How it Should Have Been: The Boy Who Lived

by Phoenyx-Fyre-Writer

What if that fateful Halloween night had gone a little differently and James and Lily survived? How would that come to pass? how did Harry survive without his mother's sacrifice? Warning Character Death. Mentions, but no actual description, of Spanking. JXL FXE.

2. Chapter 2

Hey A/all. Welcome to Chapter two of How it Should Have Been: The Boy Who Lived the first story in what will be my How it Should Have Been series. My first ever fanfic that I wrote was How it Should Have Been: Harry Turns Nine, it was my first foray into fanfic writing and honestly pretty bad. Whilst I liked the idea, James and Lily living and raising Harry, my execution left a lot to be desired to put lightly. I have been toying with re-trying this concept for a while, wondering how to make it work and make it unique and I think I've come up with an interesting take on things. All stories connected to this AU will be under the title of How it Should Have Been. This first story is complete and is a little three shot, updates should be weekly unless something drastic happens.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter all recognisable characters belong to J K Rowling; I just like to use them to do my bidding.

Series Summary: James and Lily live and raise Harry themselves.

Story Summary: What if that fateful Halloween night had gone a little differently and James and Lily survived? How would that come to pass? how did Harry survive without his mother's sacrifice? Warning Character Death. Mentions, but no actual description, of Spanking. JXL FXE.

Warning: This series does contain spanking, not in this particular story, but in future stories there will be spankings, this series will also include OC characters and a future M/M relationship. If any of these things offend you then don't read. Flames will be ignored.

A huge, huge thank you to my amazing Beta Jules Ann who is my constant support, confidant, cheer leader, and sounding board. Whenever I am stuck with something she is always happy to listen and help me figure out what I'm trying to do. Yes, I am trying my hardest to turn her into a Harry Potter Fan. Without her support and guidance, you wouldn't be getting this story as I likely would have just abandoned the idea.

~o~

After dessert, Sirius decided it was time to duck out before he got pulled into doing the dishes or had to join the conversation his Mum and Dad wanted to have with James and Lily. "That was fantastic as always Lily. I'd love to stay to help with the clean-up, but I really should be going to check on Peter," he grinned.

"Sirius Orion Black!" Fi admonished aghast.

Lily just laughed, "it's not a problem Mum. We're actually better off if Sirius doesn't help, he completely flooded the kitchen in our flat when he tried to do dishes and still somehow managed to set fire to the counter," she shook her head fondly.

Fi tried to keep a firm look on her face but couldn't and just looked at her second son exasperated, "what are we going to do with you?" She looked back at Lily, "I hope that James at least can do the dishes without causing complete calamity," she almost begged.

"Of course I can do the dishes Mum, but what's life without a little calamity?" James winked. "In fact, since Lily here did all the cooking, and Sirius is escaping as fast as he can, I'll do the dishes now," he declared. Doing the dishes was hardly his favourite chore, but he might even do them the muggle way to put off the conversation with his Dad, the last serious talk he'd had with him had not gone well.

Flashback

James was getting more and more frustrated as he searched every book in his Dad's private hidden library in his office but still could not find the bloody ritual. He had been looking for it since the damned Prophecy had come out and Albus had informed them he felt it fit either his and Lily's unborn child, or Frank and Alice's; Harry was now a month old, and he still hadn't found the stupid book. He only had the vaguest of memories of it, the far clearer memory was of the spanking he'd gotten from his father for reading the book in the first place. The Potters were a staunchly light family, not practitioners of Dark Magic, but this book contained Magyck most Ancient. Magyck from before magic was labelled as light or dark by the Ministry, Morgana, the Magyck was from before there even was a Ministry. The book contained guidance for several blood and sex Magyck rituals, ten-year-old him had not been all that interested in the blood Magyck rituals but had been fascinated by the sex Magyck, like almost every prepubescent boy would be. His Dad's private hidden library was somewhere he was not allowed to be as it contained many precious and ancient tomes like this one and it was not the kind of thing a ten-year-old should be exposed to. However, it wasn't for the sex Magyck that James wanted the book now. Even as uninterested in blood Magyck as he had been as a ten-year-old he'd still been morbidly curious and had looked at a handful of the blood Magyck rituals; he could barely remember any he'd seen, except the one that just wouldn't leave his thoughts since he'd learnt about the Prophecy two months ago.

