing him to look at his cousin and mutter out, "Sorry."

Louis, who had up until then been whispering to himself, stopped and looked at James. "It's alright," James' cousin said as his dark blue eyes darted away from James. "My sisters were right," he said. "The Great Hall's brilliant."

James agreed wordlessly as his attention started to slip back up at the ceiling, only for it to crash when he heard a voice begin to sing.

Long ago,

Here stood four wizards,

All noble and true

Until their ends.

James' stood with his mouth wide open as he glanced down at the singer; a ratty old-looking pointy hat.

Brave Gryffindor of English moor,

Intelligent Ravenclaw from Scottish glen,

Loyal Hufflepuff of Welsh valleys,

And cunning Slytherin from Irish fen.

Together, they sought

A new home for

Young witches and wizards

So, like yourselves.

One by one,

They built this Hall

Until it grew into the

School we stand before now.

Come dear students,

Come one, come all!

Learn to your heart's content,

And mind your sighs of the outside world.

For Hogwarts school was

Built to keep young witches and wizards

Safe from those who sought

More cries from lies of dangerous foes.

No worries,

Dear students!

For Hogwarts has stood so long,

And many years it will stand when you are gone!

James didn't know what to think when the Sorting Hat closed its mouth. He glanced at Louis and Lucy, who both seemed unfazed by the talking hat and its strange song. Looking on his other side, he saw Gemma, who stared at the hat with a frown on her face, as though she was as bewildered as he was. He wanted to ask her if she was confused but jumped when the tables around them burst into cheers.

He turned back towards the Sorting Hat, where Professor Longbottom was at as the man picked up the singing hat and said, "When I call your name, you will come up here and be sorted into your house." He gave the small group of first-year students a small smile as he began calling out names.

"Bones-Fletchley, Amelia!"

A girl with dark blonde hair walked up the stairs and sat down on the wooden stool. The Sorting Hat was placed over her head and fell past her eyes.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat shouted. Amelia Bones-Fletchley took the hat off and went off in the direction of the cheering table with students wearing yellow and black uniforms. James, as he watched Amelia walk-off, saw Teddy clapping from the table the girl sat at.

"Bones-Fletchley, Bryce!"

James watched as a boy with dark hair but similar features to Amelia walked up to the Sorting Hat.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The table where most of James' elder cousins sat burst in their own cheers as Amelia's brother...cousin? walked over.

"Burridge, Morgan!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Ewell, Kit!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Finnigan, Gemma!"

Next to James, Gemma jumped upon hearing her name being called. She walked up to the Sorting Hat and when it was placed on her head, it covered her brown eyes completely.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

James watched, grinning as Gemma jumped off the stool and excitedly walked towards the Gryffindor table.

"Flint, Addison!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Goldstein, Benjamin!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Goldstein, Elizabeth!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Goyle, Eugenia!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Macmillian, Justin!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Nott, Alexander!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Potter, James!"

"Did he say, Potter?" James heard as his name was called.

"Wasn't he mentioned in the Prophet?"

As he began walking up to where Professor Longbottom was with the hat, he clenched his fists as he heard everyone talking about him.

"He's Harry Potter's son!"

When James sat down on the stool, the hat was placed on his head and covered his eyes as he heard the Sorting Hat's voice in his head.

"Another Potter," the hat said. "I never thought I see another, after hearing about your father and mother."

James frowned and the hat sighed in his mind.

"My apologies, Mr. Potter," the hat said. "Let me see...Ah, you have plenty of courage in you, a great affinity for learning but where do put you? Ravenclaw? No, not there." The hat didn't speak for a moment or two before James heard its decision.

"How about...GRYFFINDOR!"

James blinked as the hat was taken off him. He heard Gryffindor's table cheering as he hopped off the stool and walked towards it as another name, "Smith, Maeve," was called. He sat next to Gemma, who was grinning.

"Good," Gemma said. "At least I know someone here."

"Oi," Bryce said, causing James and Gemma to look at him. "You and I sat on the train together!" He said this as a girl, "Thomas, Willow," became a Gryffindor.

"Yeah, sorry Bryce."

Bryce rolled his eyes as he glanced at James. "Nice to meet you, James," the other boy said. "Did you know our parents were in the same year together? My Mum, and your dad and Gemma's dad?"

"No," James said. "I didn't."

Bryce nodded. "My Mum was in Hufflepuff, though," he said. "She said he was real nice."

James didn't say anything as he heard Louis' name being called.

"Isn't he your cousin?" Bryce asked.

"Yeah," James said as the Sorting Hat was placed over Louis' head.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

James joined in his table's clapping as Louis came over, sitting next to Bryce with a wide smile on his face.

"Merlin," the blond-haired boy said. "That was nerve-wracking. Oh, Lucy's next."

James looked at his other cousin as she sat on the stood and the hat was placed on her head. It took a bit longer than James and Louis' sorting put together before her house was revealed.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Lucy looked relieved as she tore the hat off and all but ran towards the Gryffindor table. She sat next to Willow, who was sitting on James' other side.

