Chapter 10 – San Francisco
Disclaimer: I own a stash of Halloween candy, this laptop, and the ideas in my head, which have produced this fanfic. JK owns everything else – even that death ray that the USSR was supposed to be building awhile back. Look on the side – it says Property of JKR.
A/N: I've been a bit distracted from this chapter by OBAMA'S STUNNING VICTORY, so forgive me if it takes a bit. Remember: BART stands for Bay Area Rapid Transportation (it's the subway.)
Lily put the last of her new clothes bought in Fiji and her vial of sand into her suitcase (which had an Undetectable Extension Charm on it) and zipped it up. "I don't want to leave," she said to Mary, who was struggling with her own suitcase across the room.
"I know," Mary replied, staring out the window at the sugarcane plantation to the left of the resort. "It's hard to leave."
"I mean it," she said. "I'll stay and dread my hair and stop wearing shoes and get a palm-wood wand like Oro. James and I can have kids with red hair and hazel eyes that swim like dolphins."
"You're babbling," Mary laughed. "Come on." Lily and Mary dragged their luggage out to the main villa, where Oro was waiting to bid the four friends farewell.
"Miss Lily," he said. "Never forget the spirit of Fiji, and it will never forget you." Lily wiped away a tear and hugged Oro tightly. He said goodbye to each of the other three friends in turn, and Sirius turned to the rest of them.
"Are we flying again?" he asked.
"Let's not," Lily said. "I've had enough of planes for now. Let's just Apparate." So they all joined hands, closed their eyes, turned in midair and Apparated to San Francisco, California.
***
"Whoa," breathed James, opening his eyes. They had landed right in the Powell Street BART station at seven in the morning, and it was completely filled with businessmen and commuters bustling past. "Did we accidentally Apparate back to London?"
"Nope," said Lily, pointing out a girl in a long skirt and longer hair, wearing flowers and strumming a guitar while holding a sign that said US OUT OF VIETNAM! "They don't have many of those in London." The four friends rode the escalator to the street and were completely floored by the sight before them.
Powell Square was a mass of businesspeople, tourists, hippies, and the homeless, completely surrounded by shops and skyscrapers. "America," Mary whispered, "is huge." Lily could only nod in gaping awe, and her fingers intertwined with James'.
They changed out their money and caught a Muggle taxi to their hotel, just a regular Holiday Inn. "You guys have got to see this," Sirius said, poking his head into Lily and Mary's room. They followed him down the hall to the vending and ice machine to find James poking random buttons, having gotten an overflowing bucket of ice, a package of Cheetos, plain M&M's, Lifesavers, and a bunch of other junk. He had furtively pulled out his wand and started tapping the ice machine, muttering "Specialis Revelio!"
Lily laughed so hard she nearly cried. "James," she said between giggles. "This is an ice machine."
"How does it do that?" he asked in awe.
"It freezes water and then divides into cubes with like…electricity and a motor and stuff," Lily explained. "And that next to it is a vending machine." Her giggles resumed at the sight of Sirius and Mary completely engrossed in pushing various buttons on the machines, prompting her to drag them away. "Come on; let's go back to the room before you break something."
Sirius led them all around the city, from the TransAmerica Pyramid and Chinatown to Coit Tower and Ghirardelli Square, where they bought huge ice cream sundaes, Lily took quite a few pictures of James and Sirius with chocolate-covered faces, and James kissed her with his chocolatey lips, turning her mouth brown.
On the cable car back to their hotel, James turned to Sirius. "It's the full moon tomorrow, Padfoot," he said. "What do we want to do about it? I mean, now that we've graduated, are we still going to be there?"
"What kind of a question is that?" Sirius asked, fierce loyalty flashing in his eyes. "Moony is our friend, and he needs us right now. Of course we're going to be there!"
"Okay," James said. "I guess we need to make an excuse to the girls." They pondered for awhile as the cable car sped down a huge hill and Lily and Mary hung on the outside, screaming happily.
"Shopping for an engagement ring for you and Lily?" Sirius asked, grinning.
"I am not getting married yet, Padfoot!" James snapped. "I'm 18!"
"Okay!" Sirius replied, throwing up his hands in defense. "Sheesh. I guess…I got it. We'll tell the girls to go shopping. We'll tell them we're looking at…I don't know, some sports thing or another. They won't notice we're gone for hours."
"That's actually a good idea, Padfoot," James said incredulously.
"Of course it was!" Sirius said. "Now if you excuse me, I'm gonna go hang off the side."
