Here's another chapter! Warning that there is a *very* mild spanking in this one, if that offends you, feel free to click on the X button. Thanks for reading and reviewing!
~Elle
August was moving quickly, what with James and Harry packing to move to Hogwarts for the school year. As their chambers would come fully furnished, they needed only pack clothing, toys, and other personal belongings. Before they knew it, mid August arrived and, with two weeks left till September, the Potters were settling into their chambers within the castle. James was pleased with the size of the chambers; Harry and James each had a bedroom, in addition to a living room and even a small kitchen so they could choose to eat in the chambers rather than the Great Hall.
James had barely set out moving his things into his bureau, when his energetic son shot into his room and jumped up onto the bed, begging James to go see Ollie's chambers. James had barely finished convincing him to wait and finish some unpacking when they heard insistent knocking on the door. James went to open it, Harry on his heels, to find the subject of their conversation on the other side.
"Ollie couldn't wait any longer," Darcey told him, an apologetic look on her face, "he's been begging to come up here from the moment we arrived."
James laughed and let her in as Harry had already grabbed Ollie's hand and dragged him into his bedroom. "Harry's been begging too," he admitted. "We were just about to go down if you hadn't come up."
The job of unpacking was quickly accomplished with a few waves of James' wand, and he spent the next few hours talking with Darcey on the couch while the boys played in Harry's room. Dinner approached too soon for his liking, and he found himself calling the boys to head down to the Great Hall for the welcome staff meal.
Harry observed and absorbed everything he saw on the walk through the castle from his chambers to the Great Hall. He was excited to explore, he and Ollie could find all sorts of fun here! But right now, he held tight to his father's hand as they entered the big room with floating candles and a sky instead of a ceiling. For it's size, the room currently didn't hold many people; they were all sitting at one table at the front of the room, and they were all staring at him at the moment and he didn't like it. Harry was not a shy boy by any definition of the word, but he suddenly felt himself feeling very shy as they made their way to the table holding a lot of adults Harry didn't know…and a few that he did. He knew Albus and Minnie, and he had met Poppy earlier that day, but the rest he didn't know. James sat down, and helped Harry into a raised seat next to him, as Ollie took the seat between Harry and his mother.
"Welcome, welcome!" Albus exclaimed with gusto. "As you all can see, we have a few new members of our staff, and will be hosting two younger members this year as well. James Potter is our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and of course his son Harry will be staying here; and Darcey Roberts is Poppy's new apprentice, with her son Ollie." Harry looked around as he was announced, and saw mostly kind faces and looks of welcome, but one man scared him, and he scooted as close to his father as he could in his chair. The man had black hair and black eyes, and stared at him with a mean, mean look. The rest of dinner was boring, the adults talked and after they were full, Harry and Ollie entertained themselves with a swordfight using their silverware.
At last, dinner was over and James invited Darcey and Ollie to the chambers for a celebration of their own. The boys changed into pajamas and they played a few rounds of exploding snap, before both boys were nearly asleep on their feet. The parents carried their children into Harry's room, and placed them on his bed, before enjoying wine and biscuits in the living room.
The hour got later, but James and Darcey never ran out of things to talk about. Finally, Darcey pointed out the late hour, and the fact that their boys would be waking them in just a few short hours. James suggested Darcey spend the night rather than attempt to carry Ollie back to their chambers now. Darcey agreed and settled in on the couch with the blanket and pillow James had conjured, and James went to bed his first night in Hogwarts with pleased but troubled thoughts. He hadn't had these feelings toward a woman in a long time, and he wasn't sure what to do with them. Especially when there were two little boys involved that, should things end badly, would get hurt. He was also fully aware of how badly he wanted to pursue his feelings, risks be damned!
The next morning, true to their prediction, the boys were up with the sun and bouncing off walls before the adults could have their first cup of morning coffee. "Ollie! Your mummy and my daddy had a sleepover, too!" Harry commented as James ordered breakfast from the kitchens, which appeared moments later on the small table. Afterward, Darcey took both boys back to the hospital wing where she would be helping Poppy prepare for students, while James went to a teachers meeting.
