SHAM

JK Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.

Chapter 1 – Burying a Hero

The world was burying its hero. Harry Potter, the once Boy-Who-Lived, then the Savior and conqueror of Voldemort had died. It was a surprising death as everybody took it for granted that he would die in action or in the line of duty as he was an Auror and even in times of peace that was a dangerous occupation.

No, instead Harry Potter had died from a massive heart attack at age 39. Few wizards died from a heart attack unless they were very old or very sick. His brother-in-law, Percy Weasley, Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic and viewed by many to be a shoe-in as the next Minister of Magic, had issued an official statement saying that the stress of all of Harry's many adventures had weakened his health and since he had been working almost non-stop on a "top secret" assignment so well he truly did indeed die in the line of duty.

He received a grand funeral and many a testimonial was given and a few books were quickly written and then, as is always the case, things subsided and people went back to living their lives.

Two years after Harry Potter died, his son James Sirius Potter walked into Gringotts bank. It was the day of his 17th birthday and he was officially and legally of age in the Wizarding World so he was here to claim the Potter Lordship.

His father had never been able to claim it for two reasons. The first was that he never knew about it as he had been kept in the dark by Dumbledore who had never expected (or planned on) Harry living to reach his majority.

The second reason was because the Potter heir had to be in excellent health as the Lordship Ring, like most rings of Ancient and Noble Houses, wouldn't accept an heir unless he or she was truly worthy. One had to be sound of body and mind, abide by the laws established by that House and, be confident and willing to accept the responsibilities of the Lordship.

According to his own mother, Ginny Weasley Potter, Harry had been much too ill to be considered "acceptable" and never felt worthy enough to claim the Lordship. He felt too much guilt because he thought he hadn't been "good enough" to save everybody and felt responsible for so many deaths that he just didn't have the necessary confidence.

In fact, Harry Potter had gone missing for several months until he was tracked down by his Best Mate, Uncle Ron, as well as his Uncles Bill, Percy and Charlie and several special volunteer Aurors. He had been a mess as he had shamefully spent the entire time continually drunk and was in a bad state of health. It had taken months of the tender, loving care of the Weasleys to get him well, give him a reason to live and to pull himself together enough to become an Auror.

It had remained a closely guarded family secret as nobody wanted to tarnish his record or damage his respectability. After all Uncle Percy had made arrangements for books to be written, endorsements to be given and several other money-making schemes as, despite his father's abhorrence of using his fame, he needed to make money and needed it fast as the Goblins were "after him" and he owed them money.

The reason he owed them money was because Harry had basically "robbed" Gringotts when he went after the Hufflepuff Cup kept in the Lestrange vault. The Cup contained one of the last Horcruxes and had to be destroyed so that Voldemort could be defeated. Not only had Gringotts' reputation been compromised but the bank lost a guard dragon and much damage had been done to the bank's property. The Goblins were demanding reparations mostly for their "reputation" and they named the amount necessary to assuage their honor.

It had been the hard work and dedication of Hermione Granger, Andromeda Tonks and several others who finally "saved" Harry when they brought the Goblins' demands before the ICW. The tables were turned on the Goblins as they were found guilty of holding a very dangerous dark magic item in their bank and the treachery of one of their own, Griphook, who had lied to Harry Potter and had tried to extort a valuable artifact all the while having the intention of betraying him, turning him in for the reward offered by the Dark Lord, a retrieval bounty from the Goblins for the Sword of Gryffindor and many other things.

In the end the case was brought before an International Magic Court and the entire Goblin Nation was at risk due to the Gringotts Britain Branch's attempt to defraud, defame and basically steal from not only a certifiable Savior/Hero but from the last heir of an Ancient and Noble House.

Besides if Harry couldn't raise all of the money then both Hermione and Ron would be also held liable. At first they were being let off because Hermione never had a vault at Gringotts and all the Weasleys together didn't have enough money to cover the loss.

It had been a very close call and only the Head of the Goblin Nation ordering Gringotts Britain to "drop the outrageous demands" saved Harry Potter.

So Harry Potter got to keep all the money made from the books, endorsements and personal appearances. He also finally received the Order of Merlin First Class as had Hermione and Ron. It hadn't been awarded to any of them as the large monetary award that came with the honor would have been confiscated by the Goblins.

As was expected, once Harry finished his Auror training, he married Ginny and then Hermione and Ron got married. Then James Sirius had been born followed closely by Albus Severus and then Lily Luna. Harry stayed in his career until his death.

But James was not like his father. No, from what he had heard, he was exactly like his namesakes, his Grandfather James and Sirius Black. He was brash, arrogant, a dedicated prankster, a true "player" and, if the truth be told, other than his looks and prowess at Quidditch, he was nothing like his father.

Oh he still loved and admired his Dad, but there were times when James was…disappointed…with the man who had sired him. James had never even considered all the things which Harry had had to endure in his life starting with the Dursleys, his Hogwarts experience and the destiny he had been "born to fulfill" and had also never once considered that a lot of the "perks" he received and his status at Hogwarts were due entirely to his father's accomplishments.

James had been sorted into Gryffindor (where else would he go?) and as such, he knew he had all the bravery and all that was necessary to claim his rightful inheritance. He had done his homework in that regard and knew all about the vast Potter wealth, property, power and prestige. For some strange reason, his family, especially his mother, didn't want him to claim his inheritance at the first possible moment. They wanted him to wait until he graduated from Hogwarts.

But James didn't want to wait. In fact, his family didn't know a thing about it. He and some friends had made arrangements to sneak off to Gringotts and have certain favored members of the press to cover the ceremony. It would be in the evening editions and James would return to Hogwarts in triumph, wearing the House of Potter robes, the Lordship Ring and bringing back anything he found of interest in the main heirloom vault.

He would then be authorized to have his own private suite of rooms at Hogwarts due to being a "sitting lord" and, as "everybody knew" he was the last heir of Godric Gryffindor. James had always been rather annoyed that he hadn't been made Head Boy due to his status and his "awesomeness" and wanted to "lord it over" all of his peers for the last three months of school.

Yes James would be making headlines that day, but not the ones he had planned on.