I think y'all know JK owes the characters
Last time: the four boys take the Hogwarts express to platform 9 ¾ like the rest of the school. They all have different experiences during the holidays, some more pleasant than others. Sirius goes to visit James. Remus and Peter will join later.
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Life at the Potters
James waited impatiently for Sirius to show up. They had agreed that he would come the day after they talked, yet it was already almost eleven. When would he show up? It was really hot outside and James would probably be dying of heat if it wasn´t because his parents were sorcerers and able to cool the house down with magic.
It took a while before someone finally came out of the fireplace. Sirius was completely covered in ashes and looked extremely out of place. Their home didn´t completely look like a wizard house. Something like Hogwarts had lots of little things that gave it away. Their house had it too, just less. But Sirius was dressed in long black wizard robes that so didn´t fit with the hot weather outside.
However, Sirius appeared oblivious to this as he went in for a hug. Though when they broke apart and had had time to look around, it seemed as if Sirius noticed how little he fit in with wizards' robes. James himself was simply wearing blue shorts and a bright yellow shirt.
"Hi. Welcome to my house" James gestured with both his arms. He didn´t know how Sirius lived, yet guessed it was very different, but hoped Sirius liked his house anyways.
"Hi. It´s very nice here" he commented. "Nothing like Grimmauld. I like it" this house really is very different from what he is used to, but different in a good way. Sirius had never visited anyone but his family, and they all liked to keep the same dark style.
"We should get your trunk in my room" James stated, happy that Sirius was finally here. "I´m just gonna tell my parents you are here first" he led Sirius outside where his parents were laying in the shadow. His mom was wearing her favourite flowered dress while his dad was only wearing shorts. Sirius seemed to be startled by the view.
"Hi mom and dad, Sirius is here" he gestured towards Sirius who looked like he wanted to crawl into a little hole. It also seemed as if he had started sweating.
"Good morning Mr and Mrs Potter" Sirius greeted politely.
"Just call me Euphemia, and him Fleamont" his mom quickly said and Fleamont smiled. "It´s nice to meet you, Sirius. Aren´t you sweating? Don´t you have some summer clothes?" she asked and smiled warmly. James was happy they didn´t judge him for his last name and instead made him feel welcome.
"No, ma'am… I mean Euphemia" his fists were nervously opening and closing over and over again.
"I´m sure you can borrow some from James" she hinted.
"Of course" he exclaimed. "Come Sirius. Then we can also carry your trunk to my room" James would have said he dragged Sirius away from there, but it might have been the other way around.
"There is some lemonade in the refrigerator" his dad called just before they entered the house again. They were immediately cooled down.
Sirius quickly went for his trunk and followed James upstairs into his bedroom. It was weird how different their houses were. Where everything in Grimmauld place was dark, everything here seemed light. Also, he was used to narrow hallways instead of wide ones. James´ room was also a lot bigger than his own one and actually contained two four-poster beds.
"I got another pair of blue shorts of you prefer that" James opened his drawer. "What colour shirt do you prefer? I got lot´s of different ones" he gestured to where all his shirts were neatly folded due to his mom.
"Uhh, the green one I think" Sirius awkwardly stated. James got out the bright green shirt and his dark blue shorts. Sirius hesitantly grabbed them. "Can you… uhh, turn around."
"Yeah" James turned around and patiently waited for Sirius to get dressed, it didn´t take very long and soon they were facing each other again. "Looks good" he stated awkwardly.
Sirius huffed. "Of course it looks good. It´s on me" he joked.
James laughed. "It´s so good to see you again," he told truthfully. A month without seeing one of his best friends is too much. "I hope you are okay with sleeping in the same room as me, it´s either this or a smaller room in the other end of the house. Seeing as we are dormmates, I didn´t think it would be a problem.
"It´s not a problem" Sirius quickly assured, he would much rather sleep in the same room as James. "Can we try some of that lemonade thing?" he asked excitedly.
"Let me guess; you haven´t tried lemonade before?" James asked as he leads the way to the kitchen.
"Once gotta be the first time" he replied and smiled.
….
Sirius quickly learned that the life with the Potters was very much different than the life with the Blacks. Not only were the houses different, but all the people inside also was. The Potters talked really much during meals, even James was allowed to talk. He and James could also sleep for as long as they wanted in the mornings.
They didn´t have to ask for permission to walk outside, they simply had to tell. Euphemia or Fleamont cooked at every meal, they didn´t have house elves. James even had chores to do, which they gave him pocket money for. Euphemia decided that he should get pocket money too. Sirius didn´t feel much like a guest there, but more like a member of the family.
He couldn´t remember the last time his own mother had laughed, yet it seemed as if James´ did it every day. His own father would never walk around without a shirt on, but Fleamont did it all the time. Although he was sure to always have it close to him if the ministry needed him.
