Chapter 3 (James P.O.V.)
James felt bad. He'd made Lily run away because she thought he was being mean and Albus had agreed with her. He supposed he should probably go apologize to her and invite her to play. Playing with Albus was no fun today. Usually playing wizards and dragons was full of excitement and a sense of bravery but not today. Today the dragon was placid and felled easily and when James suggested they switch roles after he'd killed the dragon for the 10th time without any trouble, the knight made a very lackluster effort.
"Come on foolish knight, attack or you will face your death like the hundreds before you!" James roared breathing imaginary fire. Albus made a terrible attempt at slaying the dragon who had killed his people and burnt his town to ash. The fiery beast rose in the sky shooting a bolt of flaming death at the knight who was-staring at a butterfly.
"Aw come on Albus. You are a brave knight not a frolicking princess. Show some spirit! Avenge your people! Dad fought a dragon! You can too!" James resumed his attack on the knight who was still looking at the yellow butterfly fluttering its wings, on a blue flower.
"Albus!" yelled James in total frustration, "Come on!" Albus turned slowly and waved his imaginary sword lamely. James the dragon groaned and sat down in the tall grass of the meadow.
"Sorry James. I just don't feel up to playing wizards and dragons. I keep thinking about Lily. What if she's really mad at us. She rarely storms away like that, and besides you make a very unconvincing dragon." James felt bad about Lily too but he wasn't about to admit it. He supposed they might as well ask to go exploring in the woods too and even that was more fun with Lily. Aloud he said:
"Eh. Who needs her, she can't play tag anyway." Albus frowned, he looked almost mad at James.
"This is why she's mad James!" Albus replied turning on James, "You aren't nice to her at all." Little brothers… James missed his Hogwarts friends. They would understand his situation. They wouldn't play wizards and dragons though. James had never suggested it but if he had they would call it babyish and stupid. The same as he would do if someone
else had put it forth to play.
James considered answering scathingly, but didn't want to lose the already wavering support of his brother so he sighed and agreed instead.
"Alright Al. You win. I'll go find Lily and apologize. Playing Wizards and Dragons with you was no fun anyway." Albus looked surprised that James had agreed. He went to smile at his brother for being the nicest he'd been all day when he saw Lily walking out of the woods.
"James look!" cried Albus, pointing at the wood, "It's Lily and there's someone with her!" James looked around wildly a slightly bewildered expression on his face.
"What do you mean Albus?" Asked James still trying to follow Albus's wildly moving finger. "Merlin's pants! Who is that?" Yelled James, finally seeing what Albus was pointing at.
"I don't know!" answered Albus as he craned his eyes at the two shapes. One was clearly his sister. It was short and had long hair. The other was quite tall and appeared to be male. James had no idea who it could be.
"Is it Neville? He was supposed to visit soon." Asked Albus.
"Too skinny and tall."
"Uncle Ron?"
"He looks too… not Uncle Ronish…"
"Uncle Charlie, Uncle Bill, Uncle Percy, or Uncle George?"
"Umm…No! His hair is brown!" Exclaimed James excitedly
"Who has brown hair that we know?' wondered Albus. James wracked his brains.
"The Minister of Magic and Victor Krum!" yelled Albus.
"No beard and maybe!" responded James! "Come on! We have to tell Teddy and Victorie!" James ran towards the tent closely followed by Albus who kept shooting backward glances at his sister and the mysterious man who maybe was Victor Krum, the famous quidditch player and family friend.
The brothers barreled towards the cloth flap of the tent failing to stop before crashing into the cloth door in their excitement to share their interesting news. The door gave way and the brothers spilled into the tent Albus landing heavily on top of James. James felt as though his brother weighed a million pounds. His face mashed uncomfortably into the musty smelling carpet that covered the entryway of the tent. It was a purple carpet with a floral pattern and James had never particularly desired to have it in his mouth. He groaned in pain as his brother got up digging his bony elbows into James's back.
Teddy looked annoyed at yet another disruption to his date. Victorie looked astonished at their sudden and violent entry.
"What's the emergency?" asked Teddy, fixing the entry flap. Victorie pulled James to his feet and dusted him off.
