JAMES POTTER AND THE VAULT OF DESTINIES

to the gates, she's likely to give us detention for being late even if we aren't going to be here to serve it.'

       The boys ran across the field at an angle, meeting the former Headmistress at the courtyard entrance. They surprised her as they came bounding up.

       'Boys!' she exclaimed, blinking owlishly at them, her eyes strangely bright. 'You should be inside now that the ceremony is over. It's late.'

'We know, Professor… er,' James said, looking up at the tall woman. 'Er, are you… er?'

       'I'll have you know I have allergies,' McGonagall sniffed, dabbing at her eyes and striding quickly through the gates. 'The babelthrush is particularly fetid this time of year, that's all. Now come.'

       Inside, Harry, Ginny, and the rest were milling near the doorway of the Great Hall as the candles lit themselves for the evening. Students moved through the huge open doors in knots, drifting toward the stairs and their common rooms. Lucy, Rose, and Albus met James and Ralph as they entered.

       'Dad's arranged for us to have extra beds in the dormitories,' Albus said, munching a biscuit he'd found in the Great Hall. 'You and Lucy with the Gryffindors, me and Ralph downstairs with our own mates.'

James asked, 'What about Charlie and Jules and Harold and everybody else?'

       'They're just going home tonight. No point in their hanging around here until tomorrow morning, is there? It's not like they're going anywhere.'

       'Ugh! Stop reminding me,' Rose said, throwing up her hands. 'I'm so jealous I can hardly stand it. You lot going off on some big holiday and me having to stay here and do Arithmancy and Charms and Debellows' stupid version of D.A.D.A. all year.'

'But you like Arithmancy,' Ralph said, frowning.

She sighed angrily. 'Just because I'm good at it doesn't mean I like it.'

       'I'd trade places with you in a heartbeat,' Albus griped. 'It isn't like I want to go on this stupid trip.'

'You think that makes it any better?' Rose fumed. 'The injustice of it all is breathtaking.'

       From across the hall, Hermione's voice called to her daughter. 'You and your brother should probably get upstairs, Rose. Tomorrow's first day of school. Aren't you excited?'

Rose glowered darkly at her mother, and then shared the look with James, Ralph and Albus.

       Lucy patted her older cousin on the arm. 'I'll take lots of pictures for you, Rose. And we'll write. Won't we?' She looked meaningfully at the boys, who muttered their assent and shuffled their feet on the dusty floor.

Rose nodded skeptically.

       'All of you had better get up to bed, then,' Harry Potter said, nodding toward his sons. 'Lily will be staying with your mother and me in the Room of Requirement. We don't want to have to come and wake you lot up when it's time to leave.'

Albus frowned. 'When are we leaving?'

       'I suggest we meet here by the main doors at five thirty,' Harry answered, looking at the rest of the adults, who nodded agreement.

James grumbled, 'This just gets worse and worse.'

       'It really was a beautiful wedding,' Ginny sighed, ignoring James. 'In its own special way. Don't you think?'

'Minerva,' Harry smiled, peering closely at the older woman. 'Are you…?'

       'I have allergies!' McGonagall answered stridently, waving a hankie. 'They make my eyes water!'

       Harry nodded and put an arm around the woman's narrow shoulders, leading her toward the faculty corridors. Ginny, Ron, and Hermione followed, talking amongst themselves.

       Shortly, Albus and Ralph said goodnight and drifted down the stairs toward the Slytherin cellars. James and Lucy joined Rose on the stairs, tromping their way up to the Gryffindor common room.

       'Humdrugula,' Rose called curtly as she approached the portrait of the Fat Lady. The frame swung away from the wall and the sound of raucous voices, laughter, and a crackling fire filled the hall from beyond.

       'I wasn't even told the password,' James mourned to Lucy as they approached the portrait hole.

       'Passwords are for students only,' the Fat Lady sang happily from the other side of the open frame. James rolled his eyes in annoyance.

'James!' a voice called out. 'I got your bed! Isn't it cool?'

James looked and saw Cameron Creevey grinning at him from over the back of the hearth sofa, flanked by two boggling first-years. 'It's got your name on it and everything. My mates are dead jealous, of course. I've been telling the new students about last year. Remember when we went off to Hogsmeade in the tunnel beneath the Whomping Willow? Remember the wolf when we came back?'

       'I remember you getting knocked out cold in the dirt,' James answered unhappily. Rose poked him in the stomach with her elbow, but Cameron seemed unperturbed.

'See?' he said, turning back to the two first-years. 'I told you! It was excellent.'

       James shook his head and joined Rose at a corner table where Ted Lupin was sitting with his former school crew. Lucy followed James, looking around with open curiosity, her face calm and watchful.

       'Hey, James, Gremlin salute,' Damien Damascus announced, raising his fists to either side of his head, the pinky fingers extended to form wiggling ears. Rose, Sabrina Hildegard, and Ted joined in, sticking out their tongues dutifully. James performed the salute as well, but halfheartedly.

       'Things are looking a little slim for the Gremlins this year,' Sabrina said, lowering her hands to the table before her, where she was folding an auger out of a page of the Daily Prophet. 'What with Noah and Petra joining Ted in the fabled outside world and James running off to hobnob with his cronies in the States.'

'Yeah,' Damien said, raising his eyebrows derisively. 'What's up with that anyway?'

       James opened his mouth to reply, but Ted spoke first. 'It's right here, isn't it? Front page, top of the fold.' He pulled the paper out from under Sabrina's elbow and held it up for all to see. James had already seen the headline, which read, 'H. POTTER, AURORS TO JOIN INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATIVE TASK FORCE'. Below the headline was a moving photograph of James' dad and Titus Hardcastle, standing before a podium at the Ministry while flashbulbs erupted from the crowd in front of them. The smaller headlines next to the photo read, 'MUGGLE LEADERS STILL MISSING: W.U.L.F. CLAIMS CREDIT FOR KIDNAPPINGS DESPITE MINISTRY DENIALS. FAMED NYC SKYSCRAPER DISCOVERED IN VENEZUELA, BLAMED ON 'ALIENS''.

       'The whole thing's gone all international now that there's been bigwig kidnappings both here and in the States,' Ted sighed, dropping the newspaper. 'I don't envy your dad one bit, James. It was one thing teasing the American press into believing it was little green men that nicked their building. Getting a bunch of foreign agencies to work together is like getting horklumps to play chess.'

Damien frowned askance at Ted. 'How would you know about such things, Lupin?'

       'I do this thing called 'reading',' Ted said, tapping the side of his nose. 'I learned it from Petra. You should try it sometime!'

       'It's 'Morgan' now, remember?' Sabrina corrected without looking up. 'She calls herself Morgan ever since that whole debacle at her grandparents' place.'

'Talking of which,' Ted said, sitting up in his chair, 'she and the new Headmaster are having themselves a serious little chat right about now, up in his office. I heard Uncle Harry discussing it with the old man himself, and she admitted it when I got back to the castle. Seems there's some question of whether