A New Life in San Francisco

A/N; Oh what an evil, evil man I am. If you don't know what I'm talking about then read through this chapter. I hope you enjoy this chapter, especially the last sections.

Chapter 24; An Unexpected Witness

San Francisco – Sunday late evening

James woke from their evening nap as the alarm on Chris' side of the bed went off. They had stayed at Chris' flat for the weekend in case Sam or Jackie went around there. They'd had a weekend to relax and get away from the terrors that plagued James' life in Hogwarts. Chris groaned when James didn't instantly shut off the alarm so James leant over his boyfriend's chest and turned it off favouring doing it manually than letting Chris blast it across the room like he had the morning before.

"You want me to take you?" Chris asked sleepily.

James leant up and kissed him gently on the lips as he played patterns on Chris' exposed chest. "Don't worry. I could do with going for a run."

"You sure?" Chris asked without opening his eyes.

"I'm sure." James whispered in his ear before shifting away from Chris and sliding out of bed. He went to the dresser and pulled out a change of clothes from the drawer Chris had given him and then turned back to see Chris leaning up on his elbows, watching him. "What?"

"Everything tells me I should make you stay." Chris told him without any sign of his previous sleepiness. That more than anything made James stay where he was and stay silent. "But if I ask you to stay you will and as much as I don't want you over there my family needs protection from the Wizards."

"My family too." James pointed out. "That's what makes it possible for me to cope over there."

"The problem is that my mom and Aunts won't just turn their backs on the Wizards if you come back here." Chris sighed. "And Weasley beat Wyatt too easily."

"If it came to a real fight Wyatt could beat him." James assured him. "Wyatt was holding back and your family aren't used to fighting only to capture. You're used to killing demons."

"You'll look after them?" Chris asked.

James crossed the room and leaned down to kiss Chris' forehead gently. "Of course I will. Just as they're looking after me."

"Thanks James." Chris smiled at him. James kissed him more soundly before pushing Chris back down onto the bed in a clear sign that Chris should go back to sleep before he turned and headed for a shower.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

The Den

James changed back into his human form to move the statue aside with the password before he walked into the living area. It was barely six in the morning there but remembering how much Piper enjoyed fussing over people at breakfast he didn't bother to make any food. He did pour himself a drink of orange juice though and then went to sit out on the balcony to wait for the others to wake up.

Normally it was either Coup or Piper that were up first and normally they were followed by the early risers amongst the children, normally Matt and Jason but when it was almost half six he heard a light set of steps coming down the boy's staircase and turned to lean against the balcony as Felix walked into the common room and looked around. He was fully dressed but looked rather strained. James walked to the door from the balcony and leaned against it as Felix went to the kitchen area and poured himself a glass of juice.

"You're up early, Felix." James spoke up making the fifteen year old jump rather dramatically.

"I couldn't sleep." Felix told him honestly.

"Did you have another nightmare?" James asked, feeling guilty for not being here for the boy. Felix nodded. "You know your dad doesn't mind you waking him up."

"I know but Josh woke me up from it and stayed with me but he fell asleep and I couldn't." Felix told him. "I got up because I wanted to come look at the sun."

Felix's last words were rather feeble but James smiled at him before slowly walking across the room. Felix took the offered hug and James sighed. "I know that desire. It's hard not to just stare at the sun for hours on end."

"I didn't feel..." Felix trailed off and glanced at the doors up to the bedrooms.

"Let's go talk outside." James offered and led the boy outside. James sat on the railing and swung one leg over the side so he was facing Felix as the slightly shorter boy sat facing the rising run. "What didn't you feel, Felix?"

"When I woke up..." Felix stalled again but James waited him out. "It's the first time I've woken up from a nightmare and didn't want to..." Felix grimaced and turned to looked at James squarely. "I didn't want to hurt myself."

"The desire to hurt yourself and the desire to kill yourself are completely different, Felix." James told him simply ignoring the wince he got. "People in Azkaban don't want to hurt themselves, they want the pain to stop. I've never wanted to hurt myself, Felix. Have you?"

Felix stared at James in horror but shook his head, his eyes wet. "I didn't want to hurt myself those other times. I wanted to stop it all. I wanted to kill myself when I woke up from my nightmares." He sobbed out.

"But you didn't think that this time?" James asked bringing Felix straight to the positive part of this conversation and away from the remembered past nightmares so Felix knew he didn't judge him for the past feelings.

Felix shook his head. "I wanted to escape."

"Good." James smiled at him proudly. "You've just entered a completely different stage of healing."

"I don't understand." Felix shook his head. He was still looking at James with tears in his eyes.

"Before, you wanted everything to end. You didn't want to be in this world of pain and horror. You wanted to know nothing and not have to face anything that could hurt you." James told him. "But now you are looking to fight those feelings. You want to escape the pain in a different way, you want to fight that pain rather than run from it. It's Fight or Flight at a whole different level."

"So I'm doing it right?" Felix asked.

"I couldn't be prouder of you Felix." James smiled at him and reached out to hold the back of Felix's neck. "Now we can move on to talking about what you sensed before."

"Why now?" Felix asked without moving away from James' hand.

"Because now you are at a stage where you can fight against those desires without losing yourself to them." James smiled. "We've still got some time so let's talk about this one."

"You mean wanting to come out here rather than stay in bed?" Felix frowned. "What's so special about that?"

"You need to think about it as if you are one of the prisoners." James pointed out. "Remember I told you that to face and forget the desires you would have to at least partly understand them."

"So if I'm a prisoner I want to escape?" Felix told him.

"It's a bit more than that." James prompted again and finally let his hand fall from Felix's neck. "What do you feel about the two places? In there and out here?"

"I felt enclosed in there." Felix frowned. "And cold."

