"Dad?"
Charlus Potter glanced up from the scrolls of parchment spread out on his desk and smiled warmly at his son. "James, I didn't realize you were home." He pushed his work aside and gestured for his son to enter the study.
James walked in and sat down at the chair across from his father's large and elaborate desk. He looked disturbed by something, and that worried Mr. Potter a bit. Although he could not deny the fact that he was pleased his son was starting to show an interest in the world outside of Hogwarts, as a father, he mostly just wanted James to be happy. And since their previous conversation about politics, James had grown quietly serious.
Mr. Potter reflected at the irony; now that his son was finally acting like an adult, he found himself missing James' mischievous laughter whenever he told of his latest pranks or practical jokes.
"What do you know about the Protection of Magical Heritage Act?" James asked.
Mr. Potter pursed his lips. "Where did you hear about that?" he asked, his tone sharper than he had intended.
James shrugged off the question and asked one of his own, "So you've heard of it?"
Mr. Potter nodded gravely and leaned back in his chair. "Yes," he said simply. He paused, then added with a hint of bitterness in his tone, "One of Abraxas Malfoy's most recent ideas."
"Does he have support for it?" James pressed.
Mr. Potter pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger and said softly, "James, Malfoy will always have support for anything he proposes, regardless of how… absurd… the idea is." He frowned, giving his son a searching stare, and then asked again, "Where did you hear about it?"
"This girl I'm dating," James explained, "she heard about it."
Mr. Potter nodded slowly. He'd heard the whispers floating around - that his son was dating a Daily Prophet reporter. The murmurs had been more surprised than upset, which he knew was an indication that the girl in question was at least a half-blood, perhaps even a pureblood. He'd seen no reason to ask James about it, assuming that his son would come to him soon enough.
After all, James had never been one to keep secrets about the girls he fancied. The name Lily Evans had been common enough in the household when James was growing up. If James had moved on to someone else, that girl's name would start being tossed about constantly as well.
"This girl…" Mr. Potter started.
"Vanessa," James offered quickly.
Mr. Potter inclined his head. "Vanessa, then. What did she tell you about it?"
"Just that it was designed to keep Muggleborns out of the Ministry," James answered. "And that Malfoy is confident he can get support for it."
"He can," Mr. Potter answered, still studying James carefully. His son was a superb liar, able to keep a straight face at even the most difficult of times. But Mr. Potter had raised James, and he could still catch all the little tells that everyone else missed.
And James was clearly omitting information now.
"Well… aren't people trying to stop it?" James demanded. "Aren't you trying to stop it?"
Mr. Potter raised an eyebrow. "Of course," he said. "But it isn't a simple matter of challenging Malfoy to a wizarding duel. He has support. The legislation has support. It makes things… complicated." He paused, then asked curiously, "How did this Vanessa hear of it? I can't imagine that Malfoy was willing to talk openly about it, especially not to a reporter."
James blinked, and Mr. Potter sighed, knowing the next words that came out of his son's mouth would be only partial truths. Or possibly complete lies.
"I'm not sure," James said. "She was speaking to someone we knew from Hogwarts. His mother is working with Malfoy, I think it came up because of that."
In the past, James had only ever lied to his parents for two reasons: either because he'd done something wrong and knew he'd be in trouble if he got caught or because he didn't want his parents to worry. And since he was now not only of age but also out of Hogwarts, Mr. Potter doubted very much that his reasons for neglecting to give the full truth were because he was afraid of getting in trouble.
Which left only the second option.
Mr. Potter had never been under any delusions that his son would be dragged into all the pureblood machinations and manipulations, but he had hoped that it wouldn't happen quite so quickly. He had hoped that James would have time to adjust to the world outside of Hogwarts before that world dug its claws into his back and refused to let go.
But that hope had clearly been in vain. And after years of doing whatever he could to protect his son from the other families, the tables had turned - James was the one trying to protect him.
Mr. Potter idly tapped his fingers against his desk, turning his thoughts away from James and towards his own current problems with the Ministry. Abraxas Malfoy's act was certainly not the first bit of legislation to appall him. But it seemed to be the beginning of something. Malfoy and Lestrange were both capitalizing on the recent increase in anti-Muggleborn feeling, and they were far better at politicizing than anyone Mr. Potter had met in a long time.
