Chapter 1
"James! Oh James? Come down here for a minute will you?" My father called out from the foyer. I sighed. That phrase always meant that they would be going away for another mission. Both my parents were Aurors. I was extremely proud of them, but it had resulted in me spending most of my childhood alone, with just house elves for company. I snapped myself out of my reverie and dragged my body down to the foyer, straightening up my appearance as I walked. "Yes?"
" James. Honey, we know we promised to stay with you over the summer but there's been an attack in Surrey and Mad Eye is calling all the reinforcements they have so..." Dad trailed off with an apologetic look on his face. I tried to look impassive as I replied that I understood. My mother and Dad stood up and hugged then said "We'll be in three weeks, if you want you could stay at a friend's house until then. I smiled and nodded as they Apparated off to Merlin knows where. I smiled lazily; the only good thing that came out of these lousy missions was that I was able to sleep. I trudged upstairs and flopped face down on my bed. This would be a long three weeks.
Boredom clung to me like the way Merlin's beard stuck to his face throughout the day. Sirius would be battling his family on their never ending issues, Peter was on a family trip to France, and Remus was being tested to see if there was any potion that might help with his condition. So visiting the marauders I could go to Diagon Alley, but I wasn't up for walking around aimlessly amongst overly zealous kids who had just received their Hogwarts letter. A smile crept onto my face as one last person came to mind.
I paced up and down Lily's doorstep. Would she slap me for bothering her during her summer holidays? Would she perform some nasty hex on me for seeing my face so early in the morning? Throw one of those lethal heels that girls always wear? Doubts clouded my mind as I reassessed the situation. Just as I was about to turn around and run for my life, the door opened to reveal a thin prudish looking girl. She batted her eyelashes and smilingly said "Hello. I'm Petunia; could I help you with something?" I fought the urge to grimace as the double meaning of her words sunk into my mind as I answered brightly "Nope. Just looking for Lily. Is she here?" The girl's bubbly instantly vanished, only to be replaced by an annoyed glare. " Actually," she began to say, but was interrupted as the object of my affection skidded into view. "Who's at the door Tuney? I heard my name."
She looked even more beautiful than I remembered, which was saying something, as I just saw her merely a month ago. Her blindingly auburn hair was set into loose curls, her face glowed and was wearing just a tank and sweatpants. When she saw who it was, she opened her mouth and out came a shriek.