i woke up yesterday and realised i hadn't written anything for Death Day™ and I needed to change that, so here we are. Everything that happens in this fic has either happened to me, or to someone I know (including the Prince Harry thing)
this is somewhat a sequel to why should we care what they're selling us anyway but the only real thing it references is James/Lily having already met
James moves into Luna 1 on a rainy Thursday afternoon in mid September. It's been raining since the moment their front tires rolled onto the Severn Bridge, which is just bloody typical of Wales.
He stands in the doorway of his new bedroom, hands on his hips as he surveys the destruction around him. It honestly looks like a very small tornado has passed through; empty boxes, what his mother swears is a clothes horse but looks to be a medieval torture device, and a few suitcases make the floor virtually invisible. What little space there is left is taken up by his mother crouching down, furiously trying to shove an unneeded blanket back into the bag it had come in.
"James," she says, a crazed look in her eye as she wrestles with the blanket, "could you pack some of those boxes up for me?"
"What did your last slave die of?" He asks, somehow avoiding the hand she swats at his leg.
His desk is the only properly clear space in the room, which he hopes isn't some twisted indicator of how his year's going to go, and he dances over to it, throwing a box out of his way and over his shoulder.
"Boredom." Euphemia retorts, wiping a hand across her forehead as she zips the bag shut. "Why do you have so much stuff?"
"You're the one that insisted on going shopping for 'essentials' three weekends in a row." James says. He sits on the edge of the desk, which is much larger than any desk really has the right to be, and picks up a few boxes. They'd once been full of books, but now that they're empty he pulls the tape off and collapses them so they'll lay flat.
They work in silence for a few minutes, both of them lost in thought. By the time Euphemia looks up again the floor is virtually clear and James has a small mountain of cardboard sat in front of him. His hands are shaking as he fiddles with a stray piece of sellotape and he sniffs before he'll meet her eye.
"I suppose you'll be leaving soon, then." He says, making an aborted gesture at the suddenly not-so-messy room around him.
"You wouldn't want me to stick around much longer." Euphemia says carefully. She clambers to her feet, using the back of the desk chair for support. "You wouldn't want me to steal all those potential mates of yours, now would you?"
"No," James runs a hand under his glasses and tries to smile, "probably not."
.
It would be dishonest to say that James doesn't cry when she goes, because he does; he shuts himself in his room and cries harder than he thinks he ever has before. It's a terrible first impression to make on the rest of the people in his hall but it's not like he has much choice. His mother, as if she's planned on ruining his life, sends him a text about twenty minutes after she's left that just reads: "Miss you already!" and he'll be having words with her about the noise he makes over it.
There's a knock on his door when he's just started to calm down and he feels dread shoot down to his stomach at the idea of someone having heard him. He rubs at his face furiously as he walks to his door and pulls it open, knowing it's not going to do much to hide the evidence but hoping anyway.
The person on the other side isn't looking at him when he opens the door, instead staring down the corridor at whoever's just gone into the bathroom. She turns around when he sniffs, it absolutely is not a sniffle, thank you, and James is rendered speechless for a second. If the way she freezes is any indication, she's having much the same reaction.
"Hi!" The girl says, smiling widely as she takes him in. "James, right? I think we met at the-"
"- Open day." James finishes for her, an involuntary smile of his own creeping up. "You made it then. Congrats."
"You too!" She laughs and shuffles her feet. "Sorry I never accepted that friend request. I had a... thing... with a friend and it was easier to just delete than deal with it. And then I found I didn't actually miss it that much?"
"No worries." James assures her. "'Things' are a right pain to deal with, I get it."
Lily let's out a surprised huff and then snorts. "Aren't they though?"
James doesn't really get a chance to answer because just as he's about to the person who'd disappeared into the bathroom comes back out, wiping her hands on her thighs. She's tall, chubby, and James instantly knows he's going to love her because of the Florence t-shirt she's wearing. That, and the fact that her undercut is dyed green.
"You found him, then?" She asks Lily, eyebrows raised. She scratches a hand over her stubbled hair and offers him a small smile. "I'm Bertha. I live upstairs."
"James." He says, returning her smile. "It'd be a bit redundant to say I live here, wouldn't it?"
