The Kid - Son of a Legend

The Kid - Son of a Legend

Chapter 3 - What?

Ginny Potter, who had been in an interrupted slumber, awoke with a shock as she watched her husband tear into the room, gasping for breath. "Ginny! Ginny!," he yelled, "James is missing!" It took a second for the message to penetrate her skull and into her brain. At once, the woman leapt to her feet, snatched up her wand, and pulled on her robes.

"Well don't just stand there, Potter! Go wake the children. We've got to find him."

"I'm the kid who thought we'd someday be lovers

Always held out that time would tell"

Harry Potter pushed Joseph and Tyler's door open and shook them awake. Joseph stood up and yawned, walking out of the room. Tyler opened his eyes, said very audibly, "Why do we hafta det up, Daddy?" before slumping his head on Harry's shoulder, fast asleep again.

Harry exited the room with two little boys in PJ's to find Ginny had woken a groggy eye-rubbing Lily up. She was laying Emma down in her pram and covering her with a little blanket.

Harry quietly explained that James was missing and they couldn't find him. Joseph started crying and Lily looked more miserable than anyone could ever remember the smiling girl ever being. "He's gonna be OK, right Daddy?"

Placing his unoccupied hand on the small child's shoulder, he comforted her. Ginny handed light wands to Lily and Joseph, telling them to use them to look for James in the neighborhood. Ginny took Joseph and Emma, and Harry took Lily and Tyler (who hadn't heard a thing anyone had said about James).

They set out looking around the neighborhood for James, having no idea where the eight-year-old was.

James felt himself leaving the comfort of Aunt 'Mione and Uncle Ron's house and felt wet grass beneath his feet. He was being pulled along by the old tin can. With a THUMP, James landed on a small patch of grass under a large oak tree. There, sitting in front of him was the Play Park he remembered from long ago.

The boy picked up his bag, stood up, and marched over to one of the swings. He then set his things down and slumped onto the seat. His feet slowly pushed him off the ground. James closed his eyes as he flew into the air, lifted by his swing. He imagined Dad right behind him, making Harry Potter's little boy fly.

When James opened his eyes and looked up, the first thing he noticed was a small white house across the road. A bright sign in the window read, 'Happy 8^th Birthday,

Rafi Rosen'. An eighth birthday was something that James had always wanted. True, he was eight, but the thought had never crossed his parent's mind when he turned that age.

James remembered it very clearly as the sun splashed off of his midnight black hair.

Flashback:

"James!" his mother called, "Get up! Your father is about to leave!" James scrambled to his feet, putting on his slippers. Surely, Mummy had gotten him up early so she and Dad could wish him a happy birthday before they left for work. James opened his door and strolled out, expecting to see the whole of downstairs covered in decorations in honor of his birthday. However, when James trampled down the stairs, all he saw was his Dad sitting at the table, drinking his morning coffee.

"Morning, Son. Glad to see you're up. Joseph, I was wond..."

"My name's James, Dad,"

"Right. James, I was hoping you could watch after your siblings today. Make sure they don't cause a riot while your Mum and I go shopping for the new baby." He stood up and pulled on his coat. Just as Harry turned to leave, he spoke again. "By the way, James..." This was it! The moment he was waiting for. His Dad was about to say, "Just kidding! Happy Birthday! We're going to have a lot of fun today, just you and me."

Instead, his father's comment ended in, "Remember to tell Lily she can't drink from a real glass, yet. You do remember what happened when Joseph asked the same question and he shattered glass everywhere."

"Yes, Dad." With that, Harry disapparated into thin air, closely followed by Ginny. All that day, James took care of his three siblings, making sure they didn't get into trouble. Finally, at 6:30, Dad and Mum arrived home, exhausted. Mum threw together dinner and they ate in silence. James headed up to his room early, deciding he wasn't very hungry. He closed his door and cried on his bed.

An hour later, there was a soft knock on his door, and Joseph entered, carrying a messily, brightly wrapped package. James opened it and discovered it to be a model of the Chudley Cannon Seeker. James hugged Joseph and thanked him a good birthday. All Joseph said was, "Happy birthday, James"

Yes, the more James thought about it, as his swing rocked back and forth, was that his siblings cared about him more than life, and would be devastated if he came up missing. "At least someone cares," he thought miserably.

"Time was talking, guess I just wasn't listening

No surprise if you know me well"

After three hours of searching, it was nearing four in the morning. Harry, Ginny, Joseph, and Lily hadn't found a thing. They trudged back to the house, their eyes tired from searching for James. Ginny tucked all four back into bed and sat with Harry on their couch. They slowly drifted off, dreaming that their son would come home.

When they woke, both had almost identical ideas. It was 9 AM, and Ron and Hermione were surely awake. Harry and Ginny stood in the fireplace, yelling, "Ron and Hermione Weasley's" Both landed in their friend's house just five minutes after James had left on the Portkey.

Acting surprised, Hermione came into living room with Laurie on her hip. She glanced at her good friends and immediately knew why they had come so abruptly to her and Ron's house. "Hermione, something horrible has happened. James..."

"Went missing? Disappeared? Isn't at home in his bed?"

"How did you know?" Ginny asked curiously.

