Chapter 3:

Will alternate between Susan Pevensie-McGonagall and James Potter's POVs (plus a few Marauder Pov's every now and then)

Susan McGonagall looked at the group of First Years gathered on the steps. Some she recognized by older siblings or parents, some she'd never seen before, some were unfamiliar, but clearly were familiar with Hogwarts, and one she knew very well indeed. She gave a small imperceptible smile to James Potter, who was talking to some boys he'd clearly met on the train.

James still looked a great deal like his father, but Susan saw Peter's jaw line, Edmund's build and Lucy's smile. It had been three years since the train accident, and James had changed a lot. He was determined to hold onto his memories of his mother, but had changed. He had always been funny and mischievous, but recently he had begun pranking. He had also gotten a pair of glasses.

She resisted the urge to smirk when James was Sorted into her House. That was 5 Galleons from Pomona and 10 from Charles, who'd both been certain James, would be in his mother's House. Instead, she called the next student's name.

James smiled sadly. He'd taken out an old photo. In it, a young woman with long golden hair was holding a baby. The baby had tufts of messy black hair and hazel eyes. Every so often, it would make a movement, causing its mother to laugh, and cuddle it closer. Sometimes, when he was lucky the woman would look up, and he would see her bright blue eyes.

"What do you have there James?" He jumped. He'd thought they were all off somewhere, but somehow, Remus had snuck back in silently.

"N-nothing." James managed a smile, tucking the picture of his mother into his pocket. "Why?"

"You're crying mate." Was he? He hadn't even noticed, but now he realized there was wetness on his cheeks. He rubbed them away quickly. "What were you holding, mate?"

"Just a old piece of parchment. I was trying to find one for the Transfiguration essay, you know." Remus didn't look convinced, but let it slide. James cursed his own sensitivity. It had been four years, and he still cried every time he saw a picture of his mother. By now, everyone would have forgotten the accident. Everyone except him and Dad. And Aunt Susan. They would never forget.

He closed his fingers around the photo in his pocket. I'll never forget you Mum. You didn't deserve to die.

There was a knock on Susan's office door. She cursed inwardly. It was March 27. She always canceled classes on this day. Had for the past four years, and would as long as she taught at Hogwarts.

"Come in," she called. To her surprise, her nephew came through the door. "James?"

"Remus almost saw the picture." Susan sucked in a breath. That picture was one of the last things James had left of his mother. His father had packed all her belongings in trunks, and locked them in the attic, except for the Narnian things (which Susan had), Lucy's old teddy bear (from the Blitz), and a few photos. James was terrified that his friends would find out about his mother, and so brought only one picture of her to Hogwarts. His favorite sat at his desk at home. It was a picture of the two of them, taken on his eighth birthday, exactly a year before she died. But that was beside the point.

"But he didn't?"

"No. I managed to play it off as looking for a piece of parchment for your essay."

"You mean the essay you finished yesterday?"

"They don't know that." Susan sighed.

"You will have to tell them someday."

"Fine. If we're still friends six years from now, I'll tell them. It'll be the ten-year-anniversary anyway." Susan wasn't happy with his answer.

"Six years."

"Yes. My eighteenth birthday. As good a time as any, right?" She laughed a bit at that.

"Fine. Would you like to hear some stories about Lucy when she was little?"

"Yes please!"

"Well, when she was eight years old…"

Unbeknownst to James or Susan, James' friends were listening to the whole conversation. Sirius spoke first.

"Bloody hell." Remus chuckled dryly.

"While normally, I would scold you for your language, I think that sums it up quite well. Bloody hell indeed."

"So, how does our Jamesie-poo know McGonagall as more than his professor? Also, what are we going to learn in six years? Also, who's Lucy? Also, IT'S JAMES'S BIRTHDAY?" Unfortunately, he was so loud that they heard him. James opened the door, and sighed.

"Come in you lot."

"I assume you heard all of our questions." James nodded.

"Yes."

"Will you answer them?"

"Yes."

"Will you answer them now?"

"Some."

"Which ones?" Finally, Peer spoke.

"You'll have to ask, and see." James responded. He grinned, but it was clear his heart wasn't into it. For the first time, they noticed the shadows under his eyes, and the hoarseness of his voice.

"Okay, let's start with the first one. How do you know McGona-sorry Professor McGonagall so well?"

"She's my Aunt Susan." James replied in a bored tone. Next?" However, his best mates were gaping at him like idiots. "Stop looking at me like that. I know I don't I look like her, but do people always look like their relatives?" Remus shook his head. "Right. As I said, next question?"

"What are we going to learn in six years?" Peter asked.

"What I now have to tell you now. Next?"

"Hey! You didn't answer!"

