Semper Fidelis

Chapter 6.5

Night had fallen and James found himself hovered over the table across from the two boys playing a card game called Exploding Snap which Nate produced from his pocket. The game plays very much like the Muggle card game Cheat except some cards had a tendency to explode.James carefully picked two cards from his hand and laid them face down onto the table. "Two cyclops," he said confidently.

From across the table he could see Teddy's brows wrinkle as his grey eyes darted between the large pile of cards in his hand and the cards that are faced down. He looked satisfied with what James said and placed two cards of his own on top of the pile. "Two giant squids," he said.Nate grinned in triumph and with no second guessing, he yelled "Snap!" The two cards Teddy just played flipped over to reveal one giant squid and one manticore cards. The blonde boy groaned and two cards in his hand spontaneously exploded into a pile of ashes, covering his face and the front of his robes in soot. James laughed and wiped a tear from his eyes as he looked at the miserable blonde.

"Mate, you are a terrible liar!" Nate managed to choke out from between his laughter."Yeah, yeah, I know." Teddy mumbled as he tried to wipe away the soot with not much luck.Taking pity on the boy, James removed his wand from the confines of his robes. Confidently, James waved his wand in a familiar motion and recited the incantation clearly. "Tergeo."The soot on Teddy's robes started to gather itself into a pile as if a very tiny person was sweeping at it. First his tie was cleaned, then his collars, and finally the lapels of his Hogwarts robes until all of the soot on his clothing was centralized at one dark spot on his chest. And then that pile of soot was gone, too. The same happened to his face. The spell cleaned his hair first before moving on to his forehead, then the rest of his face, and finally his neck before disappearing the dust into nothingness. Nate and Teddy looked at the boy, stunned. It was just a simple cleaning spell, but it was executed flawlessly.

"Thanks, mate. But where did you learn how to do that?" Teddy asked, genuine curiosity lacing his voice.James shrugged. "My mum taught me," he replied.Nate sighed. "You're so lucky. Mum and dad refused to let me do magic until I've learned it at Hogwarts since they thought I might mess up around the kids or something."Teddy snorted. "You did mess up around the kids! I was there when you tried to levitate a cookie to impress the twins but you levitated their stroller instead!"

Nate turned as red as his hair. "That was the first time I've tried! And I learned to do it eventually... though mum and dad doesn't know."

James observed the two bickering boys carefully. It didn't take him very long to clue in that while the two weren't related, they were part of a big, extended family. Teddy and Nate seemed to know each other very well, and many of their stories overlap."Hey James, do you have any siblings?" Nate asked all of a sudden.James shook his head. "No, although I've always wanted one."

"Well, take it from me, it's not always fun and games. I have four younger siblings and my youngest sister Lexa was just born a couple of months ago."James' eyes bugged at the number. "Four?! Wow, that's... a lot."Nate nodded his head. "Tell me about it, but mum always wanted a girl. It's the curse of the Weasley genes, you see. On my dad's side of the family, there are SEVEN of them. The only girl, Aunt Ginny, is also the youngest.""Wow," James breathed. "I'm an only child. Mum was an only child too and I don't think she has any cousins. So... it's really just her and I." he explained."Wanna trade?" Nate joked. "Really, mate, what I would give to have some peace and quiet to myself."

"Grass is always greener," Teddy piped. James turned his head to the blonde boy."How about you, Teddy? Do you have any siblings?" He asked."Nope," Teddy said and grinned. "And I'm happy about it. I'm the apple of mum and dad's eye," he said with a wink. "Besides, I see the Weasleys often enough anyway. They're kind of like my cousins." Nate nodded his head in agreement to Teddy's statement."How is it that your families came to know each other, anyway?" James asked curiously."Well, my parents were part of some sort of club that the Weasleys were a member of a long time ago," Teddy explained. "I don't really know much about it, but dad had known the Weasleys soon after he graduated Hogwarts and that was years and years ago."

"Uncle Remus also taught Defense Against the Dark Arts when dad was in Hogwarts!" Nate explained further. "I think that was when he and Uncle Harry were in third year, right?"Teddy pondered his question for a second before nodding his head. "That's right. And speaking of Uncle Harry, he's another reason why our families know each other, James," he said. Teddy put a hand to his chin and tried to recall the stories he had been told. "Uncle Harry is mine and Nate's godfather. He and Uncle Ron, Nate's dad, were best friends at Hogwarts and my dad was best friends with his dad when they were at school!"

James' mind spinned as he tried to make sense of all the familial connections described to him by the two boys. There were just too many. James said honestly, "I wish I could have a family as large as yours."

Nate and Teddy grinned at one another, an unspoken agreement passing between the two. Nate stood from his seat and rounded the table. He laid a hand on James' shoulder and with utmost sincerity said, "You're our friend now, mate. Our family is yours!"

The moon couldn't outshine James' bright smile.