Thanks to Lisa for reviewing, I appreciate it! Also thank you to my sister, even though she didn't leave a note and said she thought my log-in name was dorky. -)

Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling, literary genius. -)

A few weeks into the summer, Remus and Peter visit James and Sirius at James' house. Life goes on, even though Voldemort and Death Eaters are causing havoc in London.

When the clock on the Potter's mantle struck noon with deep, resounding gongs, James and Sirius stood up from their spots on the couch and looked at the fireplace with expectation. After a few uneventful minutes, Sirius looked at James with a puzzled expression. James shrugged back in response.

Mrs. Potter stuck her head out from behind the swinging door that led into the kitchen. "James, aren't your friends Peter and Remus visiting today?"

"Yes, Mom. I'm sure they're on their way."

"Well, just let me know when they arrive. I have lunch all set out for you boys. I made Sirius' favorite: corned beef sandwitches!" She smiled at Sirius.

"Thanks, Mrs. Potter!" Sirius said enthusiastically. Mrs. Potter disappeared back into the kitchen.

James rolled his eyes and pretended to be put off. "Oh, that's nice! My own mother likes my best friend better than me!"

"Knock it off, she's just being nice. She knows what a horrible, cold tyrant my mother is and feels sorry for me." Sirius grinned smugly back at James.

"Yeah, you do play that pity card pretty well, Padfoot," James retorted, then focused back onto the fireplace. "What the devil do you think is keeping them?"

Sirius shrugged. "Maybe the portal is blocked. When was the last time you had it cleaned?" He bent down and peered into the empty fireplace. James bent down beside him and also stuck his face into the brick enclave.

"Shoot, I have no idea. We've never had a problem with it before."

"It's not like Moony to be late."

"Yeah, but he has Wormtail with him."

"Too true, Prongs."

"Well, they need to get here soon, I'm hungr- aaaaargh!"

In a cloud of dust and ash, Peter appeared out of nowhere, toppled onto James and Sirius, and knocked them over backwards. He tried to stand straight up, hit his head on the bottom of the mantle with a loud "OW!", then carefully stepped out of the fireplace, and around his two friends laying on the floor.

"Sorry, guys. Uh, what were you doing in the fireplace?" Peter asked, dusting himself off. A second later, Remus appeared where Peter had stood, ducking down to avoid hitting his head.

"Bloody hell, could your fireplace be any lower?" Remus exclaimed, looking down at James and Sirius, who were still strewn about on the floor, covered in soot. Remus chuckled, "Pair of chimney sweeps you two are, what happened?" He held out his hand to Sirius who took it and stood up. Peter did the same for James.

"You guys were late. We were checking the portal to see if it was blocked." James said, shaking ash off of his t-shirt. He looked around him and saw dirt all over the carpet. "Oh, man, Mom's gonna kill me!"

Once again the swinging door opened. "James, what is that racket? Are the boys here yet? GOODNESS!" She took in the sight of four teenage boys covered in soot, standing on soiled carpet, pursed her lips and shook her head. "What happened in here?"

"Err," James started.

"Nevermind, I don't want to know." Mrs. Potter pulled her wand out of her pocket and with a "Scourgify!" the room and boys were dirt free. "Now get washed up for lunch before the crup jumps up and eats all of the sandwiches!"

Five minutes later, after everyone had washed their hands, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were sitting at the Potter's kitchen table eating their fill of corned beef sandwiches and drinking bottle after bottle of butterbeer. James' crup, Mickey, sat on his haunches begging for scraps which James occasionally tossed his way. In the middle of the kitchen, Mrs. Potter sat at the island on a high stool, listening to the Wizarding Wireless and absentmindedly thumbing through Witch Weekly.

"Sooo, Moony," James said between large bites of corned beef, "Heard from Lily lately?"

"No, why would I?" Remus asked, looking perplexed.

Mrs. Potter's head shot up from her magazine, a large grin forming on her face. "Who's Lily?"

James tried to ignore his mother and shrugged nonchalantly at Remus. "Uh, I dunno. Don't prefects usually write to each other over the summer about prefect things? You know, new disciplinary plans of attack, fantastical tours of Hogwarts for first years, et cetera, et cetera."

Sirius guffawed. "Oh yeah, Prongs! I heard they are making up a new "disciplinary plan of attack": tail you every second of every day and catch you every time you making mischief in the halls."

