1. Saddened Summer

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

James woke up sweating; another nightmare. You'd think, being a thirteen year old boy, these wouldn't be as frequent as those of a child, but James Potter was no ordinary boy. His messy hair, hazel eyes behind squarish spectacles may not lend this idea, but he was a wizard.

And yet, even for wizard kind he was special. Even if one was to completely ignore his above average intellect, natural Quidditch prowess, and exceptional magical ability, his recent kidnapping and escape from Cyrus Tenebrae had made him famous, or at least well known, in the Wizarding community.

James got out of his bed and went to the bathroom, turning on the sink faucet and washing his face. He was tired of waking up randomly from these nightmares, tired of being tired. Since the summer began he had gotten no more than a handful of full night's rest. He yawned and decided to go down to the kitchen and get something to eat.

When he got into the kitchen he saw the sky had a pinkish tint to it through the windows.

"Good morning Master James," Misty greeted him.

"Morning Misty," James responded, rubbing his eyes and not even bothering to tell his house-elf not to call him 'Master'.

Misty lifted her hands over her head and a frying pan spilled some bacon and eggs onto a plate. The plate floated over to James as did a glass of orange juice that poured itself.

"Thanks Misty," James said with a mouthful of eggs and bacon. The house-elf bowed in response.

James looked out the window while he ate. The sun slowly rose over the horizon, lighting up the sky in reds, pinks, purples, and hints of gold. James smiled at the Gryffindor colors, a smile that grew when a shadow appeared in the sky. James squinted as the owl flew in closer to his house, heading straight for the window he was watching it through. As the owl approached James recognized it as his own, Aquila. James didn't use her often, owls going home more often than not being from the school rather than him, not that his parents minded. James had actually gotten more than a few letters from his father that congratulated him on his ingenuity when it came to pranks, though his father knew nothing of those that the mysterious Hogwarts 'Marauders' had pulled.

James stood up, leaving the scraps of food on his plate and opened the window for his owl, letting in the cool morning air. The owl flew through the window and landed directly next to James's plate, sticking out her head and leaning down to eat his scraps simultaneously. James untied the letter so his owl could focus on eating and tore the letter open.

James,

I'm fine thank you for asking, the full moon wasn't too bad, just a couple of scratches. I'm still good to come over if you'll still have me. It's a shame Peter's still in Egypt but I guess we'll see him when we go to Diagon Alley. I would ask you how your summer's been but I'll be seeing you tomorrow so I guess I can ask you in person. I know you asked me not to bring any books but I have already packed several and plan to get a few more from your library. I guess that's all for now, see you tomorrow!

Remus

James put the letter down with a smile. Remus was so stupid. "If you'll still have me," James muttered under his breath with a short laugh. As if after two years James was just going to cut him out. James pulled the now empty plate away from his owl and put it in the sink. Then he grabbed the letter and decided to go into the back yard.

They had a lot of land, clean cut grass stretching for quite a while until it met the edge of a small forest. A rather large garden with an assortment of different colored flowers and some vegetables bordering the house, the James noticed that some of the plants were dying.

He felt a pang of sadness. Just looking around his house reminded him of his mother. Elizabeth Potter almost died and that scared James, his Mum was almost taken from him. For his whole life his parents had always been older and they had always had dangerous jobs, but only after the events of the end of last school year had James felt close to loosing one of them.

She was fine now. Well, fine being used loosely. James was still freaked out when he saw his mother's now entirely grey hair and a number of new wrinkles. Not to mention the half dozen potions at her bedside table, all steaming and filling the room with a mix of their different scents. She used a cane now, not all of the time as she hated using it, but the Healers insisted, as did James and his father. She fell once, in one of the first days after she came back from St. Mungos, after refusing to use the cane. She had come home on her bloody wedding anniversary, and was all upset that she hadn't been able to get James' father anything.

James was shaken from these thoughts by a voice. "Hey!" He didn't even bother looking around to see who it was, rather he reached into his pocket and pulled out the square mirror he now always carried with him.

"Morning Sirius," James spoke into the mirror.

"Morning Jamie," Sirius responded. "How'd you sleep?"

