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As they moved farther from the house, James got more excited. In the distance, near the trees, two odd looking white hoops standing across an empty space from one another rose high into the sky. They looked like overgrown bubble wands. Alex darted back and forth between them, looping through the hoops before racing back to the other end. He was astride the odd looking broom Harry had seen in his twin's bedroom.
"And this is our pride and joy," James bragged as they stopped at the edges of white grass.
White grass grew in an oval shape, ringing an open field of green. Beneath the hoop at either end, was a half circle of sand. In the center of the field ran a white line of grass, with a small circle in the center of it.
"It's the third largest private practice pitch in the British Isles. A little less than half the size of a full pitch, with one full size goal on each end."
He spoke with a reverence, and gazed not at Harry or Alex, but the pitch itself.
"Alex said you liked Quidditch," Harry said.
"Like it? Best days of my life have been spent on my broom. I dreamed of playing for the Magpies when I was a boy," James laughed. "The field was one of the first things I commissioned after we moved to Linweald."
James glanced up at the orange and purple sky and sighed. The sun had begun to sink behind the tree-line, which cast deep shadows across the edges of the pitch.
"I was hoping to get you up on a broom today," James said.
"I'd like to fly. It seems fun," Harry admitted. He wanted to hit himself for it, but James smiled widely at him. Never before had an adult looked at him in such a way."
"This weekend then. I can't wait to get you up on a broom again."
"Again?"
"When you were a baby, you had this toy broom. Alex was terrified of his, but you. You terrorised absolutely everyone with yours. Almost no one could get you off the thing without you having a full on tantrum."
Harry tried to imagine himself that young and happy, and got nothing.
He didn't ask about the bitterness that laced James' words beneath the bright smile as he told the story. He wondered if it was his mother that could get him off, but he didn't ask.
Conversation came easier after that, much to Alex's visible annoyance at dinner that night.
The next day followed a similar routine. He had breakfast with James, who told him a little more about what he did as an Auror. Once Alex came down, James rushed out the door. Once he heard the whoosh of the floo, Harry escaped down to the storage room that was feeling more and more like his own room. He stayed holed up there, reading about the world he'd been dropped into until Mippy brought lunch. After lunch, Alex always went flying for a few hours.
With Alex occupied, he began exploring the other storage rooms. He started with the one directly across from his, so he could keep an eye out for when Alex was done flying. After that, he went back into his hideaway with the treasures he'd found. He'd stay there until just before James returned, where he picked out books for the next day.
Once James returned, Harry joined him on the sofas in the first floor lounge, where the two of them talked. Mostly, James answered questions about the thing's he'd read that day. Alex joined them for a few minutes, before glaring at Harry and stomping back to his room.
Most of his questions that night were about potions. Since James mentioned that their family had a history with the craft, Harry had been more than interested. He'd even read a couple of the potions books that afternoon.
"Potions was one of Lily's favourite subjects," James said after telling Harry about a couple of the patents the Potters owned on potions. "First time I brought her home, her and dad spent hours talking about them. Mum laughed at me from behind her tea the entire time."
For some reason, it made Harry even more interested in potions.
Dinner that night was even less awkward, or would have been, if not for Alex.
"Dad's going to wise up to this little act sooner or later," Alex spat at him in a low voice as they walked down to the kitchen.
"It's not an act," Harry hissed.
"Sure," Alex drawled and shoved in front of him.
After dinner, Alex stomped back up to his room. James watched him go, but didn't say anything. Instead, he led Harry down to the potions lab.
"He hated me," Harry said mostly to himself.
"He'll come around," James told him. "He's just not used to having to share me or the house with another boy."
If Harry hadn't spent ten years living with Dudley, he might believe that, but he had. Of course, Alex hadn't physically hurt Harry yet, so that automatically made him less awful than Dudley. Harry could live with that, as Alex looked stronger than him.
They let the subject drop and turned back to potions. Apparently, the cavernous potions lab was original to the house, and other than cleaning out expired ingredients, James hadn't really touched the room.
"It's easier to just buy a potion at the apothecary than brew one. Some of them can be quite expensive though, so a lot of…less fortunate families will brew their own," James explained as he flopped down onto the ancient settee in the room.
"Merlin, this thing is uncomfortable" James griped. "If you'll be spending time down here, we'll have to get a new one."
"I rather like it," Harry said.
James made a face, then waved his wand at the settee. "Softening charm," James told him.
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