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A few weeks later, having spent a few days completely unable to look Severus in the eye, James went up to breakfast in the Great Hall on time for a change, rather than oversleeping and getting a quick snack from the house elves.

"Morning James," Minerva said with a smile. Severus thankfully wasn't there, he was always the first to arrive and had usually finished eating and gone before anyone else had arrived. "I hear Quidditch try outs for Slytherin are this week, looking forward to it?"

"Naturally, I'm as mad on Quidditch as most of them are. I've seen some of them play, and even with a few novice players, they should be fun to train. How do you think the Gryffindor squad will do?"

"We're rather weak this year, I believe, after such a turnout last year. We have four vacancies to fill - two Beaters, a Keeper and a Chaser. We do have both Miss Bell and Mr Parkinson though."

"They're both very impressive. Third years, aren't they?"

"Yes and they were on the team last year. Of course, Sarah plays with her aunt over the summer and has done for years, and I believe Jeffrey's uncle used to play professionally as a Beater for the Arrows."

"You're likely to be our main rivals then?" James asked, knowing that historically this tended to be true.

"Given that Ravenclaw tend to be less interested in sport and more on their books and Hufflepuff tend to prefer tamer things like Gobstones, yes. It will certainly be an interesting season, I think."

James looked up at the sound of wing beats to see the owls swooping in through the opening in the roof. It was a sight that he'd never really got tired of during his years at Hogwarts, and one that he'd missed while in the Muggle world. All down the house tables, students reached up to catch packages and letters, some owls staying to share their master or mistress' breakfast before returning to the owlery. An elderly tawny owl dropped to perch on the back of Minerva's chair and she took a rolled up copy of the Daily Prophet from him. James amused himself while she skimmed it by feeding the owl small pieces of bacon: whether this was a school owl or not, it could be useful to have an owl liking you. It tended to make 'private' messages properly private.

Just after Albus arrived at the table, Minerva's expression turned serious as she found an article very near the front. When she'd finished that article, seeing that the Headmaster had his own copy that he was perusing gravely, she turned to James.

"Have you seen the paper?"

"No, why?"

"Death Eaters, or that's what I'd suspect. You'd better read it."

Glancing over at Albus again, James watched as he pulled out his wand and, pointing it in the direction of the main door, sent a small, silvery dart shoot out of it and head out of sight. It was a familiar sight, the Order's primary method of communication, and was undoubtedly going to fetch Severus or any other member currently in residence at the school.



DEATH EATER ATTACK?

Early yesterday evening, a group of hooded and masked figures attacked the homes and families of Godfrey Galton and Nicolas Burke. Both men, born into 'pureblood' families married halfblood or muggleborn women, and this is suspected to be what provoked these attacks. Mr Galton was killed by the Avada Kedavra curse while buying time for wife, Elissa to escape with their children Terrance (6) and Dixie (3). They are now in hiding at a Ministry safe house. The Burke family all perished, mother Jessie first being tortured under the Cruciatus Curse. Aurors arrived on the scene approximately thirty minutes later, alerted by Elissa Galton to the events of the evening. None of the murderers were apprehended. This attack raises serious questions relating to the number of Death Eaters who survived the trials of 1997. If the Death Eaters have indeed reformed, none of us will be safe from their terrorist acts. We of the Daily Prophet offer our condolences to the families of the victims and call on the Ministry to begin investigations at once.

Colin Creevey



"So it's started again," James said flatly.

"So it seems," she said grimly. "I suppose you were a little young to see any action in the last war, but knowing the elder Mr Malfoy, I can guarantee this one is going to be nasty. Do you have any family you might be at risk? Hogwarts professors are entitled to have a family at the school, though it's rare."

"My parents were killed by Voldemort when I was very small," James said cautiously. "My father I believe to have been a pureblood but my mother wasn't, so they were a target for sullying the blood or whatever rubbish they were spouting at the time. They were both only children, so no, I just have Abe and my friends."

"I'm sorry."

"Did any of the victims have family at the school?" James asked, determined to get her mind away from his family. Even by adapting the truth slightly - in the eyes of the wizarding world, Lily Evans had been an only child - he would rather stay off the topic, especially if dates or particular attacks came up.

"Thankfully no. The poor children were all below school age, maybe why they were chosen. Lucius is a sadistic man, he'd deliberately choose defenceless children."

"I had better go to my first lesson. The children will have heard about it, I suppose?"

"A few of them do get the paper, by the time first lesson comes round, it will be all over the school."

"I might see if I can do a lesson on Death Eaters then, prepare for any possibility. Do you think Albus would mind? I might cover some of the darker curses too, maybe the Unforgivables with the NEWT classes."

"I think Albus would think that an excellent idea. If they know why they're facing, they won't be so scared, hopefully. At least we know that Death Eaters are human, not acromantulas or some other beast."

James got up then, nodded to her and headed for the door. Even the students in the Hall were very hushed now. He noticed that immediately after he left, Minerva and Poppy Pomfrey moved up on either side of the Headmaster and began discussing it in hushed tones. Severus strode in a moment later to join the group. After a few minutes conferring, they separated as quickly and quietly as they had come together. James was sure however that the conversation would continue later in a more secure location.

As it happened, his first lesson of the day was Gryffindor and Slytherin fourth years. This was a slightly risky combination given the planned theme of the lesson, since the Gryffindors would undoubtedly make the well-known statement that all Death Eaters were Slytherins, provoking a full out war in the middle of his classroom. He would have to squash any signs of that very quickly.

There were relatively few of them in the class, only sixteen, the populations of both houses in that year being quite small. This could, in James' opinion, only be a good thing. When the whole class had arrived, he began.

"Take a seat please," he said, when they hesitated, uncertain whether to sit down or gather around the duelling space towards the back of the room. "Has anyone here not heard about the tragic events that have recently taken place?"

A few hands went up - presumably those who had overslept and missed breakfast.

"Yesterday, the homes of two 'half blood' families were attacked. One family were all murdered including three very young children, in the other, the father managed, at the cost of his own life, to buy enough time for his wife and children to escape. It is suspected by the Aurors that this was the work of Death Eaters. Regardless of anything the Headmaster chooses to do to remember these people, before we begin this lesson, I would like to observe a Muggle tradition, I know that this is unfamiliar to many of you. We will all observe a minutes' silence to remember them."

A few of the Muggleborns and half bloods looked almost as if they had been expecting something like this and immediately went silent as he glanced at his watch and they began. Most had bent their heads and some had their eyes shut. The purebloods, after a few glances around the room to check they weren't going to do something foolish, followed suit. James himself thought back to his own family, how, when they had been attacked, his father had attempted to buy time but had not been fast enough to save his wife. When they sat up again, he felt that most of them looked more serious and, his objective achieved, he continued with the class.

"Due to this event, I'm going to be telling every class a little about the Death Eaters and in your next few classes, we'll cover the main defensive charms and tactics you can use if you are ever attacked. If you are at home and are attacked, over Christmas for instance, you will be able to use magic to defend yourself, indeed you may have to. This is not something to be done lightly though, and I hope none of you will ever need to.

"The Death Eaters were originally formed by Tom Riddle, most of you will know him as Lord Voldemort and they were his servants. When he needed an ego boost, they told him how amazing he was. He bound them to him using a mark, which I will show you later. This allowed him to draw magical power from them and thus increased his own power levels.

"When they were first formed, they were called the Knights of Walpurgis, the name of a group led by Salazar Slytherin that defended wizard from persecution by Muggles. They are mostly pureblood wizards - that means that all of their family on both sides have been magical for generations. I believe that the Malfoy family can trace their ancestry back to the French wizards that came with William of Normandy in 1066. They believe that people who are like them are more powerful that those with Muggle blood and that they should be treated as superiors. I do not believe this to be true. I am one of the most powerful wizards of my age, and I am a halfblood and more powerful than Draco Malfoy, a pureblood. The only difference that I can see is that people from wizarding families will find it a little easier when they first start at Hogwarts because they will already know about wizarding culture.

