Chapter 3: The Heir

Jaime Potter was still trying to get used to the fact he was a prince.

Actually, being a prince was the easiest thing he had to get used too. His entire life had been turned upside down in the past six months. Some for the better, some for the worst.

The young boy frowned as he thought about his mother.

Emma not Regina.

He never really thought much of Regina being his mother, not like Emma. He knew Regina hadn't loved him. He thought Emma did until she left him.

Left him because he was a freak.

He hadn't told anyone that. Even the healer his father had been forcing him to see. He had tried to act like everything was all right.

It wasn't.

However, growing up with Regina made Jaime easy to hide his emotions. And he had been doing a pretty good job of that since they had gotten back home.

Or at least he'd like to think so.

Until his father started making him see a healer. His dad had also been really careful about talking to him about Emma. He had heard him talking about his mom behind his back though on the rare occasion he didn't throw up a silencing spell.

Selfish bitch. Jaime thought.

That was something he would not have described Emma as when he first met his mom, but now…

He sighed heavily as he stared out at the glass wall that separated the Slytherin common room from the Black lake.

It was a sight to behold.

He knew everyone else thought the Slytherin common room was this dark and creepy place, but he found something eerily peaceful about the view down there. He also loved the silence. It was a far cry to this summer, where he was always coddled.

Hell, he was still coddled at school.

He was the bloody prince of magical Britain. Something his dad didn't care to share to him until a few months ago.

"It's not that big of a deal," Dad said.

"Not that big of a deal, I'm a prince." Jaime said.

"And I'm a king." His father responded. "Really, Jaime, it's not that different from being raised by the mayor. The magical community in Britain is pathetically small."

Dad was right about the magical community being small. It seemed like most of is classmates were related to each other somehow. Hell, he even had a godbrother he didn't even know about.

Teddy Lupin was a quiet kid with ever changing hair. His mother was Uncle Sirius's cousin and his father was apparently an honorary uncle to his dad. Teddy was a Hufflepuff and was one of the only kids that actually made an effort to talk to Jaime. Albeit, it was sort of forced.

Most of the kids tended to ignore him. Whether it was because he was a prince or a Slytherin he did not know.

Going into Hogwarts, his father had warned him about the possibility of being sorted into Slytherin.

"You'll probably be sorted there," Dad had said. "I should've been sorted there. It's not a bad house, Jaime. It just has a dark history."

"And you weren't sorted there?"

His father bit his lip. "I didn't accept who I was at the time, Jaime. I should've been sorted there. However, I wasn't brave enough. Ironic considering I was sorted to the house of bravery."

"That's not true," Jaime said, "You're the bravest person I know."

His father laughed, "Oh, Jaime. I am nothing but a coward."

It was ironic his father was a Gryffindor, Jaime thought. Most of the Gryffindors he had encountered were nothing like his father. They were loud, boisterous, and rude. And they hated him. They called him a traitor for some nebulous reason he did not understand.

"It's because you're a Potter they expect you to be sorted into Gryffindor." Victorie Weasley quietly told him over lunch one day.

The pretty blonde was another one of the rare people who talked to him. Her mother, Professor Delacour taught Arithmacy at the school. Apparently, everyone in Victorie's family had been sorted into Gryffindor too, which made her another misfit in the house of Slytherin.

Speaking of Victorie, the witch seemed have slid into the couch next to him. "You know, you're going to get a reputation for brooding."

"Isn't it fitting for our house?" He asked.

She nodded. "I'm surprised though you managed to have the entire room to yourself."

"Being the prince of the wizarding world has its points," Jaime said, "Also, its sunny and it's the weekend and most people aren't keen to be doing their homework and staring at the lake."

"You finished your homework last night."

"I did but I'm generalizing." He said, "How did tea with your mom go?"

She sighed heavily, "It went fine…"

She didn't look fine. Though, Jaime didn't really know how to tell her that. He really wasn't the best with people. He never really had a chance to make friends in Storybrooke, considering the curse. His lack of friends was probably one of the reasons Zara was able to trick him the way she did.

He frowned as he thought about the small dark headed witch who was sort of his adopted aunt. Apparently.

Thinking of her as an adopted aunt made him shudder. Zara had really surprised him. When he had been thrown into Regina's portal and came across the magic using girl. He was surprised to say the least. Thanks to his dad, Mr. Gold, and Hermione he knew there were others like him. But he never met someone his age who used magic. And she said she could help him…until she didn't.

He still remembered the cruel look on her face when she revealed to him that she double-crossed him. She looked downright ecstatic; he couldn't believe someone could be so heartless

Victorie sighed, "I can tell my parents have been fighting again. Or I should say my grandmother sent my father a howler regarding my sorting, and he and my mum got into it again."

He knew that Victorie's parents were divorced. He didn't know the extent of their problems though.

She sighed, "I shouldn't bother you with personal problems, Jaime."

