Her parents were right. Lily did want to die. Petunia's boyfriend- vernon. What kind of a name was vernon anyway?- had been talking about the drills he sold for what must have been at least twenty minutes now. Petunia was looking at him with real, genuine interest and her mother and father were nodding politely but when vernon wasn't looking they shared knowing looks with each other. Looks that suggested they had been through far too many dinners listening to vernon talk about his drills. Lily wasn't even bothering to look interested. Honestly she had just been looking at him with such sheer boredom on her face she was surprised petunia hadn't yelled at her for it yet. She honestly couldn't believe someone could be this boring. Her mouth hung slightly open in bored amazement.

"And then he tried to use a left-handed drill bit for a right-handed drill. This, of course, resulted in a big problem with the human resources department. We had to file a formal complaint against our supplier, even though it was clearly just user error. But, that's just the way the business works, you know." he had the kind of voice that made you afraid to cross him and suddenly ready to all at the same time. the boredom on lily's face intensified as he kept talking and this time petunia didn't let it slide

"Lily," she snapped "isn't vernon's job interesting?" it wasn't a real question. She just wanted lily to know that she had noticed her supremely unenthused expression.

"It sure is… something." she agreed with an emphatic nod of the head. Her mother snorted and tried to act innocent when petunia snapped her head around to her.

"Well," petunia said curtly "seeing as none of you seem to care, i think vernon and i will be going." petunia stood up, her chair sliding noisily along the wood floor, and walked out. vernon followed soundlessly. After they heard the door shut lily's father started laughing, trying to muffle it in his hand. Lily's mother turned to lily, trying to look stern but lily could tell she was trying not to laugh as well.

"Lily," she scolded "you should have been nicer to petunia's boyfriend." she couldn't even finish her sentence before the laughter set in.

"Isn't he the worst?" lily's father asked

"George!" her mother said but she herself was still laughing along with him

"Where did she even find him?" lily asked

"I do not know." her father shook his head

…[...[]..]...

James sat alone in his room, wondering how he could endure an entire summer of this. Of course, sirius would visit at some point like he always did, towards the end of the summer, like he always did. But that left almost two whole months james was going to be in this big house all alone. His parents were home sometimes, but they were so exhausted when they were they usually just crashed immediately and continued sleeping until they had to go back to work. And as far as james was aware they hadn't had a day off the entire year. He felt bad for them. He also felt a little neglected but he knew it wasn't their fault so he never held it against them. They provided for him and james knew they loved him, he just wished they had a little more time together.

He kept glancing at the pictures on his bookshelf. There was one of him and the marauders, standing next to each other and laughing carelessly. It was christmas and they were all bundled up against the cold in gryffindor scarves and gloves. It had been taken their third year and james could never help but notice how different they all looked.

He himself simply looked older. His face had filled out and grown more defined and he had definitely gotten taller. Fourth year was his growth spurt. Sirius's most noticeable quality that had changed was the longer his hair had gotten. He had begun growing it out their very first year as a sort of rebellious act, but when he got home that summer his mother cut it all off shorter than ever. Remus stood more hunched than he did now, less confident. Still afraid he would be kicked out. Less scars marred his face, but there were still too many for a thirteen year old to have. Peter stood slightly further back from the others, still not convinced they really liked him. Peter was a bit different than them, yes. He wasn't as tall and he didn't have that signature trait that everyone at hogwarts would immediately recognize him for, but that didn't matter. They were friends all anyway.

The other picture on his bookshelf was one of lily. He took it when she wasn't looking. Immediately after he had it printed she tried to make him give it back, but looking at it now he was definitely glad he didn't. As he looked at it he couldn't help but notice how a picture could never fully do her justice. Her hair was too vibrant to be captured on film, her eyes to alive. A picture could never get all the little freckles on her nose, or get how the dimple on the right side of her face curved. No, she was too beautiful for that.

James heard the front door open. It was either a death eater, or his parents. He hoped for the latter. He pulled his wand out of his pocket and crept slowly out of his room and into the hall. His parents had installed a reflective, one way glass that enabled people to see who had come in the front door. To whoever walked in, it would just look like a mirror. They had figured adding it was a good idea, with then being aurors and everything. From time to time criminals would be after them, vengeful and ready to attack whoever caught them. Risking their escape for revenge.

He peeked at the glass and heaved a large sigh of relief when he saw that it was his father.

"Dad!" he ran down the stairs. Despite never really having the best relationship with his parents that didn't mean he never missed them. James hadn't seen his father in months and he always forgot just how good it was to see him again.

"Hey, james!" his father greeted him, grasping him in a large hug. James felt him wince and he pulled back.

"Dad?" james asked, observing his father and seeing that he was clearly hurt "come sit down." he led him towards the living room

"Yeah, i think that might not be a bad idea." his father winced again. James sat him down on the large couch and went to get him a glass of water. He came back and sat in a chair across from him.

"What happened?" he asked. With his parents being aurors he wasn't unaccustomed to them coming home injured. Even so, it made him anxious every time.

"Just the usual," his father answered, taking his wand out and using charms to try and heal some of the cuts on his body

"Are you sure you're okay? Is there anything i can do?"

"I'll live," his father chuckled "no big deal. But enough about me, how was your sixth year at hogwarts?" leave it to james's father to be injured and hurt and still be focused on other people.

"It was good." he nodded thinking of lily "definitely good."

"And what made your year at hogwarts so good?" his father asked, running his glowing wand over a particularly nasty cut

"Well, you know that girl i told you about?" he started. His father nodded "i got her to go out with me." james smiled broadly

"James," his father leaned forward, suddenly serious, and james's smile faded "what have i told you about the dangers of love potions? It's not real. It doesn't count." james laughed.

"No love potion, dad, i promise."