Initiation
If James Potter was anything, it was passionate. James Potter had enough love inside him that the whole world could rely on it and he would never run out. He put his whole entire being into his passions, whether it be his family, his friends, his work. James never did anything half-hearted, he made his passions his priority. This sounds like a brilliant quality to have, and it had been, he had been praised and admired for his dedication, loyalty and all-consuming love. But that’s exactly what it turned out to be, all-consuming. One’s greatest strength is proven to be one’s fatal flaw. This tale is not a nice one, don’t let its beauty deceive you, as you shall come to realise this is not only a love story, this is the downfall of James Potter.
We begin on a crisp monday morning, James’s apartment in London, 5:59am. The calm before the storm. The final minute before Jame’s life was turned upside-down. The final moment of peace, the final second before James’s would never be the same again. The alarm blared violently around James's bedroom, the violent noise enough to drive anyone to insanity, ricocheting through the now unrested room. Running a hand through his unruly hair, James grasped at his cluttered side table for his glasses, hand brushing against discarded wrappers, half-empty glasses and ah finally there they were, he shoved them onto his nose and scrambled into the bathroom, to wash his face.
Staring into the mirror, a man full of life stared back at him. Hazel eyes glowing with excitement at the new day, smooth dark skin glistening in the early morning sun streaming in through the window. His hair was dark, a mop of chocolate waves that no matter how hard he tried, never sat tidy, but the look worked on him. Gold rimmed glasses sat on his nose, right atop the bump he gained after he broke his nose when he was five. A lopsided grin split his face as he went back into his room to get dressed for work. He would never say he was the most stylish of men, Remus and Sirius were certainly more fashionable than he was, sirius’s rockstar vibe he had adopted worked excruciatingly well on him, so much so that James envied how effortless it was for him, and Remus’s grandfatherly, academic look also worked so well for him. But James did not mind, he quite liked his main-protagonist-in-a-coming-of- age-film look he had going on.
James lived in a flat in the middle of London, a ten minute walk from his work. His flat was the most lively and welcoming space in the whole neighbourhood, he was friends with everybody on his block of flats, and would regularly have people over. If there was an occasion, it would be at James’s. He lives with Sirius, his best friend of fifteen years, who James is one trillion percent certain is his soulmate. Platonically. Except Remus will regularly make jokes about blurred lines. But James is just a passionate and intimate person. And none of them seem to mind anyway. Remus is Sirius’s boyfriend, and James’s other best friend. James had introduced him to Sirius on his birthday three years prior, and they had immediately become attached to one another, their souls bonded for life. James should be jealous of their love, but he loved them both so much that he felt content with having just platonic relationships, he was just incredibly happy that they had each other. They were all so close that most people wondered who was dating who. It was a strange phenomenon, so rare that they had found themselves ina group that cared so deeply for one another. Yet here they were.
By the time James was ready, downstairs, had his breakfast, made coffee, Remus and Sirius had only just come out of Sirius’s room and sat down at the table with a coffee placed in front of them. Sirius was still in his pyjamas, Remus was dressed ready to head to work with James, but both sporting the same exhausted expression, James was clearly the only morning person in the household. Remus was still refusing to move in with James and Sirius, even though his flat remained practically unused. He had his own bedroom, his own key, his own wardrobe, his own bathroom here at their flat, yet still refused to move in, James still has no idea why. But they drunk their coffee in silence, comfortable, warm, as they waited for the caffeine to settle in.
“Ready to go?” James called from the door to Remus, and he and Sirius came waddling around the corner, shoulders dropped, eyes blinking slowly.
“I love you, see you later.” Remus spoke to Sirius, into his head as he embraced him. Sirius was relatively short, especially compared to Remus who was 6’4 and towered over Sirius’s 5’8 body. James was right in the middle at 6’1 and felt very comfortable.
“I love you.” Sirius kissed Remus goodbye.
“Oi! Where's my kiss goodbye?” James huffed.
Sirius shuffled over to him jumping into his arms and giving him a big sloppy kiss on his forehead. “Have a great day at the office dear!” he laughed as James tossed him off of him laughing as well. Remus just shook his head and closed his eyes. “Fucking blurred lines.” he sighed and unlocked the door and headed out to the car.
James works at mi6, he is, despite only being 26, one of the most up and coming detectives and has been included in all of the top cases and meetings. Granted this is probably because of his mother, Euphemia who was the best detective of her time until she passed from cancer when James was 14. His father couldn’t last without her and died a few months later. Their deaths had hit James hard, and despite his usual positive, sunny demeanour, he had a part of his soul chipped away, never to be replaced. It had taken him a few years before he got back on track, but he was able to continue his mother’s legacy, and follow her footsteps into mi6 under his mother’s best friend Minerva Mcgonagall. Mcgonagall was head of the unit James was a part of under the MI6. She had gotten him into all the meetings, all the cases. He owed her a lot, he took him in after his parents died, and he would be forever grateful.
James and Remus had spontaneously both decided to take an apprenticeship at MI6 and that's how their journey at MI6 started. They had both climbed the ranks and become very well renowned detectives. While Remus only stayed at MI6 for the money, James loved his work. And I mean love. He would throw himself into cases so hard that he would be uncontactable, he would be in his own world, not sleeping, not eating. He was obsessed with the way the criminal mind worked, the way they committed the crimes, the mistakes they made. He became engrossed in his cases so much that Remus and Sirius had tried to get him to quit on multiple occasions, but he never did.
He had a secret project he was working on. Over the past few years he had picked up on something. Similar murders all throughout Europe. Perfect murders, few to no witnesses of which they would never get enough information out of. James was so intrigued, he had racked up files and files worth of information on the kills, but he had no support for it, nor did he have enough information to prove anything. Yet he was drawn to this theory more than he had ever been for anything else before. Something inside him was desperate for more, that primal sense of yearning for more. But, every time he would bring it up he was shut down. Yet he continued on, gathering information on the killings as though his life depended on it, he would lay awake at night thinking about it, dreaming of the one who committed the murders, laying out the murders in his own flat.
So, when James was called into Mcgonagall's office he had the fleeting feeling of anxiousness that she would find out about the file and he would be fired. Of course he knew her, and trusted she would never do such a thing, but she was always full of surprises.
“Morning Minnie, to what do I owe the pleasure?” James opened the door and sat down in front of her desk.
“Have a biscuit, Potter.” she said, monotone in response, as per usual.
She eyed him carefully, looking over her slim glasses and down her pointed nose. She would put on this act at work, as though she was professional, but really she was extremely affectionate towards James.
“I have seen your file, Potter. The hidden one.” His eyes shot wide, “ Don’t pull that face, I always knew, don’t be so shocked. I reviewed it,” She paused, and popped in a pear drop from her bowl of sweets on her desk. She waited for a moment before continuing, James fidgeted nervously, his thumbs twirling around each other, leg bouncing.
“I would like to set up a team, secretly, to look further into this. I think you're onto something Potter. I would like you to lead it. Are you interested?” she continued.
James’s face split into that famous lopsided grin.
“Of course I bloody am! Who's going to be on the team?” He prayed Remus would be on it with him, he would love to do this with his best mate.
“It’ll be you, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and Lily Evans. You will meet her tomorrow when you'll start.” she told him.
“Yes, thanks Aunt Minnie, I won’t let you down.” James continued to grin. She dismissed him and he took a deep breath before walking back into the office and sitting down at his desk.
“Alright?” Remus asked when he sat back down.
“Everything's bloody brilliant dear Moony.” James gave him a look and Remus rolled his eyes and turned back to his work.
This is it. James thought. This is the beginning of my rise to the top.
Oh how wrong he was.