Lifes Lessons

Jessica Dawn

Lifes lessons as learned by James Sirius Potter

"Come on, Al. Don't be such a baby. Aren't you sick of flying around on toy brooms that barely go off the ground?" James had asked his brother, nodding while he did to try and influence his answer. Albus, quite frankly, was a little brat, always listening to what their parents told them, even if it meant that they would have no fun. Mom and Dad had gone to London for the weekend, something called a gala was being thrown in Dad's honour, whatever that meant. Apparently it was a major anniversary, and whenever James had asked his mother she'd told him that he would learn all about it at Hogwarts when he took History of Magic.

It really wasn't cool at all that Mom and Dad were keeping secrets. It was cool though that Victoire had come home from school for the weekend with Teddy and they were babysitting. He could ignore the fact that Teddy's grandma had come along as well if he focused on the fact that his big brother was there. He'd asked Teddy if he wanted to go flying, but he and Victoire had said something about needing to study for their exams, and hurried off to the extra bedroom together.

So Albus it was, who was now nodding alongside him. James grinned, "Good boy. Mom used to play Quidditch, so she's gotta have good brooms around here somewhere… We just have to wait until Teddy's grandma 'Dromeda goes to sleep and then we gotta search for them."

Albus had nodded, quietly adding, "Mom hides stuff in their closet. I saw her go in there on your birthday to get your gift out…"

Albus loved his brother, he really did, but he wasn't as adventurous as he was. He was much more content with knowing that their parents set rules for a reason and they ought not break them, while James was much more willing to question why they were rules in the first place, and push his luck. James was quite frequently in trouble for his antics, and for dragging Albus along with him.

It was early when they got their chance, much earlier than expected, with Teddy and Victoire closed away in his bedroom and 'Dromeda sleeping in an armchair, the television still on in front of her. Lily too was asleep, having been sick all day with a cold, currently sprawled out on the couch, and taking up far too much space for a five year old.

Only when they had completely confirmed that Teddy and Victoire were too busy to notice that they tiptoed down the hall to their parents bedroom, quietly pushing the door open and sneaking in. Of course, neither Harry nor Ginny were home, and they had no need to sneak, but this was a top secret mission, and those always involved a certain amount of sneaking.

It hadn't taken very long at all to find several brooms in the closet, and James wasted no time in grabbing the two that looked like they would be the fastest. Al had played lookout, much more comfortable with James actually being the one stealing the brooms. He chased after his brother when he left the room at a run, heading back downstairs and straight out the back door so that they wouldn't risk waking either of the women in the living room.

James was far too excited, laying both brooms down on the grass and dragging his fingers through his messy hair, "I'm taking this one. I'm pretty sure it's the fastest. Are you ready, Al?"

"No." He answered honestly, standing beside the other broom. He did little more than kick at the grass beneath his feet while he stared at them. He only looked up when James had commanded the broom into his hand.

"Fine then. I'll go first." James declared, swinging his leg over the broom. He didn't hesitate to lift the handle and kick up off of the ground. He was whooping and cheering, soaring well up above the trees that lined their property.

Al could only watch nervously from the ground. James certainly seemed to be having the time of his life, easily flying eighty feet off the ground. James had always enjoyed flying much more than he had, and was clearly talented at it. It made him nervous when his brother had landed beside him, his hair sticking out even more wildly than normal.

"That was amazing Al! You gotta try. Mom and Dad must go extra slow when they fly with us cause that was the best thing ever!" James couldn't even stand still, pacing about the yard with the broom in his hand. He dragged his fingers through his hair, practically beaming from ear to ear, "Come on Al, you gotta do it. You don't even know… Let's race."

Of course the idea was a horrible one. James had all of two minutes experience flying on a real broom, and Al's was still on the ground. It was obviously not even comparable to their toy brooms. Toy brooms only went so fast and so high, and their parents could designate boundaries easily… With these real ones they could go wherever they wanted, as fast as they wanted… But James was never easily swayed. Especially not by Albus. He bit on his lip while he commanded the broom into his hand, still entirely unsure. Of course - he could always just let James win and take the risk out of the race.

"Just swing your leg over like normal and kick up… Lift the handle and go." James had instructed as he had done it again, sitting just above the ground this time.

Albus listened, kicking and lifting up, his broom jerking him twenty feet into the air before he managed to stop it and bring it back down. James clearly wasn't paying very much attention to the look on his face or he would have realized just how uncomfortable his little brother was, simply deciding on the path their race would take, "Once around the house, and then through the forest down to the dock on the lake. You gotta touch the post and then come back through the forest. First one to touch the back door wins."

"James we're not allowed to go down to the lake alone… Mommy says so…" Albus had argued, but James was already shaking his head. The older boy was definitely much more stubborn, bringing his broom over to the back steps. Albus knew better than to argue with him when his heart was set on something because it was nearly impossible to get through to him. James was definitely going to be in Gryffindor when he made it to Hogwarts, but where did that leave Al? He wanted to be like his brother, but he simply wasn't. He wasn't brave like he was - so what if he was sorted into Slytherin? "James, I'm not so good at this…"

"Come on, Al… We can't stay out all night, Teddy's Nan will wake up and catch us. One race and then you can go back inside."

