Chapter Thirteen
He stared out his window, staring at the park not far from his flat. Lately he had felt someone staring at him from afar and his eyes always went to the park. He brushed it off because he was usually very paranoid and he couldn't make himself look so stressed in front of Lily, she would think that her visit was causing him stress.
He heard her steps charging through the stairs, so he backed away from the window and started pretending like he was tending to his bed.
She walked in, without knocking. Her hair was back to her ginger red. He had to help her all night come up with a way to get it back to the way it was before.
"What's up?" He started, trying to sound like he had just gotten finished working on something very important. "Something I could help you with, eh?"
She was oblivious to his little act and started walking to the window and stared out, "I thought maybe we should go out today, I need to get out and clear my head."
He leaned against the wall; maybe he should stop acting so casual? He stuck his hand in his pocket languidly and replied in a mono-tone, "What'd you have in mind?"
"Well, first I wanted to go the shops and then maybe the park?" She sat on the corner of his bed, her hands folded neatly over her legs.
Did she feel it too?
"Oh well. That's fine; I just thought maybe we could go see Ash and them?"
"James, please," She sighed impatiently. "That last thing I need right now, is to find out anything shocking that I didn't know or get in a heated conversation with her. Not right now, maybe in a couple of days, okay?"
He looked out the window at the park; he had a bad feeling about this. He said nothing, mentioned nothing; he just stood still nodding at her.
She suddenly flashed a muggle camera, with a huge grin on her face, and snapped a picture of him.
"Watch it, eh?" He said, recovering and rubbing his eyes from the flash. "What is that?"
"A camera, dummy; what else does it look like?" She playfully shoved him. "I've always loved taking pictures, so I thought I should catch up on it, don't you think?"
He shrugged, "I guess."
"You're strange today, really strange," She walked passed him and left without closing the doors. He gave another glance at the park and apparated away.
"James, what are you doing here?" Sirius said, holding a tray full of food half way up the stairs.
He shrugged again, "Visiting; thought we'd have a chat."
"Yeah? Okay, let me give this to your mum and then we'll have that...chat," He smirked as if that remark had been humorous.
He watched him enter his mum's room; he heard whispers that included his name. He took off his coat and hung it by the door. He took a look around the house; the house he lived while growing up. It was a lot dustier since his mum didn't do the cleaning anymore. The ebony walls spoke out to him, making him follow the beautiful ancient craftwork with his eyes. His eyes traced over the cobwebs that were sprouting over by the corner.
He walked over to the couches, and took a seat. Ava walked out of the kitchen, toast happily in her mouth while humming. She met his eyes and smiled widely. "How're ya'?" She muffled.
He smirked, "Good. You know it helps to talk without the food in your mouth."
"Ha-ha James, very funny." She rolled her eyes, taking the piece of toast and taking another bite in a hurry. "I would stay and talk; but I have work. Maybe you'll be here when I get back?" Her smile was glowed widely, as if pleading him to stay.
"Doubt it; I'm coming back next weekend with Lily, though." He announced to her with a grin. It felt nice saying her name. His stomach puffed up with pride he hasn't felt in a while.
Her smile faltered, "Ash and Dominic are coming by as well."
He glared at her, narrowing his eyes into tiny slits, he felt his mouth twitch, "So?"
"Nothing, James, nothing." She put on her pea coat that was like a deep ink green and the scarf that was a very light brown. It had a nice color contrast. "See you then; oh yeah; by the way, Remus is trying to get in touch with you."
He nodded; he was still rather resented with him for never contacting him when he thought he found Lily. Then for falling for her the day James was actually here in town.
Finally he heard Sirius skipping down the stairs, whistling, merrily.
"Now, for that chat," He smirked again, teeth showing. It made him look rather boyish again. "It just makes me think, damn, we must be old if we're using the words like chat."
"Bloody wanker." James scoffed and then let out a chuckle.
"How's it like with Lily living in your house?" He blurted out hastily, dying to know. James wondered if he was just trying to get the right moment to ask.
