A/N: This was done for the brotherly instinct competition with the character James and Albus, with the prompt 'waterhose'.
It all started when Albus tripped over the water hose.
They had been in Diagon Alley, helping their mother shop for groceries when Albus, not seeing the water hose lying there, stumbled and fell in plain view of a group of children who were playing near by. At first, they had just stared so he awkwardly got to his feet, brushed off his trousers, and ran to catch up with his mom.
The next day was when everything went to hell.
Albus had padded outside their house in the morning to enjoy the sunshine when he saw them again. They immediately circled him loosely, and yelled names at him, sneering at him distastefully with jealousy and cruelty. And then, at the sound of the door opening, they scattered and ran away, leaving Albus huddled on the ground close to tears. His dad asked him what was wrong, and he replied that he had tripped and it was nothing big. His father, after sending him a worried look, accepted his explanation and went back into the house.
It was just childish fun, he tried to convince himself, they would go back to whatever they were doing soon. But it had continued. Day after day, they came back to torment him and call him names. It got to the point where they became brave enough to start hitting him.
"I can't believe this is Harry Potter's son." One of them, the ringleader, sneered at him, before kicking him in the stomach and running away.
Albus whimpered softly to himself, hoping someone would come save him soon.
James would never admit it to anyone, but he was worried about Albus. He wasn't sure when it began but the realization came to him all of a sudden when he noted that Albus had become withdrawn, barely speaking to anyone anymore and never yelling at him after a prank. He could tell that his parents were worried too. They stayed up late at night, whispering to each other and wondering what was going on. It was then that James resolved to figure out the mystery, if it was the last thing he did. And so he woke up early the next morning, intent on following his younger brother to see what he was doing.
James quickly dove behind a clump of nearby bushes as he watched Albus walk out of the house with a miserable expression on his face and his shoulders hunched down. From such a large distance, James could just barely make out the fear in his expression and his stomach clenched with worry.
And then, a group of about four boys came out of nowhere and started taunting and mocking him. James went completely still with shock. How did he not see this? He was Albus's older brother, for goodness sake! One of the boys, having enough of name-calling, lunged forward with a fist balled up.
But the punch never reached him.
The boy gaped in surprise. In front of him stood James, hanging onto his fist with anger burning in his eyes. He was furious.
Letting his emotions take a hold of him, he proceeded to beat the crap out of the group with fists flying and feet kicking.
And as he stood there in the morning light with four unconscious boys lying around him, he silently turned around and offered a hand to Albus, who took it gladly. Suddenly, the tears started pouring out and James patted his head comfortingly. Together, they walked back to the house where their parents were waiting.
They called James many things: a prankster, a moron, a joker, or even the-idiot-who-decided-it-was-a-good-idea-to-jump-off-the-staircase. But one thing James never was, ever since that day, was a bully. And that was where the two James Potter's differed.