Dear Diary,
As you can see, I'm trying to do something with my hands that doesn't involve pulling my hair out. Right now I'm in the Knight Bus, which is indeed a very bad place to write, but I'm writing here anyway. The Knight Bus! Sixth year's over, can you believe it? Just one left! I've never been less excited to go home, either.
It was awful saying goodbye to everyone this year, because I won't see any of them until September (possibly). Saying goodbye to Sirius was especially hard, because I really wanted to kiss him, but Mr. Potter was RIGHT THERE to pick him up, and I've known him (Mr. P, not Sirius) since I was about four, and that would just be REALLY awkward. So he just gave me a peck on the cheek and said, "Bye, Agie," which was very much not cool. There wasn't even any "I'll miss you," or something like that.
I have a theory that fate has never wanted me to be happy, and invented this game to make me sad, called 'Up yours, Adriyana Dumbledore,' in which I just get screwed over in as many ways as possible. It (fate) leads me on, by doing something that is good, like falling in love with Sirius, but as soon as it happens, I get shipped off to another country for about forever. Well, it's Majorca, which is kind of in Spain, I think, but it's still about a jillion miles away from home and people who speak English. And I have to stay there all summer, ALONE, because Albus is using the house for important business. Sending me there was his way of saying "Stay the hell away this summer, you'll just be a nuisance and mess stuff up." I wish I could invite someone over, but Sirius and James could invent a potion for immortality easier than they could buy plane tickets; Alice is with Frank all summer (and who wants both of THEM here together? Gross.); Amber's visiting her cousins and other Amber's-family-type-people in Denmark, and Lily's parents won't let her come without any responsible adult supervision. (Just because I exploded their blender-whatsit ONE TIME, they think I'm irresponsible! How ridiculous is that?)
Lily says I'm ungrateful because I get to lounge on the beach all summer while she stays in her room and rots while hiding from her demonic sister. Nice, isn't she? I suppose she has a point, though. The beach is normally lovely, just not when you're so far away from everyone you know (especially Sirius), and the only people you can talk to are overfed tourists. Plus, there is the "no flirting with half-naked blokes unless you like suffering immense guilt" factor in there now. So I will bore myself to death in the first thirty seconds, no doubt.
Did I mention there's no Sirius?
Of course, that's not enough yet. I'm also going to miss the Quidditch World Cup, where I would have definitely seen strike Sirius /strike a bunch of people I know and care equally about. That's okay, though, I'll just be on the island, standing under palm trees, trying to convince a coconut to drop on me and strike me dead.
Love,
Adriyana
Dear Diary,
In Dad's car now, going home. I can't believe I have to spend all summer with Petunia (and Mum and Dad, but they don't count), who is, no doubt, going to make me help plan her wedding to Vernon Dursley, who I remember as being not the kindest of people, and not exactly blessed in the looks department, either.
I could never have imagined anything better for my dear sister.
She will no doubt dress me in pink tulle, which does not go to well with the red hair/pasty skin combination I'm currently sporting. I'd also put money on some gigantic bow or lurid floral design.
Strangely, I'm still happy to leave school. I'm going to miss the girls terribly, but (I feel horrible about this…) I need to get away from Jeremy. The last week of school, he wanted to spend every day together. It was unnerving. Then, he started talking about meeting me over the summer, which I would do, but he was kind of dropping not-so-subtle hints about me…spending the night there. I guess he either thinks our relationship is a lot more serious than I think it is, because we haven't even gotten past kissing, and even that I try to avoid as much as I can.
-Lily
"Welcome home, boys!" Mrs. Potter came bustling out of the kitchen, wrapping both James and Sirius in a hug.
"Hi, Mum."
"'Lo, Mrs. P."
"You know I got seventy-three letters from Minerva McGonagall this year saying you two got detentions?" she asked.
"So we broke last year's record?" James looked excited, and Mrs. Potter frowned disapprovingly before allowing a small smile. "Sorry, Mum."
