Author's Note: After an unintended hiatus, I'm back. Thank you so much to my reviewers, it means a lot to me. Please don't be afraid to give me constructive criticism. Also I'm looking for a beta reader if anyone is interested and I'm still looking for a nice picture for the summary thing. Also, I'm American. I'm ignorant and I've been using our measurement system. I apologize but I'm probably gonna keep using it for the sake of consistency. Anywho, onwards.

Chapter 3: In Which James Receives a Pleasant Surprise

It was morning already. The rest of the Gryffindors were busy prepping ready for class and getting breakfast before it was too late. James, on the other hand, was sitting idly in front of the fireplace in the Common Room. The bag containing the food from the kitchen was sitting on the floor completely empty except for a half-finished butterbeer in his hand. There were no circles under his eyes and his clothes looked relatively clean but despite the outward appearance, he really did feel like crap. Arguing with a person for half the night did that to you, especially when she went to bed at midnight but he couldn't sleep for anything.

"You realize dad would give you The Look right now if he saw you," called a voice from over top his head.

James rolled his head back to see Albus staring down at him. He snorted; Albus looked like he was the one who had stayed up all night from the sleepy look in his eyes that never went away before noon really. He reached up and rubbed Al's head then got up and stretched. "It was a long night. He would understand."

"Doubt it," Albus frowned as he attempted to get his hair to lay down flat. It somehow now looked like a halo was surrounding his head. James did not feel nice enough this morning to tell him. "You know, you should get Fred up. I haven't seen him yet. He's worse than me and that's terrible." Al patted down his hair some more than turned to leave.

"Oi, you know we're sixteen. We really don't need you as our mom away from mom."

"Except I really do considering mom gives me a monthly salary to make sure you two survive until she sees that you're ready to be mature adults," Al muttered and walked away.

"Wait, really?" James asked but Al just waved. James stared after his younger brother and shook his head. There was no way that was true. Was it? He wasn't that bad. Well sometimes. He always got by though so that's what counted. James threw the bottle into the food bag then sprinted to the stairs taking them two at a time to get to the 6th year boys' dorm. Sure enough, Fred was still sleeping in his bed that was conveniently located next to his own, currently completely made bed.

"Aguamenti," James whispered and a stream of water shot from his wand hitting Fred square in the face. Fred shot up and stood on his bed gasping. James laughed and went into the bathroom to wash his face; that had to be the best spell taught so far this year.

"You are so evil," Fred groaned and he stepped into the bathroom and started to brush his teeth at the sink next to James. It seemed as though everyone was having a bad hair day; the water made Fred's fire red hair stick completely back from his face like there was a huge gust of wind blowing right in his face.

"Where is Zach? He's usually the one who gets you up," asked James as he took a wash cloth and rubbed his face all over trying to wake himself up for the rest of the day. It was going to be rough; he hadn't pulled an all-nighter since exam time last year. He had stayed up for 46 hours and slept close to that amount as soon as his head hit the pillow at his house. Thank God it was Friday and Quidditch hadn't started yet.

Fred scratched his nose and thought. James rolled his eyes; Fred could hardly remember anything if he wasn't totally awake yet. "Oh yeah!" he said spitting toothpaste all over James' face. He glared but Fred just grinned and spat the rest out in the sink. "I think before Zach left he mentioned something about Greenhouse 4 this morning so that meant he had to leave."

James groaned; that greenhouse for herbology was the furthest away from the school, "That little prick couldn't even wake me up."

Fred went back into the bedroom and James followed, "To be fair, you're usually the first one up. He probably thought you were flying or something. So don't blame him all the time."

James sighed and the two of them dressed in silence. He wasn't actually mad at Zach, in fact he hadn't been mad at him since their 3rd year when Zach had sided with Al instead of him in some stupid argument. Granted, he was pretty sure Al was right in that one particular instance, but it was the loyalty that mattered.

He glanced down at his watch; he could still get breakfast if he ran down to the greenhouse the rest of the way. James put all of his books for the day in his bag and the two of them headed downstairs. There was hardly anyone left in the Common Room at this point; everyone took breakfast very seriously when there were house elves involved. This morning though, James would be lucky if he got a piece of toast before he had to leave. It was all Claire's fault…

"So," said Fred as the two of them went down the tower and waited for one of the staircases to swing around to their side, "How is your darling Claire? And who's side can I put the winning tally? I left when the two of you had resorted to calling each other 1st year insults. Seriously, douche canoe?"

