Chapter One: Summertime
Another projectile smacked into James's forehead. He groaned and he rolled over, putting his head under the pillow. However, in that moment of brief movement, it was all over. The moment he'd moved Sirius Black considered him awake and that meant…
"GOOD MORNING PRONGS!" Sirius yelled as he leapt onto James's bed, landing mostly on top of James.
"Padfoot, I swear to Merlin I will murder you if you- ARGH!" James yelled as he felt himself falling. He hit the floor with a loud thump and he mumbled the rest of his sentence into the carpet.
"If I what? Sorry I didn't catch that," Sirius said peeking carefully over the edge of the bed, a cheeky grin plastered on his face.
"I suppose it's too late now," James said grumpily while he curled up on the floor.
"Prongs! Awake! It's the last day of summer, and we have business to attend too," Sirius said importantly from his position on James's bed awaiting retaliation.
"Like what, exactly," James asked rubbing his head where it had come into contact with the floor.
"Like popping down to visit Alice and Molly," Sirius said naming two girls from their year. Two girls, who happened to live next door, who's house happened to be the jumping off point for the Gryffindor girls, the equivalent of Potter mansion for the Marauders.
James perked up at the mention of Alice and Molly's house, he knew who would be there today, "Well let's get a move on then!"
Sirius bounded out of the room headed for his own, "I knew you'd see it my way," he called over his shoulder.
James got up and stretched, he pulled a pair of jeans over his broomstick boxers and pulled a dark green t-shirt over his head as he padded down the hallway in his socks. He grabbed his glasses out of his back pocket as he reached the stairs to the kitchen.
Sirius met him at the breakfast table, hair wet from his shower and dressed similarly to James sporting jeans and a white v-neck tee. They were both chowing down on Quaffle-O's when an owl fluttered through the window and landed in front of Sirius. It was carrying a bright red howler.
"Surely not another one sir," Blinker the House Elf said disbelief evident in his squeaky voice.
Sirius's stopped eating only to open the letter before it exploded then nonchalantly continued eating. Meanwhile, the letter screamed insults such as how he was a blood traitor, and a disgrace to the family name and the purity of their blood. When it burst into flames, he finally looked up his silvery grey eyes registering shock and amusement at the man barreling into the kitchen.
Mr. Potter burst through the door wielding a muggle baseball bat, wearing only his boxers, glasses askew. "Oh, another howler Sirius?" he asked rubbing the sleep dust out of his eyes and lowering the baseball bat.
"It wouldn't be right to end the summer without one," Sirius joked cheerfully.
"That's the third one this week, Master Sirius, sir," Blinker squeaked. He had been present for all three.
"I know, they're so creative aren't they?" Sirius said rolling his eyes, "They're just a little pissed off I moved in with you lot. Thank you again by the way."
Mrs. Potter swept into the room fully dressed, unlike her husband, and ready for the day, "Of course you could stay! It's not like we didn't already consider you a part of the family. You've been at Christmas and Easter for at least six years now, I consider you a second son. Oh and Derek perhaps next time you intend to protect the boys you could bring your wand, not the baseball bat?"
James's father blushed and leaned the bat against the kitchen wall.
Sirius hugged Mrs. Potter tightly. He desperately wished he could have been born into the Potter's family, although he knew that in reality, it wouldn't make him any more a part of the Potter family then he already was.
"Are you boys headed down to the Prewett's house today?" Mr. Potter asked through a yawn
as he sat across the kitchen table from the boys.
James nodded as he and Sirius fell back to the tasks of stuffing themselves, "As soon as we're done here," he offered through a mouthful.
A dark haired girl entered the kitchen and made a face at James's open mouth, "Bro, chew and swallow. Whatever you have to say can't be that important."
James let his jaw fall slack and angled his face so she would have a superb view of his Quaffle-O filled mouth.
"Gross," She said glaring at him and taking her spot at the table.
"Good morning Jenna," Mrs. Potter said to her oldest child.
"Morning Mum! You're the only reason this place is bearable. I'm so glad my building is being reopened soon," Jenna said mock-glaring at the boys across the table.
Jenna Potter trained dragons in Romania, but it was there slow season. 'Tons of interns running about, with not enough work to go around' was how she had described it in the letter she sent. There was an accident back in March when a dragon got away from a trainee and had destroyed the other half of her apartment building (Which looked more like a dorm). They were finally getting around to fixing it, and, since Jenna only had to be in the office two days a week during the summer, she was staying with her parents again.
"Hey!" Mr. Potter said over his newspaper, his round glasses glinting in the morning sun shining through the open window.
"Dad. Four words, okay? Wear Clothes To Meals."
James and Sirius looked up simultaneously and asked, "Huh?"
