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✯❀𝐉𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑❀✯
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That evening, Lottie made her was to James Potters office. She was not looking forwards to being in his company.
The news of her hitting Erin had spread like wildfire around the school, every student could be seen whispering about it to their friends.
Charlotte pushed the door to the office open, revealing a James Potter blasting ABBA and dancing with a man with long black hair.
She stood there for a moment, watching as two grown men danced like little kids, although it didn't last long.
Upon hearing the door open, the two men snapped their heads towards the door with wide eyes. The man with long black hair allowed his jaw to drop, whilst James simply smiled happily.
"Charlotte! What brings you here in the lovely evening?" James asked cheerfully, turning down the music player.
"Erm...Minnie gave me two weeks of detentions with you... but if you're busy I can go, in fact, I can leave right now!" She said, a bright smile on her face at the thought of leaving.
"Oh no don't worry!" James exclaimed, "take a seat!"
Lottie groaned and sat down on one of the chairs, observing the office. There was photos of James and his friends and family, a long with many quidditch and band posters. It was almost like being in a teenagers room.
The man - who Charlotte recognised to be Sirius Black - leant against the wall as he observed the situation. He was slightly unsure on what to do, Lottie was sitting in front of him and he was almost 100% sure she hated him.
"Hello Charlotte." Sirius said awkwardly as he ran a hand through his hair.
Charlotte looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. If anything, she was not going to make conversation with Sirius Black. That would be worse then catching the black plague.
"So...er Prongs I better go and find Moony..."
"Great idea! Bye Pads!" James waved him out.
Lottie wondered why they where calling eachother such strange names, then again, they're quite odd in general.
"So." James started as he shut the door behind his friend. "What did you get detention for?"
Lottie scrunched up her nose.
"For hitting Erin,"
"Oh," James frowned, "I hit my friends all the time! Do these people not know what banter is?"
"It wasn't banter, and we aren't friends."
James stared at the thirteen year old in confusion. "But you guys are mates?"
"Not anymore," Charlotte shrugged. It was strange speaking to him. He seemed so happy and carefree, whenever she spoke to Lupin he was awkward and nervous, Potter was more confident.
"So why'd you hit her?" James asked, opening his draw and offering her a chocolate bar.
Lottie nodded her head shamelessly as she replied, "she was being homophobic about one of my bestfriends."
"Well, if someone was being homophobic in front of me I'd probably hit them too." He said. Before adding, "don't tell Minnie I said that though."
Lottie smiled slightly, although she bit her lip when she thought about it. She was having a decent conversation with James Potter.
She had noticed how James talked to her more then her dad, even if he does ask her the strangest of things.
Charlotte really couldn't tell if she was happy with that or not. Sure, she hated her dad, and yet for some reason, it still hurt how he didn't even try properly, it was just half-assed and forced.
The two sat quietly for a moment as James tried to think of something to say. He wanted to get to know his god daughter, but he was unsure on how to approach her. He didn't want to rush her into a relationship, however he did want to gain her trust.
He just decided to get to know her a little. Find out the basics; her interests, hobbies and things she liked. He knew it was a little odd, however the more he knew, the more he could understand Charlotte and the easier it would be to form a bond with her.
"D'you like ABBA?" He asked, fiddling with the record player.
"I prefer Queen, but yeah." Lottie shrugged.
"Queens good," James nodded, smiling slightly when he noticed she didn't shut him down straight away. "David Bowie too. He was one of my favourites when I was younger."
"Bowie is okay...I quite like Michael Jackson to be fair."
"Eh, he's alright, good music, strange lad though." James said thoughtfully. "Beatles?"
"A little boring, but their music is okay." Charlotte said.
"Yeah, they're a little more old school." James said quietly, another question popping into his head. "What about movies, do you like muggle movies?"
"I've seen a few," Charlotte replied. Television access was a very rare thing at the orphanage. Everyone would argue over the remote and what to watch, so Lottie tended to avoid it.
"You got a favourite?" He asked.
"I like Problem Child and Home Alone," Lottie said, remembering the times she and Kaycie had snuck out to of the orphanage to watch them at the cinema.
"Those are good! I look Hook, y'know the older Peter Pan? And Beethoven is good, reminds me of a friend." James smiled.
Charlotte nodded silently, she wondered if she'd have grown up watching movies if she lived with her dad, or if her mum had lived. She wondered what would've happened if Lupin didn't take her to the orphanage, or even if he had come back like he had promised.
She brushed off the thought, knowing her what ifs didn't matter anymore. She didn't need her dad, nor did he need her.
"So, you looking forwards to Christmas?" Potter asked, pushing his glasses up.
"Yeah," Lottie shrugged. There was only a few more weeks until she could get the train back to London, then she'd be back with Kaycie.
"That's good. You staying here or..." James trailed off into silence. Apart of him wondered if Charlotte was ever adopted.
"Going back to London." Lottie said bluntly.
"Sounds good," James smiled, although his heart ached. He wished his god daughter would be spending time with him and his family on Christmas. He did, however, take note that she was living in London, he had searched high and low around the UK, but never been able to pinpoint where she was.
James could still remember how much he had begged Remus to give him the address of Lotties orphanage. He had wanted to adopt Charlotte, Euphemia Potter had taught him better then to leave a child parent less.
And yet, Remus had denied him any details.
It wasn't just James either. Hope and Lyall Lupin had done a lot to get their granddaughter back, however Remus refused to give them any details. He claimed he'd feel to guilty, he thought it would be better if his daughter grew up away from a wolf, he said there was a chance Lottie would be at risk of the full moon.
James hadn't believed that.
He went to great strengths to find Charlotte, but not even Albus Dumbledore would give him her address.
He sighed in disappointment.
"What's your home life like?"
The question took Charlotte completely off guard, it actually surprised James too, but he was tired of small talk and wanted to know everything.
"It's ok," she said slowly, "I have friends - well a friend there, and she's great, amazing actually. The orphanage is an orphanage, nothing special stands out if I'm honest. Why?"
"Because I care," he rubbed his eyes, "you don't know it, you really don't know the full story - from my side at least - but I'll tell you, soon, I promise. I'm not the bad guy Lottie, and I don't want you to hate me."
Charlotte didn't respond, instead she studied his body language. He looked stressed and frustrated, and reasonably honest, but he could be lying, and she wasn't going to take the risk.
With her lack of response, James only grew more upset, "I didn't mean for the outburst, I'm sorry," he seemed tired, sad. "I don't want you to hate me for something that was well out of my control though. I took this job for a reason though, I've been waiting for the position to open up for two years. I'm going to set things straight, Charlotte, and whether you forgive your dad or not, that's not my business. I'd like a chance, anything to be on positive terms with you, and if it's going to take time I'll wait, I've waited eight years for this moment, I'm not letting you get away again."
"Why do you care so much?"
"Because your my goddaughter. I should've watched you grow up and been able to make sure you lived the perfect life, I wasn't able to before, but I still have time to fix things."
Charlotte looked at him for a long hard moment, and the changed her gaze to looking out of the window, more and more questions arising in her mind then she had ever had before.
Was James the bad guy?
A/N
Anything you wanna see in this book? (And no I'm not going to kill erin lmao)
Thankyou for 34k!
Qotd: favourite actor?
Word count: 1546