The Aquarium was a nice place to spend the sunny hour of London's summer hear wave. The place inside was cooled down, and the reflection of the light inside the tanks made the viewing area feel like you were at the bottom of the ocean with all the fish swimming about.
Lily had to admit that that was one of her favourite ways to spend the day, just admiring the ocean fauna as she escaped the heat and crowds of the street, as well as avoiding her sister at their parents place.
It was an easy out, she had to admit, she had lied to her parents about needing to go and check the exhibits before school started, make sure her knowledge was up to date for the excursion she had with her class at the beginning of the school year. But a school of clown fish was always better than Tuney's rant about how she was single and never took care of herself.
Due to the heat of the day she expected the place to be crowded, what she didn't expect was the amount of people that arrived. Usually parents were busy during the week, but today it seemed that everyone and their little children were over at the aquarium.
Excitement all around as the kids chased some fishes or sharks and their parents chatted over the colours and shapes trying to engage with the little ones.
Then suddenly there was a collective gasp and a bit of silence before one kid loudly screamed. "Mermaids!"
It was an unusual thing for it to happen, she knew that kids had rambunctious imagination, however, usually it was sprinkle between one or two, but it seemed that all the kids were running to the main tank to see something that apparently Lily was missing.
Which made her curious.
Reaching the main tank she could see something that shouldn't be there, there were the typical fish and rays, nothing too harmful or over the top, but then she saw what everyone was excited for. Inside the tank there was a purple haired, and purple tail mermaid, and with her there was a teal haired, with matching tail, merman. They swimmed around the tank, just waving hi to everyone, spinning and swirling inside the water. Sometimes they approached the tank's glass and blew bubbles and put their hands on the glass to try to get the kids to approach them.
It was adorable and exciting, and something Lily was not expecting to see on that boring day of summer.
The kids loved the theatrics, she knew they were just actors with well maid props. She had to admit that the mermaid looked gorgeous, her hair was adorned with a shell crown that matched her top, with pearls all contrasting with the clam shells she had all around. It looked like her crown was effortless on top of her head, but Lily imagined that it was more complicated than using it regularly outside of the water. She kept swimming up and down; the red head imagined to get some air, and tried to go as low as possible, even getting some shells in her hands to show the kids that watched her every move.
The merman, on the other hand, seemed to have more stamina, he didn't need to get out of the water as much, but he really liked to go all out with the tricks, showing off his perfect muscles as he looped again, following the ray's pattern, like he actually knew how to avoid any serious danger, but it still looked daring, and of course he knew his showing off paid off, as he threw kisses to the audience. Lily didn't like this particular stunt as much as the mermaid, it felt like he was an arrogant toerag, it didn't help that he winked at her while he was doing his stunts, like he knew she was watching; and she was, but not like that.
It was professional interest that was all.
Lily watched the rest of the show, just to make sure what else the merpeople would do for a show. It was super entertaining for the small kids, and at some point one of the staff from the aquarium started to explain the maritime life that was swimming in the tank, and how either mermaid was interacting to make sure their life was not perturbed and the safety that needed to be maintain, also wrapping a take of how to take care of the Ocean's life, which made it easier for the kids to wrap her minds around, and made the adults bring them more often to the beaches and aquariums as the kids would always love to see the mermaids.
Lily had to say she was impressed. It wasn't something she was expecting, and she loved the idea, her kids would ADORE the idea of coming to the aquarium and get to see the mermaids.
Maybe she would be able to get the mermaid to talk to her kids, so they could ask a couple of questions, be more interested in the oceans and its life. They already had the trip approved by the school, maybe she could try and get some more information and get things started?
Asking the staff how to find this out was easy, they really liked the idea of the school trip becoming more involved, that is what the merpeople initiative wanted, however, she needed to clear it with the department in charge of the programming, and that was not outside of the guest area.
One of the people outside guided her to a backdoor, where you could see the offices for the aquarium, the not so glamorous side of the business, where clerical work was assigned. They told her to go inside, pass 4 doors, and then to the left she would see the entrance to the mermaid tanks where the people in charge of the show would be.
She did as instructed and knocked on the door before entering. She heard a conversation mid sentence, they were two male staff members talking.
"Prongs, mate, you need to approach the glass, or else the clients won't interact with you. You know how Minnie likes the interactions."
"I know, Padfoot, I know, but I'm blind without my glasses, I was afraid that I would just smash against the bloody thing." someone mumbled, seemingly struggling with something. But Lily figured it was the merman and one of his fellow co-workers.
"What happened to your contacts? I thought you had them? You approached Fred and George not being able to see?" The other voice was a bit concerned, as Lily turned the corner.
It seemed the lack of interaction was justified, and Lily felt a little bad to have judged the performer harshly, but her thoughts became blank as she saw the merman, sitting, half naked, just wiggling out of his tail.