"Wait for me!" James called, pushing past a couple of rather large Iowans to stand between Sirius and Lily on the edge of the car.
***
At eleven the next morning, James was walking in North Beach with Lily when his watch yelled "Come on!"
"Right," James said. "Listen, Lily, Sirius and I are going to go to Candlestick Park today to see a baseball game. We've heard so much about the sport, whatever the hell it is, that we want to try it. So if you and Mary want to do some shopping, you could do it today without me and Sirius complaining about it."
Lily fixed him with a calculating stare, even though she was smiling. "You're lying to me, James Potter," she said.
James groaned inwardly. "Yeah, I am," he admitted. What was the point of denying it? She could read him like a book. "I can't tell you the truth though. Not until I run it by a few people."
"You can trust me," she said, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Whatever it is, I'll keep it to myself."
"I…I know," James replied, distracted by the fact that she was so close to him. "But this is bigger than just me. It involves more than one person. I'll…I'll tell you tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay," she said, kissing him quickly.
"I'll be back around eleven tonight," he said, kissing her back. "I love you."
"I love you too," she said. He began to walk away to meet Sirius. "James!" she called, and he turned. "Whatever it is…be safe, okay?" James gulped. It was almost as though she knew.
"I will," he promised, before ducking behind a warehouse and Apparating to the Lupin house.
It was six in Bristol when James arrived at the front door. Sirius was already waiting, tapping his foot. "She knows I'm lying," he gasped, massaging his ribs. "I want to talk to the three of you. Is Peter here?"
"He's upstairs," Sirius said. "Let's go." With that, he grabbed James' wrist and Apparated again.
"I never thought I'd be back here," James said in a low voice, looking around the Shrieking Shack with Remus, Sirius, and Peter. "It feels weird to not be at Hogwarts anymore. Okay, I have to run something by you guys."
"Shoot," said Peter, and Remus nodded.
"Okay," James said, taking a deep breath. "In Fiji, Lily and I got together." He was forced to pause, as Remus and Peter were cheering and laughing. "No, guys, this is serious. I love her. And…and we're going to be married. No, don't ask me how I know," he said in response to Sirius' questioning stare. "I just do. I want to tell her about us. I know Lily. We can trust her."
"Honestly, Prongs?" Remus said. "I think she already knows…about me, at least. I know that Snape always had his suspicions."
"But what about the rest of us?" Sirius asked. "I mean, this isn't some silly prank, Prongs! We broke the law, and a pretty major one at that! How do you know that you don't get…divorced or something in the future and she doesn't out all of us? We'd spend years in Azkaban!"
Yeah, well, you're going to do that anyways, James thought bitterly. More than anything he wanted to tell the Marauders, his best friends, about his sojourn into the future with Lily and finding out their fates. "Padfoot," James said. "You are my best friend. When have you not been able to trust me on something?"
"I trust you, mate," Sirius replied. "I just don't trust Evans enough to tell her our deepest, darkest secrets!"
"If the past month or so on the road has taught you anything, it should be that Lily is a trustworthy person, Sirius!" James exclaimed. "Come on, Padfoot, please. Please do this for me. If you don't trust Lily, then you don't trust me."
"I trust you," Remus said. "And I trust Lily. You can tell her about me."
"Me too," echoed Peter.
The three Marauders stared at Sirius, who seemed to be contemplating his problem deeply. "Okay," he whispered finally, and James clapped him on the back.
"Moon's coming out," Peter said, pointing to the full moon. Sure enough, Moony's pupils had begun to dilate and the three friends crowded around him, soothing him and patting his back until the transformation was complete and they were forced to morph into their Animagus forms.
***
When Lily was just drifting off to sleep, James silently cast Alohomora on her door and crept inside. "Mary," he whispered, and Mary looked up from her book with raised eyebrows. "Would you mind taking my bed tonight? I'm pretty sure the sheets are clean." Mary nodded. "I owe you one," James said gratefully, and she smiled, tiptoeing out the door. When it was fully shut, James turned to Lily. "Lily," he whispered, rubbing her shoulder. "Lily, wake up."
"Smurfs are eating my purple Jell-O," she mumbled. "That's my Jell-O."
"I know it is, sweetie," James replied, holding back a laugh, "but James is back. Wake up."
