G. Lippert - James Potter and the Curse of the Gatekeeper

James remembered the news he was supposed to share. He ran toward his family, dodging and weaving through the crowd. As he approached, he heard Uncle Ron say to Rose in a pointed voice, "Don't get too friendly with him though, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood." James was glad to interrupt the uncomfortable pause that followed.

"Hey!" he yelled as he approached. Rose saw him first and smiled. The rest of the family turned curiously. "Teddy's back there. Just seen him. And guess what he's doing? Snogging Victoire!"

The adults looked down at James rather blankly. James raised his eyebrows, exasperated at their lack of response. " Our Teddy! Teddy Lupin ! Snogging our Victoire! Our cousin! And I asked him what he was doing— "

"You interrupted them?" Ginny said incredulously. "You are so like Ron…"

James plowed on, committed to telling it like Ted asked. "—and he said he'd come to see her off! And then he told me to go away! He's snogging her!"

Lily spoke up, "Oh, it would be lovely if they got married."

James rolled his eyes, ignoring the rest of the conversation. Well, at least he'd succeeded in getting the word out. Ted would be satisfied. After a moment, James heard his dad saying, "Why don't we just invite him to come live with us and have done with it?"

"Yeah!" James agreed instantly. "I don't mind sharing with Al. Teddy could have my room!"

"No," Harry interjected. "You and Al will share a room only when I want the house demolished." He checked his watch, and smiled. "It's nearly eleven. You'd better get on board."

James hugged his mum and dad and a minute later climbed aboard the train, leaving the noise and steam behind him. He clumped into the nearest compartment with Rose right behind him. She pushed the window open and leaned out to wave. James joined her and glanced out. Albus was still on the platform with their dad squatted next to him. James remembered Harry doing the same thing with him last year, and didn't doubt that Albus and he were having a very similar conversation. Ginny saw James and waved at him. Lily skulked nearby, loosely holding her mum's free hand.

Albus disengaged from his dad, hugged his mum, and then clambered onto the train. A moment later, he entered the compartment with James and Rose. There was a commotion behind them as several other students crowded into the compartment, leaning toward the open window, chattering excitedly.

"Why are they all staring?" Albus asked as he and Rose turned.

On the platform, Ron shrugged and called up, "Don't let it worry you. It's me. I'm extremely famous."

Albus smiled, and then laughed a little. Rose chuckled at her father. With a loud rattle and a jerk, the train began to move. James couldn't help noticing that his brother seemed to feel a little bit better. Albus smiled, allowing some excitement to show on his face as he waved. Alongside the train, their father walked, one hand raised and a wistful smile on his face. The train slowly gathered speed and James watched his parents get smaller and smaller on the platform. Rose leaned out the window and waved heartily at Ron and Hermione, then pulled herself in with a sigh, drawing the window shut.

"Well," she said, plopping onto the seat across from James, "we're off!"

James nodded. Albus watched out the window until the platform was out of sight, and then joined Rose on the seat. He leaned back and watched the window as London began to stream past.

"So what do you think, Al?" James asked, remembering Lucy's admonition on the platform. "Looking forward to your first year?"

Albus looked at James for a long moment, and then sighed hugely. "I'd be looking forward to it a lot more if I knew you'd packed me some socks."

James blinked, smiling a little, and kicked his brother's foot. "You never change them anyway. I didn't think you'd need any more than what's on your feet already."

"That's disgusting," Rose announced.

There was a loud knock on the compartment door and the three looked up.

Ralph leaned in, his face flushed and smiling. "Hi, everybody. Room for one more?"

"So Zane is going to Alma Aleron this year?" Rose asked, feigning disinterest.

"You knew he was ever since he visited with his parents last July," Albus said.

"Well, he wasn't completely sure then, was he? He said there was a chance his father might get his contract extended."

"No," Albus insisted. "He said even if that happened, he'd probably end up going back to the States with his sister and mum. You're just sweet on him and can't help thinking that one bat of your eyes should have been enough to get him to climb mountains and forge mighty rivers to be at Hogwarts with you this year."

Rose rolled her eyes theatrically. "That's patently ridiculous. I barely know him, and what I do know of him, I find completely insufferable."

"Insufferable enough to try to make the Draught of Enamor?" Albus grinned.

Rose whipped her head around and gaped at Albus. "I never…!"

Albus shrugged, still grinning. "You need to learn to lock your diary with more than the silly little Forget-me-knot Charm that came with it. You of all people should know how easy those are to jinx open."

"Why, you rat!" Rose cried, her voice rising so that it was nearly inaudible. "If I knew how to perform any curses, I'd turn your head into a marshmallow!"

"Is this what things are always like in your family?" Ralph asked James, munching a licorice wand.

"Pretty much," James nodded. "It's a good thing Louis hasn't found us yet. He really brings out the worst in Rose."

"This isn't her worst?"

James dug in his bag and produced his wand. Finally, now that he was on the train, he was allowed to use it again. He was tempted to strike up a game of Winkles and Augers with Ralph, but he knew that Ralph would defeat him easily with his unorthodox green-tipped wand. James would've liked to believe that Ralph's skills were only due to the fact that his wand had once been a part of Merlin's magical staff, but he knew better. Ralph was talented, and he probably didn't even know the limit of his own talents. Being beat by Ralph at Winkles and Augers was particularly galling because Ralph tended to apologize for it.

"It is a shame that Zane couldn't come back with us this year," James said. "It's going to be a bit weird without him."

"Well, it was always a bit weird with him too," Ralph said. "So maybe it'll all even out. Besides, we'll still get to see him. He says that the Alma Alerons have some experimental new communication methods. He's going to be on the testing team for them."

James nodded. "Sounds like old Chancellor Franklyn has been hard at work since he left."

"I'll say," Ralph agreed. "Dad visited them over the summer and they took him on a tour of the school and grounds. The whole campus is packed into a single yard surrounded by a stone wall in some old neighborhood of Philadelphia. You'd never even notice it if you walked past it. Talk about unplotted space! They even have a Timelock!"

James furrowed his brow. "What's a Timelock?"

"Oh, it's totally cool," Ralph enthused. "It's the only way into the school. It's kind of like an airlock. You know how when rockets connect to a space station, they have this locked off chamber between them?"

James raised his eyebrows sardonically.

"Oh yeah," Ralph said, "I keep forgetting you were raised by wizards. All right, an airlock is kind of a closed chamber between two places with really different atmospheres. It has doors on both sides. When you go into the airlock on your side, you bring your atmosphere in with you. Then the doors lock and your atmosphere is swapped out for a new one. That's the only way a spacewalker can get inside the breathable environment of a space station."