RP: What does this town have to offer?

[tt_james]

Date: January 29, 2002
Characters: James Potter, Lisa Turpin, Lily Evans Potter
Setting: World's End Pub
Content: Angst!
Status: Public :: Complete


James had been in house for a week, it was time to venture out. He'd had clothing delivered from Kingsley Shacklebolt, and it still flipped his mind that Kingsley was so old. And that Kingsley wouldn't answer his questions about the future - he wondered if he'd become a famous Quiddith player or something equally useless, he wondered if he'd died in his work as an Auror. Well, assuming he'd finished the application and actually gone into the DMLE. He'd spent time thinking in circles around all that he'd been told and wondering if the last of the Marauders were also here - maybe they could continue as if nothing had happened? Kingsley had told him that Sirius was here, but usually scouting the land outside of the Settlements, and he mentioned Lily, too. Having his friends would be all he really needed, after all, they were all he had back in the UK, too.

Finally sick of waiting around for stories he didn't think would be told, he put on a pair of jeans - they were quite skinny and he'd been assured they were the norm these days - and a comfortable t-shirt (at least those hadn't changed in... what? Twenty, tweny-five years?) before heading out into the heat and wandering toward the center of the village. Things were high tech here, but also quaint, almost like when magical met muggle in the real world. Tomorrow he'd be starting his job helping to work with technology here in the Settlement (something about having time to settle in) and he was excited to get his hands on gadgets he'd never dreamed of in 1978.

But for now, it was to the comfort of a pub that he headed and when he entered he nodded at the cute young thing behind the bar. She looked his age, maybe younger, maybe older, but with pouty lips and curly dark hair, he didn't particular care her age. He ordered a pint and introduced himself. Her face twitched just for a moment before she just nodded, gave him a smile and brought him his drink. "I'm sorry, do I know you?" He ventured, due to her strange reaction.

"Um, no, no you don't, and it's a shame, too," she answered, not giving anything away but a flirtatious nature. He smiled in return and thanked her for his drink, grateful when she was called to a table on the front patio. Looking around, he didn't find any familiar faces, but he suppose he hadn't expected to, and he sipped his drink grateful to pass the time somewhere other than his spacious, empty home.

Comments

[tt_lily]

How was she supposed to answer these questions? Where was Kingsley or Sirius when you needed them?

"Well, at that moment technically I was alone in the room." That was safe... and vague once more. When the bartender set down her drink, she quickly scooped it up and downed it before he made mention of the toast. She ordered another. "Sorry about that.

"I was actually not in London. I was in Godric's Hollow, of all places. Were you told that Godric Gryffindor is here?" Between that and the toast, maybe he'd be distracted. "A toast." She said and clinked it against his glass. She had never felt so fidgety before. Best not to answer that last question.

[tt_james]

"Merlin's beard, you're kidding me? He's some sort of relative of mine, on Dad's side, I think, then again, with my parents I'm pretty sure I was related to all four founders at one time or another," he joked, clinking his glass with hers and throwing up a hand for another round.

"I start work tomorrow, they've got me working on the strangest things! Like the datapads, and televisions like I never saw back home," he chattered on. "What do they have you doing here? Besides keeping everyone in line, I'm sure." She grinned now, a crooked, toothy smile that he'd always given her in school, especially when she was cross with him. Then he cocked his head, lifted his new shot, and said, "You really are a sight for sore eyes, Evans," before tilting it toward her and taking the shot in one quick drink.

[tt_lily]

"My first week I essentially stayed hidden at Sirius' house. Last week I started work with the animals... some strange creatures they have. I had experience from Godric's Hollow."

How Lily had missed when James had flirted with her, even after they were married and she was as big as a hippogriff. She could feel the tears forming, this was not the time for that. She took her shot, hoping that would help drive it away.

"Oh... I could say much the same for you." And that would be true, if it had been the right year. Although, she was very grateful for the fact she didn't get pulled when she was 7 months pregnant. She'd be ready to kill... anyone.

"The datapads are very weird. I can send messages, or I try to at least."