"That was close," Lucy said as she shook her head.

"Why?" James asked as "Yaxley, Ogden," "Yaxley, Cordelia" and "Zabini, Flora" became Slytherins while "Zabini, Landon" became a Ravenclaw. He briefly thought about small his year was and wondered why that was.

"It wanted to put me in Ravenclaw," Lucy said as she frowned. "I'd never escape my sister then if I was put there."

Louis snickered. "You'd go mad if you did."

"You would too, Louis."

Louis shrugged as he turned his head. "Aunt Mione's looking at us," he said.

James looked up at the Head Table, where Aunt Hermione was looking at him and his cousins, a small but proud smile on her face.

"Why's our year so small?" James asked as he looked back at his cousins and fellow first-year Gryffindors. "There's only twenty of us."

"Not many parents want their kids coming here anymore," James heard. Turning his head, he saw Dominique walking towards them. She took the empty seat next to Lucy and sighed as she glanced at Bryce.

"Your brother Edgar had to fight with your parents to let him come here before our first year," Dominique told Bryce, who nodded.

"Yeah, still does," Bryce responded. "Only now he has me and Aimee to help, especially with Dad. He thinks we'll be safer learning at home, but Mum disagrees."

"Our family thinks it's stupid to do that," Lucy said, frowning. "Hogwarts' the safest place in the wizarding world."

"Except for all the times it wasn't," Willow said, frowning as her dark eyes landed on James. "Your dad was part of the reason why."

"Oh, shut up, Willow," Gemma said. "James' dad is the reason why we still have parents."

"Not anymore," Willow muttered under her breath. James frowned, wondering what she meant by that.

James looked away, unsure of how to respond to that. His dad defeated some bad wizard, Voldey-something, and everyone called him a hero but now he was dead. Did something happen after he defeated the wizard? Obviously, something happened, James thought as he ran a hand through his dark hair, otherwise both his parents would be alive. Aunt Angelina wouldn't have been attacked, and maybe Uncle Charlie would be alive, too. And all the others James didn't know about, but it was impossible to determine that. His parent's deaths didn't matter when it came to other witches' and wizards' deaths, but at the same time, it did.

If James' mum and dad hadn't died, maybe they would have been able to save the others who had died or had been attacked. Uncle Ron mentioned James' dad had been a wizard police officer, an Auror his uncle had said, and he had been one of the best ones at the time.

Of course, before he and Mum died, and left him without his parents.

"Attention students!" James heard, causing him to look up at the Head Table, where an old woman in black robes stood from her seat. All at once, the tables filled with students fell silent as the witch walked to the podium that suddenly replaced the stool that was used for the sorting.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts," the woman said. "I am Professor McGonagall, and before we start our feast, I have a few start-of-term notices for you all." James watched as McGonagall's calculating eyes found him before she looked away and began her speech. "Our caretaker, Mr. Filch, has again asked me to remind you all that no magic is to be used in the corridors between classes, and any products originating from Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes is banned from school grounds."

James couldn't help but smirk when he heard a chorus of snickers and snorts around him.

"The Forbidden Forest is off limits, as I must remind a number of you all time and time again," McGonagall said as she looked at Gryffindor's table. James noticed a large grin on Dominique's face and heard Freddie's laughter from a few seats away.

"Given the recent events that have occurred in the past year," McGonagall said after looking away from the Gryffindor table. "Hogsmeade trips will be supervised by professors for students third year and—"

That was when James stopped listening. Whatever McGonagall was saying now, it wouldn't affect him until he was in his third year. He looked down at his hands, which were resting in front of his golden dinner plate, and he began to tap his fingers against the wooden table until food materialized in front of him.

Jumping in his seat, James cursed as Louis laughed and Lucy began to pile her plate up with food.

"Magic, Jimmy, isn't it great?" James heard Lucy say.

Blinking, James nodded. "Er…yeah, it is."

As he began filling his plate up with food, he listened in on his fellow classmates' conversations.

"I wonder if History of Magic is as bad as everyone says it is," Louis said to Lucy.

"Don't be daft, of course, it is!" Lucy responded with. "It's one thing for your sisters to both agree on it being a horrible class, and it's the same when my sister says it's brilliant."

"You think?"

"I heard the professor literally died and went to his classes the next bloody day!"

"Shame we weren't around to witness that."

Lucy snorted. "I could only imagine how that day must have been like."

"Oi, James," he heard. Looking towards the speaker, he watched as Bryce awkwardly wave and say, "What class are you looking forward to the most?"

"I don't know," James admitted as he shrugged his shoulders. "Transfiguration seems intriguing…History of Magic, not so much after listening to those two." He motioned towards Louis and Lucy, who were both too enraptured with their own conversation to notice.