Perhaps if James didn't have to search only in a few stolen hours when his Dad was busy at the Wizengamot meetings and his mother either with her friends or being distracted by Sirius, as she was now, then he would have found the book already. He couldn't be certain of that however as he couldn't remember anything about the tome and all these books required very delicate handling as they were all hundreds, and some even thousands, of years old. He only needed a quick glance at the book he just picked up as it was written in Greek, and he'd only learnt how to read Greek when he was thirteen, so he knew it couldn't be in there. A glance at his watch let him know he only had time to check a couple more books before he had to go. He was almost convinced he'd have to come back at the next Wizengamot meeting, but as he flicked through the next book as fast as he dared, he started to recognise a few things. "Thank Godric," he muttered when he finally found the very ritual he wanted. He slipped the tome into his cloak and slipped from the hidden library into his Dad's office and then as quietly as he could closed it behind him before he joined his Mum and Sirius in the sunroom.

After they had bid Mum goodbye and Flooed to the flat Sirius was sharing with Remus, Sirius looked at James expectantly, "did you find it?"

"Yes, I've finally found it," James breathed. He pulled the book from his robe and put it down on the kitchen counter, carefully turning the pages until he found the one with the ritual again. "I remembered it because as a kid nothing seemed worth sacrificing my life for," he explained.

Sirius read through the ritual sucking a breath through his teeth, "Merlin James, this is some heavy stuff, by the Ministry's definition it's as dark as it gets. If anyone ever found out that we did this, we'd be looking at a good few years, if not life, in Azkaban."

James looked at Sirius in surprise, "we? What do you mean we?"

Sirius rolled his eyes, "you made Harry my Godson, until I have a kid, he's my Heir too. I'm still the Heir to the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black and once my dearest mother does us all a favour and drops down dead, I'll become the Lord of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black. I can do this ritual too and give him an extra layer of protection, the Black family Magyck is more than old enough and powerful enough for it to work," he insisted. "I might not be as high on the Dork Lord's to kill list as you are, but as the only not legally disowned Black to refuse to kiss his ass I'm pretty sure I'm reasonably high up there," he grinned.

James opened his mouth to argue against that, there was no point both of them risking their necks, but he could see from Sirius' expression that he was not going to back down. Sirius was not often, well, serious, about anything, but James knew his brother in all but blood well enough to know when he set his mind to something, there was no changing it. "You've probably got a point," he conceded, "you're annoying enough that I want to kill you sometimes. I'd say you're at least top ten on his to kill list."

Sirius laughed, "before this bloody Prophecy I like to think I was top three. Can't believe I've been usurped by Harry, Neville, you, Lily, Alice, and Frank. My own Godson, it's a travesty!"

James couldn't help but laugh, "I'll give Harry a talking to about that shall I?"

"I think you need to; I will not be one upped by my own Godson when he's not even a year old," Sirius mock huffed.

James smirked, "technically he one upped you before he was even born," he quipped.

Sirius' jaw dropped, "Merlin's saggy balls he did didn't he. I'm going to have to have a very firm word with him about this. First though, this stuff, I can get all of it from Uncle Alphard's manor, the Elves are still looking after the place, you just need to get Harry's blood, that might take some time, he's so small you can't take too much at once without him needing an infant blood replenishing charm. No apothecary worth their potions will sell you one without informing the Ministry of suspected abuse, so you can't buy one. Lily's the only one of us capable of brewing that potion, but I doubt she'd do it without asking why, especially since it's for her son and I'm fairly certain she'd never approve of this plan of ours."

James reached into the pocket of his robes and pulled out a little chest, popping it open to show it contained several vials of blood. "I've been looking for this bloody book since we learnt about this Salazar damned Prophecy. I knew it would require blood, so I've been taking some little by little since he was born," he confessed.

Sirius nodded approvingly, "smart, looks like that should be enough, it's hard to tell really with these old rituals, they are never specific in amounts. It just says to," he paused to check through the ritual, "ah here, 'add blood of the heir until the flame turns white' so specific. At least I'm pretty sure that's what it says, every single book written in Ancient Magyck is written slightly differently. You know what, the next time Lily complains about us being stuck in the past or having to read Latin I'm going to make her read one of these books, she'll appreciate modern magical conveniences so much more afterwards."

