Just You Wait | James Sirius Potter (On Hiatus)

Chapter 24: What'd I Miss?

My dad's recovery occupied most of my summer. Mum, Teddy, and I visit the hospital once a day for a month, but eventually the amount of floo powder we were spending began to add up and we settled with the idea that we'd see him twice a week. Every transformation he had in the hospital was carefully monitored and every one of them assisted in his healing, the wolf part of him seeming to give back the energy and health it had taken. His recovery went so well that we were completely blindsided by the owl we received a week before school from Healer Scamander saying that his last transformation of the summer had been disastrous and that we were needed at St. Mungo's right away.

Fortunately, dad came out on the other side, weak and mumbling apologies that he didn't need, but nonetheless alive. Mum had owled the school to let me stay out for a month longer to ensure that I'd be there for dad, whether it meant helping him out of the hospital or being there if he never left. During the last week of the month, a transformation passed without a single scratch, the wolf seemingly apologetic at the damage it had caused, and the healers allowed dad to come home. Healer Scamander would come and pay us a visit once a week, she checking on dad while Mr. George Weasley, her husband, kept mum, Teddy, and I distracted with his jokes and new inventions for his prank shop.

All to soon, the day of my return to Hogwarts arrives, and tearful goodbyes from my mum and Teddy, and resigned hugs from dad usher me out of the house and into the floo network. I land in the Ravenclaw common room, my robe hem stained green from the powder, tripping over the edge of the intricately patterned rug in my haste to run and hug my waiting dorm mates. In seconds, Rose, Alice, Brianna, and Gwen have trapped me in a five-way group hug and keep me in there until I manage to choke out something about not being able to breathe. They immediately release me, Alice hugging me one more time, before bombarding me with questions and concerns. I answer the basic ones.

"He's alright. Recovering. Three months. Six more. I'm alright. Thanks, girls."

Suddenly, the girls go quiet and back up a little as James walks in.

"You're late, Jamie," teases Rose.

He grins slightly and shakes his head at her before striding across the room and pulling me into an even tighter hug than the girls had, us standing there for Merlin knows how long, pressing a kiss to my forehead before stepping away, the muffled teasing of my friends in the background. Just to spite them, he steps forward again, pressing his lips to mine quickly and pulling away with a smirk.

My friends immediately answer the action with wolf whistles, the remaining members of the Weasley-Potter clan filing into the room to welcome me back.

After hugging goodness knows how many people, I finally get to ask the first question I'd been able to get in since my arrival.

"So what'd I miss?"