[tt_james]

James' eyes went wide when she returned the compliment. "I never thought I'd hear you say you were glad to see me. Aren't you speaking to the same arrogant prat who bullied poor second years and threw your Prefect schedules out the train window when we were in 5th?" He laughed at the memory.

"How is Sirius? They won't tell me anything; I don't even know what the other me, in 2002, I suppose, is up to!" He waved the waitress over again and with a smile she just left the bottle.

"I'll make sure to put it on your datapad, Mr. Potter, Miss Evans," Lisa said with a knowing smile but she was gone before James noticed anything. A hand went to his messy, almost too long black hair and he scrubbed through it, a habit.

[tt_lily]

She said thank you to Lisa, remaining quiet for a moment after. It pained her to know that neither had a future in 2002. She guessed they didn't want to tell an 18 year old everything, anyways.

"You were quite the git, I will say that. But it's good seeing... an old friend." She turned her head away from him, trying to gather her composure. He was so oblivious to Voldemort. So oblivious to the danger they would face, together.

Lily soon turned back to him but stared at the glass in her hand, moving it around some. "Sirius is good. I'm sure he'd love to see you. He was ecstatic to see me. He's changed though... he is from the current times, I guess you could say."

[tt_james]

James put two and two together quickly, like catching a snitch, "Wait a minute. Sirius is OLD?" His voice raised. No way his best friend, Padfoot! Of all people! Had gotten old on him!

"Really, what's he like? I can't imagine him old. I can't imagine any of us old, actually, can you imagine me or Sirius or even - Merlin forbid it - Pete with kids? White picket fence and all that?" He laughed out loud at the ridiculousness of the prospect. No. In his reality, he and his mates would always be carefree pranksters.

[tt_lily]

Lily quickly ordered another shot. This was not a good conversation to have. She knew if she told him everything he would fall over. His quick temper would be fuming over what Peter did... and maybe even Sirius. She wasn't sure. After receiving her drink, she downed it again. Liquor helped.

"Sirius is... quiet. He's put some rough times behind him, but I've seen him just so... free. Like the Sirius we... er... you knew. He's more responsible and well... serious."

The comment about him with kids stabbed at her heart. This may be a bit too much for her to handle on her own, so soon. She didn't doubt her James' love for their baby, but this one...

Her voice cracked some when she spoke. "According to Sirius, Remus actually had a son. He was mid thirties, I guess, when the baby was born."

[tt_james]

"Wow, Remus found love. Good for him, he was always the hopeless romantic of us," he thought of his friend and missed him, pain hitting him quickly and surprisingly. "Well, did Sirius tell you what we were up to?" He asked, almost shyly, part of him nervous about why they'd kept the information from him, part of him hoping it wasn't embarrassing. "Did I ever join the Auror's program?" Something about that bothered him in particular, he'd been so close to finalizing his applications and finally committing to something and he'd been ripped from his life like it didn't even matter, like that future no longer existed.

[tt_lily]

Should she lie? She thought about it a moment. "Sirius honestly did not get into what we were up to. And... I think you did get in the program." She knew he had, but it wasn't for terribly long as Voldemort happened.

She didn't know what else to say without her voice cracking more. She took a sip of her water. Hopefully he wouldn't ask anymore difficult questions. Why couldn't he have asked Kingsley?

[tt_james]

Relief flooded his features. "Brilliant. No more skirt chasing and Quidditch for me, I finally did something." He said, but then turned more somber and poured them both another healthy shot. "We don't get to do those things we did, do we? Everyone who knows us here... They know different us's, don't they?" It felt like a loss suddenly, James, The Boy Who Couldn't Be Bothered, felt real loss at a life he'd never know.

"Um, Lily," he said, slowly, surprising himself by using her first name, he hadn't done that since they'd dated, "Do you know, did I ever...?" Suddenly the awkwardness of the question hit him and he shook his head, "Never mind." Asking an ex-girlfriend who barely called herself a friend if she ever heard about him getting married or having a family in a life that didn't exist anymore was too much, even for him. He took his shot and smiled at her. "Anyway, um, were you, um, seeing anyone when you got pulled?" He figured it was a friendly enough question.

