Lone Child

Chapter 23: Just another day in the life of James Cage

  By August 13th everything had calmed down to be almost normal.  Kat was still staying with Snape, but James, Triss, and Mel all visited often.  Snape didn't seem to mind; in fact he seemed rather pleased with the arrangement.  Not a lot had changed with Sirius, though he was happy about returning to Hogwarts with them this September. 

  "Oy, what classes did you guys decide to take this year?" asked Sirius as they sat down for a late breakfast. 

  "All the base classes along with Care of Magical Creatures, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, and Divinations," said James. 

  "I'm taking the same," said Triss. 

  "Aren't you only able to take three?" asked Sirius. 

  "We're giving up our free period," said James. 

  "You two must be insane, giving up your free period," Mel said shivering.

  "Kat is taking every single class there is," Triss said. 

  Sirius and Mel stared at her in shock.  "There is no way," said Sirius shaking his head in disbelief.

  "There isn't enough time in a day," said Mel. 

  "Kat said she had it all arranged with Evans, she'll probably be taking classes on the weekends or something," said James. 

  "The girl is top in our year.  If anyone could pull it off it would be her," said Triss. 

  "Do you know what Dray is taking?" Mel asked. 

  "Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures," said James. 

  "He thinks we're nuts to give up our free period as well, he thinks Kat is bloody well insane," said Triss with a slight chuckle. 

  "Am I going with you guys to Diagon Alley this afternoon?" asked Sirius. 

  "If you want to, did you think up a pet name for him yet Mel? He's going to be your dog after all," said Triss.

  "Night," said Mel.  "We agreed on it, it goes with his fur."

  "All right, and remember, no scaring anyone, no matter who they are," said James giving Sirius a stern look.  The dog would probably try to rip Severus to shreds if given the chance. 

  A little more than an hour later they were all ready to go.  "Alright everyone, keep a tight grip.  This is going to be wild," said James.  Group apperation was very different from single person apperation.  It was more like a really, really dizzying roller coaster ride than anything else.  James always got a kick out of it but he wasn't sure how Mel or Sirius would react, especially with Sirius in wolf form.

  With a pop they all disappeared.  They reappeared in a small room in the back of the Leaky Cauldron.  Triss looked a bit green, she had never liked that mode of transportation, porting was much smoother.  Mel and Sirius, or Night as they would call him in public, looked like they rather enjoyed the ride. 

  "Well that was fun," said Triss sarcastically downing a small green potion.  She looked much better. 

  "Alright then, on to Gringotts," said James pulling Triss along, Mel and Night followed them looking amused. 

  When they finally arrived at James' vault both Mel and Night looked very surprised.  James walked in and grabbed several bags of Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts and attaching them to his belt loop.  "Back up to the top," said James to the goblin. 

  "What about stopping at my vault?" Mel asked. 

  "My treat, plus I don't think I could ride this thing any longer than necessary," said James. 

  "But you'll run out of money before you graduate," said Mel looking at the bags hanging from his belt. 

  James laughed.  "You saw how much money was in there right? Take that and multiply it by 10, and that is only in the wizarding world.  I have twice that in a bank not including all of the stock and business rights I have," he said chuckling. 

  "Spoil away then," said Mel looking at him in well-hidden surprise. 

  "Great! I hope you are planning on joining the team this year.  Triss, Dray and I are the only ones left.  Everyone else either got kicked off for bad exam grades or graduated," said James.

  "Maybe, I've never really played before.  If I did play it would probably be for a beater," said Mel. 

  "Working with Dray then, we shall see," said James. 

  A loud whistle caught their attention.  Ginny and Dray were running towards them at high speeds, just managing to avoid other people in the crowd.  "Hey, everyone is waiting in the book shop," said Dray breathlessly. 

  James nodded and let himself be pulled along by Triss who was very eager to see the twins and Kat.  Just outside of Flourish and Blotts a large group of people were waiting.  Fred and George were at the front of the group talking to each other.  Kat stood just behind them and was in what looked like an animated discussion with Lucius and Severus. 

  Night growled at the sight of Snape and Malfoy but a sharp, but not pain intending, slap on the nose from Mel shut him up.  Fred and George were the first to see them and greeted them with enthusiastic handshakes.  By the time James was finally able to pry his hand away from an obviously hyper George the other three had taken notice to them. 

  "Hello James, Ms. Summers, Ms. Crew," said Severus.  Lucius greeted them in the same way but Kat would have none of that.  She tightly hugged both Mel and Triss and nearly broke all of James's ribs she hugged him so tightly. 

  "I missed you two," James wheezed. 

  "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't hurt you did I?" she asked gently prodding James ribs. 

  James chuckled.  "No, it would take a LOT more than that to hurt me.  I'm practically untouchable," said James giving her a lop sided grin. 

  "Is that so Cage? Then you won't mind if I do this," said a voice from behind James.  Pain exploded in the back of his head but he ignored it. 

