running up that hill ((james))

Harry couldn't believe the fool that his son was making himself, and after having a letter exchange with Albus. Harry was beyond furious at his son right now. Didn't he have any respect for what Harry and Ginny fought for him to have grown up and how his family fought tirelessly for his kids to have a good life?

Today, he sent a letter to James to meet him at Medallion, and he reserved a quiet room for them to have lunch because what Harry was about to say couldn't hit the eyes of the public. His son dropping out was something that made him furious since he wanted his kids to have what he didn't.

A knock on the door, caused Harry to look. "Come In."

@James Potter

Private lunch with Harry? The thought of it made him want to hurl, especially when he was hoping to use that time with Lien. There was a lot of things he thought of doing with him: tub time, listening to Lien read until he inevitably fell asleep for cuddles, snog, lurk through the Restricted Section, etc.

Once he was given permission to enter the room, James sighed and shut the door behind him and locked it. Even with the room technically being private, a part of him was still paranoid about being in there; he was afraid that this conversation would end up in the media in some hyperbolic form. "Hi, dad..." He couldn't bear to directly look at him.

@Harry Potter

Harry looked emotionless at James when he entered the room. If James knew how much his mother and he fought for him to have this life hurt Harry to bits. He didn't want to be angry, but he knew James needed to hear the dark truth. "I see you know you fucked up because you can't even look at me," he said putting his crystal down.

"Take a seat," he said motioning towards the seat across from him. "Let's not make this longer than it has to be because you know you did something pretty fucking stupid," he commented. Crossing his arms, he looked up at his son. "Your brother sent me an owl saying you were being a prick to him. I thought we discussed this before?" he said looking up at his son.

He wasn't happy about being a grandparent, "If you are going to have kids of your own, you got to learn not to be a prick to certain people, just for fun and giggles." he said in a dark tone. Why did James do these things?

@James Potter

Still avoiding direct eye contact, James took a seat. He loathed seeing the look of disappointment on his father's face; it always felt so crushing as it felt like no matter what he did, there was always something to scold him for. His mum wasn't like that. She acknowledged his mistakes, but always tried to figure out his motivations and made sure he realized she was there for him. He absolutely loved and adored his mum; James hoped he'd inherit some of her parenting skills to use on the sprog. He wanted to do and be better!

"Being a bloody prick 'bout what?! He and I haven't talked much this term!" He crossed his arms unable to believe that Harry was blindly believing Albus' version of events instead of looking at the full picture. "Dad, I've been keeping more to myself than ever! What the fuck was Al telling you?!"

He had to pretend, for his own sake, that Lien was right on the other side of the door. Something to calm him down.

"Er, I've been sober for a few weeks now..."

James doubted it would shift the tone even slightly, but there was nothing to lose by pointing that out.

@Harry Potter

Harry always felt a lot of sympathy for Albus, because he knew for years, that James found joy in picking on him. Due to this it was hard for Harry to often sympathize with James due to his past. "Please don't lie to me James, you know Albus doesn't lie as you do, he's, after all, a straight-A student," he said giving James a glare. Albus was definitely a student known for being top of his year, and it couldn't make Harry more proud.

"Your bother was telling me you denied him helping you, and then you had the audacity to pick on one of your classmates," he said as he played with his crystal in his hands. He didn't want to believe James, since the boy had a past of lying about the most important of things. A nod came from Harry, "I'm glad you have been, but until you've been sober for six months, I'd rather not be too hopeful about that." he said because he wanted James to reach his full potential.

If James knew how much Harry cared about him. "Would it make you feel better if I told you I might pass the family legacy onto your brother because he clearly has more respect," he said with a look.

@James Potter

"Al bloody does lie too, grades don't mean shit!"

Didn't everybody lie? Wasn't that just human nature? Every instance of his dad lying has been documented in some form. What was with the hypocrisy?

Now his own father was on his bloody crystal! James couldn't help but feel disrespected. Shifting his body awkwardly, James shut his eyes trying to imagine himself in a much happier scenario. That was impossible to manage as he felt the intensity of Harry's disdain. "Shitting on my boyfriend before we began dating wasn't bloody helping! Drawing his wand at me for wanting a bloody snack wasn't helping! And who was I picking on? 'Cause if it's that bitch Nott, it's 'cause she bloody outed me! Am I supposed to let that slip by?!"

Sighing, James scratched at his arm. Did Harry have any faith in him?

"Er, what do ya mean by family legacy..?"

If he meant the inheritance, he was screwed. James also refused to give up his rightfully given invisibility cloak or the map he stole.