"James was here yesterday night. He told Ron and me everything."

"Everything, what?"

"You haven't figured it out yet?"

"Figured what out?"

"Why your son ran away." Harry stood next to his wife, awe-stricken. Why would James do this? Why would he run away from his family? Something in Harry's brain asked a question that he didn't want to be answered: Was it Ginny and I he was running away from?

No, that couldn't be, Harry convinced himself.

Ginny was the first to speak up as Ron entered the room, the most serious look on his face Harry had ever seen him wear. "Why did James run away?" Hermione handed Ginny a little notebook James had written two years ago in his six-year-old handwriting, 'James' Journal: Nobody reads it or else.'

"Read it," said Ron, "It'll tell you a lot about James. Lots of stuff there you'd have never guessed.

"How did you get this, Ron?" Harry asked, bewildered.

"James left it here last night." With that, Hermione handed Laurie to Ron, who immediately began talking to his daughter as he carried her up the stairs to her crib. Hermione told them to sit down and read the journal as she headed into the kitchen to clean up. Ginny flipped to a random page, and read aloud:

"Dear Journal, February 23, 2013

Today Emma Ann was born. Everybody was lookin' at the baby, 'specially Lily, Ty, and Dad. I went to sit up in my room for a little while. Joseph was gonna do the same as me, but he thought it would be good if he went to stay with Mummy and the baby for a while. After a while, a neighbor guy named Mr. Longbottom brought over some dinner for us. My Mum and Dad thought I wasn't hungry. I didn't get supper. Oh, well."

Harry and Ginny looked at each other, thoughts of worry apparent on their faces. Harry took the book and flipped back a few pages. There he found a journal entry that was marked on James' birthday.

"Dear Journal, January 14, 2013

Happy birthday to me. I suppose it was a happy birthday. Joseph got me a model of the Chudley Cannon's seeker, Bradley Biggs. I came down to breakfast this morning, hoping for at least a balloon or two. Nothing, all day. My eighth birthday went completely unnoticed. Oh well. Birthdays aren't everything."

"I could have sworn we got James a birthday present," Ginny looked at Harry. He had his face buried in his hands. Ginny turned to the last entry, one dated yesterday.

"Dear Journal, July 6, 2013

I'm running away. I just hope Mummy and Dad find me. Where and How and Why I won't say, incase they read this. I want them to really know me and love me enough to figure out where I'm going. I'm first going to stop at Uncle Ron's and Aunt 'Mione's to stay the night. I hope they won't be too shocked to see me."

"We have to figure out where he's gone," said Ginny defiantly before breaking into sobs, "If we never found him, I don't know what I'd do."

"So you do love him?" Hermione was leaning against a wall behind the couple.

"Of course we do. He's our firstborn son. He's named after my father. Of course we care about him," Harry argued.

"Oh, really. From the impression he gave us, he was utterly ignored."

"Please tell us how to find our little boy. Give us a clue, a fact, something!" Ginny cried between sobs.

"Fine. He told us not to tell you until things got drastic. I think things are now officially drastic. Look in his room."

"Come again?"

"I said, look in James' room!" Without any further questions, Harry grabbed Ginny's wrist and dragged her to the fireplace where he grabbed some floo powder and yelled out his home address. Just before leaving, he whispered words of thanks to Hermione, who smiled a small gratifying smile.

James was still sitting on the swing. The little bit of food Aunt 'Mione had packed him was now gone, for James had eaten it throughout the afternoon. It was now evening and the sun was starting to set. The boy looked sideways, seeing in his mind, Mummy pushing a baby boy on a swing, with Dad nearby, taking as many pictures as he could. Without warning, something touched James' shoulder.

A man was standing behind him, a woman nearby. "We saw you sitting out here alone all afternoon. We live across the street, there." He pointed to the house with the birthday sign in the window. A small boy his own age with a funny little cap on his head smiled at James from between his parents. The man bent down so he was at James' eye level. "Are you lost?"

James shook his head. "Just waiting...for my parents." The little boy stepped forward. He spoke with a small lisp, but in a brotherly way.

"My mummy and daddy thay that you can eat thupper with uth if you want."

"No thanks, Rafi, is it? I saw the sign in your window. Happy birthday, by the way." Rafi smiled and stepped back behind his mum, who spoke gently to James.

"I'll bring you out something. You look hungry." With that, the woman went inside to fetch James supper.

"What's your name, lad?" the man asked kindly, "My name is Mr. Rosen, but you can call me Ben."

"My n-name is James."

"OK, James. You already know Rafi. This is Elijah. He's five." A little boy James had not noticed before poked out from between his Dad's legs.

"My name is Elie, Daddy."

Mrs. Rosen then reappeared with a plateful of kugel and brisket. James gobbled it down gratefully. She had also brought him out a blue blanket and pillow.

"Since you insist on staying outdoors, I brought you this." She indicated the blanket and pillow. James said his thank you's, and everybody said, 'goodnight'.

James then laid out the pillow and blanket on the ground under the oak tree where he had arrived. Long after James fell asleep, Mr. and Mrs. Rosen watched this brave little boy who was awaiting the arrival of his parents, slumber. They watched over him, making sure nothing happened to James, just like his real parents.