"Can we explore, Darcey?" Harry asked, as Ollie nodded in agreement, on the way to the hospital wing.
Darcey shook her head. "You'll get lost in a moment! I'd rather you wait for an adult to take you exploring," she told the boys, to their disappointment.
"We won't get lost, Mummy! We'll be real careful!" Ollie insisted, but Darcey shook her head, opening the door to the wing, and ushering the boys in. "Maybe James or I can take you later today," she offered, "Right now I have things to do. You boys can play in the office, I brought all sorts of games down." The boys grudgingly followed her past Poppy and into the office, where sure enough most of Ollie's games were sitting.
The boys played nicely for a good two hours before Darcey came to check on them and bring them a snack. "I'm very proud of you boys, you're listening so well and playing so nicely. Just a few more hours, then after lunch we'll take a walk around the castle," she promised, before leaving them alone again.
"I'm bored," Harry commented, putting down his cracker. "Me too," Ollie agreed.
Harry thought for a moment, before his eyes lit up. "Hey, I know! Let's play we're dragon hunters, and there are dragons hiding all around the castle!"
"And we hafta find 'em before they take over the school!" Ollie agreed. He glanced out the door, his mother was in the store closet taking inventory and Poppy had left for Hogsmeade to pick up more potions ingredients. "I bet Mum won't even know we're gone, we just gotta get back here before lunch! She said that's in a few hours, that's ages away," Ollie commented, opening the door as quietly as he could.
The boys were able to make it through the hospital wing and out the door without being noticed. "Which way?" Harry asked, looking in each direction of the hallway they now stood in. As he looked down the vast expanse of corridor, he realized that it might be hard to find their way back, but put that thought aside at the thought of a fun adventure ahead.
"This way!" shouted Ollie, marching off toward the right, arm out in front of him. "The dragons are doomed!"
Harry followed, laughing, peering into different doors but finding nothing exciting. They took random turns, and climbed the first set of stairs when they came to them. Halfway up the stairs, the staircase began to move. Harry screamed at the unexpected movement, but the staircase stopped shortly thereafter, and both boys decided it was, indeed, pretty cool that they would move.
Harry opened the door to a bathroom, and Ollie, realizing he had to go, marched inside. Harry decided he'd better try to go as well, and made his way to a stall, when he heard a scream and fell tripped backwards in fright. There, in front of him, was a girl…but she was see-through! And she wasn't very happy to see him!
"This is a GIRLS lavatory!" the see-through girl—was she a ghost?—said. "You're not supposed to be in here!"
"I...I…I…we…we didn't know!" Harry stuttered in response. Ollie was standing against the stall he had been in, watching the scene in fright.
"Children shouldn't be here at all," the ghost said, angrily. "School hasn't started yet, I'm to be left alone in my misery for a little while yet! Leave here, and use your own toilet!" she shouted at the boys, before throwing herself into one of the toilets. Harry and Ollie wasted no time in hightailing it out the door.
"Did you know ghosts were real?" Harry asked. Ollie shook his head. "C'mon, no dragons in there, lets keep going!" he said, recovering from the encounter quickly and leading the way down the hallway.
"Ollie," Harry asked as they walked down a corridor. "You think your mum and my dad would ever get married? We would be brothers, then. Wouldn't that be cool? Neville's mum and my Uncle Sirius got married, and now Neville's gonna have a new brother or sister."
Ollie's eyes lit up at the idea. "Yeah! Maybe they would! We should ask them! I've always wanted a brother, and we would be great brothers! My mum and your dad like each other, and my mum is happier since she met your dad. I bet they would be good at being married."
So, the boys decided, they would each talk to their perspective parent about the matter at the earliest convenience.
And speaking of parents, Harry hoped he would be able to find his…and he wouldn't be in too much trouble.