"A Death Eater typically wears a long black, hooded robe and a white mask when they're on a raid. This is so they cannot be easily identified by the authorities, they may believe there is a ritual significance, but that is the main reason. Those who join voluntarily are often not particularly bright or slightly mad. Others join because their parents or friends make them. Some of you will remember that Professor Snape was a Death Eater because his father made him but he reported Death Eater actions to Professor Dumbledore and saved many lives in the process. Many Death Eaters were captured when Harry Potter defeated Voldemort just over eight years ago…."

That evening, after giving each of his sombre classes the same unplanned lesson, James sat in the staff room, composing some letters. He knew that the planned recipients would undoubtedly already know about the incident but he did want to hear their views on it and their recommendations for what he should do. The first was to Draco.

Dear Draco, he wrote, then erased it with a wave of his wand. That sounded far too formal to suit his friend. He tried again. Hi Draco! No, given the contents of the letter, he was starting to think his original salutation was better. It didn't really matter that much anyway.



Dear Draco,
I assume that you have heard about the recent attacks either from the paper or from your contacts at the Ministry. If you do have any information that wouldn't have been in the paper, I would be very interested in hearing it. I am trying to start preparing the students for another period of civil war and it is proving difficult with the limited information I have.

I would also like to urge you to come and stay at Hogwarts for a bit with Blaise and Harry. Minerva reminded me today, told me rather since I had no idea, that a staff member is entitled to have their family with them, and who can I call family if not you and Abe? You know as well as I do that you are going to be an important target of theirs as soon as they gather the strength since you turned away from Voldemort's service. Even if you don't want to stay permanently, at least come for the weekend and talk about it with me and Severus. I would far rather you were here and irritated about it than back home and dead.

Much as I hate to bring up the subject, I hope that you have considered the possibility that it is your father who is behind these attacks. Given what I know of him and his position in the ranks of the Death Eaters, I would say that this is almost a given conclusion. He would be particularly interested in killing you since your betrayal was personal and while he would undoubtedly kill you and Blaise, he might take Harry and raise him dark, something I know you would hate to see happen. While the wards of Malfoy Manor might offer you protection against many others, your father is of the Malfoy bloodline and has free access to the grounds and mansion.

I know you hate not to stand up to danger in a distressingly Gryffindor way but for my sake and Harry's if not for your own, please come to Hogwarts for a bit.

Your friend
James



With that James put down his quill and took out the next piece of parchment on his desk. He wasn't the only staff member involved in this sort of activity: James had no doubt that the next few days would see the more vulnerable family members of the Hogwarts staff arriving and taking up residence, either short or long term. Severus came in and walked over to him.

"Have you written to Draco?" he asked, no hint of sarcasm in his voice.

James nodded, passing him the letter. There was nothing particularly personal in it and if Severus would just add his own note to the bottom, they might manage to persuade Draco.

Severus was undoubtedly a fast reader and within a few minutes, had returned the parchment to the desk.

"That was more or less what I was intending to say to him."

"Feel free to add your own note. I know he respects your experience, it might make a difference to him."

The other man nodded, added two lines in his unmistakable scrawl. It was an unusually blunt instruction saying that Draco was going to come to Hogwarts even if Severus had to drag him back.

"Did you mean what you said about your family?" Severus asked, perhaps making sure that James hadn't been lying to get Draco to come and wanting to know whether there would be others coming to share the dungeon corridor. Aberforth Dumbledore could unquestionably take care of himself within the warren of Merlin House.

"Yes, my parents were killed in the last war and I'm an only child. Its . . . long enough in the past that I don't feel too bad talking about it, though I'd rather you didn't spread it around."

"I wouldn't anyway. Shall I take this up to the owlery? Knowing Draco, the sooner it's sent, the better."

James watched him go. Just as soon as he thought he had the man figured out, he came up with that. Whatever else he had suspected, he had not anticipated the open, honest ring to his voice that had been present. Was this how Severus treated Draco in private? They were very close, he could see that, despite the curt instruction he had sent. Only time could tell, really, and he still had one more letter to send.



Dear Abe,
I'm sure you know why I'm writing - please offer my condolences to anyone at the university who was connected to either family. Luckily, no one at Hogwarts was affected and for that we are all thankful, though it is unlikely to last. There always have been innocent victims in war, and the Christmas Holidays aren't far off. I've been trying to get the students prepared to defend themselves and their families should it be necessary. I hope that it never is.

I am a little worried that now that it is all starting again, I will be asked to join the Order of the Phoenix. I know that Fawkes probably recognises me and as a former member of the Order, I'm not sure what would happen at the induction ritual. Besides, while I'm perfectly happy to put my energies to defending the school, I have a feeling I might end up something of a figurehead again, not as the Boy Who Lived, but as the young Quidditch star giving up his career to assist in the fight. You can imagine the press articles. I really need your advice about this.

I am also aware that, if Albus decides he can trust me completely, I am likely to be named as the holder of the wards in the case of his death - I am the most powerful wizard on the staff and younger than all the others as well. Who held them last time - Severus or Minerva? I would appreciate it if you would send me some information on what is entailed so that I can be prepared if it should be necessary.

I would also appreciate it if you could try to persuade Draco to come to Hogwarts. We all know that he is going to be a target and he won't be safe at his home because of his father. Severus and I have sent him a letter but its possible he would listen to you more. Should you ever have need of me, send word and I'll come.

Thank you,
James



* * * * * * * *



When no reply had come to him from either man two days later, James was getting just a little worried. Both were, unlike him, usually reliable correspondents and would return a letter to him within twenty-four hours. Draco in particular was relatively nearby and certainly had some of the best owls in Britain at his disposal. He was also foolish enough to refuse to leave his home even when danger threatened - 'an Englishman's home is his castle' could be taken too far, even if it was almost literal in this case. Since Lucius Malfoy, or whoever else the new Dark Lord could be, had now revealed himself, he would almost certainly go after the Malfoy family first. They could afford to waste no time.

Puzzled, he knocked on the wall by Severus' portrait. His guardian, Glover Hipworth, appeared to be at an important stage in a brewing process and looked almost as forbidding as Severus used to be, and of course it would have been terribly impolite to knock on the portrait itself. The only people who could get away with that were muggle-raised first years and even then, not for long.

A moment later, the portrait swung open, Hipworth not even seeming to notice.

"May I come in?" James asked, looking at his colleague and, he hoped, his friend. Severus was dressed casually in the privacy of his chambers, and had obviously not anticipated on being disturbed. Instead of his customary teaching robes, he was wearing a dark green shirt and smart black trousers under the open style robes that James thought must be the fashion for men of between about thirty and eighty. These were, obviously, black.

"Certainly, what are you here for?" he continued, leading James inside and gesturing towards an armchair while he went to fetch glasses. "Butterbeer alright with you, or would you prefer something stronger?"

"Butterbeer would be great thanks. It’s just that its been about two days since I sent that letter off to Draco, more actually, since I sent it in the morning. I'm starting to get a bit worried that someone's intercepting the mail."

"Have you sent anything else?"

"A letter to Abe Dumbledore but he's at the University, so I won't worry about that for at least another day."

"Interesting. You are aware that Draco has . . . has an impulsive streak in him, he may just be staying because we told him he should not."

"I know that, the question is what do we do about it?"

Severus stopped and thought for a moment.

"They eat at seven, it's seven thirty now. If they only received the letter today, they might have been packing since this morning and augmenting all of the wards and defences already in place. I believe we should give them until eight to come. If they do not, one or both of us must go after them. They are in no immediate danger now, we have the time to give them."

"How do you know?"

Severus gestured towards a large clock standing in the corner. As was normal for a wizarding clock, it had hands such as 'safe', 'home', 'common room', 'upset', 'looking for trouble', 'in danger' and 'in mortal peril'.