Sirius grinned as he watched Mrs. Potter pretend to be angry with himself and James, while at the same time, it was clear that she was too overjoyed to have them back to actually punish them.
It was kind of surreal coming back to the Potters'; Sirius couldn't remember a time when he'd actually looked forward to getting off the Hogwarts Express. Up until the middle of last summer, Hogwarts had been his only real home, and, even though he was happy to leave the schoolwork behind, he'd always dread going back to 12 Grimmauld Place.
This summer was going to be different. Very different, and not just because he was finally of age. This was the last summer Sirius had before he graduated Hogwarts, and he was going to do everything possible to make it the best summer of his life.
Agie,
You've probably just arrived in Majorca now, right? I hope you got there all right. I'm sorry I didn't give you a proper goodbye on the platform, but Mr. P was there, and it just felt…strange. I mean, he knew you when you still picked your nose and then ate it, so he probably doesn't want to watch you kiss his son's best friend.
Speaking of James' dad, he is completely obsessed with Charlene. (That is my motorbike, by the way. I don't know why I named it that, but it sounds sort of awesome, right?) He was gobsmacked when we took it out of my trunk (we miniaturized it first, of course, but I still got motor oil on my favourite socks.) but about five minutes later, he was insisting on riding it. I think he's having his mid-life crisis or something, he'll be asking to get sloshed with us next.
This summer's shaping up to be great so far, the only thing not here is you. I miss you a lot, and I really hope I see you before September. Maybe at the Cup? You can't get a ticket now, but there's got to be some way to get you one. Did you want to come? Do you want a ticket? I promise, I will move heaven and earth to get you a ticket!! You will be there even if I have to kill James and give you his ticket instead.
Er…if you can make it, that is.
-Sirius
Sirius,
Just got here? I barely had time to unpack my things before your owl molested me. Have you ever been on an airplane before? I hated it. Good peanuts, though. And it's still not as bad as trans-oceanic Floo and Apparition. I did that once, and I was sick everywhere and then had a headache for days. So the plane is mild in comparison. The going up part is really scary, and you can't pace around or anything, you just have to sit in your seat and be scared out of your mind. It smells awful, almost as bad as your dormitory, but not quite. Are you sure there wasn't some old cheese in there? Or maybe a rotting corpse?
Charlene? Why Charlene? I should be offended you didn't want to name it after me, but I'm still wondering how you thought up something like 'Charlene'. It looks okay on paper, but when you talk about Charlene, does it sound like you're saying 'Charlie?' Because that is not on, though I did have a laugh (and was also disgusted) thinking about Mr. P talking about "Riding Charlie."
I do not, nor did I ever, eat anything that has come out of my nose. That is revolting. It's kind of odd that that is the first thing you think of when you think of me. Do I always have my finger jammed up my nose in your mental images?
I miss you, too. I'd do anything to be there with you at the QWC (or be with you at all, really), even go on another airplane. I'll see what I can do, all right?
Love you,
Agie
Lily sat on the couch in her living room and picked up the remote, flicking the television on. She was tired as all hell, when she finally got home all she wanted to do was sleep, but her mother insisted on hearing every detail about Lily's school year.
The front door opened. "I'm home!"
"So are all of us." Lily rolled her eyes. "We don't need a bloody announcement every time you walk through the door."
"Language, Lily," Mrs. Evans said dully as she walked past Lily carrying a basket of laundry.
"But all I said was—"
"Hello, Lily," Petunia interrupted, stiffly, as she walked into the living room. "I see you're back."
Lily sighed, used to this animosity between Petunia and herself. She wasn't thrilled about it, but she'd only be nice if her sister was nice back. Petunia had only said six words to her so far, but she could already tell Petunia's tone wasn't going to get any warmer all summer. "Can you, now?" Lily said in a bored tone, not taking her eyes off the television. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Petunia playing with her hair, so Lily would clearly see her engagement ring. Lily wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of getting all excited, so she continued to pretend she hadn't noticed.
Petunia got more and more huffy as Lily flipped channels idly.
"Ahem." Petunia coughed in a way too loud to be conceivable.
