Summary: James Potter on a deserted island with nothing but a genie lamp. What's going to happen, you wonder? Well, come and find out!
I Wish I May, I Wish I Might...:
James Potter blinked his eyes, trying to adjust to the light from the sun. The sand beneath him stirred as he tried to sit up. A crab made its way across the shore, tickling him as it went over his foot. With a yawn, James glanced around him and realized:
He wasn't at Hogwarts anymore.
He jumped up and yelled. Scrambling through the brush behind him, he tried to see if he could make his way back.
"Sirius! Remus!...Peter! Is anyone there?" He continued to run and look under the greenery until he tripped over a deep tree root and fell face first into the squishy mud. Dejected, he sat up, wiping the mud from his face. He reached for his wand in an effort to clean up.
"Ugh, scourgify." However, the mud did not go away. It remained on his hands and face, stubbornly clinging on as if its life depended on it. "Scourgify, scourgify, scourgify," James yelled, clearly getting more upset. With every try, he added more force until he flicked it so hard he scraped the side of his face.
"AH! WHAT THE BLOODY HELL WAS THAT?" Taking a closer look at his wand, he realized it was nothing more than a twig that he found off the floor. Great, he thought as he wiped his brow, I'm stuck on a damn deserted island and I don't have my wand. Things can't get any worse.
That's when it began to rain.
James grumbled furiously, pulling back branches and vines to try and find shelter. After about twenty minutes of cursing and sliding in the mud, he found a tiny cave-like shelter behind an enormous fern. Crawling into the damp, dusty crevice seemed easier than it looked...that is, until James hit his knee against something very hard.
"WHAT THE-URGH-WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?" James growled, grabbing he knee in hopes to cease the throbbing pain that was spreading throughout his leg. It did not help. He glanced around the cave in hopes to find the the rock that "attacked" him so that he could hurl it out into the pouring rain. To his surprise, James found himself staring at a golden lamp.
The lamp was covered in intricate designs, which were carved into its tough, gold exterior. There was a small stopper at the top, but it wouldn't budge open when James tried to pull it out. Its small handle did not seem to be made for an adult, but to fit a child. The small, thin spout jutted out at the end, as if to say that there was no lamp better than this.
It seems to be a genie lamp, thought James, his mind suddenly flowing a mile a minute. Perhaps I could wish to get off the ruddy island. Back to Hogwarts. Back to bed. Oh, Merlin!
With that, James rubbed the side of the lamp furiously as he recalled reading in D.A.D.A. last semester. To call upon the genie inside, one must rub the side of the lamp, to awaken it, of course. As James rubbed the lamp, the lamp began to twitch in his hands. The dark haired boy dropped it with shock and crawled away as fast as he could.
"Now where do you think you're going?" A deep voiced boomed from the direction of the lamp, its noise echoing throughout the cave.
James turned around and there stood a teeny, tiny little man who seemed barely any bigger than his hand. He wore cream-colored poofy pants, a tiny vest, and a whole lot of jewelry. There was a little goatie at the edge of his chin and an amused little sparkle in his eyes. He sat there, on top of the lamp stopper, staring up at James.
James was surprised at how tiny the genie was. At first, he was shocked that there was a genie inside the lamp in the first place, considering the fact that he was on an uninhabited island with no signs of previous inhabitants or anything of the sort. James decided to take a chance and crawled forward to make nice with the genie.
"Uh, hello there. You are a genie, right?"
"Yes, I would think so."
"So...I get three wishes?"
"Oh, you silly little school boy." James looked a little put off by the fact that he was called a school boy. He pouted as the genie went on. "You don't exactly get three wishes. That's not how I do things. I don't know any other genies who do that either. Must have been some sap we tried to help. Messing around with the facts, making it seem that we'd give a man any three things he desires. Bad publicity, my friend."
The genie stood up and started to pace on the lamp."Here's the deal, I give you three choices. These choices are three major things your heart desires. You get to choose one, and I'll grant it for you. You can not wish for more options or ask me to kill anyone or bring anyone back to life. I have to recite this everytime...for liability reasons, of course."
James nodded, though he wasn't exactly paying attention. His eyes glazed over as he thought about what he could possibly receive in just a matter of minutes. Fame? Fortune? Both? He liked the sound of that!
"Ok, let's get started, genie-man!" The genie rolled his eyes, flicked his wrists, and popped his vest.
"Patience, lad. Now close your eyes."
