"Are you ready, dear?"
"Just a minute, mum," James Potter yells back. He stands in front of his mirror, frantically trying to brush his hair flat. He has tried two different combs, his mother's hairbrush, water, and multiple other different angles off attack, but nothing will make the tuft of hair at the front of his head lay flat. James sighs and gives up, lowering the brush in defeat before sizing himself up in the full-length mirror. He straightens his grey dress robes with a huff. The Potters rarely ever wear wizard fashion due to the fact that the population of their town is mostly muggles, so when James actually wears things like dress robes instead of a suit he feels ridiculous. His father Charlus has great fun wearing full out wizard robes in public just to see the neighbors' reactions, so everyone just accepts that he is weird. But what if my muggle friends see me and think I'm a freak?
"James!" his mother calls again from downstairs, her voice becoming more insistent. "Coming!" he replies. James bites his lip disapprovingly at his reflection and turns away to walk into the hallway towards the stairs.
The Bones family is holding a small party at their house tonight as a sendoff for all the children leaving for their first year at Hogwarts since their eleven-year-old daughter Amelia Bones will be one of them. James knows his friends Amos Diggory and Jasper Ernst will be there as well as a few other witch and wizard children. He runs down the stairs to find both of his parents waiting in the living room by the fireplace, wearing matching long, navy robes. The instant Charlus sees James he grabs a handful of floo powder from a bowl on the mantelpiece and ushers everyone towards the fireplace.
"I'll see both of you in a minute," Charlus smiles at them and ducks in, so tall the top of his head can't be seen. He throws the powder down as he announces the Bones' address. He disappears in a cloud of green smoke and flame, making James squint from the brightness. Dorea shoos him forward when the flames die down and James reaches into the bowl on the mantel, taking a handful of the light, grainy powder. Once he is in he repeats the address and throws the powder down. He squeezes his eyes shut and tucks his arms in tight, fighting the urge to sneeze from the powder and smoke tickling his nose as he begins to spin.
The first time James flooed a few years back, he had kept his eyes open the whole time, making himself so dizzy he had thrown up once it was over. He has learned his lesson and always keeps his eyes shut whenever he travels by floo.
A few seconds later, James' feet touch down on the bottom of the Bones' fireplace and he stumbles out in an attempt to keep his balance, scattering ashes on the fancy rug in the process. Charlus laughs and claps him on the shoulder.
"Still haven't gotten the hang of it, I see," he smiles at him, laughing again when his son's face turns red from embarrassment. They move out of the way when Dorea steps out from behind them—not looking the slightest disheveled—and takes Charlus' arm. Their hair has small grey streaks here and there and they are both getting little wrinkles around their eyes, but the love in their smiles that they share with each other makes them look young to James. They both step forward when Lara Bones, Amelia's mother, sees the Potters and rushes over to them with a smile on her face.
"Welcome! I'm so glad you could make it, Dorea," Lara beams. "Lovely to see you, Charlus," she greets, shaking both of their hands. Lara smiles down at James when they are done exchanging greetings. "How are you, James? Excited for Hogwarts?" she asks. James shrugs and gives a little nervous laugh. "I suppose so," he replies, to which the three adults chuckle knowingly.
"I remember my first year, I was terrified," Lara chuckles. "But it's never as bad as you think it will be, even if there are dangers around every corner at the school." The parents burst into laughter again when James makes a horrified expression in response.
"Are you joking?" he asks, but they don't hear him as they turn away to walk over to a couch to chat. There wouldn't be things that could hurt the students at the school, would there? They must just be playing with me. James swallows nervously, not entirely convinced.
He looks around the living room where the parents are talking together, snatches of conversations of Hogwarts memories reaching James' ears. He weaves his way through the parents to a couch across the room where the children his age are sitting.
"James!" Amos grins, beckoning his friend to sit beside him. James waves to him and perches on the arm of the couch, saying hello to Jasper seated in the middle of the couch as he does so. He looks up to see another boy, Tristan, sitting next to Jasper, and a group of girls standing around Amelia Bones. James can't remember the names of most of the girls there except for the best friend of Amelia, Rachel. Jasper has a crush on Amelia and Amos agrees that the girl is very attractive, and when asked for his opinion, James agreed as well to fit in with them. I don't see what makes her that attractive to Jasper and Amos. Sure, her brown hair and blue eyes are pretty, but I don't find her beautiful. I've always found green eyes very pretty. James feels warm in the face at these thoughts and tunes into Amos' conversation.
"I can't believe we'll be leaving for Hogwarts in three weeks," Amos marvels. James nods while staring at the floor, getting the familiar feeling of nerves in his stomach. He has been getting so excited the past few weeks, but now that he is faced with the fact that it is right around the corner he can't help feeling scared of what it will be like.
"Do you think our classes will be hard?" Jasper wonders while absently rubbing his hands together with nerves. The Tristan boy shrugs. "I don't expect so, it will only be our first year after all."
"You don't have to worry, you were top of the class at school. You'll be a Ravenclaw for sure," James teases, to which his friends agree. The boy raises his eyes to the ceiling with a huff and gets up to disappear into the crowd of adults. James raises his eyes at his friends and gets up to take Tristan's seat, glad to not be sitting on the uncomfortable arm of the seat anymore.
"What house do you two want to be in?" Jasper asks, looking back and forth at the other boys. Amos shrugs in response.
