The Other Potter

Bruised Knuckles

There was a soft knock at his bedroom door, though he hadn't slept a wink, it had been the same as the beginning of the summer. The same twisted nightmare that haunted his sleep, and kept him from wanting to shut his eyes once night fell. He needed to talk to Remus and Sirius about it. Needed a potion or something to stop the dreams even for a night. He had found that sleeping beside Lucas helped. It had been a lot easier this year to sneak out to his boyfriend's house or to have Lucas sneak in, but they didn't push their luck, only doing it once or twice a week.

"You awake, Elijah?" He heard his mother call through the door. "Remus and Sirius have arrived, we will be leaving within the hour to meet the Weasleys."

"Yeah," he called back, rubbing his hands over his face. "I'll be down in twenty minutes."

If there was one thing he hated most about being home for the summer it was the occasional events he was required to attend. In fairness, he wasn't often required to attend, he mostly left that to Harry, only ever going to the ones he knew his friends would be at. Now and then a silver lining would present itself, and this summer it was the Quidditch World Cup. Though he had a few VIP tickets himself from a couple of teams he'd trained with over the summer, he gifted them to Remus and Sirius, he was meant to have Lucas with him but after his parents found out who his father was they wanted them to 'have some distance' until Sirius and Regulus had hashed everything out properly.

Hopping out of bed he got up and showered, looking over the smart clothing his parents had laid out for him and grimacing. Why did it have to be red... He opted for a much more casual look, deciding he'd take the smart clothes with him to change into when they arrived. Slipping on a pair of ripped black jeans, a band t-shirt (The Cranberries), converse, and his leather jacket. Packing the other clothes into his trunk, grabbed his rucksack and slung it over his shoulder before moving down the stairs.

"Elijah, what happened to the clothes we had picked up for you?" James asked as the boy entered the kitchen.

"You don't think this is smart?" he teased, looking down at his clothes with fake shock. "This is my best jacket.." Looking up to see his fathers glare he grinned, "Relax, I packed the fancy clothes in my trunk. We are traveling by portkey and we have a few hours to kill before the game starts, I didn't want to ruin them." he told him with a small smile, turning to his godfathers and giving them a wink.

"You packed the clothes? Are you sure?" James questioned, frowning a little more.

"If you don't believe me, you can check. But, everything is packed." Elijah sighed, pouring himself a cup of coffee as he gestured to the trunk he'd brought down with him.

Leaning against the kitchen counter he watched his father check the trunk, taking a slow sip of his coffee. "Everything there?" He asked smugly, knowing it was.

James ignored the question, going to check on Harry's progress in getting ready, mumbling to himself as he went down the corridor and up the stairs. It shouldn't have made Elijah feel as good as it did to know he was getting under his father's skin, but it was easy to do on days when he had to socialize with the pure-blood families.

"You know you aren't making it easier for yourself?" Sirius snickered, closer to the boy, Remus close behind him. 

"Easy is boring." The boy grinned, pulling Sirius in for a tight hug. "I'm happy you could make it."

"Me too, though, the VIP box does sound like my version of Hell. With all the pure-blood families." Sirius sighed, most of the parents there would have been people he knew. 

"Regulus said if you don't like it he has a spare ticket." Elijah hummed, looking up as the rest of the family started rushing around to finish getting ready.