James closed his eyes, his back resting on the cave wall. All the could see were the backs of his eyelids. What was this genie playing at? All of a sudden, he felt a spinning sensation around him and he found himself looking at...well, himself. He was floating next to the genie, looking in on what looked like him, James Potter, holding the snitch in a giant quidditch arena, being watched closely by all of his adoring fans. A Puddlemere United uniform hung nicely on his body and his grin stretched from ear to ear.
"This is your option number one: to be the ace seeker for the Puddlemere United quidditch team. You want to be a superstar athlete, have all these adoring fans, and have amazing celebrity status. You want to be on top of the world. Doesn't seem that bad, now, does it?" The genie looked down at the dream James as he caught various grams of affection from his fans from the seats around him. I do look quite happy..., real James thought, and it does seem awfully brilliant!
"C'mon!" The genie tugged James's sleeve and took him to his second option. "Your second option would be discovering the an antidote that would cure a werewolf's venemous bite. You want to help your friend, Remus Lupin, no? And you want to maintain power and stability in the upper ranks of society. This is the way to do it."
Dream James wore a lab suit, his glasses slightly askew as he gave Remus a tight man-hug. Remus looked brighter than ever before; his usual dusty, tired look seemed to have vanished. The Remus that stood before them seemed so happy and new...it brough tears to James's eyes.
"Anything is possible now, James. I owe you my life," said Remus, quietly to Dream James as he held an empty test tube. There was so much happiness in his eyes...
"Your third option, James." The two vanished into the air, spiraling until they appeared in the Gryffindor common room...or what James thought was the Gryffindor common room. It was a perfect simulation; the genie knew what he was doing. As they drew closer to the fire, James could see Lily lying on the couch, fast asleep. Her breathing was soft and even, her hair seemed so vibrant with the light emitted from the fireplace. Her eyes were closed, but he knew that under the soft lids, two luminescent green orbs hid waiting to be seen. As he drew closer to her, he spotted a movement behind the red and gold couch. Springing away, he saw himself...his dream self. Dream James walked up to lily and planted a soft kiss onto her cheek. James looked incredulously at his dream self. You dolt, he thought rapidly, she's going to wake up and slap the living daylights out of you! You great prat!
The glowing redhead opened her startling eyes and gazed up at Dream James lovingly. She sat up and pulled lightly on his arm, quietly asking him to sit next to her. He obliged, of course. and sat lightly next to her, putting his arm around her shoulder. Much to James's surprise, she did not object.
"I waited for you," she whispered as she lay her head on his chest, closing her eyes in the process.
"I'm sorry I'm late. It doesn't matter now, though, does it?"
"No."
"I love you"
"I love you too." With that, the couple fell asleep in front of the glowing fire, totally uncaring about the fact that they might be seen in the morning. The light from the fire lit up their faces, showing James what his third option was. Complete love.
Without a warning, the swirling motion occured once more in his stomach and he found himself next to the genie and the lamp in the same old dusty cave that he had been lost in. He sighed, banging his head against the cave wall. He thought he knew what he wanted, but now his head was all mixed up inside and out. He knew what he had to do.
"So what do you choose, lad? Or do you need some time? 'Cause I've got all the time in the world," said the genie as he rested against the lamp stopper and spread out his legs.
"I know what to choose."
"You're sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure." The storm outside was getting harder and harsher, it was too hard to hear yourself think, let alone hear anyone else.
"What?"
"I said, I'm sure!"
"You're sure?"
"YEAH!"
"So, what's the choice then?" The wind was picking up and the genie had to hold onto the stopper so that he wouldn't fly away. He was horizontal now...the wind was really getting rough.
"I choose Lily!"
"WHAT?"
"I SAID, I CHOOSE LILY!"
James felt a sudden whack on his head and thought that the cave was caving in. He kicked around, totally startled. He looked up and found Sirius staring back at him, filled with anger and annoyance and holding a pillow in his fists.
"Prongs, you prat, shut the bloody hell up! It is one in the morning and we are trying to get some sleep!"
James looked around a realized that Remus was also awake, looking extremely tired and put out. Peter, however, was fast asleep, his pillow over his head muffling the snoring sound. James wondered how he wasn't suffocating in his sleep.
"Wha-what?" stuttered James, realizing his own eyes were barely open.
"You were having some offset dream and yelling how you "choose Lily". Well, we think it's fan-bloody-tastic that you think you're dreaming that you're on some ruddy muggle game show, but you could please, just PLEASE, try to refrain from yelling in your sleep? Some of us have to get our beauty sleep."
"I'm sorry, guys, really, I didn't-"
"Merlin! GO TO SLEEP, PRONGS!"
Author's Note: I hope you liked the story! A simple one shot. Please review and thanks for reading!