Is one year a lot of time? Depends on who you ask. To a tortoise, no. To a hummingbird, yes. It is quite staggering to consider how effectively shaken one's entire world can come to be within a year's time. Trauma like the death of a family member, being forced to change schools, or dealing with natural disasters and other near-death experiences can all contribute to a permanent effect on one's development. This is true especially if one is quite young.

It was a lovely summer day in July of 2007. The sun was high and hot. There was a slight breeze, and two young men were lounging about under the shade of a mighty fir tree enjoying a classic red, white, and blue "rocket" popsicle apiece. They were Eminent Evergreen Quandary and his closest friend and confidant Link Blackguard. The shorter of the two, Evergreen, was dressed in a pair of black basketball shorts and a t-shirt. His dishwater blond hair had grown out to a length that he had been told was "absolutely ridiculous."

"So, Evergreen." Link began. "Can you explain what electricity is, again?"

Evergreen looked at his friend who was many inches taller, with a smile that would charm anyone's socks off and tanned skin, scratching his head. He considered the simplest explanation he could give to Link. He knew that Link grew up in a coastal magical settlement that was composed of both descendants of early European wizards and the native peoples of the Tututni, primarily. Since the 1700's the settlement had been completely cut off from and inaccessible to the No-Maj world, or the world without magic. He knew one thing, at least, that both worlds could relate to.

"It's energy that is harnessed th-through metal, usually copper, I think, and channeled for d-different reasons." Evergreen responded.

"Hmm… I guess that makes some kind of sense. Energy inside of metal. Interesting."

They continued working on their frozen treats for a bit, idly chatting and just soaking in the sun. Well, as much as one could soak in the shade of a large tree. Evergreen appreciated this time of relaxation. That previous year was a serious roller coaster. First, he discovered that he was a wizard and that his mom was a powerful witch who lived in a wondrous place called Oz. He met the child of a friend of Mom's, a rabbit named Seta. He went to a school of magic called Ilvermorny, met lots of wonderful people, others not quite so wonderful, got some fairly impressive grades, he thought and then ended up saving the life of someone he didn't care for much. That is, he saved her after being saved countless times by others including Seta, an odd little guy called "Waldon", who was a pukwudgie, his favorite Professor, Tempest Woods, and Diva, Link's ex-girlfriend and one of Evergreen's best friends.

Yes, Diva was Link's ex-girlfriend by that time. Link gave some convoluted explanation to Evergreen on why they separated. He would have almost believed it, if it wasn't for the fact the Diva gave him the real story, letting him know that she realized that being a 12-year-old, her focus shouldn't be on romance but on her studies. It wasn't like she was interested in getting married to anyone anytime soon, so what was the point? That was Evergreen's thought exactly that previous year whenever he saw Link and her share a kiss. They weren't even teenagers yet, so why did Link appear to be in such a hurry to grow up?

Over that summer, Evergreen spent a lot of time with Dad and Seta and quite a bit of time with Link. Somehow, Link was able to talk his dad into joining the Quandary fireplace with the floo network. This meant that wizards were able to travel to and from their fireplace with a special powder. Evergreen wondered how he managed that considering MACUSA, the Magical Congress likely had stringent rules regarding such things, especially in a No-Maj home like that of the Quandary clan. Well, Link was incredibly charming and unbelievably persuasive.

At some point, Dad came out to where Evergreen and Link lay, watching the clouds drift on by. Even though the temperature was in the 80's, Dad was dressed, as usual, in all black. Evergreen never understood that. Sure, Evergreen liked wearing more earthy colors to help him blend into the background, but when it was warm, he always went for lighter grays. He was many things, but he was not THAT much of a glutton for punishment.

"Boys," he started, approaching them, casting a large and long shadow over their already shaded space, "It looks like you have a visitor, Evergreen."

Now, who could that be?

"Okay. Link, you could stay here if you'd like, and I'll go and see what's going on."

"Well Ev," Link replied, "If it's all the same to you, I'd like to see who it is."

"Okay, b-be my guest."

Dad led the two boys from the forested area near their backyard through the house to the kitchen area. Once they reached their destination, a familiar person was standing there. It was Lynne, Evergreen's best friend growing up. She was wearing a blue jean skirt that had a bottom hem that was fraying (as per the style) and a bright red T-shirt that slightly exposed her midriff when she moved her shoulders up. She also had on, to Evergreen's shock, makeup. He always viewed makeup as something high school girls wore, not her. That's not to say that he didn't think it looked good, because it did, but he had just never seen her in it. Her cheeks had a subtle blush, her eyes were lined with dark smudges. He thought he once heard the term 'smoky eye'. Maybe that's what this was.

"Hi Lynne!" Evergreen chirped, with a grin, throwing his arms around his friend.

She warmly responded in kind and tightly squeezed Evergreen around the middle. They started quickly talking to try and catch up, but Evergreen stopped when he looked over at Link, who was looking at Lynne like she was made of gemstones or something. He figured to introduce them.

