Ficlet: Harry/Ginny, James
Title: Bloody Plant, Part 1
Words: 725
Rating: PG-13
Characters/pairings: Harry/Ginny, James Potter, (references to) Neville Longbottom
Summary: Harry and Ginny have a "discussion" of how best to discipline James.
Author’s Notes: I wrote this story so it would be understandable on its own. However, if you are interested, it is a sequel to With a Little Help from a Plant. ;)
There will also be a sequel to this story coming soon . . .
James slammed his bedroom door, relieved to escape the bloody plant. He never liked Muriel, no matter how much his parents loved her. James imagined Mum's voice, "Neville gave her to us when I was pregnant with you! She eats dust! She's brilliant!" Yeah, the bloody plant sent out dust-eating vines in the middle of the night which put a stop to many of James' middle-of-the-night plans. James would never hear the end of tonight's escapade, though.
James flopped on his bed, quickly jumping up again. Bloody effing plant! Who knew Muriel would spank him for kicking her? Those vines hurt! She even chased him upstairs! James flopped onto his bed on his stomach this time. Mum said they would discuss this tomorrow, and James knew he was in for it.
***
Harry and Ginny tried to suppress giggles as they walked carefully to avoid stepping on Muriel's vines. When they arrived in their room and closed the door, Ginny said, "That will teach him to kick Muriel."
Harry snorted. "Definitely. I wonder if Neville knows his plant has such an unusual defensive mechanism?"
"Probably not. We should make James tell Neville the whole story."
"That's awfully mean. Neville's his Head of House, not only his honorary uncle."
"James deserves to have consequences for his actions, Harry!"
"I'd say being found naked and unconscious by his mum because he tried to stuff himself through the cat flap and then being spanked by a plant in front of his parents counts as consequences for his actions. He might die of embarrassment as it is."
"You are far too soft on the children, Harry."
"I'm not being soft! What do you want me to do, arrest him?" Harry hissed, throwing up a silencing charm, just in case.
"He broke the law by Apparating without a license. You should arrest him!"
"I'm not going to arrest my own son, Ginny."
"He's my son, too! And he needs to learn we won't tolerate his sneaking out at night to go visit some girl he never told us about. The way he snuck back in, he was fortunate not to be seriously hurt!"
"I wonder why he didn't levitate himself to Al's window? Al would have let him in. He would have blackmailed him for it, but he'd have helped."
"Don't you dare give James any ideas! We don't need him thinking up worse things than he already does," Ginny huffed. She thought for a moment, and said, "Maybe we shouldn't let him get his license in a few weeks."
"That's extremely harsh, Ginny. You know how much he's been looking forward to having his license."
"If you did turn him in, what would the penalty be?"
"A fine."
"Apparating without a license only gets a fine?"
"Yes. And don't look at me like that-I didn't write the law."
"It should be stricter for someone underage."
"Age doesn’t matter. There are plenty of adult witches and wizards who couldn't pass their test, who still Apparate. If they're caught, they get fined."
Ginny grumbled, "James' money comes from us."
Harry shrugged.
"Well, what do you want to do about it? You certainly aren't being helpful!" Ginny crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Harry.
"Ginny, don't be angry, please?" Harry sidled up to Ginny and wrapped his arms around her.
She pushed him away. "I hate always being the strict parent. If it were up to you, the kids would run amok."
Harry sighed. "Maybe I am too easy on them, but I had a shite childhood, and fought Voldemort so we'd have normal kids who had fun, knew they were loved, and didn't get caught in life or death situations at least once a year." Harry wrapped his arms around Ginny again and rested his chin on top of her head. This time she let him.
Ginny started to giggle. "James' getting naked, using some wonky spell of Charlie's to cover himself in oil, sneaking in through the cat flap, and knocking himself unconscious by tripping on Muriel hardly counts as normal."
Harry snorted. "Probably not. I'll work from home tomorrow and talk to him."
"Just talk?"
"Fine. We've been lenient with letting the kids use magic at home. James misused that privilege, so I'll confiscate his wand for a week."
