Headache
James was going to have a fucking aneurysm.
“Sorry Harry can you just… repeat that?” James said, dragging his hand down his face.
Harry shrugged slightly as he continued to eat his plate of food, “After you and Neville left Malfoy picked up Neville’s remembrall and flew up with it and threw it and I uh… flew up and dived and caught it when he did-”
“And then McGonnagal came down and made him seeker for the Gryffindor team!” Ron was practically vibrating with excitement for his friend.
Harry flushed slightly and nods a bit, “Yeah… Yeah so that me the youngest Hogwarts seeker in almost a century.”
James blinks and stares at the two of them, “You… Harry that’s bloody brilliant!”
Harry kinda shrugged a bit, “I don’t know… maybe? But I found out something about my dad! He was a Quidditch player as well! I don’t know what position he played but he still did!”
And there went his heart. Harry knew nothing about him or Lily, not those little things. Not that James had played Quidditich, not that Lily had been well on her way to a charms mastery, not that James and Sirius and helped Harry fly on a toy broom when he was a baby, not any of those little things.
He cleared his throat of the bubble that had started to form thinking about those things, “Ah… I think I remember passing by the Quidditch trophy case and seeing his name there? Something about him being chaser?”
Harry’s eyes lit up at the new piece of information, opening his mouth to question him about it further.
However he couldn’t get any farther as a different voice cut through, “Having a last meal, Potter? When are you getting the train back to the Muggles?”
James was starting to like the Malfoy boy less and less. He gave him a look, “Coming from someone who’s apparently poor enough he needs to steal remembralls? I more think you need to worry about that.”
Malfoy spluttered a bit before he seemingly tried to compose himself, but before he could get a word of rebuttal in Harry spoke.
“You’re a lot braver on the ground with your little friends with you.”
James smirked a little bit. His son was fucking sassy and it was amazing, he just needed to grow it a little bit.
With a glare at Harry Malfoy spoke, “I’d take you alone any time. Wizard’s duel. Wands only. Never heard of a wizard’s duel before?”
“Course he has! I’m his second who’s yours?” Ron spun around frowning at Malfoy.
James felt his face grow pale, staring at Ron in shock. He did not just accept a wizarding duel on his son’s behalf did he?
Malfoy turned to size up the two boys with him, “...Crabbe. Midnight in the Trophy room,” and without another word Malfoy and the other two boys walked off and out of the great hall.
Harry turned to look at the others, “So… what’s a wizard duel? And what’s a second?”
“Well a second is someone who steps in for you if you die but that only happens in proper duels. Most you two will be able to do is like… shoot sparks at each other,” Ron said with a shrug.
“That… Ron that isn’t the full extent of a wizard duel-”
“It isn’t?”
Ron looked genuinely confused, prompting James to take a deep breath.
“Oh boy this is gonna be a fun mini lesson…” James grumbled to himself.