The house appeared between the trees quite suddenly, just round a sharp bend. The leaves of the oak trees had turned a rich green since he'd last seen them and a light breeze ruffled his black hair as James Potter rolled down the car window and leaned out. They had left Godric's Hollow and the portkey-pick up far behind – out here, the sloping lawns and gardens belonged only to the Potters' residence – it was home and James's kingdom for the summer.

A grin creased the corners of James's mouth as he watched the house grow bigger, open windows and rose bushes coming into focus. The house elves had surely already cooked a delicious welcoming dinner for him and he could see his mother waiting on the front steps, wearing bright red robes and waving.

"Almost home, Master James," said Bernie, the driver. Of course, the Ministry of Magic had provided a car for the occasion of James's homecoming. It always paid to know people in high places, thought James, and his father was the Head of the Auror Department at the Ministry, which was almost as high as you could get.

"Can't wait, Bernie," replied James, throwing himself back into his seat with a contented sigh. "Two months of nothing but sleeping in and playing Quidditch."

The other wizard smiled politely into the rearview mirror. "Your father mentioned you were going to Rico Escarill's training camp in Ireland next week?"

"That's right," said James, feeling excitement bubble up in his stomach. "I'll be the best seeker there, no doubt, but Rico might be able to show me a trick or two I don't know yet." Rico Escarill just happened to be the most famous Quidditch player of the decade, securing a contract as seeker for the Rockwell Blackbirds at the age of sixteen and proceeding to make the fastest Snitch catch in the United Quidditch league twenty-two seconds into his first game. Yes, thought James, it would be a very good summer indeed.

A few moments later, Bernie had pulled up outside the Potters' house and James immediately leapt out of the car. His mother beamed as he hugged her. "You've gotten even taller since Christmas!" she said. "Stop growing or I'll have to put a Freezing charm on you. How was the journey?"

James grinned and pulled out the embrace. "Fun. Padfoot, Wormtail and Moony came as far as London and then I had Lily Evans' wonderful company for the trip to Godric's Hollow." He rolled his eyes.

Mrs. Potter looked up her son slyly through her silver-streaked brown fringe. "Do you still have a crush on that girl?"

James's face reddened instantly. "I do not – why does everyone keep saying -," he interrupted himself and swallowed, trying to regain some composure. "She's annoying, Mum. Only interested in books and magical creatures."

"I always thought she was a nice girl," said Mrs. Potter as Bernie carried James's trunk and owl cage up the wide front steps. "You used to play with her before you went to Hogwarts, don't you remember? Always out in the gardens, you two, building tree houses and chasing pixies. Actually, I quite hoped I would see more of her once you'd grown up a bit. Why don't you invite her for dinner sometime this week? She must be around for the holidays. Poor girl," she added musingly, her eyes straying back up the road to where the Godric's Hollow was, "to be a witch born into an all-Muggle family can't be easy."

"I told you, Mum: We're not friends anymore," replied James. "Lily's a prefect now and completely uptight and boring. Besides," he added, "I have to maintain my honour as coolest guy in school."

His mother laughed. "From the letters I've gotten about you this year, I think we need to redefine what you mean by honour. That letter about Miss McKinnon and the toilet seat –Professor Greybeard must have had a good laugh when he heard about that."

Remembering his punishment for that particular trick – weeding Greybeard's Forunculus Stinkarus patch in the vegetable patch and the boils he had gotten from their disgusting grey feelers – James merely shuddered. "He's evil, that one."

"And you're a little mischief-maker," said Mrs. Potter, ruffling James's hair affectionately. "Come inside and eat. Elfie has made your favourite – pumpkin and steak casserole and some treacle tart for dessert!" She turned to the Ministry driver by the steps. "Thank you so much for picking up James, Bernie. I hope you have a lovely day!" She waved her wand and there was the chink of coins as Bernie's right jacket pocket bulged.