James nodded. "And out here with the sun?"

"Warm." Felix told him instantly.

"This is why I took you outside for most of our talks." James told him honestly. "You remember Azkaban, it was cold and wet where none of the cells had any light. This balcony is completely the opposite. It's warm and open with the sun touching your skin."

"I get that." Felix nodded with a small smile.

"Okay, let's look at another one." James nodded. "How long did you stay with Josh even though you wanted to escape?"

"What?" Felix was surprised.

"Whenever you come to me or your dad at night you don't let go. Did you hold Josh after last night's nightmare?" James asked.

"I just don't want to be alone." Felix told him sadly.

"But how long did you hold Josh for after you realised you wanted to be out here?" James asked.

"I don't know." Felix told him. "Maybe an hour."

"Why?" James prompted.

"So I wasn't alone." Felix frowned.

"Just that?" James asked. "In that case why didn't you wake Josh up and ask him to come outside with you?"

"I don't know."

"I do." James told him.

"Why?" Felix pleaded.

"What would you have done if Josh said no?" James asked.

"I..." Felix looked close to tears again and James admired his strength in not actually crying though in this situation crying actually helped Felix to admit things easier. "I would have stayed."

"Yes." James nodded. "Because you would have felt weak for having to leave but you wanted to stay and hug him. Because you need the reassurance."

Felix nodded, glad to have the words out there to grasp. "So what do I do?"

"You get both." James told him. "You have to start putting yourself out there. Now as I see it Josh won't be up for another forty-five minutes so I have a task for you."

"What?" Felix frowned.

"You're going to go upstairs and wake Josh up and ask him for what you want." James told him. "More specifically you need to see that he won't even question why you want to wake him up this early and drag him out of bed."

"But he won't want to get up." Felix pleaded.

James just stared at him for a moment before he smiled sadly and gave the boy a push towards the common room. "Just go do it, Felix."

Felix turned pleading eyes on James before he fled back into the common room. James followed him quietly and went into the Kitchen while Felix went upstairs. He heard steps coming down the stairs from Piper, Leo, Paige and Coup's bedrooms and when Coup emerged he pulled him down behind the counter with him.

"James?" Coup asked. "What are you doing?"

"You'll see." James told him and waited. Coup shook his head but resigned himself to waiting. James heard dual footsteps from the boy's stairs and smiled at Coup as the two crossed the common room and out onto the balcony. James poked his head up over the counter and smiled at the sight of Josh leaning sleepily against the railing out on the balcony with messed up hair, half shut eyes and hastily thrown on clothing. Felix was sitting on the balcony with a leg over each side as he talked to Josh.

"Why is Josh out on the balcony with my son?" Coup asked him as he looked out with James.

"Because Felix is healing." James grinned at Coup and fully stood up. He sent a smile out the doors at Felix who saw him and his father and got a weak smile back. "Felix had another nightmare last night but his reaction was significantly different. Josh woke him up and stayed with him but Felix fought against the need to leave because he wanted to stay with Josh."

"Right." Coup raised his eyebrows at James in question.

"He came down here alone just after I got back from Chris' place and we talked it out. He sacrificed one way of helping himself because he didn't think Josh would go with him out into the open." James told him. "I told him to go back up and wake Josh but he didn't believe Josh would get up early just for him."

"Looks like you were right." Coup told him.

"With this family it wasn't really a gamble." James told him. "You'd jump off buildings for each other."

Coup laughed. "So what happens now?"

"Now we can start talking about what he felt and why he felt it." James told him. "He has to start accepting the logical desires and shoving away the illogical ones. Right now he's embracing two logical ones, the need for company and the need for open air and warmth. Two things that you don't have in Azkaban."

"And he'll eventually get over them?" Coup asked.

James paused but decided to be truthful to the man. "It would be nice to tell you he'll forget it all but those two desires are my two strongest when I wake up after a nightmare. They are simple but powerful."

"So it might be permanent?" Coup asked.

"At his age and with his history I doubt it." James told him confidently. "Especially at the rate he is progressing."

"But you think it is with you?" Coup asked shifting the topic completely onto James. "I can feel the odd desire from you. When you see the headmaster or Professor Weasley we expected anger and pain but all I get from you is the desire to be with Chris or any of us."

"Felix and I feel basically the same desires but with one major difference and it's that difference that utterly changes the way we can deal with those desires." James told him.

"You have a basis for the desires. They're real." Coup nodded.

"Precisely." James nodded. "Felix knows deep down that no matter how he feels his family will always be there for him. All he needs do is ask for a hug and one of his family will be there for him. I didn't grow up knowing that. Before I went to Azkaban I hadn't been comforted a day in my life."

"But Chris is here now." Coup told him.

"And it helps, it just takes time for me to realise that no matter what happens he'll be there for me." James told him before turning to avoid the rest of the subject. Coup sighed but gave in. Both knew that James was hiding doubts about almost everything.

The family all rose at different times and only two were late up. James woke up Luke who without Joshua and Felix in the room didn't have anybody to wake him up. They went down to breakfast together and split up as James, Piper, Paige, Leo and Coup went up to the head table and the ten children split up among the other tables sitting with friends. James realised with a frown that Patience was sitting with some of the Slytherin seventh years.

Breakfast was generally peaceful, Weasley had recovered from his injuries but sat in sullen anger on the other side of the table to James and his family and the Aurors sat at a side table casting suspicious glances at James for the way he'd hurt Weasley. They seemed to blame James rather than accepting that what he had done was within the rules, especially since Weasley had shot a spell at his back.

James was alerted that the Wards were scanning somebody at about the same time that Dumbledore straightened up and turned to Minerva who was sitting between him and Piper. "We have six guests arriving. The Wards have accepted them." He told her simply.

