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There was an echo as Ginny made her way down the corridor. There was an echo everywhere in this school. The historian in her thought that it was the weight of all the history which this school had, pressing down, drawing everything out. In a lifetime of hundreds of years, a few seconds went by too fast to even see; no wonder that things blurred a little. But then the realist in her chipped in and pointed out that echoes were a recognised scientific phenomenon and that even Muggles understood them, although admittedly, she didn't herself. It was something to do with walls and materials, she thought, but that was as far as she would venture to commit herself.

The new year had begun and here she was, back at Hogwarts once more. The site of so many adventures during her school days and so many more afterwards. Ginny would happily admit that she had never dreamed that she might find herself as a teacher one day, and certainly not of History of Magic. Neither had she ever imagined that she might be Head of Gryffindor House, although that was mainly because she had always seen Professor McGonagall as being the Head of House. When she was younger, the redhead had imagined that the older Scottish witch had been born in her seventies with a look that could silence a class and a tongue that could reduce Dolores Umbridge to stuttering silence- if only because her rage was inexpressible. Now she was older, and, she hoped, wiser; she knew that that was not the case. But she couldn't imagine being a member of Gryffindor House without Minerva at its head. She had big shoes to fill, all right.

[james potter]

Honestly, Hogwarts had become a bit dull over the years. After he found the secrets the castle had hidden, there wasn’t much else to do, except the forest. He’d already explored that quite a bit, but had never gotten far enough to meet any creatures. The problem with that, though, was that he couldn’t do it all the time and James would prefer to have his friends with him when he did. Just to make it more fun. At the moment, he was crouched in the hallway, setting up a prank. This one wouldn’t be for anyone in particular. It was small, just something random James had come up with. It was still going to be pretty funny, though.

He worked slowly, keeping an eye out for professors or students that might tell on him. Not that it really mattered since it would just lead to a detention anyway, but he was hoping to get this setup before he got caught. James was about halfway done when he heard someone approaching. Looking around, the first thing he saw was the red hair and knew that it was his mom. He pushed his black hair out of his face as he stood up. He knew he would look suspicious just standing there, but James couldn’t move without revealing what he was doing. He leaned against the wall. “Mom.”



@ginny

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Oh, the castle had secrets, there was no doubt about that. But the thing was that the secrets which Hogwarts held within its walls were only half of the total. There were so many more buried in the massive tomes which held the history of the castle, deep within the library. Hogwarts: A History was a wonderful book as an overview, it had all the basic facts, but there was so much more to the story, and one could only find it by doing some serious research. Wars and sieges, political meetings and rallies... It was all there, if you knew where to look, and Ginny had spent a lifetime compiling a list of places to look. She might not have lived in the library as Hermione had, but she had spent quite enough time there to know her way around. There were books in this castle which you would never find anywhere else in the world. And that was quite something, when one came to think about it.

She knew the second that she spotted her son in the corridor that he was up to something. Ginny had lived with the boy for the majority of his fourteen years, and she was quite capable of recognising all the signs. And even if he had not been her own son, even if he had not been someone that she knew so well, then she would still have been suspicious. No one stood around leaning on walls in the corridors without good reason, and so far as she was aware, there was no reason for any Gryffindor fourth year to be on this floor at this time- or rather, no legitimate reason. Ginny was quite sure that James had a reason of his own. "Ah, James." she returned his greeting, pausing in her progress. "Would you care to tell your dear mother what you're doing all the way up here, looking suspiciously innocent?"

james potter

[james potter]

“Me? Suspiciously innocent?” James asked, trying to sound hurt. “I am innocent, Mom. Why would you ever think that I was up to something?” He kept a straight face through all this, pretending he was actually as innocent as he claimed to be, though he knew his mother wouldn’t buy it. That wasn’t his intention. James just wanted to have some fun and joke around. “Seriously, though, I’m just standing here. It’s pretty boring, honestly, but I don’t have a choice in the matter.” He paused for a few minutes, trying to come up with an excuse for him to be there at the moment.

“I’m waiting for somebody. Maybe they won’t show, but I’d hate for them to show up after I went back to the common room and make them think I never showed. What kind of friend would I be if I did that?” James purposely didn’t mention who he was waiting for. To him, it wasn’t that important and he didn’t want to name anyone in particular in case they were asked and didn’t corroborate the story. If he needed to, though, he would mention Louis or Juliet. He was sure they’d back him up. “It’s not a problem with me waiting here, right? I mean, it’s not like I have anything else I should be doing.”




@ginny

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Ginny raised an eyebrow at her son's words, completely and utterly unimpressed by his protestations. "James Potter, I am your mother." she pointed out. "I know very well, to my cost, that you are never completely innocent of anything, and when you are claiming to be, that is the time to worry." She had to admit that he'd probably got most of his instincts and abilities in that area from her, because, so far as she knew, Harry had never been one for pranks and tricks. But then, the redhead supposed that he'd never had the chance. He had been the Boy Who Lived, the Chosen One. People would have tutted and pointed fingers if it ever got out that he'd sent someone a toilet seat via owl mail- as the twins had actually done. She'd never really believed that they'd go through with it.

The redheaded professor narrowed her eyes, surveying her son with an element of deep mistrust. She knew a joker when she saw one- not only did she possess a mirror, but she'd grown up with the twins who would later go on to be the proprietors of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, for Merlin's sake. But, in the absence of proof and under Hogwarts rules, there was nothing that she could do about it. "You've done my essay on giant wars, then, have you?" Ginny enquired.

james potter

[james potter]

That was true. James was never innocent and the times he pretended to be were mainly jokes. He hadn’t tried to fool people into thinking he was innocent since he was a kid. “Past experiences isn’t evidence, though,” he replied. “There’s nothing to prove that I’m up to something. You can’t punish me on suspicion alone, right?” He made sure she couldn’t see the evidence. As long as she didn’t look behind him or make him move, he should be in the clear. At least for the moment.

