Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and events from J.K. Rowling's wonderful Harry Potter books. I am writing this for my own enjoyment and hopefully for the enjoyment of readers. Anything you recognize belongs to JKR. The rest belongs to me.
Chapter 39: Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs
"James!" called his mum. "James Potter! If you don't get down here now you won't have time to eat before we leave for the station!"
"I'm coming!" James raced down the stairs and into the dining room. He had just finished packing his trunk. He had had to sit on it to get it to close. Perchy, the house elf, placed a large plate full of James' favorite breakfast foods in front of him. James eagerly started eating, almost inhaling it off of the plate.
"James," chided Marianne, "slow down. I swear, I don't know where you put it all!"
James paused and glanced up at his father's portrait. Joseph smiled down at him and winked. James smirked and continued to eat.
Marianne had noticed the exchange and said, "Oh, go ahead and laugh!" As she said this she tried to hide the amusement in her voice.
It had taken several weeks for James to acknowledge his father's portrait again. Joseph had tried over and over again to strike up a conversation with his son, but to no avail. Finally, one evening James came inside holding his left arm at an odd angle. He limped into the dining room, having also sprained his ankle, and his mum rushed over to him. She was a Healer and had had to deal with her son's various injuries throughout his childhood. She instructed him to sit at the table while she found her old stash of Skele-Gro that she used to use to mend his broken bones when he was younger.
While James waited for his mum to return he could sense the image of his father staring down at him from the portrait. James tried to ignore his dad's eyes and focused on the surface of the dining room table, but he kept getting distracted by the shooting pain in his left arm and the ache in his ankle.
"Broomstick accident?" came the voice from the portrait. James awkwardly nodded. There was another long silence. "You were trying the Wronski Feint, weren't you?"
James looked up at his father's image. Before he could help himself he blurted, "How did you know?"
Joseph laughed and replied, "I broke my arm practicing the same move when I was a little older than you are now."
James turned his gaze back to the dining room table, trying not to show the disdain in his eyes. He was irritated, hearing the portrait talk about his dad's childhood when it had never really experienced those events.
"You probably pulled out of the dive in the wrong manner," said the portrait.
"Obviously," James said sarcastically, "or I wouldn't be here waiting for the Skele-Gro."
His dad ignored the sarcasm and continued, "The problem with the Wronski Feint is you can't pull out of it like with other dives. The velocity and steep angle make it too difficult to pull straight out of it."
James, his curiosity piqued, looked back at Joseph and asked, "What do you mean? How else can I pull it off?"
Joseph smiled, glad to be having a real conversation with his son. "Right as you need to pull out of the dive you need to lean to the side and, while pulling up on the handle, direct it to the same side you're leaning. That will get you out of the dive but you will then be level with the ground."
"I'll still be leaning to the side, though," said James.
"Right. The trick is to keep directing the broom upward. As you do that you continue to lean and spiral out of it until you are straight again," replied the portrait. "You just have to make sure you time the spiral so that you are high enough not to hit your head on the ground."
James thought about it and realized that it just might work. Before he could think on it anymore his mum came rushing back into the room and worked at fixing him up.
The next day James grabbed his Nimbus 1900 and spent the day in the back yard practicing the Wronski Feint, using the instructions he had received the night before. Surprisingly, the advise worked and by the end of the day James had mastered the basics of the maneuver.
He returned to the house with a big grin on his face. His dad's image noticed this during dinner and asked him if his advice had helped. James, still feeling the thrill of escaping impending crash landings several times that day, nodded enthusiastically and said that he couldn't wait to try the Feint on the Slytherin Seeker that year.
Marianne was stunned at the exchange, but not displeased. She had had no idea that James had spoken with Joseph the previous evening. Normally she would not be thrilled about James getting advice on dangerous Quidditch maneuvers, but as she saw the grin on her son's face and the glow in Joseph's eyes she couldn't bring herself to scold them. As she thought about it further, she realized that James would be performing the Quidditch stunts either way, so it was probably better that Joseph give him tips.