Sirius also made a great discovery. James didn´t get beaten if he did anything he wasn´t allowed to, and certainly not for minor things. The only thing that made sense was that it´s not normal to be beaten for breaking rules, also seeing as neither of the other Gryffindors in his year has scars or marks.
The only person he hadn´t seen without clothes was Remus.
He didn´t know what to do with the information and therefore decided to do nothing.
They had also been practising Quidditch a lot. They took turns using James´ old and new broom. James was old enough to join the team this year, so of course he needed to practice to make sure he would get in. He tried a lot of different positions to find out which one he liked the most. So far, he liked chaser the most, yet was really good at being a seeker.
"You can just try out for both. Last year they tried out for one position, then the next and so on. They will probably do that again" Sirius said reasonably.
"I just feel like I have to choose" James mumbled. He fiddled with the grass but didn´t pull any of it up seeing as it would make him mom mad. The two boys were laying on the grass as they had just finished practising Quidditch.
"Maybe you don´t have to choose. There might be someone else who is a way better seeker than you, and then you will just be chaser" he calmed. Sirius really liked the freedom here, he could do almost as he pleased.
"I suppose so" James stated and was actually more nervous he wouldn´t even make the team at all.
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The next morning the two boys were met with owls as they ate breakfast. Both quickly stopped eating to read the letter from Hogwarts. The letter contained a list of their new supplies and a note saying they were allowed to bring a broomstick as they could join the Quidditch team.
Both of them was wearing pyjamas with little snitches on them. Sirius liked how chill it was here.
"What do you say we go to Diagon Alley today?" Euphemia offered smiling. "I know it´s raining, but they say it will only get worse, so we better just get over with."
James agreed. If he couldn´t play Quidditch might just as well do something else useful.
"But what about my things?" Sirius asked suddenly, he hadn´t thought about how he would get his new books. Did he have to go back to get them? Because he really didn´t want that.
"Don´t worry" Euphemia quickly assured. "Why don´t you write to them and ask? Perhaps they could just send the money" she offered. Sirius liked how she could handle everything that easily and how she didn´t freak out on him all the time.
"Yeah that sounds-" he began but was cut off by a bang. They all stared at Kreacher who was standing in the middle of the kitchen with lots of books, quills, robes and other supplies. He flinched, Sirius didn´t want the Potters to think he was the kind of person who had house elves.
"Master Sirius…" he flinched again. Kreacher looked really out of place here, and Sirius wanted him gone as quickly as possible. "…your books and necessary supplies" Kreacher announced.
"Yes. Thank you Kreacher" he quickly said and hoped he would go away soon.
But it didn´t seem as if the house elf was done. "A letter from master Regulus," he said, and a letter appeared in front of Sirius. With another bang, Kreacher was gone.
Sirius was afraid of what Euphemia would say now, but he shouldn´t have been.
"Well, now we got that problem fixed" she smiled. "Who is Regulus?
"My brother," he told and then opened the letter.
Dear Sirius.
Can´t you come back for the last day of the holidays? I really want to go to the platform with you. If not, then I guess I´ll just see you there.
I can´t wait to be at Hogwarts.
It makes me sad that we don´t talk anymore. Please write back to me!
Your brother
Regulus
Sirius simply stared at it for a while. Regulus had had his chances to show just what Sirius meant to him, both times he had failed. He could go back and fix things with his brother, but he didn´t want to. Regulus should be the one to fix things. He hadn´t even said sorry.
"What does it say?" James asked worried, even though he tried to hide it. If Sirius wasn´t on the good side of his family, maybe the same thing concerns his brother.
"Just that he misses me and can´t wait to see me at Hogwarts" Sirius replied without missing a heartbeat. He wasn´t technically lying.
"He sounds nice" Euphemia stated. "We better get ready for Diagon Alley."
"Come Sirius" James raised himself from the table. The boys had to take on some clothes, they couldn´t go to Diagonally in only Pajamas. Sirius quickly took the last bite and was about to follow James when Euphemia stopped them.
"Remember to bring your wands" she warned. Her happy tone was replaced with a more serious one.
They stared confused at her. "But we are not allowed to use it out of school" James stated sending Sirius a look. He hadn´t misunderstood something? Because then surely he would have used tons of magic earlier.
"You never know," her expression said nothing. But then suddenly her smile was back. "Hurry up you two."
….
James and Sirius were sharing an umbrella while Euphemia had her own. They had only just stepped outside but already dreamt of going inside again. Their umbrella didn´t help much as the boys were running towards Flourish and Blotts to get new books for James. His mom was going to other places for some of the other things.
When they were finally inside, the two boys were practically soaking.
"What new books do you need?" Sirius asked. He hadn´t really looked through the list.
"Uhh… The Standard Book of Spells, Grade two and Lupine Lawlessness" James read on the list. "It shouldn´t take long, so we can go towards Eeylops Owl Emporium and meet my mom there" he began to look at the shelves. His mom would go there because they needed more feed for their owls.