"I use it to keep track of the worst trouble makers and some of the staff," he said. James was fairly sure that those of the staff he kept track of were the Order members, though he had stepped quite nicely around that issue. "It is always useful to know which students aren't in bed at night. I put Draco on when he was eleven."

"All Slytherins?"

"No, Potter was on there since the moment he entered the school - I believed that with his history it would be better to be safe than sorry. I certainly needed it to catch him as many times as I did. I believe that he has the record for the most points deducted for being caught out after curfew."

"He was a trouble maker then?"

"Once I thought so, yes. Now though, after I thought about it and received more information about his actual situation within the war, I'm not so sure that it was in a deliberate way. He was more a trouble magnet and he had some Gryffindor idea that the safety of the castle and everyone in it rested in his hands. Not that it didn't, of course, but it was a bit too much for a twelve year old to think that he could protect fifty-year-old veterans of two wars."

James fell silent, thinking for a minute. If that had been an honest answer, and it certainly made sense if it was, then maybe Abe had been right about the man's reaction when he found out. Severus certainly wasn't the intractable monster the students had once imagined him. If, as he suspected, it was Ron's somewhat indiscreet speech that had finalised this revelation, he would have to thank him once his identity was known.

He almost missed it when Severus continued.

"Of course, he tended to show all of Gryffindor's weaknesses and none of their strengths. He'd have made an admirable Hufflepuff but you could never imagine him being entirely happy with his studying, let alone appreciating being at Hogwarts. Besides, he never looked beneath outward appearances. Within twenty-four hours of his arrival, he was convinced that Slytherin were the embodiment of Voldemort's legions and hated the lot of us. He wouldn't have lasted a week in Slytherin."

"He does sound a bit like the stereotypical hero," James admitted. Put it that way, and even he had to agree. He had been quite an innocent aged eleven, though regrettably not in many ways. James decided he might as well fish for as much information as he could get to help his future campaign. "Draco seems to have liked him though."

"Has Draco told you about his first five years at Hogwarts? You couldn't walk into a class with them without having to worry about whether their next fight would be in your classroom. Thankfully, Draco respected me too much to try anything too serious in front of me and I don't think Potter would have dared. They only started to make peace later; it must have been the beginning of their sixth year, the year Potter was killed. Draco was still a little naïve at that point."

There was a long pause. James glanced at his watch.

"That's eight o'clock."

"Indeed. I will open my Floo and see if the Headmaster can't open a direct link to the Malfoys' place." Severus moved over the fireplace and threw in a handful of Floo powder, kneeling down to put his head through the network to the Headmaster's office. James didn't know what would happen if Draco tried to come through then but he was sure it wouldn't be pleasant. After what seemed to be an agonisingly long time, he stood up and the fire continued to blaze green.

"There," Severus said. "That will set off an alert and give them a reminder if nothing else."

Five minutes passed.

The flames suddenly burst upwards and the silhouette of a figure appeared in the flames. She stepped gracefully out with the ease of one who has done it from an early age but her expression was agitated.

"Thank Merlin," Severus said with relief. "Please tell me Draco's following."

"He's not," Blaise said, anxiously trying to soothe the baby in her arms. "He's trying to pack up a few of the rarer dark objects so his father can't get hold of them."

"Damn!" James exclaimed. "I'll go after him Sev, if you get them settled."

Reluctantly, the other teacher nodded and gestured for Blaise to take a seat before preceding James back down the dungeon corridor to James' own quarters. Inside, he looked to him for instructions.

"My duelling robes are in the wardrobe," James said briefly. "Black with silver trim. Then I'll need the green trousers and T-shirt hanging next to them." When the Severus had gone, James went over to his desk and pulled out the lowest drawer, the one he'd hoped never to need.

He pulled off his robes and shirt, taking out a wand holster, which he strapped securely to his right arm. Next was a sheathed dagger that he fastened to his left arm. He selected a dirk, dipped it in a small vial of a clear poison and re-sheathed it, leaving it out on the desk while he went to find his boots.

James had always been taught that if you were to go into battle, you should make sure you had the best possible clothing and equipment, partly for intimidation purposes, partly so that it didn't let you down. All of his duelling clothes had been tailor made and this particular set had a number of defensive charms woven into the fabric. His knives had been made with his abilities and grip in mind and the wand holster was the perfect length for his admittedly short arms.

As soon as Severus returned carrying said clothes, James stripped down to his underwear. This was no time for modesty. As he pulled his boots on and did up each of the buckles, he slid his dirk down the side of his right calf. Then he turned to grab a hair tie. Pulling his hair severely back and spelling the tie into place, he turned to look at Severus.

"I'm ready," he said.

"Get Draco out if you can," Severus said, equally blunt. "If you can't, save yourself. You won't believe how difficult it is to get competent Defence teachers." He grasped Severus' hand in a firm grip then stepped into his own fire and left, senses alert for any possible danger.

After emerging from the Floo with his usual lack of grace, James paused for a moment, listening. It was all quiet, the house was mostly in darkness. There were no signs of a raging conflict and he doubted Death Eaters would have had the time to kill Draco between the time Blaise had left in his arrival. Draco was one tough bastard and he was on his home territory. There were undoubtedly a number of nasty surprises lurking for the unwanted visitor.

A house elf popped into the room. James spoke to it gently but urgently, without any of the usual pleasantries.

"I need to see Draco, will you take me to him directly?" It was a little known fact that a house elf could carry a human around in much the way that a wizard could Apparate. James knew for a fact that Albus used it at Hogwarts, though not many others did. For a house elf to confide this fact in a person was a sign of trust and liking. Certainly, no Death Eater like Lucius Malfoy would ever have discovered it.

A moment, then the little creature nodded and took James' hand. A crack and disorientating pull around his knees and he appeared in the room he had never been in before. It seemed to be in the dungeons - there were certainly no windows - and cases on the walls were full of dubious looking items. Draco was hurriedly packing these into boxes. If James made a sound, he would turn and hex him. Was it worth the risk, or should he use Draco's Order codename and claim he'd been given it by another member. He decided on the latter.

"Ferret boy?" he said quietly, trying very hard not to startle his friend.

Draco spun around, wand extended. Seeing who it was, he relaxed, pushing his wand back up his sleeve.

"James. What are you doing here?"

"Trying to make sure you don’t get yourself killed."

"I can look after myself," Draco said, his voice icy.

"Against ten, fifteen Death Eaters in a dungeon room? I think not. Severus suggested that I knock you out and bring you back to Hogwarts but I'm willing to negotiate. We take ten minutes to pack up as much as we can and then we leave, no exceptions. This will be one of the first rooms Lucius comes to and it only has one exit. If we're caught here, we're as good as dead."

Draco paused, considering this.

"Fine," he agreed reluctantly. "Pack as much of this up and I'll make the changes to the wards that I need to. By the time I'm done, I don't want a living human to make it through."

"Won't that take longer?" Draco laughed grimly.

"We're a nasty lot, Malfoys. These wards are already in place, just disactivated at the moment. I will key both of us in and add Severus, Blaise and Harry later." James nodded curtly and began shrinking and packing as many cases as he could then shrinking them and putting them into deep pockets in his robe.

He stopped exactly ten minutes later and Draco came out of the trance he'd been in.

"Done? I've got everything packed and in my robes. We need to take the fastest way out," James said, knowing that that wouldn't be the Floo network. He knew, as did Draco, that the Floo network was unsafe at the best of times and would be the first place targeted. It could be disconnected, leaving you trapped in a small room or it could be diverted, sending you uncontrollably into enemy territory.

Draco started to jog up the stairs. Following, James found himself in the library. Following his friend's sure route, they navigated the maze of corridors and found themselves in the entrance hall. Draco pulled them into a small room off to the side and pressed their palms against a panel on the wall. It glowed slightly, then subsided.

"That's us keyed into the wards. I should have been safe already but you weren't. From here, we can Apparate to the Hogwarts Apparition point. Do you have the co-ordinates."

