Chapter 1: In which James learns of Parasites

AN: In my search to find a good post DH fic I have found two types of stories. 1) Everything is so disgustingly perfect, you really just start to resent all of the characters and their complete OOC-ness 2) everything goes badly and there is some sort of dark plot that is not thought out well and leaves me disappointed. So in light of that, I decided to write my own. Maybe that's egotistical, but whatever. I'm over it. I hope others will enjoy this. However, no flames. I'm writing this for myself. This is what I think will happen. Maybe you will agree…

Most of this story will focus on James, but I will be writing from third person; therefore, everyone will be included and this will be compatible with the Canon that has been released, including the family tree on JKR's website. The characterizations of the so called second generation are all based on what we learn from them in the epilogue – although, this is limited, so I will be using a few liberties. However, I am desperately going to try to steer away from the dreadfully clichéd characterizations that make each of the children just like their namesakes. Children are normally mixes of parents, and that is what I hope to create – thereby making each child unique. The characterizations will be more solid as the children grow up – this first chapter deals with the children before they enter Hogwarts, so please bear that in mind. Now without further ado, here is chapter 1.

"HA!" James screamed triumphantly, "Take that!"

Albus just scowled on his broom. He then crossed his arms indignantly, before Rose flew up to where the two brothers were staring each other down each from their own respective brooms.

"You can't do that, you good for nothing cheating scum!" Rose declared at the top of her lungs, her red ears clearly visible, since her hair was pulled into her customary high pony-tail.

James laughed delightedly as he dived to escape the swing his eight year old cousin made for him.

"Rosie! Your mother would be so mad if she saw you use violence," James retorted.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Your dad would be so ashamed that his son took a cheap shot on Al."

James's smirk became more pronounced. "Good thing he didn't see then."

Rose huffed, while Albus just shook his head. James always cheated, and Rose always got so mad. By this time, Al had just accepted it as fact. Besides it wasn't as if Victorie, who was always on Albus and Rose's team, always played clean either. It was different, Al supposed, when you were playing against family… he knew that none of them would actually cheat in a real game… at least he hoped not.

Victorie, trailed by her brother Luis and her sister Dominique, looked as though she was going to give James a piece of her mind.

James had enough sense to cower visibly. Victorie was almost as scary as Grandma Weasley when she was angry.

"James Potter that was…" she started off angrily, only to be cut off by Luis.

"Oh come off it! You did the same exact thing to Dominique last week."

"No, I most certainly did not!" Victorie cried out.

Dominique was outraged. "Yes, you did! You always cheat. That's where James gets it from!"

Victorie was about to retort by pulling out her wand, when there came a rather welcome interruption.

"Hey you lot, lunch is ready!" James heard his mother bellow from the open window. "And we have a surprise visitor… so hurry up."

All of the children exchanged looks, suddenly forgetting about their prior disagreement.

"Surprise visitor, eh?" Victorie asked as they all landed.

They were all confused by the news. For as long as they had been doing this tradition – which was quite a while now - they had never had any other guests outside of the family. "Sunday lunch" was the loose title given to the gatherings of the rather extensive Weasley and Potter families at the Potter house. Of course, it wasn't always all of the family members – Uncle Charlie still lived in Romania, and the others were all extremely busy with their respective jobs and countless other obligations. Still occasionally everyone would somehow miraculously be able to make it. The full family gatherings were indeed much more fun for James, mostly because then they could have full teams for their weekly quidditch battle. This week, however, was not one of those weeks; only Aunt Hermione, Uncle Ron, Uncle Bill, and Aunt Fleur had been able to make it, each couple bringing their respective children along.

"I hope it's Hagrid," Albus exclaimed, as he slung his broom over his shoulder. James couldn't help but disagree with Al's statement. It wasn't that he didn't like Hagrid – he was a rather funny sort of bloke. James just wasn't overly keen of Hagrid's rather blatant favoritism of Al… although he would never ever admit it freely to anyone.

"I hope its Luna," Luis said rather importantly.

However, both Albus and Luis were found to be wrong – instead a young man with spiked turquoise hair, snub nose, and intelligible brown eyes was sitting at the table next to a woman with dark hair and heavily-lidded eyes. "Teddy!" James screamed as rushed forward to engulf his favorite "relative" in a huge hug, not hesitating for a second.