"I wasn't talking to either of you. But since you asked; when are you leaving?" Jenna asked, there was laughter in her eyes behind her usual morning façade.
"Love you too, Jen," Sirius said grinning at her.
Jenna and Sirius were in a constant battle because, much like James, Jenna was not a morning person, and needless to say Sirius was absolutely a morning person.
"Yeah, yeah," Jenna said prentending not to be amused.
"See the thing about Jenna, is that she hasn't figured out she's in love with me yet," Sirius explained to James.
Mr. Potter looked over his newspaper at Sirius and raised on of his eyebrows.
Sirius, seeing this, decided to continue, "It is my lot in life that all the Potter women will fall helplessly in love with me. Isn't that right Mama P?"
Mrs. Potter, who was bustling about the kitchen, as was her habit in the morning, smacked him across the back of his head with her dishtowel. When James snickered at Sirius she doled at a loud 'smack' to his head as well.
"Ow! Mum! What was that for?" James yelped.
"Eat your breakfast, the both of you! And then get out of this house and give us all a break, huh?" Mrs. Potter said her voice firm juxtaposing the affectionate smile on her face.
"Yes mum!" The two chorused returning to their race to the bottom of the bowl.
Sirius jumped up triumphantly and dumped his bowl in the sink, "Ha H-UGH!" Sirius's gloating was interrupted as something small and dark haired sped right into his midsection.
"Good Morning Sirius! I'm going to Hogwarts tomorrow!" The youngest Potter said from the floor, where he'd landed when he'd bounced off Sirius.
"Great Jeffie, me too!" Sirius said with a severe lack of enthusiasm as he tried to get his breath back.
His tone of voice earned him another swat from Mrs. Potter as she dragged her eleven-year-old son off the kitchen floor.
Blinker took James's bowl out from underneath him. James grunted in protest and Blinker said, "Go Master James. Listen to your mother!"
James grumbled about how Jeff was his mother's favorite as he pulled on his sneakers leading Sirius out the glass door as rubbed the back of his head.
As the door swung shut behind them Mrs. Potter yelled out the window, "Be polite! And be safe! I love both of you!"
"Love you too!" Sirius called back and James waved over his shoulder as they took off jogging down the street.
O
The Gryffindor girls were lounging around the Prewett's pool, soaking in the sun, completely unsuspecting. They were entirely unprepared for the peals of high-pitched giggles coming from inside the house.
Alice groaned, "You've got to be kidding! I mean I don't mind them coming over, but then Meghan comes out and hangs around on them and giggles."
Molly looked at Lily and asked, "Listen, I know you don't necessarily like him, but do you mind if he's around?"
Lily winced as Meghan giggled again, "As long as that doesn't continue, I could care less," Lily said from behind her sunglasses.
Meghan was Molly and Alice's younger sister, she was a third year at Hogwarts and she had been in love with James and Sirius ever since boys stopped having cooties. From the decibel and the intervals of the giggling, it was a safe bet that both objects of her affection were on the property.
Soon, both boys appeared in front of the glass sliding doors and they joined the girls on the patio, followed closely by Meghan who was chattering away inanely.
Lily closed her eyes, behind her sunglasses and hoped to God that Molly or Alice would put a stop to Meghan's obvious hero worship. She couldn't imagine how Molly and Alice dealt with this whenever James came over.
Molly looked at Meghan scathingly and asked, "Don't you have something to do?"
Meghan blushed but shoved her chin in the air and asked, "Like what? I'm hanging out with James and Sirius."
Alice looked over her sunglasses at Meghan and said, "Get lost, would you?"
Meghan hesitated.
James smiled his Quidditch star smile and said, "Bye Meghan, we'll see you later?"
She blushed, nodded and fled the patio.
Alice laughed and threw her flip-flop at James, "Could you not! Now she's gonna be blabbering about you for the rest of the day! I'm so tired of hearing about how wonderful you are."
James grinned sheepishly, "She doesn't really do that."
"No, she really does," Molly said adjusting her sunglasses and crossing her legs daintily, "I hear about the two of you WAY more than I ever wanted too."
Sirius laughed and said "Oh come on! You know you secretly love hearing someone gush about my startling good looks, my rippling muscles-"
Lily held up her hand, "Oh god, don't make me vomit all over the patio, please!"
"Oh Lily, I know you're heart beats only for Jamesie-poo," Sirius said smiling sweetly at her.
Lily whipped her flip-flop at him and said sarcastically, "Yes, you're absolutely right."
James brightened, "Really?"
Sirius, having had enough with the flip-flop tossing, slipped off his sneaker and lobbed it at Lily who ducked. It landed on the lawn chair next to her and consequently on her best friend Riley Macnair.
Riley sat up immediately, disorientated she picked up the shoe, examined it, and without appearing to re-join the living she flung the shoe, with deadly accuracy, back at him. Then she lay back down on her chair and presumably continued to sleep.