As soon as James nodded, Draco vanished with the tell tale crack. Hastily, James swiped downwards and followed.

They appeared in a small clearing on the edge of the Forbidden Forest and, wands in hands, began to sprint for the safety of the wards. They were taking this very seriously, knowing that Draco was in danger every moment he was outside of a public place or warded building. Perhaps their attitude would seem paranoid to the students, but both men had lived through the darkest dark lord in a millennium. They knew what the risks were.

Passing the flat stone that marked the boundary of Hogwarts School, both men touched their wands to the quartz on top. This would set off a signal in Dumbledore's office that both men were in the warded area and safe. This accomplished they relaxed noticeably.

They strode through the grounds to the castle, then down to the dungeon, James earning a number of strange looks as they did so. He looked very different from his usual self, downright dangerous in fact. When they reached Severus' chambers, the portrait swung open at their approach. While Blaise and Draco talked in the corner, Severus handed James a mug of Ogden's Best Firewhisky.

"You look like you need it," was all he said, with the experience of one who has seen it many times before. Their slightly emotional (for them) farewell was not mentioned, nor was the time James had abbreviated the other's name. They were both safe, and that was, for now, all that mattered.



* * * * * * * * * * * * * *



It was one o'clock the next morning when James was woken by a sharp peck on his finger. He rolled over, luckily the other way and fell out of bed. Abruptly, he opened his eyes and cast 'lumos'. He stopped, glaring at the offending owl that was just beginning to mutilate his bedclothes. There was no doubt who this owl had come from. Moving slowly towards the bird, James suddenly shot forwards and grabbed it. After letting out an indignant squawk and trying to peck him again, or at the very least scratch him with its talons, the owl retreated to the far corner of the room to sulk in peace.

"Don't worry Archimedes," James said with the forced tolerance that had come with long practice. "I'll find you something to eat after I've read the letter from Abe. You know, it's not generally polite to wake someone up at this time."

"Squawk!"

"And acting like a moody starling isn't going to help you any. I should pluck you and barbecue you like some common chicken."

A rustle of feathers and Archimedes was no longer there. James suspected he'd gone to ground under the bed.

Abe had named him after the highly intelligent owl in 'The Once and Future King', perhaps in the hope that his new pet would be able to talk. Alas - or rather luckily - this was not the case. James had commented on occasion - whenever Archimedes was being particularly irritating - that they looked the part of batty old wizard and irritable, moth eaten owl. Both had taken exception to the wording.

James unfolded the scroll Archimedes had brought and held it under his wand. This was the long-awaited epistle from Abe and it had better be good or James would be in serious trouble.



My dear boy,
That's a very impressive list of problems you have sent me; I will do my best to address them. First however, I will tell you that I passed on your best wishes to the families of the victims. There were three, two were cousins of the dead family, both in Agrippa and one a nephew of the father, he is in Merlin. All seem a little shaken but are recovering quite well and are throwing themselves into their study. I feel sure that if Albus is indeed intends to reform the Order as you suspect, all three would be candidates upon their graduations. They are all very capable and now are horribly aware of the stakes we are playing for.

About the Order, there is not much I can do to help. Yes, Albus is, especially with my recommendation, going to try to recruit you. There are two things you can do. The first is volunteer to take over at Hogwarts and free up several of the rest of the staff to go about Order business, you could claim that you are inexperienced and would feel better about taking such a position. The other, and I advise that you do this whether or not you use my previous thought, is that you have a talk with Fawkes. Claim you are fascinated by the defensive magic of phoenixes and ask if Albus will give you some time to study him, with Fawkes' permission, of course. Then you could attempt to explain the situation to him. There may be ways of faking the induction ritual that he could put in place should it become necessary. You can trust him with your secret, especially since he would find it very difficult to communicate it to anyone.

I have also written to Draco, though I hope it will not be necessary. Please write back to me to confirm if you do have him with you, and I can relax about his safety. Of all of my former students, you and he are two of those I am most concerned about. Keep him at Hogwarts for as long as you can, or at a safe house. Do not let him return home until this fight is finished.

Good luck, Jamie
Aberforth Dumbledore



* * * * * * * * * *



James was woken far too early the next morning when someone emptied a bucket of cold water on him.

"G'way Draco," he said, pulling his pillow over his head. "'s too early to train."

"Unless you want me to start shoving ice cubes down your back, I'd at least open your eyes," Draco said, obviously hoping James chose to ignore this well-meant advice.

James groaned and pulled himself upright, scanning the room to check no one else was there.

"How'd you get in here?" he asked, his brain still not quite awake.

"The Floo, James, that's the one with the green flames that you threw up on, remember?"

"I know what the Floo is. I do ward my chambers though."

"I'm keyed into the Floo network - free access to everywhere. It's one of the perks of being in the Order of the Phoenix. And before you ask, since everyone knows I am, I don't need to be secretive about it. Are you going to get up now, or do we need to continue with giving you an incentive?"

"I'll move. What time is it anyway?"

"Oh, about seven o'clock. Albus wants a staff meeting before lessons this morning - probably between half seven and half eight."

"Why did I take this job?"

"Beats me. You could have been getting up at five to do Quidditch training but instead you choose the soft life. We were most disappointed."

"Push off Draco, I'll see you upstairs."

When he was quite sure that his friend had left his rooms, James rolled out of bed, untangled himself from his blankets and started looking around for decent robes to wear. He had been very glad to receive his letter but it would have been nice if he was able to make up for the sleeping time he'd lost. The whole idea of having staff meetings before dawn was horrific, something that had certainly not been in the job description. If Albus had only decided to hold it in the first period, not only could he have slept in and still attended the meeting but he would also have not had to taught his 5th year Gryffindor-Slytherin Defence class.

At last, dressed fairly respectably in forest green robes, he called a house elf. One of the multitudes appeared in his rooms - not one he knew by sight.

"I'd like a panini and a croissant as quickly as possible please."

"Is that all?" the house elf asked, sounding horrified. James winced inwardly.

"I just need breakfast, something I can carry with me and eat on my way to the staff meeting."

"Very well Professor, one moment."

A minute or so late, the elf was back holding a cleverly contrived bag that would provide a lining for the huge pockets of his robes. In it appeared to be at least three croissant, various pieces of fruit, a thermos flask - where the house elves had found one of those he had no idea - presumably of coffee and a cheese roll containing what appeared to be the goat's cheese that he liked.

"Thank you," he said, being careful not to go over the top and letting this sound like a dismissal as well -he knew all too well how touchy elves could be. The house elf seemed satisfied, bowed very deeply and vanished.

As he left his chambers, he met Severus in the corridor, looking a little haggard.

"Tomorrow," he muttered, "I am either putting up silencing charms or moving them into their own suite. I take back whatever I said about the boy being a nice baby."

"And how Draco manages to be so bouncy is beyond me," James said, remembering times from their university days when they'd gone to bed at around two and Draco had bounced back up again at six without a care in the world. "Have you eaten?"

"No time, I'll go to the kitchen after the meeting for some coffee."

James thought for a second: should he sacrifice his own precious stash of caffeine for this obviously needy friend or keep it to himself. It was an easy decision as conditioned Gryffindor responses came into play.

"Here," he said, handing over the thermos. "I got the house elves to get me breakfast. There's some fruit and croissant if you want it."

"Don't even think about a job change," Severus said, gulping down the steaming hot coffee without even appearing to burn himself. As they passed the Great Hall, he seemed to be almost back to his normal self. By the time they reached the staff room, his glare was back in place for the other members of staff and both of the Slytherin teachers were ready to start the day.

They were among the last to arrive, as usual, having had the furthest to come. In addition to the staff were a few other familiar faces from the Order. Draco and Blaise were there, obviously, as were Ron and Hermione and, surprisingly enough, Fred and George Weasley. When they had taken their seats, Albus stood up in his place at the head of the table.