"Thank you, Ma'am," said Bernie with a little bow and Mrs. Potter shut the front door just as the first orange rays of the setting sun hit the windows. They flooded the entrance hall with light and as his mother bustled off to the kitchen to check on dinner, James simply stood and looked around, taking in the familiar dark floorboards, the portraits of his grandfathers and great-grandfathers lining the walls, the door to the library standing slightly ajar and the great twisting staircase that lead to the rooms above. The Potters' summer house was grand and could have seemed empty - being for only two months every year - but his mother always managed to make it feel warm and welcoming whenever James came home, with the smell of Elfie cooking, the radio humming softly from the kitchen and the pictures of the family and James's friends she hung everywhere.

He hung his cloak on the rack next to the door and opened his owl's cage. Immediately, Merlin took off and soared up to the great chandelier that hung in the center of the entrance hall. There, he settled on the ornamental golden leaves and flowers and closed his eyes, giving a quiet hoot of pleasure. He felt home, too.

But James knew from the experience the feeling would soon pass as his mother tired of doting on him. She was a busy witch, involved in numerous societies and her voluntary work at the Ministry. It wasn't that she didn't like to have him around, she had just gotten used to being on her own for most of the year, with James at school. It was a good thing he was off to Ireland next week, for the Quidditch course and some quality time with his best mate Sirius.

"James, darling, are you coming for dinner?" his mother called from the kitchen, making him jump.

Frowning at his reflection in the round mirror above the dresser, he called back, "Aren't we waiting for Dad to come home?"

There was brief pause and then she answered, in a somewhat strained voice, "He needs to work late tonight, I'm afraid," she said. "Elfie will warm his dinner back up when he gets home."

That was always the way it worked with his father, thought James. His life was consumed by his work – it was his greatest passion and sometimes he thought that his mother's constant stream of activities and visitors was just a way to distract herself from his absence.

"I'm coming," he said, pushing a hand through his hair to make it stick up a little. Lily Evans always said it looked ridiculous when he did that, but when was she ever right? In her second-hand clothes and the ever-present boring ponytail, she wasn't exactly a fashionista.

James shook his head. Why was he thinking of Lily Evans, of all people? He should be glad to be rid of their bickering for a few months before he had to endure a Lily fully refreshed by a holiday of reading Whatever he had liked about her when they were children, she definitely only annoyed him now.

"I'm coming," he repeated, to clear his head. It was time to look ahead to his summer now – about a nice dinner and his upcoming Quidditch trip. He would definitely not think about Lily Evans anymore. And with a reassuring grin and a wink at himself in the mirror – he was handsome, after all – James dashed off to the kitchen to get some food.

Lily Evans sat down on her bed and sighed. Was there anything more exhausting than dinner with her family these days? Between Petunia not looking at or speaking to Lily and Mrs. Evans trying to fill the awkward gaps in the conversation with questions about Lily's summer plans, Lily was already wishing she were back in her dormitory at Hogwarts, with Marlene McKinnon and Nora Blackburn, her best friends. A glance at her watch told Lily that just around this time, they were usually tucked into their beds chatting a little or reading books. It made her heart feel like someone was squeezing it.

But at least she had her room to herself, thought Lily, looking around at the familiar flower-painted walls and the window looking out into the garden. There were flowers blooming down there, roses and her namesakes by the pond, an owl hooting somewhere.

Wait a minute, thought Lily. An owl? And just then, a large brown specimen swooped through the open window with a quiet hoot and landed on her bed, right on top of her backpack.

"Hello, Bree!" Lily greeted the owl affectionately, stroking his head. Her own cat, Molly, was lying on the bed next to her, flicking her tail but otherwise ignoring the visitor, as she took the letter and opened it eagerly.

Welcome home, nerd, it read,

I hope you survived the trip with Potter – sorry again for leaving you to stick it out, but Mum really wanted to take me to that new musical in London and you know we hardly ever spend time together since her and Dad split. It's funny though how obsessed Muggles are with magic , don't you think? All the witches in the musical looked completely crazy in those sparkly costumes, but the singing was nice! Maybe I'll dress up as the green witch for next Hallowe'en and you could go as the blonde one – you'd look really cute in that princess dress of hers.

Anyway, we went to dinner and now I'm back home now. Marlene just wrote and told me that here parents said she could come to my house next week – isn't that fantastic?

Is Petunia still being crabby to you? If so, why don't you ask your folks if you can stay in my room for the holidays? It would be really fun, just the three of us (well, and Dad) and no Potters or Lupins or Blacks or Pettigrews to annoy us! And if they say no, you could still sneak out or Apparate over to my place (being seventeen and all).