Bryce snorted. "Herbology for me," he said. "Professor Longbottom teaches that class; my brother says he's brilliant at it."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Bryce said as he looked past James. "I wonder if we'll be doubling with Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. My brother mentioned that since our years are so small, we'll be taking classes with other houses. The two houses with the most and the two with the least will never be paired together, so we'll probably never get a class with the Slytherins since they've got the same amount of first years like us." He frowned. "I honestly hope we aren't paired with Hufflepuff."

"Why?" Gemma asked as she entered the conversation, her fork raised in the air with a chunk of meat on it.

"My sister's in Hufflepuff," Bryce said as he sighed. "And as much as I love her, I'm equally annoyed with her."

Lucy laughed. "Sisters are supposed to be annoying," she said. "I've heard the same about brothers, too, but I wouldn't know since I've only got Molly…tragically."

James looked away after hearing this as he focused on his food. As he stabbed at his sausage link, he thought about his parents and if they had ever considered having another child. It would have been nice, he thought, having a little brother or sister. He wondered what his parents would have named the child. If it had been a girl, maybe Lily after his dead grandmother. He was named after his dead grandfather, so it would fit, naming his metaphorical sister after a woman neither of them would have met. Yeah, Lily. He would have had a sister named Lily; James reckoned as he ate his food.

She would have their mother's red hair and their dad's green eyes. She'd have freckles like him and maybe even the same nose. She wouldn't like reading unless James read stories to her. Blimey, she'd make her own stories and turn them into books that he would love reading. He always loved reading, and always would. Maybe Lily would, maybe she wouldn't; if she were real, he would know.

He wished she were real; he'd have a sister.

He wouldn't be alone, without his parents.

They'd have each other, him, and Lily, and they would be fine with one another.

He blinked and saw a woman with red hair and familiar brown eyes. She was looking down at him, with her hands on her nearly flat stomach. He could hear laughter, he imagined it was his own.

"Oi, Jimmy, stop daydreaming and stand up!"

James shook his head and looked up. Dominique was looming over him, with her choppy red hair and dark blue eyes.

"The feast's over," Dominique said as she pulled James out of his seat and nodded towards the doors that led out of the Great Hall. "Come on, I'll show you up to Gryffindor Tower since you missed the Prefects calling for first years."

James frowned. "Thanks," he said as he felt his cheeks burn. He wanted to kick himself for not paying attention, but his thoughts or whatever was just in his head was too important to miss.

As he followed his cousin out, he thought about the red-haired woman and a girl who would never be called Lily.

As Hermione walked into her chambers after the feast was over, she wasn't surprised to find Ron waiting for her. She knew their children were with her parents for the night, they always were on the first night of the newest term. She would see them on the weekend like she did every week of every month. It hurt, being away from them for five days but she always went home. She always had a reason to leave Hogwarts when her last class of the week was over with. Reasons, she remembered as the image of her two children came to mind. They would be at home when she left Hogwarts and they would still be there when she left home for Hogwarts.

"Do I get a sneak peek?" he asked with a grin on his face.

Hermione rolled her eyes but smiled at her husband's question. "They're all in Gryffindor," she answered, to which her husband laughed and raised his fists into the air as though he had just won the House Cup for Gryffindor.

"Brilliant, that means Bill owes me—"

"Ronald!"

Ron laughed as he pressed his lips against her cheek. "Just joking, mostly. Audrey owes me five gallons. Percy's going to be bloody pissed."

Hermione shook her head as she wrapped her arms around her husband and laid her head on his shoulder. "Harry and Ginny would be so proud of him," she said as Ron wrapped his arms around her waist.

"They would," Ron agreed as his chin came down on her shoulder. "They should be here, Harry betting against Percy's wife and Ginny getting upset about it." A light chuckle escaped past his lips. "Or the other way around, now that I think about it. Ginny would have probably betted ten."

Hermione smiled as she raised her head, causing Ron to do the same. Removing her arms from her husband's shoulders, she pressed her hands against the sides of his neck and carefully caressed one of the lingering scars he had received all those years ago in the Department of Mysteries.

"It's been far too long," she muttered mostly to herself. "There are days where I forget the past ten years."

Ron pressed his forehead against the top of her head. "Who would have thought our time with Harry would be so short," he said. "We only knew him for fourteen years. Back then, it was like a lifetime...but now, it feels like we only knew him for fourteen minutes."

"We knew him longer than his own son would know him," Hermione said as her brown eyes found her husband's blue eyes. "Harry and Ginny...they never got the time they deserved with James. They loved him so much, I doubt they could compare to the love the rest of us have for their son. They should be here; they should have been the ones who raised James. Not us, not the Dursely's, no one but them."

Hermione embraced her husband and nothing else would be said for the rest of the night. For once, nothing else needed to be said, nor would Hermione and Ron want to say anything.

So, what do you think?

Please, review, like, and/or follow. That would great.

Until next time...

Review(s):

Liz: Gracias por la reseña. Lo siento, mi español no es muy bueno.

Lily: Gracias por la reseña. Ginny es James madre, no Hermione. Lo siento.