Semper Fidelis

Chapter 11.4

James spent the remainder of his Saturday after breakfast with Nate and Teddy in the Gryffindor common room working on their Potions essay. Professor Snape, though he had certainly become more fair and less bias towards his own house, was still known to give out long and difficult school work. This week's homework was five rolls of parchment on the Forgetfulness Potion which was their first major assignment in class.

James was currently in the Great Hall side-by-side with Nate and Teddy as they ate their supper. He had gotten an owl back from his mum during lunch and the two had made plans to talk via mirrors at 7:30pm that night. This was right in the middle of dinner in the Great Hall and James wanted the Gryffindor dormitory empty so he could use the mirror.

Glancing at his watch and noticing the time, James quickly scarfed down the remaining of his supper and bid a hasty goodbye to Nate and Teddy. He walked quickly through the Hogwarts halls and into the Gryffindor common room, up to his dormitory, and sat on his bed.

It was exactly 7:29pm when he removed his two-way mirror from the depths of his trunk. Grasping it carefully in his hands, he looked at the mirror and whispered his mum's name, "Hermione."

For a second nothing happened, but then his reflection on the mirror started to disappear to be replaced by a hazy white background. And then his mum's smiling face appeared in the mirror.

"Mum!" James exclaimed in glee. "Happy birthday!"

Hermione let out a laugh from the other side and brushed a stray curl from her cheek. "Thanks, baby. And thank you for the letter. It was a great way to wake up this morning!"

"How are you mum?! I miss you. What did you do today?" James rattled off excitedly.

"I miss you too, love! Remember my new friend, Rose?" Hermione asked. James nodded. His mum had written to him about the lady she met after dropping him off at King's Cross on the first day of school. "She took me out for a girl's day - we had lunch and went shopping afterwards! We had a day out in London and it was a lot of fun."

James smiled widely at his mum's enthusiasm. "I'm glad you had good day, mum!"

"Thanks love. How is school? How are your classes?" Hermione asked.

"My classes are so cool! Defence Against the Dark Arts is definitely my favourite class. Professor Potter taught us how to make red sparks this week!" James chatted excitedly.

Hermione's eyes clouded a bit and she forced to maintain the smile on her face as he spoke about his DADA class. It pained her to keep this hidden from her son but she knew that telling him about his father over two-way mirrors would not be right. She couldn't help but anticipate and dread for the Christmas holidays when all would finally be revealed.

"... Teddy managed to make red sparks too, but Nate, for whatever reason, ended up singing his eyebrows! It was hilarious! Do you remember Teddy and Nate from my letters, mum?" James continued his excited chatter.

Hermione definitely remembered who Nate and Teddy were from her son's letters since he wrote about them a lot. James told her that they were his new best friends. He described Nate as funny and boisterous but very kind and protective of his friends. Teddy was described as sarcastic, witty, and very bright in his classes. James only had good things to say about the two and Hermione was glad that he had made friends so quickly.

"I definitely do, baby. How are they doing?"

"They're great! By the way... I think of all three of us are going to try out for Quidditch."

"Quidditch?" Hermione asked, her eyebrows raising. "You're going to try out for Quidditch?"

James nodded eagerly. "Yeah. Madam Hooch said that I'm very good on the broom and that I should try! What do you think of it mum? I really like Quidditch and flying but I'm scared and I don't want to do badly in my classes because of it. I don't wanna disappoint you, mum." James confessed as he bit his lip.

Hermione's heart swelled at James' statement. "Love, you will never disappoint me. I can tell that you like Quidditch a lot so you should try out! I trust you, baby. I know you won't let your classes suffer because of it."

A smile lit up James' face at his mum's encouragement. It was the last push he needed to hear to fully commit to trying out for Quidditch. Immediately his mind spun as he made a note to ask Madame Hooch to borrow school brooms to practice as much as he could before the tryouts next weekend.

"Thanks, mum! I'll try out for Quidditch then. And I promise I won't let it affect my schoolwork if I do make it to the team. You're the best!"

Hermione smiled through the mirror and James launched on a retelling of his first month at Hogwarts. Hermione listened attentively, adding "Uhuh"s and "I see"s throughout James' story. She had missed her son so much. His letters, while they come often, could not appease the longing she felt for his presence daily.

"Baby, I can't wait for you to come home for Christmas holidays. I miss you so much!" Hermione said when there was a pause in their conversation.

James nodded enthusiastically. "I can't wait too, mum! Is it okay if Nate and Teddy come over our house one day for the holidays? I'd really like to show them Muggle London! Nate's family lives in London but I think he's only been to the magical parts while Teddy's from Liverpool! It'll be cool to show them our Christmas traditions like skating at Somerset and the holiday markets!"

Hermione grinned. "Of course, love. I'd love to meet your friends. If their parents are okay with it then your friends can have a sleepover."

"Thanks mum!"

Hermione bit her lip and considered if she should tell James about the important conversation they were to have over the Christmas holidays about his father. But looking at his shining face filling up the screen of her mirror, Hermione reconsidered. Now was not the time and alluding to the conversation but not telling him fully wouldn't be right. "Christmas can't come sooner, love. I really miss having you home." Hermione said honestly.

James gave her a shining grin from the other side of the mirror. "Soon, mum! We'll have the best holidays ever!"

Hermione could only hope that that would be true.