Sirius fell off his chair as he wildly tried to avoid his own shoe, as everyone laughed at him. From where he sat on the ground, he looked up at James and said, "I am in love with that girl."
James shook his head and opened his mouth to say something but Riley beat him too it.
"You love girls, not this one specifically."
Sirius clutched at his heart dramatically, but when he saw that Riley wasn't paying any attention to him he decided to resort to drastic methods. He stood up, walked over and picked up Riley's bikini clad body and tossed her into the pool. Riley screamed as she unexpectedly flew through the air into the water.
She came up out of the water slowly, her hair was plastered to her face, and what was still in the water flowed around her body.
Sirius thought she looked like a mix between muggle mermaids and the real thing: beautiful and terribly dangerous.
"Sirius…" She began, but she couldn't think of anything to say, she was so pissed.
"I was confessing my love to you," Sirius said waving his hand in front of her, "I would appreciate it if you would listen to me."
"Next time," Riley said through gritted teeth, "Don't throw your shoe at me to get my attention," As she was saying this, she had moved towards the edge of the pool, where she grabbed Sirius's hand and dragged him into the pool after her, a smile returning to her face as she tossed her sunglasses on to her lounge chair.
Sirius and Riley had an ongoing flirtation that had begun so long ago no one could remember. But Riley was prone to having older boyfriends and Sirius was prone to having trysts in broom cupboards. Neither of them had ever seemed particularly interested in moving towards anything more, except for once. They hadn't spoken for two weeks after that.
James watched Lily, watching Sirius and Riley fool around in the pool, and he knew she was worrying.
Lily had pushed her sunglasses up onto her head and put her book down. She flicked her eyes towards James, and accidentally made eye contact with his warm hazel eyes. She smiled awkwardly. She didn't want to start a fight here; she was trying to be good.
"You look beautiful Lily," James said truthfully from where he was lounging at the edge of Alice's chair.
Lily smiled and laughed uncomfortably, "Erm, thanks James," before she pushed her sunglasses back over her eyes and returned to her book.
James looked at Alice who grinned at her friend and rolled her eyes.
"Oi! James! Were coming over for dinner!" Riley said splashing him, before levering herself out of the pool.
Riley and James's parents used to be very close. The Potter's were Riley's godparents, James and Riley had known each other since birth and they fought like cats and dogs, or more appropriately, brother and sister.
"Jeff'll be pleased," James said laughing, "And so will my Mum and Dad."
"And Jenna," Sirius said from the side of the pool where he was leaning, "She's getting pretty tired of just me and James. Which she made pretty clear at breakfast this morning."
"Do you guys still eat breakfast in the kitchen?" Riley asked wistfully.
"Yeah, always," James said grinning.
"I always loved that. I hate always having to eat in the formal dining room. We're hardly even allowed to be in the kitchen," Riley said rolling her eyes.
"I wasn't even allowed to be in the dining room," Sirius joked.
Riley shook her head and splashed Sirius with her foot, "For good reason you blood traitor!"
Sirius grabbed her foot pretending to jerk her back into the pool. "Yeah but it's all good, cause now I'm officially moved in with the Potter's," Sirius explained.
"You finally left?" Riley asked almost wistfully.
"Yeah, it got… rough," Sirius said vaguely knowing Riley would catch on, "But they really got pissed when they realized somebody actually took me in."
"They tried to break into my house!" James said indignantly.
"That sucks," Riley said lounging back on her chair leaving space so Sirius could sit at the end of her chair.
Sirius took the spot and laughed, "Eh, it's all over and done with now. The only people beating on me are Mama P with her dish towel and Jenna with her hurtful words," Sirius said dramatically.
Riley laughed, "Yeah she's good at that whole hurting with words thing, if I remember correctly," She looked at James, "Remember how much she used to fight with your parents?"
"She fought with Mama and Poppa P?" Sirius asked scandalized.
"Yeah you missed that part of our lives," James said, "That was what? Until we were Jeffie's age?"
"Yeah I think so," Riley agreed, "Man those fights could be so intense!"
"Yeah, you know how Jenna is, all like free and independent, and then what with my parents being the protective auror type? It didn't always go so smoothly for them," James explained.
Sirius sighed his eyes twinkling and said, "Jenna can be so hard to handle sometimes."
Lily scoffed, "What? A woman Sirius Black can't handle?"
Everyone on the patio laughed, "Oh, just wait until you meet Jenna tonight," Riley told her best friend, patting her arm assuredly.
Sirius grinned cheekily at Lily, "Oh and dress nice, dinner is a formal occasion."
AN: I'd love to know what you guys think! Please leave a review, I've been working on this story for awhile but no one's ever seen it.