"Dad?"
Mr. Potter looked up at James again. His son was clearly still seething, furious at the very idea of this type of discrimination.
"Well?" James demanded. "Aren't you doing anything about it? Even if it is complicated… that's not a good enough reason to do nothing."
Mr. Potter smiled grimly. "Of course. But the kind of work I do takes place very much behind the scenes. And it is slow."
"So make it fast. Bring it to everyone's attention!" James practically snarled.
Mr. Potter raised an eyebrow. He'd never heard James use that tone of voice when addressing him. But although James' fury was unusual, it was neither unreasonable or unexpected. Dorea Potter was a woman of action, never content to rely on words alone, and James had inherited that inclination from her. Neither mother nor son would ever really be comfortable with the idea that some battles had to be fought slowly, cautiously, and without much fanfare.
But though Mrs. Potter might not have liked these slower and more subtle methods, she had at least accepted their necessity. And sooner or later, James would need to accept it as well.
James continued to glare angrily, and Mr. Potter said with a heavy sigh, "You cannot storm into the atrium of the Ministry and accuse Malfoy of discrimination."
"Why not?" James asked.
"If that was enough to stop this kind of prejudice, don't you think I would have done it a long time ago?" Mr. Potter replied pointedly.
James at least had the good sense to look abashed, and he slumped backwards in the chair. "Sorry," he muttered. "I didn't mean to imply that you weren't… you know…" He trailed off awkwardly and shrugged.
Mr. Potter bit back a smirk. James really wasn't that good at apologies.
"You are your mother's son," he said finally, shaking his head with some amusement. "Always ready for action. Always ready to fight. But you have to realize, James, that we aren't at war and we can't just demand a duel to decide these issues. These battles that we are fighting… they are fought with a nod and a word in the right ear, with a handshake between friends and friends of friends."
James looked disgruntled and disappointed, but he reluctantly nodded his understanding.
"You've been avoiding me," Vanessa announced without preamble, then pushed her way past him into his house.
James stared at her. "Uh… come in?" he muttered.
Vanessa had never been to his home before, though he'd been to her flat more than once. She'd also never shown up unannounced or accused him of not paying enough attention to her. She wasn't the clingy sort, and seemed more than happy to have her own life separate from him.
But she was here now, and that meant that James had not been anywhere near as subtle as he had hoped.
"I haven't been avoiding you," he said weakly, offering a defense he knew neither of them quite believed. Vanessa gave him a hard stare and shook her head, and James sighed.
The reality was simply that he didn't know what to say to her. Ever since Lily's revelation that Vanessa had been in Slytherin, he'd been struggling with his own prejudices against the House. He didn't know what to think, and although some part of him was willing to admit that it was unfair to judge her negatively now when he'd liked her so much before, another part of him kept having doubts.
How had Vanessa gotten all that information out of Morrison? Had it really been just flirting and charming him that had done it?
Who had told Puddlemere United that he'd been benched? Only a few people even knew…
Was Vanessa really interested in Remus' status as a werewolf and Malfoy's plans to introduce anti-Muggleborn legislation because she wanted to stop the discrimination, or was she just using James? Was she feeding him half-truths and lies while carrying his own revelations back to her Slytherin friends?
These accusations were all unfounded, and he knew that, but then again… why hadn't Vanessa ever mentioned that she was in Slytherin? She must have known Lucius Malfoy and the others involved, yet the first time she had seen them in Knockturn Alley she had acted as though she didn't know who they were.
And how had it never occurred to him that she was probably in Slytherin? She was cunning, manipulative, ambitious… all the classic traits the Sorting Hat looked for in a Slytherin. For Merlin's sake, her entire job was based on tricking people into revealing information they wouldn't have given willingly, and she was good at it.
Vanessa was still staring at James, waiting for more of an answer. Or perhaps waiting for an answer that she would actually believe.
"I've been busy," James said finally. "And it's only been a few days."
