Wrong, All Wrong

Quick Wandwork and Swift Inference

Remus chuckled. "I recently realized the dangers of giving a child a wand..." Hearing this, Harry wondered what mischief Aster got himself into. The slight tremor in Remus' voice made the event seem more on the side of chaotic than humorous.

"Yeah, well even I'm tutoring Harry a bit now."

"In what? Picking fights?"

The sudden barking laugh that rang out from Sirius jolted Harry and he quickly caught his balance before he could make too much noise. The camaraderie between the two was now bright and lively, quite unlike the atmosphere when Remus first showed up. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised at how quickly Sirius' attitude could change, however, considering how many moods the dog Animagus went through with Severus every day. Harry made sure to remember to add 'Moony' to the list of labels attached to Remus.

"Transfiguration, Moony! You more than most know what I can do." The man's voice was saturated with the smug smile he must be wearing. "Though I'm not too bad at dueling, either."

"Yeah, you could've become a top Auror alongside James if-"

Sirius quickly cut in, "You know what; I think you could teach Harry some stuff about dueling and defense."

"I'm not sure I'm fit to teach, Padfoot..."

"Come off it, Moony, you need to get some confidence in yourself."

Harry stopped actively listening to the two as the conversation steered away from him. He trusted Saphyr to let him know if his name came up again. Raising his hand to summon the index of the library, he tried to snap as quietly as possible. There was research to be done. Going alphabetically, he started searching for references of "Lycan".

-Quick Wandwork and Swift Inference-

Swerving quickly to the side I snatched the Quaffle out of the air with my left hand, heart pumping as I was startled out of my thoughts. Remembering what Dumbledore and Uncle Remus said before kept repeating through my mind. Making sure to smile at James I tossed back the Quaffle and tried not to chuck it in anger. Uncle Remus was the one who convinced Mother to abandon Harry? Why? What bloody reason was there? What was that "full reasoning" Dumbledore talked about?

"Aster!"

Once again I snapped into focus to see the Quaffle coming towards me. This time, however, I was too late and it started to fall to the ground. Spinning around with the broom I swooped down and caught the ball, tossing it back to James.

"What's up, kid? Too boring for you?" James asked as he laughed and flew closer.

I felt my frustration at all of these adults around me buzzing through my veins. "Yeah, how about a one-on-one?"

James grinned widely, moving over to ruffle my hair. "That's my son," and flew over to conjure some hoops for a game. I always wondered why he didn't just put in permanent ones, but any chance to show off his Transfiguration skills were ones he pounced upon.

The wind was a bit chilly which helped cool the heat that flooded my face from my growing frustration. This wasn't going to be our usual friendly match-up; James wouldn't get a single point in.

Bouncing the Quaffle up and down in his hand, at the last catch James suddenly sped straight at me. It was one of his favorite, daring, and arrogant things to do during our matches. Mother would lecture him for days if she ever saw it. He forces me to choose a side or stubbornly stay within his line, then either making him choose a side or have us risk colliding as we each try to end up with the Quaffle.

Too bad for James, he was embarrassingly predictable. Halfway to where I am, James always feints to one side and later either switches sides or actually goes to that side. If he's switching sides, he watches my face to see me fall for it otherwise he starts looking toward the hoops at the last second.

Crouching down over my broom I keep my eyes locked on his face, waiting for my cue... There! James looked away and I swerved over to grab the Quaffle-

Crack!

The sudden noise surprised me in the middle of my turn, one hand already off my broom and I slipped. Feeling the air rush around me as I fell was both extremely calming and terrifying at the same time.

I heard two yells and felt spells wrap around me, slowing me down and making me lightly bounce off the ground a few times before settling down. Within moments James was there to help me get to my feet, my broom safely floating in the air off to the side. Another hand came over to pat my shoulder and I turned to see the newcomer.

"Sorry for the shock, Aster, it's nice to see you."

The tall brunette man was a familiar face around the Potter household; however I could only nod back in greeting, "Hi Mr. Frank." He was pretty scary, always serious even though James would say he wasn't always like that.

James ruffled my hair. "Now Aster, that's no way to greet your godfather!" Even Mother didn't really like that Frank was my godfather. She wanted it to be Uncle Severus or Uncle Remus but for some reason it didn't happen.

Frank waved away James' attempt to make me say something else. "There's an emergency, James. Karkaroff just revealed a whole list of Death Eaters and we need to grab them before they run." At the sound of 'Death Eaters' I started thinking of Harry, wondering if he knew what they were and if he was safe. Would they target him now that they knew he existed? Harry and I were the only ones who knew that he's the Boy-Who-Lived, right?

Both of the adults stared at each other for a moment as James took in the information before he nodded and started summoning his Auror robes. "I need to find Albus or Remus to watch over Aster while I'm gone." As he was about to walk inside Frank grabbed his arm.

"I flooed in first and no one was inside, James. We need to go soon."

"I can't bring Aster with me, Frank."

"Of course not, we'll drop him off with my mother. Neville's already there."

Being a kid sucked when it meant adults talked like I wasn't there. I didn't really know Neville well. The times when our families got together he was always with his dad. Mother always said it had to do with why his mom was never around but she would never tell me what happened. Hanging out with him for however long didn't really sound like too much fun. Of course, I had no say in the matter as James grabbed me and Apparated us to the Longbottom residence.

With a quick "Be safe, Aster," I was left with Mrs. Augusta Longbottom standing off to the side of the house.

"Go find Neville, boy, he's outside playing. I have things to do." The elderly woman shooed me away, muttering about proper households as she went back inside the house.

Hearing Neville's voice coming from the back of the house I started heading over. There was no harm in trying to have fun, right? Right...