Chapter Text
The Marauders and the Hogwarts’ Monster
- Chapter 1 -
JAMES H. POTTER was lonely.
“Mum, I don’t get why we have to go.” James whined as Euphemia tried, mostly unsuccessfully, to tame his wild jet black hair. The two of them were in front of the biggest mirror of the house, the one located in Mr. and Mrs. Potter’s room. Euphemia sighed, James had his father’s hair, it was an impossible quest to get it to stay still.
“James, Helen is an old friend of mine.” The woman told him, once again. “She invited us, and was kind enough to let me bring you, a walking menace, so, you are going.” Euphemia didn’t need to be looking directly at her son’s face to know he had just rolled his eyes. She gently turned him around, and looked James directly in the eyes. “You behave yourself in this wedding, you hear me, young man?”
The young man in question faked a dramatic sigh.
“I always behave myself.” Euphemia eyed him, eyebrows raised. “It’s just sometimes, boredom gets too great, and I feel the need to do something.” He shrugged. “It’s bigger than me, it’s unstoppable.” Mrs. Potter tugged his ear lightly.
“You better stop yourself this time, unless you want to spend these last weeks before school doing housework around the house.” She said, and then added playfully: “No flying.”
James’ face turned into a grimace.
“You don’t mean that!” His mother just smiled at him, and walked him off the room with a warning:
“Stay clean enough so we can look presentable when we arrive!” And with that, Euphemia closed the door, leaving a very unsettled James Potter in the hallway, arms crossed, thinking about how this afternoon would be such a waste of his summer time.
“Stupid wedding…” He murmured, and with that, he walked off to his room.
The Potter family lived in the countryside, far from the excitement of London. Their house was a sizable manor, an old heritage that came from Fleamont’s father, - James grandfather - Henry Potter. Henry, as every Potter before him, and possibly all that would come along, was quite enchanted by the surroundings of the property, the enchanting woodland nearby, full of interesting magical creatures hidden into it, and with an enormous, beautiful and vivid green field displayed before them. Also, the lovely grove just a few kilometers away. It was a truly delightful sight, not only due to its obvious alluring nature, but for its mysterious atmosphere. James’ room was the biggest one in the house, Fleamont and Euphemia claimed he needed the space to play and explore, and that they didn’t like being far from each other anyways, so a large room would be unnecessary. It was supposed to be something good, something their son could enjoy. But as the Heir Potter grew, the extensive area of the place intensified the desolated feeling he developed as an only child. So, already by age 4, it was a rare occurance to find James in his luxurious personal chamber. He would rather play around the grove, it was one of the ways he could tune down the loneliness he felt most days, by imagining friends in nature, or finding solace in the company of magical creatures.
Of course James loved his family, and knew his family loved him. But being an only child was no fun, and most of the time wasn’t easy either. Having the whole world to himself - The Potter’s large property could be considered a pocket universe, or at least James thought so - could be great, or it should be, but the older James got, the harder that was to make himself believe it. Both his parents thrived in their careers, and weren’t home as much as they wished to be, which James was understanding of, because the love Euphemia and Fleamont felt towards him was almost palpable everytime they were in a room together. And James was a perceptive child, he could see that, whatever his parentds did while gone, it made them happy. And they made him very happy, so it was only fair they had the chance to do something for themselves too. His mother took some time off when he was a baby, however, as soon as James turned 6, most of his routine - bathtime, bedtime, meals, basic education and such - were handled by the family Governess, who had taken care of his father before him.
When James was 8, there was nothing he wanted more than a sibling, a friend! The idea had sprung out from a visit the Potters had done to the Prewetts - his parents, James soon realized, were single-minded people, and wouldn’t allow him to blend in with children they didn’t consider ‘adequate’. Which meant the young Potter wasn’t permitted to hang out with most pureblood children from the high society, who had a similar status to him, for reasons James wouldn’t understand until he was a little bit older. He would come to admire and mimic - although not as strongly - his parents’ tenacity and political conviction, but as a small child, it was just annoying how his friend pool was very small.