"Thanks Vicky." Said James, who felt quite stupid for falling into the tent. His god-brother probably thought he was a silly little child. So much for impressing his cousin with how mature he'd grown. "There's no emergency."
"So you just came running into here because…" Teddy looked exhausted. James almost felt bad for barging in and annoying his cousin but the news was too big. Apparently, Albus felt the same way because he spoke up.
"Sorry Teddy and Vicky for interrupting." Said Albus quietly. "There's no emergency, but we saw Lily coming out of the forest with another person!"
"What?" asked Teddy looking exasperated and confused. "What are you talking about?" James nodded his agreement.
"We saw it Ted! Lily was with another person."
"She went into the forest to go exploring. There was no one with her, James." Victorie said.
"No! There is! I can prove it!" James couldn't believe they were so slow on the uptake. Granted he'd played pranks on them. There was the time he'd put puking pastilles in the soup and the time he'd enlisted Percy to help him turn the tables invisible. He'd have asked his Uncle George because he owned a joke shop but George didn't like to play pranks. He'd never tell on you if you played one. But he'd never participate, which was odd because at Hogwarts his teachers called him a regular George Weasly. Percy had told him not to ask and had helped him instead. Uncle Percy was pretty cool but his Uncle Ron was always calling him a prat for reasons beyond James. Granted James had involved Albus in most of his pranks but surely Teddy and Cousin Vicky didn't think he was joking! "I'm telling the truth! Look outside!"
Teddy looked skeptical but Albus never wavered from his part. Victorie looked doubtful but headed towards the door to check. Before she could, Lily stuck her head inside abruptly ending Albus's and James's insistences.
"Sorry to interrupt again but I met a man in the woods and I think you guys should say hello. He needs some smiles."
"I told you so! Ha-Ha!" cried James sticking his tongue out at his bemused god-brother.
"It could be Victor Krum!" exclaimed Albus excitedly shaking Teddy.
"A man! Lily he could be dangerous! You can't talk to strangers!" Said Victorie, looking at Teddy and trying to figure out what to do.
"I'm not dangerous. In fact, I'm quite friendly. I'm here for the picnic?" Said a voice from outside which was most definitely not Victor Krum's.
"Um yes… That would be here… come in..." Said Victorie causing Lily to beam.
"Fantastic!" replied the voice. "Don't mind if I do!" The tent flap was pushed back and Lily entered the tent followed by a queer looking man. He was wearing a bow-tie and suspenders along with a riding jacket. He didn't look like a muggle. He gave off an air of
Self assurance and he just seemed wizardy.
"Hello…" Said Teddy as James, Albus and Victorie stared. "Who are you?" The man ignored him.
"It's bigger on the inside!" The man exclaimed looking shocked. "That's not possible!" The man pulled an instrument from out of his pocket and pointed it around the tent. It looked like a wand covered in metal to James. The man looked at the side of his wand.
"Unknown!" He muttered. "Then it's not Gallifrayan… what could it possibly be?" He pulled out his wand and pointed it at Teddy who immediately pulled out his own wand followed by Victorie.
"Oi! Watch it!" Yelled Teddy pointing his wand at the man. "What are you doing and who are you?"
"Mortal." Muttered the man. "Alright, Okay… That is weird…Very Weird!" The man looked up and saw Teddy and Victorie with their wands pointed with Lily, Albus and James trying to look menacing. He looked surprised and took a step back.
"I'm just taking readings. Calm down a notch. I'm not doing anything bad!" the man said quickly. James was secretly enjoying the odd man's way of riling up his cousin and god-brother.
"You can't point a wand at someone you hardly know!" said Teddy angrily. Victorie was shaking and Albus was hiding. Lily looked mad.
"I'm very sorry." Said the man who was still discreetly pointing his wand at the walls of the tent. "I should introduce my self! I'm the doctor."
"A muggle healer?" asked Albus
"He's not a muggle!" said Lily. "I asked him."
"No I'm not!" said the man. "And I'm not a muggle healer either. It's just a name."
"It's not his real one either." Chimed in Lily who was glad the meeting was heading towards a friendlier note.
"Doctor Who?" asked James. The man grinned.
