James was awakened by the rays of sunlight streaming through his window. He looked at the clock hanging on his wall and noticed that it was later than usual.
'Ugh... I shouldn't have stayed up so long reading that damn book,' James thought, rubbing his eyes lazily.
After Toby got home, he didn't have as much free time for his study routine, so he started reading more in the evenings.
'Weirdly, Mom hasn't woken me up,' thought James, standing up and stretching lazily. He took off his pajamas and headed for the door, but before he did he noticed that on top of his desk were two letters.
'Must have been left by Shadow,' thought James, sitting up and opening the first letter.
As it was summer, he always left the window open. This way Shadow could come and go freely.
'It's from Sirius,' thought James with a slight smile, imagining the way Sirius would rant about his family in this letter.
[To James.
How's your summer going? Mine is getting worse and worse.
As I told you last week, I had to attend some stupid party Bellatrix threw with her husband celebrating, I don't know what. It's amazing, isn't it? That the harpy's husband is Rabastan's older brother, although I think I told you that already.
Back to the main subject. It turns out that yesterday, I had to attend the birthday of a girl from the Shafiq family. I think her name was Glen. If I'm not mistaken...]
'It's Gwen...' thought James, reading the letter with a strange look on his face. So far Sirius and the others were unaware of his friendship with Gwen and Emily. This was not unusual, as they never saw him talking to them at Hogwarts. Only once at the beginning of the year did he talk to Emily, and it went unnoticed.
[As you can imagine, I was forced by my nice mother to attend said birthday, according to her to make good connections. I had to put up with fat Anastasia talking about her grandfather and her stupid list for four hours. You can imagine the rest of the meeting... The only good thing was to make fun of Rabastan, who is still as shy since that duel. It seems that the latter reached my mother's ears, and now I am grounded. Thanks to my younger brother's help I can send you this letter.
Anyway, I just wanted to tell someone about my hardships. How is everything going there? Have Toby and Peter arrived yet?
Greetings, Sirius Black.
PS: When you answer me, send the letter addressed to my brother Regulus Black, as my mother is intercepting the letters sent to me.
]
'He's got it tough...' thought James with a faint smile. He wasn't enjoying his best friend's misfortune. He found it funny how Sirius narrated the events. It seemed to amuse him to get on his mother's nerves, and despite carrying out her order to go to the birthday to make good connections he did quite the opposite and teased Rabastan endlessly.
James picked up his quill and began to write a response. He made a few jokes about Anastasia Nott and Rabastan and then told him that Toby had arrived and what activities they planned to do. He told him everything very succinctly, as he didn't want to depress Sirius, who was grounded anymore.
After he finished writing the letter he put it aside and opened the second one. To his surprise, it was about Gwen or Glen according to Sirius. He was surprised as he didn't expect Gwen to answer him so quickly. Usually, when she is angry, she is very proud and slow to respond to show her displeasure and anger.
How does he know this? Previously when they sent letters to each other with Gwen before starting Hogwarts, they had some trivial discussions and he noticed this characteristic of the blonde girl.
[Dear James:
I got your two gifts yesterday. I liked the stuffed animal with the silly face and the pen is also very nice.
As for what you talked about in your letter, I agree with you. We can talk about it like civilized people without fighting. We are not children anymore. I don't want our differences to ruin what we have.
I've been thinking a lot, and I thought it would be good to talk before we start Hogwarts, in person. I would say in Diagon Alley when we go shopping for books and stuff to start the new year. I know an ice cream shop that has fancy and tasty flavors.
When the time is right we'll settle that issue, that's all. How are you enjoying your vacation?
Sincerely, Gwen Shafiq.
PS: Yesterday I met your friend Sirius... He has a very strange behavior for the heir to House Black. The good thing was that he annoyed Rabastan all the time, and thanks to that I didn't have to talk to him much.
]
James was very surprised by Gwen's letter. He couldn't believe it had turned out so well to have sent that letter. He didn't think that Gwen would be so willing to reconcile after that argument especially since in the letter she wrote: 'I don't want our differences to ruin what we have.'
With this sentence, he could tell that Gwen, like him, considered their friendship equally important. This was valuable to James, as he could tell firsthand that he was not the only one who cared.
'It's true, our differences can't ruin our friendship' thought James in a strange mood as he wrote a letter to Gwen.
When he finished, he left the two letters on the table and started downstairs heading for the kitchen. How Shadow wasn't in his room he must be somewhere in Godric's Hollow exploring or something.
When he got to the kitchen he noticed his mother and Toby cooking together. His mother was playing with Toby and smearing him with some flour as a joke.
"No fair! The way I came out right," said Toby amused.
"No, young man. Look closely. Instead of a circle, it looks like an oval. Try again. You have a talent for cooking. James had a hard time getting the shape right," Euphemia instructed, and Toby nodded and tried again.
"Oh, James. Good morning. You finally wake up. You get sleepier every day," Euphemia said with a smile, looking at her son.
"Good morning, James," greeted Toby without turning around and concentrating on the kitchen.
"Good morning..." said James.
"Go sit down. You'll be tasting your friend's food in a little while," said Euphemia as she turned her attention back to Toby so he wouldn't make a mistake.
"Right..." said James sitting down in one of the chairs and watching his mother and Toby cook happily. Without realizing it, James had a frown on his face as he watched this situation.
'I should be there...' thought James with feelings he had never felt before, jealousy.
His mother always paid attention to him, and he was very attached to her, but now on the second day Toby had arrived, it seemed like he no longer existed.
'No... what am I thinking,' thought James, shaking his head. He couldn't be that selfish. He knew that Toby came from an orphanage. It was obvious he never had a mother figure. The last one must have been the former matron Diana, who died several years ago, and this one took care of all the children in the orphanage.
The moment Toby and Euphemia put the food on the table, James tried to hide his jealousy as much as possible. He didn't want Toby to notice, for if he did it would cause Toby to feel bad, and he didn't want that.
"Where's dad?" asked James as he ate what Toby made.
Euphemia sighed in annoyance, "He's locked in his study looking for charms for your contact lenses. He seems to take your upcoming career as a Gryffindor seeker very seriously," she replied, shaking her head.
Fleamont wanted James to be able to play Quidditch without any problems. James doesn't have to think about whether or not he wears the glasses for so long. So he took the subject very seriously.
'Thanks, Dad,' thought James gratefully.
"Is it tasty?" asked Toby, looking at James with sparkling eyes.
"Mm... the taste is very rich. The shape is approved, in conclusion, an 8 out of 10," replied James, nodding his head, pleased with the food.
"Oh, congratulations. James is always a very strict judge," said Euphemia with a smile and clapping slightly.
"Thank you!" said Toby with a smile.
After they finished eating, their grandfather arrived through the chimney using fluffy powder. Henry was carrying a large stack of books. He greeted the three of them briefly and went to Fleamont's study.
His grandfather, like his father, also took the issue of James' quidditch debut very seriously. So he helped Fleamont to find ways to improve the contact lenses so that James wouldn't have any problems.
'Thanks, Grandpa,' thought James again gratefully.