The Kid - Son of a Legend

The Kid - Son of a Legend

Chapter 2 - The Panic

James landed with a THUMP on the hard wooden floor of his Aunt and Uncle's house. There was a yell from upstairs, and a gangly redheaded figure appeared in the stairs, staring at the small figure that had just landed on his hearth. Ron charged over to the fire after realizing it was a child.

James stood up and brushed himself off. He placed his glasses over his bright green eyes. Ron smiled and lifted his nephew into the air. James laughed and hugged his uncle. "Hey, kiddo! I haven't seen you around here, lately. Where's your Mum and Dad?" James bent his head and mumbled something.

Ron cocked his eyebrows in confusion and kneeled down to look at James' eye level. "Aren't they coming?"

"But I've seen things far beyond just the schoolyard

Distant shores of exotic lands"

James muttered, "No," and he collapsed on the ground, sobbing into his knees. Ron looked surprised for a moment, but then a light turned on in his head. Hermione! She would know what to do. He called her down, and the first thing she saw was her husband sitting next to a dusty, crying, James Potter.

Hermione walked over and hugged her eight-year-old nephew. After he had calmed down, James was ready to talk to his Aunt and Uncle. He explained about his Mummy and Daddy not paying enough attention to him like they did with his siblings. Then he explained about running away.

Ron and Hermione glanced at each other, not knowing what to say. Hermione was the first to speak after James had finished. "James, you can't just run away. You have to talk to your parents."

"But Aunt 'Mione, they don't listen to me! Whenever I try to talk to them, they just say 'hold on a second, James', and I never get to tell them what I want to." James started to cry again, and Ron looked at Hermione with a look in his eyes that said quite plainly, "What should we do?"

Hermione looked soothingly at her nephew and said, "Maybe James has something. If he makes Harry and Ginny really think about him, they'll realize he was being ignored. They'll panic and look for him. James can go to that place he talked about, and if his parents really know him, they'll come looking for him there. If they really can't figure out where he is, we'll tell them."

"O...OK," James smiled weakly up at his Aunt, who kissed his forehead. He began to doze off in her arms. She handed the little boy over to her husband, who carried him upstairs. The small figure was laid on a bed and tucked in.

"There're the spires of the Turkish Empire

Six months since we made landfall"

James dreamt he was an only child, and every day his Mummy and Dad played with him. He woke with a start, and the whole house was bursting with light. The little boy climbed out of bed and dressed. He then grabbed his book bag, which was hanging off the back of a wooden rocking chair.

James climbed down the stairs of his Aunt and Uncle's house. When he walked into the kitchen, he found Uncle Ron trying to feed his daughter, Laurie, oatmeal. The redhead father's face and shirt were splattered with the hot cereal. Aunt 'Mione was fixing James breakfast, placing a plastic cup of pumpkin juice in front of his place. James drank it down and ate his eggs quickly. He laced up his trainers and Uncle Ron took out the spare portkey. He tapped the old tin can with his wand and said "Portus".

"Are you sure you want to do this, James?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, Aunt 'Mione."

"You know the rules, James. Stay in the park and don't talk to strangers."

James nodded, and grasping the portkey, he screwed his eyes shut. He felt a yank on his belly button, and before he knew it, he was whirling in the air towards the meadow where he had played with his parents on his first birthday.

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Harry Potter awoke, glancing at the clock. It was near midnight, and he was covered in cold sweat. Something had happened, but he didn't know what. Deciding to check the house for signs of anything odd, Harry threw back the covers, trying not to wake his soundly sleeping wife.

"Riding low with the spice of India

Through Gibraltar, we're rich men all"

Tiptoeing down the hall to his younger sons' room, Harry cracked the door open, peeping in. Two sleeping figures filled the new Quidditch quilts. Closing the door, he moved on to his daughters' room. Once again, he found both sound asleep - one in a crib, the other in a bed with bright pink sheets.

Harry moved on to his eldest child's room. Opening the door and creeping in, the tired father found a neatly made bed with several hand drawn pictures and a wizarding photograph on the bed. For a moment, Harry thought he saw exactly what was in the other rooms and began to leave. It clicked as Harry did a double-take. James was missing! Panicking, he hurtled down the stairs to check the remainder of the house. James was not in the kitchen, nor in the sitting or dining rooms. He was not in the family room or playroom.

In a state of complete shock, Harry charged up the stairs again. When he reached his own room at the very top of the steps, he threw open the door and raced in, yelling, "Ginny! Ginny! James is missing!"