"Thank you all for coming here at this early hour. As you know, the Death Eaters are rising again and we must consider the defences of the school and what measures must be taken. For this reason, I have invited Ron, Hermione, Fred and George here, since they probably know the school better than many of us teachers and have perhaps more experience with various traps.

"As always in this situation, our first consideration must be who it is that will be keyed into the wards, to hold them in the case of my demise. Minerva has taken that duty during Voldemort's two risings, but she has informed me that she no longer feels her power reserves are up to such a task. Most of us are quite advanced in age, the only ones I feel to be young enough to bear the wards in the event of my death are Severus, Irene and James. Irene, what would your feeling be?"

"Have you completely lost your mind, Albus?" Professor Sinistra asked. "My speciality is Astronomy, not Charms or something of that ilk and I'm not magically powerful either. Let one of the others do it."

"Very well. Severus, James, its up to you."

"My inclination would be towards James," Severus said smoothly. "I, like many members of the Order, am already seen as a target and, while I will do my best to survive, it is possible that I will be taken down early in the assault. He is also the most powerful of us here and perhaps the best trained for the accompanying title. It is 'Defender of Hogwarts', is it not?"

"Any objection James?"

"What exactly does this involve?" he asked, Abe not having remembered to send him any information.

"Minerva might be better to talk to but essentially we key you into Hogwarts' wards and identify you as my successor should I die. At that instant, instead of falling, the wards will immediately divulge upon you and you will continue to hold them until a new Headmaster is chosen or until your retirement, depending who is appointed. Should nothing happen to me, it will affect you very little."

James considered it for a moment, the others in the room watching him in silence like a bug under a microscope. There was certainly no harm in it, if Headmasters had been holding this wards for centuries, and Minerva had been keyed to them herself and seemed to have had no ill effects. Although he knew that Albus, knowing that he was so powerful and trained by his brother, was not being entirely forthcoming, someone would have to do it anyway, and he was probably stronger than Severus in terms of sheer power . . .

"I'll do it," he said, and the room breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, dear boy," Albus said. "Now, on to the other defences. You say you know the locations of all entrances into Hogwarts itself."

The four Weasleys looked at each other and one of the twins - James thought it was Fred - spoke up.

"We know all of the ones that were there during our time at school. We never found the Marauders Map, so it's hard to know for sure, but we will have a good look for any new ones. When the wards are up, entrance above ground is only possible via the main school gates and by the Apparition point located just outside the grounds beyond the Quidditch pitch. It is also theoretically possible to cross the lake and enter that way but with the Giant Squid in the way, we decided that was impossible. Hermione had a few ideas for security."

At that point he stopped and Hermione took up the thread.

"Muggles have things called security cameras that act a bit like a portrait. You set up a screen in your office for instance, and the picture shows what is happening at a certain point. Ron and I think we could probably come up with some way of finding a magical alternative for each site. Fred and George are ready to start closing off the tunnels with one way portals. Some of the tunnels are already blocked by cave-ins and the like, but the others will be set up with as many Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes products as they can hide. We're also looking at a one way portal but that hasn't passed the experimental stage."

"So we can expect to be seeing you around the school during the next few weeks?"

"Well, Kingsley seconded me to the school anyway," Ron said with a grin, "and of course the twins will be along whenever they feel like it. We'll try not to be too disruptive to lessons."

"It would be appreciated. Mr Malfoy, will you be staying with us for a while?"

"Its not like we have a choice," Draco said, scowling slightly.

"We have a few options. You could either remain in Severus' quarters, take rooms of your own or move into a safe-house."

Draco and Blaise looked at each other for a moment. A silent decision was obviously made.

"A safe house might be best," he ventured.

"That's just what I thought. We have a few properties that could work, owned by the Order or by Order members. The ideal place would be this one, a Potter legacy. Unfortunately, Harry never found this place, I'm not sure he even knew it existed, and he didn't write a will. However, I feel certain that he would have been happy for you to use it."

Draco and Blaise scanned down a sheet of parchment.

"I never knew Potter owned a castle!" Draco exclaimed a moment later.

"Ah yes, as the sole descendent of Godric Gryffindor, through the Potter line, Harry would stand to have inherited this place on his seventeenth birthday. The Potter family had long since vacated it in favour of their holdings at Godric's Hollow, which were in a wizarding neighbourhood and with a more modern design. Technically, the heir of Slytherin would hold it jointly with him, since the Gryffindor and Slytherin family were allies, but we have been unable to determine the senior line, or even if there is a remaining branch of the family. I fear it must have fallen from the height of its power and heritage, perhaps the records were lost through Squib generations.

"The problem?" Severus said, telling something was amiss.

"Well, we haven't actually been able to locate the building, and unless we do, I'm afraid it is, for all purposes, useless to our cause."

"Ah, may I take that Draco?" James asked, wondering how he could phrase it. "I'm not sure of my lineage but I'm told I'm of Slytherin's line, so I might as well do some research into it. Perhaps if Mrs Weasley has time, she could assist me."

The other staff members looked at him with some surprise, especially Hermione. James could see the wheels turning in her head. He was undoubtedly Gryffindor's heir, Slytherin's heir in power and possibly senior heir also . . . No wonder he was powerful.

The meeting continued, all of the proposed safe houses being discarded for one reason or another: Lucius Malfoy might have known of those belonging to Severus, they'd used those ones before . . .

At the end of the meeting, Hermione came over.

"You'd like to meet up this weekend then?" she asked.

"You'll help me then?"

"I'm not sure I'd trust you alone in a library."

James laughed as they slipped back into the familiar banter of their schooldays.

"Do you think we should start in the Hogwarts library?"

Hermione pursed her lips and thought about it for a moment.

"We'll be tracing the ancestral home of the founders of Hogwarts. I'd have thought that most of the comprehensive texts about them would be here, so yes. Would about three o'clock on Saturday suit?"

"Fine by me."

"What do we know already? I could maybe do some preliminary research at the Ministry. . . "

"It’s a castle that, before Hogwarts was founded, was occupied by the combined Gryffindor and Slytherin forces - they were allies - supposedly located in Scotland somewhere. When the Slytherin line declined into Squibs who left for Muggle settlements and the Gryffindor family had a smaller manor house built near the village of Godric's Hollow, the castle was abandoned. It is said that only someone who is a member of the family or keyed to the wards can enter or find it. That's about all, but it does sound ideal for Draco."

She grinned at him and pulled a Muggle-style notebook out of her robes, scribbling down notes already as she began to think about the best sources of information. Ron looked over to see where she was, then smiled indulgently as he caught sight of the expression on her face.



* * * * * * * * *



On Thursday evening that week, James pulled on his Quidditch robes, took his broom out of the cupboard and made his way to the Quidditch pitch, where he had agreed to help out with the Slytherin team's try-outs.

When he arrived, Archie Alderton, the Slytherin team captain, was already on the side of the pitch with the rest of the existing team. They had four players already but needed to fill vacancies for a Seeker, Chaser and Beater. All of the potential players were already in the air warming up, and the stands were beginning to fill with various supporters and friends, although it was clear that a few of the older Slytherins had taken it upon themselves to prevent entry from any of the other houses.

"Professor Evans!" Archie called. "We're just about to start."

James jogged over.

"What do you want me to do?"

"We've got huge numbers of candidates, so we're doing the positions one at a time. They can try out for more than one but we've advised against it. We're starting with the Chaser position but we were wondering if you could get the Seekers over to one side and check their brooms and stuff since we're doing them next. None of us know so much about Seeking, so that's where we're likely to need the most help."

"Certainly," James said. Unless they had other plans for him later, this wouldn't be too hard. "Sonorus! Could all Seekers not also trying for Chaser come over here please!"

About five people separated from the swarm of maybe twenty five and landed. There were four boys, one girl, and they had a good spread of ages. The youngest two boys had just started their second year while the oldest was one of James' star Defence Against the Dark Arts students. It was interesting that there were so many candidates - the position of Seeker was known to be the hardest and most dangerous and there weren't many with the guts for it.