James snorted in mild amusement, "this ritual must be done within the first three months of an infant's life, so it can't need that much blood. The whole idea was to protect the infant, not exsanguinate one," he pointed out.

Sirius scanned the ritual again seeing where it stated, 'this rite must be completed afore the heir's third moon turn,' and nodded. "That's good then, we should definitely have enough blood to do the ritual twice. Babies born back when this ritual was used were a lot more frail than they are now, they couldn't risk losing too much blood." He patted James on the back, "I'll go fetch what we need from Uncle Alphard's, where do you want to do this?"

James ran a hand through his hair, "ideally Potter Manor's ritual room, but I'm pretty sure Dad will skin us alive if he ever finds out we've done this, so that's a no go. I'm trying to remember if any of our other properties have a large enough earthbound ritual room situated on a leyline. Somehow, I don't think Albus will let us do it at any of the safe houses or Hogwarts," he sighed.

"It's not a ritual room, but the forest around Uncle Alphard's place has a Blood Magic Circle, it's earthbound and on a leyline. Regulus and I were messing around in it once before we went to Hogwarts," Sirius suggested. He didn't mention the switching they'd gotten when Uncle Alphard had found them, it was the only time he could recall actually being disciplined rather than abused by his family, the only time he recalled Regulus ever getting in any kind of trouble. His mother had exploded with rage when Regulus had run to her whining about getting his butt switched, furious at her brother for daring to lay a hand on her precious child. It was the first time Sirius had witnessed anyone standing up to his mother, and he was sure it was the spark that lit the fuse on his rebellion. It had been building for a while, but his Uncle telling his mother to 'stop your bloody caterwauling woman,' and his Uncle not suddenly dropping down dead for daring to stand up to his her had shocked Sirius to his very core. He and Regulus had been completely fine, and had certainly deserved the switching, Ritual rooms and Blood Magic Circles were not suitable playgrounds for children, especially those who were still prone to bursts of accidental magic.

James felt himself relax, and he shot Sirius a grateful look, "thanks Pads."

Sirius grinned, "and you thought you could do this without me," he shook his head mock disappointedly, "grab my arm, I'll side apparate you."

Getting everything that they needed for the ritual did not take very long, Alphard's greenhouses were well stocked, and the Elves were doing a wonderful job taking care of them. With arms full of the magical herbs James entered the Circle, he set his supplies down and knelt down, placing the book on the floor in front of him. "I, James Potter, Heir to the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter, call upon the Potter Family Magyck and the ancestors of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter to protect Harry James Potter, the newest born son and future Heir and Lord of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter," he began speaking in the Ancient Language of Magyck. As he spoke, he added herbs to the pit in front of him, relieved when they burst into a vibrant purple flame. "Harry James Potter, the future of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter is in grave danger, the one known as Tom Marvolo Riddle seeks to end the newest born son of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter. I beg of the Potter Family Magyck and the ancestors of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter to protect the continuance of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter."

The flames rose higher and turned a dark angry scarlet, James used the pure silver dagger to cut into his own palm, clenching his fist and letting his own blood fall into the flames. "I offer the blood of the Heir to the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter. Should the one known as Tom Marvolo Riddle spill the blood of any more members of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter; I call upon the Potter Family Magyck and the ancestors of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter to protect Harry James Potter, the newest born son and future of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter and allow no harm to befall him." His own hand was sealed by magic, the ritual accepting his blood sacrifice. He took the first vial of blood that he'd collected from his son and started pouring it into the now vivid green flames as the wind whirled violently around him. This was extremely ancient Magyck he was calling upon, from a time before wands, even before staffs, when witches and wizards combined their magic with the wild untamed Magyck of nature, it was why this ritual had to be performed somewhere earthbound and on a leyline.

The flames turned a brilliant pure white and James stopped pouring in Harry's blood, relieved he'd only needed to add the single vial of blood. "The blood of the newest born son is accepted, so mote be it!" He finished strongly tossing the final herb into the pure white fire, shielding his eyes as the flames roared into a towering pillar before vanishing from the bottom up. Had James not been kneeling down already he would have fallen to his knees as the ritual completed; he felt completely drained. Whilst performing the ritual it hadn't seemed like he'd been using much active magic at all, but he could feel it now; he felt like he had the last time he and Lily had been fighting for their lives against old Mouldy Shorts and had escaped by the skin of their teeth.