James smirked, "Oh, you know." He started to feel young again, like he was a school boy again; bragging to his friends, bending the truth just a bit to make things interesting.
Sirius' eyed widened, "Don't be a tosser, mate; details! Have you guys...?" His eyebrows wiggled a bit.
James smirked and winked at him; Sirius eyes widened even more then he decided to cut him off, "Nah we didn't. Get your mind out of the gutters mate. She sleeps in the extra room Marie set up, nice to know it was finally good for something, right?"
Sirius became more relaxed and his voice hushed, "Have you heard from her?"
He shook his head, "I think she's disappeared, to tell you the truth. She did leave with scary last words."
"Pch and she called you crazy."
"Ha, yeah..." He swallowed; he really didn't feel like talking about her. Although, he didn't mind thinking of her, he wondered where she was.
"Well mate, this has got to be something odd, don't you think? Lily, living with you now after all these years and you haven't even made the moves yet." He moved with hands with his words for emphasize.
James shook his head, "Its' a mutual understanding, we're both not ready for anything right now and the other day was just a fleeting moment that we're not going to redo."
"For a while eh?" He wiggled his eyebrows again.
"It's not like that," James said, trying to sound serious but a smirk still made its way to his face. "Shut up Padfoot."
"Since you're here, I might as well bring it up," Sirius said shifting his weight and running a hand through his naturally combed hair James always found himself jealous of. "Remus-"
"Wants to talk to me?" James asked in his skeptic voice, he clucked his tongue and added an eye roll of emphasis.
Sirius arched his eyebrow, "Yeah...how'd you guess?"
"I didn't, Ava told me when you were upstairs."
"She's another person whose been acting...rather, odd," He looked at James, seeing if he had anything to add or maybe even agree with him but when he saw that James stayed expressionless he continued, "Or maybe it's just me."
"Maybe---any who, about Remus?"
"Oh, he's been rather down lately. Annabelle got sick last week and slept for three days. He feels really bad James, but don't you think it's about time you let that go? He didn't mean it."
"Since when did you become so bloody sentimental, eh Padfoot? I remember the time when we left Snivellus in the room with Remus and you told me to--what was the word? Oh yes, 'leave the bugger' were your exact words." James took a few steps, adjusting his glasses.
Sirius couldn't hide the smirk that creped upon his face, but then he shook it off and responded, "That is a completely different situation. That was bloody Snivelly and this is Moony, our friend. And you know exactly why we should have left the bugger--I mean now look what he's done--"
"Enough, I get the point." He hissed, trying his best not to remember or think of that time in his life. "I'll tell you what--tell Remus to owl me and maybe I'll respond. That's the best of a response you're going to get. And if that's not good enough for you then, Padfoot, you can kiss both sides of my arse." And with that, he apparated and smiled with glee at his wonderful dramatic exit.
"I am tired of you always disappearing on me! Are we going or what?" Lily said, her hands were at her waist and her brows were furrowed and her face was contorted in a frustrated expression.
He mused at the fact that he was comparing her scolding to his mother although he would never say those words out loud, not because he was ashamed of his mother in any way but he knew girls didn't want to hear those kinds of things.
"So where are we heading?" He started, smirking at her for no reason.
"The shops; gypsies are in town--me and Heather used to go to this annually. Gypsies set up tents and they sell you like these foreign magic crafts but you have to be careful, they're sneaky little buggers." She pulled her ginger hair in this high pony tail that made his blood boil.
His eyebrow arched up and replied dismissively, "Alright, stuff cheap?"
She smirked and added playfully, "That's you James, always pinching pennies." She shoved him and said with disdain, "I think we're going to have to take the train, though." Her eyes had a far away gaze and he could tell that she would have preferred it any other way. He pretended he didn't notice and went for his coat and wand.
"Do you ever wonder how life would have been if that incident never would of happened?" Lily asked him suddenly, her eyes grew round and curious.
He did wonder about that, a lot more then he would like to admit. He had the warnings from the Ministry to prove it.