"Do you know if anyone else is trying?" he asked. No one seemed to know of anyone, so he continued. "I'm just going to start by checking over your brooms. Of course, the make of your broom won't be a deciding factor, but if one of you was flying a Shooting Star and another a Firebolt XL, we'd have to take that into account.

Looking at them, James saw a nice mix of decent brooms: mostly Nimbus 2000s and 2001s but one obviously prized original Firebolt. One, belonging to a third year boy, was in quite bad condition, not because of its age, but because of bad maintenance. He had a reputation for carelessness and, while a cheerful enough kid, was notoriously lazy.

"Is this your own broom?" James asked sternly.

"Yes sir," the boy replied, obviously ignorant of what he'd done wrong.

"How long have you owned it?"

"My father bought it for me last May sir."

"And you've managed to let it get into this condition? I'm afraid that its doubtful you'll get onto the team this year, whatever your ability. The first rule of Quidditch is to take care of your equipment. See if someone can get you a broomstick servicing kit for Christmas and I'll show you the best ways of using it. There's a knack to it that can be tricky to pick up." Maybe the incentive of possibly getting onto the team would be enough to make him work at it - he was clearly proud of owning a broom.

"If anyone else wants advice, come and see me," he added, not wanting to be seen to be showing favouritism. "Now, put your brooms on the floor, take one step forwards from the front of the broom and call it to you."

A few of them looked at him, obviously puzzled, but they all followed instructions. James had found that almost anyone, with practice, could call a broom to their hand as they had in their very first flying lesson. More challenging was summoning it a short distance, since it testing the way they blended their magic with that of the broom's and was a good indication of how strong their control was. As they all managed this, he urged them further and further from the broom. At last, they reached a point where two of them - one of the second years and the fourth year girl - managed it and failed on the next step. James had to admit he was impressed. His own preliminary ground-based tests now completed, he allowed them to take a seat on the grass and watch the Chasers.

There were fifteen flyers up there, of very differing standards. Archie was going through what was clearly a pre-agreed routine, checking their broom handling, team work, strength and accuracy. He then had them shooting goals against the team Keeper while he and the other existing Chaser observed.

After about twenty minutes, he blew on a coach-style whistle and the Chaser candidates left, bar those also trying out as Beaters, who took seats in the stands until they were called. The new Chaser would be decided after this in a meeting where the skills and weaknesses of each was carefully discussed and their compatibility with the rest of the team discussed. If there was a particularly strong showing, one or two of the younger ones might be chosen as 'reserves', participating in training so that they could be prepared for when vacancies in the team came up and prevent such a large changeover the next year.

The Seekers were then called over, their names and years taken down and James was invited to run the tryout himself after they'd been taken through broom handling skills. He didn't release a snitch - that could have them all out there for hours trying to hunt it down - instead he started by throwing yellow painted golf balls for them to catch, watching how fast their reaction times were and how accurate their catching. Finally, he levitated one ball and allowed them to go against each other in a mock seekers' competition while he moved it randomly around the pitch.

That exercise left a clear leader - Davis, smaller of the two second years - and when the seekers were dismissed, James was decided that the boy would be the one he recommended to the team. While he was young (James forced himself to remember that he had been over a year younger when he was first admitted to the team), his grasp of the rules was good, his broom handling excellent and his reflexes good. His tactics could be better, but that came with practice that he would have time to acquire. He was also a good two years younger than any of the existing team members, spreading the team's age and decreasing the chance of having a mass departure. If the chosen players for the Chaser and Beater positions were as good, Slytherin would be in for a chance even against the admittedly strong Gryffindor players.



* * * * * * * * * *



Early on Saturday afternoon, James sat in the staff room, working steadily through a pile of first year essays. They were really the worst of the lot - they'd got past the stage when everything, including the homework, was new and exciting, and their subject matter was boring enough that they weren't putting much time into it. It was standard practice at this time, so a number of the other teachers were also there, laughing over some of the funnier mistakes, chatting about various families or students. Professor Sprout and Madam Hooch were both in Hogsmeade with their families, a fact which they had carefully kept secret from their students.

Severus looked over at James from the desk next to him.

"Isn't Mrs Weasley arriving soon?"

James panicked for a moment before realising that this was referring to Hermione. It made her sound so old!

"Three o'clock," he replied. "Though I'm fairly sure she'll be early. She knows where to find me though, so I'm going to see how much more I can get done."

"First years?" Severus said knowingly.

"Unfortunately. Some of their answers - they seem to have no idea of geography, I don't even know if they've been taught it at all. This last one seems to think Nairobi is the capital of Finland. Why? Who knows. Tell me, to wizard born children normally get taught the basics?"

"I assume you had a mostly Muggle childhood?" Severus said, only a hint of a sneer in his voice.

"My mother was born into a Squib line and I was raised with my cousin. I went to a standard Muggle school until I was pulled out aged eleven for a proper education," James explained. It was perfect truth according to his research, yet didn't give away too much about his home life.

"Do you know anything much about our system then?"

"Not really."

"The subjects taught depend on their parents' wishes. Mostly, children are taught by their parents or by a tutor hired by their parents. There is the occasional small school around, where parents have pooled their resources but mostly it's just within a family. Some subjects are standard - they all have to read and write, for instance, and do some basic mathematics. Its also advised that they are taught the very basics of some of the magical subjects, Potions in particular and I believe also Herbology. My father was particularly keen on my beginning a magical education early, so I also did history of magic, potions and began to study the Dark Arts. Something like geography would be rare."

"That can't be that much work, how long do they spend on lessons?" James asked, surprised. He had thought that all of his friends would have had much the same lessons hours as him - eight thirty in the morning until three thirty in the evening. He'd stayed behind for every club there was to keep him out of the house - normally meaning he didn't get home until about five.

"Oh, mostly they work in the mornings from about eight to twelve then have the rest of the day to do what they please."

"Four hours?"

"Less really, considering they get breaks."

"No wonder they have problems doing their assignments."

"What did you think?"

"From the age of three I was at school in compulsory lessons from half eight to half three, with breaks of course, but still most of that was in lessons."

"I assure you that I followed a similar program. I would say that was the exception rather than the rule. Perhaps it is less surprising that after the initial culture shock Muggle-born students tend to do better, your friend being a prime example. That reminds me, reports will be compiled and sent home soon and we will be having meetings with the parents of the first year Muggle-born students over the next week. They are often a little uncomfortable with letting their children go off to a boarding school they have never heard of, to be taught by people who, to them, undoubtedly seem a little strange. We are to cover the three in Slytherin. I will see Mr and Richards and Mr and Mrs Wilksonson. However, Mrs Macdonald, when I last saw her, seemed to be very overprotective. I would appreciate it if you would accompany me for that interview, since you have a superior understanding of the Muggle system."

"Certainly. Do I need to do anything about the reports."

"If you had read the memo sent round, you would know. No you do not, since you have already submitted the grades for this term's work. I have written a general report on progress for each student in the house and that is all that is necessary."

"Okay then. I'd better go now."

"I would appreciate it if you would update me on your findings. Slytherin's own childhood home: it would certainly be a fascinating place to visit."

"Sure."

James piled his essays up and shoved them into a drawer. He was seriously considering issuing his students with Muggle-style exercise books next year. Parchment was all very well and looked very nice but handwriting seemed to suffer and it was so much harder to organise. During his own schooldays, he had found it challenging to manage not to lose all of his notes or get them muddled.

He wandered down to the library. As he'd suspected, Hermione rushed in a moment later, clipboard in hand. On it, she had a list of possible reading material.

"Afternoon James," she said. "I've already looked through some sources I found, and I've managed to compile a list of books we could start by looking at. Here, you try and find the ones on this sheet and I'll work down the other two."

