****If you see any of those star things (*) then that means I'm going to explain something about it in my notes at the end of the chapter. If I miss anything/something just doesn't make sense please let me know either in my PM or in reviews, thanks.

Warning: Mild Language

Summer Chapter 4

Windsor, 1974

Under usual circumstances James would have spent his summer with his dad in their shed 'inventing' things, playing football with the muggle boys in the neighborhood, trying to get his friends to visit so he could actually practice for quidditch, and laughing at his aunt Muriel whenever she fell asleep in the middle of her sentences. But this summer was not the usual circumstance. It was the summer of the 417th Quidditch World Cup. The Potters were usual spectators in sporting events and thoroughly enjoyed quidditch. They would always make an ordeal out of it. Mr and Mrs Potter would invite their old school friends and colleagues, most of them James only vaguely remembered. He did remember hearing stories about Dumbledore being a teacher instead of the Headmaster and McGonagall being a quidditch legend at one time (he was slightly disappointed to find out how strict she was.) So this summer instead of inventing things with his dad or playing with the muggle children he entertained his parents' friends, listening to the stories he heard a million times before and tried to come up with some clever response to their questions about what he wanted to do after he graduated from Hogwarts. He had no idea but he told Mrs Clemens that he wanted to be a quidditch player. She warned him that, as exciting as the job may be, it wouldn't last long, soon he would get old and wouldn't be able to play quidditch so he should think long term, not just what seemed most exciting. He told Mr Bones that he wanted to train dragons in Romania like his uncle but Mr Bones was courteous enough to remind him with a laugh that his uncle had died at a young age due to his profession. James did not understand how his parents could be friends with such dreary people. By the time Mr Forster had asked him what he wanted to do over dinner James was done with trying to humour them and decided to humour himself instead.

"Oh, I reckon by the time I graduate Mr Burkes will have died and Mr Borgin's will need a new partner. How do you think Borgin's and Potter's sounds?" *James returned, careful not to crack a smile. Mr Forster looked at him for a moment without blinking and James was quite sure he gave the poor man a heart attack but then Mr Forster gave a deep chuckle and returned to his meal. For the remainder of his stay, Mr Forster never said a word to James but kept a close eye on him ever since.

It was a relief when Remus finally showed up in mid-August. Mr Bones remembered working with Remus's father back in his ministry days and had many compliments to give him. Remus accepted them with grace, James, however, was growing irritated. Once Mrs Potter finally excused them James and Remus ran out to the shed. There they practised defensive spells from a book James had received for his birthday. They focused intently on the Patronus charm because Remus told James that his father often used the charm to convey messages to him and his mother when he had to work late. It proved difficult, especially when they had to keep it secret from James's parents (underage wizards were not allowed to do magic outside of school.) They bordered up the windows to keep the bright white light from alerting Mr Potter. By the time James brought Peter home Remus's Patronus moved from small white wisps to a large bulk that looked like it might have legs. A week before the World Cup Mrs Potter announced that they would be waking up early the next day to take a portkey into France. It was the only day the border would be open so it was of the utmost importance they didn't miss it. They spent that day playing quidditch, Peter and Remus against James, in the back garden instead.

rural France, 1974

The sky was a brilliant shade of aqua blue. White fluffy clouds spotted the sky. The sun was shining brightly overhead as the tavern's sign swayed in the light breeze. This was a summer in France.

It was the day before the World Cup and James Potter and two of his three best friends sat under a large umbrella listening to the tavern's sign swing on its hinges, Mr and Mrs Potter's friends laughing inside reliving their youth, passersby speaking in a strange tongue, their steps echoing down the cobbled street. They kept their eyes in opposite directions, watching for a family of four to suddenly show out of thin air. They had to show up here. It was the only magic lodgings in this part of the country. He bounced his knee and thrummed his fingers on the table while he scanned the scenery in front of him. He tried to ignore the hunger that was creeping through him (getting something to eat would mean he would have to leave and then he might miss him - this might be his only chance,) but the smell of freshly baked bread, melted cheese, and savory beef wafted down the street and tickled his nose.

