The summer past by so quickly that before James knew it had been two and a half months and he only had 2 weeks before he started his final year at Hogwarts. He'd organised to see his mate from primary school Sophia. Though their childhood days were behind them they managed to stay friends. It hadn't been until the summer of 4th year had James found out that Sophia was too, magical. She attended Beauxbatons Academy of Magic in the south of France. Sophia wasn't the girliest of girls. She liked to play football; she got muddy and dirty and didn't care. Her boyfriend's we're usually twat's in James' opinion, always talking about their feelings. This was usually why they didn't hang around for long, James was of the opinion that most of them couldn't handle having a girlfriend who, to put it nicely, had more balls than them.
This isn't to say that Sophia doesn't occasionally act like a girl. But to her, putting make up on every day and having to look like a doll was just too trivial for her. She'd prefer to be playing Quidditch. James always wondered how she fits in at Beauxbatons, He'd met a few of the girls and they were all very proper ladies. And Sophia was the kind of girl who would call someone a git and often was the first to throw a punch.
Sophia loved Lily though. Lily was like her little sister. She was an only child and James knew having Lily around meant a lot.
James grabbed his football from under his bed and pulled out a pair of runners. He went down stairs and into the kitchen. He sat down and pulled his shoes on and tightened the laces. He stood up bouncing the ball and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl on the counter. He went into the living room where Al was watching some muggle TV show. Lily was asleep on the couch, with her head in his lap. He looked up as James entered; he put his finger to his lips and indicated to Lily. James nodded and whispered, "Going to see Sophia, I'll be back in a bit. You guys okay on your own?"
Their parents we're at work and had left the kids home alone, this happened a lot over the summer, but none of them minded.
"Yeah we're fine" Al whispered back, they bumped fists and James left silently.
Once outside James took a deep breath. He loved being home for the summer. Everything about summer he loved, the air, the warmth, being home with his family. If you could find anything on the planet that James loved more than his brother and sister... then you probably deserve a medal. He began walking towards Sophia's house which was only 3 streets away from his own. He bounced the football as he walked; he was humming a song which had been stuck in his head for weeks.
Beauxbatons started their summer a few weeks before Hogwarts, which meant they went back a few weeks earlier as well. So today was one of Sophia's last days of her summer.
He reached her house within a few minute and knocked on the big wooden door, her mother answered,
"Good afternoon Mrs Peterson" James grinned,
"James! So good to see you, how has your summer been?" she said with a soft smile
"Pretty relaxed to be honest, just hanging around at home"
"Brilliant, well Sophia's upstairs in her room"
"Thanks Mrs Peterson" James smiled at her as he walked inside, and wandered upstairs.
Sophia's room was similar to James'. Decorated with Quidditch posters, photos of her and her friends at school, floors splayed across the floor and overflowing from the washing hamper, her school trunk in the corner, and what lied on the top was the best part of her room. He dropped the football in the doorway and ran to the broomstick,
"Hey mate-" Sophia started to say when she realised he was in her room,
"Leave, we need some time alone... I've missed you" he crooned to the broomstick, Sophia laughed and picked up a shoe nearby and threw it at him and it hit him square in the head.
The cyclone. The fastest broom yet. Her parents had bought it for her for her birthday last year. Made of a beautiful mahogany wood, she took amazing care of it, polishing and trimming it when necessary. He stood up and went over to her, they hugged, it was then James noticed a new addition to the room,
"What in Merlin's pants is that?" He said, releasing the hug and staring at her open wardrobe.
She turned to see what he was looking at, her eyes bulged,
"Uhh, nothing" she said rushing to close the doors.
"Ohhh no, you're not getting away with it that easily" he said pushing he out of the way and opening the doors again despite her protests
"No! James- Don't!"
He pulled out the hanger which had caught his eye.
"Well well well, what do we have here?" He said raising an eyebrow,
She huffed and crossed her arms across her chest and looked away. She grumbled something inaudible.
"Pardon?" James asked grinning, "I couldn't hear you, could you repeat that?"
"It's a dress" She stated with a cold stare.
"And why dear friend, is there a dress in your closet?" James was thoroughly enjoying himself.
She gave him the most intense glare she could muster.
