This chapter has taken some things from The Magnificient Ambersons by Booth Tarkington (published 1918).
The Potters, like so many old Pureblood families, had married themselves almost to death.
The Gaunts had all but disappeared, retreating into some hidden, backwoods cottage where, if rumours were to be believed, they married sisters to brothers and fathers to daughters. The Malfoys had somehow managed to limp along into the 20th century and now all hope fell upon just a single heir, a boy named Lucius, the last of that once great family. Walburga Black was the envy of her social circle for having produced not one, but two living sons. Probably got them with Dark magic, the Blacks' less than charitable neighbors would sometimes gossip, their eyes green with jealousy.
The Potters were all expected to go extinct within a decade or two. An entire family had been whittled down to just two brothers, Fleamont and Charlus. Charlus had managed a son with his wife Dorea, but the boy, Benjamin, was born with a cephalic disorder and was not expected to survive to adulthood. Euphemia, Fleamont's wife, had five miscarriages. By the time James Potter came along, the family was thought of as the walking dead and spoke about in hushed whispers as if they were already laid out in their caskets.
Euphemia Potter was forty-seven when she gave birth to her son James. Her living, beautiful, healthy son. Her miracle baby. There could never be a more perfect child in her eyes than him. He must be something special, he must have a greater purpose; after all the pain and suffering she went through, to finally have the one thing she always wanted, it was a fairytale come true. James was a blessing, her gift from God. All of this to say, the child was spoiled rotten.
By the age of nine, James Potter had become a princely terror, tearing through public places – both Wizarding and Muggle – on his broom, bringing fines down upon his father's head and a backlog of work for the Obliviators. During one such occasion, while his parents were visiting Bathilda Bagshot in Godric's Hollow, having turned their son loose out on the neighborhood while they chatted over tea, a little boy sitting on old Diana Knighton's gatepost spotted James flying by and shouted out, "Hey, Four-Eyes! Close your mouth before you swallow a fly!"
James, despite being only nine-years-old, responded crudely, "Bet your sister swallows!"
The boy, not exactly knowing what it meant but not liking it at all, yelled back, "I dare you to get down off that broom!"
James jumped to the ground and the other boy did as well, though he descended inside the gate. "I dare you to come outside that garden," said James.
"Yeah? Well, I dare you to come in here! I dare you–"
James immediately vaulted the fence. Four minutes later, Diana Knighton, hearing strange noises, looked out from her window and saw her grandson looking well-tenderized underneath young Master Potter's flying fists. A quick Incarcerous, followed up with a Wingardium Leviosa, soon brought James Potter back to his parents.
"Stop! Do you know who I am?" James fiercely demanded as he struggled to escape the ropes he had been wrapped up in. He floated about half a metre behind Mrs Knighton.
"Yes, I do know!" The angered Mrs Knighton retorted. "I know who you are and you're a disgrace to your mother! She ought to be ashamed of herself to allow–"
"You shut up about my mother being ashamed of herself!"
James Potter was deposited at his parents' feet, his broom thrust into their hands, and the elderly couple received a dressing down by Mrs Knighton, who had gone to school with both of them and hadn't thought much of them then either. As soon as the old lady left, Euphemia released her son from his bindings and said, in a sorrowful voice, "Jamie, is it true? Did you beat Mrs Knighton's grandson?"
James looked worried for a moment, but then he brightened, "Listen here, Mama. You don't have to worry about her. Father wouldn't wipe his shoe on that old lady, right Father?"
Fleamont sighed. "Jamie…"
"None of the Potters would have anything to do with her, would they? She doesn't even really know you, does she, Mama?"
"That hasn't anything to do with it."
"Yes, it does! No Potter would ever pay her a visit, and she never comes to our house. I bet," James continued. "I bet if she wanted to see any of us, she'd have to go around to the servants' entrance."
The things James said and did troubled Euphemia and Fleamont, but they reasoned with themselves that once he started Hogwarts he would soon grow out of it. He wouldn't be the center of attention anymore; he would have to learn how to share. But their prophecy proved incorrect– James only got worse.
Lily Evans was the most beautiful girl James had ever seen. She was… resplendent. He had used that word in a poem he had written for her, thinking it might impress her. She was so smart. The cleverest witch in their year. She had pinched her mouth together, like she was trying to fight back a smile, when he handed his poem to her. She'd thanked him, and said she was sorry, but she didn't feel the same. Obviously, she was playing hard to get. Why had she fought so hard to keep from smiling if she didn't like the attention? Girls were weird like that. They wanted to be chased, and James liked chasing them. He'd caught them all, all but Lily.
James watched as she bounced out of the carriage and waved off the other Gryffindor girls. "Don't you want to come with us to Honeydukes?" Marlene cried.
"I already made plans with Sev. We're going to Pippin's Potions."
Marlene made a face. "Ugh, he's so creepy. He's always watching you, you know."
"Does he? I haven't noticed." But Lily was blushing.
"Are you his only friend? I never see him talking to anybody else."
"He's shy."
"If you say so," Marlene said with a roll of her eyes.
Lily watched them go, a slight frown on her face that vanished the moment she spotted Snape.
