Harry Potter and the Children of the Clan

Chapter 32

The story came to an abrupt end when Ron told them that even these days he would sometimes wake up in the night thinking he was about to be touched by one of those long hairy limbs. James took the opportunity to run the fingertips of one hand gently up Kai's arm. The corridor in which they stood was filled with a shrill, piercing shriek and then Ron's laughter as he watched his nephew ducking and dodging to keep from being pummeled by the now enraged girl.

He was finally able to work his way around behind her and get her arms pinned to her side, all the while apologizing profusely for scaring her. When she eventually settled down he released his hold on her and stood watching as she got her flying robes back in order and her long black hair back in place. Then she turned on James, her eyes flashing and pinned him with a finger in the chest and said,

"James Potter, that was a horrible thing to do. I don't mind you touching me, in fact, I hope you do it often, especially that last part, but if you ever do it like that again, I'll, I'll," she paused, unable to come up with something suitably terrible and then she smiled, "I'll send a message to your sister Abagail telling her what you did and let her deal with you."

James eyes got a bit wide at this point, easily imagining what that confrontation would be like. He again apologized, saying,

"Okay, I'm sorry. I just thought with what a great job Uncle Ron was doing telling the story that it would help you understand it better."

"I understood it just fine, great big slathering spiders, dark gloomy forest, death defying chase. All very clear, thank you so very much," she said, still not entirely mollified.

He smiled a little and then picking up on something she said, he looked around and saw that his uncle was paying intense attention to something down the other end of the corridor.

"So you liked that last part, then?"

"Yes, but I'm afraid you had it backwards," she observed.

"Oh, well, let's fix that," he replied, stepping forward and putting his arms around her and pulling her into a hug.

It took all of two seconds for her to lean into him, putting her arms around him and deciding that all sins were forgiven. With her mouth close to his ear she said,

"Yes, this works much better. This will do just fine, just make it often."

All things considered, James didn't think he'd have any objections to that. He also didn't object when she took hold of his hand and they walked back to the Great Hall, after thanking Ron for his wonderful story telling, to take part in this evening's special event, the presentation and analysis of some of the most spectacular plays in the last one hundred years of Quidditch as told by the one hundred and twenty five year old master historian of the QUABBLE organization, using three dimensional visuals projected on the magical ceiling of the Hall.

Kai had suggested they sit together as all the lights would be off and nearly everyone's attention would be on the ceiling. James was glad there was no test afterwards because he didn't remember a great deal of the presentation as he spent most of the time listening to softy whispered words in his ear. That night, staring up at the canopy of his bed in his dorm room, he decided it was a good thing that he and Kai were in different years. How would you be able to concentrate?

Halfway through the second week of camp it was Kai who was being called upon to really concentrate. Harry had suggested to the girl that they take a seat in the stands for a chat. The girl was visibly nervous and sat with her hands in her lap.

"Okay, you once asked me if I was going to teach you how to do the Potter bootleg. There are several things to consider. First, do you possess the basic flying talent? After what I've seen, especially this past week and a half, I'd say yes. But that's only a small part of it. Have you ever seen me do the bootleg?"