As the boys came to another set of stairs, Harry paused. "D'you know how to get back to your mum?" he asked his friend. Ollie shook his head. "Maybe we should try to find out, then we can keep going," Harry suggested. Ollie agreed, and the boys backtracked. The hallways, however, were too confusing. They had no clue where they turned to come this way, and nothing looked familiar. Harry was starting to get concerned. They were lost! He mentioned this to Ollie, who seemed unconcerned.
"They're all in the castle," he pointed out. "They'll find us. But I bet it's not even close to lunch yet, lets keep playing for now!" Harry thought about this for a moment. True, even if he couldn't find his way back, he knew his dad was in the very same building; they might as well enjoy the time they have before they get in trouble for sneaking off. He agreed, and ran after Ollie, who was already halfway down the hall.
Meanwhile, in the hospital wing—
Darcey finished taking inventory of the supply closet, and decided to go and relieve the boys early. They could run around the hospital wing for a little while. She felt bad for leaving them alone for so long, but was proud of them for playing so nicely. She knew that was a big task for two energetic little boys! She would make sure they knew how much she appreciated it, and would reward them.
When she got to the office, however, it was to her surprise that the door was open and the boys were missing. She didn't see or hear them in the wing, and wondered how long they had been gone. She had just left them their snack an hour and a half ago, and she could have kicked herself for not checking on them sooner. They were playing so well in there before snack (and she had checked on them several times then), and she assumed they would follow her orders. Admittedly, she got so caught up in her inventory count, she quite forgot the boys were with her. She was so used to doing this kind of thing, and Ollie was never at work with her, that lost track of things. The door to the hospital wing wasn't properly shut; she quickly stepped into the corridor, but had no clue where they could have gone. She wished she had a spell to find two mischievous little boys! She called for them, to no answer, so she made a quick decision to go right. Darcey looked on her own for 20 minutes or so before she decided the boys could be anywhere by now, and went to the staff room instead. When she arrived, they were all exiting the staff room for lunch.
She pulled James aside. "What's wrong?" he asked, noting her frantic demeanor.
"Harry and Ollie ran off. They asked if they could explore the castle, and I told them one of us would take them later; they could get lost on their own. They were disappointed, but I asked them to play quietly in the office while I finished some work, and they ran off on their own. I looked, but I'm afraid they could be anywhere by now. I'm so sorry, James. I should have checked on them sooner," Darcey said, a tear running down her cheek.
James wiped it away. "It's not your fault they decided to run off," he told her. "They probably just decided to have a little adventure despite you." But James was concerned; there's no telling how much trouble two 4 and 5 year old boys could find in a castle this size; especially when not everything was secured for student safety yet. The castle wasn't safe for two little boys to be wandering alone.
"Come on," he said, taking her hand and leading her after his co-workers on their way to the great hall. He caught up with Albus halfway across the hall. "Harry and Ollie decided to explore the castle, we're not sure how long they've been gone," he told the headmaster. "We're going to find them."
"We'll all help, James," Dumbledore said. "You two will have a hard time finding them yourselves, they could be anywhere. I'll alert the ghosts to keep a lookout as well." James nodded his agreement as McGonagall began assigning territories for each teacher to search.
~The boys~
The boys made it up several more flights of stairs, slayed several imaginary dragons, ran in and out of room after room, through corridor after corridor. At long last, Harry's tummy started rumbling, reminding him of lunch. He stopped Ollie.
"I bet it's nearly lunch," he told his friend. "I'm hungry! Let's try to go back now." Ollie agreed, realizing his hunger as well.
They walked for quite awhile, trying to find their way back down without success. Now, it was Ollie starting to get anxious. "D'ya think they'll find us Harry? This place is awful big!"
Harry was scared, too, but he put on a brave face. He was almost a whole year older then Ollie, after all. It was his job as the oldest to make Ollie feel better. "Don't worry, Ol. We're in the very same building, they'll find us! We just gotta keep trying to find them too! Maybe it's not even lunch yet. If we find the hospital wing, maybe your mum will never know we left!" Harry held out hope, but he had a feeling they were noticed.