See you tomorrow (hopefully?!)

Love,

Nora

Lily smiled and put down the letter. Nora was always so bubbly and full of energy, she was sure they would have a wonderful summer – even if Petunia was being horrid to her. A few years ago, they had been the best of friends, but since Lily had left for Hogwarts, Petunia had spoken to her less and less. And now that she had met her boyfriend Vernon – who Lily was supposed to meet in a few days – that was the only thing she talked about. If her stories were true, Vernon seemed to be a perfect human being and future son-in-law, but Lily wasn't quite so sure she was going to have the same taste as her sister.

For some reason, Lily had to think of James Potter at this. A lot of the girls at Hogwarts had a big crush on James and constantly talked about how handsome and funny and athletic he was and the younger girls kept pairing their own first names with James last to find out who was best suited to be Mrs. Potter – yet Lily couldn't imagine a worse person to marry. It was true, they had been friends when they were little, but had grown apart so much over the years that Lily could hardly remembered their friendship anymore. Still, it was strange to think James might be lying in a bed only a few miles from her and yet she wouldn't speak to him all summer. Although maybe he wouldn't be there after all … he had been bragging about some special Quidditch camp for the past few weeks and the last few summers had been spent mostly in vacation spots anyway.

What was the point, Lily thought, in having a summer house, if you never actually stayed there? She would have given anything to be staying at a house so big she could pass a whole month and never have to run into Petunia …

She turned to the letter again. "I hope you survived the trip with Potter." This wrought another exasperated sigh from her.

Of course, it had been a completely awkward experience taking the portkey with James. For the past few years, there had always been a crowd of people taking the portkey back to Godric's Hollow – it's where she had first met Nora, more than five years ago when they were both eleven and heading to the Hogwarts Express for the first time. But this summer, they all seemed to be heading elsewhere.

Lily had checked the portkey list over and found that the only other person written down there apart from herself was James Potter, of all people.

So Lily and James had taken the portkey together and alone – since they were both seventeen, they didn't need a guardian. There had been catcalls and jokes from James's idiot friends Sirius and Peter, though Remus, who was also a prefect, had just smiled and wished Lily a nice holiday, as they grabbed hold of the old tire.

They had arrived in a little field a mile out of the village a few moments later, Lily landing in the dirt at James's feet.

"Ugh," she'd complained, refusing his hand and pushing herself up, "I really can't get the hang of portkeying, even after all these years." Then she had remembered that she was actually talking to James Potter and had bitten her lip. Portkeys always made her feel woozy.

James had only grinned at her in that idiotic way of his. "Good thing it wasn't on the application for prefect duties."

Lily had glared at him and brushed the dirt from her skirt angrily. "I didn't apply for being a prefect, and you know it."

"Sorry, your Highness," he had said with a little bow, taking off an imaginary hat. "Now excuse me, my chariot awaits."

Indeed, there had been a car standing just next to the field, a driver in a black cloak waiting at the door for James. The boy had taken off without another backwards glance and hopped in as Lily stood in the field, staring at them like she'd been Stunned.

"Aren't we taking the young lady?" the driver had asked James with a glance at her.

"No," James had said almost merrily. "She enjoys a good walk, Lily. She's very in tune with nature."

And they had driven off, leaving Lily behind in the field to walk back on her own. Just as the car turned, Lily could have sworn James had called something to her, but she couldn't make out the words and so she surmised it must have been another one of James's stupid jokes …

Lily shook her head to clear it. What was she doing? She didn't want to waste another moment being annoyed with James Potter or, Merlin forbid, wishing she'd see him! It was a good thing, she told herself firmly, that he lived out of town. A good thing. This summer wouldn't involve James Potter, thankfully, and she was free to be with her own friends and enjoy her freedom to the fullest without worrying about some prank or other he might play on her. Marlene and Nora would be just down the street and together they would enjoy the magical parts of Godric's Hollow to the fullest.

And refusing to give the matter anymore thought, Lily pulled out a piece of parchment from a drawer, dipped the tip of quill in her favourite violet-coloured ink and began to write.