Harry was well liked by the teachers, he tried his best to take notes with one of James' quills and some spare parchment. Harry did catch some parts James didn't, but mostly Harry's notes made little sense, but that made sense, Harry hadn't learnt any magic yet. The teachers did like using Harry and his albeit messy notes as an example for students who were messing around.
"Okay Harry, time for your first flying lesson." James said proudly, he was in his Quidditch gear as he and Harry had come down to the pitch half an hour before the Gryffindor team practice was scheduled.
Harry nodded excitedly, clutching the toy broom Professor McGonagall had given him close to his chest. Although Vernon was very strict about Harry not seeing anything that might give him "dangerous ideas", which now Harry thought about it probably meant that Vernon and Petunia knew about his magic, Harry had seen some of Dudley's TV shows with witches flying on brooms and Harry had always wanted to try.
James' broom was significantly more beaten than Harry's, it was the same one James had gotten a while ago, it was still good, and James liked how it worked. The rings were thicker than the ones on Harry's though.
"First thing's first, we need to make sure that you have control over your broom. This works best with a normal broom, like mine, but you should still be able to do it with yours. Put your broom on the floor, and put your hand over it like this." James said, lying his own broom beside him as though he had let it fall after landing, holding his had just over halfway up it.
Harry hurried to copy James, checking three times to make sure he was holding his hand at the right point. Lily came to the stadium to watch, but neither Harry nor James seemed to notice.
"Great, now just say 'Up' very firmly and think of the broom flying into your hand." James said, he wanted to pat Harry on the head, but he was going to have to show Harry what to do before he could do that. "Up."
James' broom immediately flew up into his hand, hitting his hand forcefully. Harry gasped, and clapped James for his success, making James chuckle, walking over to Harry and ruffling his hair, stepping back and gesturing for Harry to try.
"Up." Harry said as firmly as he could, but he still sounded a little unsure of himself, making James worry for the half second between Harry starting to speak and the toy broom jumping into his hand.
Even though toy brooms should respond less strongly to magic than real brooms, being the way that they have a speed limit, Harry's broom flying up almost faster than James' did, making Harry stumble slightly from the force he hadn't really been expecting.
"Well done Harry, now get on how you think you should, and I will be able to correct it, then we can start flying." James said with a smile.
"Okay." Harry nodded with a small smile, feeling proud of himself for managing it first try, even if he didn't manage to stand still while doing it.
Harry relied on instinct to know how he was supposed to sit, all he had seen was a few short clips of villains in Dudley's shows, but if Vernon ever saw that he was watching the TV would always either be turned off, or Harry would get thrown out of the room. Harry didn't know how to explain it, but he always felt like they weren't doing it properly.
"You're doing really well, Harry." James said, looking over Harry's stance, which was perfect. "Do you already know how to fly?"
"No." Harry looked away, his cheeks a little flushed as he got complemented. Even though he wanted to fly for a long time (especially because of those dreams of a flying motorbike), he never had.
"Well, you are my son, it must just be in your blood." James said proudly, pulling Harry into his side for a hug, grinning practically ear to ear. "Now you're on your broom it's time to start flying."
Harry had gotten a toy broom, even if James hadn't been there when it was handed over, or didn't know about the smallest size a regular broom can be, he would still have known that because it was McGonagall who had given it. That being said, it didn't seem to act like a toy broom should.
Harry went too fast on his broom, which James guessed could just be because he was more powerful than most wizards, but Harry also massively exceeded the height limit, which should not be possible no matter how much magic Harry poured in.
"Harry! Slow down!" James yelled, speeding after Harry who was practically a blur as he zoomed around up near the top of the goal posts, and getting higher as he kept flying, both of their clothes and hair flying all over the place, although James' flight was far less impacted by it.
Harry came to an almost immediate stop when he heard James' call, making James' heart jump into his throat in fear. Harry only slid a small amount on his broom though, looking down and back at James with an expression that seemed to completely encapsulate the meaning of a question mark.
