Summary: There's only one thing that could spoil a long, hot, dreamy summer charming Lily in her own house. Unfortunately, said thing lives next door.

"You're kidding me," Lily said, a strand of frizzy red hair falling in her eyes. "This is a prank, right?"

"My dear girl, I'm sixty or seventy years too old for pranks," Dumbledore said kindly, his blue eyes twinkling. "Though they do seem quite fashionable these days. Perhaps Mr Potter here could give me some tips?"

James grinned at the famous wizard, mind already whizzing through all the things they could accomplish with so much magic. What he would give to be as powerful and brilliant as Dumbledore… Not that he considered himself far off, being the best at Transfiguration in the year. "It's all in the element of surprise," he said conspirituality, and Lily huffed.

"Consider this an awful surprise, sir," she spat out, and James glanced at her. Lily Evans, being rude to a Professor - the Headmaster, even? Perhaps this was just a pleasant dream.

Dumbledore didn't seem perturbed, and smiled fondly at them. "I know it's a shock, Miss Evans, but it is necessary. I'm sorry to say that with so many Death Eater attacks, it would be beyond reckless to let a muggleborn go home unprotected, and the wards need more than one magical presence to sustain them. I assure you, we're doing the same for all the muggleborns."

"Then why can't someone else go?" She asked, turning to glare at him. "Why does it have to be Potter? It could be any of the girls in my dorm, I'm sure Marlene would go. Or - or Severus could just move in with me, he lives practically next door anyway."

James' stomach plummeted. He had known Lily and the git were close, or used to be at least, but he hadn't realised they were neighbours. His hands fisted under the table at the thought of being replaced by Snivellus, but Dumbledore was shaking his head, his long beard swishing against the desk.

"I am afraid not, Miss Evans, I'm afraid not. Warding is a tricky business, and must be completed by someone who values your life, or it is of little worth. Of the students who care for you, only the Potters would allow their son to disappear for the whole summer. They themselves are going abroad, to hunt Potions ingredients in South America." Dumbledore glanced at James, as though evaluating whether he minded being abandoned, and he grinned at him to show his delight. A whole summer without any trekking, or digging up plants, or eating weird foreign food in a tent in the boiling heat? A whole summer with Lily? It was the best gift his parents could give him.

"And Severus?" Lily pressed, and James' good mood vanished. "His mother won't mind."

For the first time, Dumbledore looked uncomfortable at her piercing stare. "I'm afraid that Severus has taken to some types of magic that, although strictly within the bounds of the law, are not compatible with this type of warding. I would not look so smug if I were you, Mr Potter," he said, and the smirk fell from his lips, "at least Severus has stayed within the law."

James went cold. Surely he didn't… No, James comforted himself, Dumbledore had no-idea they were animagi. Even he couldn't overlook three students breaking upwards of a dozen magical rules. He probably just knew about the potion ingredient stealing, or the trip to France, or the time they kept a pet Freshwater Plimpie in their dorm. (Remus had cried when it grew too large to keep under his bed anymore, though that might have been because it had eaten all his notes.)

Before Lily could raise another objection, Dumbledore raised his hand. "I am truly sorry that your summer will not be as free as you wish, but you must consider the alternative. Would you leave yourself and your family unprotected?" Lily was silent. "Then we are in agreement. When you leave on the Hogwarts Express in a few weeks, you will return to your house with James, and I will set the wards myself. Now, I believe you two both have revision to do."

They both understood the dismissal, and left the office, James taking a handful of cockroach clusters as he left. Before he could offer one to Lily, or hug her in sheer delight, she had strode off, muttering about stupid wards and petunias. He watched her retreating back, and how the sun made the rat spleen stain on her robes shine and her mussed hair turn to a torrent of fire… This was his chance, at last. After five years of trying, this was his chance.

And boy was he going to take it.