James’ expression changed when she mentioned the giant wars essay. He hadn’t done it because he didn’t remember receiving it. He thought he was almost done with his essays. He just finished the Transfiguration one not too long ago, was almost done with the Astronomy one and only had one more to get started on. Well, two apparently. James wasn’t going to admit to his mother, though, that he didn’t remember her telling them about the essay. He also couldn’t claim to be done or almost done with it since she’d probably see through that lie. “I haven’t gotten the chance to start that yet, but I should be able to soon. I’ve been so focused on finishing my Transfiguration and Astronomy essays. When is it due again? Next week, right?”





@ginny

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Innocence was something which Ginny had avoided wherever possible when she had been young herself. She had, as her mother had told her many, many times, been far more like the twins than anyone, including the twins themselves, had ever given her credit for. Half of their pranks, she had experimented with herself- and made vast improvements, even if she did say so herself. The twins were creative, they had vast imaginations, they were quite intelligent... but they just didn't quite have the attention to detail that Ginny did. And the redhead had learned for herself that a minute adjustment in a hex, for example, could produce some rather spectacular results. Little things mattered, because, when you got right down to it, big things were just little things that had been allowed to grow. Like James, for example. The woman smiled wryly to herself. He had been so much less trouble when he'd been six months old.

"No, I can't, much as I would like to." she responded to what she suspected had been a rhetorical question in any case, giving her son a smile which betrayed her true amusement at the situation beneath her professional demeanour. Which was generally fairly strained in any case. "And yes, it's for next Thursday. First, so don't go thinking you can do it over lunch."

james potter

[james potter]

James was getting pretty tired of standing there in the same position, but he couldn’t move without revealing everything. He had to stick it out for however long this conversation lasted. He could cut it short, but he didn’t want to make it seem like he was abruptly trying to end a conversation and his mother needed to walk away before he could do anything. “Figured as much,” he replied. “I’ll probably end up with a detention soon anyway, so I’ll learn whatever lesson I’m supposed to there.” Not likely. He never learned anything from detentions. They were boring and gave him more time to plan his schemes. That was the only thing they were really good for.

Ah, he had plenty of time to get it done. He didn’t have to do it until Wednesday, so he wasn’t too worried about it anymore. He’d been thinking that he was wrong and that it was actually due soon. “Fine, breakfast it is then,” he said, jokingly, although there was some truth to that. He sometimes did finish essays over breakfast or lunch, depending on when they were due. Time sometimes got away from him. “No, actually, better idea. Maybe I could pay a Ravenclaw to do it for me.” Which was something he would do, if he thought he could get away with it. Unfortunately, he was pretty sure his mother knew his work. Nobody was talented enough to replicate his horrible writing. "I wonder what they're charging for that."






@ginny

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Ginny raised an unimpressed eyebrow at the boy's flippant remark. "You'd better not." she warned him, with a falsely warning tone in her voice. "You've had far too many detentions at this school already, young man, and if you don't get on top of it sharpish then we shall have to have words." Ginny had a tactic for playing the strict mother, although she suspected that by now, her children saw straight through it. She simply cast her mind back and did her best impression of Percy in his prime, telling her off for running in the corridors or throwing snowballs... He was better now, of course, which was something to be grateful for in any case since she really couldn't imagine him ever managing to successfully raise a daughter as he had been when he was fifteen. One or the other of them would have committed suicide before this point, she was sure. But he was still somewhat pompous and still something of a stickler for rules, which were both admirable qualities of course... in moderation. Unfortunately, there were still times when moderation and her brother did not speak the same language.

The redhead rolled her eyes at his suggestion of breakfast, although if pushed she would have to admit that she'd done the same herself on more than one occasion. Better a hastily scribbled essay on the five uses of moonstone (or however many of the bloody things there were, she still didn't know) than nothing at all, especially where Snape was concerned. Still, that was not the kind of example which she wanted to be setting, and so she settled for looking mildly disapproving. How much were the Ravenclaws charging? "Far too much." she commented.

[james potter]

James just grinned. He could just promise not to get anymore detentions, but that wasn’t going to happen. To stop getting detentions meant that he would have to actually follow rules and where was the fun in that? Besides, in his opinion, rules were meant to be broken. They were meant to be questioned. After all, they were only there to stop people from doing anything fun. What was even the point of life then? He was going to continue getting into trouble and after all these years, James couldn’t just suddenly change. People would begin to wonder what was wrong with him.

They probably were. He’d never looked into the amount they would charge to do a particular essay, but he was curious that he might just have to find out. “Yeah, I’ll just do it at breakfast. You’ll still give me a good grade if I hand in a poorly written essay, right?” That was probably the way it would end up, no matter when he did it. He never put much effort into his homework unless if it was for the classes he liked.






@ginny

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Ginny regarded her son with a mixture of exaggeration and amusement as he grinned at her. She loved him, of course, she did- how could anyone help it?- but he was a complete and utter pain in an area which she probably shouldn't mention aloud. The trouble was, she reflected, that he had too much of both her and Harry in him. Too much mischief, too much devilry. She and her husband had settled down now, of course; they were responsible, they were, to use an overused phrase, normal. But when they were at Hogwarts, the redhead knew very well that they had probably been almost as much trouble as the twins... although not quite as much, because no one would ever break that record. Ginny had quite enjoyed getting into trouble as a girl, and she could see just from the expression on James's face that he felt the same way.

She gave the boy an even more exaggerated look of exasperation at his question. "James Potter, do you really have to ask that question?" she queried.

james potter