Thanks for the reviews/favourites/alerts ^_^ Here's the second chapter, I hope you enjoy!

Chapter One – Harry and Sam

Two women were sat alone in a large, slightly messy living room, sipping cups of tea and talking quietly. One of them had long dark red hair and bright green eyes; the other had short strawberry blond hair and round, chocolate brown eyes. The blond woman leaned in closer to the other woman, and whispered something in her ear. When she sat back again, the red-haired woman let out a delighted shriek.

'Oh, Holly, are you being serious?' she asked her friend eagerly. When the blond woman, Holly, nodded, the red-haired woman clapped her hands together. 'That's wonderful!'

'It is, isn't it?' Holly said. 'But, Lily, you mustn't mention this to James or Sirius. Do you promise?'

Lily sighed heavily. 'If you insist.'

At that moment the door of the living room flew open, and two children came hurtling in. One of them was a boy of ten, almost eleven, who had messy jet black hair and eyes exactly the same as Lily's; the other was a young girl of nine, who had auburn hair that fell to her shoulders and hazel eyes.

'Harry, Amy!' Lily exclaimed, beaming at her two children. 'What are you doing in here? I thought you were with your dad and Sirius?'

Amy shook her head. 'We were, but they weren't being very interesting, so we left. Right, Harry?'

'Yeah, basically,' he said, grinning sheepishly at Lily and Holly. 'Although it was Dad who suggested we left, and found something to do with ourselves…'

'But there are no toys here,' Amy added, pouting.

Lily laughed. 'Oh, sorry Amy, but we did suggest you take something from home to keep you entertained…'

'No you didn't! Did they, Harry?'

'They did, actually.'

At this point, Holly stood up and decided to take action.

'Why don't you and Harry go play outside?' she suggested. 'You can have a go on the broomsticks out there, and have a mini game of Quidditch.'

Harry's eyes were suddenly shining. 'Yes, let's do that! Come on, Amy.'

Amy nodded, and they left the room again.

'Just don't fly too high!' Lily called after them.

'Yes, Mum!' they chorused.

Lily took another sip of her tea, and suddenly gave Holly a small smile as she said, 'You still have all of this to come. Have fun!'

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At about five in the evening, when the back garden of Sirius and Holly's house was bathed in a soft golden light, Harry and Amy were forced to return inside by Lily. It was time to go home.

James, Sirius and Holly were waiting for them by the fireplace in the living room. As they entered the room, Harry saw that James was holding a present in his hand, and realised that it had to be his birthday present from Sirius and Holly. It was birthday in two days time, and he was going to be eleven, which meant that he should be receiving his Hogwarts letter soon. He couldn't wait.

They said their goodbyes, and then made their way home by Floo Powder. Harry, like James, much preferred travelling by broomstick, but it was the quickest and most convenient way to get home.

Home for the Potters was the house they had lived in for the whole of Harry's, and Amy's, life: the cottage in Godric's Hollow. They came out of the fireplace onto the hearth in their kitchen one at a time, straightened up, brushed the soot off of their robes, and savoured being home. James and Lily exchanged a quick glance, before James hurried from the room, no doubt to hide Harry's present; evidently, he thought Harry had not yet noticed it.

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The next day, neither James nor Lily had to be at work, and so they were having a lie in. They had expressly told Harry and Amy the day before not to wake them unless there was an emergency. So, when Amy burst into their room at half seven, causing them to wake very suddenly, they immediately feared the worst.

'What's happened?' Lily asked her straight away. 'Has something happened to Harry?'

Amy nodded, then added, 'Oh, but nothing bad! You have to come see!'

Slowly, James and Lily got out of bed, and followed Amy down the stairs. They found Harry sat at the table in the kitchen, a bowl of untouched cereal in front of him, the family's tawny owl sitting on the table next to the bowl. He was holding an envelope in his hand, and frowned when his parents entered the room.