"I guess," Ollie agreed, "and I bet…" but he paused, noticing that Harry had stopped dead. He had just walked through something icy cold; it gave him the shivers. He caught Ollie's surprised face and turned around to see another of the see-through people floating in front of them. This one, however, looked much more cheerful then the girl in the toilet.
"Well, hello there," the man said. "You wouldn't by chance be a Mr. Harry Potter and a Mr. Ollie Roberts, would you?"
Harry nodded yes before asking, "are you a ghost?"
"That I am," the ghost replied.
"We saw a ghost before! She was mad at us for going in her loo. But we didn't mean to, I just hadda go, I didn't know it was a girls toilet," Ollie explained.
"That would have been Moaning Myrtle; she's a sad, sad soul," the ghost-man replied. "Sir Nicholas De Mimsy Porpington is my name."
"That's a funny name!" Ollie said, giggling.
"I beg your pardon?" The ghost asked, offended.
"He means it's long! It musta taken you a long time to remember!" Harry said, coming to his friends aide.
"Indeed," was the reply. "You can call me Sir Nicholas. You do realize that the entire castle is on the search for you two, all ghosts included," he informed them.
"Ya mean theres more of you ghosts?" Ollie asked, eyes wide.
"The entire castle? All the teachers?" Harry asked, eyes also wide.
"Yes, on both counts," Nick replied.
"We got lost! We were playing, but we couldn't find our way back!" Harry exclaimed, defensively.
"Follow me, I shall lead the way," Sir Nick told them, turning and heading back in the opposite direction, leaving both boys to chase after him. A floor down they found the mean looking man from the Great Hall.
The man's lips turned upward, but it wasn't like the smile Harry was used to seeing. It was mean. "There you are. Think you're beyond the rules, even now, Potter? Think you're old enough to go strutting about the castle on your own the first time you set foot here? Think it's funny that the entire staff has to put it's time on hold to look for the likes of two snot-nosed little children? Here for not even a day and you think yourself below the rules, and drag your little friend along with you. Just like you're father, you are, Potter. Come with me." He grabbed both boys by the arm, and turned toward the ghost looking piteously at the two young boys. "Find their parents and tell them I'm taking them to the staff room," he said, before turning and dragging the boys after him.
Harry was confused at the scary man's words. He wasn't sure what the man meant about strutting and being beyond words, though he was sure that despite the man's mean words he had complimented him and said he was like his father. Still, Harry understood that for whatever reason, the man didn't like him. He quietly allowed himself to be dragged back to the staff room, where he was shoved in a chair next to Ollie and sat waiting for his father.
When Nick told the frantic parents the whereabouts of their sons', the two hightailed it back to the staff room to find two sullen faced little boys sitting on a large chair with a cruel looking potions master standing in front of them.
"Thank you, Severus," James said, stepping past him and pulling Harry up into a hug, as Darcey did the same with Ollie.
"Maybe if you taught that kid a little discipline, he would…" Severus began, but James cut him off. "Thank you for finding them, Severus. We'll handle it from here," he said dismissively, referring to himself and Darcey. Severus turned and stalked out of the staff room, leaving James, Harry, Darcey and Ollie alone in the staff room. James let go of the hug and sat his son back in the chair, as Darcey did the same.
"What were you thinking?" he asked, angrily. Both boys looked at their knees, and did not answer. "Harry," growled James.
"We were bored," Harry explained, quietly. "We just wanted an adventure."
"So you just left? After you were told you weren't allowed to wander around the castle on your own? There are good reasons you were to wait for an adult!" James exclaimed, his anger evident. He reached down and pulled his son off the chair, leading him back to their chambers. Behind them, he knew Darcey was taking Ollie back to hers.
