Hey guys! Here's another update!! You'll get a taste of another story line I'm working on with one of the kids. There will be more than one, so look forward to that. Thanks for all the great reviews! I love reading every single one of them! Even the bad ones, because they make me laugh. Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 3
"All right, troops," Harry said getting up from his seat on the couch. "Time for bed."
Whines and protest escaped from the group. "Oh come on, Dad," Lily pleaded. "Can't we watch the telly for a little bit longer?"
"It's really getting late, sweetie," Harry said with a sympathetic smile. "We all have an early morning tomorrow."
"I'm going to put Nora down," Hermione said quietly while her youngest daughter was asleep in her arms.
Harry nodded as he said goodnight to his kids, kissing them on the cheek, including all of Hermione's kids. "Something on your mind, James?" he asked when he noticed James lingering.
"Yeah…can I talk to you for a sec?"
"Sure, J." Harry sat back on the couch, patting the cushion next to him. "Something troubling you?"
"Yeah…kind of…"
"Is this about your mum?"
"What? Oh. No, it's…" He then trailed off, looking miserable. "That's horrible of me…is it horrible what's troubling me has nothing to do with her?"
"No, James," he assured him, clasping a hand over his. "It's a good thing…we all need to move on with our lives. She'd want that for you…for all of us."
"Yeah…you're right. I still miss her an awful lot, but…it hurts less and less as they days go bye."
"That's called healing." He patted his son's hand. "Now…what's bothering you? Girl problems?" he teased then his smile dropped when didn't say anything. "Oh. I see. Er….so what's wrong? I thought things were good between you and…what's her name…Kitty or Katty?"
"Kiki," James reminded him of his girlfriend of one year. "And things are…well, it doesn't matter because this isn't about her."
"Oh?" Harry lifted a brow. "Another woman in your life, James?"
"Well…kind of…it's about Sam, actually."
"Sam? As in your friend, Samantha?"
"That's the one."
"You, Sam…along with Danny…the three of you have been tight since first year, right?"
"Yes…ever since Danny blew up his potion we were working on in class…got all over the three of us so we had to go to the hospital wing." James smiled at the memory. "We looked so awful…red whelps all over our faces that Madame Pomfrey said wouldn't clear up for days so we were stuck. We were angry at first…well mostly Sam was yelling at Danny a lot. I think it was when Sam called him a 'pizza face moron' when I finally lost it. I started laughing…didn't take long for Sam and Danny to join in."
"A friendship was formed," Harry said with a smile. "There are some things that bond people together whether you expect it to or not. For me, Ron and Hermione it was taking on a troll."
James smiled. "Yeah…well…the three of us have been inseparable and Sammy…well she's my best friend. I don't know what I'd do without her. She never left my side at the funeral."
"James," Harry said after a moment. "Are you starting to develop feelings for her? Feelings that go beyond friendship?"
"No." He winced. "Maybe." He sighed in despair. "I don't know." He got up from his feet and started to pace, a trait he picked up from his father. When he was agitated or confused, he could never sit still. "Okay…let's pretend for a second that I do…have feelings for her…"
"Okay," Harry said waiting for him to talk it out.
"There's a couple of problems…well, besides the fact that I don't even know if she feels that way about me…but…the other problem is that…" He walked back to his seat and plopped back down. "Danny likes her."
"Oh," Harry said now understanding his son's dilemma. "I see."
"And to make it worse…everyone knows it…all our friends think that one day they'll get together. Every time I hear people talk about it I get up and walk off." He got up to pace again. "At first…I told myself that I only had a problem with it because I was worried what it might do to us…the three of us. What if they got together…then broke up…and I was stuck in the middle?"
"I understand how you feel, I remembered how worried I was about Ron and Hermione…what if it didn't work out, then I would have to pick up all the pieces."
"Exactly!" James walked back to his seat once more, collapsing back down with a heavy sigh. "I don't know what to do. You have to tell me what to do, Dad."
Harry's heart went out to him. He hated that his son had to be put in this position, but was proud that he would worry about hurting his friends. "Well…do you know for sure that Samantha feels that way about Danny?"
"Well…I'm not too sure about that. She's more subtle about it if she does, most of the time it seems like Danny annoys her, but…that could be just a front."
"Maybe you should ask her. Just...talk about it to her nonchalantly…ask her if she has feelings for him."