James grimaced, "It's like you can read my mind. Better put the tally on her side this time. That makes it what, 10-5 to her just for this year?

"12-3. I'm counting the train ride hers considering how weird you acted until you made up. Also two nights ago was definitely her win."

"But she said I was right!"

"Then when you left, she immediately started saying how easily she could twist the famous James Potter around her finger."

James ran his hand through his hair and sighed, "I honestly couldn't even tell you how the freaking fight started last night. I'm convinced she just wants attention at this point. I mean, seriously, why do it in the Common Room where every single person can hear it?"

"Phrasing."

"Fred."

The stairs swung around and the two stepped on and climbed down silently. Fred finally said, "You know, I'm not an expert with the whole relationship thing, but are you sure you actually want to stay with her? She's turning your life to hell."

"You just want to win the betting pool."

"It's up to 200 galleons. But that's besides the point. It's ten times worse this year and we've only been in school a week," Fred glanced over but James didn't want to respond. He knew that Fred was right, he really did, but there were those times when Claire was so nice, just like the girl he asked out last year. Plus, he had a date for the Yule Ball; he didn't want the horror story that his father told him to ever come true. He shook his head; it was so easy to get into the Emo Potter mood.

Fred cleared his throat, "Well, new topic kind of. Let's talk about where you went when you had the half hour break in fighting and you came back into the Common Room with a huge grin on your face. Claire was so pissed about that, let me tell you."

James laughed, "Good." They stepped off the staircase and head down the hallway towards the Hall. He paused, wondering if he should said anything. It's Fred, I tell him everything, its fine he thought and shook his head. "Well," he said with a small grin, "I may have met Miss USA last night."

His cousin stopped dead in his tracks, "James. You didn't. Did you ask her out for me?"

He rolled his eyes, "God no, she was completely lost. She wanted to get to dinner somehow got to the Gryffindor tower. So I showed her the kitchens. I think she's pretty nice, kind of sarcastic. She had no clue who I was though…"

Fred completely lost it and bent over laughing. James whacked him on the head. It wasn't that funny. "Sorry, sorry," Fred wheezed and started to walk again but still chuckled, "That must have been a blow to your ego."

"Yeah well," James started and trailed off. Yes, he was used to people knowing who he was by sight. He usually liked the attention; after all he and Fred spent the past 5 going on 6 years trying to create something that was totally separate from their parent's identities. But last night when MJ had no clue and was just treating him like a normal person… it was different. It was nice in a way, especially considering how most of Gryffindor had an inside scoop on his relationship at all times thanks to Claire and her opportunistic and loud fighting.

The two cousins opened the doors into the Great Hall. As expected, most of the Hall was completely full but none of the people in his class were still there. He leaned down at the table to scope out what food he could grab and eat while on the run while Fred managed to sit down and already had a mouthful of scrambled eggs. James sighed, grabbed a piece of toast and tried to layer on as much peanut butter on it as possible. He was just about to get set off when he heard a familiar laugh and looked over at the Ravenclaw table.

There was MJ Roberts laughing with two other girls who backs were turned towards him.

James frowned and thought back to the past week. She had to be in his class, he was pretty sure she had snuck in the back the whole week. So why on earth was she still here? She was a Ravenclaw, those types definitely did not like being late. Unless… James groaned. She really had no clue where Greenhouse 4 was. It was the only possible explanation. "Hey Fred, watch and be jealous," James said and walked over to the Ravenclaw table.

As expected, he got quite a few glares from the older Ravenclaws that were still annoyed at the negative points a few years back (it wasn't even their house, they could get over it). James plastered on a smile though that turned into a real one when he saw that MJ was actually talking to one of the only Ravenclaw girls that he could stand, Carrie. Thank Merlin that meant MJ definitely was not like Claire. Just like he thought. As for the other girl… "Why good morning, Carrie, MJ, how are you? And Rose, what on earth are you doing here? Al ditch you for once?" he asked in a very pleasant tone. At least, he thought it was a pleasant tone.