Lily understood the male body, she had to be prepared to do biology for some of her classes, but if you asked her at gunpoint what took over her mind at that moment, she would only be able to reply: muscles .
It was unprofessional, she knew, but sweet lord, if she thought she had seen those muscles work at the tank, she was mistaken. Up close and out of the water, the merman looked even better than with the costume. How was that even possible? Did he train for everything to be in the perfect place? That had to be illegal, she needed to report these to someone, she ought, but she could barely form a word, much less make a statement on how unfair this was for the rest of the human race.
She thought she could step back, and take control over her thoughts before asking for the person in charge when someone interrupted her thoughts.
"Are you coming in?" a woman's voice asked, trying to get through the door.
"Oh… I…" she cleared her throat, and took a moment, the woman looked familiar, and then she noticed why, "You're the mermaid." it wasn't a question.
The blonde chuckled, "Usually I'm called Marlene," she offered amicably. "But still, are you coming in or out?"
"Oh! Sorry, I just realised that you and the mermaid are the same person, the purple wig threw me out a bit." Lily replied with a smile, "I was going in? I was actually looking for you? I guess?"
"Me?" The blonde asked.
"Love, who's there?" one of the voices called from inside.
"Someone calling for me, taking me away." Marlene added dramatically, giving Lily a knowing smile.
"What do you mean take you away? To where? By whom?" a dark haired man came to view as Marlene tried not to burst into laughter. He was tall and had long hair in a bun that was made to look put together, but it was still messy for a professional setting, but Lily had a feeling he liked it like that. "Are you taking my girlfriend away?" He finally asked the teacher, "I didn't know Mars had a thing for redheads."
"Sirius, stop." she laughed, "I apologise about him, he's incorrigible." she said to the redhead, "And she's a customer, I think?"
"Oh, don't everyone have a thing for redheads?" Lily replied.
Sirius laughed at the comment. "I like you, Red."
"The name is Lily," she replied, not really annoyed, just providing a name, as she hadn't introduced herself.
"Pleasure, Sirius, and you met wonderful Marlene." he said, shaking her hand.
"Yes, I have, she was amazing at the show. That's why I'm here actually." she paused and looked between Marlene and Sirius, trying to avoid looking beyond them, to the still struggling figure behind them. "I wanted to ask if you do sort of meet and greets? I have a school excursion with my class, and I'm sure they would love to ask more about the aquarium and meet a mermaid." Lily explained, hoping that she was in the right place.
"Oh! That's lovely! I do do that." Marlene replied. "I love kids, however, if you want a more educational experience, I would recommend you go to one of our other performers, as I'm more of an actress, they do have some people that know more than me."
"Really? I mean you do great with audiences."
"She really does, but for the boring stuff you should go with Jimbo."
"Jimbo?" Lily asked, confused about the name.
"Yeah, Jimbo, the big oaf there." he pointed to the man behind them that finally managed to put the tails away and was starting to get the wig out of his hair, his hand going to mess his hair, as it seemed to be too slick on his head due to having the wig on for water.
"I've told you to stop calling me Jimbo." Lily heard the still half naked man behind Sirius and Marlene, why couldn't that man put a shirt on? Was he against shirts? Not that Lily minded, it was just hard to concentrate.
It seemed that he heard Lily's internal monologue, because he was reaching for a shirt to put on, as Sirius replied "Fine, Mr Potter, better?"
"Arse," James mumbled, after pulling the shirt on and moving closer to Lily, giving his hand out to shake, "I'm James Potter, head of the department." he smiled, trying to be professional, but his hand twitched and moved to mess his hair again, "I apologise, I usually don't take appointments after being in the tank." he smiled again, "May I know exactly what you wish to, see what can be done on our end, Mrs…"
"Miss, Lily Evans, pleasure." she shook his hand, calloused and warm, even after just leaving the water. Odd. "I teach third grade, and my school is sending the kids here the first week of term. I wanted to see if it would be possible to get a meet and greet, get them asking questions about the fauna you have in the tanks, that sort of thing?"
"Yes, of course, we can book that in." he said with a nod trying to get something from his pockets, but he still was in the neoprene lower suit to fit inside of the tail, "I apologise I forgot I have my mobile at the office, would you mind coming with me to get this sorted?"
"Would it be possible to make a call later on? I need to request this from the headmaster at school, I'm sure they will approve but you know how it might be."
Marlene chuckled, "Don't we all?"
Lily had to admit that she liked Marlene in and out of the water, she was a bit disappointed that she wouldn't be the one greeting the kids. "If I could get a number I can call later this week, I would make sure to get all the details."
"Of course, you can have mine, I'll get it on the agenda once we sort everything." James replied, and Lily nodded thankfully, exchanging details so they could be in contact.
The outing to the Aquarium was more productive than she early expected, even if she didn't get the mermaid she wanted, she got something other school years might not get, so all in all it was a win.
