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The Phoenix Rises	By : greenwizard11 Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male Views: 44621 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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It was the very next day that Fred and George Weasley
decided to leave the school.� They didn�t
just up and leave of course; they had to make a huge show of it.� Throngs of students gathered round to see the
swamp the twins had created in the hallway.�

Umbridge and Filch came barreling down the hallway, Umbridge
knocking a few students out of her way in her hurry.�

�You�ve really done it this time!� Filch cried out with a
gleam in his eye.� �You two are finally
gonna get what�s comin to ya!�

�I should probably tell you that whipping or hanging
students in the dungeons is no longer allowed,� James piped up from behind.

Filch glared daggers at the former trouble maker turned
teacher, but knew better than to argue.�
He merely walked away grumbling to himself.

Umbridge flicked her gaze back and forth between James and
the twins.� �Well, aren�t you going to do
something?� she asked, her voice dripping with irritation.

James shrugged.�
�You�re the Headmistress Miss Umbitch.��
The twins snickered when they saw her eye twitch at the name.�

�No need to do anything,� Fred smiled.

�We don�t plan on sticking around,� George added.

The two summoned their recently returned brooms and faced
the crowd.� �If any of you would like to
purchase a portable swamp such as the one shown here, or anything else you�ve
seen us use this year, come visit us at Weasleys� Wizard Wheezes,� our new premises in Diagon Alley,� they said
in unison.

Fred turned to Umbridge and gave her a fake smile.� �Don�t keep in touch,� he said before they
mounted their brooms and took off.

The crowd cheered and Umbridge�s eye started to twitch more
rapidly.�

�Aww, not enjoying your new job?� James said
condescendingly.

�Fix this!� she yelled, trying desperately to get her eye
back under control.

James paced back and forth across the hall staring at the
swamp and rubbing his chin as if he was deep in thought.� Then he took out his wand and shot a feeble
blue light at it.� There was a bright
flash and a little bang, but the swamp was still there.� �Nope, didn�t work.� Sorry�.��
He shrugged and walked away.

�Get back here!� Umbridge screamed.� �I know you can fix this!�

James kept walking until he reached the end of the hall and
turned around.� �Make me,� he said, and
he turned and left.

The next few weeks seemed to drag on.� The practice tests revealed that neither the
fifth or seventh years were anywhere near ready for their exams.� James used Remus� lessons plans that the
werewolf had given him and did his best, but he was not a miracle worker.

Now that the Weasley twins were gone, there seemed to be a
competition going among the students to see who could cause the most
trouble.� Dung bombs were going off in
the hallways every few minutes.� It
became common practice for students to put Bubble-Head Charms on themselves
every time they left a classroom.� There
were also a few creatures let loose in Umbridge�s office, one of them being a
viper.� None of the teachers seemed to be
doing anything to stop the pranks.� Even
Professor McGonagall walked past openly plotting students without saying a
word.� �

James suddenly felt a major appreciation for how difficult
being a teacher really was.� He spent his
days teaching classes, and his evenings grading papers.� On top of all of that, he had to be High
Inquisitor.� Even though Umbridge had
already done teacher inspections, James decided to do them too.� It was late in the year, but it was still
important to him.�

The stress of it all was wreaking havoc on his body.� There were days when he felt fine, but others
when he couldn�t keep any food down.� He
was sleeping at least nine hours a night, but constantly felt fatigued.� His moods were also affected.� When plotting with Lucius James had always
thought he�d be a good teacher, one the students liked.� Instead he was becoming another Snape,
randomly snapping at his students.� He
tried like hell to control it, and sometimes managed to.� Every time he got the urge to choke someone
he had to remind himself it was just the stress.

The day he decided to inspect Severus was one of his bad
days.� He�d woken up just in time to run
to the bathroom.� He didn�t even try to
eat breakfast, there was no point.� He
dressed and went straight down to the dungeons.

Severus was at breakfast, so James had to wait in the
hallway.� �What are you doing down here
so early?� Severus asked when he came down.�
�Why weren�t you at breakfast?�

�Wasn�t hungry,� James answered.�

Severus didn�t say anything as he opened the classroom door
and ushered James inside.� �Have you been
losing your appetite a lot lately?�

�This-� James motioned all around the classroom, �is the
norm for you.� You�ve been teaching for
fifteen years.� I was dumped in here at
the tail end of the year and I have to clean up after Umbridge.� Forgive me if I lose my appetite every so
often!�

�And testy,� Severus said as he held up his hands in a
defensive gesture.�

James mumbled to himself as he grabbed a chair and dragged
it over to the corner.� He sat quietly as
the students filed in.� He had a little
clip board of his own that he scribbled on while he watched Severus teach.� He had to admit that while Severus was
intimidating and temperamental at times, he was actually a good teacher.�

Halfway through the lesson James grabbed his stomach and let
out a soft whimper.� �Oh gods, not
again�� he groaned and dashed into Severus� office.� He quickly said the master password and
bolted through the door that materialized in the wall, and rushed to find the
bathroom.� He found it just in time to
vomit for the second time that morning.

�Continue working,� Severus said as he headed for his
quarters.� �I�m going to go check on
Professor Potter.�

Severus found James kneeling in front of the toilet and held
his hair back for him.� �Thanks,� James
mumbled when he finished, wiping his mouth with on sleeve.

�James, I think you should go get checked out,� Severus said
as he handed James a towel.

�I�m fine,� James insisted as he took the towel and went to
stand up.� He suddenly became very light
headed and fell back.� Severus caught
him.