"Two weeks, and it's a deal."
Words: 725
Rating: PG-13
Characters/pairings: Harry/Ginny, James Potter, (references to) Neville Longbottom
Summary: Harry and Ginny have a "discussion" of how best to discipline James.
Author’s Notes: I wrote this story so it would be understandable on its own. However, if you are interested, it is a sequel to With a Little Help from a Plant. ;)
There will also be a sequel to this story coming soon . . .
James slammed his bedroom door, relieved to escape the bloody plant. He never liked Muriel, no matter how much his parents loved her. James imagined Mum's voice, "Neville gave her to us when I was pregnant with you! She eats dust! She's brilliant!" Yeah, the bloody plant sent out dust-eating vines in the middle of the night which put a stop to many of James' middle-of-the-night plans. James would never hear the end of tonight's escapade, though.
James flopped on his bed, quickly jumping up again. Bloody effing plant! Who knew Muriel would spank him for kicking her? Those vines hurt! She even chased him upstairs! James flopped onto his bed on his stomach this time. Mum said they would discuss this tomorrow, and James knew he was in for it.
***
Harry and Ginny tried to suppress giggles as they walked carefully to avoid stepping on Muriel's vines. When they arrived in their room and closed the door, Ginny said, "That will teach him to kick Muriel."
Harry snorted. "Definitely. I wonder if Neville knows his plant has such an unusual defensive mechanism?"
"Probably not. We should make James tell Neville the whole story."
"That's awfully mean. Neville's his Head of House, not only his honorary uncle."
"James deserves to have consequences for his actions, Harry!"
"I'd say being found naked and unconscious by his mum because he tried to stuff himself through the cat flap and then being spanked by a plant in front of his parents counts as consequences for his actions. He might die of embarrassment as it is."
"You are far too soft on the children, Harry."
"I'm not being soft! What do you want me to do, arrest him?" Harry hissed, throwing up a silencing charm, just in case.
"He broke the law by Apparating without a license. You should arrest him!"
"I'm not going to arrest my own son, Ginny."
"He's my son, too! And he needs to learn we won't tolerate his sneaking out at night to go visit some girl he never told us about. The way he snuck back in, he was fortunate not to be seriously hurt!"
"I wonder why he didn't levitate himself to Al's window? Al would have let him in. He would have blackmailed him for it, but he'd have helped."
"Don't you dare give James any ideas! We don't need him thinking up worse things than he already does," Ginny huffed. She thought for a moment, and said, "Maybe we shouldn't let him get his license in a few weeks."
"That's extremely harsh, Ginny. You know how much he's been looking forward to having his license."
"If you did turn him in, what would the penalty be?"
"A fine."
"Apparating without a license only gets a fine?"
"Yes. And don't look at me like that-I didn't write the law."
"It should be stricter for someone underage."
"Age doesn’t matter. There are plenty of adult witches and wizards who couldn't pass their test, who still Apparate. If they're caught, they get fined."
Ginny grumbled, "James' money comes from us."
Harry shrugged.
"Well, what do you want to do about it? You certainly aren't being helpful!" Ginny crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Harry.
"Ginny, don't be angry, please?" Harry sidled up to Ginny and wrapped his arms around her.
She pushed him away. "I hate always being the strict parent. If it were up to you, the kids would run amok."
Harry sighed. "Maybe I am too easy on them, but I had a shite childhood, and fought Voldemort so we'd have normal kids who had fun, knew they were loved, and didn't get caught in life or death situations at least once a year." Harry wrapped his arms around Ginny again and rested his chin on top of her head. This time she let him.
Ginny started to giggle. "James' getting naked, using some wonky spell of Charlie's to cover himself in oil, sneaking in through the cat flap, and knocking himself unconscious by tripping on Muriel hardly counts as normal."
Harry snorted. "Probably not. I'll work from home tomorrow and talk to him."
"Just talk?"
"Fine. We've been lenient with letting the kids use magic at home. James misused that privilege, so I'll confiscate his wand for a week."
"Two weeks, and it's a deal."