"Link, this is Lynne. Lynne, my friend Link from boarding school."

"Oh," she began, "I knew how much of a nerd you were, but Link here looks normal." She said with a teasing lilt.

Link let out a deep belly laugh at this.

"Lynne, was it?" Link asked, running his fingers through his hair with his classic sly smile, "Evergreen here is a huge nerd at school. I always have to pry him away from the library to do anything fun."

It was Lynne's turn to laugh at Evergreen's expense. Evergreen wasn't upset though. He knew what he was about and there was no point in being offended by the truth. He glanced over at his wizard friend who seemed to be quite taken with Lynne. He just rolled his eyes.

"Link," he whispered, "You know you can't date her when we're at Ilvermorny."

"Date?" Link laughed, "Who said anything about that? It's just some harmless flirting."

"So, what's up Lynne?" Evergreen asked, quickly changing the subject.

"My parents were having a Fourth of July barbeque for some people in the neighborhood, I know that you're not really in our neighborhood, but she said that you could stop by for a burger if you'd like."

"Well," Dad piped up, "We didn't really have plans. Link here will be spending the night, but we can stop by."

"Cool. Thanks Mr. Quandary."

She gave Evergreen a quick hug, Link a brief wink and then she left through the open front door. It was true, they didn't live in the same neighborhood as Lynne's family, but they still lived close enough to where going to and from each other's houses wasn't a huge thing. Walking took maybe 15 minutes, and driving took less than five. Evergreen had never met any of Lynne's neighbors, so he figured it would probably be okay.

That evening, Link stayed the night with Dad and Evergreen. The Quandarys introduced the young wizard to Spider-Man movies and Doritos nacho cheese chips. Link was positively fascinated with every little thing in their home, from the television to the lightbulbs, to the kitchen appliances. When Evergreen used the microwave to heat some chicken fingers, he was glued to the spot, watching the plate of chicken rotate inside of the lighted microwave. Evergreen thought at first that it was simply the funniest thing ever. So many things that he considered second nature were as new as new could be to his friend. He stopped himself though, because he remembered when entering Underhill Market, the wizard market beneath Mount Hood, and when entering Ilvermorny, that he acted the same way. Magic was magic. Electricity was magic. His face burned with mild embarrassment for this reason.

With a new sun in the sky, it was Independence Day. It was morning but the temperature was already well on its way to the 70s with a promise of maybe 90 degrees during the warm part of the day. Evergreen and Link helped themselves to Dad's famous Texas Toast French toast for breakfast. It may have been a day old, but it was still amazing. It was Evergreen's favorite, after all. Dad used to work at a bakery, so his skill with baked goods was certainly unmatched.

Both boys dressed in red, white, and blue after showers and breakfast. Evergreen was in mostly blue, as fire engine red never really flattered him at all. The barbecue was to start just after lunch and continue through the evening, so to pass the time before then, they engaged one another in several fierce games of Wizard Skittles. Evergreen thought that it was a fun game. Bowling was based on it, but he was never very good at bowling. He was decent at Wizard Skittles, though.

Dad was asleep and would get up around lunchtime because he worked graveyard during the summer weeks so he could spend more time with Evergreen. Evergreen was grateful for the extra time that he got with Dad. He and Dad had a serious heart-to-heart the previous May when school let out. Sure, Dad was pleased with Evergreen's continued stellar grades, but he also was sure to reiterate the seriousness of what happened when his life hung in the balance that previous spring break. The woman that Evergreen thought was Georgia Habitatio wasn't who she claimed to be. She was a dark winkie from Western Oz in disguise. The winkie wanted to open the Ozian gateway by any means possible, including the dispatch of Evergreen or his classmate Beatrice Gale-Larson. It was a major blow to Evergreen because he really liked her, or who the winkie was pretending to be, that is.

"Come on Evergreen, you can do better than that!" Link laughed as he knocked down a bunch of pins with a single Skittle disk.

"You want better?" Evergreen replied. "I will destroy you!"

"Bring it!"

The boys played as the sun grew hotter in the sky. In no time, Dad was up and ready and he piled the boys and Seta into his large, white truck for the short trip. Considering the very short distance, the trip took maybe five minutes maximum. They pulled into the woods and turned down the dead-end street to the second to the last house on the left side.

They disembarked from the truck's cabin and went straight to the backyard. When they did so, they saw a somewhat large group of people. Lynne's dad, Erick was manning the grill wearing a humorous apron and Lynne was the first to approach them. She was wearing a red, white, and blue dress with a lacy fringe and a red hairband. When she welcomed the Quandarys, Link, and Seta, she made a sly smile that made her look a lot like one of Evergreen's favorite teachers at school, Agatha Shadowmend, colloquially known as 'Miss Agatha' to her students. Evergreen had a double take.