@Harry Potter

Harry faced a lot of persecution during his days at Hogwarts and hearing James cry like a baby about it killed him. “Alayna should have never done what she did to you, but you need to learn that’s in the past, and by your age I dealt with a lot worse. You have no consideration, and all you do is sit around like a lump on a log.” I spoke Harry in a dark tone. What was wrong with kids these days, “I’m shocked someone like a former prefect shows any interest in you. You clearly have no ambition, and I’d even say that problematic Cartwright is a hell of a lot better than you’ll be.” spoke Harry who didn’t find his son worthy. “Haven’t I told you being laid back is clueless. I’m glad to see you are showing some responsibility, but I’m not getting my hopes up.” said Harry with a sigh. It killed him to say these things but James needed to hear it.

“I think a toss with Voldemort would wise you up, and I’m saying this because I love you, but James you are new to the whole responsibility thing, and got a lot to learn, and dropping out I certainly hope you got a plan, because I’m not helping you.” he said straighten up his suit. James was always trouble in Harry’s mind, and right now he didn’t have much hope. Harry let out a sigh for a bit. “James I know I don’t tell you this very often and right now I sound like my Uncle Vernon, but I do very much love you and am proud of you. I just think right now until you learn to appreciate what you have. You have a lot of good qualities, you don’t show them very often, and I get being laid back. But you need to start taking life seriously, and quit letting someone like Alayna Nott dictate what you do.” he said hoping James saw that Harry cared about him.

A nod came, “Yes I am taking away your inheritance until you show to be worthy of it and realize that until you’ve suffered several near death incidents, you haven’t had a bad life.” he said in a tone. He wanted James to learn some responsibility. “I will provide everything on your end for that child, and I’m doing this as a way of you learning to be responsible. You’re brother has more appreciation for what I’ve worked hard to achieve, and there are many ways you could go about this such as stop sitting around like a trust fund baby, and I will say I’m quite proud of you, but I need you to start finding ways to work for what you have.” spoke Harry in a stern tone. He knew James would cry about it like a baby since he didn’t take well to Harry taking order.

He knew James didn’t like him and he knew unlike his mother he didn’t stand a chance with his grandchild, but Harry was doing what he felt was best. “You can cry all you want since you think your life is so miserable, but you need to start looking at the good things you have.” said Harry who didn’t want to keep this long. He got up because he didn’t want to see James cry at what Harry was telling him. This was tough love that needed to be said.

@James Potter

In the past? It was a bloody month ago! It was practically recent history! James found himself stunned at the lack of actual care coming from his own father. Merlin, he was regretting not asking Lien to at least be in the same building or just outside it. Just knowing he was around had a stabilizing effect.

"My boyfriend's the first person to genuinely like me for me..." He didn't mind his impulsive tendencies, dark arts interest, ability to speak parseltongue. James felt as if he was able to tell Lien about anything that came to mind and vica versa. He adored Lien so much!

He glanced down at the floor sighing as his father continued his tirade that would only give him more reason to stop associating with him. How was anything coming out of that conceited mouth of his loving? Shouldn't parents want better for their children..? If he was in Harry's position, he'd be quite glad that his child grew up in a safer world where it was okay to be laid-back, where it was okay to not have everything figured out. He'd support his kid no matter what their dreams were! Wasn't being a parent supposed to involve unconditional love, like Professor Riddle said?

"I'm bloody feeling the 'love'," James muttered before chewing his lip some more until he tasted something metallic. Fuck. He was going to have to apply some lubricant to his lips later; he didn't realize how multi-use that was.

What got him to lose his barely-there composure was his inheritance. "You're barring me from my inheritance?! Have you gone bloody mad?" That threw a wrench into his plans! Did the crucio he received all those years ago damage his thinking? James honestly wouldn't be surprised if it did. "How am I supposed to be responsible for the sprog if I can't bloody access my own money? How the bloody hell am I supposed to actually care for the kid if yer just gonna do shit yourself? You probably want me to relapse and lose any bloody happiness I do have to be as miserable as you are!"

Of course, James wasn't going to disclose this conversation to his mum. He didn't want her to be sad if he could help it!

His face was becoming redder as all sorts of emotions stirred within him. He had to hold off from crying as much as possible as, for whatever reason, Harry always penalized him for showing emotion. He was always a rather emotional child and often chose to lean on his mum more for support; it was hard to just brush things off when it came from his father. A part of him wanted to pull out his wand, give Harry a taste of his own medicine to humble him, but that'd cause more problems. Instead, he glanced at him dead in the eye as he got up.

"Guess what? I'm a parselmouth, and nothing ya did could stop that."

@Harry Potter