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“what can i say? someone has to deflat your head or else it may explode someday.” she chuckled. “i think you will just be fine, maybe it takes a few days or for your fan club to show up but you’ll be okay.” she added. “i regret none of it, mostly because you know i love you, me being mean is just the way i show it to you.” lily bit her lip softly. “i don’t know if i should tell you this.. but one of the people here is our granddaughter, it’s really strange..”

              everything  she  had  said  before  kind  fell  away  in  the  laughter  &  COMFORT  of  being  by  her  side––  the  last  thing  she  said  ,  it  made  him  everything  else  disappear.  james  stumbled  somewhat ,  gently  grabbing  her  elbow  as  he  stopped  them  where  they  stood.  ‘   our   granddaughter? ’  james  wanting  to  be  sure  he  heard  that  correctly....   our. 

        Mary’s eyes grew wide and she placed her hand against her heart. “How rude of you, James, I thought we were friends! How dare you tell me I’m old. I’m in the prime ,” she chuckled and shook her head. Slowly, she smiled. “Now that’s exactly what I needed to hear, thank you. I do look much better than Sirius.” Mary stopped herself from wrinkling her nose. Looking up at him, Mary knew it wasn’t a good time to say the truth. As much as it hurt her, she knew she didn’t want to be that messenger. “You are definitely not bald,” and that wasn’t a lie, “but with that thick mop, do you really think you would be, mate?”

            ‘  oh  babe ,  didn’t  you  hear?  i’m  a  bit  of  an  arse ,  or  so  i’m  told... ’  he  chuckles ,   c o m b i n g   his  fingers  through  the  tips  of  her  hair.  james  had  always  viewed  mary  as  a  little  sister ,  even  still––  despite  her  being  older  than  him  by  a  few  years.  ‘ it  kind  of  WORRIED  me  actually... ’  his  chest  took  in  a   deep  breath ,  his  teeth  delicately  chewing  his  bottom  lip.  ‘ i  could  feel  his  ribs  when  we  hugged..  it’s  never  been  like  that.  he  seemed––  happy  enough ,  though.  not  quite  sure  what  thats  all  about.... ’   he  trails  off  before  another  smile  comes  back  to  his  lips.  ‘ nah  of  course  not ,  just  wanted  to  be  sure.  i  do  love  my  mop. ’

“been  talking to everyone here– half of them are your family! have to keep my options open!” sirius had accepted the push, catching james’s elbow on the back of it. he was laughing too, now. he’d always laughed more at james’s reactions than he had at any joke that was being told. “so, are you and evans sympatico here? i talked to her earlier and she had some interesting information. seventh year, so you’ve been at it for over a year, then? need to know where i’m at. no spoilers.”

              ‘  god  that’s  terrifying...  i’m  only  twenty ,  i’m  not  meant  to  feel  so  fucking’ old  so  fuckin’  young. ’  he  GROANS ,  looking  for  some  kind  of  table  to  lean  on.  damn  time  travel  had  his  head  all  fuzzy.  ‘ interesting  information???  i  mean––  yeah  a  year ,  sympatico  &  all  that  but  what  she  tell  you? ’

“i wouldn’t say once in a while with a great idea, maybe once in a lifetime… well twice since your first great idea was dating me.” she teased. “i may have a soft spot for you.” she smiled at him. “putting your pranking days to a halt? are you ill?” she joked. “i wonder how sirius will feel about that or the rest of the marauders, kind of your thing, thought it would transcend any time and space.” she laughed. “yeah.. i can understand that, at least it will show us in the dark times coming back home we have a bright future.”

              ‘  you  hurt  me  ,  evans ! ’  steps  slowed  as  his  body  hunched ,  james  leaning  all  of  his  WEIGHT  onto  lily.  ‘ i  think  i  need  help..  a  doctor..  someone  to  nurse  me  back  to  health  all  day  long. ’  laughter  spilled  between  his  lips  &  onto  her  skin  as  his  body  went  slightly  limp  in  her  arms.   ‘ yes , very  ill.  this  bird  i  really  like  said  a  very  mean  thing  to  me ,  &  now  my  heart  is  BROKEN.  how  can  i  commit  pranks  if  i  can’t  move  on?  my  poor  friends...   see  what  you’ve  done  to  me ,  lily? ’  he  can  no   l o n g e r   hold  much  of  his  laughter  back  as  they  stumbled  along.  james  standing  back  upright  before  they  had  the  chance  to  fall  on  the  cobblestone.  ‘  a  bright  future  yeah–– ’  and  how  he  hoped  that  future  would  be  with  her. 

james’s eyebrows raised, a mixture of shock, interest and pure disbelief. there was no way that this man had his name, his last name and wasn’t his grandfather. he had been wondering whether he’d ever come into contact with anyone that he knew, but he hadn’t actually been expecting to. “bloody hell! that’s insane.” he said with a grin, shaking the others’ hand, a twinkle in his eyes. “i’m james sirius. also potter. and i think i’m your grandson! that’s weird isn’t it, we’re pretty much the same age. this time travel stuff is crazy.” though he was rather enjoying it. “best? well that’s difficult. probably the time i pranked peeves, y’know the ghost, with his own personal choir that played theme music for him. he was not happy about it. or the time i sneaked a potion into my arch-nemesis’ pumpkin juice and turned his hair green.”