"James," Peter interrupted his sudden surge of hunger, "are you sure he's coming?"

"He did say he was grounded?" Remus added, tentatively. James rolled his eyes, his chest tightened in extreme irritation. He had not been able to contact Sirius all summer, but he did say at the end of last year that he was sure to be grounded.

"He didn't say that! He said, at Christmas-"

"That his parents already had tickets," Remus repeated the words James had been saying all summer. "But James, a lot has happened since then, and his parents are really strict. Even if they did come, they're likely to leave him behind."

"If they show up without him, we'll floo to his house and bring him here." James crossed his arms and leant back into his chair. His tone was so defiantly determined that Remus fell silent.

"Could we at least get something to eat? We haven't ate since breakfast," Peter begged. James, his mouth watering due to the smell from the nearby restaurant, finally broke eye contact with the street lamp in front of him to look inside the tavern. His parents sat surrounded, by the previously declared "old people," drinking out of goblets and eating some sort of french cuisine.
"Ask someone to bring out menus," James said. His eyes wandered back to the street lamp, combing through the sea of people, hoping to catch the sight of Sirius's back. They absolutely had to come here. James had a hard time imagining Mrs Black - or Sirius for that matter - sleeping in a tent however magically enhanced.

"I don't speak French, James." Peter sounded irritable, though he couldn't fathom why. He didn't really care anyway.

"Neither do I," James shrugged.

"I think menu is actually a french word. We'll see if we can get some appetisers while we're at it. Maybe James will come out of his mood if he eats something," Remus said, getting to his feet.

"You guys can't both go! What if I miss him, and they see me and leave immediately?" James demanded. Peter took an uneasy step back toward his chair but Remus was insistent.

"James, he's not coming," Remus told him, gently but firmly. He tugged on Peter's shirt sleeve then lead him inside, leaving James alone. James absolutely hated being alone - it was worse than silent moments. It was not long before he could feel a million eyes bearing in on him. He fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat, checking his hair, then his glasses, adjusting his shirt and the bottom of his jeans. He zeroed in on a ladybug, inching its way up the pole of the umbrella.

"Stay close Sirius," ordered a proud rough voice that James only ever heard once so he could not place it.* By the sound of his friend's name, though, his head shot up and his eyes flew across the scene in front of him until they fell upon what he had been looking for.

The Blacks prowled down the street. Mrs Black watched him through blue narrow eyes. Her hat nearly fell off her head because her pointed chin (which seemed to be the only thing Sirius did not inherit from her) was held so high in the air. She held a mean looking cat, with a hole in its ear, cradled in her arms. She was very much younger than her husband. Mr Black kept his eyes on his son. His greying hair was still cut short but he had grown facial hair that was just as white as his curling and bushy eyebrows. Regulus looked around amazed at the sights in front of him, seemingly oblivious to anything else. Sirius walked with his usual saunter, having not yet noticed James. He moved closer to his father but that didn't seem to be quite enough for him. Mr Black used his long heavy black cane that glinted green in the sunlight to push his son in between him and his wife. Sirius winced but when his eyes finally fell on James the corners of his mouth turned up into a shadow of a smile if only for a moment.

"L'arriere de la Taverne de Lune,"* Sirius said, reading the sign over James's head. "We've never stayed here before. Why aren't we staying with the Lestranges?"

"Isn't that where Trixie is?"* Regulus asked, walking backwards so he could face his family and as a result, he ran into James's table. Mrs Black quickly grabbed him by the front of his robes with one of her hands and pushed him through the door. Sirius' eyes stared ahead of him, determined not to be caught looking.

"Nevermind that, just get inside," Mr Black ordered. James almost said something. He had cleared his throat, opened his mouth, his lungs full of air sufficient enough to fulfil his verbal abuse. If it hadn't been for the subtle pleading look Sirius sent him he would have. Mr Black gripped Sirius's arms, his knuckles shone white through the brown age spots. James clenched his jaw and gripped the table, coaxing himself to stand down. Within seconds Sirius was out of sight.