'I thought you were having a lie in?' he asked them. Amy smiled guiltily, prompting Harry to say, 'Amy! I told you I didn't mind waiting until they got up! You didn't have to wake them up…'

'That doesn't matter, Harry,' James said. 'What's happened?'

Harry held up the envelope. 'I've got the letter. From Hogwarts. I wasn't going to open it without you though.'

James beamed at his son; Lily went over and hugged him.

'Oh, Harry, this is wonderful! I was wondering when that letter would get here, but no need to worry anymore!' she said. 'Congratulations, Harry!'

'Open it, then,' James added eagerly.

Harry ripped it open and, with trembling hands, unfolded the two pieces of parchment inside. He read it quickly, and a huge smile spread across his face, before handing the first piece of parchment to his mother. He scanned the second page, which was a list of all the equipment and books he needed, and gave that over as well.

'This is really good news,' Lily said. 'Shall we go to Diagon Alley the day after your birthday?'

'I think that would be good,' Harry replied, 'I can get my wand! That's the bit I'm most looking forward to…'

'Are you going to get an owl Harry?' Amy added.

'Yeah, I think so.'

'Ooh, get a snowy one!' she exclaimed. 'They're the most beautiful owls…'

Their tawny owl, Yachi, shot Amy a reproachful glance, and hooted softly at her. She paid no attention to it.

Lily handed the letter to James, so that he could have a read. When he had finished he looked over at Harry and said, 'We should buy you a new broomstick, to celebrate! The Nimbus 2000's coming out this year, you want that one?'

Harry immediately nodded, but Lily said sharply, 'James, first years aren't allowed broomsticks, what's the point of buying him a new one?'

'Well, we know Dumbledore quite well; he could bend the rules a bit, especially since Harry's so good at Quidditch…'

'James!'

'All right, all right, sorry Lily,' James said, grinning at his wife. 'But seriously Harry, we could still get you the broomstick, you can just use it whenever you're home for the holidays.'

'I wouldn't mind that,' said Harry with a laugh. 'Mum, do you think it would be all right if I checked on Sam to see if he's got his letter? Or is it too early?'

Lily shook her head. 'No, I think that will be fine. Tell Poppy that we have to meet up soon, will you?'

Harry nodded, and hurried over to the fireplace in the kitchen. He had completely forgotten about his breakfast. He added some Floo Powder to the fire, stuck his head into it, and said, 'Number 7, Seiten Avenue!'

His head began whizzing through the Floo Network, while the rest of his body remained on the hearth of the kitchen, an experience which he still wasn't entirely comfortable with. Finally he came to a stop in a fireplace in the dark living room of his best friend's house. It was a small, cosy room, and he immediately spotted Sam, sat on the sofa and reading a book, despite how dark the place was. Sam Riddle was quite tall for eleven, had dark brown hair, a very thin face, and light, soft brown eyes. Poppy said that he looked like his father and his grandfather, but as Harry had never seen either, he didn't know whether this was true. As soon as Harry arrived, Sam looked up from his book.

'Harry!' he exclaimed. 'What are you doing here?'

'I got my letter, I got my Hogwarts letter!' he replied. 'And I was just checking that you had too.'

Sam nodded and, beaming at him, took the letter from out of the book. He brandished it in front of Harry's face.

'It came about twenty minutes ago,' he told Harry. 'I'm really excited. Are you?'

'Of course I am,' Harry said, grinning. 'I can't wait! I really want to be in Gryffindor.'

'I'm not sure,' said Sam slowly, 'but definitely not Slytherin. Mum says my grandfather was in Slytherin, and he and Mum don't talk much anymore. Mum doesn't want me to be in Slytherin, but… she can't decide, the hat does.'

'Yeah, in front of the whole school,' Harry added nervously. 'Well, I better go back. Oh, can you tell your mum that my mum wants to meet up with her soon.'

'Okay,' said Sam. 'See you soon, Harry. Happy Birthday for tomorrow!'

'Thanks,' said Harry and, without another word, he pulled his head back out of the fire.