"That's what friends are for," He said motioning the small blonde to sit down.

Victorie sighed, "No, clearly, you were upset about something."

"Just thinking over our Transfiguration assignment." Jaime lied.

Victorie laughed, "You need to improve your lying skills, Professor Black assigned us no homework."

"Damn it," Jaime said.

"It's okay," Victorie said. "You can confide in me, you know…if you want."

He shook his head, "It's really nothing, Victorie."

"You look miserable."

He was miserable.

When Jaime first found out about Hogwarts, he had been excited about starting school. Finally, it would be a place where he could learn and control his powers. But that was the last thing he felt now.

Sure, he enjoyed his classes. He liked learning about magic, but anything would beat Storybrooke Elementary.

He just felt so lonely.

Jaime always felt lonely.

"I'm not miserable," He told Victorie. "Just thinking."

"You think a lot." She said.

He sighed heavily. He wasn't going to confine to Victorie that he was thinking about his mother again. No, Emma. She didn't want to be his mom.

Freaks don't have moms.

"It will get better," Victorie said.

"What?" That caught him off guard.

"Mum said your parents are getting a divorce, it sucks less over time."

Ah, yes, the divorce.

His father had all but moved on. Jaime wasn't stupid, he saw the looks that Dad and Belle had been passing each other at the end of this summer.

And a part of him should be glad. His father deserved to be happy, even though he knew Harry would tell him otherwise. And Belle wasn't that bad…

She seemed different than she had in Storybrooke.

Maybe because she had been ill then. Regina had her locked in the basement, after all. But the woman who taught Muggle Studies was nothing like Mr. Gold's mousy librarian wife.

Or ex wife he supposed.

Or were they even married? From what he had been told, Regina had just cursed everyone to having these weird alternative lives. So, who knew maybe Belle had never been the librarian type?

Okay, that was not true. He saw the way the woman had looked at the books in Uncle Sirius's house and how she was always at the library at Hogwarts.

He still wasn't a huge fan of hers though with the way she looked at his dad. He really didn't want them together.

Jaime had talked about it with his therapist. He knew that his parents weren't going to get back together, but still the prospect of his father dating he wasn't sure about that…and for that matter dating someone he could actually see his father having a serious relationship with. And Belle was that sort of person.

"It really does," Victorie said looking at him, "And it does have its perks. The fighting is usually a lot better."

"Except when your grandmother is involved."

Victorie rolled her eyes. "Well, mope all you want. Professor Black did tell me though that he wanted to speak with you."

"Professor Black?"

"He came by to talk to my mother," Victorie said..

Honestly, Jaime wasn't surprised.

Professor Delacour was probably the best looking professor on campus and she was single—therefore, it was quite obvious that Uncle Sirius would be interested.

His uncle/godfather was a bit of abnormality he was the most and the least responsible person Jaime knew.

He still remembered Sirius finding him on that island. Jaime shuddered as he remembered being chased by Pan and the Lost Boys. He hadn't talked about it to anyone other than Sirius who really didn't press too much.

He wondered if his father knew about Pan.

He knew enough where he was worried about getting off of that island.

He and his father hadn't talked about Pan. Or really anything. God knows, Dad didn't even want to talk about the elephant in the room—Emma.

Instead, he just wanted to get Jaime ready to settle down at Hogwarts.

He had tried to make it special. They had gone to Diagon Ally at the end of the summer, just the two of them to pick up his school supplies.

Though, getting a wand was a bit of a joke.

He didn't need the piece of rowan wood. However, per his father it was best not to let people know of his wandless abilities.

Despite the wand-buying charade, Jaime had enjoyed his first glimpse at the wizarding world. There was almost a sense of relief being around others like him. For so long, he head thought he was the only one with powers and now the whole world seemed to be opening up.

Of course, Hogwarts was a different story. He wasn't wearing the glamors that his father had put on him in the ally. Instead, he was Prince James, heir to magical Britain.

He'd never get used to the prince thing.

He wondered if that was part of the reason Emma left. She really didn't seem the princess type.

"Did you hear what I said, Jaime?" Victorie said breaking his thoughts.

"Yes, Uncle Sirius wants to see me."

Only it wasn't just Uncle Sirius. His father was there.

Dad looked completely different here. In Storybrooke, he had always been wearing a suit or on the rare occasion jeans. Since being in England though he wore robes.

Wizard robes.

Though, they weren't cheap robes like his professors wore. His father's robes were tailored. He often tended to wear them with basilisk pants much to Jaime's chagrin.

It wasn't only his father who was there, but Aunt Hermione as well.

He hadn't seen Aunt Hermione in such a long time. Shortly after they got back to England, she and Sheriff Graham of all people had gone off to Bali to elope.

In a way seeing her again was a relief. There was just something comforting about his bushy haired aunt.

"Aunt Hermione, you're back!" He said greeting her first.