                 ‘  oh  merlin’s  beard ,  GRANDSON? ’  james  becoming  slightly  dazed  as  the  other  shook  his  hand ;  overly  excited  it  seemed  to  be  meeting.  while  james  was  feeling  more  existential  at  seeing  his  future  so  plainly  before  him ,  &  at  his  age  no  less.  ‘ i  think  i  need  a  pint...   did  you  say  james  sirius?  like...   my  best  mate ,  sirius  black? ’  that  was  rather  interesting.  his  son ,  who  some  kind  bloke  was  so  QUICK  to  share ,  named  his  son  after  james  and  his  best  friend?  why  the  bloody  hell  would  he  do  that  for?  ‘  well ,  if  your  looks  didn’t  give  you  away  to  the  potter  line  than  your  pranks  surely  would  have.  those  are  very  good.  peeves  is  a  toss--  ’   james  stopped  himself  from  cursing  by   f e i g n i n g   a  quick ,  throaty  cough.  ‘  peeves  deserves  whatever  you  give  him.  good  work..  grandson... ’

sirius wasn’t about to shy away from that, and he threw his arm around his friend. the tremor that had been at the base of his throat was gone. it was like no time had passed, and there was nothing different between them. if he’d realized that one day things might be back to ‘normal,’ his face didn’t betray that. “your mum? no. oh, no. she’s a firecracker, that one, but i wanted to fuck your dad. it’s the dimples. you know, were it not for good old uncle al, rest his merry soul… you know, who knows what i would have done for some of that sleekeazy gold?“

               ‘  you’re  such  a  right  cunt, ’  james  laughed ;  shocked  by  the  sudden  comments.  the  male  then PUSHING  sirius  off  &  knocking  him  across  the  arm  in  a  rough ,  playful  manner.  his  glasses falling  down  to  the  edge  of  his  nose  with  his  light   c u r l s   ruffled.  ‘ stop  trying  to  fuck  my  family ,  black !  are  there  not  enough  birds  &  gentlemen  around  here  to  keep  you  from  MOUNTING  some  member  of  my  ancestry?  you’re  such  a  tosser  ,  seriously.  ’  tears  glossed  in  his  eyes , chest  in  slight  pain  from  laughing  so  hard. 

        Mia’s nose wrinkled and she decided that she didn’t like this turn of events. It wasn’t that long ago that Fleamont was in her position and made to guess things that had happened. Karma and universe was certainly playing a bit of a joke on her now. “Oh mum,” She dropped her usual southern drawl to mimic his posh British one before she chuckled. “I would probably kill Monty if we were with anything like our names,” she said and tapped her finger against her chin. 

                 how  weird  anyone  would  find  this  had  the  situation  not  affected  everyone  they  knew.  a  GROWN  man  calling  someone  of  his  own  age  ‘mum’ –––   so  bizarre  &  quite  ,  utterly  hilarious.  ‘  well  my  name  happens  to  be  a  very  good  one...  if  i  do  declare  so  myself , ’  the  end  of  his  sentence   m i m i c k i n g   her  southern  accent  as  she  had  mimicked  his  own.  it  was  truly  amazing  to  see  her  in  her  youth.  james  noticing  NOTHING  had  really  changed  over  her  twenty  years. 

          Mary’s eyes closed for a moment. James made a small gesture with helping her warm up but it meant the world to her. She truly had missed him. “I did,” she replied, “I’m almost twenty four in my time.” Her nose wrinkled as she spoke and she shook her head. It had been a long time since they both were young and carefree. 

            ‘  twenty-four ???  by  merlin ,  you’re  so  old ! ’  james  always  one  to  tease  those  he  CARES  about.  the  prankster  never  missing  the  opportunity  for  a  little  jest.  ‘  let  me  just  say––  you  look  much  better  than  sirius  does.  but  don’t  tell  him  that  ,  that  bugger  would  curse  me  mean. ’  his  friends  from  the  future.  how curious  they  seemed  to  have  changed.  it  setting  his  mind  off  into  a  wander.  ‘  do  i  still  look  good  at  twenty-four?  i’m  not  bald  am  i? ’

“ah but the curls look smashing on you.” she mused, reaching out to gently ruffle his hair. “that’s because i love you. you know this.” she smoothed out her hair once he was done. after all, it was only fair. “at least we’re all here together… granted i’m not sure what “we’re all here” consists of at the moment. i will say i’ve seen my fair share of friendly and well…. not so friendly familiar faces.”

                 ‘  they  do ,  don’t they? ’  he  laughed  full-heartedly , his  hand  coming  up  to  his  chest  before  straightening  his  glasses.  ‘  i  do  know  that––   i  love  you  too ,  mar. ’  reaching  forward , he  EMBRACED  her  in  a  hug ;  giving  her  a  big  squeeze  &  another  pat  on  the  head.  ‘ it  just  means  at  least  we  aren’t  alone.  if  we  are  stuck  i’d  rather  have  you  and  the  others  to  be  STUCK  with.  has  anyone  been  giving  you  trouble? ’  slight  concern  plaguing  his  features. 