"A bit," Bertha agrees with a wink. "Anyway, we were just about to head over to the canteen for dinner, if you wanna come? The others are already over there."
"Sure." James says, checking the time on his phone and realising it's a lot later than he'd thought.
"You'll need that temporary card they gave you." Lily says, pulling her own out of her jacket pocket and tapping it against the back of her hand.
"Way ahead of you." James pulls his own out from his phone case and waves it at her. He follows them out into the foyer after pulling his door closed.
"The future really is now, kids," Bertha says as she leads the way out of Luna and into the car park, "a card that doubles as entrance to places and payment for food."
"Whatever will they think up next, eh?" James asks, sharing an amused look with Lily.
He discovers that he is the seventh of twelve to move into Luna 1 when they reach the canteen the and he is introduced to the rest of his current housemates.
The first thing he notices about Dorcas is that her afro looks like a galaxy, and he stares at it in awe for a good two minutes, fingers itching to draw her. She winks at him when he catches her eye and he flushes, guilty, until she silently offers him the rest of her orange juice. She's studying Dance and Physical Education, which he doesn't doubt for a second judging from the muscle definition he can see in her shoulder.
Benjy, in stark contrast, is almost startling in how ordinary he looks; so obviously a 'lad' that James almost chokes on said orange juice when he says he's doing Early Childhood Studies. The only thing that really stands out about him is the tattoo on his shoulder of what looks to be a geometric swallow. James isn't close to enough to really be able to tell.
The first thing Mary says to him when he sits down at the table, his plate piled high with greasy vegetables and dry sausages, is that she's a lesbian so he'd "better not try anything". James likes her immediately, even if he doesn't know what to say in response.
Their Warden is a third year Sport and Exercise Science student, who claims his name is Carodac, and who spends more time shouting across the room at one of his mates than paying them any attention.
"So, where are you lot from?" Dorcas is the one that asks, her accent giving her away immediately: Liverpool. "You southerners all sound the same to me."
There are sounds of outrage at this from a few people, because James' Oxford is so obviously different to Bertha's South London, which is distinctly not the same as Benjy's Brighton.
Lily laughs so hard she cries, until Bertha suggests Nottingham is basically Birmingham. The change is instantaneous and she genuinely looks like she's about to vault the table until Bertha snorts. They both stare at each other for a few moments, before they break out into giggles. It's such a Sirius thing to do that he has to bite back his laugh.
.
It's as if thinking of Sirius summons him, because as soon as they get back to Luna, James' phone starts ringing. He apologises to the others, who are all heading up to Bertha's room for more "bonding time" (Mary's words, not his), and then ducks back into his room.
"Hannigan's House for the Miserable, how can I help?" He says as he answers, dropping onto the end of his bed. His door hasn't closed behind him and he can see Lily go into the bathroom, one of the toilet cubicles clicking shut behind her.
Sirius snorts on the other end. "I was looking for Hannigan's House for the Elated, but I clearly have the wrong number. I apologise."
"What would you know, they're one in the same." James says, leaning back on one palm and looking up at the ceiling.
"I'm in luck!" Sirius exclaims with a laugh. James doesn't need to be able to see him to know when he stops joking. "You alright?"
There isn't much point in lying to Sirius; he's like a bloodhound for dishonesty, especially when it comes to James. "I've been better."
"Tell Uncle Sirius all about you problems." It's been less than a day since they last saw each other, but it suddenly feels like a lifetime and James feels so utterly bereft for a moment he's left speechless.
Lily chooses this moment to come back out of the bathroom, and he's not sure how he missed the toilet flushing but he has, and his face must be saying something because she pauses next to his door. "Are you alright?"
"Replacing me already?" Sirius teases and it's enough to startle a laugh out if James.
"Never," He assures him, before turning back to Lily and nodding, "I'm fine, thanks."
"We're up in nine if you wanna join us when you're done." She smiles, pats his door frame and then pushes through the fire door into the entrance. He hears her stomp back upstairs and winces as the fire door up on the landing slams shut.
"Who was that?" Sirius says.
"You remember that girl I met at the open day you deserted me on? She's here. In my dorm."
