A Promise
James Potter was nervous. And worried. And bouncy. Very bouncy. He'd spent the past fifteen minutes pacing around the room, or bouncing at the balls of his feet, or fidgeting impatiently with his wand. He just couldn't stay still for the life of him.
"James, mate, please. Can you stop moving already? You're making me nauseous," Sirius told James flippantly, while sprawled on the plush armchair in the Potters' living room.
"I can't," James answered moodily, making a sharp u-turn and continuing his pacing.
"Why? What's got you so wired up?" Sirius asked with a huff, pushing himself up to a sitting position.
"Yeah, ever since your parents asked to talk to us, you've been going mad," Peter observed absently. He threw a fudge fly in the air and then triumphantly caught it with his mouth.
"Well, that's the thing! Why do my parents want to talk to all of us?" James' worrying didn't cease.
"I dunno," Sirius seemed entirely unperturbed. "Maybe they want to ask what we want for dinner."
"Yes, of course," James said snarkily. "Because my mother telling us to meet at the living room in 10' to discuss something important is code for whatever should I make for dinner?"
"Could be," Peter shrugged non-commitally.
"No, Pete, it couldn't," James scolded his friend indignantly.
"Alright, so your parents want to talk to us about something - big deal," Sirius intervened. "How bad could it possibly be?"
"Maybe it has something to do with the war," Remus suggested, looking up from his book.
A grim sort of awkward ilence fell over the four boys. James let out a choked sigh and picked up the pace.
Sirius sent Remus a nasty glare. "You're really not helping with James' panicking, Moony."
"What? It's a possibility," Remus insisted with a shrug.
"There's no war," Sirius commented flippantly.
"Well, not formally, but there's definitely one brewing. You know this, Sirius. You're the one who told us," Remus raised an eyebrow at Sirius.
"Okay, can we please stop talking about wars?" Peter interrupted, gesturing towards a worried James. "James looks about ready to explode."
"Right, sorry," Remus muttered. In an attempt to calm James down, he added, "it probably doesn't have to do with the war, anyway. Dunno why I even suggested it."
James didn't look convinced.
"Oh, don't listen to Moony's yammering, mate," Sirius sighed. "You know he's always being a stinky little pessimist."
"Am not!" Remus fixed Sirius with a pointed stare.
"Are too," Sirius retaliated, matching Remus' tone.
"If I'm a pessimist, then you're a drama queen."
"I am not - "
"You're both petty and immature," Peter rolled his eyes. "Now, will you stop that? Your bickering isn't helping."
"He started it!" Sirius accused Remus immediately.
"I didn't! You did, when you called me a stinky pessimist," Remus said with a scowl.
"But you - "
"Oh, boys, you're all here. Good," Fleamont Potter's gruff voice interrupted them again, as he burst into the living room with Euphemia at his side.
"James, dear, why are you pacing back and forth?" Euphemia asked kindly. "Take a seat next to your friends, please."
James obliged and flopped down on the sofa next to Peter. Sitting there, he felt uncharacteristically idle, so he took out his wand from his pocket and attempted to absentmindedly balance it on his finger.
"And stop playing with the wand, son," Fleamont told James with a strict expression that was quite unlike his usually playful disposition. "This is important."
Feeling a knot tie itself in his stomach, James reluctantly put his wand away and focused all of his attention to his parents.
"Alright, boys, we've gathered you here to give you some news, and to ask you for a very big favor," Euphemia began, looking between the four curious boys.
"As you know," Fleamont continued, "James has a sister - Ryan. Now, Ryan's been attending Ilvermorny, the American school of magic, for the past four years. She's also been spending most of her time during summer with her American friends. This year, however, she'll be coming back to England and attending Hogwarts with you."
"That's amazing news!" James cheered, looking better at ease at the announcement. His good mood vanished, however, upon observing the looks on his parents' faces. He visibly deflated. "Isn't it?"
"It is," Euphemia assured him. "But there is one problem."
"This is where the favor we want to ask you comes in," Fleamont informed them gravely. "You see, Ryan is not returning to England of her own volition. It is the circumstances at Ilvermorny that have forced us to make this change. For the past four years, Ryan has been getting herself in trouble."
"Trouble?" James asked, unable to contain himself. "We get into trouble, too, dad."
"She wasn't expelled, was she?" Peter intervened with wide eyes.
"No, she wasn't expelled," Fleamont sighed. "But she's been getting in trouble - not your kind of trouble. I don't mean pranks and detentions and such. I mean, danger. Real danger. Agilbert Fontaine, the Headmaster at Ilvermorny, contacted us at the end of last year to let us know that Ryan got into even more trouble and, this time, she survived just by the skin of her teeth."
James' heart broke a little when he saw his mother choke a little sob.
"And though she will be receiving award after award by the MACUSA - " Euphemia explained, tearily, " - for her services to the school and the community, Agilbert didn't think it prudent to stay at Ilvermorny any longer."
"So, as you boys must understand by now, our Ryan has a knack for finding herself in dangerous situations. She and her friends - who, we're told, accompany her everywhere - have gotten out unscathed so far and they have indeed done Ilvermorny many a great service, but their tendency to get into such trouble has become concerning," Fleamont added.
"Hence, why we must ask you - all of you - to please watch her at Hogwarts," Euphemia asked the boys soulfully. "We know that you'll have your O.W.L.s this year and that you'll be busy, but we were hoping that you could look out for her. Just make sure that Ryan doesn't get herself in any more danger."
"Of course, mrs. Potter," Sirius was the first one to answer. He looked solemn and determined. "We'll watch her."
"Yeah, mom, don't you worry," James assured his mother. "Ry will be safe at Hogwarts."
"And I'm a Prefect this year," Remus supplied helpfully. "I can help keep her in line, I s'ppose."
Peter remained silent, but he did nod his head along to whatever his friends said.
Fleamont's shoulders visibly relaxed once the boys had offered their help. His concerned face broke out into his usual easy-going grin with a touch of relief. "Thank you, boys. It's a relief to hear your eagerness to help. It's quite relieving, indeed."
"Anytime, dad," James shrugged off his father's words of gratitude. "And uh, when'll Ry get here?"
"Oh, she'll be spending the rest of the summer at her friend's house," Fleamont informed them. "She was really upset with the sudden transfer and quite sad that she would have to leave her friends, so we agreed that the least we could do for her was to let her have some time with her friends over summer."
"She'll be home a couple of days before September 1st - just in time to come with us to Diagon Alley," Euphemia said pleasantly. "She needs a new wand, apparently. She broke her last one on her latest misadventure."
"Misadventure, eh?" Sirius whispered into James' ear michievously. His previous solemnity had melted away, and in its place was his usual bravado and devil-may-care attitude.
"We'll have plenty of those to look forward to," James whispered back to his best friend. "So long as my sister is safe."