"But your mom told us to wait here" Sirius quipped. He didn´t want to make Euphemia mad when she had been so nice to him.
"It will save her for the trip over here" he argued and found the first book. James looked around for the second book. He spotted it on a shelf on the other side of the store and walked over there. "Now we just gotta pay" he walked towards the cashier, paid, and got ready to leave. Though Sirius didn´t.
"Don´t you think it´s better if we just stay? We could walk right past her and wouldn´t notice" he stated hoping James would give in so they didn´t have to get out in the rain.
"If we hurry, we get there before she does," James said and walked outside with the umbrella. Sirius unwillingly followed.
Sirius made sure to look at everyone who passed them to see if any of them was James´ mom. They weren´t out for long before a loud bang and some shiny lights appeared on the sky in front of them. James and Sirius stared at it for a moment before they noticed people were running away from there.
James suddenly felt something was very wrong. It seemed as if Sirius had the same feeling because on the same time they started sprinting not caring about the rain hitting them.
The two boys ran as fast as they could, but fate had it that Sirius would slip. James quickly turned around. He spotted dark figures without faces walking towards them. They were sneering and shooting spells all over the place.
James grabbed Sirius and intended to drag them both to safety. But Sirius stopped him and pointed towards something. "There´s a girl" he yelled. Without a word, they both quickly ran towards the crying girl. James easily scooped her up and ran with Sirius towards an alley.
They weren´t visible to whoever was causing disorder. All three of them was shaking. As the hooded figures came closer, they heard not only sneers but also a terrified scream. James held tighter around the girl and Sirius also scooted nearer.
Their hearts were beating like crazy.
A big loud scream could be heard. James couldn´t make out the words, but Sirius could, and he froze. They all saw the green light but only Sirius knew what it meant. He suddenly needed to vomit. Then there was utter silence. Only the sound of the rain falling down could be heard.
There was another loud scream. A terrified and sad one.
"OLIVE?!" two voices screeched. The girl looked up. Her before blank eyes now filled with hope. Sirius and James looked quickly at each other before walking the girl -apparently named Olive- up towards her parents.
Once they were visible two woman quickly ran towards Olive and embraced her. Their eyes were red from tears and they looked as if they had been about to die, but didn´t.
They showered her with kisses and apologizes and words of relief before Olive got out of their grip. "They saved me" she pointed at James and Sirius who suddenly turned to look embarrassed.
The two women quickly turned to thank them, and they simply brushed it off as no big deal. Olive and her parents said goodbye after another thank you and disappeared towards the Leaky Cauldron.
Sirius looked towards the place the hooded figures last were. A bunch of people were gathered around something and suddenly the rain seemed very fitting. Slowly they moved away from the street. A crying man and woman behind.
"Sirius?! James?!" they turned to see Euphemia running down the streets. Her face was bewildered and worried. She kept screaming their names.
"Mom?" James called back.
His mom saw them and quick as lightning she was right in front of the boys and embracing them both. She was panting and they couldn´t know if it was sweat or rain on her forehead. "I´m so glad you are both okay" she cried. "I told you to stay in the shop" Euphemia demanded her voice suddenly very stern.
James and Sirius looked down.
"Sorry mom" James mumbled. "I just thought we could home quicker if we met you at Eeylops Owl Emporium…" he was ashamed and wished that he had done what Sirius asked and stayed. On the other hand, then they wouldn´t have found Olive, and then she might have been hurt.
"James saved a little girl" Sirius blurted out. He didn´t like that James got all the blame. "If we hadn´t gone, she might have… might have… might" he couldn´t finish and suddenly needed to vomit again. Euphemia pulled him in for a hug and led the boys towards a little shop to get away from the rain.
Both James and Sirius were shaking wildly. "It´s okay now" she comforted and gave another hug. "I think it´s time for some hot cocoa."
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"REMUS!" the tiny boy was practically tackled by three other boys when he walked out from the fireplace. A moment ago, he had been at his own house and said goodbye to his parents, and in the next moment he was in a strange house and tackled by his three best friends.
"Boys! Give him some space" Euphemia demanded. Sirius, James and Peter quickly let go of Remus and James´ mom cleaned him with her wand. "You came just in time for dinner. Why don´t you all get his trunk to James´ room and the come down again and eat?"
Remus decided he liked her. Just like Sirius and Peter. James was relieved.
"Then we can play exploding snap after" James suggested. He and Sirius grabbed Remus´ trunk and lifted it upstairs.
After their visit to Diagon Alley, the atmosphere in the house had been very tense and sad, but the boys couldn´t concentrate on that anymore. The four pranksters were together again, and that can only be good.
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It made me so happy to write this (except the part in Diagon Alley) and I hope you guys enjoyed it.
Be sure to review to make me happy! :D :D