MJ muttered, "It's Mindy." Like that was ever going to happen.

Rose sighed and pointed back toward the Gryffindor table. Sitting there, next to Al quite calmly was Scorpius Malfoy. Now that would explain why Rose was over here instead of at her usual place; glued to Al's side. He raised an eyebrow, "Now that's just weird. Maybe Al needs help with potions?"

"Al always needs help with potions but Scorpius normally wouldn't even step foot near there. No one is even protesting! There's something going on here. Al is hatching some diabolical plan that is going to end badly for me. I know it," Rose grumbled and put her head on her arms. Clearly, she was done talking.

Carrie cleared her throat and narrowed her eyes, "Got all the family drama settled for now? Then Potter, what are you doing on probably the only end of Hogwarts that doesn't bow to your every whim."

"Always a wonderful way with words, especially this early in the morning Carrie. Anyway, MJ, you're in herbology now correct?"

MJ sighed once again (dear God she could rival Al in that department) and said, "Yes, I am. But I really do know where the greenhouses are. I still have 5 minutes before I have to leave."

James snorted, "You mean you should have left five minutes ago. It's a 20 minute walk down to Greenhouse 4 and we have 10 minutes left."

Carrie's eyes widened, "Mindy, he's actually being straight for once. No wonder we couldn't find Marie this morning. You have to go now."

"Well shit," MJ groaned and got up quickly almost knocking over the bench in the process earning quite a few glares from the rest of the Ravenclaws. She waved back but Carrie was too busy scolding the rest of her house to pay attention. James grinned; MJ certainly found herself a protector. Then he realized that Mindy was leaving him in the dust.

He jogged to keep up with her, "So, you're planning on running the whole way down?"

"Yes, do you think you can keep up?"

James looked down at her. She was a solid foot shorter but she didn't seem to have any trouble with the current pace. "Ha, of course I can," he grinned and ran a little faster at the pace that would get them there in time.

They got to the front door and James pushed it open to reveal an unusually sunny day. It was early in September and the grounds were still a bright green. The air was clear enough that the lake could easily be seen and James swore he saw a tentacle come out of the depths. On crisp days like today, he couldn't help but run faster. MJ had no trouble keeping step; in fact she threw her head back and laughed, "I've missed running so much! I haven't done it since I've been in England."

He smiled at her enthusiasm. He didn't see much of it this early in the morning from anyone except Lily. "Oh, you run? Do you play sports? Quidditch maybe?"

She shuddered, "Dear God no. I hate heights though I do love Quidditch. I just watch from the sidelines. Running is just something I do for fun." James' mouth dropped in surprise. She didn't like flying. That was like… That was impossible. How could someone hate heights and flying? No, no it wasn't possible. But yet, she was totally serious. "Oh come on now, someone else at this school has to hate heights too," she said with a grin.

"Yeah, but I usually don't like them."

"You've talked to me for only about an hour total now. How can you be sure you like me?"

"Instincts," he said with confidence and she laughed again. Any other person and James would have hated it. They would have been making fun of him. Perhaps, she still was. But he could tell it wasn't cruel. She was just genuinely a happy person, something he was sure he liked. "You know, if it wasn't for me, you would have gotten lost again and I would have lost my bet already. I don't usually lose that quickly."

Their strides got a little faster but neither was out of breath. "Well," she said, "I figured that with the whole numbering system, Greenhouse 4 would be right beyond 3. I guess I was wrong."

"When they redid Hogwarts after the Final Battle, they put all the dangerous and valuable plants into Greenhouse 4 to try to avoid anyone stealing them or whatever. Apparently there was something with mandrakes and gillyweed. Professor Longbottom had quite a bit of knowledge as to what plants they needed to put in there apparently." James strongly suspected for the longest time, however, that his father, Uncle Ron, and Aunt Hermione had given him ideas.

"I see," she said. They continued at their current pace. "Listen, about last night…"

"Did you pull an all-nighter too?"

She grimaced, "Unfortunately yes. But I did get everything done so that's something."

"Congrats."