"Hey James!" Teddy replied with a chuckle. He was clearly touched. Andromeda cleared her throat loudly, as if to remind James to acknowledge her presence as well. James gave a sheepish smile, and soon gave her a big hug as well. The rest of the children quickly followed James' example by fiercely hugging Teddy and his grandmother, both of whom they had not seen in quite some time. That is, of course, all but Victorie and Dominique who both considered themselves much too old for that sort of thing, and seeing how Teddy was only 2 and 4 years their senior, they didn't look up to him nearly as much as the younger children did. Instead they chatted briefly; the exchange was awkward, but at least brief.

Lunch was soon served, with Kreacher helping Ginny and Harry serve their guests. James had of course demanded to sit next to Teddy at the table, and was currently being entertained, along with Teddy, by his younger sister Lily's (clearly made-up) story about how she and Hugo and both found a fairy in the woods while they were playing.

"And do you know what she said to us?" the six-year old inquired, wide eyed, clearly still shocked by the audacity of this supposed fairy.

Teddy feigned curiosity. "What did she say?"

Lily gave a huff. "She told me that I had ugly hair and that Hugo was chubby."

"No… why, that fairy won't know what hit her when I get my hands on her."

Lily, clearly expecting and hoping for this declaration, smiled brilliantly. "Oh Teddy, you are my favorite. Except Mummy and Daddy."

Ted smiled back as he ruffled her hair, and continued to eat. James, however, had other ideas and kept firing questions at Teddy throughout the meal, barely giving either of them chances to eat what Kreacher had prepared. The questions ranged from what Teddy was doing over the summer, to all about his fifth year at Hogwarts, all of which Teddy took with amazing patience, especially when one considered that he was only fifteen years old. Dessert was served, and James's raptures began to quiet as he immerged himself in the spectacular treacle tart that his mother had prepared.

"That was excellent, Ginny, Kreacher," Uncle Ron said, and soon everyone gave their agreement. Kreacher, who always sat at the table with the family, bowed his head in modesty while Ginny smiled up at her brother.

"So when are Molly and Arthur due back from visiting Charlie? She told me, but I can't remember what she said," Andromeda prompted as she took a sip from her wineglass.

Harry was the first to respond. "They will be back by Tuesday actually. I think Arthur has to be back to the office by then."

Andromeda nodded. 'I'm glad… the neighborhood has been lonely ever since they left."

Andromeda had moved into a place near the Burrow shortly after the war – her own home had been too full of painful memories of her lovable husband, her very own grandson's namesake. It had been easier to leave the house behind, especially since she had a newborn to care for. Over the years, she and Mrs. Weasley had become thick as thieves.

"Has anyone bought the Lovegood place yet?" Ron asked Andromeda.

She shook her head. "No, and Luna is really disappointed about it too. It's a lovely home… just a bit…"

"Strange," Aunt Hermione finished for her.

"Poor Luna. She has no use for that house, and it kills her to see it unused," Ginny said fondly, thinking of her best friend tenderly.

"I still can't believe Xenophiliuos has passed... and it's been nearly three years," Andromeda said sadly. Others agreed as soon began talking about the recent Quibbler issue which Luna now owned. It was, albeit slowly, becoming a respected magazine. It's still had its wacky flair, but it was much more reliable than just about any other media production in the whole country.

James soon became bored with this topic, like many of the other children, and they soon began to sneak away, leaving the adults, along with Teddy, Victorie, and Dominique, to chat.

They all congregated in the backyard, or the "quiddicth arena" as James liked to refer to it, even though it certainly wasn't by any means. However, it was the only place that the children were allowed to fly, something that was a little irksome to most of them, especially James and his cousin Fred. The Potter house had been built after his parents had married, and it was perched on top of a rather large hill that overlooked an extensive valley below. The valley itself would have been perfect for quidditch but the children weren't allowed down there - the house had many privacy wards around it and the surrounding grounds, but the valley had none of its protection. So if the children were to wander away from the house and the rather extensive grounds, they would be prey to what his dad called "the parasites". It took a while for James to realize that these were not actually gross, little bugs.

The parasites were actually people, with giant, flashing cameras and high-pitched voices that screamed out disturbing questions at an alarmingly fast rate. The parasites wouldn't actually hurt you – they were just annoying and Uncle Ron claimed that they "never got anything right". James had never fully understood just why the parasites were there and would be willing to wait around his house until someone left it, and he had asked about it many times. He always got the same, frustrating response. "We will tell you when you are older."