James found himself presented with a very Muggle-looking sheet of A4 paper with about twenty titles written down in Hermione's tiny, neat handwriting. He moved off towards the shelves behind her.

Before long, they had a large pile of books in the table in front of them. Hermione looked at it critically, then around the library at the groups of students working there.

"We'll go back to your rooms to look through this. I'll just go and get them issued by Madam Pince. I have a feeling she wouldn’t let you take this many out on your own."

James watched helplessly as she thrust most of the books into his arms and marched up to the desk.

"Hermione dear, good to see you looking so well," Madam Pince said, thawing considerably from her usually cold self. "What brings you to Hogwarts?"

"I'm doing some research with Professor Evans. There are some books I need to take back to his quarters - a starting point really. There are a few more I'd like to come back for, and I'd love to get that copy of 'the Founding of Hogwarts' by Friedrich Furmage out for some light reading!"

Madam Pince chuckled indulgently at the young woman who, quite probably, had been her favourite student of the past few years. She was one of the few who loved books and reading and could be trusted to look after the books as they deserved to be looked after, unlike most of the young hooligans who used the library.

The now issued books were once again piled in James' arms and Hermione led the way back through the corridors down to the dungeons. Minerva McGonagall, walking up to the Headmaster's office for afternoon tea stopped short as she saw them pass. She knew, in hindsight, that she was just imagining things, but that picture had brought back so many dear memories. Young Miss Granger being trailed by either one or two boys, their arms piled high with books and a black head poking above one pile. What she would give for Hermione Granger and Harry Potter to have returned to Hogwarts together . . . . .

When they reached the dungeons, Hermione had James put the books down carefully on the floor and they sat down next to them.

"The first thing we need to do is sort them out into what they're about. I think we'll need three piles, no four. One each for the Gryffindor family and the Slytherin family - we'll have to include books on Godric and Salazar in those. One can be for any details on the founding of Hogwarts. The last can be for history textbooks about wizarding Britain during that time period. I think you'd better take the Slytherin pile to start with, since you said you'd already done some research into him and I'll start with the more general history textbooks."

James looked at the piles, the history pile considerably larger than any of the others, and hastily agreed.

An hour later, he summoned a house elf to fetch them some refreshments. Hermione agreed to this on the condition that they were kept over on his desk, away from the books.

By six o'clock, when they had to move and start getting ready for dinner, they had each got through their assigned piles. From the large piles, they had each found one or two books that might contain relevant references. James had enjoyed the afternoon surprisingly much, partly because Salazar Slytherin was such a fascination to him, partly because it gave him some time when he could be himself and talk about his past without having to lie and hide it all.

Before they called it a day, they carried all the books they no longer needed back to the library and checked them back in, restoring them carefully to the shelves from whence they came.

"Are you staying for supper here?" James asked her.

"No, we eat at the Burrow on Saturdays - I'll Apparate home and Floo with Ron."

"Have a good evening."

"You know, you'd probably be welcome to come some evening," Hermione said, remembering how much he had enjoyed his rare time at the Burrow.

"Its okay," he said. "Just remember to tell me all about it. I've sort of got my own family now, what with Draco and Abe. They seemed determined to adopt me."

"Good for them. Well, shall we continue same time next week?"

"I'd appreciate that, if you have the time."

Hermione grinned at him and started back down the main path to the apparition point. James watched her go. In some ways he envied her, but really he knew that he would never have completely fit into the family life of the Weasleys - he was too Slytherin by far and as much as he loved them, they had never really understood him.



* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *



The following evening, Draco dragged James down to his quarters for a drink. Blaise had taken Harry up to the staff room, where both mother and child would be fussed over by every female member of staff plus Albus, who never had been able to resist a baby

James poured them each a mug of butterbeer and they sat down in front of the fireplace.

"So how's the love life getting on?" Draco asked a moment later.

"Is everyone obsessed with my life?!" James spluttered, choking on his butterbeer while Draco smirked. His timing had been perfect. "That's just what Abe asked me last month."

"We just want you to be happy," Draco said, smiling angelically. "And Professor Dumbledore requested that I ensure that you never lack for good advice. I'm also meant to owl him anything of interest. Now spill!"

"Draco, I am in a school. Perhaps you'd noticed that there aren't that many adult guys in a school, even fewer who are gay."

"And since your not going out at weekends and the evenings to look for company, it stands to reason that there's already someone you like. Since I know it's not me, it must be Sev. Does he know?"

"I never said I liked Severus!" James protested helplessly. Bloody Draco - he'd always been far too perceptive.

"But you do, don't you?"

"Well . . . "

"As I thought. Have you told him yet?"

"No," James said, then swore violently as he realised he'd just confirmed his friend's suspicions.

"So how serious is it then?"

"I don't know!"

"Think it through. Do you want a one-off, short term or long term?"

"Definitely more than a one off, unless something drastic happens. I. . . . guess I like him a lot."

"Enough for a long term relationship?"

"I think so."

"Good, because Sev isn't likely to settle for less. I take it you're moving slowly so as not to surprise him too much. Are you planning on staying at Hogwarts for a while then?"

"Probably, I don't think there's anywhere else I'm dying to go. I don't want to work as an Auror or as a professional Quidditch player and definitely not at the Ministry. Curse-breaking might by interesting but I think this job suits me as well as anything. I have some plans that I'd like to see through but I don't think its going to be happening any time soon."

"You always were a sucker for kids. Don't tell him I said this, but Severus is, even more so than you. So long as he doesn't have to teach them, he's brilliant with them - spoilt me rotten when I was younger, still does actually. There was this one time, I must have been about six, when he was visiting. Lucius must have been at the Ministry and mother was out shopping with friends. We were meant to be doing some potions but as soon as they left, he got out his broomstick and took me for a ride. I absolutely loved it. Then the house elf that was my nanny snitched on us to my mother and I was grounded and I think he was told off."

"Your mother told him off?" James asked incredulously.

"That's what I remember. Of course, he was only about our age then and no one seems to worry about telling us off."

"Too true," James agreed. Teacher or no, he was still the baby of the staffroom.

"Of course, its not like we've ever done anything to deserve this sort of attention . . . " Draco continued.

"Its all Bertie's fault," James whined. "I didn't do anything." They both burst out laughing. Yup, there was absolutely no reason the pair of them had managed to obtain a reputation for being the worst trouble makers in Merlin house - it was Bertram Highcastle who had done everything they'd been blamed for.

"How is Bertram anyway?" James asked. "I assume you've heard from him more recently than I have."

"If you'd actually reply to letters you might get more mail. He's much the same as ever. At the moment he's in London, I think. His hair was almost an ultraviolet colour last time I saw him and his latest boyfriend was some German fellow. Of course, knowing him, all of this is completely out of date."

"Any sign of a job?"

"You think anyone would employ him? No, and it's not like he needs one given that his family owns the patent for the Skele grow potion. At least he hasn't decided to go into politics - the worst thing is I think he'd be extremely popular."

"Please Minister Highcastle, I want there to be a ministry run night-club to raise our public image," James simpered in a decent impression of Umbridge, then he laughed. "The worst thing is that he'd probably agree to that."



* * * * * * * * * * * *



On Wednesday afternoon, both James and Severus' lessons were cancelled as they headed towards Diagon Alley. Severus was wearing his teaching roles, as senior professor he felt he should look reputable. James, being Muggle-born, didn't feel robes were so necessary, so he was wearing black trousers and a green dress shirt, the idea being to look casual and approachable but still respectable.

They had agreed to meet up with Mrs Macdonald at four o'clock in the Leaky Cauldron, where they had booked one of the private meeting rooms for their discussion. James had volunteered to wait outside, just in case she had problems getting in. Since Muggle parents were normally accompanied by their children, they could sometimes have problems when coming alone. He had previously been shown a photograph of her so he wouldn't seem so much of an idiot.

