"Harry!" James called up the stairs. "Breakfast." The smell of hot bacon, tea and eggs mixed together warmly in the summer air. It was a cheerful smell and a normal one in the Potter estate. Not that James did the cooking, but they managed to eat well despite that.

Harry blinked, struggling to be free of his bedclothes as he sat up in bed. He felt for his glasses and rubbed his eyes before putting the room into focus. It wasn't the biggest room in the house, but Harry liked the coziness and the feeling of everything in its place. He had his books, a desk for doing essays and math, thick red curtains on his bedpost, and a window seat for reading. The window glanced out at the grounds, which sprawled green for a while and then hit a stone wall before the road.

The property, known as Hawk's Hall because it stood at the top of a gentle hill, had belonged to the Potters for generations. However, James tended to keep a low profile and Harry barely knew his neighbors. The nearest Wizard family was in the next town over and James was polite but distant with the Muggles, who saw them as eccentric aristocrats. That, and his notoriety in the Wizarding World, isolated Harry. He rarely socialized with people his own age and wasn't allowed off the manor without an adult.

He hated that. He was nearly eleven, after all. But bringing it up with Dad or Remus just earned him a pained look and a reminder about Voldemort's followers and the terrible thing that had happened to his mother. Absently, Harry rubbed his lightening-shaped scar, then allowed his wild black hair to fall forward to cover it.

"Harry?" James prompted insistently from the kitchen at the bottom of the stairs.

"Coming!" he yelled, pulling on a bathrobe and padding towards breakfast.

The young boy grinned as he slid into the seat in the kitchen. It was the rare morning that Harry got James to himself. For as long as he could remember, James' focus was on catching Voldemort's followers and tracking down bad wizards. Remus was over most mornings so that James could leave early for work or track a contact in Egypt or Australia. He was sometimes gone for days on mysterious trips that he refused to talk about. Today, though, James' eyes were twinkling at him, directing Harry's attention to the letter left at his breakfast place.

Harry's heart did a little flip and he lifted the heavy parchment envelope, eyes wide. James encouraged him without a word. Harry broke the familiar seal, and unfolded the letter, the one that had been weighing on his mind for weeks now. He had nearly given up hope that it would ever come. His eyes found the words, "You have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Wizardry…" and his face broke into a relieved grin.

James laughed, making Harry look up. "As if there was any doubt," he teased, leaning over to read the supplies list over his shoulder. Harry leaned back against him and grinned with relief and delight. "Eat your breakfast," James said, sending his tilted chair back down with a gentle push.

Harry smiled as he bit into his bacon. "You didn't cook this, did you?" He asked curiously. They had a cook and housekeeper, but she didn't usually arrive until later in the day, leaving the wizards to fend for themselves in the morning. Remus sometimes made pancakes, but James was generally forbidden to even spell the food onto the plate.

James tried to look offended. "What do you mean?"

"I mean… it tastes good!" Harry said, laughing. "Uncle Remus is here?" he guessed, and the man appeared, coming through the swinging door from the main hall.

"Prongs!" Lupin's deep voice reproved. "You started without me!"

James grinned and shrugged. "We were hungry."

"Got your letter?" Remus said, turning to Harry. "Congratulations, kiddo. You do my tutoring proud or I'll be hearing from Professor McGonagall!" In addition to caring for Harry during the day, Lupin saw to Harry's formal education. He was a hard task-master, but fair.

"You didn't teach me any magic," Harry reproved.

Lupin smiled, helping himself to some eggs and toast. "Yes, well, at least you can string together sentences and do algebra. You have to learn the basics first, Harry."

Harry was making a face when a ministry owl distracted him. It flew through the open window a dropped a large bundle of letters on the table expectantly. James had the decency to look guilty as he set aside breakfast and took care of the owl. He began glancing through the letters, pushing his glasses up his nose as he read. Remus and Harry shared a bemused look.

"Harry," James said, putting the work correspondence aside with his usual reluctance.

"Yeah?" Harry said, taking a drink of orange juice.

"You'll be able to find my old Hogwarts trunk up in the attic. See if there's anything you can scavenge. Though, I dare say that fashions have changed since then. We'll do a run to the shops before we ship you off," he teased.

"Thanks so much," Harry said, rolling his eyes.

James laughed and finished the paper before he left Harry in Remus' care. "I'm meeting with Studgis later, Harry. See you tonight."

"Bye Dad," Harry said, finishing up his breakfast. He cleaned his plate and got dressed, then pulled Remus away from the paper. He dragged his uncle up the stairs to look for school supplies and other buried treasure that his dad might have stored up there.

"Here it is," Remus said, pulling out the monogrammed black trunk.

"Is that mum's?" Harry asked, pointing to the dark purple trunk sitting near James'.

Remus dusted off both luggage trunks, avoiding Harry's glance. "I suppose it is," he said, turning on another lamp. "Let's take a look."

Harry swallowed mixed emotions and waited while Lupin spelled open the old lock on his father's trunk. Soon he would have a wand of his own. Soon he would be on his own at Hogwarts. The locking spell didn't put up much of a fight. Harry grinned in wonderment as he rummaged through the 7th year essays and broken quills. There were some dress robes that Lupin picked up and draped to the side. "It'll take you some years to grow into these," he warned. The clothes in the trunk were all for a boy leaving Hogwarts rather than First Year.

Harry was busy opening books and trying to imagine his father as a schoolboy. There was a usable caldron, though Lupin threw out the potion ingredients that had gone bad. The scales needed balancing, but most of the glass phials only needed to be cleaned. Lupin went though with more practicality than sentiment, but Harry found a stash of photographs that had his immediate attention. He looked through the smiling, young faces: his father's wild hair, Lupin's scruffy chin, the strange, infamous faces of Sirius and Peter and the painful vision of his mother. "Do you think I could take these?" He asked, sharing them with Lupin who leaned back on his haunches and wiped his brow.

Remus smiled and handed them back after he'd drunk in the images and the tide of memories that went with them. "Your dad won't mind," he said, confidently. Harry was relieved that he wouldn't have to ask. James went half mad the week before Halloween and they did not display photos or portraits of Lily. Harry didn't know if he would have been brave enough to bring that wild look back for something so silly.

He sat for a minute, looking through them again. "Can we open hers?" he asked softly.

Lupin picked up his wand and spoke a quiet "Alohomora." Harry sidled up to the box, and lifted the lid. The papers and robes were neatly stacked and Harry leaned forward to catch the smell of lavender and mint. He glanced at her neatly written essays and leafed reverently through the textbooks with small notes in the margins.

There were photographs as well, tucked into a date book near the top of the trunk. Some were duplicates of what were in James' pile, but Harry studied one of his parents dressed up for winter ball, Lily laughing and straightening James' bow tie while James tossed his head cockily. Behind it was an older photograph of his mother with a strange, hook-nosed boy and a few muggle stills. He looked through them, but didn't disturb the way his mother had carefully packed the trunk. He left everything exactly as he'd found them.

Lupin watched him tenderly, knowing better than any one the quiet burden Harry bore so bravely. "She had an amazing potion set, Harry," he suggested, but didn't push it when Harry closed the lid of the box and stood up, ready to go back downstairs. He lifted the trunks back to where they had been stored and helped Harry carry everything to his room.

"Get your math," Lupin said as they headed to the schoolroom.

Harry groaned.