"Like you can talk, Padfoot- you're always right there with him!" Remus shot back, laughing. "And no, I haven't been in contact with Lily."

"Who's Lily?" Mrs. Potter interjected, louder this time. "Do you have a girlfriend, James?"

It was Peter's turn to laugh, spraying bits of food everywhere. "HAHAHA! No way! Lily hates James!"

"Hey, shut up, Wormtail! She does not!"

"Oh yeah? Then why does she always she call you a git, jerk, or idiot whenever you two speak?" Peter said.

"He's got you there," Sirius said.

James shrugged, "She's just playing hard to get! Besides, Moony said she told him she thought I was cute!"

"He just said that to get a rise out of you, dummy," Sirius responded, finishing a bottle of butterbeer with a quick swig and putting it back down on the table.

James shook his head. "I think he was serious. Weren't you, Remus?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. Wouldn't you like to know, eh?" Remus responded aloofly.

James made to say something else but Mrs. Potter shushed him. A loud beeping noise was coming from the radio, indicating that a special report was about to be announced. Mrs. Potter turned up the volume on the radio.

"We have just been notified by the Ministry of Magic that there has been another mysterious explosion on a Muggle double-decker bus in London, believed to be the work of followers of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. The Minister of Magic has announced that it has teams of aurors on task to investigate and that aurors are working overtime keeping guard twenty-four hours a day for suspicious activity. The Minister of Magic stresses to the public the need to stay calm and to always be on guard. Stay tuned for more information…"

Mrs. Potter's face was pale and the four boys looked from one another in silence. Mickey, sensing the tension in the air, whined softly and slid underneath James' chair.

"That's the third Muggle attack this month- those poor people!" Mrs. Potter breathed. She looked at the tiny microwave sized fireplace next to the stove as if expecting to see a face there. Sure enough, seconds later a man's face appeared.

"Sorry to bother you on your day off, Elizabeth, no doubt you've heard the news, though. The Ministry needs all aurors at headquarters, pronto. Your husband is already there."

Mrs. Potter nodded. "Certainly, Moody, I'm on my way." The man's face disappeared from the small fireplace and Mrs. Potter turned to the boys.

"I don't know when I'll be back, James, but you and Sirius can manage, right?"

"Sure, Mom."

"We'll be alright, Mrs. Potter, don't worry about us!" Sirius tried to reassure her.

"Excellent. Please behave yourselves." She smiled at the boys and with a loud crack she apparated away.

Sirius let out a low whistle.

"Exactly," James responded.

"I guess my dad's gone to help, too." Peter said, looking worried. His father was also an auror.

"Don't worry, Wormtail, the aurors know what to do. Someday they're gonna kick Voldemort's ass for good!" Everyone jumped at the mention of Voldemort's name.

"For crying out, loud, James, don't say his name!" Peter squeaked.

"Why?" James stood up and started clearing the table. "I'm not afraid of him. Neither are my parents. As soon as I graduate from Hogwarts I'm going to join the aurors and help fight Voldemort and his Death Eaters."

"Let's hope that they get him before that," Remus said, picking up his own plate and placing it in the sink where James had put the rest of the dishes. James took out his wand, waved it over the sink and immediately it filled with water and a soapy scrub brush started to move across the dishes.

"Can you do that?" Peter asked, eyes wide, pointing to the sink.

Sirius laughed, "Of course, don't be such a nervous nelly, Wormtail! We're in a wizard house, there's so much magic going on around here, no Underage Magic Detector is going to be able to figure out who performs what spell. James and I are always practicing, Mr. and Mrs. Potter don't care."

"My mom never lets me practice," Peter said, sounding disappointed.

"It's just as well, Peter," Remus said reassuringly, "it's just a matter of time before those bozos get a warning letter. The Ministry isn't as dumb as they think it is. And maybe an anonymous tip might expedite the process." He grinned slyly at Sirius and James.

"You wouldn't!" James exclaimed.

"Of course he wouldn't you git," Sirius countered, "He's just pulling your leg. I swear, you are such a hothead, James. Now, who wants to play some quidditch?"

"Me!" James, Remus, and Peter said, racing to the Potter's backyard.

A/N Ok, so when I said there would only be two chapters I didn't know what I was talking about, haha. I sort of let this write itself and I liked where it went, so I put off writing what I had previously thought the original chapter two would be. So be on the lookout for at least one more chapter!