James nodded to Piper and Paige on his right and Leo and Coup on his left and put down his cutlery in preparation. If experience told him anything it was that people didn't just turn up to breakfast at Hogwarts without a reason. Two minutes later the six pushed through the doors, silencing the entire school population in a second, and started up towards the head table. James studied them as they came closer. Two were clearly Ministry Officials wearing what was really the Wizards version of a suit. The other four wore the blue robes of the Auror division. James tensed purely because the Aurors held their wands in their hands.

Dumbledore stood to greet them as did Weasley and the other four Aurors that were set to guard Hogwarts. James hands disappeared under the table to hide the shaking that inevitably coincided with being faced by nine Aurors and the Ministry of magic. Paige shocked him when her left hand grabbed onto James' shaking right hand and she squeezed it tightly to try to reassure him. James couldn't look at her, he was too worried about missing the instants warning he'd have if they tried to attack him.

"Professor Dumbledore." One of the Ministry lackeys greeted without warmth. "We seem to have a matter to deal with."

"And what matter would that be?" Dumbledore asked.

"The whereabouts of the escaped convict, Harry James Potter." The man told Dumbledore with a sneer on his face. James froze up and barely noticed when Leo on his left put his hand on James' other hand, nor did he notice that the entirety of Chris' cousins and sisters were looking directly at him as the blood drained from his face.

"It was made clear to you, Professor Dumbledore, that should Harry Potter turn up at Hogwarts the Aurors were to be called without delay." The other Ministry Wizard told the aged Professor with a calm expression on his face.

"A condition I was more than happy to make, Rufus." Dumbledore made a placating gesture. "Should Harry Potter show up here we would contain him and place him back into your possession."

"Our sources tell us that he is here." The first man told them and paused for the shocked gasp from the teachers and the panicked outcry of the student population. "Hand him over and we can have done with all of this."

"I have no idea what you mean." Dumbledore told the man. "We all believe in Mr. Potter's guilt. Should he turn up here we would be more than happy to place him in your custody."

"We have detected his magical signature within Hogwarts." The second man, Rufus, informed Dumbledore. "If you are not aware of his presence then we must only assume that he managed to circumvent the Wards somehow."

"He wouldn't need to circumvent the Wards." Minerva spoke up calmly. "The Wards loved Harry from the moment he stepped into the castle."

"Since Sirius Black's escape all Azkaban inmates are tagged to prevent them from passing through the Hogwarts Wards." Rufus told her coldly.

"The Wards are sentient." James spoke up, proud that his voice was clear. He had to speak up and face his fears at some point and this conversation was irritating him enough to want to speak though his hands still shook under the table. "If Hogwarts doesn't see Harry as a threat then she'd let him in."

"Yet, as the Headmaster, she would inform me." Dumbledore interrupted.

"If you say so." James sneered at him and felt Paige tighten her grip on his hand.

"You have a remarkable resemblance to Harry Potter." Rufus spoke up and narrowed his eyes at him.

"We share Great Grandparents." James told him. The best way to avoid speculation was to admit a relationship with Harry in the first place. "Tell me, how did you say you knew he was here?"

"We detected his magical signature." Rufus told him.

James stood in one fluid motion. "That's impossible."

"What?" Rufus frowned.

"That is impossible." James growled.

"James, please explain." Dumbledore requested sternly.

"Harry is hidden from all scans by complex magic, including my own spells. None of your spells could possibly have detected him." James sneered.

"You admit to aiding a convicted murderer?" The first Ministry lackey smirked at him.

"And you can't do fuck all about it." James snapped. "Harry isn't convicted anywhere but in Britain and you have no right to hold me."

"I think we can make an exception." The man sneered.

"What I'd rather know is who told you he was here because I know of only one way that anybody could learn where Harry Potter was." James told him and turned to Dumbledore with cold eyes. "Harry is hidden to all spells, even my own. The only link that can't be interrupted is his curse scar that links him to Voldemort. Only Voldemort could have told him where Harry was."

Both men went white as a sheet at that accusation. "Don't you dare accuse Ministry Officials of being in league with You-know-who!" Weasley spat at James.

"Logically it is the only explanation." James sneered at Weasley even though he knew that hundreds of people were looking at him.

"You know where he is!" Weasley almost screamed at him and brought up his wand to aim at James. "If you don't tell us we'll just have to place you under arrest and get it from you with Veritaserum."

"We have had this conversation before, Headmaster Dumbledore." Piper spoke up without standing. "If you abuse us in any way our agreement is over."

"If you protect him we'll just arrest you all as well." Weasley sneered. The conversation had gotten well out of hand. "One of you must know where he is!"

"Weasley is correct." Rufus nodded slowly. "If Harry Potter is in Hogwarts without the Headmaster's knowledge then one of the Wicca Witches must have helped him enter."

"We've been through this already." James shook his head. "Hogwarts wouldn't stop Harry Potter from entering. If your source, or should I say Voldemort, believes him to be here then he has gotten in without triggering the Wards."

"Our source is not You-Know-Who!" Rufus snapped.

"Enough!" Dumbledore snapped. "Measures will be taken to ensure Mr. Potter is not within the grounds and we will of course close up the castle in case he tries to enter again but I will tell you know that I have had not one bit of evidence that says he is here."

"So now you need evidence?" James hissed quiet enough that only Piper, Paige, Leo and Coup heard him. James sagged back into his seat as his muscles began trembling. He really needed to get out of here.

"You'd better do just that, Dumbledore. We all know the boy was your favourite." The first man sneered. "If you're harbouring him you'll go with him to Azkaban."

"I'm not in the habit of harbouring murderers." Dumbledore told him. "Now if you'd kindly leave."

