Louis/James

Prompt: Tomorrow

A/N: Swearing

Tomorrow

August 9, 2027

The familiar ding of the bell sounded as Louis stepped inside the Leaky Cauldron, his eyes scanning the occupants for a flash of jet black hair. He soon found his cousin, sitting alone in the corner with a bottle of whiskey, taking long, slow drags.

"James?" Louis approached the table and pulled up a seat next to his cousin. James looked up and smiled wryly, putting down his bottle and shaking Louis' hand clumsily.

"Lou. Good to see you, buddy," he slurred drunkenly and Louis frowned at him.

"How long have you been here?" he asked, retrieving his wand and vanishing the whiskey. James scowled at him and shrugged.

"Few hours," he replied nonchalantly.

Louis sighed. Sometimes, there was just no reasoning with James. Instead of facing his problems head on, he preferred to drink himself into a stupor and wallow in his feelings. Louis couldn't understand how someone as brave as James was so afraid of facing his feelings.

"What did you call me here for? Should I get Fred? He's probably better suited to handling you than me."

James shook his head sadly. "Fred wouldn't come. He doesn't care about me anymore."

"Don't be daft. Of course Fred cares about you. You're his best mate. The two of you have been as thick as thieves since you were born."

"Don't act like you know anything about me," James spat, crossing his arms and staring moodily into the distance. "All you've cared about since you were fifteen was Charlotte. You've never had time for anyone else."

It was Louis' turn to scowl. "What does Charlotte have to do with this?"

James tapped his fingers against the table. "All people care about these days is getting hitched. You're married with kids, Freddie's getting hitched soon, Lily's got herself a baby and she's only nineteen! Al's got Seorise and Rose's got Scorpius. It's just me who's all alone."

"Ah, so that's it, then," Louis exclaimed, finally catching on. "You feel like everyone else has moved on with their lives and left you behind."

"No," James said stubbornly, crossing his arms.

"Don't act like a child. You were the one who just gave me the 'everyone's getting hitched' lecture!"

"FINE!" James cried angrily, slamming his fists down on the table so hard that a few elderly witched turned and stared at him in distaste. "So you're right! I do feel lonely! I feel so fucking lonely all the time. No one has time for me anymore! They're all so busy living their perfect, happy couple lives to give a damn about poor, single James Potter. Even Freddie, my own fucking best mate decides to ditch me on the night before I leave for Romania because it's Emily's birthday and he had already prepared something special!" his voice rose ridiculously high and he screwed up his face as he imitated Fred. The venom in his words was toxic and Louis was quite glad there was a table between the two of them. James' fists were flying everywhere and he had to duck several times to avoid a punch in the head.

"I'm so fucking sick of being forgotten about!" He sunk back down into his chair and took deep, heavy breaths. Louis stared at his cousin with wide eyes. He'd never have thought that James was feeling all of this. To hear James confess his feelings so helplessly, as though he had kept it bottled up inside him for years, was a little disconcerting and Louis felt immense pity for him.

"You're moving to Romania?" he asked after James had settled down a little.

"Tomorrow," James retorted bitterly. "Seeing as no one gives a damn about me here, I thought I'd try my luck in another country. Uncle Charlie's set me up with an internship, to work with the Dragons."

Louis smiled at him. "That's great, mate. Congratulations!" he reached over and slapped his cousin on the back. "But why didn't you tell me?"

James shrugged. "Didn't think you'd care."

"Why wouldn't I care?" Louis asked, a little offended. "That's an amazing opportunity. Imagine the things you'll see? Real Dragons! That's bloody fantastic. And the girls, James. Romanian girls!"

A small smirk crept onto James' face and Louis knew he'd won his case. "Yeah, I'm pretty stoked," he admitted.

"Don't worry about Fred, alright," Louis told him wisely. "I bet you anything he'll come around tomorrow to say goodbye. He's your best mate, but you're his too, alright."

James snorted. "Since when is Louis Weasley the advice giver? I thought that was Teddy's job."

Louis laughed. "Well someone's got to knock some sense into you. Besides, when you've got two kids under the age of three, you learn a thing or two about growing up. You'll see what I mean someday."

"Yeah," James nodded vaguely. The two of them sat in silence for a while, before James suddenly brightened up. "Want to get a drink?"

"Well, Charlotte said not to be out too late..." he began, but when he noticed his cousin's expression, he grinned impishly. "But a drink won't hurt."

"Or five," James added and the two of them roared with laughter. There was hope for James yet, Louis thought to himself. Maybe, tomorrow when he would leave for Romania, he would find what he was searching for... and find himself along the way.

A/N: I really don't know why this became so angsty. I just started writing and all of a sudden, angsty James appeared. Poor James, you're never alone! You'll always be in my heart!

Ages: Louis (24), James (22)

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