"Will you miss magic over the Summer, James?" Peter asked, as he tried to lick the rest of the chocolate from his lips and chin. The frog had put up one hell of a fight, but it was a lost battle to get between Peter and his sweets. "You've never really had to stop before."

"I couldn't use it much," James pointed out, "except for practising with mum or dad." How different could it be?

"But you had magical stuff, and a house elf, and quidditch when you were home. And you did all that Potions practise with your dad." Peter reminded him, and James grinned at the thought - a whole summer without even the word Potions. "I miss everything about magic when I'm at home."

Peter's family were peculiar purebloods. They had magical jobs and magical lives, but liked their home to be as muggle as possible. His mother had the locals round to play bridge every week, and all the photos had permanent freezing charms on them. They even had that stuff muggles used to make things move and make sounds and light… Elecy-something. James shrugged. "It's only for the summer. And Lily will be there."

Sirius, who had been staring out the window as though trying to cause a forest fire with his eyes, turned round at that. "Great. No magic, but you can spend your summer being rejected. Sounds like fun."

James frowned. Sirius had mocked him a thousand times for his Lily-love, but he never suggested it was pointless. He was always goading him on, thinking of new ways to win her heart (the charm on Severus' robes reading Ask Potter Out had been him) and valiantly keeping his spirits up when Lily had somewhat different feelings. (They had woken up the next day with N and O on their foreheads, and couldn't get it off for a week.)

"It'll be fun," Peter chimed in, upbeat as always. "And sure, it'll be hard to be without magic, but if you learn to live with muggles, mum might let you stay again." The last time hadn't gone well, and the whole bridge club had to be obliviated.

"Because staying with muggles is so difficult," Sirius muttered, staring gloomily out the window again. James sighed - he hadn't been able to get through to him for weeks now.

"It's only two months, Sirius," he said, but he didn't so much as blink. Sure, James knew that Sirius hated his family, but it wasn't as though he was allowed to visit anyway - the Potter family was usually out of the country, if not the continent.

An idea popped into his head. "Hey Siri, you can come see me! You live in London, right? And so does Lily." He wasn't sure where in London, but he would find out soon. Sirius seemed to perk up a bit at that, enough to convince Peter he had chocolate on his ear at least, and James gave him a fond smile. He knew this summer would be good.

"And you could visit too, right Peter? And Remus, maybe." Their furry friend was out like a light, and snoring lightly. The full moon would be in two days, and he would have to face it alone, trapped in a basement in the middle of Manchester.

"I would have to stay over," Peter said doubtfully, but at James' look, he nodded eagerly. "Yeah, alright, it's only a few trains from Cornwall."

"Inviting people over to my house already, Potter?" Came an icy voice, and James' head whipped around to see Lily, already changed into her muggle clothes. Her hair was sleek and plaited this time, no funny Potions smells at all, and James stomach did that melting thing that made him feel like he'd swallowed Amortentia. "Can I have a word?"

He tripped over Peter's leg on the way out, and closed the carriage door awkwardly behind him. "I didn't mean to -"

"You never mean to," she snapped, then glanced at his robes. They were brand-new from Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, and made him look even more broad shouldered than he was. The fourth-year Ravenclaw with the nose piercing had even wolf whistled. "Why are you wearing those?"

"Why am I - oh." James thought hard, mentally flipping through his trunk. "I don't own any muggle clothes."

Lily was looking at him as though he had done this deliberately, or at least thoughtlessly, which James couldn't accept. It wasn't really his fault - he'd had exams to think about, and day dreams of taking Lily to see fun muggle things, like muggle zoos and muggle swimming pools. Somehow, muggle clothes just hadn't crossed his mind. "I don't care how, but I'm not taking you home in anything but jeans and a t-shirt, understood?"

James nodded. He could do that, he thought, as soon as found out what jeans were. "Where do your parents live, anyway? Are we taking an automobile?"

"Car," Lily corrected. "And yeah, we are. Look, I want to set some rules before we arrive."