She stopped on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. "Who can turn the world on with her smile?" Lily sang along quietly, smiling as Petunia's face began to turn abnormal colours.
Petunia walked up to Lily, brandishing her ring in Lily's face. "Look!" she boasted, smiling proudly.
Lily's eyes flashed to Petunia's finger for a split second. "Don't worry, I'm sure he'll get you a diamond next year."
Petunia sputtered. "There's a diamond in here!"
Lily looked again. "Oh, sorry. I didn't notice it, probably because it's so small."
"You're just jealous."
Lily laughed. "Jealous? Of you? Not a chance. Your fiancé a fat oaf I wouldn't look twice at, he still lives with his parents, and he's insane enough to be interested in you. He barely has enough money for a ring, how's he going to support a wife and family. Still, can't see you doing any better." Lily tried not to smile as Petunia trembled with rage. "My boyfriend is ten times better then he'll ever be."
"You don't have a boyfriend!"
"And, yet again, you manage to act stupider than an old potato. How do you do it?" Lily grabbed a picture of herself and Jeremy out of her pocket, almost laughing as her sister flinched at the moving picture.
"How do I know this is your boyfriend? He could just be some guy from your awful school!"
Picture-Jeremy kissed picture-Lily right on the lips, wrapping his arm around her waist in an undeniably romantic way. "That better?"
"Augh! Vernon's coming over for dinner tonight. Just don't be too much of a FREAK!" Petunia said, then stormed into the kitchen.
"Lay off the chocolate ice cream or you'll look awful in a white wedding dress!" Lily called after her.
Lily looked at the picture next to her on the couch, giving Jeremy a smile. Suddenly, he looked a lot better to her.
Lily,
How's it going? I'm in Ireland now, just got here for the Cup. I know it's not for a month, but I told you my family were fanatics, plus, Dad's helping to organize the whole Portkey business. Listen, when the game ends and I come back home, do you want to meet up? I looked into it a bit, and it turns out your house is only about an hour and a half away from mine. One of us can take the Knight Bus or something, right? If you want to, I mean. I'll be back a couple weeks before school starts again, so we've got plenty of time.
Let me know, okay?
-Jeremy
Jeremy,
I'd be happy to meet you over the summer! You should come to my house; I think my sister has a bit of a thing for you (I showed her your picture). It could have a hilarious outcome; especially if you come on a day when Vernon (her sad excuse for a fiancé) is here. He turns purple when upset…I wonder if we could make his face explode?
See you then!
Lily
"This is a lot more fun than you make it out to be, Prongs." Sirius swung his arm in circles above his head, launching a gnome over the Potters' fence. "At Grimmauld Place, we had traps hidden underground. I don't know where they went, but they never came back out."
"That's disturbing. Andd this is fun now; definitely not when you're doing it alone. Crap!" James cursed as he launched a gnome just a bit too low and it slammed into the fence with a heavy THUD!
"Nice one." Sirius laughed, reaching into a hole and pulling out another wriggling gnome by its feet.
James watched as Sirius swung the gnome over his head in fast circles. "Is Agie coming to the Cup?" he asked, casually.
Sirius let go of the gnome abruptly, causing it to fly up into the air in a wide arc, coming to rest in the Potters' tall oak tree. James snorted.
"She said she'd try to come, if she could. I really hope she'll be there, but I don't think it looks too good right now."
"Boys!" Sirius and James turned, seeing Mrs. Potter's head sticking out of the kitchen window. "How did you get so filthy, you're just supposed to reach into the holes, not roll around in the dirt!"
"We know, but we thought it would be cool to make two gnomes fight each other. They didn't like it much, because they started kicking dirt in our faces."
"Well, go get washed up, it's nearly three. Remus and Peter are going to get here in half an hour."
"We'll be back inside in a second, Mum, we're about done with this." James left his hand in a gnome hole a second too long. "Ow! One of those buggers bit me!"
Sirius laughed as he headed inside. "Good one, Prongs." James followed him, grumbling angrily.