James's stomach had twisted itself into a knot. His head was spinning so fast he couldn't make out his own thoughts. His teeth were grinding together, but he barely noticed. Nothing had really happened. It was a relatively normal exchange for a magical family such as the Blacks. But James couldn't quite shake the feeling that something was horribly wrong. He only realised now that the feeling had originally popped up when he saw Sirius disappearing from the train station with Kreacher clutching his forearm. Maybe that's why he kept writing to Sirius even when he got no reply and why he kept the mirror well within sight in his bedroom even though all he ever saw in it was his own reflection.

"James!" Peter had come running out of the tavern, grinning. James jumped at the sound of his voice. "Sirius is here."

"Yeah, I know," James said and turned back to the street lamp. It seemed odd to look at it now.

"You all right? Did you talk to him?" Remus asked, setting down a basket full of puffs.

"No, he was with his parents. You know..." James shrugged and reached for one of the puffs. Remus and Peter accepted his casual tone with no question. They went into a lengthy tale about their interaction with the tavern's staff, informing him that in french the proper word for appetisers was "des aperitifs." The distraction, however dismal, was enough to bring James out of his panicked state. Peter had James laughing at his impression of the accents of the wait staff. After they ate James, Remus, and Peter wanted to have a look around the town now that they weren't so concerned for their friend. They would have invited Sirius but the Black's doors were marked by signs reading: "NE PAS DERANGER do not disturb"

It took some coaxing but Mrs Potter finally let James take his friends out shopping on their own, as long as he kept his sneakoscope with him, his wand ready, and he stayed in the touristy part of the town. So James, Remus, and Peter spent the rest of their day discussing the outcome of the next day's match (Remus was rooting for Madagascar but James had bet money on Syria and Peter (knowing how well James kept up with quidditch) wisely followed James) and dressing up mannequins in odd mix-matched outfits, much to the shop owners disapproval. The number of times James and his friends were swore at in French made him almost want to learn the language.

417th Quidditch World Cup, France, 1974

It was day two of the Quidditch World Cup and Syria and Madagascar were neck and neck with a startling 550 points on each side. Madagascar had one more foul than Syria but Syria's chaser had blood oozing from his ears. The seekers were at each other's throats, Madagascar would send Syria into a face splatting dive then Syria would send him into the goal post. It stopped being "just Quidditch" and became personal around when Syria was up 80 to 60. The crowd, the referee, and the commentator (Royston Idlewind) seemed to be growing irritated with the seeker's disregard to find the snitch and end the game. Syria's beater sent a bludger straight for Madagascar's seeker after he had tricked Syria once again into a headlong dive for the snitch that wasn't there. The referee took this opportunity to call a timeout for each of the teams to get their affairs in order. The Potter's and their friends used this time to stretch their legs. The elders decided to stay in their box but James, Remus, and Peter wanted to run freely. They dashed down the stairs, squeezed through groups of people, ran behind the stadiums, jumped over roots of trees and large rocks, and skidded to a stop in front of a river where Sirius was already waiting for them.

"Alright, mates?" Sirius nodded from where he sat, lounging on an overly large rock that James suspected he must have engorged.

"Where's Reggie," James asked between pants. Sirius had made it clear that while his parents were around he could not be seen anywhere without Regulus.

"He went off with Archer," Sirius said irritably.

"With Josie?"* Remus asked, with a tone of surprise.

"Yeah, they met at the tavern. Then they got into an argument and Archer ran off and Reg went after her. He's worse than James, honestly." Sirius shook his head laughing.

"Oi! Evans never ran away from me!" James argued.

"No, but she has made bats fly out of your nose," Peter laughed.

"That was one time! And I didn't entirely deserve it," James argued.

"What about when she and Nicnevin glued your hands to your broom?" smirked Remus.

"That was when we were friends! It was a friendly rebuttal to my putting itching powder in their robes while they were swimming in the Great Lake," James argued.

"No, that was in second year after you jinxed Snape's legs together," Sirius told him, "After the itching powder they transfigured your chow mein into worms."