"Harry, you can't fly off like that, it's dangerous." James said, cheeks flushed and panting as he pulled up next to the small boy, reaching out one hand to hold onto Harry's broom.
"I'm sorry." Harry said, looking downcast, his messy hair even messier after the flying.
"It's not entirely your fault, you shouldn't be able to fly like that on your broom. In future please be more careful though." James said, pecking Harry on the forehead, but firmly keeping his hand on Harry's broom.
"I'll be better." Harry said, looking at James with an almost scared expression that made James' heart break. Harry's large, watery eyes didn't make James feel any better for reprimanding Harry or telling him that he couldn't fly like that again, but it was for Harry's safety, even if he was James' son.
"I'll take you down to the height you need to stay unless absolutely necessary or I say otherwise, okay?" James asked, it wasn't like Harry had broken any rules that had been set before he broke them, James just hadn't told him because he hadn't thought he could. "You can stay flying at that height until practice is over, but feel free to stop whenever, just sit in the stands."
James lead Harry down with a far more gentle slope than Harry had used to get to that height, the other members on the team heading out with their brooms. It was only when James happened to glance at the stands that he saw Lily laughing so hard she was crying, what she found so funny about Harry's dangerous stunt and James' near heart attack he didn't know, so once he got Harry to a safe height he flew over.
"See something that amuses you, Evans?" James asked, dangling upside down from his broom so he could be closer to her.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Lily asked, s smile still on her face as she eyed James up and down.
"What brought you out here?" James asked, flipping the right way up and looking down to see the other members of the team taking flight and warming up slightly, Harry would wave back whenever anyone greeted him, but still seemed to be trying to keep his distance as politely as possible.
"I don't want to be his mother, but that doesn't mean I want nothing to do with him." Lily said, looking down at the small boy too, who was now the only person at the low height of about James' waist.
"Of course. I don't think he or I are ready for you to have one on one time with him yet, but do let me know if you want to spend time with him, he's popular so it won't be suspicious to anyone else." James said with a smile, flying down to Harry to give him a small kiss on his forehead, before he flew up to join the rest of the team.
Lily would sooner let Filch do what he wanted to her than tell James why she laughed so much, else he would find out she was curious about him.
How could she help it though?
Many people from different houses had tried to ask her out when she had stopped hanging out with Snape (and still more told her it was good she "broke up" with him, meaning he was likely spreading rumours they were together), but James hadn't done anything new, and had actually given her significantly more space. He was the person who would throw himself at her the most, but now he made it clear he still liked her without the intimidation many others did, though she did hex the people who did that.
She had been friends with Remus Lupin since first year, not that many people knew that, and she had asked about a few things regarding James.
He had told her what Peter had told him about James' first time flying. He hadn't been on a toy broom and had instead stolen his mother's broom and had almost given his parent a heart attack when he had crashed into a tree in the garden that was older than most of their house. He got brought down safely, and the broom was fine, but from then on in they were locked away much more carefully, and James got a toy broom.
Lily guessed Harry's first flying lesson was karma.
"You look frazzled." Sirius commented with a malicious smile and a raised eyebrow.
"Harry managed to break the height and speed limits, he was up by the goal posts I don't even know how fast." James sighed, but smiled again as he looked down at Harry who was now happily chasing a butterfly.
"At least you know he's going to be a good Quidditch player." One of the other players said, roughly putting his arm around James' shoulders.
"With my genes? He'll be the best, you can quote me on that." James said proudly, before shaking the arm off, switching to serious so fast it would give you whiplash. "Okay, now it's time to practice. No bludgers in today's practice, and if anything flies at Harry you have to stop it before he gets or hurt or realises or there will be consequences."
"What are the consequences?" Felicity asked, raising her hand, she still looked unhappy about Harry's presence, but James could tell that McGonagall had spoken to her.
"That depends on what hits him, if it hits him or he just notices, and if it was intentional." James immediately turned away from her to look at the others. "Okay, everyone into position, then we'll start."