"Dorea! There you are!" James, Sirius and Mrs. Potter turned, seeing an old woman hanging over their picket fence.
Mrs. Potter turned. "Can I help you, Mrs. Fischbaum?" Sirius and James bit their lips in an attempt not to laugh.
"You could start by controlling those two hooligans! For the past hour, they've been throwing potatoes over my yard! It's been causing me and Naomi much distress, I tell you!"
"Naomi?" Sirius whispered.
"Her cat. I hate that thing. It bit me twice when I was younger. With a bit of luck it'll die soon…"
"Well, it sounds like none of the, er, potatoes landed in your yard at all. I don't see how they did anything wrong. Come inside, boys…"
"You'd better keep those two well-behaved this summer or I'll call the police! And keep that black dog of yours away from Naomi!"
"…Black dog? We don't have any—"
"I call shower first, Prongs!" Sirius ran for the stairs.
"Take your shoes off, boys!" Mrs. Potter called, as James chased after Sirius.
Half an hour later, Sirius and James sat in the living room, lazily playing Gobstones in front of the fireplace.
"Ha! I got you now, Padfoot! Wait…someone's coming through!" James pointed to the fireplace, which had just erupted into emerald green flames.
The first thing to fall out was a rucksack, stuffed to bursting with what looked like large bottles. "Awesome! Looks like Wormtail raided his parent's booze cabinet! He's right, there is a lot!" Another bag, presumably full of clothing, fell out next, followed by a pudgy blonde boy. "'Lo, guys!"
"Hey, Wormtail! AUGH! Wanker…" James sputtered as Sirius won the game, and all his Gobstones spit a foul-smelling liquid at James.
Peter shook the first bag as James did a quick Scourgify! "Look at this! I brought an ungodly amount of Firewhiskey!"
Sirius nodded. "Excellent!" The fireplace burst into green flames again. "Pete, you might want to mo—"
Too late. A second later, Remus shot out of the fireplace, knocking Peter over like a bowling ball hitting a pin. "AHH!"
James and Sirius burst out laughing. "S-sorry. Tried to warn you…"
Remus helped Peter to his feet. "Sorry, Wormtail."
Mrs. Potter walked in. "Hello Peter, Remus," she said cheerily. "I made you four cheese sandwiches and lemonade." She raised the tray she was holding.
"Thanks, Mum." James brushed the Gobstones to the floor and put the tray on the coffee table.
"Oh, Jimmy. What will you do when you have to live on your own and clean up after yourself?" Mrs. Potter muttered, sending the Gobstones rolling back into their box with a wave of her wand.
"Mum!" James scowled at the nickname.
"Sorry, dear. Forgot you didn't like that…" Mrs. Potter walked out of the room.
Remus smiled and picked up a sandwich, sitting down on the couch with Sirius and James. Peter took a bottle of Firewhiskey out of his bag and went to pour it in the lemonade.
"Not 'et, Wormtail. 'E got plans," Sirius said thickly, half a sandwich shoved in his mouth.
"What kind of plans?" Remus asked warily.
"Well, now that we're finally of age, we can do magic at home, of course!" James said. "And I've found the perfect victim for our first, out-of-Hogwarts, full-use-of-our-magic-arsenal prank!"
Peter and Sirius cheered, and Remus managed a half-smile.
"You should be happy, Moony! There's no way we can get in trouble for this one, we're not at school!"
"But we can get in trouble with your parents, Prongs!"
James shook his head. "As long as we don't hurt anyone, there's no problem. I have the feeling my mum hates Mrs. Fishface just as Padfoot and I do."
Star,
How do you like being in Denmark? You were really excited when I last saw you. I could visit you if you'd like, but I know you've got about eighty cousins there to keep you entertained already.
I'm at James' house right now. He got upset because his neighbour, Mrs. Fischbaum, is a "bloody pompous fuck." (His words, not mine. I didn't even know that was a noun…) She is pretty awful, actually, so I'm kind of enjoying taking revenge on someone who actually deserves it without any repercussions. Mr. and Mrs. Potter don't really seem to care; I actually get the impression that they enjoy it. I think they'd put their foot down if we actually hurt anyone, but we haven't done that yet.