When they had reached their chambers, James closed the door and sat down, standing Harry in front of him. "You deliberately disobeyed Darcey, did you not?" he asked, sternly. "She said she would take you later!"
"Yes, but…" Harry paused, and looked down at his shoes. "But what?" James asked, to no answer. "But what, Harry?" he repeated, lifting the boy's chin to look at him.
"We…we wanted to play by ourselves! It's not an adventure with a grown up, and we…we thought we would be back and Darcey would never know we left! It was stupid that she said no, anyway!" Harry exclaimed, indignant once he got going.
That, apparently, was not the right thing to say, as James turned Harry to the side and swiftly landed two smacks to his son's backside. "OW!" Harry yelled, and threw his hands back as James stood and led the boy to the table, sitting him in the chair. "You respect the adult in charge of you, Harry. You don't run off and do whatever you think you can get away with, just because you want to! I want you sit here and think about why your choices were wrong today. I don't want to hear a word until I tell you speak," he instructed, and settled down on the couch to do some thinking of his own.
Truthfully, he knew Harry was a lot like him, and while that made him proud, it also made him nervous; he did NOT want a teenager like he had been. James never set much store by the rules, either, and got away with far more than he should have. His parents were good parents and did the best they could, but had their only child later on in years, and spoiled him rotten. They wanted to believe their perfect son could do no wrong. He could admit, now, that he was a disrespectful conceited little git with an insanely inflated ego as a teenager, and he couldn't blame Lily one bit for despising him until he'd matured. While he felt like a hypocrite, Harry wasn't going to get away with all that James had; his parents hadn't done him any favors by letting him get away with everything. It had very nearly gotten him expelled.
Five minutes later, James joined Harry at the table. "Well, what did you think about?" he asked after a moment.
"I disobeyed," Harry replied. "And I guess we worried Darcey, huh? We didn't mean to, daddy! We just wanted to play, we were sick of sitting in that room!"
"You worried all of us, kiddo. We had no idea where you two were, or if you'd even left the castle. This is a huge school, it's very easy to get lost in and it's not a safe place for two little boys to be wandering about on their own. And yes, you did disobey Darcey. We don't make rules to stop you from having fun, we do it to keep you safe. If you had just gone out and told Darcey you were bored, do you think she would have said, 'tough, I'm busy, go entertain yourselves'?" James asked. Harry shrugged. "What do you think she would have done, Harry?"
"Found us something to do?" Harry suggested after a moment. "I bet so, maybe she would have even taken you for a walk around the castle right then, for behaving so well," James responded. "I don't know if I can trust you to obey the adult I leave you with, next time, bud. What if you get hurt because you're doing something you're not supposed to."
"But I won't!" Harry insisted. "I'll be good!"
"That's what you said this morning when I left you with Darcey," James pointed out. "So here's what's going to happen. For the rest of today and all day tomorrow, I'm not letting you out of my sight. You'll be right by me, all day, wherever I go, and there will be no playing with Ollie. If you can obey me all day, I'll trust you to do the same for others, and you may play with Ollie again and have some freedom again. Understand?"
Harry nodded, miserably. "I'm sorry, Daddy," he said. James pulled him into a hug and squeezed him tight. "You're forgiven, bub. I was just so worried about you!" With that, James ordered lunch for Harry and himself, and both ate ravishingly. After lunch James challenged the boy to a game of exploding snap in an attempt to lighten the mood. It worked, and within moments Harry was laughing hysterically.
A short while later that afternoon, James led Harry through the halls to his classroom. "You know what would really help me out a lot?" he asked on the way. Harry looked up at his father, waiting for the answer. "If you could help me organize my classroom," James continued. "You're so good at organizing and I need your input! Do you think you could help?"
Harry nodded eagerly. "I like helping you, dad!" he told his father.
"Good!" James said, as they entered the classroom and he magically opened the shades and windows, letting the sunlight and fresh air stream in and. "And look how plain this classroom is! I bet some of your pictures could liven it up in here. Do you think you could draw me some pictures, too?"