"Exactly!" he said. Teddy walked over to Albus and Lily and pulled them into the chairs by the table. Victorie started unpacking the large picnic basket Molly Weasly had packed them.
"Because Lily has invited you for lunch it would be rude to ask you to leave, so if you would like we are starting lunch." Said Victorie, yanking James into a seat. James's seat was wobbly and had a rather ugly crocheted cover on it. Teddy and Victorie looked tense as they pulled out the plate of sandwiches, the pie, the crackers and cheese, the vegetables and dips, the pitcher of punch and the small bags of honeydukes candy. James could understand why. The mysterious Doctor seemed very at ease. He munched on sandwiches and drank his punch without even seeing the awkward glances in his direction. He kept staring at the tent, thought.
The tent was quiet as Victorie and Teddy murmured to each other, most likely discussing the current conversation. Lily squirmed in her seat. James could tell she was unhappy that her family was uncomfortable. James decided to try to do something for her. He would try to break the ice.
"Your wand," said James nudging the Doctor, "Is it made of metal?"
"Yes, well almost and it's not quite a wand either. It's more of a screwdriver." The Doctor seemed happy to talk.
"Why would you change your wand? And you are a wizard like us then?"
"Extra uses and the likes. And wizard.. yes I suppose.. if that's what you are"
"So it is a wand, just with metal added."
"I suppose if it matters so much to you then it could be."
James thought about that for a while. The doctor was a massive mystery that he wanted to get to the bottom of. Albus reached into a honeydukes bag and pulled a buzzing biscuit. He laughed as it bounced around in his mouth, an awkward sound in the quiet tent. James tried again to put everyone at ease.
"Candy?" he asked the doctor.
"Oh candy! Absolutely! Yes please!" The Doctor responded enthusiastically. He stuck his hand into the brightly colored honeydukes bag and pulled out a fat toffee with a green wrapper. He unwrapped it and like a little baby, stuck the biting toffee into his mouth. James looked at the Doctor curiously. Surely any wizard would know better? Or perhaps he had a powerful jaw like Charlie and could crush the biting toffee before it bit him? Nope.
"OWWWWWWWWWW!" The Doctor yelled loudly, jumping out of his chair. "Ouch!" He yelled as it bit him again.
"Spit it out!" Cried Lily, who was worried for his safety. The doctor complied and spat the candy across the tent. The candy landed on the ground and pulled it self along by its mouth. James crossed over to the candy and smushed it into the ground.
"Oi! Why didn't you hold the mouth down with your teeth or grab another candy?" Asked Albus.
"It-i-it-it b-b-bites!" Said the doctor who was still standing upright staring at the candy which was beginning to pull itself off the floor.
"Well yes it's a biting toffee." Said Victorie, her mouth twitching. The doctor looked so surprised and hurt that James feared he was going to burst into laughter at any second. Teddy beat him to it. He let out a howl of laughter and James was quick to join in. Victorie started laughing and soon everyone was laughing even the doctor. He stopped though, an expression of pain on his face.
Victorie, always the motherly one told him to open his mouth and the doctor readily complied. Victorie pointed her wand in his mouth and said clearly: "Episky." The bites on the Doctor's tongue disappeared, much to his poorly concealed amazement.
Victorie, with her wand still raised, started laughing again and sent a stream of silver sparks at the Doctor's face and the laughter rose to a greater level.
The rest of the meal passed pleasantly with Teddy and Victorie accepting that the Doctor was a wizard from far, far away. When at last the meal was over, The Doctor, Albus, Teddy and James participated in a burping contest while Victorie and Lily watched distainfully from the inside of the tent.
When at last James won the contest with a gargantuan burp, Teddy and Victorie packed the food and took down the tent with their wands. The Doctor thanked them all heartily for giving him a small bit of happiness in a time of great sadness, and turned to leave but was stopped by a large Lily Hug.
'Thanks Amy." He said as he mussed up her hair and headed back towards the woods.
Victorie and Teddy held hands and walked back towards the burrow while James ran in front with Albus and Lily. James didn't know what the Doctor was but he intended to get to the bottom of it. While his cousins and siblings might have believed the Doctors odd agreements and story he did not. Oh yes. He was going to figure it out.