Rufus nodded abruptly and turned away from the table. The other official did the same. "What about them?" Weasley snapped waving at James.

"They are foreign allies." Minerva told Weasley sharply. "Arresting them or administering Veritaserum is illegal."

"But they know where Potter is!" Weasley shouted.

James couldn't find the energy to sneer at him as Weasley rushed out of the room after the Ministry Officials, obviously in an attempt to convince them to arrest James for questioning. "I think we'd better call an Order meeting, Minerva." Dumbledore sighed as the room began to fill with noise again. "I think you might be right in that the Wards would not alert me to Mr. Potter's arrival. We must come up with another way to keep him out of the castle."

"Aren't you worried about where they got that information from?" Minerva asked. "If James is right...?"

"We know there are spies in the Ministry, any one of them could have placed a false signature and led them to that conclusion." Dumbledore shook his head. "Even so, he must be using powerful magic if he is within the wards without us knowing. That would have set off their spells."

James shuttered his eyes and stood in a rather haphazard way, finally admitting defeat over his nerves. He quickly walked from the room and out onto the lawn, turned a couple of corners to get out of sight before he threw up what little breakfast he'd managed. He felt a hand on his back and turned his head to see Leo watching him carefully. "Sorry." James grimaced.

"Nothing to apologise for, James." Leo sighed and wrapped an arm around him. James turned into his first hug with Chris' father and let the larger man hold him up as he began shaking. He felt a smaller hand touch his arm before the world burst into glittering orbs.

Leo held him steady as Paige orbed them up into the Den before letting him pull away to sit on the sofa by the fire. He pulled his legs up to his chest and hugged them tightly as he tried to keep his shaking under control. He simply stared at the fire place as Paige made him a hot drink which she put on the coffee table when he refused to drink it. Leo sat beside him but didn't offer any comments.

It was about five minutes before Piper and Coup arrived in the room along with Joshua and Felix. The younger boy bounced onto the chair beside James and forced his way into a hug. James returned the side on hug gently realising that Felix understood how he felt.

"Felix made us bring him up. The others have gone to classes." Coup told them. "Josh offered to stay with him since we all have a class this morning."

James barely glanced at him but did look at Piper when she spoke. "The Headmaster wants us to go to an Order meeting tonight."

"I'd rather not go if that's okay with you." James muttered.

"I didn't think you would want to." Piper assured him.

"Won't that look suspicious?" Leo asked.

"I told the Headmaster that after Weasley's threats this morning we wouldn't all leave the children in the castle without one of us to protect them." Piper told them all.

"We've got bigger problems than them finding me." James looked around with a pale face at Paige, Leo and Piper on his left. "Voldemort wanted the Ministry to come looking for me and blow up a big enough fuss that they'd find me. That didn't work but he knows I'm here from that vision which means it won't be long before he tries something else to draw me out."

"How do you know that?" Piper asked.

"Because he'd rather I was being tortured in Azkaban then free." James told her.

"We won't let that happen." Felix told him sternly. James smiled at him and leant back in the chair, finally letting his feet fall to the ground. He put an arm around Felix's shoulders in clear gratitude.

"We should let Chris know what happened." Joshua pointed out.

"We don't have to." James told him.

"He made me promise to report to him." Joshua went slightly red. "Actually he made Luke, Felix, Matt and Jason promise to report to him."

"He deserves to know what's happening, James." Leo told him. James sighed but nodded.

"If I see Weasley today I might do something regrettable so I plan on staying up here for the day." James told them all.

"We'll stay." Joshua nodded and motioned to Felix.

"Okay." Paige nodded. "We'll see you at lunch."

James watched them all walk out before he caught the box of cards that Josh threw at him.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

That evening

James had waited up for the returning adults who had left the school right after classes for the Order meeting, leaving James alone to look after the children. Patience, the oldest girl, hadn't shown up in the Den until almost curfew and if James hadn't checked with the wards to find out she was in the Slytherin common room he would have gotten worried and gone looking for her. Josh had ripped into her about worrying James but James had simply got a sneer from the girl before she disappeared up the stairs.

James had stopped Josh from yelling up after her and sent the younger kids up to bed. He'd spent an hour talking to Josh and the seventeen year old went to bed just after eleven. It was nearly one before Piper, Paige, Leo and Coup returned along with Phoebe who Paige had brought over for the meeting.

"That was a total waste of time." Paige announced as she sat down opposite James.

"What did they talk about?" James asked.

"They went over how Voldemort could have gotten information about Harry Potter being here." Piper started as she went to make hot drinks in the kitchen.

"That Snape guy said that Voldemort was completely convinced that he was within Hogwarts." Leo added as he sat beside Paige. James moved over slightly so that Phoebe and Coup could sit together and that left a seat for Piper when she brought over the drinks. "Snape told them that he heard some of the other Death Eaters talking about Voldemort talking to him while he tortured an old man."

James shuddered and jumped when Phoebe took his hand. James squeezed it weakly before letting go and turning back to the others for the rest of the explanation. "Dumbledore was quite adamant that the Wards hadn't triggered to prevent anyone entrance to the school." Piper said as she placed a hot drink in front of them all before sitting next to Paige. "He was rather worried about that. He believes that Voldemort is correct about Harry Potter being here and he seemed rather worried that he could enter without the Wards trying to stop him."

"There was a rather large argument between Paige and Weasley over the reason behind that." Phoebe frowned. "Weasley thinks you're using Dark Magic to get in without the Wards knowing."

James smiled at her. So far they'd all avoided relating him to all of this, Phoebe had been the first to slip up. "I wouldn't bother arguing my innocence anymore." James sighed. "Neither side has proof of guilt or innocence. It'll take Voldemort admitting it before they believe us. I don't honestly care anymore."

