Late July 1977

Potter Manor

"Wait up!" Thea yelled as she heard the boys gathering in the front hall, ready to apparate to Merlin knows where.

"You're taking bloody forever, Thea," James called back. The Potter girl came bounding towards them in a pink cotton summer dress and white muggle Converse that she had convinced Remus to get her. 

"Sorry, mum needed help with something. But I'm here now," she said with a grin. She took James' hand and he apparated them both to a field. 

"J, where are we?" Thea asked once she had regained her footing. 

"You'll see," he said with a grin. He bounded down the path towards some foliage. The boys weren't following him. She looked at Sirius to see if he hand any clue, but he just shrugged. 

Eventually, Sirius ran after him and Thea walked down with Remus and Peter, the former telling them about plant species along the way. 

When they finally reached the laughter, a small lake was revealed. James and Sirius were already splashing around in it. 

"Come on in, the water's lovely!" James called out. Thea raised her eyebrow in suspicion. "I'm being serious," James said again.

"Well that's just a lie because he's Sirius and you're James. Have you put a spell on it?" Thea called back.

"I swear on Crookshanks that I haven't," James replied. Thea knew how much he loved that cat, so she unbuttoned her dress, revealing her bra and underwear, and jumped into the water. 

She swam on her own for a little bit, enjoying the coolness of the water in contrast to the sticky summer air. Then suddenly, she felt someone wrap their arms around her and lift her up, with the intent to scare her. She turned around and saw her brother.

"Let's go play chicken," he said. 

"Alright," she replied, not before dunking him under the water, however. 

"That's not fair," James spluttered when he resurfaced. 

"You tried to scare me, it's sensible to retaliate," Thea called back.

"I hate it when you sound all academic like that," James grumbled as he caught up to her.

"I think you're just jealous because Lily likes it," Thea teased.

James gasped. "Thea, please tell me you are not in a secret relationship with the love of my life," he joked.

"All I will say is what happens in the dorms, stays in the dorms," Thea shot back with a grin. James shoved water towards her. 

"Here here to that," Sirius called towards them, "so are we playing this game or not."

"Well seeing as Thea is light as a feather because she's a child--" James started.

"I'm not even a year younger than you," Thea interrupted.

"Thea Potter, it's rude to interrupt. What would mum say?" James said as he mocked offense. 

"That you're a right git," Thea replied smugly. 

She swam away from him to find herself beside Sirius.

"Partners?" She asked. He grin and dunked under the water so she could sit on his shoulders. When she found a comfortable position, she tapped his shoulder and rose again, only to find Peter atop James. 

"Peter, you're great, but you're so going down," Thea said with a triumphant smirk. Sirius squeezed her leg a little and grinned up at her.

"She's right, you're going down James," Sirius said.

"Let's get 'em," Peter called. 

The four of them battled it out, Remus not participating due to the fact that they hadn't told Thea about his furry problem and he didn't want too many questions on the scars that littered his body. Besides, his father had given him a polaroid camera and he wanted to test it out and what a better way than with the people he loved most?

The pictures that he captured were of pure joy. Childhood innocence. The calm before the storm. Happy-go-lucky smiles that had the luxury of ignorance. 

James and Peter were declared the winners (although Sirius and Thea thought that they had cheated) and the group started to head back to the manor after a couple more water games. 

"You know we could walk back," James commented as he buttoned his pants. 

"What? We apparated here?" Thea asked. 

"Yeah, we didn't want to have to walk all that way," Remus said.

"Wait what?" Thea asked, visibily confused.

"That way" Sirius pointed, "is the manor." 

The way he pointed was another forest on the side of the field. She could make out purple flowers from the distance. 

"It looks beautiful. Wait! Is that on the other side of the kitchen?" Thea asked.

"Yeah, the forest with--" James started.

"The willow tree," Thea finished, "brilliant."

"Do you all want to walk back?" Peter asked.

"Yes!" Thea exclaimed, "I've never gone this deep in, I usually stop at the willow."

James led the way with Remus and Peter, talking about how to get Lily to like him of course (as Remus was friends with her and Peter was tutored by her). Sirius and Thea took up the back, walking together.

"You know, I think he might have a shot this year," Thea commented, breaking the silence between them.

"With Lily?" Sirius asked.

Thea hummed and nodded. 

"And why do you think that?" Sirius asked, his curiosity piqued. 

"He grew up," Thea stated.

"He grew up ... for her?" Sirius asked, not following.

"Nope," Thea replied, popping the 'p'.

"Then who?" Sirius asked. Thea just looked at him intently. "Oh."

"It's not bad, you know. It's been long overdue. You're good for him, you know," Thea said, her voice softening as she spoke. She changed her course so she started walking a little closer to Sirius. 

"Am I really?" Sirius asked sarcastically.

"Yes, really," Thea affirmed, looking at him. He eventually looked back at her. 

"And what about you?" Sirius asked.

"What about me?" Thea asked.

"What do you do all day, up in your room? You said you don't study, so what do you do?" Sirius asked.

"I learn. I've become fascinated with learning about the boundaries of magic, or really the lack-there-of," Thea revealed. 

"The lack-there-of?" Sirius asked.

"We are capable of far more than people want to believe. Both in age, but also in general. The reason why people are scared of Voldemort is because he has tapped in to all of the magic inside of him. But we all have the potential for it," Thea explained.

"You say his name?" Sirius asked.

"Of course I do. It's just a name. The scary part is what's behind it," Thea said, "nothing has meaning until you give meaning to it."

"You're a strange one, Thea Potter," Sirius remarked playfully as he started he turned around to face her while walking. The breeze flowed near them, making his hair dance. 

"How so?" Thea asked.

"You think about things. And I've found that people don't really do that," Sirius explained, "they want concrete answers. They want to prove that they're right. But, you. You are comfortable with ambiguity." 

"I'll take that as a compliment," Thea said with a smile and small laugh as they reached the house. She walked in to greet her mother.

"How was the lake?" Euphemia asked.

"It was delightful, mum," Thea replied as she kissed Euphemia's cheek. She moved away to join James and the boys in the dining room with her father. 

"How about for you, Sirius?" Euphemia asked as the taller boy came in the door.

"It was great, mia. The walk back was lovely," Sirius said with a smile as he kissed her cheek as well. 

"Good," she said with a smile as she joined everyone sitting around the table in the Potter's dining room.