She (Mrs. Fischbaum) really did her nut last night, though. She was reading a book in her parlour, and strike Padfoot /strike Sirius snuck up to the window and shot an Incendio at the fireplace. I would be pretty shocked, too, if my fireplace took it upon itself to burst into flame. Anyway, she practically had kittens, and ran and locked herself in the loo. Of course, Peter was outside THAT window, and he made a geyser of water shoot out of the toilet. Then, James and I made all the lights flicker on and off in the house. Of course, she immediately suspected us, so we had to run back to the Potter's house and climb through the window so it looked like we were there the whole time. She was shaking like mad when she realized she couldn't pin it on us.
Miss you loads, Star. Write me back if you're not having too much fun without me…
Love,
Remus
Remus,
You're right about the family thing. This house is bursting at the seams with my relatives. All of them want to talk to me about my grades, or school, or my friends. I've repeated the same speech about a million times. My cousins are fun, though. Well, my second cousin Stewart is not quite right in the head (he collects rocks that look like Marilyn Monroe. Allegedly. None of the one's he's found even look like her at all.), but the rest of them are great! It's fantastic to see them all again.
None of my relatives know I have a boyfriend (you), except Mum, Dad, and my little sister Abby. I don't know if it's wise to introduce you when they're all here, and the only week none of them will be here is the full. So, we'll see if we can work it out. I'll ask my parents, and they'll buy you a plane ticket if we figure it out.
No, I'll buy the ticket, Remus. I'm not letting you. And don't try to Apparate or Floo, you'll get really sick. See you soon (possibly).
Love,
Amber
Lily yawned widely, stretching out on her bed with a book in her hands.
The door to her room banged open. "Give me your lipstick! Now!"
"No!" Lily said, incredulously. "I wouldn't give it to you even if you asked nicely. I don't want anything that's ever touched Vernon Dursley's spit near any of my things!"
Petunia gritted her teeth and made an exasperated noise, rifling through Lily's things for the lipstick herself.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
"I need your lipstick! Vernon is coming in five minutes and I must look gorgeous!"
Lily laughed. "Gorgeous? At the moment, you look far from gorgeous. Maybe you'll look okay once you've fixed your hair up."
"I've already fixed my hair up!"
"You have? Oh, that's a shame…"
"HA!" Petunia found the lipstick and brought it to her mouth.
Lily pulled out her wand. "Accio Lipstick!"
It zoomed into Lily's hand, drawing a heavy pink line across Petunia's face. Lily Summoned the cap as well, slipping it over the top and casually sticking it in her back pocket, then turning her attention back to the book as if nothing had happened.
"You IDIOT! Now I've got to wash my face, which means I'll have to redo my foundation! That'll take forever!"
"You should try not to make your baseline so noticeable this time." Lily waved. "Bye!"
"I'm not leaving until you apolog—"
Lily flicked her wand at Petunia, casting a silent Banishing Charm that sent her sister flying out the door, and, with another flick, she shut the door and locked it.
Agie,
Vernon is more awful than I remember him being. He comes over way too often (his mum must be happy though…can you believe he still lives with her? He's got to be about twenty-six!), and I always have to talk to him. I wish my parents would let me eat dinner in my room. The way he eats is disgusting, almost as if he tries to fit as much food as he can in his mouth, then break the record next time he eats here. I lose my appetite whenever he is around. Am now very thin, though. Unlike him.
GREAT news, though. I've quite nearly talked them into letting me come to the island with you! It sucks that I'm a legal adult in our world but not in the Muggle world, so they still control whether I can go or not. I've almost got them convinced, though. I have to call them every day, though. See if you can find one around there. Take a look around; are there any boxes about the size of a bathroom cubicle that say "telephone" on them? Like the ones in Muggle London, except probably not red. Let me know, and if there are, I'll buy a plane ticket for around August the first. I can't wait to get the hell out of here! Oh, and see you, of course. I love you, bestest pally of mine.