Sirius rushed over to James and helped him out of the circle, calling for one of the elves and demanding some chocolate. Accepting the bar of Honeydukes finest and shoving it at James.

James managed a tired chuckle, "Pads, you're doing an excellent impression of Moony but I'm fine. Your turn now," he insisted. He handed over the chest of vials, Sirius was blood related to Harry, a fair way back, and they'd sealed the Godfather ritual in blood too, but Sirius was probably going to need to add more of Harry's blood than James had as their connection was more magical than blood. It should still work, Harry was Sirius' Heir and due to Sirius being the Heir of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, Harry was the future Heir and future of the House of Black, it just might take more to make it work. He took the chocolate bar and tore the wrapper off, taking a big bite of the smooth, rich, chocolatey goodness, knowing it would help restore some of his magical reserves.

Sirius placed his hand on his heart and gasped, "your cruel words wound me so, comparing me to the responsible one, how could you?" He took the chest and paused only briefly to make sure James was eating the chocolate and wasn't about to pass out from magical exhaustion before he entered the Circle.

Watching the ritual was entirely different from performing it, James could feel the wild Ancient Magyck swirling around him, it prickled at his skin and made his hairs stand on end. The air became thicker and heavier with a sense of danger and foreboding. He hadn't felt any of this when he'd been performing the ritual, and he could understand why the Ministry decided to ban this kind of magic. This wasn't the kind of thing just any witch or wizard could do, if someone who was not strong enough tried it, they would die. The Ministry did not like magic like that and labelled any magic they didn't like as dark magic, even if it wasn't true dark magic just very powerful magic.

James' prediction about the ritual needing more blood for Sirius turned out to be correct and of the twelve vials he'd managed to collect from Harry there was only one left when the fire finally turned white a second time. When the flames disappeared, James could feel the wild Magyck prickling at his skin, he ignored that and hurried over to Sirius, helping him up and out of the Circle, calling the same elf Sirius had called for a second bar of chocolate.

Sirius leaned heavily on James as he shouldered most of his weight as he half dragged him from the Circle, "well I think I'm going to go sleep for just under a year. Wake me up when it's my Godson's birthday, I don't want to miss that." He shoved the bar of chocolate into his mouth and scoffed it down. "I normally hate it when Remus goes on his missions with the werewolves, but for once I'm actually glad, I don't think I could hide this from him. He'd go straight to Dad and drop us in it if he knew," he murmured feeling a little of his strength return to him.

James smirked, "no he wouldn't, he'd just kick your ass himself and tell Lily on me," he countered. Then he blinked as he realised what he said and shuddered, "you know what, yeah I'm glad he's away right now, Lily does not need to know."

Sirius nodded in agreement, "couldn't agree more Prongs, I love your wife, she's the best sister ever, but Mother of Merlin she's one terrifying witch when she's angry."

James grinned, "who would you rather face, angry Dad, angry Lily, or The Dork Lord himself?"

"In order of least terrifying to most, is first The Dork Lord, then Dad when he's angry, and finally, most terrifying of all, is an angry Lily," Sirius declared.

James burst into laughter, "can't argue with you there brother, but on that note, I really need to get back to the Manor and get this put back away before Dad notices it's gone. Are you safe enough to apparate? I don't think I can apparate us both."

Sirius shook his head, "better not risk it, the Floo is connected inside, we can Floo to the flat and then go to the Manor from there." He started heading towards the Manor, relieved that he hadn't let this place fall apart like he had planned to.

James shook his head, "I'm going to have to use the cloak to get it back into his study, it'll be easier if I go alone this time." When they'd been kids, it was easy for all four of them to hide under the cloak, but now, it would be more than just a tight fit if they both tried to hide under it.

Sirius was too tired to argue further so let James win this one. They got to the Manor, and he led them to the fireplace, grabbing the small pot of Floo powder and offering it out to James first. After James took a handful, Sirius grabbed his own handful and sent a small spark at the fireplace, starting a fire. "After you," he insisted. Whilst he didn't think the house would harm James if he wasn't there, he couldn't be sure. Alphard might not have been as much of a bastard as most of his family, but he had still been comfortable with using the Dark Arts and there were some nasty wards connected to the ward stone here.