"Please, don't die from excitement," she said and James couldn't help but laugh. "But seriously, thanks for helping me. And I'm sorry if I didn't recognize you at first. I mean, I couldn't tell if you were offended or something…"

"Not offended, it was just different. I wish I could say I was kidding when I tell you that I'm a pretty big deal around here."

She snorted, "No you don't. You love it."

James grinned, "Okay fine, maybe I do like it a little bit. It was weird that you didn't know. But it's okay. I mean, I don't care. I… am rambling. All-nighters are not my strong point."

MJ looked at him for a second. James looked back. Her face was unreadable like she was trying to decide something about him. It took a second, but the blank face turned into a smile. "You know," she said as they turned onto a path that took them towards the Forbidden Forest, "I don't believe you're as bad as the other Ravenclaws make out."

"Is that an actual compliment?"

"Why I believe it is," she laughed once again and this time James laughed with her. They fell into a comfortable silence as they got closer to the greenhouse. It had to be twice the size as the other 3 greenhouses but somehow the inventory was a whole lot smaller. Some of the plants were just bigger, others just needed more room. Nevertheless, it was intimidating all the same. Only 6th years and above were allowed in unless they were with Longbottom. Not even James had attempted to break in; the automatic penalty for even being around the greenhouse was a suspension.

James and MJ sprinted toward the door just as Professor Longbottom was getting there to close it. "Cutting it close, Mr. Potter," he glared at the two of them before heading back to the front of the room. Neville Longbottom was perhaps the kindest man that James knew outside the classroom, but inside the classroom when it came to anything that was remotely connected to punishment, he said that he liked to channel one Professor Snape and scare his students just as he was scared as a kid. James thought it was a bit crazy.

James glanced around the room and saw that unfortunately the only two places left was one seat next to Zach and the other next to Claire. There was no way he was going to make MJ sit next to that particular time bomb. He looked over and saw MJ biting her lip as she thought about the seating choices. At least he could make this particular choice for her, "Hey you should sit next to Zach. He's cool. I'm going to have to sit next to my girlfriend."

MJ snorted, "Again your enthusiasm astounds me." She patted his arm in sympathy and went towards the back to sit next to Zach. That left James to trudge to the front where Claire was chatting with her friends though he knew that she had seen what just happened.

He slid into the seat and began chomping on the toast that he still had left. If she could go 5 minutes without talking to him this morning…

"So I see you met the new girl this morning," Claire whispered with her eyes narrowed.

"We were both late and going to the same place. There's no need to make another fucking scene," he whispered back and pulled out his textbook actually intending on using it in this period for once.

"No scene needed," she muttered back and pulled his arm close to her. She flipped her hair back just enough to give herself an excuse to look in the back of the room and immediately frowned. James turned and glanced back to see what she was looking at. Zach and MJ were currently cracking up at something that he had written in his notebook, probably one of the cartoons he was fantastic at making of their school life. Strangly accurate too. God, he would have given anything to be back there.

"Mr. Potter, do I need to give you a detention already?" Longbottom's voice called from the plant he was currently standing at (a variant of Devil's Snare according to the picture he had turned to in his textbook).

James was really in no mood to play nice. "No sir," he said with a forced smile, "I just thought I saw a toad go by my desk. I guess I was wrong."

The entire class stared at him utterly confused at what they thought was going to be a joke. Longbottom simply tightened his lips (to either keep from yelling or from smiling James would never know) and turned back to the plant. James turned to Claire and muttered, "Truce till the end of the period. That's it. I'm done talking."

Claire nodded and the two of them actually listened for a change. At least, James tried to. He really did. But he knew that MJ and Zach were not paying attention from the muffled chuckles and he could feel the glares coming from Claire's friends. Now, if only the tables had more than 2 seats. Or what if he just made the tables attack. That would be hilarious. The first person they would attack would be Claire then they would form their own military. It would be martial law declared in Greenhouse 4 by the very chairs and tables they thought to oppress.

"Class dismissed. Essay due next Friday. Have a nice weekend everyone!" Longbottom said quite cheerfully. James blinked. Okay, maybe he wasn't paying as much attention as he originally thought. Still, a table army would be an epic prank. Something to consider in the long run.