  He turned to see a very muscular Randle Black standing there with his father slightly behind him.  Night growled and was ready to lunge at anytime.  "I thought I got rid of you last summer when I broke your nose.  Do us all a favor and get lost," said James glaring at Randle.

  "That was a lucky shot Cage.  I would have pounded you had that fool Lockhart not been present," Randle hissed. 

  "You wish, you probably went running to your daddy the minute we were out of sight," said James. 

  Regulus Black stepped forward.  "You will not address my son in that tone Mr. Cage.  I will have you suspended," he said threateningly. 

  James raised an eyebrow at him.  "You can't do that.  School is not in session, the worst you could do is call in a bunch of Aurors who would just laugh at you," said James. 

  "I would not argue Regulus, the boy is right," said Lucius looking down his nose at the shorter and younger man. 

  "Hanging out with Mudbloods now Lucius, and you too Severus, shameful really," said Regulus glaring at the older men. 

  "No worse than having your son in Gryffindor," said Severus distastefully. 

  While everyone was paying attention to the exchanges between the three men Randle had been preparing to jump James.  James for his part had been too distracted to notice the large boy getting ready to pounce on him and was very surprised when he felt himself being pushed to the ground with great force. 

  He was able to turn himself in such a way that he would fall on his back and face his attacker.  It didn't surprise him to see that Randle was his attacker and was able to block the first swing.  After several swings Randle must have figured out that he wasn't going to get a hit on him and went for his throat. 

  This was something James hadn't anticipated and he could only gasp for breath as the stronger boy slowly crushed his larynx.  By then other people that had been walking around had seen what was going on and were running for help while Severus tried to pull Randle off of James and was not having a whole lot of luck. 

  James started to see black around the edges of his vision and did the only thing he could think of, the ejected his claws and held them threateningly at the other boy's neck.  Randle jumped back in shock, giving James enough time to catch his breath and get out of arms reach of him. 

  "Wha-? What the hell?" Randle breathed backing away from James. 

  James coughed hard trying to regain his breath.  Triss patted his back lightly giving him a little help.  "Thanks," he coughed.  His voice was scratchy at best but he could still talk easily. 

  "What happened here?" a familiar voice demanded. 

  "It's alright Dora, everything is fine," said James. 

  "My ass.  What happened?" Tonks demanded. 

  Triss wordlessly pointed to the shell shocked Randle.  "He jumped James and tried to strangle him.  James acted in self defense," said Triss pointing to the claws still protruding out of his hands. 

  "James you watch X-men too much," said Tonks before turning to Randle.  "Well Mr. Black, you are under arrest for Battery.  Anything you say can and will be used against you in the Court of Magic.  Please turn over your wand and put your hands behind your head."

  "What about Mr. Cage?" Regulus demanded. 

  "What about him?" asked Tonks.

  "He attacked my son with those things in his hands!  I demand he be placed under arrest," he ranted. 

  "There is such a thing as self defense Mr. Black.  Mr. Cage is under no fault, your son attacked him and he acted accordingly.  Had he injured your son there might be something I could do but since he didn't he is free to go," said Tonks. 

  Regulus looked ready to explode.  Taking a deep breath he turned and stalked away.  Tonks disappeared with Randle seconds later.  "This is starting to be more drama that I can handle," said James so only Triss could hear. 

  She nodded.  "Well, now that that is over with lets go shopping.  Shadow, I believe you had a small surprise for Kat," said Triss gaining everyone's attention. 

  "Right, come on Kat," said James motioning for her to follow him.  She did so with no hesitation.  He led her into the nearby pet shop and stopped in the front of the shop near the register.  "For your early birthday present I'm going to get you the pet of your choice," said James. 

  "But-" Kat began but James stopped her. 

  "It's your birthday present Kat, don't worry about it," said James. 

  "Okay, but what should I get," Kat asked getting slightly excited. 

  "Well, I doubt you would want a toad, so maybe an owl or a cat," James suggested. 

  Kat nodded and walked back towards where the cats were.  Five minutes later Kat had picked out the animal she wanted.  The cat was big, furry and orange.  "A kneazle, good choice," said James scratching the cat under his chin. 

  "Ah, someone has finally decided to buy poor Crookshanks," said the cashier coming towards them.  Kat nodded vigorously. 

  "Well, bring him up," said the woman. 

  James nodded and plucked Crookshanks out of the metal cage he was in and carried him to the register.  "That will be 5 galleons and 9 sickles please," said the cashier. 

  James handed her the exact amount and handed the kneazle to Kat who cooed over him.  On the way back Kat asked, "Have you heard about Sirius Black's escape yet?" 

  "Yeah, they announced it in the prophet this morning but Triss, Mel and I've known for weeks," said James. 

  "How did you find out?" asked Kat.

  "The ministry came to search the manor a few days after we got back from school.  We're about 30 miles away from Azkaban," said James. 

  "Why didn't they notify the public then?" demanded Kat. 