James wanted the person responsible for coining that certain phrase to die a painful and slow death. He hated that phrase with every fiber of his little nine-year old being. He certainly was old enough now! The nerve to treat him like a little boy! It still bothered him immensely, and he knew that it annoyed Albus a great bit too. They had even talked about it civilly, something that was nearly impossible for the two brothers to do.

Al thought it had to do with the war, and James now thought so too. They had always been told about the war – it was how Uncle Fred had died, why Uncle George only had one ear, and why Andromeda raised Teddy. They all knew about the war and the dark wizard that had been defeated, they all went to the memorial service with their parents each year – what they didn't know was why the parasites cared so much.

However, on this bright sunny July Sunday, the parasites were the last thing from young James's mind. As he was now the oldest of their little group outside, they all looked to him for leadership. Quidditch was out of the question because Lily and Hugo were deemed too young to play (much to their chagrin) and Victorie and Dominique were suddenly too cool to play now that Teddy was around. James knew they couldn't play with only four people… it wouldn't even be fun. He tried to come up with something to do as Rose and Luis argued about their next activity, when suddenly it hit him. He was going to explore the valley… who cared about the bloody parasites? They were just annoying… James was sure that Albus was worse than a hound of those parasites, no matter what Uncle Ron said. James was in the mood to explore, to have a grand adventure! And he certainly wasn't going to let anyone foil his fun.

"I'm going on an adventure!" he announced arrogantly to the rest of the group. Rose and Luis stopped arguing.

"Can I come James, please, can I come?" Hugo asked.

"Me too! Me too!" Lily cried.

"I guess," James shrugged. Going on an adventure wouldn't be that much fun by himself anyway. He wished that his cousin Fred were here though, instead of Lily and Hugo. Fred would be much more fun.

Rose placed her hand on her hips. "Just where are you going to go?"

James pointed to the valley below them.

"You can't go down there! We're not allowed." Rose said simply, foolishly believing that James would listen to her.

"Well you don't have to go Rose if you are so afraid."

Rose's ears went pink yet again. "I'm not afraid…"

"Sure."

"…I just don't want to have to deal with…those people."

"With the cameras?" Lily asked to clarify.

Rose nodded. Luis looked excited. "I want to go down there anyway… there probably won't be any of them now. They are only around in big places, like Diagon Alley, when we go with you lot."

"But we aren't allowed!" Rose wailed, upset that no one was taking her seriously.

"Come on, let's go," James said, ignoring Rose completely. He knew she would come eventually, especially since one look at Al told him that his younger brother was definitely going to follow his lead. Hugo and Lily bounded ahead of everyone as they all ran down the path that sketched its way down the hill, leading towards the valley. They weren't sure when they were entirely out of the protection of the privacy wards, but continued merely on their way. Rose had, like James had guessed, ran after them. She was furious, her ears now beat red, but she most certainly did not want to be left out.

James led the way, and declared quite suddenly that he was going to only respond to the name Merlin for the rest of the trip.

"Well, if you get to be Merlin, then I am Dumbledore!" Luis exclaimed.

"I should be Dumbledore! I'm named after him," Albus said proudly. Luis rolled his eyes but conceded, although he wasn't too happy about it – now he had to find a new person to be.

Lily exclaimed that she was going to be a fairy named Stardust and that she had magical powers better than any of them. "You can't have more powers then Dumbledore or Merlin," Luis told her very seriously, and Lily then agreed that she would just have different kinds of magic.

Hugo declared himself to be Merlin's pet dragon and promptly began crawling on all fours beside James, while Luis decided to be Mad-eye Moody. Rose refused to play.

They each took their roles quite seriously as many children are sure to do when such a game is played. James took a giant stick that had been abandoned on the ground to use as a walking stick, and would even make move to stroke his non-existent beard thoughtfully. They decided together that this grand adventure was all to find something important, although not one of them knew what. They all began to search everywhere for "it" until Lily gave out a delighted squeal.

"Look at this!" She came running out of a patch of bushes, with a rock in her outstretched hand.

James and Luis were immediately disappointed.

"That is just a rock Lily," seven year old Luis groaned.

