Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter :(

Chapter 5: Summer's End

Been looking forward to the future
But my eyesight is going bad
And this crystal ball
Is always cloudy except for
When you look into the past

-Fall Out Boy

It was the last day of August and, while the party at the Potter Estate had given everybody a break from the monotony of summer, the Gryffindor 6th years were all pleased that it was the last day of the summer holiday. James continued to brood over Lily; Remus had been avoiding Sirius (who was busy brooding over him) in what was a failed-to-be-subtle way. Lily was finding it difficult to deal with her sister's attitude, especially without her friendship with Severus to distract her. Peter had kept in touch with Heather via owl post and both eagerly anticipated spending more time together. Maia had worn out the excitement in the small town her parents lived in, so she went to visit Allie in London for the last few days of summer. Allie enjoyed the time with her friend and remained completely oblivious to any unfaithfulness on the part of her boyfriend and could not wait to see him again on the train. Kate had been busy training and working out all summer to stay in shape for Quidditch in the fall. Little to say, none of them could wait to get back to Hogwarts.

"Mom! Could you please summon my parchment?" Kate yelled down the stairs from her chaotic room. "I can't find it anywhere!"

"What?!" Her mother's muffled voice came up the stairwell.

" I said!" Kate continued at the top of her lungs. "I can't find my parchment!"

Her father stepped out of his office to walk down the hall towards her daughter.

"Honey, did you look everywhere?" He asked kindly.

"Well… no," Kate admitted. "But if I could just do a quick summoning spell!"

"Nope," Greg chuckled. "Look for it the muggle way. It'll build character."

Kate groaned at her father and jogged over to her brother's room.

Rob was a seventh year in Hufflepuff. The lucky bastard was seventeen and of age; maybe he would be helpful.

"Rob! I can't find my parchment!" Kate whined, bursting through his door. He lay on his bed, his Hogwarts trunk already perfectly packed. "Summon it for me?"

"I don't know…" Rob grinned slowly.

"Please!"

"Okay, but don't say I never do anything for you!"

"Rob!"

"Fine, fine!" Rob pulled out his wand "Accio Kate's parchment!"

Hundreds of blank pieces of parchment fluttered around Kate's face, giving her about half a dozen paper cuts. "Gee, thanks."

"No problem!" Rob grinned cheekily.

"Hey, you wanna go for a run with me after I'm done packing?" Kate suggested sucking on a papercut on her thumb.

"You've already ran me out!" Rob exclaimed. "A whole, what, 3 miles earlier? I'm so not that in shape, sis!"

"Fine, I'll just go now by myself," Kate jumped up leaving her mess of parchment all over Rob's floor. "Bye!"

"Kate! Your parchment!?"

But Kate was already on her way out the door and running around the streets of Cork, Ireland.

Lily sat on her bed reviewing everything for the third time.

"Robes: Check! Socks: Check! Hat: Check! Muggle clothing: Check! Quill and parchments: Check! Spellbooks! Check… wait! oh no!" She jumped off her bed and ran down to the living room. On the coffee table was her DADA text book Practical Uses of Advanced Defensive Spells. Petunia sat on the couch reading a gossip magazine, her feet resting up onto the coffee table right next to Lily's book.

Lily reached across her legs for her book and Petunia jumped, kicking her feet into Lily's face.

"Ouch! Bloody hell! Petunia!" Lily screeched in pain. She raised her fingers to her face to feel blood gushing out of her nose.

"Oh… you surprised me!" Petunia screeched back.

"Ugh! It's okay. Just, hand me my spell book." Lily held out the hand not covered in blood. Petunia flinched away and held onto her knees.

"I'm not touching that thing!" Petunia gasped in reference to the spell book. Lily snorted, hurting her bloodied nose. She grabbed the book and stalked into the kitchen to put some ice on her face.

"Severus," She whispered, knowing she was only talking to herself. "Sev, I can't stand her! I can't stand stupid James Potter! You know he asked me out again in a letter? But I just can't stand Petunia right now. I can't stand being a freak in both worlds. I'm a freak here because I'm a witch and I'm a freak at Hogwarts because my parents aren't magical… I just…I wish you could tell me she was just jealous… I wish you could tell me that it doesn't matter. I wish it didn't matter…"

"Lily? Who are you talking to?" Her father's voice rang from the hall.

"Nobody!"

"Freak!" Petunia called from the Living room. "Talking to nobody? Yeah, right!"

Lily's eyes started to water as her father scolded her sister for what was probably the millionth time this summer. At least it would be the last time until next summer, Lily told herself. She could survive this one last night. Lily knew that, but still, she let the tears fall; she let them fall just this last time.

***

James and Sirius sat alone in James' room with two butterbeers and a bowl of tortilla chips. Their completely packed trunks sat downstairs by the door. The only things they left out were the muggle clothing they planned on wearing to the station.

The boys sat without talking, staring off in different directions, too much on their minds to notice the silence. It was a comfortable but unhappy quiet.