"Yes, but in those few days you were going to talk to your father and then we were going to discuss more about this legislation," Vanessa challenged. "But not only have you not come to see me, you haven't returned my letter. I know my owl reached you, James. So tell me what is going on."
"Why do you care?" James demanded. "Are you turning into that kind of girlfriend?"
Vanessa's lips pressed into a flat line and she said in a cold voice, "Fine. Clearly you aren't ready to tell me what is really going on, so I have no reason to stay. But I thought you should know that Abraxas Malfoy plans to introduce his legislation tomorrow."
"How do you know that?" James demanded, feeling angrier than he had thought possible. Malfoy was moving quickly on this, and it seemed like there was little James could do to stop it. Even if he had full faith in his father's determination to stall this Act, James didn't like being sidelined, forced to watch someone else fight the battles he believed in.
Vanessa rolled her eyes. "I have my contacts," she said calmly.
"Oh, yes," James drawled sarcastically, "all your Slytherin buddies."
Vanessa bristled. "What is that supposed to mean?" she snapped.
"Why didn't you tell me you were in Slytherin?" James asked hotly.
For a moment, Vanessa merely stared at him. Then she replied, "I didn't think it mattered to you. It's not like you ever asked what House I was in. It's not like we ever even talked about Hogwarts."
James couldn't argue with that, but still…
He shook his head and tried to arrange his thoughts into something organized and coherent. "Did you really not know Snape and Lestrange?" he asked after a moment.
Vanessa at least didn't pretend not to understand what he was asking. Hands on her hips, she retorted, "Snape was in your year, James. He was three years younger than me. So tell me, can you name every Gryffindor who was three years younger than you? Can you name any Gryffindor in that year?"
James couldn't.
"Rabastan Lestrange was four years older than me, so again I ask you, can you name any of the Gryffindors who were four years ahead of you? Particularly if they weren't prefects or Heads?" Vanessa continued. "Lucius Malfoy was a prefect and only a year older than me, so him I knew."
James nodded slowly, accepting that, but asked anyway, "And your family isn't friends with any of them?"
That caused Vanessa to laugh bitterly. "My family has money, James, but not pure blood. My paternal grandmother and maternal grandfather were both Muggleborns. How much time do you think a Malfoy or a Lestrange would waste on me?" She shook her head in disgust and turned away from him. "I can't believe you're actually accusing me of lying to you about this."
"A whole bunch of Slytherins are planning…" James started, but Vanessa cut him off angrily.
"A whole bunch of pureblood fanatics are planning something," she spat. "Not everybody in Slytherin is like that."
James snorted. "Maybe not, but I don't recall any Slytherins standing up against the ones who were like that in school."
"You can't judge everyone based on what they were like in school," Vanessa retorted. "Or are you telling me that you never did anything you aren't proud of? Are you telling me that you haven't changed, haven't grown up? Are you the same person you were when you were eleven?"
Again, James didn't answer.
Vanessa gave him one final look and then said viciously, "If you can't see that assuming all Slytherins are evil is just as prejudiced as assuming all Muggleborns are filth, you really aren't the boy I thought you were." And she spun on her heel and stalked out of the house, slamming the door behind her.
"You do realize that you are basically just sabotaging yourself at this point," Emma remarked as she looked up from her own potion and watched Lily flip intently through yet another textbook.
Lily shot Emma a quick look before turning her attention back to the text. "It was the right thing to do," she said stubbornly.
Emma shrugged. "I'm not saying that it isn't," she answered calmly, refusing to be drawn into an argument. "You certainly seem happier now than you did at any point in the last few weeks. If this is what you feel strongly about, this is what you should do." She looked down at her own potion before finishing, "I'm just saying that you don't have any chance of moving on to the next stage."
Lily hesitated, one hand hovering just above the pages of her text, the other resting on the desk. It took her a moment to collect herself, and then she said softly, "I know."
James flipped through the book carelessly, paying little attention to the words scrawled across the pages. More books littered the table, some open to specific pages, others waiting to be read. There were a few scrolls of parchment among the books, most covered in what appeared to be ancient runes.
None of this held James' attention.
"You know," a voice said pointedly, "it was your idea to help. If this is boring you, you don't need to be here."