At three fifteen, James saw a woman he thought to be Mrs Macdonald walking down the street towards him, looking anxiously from side to side as if not quite sure of where she was going. As she seemed to be about to walk straight past the Leaky Cauldron, he stepped forwards.

"Mrs Macdonald?" he asked. She nodded, surprised.

"I am Professor Evans. The Leaky Cauldron is just to your right. If you would step in, we've booked a private room for our discussion."

"Thank you, I was so worried I'd walk straight past you."

"No problem, did you have a good journey?" James asked as he pushed open the door to the inn and led the way through the crowded room, nodding politely to Tom as they past. He'd caught the barman giving him some odd looks and wasn't quite sure of the reason so he'd decided to play it safe. If he did have suspicions about James' identity, he certainly hadn't seemed inclined to air them yet.

As they entered the room, Severus stood up politely to shake her hand.

"A pleasure to see you again, Mrs Macdonald."

"Professor Snape, isn't it?"

"Indeed. Please, take a seat. You have met my colleague, Professor Evans, haven't you?"

"Oh yes, such a polite young man."

"That's debatable," James heard Severus mutter. He wondered absently if Draco had been telling tales on him. "I thought you might prefer it if we gave you a basic summary of how Alistair is doing at school and then you can ask any questions you wish."

"Oh that sounds absolutely fine to me, I admit I have been quite worried about him recently, what with Mr Macdonald away in America and not due back until next week."

"I'm sure he's written to tell you that he was Sorted into Slytherin house, so I am now his House master and James here is my deputy."

"Your houses work much like those at normal schools, don’t they?"

Severus looked helplessly at James, who stepped smoothly in.

"In most ways, yes. Hogwarts is a relatively small school, so all students live in the castle itself. There are four houses altogether, each with approximately seventy students. Each house has its own dormitories and common room. In Slytherin house, the first years share two to a room. Alistair's roommate is a boy called Simon Wood. We have a house points system, it helps to reward good behaviour and discourage rule breaking. The differences are that we have never had a fagging system and there is no bullying, for various reasons." Severus decided that was probably enough detail and continued.

"For the first month or so, we decide on who they share a room with. This is mostly so those who are new to the wizarding world have someone to help them settle in. Simon's father is from a long line of wizards, his mother was born to a normal or Muggle family. They are getting on very well and Alistair is having no problems adapting. He seems particularly fond of exploding snap and some of the other children's' games that he's been introduced to."

"He has mentioned Simon a few times. Is he from a nice family?"

"I should say so, although they tend to be in Gryffindor house so I do not know them as well as some others. Mr Wood works at the Ministry and Mrs Wood teachers pre-Hogwarts age children at home. His uncle plays professional Quidditch and is a very good man."

"Do you think we could meet up with them? If the boys are becoming friends, I think I would like to."

"I can easily supply you with their address and telephone number," James said. He knew that they were connected to the Muggle telephone network but he wasn't sure Severus did.

"Thank you. So tell me, has he been all right being away from home. He's never been away from me before and I have worried that he'd be terribly upset about it all."

"Alistair was a little homesick for the first few nights, which is a perfectly normal reaction for an eleven year old away from home for the first time and he was by no means the only one. He got over it very quickly and now seems perfectly happy. He's adapted admirably to his life at the school and we've brought you his report in person so we can help you to understand it."

He took small booklet out of the pocket of his robes and put it on the table. It was a fancy affair compared to those James had seen his cousin bring home from Smeltings. He of course had never been aware Hogwarts even compiled reports, his aunt and uncle not being inclined to discuss it with him. The front sheet held the school coat of arms. Severus opened it to the first page.

"This is a summary of his grades in each subject, each teacher has written a more detailed report later on. If James could go over this with you, I will arrange for some refreshments to be brought through."

James moved round the table so he was next to Mrs Macdonald. As soon as Severus had left, she looked at him suspiciously.

"You look very young for a teacher."

"I'm twenty four, Mrs Macdonald. I assure you that I am well-qualified for my subject."

"What do you teach?"

"Defence Against the Dark Arts. It is an interesting subject, in first year we look at various animals and creatures and start the basics of duelling."

"Isn't that a little dangerous?"

"Duelling? Not really. I believe fencing is taught quite often at schools, think of it as much along the same lines. There's a lot of formality involved but its very enjoyable and excellent exercise."

"What qualifications do you have?"

"I finished my schooling in wizardry early at the age of sixteen and went back to the normal world to take A-levels in Maths, History, IT, German and Latin. Then I was invited to attend a wizarding university. I took a four year course there, graduating with an honours degree, just as almost all of the other members of staff have. Do you wish to look at the report now, it will be quite different from ones Alistair will have received at his junior school since we have a different grading system."

"Very well."

"Do you understand what each subject involves?"

"Not exactly."

"I've explained Defence already, I teach Alistair that and he's a very able pupil. I've graded him O, that's an Outstanding and the equivalent of an A grade - the top mark. Potions is taught by Professor Snape and that's similar to chemistry. The students learn to make a huge variety of potions, including ones for healing. It’s a very highly praised ability. Professor Snape gives children from non-wizarding families tutoring at the beginning of term to make sure they are not at a disadvantage to the other students. He's given Alistair an EE, Exceeds Expectations. That's the next grade down from an O and a very respectable mark, especially since he's known for being a harsh grader."

"And the next subject, Transfiguration?"

"Turning one thing into something else. They start out small, matches into needles and the like but the Masters in Transfiguration, like Professor McGonagall can even change themselves at will into animals. She's given him an O, most impressive. It's one of the hardest branches of magic. Charms is next on the list. That's perhaps one of the most useful subjects, since students are taught a huge variety of charms, many of which can be used around the household. There are charms for lifting things up, for tidying, packing, cleaning and so on. He's received an EE in charms, again, very good. Herbology is a bit like a cross between biology and gardening - you learn to look after magical plants and about their various properties and uses. They are quite difficult to raise and it's quite a challenging subject. He's received an A for this, an Acceptable grade. That's a pass, showing he's solid in the subject and doing fine, but has no particular gift for it."

Severus came back into the room, a tray of tea and cakes floating behind him.

"Finished?" he asked.

"Almost," James replied, as he hastily continued through the rest of the subjects. Mrs Macdonald seemed very concerned that her son was performing to the best of his ability, even if it made her come over as a little pushy. James could just about understand her concern over his youth - he did probably appear more like a teenage rebel than a teacher to her Muggle eyes, with his long hair. She seemed much friendlier towards Severus, who was older, had a huge amount of presence and a natural air of authority.

Towards the end of the afternoon - they had already been speaking for two hours, putting to rest as many of her concerns as they could - James asked,

"Have you been receiving letters all right?"

"By owl you mean? Now that really was strange. I'm a little afraid of the birds myself, but Alli seems very fond of his. I bought him one when he got his school supplies and I have to say it's very efficient. I'm not sure I'm feeding it right though."

"He'll certainly be fed at Hogwarts in the owlery. Otherwise there are mice and owl treats you could buy. Shall I go and pick some up for you before you leave?" James asked.

Severus nodded and James pulled on his cloak and left, leaving Severus to deal with everything. He was promising to make sure Alistair was wearing thermal underwear ('it can get so cold up north') and wearing his scarf (a lovely shade of red that no Slytherin would consider putting on, let alone wear in public).

By the time he returned, they seemed to have finished and were just getting ready to leave. He handed her a neatly wrapped parcel.

"I've put some statis charms on to keep them fresh for as long as you want to keep them."

"Thank you so much, young man."

He nodded politely to her and watched as Severus led her out.

He returned a few moments later.

"Parents," he muttered irritably. The poor man had been forced to be nice all afternoon.

"I never knew mine," James said lightly. "So I wouldn't know. My aunt and uncle couldn’t have cared less."

"My mother died young; my father was . . . unpleasant to say the least. Still, there are times I think I am better off without."

"What, you mean you don't want to wear a Gryffindor scarf?"

"The poor child."



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