James tossed his handful of Floo powder into the Floo and called out 'Dog's Den,' the Floo address they'd picked for Sirius' and Remus' flat. He stepped aside and waited for Sirius to follow, feeling a small pinch of relief when his brother stepped through and didn't look quite so pale and about to drop dead. "You going to come to dinner at Headquarters?" He checked, "I can make an excuse for you if you'd rather. I'll say you're at Mum and Dad's," he offered.

Sirius flopped down onto the sofa and nodded, "yeah, say I'm at Mum and Dad's."

James grabbed his invisibility cloak and gave a nod of agreement, "sure, I'll come by and check on you tomorrow, make sure your still alive. Try not to be starkers this time, Lily might want to come with me, the others in the safe house are driving her a little insane."

Sirius gave a roguish grin, "afraid Lily will see all this gloriousness and decide she picked the wrong brother?"

"Nope, I'm more concerned about scarring her for life," James quipped back without a beat.

Sirius threw his head back and laughed before he flipped James off, "piss off Prongs. Just for that, if Dad catches you, you're on your own, I knew nothing about this and had nothing to do with it."

James laughed and shook his head before he apparated out of Sirius' flat, heading for the edge of the woods surrounding Potter Manor. He stumbled a little when he landed, cursing when he felt the strain on his magic, the ritual hadn't taken as much out of him as it had Sirius, but he was still extremely drained. He threw the cloak over himself and headed into the woods; he felt the slight pressing of the wards as he walked through them. The wards were as strong as his father could make them, impenetrable, if he was not of Potter Blood, he'd have been flung back with enough force to shatter bones. Despite being the Heir, his less than honest intentions had the wards prickling against his skin, warning him, testing him further, pressing into him. As soon as he had passed the boundary the pressure released and the wards did grant him access, he had to stop for a second and marvel at the sentience of the wards, such was the beauty of Ancient Blood Wards, powered by many generations of Potters.

James had spent countless hours running around and exploring these woods as a child and teenager, he knew them well. Still under the cloak he pulled his broomstick from the pocket of his robes and enlarged it, mounting his broom and taking off towards the manor. When he approached the other end of the woods, he met the inner wards and had to stop and dismount. He placed his hand the outside of the ward and let it test him, focusing on just returning the tome, not on trying to do so without getting caught. He'd been caught out by this ward more than once since his Father had activated it at full strength, any devious or dishonest intentions were not permitted, even just wanting to sneak up on his Mum to surprise her. He let out the breath he hadn't been aware he'd been holding when he felt the solid barrier give under his hand and he passed through the inner ward.

James held his broom to his chest and hurried up to the manor, he needed to get his done, Lily would start to worry if he was gone for too much longer, he was just supposed to be visiting with his parents. The front door was a no go, there was no way he would be able to slip in unnoticed if he opened the front door. However, when Sirius and he had been here earlier, Sirius had opened the windows to both of their old bedrooms, and as James slipped around the back of the manor luck was on his side as they were both still open now. He remounted his broom and carefully flew up and into the open window, landing silently and placing his broom on his old bed. Now for the hard part, his Dad was definitely home from his meeting, but James could not afford to wait for the next one to return the book, his Dad was certain to notice it missing before then.

Moving as silently as possible James slipped from his childhood bedroom and down to the ground floor of the manor, he heard his Mum in the living room, thanking one of the House Elves and knew his Dad would be with her. This gave him a boost to his confidence, but he didn't take any chances as he got to his Dad's study and slowly eased the door open just enough to allow him to slip inside and close the door behind him.

"You might as well take off the cloak James," Monty stated with a feigned calmness.

James whirled around in alarm; a hand pressed into his chest as he was sure his heart had just stopped. "Godric Dad, are you trying to give me a heart attack?" He gasped. He pulled off the cloak even as his mind whirled to try and come up with an explanation that his Dad would believe.

"I'm not the one sneaking around my parents' Manor under an invisibility cloak. You owe your mother an apology if you truly believed she didn't know you and your fool brother were up to something. She's not stupid, your brother might be able to charm gold from a Niffler, but your mother knows when she's being distracted," Monty continued, staring directly at his son. He was mentally pleading to all the Ancestors that James was returning because he'd copied the instructions for what he needed to do and needed time to gather and prepare the ingredients.