"But it would be nice." Paige sighed. "They want us to come up with a spell to keep him out. We said we wouldn't. We spent an hour arguing over just that!"

"Sounds like Wizards." James shrugged.

"Something has me worried though." Coup spoke up for the first time. "They all seem so certain about your guilt. And Weasley keeps saying they have proof."

"So?" Paige asked.

"All I sensed from Dumbledore was regret, lots of it." Phoebe spoke up from James' side.

"That's exactly it." Coup nodded. "All I got was a desire to change the past. I'm quite used to that one but he's really stuck on it."

"What are you saying?" James asked. "That you think they're justified?"

Coup jumped and looked at James in shock. It was the first time they'd heard James' angered voice directed at them. "We don't think for an instant that you did what they said." Coup defended. "Even if we didn't trust you we have enough powers to determine that."

James levelled him a stare at had him gulping. "All we're saying, James." Phoebe interrupted. "Is that obviously they believe themselves to be right."

"That's what's worrying me." Coup assured James carefully.

"They still should have trusted me." James stood up. "They knew me for years and I saved them a few times and they didn't even give me the benefit of the doubt. You guys have only known me since the beginning of the summer and you trust me to be a part of your family."

"Well it'll take witnessing it ourselves before we listen to them." Piper told him. James smiled at her before stepping around the chair and facing Phoebe again.

"Patience didn't come up here until curfew. She was down in the Slytherin common room all evening." James sighed. "I know she's not stupid but she hasn't got any defensive powers but I couldn't really forbid her since we didn't set any rules against it."

"We don't have the same prejudices as the Wizards seem to about Slytherin." Coup frowned. "But I'll have a word with her tomorrow. We did say to stay together."

"Thanks." James nodded. "I'm going up to sleep."

"James." Piper stood quickly. "Dumbledore raised the same concern that you did. He's worried about Voldemort being more direct about finding you."

"Looks like we may have a visit soon then." James shrugged. "I think you should tell the others so they know what is at stake if they walk around alone."

James turned and disappeared up the stairs quietly, slipping into bed and resigning himself to staring at the ceiling as he tried to sleep.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

The next day

James came down the next morning slightly later than usual to find that Piper had already made a orange juice for everybody. James crossed the room and poured himself a glass before leaning on the counter and looking around the common room. Piper was up, obviously, as was Coup, Leo, Paige, Joshua, Felix, Matt and Jason. None of the girls were up yet. Felix was looking happier than the day before even if Joshua looked a bit strained for getting up earlier.

"You're up late." Piper pointed out.

"I couldn't get to sleep until late last night." James admitted freely.

"With everything happening yesterday I don't blame you." Paige spoke up.

"I think I'll go for a run as Shadow today." James told them. "I need to stretch my legs a bit."

"Alright, James." Piper nodded. "Make sure you come back for lunch though."

"Yes, Piper." James grinned at her before stretching his arms over his head and rippling forms so that he ended up stretching as a Black Panther. He purred gently as he was attacked by Felix, Jason and Matt but he nudged them away and pawed at the door that led to the statue so that Piper would open it for him.

He slunk along the corridors, his ears could pick out the odd murmur of conversation from early rising students but he ignored them. He was crossing the entrance hall when he smelt Minerva's scent enter from the upstairs doorway that led indirectly to the Staff rooms. He paused with one paw off the ground and turned his head as she walked down the steps.

"James?" Minerva asked as she stopped well clear of him. James put his paw back on the ground before pushing up from the ground and turning back into his human body rather reluctantly.

"I was going out to sniff around the Forbidden Forest for the morning." James told her.

"Are you sure you'll be safe?" Minerva asked.

"The Black Panther is one of the best predators in the world, especially adapted to hunting in forests." James told her. "I doubt even the Centaurs will know I'm there."

"Well I hope you're right, James." Minerva told him. "There was actually something else I wanted to warn you about."

"What is it?" James asked.

Minerva pulled him to the side as a group of children came down the hall. "Ronald Weasley is making a lot of noise about you knowing where Harry is. He's trying to convince people in the ministry that they should use your familial bond to track him down."

"That's against the law." James pointed out.

"That's why he's having trouble convincing people." Minerva sighed. "But Dumbledore announced that he'd back up any decision to track Harry that way."

"Bastard." James swore.

"James!" Minerva gasped.

"Minerva," James sighed. "I'd rather see Dumbledore rot then help them find Harry."

"Yes, well if the Ministry decides to do it you won't have much of a choice." Minerva told him. "It's already being speculated that you altered the Wards to allow Harry inside."

"The Wards wouldn't allow that kind of manipulation and besides, I'm not so easy to lock up." James told her warningly before rippling back into Shadow. He ran from the room and out into the open air.

James had plenty of time to think over what Minerva had warned him about. He didn't really need to pay all that much attention as he ran around the grounds but he was assessing what he would do if it came to a fight. He couldn't just run when Chris' family could take the fall for him. But he was sure that given enough time and warning he could lock down Hogwarts' wards and protect them until they could all orb out.

James was following a fourth year class from Care of Magical Creatures when his finely tuned senses picked out the crackle of fire. And instant later he smelt fire on the wind and turned his head to see a Fire Ball heading directly at him. He twisted his body and jumped clear before crouching low to the ground and drawing in air. He could hear screams from the fourth years behind him but he drowned them out with an air rendering roar that sent hundreds of birds into the air and spread throughout the school.

There was no way that James could defend the children long enough for them to escape while in this form and in an instant he took to his feet and rippled back into his human form. He sketched a quick Rune that warped the air in between him and the two dozen demons walking slowly towards him and even as he looked their forms became distorted. It would be impossible to aim through that and it worked both ways. He turned to the side and began rounding the children up towards the school, at least the children stupid enough to not already have fled to the school. A Fire Matrix flew clear off to his right and James turned back to the demons to see a few of them stumbling along through the distortion.