Albus had noticed that he had not said that we could go back inside, but shook his head. The sooner he got this over with the sooner he could make sure that he didn't get in trouble. He struggled with the broom, bringing it over to where James was waiting, and as soon as he had himself lined up, James hadn't hesitated to begin a quick countdown before taking off around the house.

Albus took his time, making sure to try and keep the broom under control, and not too far off the ground - really toy brooms were much safer - but James was already headed into the trees at the end of the property when Al came around the last corner of the house… The race might as well have already been over. James really wouldn't have noticed if he bothered to go through the course he'd designated, and Albus didn't particularly enjoy flying, so he dismounted the broom, waiting on the stairs. He figured at the speed that James was going he wouldn't take more than a couple of minutes to make it all the way down to the dock and back. Maybe he would be able to convince him that they would be able to get the brooms out again sometime soon, and then James wouldn't get in trouble either. He didn't enjoy it very much when James was in trouble because it usually meant even more trouble in the house…

It took him a while before he started to worry. James could have easily decided that Al hadn't followed him and been flying around the forest for fun… Or something could have happened to him. He walked across the yard with the broom in his hand, practically tiptoeing into the trees, "James? James where are you?" He called out, trying to stick to the path that headed down to the lake. He couldn't have gotten that far off the path… He was smarter than that, wasn't he? "James, answer me! We gotta go back inside!"

There was no answer though, and as it began to grow even darker he began to worry about being all alone in the forest - they weren't allowed after all. He bit down on his lip, chewing it between his teeth as he turned and ran back up the path, racing on foot back to the house. Teddy and Vicky would know what to do. They would be able to help, and if they managed to get James back without having to wake Teddy's Nan it would be even better. James actually listened to Teddy. He dropped the broom by the back door and hurried up the stairs, avoiding going anywhere near the living room where the women were sleeping. He knocked on Teddy's door as soon as he got there, not waiting for him to answer before he pushed the door open.

Teddy and Victoire had just turned to look at him, sitting very close together on the bed, but Teddy jumped up when he saw the look on Al's face, and the little boy burst into tears, "We did something bad and I can't find James…"

Victoire had pulled him into a hug while Teddy had grabbed his own broomstick, pushing the window wide open, "Al, where did he go?" He asked, glancing back over his shoulder.

Albus had quietly whispered to Victoire what they had done and where James had gone, and as soon as the information had been relayed to Teddy he took off through the window, darting down low to the ground as he quickly disappeared into the trees.

"We're not supposed to- We never even went on real ones before- Mommy and Daddy are gonna be so mad…" He was rambling, letting Vicky comfort him, "What if something happened to him? Vicky do you think he's okay?"

"I'm sure he is, or he will be as soon as Teddy gets a hold of him… But Al, you gotta stop letting your brother push you around… If you don't want to do something and you think it's a bad idea, you have to tell him."

"He doesn't l-listen."

"But you can still say something… Come on… Lets go out back and wait for them."

Teddy had made it down to the dock without seeing or hearing James. He stood at the end of it, turning back to look at the trees. It was only when he turned around that he could make out the boy, crumpled at the base of a tree. He darted forwards, sliding down on his knees to check him over. Good Lord if Harry and Ginny had trusted them to look out for the boys while they were in London and James managed to get himself killed he was sure that he'd be killed as well for letting it happen.

"James… James wake up." He pulled him up into his lap, Ginny's racing broom clearly splintered on the ground all around him. Teddy shook him slightly, pressing his hair back away from his forehead, clear now that he'd flown headfirst into the tree from the gash going from his forehead back into his hairline. He stood, putting the boy over his shoulder and heading back down the path that led to the house. James groaned and stirred as they neared the back door, and Teddy only shook his head as he carried him upstairs and laid him down on his bed. "What on earth have you done to yourself?"

He groaned, rolling onto his side, "I guess Al won the race…"

"You know that your parents make the rules for a reason… What would have happened to you if your brother hadn't come back to the house?"

James had groaned again, gripping at his head, "I don't know…"

"Your Mom and Dad set the rules so that things like this don't happen James… They set the rules because they care about you and they don't want you to get hurt. They're much smarter than you or me… Now you've wrecked your Mum's racing broom and you'll be lucky if my Nan can heal that cut without leaving a scar…"

James had nodded, laying his head back down on the pillow. At least now he had an understanding that the rules weren't there to limit his fun - they were there to keep him safe.

Eight years. I apologize. I've been working on other writing and for those of you following those, I returned home from house sitting to a dead laptop full of corrupted files when I managed to get it turned on. I'm working on rewriting what I can and this just happened to come to me when I went through this old fic.

I'm not going to promise regular updates, as my brain more frequently visits with Regulus than James, but I will update this as little snippets come to me. This won't necessarily be in chronological order from this point on.

Xx Jess