Crunch, crunch. Slurp swallow.

These were the sounds that broke Sirius out of his trance. He tore his gaze from the Quidditch poster on the wall to look at his friend as James ate the chips and washed them down with butterbeer.

"What's up Prongs?" He asked, leaning back on James' mattress. "Lily doing cartwheels in your brain again?"

"No."

"You don't have to lie to me, brother," Sirius barked laughter. "I know you have Lily-itis."

"Yeah," James grinned reluctantly, "But she's not doing cartwheels. More like back hand springs."

"Ah, I see," Sirius said teasingly, putting on his play-therapist expression. "And how do you feel about that?"

"Resolved," James answered.

"I see…" Sirius said, pressing his lips together in attempt to hold back laughter, "These are understandable feelings. They are part of the getting-the-bloody-hell-over-her process."

"Shut it." James shoved Sirius shoulder, causing him to fall off the bed.

"You need to get over her, mate," Sirius answered as he stood up and sat back down on the bed with an exaggerated wince.

"No," James replied thoughtfully, "I'm resolved to have her love me, not to get over her. Never to get over her." Sirius raised an eyebrow but let his fellow marauder continue.

"I'm done asking her out. If she wants me, she knows I'm available. I'm just… going to talk to her, be nice to her, and really get to know her. Let her decide if she wants to get to know me back."

"If you think it'll work," Sirius shrugged as James went back to staring out the window, "But I think that, sometimes, no matter how well you know each other, and maybe even how much you like each other, something is going to get in the way. In at least one persons mind something has to hold them back. Whether it's habit of hatred, or stupid morals or shit, or maybe just because he doesn't want to ruin a friendship or freak you out… Yeah. I don't know, but I say you get over it." Sirius looked at James, expecting some acknowledgment of his advice but the messy haired boy, apparently, had tuned him out, which was just as well, as Sirius had seemed to forget he was supposed to be talking about James and Lily.

"Yeah, I'll let her get to know me," James repeated, eyes fixed unseeingly at the outdoors.

"Right, just get over it, man," Sirius responded, turning his attention back to the Quidditch poster. The two boys grabbed handfuls of tortilla chips and began crunching again.

***

"Are you two all packed?" Allie's mother, Carrie, asked as she, Allie and Maia sat in the Korets' backyard having evening tea.

"Yes, mum," Allie answered politely, though with a touch of impatience, "You've asked us that two times already today. We're sixteen; I think we're old enough to pack for school."

"Oh, well, sometimes I forget." Carrie said with a smile, "well, you two go check under the beds and everything just to make sure while I clean up here." Allie restrained herself from rolling her eyes at her mother, and the two friends went into the house and up the stairs, pass the bedroom Allie's younger sisters shared, and into Allie's room.

"Seriously, we've checked, double checked and triple checked!" Allie complained to Maia, who just shrugged and grinned.

"I don't mind. It's nice of her to let me stay over so I don't have to travel in the morning. But it's true, if we checked anymore we would grow spots!"

"What are you talking about? That doesn't even make sense!" Allie exclaimed, bemused. Maia just shook her head and stuck her tongue out.

"I barely ever know what I'm talking about. I probably shouldn't be allowed to talk."

"That's for sure!" Maia stuck her tongue out again, causing Allie to laugh.

"How about we don't quadruple check for our belongings," Allie said, sitting down on her bed and leaning against the wall, legs crossed.

"I agree," Maia answered, joining her, "we wouldn't want to grow spots or anything." Allie just shook her head. The two girls sat in silence for a couple minutes, both pondering what the next year would bring.

"I bet NEWT level classes will be so much harder!" Allie fretted. "We'll have to work extra hard. That means an hour of studying per class per night. Minimum!"

"No way!" Maia disagreed. "We're young and beautiful! I suppose I could try to work like that- and I'd succeed - for about a week. But then I'd get bored. Besides, won't you want to spend time with Remus?"

"Yes! I'm so excited!" Allie nodded vigorously. "We'll study together! He's so smart and just as dedicated as I am. I swear he's the perfect boyfriend."

Maia groaned in exasperation at her friends' eagerness, "You wouldn't know! He's the first boy you've ever even liked! Let alone dated or, 'gasp,' kissed!"

"That's not true! There were… boys. Maybe."

"Sure…" Maia smirked. "Either way, I doubt you'll get much studying done."

"We're dedicated!" The short girl insisted hitting Maia with her pillow.

"Yeah, dedicated to snogging!" Maia giggled hitting her back with a stuffed animal. The girls lapsed into thoughtful silence again, Allie thinking about Remus and Maia wondering who her next fling would be with. Suddenly, Maia bounced up and over to her purse that was lying on top of her packed trunk. She pulled out two nail polishes, a light pink for Allie and a hot turquoise for herself.

"We must look fabulous for tomorrow!" Maia exclaimed.

"Okay," Allie agreed, "just don't spill on my bed. My mum will be angry because she can't use magic to fix it, being muggle and all. And if my dad finds out I ruined a bedspread, he'll be furious."