"Because I need one for the ball" she said with no emotion
James examined the dress. It was very pretty. A floor length dress, deep purple in colour, it had one shoulder which was a lighter shade of purple, which at contact with the dress became a band which then connected again to the shoulder strap at the back.
"Put it on then" he said thrusting it towards her.
"No" she said
"C'mon! I won't get to see you in it the least you can do is show me now!" he whinged, giving her puppy dog eyes.
She snatched it from him and said "I hate you" before marching into her ensuite bathroom.
She was wearing a pair of running shorts and a tank top, she'd straightened her usually wavy hair and was pulled up into a high ponytail.
James sat on her bed, pushing a pile of clothes to the floor.
"How was Italy by the way?" He called to her,
She had spent the majority of her summer in Italy, which was why this was the first time James had seen her,
"Brilliant, was so warm down there, guys we're fantastic." She called back through the door
James at first thought she was talking about how attractive the guys were, then he realised she was talking about football... Typical Sophia,James thought to himself.
"Do I have to show you?" She asked, she sounded defeated,
"Yes." He said grinning. The door unlocked and she stepped out with her arms folded across her chest. James stood up, he didn't say anything. He took a step towards her.
"It looks ridiculous, i don't even want to go, it's going to suck and-" She began to ramble, she looked uncomfortable.
"If you don't go. I will kick your ass." was James' reply. He grabbed her shoulders and held her an arm's length away.
He looked her up and down, the dress looked amazing, it hugged her in all the right places, the colour complemented her skin, her hair was still pulled back into the messy ponytail, which made James smiled,
"You look stunning" he said simply, giving her a smile.
"Liar" she said, squinting at him,
"Never"
She began to look uncomfortable,
"I'm just gonna get changed" she said, she turned around and shut the door
-
Sophia went back to school and sent James multiple owls saying how annoying it was that he was still on holidays and she was in a boring classroom. James laughed every time he got a new one. The latest one read;
"You truly are a git."
James got the impression she was running out of things to complain about...
It was only 2 days until the first of September, and Lily was starting Hogwarts this year.
Ginny had bought her, her robes last week and she had put them on at least once a day since then. She ran into James' room as he was packing... or more or less shoving his clothes into his trunk.
"What if I forget to pack something?" She squealed
"Then mum and dad can owl it to you" James laughed softly, she smiled and ran out again
The doorbell went downstairs, and James assumed it was someone for his parents. A moment later, he was tackled onto his floor.
"Oi!" he shouted, the figure stood up, and James looked up,
"What are you doing here?" He grinned, standing up hugging the man in front of him.
Scott Davis was tall, probably about 6 foot, he has dirty brown hair and pale blue eyes, with his broad shoulders, he makes a bloody good beater.
"The old ones are away, so I thought I could hang out with you and hitch a lift to the station?" he said grinning,
"'Course" James grinned back
Lily ran back into James' room with another panicked expression,
"What if- Hi Scotty!" she exclaimed smiling,
"Hey Lil's, excited?" he asked her, she nodded and ran out of the room again.
Scott had been one of James' best mates since first year. There were two others in their group, Ben O'Brian and Matt Rayner. All of which we're the resident trouble makers slash heartbreakers at Hogwarts.
"Have you seen any of the boys?" Scott asked, flinging himself onto James' bed,
"They both went away mate..." James said, Scotty had a tenancy to forget some things,
"Oh, right" he said, with a grunt indicating that he remembered this information now,
A tawny owl was tapping at James' window. James walked over to the window and he opened it up and the owl flew inside and over to his desk, there was a heavy looking letter tied to its foot. James untied it and gave the owl some feed, satisfied the owl hooted and flew away. It was a Hogwarts envelope. Scott sat up curiously, James opened it up and out fell two badges, both of which he caught in his right hand. His eyes popped open. And he looked up at Scott.
"What is it?"
James read the letter,
"Congratulations Mr James Sirius Potter, You have been selected for the position of- Merlin's pants..."
"What? What does it say?" Scotty asked standing up
"Head boy" James said weakly
"What?" Scott yelled incredulously,
"And Gryffindor Quidditch captain... is that even allowed?"
"Apparently so..." Scott was still laughing, "Head boy? Are they mental?"