James started working on a large shield to surround him and as soon as the first Rune sequence was completed it sunk into the ground and a blue wall rose up around James. The first Demons came through James' distortion and sneered at him and then attacked without warning. Their Fire Balls were absorbed by his shield and James began work on the next sequence which sunk into the shield and sent the next few Fire Balls back at their creators who were forced to dodge to avoid them.

"James!" It was Paige's voice that made him turn around to see Paige, Piper, Dumbledore, Minerva, Flitwick and Weasley and his four Aurors running towards him. James ignored them after that and began working on his next Rune sequence even as war broke out around him. His next sequence took him a few long painful minutes but just as he was about to release it he paused.

"Paige!"

"James!"

"Get everyone back to the castle!" James told her holding a vast nimbus of Runic Magic in his hands. The sequence was so complex it hung around him filling the space within the shield with flickering Runes that pulsed with his magic. Draining him.

"Are you sure?" Paige asked.

"Trust me!" James shouted back.

"Not likely!" Weasley yelled even as he sent a cutting curse at a demon who growled at him, forcing him to shield when he sent a Fire Ball at him.

"Headmaster!" Paige shouted.

"We must defend..." The Headmaster began.

"Get out of here you old Bastard or you'll all die when I release this sequence!" James interrupted him angrily.

"Everyone touch!" Paige yelled and grabbed Piper. Even though they still fought they gathered around Paige and Piper and in a sudden burst of orbs they all vanished up into the air. In an instant all twenty Demons turned on James and their combined power began to take apart his shield.

James gritted his teeth and released his magic sending it into his last sequence which burned in an inferno of flames as it ate its way up into the sky before exploding outwards with a shockwave more powerful than any attack Wyatt was capable of. It burst out and through the attacking demons almost like a silver starburst that vanquished them all.

James sagged to the floor in a dead faint once the spell was complete yet his shield lingered enough that Paige had to orb through it to pick him up and orb him up to the Hospital Wing.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

When James woke up he knew where he was purely from experience. He was in a bed near the far end of the Hospital Wing. He shook off his drowsiness and sat up against the headboard only to see Madam Pomfrey standing to his right with her arms crossed and her wand tapping her forearm. She was staring at James and biting her lip.

"Give me one good reason not to call the Headmaster." She told him.

"Why would you want to do that?" James asked though his heart from in his throat and beating so loud she had to be able to hear it.

"I've treated you a dozen times if not more...James." She told him. "I couldn't forget a patient like you. You still show the signs of the malnutrition from your childhood even under what I can only assume is near starvation in that hell of a place."

James slid his feet over the sides of bed, glad that they'd obviously left him dressed in his jeans and t-shirt. He put his feet on the ground and stood up. "I won't let you tell them." James told her warningly.

Her wand was pointed at him in an instant. "I know how to cause the wounds I heal, Mr. Potter."

James' delved into his Powers of Projection and before Madam Pomfrey could cast a spell her wand flew sideways away from them both. "I told you I won't let you tell them who I am. I have to be here to protect my family."

"How can I be sure that's the only reason you're here?" Pomfrey asked.

"You believe I killed my family?" James asked.

"I saw the signs of malnutrition." She told him.

"And you think that gives me motive to do what he did to them?" James snarled very much like the Panther he sometimes was.

Madam Pomfrey took a half step back and rubbed at her head. "So Minerva and Miss. Granger are right?"

"And as far as I'm aware, Charlie, Bill and the Twins." James told her. "It's surprising how many of the people I was supposed to be able to trust turned out to be utter bastards."

"Mr. Potter!" Pomfrey gasped automatically.

"Mr. Evans." James countered. "If you really have to argue with me over how I describe the people that locked me up in Azkaban for no reason."

"So you claim." Pomfrey pointed out.

"They didn't even let me defend myself." James told her. "No Veritaserum, no sworn oath. They found me at the scene so they locked me up!"

"That's not what we heard." Pomfrey told him. "The headmaster told us that he had evidence that you tortured at least your Aunt."

"That's a load of crap!" James told her. "All they'd have to do is look at my own memories and they'd see Voldemort there!"

"Then why didn't they?" Pomfrey argued.

"Because they're idiots!" James told her. "Now I need your word that you won't tell anyone who I really am."

"And if I don't give you my word?" She asked.

"If they find out who I am they'll accuse my family for crimes they don't deserve." James told her. "I'll do an awful lot before I allow any harm to come to them."

"And that includes what?" She prompted.

"Wiping your memory for starters." James told her. "I've never done it before but I know the Runes. I don't want to accidentally wipe your mind, Madam Pomfrey, but if it's that or lose one of my friends to some bastard like Weasley then I'll do it."

Pomfrey eyed him for a moment before sighing. "At least your sense of loyalty wasn't too badly damaged." She told him with a smile. "Minerva has been so worried that what the Headmaster let them do to you would permanently damage your sense of right and wrong. That you'd never trust or love again."

"It took years." James told her. "My mind was shattered. Chris is helping to put me back together again."

James flinched violently when Madam Pomfrey lunged forwards and wrapped him in a hug. James pulled away after only a moment. "You have my word. No other soul will hear what I know from me."

There was the normal throb of magic that told James that she was speaking the truth and he relaxed. "What time is it?" James asked.

"If you leave now you should make dinner." She told him.

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey." James nodded.

"Poppy."  She told him.

"James." James smiled at her. "Oh and only Hermione and Charlie know."

"I'll try to give you any warning I can if things start going wrong." She told him.