He felt a tug at his arm. "Hey James," said Claire. James sighed and looked over at Claire who had packed up to leave already. She bit her lip as he put his books away and continued in a soft voice, "Look, it's been a rough week. Everyone goes through those once in a while. Can we just have quiet time tonight? Me and you, just like last year?"

"I sense a trap," James said. It was probably a bad idea but at this point, he really couldn't care.

"No trap, just you and I. If that is what you still want."

He looked at her. Unlike MJ, he could look at her straight in the eye. Claire looked particularly pretty today. Her hair was pulled back and she looked innocent for once in her life. Maybe he was just being hopeful, but perhaps there was something in her wanting to make up. "Come on," he said with a small grin. See, this is why he still dated her. He put his arm around her waist as they walked out of the Greenhouse and up the path behind most of their other classmates.

No one was around them for one glorious second. Claire laughed to herself and snuggled into him further. She never full out just laughed, it was always a little a giggle here or there. Not like MJ. MJ sounded as though she could laugh until she cried. Speaking of which, where did they go?

"James!" Zach called out breaking the silence of the Hogwarts grounds. There they were. James and Claire turned around to see Zach and MJ still laughing to themselves as they jogged to catch up to James and Claire. Claire slid her arm around James. He didn't have to look down to know that she was frowning. Merlin, he had talked to MJ twice. It was as if he couldn't have any friends who were girls now.

MJ was all smiles though. "Hey guys," she said still laughing, "You must be Claire! I'm Mindy though of course you already knew that. James told me all about you."

"Of course, how nice to meet you," said Claire cheerfully. James raised his eyebrow; despite how happy she sounded, her arm gripped even tighter around his waist. It was kind of uncomfortable really. He looked over at Zach but Zach just shook his head a little and mouthed, 'Wait.'

MJ said quickly, "Well, Zach says that you have Ancient Runes next as well. I would love to go with you; I've been getting lost all week! And maybe you could answer a few questions? I'm sure you know way more than I do. I would love some insight on the shopping around here."

Claire didn't answer but James could feel a lot of the tension leave her arm and finally she let go. "Yeah, I'm sure it's rough not only transferring schools but a different country too. Come on then, we'll be late otherwise. Bye James!"

The two girls left and started to walk a little faster to get to the tower where Ancient Runes was held. Within a few steps, MJ was waving her arms in a story and Claire was giggling like mad. James and Zach stood still just watching for a few seconds. There was no way that James would even attempt to understand girls. He turned to Zach, "What just happened?"

Zach snorted and started walking. He started, "Well I told her what happened last night with Claire. What was the official tally mark?"

"Claire won."

"Damn, remind me to give Lily 5 galleons. Anyway, she felt bad and told me about how you helped her find the kitchens. So sweet."

"Shut it."

"Anyway, Mindy said she wanted to help you and I told her how much Claire wanted to meet her. So not only did she take a furious Claire off your hands but I think she gave you some brownie points for the future."

James said nothing and ran his hand through his hair. It was such a nice day and they had to head back into the castle which sucked. At least they didn't have potions today. They would really be bad. They would have to go into the dungeons and there were no windows in there. But the tables were okay in there. Maybe they could form an alliance with the tables in the Greenhouses. Seriously, why hadn't they done a table army before?

"Earth to James. Please come in."

James shook his head, "What?"

Zach groaned. James looked around; they were almost to the castle already, he must have really been day dreaming. Zach continued, "Anyway, like I was saying, you could use Mindy to your advantage."

"What? I thought it would be bad; wouldn't Claire think I was cheating or something stupid?"

Zach laughed, "God, everyone knows you are probably the most honest person outside of Hufflepuff. Nah, if you're friends with Mindy, Claire is going to have to step up her game or else you might break up with her."

James frowned, "But I'm not going to break up with Claire."

"Not according to Lily's betting pool."

"I hate my family and friends. I want to be isolated forever."

Zach snorted, "Fat chance." They opened the door to the castle and went inside. James couldn't help but wonder. MJ certainly wouldn't care about him that much but what would Claire do? Or he could just let the girls figure out their thing. That would be best; girls were a different species that dealt with their own. He had more important things to worry about.

He had to prepare for a table rebellion.