"First of all, I take offence at the implication I deliberately pissed my parents off that weekend." Sirius says, trying to keep his amusement out of his voice and failing.
"What do you know, miracles do happen."
"Oh, shut up." Sirius coughs, a small, unhappy noise that says so many things Sirius wouldn't dream of voicing. "I just wanted to check that you haven't offed yourself out of despair of being away from me."
"Sirius," James shakes his head but the movement is so fond he wouldn't fool anyone, "you're getting here tomorrow."
"Yes, darling." He agrees amicably. "But we both know you're lost without me."
"I'm a big boy, I'm sure I can handle one night."
"I'm proud." There's a noise in the background, but James can't make out what it is, and then Sirius sighs. "I have to go, but I'm glad you're still alive."
"Love you too."
Sirius' "not as much as I do" has him smiling as he tucks his phone back into his pocket.
.
Upstairs, he's glad to see when he gets onto the landing, is the same disgusting shade of mint green as his room. He can see them, minus Carodac, through the window, sat in a circle on the floor with an empty water bottle between them. The hinges of the fire door squeak as he pulls it open, and everyone turns to look at him.
Lily smiles and shuffles over so he can sit between her and Benjy. He lowers himself onto the rough carpet with a groan and wipes his palms on his jeans.
"Everything okay?" She asks, voice low, but it doesn't matter because everyone's still looking at him anyway.
"Yeah, everything's good." He answers, which he would have anyway, but he finds it to actually be true. He glances up at everyone else and offers a sheepish… it's more a grimace than a smile, but he tries. "Sorry about that."
"No worries," Mary says, picking up the bottle and handing it over to him. "We're playing… well, it's a mash-up of spin-the-bottle and two truths one lie. If you want to play, that is."
"Sure." He takes the bottle and then frowns. "How does this work?"
"Oh!" Benjy says, "'course, you weren't here when we decided on rules. Sorry. Basically, right, we're taking turns to spin it and whoever it lands on is the one that talks."
"Okay, cool." James nods at him in thanks and then drops the bottle, watching it spin until it lands on Dorcas.
"Alright, so, first one is… I once broke my arm falling off a coffee table. Don't laugh." She says this with a laugh though, so James doesn't bother trying to hide his grin. "Second, I once went all the way to Paris just for a book signing by my favourite author. Third, me mam lost me at Legoland once. Like, one second I was next to that huge, fuck-off dinosaur and then I wasn't."
"Shit, they're good." Mary complains, toeing off her boots and flexing her toes. James can see her toenails are painted a really nice shade of yellow.
"That's kinda the point." Benjy says with a snigger.
"Yeah, what kind of game would this be if the options were easy." Bertha teases, but it's clearly something he's missed because Benjy flushes slightly as everyone else laughs.
Lily takes pity on him and leans over to explain. "Benjy tried to convince us he went skinny dipping with Prince Harry."
"Not that far off the truth, though, in fairness." Benjy defends with a grin as James sniggers. "I played leapfrog with him once."
"There's no way!" Mary says, eyes wide in what James thinks is disbelief. She moves her legs in a way that makes James believe she's secretly a contortionist, and leans forwards, balancing on her knees.
"I promise ya, it happened." Benjy doesn't sound as defensive as he had, and he eases into a soft smile that reaches his eyes. "But back to Dorcas, I think the first one's the lie."
Dorcas raises and eyebrow and looks at him with something resembling a smirk in response. "You sure?"
"No, but I'm going with it anyway." Benjy, with exaggerated movements, rubs his hands together. "I've got three right so far, I want that other drink."
It's Lily who takes pity on him again, shifting so she's not only leaning, but is sat closer to him, and he ducks down so she can speak to him. "We made a bet that whoever guesses two right gets a drink."
"How's that even going to work, money wise?" James questions, frowning slightly, and then huffing when he has to push his glasses back up his nose.
"Not a clue." Bertha says, as Dorcas announces Benjy's correct and Mary groans in disappointment.
"For fucks sake." She grumbles, sending them all into giggles. Lily shakes so hard she bumps shoulders with him, and they share a smile when he nudges back.
And okay, so it might be the prospect of a brand new, sparkly adventure waiting to start, but James feels happy.