[tt_lily]

She made a slight face, not knowing how to answer his first question. "Kind of. It's a lot deeper than you think. And definitely not something to think about over alcohol." That was a good enough answer for her. Sure, if opened a lot more questions, but that was besides the point.

Lily bit her lip. "Yeah. I was seeing someone." Her voice cracked more, and she blinked back tears, staring at her shot glass once more. It was full but she wasn't sure if she should drink more. "Kingsley explained it to me that even though we are here, we are still there too. So we're not missing anything... if that makes sense. It's just the us here that don't really experience it."

She chewed her lip, a true sign that something wasn't right in her mind.

[tt_james]

"I'm sorry you miss him," was all he could really say. "And you look like you couldn't take another drink if your life depended on it. Here," he took her glass from her hand, their fingers touching just for a moment, and tossed back the shot with a satisfied sigh.

"Let me walk you him?" He raised his hands, "No ulterior motives, I promise, I know even drunk you could whip me in a duel," he smiled good-naturedly and stood, putting out his arm for her.

[tt_lily]

How could she ever explain to him that the person she was missing so much was staring at her obliviously. That seemed so cruel of fate to hand her these cards.

She shook her head slightly, "I came here for supper... at least I think they have food here. Maybe I should go home. Where are you staying at?" She took his arm, getting off the stool. This was better than not having him around at all, she figured.

[tt_james]

"How about I ask the nice witch to bag us up some stew for you to eat when you get home?" His voice had changed, he worried he'd really upset her, and he didn't know how to deal with this sort of Lily Evans being upset - before when she'd been angry with him she'd yell a lot, but now... She looked like she could cry. Lily didn't cry, not even when she told him about her cruel little sister while they were dating, not even when they broke up.

He nodded to Lisa and asked for the order, which had for him in a second. Taking the bag with his free hand and Lily with the arm she'd held on to, he headed out of the bar into the streets. "I have a place, they set me up in it, down the ways a little south, I hear the market is North of here? Where do you live?"

[tt_lily]

She explained to him where she lived, keeping her voice somewhat steady, but quiet. As if loudness would control her emotions. It was true that normally she was not a crier, but this pregnancy had knocked her for a loop. During, she would cry at the drop of a hat but over things that were somewhat realistic and not over the color of a shirt. She had improved slightly since having the baby but things weren't back to normally. The pull hadn't done much for her either.

"The market is north of here. Thank you for the stew. I'll pay you back sometime. Where you live sounds like my area... Sirius is actually my neighbor; Kingsley thought it best to put me near someone. I didn't part from him very much during my first week here."

[tt_james]

James smiled, as much as Sirius and Evans had had their differences in school, it sounded just like his friend to protect her like that. "He's a good friend, always has been, no matter the times, I'm sure," he said out loud, thoughtfully.

They walked toward her house and when they were at her front door he said, "You're right, I'm just up around the bend there," he said, pointing further down the road, "will you be alright on your own? Pepper up works for a hangover, if you need it in the morning," he swallowed thickly, somehow not wanting the evening to end, but feeling that she was hurting and needed to be alone, for some reason.

[tt_lily]

Lily shrugged at his comment about Sirius, "That's something you'd have to take up with him as he might differ about it." That's all she was going to say about that, for right now. After he learned everything, she'd be more than willing to answer the questions she could.

"If you want to come in... you're invited. Have you had supper? We could split the stew." Yes, she was upset still, although she wasn't crying; but she couldn't bear not looking at him a bit longer. It had felt like ages since she had seen him. There really was little difference between the James of 1978 and 1980.

[tt_james]

James smiled at her invitation, "I should probably go home. You've always been..." He shook his head, "You've always been a compass for me, Lily, and it seems you're taking on that role here for me as well," he said, without explanation.

He leaned forward, kissed her lightly on the cheek, and said goodnight, "But we're neighbors, so I'll see you soon, right? Maybe we can get dinner with Sirius soon?" He hesitated before nodding and then making his way down her stone walk back to the street. He looked back one more time to wave and see if she was heading into the house alright, and then with a bent head, he headed home.