"Yes, I did. Next question please, unless that was it?" His voice had a hopeful tone.

"Nope, not the last. Who's Lucy?" Sirius asked. The three were surprised to see a tear trickle down McGonagall's face, and James turn away. "Sorry, I didn't mean-"

"No." James turned back to them. "Lucy is-was-my mother."

"Was?" Remus asked. McGonagall sighed.

"And now, it is time for us to tell you what you would have learned six years from today, had you not been eavesdropping." Her tone had an edge of disapproval to it, and they were a bit ashamed. But only a bit.

McGonagall turned, and rummaged a bit in her desk, before pulling out a framed photo. When the boys looked at it, they saw a teenaged girl. She looked about sixteen, and had golden hair and bright blue eyes. She was wearing Hufflepuff robes, and had a prefect badge pinned to her uniform. The grin on her face looked familiar, and Remus (as usual) was the first to figure it out.

"She has James's smile-er-when he isn't smirking, that is." James snorted.

"First off, yes, I have Mum's smile, and I'm glad I do. Second, my mother smirked just as much as I do. Where do you think I got the skill?"

"Lucy did not smirk!"

"Yes she did. Just never in your presence. But she smirked just as much as I do."
"That," Remus said, "is a truly scary thing." James performed the aforementioned smirk. Sirius shuddered.

"For once I agree with Moony." Remus turned to face him.

"For once!" He asked, teasingly annoyed.

"Anyway… " the three of them recognized that tone of voice. It meant "shut up before I stop acting my age, and hex you". They shut up. "Thank you. Now, as I was saying, this is a picture of my late sister, Lucy Pevensie-Potter. She was in her Sixth Year when this was taken."

"She was a Hufflepuff?" Sirius asked, surprised. "Sorry Professor, I didn't mean to-"

"It's alright, Mr. Black. Yes, Lu was a Hufflepuff. Our oldest brother Peter and I were both Gryffindors, and my younger brother Ed was a Slytherin."

"Short for Edmund." James whispered at his friend's looks of confusion. "Mum's younger older brother.

"Wait, your family name is Pevensie?" It was Remus who asked this. James nodded. "My mum, she had a childhood friend, whose name was Pevensie. I think her first name was Lucy, actually." James gaped at him.

"Your mum was childhood friends with my mum?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Wow."

"My thoughts exactly." Sirius said. "So you two were like, destined to be friends, or something. Wait is that the thing?"

"Yes Mr. Black, that was. You may all go. I do not expect you three back inside my office until tomorrow. Is that fair?"

"Yes." Remus said, speaking for all three of them. "But what about you, James?"

"I'm going to visit my dad." James said. "I already got permission from Dumbledore, and my Head of House, Aunt Susan, so I'll be back tomorrow morning."

"Alright. See you tomorrow then."

"See you tomorrow."

(Yes, I know this one was quite long, but it felt wrong to make one scene into four of these little drabble-thingies.)

Susan smiled.

"Here it is," she whispered, picking up the wood. Just as she remembered it, nine inches long, made of maple, with a unicorn-tail-hair core. Lucy's wand. The wands had been the only things found of the Pevensie's belongings that. Susan knew why. Peter, Edmund, and Lucy had been transported to Narnia, and the wands were un-Narnian. Aslan couldn't-or wouldn't-bring the wands. It wasn't as if they needed them. The minute the train crashed, they had stopped being the Auror (Peter), the businessman (Edmund), and the fierce protector and mother (Lucy). She found Peter's wand (thirteen inch hawthorn, with a phoenix-feather core) and Edmund's (eleven inch cherry with a dragon heartstring core) in the drawer. When James came of age, she would give him his mother's wand.

She smiled more at the thought of her nephew. He was fourteen now, and even though you had to look close for signs of Lucy, they were still there, and he still ate like a Pevensie-large amounts of food, and fast-, smiled like a Pevensie, and had a Pevensie's personality. Even if the rest of the world didn't see it, Susan did. Lucy lived again, in her son.

(Okay, this one was really short, but I wanted to do a piece on wands. In case you were wondering, maple represents the element water, and Lucy was crowned "to the glistening eastern sea", hawthorn represents the element air, and Peter was crowned "to the clear northern sky", and cherry represents the element earth, and Edmund was crowned "to the great western wood". In case you were wondering, I made Susan's wand twelve inches long, and made of poplar, with a unicorn-tail-hair core. Yes, poplar represents the element fire, and Susan was crowned "to the radiant southern sun". If you don't believe me on the crowning, watch LWW. Actually, watch it anyway. It's a great movie.

Also, I going to make these drabbles in to at least two chapters, since one seems too long. This is the end of Chapter 3. See you next chapter, after I write it.

Thanks,

Swanglade37