Thirteen years after The Battle of Hogwarts, two wizarding children are about to embark on their own adventure. They both have been lied to their entire lives, one to protect her from the wrath of the wizarding world, and the other to protect him fr...
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The Saturday morning of the Hogsmeade weekend dawned clear and chilly. Teddy burst into James's dorm only moments after sunrise, and shook him roughly to wake him. "If you want breakfast we have to go now. Your parents will be here in an hour. Hurry...Victoire is already in the common room!" He yanked the covers off James's bed and left the room before the pillow James threw could hit him in the back.
James sat up in bed, yawning. For a few seconds he could not understand why Teddy had been in his room yelling at him. Then a bolt of adrenaline ran through his veins, and he remembered. Today we get to go to Hogsmeade! James shot out of bed, threw on a t-shirt and jeans, and raced down the spiral staircase to the common room. Blinking sleep out of his eyes, James saw the normally cozy space full of students making their way down to breakfast, and Victoire and Teddy waiting by the portrait hole. James pushed through the knot of Griffindors and followed his friends down to the Great Hall. The large doors out onto the lawn were open, and a steady stream of students was filing through them on their way to Filch and the wrought iron gates.
James, Teddy, and Victoire sat down at an empty stretch of the Gryffindor table. "We're supposed to be at the gates at 7:00 to meet Mum and Dad, right?" asked James blearily.
"Yes. It's in half an hour, but we should really have left ages ago if we want to be at the front of Filch's line by then," Victoire babbled excitedly as she scarfed down a plate of eggs and sausages.
James groaned and pushed back his plate of toast. Taking a last swig of Pumpkin Juice he replied, "We'd better go then. Mum will kill us if we're late. She'll think we were eaten by a monster or something. Come on guys."
Teddy grinned. "I think I'll stay here and finish a leisurely breakfast. You two go on ahead. I'll catch up later, because I don't need a chaperone." He scooped a grapefruit onto his plate and began peeling it slowly.
"Oh no you don't!" growled Victoire. She grabbed his collar and started to haul him off the bench.
Teddy put up a token struggle, but when James grabbed his arm the elder cousin allowed himself to be dragged a few steps from the table before he shrugged them off and began walking on his own. It took them ages before they made it to the front of the line, which stretched all the way from the gates to halfway across the lawn. It moved fairly quickly, which puzzled Teddy. "Normally this takes a lot longer than this, and loads more people are going this time. I wonder what's going on with Filch. Normally he interrogates everyone before crossing them off the list."
Soon they could see why. Filch was using a Quick-Quotes Quill to cross students off the large scroll of parchment. All the first and second years were being herded into a corral by a harried looking prefect. Another prefect, an irritable Hufflepuff named Lilah Natare, was dealing with a line of parents, allowing them to pull their charges out of the roped off area.
When they reached the front of the line Filch barked "Name" without looking up, but his expression turned sour as he looked up and saw them. "Ahh Potter, Weasley, and Lupin. Three names I've heard often enough before," Filch snarled, and Mrs. Huxley hissed as she wound around her master's legs. He smirked maliciously and motioned them to move on. "Potter and Weasley into the kindercage. Lupin, on your way."
