Hello everybody, this is my newest story. I'm getting a bit bored with my other one and this has been floating in the old brain case for a couple of days so I figured I would give it a shot. Anyways on with the other stuff…

Disclaimer: I do not own any aspect of Harry Potter that J.K. Rowling has. I have however sort of created this alternate story, there is no doubt in my mind that this has been thought of before me. So please, I am in no way trying to infringe on anybody's works. So yeah, have a fun time reading!

-x-

It was the summer of 1975, and I was laying quite comfortably in my yard soaking up the rays. My parents had rented a cottage in the country to console me for the five weeks that I was spending with Petunia and her loved one Vernon. Or as I affectionately called him under my breath, Vermin. Of course, he was aware that I detested the ground that he walked on. Vernon (or Vermin) was a rather round fellow, when put politely. Petunia liked to call him masculine, and my raging racist of a grandfather called him "that ignorant son-of-a-bitch whose mother should of committed suicide when she saw his face." To put it plainly, my grandfather and I were on good terms that summer and in turn I finally wasn't embarrassed to walk out of the house relatively close to him. Luckily enough for me, Poppy agreed to accompany my family with Vermin. Even if I was contemplating suicide, Poppy would keep me entertained. Poppy was a classic old man, he had fought in World War I and enjoyed telling us stories of the trenches. And when he got drunk he exposed the scarring on his foot which he received when the rats gnawed on it in his sleep. Needless to say, Poppy didn't go into public areas with us often. Other than that, he looked rather innocent. There were a few wispy white hairs fought valiantly against his impending baldness. And his suspenders were eternally stretched over his rather large belly no doubt gained from his endless drinking. His stomach could also have been caused by his weakness for butter and jam sandwiches, honestly I have no idea where this mans habits came from. Of course since Poppy was a muggle, I had to hide much of the contents of my room from him. Snorky, my owl was forced to stay quiet at least during the day light hours, and once the sun fell he was allowed to roam freely around the cottage neighborhood. Oh yes, the cottage was one of five. There was a small cul-de-sack and then a small park-esque thing in the middle. Our neighbors consisted of two empty cottages, a grumpy old man who lived there year round, a young couple who were on their honeymoon (enough said) and a middle aged woman who tended to the lawns and such.

The grumpy old man was about my Poppy's age and they had immediately had declared war on each other. Apparently it had to do with some sort of sports team, or the Japanese. The old man did not look Japanese to me in the slightest; he unlike my grandfather had retained a full head of hair and had old man knees. Unfortunately as I was trying to rest, another fight broke out.

"You dirty commie fascist pig!" My grandfather spurted out as if it was a fact. It however it was not, calling something Communist and Fascist would be like calling a banana orange. It just simply isn't so.

"You stupid ignorant muggle!" The neighbor called back from the security of his own lawn. Wait; did that old man just say muggle? No he couldn't have, he is an old man. Nevertheless, I needed to see where this headed. Staring at the men from the refuge of my lawn chair, I looked back and forth as if watching a tennis match. The two men spat insults from each side of the lawn and the language became increasingly vulgar particularly from Poppy's side. Then a tidbit of the conversation caught my ears, of course this wasn't hard because I was sitting only about five yards away from the feuding men.

"If you aren't the ugliest, stupidest, most crude man I've ever met in my life, my name isn't James Potter!" The old man yelled from his yard. Whoa, what was that?

"James Potter?!" I screeched shrilly. Standing up a little too quickly my head crashed into the tree trunk which resulted in a string of curses. Making my way to the old men I stared at the red-faced man in front of me. "Your name is James Potter? But you're old and…old." I said staring at him up and down. The more I looked at him the more I saw similarities to the James Potter I knew. Thin wire glasses balanced dangerously on the edge of his nose and the traces of a smirk could be seen on his features even while furious.

"Yes I am James Potter." The man said obviously disgruntled. Then as if inspiration struck, he cried "You are one of us also! You must know Jamie from Hogwarts!" Almost immediately he had from a stubborn old man to a proud grandparent.

It was now Poppy's turn to be confused, "Hogwarts?" he asked me perplexed "I thought you went to Madame Azures Finishing School for Girls…" My grandfather was a little delayed on the times; Madame Azures had closed in 1937.

Particularly tickled me, James 'The Man' Potter was being referred to as Jamie. I let out a giggle but stifled it and continued to talk with James Potter, the old man. "Yes I do actually. But why are you here with all the muggles?"

Infuriated that I had ignored his question and even angrier that his granddaughter and worst enemy were talking about something he couldn't understand, Poppy stomped off no doubt looking for a particular Vermin to terrify.

"I like it here." He said simply and gestured to the trees and the lake. "It is simple, and actually I'm quite fascinated by the inventions that the muggles have come up with. Electricity, plugs, radio…" He continued to tick off several items and finished. "Amazing."

"Yes it is actually." I nodded in agreement; this clearly was a very fascinating man. Why couldn't James be this well mannered and polite? After thinking that it would be too creepy for an old man to be coming on to me, I decided it was better that James was different from his grandfather.

"Oh and won't it be grand!" Mr. Potter clapped his hands excitedly like a child. "Jamie and his friends will be coming up in a couple of days to visit me. Maybe they can seek revenge on that balloon of a boy…" All childlike innocence lost, Mr. Potter rubbed his hands wickedly together. My Poppy and Mr. Potter shared one thing, their hate for Vermin. I couldn't help but smile, the idea of an old man taking on Vernon was amusing.

"Potter is coming here?" I asked and I must have paled because Mr. Potter came over and comforted me. From the kitchen Poppy yelled "Keep your hands off my granddaughter!" and Mr. Potter promptly let go of my arm.

"Yes dear, isn't that swell? Imagine, it will be like a Hogwarts reunion. Unless you are from Slytherin, and if you are I fear you will be living in terror for at least a week." He mused and looked up at me; apparently oblivious to the fact that I was dreading Potters arrival with every fiber of my being.

"Yeah, just swell…" I muttered and made a move to leave "I think Poppy needs me in the kitchen, so maybe I'll see you later…" Turning around I walked through the porch and into the kitchen. Apparently the house was deserted; taking my chances I began to compose a letter to my dearest friend Olivia in the safety of my own room.

Olivia-

How has your summer been? I hope it has been good; mine has, at least until now. Potter has kept his promise not to mail me, or Remus has kidnapped his owl like he had threatened to…Anyways, I have some terrible news. I met Potters grandfather today (a nice fellow actually) and Potter and the gang are coming to visit in a couple of days! Days Olivia! No time for me to prepare for battle, I must simply lock myself in my room and wait for the bombardment to be over. But I recently learned to drive, so maybe I can drive away…Oh that is a good plan. I'm sorry that I unburden all my woes on you, but you are the only one who doesn't tease me…Too much.

Also how has camp been? I can't wait to hear about the hexes that you and the boys' camp have come up with so far! Please write back, Vermin has been stuffing his face and then kissing Petunia and I threw up in my mouth earlier today from the sight. I need a sane companion! The only one who I sometimes talk to is Poppy and we know that he can't be trusted with any information…Once again, I beg of you! Write back!

Love Always,

Lily

No longer caring about what my neighbors thought, I mailed the letter and watched Snorky sail in the skies finally free of the prison that was my room. Flopping myself on my bed I stuffed my face into my pillow and dreaded the arrival of the boys who would make my life difficult for the next couple of weeks.

-x-

Sorry, I know it is short, but I just needed to make some background and such. Please review!