"I won't spill it, Allie. You worry too much." Maia smiled at her friend before reaching over for some tissues to put under the bottles of polish.

"Oops…" Maia said quietly, as she knocked over the bottle, spilling light pink onto Allie's white quilt.

"Maia!"

***

Helen opened the door to Peter's room and peeked inside. Dirty socks and school books lay scattered on the ground. Half of Peter's belongings were thrown haphazardly into his Hogwarts trunk, but mostly the room was a big mess. Helen squeaked in horror and pushed the door all the way open. Peter was sitting on his desk reading what appeared to be a letter.

"Peter?" Helen asked curiously. "Why aren't you packed yet? It's almost 10!"

"Huh?" Peter looked up at her, smiling. "Oh, hi Helen. Is it really that late? I was just thinking about… something."

"What?" Helen asked perkily, "Possibly a girl?"

"Possibly," Peter looked at her quizzically. "Shouldn't you be asleep by now? I believe it's past your bed time."

Helen shrugged and started picking up her big brother's school books and putting them in a neat pile.

"Not tired. Plus, I'm not a baby anymore."

"Well, I guess you could sleep on the train tomorrow instead of talking to all the friends you haven't seen all summer," Peter teased. Helen thought about it and shook her head.

"Even if I wanted to sleep, I couldn't," Helen began to throw Peter's dirty clothing scattered all over the room into a laundry bag. "Too excited."

"I bet," Peter said, standing up and taking the bag from her hands and continuing to pack for himself. "Third year is a big one! You get to go to Hogsmede and everything"

"Totally!" Helen agreed abandoning her mission of packing now that that Peter was getting back to work. "I'm a teenager this year! My friend Rachel had a bat mitzvah this summer. She's Jewish and a bat mitzvah means she is an adult now! I'm only a few weeks younger. I guess that means I'm an adult now too!"

"Sure, whatever, Helen."

There was a silence except for the creaking caused by Helen as she bounced on Peter's bed.

"Do you think Mum will be okay without us? Think she might get lonely?" Helen asked, her bouncing ceasing.

"Nah," Peter reassured her. "Mum can take care of herself. She has friends."

There was more silence and Helen went back to bouncing.

"Do you think that Dad will come send us off at Kings Cross tomorrow?"

"I don't know," Peter sighed, trying to keep his annoyance from his voice. "You should go to bed."

"I really hope he comes," Helen commented completely ignoring the suggestion of sleep. "Then maybe he and Mum can hang out after we leave… what do you think, Pete?"

"I think that's unlikely," Peter responded carefully. "Dad has a lot going on now, with his new wife and all. Besides, I can't really see our parents becoming friends again anytime soon, honey."

"Why not?" Helen asked. "I didn't like Rachel for a year when we were little and she got a new best friend, but now we're friends again and it's okay now."

"I'm not sure, Helen," Peter said slowly again fighting off irritation at his sister's persistence. "That's not how it is with adults."

"Well, Rachel had her bat mitzvah, so technically she's an adult!" Helen argued. Peter tossed his laundry bag into his trunk and sat on it to make it close.

"Helen… just go to bed."

Helen stared at him for a few seconds her lips pushed out in a pout.

"Now Helen!" Peter said raising his voice a little. "I don't want to spend all morning tomorrow getting you out of bed! It's 10:30. Just go to bed!" Helen continued to pout.

"Helen! Now!"

"Fine! I'm going already!" The thirteen year old girl got off Peter's bed and walked to the door. Peter pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes as she started to leave. She turned back around and asked.

"Peter, if you stop liking me, do you promise to stay my brother anyways?"

This made Peter chuckle.

"I can't not be your brother, no matter how much I might not want to be. It's blood."

"Okay, well then I guess I'll stay your sister, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, thanks," Peter waved her away. "Now go get some sleep."

She shut the door but in a few seconds opened it again.

"Peter? I love you!"

"Love you too, hun. Good night."

" 'Night!" Helen closed the door and Peter heard her go to her room and begin getting ready for bed. He put the remainder of his belongs into his trunk and returned to the letter he'd been reading before Helen had interrupted him. He smiled as he read Heather's request to sit with him the following day on the Hogwarts Express.

***

Across England, the eight Gryffindor 6th years lay in their beds, thinking about the coming year as they drifted off to sleep. Kate and James both imagined winning the Quidditch Cup for Gryffindor for the third year in a row, though James' Quidditch thoughts were frequently interrupted by Lily's handsprings. Remus feared facing Allie the next day, though not as much as he feared having to act normally around Sirius. At the Potter Estate, meanwhile, Sirius tried, without success, to not think about his wolfish friend. Allie and Maia, who had managed to clean Allie's quilt without the help of her father, spoke in hushed whispers about NEWT classes and boys. Peter filled his mind with thoughts of Heather, as to not worry about his younger sister's childish wishes about their parents. Slowly, sleep clouded all their minds as they, one by one, fell into their dreams.