"Oh, it's Seta!" she squealed, as she reached down and picked up Evergreen's fuzzy familiar.

Seta just let it happen. He told Evergreen that he liked Lynne anyway, so he was fine with her fussing over him every time they were together.

"Who's a cute little fuzzy bunny?" she asked, burying her face into the fur on the back of his head.

The rabbit just responded with an amused ticking sound, as he and Evergreen decided to keep the fact that he was a talking animal from her. She didn't know anything about magic after all, and they figured that it wouldn't be fair to let her know about a world that she could never be a part of. Seta looked over at Evergreen, his bright purple eyes flashing with a 'enough is enough' message. The runic star on his forehead matched in color with his eyes. It was a mark from the previous year where he had been touched by a killing curse and somehow bounced back by the power of the sun, as far as Evergreen knew.

"What's up, Lynne?" Evergreen asked, collecting his familiar, who comfortably sat upon his right shoulder.

"My dad just started grilling, my mom's inside the house dealing with my brother and there's one of my neighbors that you should meet!"

The last line was said as she grabbed both boys by the hand and led them through the small crowd to the far end. Evergreen always really liked Lynne's parents. Her dad was a fireman and paramedic while her mom was a homemaker. Both Lynne and her younger brother Tony were adopted, but considering how alike Lynne and Tony were to their parents, one would never really know. They also had two snow dogs that Evergreen loved. Chase was older and wiser with brown eyes while Jazz was younger, more vibrant, and had light blue eyes. They were beautiful. Evergreen had always had a dream of going up to Alaska. Seeing those dogs just reminded him of that.

"Evergreen, Link. This is my neighbor, Maggie." Lynne said as they all stopped.

The girl standing before them was a very familiar face. It was Maggie Habitatio, their friend from school and from the play they did the previous year.

"MAGGIE!?" Evergreen exclaimed, putting his arms around his friend.

She wasn't wearing a robe or anything else witchlike that would cause him to recognize her. She was in a T-shirt and flattering, skinny capri pants, but the look of wild intelligence on her face was unmistakable. He didn't know that she lived so close to him and Dad. He was surprised that it didn't come up in conversation when they were at school.

"Hey Evergreen, Link, Seta." She replied, returning Evergreen's embrace.

"How are you doing, all things considered?" Evergreen asked.

"All things considered? I'm okay."

Maggie's mother, Professor Georgia Habitatio was missing. It was revealed earlier that year that the person presumed to be her was actually something else entirely. The search was on for Maggie's mom. No one knew what happened, but MACUSA, the Magical Congress was doing their best to find out with their team of Aurors. Lynne was informed at that moment that Maggie went to school with the boys. Maggie revealed that her older sister Clarina was staying with her for the summer months while she was home and while the search was on for their mother. Maggie pointed out Clarina from across the yard. She looked just like Professor Habitatio, only she had short, brown hair and was 20 years younger.

When Lynne headed back to mingle with some of her other neighbors, Link piped up.

"With that imposter locked up, I reckon things will be a little quieter this year." Link said.

"I don't know about that." Maggie replied darkly. "Considering who Evergreen's mom was, they might not be quieter."

"Well, we can only hope." Evergreen added. "I'd like to n-not be looking over my shoulder at every little thing."

"Anyway, you guys can keep talking. I'm going to chat up Lynne." Link said, his contagiously charming smile flashing in its flirtatious way.

Evergreen and Maggie sat together in patio chairs, up against the fence that was set just outside of the fir tree canopy. Evergreen looked around the yard. It was large, big enough for a small swimming pool if Lynne's family wanted one. There was a small jungle gym in the corner of the yard that had been well used from years of Lynne, Tony, and their friends playing on it.

"I'm sorry I outed you and your mom." Maggie said. "I didn't know that it was supposed to be a secret."

Scratching the back of his head with one hand, he reached the other to find Maggie's hand that was resting upon her knee. He looked her in the eye and smiled.

"You have no reason to apologize. You didn't know. The imposter was supposed to be someone we could trust."

Evergreen then held Maggie's hand in the two of his.

"I can only imagine what you're going through." He said, "At least I know my mom is OK."

"It's hard, but I know she's out there. I can feel it. Plus, this year is time for something new." Came Maggie's even response.

They joined the barbecue not long after that. Evergreen got himself a large, hot cheeseburger and piled it high with all the fix-ins and as many of the other foods as he could find. The kids, the magical ones, and the No-Maj, all enjoyed their time together, telling jokes, telling stories, and eating whatever they could get their hands on that came off of the grill. They were growing a lot, after all.

That evening, as the fireworks went off, Evergreen realized the differences in his camaraderie with all his friends. With Lynne, he shared a childhood, with Link, he shared a love of new experiences and new cultures, with Maggie he shared a certain trauma. Even though they were all so different, they had more in common overall. It was another relatively quiet moment that helped Evergreen appreciate life as he knew it.