Again, Harry nodded eagerly. The two set to work, Harry telling his father where he thought things should go and James taking his advice and unpacking the room. Then, as James sat down to do some lesson planning, Harry drew pictures copied from a book of magical creatures for his father to hang up around the room.
"Daddy," Harry spoke up, suddenly remembering his pact with Ollie.
"Yeah?" James replied offhandedly, looking at his lessons and not completely paying attention.
"Will you marry Darcey?"
"What?" James asked, missing the question.
"Will you marry Darcey?" He asked again. This time, James heard loud and clear, and nearly fell out of his chair in surprise at the question.
"What makes you ask that?" He finally asked.
"You like each other. You make her laugh, and she makes you smile. Auntie Alice and Uncle Sirius got married because they like each other. I think you would be good at being married," he told his father, very seriously.
James managed to choke back a chuckle at the innocent response. Not that he hadn't imagined the possibility of a life with Darcey; he had. It was just…"there's more to being married then liking each other, Harry," he explained, turning his chair to face Harry's little table.
"Like what?" Harry asked, putting down his crayons and looking at his father.
"Well, you have to love each other."
"You look like you do."
"And you have to be able to work together, and do things as a team."
"You make a good team! "
"You have to be able to talk about disagreements without turning it into a fight."
"You never fight with Darcey. You always just talk."
"You have to be able to raise kids together."
"You already do that, too, silly!"
James didn't know what to say, but Harry sure did.
"So here's what you should do. You should buy her a ring, and then ask her to marry you. Or if you want, I could ask her for you. Because I think she makes a real good mummy, and I want her to be mine, too. And I want a brother, too, and this way I don't have to wait for my brother to grow up like Neville will, I can play with him right away!"
"Hold on there, buddy," James halted him. "You're going way too fast for me. Darcey and I are just friends right now, alright?"
"Do you love her?" Harry interrupted.
James startled at this question, because truth be told had fallen in love and he knew it. That was enough for his overly observant little boy. "I knew it!" he remarked.
"Now listen here," James told him. "We've only known each other through the summer. And I need you to understand that if I ever do get remarried, she wouldn't replace your mum. I want you to always remember your mum Lily and how much she loved you."
"I know that, daddy!" Harry brushed the statement away. "I still can have a new mum and still love her though, just like Neville and his daddy!" Harry looked down at his parchment and colored for a few seconds before looking back at his father. "Is my school gonna be this big, daddy? Will I get lost?"
James, grateful for the change of subject, assured his son that his new school would be much smaller, and no, he would not get lost. The rest of the time before dinner was spent discussing what Harry's new school would be like, and by the time it was time to go to the great hall, Harry seemed very excited.
In the great hall, James held true to his word and did not allow Harry to sit next to Ollie at the table, to both boys' dismay. Darcey sat between the boys, with James on Harry's other side. Without prompt, Harry apologized to Darcey for disobeying and sneaking away. James was very proud, and told him so. James reflected on the negative side to Harry's punishment; he couldn't invite Darcey to the chambers that evening if Harry wasn't allowed to play with Ollie. James suddenly wished he'd thought to discuss the boys' punishment ahead of time, because Ollie seemed quite upset that Harry wasn't allowed to play that night.
"Darcey," Harry spoke up halfway through dinner, "will you marry my dad?" James and Darcey both started coughing, choking on whatever was in their mouths at the time, and James was fully aware that his sons' question had brought stares in their direction.
"Harry!" James finally caught his breath. "We talked about this!"
"Yeah, but you never said no, and I told you I could ask her for you, so I am," Harry told his father, before turning back to Darcey. "So, will you?"
"Yeah mum, will you?" Ollie chimed in.
"This isn't an appropriate conversation for right now, Harry. I'm sorry, Darcey," James said, trying to disengage the conversation.
"But she didn't say no, dad!" Harry insisted. "Ollie and I talked about it, and we wanna be brothers, and we both want a mum and a dad. And we love you guys, and you love each other, so whats the big deal?"
