A/N: In this piece I explore the concept of proper caution and why it should be used.

It was Saturday, September 7th, 2019, and James and Lily were in the Great Hall enjoying a breakfast of french toast, bacon strips, and Budweiser when James asked Lily, "Lily, would you to take a fly around the Quidditch Pitch today?'

"It would be fun to have a fly, " smiled Lily, 'After we finish our breakfast, I'll meet on the pitch after I retrieve my broom."

"Sounds good, " said James happily.

But when Lily arrived, James felt his heart sink and was overcome with squeamishness when he saw what was in Lily's hands.

It was not her usual Firebolt, but a ZoomBroom.

The ZoomBroom was the most elite and upscale broom on the market. It had glossy bold black gold, was the most lightweight racing broom ever made, and had and acceleration of O MPH to 500 MPH in ten seconds.

"Lily?" asked James nervously, "Where did you get that ZoomBroom?"

"I just woke up this morning and found it by my bed. There was a note with it saying to enjoy it and wising me luck in the upcoming Quidditch trials and Gryffindor luck this upcoming Hogwarts Quidditch season, " said Lily in an eager and excited voice.

"Do you know who sent it to you?" asked James shakily, "Did this note say who it was from?"

"It only said "A well-wisher, " revealed Lily.

James gasped.

"It would be nice to know who sent so I could thank him or her for it, " said Lily simply, "But all the same, I'm not complaining about getting a ZoomBroom."

"Lily, " said James in the most serious voice Lily had ever heard him use, "Listen to me very carefully; it is very fishy that someone would send you an anonymous gift worth over a thousand galleons. I tend not to trust anonymous gifts anyways, but in this case let's be honest with ourselves. The Potter family has plenty of enemies that would love to knock one of us off and sending you a cursed broom anonymously would be a way to do so without getting in trouble for it. Then there's the possibility that someone out there wants to gain fame by killing Harry Potter's daughter. Sending you a cursed broom anonymously would be a way to succeed at doing so and the suspect could take the credit later. And we can't ignore the possibility that a Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Slytherin supporter suspects you will be talented and so wants to put you out of commission."

"Are you saying you think this broom is cursed?" Lily asked James, feeling suddenly uneasy.

"I strongly suspect that it is, " said James in a very businesslike voice, "Either way, I believe that it should be inspected before anyone flies it. Let's go to Headmistress McGonagall and ask her to inspect it"

"That's the only reasonable thing to do, " admitted Lily.

So, James and Lily made their way to McGonagall's office and knocked.

McGonagall opened the door and asked, "To what do I owe this pleasure, Potter and Potter."

"Professor McGonagall, " said James in a formal and serious voice, "This morning I asked Lily to have a fly with me around the Quidditch pitch. When she came to meet me there, she wasn't carrying her Firebolt, but a ZoomBroom. She found it by her bed this morning and was apparently very eager to fly it. But the thing is, it was sent anonymously and I'm very nervous that it may be cursed. I was able to talk Lily into coming to you to get the broom inspected for curses and jinxes. Lily is holding the ZoomBroom now."

McGonagall took the ZoomBroom from Lily and said, "Mr. Potter, thank you for brining your concerns to Lily's and my attention. What prompted you to feel so concerned though?"

"I'm always suspicious of anonymous gifts anyway, especially expensive ones, " explained James, "But in this case, the Potter family has enemies that would love to knock one of us off and sending Lily a cursed broom anonymously would be a way to do so without getting in trouble for it. Then there's the possibility that someone out there wants to gain fame by killing Harry Potter's daughter. Sending Lily, a cursed broom anonymously would be a way to succeed at doing so and the suspect could take the credit later. And we can't ignore the possibility that a Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Slytherin supporter suspects Lily will be talented at Quidditch and so wants to out Lily out of commission before the season begins."

"You think of everything, Mr. Potter, " said McGonagall approvingly "It'll take about a week to inspect. If it is curse free and jinx free, then Miss Potter may have it back."

James and Lily headed off and James said, "Lily if you go get your Firebolt we can still have a fly."

Lily went to retrieve her Firebolt and James and Lily still had a nice morning fly over the pitch.

After they were done, Lily told James, "James, I just want to thank you for caring enough about me to make me get that broom inspected and not letting me ride it without doing so. It goes to show the kind of care and concern that you have for me that you didn't let me ride that broom without getting it checked out."

"I could never forgive myself if something happened to you and I hadn't intervened, " said James firmly.

"Thanks, again, James, " said Lily and the two siblings exchanged a heartfelt hug.

A week later, McGonagall informed James and Lily that the inspection of the ZoomBroom was complete and to follow her to the Quidditch pitch.

When James and Lily arrived on the pitch, they saw McGonagall was holding the ZoomBroom in her left hand and a dummy in her right hand.

"Mr. Potter, and Miss Potter, " said McGonagall, "I regret to inform you that the ZoomBroom was carrying a Hurling Hex."

Both James and Lily felt a nasty sense of foreboding at this.

"I'm going to demonstrate what a Hurling Hex does, " explained McGonagall, and she set the dummy on the ZoomBroom and pointed her wand at the broom to make it kick off from the ground.

When the ZoomBroom had attained a height of fifty feet, it gave a violent shake and bucked the dummy off. The dummy fell hard and fast to the ground and shattered into many pieces.

"So, " said Lily with chills in her voice, "If I would have ridden that broom, I would have died?!"

"There is a 99% chance you would have died if you would have ridden that broom, " said McGonagall in a no nonsense voice, "Even your magic would be unlikely to save you from a fall of that height and suddenness."

"J-James, " said Lily, suddenly emotional, "Thank you. Thank you for bringing the danger of the anonymous ZoomBroom to my attention and making me get it checked out. You saved me from my own rashness and stupidity."

"It's only natural that you would've had an eager and excited reaction to receiving a ZoomBroom, " said James clearly, "The sender wanted to seduce you into acting without thinking out of getting caught up in receiving a ZoomBroom. I was fulfilling my duty as both your brother and your friend by intercepting you before you did something rash. If you had flown that broom and gotten hurt or worse, I would never have been able to forgive myself for not intervening. "

"Thank you again for looking after me, " said Lily sincerely, "I'm the luckiest girl in the world to have you for a brother. "

"You two may go, " McGonagall told James and Lily.

"Hey, Lily, I know seeing what could have happened must have been traumatic for you, " said James gently.

"It was certainly chilling, " acknowledged Lily, "I'm still feeling a little bit shaken."

Lily, follow me up to my room and I have something for both of us that should make you feel better.

Lily followed James up to his room and saw that there were two chairs at his desks that were prepared to be sat in.

On the desk were two bowls of strawberry ice cream with rainbow sprinkles mixed in.

"I prepared some strawberry ice cream for us to enjoy. Digg in!"

And James and Lily each sat down to a tasty and soothing bowl of strawberry ice cream and by the time they were done they felt like themselves again.

A/N: I purposefully wrote this piece for the ZoomBroom to have been jinxed. It always bugged me in canon that Harry fell out with Hermione over the Firebolt when Hermione was just looking after him, similar to what I have James do for Lily here. It also bugs me to no end that some HP fans complain about Hermione and the Firebolt in POA. Yes, there turned out to be nothing wrong with it, but the point here is that getting it checked out was the right thing to do. By showing what could have happened with a cursed broom, I show why Hermione was right to be worried in POA. By showing Lily appreciating James looking after her even before they got the results back, I show the attitude Harry should've had towards Hermione in POA. That's just always bugged me. Better safe than sorry!

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