From that point on that summer, James gradually allowed himself to speak with his father's image. It started out strictly related to Quidditch and flying. As the summer moved forward his mum started to interject comments about all the encouragement he was getting to do stupid, dangerous things on his broom. He and his dad would exchange glances. Joseph would wink at his son and gradually their conversations included inside jokes about Marianne and her worrying. It was becoming quite similar to the conversations and jokes James had had with his dad when he was still alive.
Now, as James shoveled his breakfast into his mouth, his mum shook her head and left the room saying she was going to make sure he didn't forget to pack anything for his trip to Hogwarts that day.
"All set for your third year?" asked Joseph.
"Yeb. Awk an oddy waib," said James.
Joseph chuckled and said, "Care to repeat that?"
James gulped down his food and said, "I said yes, I can hardly wait."
"I'm not surprised. I bet you and Sirius already have some stuffed cooked up. What's the plan? Going to put freezing charms on the Slytherin's undies?" asked Joseph.
James smirked and said, "No, but that's not a bad idea…"
Joseph laughed and said, "So what is on your prankster agenda?"
"Well, it involves a large bag full of dungbombs and stink pellets-" James cut himself off, remembering the large bag he had stuffed into his already full trunk. He gave his father a panicky look and rapidly stood up, knocking over his chair. "Oh, bugger! I just realized the bag is in my trunk and Mum is upstairs checking my things!" He raced out of the room and toward the stairs as Joseph laughed, wishing he could see how James would charm his way out of this one.
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Lily nervously checked her trunk to make sure everything was packed. Today she was returning to Hogwarts for her third year. She looked at her checklist. She had all of her new books, including the ones for the electives she had decided to take - Arithmancy, Divination, and Care of Magical Creatures. She checked the envelope that contained her Hogwarts letter and saw that the Hogsmeade permission form was in there. Her parents had gladly signed it. She couldn't wait to visit the only all-wizard settlement in Britain.
Lily heard a chuckle behind her and turned to see her father standing in the doorway. "I've seen you looking through that trunk at least twenty times this morning," he said. "I'm fairly certain you haven't forgotten anything."
Lily grimaced and said, "I just want to make sure. After all, I'll be gone all year."
Harold Evans nodded and approached Lily, looking down at the open trunk and its contents. After a moment he furrowed his eyebrows and said, "Hmmmm…"
"What?" asked Lily.
"I think there is something missing," he replied.
Lily looked at her list and at the trunk. "What? I can't think of anything that I've forgotten." She looked back at her dad, noticing a sparkle in his eyes as he held out a small box that was tied together with a red bow. "Dad? What's this?"
Harold pulled his youngest daughter over to the bed where they both sat down. He handed her the box and said, "I was really proud of the decision you made this summer. I know that it was difficult to return to Hogwarts last year after what happened, but you excelled in your classes and got top marks. Then you were faced with the decision of staying with Petunia or returning to Hogwarts. I'm thrilled that you want to continue your magical education. I just wanted to give you something to show you that, and to remind you that your mum and I and Petunia are here for you even if we're far away."
Lily opened the box and saw a gold locket in the shape of a heart. When she opened it she saw a picture of her family, all four of them, from their holiday in Rome two years earlier. She lifted the chain out of the box and her father took it and fastened it around Lily's neck. Lily looked down, admiring the locket. "Dad, this is beautiful!"
"It belonged to my mother. She told me she had received it from her dad when she was fifteen. It has been sitting in a box for a long time, since her death. I thought she would want you to have it," he said.
Lily turned and hugged him tightly. She stayed that way, enjoying the scent of his aftershave and feeling protected in her father's arms. "Thanks, Dad. I'm going to miss you and Mum so much!"
Harold looked down at his daughter and said, "You'll be home sooner than you know it, and we'll look forward to seeing Lancelot bringing us news of your studies." He checked his watch and said, "We'd better get going or we'll be late. We don't want another close call like last year."