James looked up sharply and found Lily staring at him with an annoyed expression. He was instantly defensive, opening his mouth to snap some prickly reply, but then paused. She was right, of course - it had been his idea to help. And he hadn't done much of anything over the past hour besides stare blankly at the same book and stew over his argument with Vanessa.
He pushed the book away and said a bit gruffly, "Sorry. Just preoccupied with other things."
Lily frowned. "If you don't want to help…" she started.
"I do," James snapped irritably. "I just…" He waved his hand towards all the books and said, "It's all… reading. I thought we'd be doing… more."
"I'm sorry this isn't glamorous enough for you," came Lily's immediate and sarcastic response. "But what exactly did you think it would be like? That you would show up and all of a sudden everything would make sense? This requires research."
James nodded. "I guess I'm just not cut out for it," he said sourly. The conversation with his father had made it clear that he wasn't cut out for politics, either. He wasn't cut out for anything that didn't have action and excitement, wasn't able to contain himself to subtle manipulation and waiting.
Maybe he really should just focus on Quidditch.
Lily continued to frown at him for a moment, then shrugged, apparently deciding that it wasn't worth it to keep up the conversation. She turned her attention back to her notes and chewed on the end of her quill as she read over something she had written, then scratched it out and scribbled down something else instead.
"How do you have the patience for this?" James asked.
Lily glanced up briefly, then said quietly, "Not everyone is as inherently good at magic as you are."
"What does that mean?" James demanded.
Lily didn't meet his gaze as she answered, "I don't think I ever saw you study for anything at Hogwarts, and the only class you took that you weren't practically perfect in was Potions."
"I was pretty rubbish at Divination," James replied thoughtfully.
Lily rolled her eyes. "Divination itself is rubbish," she said pointedly. "It doesn't count as a true class." She idly tapped her quill against the parchment and continued, "You never studied for Transfiguration or Defense Against the Dark Arts. Or Charms, Astronomy, Arithmancy…"
"So?"
Lily set her quill down on the table and looked up at him again. She held his gaze steadily as she said, "Not everyone can do that, Potter. Some of us actually have to work to succeed at things. You take it for granted that everything should be easy because it is easy - for you. The rest of us have long since learned that we actually have to put in the time and effort to get the results we want. I don't like doing this research. I'd much rather be at a cauldron throwing things together to see what happens. But I have the patience for this step because I've learned that it is actually necessary."
"I have to work at things, too," James protested.
"Not like the rest of us," Lily murmured, picking up her quill and once more turning her gaze to her notes. "You don't have to be here, Potter. If you don't have the patience for it, then don't bother."
"I do want to bother," James said angrily, frustrated at how easily she was dismissing him. It was true that he was naturally gifted at many things. But did she really think that he'd never struggled? That he'd never had to put in time and effort to achieve something that really mattered to him?
Did she think he just woke up one morning able to turn himself into a stag?
"Then keep reading," Lily replied, not glancing up from her notes.
James grumbled under his breath and picked up the book again. But the ideas were too complex and the writing too dry, and it took only a moment for his thoughts to wander away from the theories of lycanthropy and land instead on Vanessa.
Why hadn't she told him that she was in Slytherin? It was true that he had never asked - it had never even occurred to him to ask. But how could she think it didn't matter? In light of everything that was happening, how could she have never mentioned it?
"What?"
James started, surprised at Lily's sudden question. He must have been brooding over Vanessa for a while, he realized, because Lily had moved on to a new book. She'd also noticed that he wasn't doing any work, and she was staring at him, waiting for an answer.
"Uh…"
She sighed. "What's wrong?" she asked finally. "What has you so preoccupied?"
He was surprised that she was initiating this conversation at all. She didn't often given the impression that she cared about his personal life, and their previous exchange had emphasized that she wanted this relationship to be strictly professional. They were here to work on the Wolfsbane potion, and that was all.
But she had asked the question, and she did seem genuinely curious, so he answered with a question of his own.
"Why didn't you tell me that Vanessa was in Slytherin?"
She raised an eyebrow, then shrugged and said, "It honestly didn't occur to me that you might not already know."
"Well, I didn't," James said sourly.