"My mother went to Hogwarts ages ago," he replied as he nodded his head over his witch mother and muggle father chatting with someone James doesn't recognize. "She was in Hufflepuff. I haven't thought much about the houses, I don't think it really matters, but I suppose I'll be sorted same as her."
"It doesn't matter?" James exclaims. "Of course the houses matter! It's when you get to know who you really are." Jasper raises his eyes at him. "Which house for you, then?" James stands up proudly.
"My father, and his father before him, have all been sorted into Gyffindor," James recites with a deep, mock purposeful voice. "It is my duty to carry out their legacy within their house. May everyone remember…the Potters." He bows his head solemnly at the end of his little speech. He looks up and laughs with his friends.
"Enough about the houses," Amos announces, joining James on his feet. "Let's play a game. Want to see if Amelia has a game of Exploding Snap?" Jasper nods excitedly and gets up from the couch as well. James breaks into a smile, excitement making him rise up and down on his toes. Exploding Snap is my favourite game. Besides Quidditch, of course.
They walk over to the group of girls gathered a few feet away and make their way through to Amelia in the center. She stands with a straight back, and has a very demanding presence before her audience of friends. She looks at the three of them with slightly raised eyebrows.
"Hey Amelia," Jasper stutters out, making one of the girls laugh at the blush creeping across his face. "We were wondering if you had a pack of Exploding Snap," James jumps in, saving his friends from utter embarrassment. How can a girl make someone that nervous, and make them act and look like such a fool? Amelia nods, ignoring Jasper before pushing through her group to walk over to a shelf on the wall to grab the pack, then leads them out of the noise of the living room.
The whole group follows her, boys and girls, into the dining room where Amelia begins to set up the game on the rug. James sits between Amos and the boy Tristan. There are nine of them all together, so they split people into groups of three to play matches, so the winners will play each other at the end of their games. James grins at his group with a determined grin on his face. 'You're going down,' he mouths at Amos, who shook his head playfully in response. As soon as Tristan has finished dealing their cards, James picks his up with a quick, practiced hand, and the games begin.
James wins the first tournament, but the second time around he looses in the first game, and so he watches the second and third rounds. Right now Amelia and one of her friends are playing each other to determine the final winner. James has been sitting at the dining table for a while, watching as the cards let off sparks every few minutes, but not really paying attention. The party has been going on a bit too long, Amos and Jasper have gone home, leaving only Tristan and the girls for company.
James decides to see where his parents are, and gets up to wander into the sitting room. He spots them right away in the nearly empty living room sitting on a couch across the room facing a few others parents—including the Bones—who are sitting in armchairs. He walks across the carpet, dragging his feet and dangling his arms before him when Charlus spots him, making his boredom and weariness obvious. His father doesn't pay him any attention however, returning his focus to the conversation. James listens now he has gotten close enough.
"It has all been rather worrying," one of the mothers is saying, "all of these news in the paper. I hadn't taken it seriously until that report from the other day."
"What report?" James pipes up slouching down into the spot next to Charlus on the couch. All of the parents look at him, surprised by his sudden appearance. Have I interrupted something important?
"It's nothing to worry about, chap," his father reassures him in the voice he only uses when he's talking to children about matters they won't understand. James straightens and looks at him, shrugging off the hand that Charlus had placed on his arm. "It didn't sound like nothing," James insists. He searches the others' faces, who are all shifting in their seats.
"It's just some things that have been showing up in the news, blood purity issues," Charlus says carefully. James frowns. "What sort of issues?" he prods further, the worry creeping into his voice. Dorea sighs softly and crosses her arms before speaking.
"A group is taking it upon themselves to…convince people that pure-bloods are better than other witches or wizards. They've just been trying to attract attention so far, making uproars in public places and things like that." James' eyes widen at this, because he has never heard of this group. What sort of things can you do in public to…'convince people that pure-bloods are better'? Are they frightening people? Hurting them? He feels a twinge of confusion, and of fear.
Before he can think about it any more, Charlus claps him on the knee and stands up, giving Dorea a hand up. "I believe we should be going now," he says to the Bones. "Thank you very much for having us, it was lovely," Dorea smiles at them, shaking both of their hands when they stand up.
"Don't mention it, it was wonderful having you three over," Lara Bones returns politely. As the Potters collect their things, the other parents stand as well, a unison of voices saying farewells. Charlus goes through the fireplace first, disappearing in a flash of light and heat. James steps in after grabbing a handful of powder, the darkness of the inside of the fireplace reflecting the mood of the conversation from moments before. He states their address and drops the powder from his grasp, not bothering to throw like he always does. He closes his eyes and he begins to spin, matching the speed of his now equally spinning thoughts. Does this blood purity issue involve us too? We're pure-bloods, will we be expected to join in?
A moment later, James is stumbling out of the fireplace from lack of balance and sleep. Charlus rights him as Dorea steps out from behind them, and as they stand there all three of them sigh loudly, letting out the evening in one long breath. James forgets his previously whirling thoughts as he heads upstairs to his bed, looking forward to the warmth and comfort of sleep. Once he has changed and is lying down under his covers, James remembers the conversation at the end of the party and has one thought before he is overcome by sleep. This is the start of something big. Nothing will ever be the same again.
Then James slips into the darkness of sleep, enjoying the safety of it while he can.