One of the only pureblood families the Potters were friends with were the Prewetts. And when James was 8, the Prewett twins - Fabian and Gideon - were celebrating their 11 birthday, to which the young Potter heir gladly attended. Seeing the two of them play together made James crave for the same kind of companionship.
“I wish I had a brother.” The boy mumbled as the cake was being served to the guests. Alice Fortescue, daughter of Florean Fortescue, his dad’s best friend and with whom James had to forcefully interact from time to time, was sitting by his side on the kids’ table.
“A brother would be awesome.” She agreed with him quietly. “Or a sister.” She added. “Maybe mum and dad wouldn’t be so preoccupied with me all the time.” Alice had light brown hair, delicately braided, and clear blue eyes. Her cheeks were filled with freckles. James usually saw Alice at least twice every summer, due to their parents’ friendship, and one would think his loneliness problem should be over if he just had invested in her. And Alice was nice, of course, James would never dream of saying otherwise, but she was painfully shy, and never wanted to... do anything, besides staying inside and reading of course. Or maybe, wasn’t allowed to do anything would be a better description. Alice’s mother, Freya, made sure her daughter was at arm’s length all the time. To protect her , James had been told, because Alice had almost died as a newborn, and was a frail girl.
James wasn’t sure about that, she seemed pretty normal to him.
“Siblings are awful.” Marlene McKinnon entered their conversation, like a hurricane, as she always did. “They are always on your business, going through your stuff…” She placed a large piece of cake inside her mouth. “You are better off by yourself, trust me.” James rolled his eyes.
“Your brothers are awesome.” He replied. And he was right, Marlene’s older brothers, Lotor and Zephyr, were the coolest individuals James knew. They knew how to enchant muggle objects and had a band.
Not that James’ parents were particularly strict towards etiquette, but they still upheld certain protocol and social graces, and so, he was expected to behave the bare minimum as well as look the part of a respectable Heir, Marlene, on the other hand, was definitely not what one would expect from a lady of a pureblood house. Her thick golden hair was almost always disarranged, the many waves spreading to all sides. Her dresses were usually wrinkly and her manners blunt. Not quite the image of a pureblood heiress, which was probably the reason James always got along with her when they were placed together. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as frequent as James would have liked. Marlene’s father, Lord Magnus, was a scholar, and so, traveled a lot. Marlene had six brothers and sisters, she was the middle child, two older brothers and an older sister, and two little sisters and a baby brother. The older siblings were already in Hogwarts, since Marlene was still not of age, her and her younger siblings accompanied their parents on their travels.
“I’m gonna get myself one.” James told the girls.
“One what?” Marlene asked him.
“A brother, Marley!”
James was quite insistent on the subject for a long time, begging for their parents to provide him with the only thing they weren’t able to buy, not used to having his desires denied. One particular afternoon, his family was enjoying the warm season in their summer house, when James had his more persistent episode. His parents were sitting down on the couch, they had just come back from a wonderful morning spent on the beach, and it had struck James how much his happiness would mean more if there was someone, someone like him, he could share it with. He began asking… And it lasted for a good 40 minutes, with his father patiently asking him to drop the subject, eyeing his wife with worry, and his mother, as softly as possible, avoiding his questions of ‘why won’t you?’. Euphemia and Fleamont thought it would end soon enough, as it usually did, but this time, their son was relentless.
James’ pleading only came to an end, when his mother, overwhelmed by his imposible request, walked out the room crying. That day, his father told him that his mother couldn’t have more children, it would put her life in danger. If we could , his dad told him, the house would already be full with other little boys and girls, hopefully not as mischievous as you , his dad chuckled weakly, but we can’t James. I’m sorry. We were so delighted when you were born, we were old, and didn't think it was possible anymore. Please, don’t ask your mother that again. And James, stunned by the information, never did again.
However, James’ problems were about to end, there were only a few weeks left before september 1th arrived, James would be sent to Hogwarts, be selected in Gryffindor, as his father before him and would make tons of friends!
“James!” The stern voice of his father called his attention, bringing the boy out of his deep thoughts. Fleamont opened the door to his son’s bedroom. “Your mother is ready, c'mon, we have a wedding to attend.”