For Anka.
Also, for Quidditch League, Season 2, Beater 1.
Note this a Muggle!AU and a historical!AU (eruption of Mt. Vesuvius).
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Every day that James walks through the streets, he's reminded of the time that has past. He was a young boy when his parents fled Pompeii, but he has a memory or two of the time that he spent here. It looks worse than his memories; the ground shaking as if Pluto was raising an army would do something like that, he supposes.
The damage is still extensive. And it will take a while more before the market sector of the city will be functional again. The labor, however, has been difficult to come by since the Campaigns.
But their armies had just taken Wales the previous summer, which has brought a lot more labor. James, himself, had fought and bled for the cause. He had returned to the arms of a beautiful woman, and the will to make a start in a different city. Together, they moved to Pompeii, in one of the houses that had already been rebuilt to start their own family. And that they had.
As he is walking towards the market sector, James is amused to find the same woman; her arms outstretched, her hair untamed and her toga ruffled. She's been on this street corner every day for as long as James could remember. She always says the same things. "The world's going to end!"
"Madwoman," he hears muttered beside him. Looking away, James sees his childhood friend.
He laughs, happily. Sirius Black is an aristocratic man with long black hair and devilish silver eyes that James grew up with. Being both of higher class, they often spent their childhood days together. They even had gone to war together.
James nods his agreement. "Maybe one of these days, she'll learn that."
As they walk by her, she grabs James' elbow, causing him to flinch. "It's coming soon. You would be wise to leave." Her voice is no longer airy, but throaty, harsh. And her grip is tight, her eyes unfocused.
Sirius urges him to walk on, but James' fascination takes a hold of him and he makes the decision to stop. "What is coming exactly?" he finds himself asking.
She tilts her head; her untamed brown hair blowing in the breeze. Her eyes focus on James' face, but she still is far away. "Death," she replies.
Putting his hand on James' shoulder, Sirius steers him away from the woman. "It comes for us all," he reminds his friend. There's something dark in his tone. "It always has."
It's indisputable knowledge, James knows it well, but he can't shake the feeling that something is wrong.
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He is on his way to the market sector when he sees smoke rising from the mountain. He stops for a moment. In his entire life, he's never seen anything quite like that. And he's seen a lot of things.
Sirius, who has walked ahead of him, turns back. "What are you looking at?" he questions, backtracking.
Instead of speaking, James points skyward. The smoke is getting increasingly thicker, spreading like a blanket in the sky.
"That doesn't look good," Sirius finally replies.
And James can't help but agree. He goes to move, but the ground shakes violently. There's nothing to hold on to causing James to fall to the ground. After a few moments, the shaking stops. James curses Pluto as he stands.
Sirius stands beside him. "Go to Lily," he commands. It's the voice that he used in the battlefield; one that commands to obeyed.
"Where are you going?" James asks.
Sirius is gone before he finishes the question.
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James rushes through the door, the sound of a baby's cries can be heard echoing. His wife – his beautiful wife – is pacing back and forth. "It's alright," she whispers comfortingly. "Shh, Harry." But the baby's cries doesn't die down.
James turns her around and wraps his arms around both Lily and his child. "What's happening?" she asks.
Shaking his head, he murmurs, "I don't know. But everything is going to be okay." He doesn't believe the words himself, but he knows from experience what hope can do. It can give a person strength and courage, and he wants to give that to his wife.
They stand like that for a long time.
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A man with light brown hair rushes through the opening. "Excuse you," James says, moving in front of his wife and child. "What do you –"
"You have to leave, now," the person insists. "The city is about to be lost, but I know a way out."
"What do you mean?"
The man rubs his eyes, hard, before looking back at James with a sigh. "The mountain, it's broken. People that went to investigate it…we heard their screams in the market sector."
He's seen men fall on the battlefield, and he's heard their screams. He can sympathize with this man, who has heard the same. James turns toward his wife questioningly. Despite her obvious fear, she closes her eyes and nods.
"Why are you helping us?"
The stranger laughs. It sounds off the walls. "Don't you remember?" he asks. When James doesn't answer, he continues on. "I'm one of the slaves you freed. I've been working on the market sector when I saw you. This is my way of thanking you."
"You know," James says, as he grabs his wife's hand. "I never did catch your name."
"Lupin, sir," he replies easily. "Remus Lupin."
James nods. "Well, Remus, lead us away."
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The air is thick. It's hard to breathe and James finds no comfort in breathing through the material of his toga. He can hear the screams of agony, the screams of the dying. It takes him back to the battlefield.
And then he remembers Sirius. He halts Remus. "You two go on. I have to find Sirius."
Lily shakes her head furiously. "No," she says, her voice hard. "You're not leaving me now, James Potter!"
He closes the space between them and kisses her like it would be the last time he does so. He feels her tears dripping against his cheek because she knows he's going to go. When he pulls away, he drops a kiss to the top of Harry's head.
"Take Harry and go," he commands. "Go to Petunia in Roma. I will see you there." He looks at Remus. "Make sure she makes it there, will you?"
Remus nods and puts his hands lightly under Lily's upper arm. She struggles against him, but he has more strength. James only watches for a moment more before he turns back.
The air is dark and he is sweating from the heat. Placing a hand over his mouth, he marches forward. Somewhere, deep in the back of his mind, he knows he's marching towards his death. But he has to get to Sirius.
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He finds Sirius yelling out orders a few streets up. He's pointing in the direction of James. He stops mid-sentence as he recognizes him. "James!" he calls out.
Grabbing his upper arm, James steadies himself using Sirius. "We have to get out of here," he says loudly.
Sirius shakes his head. "There are still people here. They will die."
He knows that if Sirius was willing to risk his life to save enemy civilians from the fires, Sirius is willing to die for his own people. "How many more?" James asks instead.
"Three streets," he replies.
In the end, they only get to two of them.
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All James can think about as the boiling hot steam rushes against him is that he wishes he could see Lily and Harry again.
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A/n – so many thanks to Milly for beta-ing this for me.