Disclaimer: All characters (except for those I have created to carry on the plot) belong to the all amazing and very respectable J.K Rowling.

A/N: This being the sequel to "Castle on a Cloud" I suggest that you just forget about the epilogue portion for now. This happens right after they get out of school and lasts for a year (hence the title). I hope everyone enjoys this as much as the first one. I have the first twenty-six chapters panned out in front of me; it's the writing portion that has to get done. Also if anyone wonders what the numbers are they are little breaks where it moves to a different character or scene or something. The numbers represent the chapters. Cheers!

A Year in the Life

By: Lupin-Lover349

Chapter One:

Lily blinked in the sunlight. So this was the Potter house. Well house was sort of an understatement. It was a white mansion, three stories high. It sat on a huge patch of land and a white picket fence blocked the whole Potter property from the rest of the world. To Lily it was the prettiest house she had ever seen in her life.

"James," Lily breathed out quietly, "this is amazing."

James wrapped his arm around his bride to be, "I'm glad you like it." He started walking towards the house but stopped when he noticed that Lily wasn't following, "Lily?"

"Huh?" she said coming out of her reverie.

"Aren't you coming?"

"Oh! Yeah," but she still stood there just staring at the house.

James walked over to her and stared at her lovingly. Placing his hand on her face he looked into her bright green eyes. He loved Lily more than anything in the world, even more than himself. He would do anything to stay with her and the fact that he was engaged to her made him feel like the happiest man alive. He ran his hand through her long auburn hair and down her back. He noticed that she seemed to be breathing irregularly. Concerned he asked, "Lily, are you alright?"

She looked into his hazel eyes which were behind half moon glasses. She made a point to mesmerize everything about his features, from his very messy hair all the way down to his feet. Finally she answered him, "I'm fine, just nervous."

"Nervous?" James asked perplexed, "about what?"

She sighed, "What if your dad doesn't like me? I haven't ever really had the chance to talk with him before. Or worse, what if he doesn't approve of our marriage?"

"Why wouldn't he approve?"

"Because I'm not- you know- "pureblood"."

James looked at Lily sadly, "Why would you think such a thing?"

She shook her head, "I don't know." Lily tried to look away but James held her eyes with his.

"Look Lils, your parents were so happy when we told them about the marriage. My dad's reaction won't be any different." Holding her hand tightly Lily now felt better. She smiled at James and they walked into the front yard together. Lily's heart was pounding as James' hand reached for the doorknob. Stepping inside the magnificent house he called out, "Dad! We're home!"

Dropping their bags on the floor James removed Lily's sweater and hung it on the coat rack by the door.

"Who's we?" James' dad asked walking into the foyer. "Lily! So nice to see you!"

"It's nice to see you too, Mr. Potter," Lily replied and the next thing she knew she was locked in a tight embrace. Releasing her from the tight hug he turned towards James. "And here's my boy!"

Lily watched as Mr. Potter pulled James into a bear hug, James returning it. They looked so much alike, the same crazy hair, dark and all over the place. They carried their bodies the same way, their faces were the same shape and they both wore glasses. The only difference was instead of grey eyes like Mr. Potter James had hazel eyes like his mother's. Lily loved the Potter family, or the crazy stories that she heard about them, and wished that her family could be more like them. Lily loved her family to death but she always felt so left out. Since she was a witch and no one else was she wasn't able to talk to them about the trouble in the wizarding world, the threat of Lord Voldemort, like James could with his family. Lily knew that her family just wouldn't understand.

"I hope you guys are hungry," Mr. Potter said bringing back Lily from her thoughts. "Missy has been working on what smells like an amazing supper all day." Turning Mr. Potter started walked towards the kitchen. James started to follow but Lily grabbed his arm to stop him. "Who's Missy?" she asked.

"Oh, one of our house-elves," James replied as if it was something he thought she knew.

"You have house-elves?" she asked astonished. Sure she knew rich families had them but never expected James' family to be one. She figured his mom did all the work around the house since she was a stay at home mom. As if James was reading her mind he said, "As you've noticed I do live in a big house. My mother couldn't have possibly done all the house work by herself, especially since she was sick."

Lily remembered how sad James was when he found out his mother died of her cancer she had been battling and seeing that sadness return to his eyes with just the thought of his mother, Lily dropped the subject entirely.