"Chinese night!" James shuddered at the memory then laughed.

"I still can't get over when she called you a spaz!"

"And when she said that he's the reason that cereal goes soggy!"

"Alright, we get it James is terrible at talking to females." Sirius jumped down from his rock to stand next to James and Remus and Peter fell silent. James rested a grateful hand on Sirius back but he flinched and grimaced. It was only for a second but the three of them caught it and stared at him with various looks of surprise and concern. "What?" Sirius said, defensively.

"Could ask you the same thing, mate," James said, his brow frowned.

"It's not my fault you're such a giant oaf with heavy hands," Sirius scoffed.

"Sirius, you usually have a pretty high pain tolerance," Remus remarked.

"Got something you wanna tell us?" James asked, sternly. Sirius crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.

"Chill out! I'm just a little sore, I've been practising for quidditch all summer. Thought you'd like to have a little competition come tryouts, mate," Sirius smirked.

"You're actually trying out for quidditch?" James laughed. "You'd think he'd try for prefect next!" Sirius let out an echoing barking laugh that helped his other friends relax. "Don't get ahead of yourself, mate."

While they walked along the river's edge looking for Peter, they discussed the ongoing match. Sirius was rooting for Madagascar, mostly to argue with James, and James knew this but still engaged. They found Regulus fighting with Josie, who was red in the face and a head taller than the second year, still, Regulus held his ground.

"It makes sense, though-"

"No, it doesn't!"

"But it does! Look, if you have a dog and he's a mix between a Mastiff and a …. I don't know - a Terrier, and then you have a pure blooded Mastiff, the pure blood would be stronger."

"Oh, dear GOd!" Sirius groaned loudly, interrupting his brother's argument. Regulus started and stared at his brother. Josie scoffed and took a step back. "Josie, just get out of here. Reg, you're not going to change anyone's opinions by comparing them to dogs."

"I don't know, he changed my opinion," James shrugged.

"James-"

"I used to think he was okay - bit of a prat but still okay. Now I kinda just want to hex his face off," James said, slipping his wand out from his pocket. Remus, seeing this, took hold of James's arm. Sirius stepped between him and Regulus and Peter reached out for Josie's hand and pulled her out of the mess.

"James," Sirius said sternly.

"No, Sirius, you heard the way he was talking," James said, trying to pull his arm out of Remus's grip. Remus tightened his hold and hissed in his ear, "this is not going to do anything but hurt Sirius." James was still tense and ready for a fight but he relaxed his hand, letting his wand hang loose. The last thing he wanted was to get Sirius into more trouble.

"James, he's still my brother," Sirius said. "And he would never hurt Josie, right Reg?" Regulus shook his head vigorously looking scared and confused. The thought that Josie might have gotten hurt never crossed James's mind, he was more concerned with the fact that Regulus stood before them, bold as brass, spewing out pureblood - Death Eater - mania.

"Sorry if I scared you, Josie," Regulus said in a soft voice. He looked Josie in the eye and gave her a half smile.

"Whatever Black, just piss off. And Sirius, if you share your brother's opinions you can piss off too!" Josie snarled, her voice cracking before she marched out of the forest back to the stadium. A heavy silence fell over the group. James kept his eyes on Regulus who was watching as Josie disappeared among the trees confusion still marking his face.

"Regulus." Remus's voice broke the silence, sounding careful - like he was weighing every word he spoke. "The things that you said, about purebloods being stronger - whether it's true or not - the Death Eater's, the witches and wizards working for you-know-who … they believe the same things, but they use their beliefs to hurt people, people like Josie. That's why James and Sirius got mad."

"I got mad cause it's not true!" James started, pointing his wand at Regulus. James was not intending to fire anything off but Regulus jumped out of the way and held his wand up defensively. "And people like this git-"

"James!" Remus warned, pulling at the back of his robes. James let his wand fall limp again but this time he held eye contact with Regulus.