"Thanks Poppy." James smiled before rippling into Shadow and ran from the room and down towards the Great Hall. He slipped through the open door and instantly slipped around the side of the room as soon as he noticed the gang of Aurors in the middle of the room. He moved around the back of the Staff table as he heard the discussion.

"We merely wish to discover what magic he used to kill the Demons today." One of the Aurors announced. There were five of them and it was clear that Weasley and the four others would back them up if it came to it.

"Then you may ask him when he wakes up." Dumbledore told them. "In fact perhaps we can have this meeting in a more private place?"

"Where would you suggest then?" The Auror asked.

"Please, stay for dinner and we shall await Mr. Evans." Dumbledore motioned them to a side table.

James looked around planning to leave and go to this private meeting later but he realised that the children of the family had seen him. Joshua smiled at him and motioned for the others to stay silent but to James' shock and clearly Joshua's horror Patience stood up and pointed at him. "Patience!" Joshua gasped.

"James is here." She announced. James stared at her in horror even as Piper and Paige stood up. James slunk forwards and rippled back into his human form.

"She's right." James told them. "What is so important that you need to disrupt dinner?"

"The fact that the magical surge from your spell triggered the sensors designed to find the escaped convict Harry Potter." The Auror said and lifted his wand.

"A spell obviously designed to register his blood." James pointed out without missing a beat completely ignoring Patience's betrayal. "Blood that we share through our Great Grandparents."

"Maybe we should take this somewhere more private?" Dumbledore offered.

"No, this is fine." James interrupted casting a look at Piper and Paige to stop them arguing with him. He didn't want to go into a little room with all these people if it came to a fight. "Now, what is it you want?"

"Well, that's obvious." Weasley held his wand loosely and now it was James against ten Aurors. Piper and Paige saw this and stood up. Joshua moved to the side of his own table even though Prue, the second oldest girl, was arguing quietly with Patience who seemed rather out of it. "We want Harry Potter." Weasley continued with a sneer.

"Do you know where he is?" The Auror from before asked.

"Of course he does." Weasley snapped. "They all do!"

James was about to speak when Patience staggered up from her seat and walked towards James with a rather odd gait and an expression of concentration on her face. "He's Harry Potter." She hissed through clenched teeth.

"Patience!" Coup yelled in shock as he and Leo stood.

It seemed her words had reached all through the Great Hall though since the children closest to him were being dragged away by the older students. All ten of the Aurors were looking at him in horror even with their wands aimed directly at him. James clenched his fists and hissed through his teeth in anger. "She's cursed. Can't you see that Weasley?"

"That's ridiculous!" Weasley snapped. "Who'd curse a child?"

"You are an Auror right?" James looked at him in surprise. "And you can't even see the signs of the Imperius?"

"She's just doing what is right." The Auror from before smirked at him. "She obviously won't hide a murderer like the rest of your family."

"Is this true?" Minerva gasped looking at James.

"If he won't admit it now he will after a few hours in an interrogation room." Weasley smirked. "Surrender now, Potter!"

"Chris! Wyatt!" Piper yelled sharply even as she and Paige moved towards James. James shook his head at them.

"Don't help me." James told them sternly. "None of these people knew who I was. I tricked them."

"You're lying!" Weasley snapped.

"You stupid idiot!" James snarled and twisted violently as he sketched a Rune that blasted straight at Patience. It struck her in the chest even as the Aurors sent stunners at him which missed as James ducked. The light of his spell vanished and Patience fell to the ground sobbing. Joshua rushed to her and lifted her up and away from the fight even as the room froze as a Rune blazed up into the air from where she'd been standing. It formed into a complex Rune that was somebody's personally Rune before it streaked away towards the Slytherin table where it struck a seventh year, sending him flying off the bench.

"That spell tracked the caster of the Imperius Curse." James told Dumbledore. "At least do one thing right in your life!"

James had given up any hope of convincing them he wasn't Harry Potter, his only worry now was escaping from here. And he didn't want any of Chris' family getting in trouble for it. The Aurors spread out and James was forced to raise a shield which was pummelled down in seconds by the power of their spells. James couldn't spare the concentration needed to delve into his Wicca powers and he had to use his Runes to defend himself.

He knew it would light him up to every tracking spell aimed at him but he threw out a punch of his Wicca magic and summoned Minerva's wand to him since she was the closest. He made a quick change to his shield to briefly let the wand fly through and then caught it in his hand. He felt like he was on Prozac as his magic flew through his body filling every cell with power. His eyes glowed green even through Chris' illusion and his hair shifted back to its normal black colour even as an invisible wind blew around him.

James wasn't a match for Voldemort for nothing though and it had been years since he'd touched a wand and it burned through him, desperate to be used with a focus rather than his Runes. He waved Minerva's wand and with a crack like thunder he cast a mass disarming curse that burst out around him sending most of the head table's occupants and all the Aurors flying away from him. Then he did something he'd learnt to do since he'd seen Dumbledore and Voldemort duelling in the Ministry. Teleportation.

He twisted his entire body and swept the wand over his head as he whispered the words to the spell and felt himself flow through the Hall without a sound until he reappeared in front of the doors. Before the Hall's occupants could really realise what he'd done the doors to the Hall were thrown open and the magical blast that had done it sent James flying and the wand from his fingers.

He instantly got to his feet only to be hit by a powerful stunner that he couldn't shake off.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Potter Manor

James was roughly awakened with the distinct feeling of an Enervate spell and his eyes opened to see that he was chained to a chair in the Dining Hall of his own home. He held his head low even as he looked around the room. He was at the bottom of the table chained to a large oak chair and he couldn't feel his magic. At the opposite end of the table sat Dumbledore, a Wizarding Judge and the Minister for Magic and then ranging down the table were the Order of the Phoenix members and the entirety of Chris' family including Wyatt, Chris, Phoebe and Henry. Chris was evidently being held in place by both his father and older brother. Patience was sitting at Phoebe's side, under her mother's arm, and she was crying rather freely and refused to look at James.