This caused his father to wrinkle his nose, "Seriously, you're not even going to acknowledge your dear old dad."

The boy laughed as he hugged his aunt before turning to his father, "What are you two doing here? Aren't you busy with running the government?"

"It's Saturday," Harry said, "Besides, your aunt wanted to see you. I think she finally realized that eloping while you were on summer vacation was dumb."

"It was not dumb," Aunt Hermione said, "Though I did miss Jaime. Congratulations on Slytherin, honey."

She seemed sincere.

It was weird.

A lot of his classmates treated being in Slytherin like it were the plague or something, but all of his family seemed okay with it. Although, he heard the whispers…he heard improper it was that the heir wasn't sorted into Gryffindor.

"Why are you here?" Jaime asked.

"Because we missed you," His father stated.

Jaime gave him a skeptical look.

"What? I do miss you?" Harry said, "And I have business to attend too"

"Business?" Jaime said.

"Education is a role of the government," Harry said.

Uncle Sirius was rolling his eyes, "He just misses the treacle tart Jaime that's why he's really here."

However, Jaime didn't think that was it. He didn't say anything though.

"Your professors say you're doing an excellent job," His aunt said changing the subject, "All O's so far. That's impressive."

"I had a good teacher." Jaime said.

Admittedly, the conversations seemed strained. Then again, it had been since returning.

Jaime still remembered coming back to this world in a building he had never been to of all places.

The Department of Mysteries.

They were near what appeared to be an old bed sheet that he soon realized was really The Veil of Death. Which really was a misnomer considering it sent Uncle Sirius to Neverland and not his doom.

Though, it might've well been.

"You okay?" Uncle Sirius said sensing Jaime's darkening mood.

"Peachy," He said.

"Liar," His father said, "I know what will cheer you up."

Going home. Confronting his mother. Finding out she really didn't mean to leave him.

But that's not what his father said. Instead, he meant flying.

Harry Potter was a legend in the air. Watching the man as he dived into the air had Jaime in awe.

He had heard about his father and his grandfather. Both were legendary flyers. It was a little hard to wrap around the fact that his father was like a maniac on a broomstick until he saw it for himself.

He had to admit it he was having a good time. It was probably one of his better memories at Hogwarts thus far.

"This is why I told you to wait," Dad said when they were both were in the air and had a panoramic view of the castle.

Jaime had begged all summer to fly, but his father never relented. He said it was best to learn to fly at Hogwarts and Jaime could see why. The view was phenomenal he could see the castle, the quidditch pitch, Hagrid's hut, and the lake in the near by distance.

"It's so relaxing up here," His father said. "I miss doing this."

Jaime nodded.

"Of course," His father said with a glint in his eye. "You can't relax all the time sometimes you have to catch a snitch."

As he said this a golden ball appeared in his hands, which Jaime knew undoubtedly was the snitch.

"Care to play a few rounds?" His father asked.

Did he.

The game of catch the snitch turned out to be highly competitive. At first his father let him catch it and then…well, then he got to see the legend that was Harry Potter in action.

It was a little hard to believe that the man who was doing aerial stunts was the same man that made was so calculating and risk adverse. In the air, Jaime saw none of that. God knows, his father was capricious about everything except catching the snitch it seemed. The way Harry dove was scary, yet fascinating…no wonder he was a Gryffindor.

"You're not going to catch it if you don't take some risks," His dad said after Jaime had failed to catch the snitch for the third or fourth time.

"I'm scared," Jaime heard himself telling his father.

His dad raised an eyebrow. They really did look a lot alike, except his father had dark hair. Jaime's hair was blonde like Emma's.

"There's no need to be scared. I will catch you if you fall. You know that, right?"

The boy nodded. "It's not that…"

Harry looked at him, "Then what is it?"

It was everything. Everything was just too much. Jaime couldn't' say it out loud though. He knew the healer had told him he needed to express himself, but he didn't want to. He didn't want to admit he was hurt. Instead he just told his dad to release the snitch again, but this time he went after it like his father.

Of at least he thought he was going after it…somehow he lost control as he headed straight towards the lake…

Jaime grimaced as he tried to pull his broom up. However, somehow it didn't want to cooperate.

He didn't want to crash. Even though he was not in his heavy Hogwarts' robes, he was still wearing jeans and a heavy cable neck sweater. Not ideal swimming wear by any means. And then right before he touched the water he felt something or should he say someone grabbing him—his father.

"What the hell?" His father said, "Are you okay?"

"I lost control of the broom," Jaime said.

Harry frowned as if he didn't believe him. "Well, it's okay now. Let's get back on solid ground. I had enough flying for the day anyway.

Had Jaime been paying better attention, he would've felt something watching him from beneath the lake. The same lake that he would be warned to not go near before his father left.

Chapter 4 Preview: The true purpose for Harumple's visit to Hogwarts is revealed.