A/N: Oh I love my little story! Thank you so much for the great reviews, I love you all!

Sushiisquirrel: hmm….Dumbledore Lily's father….close…You'll have to wait and see!

MotherCrumpet: Right now I'm kind of going for the Lily/James thing, but you'll have to see how Dumbledore plays into all this…

Oh, and I should PROBABLY tell you guys that I LOVE writing cliffhangers….they won't happen for at LEAST another two chapters, but I will be mean about it…sorry!

"James Merlin Albus William Potter! Get down here this INSTANT!"

A short, messy-haired boy groaned and rolled slowly out of his bed. He reached for a pair of black wire-rimmed glasses on his bedside table, and slipped them on lazily. The boy, James, strode across the room, opened the door, and shouted,

"WHAT?"

Just then, a very pretty woman walked around the corner. She had long, glossy black hair that curled into beautiful ringlets. Her eyes were a very deep shade of blue, and she had a naturally nice face, even though she looked angry.

"What? What? Are you AWARE that today is the day of your father's business party, and your Quidditch things are ALL OVER the ballroom floor?"

James blinked slowly. "We have a ballroom?"

The woman groaned and thrust a load of muddy robes at her son. She busied herself, magically dusting and polishing the house.

James tiredly watched his mum flitting around. She OBVIOUSLY hadn't realized that it was only six in the morning, and his dad's party wasn't until suppertime. This happened every year: Henry Potter had a VERY important business client coming into town, and tried to impress him with his huge house and 'wonderful' family.

James knew his dad didn't really think of him as wonderful. In fact, he thought quite the opposite. Whatever James did was wrong. If he practiced Quidditch, he should have been helping his mum around the house. If he was inside, he should have been exercising. His hair was too messy, his clothes always too rumpled, and his attitude was unspeakably horrendous.

Henry and James had never gotten along. Wait, that was wrong. They had been more of friends than father and son. But that was before.

James didn't like to talk about the accident. It was too painful. That was the day his father disappeared, and became a monster. He hit James if he did anything wrong. If James behaved, Henry would suspect he was 'up to something' and send him to his room without supper.

As James glanced sleepily out his window, he saw a large golden owl rushing towards the mansion. James, now completely awake, shoved the window open and grabbed the letter the owl was bearing. The bird gave him a rather upset look, and fluttered away. James rolled his eyes and unrolled the scroll. He glanced through it quickly, and set it on his desk. It was just his Hogwarts letter.

James knew he would go to Hogwarts. He had known since he was, what? Three, four? The family house elf was running and errand, and James's mom had been cooking supper in the kitchen. When she turned away to consult the cook-book, her apron-strings had fallen into the fire. She hadn't noticed, and James panicked. Without realizing what he was doing, he picked up his mothers wand, pointed it at her skirt, and yelled something incomprehensible. The fire had gone out, and James' mum nearly fainted when she saw her burnt dress, and her little son holding her wand.

His parents had been so proud! Most children didn't show any signs of magic until about seven, and they DEFINETLEY couldn't perform a sixth-year level spell at the age of three.

James sighed and decided to talk a walk around the Potter Mansion.

The Potter house was very large. It was white, and dark green ivy grew up in pretty spirals. The weed didn't look messy, but made the house even nicer to look at. It was a very old-fashioned house, with turrets and a castle-like appearance. James hadn't really ever though of himself as rich. After all, the only people he had ever talked to before had been rich, too.

However, even the rich customers who came to buy Mr. Potters' expensive antiques were impressed by the family's great wealth. The mansion had over a hundred rooms, some James hadn't even explored yet. James had almost a whole side of the house to himself. This was because his father did not like to be bothered by ignorant little ten-year-olds.

Far away, thunder growled menacingly. James glared scornfully at the sky. He couldn't stand to sit inside the large house all day, being a good little boy and keeping quiet. He had to find a place to escape to. Hogwarts would have to be that place.