  "I think they thought that they could catch him and not have to tell the public of their mistake.  What were you, Dad and Lucius talking about?" James asked changing the subject. 

  "The same.  Lucius still thinks Black is innocent but Sev doesn't agree.  Apparently Black tormented Sev in school but was very chummy with Lucius.  I was playing mediator, I think it is possible that Black was innocent but not probable," said Kat. 

  "I think I agree with Lucius.  From what I've heard of Peter Pettigrew he was very shy and looked to people stronger that him for protection but was very sly and cunning.  Pettigrew's character in general would make me think he was one of Riddle's lackeys, remember Quirrell? It's the shy and quiet one you have to watch out for.

  "Black's character on the other hand shows that he is least likely to be a Death Eater.  He grew up in a dark family, sure, but from what I hear they favored their youngest, Regulus and Black left their house at 16.  He was a very popular Auror and captured more of Tom's lackeys in one month than some of the other Aurors did in a year, he also caught the Lestranges.  Add to the fact that no one really knows the story because he had no trial and you have one doubtful story," said James. 

  "But true none the less," a voice hissed.  James turned to see Potter standing behind him.  Potter looked ready to kill, his face had a red tinge to it and his eyes blazed as if they were made of fire. 

  "No one knows that.  Black didn't have a trail and there for nothing is certain.  The only proof anyone has is what muggles saw.  The ministry didn't get there right away so who is saying Pettigrew didn't just alter their memories and take off?" asked James. 

  "They found remains Mr. Cage," said Potter. 

  "A rather cleanly cut, unburned, living thump.  That was it, they didn't even find a blood splatter," said James. 

  "And how do you know all of this Mr. Cage?" came another voice James recognized as Evans. 

  "Summer project, do you think I sit and twiddle my thumps all summer?" asked James.  This was partly true, he had done some research on what they found when they captured Black and it wasn't much.  All of his other free time was spent working with the crystals again.

  "On with both of you then, don't want to keep you from your shopping," said Evans walking away carrying Holly and Sara with a whipped Potter trailing behind. 

Review Responses: Wytil: Oooooookay.  If you made a review on the last chapter I didn't get it but I blame it on my e-mail.  It's been acting up lately and I'm this close holds up and inch between thump and forefinger to switching over to hotmail, but my friend says that it has worse problems so I'm stumped. 

Athenakitty: Yeah, Sirius is going to be one of those people who except and get over things fast but still holds grudges.  With the help of Sev, Kat gets over everything pretty fast as well.  Don't you ever tease your cousins? It's so much fun until your little brother gets too rowdy and bites you on the ass. 

Paladin3030: Triss? Hell NO! Triss is going with James, it has already been voted.  As of right now Kat will be going with either Remus or Snape, not sure who yet, it depends on how many more people catch on to what I was doing.  Why does Snape/Hermione creep you out anyway?

ZeonReborn: Those are my kind of people.  I just prefer to do things in the day because there are more people to scare and torment.  My friend Shadow just invented a game.  When ever you are in a public area act weird and try to creep people out.  If they just quietly slip away you get one point.  If they run away screaming you get five points.  It's rather fun until some old person comes screaming at you swinging their cane at you and end up falling over the second floor banister of the mall.  Shakes head sadly

Princezz2Di4-Sis-M. Amanda: Thanks. 

Remus' Girl a.k.a Wolfies Rock: I seem to get more reviews when it's dramatic for some reason, still don't know why.  No worries Remus, Sirius gets his revenge later.  You know, that is one of the better reasons not to bounce on your brother's bed. 

Lunawolf: I've been planning that for a while now.  I was going to do it in the beginning of second year but it didn't fit in with some other stuff I was planning on so I delayed it a bit. 

Gaul1: Thanks.

Energeezer: Thanks.

Bella: Yeah.  As for Dray and Gin, I threw that in at the last minute because a friend asked me to, and it worked, kind of.  Dumbledore won't always be a complete bastard.  He finally gets a clue sometime around the end of 5th year, with the help of one Trisstessa Dumbledore, ouch!

Insanechildfanfic: Thanks. 

BladeLiger786: Thank you.  I would love to be able to post more as well but I'm currently getting my ass royally kicked in school (CoughSpanishCough) and I'm supposed to go into the IB program next year so I have to keep a high average.  Hopefully I will have more time in the summer so I can work on it.  

Black-Rose1212: I figured everyone would expect that.  That is one of the things I've been planning since I started the story, and I'm not mean, I very easily could have made it a cliffhanger, that would have been mean. 

Howling wolf1: Thanks.  I might kill him off in an Azkaban raid or something. 

                       

ER: Thanks.

Goddess of Boredom: No, James thinks Sirius was a Death Eater and that he killed Peter Pettigrew when Pete found out he was a Death Eater.  Because James believes Sirius betrayed them they are at ends.  Remus was the only one who still believed him innocent besides Lucius Malfoy.