The Fake Relationship Contract ♥ James Sirius Potter

Chapter 10

A chapter four Sundays in a row?!?! Unheard of! 

I hope y'all enjoy this one. There is some family drama. Some sad stories. It is pretty awesome (in my humble opinion as the author).

We get into Diagon Alley and our first stop is Rosa Lee's Tea Shop to buy Mum some tea for Christmas. After that, Roxanne insists on giving us a tour of her dad's joke shop. There are kids, running around and laughing, leaving a smile to spread across my face.

We wander around, with Roxanne, Fred, and James pointing out stuff and not before too long, we get joined by a man who looks a lot like Fred.

"Hey you three." He says.

"Daddy!" Roxanne says as she gives him a giant hug.

"I still can't believe you call Uncle George daddy." James says with a small chuckle.

"I still call my dad 'daddy'." I point out.

"The last time you called Dad, 'daddy' you were six and scraped your knee after falling off your bike." Benny says.

"Actually, the last time was 2 days ago on the way to the hospital after I got shot."

"You got shot?!?!?!" Fred, Roxanne, James, and Benny exclaim at the same time.

"Guy tried to rob our house, got spooked by Mum, shot me and Dad hit him with his car." I say with a dismissive wave of my hand.

"When I get my hands on that asshole, I'm going to-" Benny starts to say, his expression dark.

"You are going to let Scotland Yard handle it." I tell him.

"Like hell I am! You are my baby sister and he hurt you."

"It missed my heart and any major arteries. Do you really think I would be out and about if I wasn't fine? That Mum would let me out her sight if I was in danger of dying from what happened?"

"I know you can be incredibly stubborn and probably didn't give either of them much of a choice in letting you out of the house today." Benny shoots back, looking pissed.

"You're right, I didn't," My eyes are narrowed at my brother, "I'm not a fragile porcelain doll, Bennett. And don't even think about telling Sammy. He does not need to worry about me on top of everything he has going on."

"Sammy doesn't know?!?!" Benny almost shouts.

"Okay before you two attract any more attention with your argument," Roxanne says, before turning to her dad, "can we go upstairs so the two siblings can argue it out without scaring off customers?"

"Yes, you can." He hands his daughter a key and the three cousins usher us up the stairs and through a door into a flat.

"There's a flat above this shop?" I ask, looking around it curiously.

"Yeah, our dad used to live here with his twin." Fred says, his expression turning bittersweet.

"Never mind that," Benny says, causing me to whirl around and glare at him for that comment, "Sammy doesn't know you were shot? Are we ever going to tell him or is he suppose to find out how I did, with an offhand comment?"

"When the time is right, we'll tell him but now is not the right time and you know it!" My voice is harsher than it ever has been while talking to my brother.

"Why not? You are his sister and you had an injury that could have been life-threatening!"

"Because he is still god knows where and doing god knows what. This will distract him and I don't want any of us to go through what will happen if he is distracted!"

"He can take care of himself, Alex," Benny says, crossing his arms across his chest, "he is not a little kid. He is a grown man and has been a part of this for 5 years."

"You think I don't know that? You think I don't remember him leaving?" I say, feeling my heart beating faster, "You think I don't remember the tears in Mum's eyes or the tightness of Dad's voice when he said goodbye? You think I don't remember what it was like for you to leave 3 years later? You know what Mum said to me right before I was shot? That she was glad one of her kids had the smarts not to be involved with this. That I was the one kid she didn't have to worry about getting themselves injured! OR GETTING THEMSELVES KILLED!" I glare at my brother as all the bad emotions and thoughts I have had for the last 5 years come exploding out of me.

"Is this how you really feel? How Mum feels?" Benny says, looking taken back by what I screamed at him about.

"Yes but Mum would never tell you two that. Because she knows how much it means to both of you to be able to help and serve your country. I promised I wouldn't for the same reason but honestly, it feels good to finally tell you how I really feel about this." I say as I sit down on a nearby chair.

"I wish I understood what you two are arguing about." Fred says, his eyes flicking between us.

"Both my brothers are in the muggle military. Our mum fears for their lives constantly. I had a choice to join them but I chose not to because I don't believe in fighting as an answer, maybe a last resort but not the immediate answer. Also so our mum didn't have a heart attack because all of her children are risking their lives for this country."

"I genuinely don't know how to respond to that." Roxanne says, leaning against the wall.

"What happened with the whole getting shot thing?" James asks me, his brown eyes fill with worry or maybe they have been for the last 30 minutes or so and I just didn't notice.

I explain everything that happened, leaving out the injuries sustained by Parkinson and the three cousins and my brother stay silent while I tell the story. When I finish, it kinda feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Halfway through the story, Fred and Roxanne's dad comes upstairs to check on us and stays and hears the end of the story.