So, how are things on your end (which is definitely the better end)?
-Lily
Lily!
You are already very thin, you lucky sod. And he does sound horrendous. Exactly how fat are we talking, here? The my-that's-unfortunate kind of fat, or the dear-God-it's-like-the-51st-state-of-America-but-with-legs kind of fat? Poor you. I pray that your mum has never served lobster in his presence.
Things on the island of lost souls are not good. Of course, it's gorgeous: clear sky, crystal water, sparkly white sand, etc…but fate does not want me to have a good time here. Guess what happened today. There's this white creamy stuff Muggles use instead of a Charm to block the sun…Sunscreen? Have you ever smelled it? It smells utterly fantastic, like coconuts and pineapples and yum. So, I thought it must taste really good as well. So I squirted some in my mouth, just a tiny drop of it at first. Now I know why nobody else was eating their sunscreen, it tastes like fire mixed with burning. I can still taste it, kind of, and I probably won't live until you come here.
You know what else happened? There's this kid whose family lives in the house next to the one I'm in, and he is a kleptomaniac. Seriously. He takes stuff from all the other people on the beach and then throws it in the ocean or something. Usually it's a shovel or some sunscreen or something (though he doesn't eat it, he squirts it on the seagulls), but when he decided to steal something from me, it ended up being MY BIKINI TOP. I was lying on my stomach tanning, and I had the back unhooked so I wouldn't get those wonky lines, and he grabbed the unhooked bit and pulled, and then started tearing down the beach with it.
I know you're asking if I chased after him. Of course I did (holding a towel, of course). It still looked pretty funny, I'll bet. Naturally, the kid gives my top to his REALLY ATTRACTIVE older brother, and he apologises for a bit and then kicks his brother for emphasis, then asks me out on a date! I try to tell him I already have a boyfriend in a dignity-at-all-times way, but the fact that I was almost naked was kind of a setback in the dignity area, I think.
I hope things get better when you come here. It's not like they could be worse, unless Vernon Dursley decides to drop by.
Love ya!
Adriyana oxoxo (o's are hugs, right? I think they look more like lips, for kissing, and the x is the arms crossed, like for hugging...but eh, what do I know? How do you pronounce that, anyway? I tried while I was on the beach and some lady walked up and asked if I was choking.)
"Lily, dear, come in here!" Mrs. Evans called from the kitchen.
"Does it have to do with wedding planning? Because my new policy is to not help with anything besides tasting different types of cakes!"
"No, dear…just come in, it's a surprise!"
Lily put down her book and walked into the kitchen. "Yes, Mum?"
Petunia was sitting at the table, a sour look on her face. Her mum smiled cheerily as she pointed to a large box on Lily's side of the table. "Your dress for the wedding!"
Lily rolled her eyes. "Fantastic."
"Open it, sweetheart!" her dad said, grinning.
Lily reluctantly walked over to the box and pulled off the lid, blinking at the nightmare of peach taffeta that she saw inside. "Hold it up to yourself, dear. I want to see if it's long enough…"
Lily grabbed the dress by its puffy sleeves and took it out. It puffed up and down through the air almost like a jellyfish, except uglier. "I am not wearing—"
A slip of paper fell out of the voluminous skirt of the dress. Lily bent down to pick it up. "I think you left the receipt here." She decided to chance a quick look at it, wondering how much was spent on such a thing, as there was probably enough material there to clothe a small nation. She brought the paper closer to her eyes, reading only the first few lines before squealing and jumping into her fathers' arms, yelling "thainkyouthankyouthankyou!! I have to go tell Agie!" She handed her father the plane ticket and went to get a pen and some paper. "I'm free!" she whisper-cheered as she ran to her room.
A/N -- I decided to split the summer into two chapters, as you can see. Still, even though it's only half what I planned, it's the longest chapter yet! Oh, and that no Floo/Apparition thing overseas has just always been a theory of mine, and I didn't find anything that contradicted it in canon. So…that's okay, right?