"Life would have been different, no doubt." He swallowed his throat scratchy and knotted.
"Do you think I would have been with Severus still?" She asked, not meeting his eyes this time.
He swallowed harder, this time with less patience, "You broke it off with him a few days before the accident…but maybe…maybe not."
"But what do you think?" She met his eyes this time, and they pleaded him for details, for answers---for things he couldn't give to her or hand in a platter.
He shook his head, "I don't know what would have happened…I've asked this question to several psychiatrists and I've heard the same answer, many a time, 'its better not to dwell with unanswered questions, they only open a jar of more questions.'" He thought this would satisfy her but it didn't. She frowned and continued to nervously peck at her pants, trying with all her might to not look out the window.
"Will Mr. James R. Potter rise to the stand?" Boomed the voice of Cornelius Fudge over the sound of flash photography and many whispers.
"A boy no older then eighteen, with jet-black hair and big hazel brown eyes filled with shame stands forward towards the Minister," Wrote a young blonde journalist on her scrap of parchment. "You can feel the disappointment of his peers radiate through the crowd. Friends Sirius Black, son of the infamous Sire Black himself, is in the crowds standing by his friend in his time of need. Although, some would say maybe the influence of his close friends lead Mr. Potter to feel as if this was the only choice he had. Maybe, if it's safe to say, that Mr. Potter is a victim in this crime?"
The boy shifted his weight uncomfortably as the Minister made him take his oath.
"James, do you plead guilty to the charges presented and accused upon you? Charges and accusations that include 'abuse of an illegal substance to change a form in time.' What do you have to say in edgewise? How do you feel about putting your family in jeo--"
"Mr. Potter has a statement," Informed a man with a messy, un-kept beard around his wholesome aged face.
Cornelius Fudge frowned and with an annoyed voice snapped, "On with it."
The boy stood up carefully and gave his lawyer a lingering look. "I have been called many things in the paper, many that are not very complimentary. I have been called lazy, undomesticated, uncultivated, a bastard of sorts, a head case and not to mention— an attention seeking radical, which is the only one I take much pride to hearing. But what upsets me is that you claim to know a story that no one but I and Professor Dumbledore know about. You have called me a liar and a thief in the papers. You claim that I wasn't using the time turner for good and that I was using it to hurt myself and others, did you not?Why don't you tell the truth for once, why don't you tell everyone how you lent me the time-turner so that I could support the law that you were trying to get much attention to. And once you saw that I wasn't helping you much you sought it out to ruin my and my families name--"
Reporters went wild with their quills at hand while photographers couldn't keep themselves from snapping their cameras.
Cornelius Fudge rose and said in a louder, more affirmative voice, "You are not here to make a speech, Mr. Potter. You are here to be punished for your ruthless actions."
"I would hardly call them ruthless, sir." He added, flushed from all the flash photography around him. "If they were so ruthless, I don't see why you had to give me the permission in the first place."
"Mr. Potter, you are facing five years of Azkaban if you are found guilty of this charge and you are still finding time to make a mockery of the case at hand?"
"Oh I am taking this very seriously, that is why I have my lists of witnesses with me. Professor Albus Dumbledore, Miss Ashtyn Harris andMr. Sirius Black."
"You think, you are the only one with a plan, Mr. Potter? I call my witness to thefront, Mr. SeverusSnape."
"James, you're so quiet. It's unnerving." Lily said suddenly, breaking into his thoughts.
James looked up at her, "We have a better place to be, come on. You have questions still, right? I know the person who'll have the answers. Grab my hand."
Dumbledore took off his half-moon glasses and stared at the couple of early aged adults standing in front of him, "James, it's about time you decided to come."
A/N: About time I know. But, I just wanted to take my time with this chapter for it's details. This chapter is basically, James dealing with being around Lily so much and that maybe it wasn't such a gift having her back after all since she doesn't seem that interested in anything else but her past and her future. Next Chapter: Dumbledore explains why that had to happen to Lily and how Severus plays a role in their past, future and present.