"The Death Eaters are getting worse. A few weeks ago they killed a bunch of people right out in public. Just understand that you can't go around spewing bull shit without consequences anymore," Sirius said bitterly. "We've got to get back or mother will worry." Sirius turned to leave not looking back at any of them. Regulus gave an almost apologetic smile to the three of them before following his brother.

"Lupin, I realise that I'm a handsome bloke, but if you could let go of my hand now…." James joked.

"Sorry!" Remus said, releasing James's wrist. James turned away from Sirius and Regulus's receding backs.

"Was that true what Sirius said, that people died?" Peter asked, running to catch up with them.

"Merlin, you've really got to start reading the paper!" James chuckled. James kept his tone light and his expression easy as they headed back to their box. Even as the game started again his mind was on other things. It felt as though so much had happened and yet as if nothing had happened. He knew - somehow - that Regulus would end up more like his family than Sirius had dared to hope against. And somehow he knew that Sirius would come back from this summer acting strangely. Sirius never wanted to join the quidditch team before - even when James suggested it last year he laughed at the idea. His thoughts were finally penetrated by Idlewind announcing "SYRIA WINS!" from the top box. James watched the screen as it showed their seeker holding up a fist in the air, two thin wings fluttered in the crack of his fingers. His nose was swollen and bleeding and he had a black eye but his face was twisted into a victorious smile. Peter let out a loud whistle and Remus hollered in appreciation as the team flew by on their brooms.

******To the guest reviewer (signed Lovingly Deepa) Thank you for everything that you said! I try to stay as close to the canon material as possible (though sometimes I stray a bit) and I always believed that Peter loved his friends. Some people are more selfish than other and tend to put their needs above their loved ones. Granted those people usually don't sell their loved ones to 'the dark lord' in exchange for protection, but still, he's human and Sirius wouldn't have trusted him without reason. (At least I don't think so. He didn't seem like a very trusting person to me.) And thank you for your opinion, I will most likely (like 99%) continue it here. I hope you continue to like it and thanks again for your review! XO

***For those who are wondering what happened to Aunt Muriel (James's aunt see chapter 5 Christmas at the Potters) she - in her fragile state - decided to stay safe at home and away from the excitement of the World Cup

If you need a reminder of when James met Mr Black it was when they come back from the Christmas holiday and James and Sirius almost get expelled and their parents come to meet with the Headmaster. (see chapter 14 Purveyor of Aid to Magical Mischief Makers)

The Tavern that they stay at is called L'arriere de la Taverne de Lune which is The Back Side of the Moon Tavern. As far as I know it's not real - but who knows, the world's a strange and unusual place. (Sorry if the translation is wrong I do not speak french. Remus speaks more than me! I had to google if menu was actually a french word. And my deepest apologies if I got something about the culture wrong. I know nothing about it so I tried to stay away from it as much as I could. Just let me know what needs to be corrected, please and thank you. That goes for British culture too.)

"Trixie" is what - in my mind - Regulus calls Bellatrix.

Josie Archer is an OC of mine who's friends/roommates with Lily Evans (she's seen predominately in Chapter 1 A Study in Lycanthropy and Chapter 10 An Adventure with Puffpods.)

(Also, a reminder of some cannon material in case you forgot. James jokes with Mr Forester about becoming Mr Borgins new partner. Mr Forester is so shocked by this because Borgin and Burkes is a shop found on Knockturn Alley known for buying and selling dark and cursed objects. )

I'm using google to help me with 70's slang. If I use anything wrong, say anything that wouldn't have been said then, or you want something to be said (like if you wanted someone to start saying 'groovy') let me know.

Oh, and Wikipedia told me that Syria won the 417th Quidditch World Cup, I wasn't getting political. (Even though Harry Potter, in general, is incredibly political, so I don't know what you're doing in this fandom if you're uncomfortable with it.)

***Hey, does anyone know if JK told us where James grew up? I just put him in Windsor, kinda randomly, so if you know if she said anything (on twitter, Pottermore, or in an interview) please say something.

Questions, Comments, Concerns, (or just want to babble) leave them in the review box or in my PM. I love hearing from you guys, even if it's bad. All criticism is good criticism.

Until next time,

XO******