At precisely 7 o'clock in the morning, a mess of dark hair rushed into a sitting position. The owner of said unruly hair was an eleven year old boy by the name of James. James Sirius Potter. He immediately threw his covers to the floor and rocketed out of his bed with enough energy to wake all of Britain. A quick glance at his limited edition Puddlemere United calendar, complete with moving broomsticks, confirmed the date as September 1st.

A wide grin swept over the boy's face from ear to ear and he nearly broke down his bedroom door in his haste to run down the hall. It certainly wouldn't have been the first time.

"Come on, you lot! Get up, get up!" He called out, stomping his feet with every step. He tiptoed beyond his parents' room, knowing full well that his mother would curse him into oblivion if he dared to enter her room before eight in the morning.

Instead, a smirk that only an older brother could possess crept over his lips as he stealthily opened the door marked with a golden 'A'. Once inside, he snuck over to the bed, where a smaller boy currently slept. Despite the apparent age difference, the similar mess of jet black hair clearly marked him as a Potter and rivaled his brother's in its unruliness.

Slipping his hands underneath the mattress, James leaned in until he was about an inch from his sleeping brother's ear and took a deep breath.

"ALBUS THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE!"

Emerald green eyes snapped open in shock and a yell escaped the boy's mouth as his mattress was flipped over, sending him onto the floor for a second time that month.

"JAMES!" He shouted, ready to slaughter his older brother, but it fell on deaf ears for said tormentor had already left the room.

Sliding a leg over the English Oak bannister, James quickly slid downstairs and landed both feet onto the floorboards with a satisfying thud.

Brown eyes, bright with excitement, scanned over the kitchen table until they picked up on their desired target. A letter lay out in the open, sitting right on top of its broken envelope, the Hogwarts stamp peaking out from under it. He had nearly ripped the letter in half in his urgency to see its contents, not even a week ago.

Now, nimble fingers gently ran through the letter as if it were a precious artifact like the ones his Uncle Charlie often uncovered in Romania. He glided his thumb over his own name in the brilliant green penmanship, still awestruck by its presence.

It was finally his time. After eleven seemingly eternal years, James Potter was finally going to the famous Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The very same school that his parents had gone to, along with his aunts, uncles and cousins. And of course, Teddy Lupin, the best half werewolf metamorphagus wizard of all time! Well perhaps the only one at that.

Not to mention, he was practically James's brother, what with his dad being the boy's godfather and all. That fact that he was five years older than James and a skilled Quidditch keeper only seemed to verify that he was far cooler than his real siblings, Albus and Lily.

James was ready to burst at the idea of going to school with Teddy and with his many many cousins. After scanning over his letter once more, he opened the drawer where he knew his mother had hidden the brand new wand last night.

Eleven and a half inch ebony wood with a dragon Heartstring core, he thought, recalling the words of the famous wand maker Ollivander himself. He had been particularly delighted to aid the young Potter, but the pleasure soon turned into a mixture of amusement and annoyance at the boy's excitable and mischievous ways.

"You're every bit of the men you were named after." The man had said, though the words still didn't make sense to James. He tried to ask his father about it, but as usual, never did get a proper answer. Nonetheless, he had managed to procure a devilishly handsome wand, brown nearly black in color with a simple yet striking grip.

The eleven year old had proudly held onto it for the entire day, until his mother caught him terrorizing his siblings with it. After Lily's normally red hair turned bright pink and Albus developed a beak, the soon to be wizard was sent to bed with no wand. A troublesome smirk fell on the boy's face as he lifted his wand into the air, grinning when he felt a light surge of magic linger in his arm.

However, one wave of the wand resulted in sparks shooting out the end of it and striking down several pots and pans in the kitchen.

"James Sirius Potter, you better not be playing around with that wand of yours!" He winced at the sharp yell of his mother's voice from upstairs.

Ginny Weasley was not one to be trifled with and her eldest son was far from being an exception. He found it particularly curious as to how she had missed his attack on Albus entirely yet caught him damaging her pots. Then again, there were three things to never harm if they wanted to survive the wrath of his mother. Her family, her quidditch gear and her kitchen.

"Course not mum!" He hollered back up to her, tempted to try another bout of magic. But just as he waved his wand, it flung itself right out of his grasp. With a gasp of shock, he followed the direction of the flying wand and grimaced at whose hand it flew to.

Harry Potter tossed a half hearted glare at his son, shaking his head.

"What have I told you about underage magic?" James ran a hand through his messy black hair, a nervous smile on his face.

"It's illegal for wizards under the age of seventeen to practice magic outside of school." He admitted, but paused and let a shy smile befall his face. "But, I don't go to school yet-"

"And you won't ever if you don't pack your trunk." his mother interrupted, walking up behind her husband. Realizing his defeat, James ran off to his room to finish packing, leaving a smirking mother and father in his wake.

"I can't believe he's already going to Hogwarts." Harry sighed as he wrapped an arm around his wife. "Do you think he's ready?"

Another crash sounded from upstairs, making both parents cringe.

"I just hope Hogwarts is ready for him." Ginny laughed.

Half an hour later, the determined boy departed once again from his room, trunk packed in record time. It was full of everything a eleven year old would deem necessary. In other words, several quidditch posters, a box of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes pranks, an old wizard chess set and his beloved Puddlemere United jacket.

The jacket had been gifted to him by his father, despite his mother's formal rivalry against the Quidditch team. And although it was still much too large on him, he eagerly paraded around in it whenever the opportunity presented itself. Thankfully, Ginny had made him pack all the 'essentials' like robes, parchment and socks yesterday.

After hauling the obscenely large trunk out of the room with all the strength he possessed, James huffed in frustration.

"First spell I'm learning is how to lighten this thing." He groaned, stumbling down the stairs.

As soon as he made it down to the first floor, the smell of fresh bacon and eggs waved over his nose and he sprinted back into the kitchen to find his family already eating breakfast.

"Oi! You couldn't have waited?" He whined, plopping down between his two siblings, a cheerful Lily donned in her lavender Pygmy puff pajamas and a slightly disheveled Albus still rubbing his forehead.

"Well, we did want to eat some. You know, before you ate it all." the green eyed boy mumbled, causing Lily to giggle. James raised an eyebrow at the comment. Albus was normally rather quiet, more often rolling his eyes and ignoring his brother's dramatics than teasing back.

Then again, James had quite literally thrown his brother out of bed...again.

"Worry not, dear brother," he sighed, his voice full of pride as he crossed his arms and held his head high. "For I shall soon be eating like a king at Hogwarts. But until then..." He grinned and snatched two piece of bacon off his brothers plate, plopping them swiftly into his mouth.

"Hey!" Albus spoke up, only to have his already messy hair ruffled by said boy.

"Boys, do behave." Ginny sighed, rubbing her temples as Harry hid his amused expression behind the Daily Prophet. "We've only an hour before we meet the others at the station."

"Yes mum." Came answer from her sons, one glum and one forever mischievous.