A little sun

[tt_lily]

Date: 8 May 2002
Characters: Lily Evans, James Potter
Setting: Shore
Content: TBD
Status: Open: Private


After reading James' question on if she wanted to go to the beach, several things ran through Lily's head. The first thing was if sunscreen was needed; 500,000 years in the past really had a different atmosphere than home. So far, she hadn't gotten a sunburn on face in all the time she had spent outside. She shrugged. She'd bring some and if she felt she needed it, she'd put some on. Quite honestly, Lily did not like sunscreen.

Lily found a bag and put in her towel, sunscreen, and a couple bottles of water. She bit her lip as to what else she would need. She decided to change and think it over. She had a hard time finding a bathing suit; she most definitely had not put on a bathing suit this past summer, and actually had difficulty remembering when she last wore one. Had it been so long? Eventually she found a bathing suit she liked and put on a sundress over it.

Assuming she had everything she needed Lily left, and at the appropriate spot, apparated to the beach. Upon her landing, she scouted for a place to leave her items. Now all she had to do was wait for James.

Comments

[tt_james]

James had stopped into the Media Center early (he'd planned on taking today and Saturday off this week, but a four year old had gotten a hold on her daddy's datapad and James was needed it seemed), and so he headed from there to the closest open spot and apparated to the Beach to meet Lily. He held a towel and when he arrived he threw it over his shoulder and scouted for her familiar red hair.

Soon he was standing over her, "Well then, I think it's safe to say even here on the beautiful beach, the sun's got nothing on you." He shook his head, laying out his towel, unable to take his eyes off of her.

[tt_lily]

Lily smiled up at him, a blush on her cheeks. "Have a good day?" She asked him. She wasn't quite sure what all she should say. Lily enjoyed every moment with him, even if some would call the time tedious. She wasn't about to lose him again anytime soon.

[tt_james]

James shrugged, "Was supposed to have the whole day off, but ended up at the Media Center for the morning, watching a datapad dry out after a toddler got her hands on it." He shook his head, "I understand kids like shiny things, but come on," and then laughed.

"And how was your morning?" He asked while sitting on his towel next to her, learning over for a quick kiss in greeting, and then sitting up a bit to take off his t-shirt and lie out in the strong sun.

[tt_lily]

"I did a bit of cleaning," Lily said, watching him. "I let my clothes lay around entirely too long. They were clean but taking over the sofa. I dislike laundry," she finished simply enough. "I am glad to be out here with you though."

She stared out into the water, before asking, "What did the child do to the datapad, exactly?"

[tt_james]

"Ah, I think she thought it was dirty. Gave it a very thorough scrubbing in her bath last night," he explained with a smile. "I don't mind laundry so much, and aren't you the queen of Charms work? I would think laundry would fly by for you, literally and figuratively," he gave her a joking grin, squinting at her in the sunlight.

"Have you been out here much? I've never spent much time at the beach, Mum & Dad preferred slightly more... historical vacation spots, as I'm sure you remember. Dragged Sirius and I to French wine country one year, learned their lesson that time, though," he reminisced out loud.

[tt_lily]

"She was just trying to help. How sweet," Lily said grinning. "I don't use magic for everything; dishes, most definitely. But laundry? I think some things require doing it by hand. ...and honestly, I've never gotten folding charms to work properly. I know, totally unrealistic, but it doesn't work for me."

Lily turned to look back at him. "I haven't. Mum and Dad would take us to the beach when we were little, but it's been years since I've been. Last summer, with or without You-Know-Who, I wouldn't have been caught on the beach. I'd be pushed into the ocean. I was huge." She laughed, "according to me, that is."

[tt_james]

"Well then, if you're going to give me muggle pointers sometime, I can help you out with your folding charms? I'm not a chores do-er, so I lean on magic more than I should for that, but you probably already know that, right?" It was strange how, sometimes, he would realize how well she knew him - they had lived together in her life, he had provided a home and they had a family together in her life. It didn't freak him out as much as it had a few weeks ago, that was for sure, but it was till interesting when the knowledge hit him sometimes.

"I'm sure you looked beautiful, by the way, but I have to admit I can't really think about what you looked like any other time while you're in front of me in that swimsuit." He shook his head, the look of approval obvious on his face.

[tt_lily]

Lily nodded, "We'll trade. Muggle help for magic help. Although when we had Harry, you thought you could change his diaper via magic. I didn't let you. I'm sure people can do that, but you didn't. I made you do it the messy, Muggle way."

"I'd rather not think about how I looked then either. Want to go in the water?" Lily asked, standing up.

[tt_james]

"Oh Merlin, did you?" His eyes widened, the shock and horror evident in the way his shoulders tightened up.

Grinning widely, he jumped up to follow her, "I'd love to. Do you swim? I took lessons at a Muggle after school pool when I was a kid, wasn't sure why but Mum always said it was something everyone should know how to do," he reached out and took her hand, swinging her around to him softly for a lingering kiss. "Hadn't gotten to do that yet," he explained, his face still close to hers.

[tt_lily]

"I love to swim. I did lessons when I was real small. I'm a strong swimmer now, though." Lily said and smiled broadly when he kissed her. "I felt so deprived without your kiss," she teased him. "I think I may need one or two more to feel better," Lily said, kissing him, arms going around his waist.

[tt_james]

Kissing Lily on the beach, a beautiful day, the sun shining, seemed like something outside of his own life.

