Caught in the Crowd {James Potter}

Chapter 4: Blown Toilets and Stolen Seats

Chapter 4: Blown Toilets and Stolen Seats

Eugene glowered at her, his thighs slamming into the bench seat on the far side of the Gryffindor table. "I have detention thanks to you." His usually doe-ish brown eyes darted to Remus on her left, but he couldn't hold the glare at the prefect that he didn't know well so they shuffled back to her. "Two."

"I'm aware of the fact."

"I was having fun."

Freya jutted her jaw. "I heard that you blew up a toilet."

"It was one little prank!" He crossed his arms, pouting like a miserable toddler. "Just because you don't know how to have fun doesn't mean that I can't. And dad would be proud."

Before logic could snag her tongue, Freya threw herself forward. "Dad has the mind of a child." Eugene blanched at her venomous tone, and it was that paleness that made her retreat into her seat. Remus glanced down at her but said nothing. "Harmless fun, Eugene. Learn to have harmless fun. I hear they play gobstones on Saturday morning." His bottom lip twisted and shrunk against his teeth. As his anger at her broiled, he left the Great Hall. "Don't judge me," she murmured to Remus.

"Not judging," he replied. "Just surprised that you've never gone off at us like that. We've done some things in our time at Hogwarts and blowing up a toilet is not even on the top twenty I can think of. Do you really hate it that much? We sort of drag you into it sometimes."

Freya chewed the inside of her cheek. Her tongue ran over the scarring left in the soft tissue from the habit. "It's different. I don't care what you guys get up to, and I would prefer not to get involved. But Eugene..." She sighed, resting her chin in her palm. "Our father never really bothered with rules. He doesn't make them, so he doesn't bother to enforce any. Our mother always did that stuff, but Eugene was really young when she passed away."

Remus turned more towards her. "I'm sorry, I didn't know your mother passed away."

Her lips twitched. "It's fine. But now my brother thinks that there are no rules. If he understood the concept of consequences then I wouldn't be so hard on him, but he doesn't. I'm scared that he'll get out of Hogwarts still thinking he can do whatever only to be knocked out by reality. I don't want him to hate me, but I'd rather he hate me and go somewhere in life than fail because of what he wasn't taught when he was young."

"It sounds like you've taken a lot of the burden of being a parent." His voice was even yet soft. Freya grew quiet, still chewing her cheek. "Is it something you can talk to your father about?"

"I've tried. He doesn't see the problem."

Freya was fifteen. And she only turned that a few months ago. She knew that she was a child, that it shouldn't be her responsibility. But it was. There wasn't anything she could do to change it. Her father didn't understand what he was doing wrong, and if she let Eugene do whatever he pleased, then she'd be failing him. She saw the problem, but not the solution.

"I can be harder on him if you need," he offered. "I'm sure Lily will keep an ear out for trouble if I mention it. She's probably kept back a little since he's your brother. If it's coming from us, you know, detention and losing house points, then maybe he'll see it coming from someone more authoritative than his own sister. He'll realise that it's not just you that these rules come from. And you get to be less of the bad guy."

"I would actually really like that," she confessed. "Thank you. I'll even take you off hot chocolate duty this Sunday." The pair chuckle softly.

He grinned crookedly. "Don't worry, now that it's been mentioned, Peter wants some anyway. And I'm guessing that means you're coming? You know it's at seven in the morning, right?"