They stood up and turned to leave, but not before seeing Petunia standing in the doorway. "So," she spat, "you're really leaving…"
Lily gave her father a quick glance before turning back to her sister and replying, "Yes, 'Tunia, I am."
Petunia's bottom lip quivered a bit before she scrunched up her face and said, "Fine. Go back to that…place, that…school for freaks!"
"I'm sorry!" said Lily. "I know you wanted me to stay home and go to your school, but-"
"I don't want you at my school! You chose to return to that place. As far as I'm concerned, you're one of those freaks and we don't need your…oddity near MY friends. I mean, what would they say?!"
Lily felt tears stinging her eyes as she watched her sister glare back at her.
"Petunia!" said their father. "How can you speak to Lily like that? Apologize this instant!"
Petunia glared at her father. He always took Lily's side, never hers. In the past, she had always relented and apologized but not this time. She was too angry. "I will NOT apologize to her! She can go to that school for all I care! At least she'll be far away!" Petunia stormed out of the room and slammed the door to her own room.
Harold started to go after her but Lily gently grabbed his arm. "Don't, Dad. She's too mad right now. Besides, you said it yourself. If we don't leave now we'll be late."
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"Did you bring it?" asked Sirius. James had just arrived in their compartment on the Hogwarts Express. Remus and Peter were there as well.
James shook his head as he carried in his trunk, much lighter than it was earlier that morning. "Nah, my mum found the bag and confiscated it."
Sirius shook his head and said, "What are we going to do now? We had this all planned out!"
"We could always sneak into Hogsmeade and get more from Zonko's," said Remus.
Sirius' mood lifted and he jovially replied, "I knew you were my friend for a reason, Moony!"
Remus lifted an eyebrow and said, "Moony?"
James chuckled and said, "Look at it this way - at least he didn't call you Wolf-boy."
Sirius mock-scowled and said, "Yeah, James here wouldn't let me."
Remus chuckled. He knew they were only joking. James, Sirius, and Peter would never divulge his secret. Normally the subject of werewolves would cause Remus to tense up, but his friends had a way of joking about it that put him at ease. In a way it showed how accepting they were of it.
"So," said Remus to Sirius, "if I'm Moony, then what are you?"
"Hmmm," thought Sirius as he rubbed his chin, "I could be called 'King of Pranks' - no, too long…how about Casanova?"
James snorted and jokingly said, "Oh no, mate. Wouldn't want to be TOO obvious!" He thought for a moment and remembered the potion they had taken at the end of the previous school year. He remembered Sirius' transformation - how it had started by a thickening of his hands until they developed into the pads of a dog's feet. "I've got it!" Sirius turned to James expectantly. "We'll call you Padfoot!"
"Padfoot?!" cried Sirius. "How does that even compare to Casanova?"
"Think about it," hinted Remus. "Remember your transformation?"
Sirius thought about his transformation into the dog and looked at his hands, the nickname suddenly registering in his mind. "Padfoot! I like it." He turned to James and studied him. His black hair was more untidy than ever, sticking out in several directions. He remembered how James' hair had transformed into the antlers of his stag Animagus. He remembered how James had threatened Sirius with those antlers while he had been the stag. He chuckled and said to James, "Alright, if I'm Padfoot, then I shall dub thee Prongs."
The four boys laughed and Peter practically leapt off his seat with excitement. "What will my name be?" he asked.
Sirius glanced at Peter and grinned. He couldn't help remembering the long rat's tail that had sprouted out of Peter's backside during his transformation. "Wormtail," he replied.
"Wormtail?!" squeaked Peter. Sirius, James, and Remus were laughing. Peter wasn't sure he liked the name, but laughed anyway.
"So," said Remus, "there you have it - Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs!"
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A/N: Another short chapter to transition them back to school. The notable Marauder moment - they picked their nicknames.
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Next chapter: Yes, a new year and hence a new DADA teacher. Find out what happened to the previous one and you'll have a very brief intro in this chapter to the new one. The third year students start their electives.