Always // James Potter

Chapter 1

"James Fleamont Potter! Where are you?" yelled the fiery, brown-haired witch as she stormed through the back door into the kitchen of the Potters cottage.

"Oh hello Aurora dear, how are you? Oh, not very well I see".

Aurora turned around mid-stride to see Euphemia Potter leaning against the kitchen counter, a cup of tea in hand. Deciding that she should talk to the kind witch before she strangled her son, Aurora took residence at her usual seat around the dining room table and folded one leg underneath her before glancing up at the witch again.

"I will be much better once I get my hands on that son of yours Mia. James decided it would be hilarious to stick my trunk to my ceiling, Merlin knows how considering I've been in the room all morning, and he knows full well that I have not packed yet and we leave in half an hour. Now, where is that son of yours?" The words spilled out of Aurora's mouth as she recounted her morning, her eyes glaringly red.

Euphemia Potter looked at the exasperated girl in front of her for a second before stifling a laugh. She knew full well that James and Aurora, being the best friends they were, were always up to pranks on one another and Aurora would likely get him back before they had even arrived at Hogwarts for their 5th year.

"I believe he just got out of the shower dear, he should be in his bedroom," replied Euphemia, pointing to the bedroom just to the right of the stairs, although the directions were hardly needed considering Aurora Jenkins practically lived at the Potter's house.

"Thank you so much, Mia." The girl blinked and her eyes morphed into blue as she addressed the kind, older woman. "Are you and Monte still okay to take me to Kings Cross? Mum and dad apologise but they both got called into the hospital this morning."

"Of course dear it's no problem at all," replied the older witch, understanding that the Jenkins were usually working at the Muggle hospital in London and were not often around during the holidays when Aurora was home from Hogwarts.

Aurora waved the witch goodbye before sprinting up the stairs to James' room. Yanking open the door in a rush of anger, the young girl forgot Mrs Potter's warning about where exactly James had been before he entered her bedroom and stood face to face with a half-naked James Potter, a towel hanging low on his waist.

"YOU! I-."

Aurora stopped mid-sentence, as her eyes trailed up and down the boy in front of her.

Aurora had always found her best friend was attractive and the feel of a new colour, presumably purple, creeping across her eyes confirmed that. His muscles pulled taut across his chest and arms as he pulled his jumper over his head and Aurora could feel her eyes now fully exposing her emotions. Blinking, her eyes changed back to red once again and she lifted her head to be faced with a now fully clothed James Potter.

"Hey Rora, don't you know it's rude to stare," the boy asked, a smirk making its way onto his face as he met her eyes. "Are you all packed?"

"You know that answer James," she seethed, still flustered from the sight of her best friend partially naked. "Go and get my trunk down now before I hex your balls off."

Raising his hands in innocence, James made his way down the stairs muttering 'fine, fine' under his breath as Aurora followed, wand jokingly pointed at his back. Euphemia, now joined by her husband, chuckled at the sight of the pair as they made their way through the kitchen, out the back door, and down the path to the Jenkins house, which sat at the back of the Potter's garden.

𝌀𝌀𝌀

Platform 9 and 3 quarters was bustling with anxious first years, beaming students and teary-eyed parents. Clutching James' hand in her own, Aurora placed her trunk down in an empty space before turning to the couple who she may as well call her parents. Releasing James' hand, Aurora pulled Euphemia into a hug, her head resting against the older woman's chest.

"You'll look after my boy now, won't you Rory?" Inquired the witch.

"Of course Mia. Don't worry, I'll make sure he won't get into trouble. I'm sure Minnie will give us stellar reports this year." The smaller witch responded, winking at Euphemia before pulling back to hug Fleamont.

"I'll be expecting a letter in a couple of weeks recounting all the mischief you'll have managed to get up to already," whispered Fleamont Potter, recounting the previous pranks and mischief the pair and their friends had managed to get up to in four years at Hogwarts.

"Of course I will Monte," the young witch responded. "And I know the rules; don't get caught."

The man chuckled in reply before pulling away and gently nudging the girl towards James who was waiting just in front of the doors to a carriage, two owl cages in hand. The girl walked off to meet him, turning back as she boarded the train to wave at the couple who now stood hand in hand watching.

Making her way to the end of the carriage, Aurora ducked into the second last compartment; the Marauder's compartment. Not that it had been officially branded as such, however, this compartment had been home to the group of five ever since their first train ride to Hogwarts back in their first year.

Sliding back the doors, Aurora was met with the sight of her 4 boys sprawled across the seats. Springing from his seat, Sirius Black enveloped Aurora in a hug, swinging her around until she was beating at his arms to put her down.

"Nice to see you too Sirius," the girl laughed as she pushed the boy back onto the floor where he had been sitting before making her way over to Remus, ignoring the empty seat beside him, instead choosing to sit on his lap.

"We missed you princess," he stated matter of factly, resting his arms lazily around her waist.

"Aw boys, you flatter me, really. I didn't know you couldn't live without your precious princess for more than two weeks."

The boys around her quickly began to protest, with a joint 'hey', erupting from the compartment, followed by a string of murmurs from Sirius about how his holidays were perfectly fine without her.

"Oi, Pads I heard that. And just so you know I missed you too. Merlin, James gets annoying after a while," the girl huffed, sending a wink in James' direction.

James scowled in response, turning to face the window, watching as the train pulled away from the station. Conversation of the holidays ensued, as the group of 5 unconsciously took up their usual positions. Aurora's head lay Remus' lap and her legs stretched out along the bench, both holding a book in front of their faces. Sirius and James sat opposite them, playing a very loud game of exploding snap whilst Peter sat on the floor, candy bar in hand, watching the boys play. 'I'm coming home,' thought Aurora, brown eyes sweeping across her boys in front of her as the compartment rattled and the train swayed along the tracks.