Thunderstorm

Christmas was approaching. One mid-December morning, Hogwarts awoke to find itself covered in several feet of snow.

James stared at the snow with a frown. Several months had passed, and there hadn't been a thunderstorm. So, he had to keep reciting the Animagus spell at dawn and dusk.

It was not easy. He had to be very careful while reciting the spell, as a small distraction could ruin all the work from months ago. The Animagus potion he created was still in the place James kept it months ago.

'Thunderstorms in winter are rare... I'll have to wait until spring and if I'm unlucky until summer,' James thought, taking his eyes off the window and looking around the empty and silent dormitory.

It was odd to see none of his rowdy friends (Sirius especially) not there.

Since the group made it through the forest vault and got 20,000 Galleons everyone was in a very good mood. Even Snape. James gave them all a gift of foulards. These were small bags used to hold coins and other small items. James put extension spells on each bag so that everyone could store the hundreds of galleons and more.

James' study routine was not as demanding as in the past. Mostly because his offensive and defensive charms could no longer improve, or the improvement was minimal. It was a waste of time to stand in a room throwing the same spell at a dummy over and over again. His Protego could no longer improve, his Aeromanteo, Expelliarmus, and Flipendo were the same. So, he had more time to devote to the study of Transfiguration and Ancient Runes.

As for improving offensively, he was focusing on his fire elemental magic and his wandless magic.

These subjects were not easy to study and took up many hours of his day-to-day life, but it was not the same as before when he had to study five or six different subjects.

Ancient Runes was the subject he was most excited about these weeks since he found Dai Ryusaki's book. It looked like a book of about three to four hundred pages, but it was over fifteen hundred pages long. This was due to some ancient runes inscribed on the back of the book. That is why James found it so heavy when he picked it up.

To read it and study it he had to improve his study in ancient runes which are an ancient language used by wizards and witches hundreds of years ago. James was always good at learning new languages and alphabets, so it wasn't a subject he found difficult, but it wasn't simple.

With the help of Ancient Runes classes and a Dictionary book, he was able to read it and learn at a decent pace in the weeks that passed.

In addition, his knowledge of Ancient Runes was already on par with Regulus and Gwen, who were the most knowledgeable in these subjects. Those two were in charge of translating the scrolls of the ancient vaults. Now, James could help them and augment the translation process.

This was not quite the case, though. The last scroll was very long and was advanced ancient runes. Much more than in the previous scrolls. So, the translation process was slow compared to before. It was going from normal difficulty to hellish.

'Maybe it will take months to find the last vault,' thought James, leaving the room and walking towards the library. It's Sunday, and he has free time, a rare thing. He wanted to waste time with his friends, but since they're not here, he'll go read some interesting books.

Arriving at the library, he went to the healing magic section. It had been a long time since he had improved his knowledge in this subject. Few were the wizards who knew about healing magic. Hogwarts had no subjects on this. Thanks to his mother, James learned a lot, but that was a long time ago.

James picked up a book on healing spells using magic without a wand. He hadn't practiced casting healing spells without a wand. He could give it a try. It would be useful in a battle if he could heal himself. With his wand, it is very difficult to aim himself at a wound and cast the spell.

He sat at a table away from the other students, who were studying, and began to read the book with concentration.

Minutes passed as James read silently. At one point, he heard the sound of two books falling on his table and the chairs beside and in front of him moving.

He looked up and saw two blonde girls. They were Gwen and Diana Greengrass. Both girls rested books, parchment, and their fine quills on the table.

"Table occupied, Ladies," James said.

"Ha ha, very funny," said Gwen, sitting down next to James and pulling her chair closer to him.

"Just play along with me a bit," James muttered. Sirius must have played along with the fact that they were both strangers, just for a bit of a joke.

"I've been looking all over the castle for you," Gwen said, crossing her arms. Today was a Sunday, and they had the whole day off. Only now, (five o'clock in the afternoon) could she see James. Hence her discontent and frown at him.

"I was in my dormitory and the common room all day. It's cold," James said. He was very lazy today. He only moved to go to breakfast in the Great Hall, and now that he came to read a bit in the library. It wasn't bad every once in a while, to do this. It was good to relax his mind.

Gwen wasn't convinced by James' words. She was still upset that she couldn't see him for the whole day off they had. She continued with her arms crossed, her brow furrowed, and staring at him.

'Here we go,' James thought. He knew how to fix this.

"You're so cute when you frown," James said, moving a little closer towards her. The only embarrassing thing about this was that he had Diana in front of him, but the girl already knew about their relationship.

"Really?" asked Gwen. Amazingly her tone sounded less angry than before.

"Yes, I'm serious," James said, gently pulling her close until he kissed her. Gwen's frown lightened, and a slight smile appeared on her face, accepting James' kiss.

"Stop kissing. You two lovebirds. We're in the library," Diana said, looking at both of them with a frown. Odd to see in her ever-mocking expression.

Gwen slowly pulled away from James and looked at her friend with a smile, "What's the matter, Diana? Why the face? Jealous?" asked Gwen, amused.

Rarely could she tease Diana. Before Diana used to tease how close Gwen was with James, but now they had made their relationship official especially to close friends.

So Diana could no longer tease Gwen since Gwen didn't care, and now the Greengrass girl was jealous of how loving James and Gwen were since she was an old maid.

James coughed several times and stopped both of them. He didn't want to be kicked out of the library because of the two of them.

"Transfiguration task?" asked James, looking at Gwen and Diana's books.

"Yes. Professor McGonagall sent us to do an essay, and we have to read a lot of pages," Diana replied with a less-than-happy expression. She is a good student, but she also doesn't love studying, and transfiguration is not her favorite subject.

"That's exactly why we came to seek your help. The student who appeared in Transfiguration Today, and the first one who passed an OWL exam as a third year," said Gwen, looking at him with a smile that showed pride that her boyfriend was so talented.

Diana looked at James, hiding her astonishment. She and Gwen were struggling with a fourth-year transfiguration essay, and the boy in front of her had given three exams in a week. Each exam was harder than the last, and he managed to pass them all with top marks.

James just smiled slightly. He decided to help his girlfriend and her friend. He didn't give them the test, his job was as a private professor. As he does in DADA classes.

Time passed at Hogwarts. One day before Christmas and James' return to Potter Manor, a noise woke him up early in the morning. He was used to getting up early by now, as he had to do so to recite the Animagus charm at dawn.

What he saw through his window pleasantly surprised him. His sleepy face disappeared, and he walked over to the window. A loud rumble of rain and a clap of thunder was what had awakened him.

'A thunderstorm!' thought James with a smile on his face. He didn't think he would have such a Christmas present before he returned home.