"Yeah…I guess I could do that…it will kill me if she in fact does like him."
"Maybe she only does because she believes you don't think of her that way."
James brightened. "You think?"
"I think it's a possibility, especially if you've tried giving her that impression. Maybe give her little hints to her that you are indeed interested. Keep her wondering."
"Yeah…yeah, I could do that." He then frowned. "I need to figure out what to do about Kiki first."
"Considering we're talking about another girl…you should probably end things with her."
"But…what if I break up with Kiki, then get denied by Samantha and then end up all alone?"
Harry sighed in envy. What he wouldn't have given to have this kind of problem when he was James' age. He had been worried about destroying Horcurxes and not getting killed by the Dark Lord. "I don't know what to tell you…are you happy with Kiki? Do you like hanging out with her?"
"Well…if "hanging out" is another word for "snogging" than yeah…I do."
"James," he laughed shaking his head. "Having a girlfriend is more about snogging…do you two ever just talk?"
"Did you and mum ever just talk when you were my age?"
Harry winced. "Touché." He shook his head and waved it off. "But it was different for me. I had a lot of problems back then, James, and Ron and Hermione were the only ones I could talk to about it. Your mum…she was my escape to normalcy…when I was with her…I didn't think about all that stuff and she knew that…she never asked questions. Do hear what I'm saying?"
"Yeah." He sighed. "I know…I need to figure things out about Kiki."
"Just play it all by ear…take it slow with Samantha…try to figure her out…then you'll decided on what to do."
James nodded. "Yeah okay. Thanks, Dad," he said getting up on his feet.
Harry stood as well, giving him a hug. "That's what I'm here for. Don't worry…you'll figure it
out." He nuzzled his hair. "Now off to bed with you…we've got an early morning."
"Okay…G'night, Dad."
"Night."
After James left, Harry turned off all the lights downstairs before heading up himself. Hermione was already in bed and was actually reading…something she hadn't done since the accident. "Hey," Harry said walking over to her.
"Hey," Hermione said smiling softly. "I was wondering what was keeping you."
"Sorry…James wanted to talk." He sat at her hip, smiling gently. "You're reading."
Hermione forced a little smile. "Yes…I…I got the courage to pick it up. I didn't realize how much I missed it." She shrugged it off, silently telling him she didn't really want to talk about it. "So…what did James want? Everything okay?"
Harry smiled. "Girl trouble."
Hermione lifted an intriguing brow. "Oh? Things shaky with that Kitty character?"
"Kiki."
"Close enough…met her that one time last Christmas. Didn't think much of her…Ginny didn't like her much
either. She didn't even show up for the funeral."
"She was out of town according to James."
"So? His friend Samantha was halfway cross the world with her family and she dropped everything to be here."
"Funny you should bring her up because our discussion was about her." He leaned closer to her and gave a little smirk. "He might have feelings for her."
Hermione gasped. "Really? Oh…Oh, that would be so great. Ginny loved Samantha, she always told me she wished those two would get together."
"Yeah?" Harry asked pleased at the idea. "Well…don't get your hopes up yet, there's a problem."
"What is it?"
Harry quickly told her everything James and him had discussed. "I told him he should probably make sure how Sam feels about Danny before officially putting her in the "just friends" department."
Hermione nodded in agreement. "That's good advice and I'm pretty sure Samantha is crazy about him. I can tell by the way she looks at him."
"Really?"
"Of course!" Hermione said exasperated. "It was exactly how I use to look at…" She abruptly cut off her words, leaning away as she bit her lip.
"At Ron," Harry finished sadly and scooted closer to her. "It's okay…please don't get sad. It…It was so nice seeing you laughing tonight."
Hermione blushed, laughing softly. "Oh…no, it's okay. I'm not sad." She took his hand giving him a little squeeze. "And it was fun to laugh again. I didn't think I could laugh, so it was relieving to find out I can."
Harry smiled, reaching up to caress the side of her face. "We're going to be okay, Hermione. This year's going to be hard on us…but we'll get through with it…together."
"I know," she said and then leaned up for a hug. "I'm glad you're here with me. I don't think I could do this alone."
Harry held her tight. "You won't have to." He kissed the top of her head. "And neither will I, thank Merlin, because I couldn't do this without you either."