Fine by him, James thought. After all, rules were meant to be broken. "Fire away."

"Listen carefully, I won't take forgetting as an excuse," she said, tossing her plaits back and glaring sternly up at him like a short, hot version of McGonagall. "First, no magic at all except owl post, and only at night. You can keep your zonko rubbish in your trunk. Secondly, no touching anything muggle until I've explained it, and no talking to the neighbours. I've heard all about that incident with Peter's parents." James winced. How was he supposed to know, at the tender age of twelve, that muggles didn't have invisibility cloaks, or that people didn't live inside televisions? "Thirdly, no insulting my sister or talking to her about magic, it's not worth it. Fourthly, no flirting at all, but definitely not in front of my parents. I don't want my dad to chuck you out, for the sole reason that we may then be murdered. And fifthly -"

"This is a really long list," James said, but her glare silenced him. Perhaps he should summon parchment to write it all down.

"And fifthly, you're not to play a single prank on me, my sister, my parents or Severus."

"What?" James asked, staring at her as though she'd grown a second head, and that head was his worst enemy laughing at him. "But - but you're not friends anymore."

"How clever of you to notice that, Potter," she sneered, strangely Slytherin-like in her disgust. "No, we're not friends anymore, but we're still neighbours. And dark magic or not, he's better company than you. So if you see him, there'll be no pranks, no insults, no nastiness, and none of your look-how-hot-I-am macho bullshit."

James would have asked her if she thought he was hot, but he'd already got the answer to that question a few dozen times. A boy could dream though. He crossed his arms and glared down at her - Lily didn't even reach his chin these days - and quickly ran through her rules in his mind. "That's a lot to remember. Hell of a lot of rules, Lils."

"Don't call me that," she snapped, as ever.

"I'm just saying, I'm going to need some incentive to remember all that," James said, hope growing suddenly in his chest. Could he…

Lily was giving him that cold, calculating look that didn't suit her, and his words died in his throat. Merlin, how did she do this to him? "Fine," she said, looking extremely put out. "You want your friends to stay, yes? They can visit, and Peter can stay over for a night, and Remus can stay for two. Happy?"

"Hmm, don't think that's going to cut it, Lils," James said, a grin itching at the corner of his lips. "I mean, being nice to Snivellus… being nice to your sister, and your parents, and your neighbours… That's a lot of nice for one guy."

Lily was looking rather like Sirius, as though she wanted to set him on fire. "You're staying at my house," she reminded him. "As my guest."

"As your saviour," he corrected, "and as your very polite, not at all forgetful saviour. So I want something in return. For every week that I'm a good little houseguest, you go on a date with me. A nice romantic afternoon, and an activity of my choice. Oh, and two days for Peter, and three for Remus - they live very far away, you know."

"That's - that's not going to happen," she said, but James could see it in her eyes. She was cornered. "Look, they can all stay a week, and no dates."

"A date every week, and I'll make sure my friends are nice to Sni- Snape too, final offer," James said, watching her cheeks burn red. Oh, he liked that colour. "Come on, how bad will it be? And - and I won't tell a soul. Not even Sirius."

Lily studied him for a moment, as though he was a particularly nasty but unavoidable exam question. "And you won't be even slightly mean to Severus?"

James thought quickly. "I reserve the right to be half as rude as he is, I won't sit around silently if he calls you that word again, and we're not hanging out like the three musketeers or some shit." That git was so slimy, always following Lily around like a lost puppy - James couldn't believe he did it all summer too. "Deal?"

"Deal," she said, quickly, as though trying to get it over with. "And find some muggle clothes, Potter."

This was going to be the best summer of his life.

A/N: Whoop, whoop, you guys like? Please leave me reviews, I'm a lost soul and I write for attention, so no updates unless you feed the beast!

P.S. This is posted on both and AO3. I'm new to AO3 so if I've mucked up the format, or you have suggested tags, please tell me.