Chapter 1
To say the Barty had mixed feelings about seeing the Potters again would be an understatement. He felt as if his world had been corrupted, the walls of the falsities he had worked so hard to create, corroding as soon as his father had spoken the words. The years of avoiding and ignoring James Potter had seemed so insignificant now. Well, in all actuality, they had been. No matter how hard he tried to stray from James, some sort of invisible string always seemed to pull him right back.
Another part of him felt as if he was feeling the sun on his skin for the first time in years, after being locked in the deepest pits of the world's darkest abyss. James was his forever and always, no matter how hard he had tried to ignore it. But perhaps this time would be different from the last.
So, a whole summer holiday he was to spend in the presence of James Potter. A whole 3 months that would haunt him until he was on his deathbed, wondering about certain choices he made and how they affected the outcome of the summer, and overall, the outcome of his life.
James had been smiling the first time that Barty saw him that summer and he couldn't help but think back to when they were kids. He was standing on the steps that led up to the front door, his hand raised in a wave which Barty hadn't seen for years. The sun beat down on him but instead of making him appear sunburnt, his skin glowed, almost as if it had absorbed the sun itself.
Barty should've known right from there that he was screwed. He had gone into the summer thinking that he would be able to ignore everything he had previously known and thought about James. His goal was to spend most of his time away from him so that he wouldn't risk getting attached, not again. The pain he had faced after their parents falling out was worse then anything he had experienced and he honestly couldn't imagine anything worse. He had watched his best friend look at him like a stranger just because someone else was in control of their lives.
But, as would be anticipated, his experiences didn't pan out in any way that he wanted them to and this was the first item that had started the rocking of a boat that would eventually capsize.
Barty’s hope of staying as far away from the only Potter child was quickly crushed when he was informed that for the next three months, they would be sleeping in the same room. Barty shouldn't have thought that anything different would occur, as after all, this was the same arrangement from when they were kids and it's not like the Potter household had grown any rooms. But he had still hoped because he had known that sharing a room with James meant that any hope of locking himself away would be crushed because, in the end, it would always be James’ room.
Barty had managed to escape upstairs, skipping the heartfelt hellos that he knew no one really meant. This whole trip was a stupid idea really, as their parents had only really agreed to be friendly again for business reasons.
“Hey,”
Barty jumped slightly, caught off guard by this random noise (seriously, since when did James get so quiet? Last he remembered, you were able to hear him coming from a mile away because of his constant noise making) and as he was in the middle of tucking a suitcase under his bed, he managed to slam his head against the metal frame.
He muttered a few choice words under his breath, as he reached for the spot he was sure would have a bruise in a few minutes, and turned to face the door to see that the one and only James Potter was in fact standing in the doorway. A concerned expression now painted his face, but Barty was willing to bet that he had been smiling moments before.
“hi,” Barty replied, still half absorbed in the pain in his head. He let himself take in all that was James Potter.
Considering they were still in the same school, Barty had witnessed all of James’ changes firsthand, even if they weren't quite friends anymore. But now, within the home that Barty had once considered to be his own, these changes felt different, more substantial. They felt as if they really had mattered, more than Barty could’ve ever thought previously.
What about himself? Was James perhaps staring at him, wondering why he had never realized how every aspect of Barty that had changed in those past five years was in fact significant?
But then James smiled and everything seemed to be erased from Barty’s brain. Their track record, as best friends to then strangers that would occasionally play the part of enemies was gone and instead replaced with hope.
“Welcome back Barty,”