Lily gave him a rather affronted look. "It's a magical rock."

"No it isn't. It's ugly."

"Take it back, Luis."

"My name is Mad-eye."

"Take it back, Mad-eye,"

"No."

"Lily, it's not what we are looking for," James interrupted. "But you can keep it."

"Maybe we all have to find our own thing?" Albus suggested.

James and Luis nodded in agreement, and thus their search became rejuvenated. Yet before any of those remaining could find their own special object like Lily had, they heard a voice approaching.

"I told you! Mark my words I knew this would pay off… baby Potters! To think! Finally!"

Out of nowhere, or so it seemed although the children were not paying attention, a witch with long bright red robes and curly orange hair appeared before them, along with a man who seemed to be amazed, a camera in his hand. He took the picture before the children could even realize what was happening.

"Do you think you all could smile, maybe?" He prodded, his camera still pressed to his face. "It will make a better cover for the magazine."

The orange haired woman looked as though Christmas had come early. James felt a sinking sensation in his stomach – there was a parasite after all, and now she was going to ruin their fun.

"My, my, where are your parents, dears?" she asked in a rather unpleasant voice... it was much too sweet for James.

"At home," Hugo responded looking at the woman as though she was quite possibly the dumbest person he had ever encountered, even though he was still on all fours.

"Oh my Merlin! Barry… that's…"

"Weasley… yeah Cherry, I got that already."

The woman looked as though she might faint.

"Well children, what are you playing?"

"We are on an adventure," Lily supplied, her rock still clutched tightly in her hand.

"My oh my! You all must get that from your parents!" Cherry exclaimed.

The children exchanged looks, not really understanding what this weird woman meant. James was trying to plot out a way to get away from her. He didn't like her voice and didn't like the pen that was writing on a piece of parchment in midair either.

The confusion that her comment created did not go unnoticed by the shrewd lady.

"You mean… you don't know?"

"Know what?" Rose snapped, crossing her arms in front of her.

Cherry raised her eyebrows, clearly showing that she wasn't too fond of Rosie's tone.

"Know about your parents?" Cherry pressed as the man named Barry took another photo. The children ignored him.

"What about them?" Luis asked, exasperated. He was bored with the situation and wanted to get back to playing the game.

"Why… I wasn't expecting this! Do you even… do you know how your father got that scar on his head?" She asked looking directly at Albus.

Albus looked to James, and James looked back. They didn't answer, but clearly their hesitation gave their answer.

"You have no right to be here you know," Rose said. "This is Potter's home and we are playing a game and we don't want to talk to you. You should go home and be with your family."

Cherry looked as though she would like nothing better than to slap little Rosie, but she contained herself. A good thing it was too, because an authoritative voice called out behind her no more than two seconds after Rose gave her input on the situation.

"I think that sums that up Ms. Ravine. You are on private property. I'm going to ask you politely to leave. "

James's dad was standing there, along with Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione, not looking very happy with the current situation. The man called Barry swiveled to take a picture, but Aunt Hermione quickly pointed her wand at the camera. In seconds, the camera was reduced to dust.

"Hey!" Barry cried out loudly. "You'll have to pay for that! That blasted camera was expensive!"

"I don't care. This is private property and you are invading, thereby acting against the legal accordance of Section 23 under…"

Cherry held up her hand, her composure intact unlike that of Barry's.

"Very well," Cherry said, "we certainly didn't wish to trouble anyone. We got what we came for anyway. Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley is there any way you both could answer a few questions…"

"Ms. Ravine -"

"Oh please call me Cherry."

"Ms. Ravine, shall I call someone to escort you off the premise?"

Cherry's eyes narrowed. "Certainly not. Very well. But you know, you all owe the Wizarding world a bit of your time."

Aunt Hermione snorted. "We gave them our adolescence."

Cherry and Barry retreated into the distance, and soon with a large pop, they were gone.

And with that three very angry sets of eyes fell upon the collective group of children.

"Do you have an idea how worried we were?" Aunt Hermione demanded. "You are not to just run off like that! Anything could have happened! How could you not think?"

"Rosie…" Uncle Ron said sternly, "I expected better from you."

Rose hung her head in shame, and James immediately felt guilty.

"Rose tried to stop us, Uncle Ron. It was my idea. I knew we weren't supposed but… but I didn't think…"

"No, you most certainly didn't think, young man," his dad cut in. "Your mother is furious."