"What does it matter?" Lily asked.
"She was in Slytherin!"
Lily gave James a disparaging look and replied, "Yes, she was. And yet you liked her anyway." She leaned back in her chair and said, "She was always in Slytherin, Potter. So what has actually changed? She hasn't changed. You haven't changed. The only thing that has changed is that now you know about it."
"I doubt a Slytherin-Gryffindor romance would work out particularly well," James muttered.
Lily flinched ever so slightly, and James immediately felt like kicking himself. He hadn't meant to bring up Vanessa in the first place, and he certainly hadn't meant to say anything that could potentially lead to the topic of Snape.
Lily cleared her throat. "What do you have against Slytherins?" she asked.
"They're bullies," James said flatly, thinking of Abraxas Malfoy.
Lily laughed coldly. "So were you." James opened his mouth to protest, but Lily said quickly, "Fifth year. You hung Severus upside-down by his ankles, mocked him, taunted him, and when I asked you what he had done to deserve that…" Her voice grew hard and bitter, "You said it was because he existed."
James flushed. "I grew up," he defended himself.
Lily pursed her lips. "I thought you did," she said. "But if you're willing to break up with Vanessa Lovely based solely on the fact that she's in Slytherin, then you didn't grow up much at all." She hesitated, then added in a soft and sad tone, "Severus changed. And I did, too. Some of that was just part of growing up, and some of it was because he was in Slytherin and his friends pulled him down a path I couldn't accept. But nothing has really changed with you and Vanessa. So are you going to ruin that relationship just because you're prejudiced?"
James stared at her for a long moment, somewhat amazed by the fact that Lily Evans was giving him relationship advice.
Then he said, "Abraxas Malfoy is going to introduce legislation to keep Muggleborns out of the Ministry. He's going to do it tomorrow."
Lily gaped at him. "What?"
"Malfoy has support and help. The Lestranges, Averys, Morrisons… all Slytherins. Vanessa and I were… investigating… this. She got all this information for me, kept saying that she was charming it out of people. Out of prominent Slytherin families - families who are also trying to manipulate Sirius and I. And she never once mentioned that she was in Slytherin, too."
"Alright," Lily said after a pause, relenting slightly, "I can see why that might seem suspicious." She chewed her lip. "But do you really think… I mean… you know Vanessa. You've been dating her for a while now, right? A few weeks, at least. Do you really think she's the kind of person…"
"Did you think Snape was the kind of person who would call you a Mudblood?" James interrupted pointedly. He knew it was a low blow, but now that they had broached the topic of that ruined friendship, he saw no reason to keep avoiding it.
Again, Lily flinched. Then she admitted, "I should have. I wasn't being honest with myself, I didn't let myself see it. I didn't want to see it. But if I hadn't been forcing myself to keep my eyes closed, I would have seen that Severus and I… our friendship was over long before that day." She hesitated, then added hastily and with a glare, "But that doesn't excuse what you did."
James didn't answer. He didn't know what to say. It was the first time he and Lily had been able to talk about Snape without yelling at each other, and it was the first time she'd confessed - at least to him - that her friendship with Snape had started to dissolve before then and what had happened between the two of them wasn't entirely James' fault.
Lily cleared her throat and ended the awkward silence. "I didn't want to see the truth, so I closed my eyes. Don't close yours. Look at the entire situation with open eyes and an open mind and tell me whether or not you think Vanessa is the kind of person who would betray you like that."
James sighed. When Lily put it like that, there was really only one answer.
"So… Malfoy wants Muggleborns out of the Ministry?" Lily prompted, changing the conversation to James' prior announcement.
James' nodded glumly.
"But Muggleborns have done so much for the Ministry, it would be detrimental to exclude them," Lily insisted.
James froze, mouth falling open. "Evans!" he exclaimed suddenly, jumping to his feet. "You're brilliant!"
"Uh… thanks?"
"I have to go, I'm sorry," he said, the words rushing from his lips as he started towards the door. "But I'll come over to work tomorrow, and I'll focus. I promise. I just need to do something. Now, before it is too late."
And without any more explanation, he practically ran from her flat.