James hated how his Dad had phrased that, he couldn't deny that he'd done anything now or that would be insulting his Mum, and he would curse anyone doing that. Well, at least he'd done the ritual, Harry was as protected as he could make him, and nothing could undo that. He sighed and pulled the book from his pocket, "guess I'll just put this back now then."

Monty noticed his son's hand shaking slightly and his eyes widened in horror, "you didn't… James Charlus Potter! What have you done!"

James set his jaw, he was a grown man now, a father himself, his Dad couldn't just scold him like a little kid. "I did what I had to do to save my son Dad!" He snapped back fiercely.

Monty knew the tome well enough; it was the same one he'd caught his son looking at before he'd started at Hogwarts, he knew of only one ritual in there that could be of any interest to him now. "Have you completely lost your mind! Sacrificial magic using Ancient and Family Magyck? If the Ministry ever found out!" He despaired.

James shook his head, "the Ministry won't find out, Merlin's sake Dad."

"You cannot guarantee that! And I have no doubt your brother was right by your side in all this. First becoming Animagi and now this! It's like the pair of you want to spend the rest of your foolish lives in Azkaban!" Monty lectured.

James rolled his eyes, "it's not actual Dark Magic though Dad, just what the bloody ministry decided to label Dark Magic because it's powerful. No need to get your wand in a knot, no one will ever find out and now at least Harry is as protected as I can make him."

Monty slammed his fist down on his desk as he rose to his feet, "this is not a trivial matter James! This is Sacrificial Blood Magic! Magic that requires the loss of life! That is true Dark Magic!"

"So, what!?" James yelled back at his Dad, "that mad bastard is after MY son! I will do anything it takes to try and protect him."

"James," Monty started.

"No! I don't care if I do end up in Azkaban, so long as Harry is safe. In case it's has escaped your notice, we are at war and some blasted prophecy says there are two possible children who could take him down and my infant son is one of them! I don't care what is costs, if I have to break every damn law that we have I will do it to protect Harry," James declared fiercely.

Monty shook his head in disgust, "you'll murder an innocent child in cold blood, will you?" He challenged. "I ought to turn you over my knee and smack some sense into you. I know you are scared; I know you are worried about Harry, your poor mother cries herself to sleep with worry about the three of you every damn night. However, that does not excuse using this kind of magic! I raised you better than that," he chastised.

"Of course, I wouldn't! It's not like I'm killing anyone Dad! My life for my son's! It seems like a pretty fair exchange! Only you would turn that into me being a bloody murderer!" James roared back.

"That is enough James! I have had quite enough of you shouting at me. I had thought you were past needing his but if you can't control your temper, you will cool down in the corner," Monty warned.

"I am not a child! You can't threaten to send me to the bloody corner!" James bellowed.

"You could have fooled me! Corner now!" Monty ordered in his most serious, do not cross me, tone.

The instinct to obey the order pulled at James, he had never in his life defied that tone. However, he was not thinking rationally right them, exhaustion from both the ritual and the lack of sleep due to stress, having a newborn, the constant terror for the life of his son wasn't allowing him to think rationally. He turned on the spot and apparated out of his Dad's study to the garden of the house they were using for Headquarters.

Flashback over

Monty shook his head, "Cossy," he called. When the young House Elf appeared, he smiled down at her, "could you do the dishes please Cossy?"

Cossy curtsied politely and nodded eagerly, "oh yes Master, Cossy can bes doing that."

James grimaced but had to admit he'd been outmanoeuvred. He had apologised to his Dad, even offered to accept whatever punishment he saw fit to give for his actions. His Dad had accepted the apology but had said there was no point in punishing him, punishment for punishments sake was simply abuse. Punishment wasn't for the one giving the punishment but should always be in the best interest of the one receiving the punishment, to help them make better choices in future. His Dad had said if he needed to do that then he'd failed as a father and that made James feel even worse. He did not regret performing the ritual, not now it was confirmed that the Dork Lord was definitely after his son, but he did deeply regret how he'd been with his Dad and there was a new distance in their relationship. The rift was slowly healing, but due to having to keep hidden from old Mouldy Shorts they didn't get to spend much time together to help that healing.

~o~

There you go, that was Chapter two. Drop a review and let me know what you thought. I hope you're still with me and will be here next week for the final chapter of this first instalment in the How it Should Have Been series.