James gulped. It wasn't really a big deal, was it?

"But… but that woman was just annoying. She didn't do anything! She wasn't going to hurt us."

The three adults exchanged looks.

"James, I think we should probably have a little talk in my study when we get back up to the house."

James knew this wasn't going to be good. The last time he had had a "study talk" was when he had bleached Lily's hair. He had known that it was wrong when he did it, but the sight of Lily had been so funny, he hadn't felt much guilt. This time though was different. He didn't know why this was wrong – but he felt guilty anyway

"Let's all head up back to the house. Come on," Uncle Ron said, as he made move to pick up Hugo, who was still acting in character as Merlin's pet dragon.

The subdued children followed behind the adults, back into the privacy ward and back up the hill to the house.

James's mom was waiting for them as were Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur.

"Well?"

"They were playing a game, got a little excited and didn't realize how far they had gone out of bonds," Harry explained. "But I am positive that it won't happen again, will it?"

All of the children agreed, their faces very solemn, the only exception being Lily who was still very excited about her magical rock.

James's mom seemed to instantly cool with the explanation she was given. James decided that he was very thankful to his dad, and that made his guilt for disobeying him multiply.
"We should probably be off anyway," Uncle Ron said. It was the first time that Rose didn't pout when he made the announcement.

Teddy and Andromeda agreed, as did Bill and Fleur and they promptly gathered up their three children. Hugs were exchange among the adults, while the children gave little subdued waves, knowing that each of them was going to have quite the talk about rules and such with their parents.

"Geez, Jamsey… way too cause trouble," Teddy said quietly before he left using Floo, giving James a little nudge with his elbow.

James gave a small smile, but didn't dare let his mother see. When all of the guests had departed, James was directed to the study, while Albus and Lily got to have tea with mom. Personally, James saw this as a sort of injustice but accepted it in peace – it had been his idea after all, and he supposed that meant in adult world that the blame was all upon him.

The study itself probably would have been James's favorite room if it wasn't for these little chats that he had when he was in trouble. The place was beginning to have negative connotations in James's mind, but he would always have to admit that it was an impressive room. The walls were a deep, paneled mahogany that blended perfectly with the multitudes of frames on the walls. There were pictures of all sorts of people, like Luna and her family, and Professor Longbottom and his family. There was also a huge display of Hogwarts memorabilia from his mom and dad's school days. There was even a large Gryffindor flag above his dad's desk. A few bookshelves were pushed against the east wall, each jam packed with important books, leaving a large open space in the middle of the room were the two leather couches sat facing each other in front of a fireplace. It was there that they sat down, James on one couch, his father on the other.

"I know that you are probably a little confused right now, James," his dad began, "But I need you to tell me what that woman asked you today."

"But that's what I don't get, dad! She asked about you, said that we got adventure from our parents. What did she mean?"

"What else did she say?"

"She said stuff about your scar…" James said with a frown. "And she was… She thought we should know about it. And when we didn't, she sort of seemed surprised… but good surprise."

Harry sighed.

"What did she mean dad? How did you get your scar? What happened?"

"I was hoping to tell you this when you were older and would understand all of it, but I guess I will just have to do it now. Mind you, I don't want you to tell your brother and sister. This is between us, James."

James felt pride swell inside of him. His dad was going to trust him. And Albus and Lily weren't going to know what he was going to be told!

"The war happened a while ago because of a very dark wizard."

"I know… Lord Voldemort, Tom Riddle wanted to kill Muggles. Which isn't good because Muggles are just as good as us," James rattled off. He had heard this many times before.

"Yes, they certainly are. But before that war, James, there was one before it… the one where your grandpa and grandma, my parents, died."

"Why were there so many wars anyways?" James asked, frowning.

"Well, it was the same dark lord. He tried to kill me when I was a baby, only it didn't work."

James's eyes bulged. "Whaddya mean?"

"There's a curse, a very bad curse that kills people. You go to jail if you ever use this curse. And this curse kills everyone… but it didn't kill me."

"Why? What's wrong with you?"

His dad smiled. "Well, it was a sort of magic actually – your Grandma Lily protected me with her love."

"Wow, you can do that?"

"Yes, you can. It's very powerful magic. It protected me a lot. And when I got older, I had to face Voldemort many times. I always had a lot of help though. Your aunts and uncles, especially Ron and Hermione, were always there. They risked their life for me more than once."