"Same as the rest of the summer," James told him.

"Sorry,"

" S'alright, not your fault,"

"Yeah I know,"

They were quiet for a moment.

"One more day," James told him.

Sirius smiled. "One more bloody day!" He practically cheered.

"Your gonna wake them if you keep yelling," James warned him.

"They can go-" He started.

"Language," James cut him off, tutting. "Haven't your numerous detentions taught you anything?"

"Have yours?" Sirius countered.

"Touché,"

There was the sound of a door opening and James's mirror screen went dark.

"What do you want Regulus?" Sirius asked exasperatedly.

"For you to shut up, some of us are trying to sleep," The door slammed after that.

Sirius reappeared in the mirror. "Sorry about that,"

"No problem, you should probably Silence your room."

"Good idea." Sirius grabbed his wand, pointed it at his door and muttered the spell. "The one perk of living with a pureblooded family."

"Magic during the holidays," James said wistfully. "I feel bad for those of us who have to wait until September."

"Poor blokes,"

They laughed.

"I'll talk to you later; I'm gonna go find something to eat. I'm starved."

"Why am I not surprised?" James asked with a laugh.

Sirius made a rather rude gesture with his hand before the reflection in the mirror returned to James's own.

James put the mirror into his pocket and put his hands in them as well. His bare feet were tickled by the pointy grass blades and his legs felt the light breeze (the part that wasn't covered by his shorts that is). James smiled and started humming to himself, kicking a Quaffle he had left on the ground from when he had been practicing the other day. The ground was soft as it had rained the day before, and the whole backward was glistening, making all of the greens look greener, the browns look browner, the flowers look more colorful, in the way only left over rain could manage. The air even smelled more outside-y.

Even though James had only been outside for a short while, it was already becoming hotter. It wasn't quite humid, but James knew that in a matter of hours the heat would become oppressive, forcing everyone indoors. James started wondering how animals stayed cool; it's not as if they could place cooling charms in their homes. Even Muggles had that colder machine that James always forgot the name of. Something like wind blower. He spent several minutes internally debating the issue, simply because he had nothing better to think about. Or rather, he didn't want to think about any of the other things he could be thinking about at that moment in time.

Eventually thinking of nothing in particular, James continued his walk around his backyard, still kicking the muddy Quaffle, and making his way closer to the line of trees. James brought his foot back and kicked the ball in between two of the trees.
"Goal," James said to himself quietly. "And the crowd goes wild! Ahhh!"

James smiled to himself. Muggle football wasn't all bad. Not as good as Quidditch, of course but-

Something moved in the shadows of the trees. James reached into his pocket for his wand but didn't have it. He was suddenly afraid, unreasonably so. It was probably nothing and yet-

"AHHH!" James yelled, putting his hands over his head. Nothing happened. He slowly put his arms back at his sides and looked at the confused looking doe in front of him.

"Oh, it's just a doe," he told himself. Then he felt ashamed of himself, so much for being a Gryffindor. Paralyzing nightmares and fear of peaceful woodland creatures, the perfect combination for the house of brave and daring. He decided to go inside.

When he reentered the house, James figured he ought to take a shower and get dressed for the day. He didn't have any plans but he felt weird staying in his pajamas. He went back to his room and then went to the bathroom.

After a quick shower he put on some jeans and a t-shirt but left his feet bare, enjoying the sensation of the cool wooden floor underneath him. As he walked past his parents' room, he saw something that made him want to cry.

His mother, the brilliant and powerful witch, was struggling to walk across the room with her cane. She was trying to get at something that James couldn't see, but she hadn't even thought (or maybe she had tried and not been able to muster the strength) to use her wand to Summon it. He wanted to go in and help her but he knew she wouldn't like that. She hated feeling useless and that's all she had felt like since the Incident. James shook himself and felt guilty for wishing that September first would come sooner.

A/N: Sorry it's been so long. I've been really busy lately, but here it is, the first chapter of Year Three. I hope you liked it and please review with your thoughts, every time I get a review I make myself sit down and write, even if I don't know what to have happen next so, more reviews make for more frequent chapters (I'm not trying to blackmail you guys, it's a fact). See you guys soon.