Severus Snape was an unpleasant boy with black, greasy hair hanging around his face and merciless black eyes. And for some reason, Lily's face always lit up when she saw him. Her hair and eyes… they were glowing, and once again James was struck by her beauty. If only Snape wasn't there to mar her perfection.
They didn't match. They looked wrong, standing next to each other.
James watched them walk through the streets of Hogsmeade, arm-in-arm.
"Three Broomsticks?" Sirius asked as he climbed out of the carriage behind him.
James jerked his head in the direction of the pair. "Got something I need to do first. Keep Remus distracted for me? That prefect badge is going right to his head, I swear."
Sirius laughed. "Of course, you can count on me. Happy hunting."
James pushed his way past the crowd of students all jumping at the chance to get away from the castle for a few hours. He made his way to a secluded alley behind a shop and pulled his invisibility cloak out of his expandable pocket, throwing it over himself. He had started up a new game this year, a fun game that he thought up that night he caught Snape trying to kiss Lily down in the dungeons. His greasy lips had been centimeters away; James had to do something, Snivellus was going to ruin her if he didn't put a stop to it. Snape had looked so spooked when he noticed the open door, and James couldn't help but drag his fingers through that disgusting hair, making him squeal.
He never made noises like that when James jinxed him. It was fun. It was addicting. James wanted more.
He followed them through Hogsmeade, keeping his steps light and noiseless, until he was able to creep close enough to whisper into Snape's ear, "Disgusting."
Snape sucked in a breath, his body shivering as he glanced wildly around. "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Lily asked.
Snape's eyes stared through James, seeing nothing but the old brick and mortar shops that crowded around the cobblestone street. His eyes were so large, so dark. "... Nothing," Snape muttered. "I just… thought I heard something."
"Are you sure you're feeling okay? You've been acting strange ever since school started."
The edge of his ear was peeking out from between that curtain of black hair. James watched as it turned pink. "I'm fine, Lily."
James reached out and ran a finger along the tip of his ear.
Snivellus let out another squeal, his hands flying and James had to duck to avoid getting hit. The git was quicker than he looked. James grinned wildly as he watched the boy spin around, and slowly stood back up, dipping just close enough to whisper, "Freak."
"SHUT UP!" Snape shrieked.
"Sev…" Lily breathed.
"Sorry! I'm sorry, I'm not telling you to shut up, I'm–" Snape stopped, suddenly aware of just how terrified Lily looked. "I'm sorry, I have to go, I didn't sleep last night and I had too many cups of coffee and you know how I get, I have an essay to finish, I'll see you at the library," Snape blurted out all at once and fled, leaving Lily standing there in confusion and fear.
Patting himself on the back for a job well done, James made his way back to the alley, took off the invisibility cloak, folded it up, and tucked it safely back inside his expandable pocket. He went to the Three Broomsticks to meet up with Sirius, Remus, and Peter, knocking shoulders with Saul Pembry – the Hufflepuff Seeker – as he stepped inside. "Watch where you're going!" Pembry barked out, his face red with anger, a bouquet of crushed flowers clutched in one hand.
James lifted a brow as he watched him storm out of the pub. Pembry was usually pretty polite.
He spotted his friends and made his way over to their table, snatching up Peter's butterbeer and gulping it down before the other boy could grab it back. "So, what's Pembry's deal?" James asked, smacking his lips and slamming the glass down in front of Peter's scowling face.
Remus gave him a rueful smile. "Alison Hayes stood him up."
Sirius shook his head. "Kind of stupid of her, really. Pembry's a pureblood, and Hayes is just a Muggleborn. She's not going to get an offer like that again."
"'Just a Muggleborn'? Plan on joining the Death Eaters any time soon?" James laughed. Despite Padfoot's very vocal protestations, he could sound just like his mother sometimes.
Sirius punched him on the arm, which did nothing to stop James's giggles. "Don't joke like that! If I could go the rest of my life without hearing about 'Death Eaters' ever again, I'd die a happy man. All summer I had to listen to Mother go on and on about the Dark Lord. How he was going to turn this country around and make things right. She's in love with him. Probably cuts out newspaper clippings of him and puts them in a scrapbook. She'd probably bend over for him if he asked her to."
Remus choked on his butterbeer. "Merlin, Pads, I don't want to think about your mother like that!"
"Have you ever met him?" Peter spoke up.
"Who?" Sirius asked.
"This Lord Voldemare, or whatever his name is. Is he really a lord? The lord of what?"
"How should I know?" Sirius demanded. "And no, I've never met him. Why do you think I would have?"
"I was talking to a Slytherin–"
"Well, there's your first mistake, Wormy."
"–and he said that this Lord fellow has been making the rounds to all the old pureblood families, looking for money and support."
Sirius shrugged. "If he came by Grimmauld Place I didn't know about it. Mother doesn't like to show me off to visitors. Too much of an embarrassment."
"He didn't visit my parents either. Probably because he knows Father would toss him out on his ear if he dared." James cracked a smile. "It's all a bunch of nonsense. He keeps blaming Muggleborns for the world's problems, but he never explains what his plans are to fix it. Father says he's just stirring up a lot of fear and outrage to get his foot in the door at the Ministry, and that once he's in a position of power he'll probably just sit on his ass and twiddle his thumbs. Come on, let me buy you another drink, Wormy," James said, clapping Peter on the shoulder.