�So you�re randomly puking your guts out and fainting, but
you�re fine?� Severus raised an eyebrow.�

�Yes!� James argued.�
�Look, whatever you�re thinking, please keep it to yourself.� I can�t handle anything more right now.�

James regained his composure and headed back to the
classroom.� �Ignoring the fact won�t make
it go away,� Severus said.

James stopped in the doorway and turned around, taking a
deep calming breath.� �Severus, just let
me come to terms with it in my own time okay?�

�All right,� Severus sighed and walked back out with him.

James wasn�t looking forward to reviewing Hagrid.� He�d always liked the half giant, but the guy
just wasn�t cut out to be a teacher.

�So, how�d I do?� Hagrid asked nervously after the lesson.�

James sighed and scribbled a little on his clipboard.� �Hagrid, to be honest, I�m going to have to
sack you as a teacher.�

Hagrid�s lip started to tremble and James handed him a large
handkerchief.� �Hagrid, please
don�t�� It�s really nothing personal, and
I want you stay on as gamekeeper.� You�re
a wonderful gamekeeper; it�s just that your record as a teacher hasn�t been the
best.�

James hated to upset Hagrid, but he actually did take his
job seriously.� Hagrid had a long history
of exposing students to dangerous creatures, and he hadn�t taught the students
anything that would be on the O.W.L. or N.E.W.T exams.

Hagrid blew his nose and gave James a hard pat on the back,
knocking the smaller man over.� �Oh
James, I know yer not tryin to be spiteful.�

James got back to his feet and gave Hagrid a warm
smile.� �You�re a good man Hagrid,
teaching is just not your thing.�

The day before O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. exams were to start James
stood before his fifth year class.� He
kept telling himself he�d done the best he could teaching
them, and the rest was up to them.� Being
nervous about the exams wasn�t helping his stomach.

�I have a surprise for you,� he told the kids.� �We�re going outside.� Follow me.�

The students followed him down through the halls.� They didn�t know what to expect since James
was usually full of surprises.�

Remus and Sirius stood waiting by a long table with drinks
and snacks.� �Professor Lupin!� a few of
the kids called out and broke into a run.�
Even after it was made public that Remus was a werewolf he was still
well liked by the majority of students.

�Today we�re going to relax,� James announced.� �I know your exams start tomorrow, but you
guys need a break.� Stressing yourselves
out too much will only make matters worse.�

Remus nodded in agreement.�
�Exactly.� Unless you�re some sort
of freak of nature,� he glanced at James, �the best thing for you all to do is
study for a few hours before bed and get a good night�s sleep.� Then, when you start your exam, take a deep
breath and do your best.�

While Remus was speaking James ran over to the nearest tree
and climbed up onto a low branch, breaking off a decent sized small limb and
climbed back down.

�What do you need a stick for?� Sirius asked.

�You�ll see,� James said as he watched the castle like he
was waiting for something.�

Minutes later Severus came walking up the lawn with a class
of seventh years behind him.� James
smiled and Sirius groaned.� �Why�d you
invite him?�

James hit Sirius with the stick.� �Ow!� Sirius cried out and rubbed his head.

�That�s what the stick is for,� James grinned.

Severus marched up to them with his arms crossed and glared
at Sirius.� �You didn�t tell me the mutt
would be coming.�

James hit Severus with the stick twice.� Severus growled and rubbed the side of his
face.

James held his stick proudly.� �I�ve decided you two are going to start
getting along, so if either of you says something mean you�re getting beaten
with the stick!�

�You�re insane!� Severus cried.

�Hey!� Sirius shouted.�
�You�re right, but hey!�

James rolled his eyes and went over to stand by Remus,
keeping an ear out for insults.� His
visions were usually accurate, but he honestly didn�t see how his most recent
one was ever going to happen.�

�Remus, I need to talk to you,� James said leaning in close
to his good friend. ��Could we go
somewhere private?�

�Sure,� Remus nodded and he followed James over to the edge
of the forest.� �Is� something wrong?�

Remus knew James usually talked to Sirius about things, but
he came to Remus to talk about problems because Remus was the level headed one.

�You could say that,� James frowned.� �I�m pregnant��

Remus� face lit up.�
�James!� Congratulations!�

When he went to hug James the other man pulled back.� �Remus, this is not good news!�

�Why not?� Remus asked in confusion.� �A baby is always good news.�

�Not this time,� James sighed.� �First of all, there�s the whole Voldemort
thing.� And while torturing Umbridge is
always fun, she�s still being a major pain.�
Last but not least, Lucius is married with a son.� I�m like his mistress, and nobody wants a
pregnant mistress.�

�So he doesn�t even know?� Remus asked as he put his hand on
James� shoulder.

James shook his head.�
�No, I�m afraid to tell him.�
Maybe he won�t notice.�

�Oh he�ll notice,� Remus chuckled.� �I�ll let you in on a little secret.� When Lily first found out she was pregnant
with Harry she was afraid to tell you, but you didn�t get mad.�

�True,� James nodded.�
�So there�s a chance he won�t kill me.�

�Kill you?� James,
he�ll be thrilled.� How far along are
you?�

�About eight weeks.�

�You need to tell him soon then.�

James nodded and hugged his friend.� �I will when I see him in person again.� We�ve mostly been fire-calling each other
lately.�

He looked over to where Severus and Sirius were standing and
saw that they were arguing.� �Thanks
Remus.� I have to go beat some morons
with a stick��

�
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The Phoenix Rises