"Blimey…" James said weakly. He was beginning to understand what that woman had meant about adventures. And he was beginning to see his father in a whole new light.

"And in the battle of Hogwarts, which is what we've told you about before, I stopped Voldemort."

James gulped. "You mean… you killed him?"

His dad seemed to become uneasy with this question.

"Well, James it was very complicated, but in the end Voldemort killed himself – he refused to repent, and instead he acted against ancient laws of magic."

James tried to wrap his brain around what his father had told him.

"That's why all of those people follow us with cameras when we go somewhere in public with lots of people. They get very excited because of that story, but I don't like the attention. I have had very bad experiences with the media people like Ms. Cherry Ravine that you met earlier. They often don't tell the truth in order to make their stories better. It's not right, and I have never supported it, so I try to stay away from them. That is why I told you not to go in the valley. Some of the reporters really want to interview you, Al, and Lily and I don't think any of you need that type of exposure."

"Do they just… wait for us to leave?"

"I never thought so, but apparently Ms. Ravine was today. I always knew there was a chance of it."

"Don't they have something else to do?" James asked making a face.

His dad laughed and James instantly felt better. "You would think so James… but apparently not."

"So… these people just lie?"

"Not always, but a big portion of the time. The only media source I trust is the Quibbler, Luna's magazine."

"So they want to talk to me because… because you are like Albus Dumbledore?"

His father had told him and Al long ago about Al's namesake, as there was a photograph of Dumbledore in the study, and it was one of the largest of the bunch.

His dad again smiled. "I guess you could say I am like him… but that's it. Albus was a much better man than I ever was or will be."

And for some reason, maybe it was because of all of this new found knowledge, James found himself doubting that very much.

"I suppose it was just my terrible experience with reporters that led to me wanting to protect you from them… can you understand that James?"

James nodded. "I don't like them much either. That woman had a terrible voice."

His dad agreed. "So I hope we won't have anything like this happening again?"

James agreed that he didn't want to meet any more of the parasites, causing Harry to laugh.

"I never should have said that… they are reporters, James."

James shrugged, since his father was still smiling. "I like parasites better. I think it fits better."

Harry laughed again but conceded with a smile. "I do too."

The very next day, their family owl, Mercury, brought with him a rather unexpected piece of mail. James was lucky enough to see it first, for he was sure that his father never would have let him see it if he had known – his dad probably would have just thrown the bloody thing away. But James was the first one up on the dreary Monday that followed, hardly able to sleep due to the thoughts about his father that were circulating through his head.

There it was, the magazine titled Rav-vine in big, swirly letters. The cover page had no cover; instead only two words – Potter babies.

James read on in spite of himself and found that his father's estimations about the media were not too off.

That's right. Rav-vine is the only magazine with scope about the rather illusive Potter babies; Lily Luna (age 6), Albus Severus (age 8) and James Sirius (age 9).

It was an amazing Sunday afternoon when I found the children playing together in the fields by their home. I just happened to be passing through the valley behind Godric Hollow and was quite delighted to come upon such a surprise. The children were with their cousins, the children of the famous Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. It soon became apparent upon talking to the children, however, that the y had no idea of their parents' rather wonderful accomplishments. In fact, the young Mr. Potters seemed most confused when I mentioned their father's scar. This troubled me greatly, indeed. For why is Mr. Potter refusing to tell his children the story of his scar? Why is he refusing to tell them this vital information when nearly every other child in our world is taught to admire his name?

Is it perhaps because Harry Potter, savior of our world, is ashamed to admit what he did?

Or is he ashamed to admit what he didn't do?

What is Harry Potter hiding from all of us? Why does he refuse interviews upon interviews, only once giving one to a close personal friend (Luna Lovegood) who asked none of the questions that the public even cared about?

Why does he refuse the public a chance to truly know their hero? Maybe dear friends, it's because we won't like our hero very much at all.

James was disgusted by the article – even his young, innocent brain could understand that the woman was making his father out to be something that he wasn't. The lies were going to be spread, and lies hurt other people. James threw the magazine away, vowing to himself that it would certainly never happen again. Little did he know that his father, who was watching him from the semi-darkened stair-case, had never before been so proud of little James as he was at that very moment.