Around the room stood what seemed to be an entire division of Aurors. "Isn't this a bit overkill for an untrained Wizard?" James asked even though his hands were shaking so hard that everybody saw it. He gripped the arms of the chair to still them. He couldn't completely clear his head of his worst memories.

"They'll be no mistakes this time." The Minister told him. "You are Harry James Potter?"

James ignored him and turned his head to look at Patience. "I don't blame you for this Patience. You don't have the experience to fight the Imperius Curse."

She looked at him before sadly before burying her head in Phoebe's shoulder. "Answer the question Mr. Potter." The Minister ordered.

James turned to Felix. "You'll be okay, just make sure you talk to your older Cousins and to your parents." He then turned to Piper and Paige. "Go home. You shouldn't have to fight for these hypocrites."

"Mr. Potter!" The Minister was on his feet now. "Answer the question!"

"Chris?" James looked at his boyfriend. "I'm sorry." James fingered the ring on his left ring finger with his thumb and pushed it up his finger. "Please, take it. They'll lose it."

Chris flinched but it was Wyatt that stood up. "Stop!" Dumbledore told him. "He'll be able to orb them out."

"For goodness sake." Minerva snapped and stood before strolling down the room and to James' side. She took the ring from James. "I'm so sorry, Har... James."

"It's not your fault." James told her and waited until she had put the ring in Chris' hand before he turned to the Minister. "Why does it matter what I answer? You didn't ask any questions last time."

"It doesn't really matter. This is a mere formality." The Minister sneered at him. "You'll be placed in Azkaban until the decision can be made formally. Then you will be given the Dementor's Kiss."

"Where's this proof?" Piper stood up.

"That's none of your business." The Minister told her.

"Chris is my husband as far as the law is concerned." James told them. "We have sworn to each other and it's binding. He has the right to see any evidence pertaining to my conviction."

"He has to ask."  Minerva spoke up and ignored the levelled look she received from Dumbledore.

"I want to see it." Chris told Dumbledore.

"Maybe it will prove to you that you've been harbouring a murderer." The Minister told them and turned to the side with a gesture. A moment later an Auror moved forwards with what James recognised as a boxed Penseive. The Auror placed it on the table and opened the lid before waving his wand over the surface. Trails of smoke began to rise from the dish.

"This recording was taken from the mind of Petunia Dursley." Dumbledore told them. James jerked in his chair hard enough that everyone looked at him. "Did you not think she had survived what you had done to her?"

"Your 'Voldemort did it' defence might have worked if you'd made sure that Mrs. Dursley had died." The Minister sneered at him as James went pale. He hadn't ever imagined that his Aunt had survived. He'd seen all that blood but had assumed she had died and they hadn't told him any differently.

"She...?" James stammered out unable to speak properly. His new family were looking at him with more emotions then he could count. They didn't really know what had happened to his relatives. James had never gone into details.

"Shall we watch?" The Minister asked with something close to glee in his eyes. The Auror waved his hand and the smoke coalesced into a vague three dimensional image of what Petunia Dursley had remembered of the attack. The inside of the Dursley living room was easily seen even as Petunia looked across the room at the dead bodies of Dudley and Vernon. Even as they all watched the gruesome sight of the bloodied men she turned her vision to include Harry Potter who stood over her with an expression of hatred on his face. The figure twitched his wand and his mouth incanted a spell that Petunia hadn't been able to catch.

Petunia's screams were easily audible though and all of James' family jerked at the sound of true pain, pain at the Cruciatus which none of them had ever witnessed before. James jerked in his chair, his eyes lost focus as Petunia's screams drove into his mind just as they had for eighteen months within Azkaban and in his dreams since then. But it wasn't Voldemort that was casting the spell on her but James.

The memory ended and Dumbledore stood up with a look of utter loathing on his features. "When we took you in we never imagined you capable of something like that." He told James. "Your Aunt is in the permanent Ward at St. Mungos and will never regain her sanity after what you did to her."

"I didn't..." James gasped out, he was hyperventilating. He looked at Chris but Chris' eyes were pressed shut. He looked at Wyatt but his teeth were gritted. "No! That wasn't me!"

Chris' eyes snapped open and locked with James. His mouth opened to speak and James knew Chris was about to cast him away with his next words. James turned his head away not wanting to see Chris' rejection and he felt his heart tear apart inside him. Magic throbbed through the room and James could only see their lives. He didn't know what he had planned but he wasn't planning on going back to Azkaban. He couldn't cast magic but this wasn't really a spell. He shoved at his life forcing it away from him like he had in the past but this time it wasn't going into a younger version of himself.

"James! No!" Coup yelled at him as there was a scramble. James had dropped his mental shields to do this and Coup had obviously read his desire to kill himself rather than go back to Azkaban. James didn't want to know what the empaths and Felix were feeling. He felt a stunning spell hit him square in the chest and his world went black again.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

James woke up and opened his eyes only to see a vast blackness as if he'd gone blind. He thought for a moment as if he was awaking from another nightmare but the hard floor was too real. The remembered stench of rusting iron was too clear in his advanced sense of smell and the cold was too embracing to be anything but Azkaban.

He scrambled across the floor, tearing skin from the palms of his hands, until he hit the wall. He followed it desperately to a corner and pushed himself into it. His arms came around to hug his knees to his chest and he pushed his face into his legs trying to pretend he wasn't there.

Then the moans and the screams began.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter