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 59: Family Ties
"James! Good to see you!"
"Hi Joseph," replied James. It was dinner time and James and Sirius had just joined Marianne at the dining room table.
"Hi Joseph," echoed Sirius.
"Glad to see you joined us for the holidays, Sirius," said Joseph.
"Thanks for inviting me," he said to Joseph and Marianne, his voice full of sincerity.
"We wouldn't have it any other way," said Marianne. "You're always welcome here, Sirius."
For a moment Sirius couldn't speak. He was overwhelmed by their kindness, and looked over at James with a pang of envy. He wished more than anything that he belonged to the Potter family, that Joseph and Marianne were his parents. As James smiled at him he realized that blood or no blood, he was as good as James' brother and that was good enough for him. Realizing the sudden silence and the looks he was receiving, he decided to break the tension and reply with a grin, "I dunno, Marianne. I'd be careful what you wish for."
James took Sirius' cue and added, "Yeah. Remember last Christmas? The green goop incident at Uncle Louis' house?"
Marianne laughed and, trying to sound stern, said, "You had better not pull anything like that this year."
James and Sirius gave each other a sly grin and replied, "We promise, there will be no green goop this year."
Marianne started to sigh in relief but soon realized they had not promised NOT to use other forms/colors of goop or create any other type of chaos. Before she could say anything, Joseph led the boys into a discussion about the school's Quidditch teams.
As Sirius was complaining about the extra practices Wood had forced upon them, James silently pondered how he would broach the subject of the family ring. Part of him was nervous to ask Joseph about it. Even though the portrait wasn't the live version of his dad, James still felt guilty that he had lost the family ring to Tom Riddle. He didn't look forward to telling Joseph that the family heirloom that had been entrusted to him had been taken within a few months of its possession.
James looked up at the portrait as he heard Joseph laughing at something Sirius had said. Suddenly James realized something. Joseph was wearing the family ring in the portrait. James recognized the same details he had seen in the portrait of Godric Gryffindor - the ruby set in gold with lions carved into the gold on each side of the ruby. Any doubt about the significance of the Potter family ring was diminished. If it wasn't the same ring, then it was a replica, which to James was also significant.
James was aware of the silence at the table and realized that everyone was staring at him. "What?" he asked.
"Well did you?" asked Marianne.
"Did I what?" asked James.
Marianne gave an exasperated sigh before saying, "James, you were lost in your own little world over there. I asked if you had finished your Christmas shopping."
James smiled and said, "I did, but that doesn't mean I'm telling you what we got, so don't snoop around."
"We?" asked Marianne, looking at James and Sirius. "You both got me a present?"
"Yep," replied Sirius with a grin. "Just imagine what the two of us could come up with for your present."
"Uh oh…" muttered Marianne with a smile.
**************************************************************************************
"So tell me about your year so far, Lily," said Anne Evans as they sat down to dinner.
Lily summarized the things she had learned so far. She enthusiastically explained how she had mastered the Summoning Charm and was already getting the hang of the Banishing Charm. She wished she could show her parents but sadly remembered the restriction for underage witches.
"You always talk about Charms," commented Harold Evans. "Is that still your favorite subject?"
"Oh yes!" exclaimed Lily. "I guess it's because it seems so natural for me, even though it is a challenging subject. Though I love all of my classes, except maybe Divination. I have trouble making sense out of it. I'm wondering if I should have taken Ancient Runes, instead."
"I'm sure you'll do fine in Divination like you do in all of your classes," said Anne, trying to ignore the roll of Petunia's eyes. Trying to change the subject, she asked, "And how are your friends?"
Petunia glanced at her dad before smiling and sweetly asking, "Yes, Lily. Do you have any boyfriends?"
Harold's posture stiffened as he looked at his youngest daughter, who had a slight blush to her cheeks.
"No," she said weakly.
Harold smiled and said, "Good. You're too young to date."
Petunia, who had endured the wrath of her dad for several months after getting caught sneaking out on a few dates, gladly shifted the focus to Lily. "So you haven't gone on any dates?" she asked.
Lily gave Petunia an annoyed glance as she fidgeted in her seat. "Well…erm-"
Anne smiled and said, "Lily! You had a boyfriend?"
Lily vehemently shook her head and said, "No! It was only one date!"
Harold dropped his fork and exclaimed, "You mean to tell me you went on a date without permission?"
"P-Permission-?" stuttered Lily.
"I never even got to meet this boy. How am I supposed to know if he's a decent young man?" asked Harold.
Lily gave a disbelieving chuckle as she gasped, "Dad?! How are you supposed to meet potential boyfriends when we're far away at Hogwarts?" With a note of sarcasm she added, "Would you like me to owl them to you for approval first?"
Harold's frown deepened at Lily's mention of these boys being far away from home with her. "I don't appreciate your tone, Lily. As a matter of fact, if you could owl them to me, then MAYBE we could work something out. For the meantime though, I don't like the idea of my fourteen year old daughter dating boys I haven't met."
Lily felt her temper starting to boil. "Why not? Don't you trust me?"
"I don't trust teenage boys, sweetie. I used to be one," he added, glancing briefly at his wife who had a small smile on her face.
"I can certainly handle a teenage boy. I'm quite capable of taking care of myself!" retorted Lily.
"Like you did with that teacher at the end of your first year?" asked Harold. Seeing the look on Lily's face, he immediately regretted what he said. The fire had gone out of Lily's eyes and she was looking down at her plate. "Sweetie…"
Lily got up and excused herself, running up to her room.
As the sound of her door closing reached the ears of the three remaining at the dining room table, Anne turned her angry gaze on her husband and said, "Well done, Harold. What on Earth possessed you to bring that up?"
Harold shook his head and said, "I don't know. It came out of my mouth before I could think."
Anne gave her husband a stern look as she said, "We've spent the last few years trying to build her self-confidence back up after that event and in a few seconds you may have compromised that. I think you should stop being so overprotective and realize that she's growing up. We have to have faith in her and her decisions."
"If Lily gets to date then so do I!" whined Petunia.
Harold turned to his eldest daughter and said, "You lied to us by sneaking out. Give us a reason to trust you and then we'll talk." Turning back to his wife he said, "I'll go talk to her."
When Harold knocked on the door to Lily's room he did not hear an answer. Tapping on it again, he called out, "Sweetie, can I come in?" He slowly opened the door a crack and saw Lily curled up on her bed with her ratty old teddy bear. Harold mentally kicked himself for being so thoughtless downstairs. Opening the door fully, he approached her and sat on the bed next to her. Taking a deep breath he said, "I'm so sorry about what I said."
Lily sniffled and said, "No, you're right. It was my fault. I was too weak."
Harold brushed her hair to the side and said, "You were eleven years old. He was your professor and nobody suspected he was bad. How were you to defend yourself?"
Lily sat up and hugged her father, sobbing. "I should have been able to something!"
Harold stroked her back and said, "Your mother and I never thought you were at fault for what happened. And from what I heard, you saved a boy's life that night. I wish you could remember that, then maybe you would feel a little better about the situation."
Lily gulped and nodded.
Harold pulled away and looked at her tear streaked face. "I really am sorry about what I said. You know me, I can get a bit overprotective where you and Petunia are concerned. I acted like a bit of a git and I didn't mean to." He took a deep breath and said, "I trust your judgment. You are a responsible girl. If there is a boy you like who treats you with respect then you may go on dates, but only to places where there will be some adult supervision. And at least let me know in your letters so I can feel like I have SOME authority in my daughter's life."
Lily smiled a little and hugged her father again. "I appreciate that. I know it's not easy for you."
Harold cleared his throat and asked, "So, are there any young men you fancy?"
Lily pulled away and nervously shook her head.
Harold kissed her on the forehead and said, "Your mother said that Petunia made the dessert. Come on, she'll be disappointed if we don't go and have some."
Lily nodded, surprised that Petunia had cooked. Usually she avoided the kitchen like the plague and refused to learn anything domestic. Petunia had made it clear on several occasions that she intended to make her mark in the world as a doctor and didn't want anyone to label her as a housewife.
**************************************************************************************
James lay in bed with his eyes wide open. He could hear the dull snores coming from the nearby cot as Sirius peacefully slept. James felt a little ill, his dinner not agreeing with him. He knew it was not from what he ate, but rather from what he might find out that night.
After tossing and turning for a few hours, James finally gathered his resolve and crept out of the room, trying to silently make his way downstairs to the dining room. When his step caused a slight squeak to the floorboard in the hallway, the portrait of his great-great-great grandfather wagged his finger at James, telling him to keep down the noise. As James looked around he noticed that all of the people in the portraits were sleeping.
When James walked into the dining room he saw that Joseph was no different. He was sitting down with his back resting against the border of the frame, his head tilted down as he slept. James took the opportunity to inspect the ring in the portrait more closely. As James studied each of the golden lions, he realized for the first time that below each lion, the letter 'G' was carved. It was a fancy script so it almost looked like a design rather than a letter.
"What are you doing up at this hour?"
James jumped back, startled to see Joseph groggily looking down at him. "Erm, I…"
"You were looking at my ring?" finished Joseph. James nodded. Joseph fiddled with the ring and said, "I was planning on giving it to you on your eighteenth birthday, like my father had done for me."
James nodded and said, "You…rather my dad, gave it to me at Christmas that last year. I wore it on a necklace all the time. I never took it off, but…it was taken from me at the end of the school year by a dark wizard." James looked up at Joseph and felt his stomach churn. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lose it."
Joseph nodded and said, "I already know about that. Your mother explained everything to me. I don't blame you for what happened-"
"But I was trusted with it! If my dad trusted me to have it so young then he must have thought I could be responsible with it!" exclaimed James.
"You were responsible. Riddle wanted the ring and he got to you when you were most vulnerable," said Joseph. "You need to forgive yourself, James."
After a long silence James looked up and asked, "Joseph? If I ask you something, do you promise to give me an honest answer?"
"I'll try," replied Joseph.
"When Dad gave me the ring he told me it had been in the family for a long time. How long, exactly?" asked James.
Joseph's posture stiffened a little as he replied, "It's been in the family for many generations."
"How many?" asked James.
"Well, I don't know if I have the exact number of generations…" started Joseph.
James sighed in frustration and said, "You said you would be honest. How far back does this go?"
Joseph was silent for a moment before he nodded to himself and said, "It's been passed to each first-born child in this family for many generations. The earliest ancestor who I know possessed the ring was Godric Gryffindor."
James was too stunned to speak for a minute. He had had a hunch but never thought it could actually be true. It seemed too impossible. He looked at his dad and said, "So this means…you're…I'm…"
Joseph finished the sentence for him, "You are the Heir of Gryffindor."
**************************************************************************************
A/N: So there you have it - James is the Heir of Gryffindor. Probably not a huge surprise, but there you go.
Thanks to my latest reviewers: mystical cah (x4!), delpheena, granger1191, Jo Bob, Anu, A New Reader, Potterhead (x7!), Mani12191, hpfreak, Nyscat (x2), likediamondrain, Remus'sweetie (x2), Golden Phoenix, sista7, charlotte la marmotte, and Anonymous.
Next chapter: Erm…well, I think I should wear something flame retardant for the reviews of the next chapter, because I have a serious feeling you guys are going to want to kill me… *nervous chuckle*