Getting Alastor to approve the one on one with the mermaid was simple enough, he was glad that she took the initiative and applauded that she decided to include kids outside of her classroom.
She got all the details for 2nd and 3rd grade classes, there would be around 50 kids in total, and she needed to make sure James could fit all of those in just one meeting, or if they should be divided by groups, how to work it out, and how much more it would be. She had everything sorted when she dialled his number.
The conversation was easy and professional, James made a few jokes that Lily found funny, it wasn't odd, and he wasn't as obnoxious as she believed at first sight. He actually seemed to care about his job, and made sure she understood the schedules and performances that needed to happen so they could fit all the kids that would want to meet a mermaid, make sure to stay on point, to teach them about the things that they were supposed to be there to see. And not deviate too much from the topics.
In a few short weeks everything that James and Lily talked about was a reality, the kids saw him swim in the tank, he was more engaging with the people in the crowd. He must've gotten his contacts on, today. Lily thought as she saw the performance. Marlene was gorgeous as always, she felt a little envious at how lovely she looked in the water.
James was still as daring, but actually managed to get some of the kids engaged to the tank, he played patty cakes with some, and with the smaller ones he played peek-a-boo, which Lily thought was adorable, and the kids ate it all up.
She hadn't felt an excursion was as successful until she saw what the meet actually looked like. She thought James would be sitting on a chair with his tail all made to look like he just got out of the water, but in reality he was in a big tank that was decorated to get the kid's attention. James was out of the water at the top, just up enough for everyone in the room to see him, but low enough so he could engage with the staff, and his tail could be seen swaying inside the water. The kids could not take their eyes off him.
Neither could Lily.
"Look, it's the mermaid!" One of her kids exclaimed, "Wotcher mermaid!" Little Tonks exclaimed from the seats they had taken.
"He's not a mermaid, he is a man!" Little Percy replied from the back of the crowd.
"Hullo!" James replied back to Tonks and then shrugged, the best he could as he was propped from the tank," I don't mind mermaid or merman. Did you know fish can change from being boys to being girls if they think it is useful? Isn't that wicked?"
"No way!" A tall kid named Bill from another class replied back.
"Way! They can change for a lot of reasons, because of their size, or the age they have, or they just feel like boys instead of girls, or vice versa. There are a lot of brilliant things that fish can do. And I'm part fish, so I should know."
"Have you ever tried to change and be a girl?" Percy asked again.
"No, I quite like being a boy, but it's an interesting question. Do you think if I do, my tail would change colours?"
It was a random question, something that was not as serious as fish sequential hermaphroditism, but it certainly kept the eyes of the kids on him. Which Lily had to admire, not everyone could command a room full of kids to their attention.
James sold the part completely, he went in the water to get some "air" as fish survived on water, and explained how gills worked, how fish turned water into oxygen as we did with air. He added the names of the rays, and Bill said he had twin little brothers with those names, making James laugh.
It all went perfect, Lily couldn't have asked for a better interaction with the children. They couldn't stop talking about the aquarium, and about maybe having pet fishes and taking care of them and the oceans.
Once the kids left and Lily was safely back home she still had the image of James' smile and his quick replies in her mind. She took her cellphone out and typed a quick message.
Lily: Thank you for today, it was perfect, the kids loved it.
James: I'm glad they enjoyed it! They look like brilliant kids.
Lily: They really are. And you handled them perfectly, I thought we would have kids running away from the meet.
James: Thanks for the faith, Evans.
Lily: They almost run away from my classroom when I try to teach them maths, it's nothing personal, Potter.
James: Fair, but still, it seems they have a great teacher.
Lily: Thank you
A few minutes passed and Lily looked at her screen, she saw the name still on it, the conversation was simple, and to the point. Which she hated.
For some reason she found herself desiring to get something more to talk about, to get the conversation going, to get to see what he would reply with. Maybe see him clumsily forgetting that he had a phone to begin with and being natural at just human interaction, being a great person to both kids and adults. Lily couldn't help to shake the feeling that she shouldn't stop the conversation just at that 'thank you'.
Lily: Potter, are you free on Saturday?
Her heart was going as fast as possible without her dying. How would he react? Would he tell her that he had a compromise? That he was actually with someone? Did it look like she was asking him out? Or maybe it wasn't too obvious?
Lily hated doubting herself like that, she was usually more assertive. She wasn't sure what that man was doing to her.
James: Yes, why do you want me to dress as a merman again?
Lily could feel the joking manner of the in the reply, his jovial self shining through.
Lily: No, not really, I was wondering if you would be up to get coffee?
The seconds that passed after she sent the last message felt like eternity. She was sure she made a fool of herself. That James would tell her their relationship was just business.
What came next surprised her.
James: Name the hour and place, and it's a date.