Lily opened one eye blearily before sitting up so fast James didn't even see her move. "You're bleeding!" she cried, looking at his left shoulder, aghast. Before James could tell her not worry about it, she had run to the bathroom and returned with wet and dry towels and had set to work cleaning his cut. "Arms up," she ordered, and he obliged.
"Yeah," James agreed softly, watching her take off his shirt and daub at the wound on his shoulder. "Yeah, I am."
"Does this have anything to do with where you were tonight?" she asked, not taking her eyes off her work. "Accio Peroxide."
"Yeah," James said yet again. "I – ouch, that stings – I was in Hogsmeade."
"Not just for a Honeydukes run, I'm sure," she said, poking the cut with her wand. It sewed itself up instantly and James smiled at her prowess.
"No," he agreed. "I – I was in the Shrieking Shack."
"The Shrieking Shack?" she asked in disbelief. "I know that whole thing about it being haunted is bull, but why the hell would you go there?"
"Um." James flicked their beds together with his wand again and sat Lily down on hers. "You know how Moony gets sick every month at the full moon?"
"I know he's a werewolf, yes," she said. Her eyes widened in fear. "Oh my God…I know you're his friend, but to risk your life hanging around a werewolf at the full moon? How could you be so stupid?"
"Well," James said. "Not exactly."
After he had told her everything, Lily jumped up, her eyes flashing. "This is unbelievable," she hissed. "How could you be so damn stupid, James Harold Potter?"
"Lily, please, hear me out," James began, but Lily was just getting her tirade started.
"That is an incredibly dangerous thing to do! I mean, what if he injured you really badly, or killed you? I know he couldn't make you into a werewolf, but you could all still die! Not to mention the fact that being an unregistered Animagus is completely illegal, I…I-" she broke off, choking up. "How could you do this to me?" she whispered, shaking. "I've lost everyone, James. What am I supposed to do when I lose you?"
"Lily, I'm not going anywhere," James said, an intense look in his eyes. "You have to trust me. I'm not going anywhere."
"How can I believe that?" she asked, her hands fluttering around her face nervously. "This…this…this…this…" she trailed off, breathing hard.
"You can believe me because we die together, remember?" he asked. "At the hands of You-Know-Who for our child."
"Oh," she said in a small voice. "Right."
"Right," James echoed.
"I just…I just…I don't know," she whispered, sitting down. They sat in silence for awhile, James rubbing her back, before a small smile lit up her face. "Can I see it?"
"See what?" he asked, completely distracted.
"Your form," she prodded gently. "Actually, hang on." She pressed a button on the telephone and it began to ring in Sirius' room. They heard shrieks of "What the hell is that?" from the next room and cracked up, holding their sides.
Finally, they heard Sirius say "I think we're supposed to pick it up," and there was a clicking noise. "HELLO?" he bellowed into the phone.
"Just talk in a normal voice, Sirius," Lily said. "Come over to our room, okay? I want to see what your form is." They both hung up and there was a knock on the door a couple seconds later. Lily opened the door to see a very furtive-looking Sirius. "You should just know that I was on the fence about telling you this," he warned. "But I trust you."
"That means a lot, Sirius," Lily said with a smile. "Now show me your forms!"
"Draw the shades," James requested, and she obliged. When she turned around again, a stag and a dog were standing before her.
"Prongs," she whispered. James was a beautiful stag with a glossy coat and huge, brown eyes. The black dog gave a great bark that, Lily noted, sounded just like Sirius' laugh, and bounded towards her, burying its nose in her crotch. "Sirius Black!" she screeched, but needn't have bothered: the stag had flung Sirius out of the way with a graceful flick of the horns. "Okay, change back before you break something," she ordered, and James and Sirius reappeared, Sirius rubbing his shin bitterly.
"You are way stronger as Prongs than you are as James," he snapped, and James laughed.
"Sorry, mate," James said, still laughing. "I don't know my own strength, I guess." Sirius glowered but laughed eventually, and returned to his room.
Lily giggled softly. "You have no idea how weird it is to see a deer and a dog in a Muggle hotel room."
James pretended to be offended. "I'll have you know that I am a stag, not a deer. Deers are women. I am a man."
"Okay, Mr. Man," Lily said with a smile, patting the bed next to her. "Come get in bed, then."
"Can't say no to a pretty girl," James quipped, and Lily flicked the lights off with her wand. "I like this," he whispered, snuggling against her and tickling her stomach.
"Ack – stoppit!" she giggled, squirming, and he kissed her nose. "Goodnight, Prongs."
"Night, love," James replied, and they fell asleep in each others' arms.