"I'm sorry. I know I was a complete git - although I still think it is weird that you never mentioned you were in Slytherin. But I shouldn't have said what I said and I didn't mean it, and I have a plan."
Vanessa didn't step aside to allow James entrance to her flat, but she didn't slam the door in his face, either, so he took that as a good sign.
"You can charm information out of anyone, right?" he continued hastily. "Can you also charm people into doing things for you? I mean… can you get the Daily Prophet editors to let you run a story tomorrow morning? With your charms and my money, can we do that?"
Vanessa's expression was torn between curiosity and anger. She was clearly intrigued by the fact that James had a plan of some sort, but also wasn't willing to let go of her feelings about their argument. She stood there, struggling with the decision, before finally nodding once.
"I probably could," she said. "Why?"
"I have an idea and I need your help," James replied.
She let out a slow exhale. "You can't just come here and say that you're sorry and expect everything to be alright between us."
"It worked before," James said hopefully.
Vanessa scoffed. "Last time you were an idiot, but at least you hadn't accused me of trying to further a pureblood agenda."
James hesitated. He had a feeling the smart thing to do would be to apologize again - and again and again, until she forgave him.
But it wouldn't be the honest thing to do.
"Why didn't you tell me you were in Slytherin?" he said. "And don't say it is because you didn't think it mattered. You've heard me say negative things about Slytherins in the past, and you always just agreed with me. Why didn't you tell me then that you were in Slytherin? Why didn't you defend your House?"
"Why bother?" Vanessa said, shaking her head. "You clearly have a set idea of what Slytherins are like, I doubt I could have changed that."
"You could have," James said. "You did." He looked down at the ground for a moment, then said, "Look, I'm not saying that my prejudice against Slytherins is acceptable. But there were times that your House affiliation could have - maybe even should have - come up, and you made the choice not to say anything about it. Why?"
Vanessa ran a hand through her hair and gave James a long, contemplative look. Then she said, "Do you really not know the answer to that?"
"If I knew," James snapped, "would I be asking?"
"It's habit, James," Vanessa said, her tone acidic. "It's habit because of people like you. Do you think any good Gryffindor would talk to me if they knew what House I was in? Do you think any Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff would be inclined to trust me? Do you have any idea how much harder my job would be if people knew I was in Slytherin?"
"So you never tell anyone your House?" James asked incredulously.
"You hate all Slytherins because of a few bad ones," Vanessa said coolly. "And yes, there are more pureblood fanatics in Slytherin than anywhere else, but the world isn't so easily divided into good and bad. And Gryffidnor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff have had their share of prejudiced witches and wizards." Her eyes ran up and down the length of James' body before she added viciously, "You're proof of that."
"Several pureblood families seem to have plans for me - and they've already gotten to one of my friends," James retorted defensively. "We know that they are going after Sirius, too. Maybe I overreacted to finding out that you were in Slytherin. But you lied to me. Maybe it was just a lie of omission, but it was still a lie. So can you blame me for being paranoid about your intentions when we know there several people already out to get me?" He shoved his hands into his pockets and said, "I might be an idiot on occasion, and I might have been a git, but at least I was honest with you."
"Honest?" Vanessa argued. "You were avoiding me!"
"Not because I was planning on lying to you!" James hissed. "I was avoiding you because I was trying to figure out what I thought about this little revelation. I wanted to know how I felt about it before I confronted you. And for the record, if you had just told me that you were in Slytherin in the first place, if I'd found out from you and not someone else, then we probably wouldn't be having this conversation at all, because I would still have trusted you enough not to care about it."
"And how do you feel about it now?"
James threw his hands up in the air in frustration and replied honestly, "I don't know." He stopped, took a few deep breaths and tried to calm down. In a quieter tone, he said, "I really like you. That hasn't changed."
Vanessa studied him intently, then said, "Fine. What's your plan? Why do you need an article in the Daily Prophet tomorrow?"
Her tone made it clear that she still wasn't willing to just ignore the fight, but she would at least focus on this more pressing concern. James supposed he couldn't really blame her for that - he wasn't sure he could so easily move past their argument, either.
They would just have to take things one step at a time.