He smiled into her kiss and then stepped back. "If you're a strong swimming, you'd better be ready, then!" He shouted and ducked down, lifting her into a fireman's carry and stalked toward the water laughing the whole way.

[tt_lily]

Lily let out a startled scream. "What are you doing? James? No!" She yelled, laughing with him. "Don't you dare, James Potter!" She wouldn't trade this moment for anything in the world. She had missed this.

[tt_james]

Just as she scolded, don't you dare, he hit the water, wading out to his waist before setting her more gently than she might have thought he would into the water. It was cool, but refreshing, not startling in contrast to the heat.

[tt_lily]

"You were about to be in some serious trouble," Lily said, but couldn't hide the smile on her face. Would she have been mad at him? Probably until the shock of the water wore off - so all of two seconds.

She was surprised at the water's temperature. "There aren't going to be any creatures that eat us, right?"

[tt_james]

James shrugged again, "I suppose there could be some prehistoric eels or something, but aren't eels in our world the same as they were back now in time?" His face scrunched up in confusion, trying to make sense of a fact he was sure he'd heard at some point or another.

"Maybe if make lots of noise we'll scare them off!" He shouted suddenly, splashing her as he dove awkwardly into a small wave. Coming up from underwater, he laughed and splashed her again, "We've got to scare off the prehistoric eels!"

[tt_lily]

Lily laughed and splashed him when he surfaced, "I thought I saw one, but I guess it was just your hair..." she said giggling. Her hair had been pulled up so it wouldn't get so messy. She was a bit hesitant to go underwater at present, no matter how good of a swimmer she was. "Something touched my leg!" she gasped.

[tt_james]

James mocked her, gasping along with her, "Oh no!" And fairly well tackled her pulling her down - not her head, but the rest of her - into the water with him, bobbing them slowly, still in shallow water but enjoying himself immensely.

"I wonder what kinds of animals are in here. Have you seen some of the big birds? Practically dinosaurs!"

[tt_lily]

Lily laughed all the way down, putting her arms around him. "Well, I've seen a couple at the ark when I'm not taking care of normal animals - Krups and Kneazles. The fish are hideous and scary looking. I really didn't go exploring and asking others what animals they found, either."

She really didn't want to know, for that matter. "I'll just stick to my little Kneazle at home. And books. I'll look at the photos in books."

[tt_james]

"Oh yes, your Kneazle. You really do like it, don't you?" He gave her a funny face, leaning back in the water to float on his back.

"I could get used to this, I'll admit. All my best friends are here, we're all a bit different, but we're here, in one place and safe as far as we can all tell. Plus, isn't this place sort of paradise compared to London?" He was talking up to the sky, thinking out loud a bit, but it felt good to just be happy in the moment.

[tt_lily]

"I love Leo. He's an amazing little guy," Lily said, bobbing up and down with the waves. "It's definitely safer than the place I left. And I really like being able to see Sirius and Remus whenever we can too. I prefer this place over London any day." She said. and looked back to the shore. They weren't far out at all.

[tt_james]

"How did you pick him to adopt? Did you get to choose among them of anything?"

"And as for London, we would never be on a beach in May, right? I think that's all the argument we need." He grinned and ducked under the water again, surfacing after a moment and shaking his head to let droplets come off his hair and face.

"Have you had lunch yet?" He asked suddenly, wondering if he'd be able to convince Lisa to apparate some take out over to them, but doubting it.

[tt_lily]

"I didn't pick him. Charlie Weasley gave him to me for my birthday." Lily stated. "No, didn't have lunch. I thought about bringing a picnic but wasn't sure your plans," she said and swam around him. "You feel like coming over this evening?"

[tt_james]

"Oh, Charlie Weasley, eh?" He gave her a jealous look and then chuckled, letting her know he wasn't actually worried about the strapping Ark leader.

At her invitation he bit his bottom lip, "I've got plans, actually, I'm sorry, I'm meeting up with Ginny Weasley at the pub, we've been talking about our mutual love for whiskey since that big pub night, and planned to meet up and catch up. Another night, though? I don't like going... hell, even a day without seeing you," he felt sappy for admitting it, but it was the truth, and if this was a second chance - even if he didn't experience the first one - he was taking advantage.

[tt_lily]

"Charlie's a nice bloke. Really helpful when I first arrived," Lily said, feeling a bit disappointed James wouldn't be able to make it. "Alright, another night then. Are you ready for lunch?"

[tt_james]

James nodded, clearly disappointed to decline her invitation. "Lunch sounds good, how about Prehistoric Perk? Or I could message Lisa and see if she wouldn't mind bringing out some pub lunch for us, think she'd do it?" His voice got a bit excited at the idea.

[tt_lily]

"That's a lot of wishful thinking, James. But you can always try," Lily said with a laugh. "If not, the Perk sounds good. I haven't ate their yet. Have you tried it?" She started to head back to shore.

[tt_james]

Shaking his head, James took her hand and followed her as she walked toward the sand. "I haven't, but it's always nice to try something different, right?"

"Did we have a usual spot back home? Some place we went to a lot or where we always felt comfortable? I know with everything going on that was probably impossible," he bit his bottom lip, feeling bad for always bringing up a time of fear and sadness in Lily's life, but his curiosity - as usual - too strong to hold it in.

[tt_lily]

Lily nodded, "What can different hurt?" His second question brought back some memories, both good and bad. "There was a place in Godric's Hollow we went to a bit. And before Godric's Hollow there were a few places in London. It was nice." She walked onto the sand and made a face. Sand was so annoying. "We did our best to make life normal."