"Harry, that's enough," James said, sternly this time. "This is not an appropriate conversation right now, drop it please."
Darcey, for her part, simply smiled as she lifted her mug and took a large drink of tea.
Back in their chambers, James was having a very hard time convincing Harry that it's not his place to ask Darcey to marry him. Harry insisted that if they waited on James, it would never happen, and he didn't see what they were waiting for, and Darcey didn't say no, and James never said no, either.
The next morning at breakfast, James sat next to Darcey, so Harry didn't have as much capability of talking to her, two seats away. The two stole glances at each other, trying to figure out what the other was thinking all throughout breakfast, and barely spoke a word to one another. James felt awkward after the questioning of his son the night before, and didn't want her to feel uncomfortable. He spoke shortly to other professors, not really paying attention to the conversation. When they were finished eating, James ushered his son out of the hall quickly and up to the classroom.
That morning he had another staff meeting, at which Harry had to sit quietly at a table in the corner of the room, coloring. Harry was not a happy boy by lunch time, as his father wouldn't let him do anything on his own; he even walked him to the loo! But he did a good job of obeying, determined to win his freedom back for the next day.
Lunch was much the same as breakfast, the impregnated silence between James and Darcey pulsating, obvious to all, while they both gave short contribution to other conversations. Again, James rushed Harry off after lunch, and spent part of the afternoon doing lesson plans while Harry colored.
"Daddy, I'm bored," Harry complained after 2 hours of drawing. Can we go play?"
"I really need to get these done, Harry. We'll play for a little while before dinner. I can summon a toy from your room though, what would you like?"
"Can't I go play with Ollie? You can get your stuff done, then," Harry asked.
"Sorry bud, you know what I told you yesterday."
"But I've been good all day!" Harry contradicted.
"You have, but I said all day today, and the day's half over. Make it through today, and tomorrow you can play with Ollie again, and I bet you won't be running off on your own, will you?"
"No," Harry replied with a sulk, picking up a crayon, "I won't."
An hour before dinner, James called it quits and pulled out a set of gobstones, challenging Harry to a game, to which Harry won.
"Are you gonna talk to her at dinner, dad?" Harry asked as the game ended.
"That is not your business," James responded with finality.
Halfway through dinner that night with the same awkward silence, Harry cracked. "Darcey, do you wanna be my mum or not?" he asked with exasperation.
James was coming close to throttling his son for his tactless questions, but Darcey's response took him by surprise.
"I'm not sure that's what your father wants right now, Harry," she told him kindly.
"Yes he does," Harry contradicted. "He just won't ask you cuz you've only known him for a summer. But he wants to."
James clasped his hand over Harry's mouth, and was getting ready to carry him out of the Great Hall if he had to, to keep him from saying another word. He caught Darcey's eye and gave her a smile. He knew his son was right; he had fallen in love with Darcey.
"Well if that's the case, I think your father needs to open his big mouth and ask me himself," she winked at Harry. Harry pulled James' hand off his mouth, and spoke up.
"Yeah, dad, open your big mouth and ask her yourself!" He repeated.
James, taking the only course of action he could think of, finally spoke up.
"Well, what do you say? He didn't give me much time to buy a ring, but…"
Darcey smiled brightly and leaned over to kiss him.
"AHA!" the voice from the other side of the table broke the moment. "Twenty galleons to me!" Filius Flitwick exclaimed.
"She hasn't said yes," McGonagall contradicted.
"That was a yes," assured Darcey, and James laughed out loud as McGonagall handed over the gold.
"What was the bet?" he couldn't help but ask. "That we would or wouldn't get married?"
"Oh no, we all knew you would get engaged sooner or later," Fillius assured them as Snape stood up with a disgusted look on his face and wordlessly left the great hall. "Minnie just thought Harry wouldn't successfully play a part in it. I disagreed, I bet that Harry would succeed in the end."