    Al stopped when the other walked up to him. He was still a little surprised and a bit in a daze from waking up to all this craziness. He couldn’t help but think this man sounded exactly like his older brother. That was something he would always say to his mother after he had done something he wasn’t supposed to. He shook his head and put his hands up, “Honestly.. I don’t even know who you are, mate. I’m trying to figure everything going on myself. One moment I was getting ready for bed and then the next thing I knew, I woke up in my dorm except everything was different.”

                 fuck ,  he  really  needed  to  find  some  people  from  his  own  timeline.  the  constant  introducing  of  oneself  was  beginning  to  become  rather  exhausting.  ‘  the  name  is  rather  UNIMPORTANT  by  now.  so  many  names  &  faces––  too  many  i  can’t  even  remember  anymore.  but  yeah ,  same  for  me  mate.  so  where  are  you  from?  past  or  future? ’

“you know what, that sounds like a great idea.” she said to him with a kind smile. “i can try to pull some strings to get you an invite since you are a pretty great wizard, even though you don’t exactly show it all the time because creating some of the pranks you do are pretty intelligent.” she added. in this moment, everything just felt like nothing has changed; walking through hogsmeade with james, talking and smiling, it was just like they were back at home. she loved how easily james could make her feel at ease whenever she was around him. “it would be nice to be able to see you in class, i mean, there are so many new people around, hogwarts is pretty interesting with all of them.”

              ‘  i  tend  to  have  ONE  every  once  in  a  while , ’  he  turned ,  a  proud  digit  pushing  his  thinned ,  round  classes  up  the  bridge  of  his  nose.  ‘ how  very  kind  of  you  miss  evans  to  try  &  get  me  an  invite.  i’d  be  honored––  also  ,  i  must  point  out  that  i  think  my  pranking  days  will  be  halted  considering  our  predicament. ’   as  much  as  it   p a i  n e d   him  to  say ,  james  had  slowly  began  to  figure  in  that  mind  of  his  that  laying  low  was  the  best  course  during  this  time.  ‘ i  guess  you’re  right  that  it’d  be  interesting.  i  don’t  know..   what  if  we  meet  like...  i  don’t  know  if  my  BRAIN  could  handle  it  all. ’

         “M’fine,” Mary replied. She figured that she could let James in on everything that happened, everything that she had been dealing with but she figured that was something for another time. “I’m just cold and you’re a walking furnace. And this era has terrible heating.” Mary’s nose wrinkled at the mention of Peter. She didn’t want to find him knowing what she knew now. There’s no telling what she would do if she saw him again but it definitely be slow and painful.

                   james  took  her  word  ,  shrugging  the  unsettling  feeling  off  as  an  upset  stomach  or  a  HUNGRY  one.  gentle  fingers   w r a p p e d   around  her  shoulders ,  rubbing  her  arm  up  &  down  to  give  some  relief  from  the  cold.  ‘ i  agree...  so  far ,  nothing  has  impressed  me  so  far  about  this  time.  not  that  ours  was  much  better  truthfully–– ’  dark  times  it  was  back  home ,  but  at  least  it  was  home.  ‘  did  you  come  from  the  future  like  sirius? ’

         Euphemia was a clever girl. Top marks in all her classes. So she could guess what he was going to say before he had stopped himself. He looked so much like Fleamont that it made her heart soar. Him standing in front of her gave her so much hope, he would never know how much. Her fingers curled around his hand and she flashed a charming smile. “You know your friend didn’t give me your name,” she remarked, “so I’m really hoping you remember you remember your manners or I’m going to have to remember to double up on your etiquette lessons in the future.”

                  a  laugh ,  cheerful  &  relieved ,  bursts  from  his  lungs.  james  was  never  able  to  get  one  past  her––  regardless  of  her  time  it  seemed.  mum  was  ALWAYS  one  step  ahead.  ‘  my  fr––?  ah ,  sirius... ’  james  couldn’t  complete  his  thought ,  the  boy  just   l a u g h i n g   as  he  recalled  their  own  conversation.  she  didn’t  know  him  well  now ,  but  that  kid  was  going  to  become  like  one  of  her  own.  best  not  to  ruin  the  surprise ,  james  thought.  ‘ oh  ,  mum ’  he  whines  &  SQUEEZES  her  hand  ‘ but  you  are  the  one  who  names  me...  so  deep  down  you  must  know  it  already.  though ,  i’d  love  to  hear  what  my  name  coudla  been.  come  on ,  guess ! ’

“yes, yes, a grade a tosser. you know, i think that that idiom might even be more hurtful for wizards than it is for muggles. you aren’t even calling me the best tosser of the bunch. you’re calling me an extremely mid-level tosser.” he nodded. “i’m not proud of what i’m about to say, but your mum kept it… tight. i mean, i definitely put the moves on before she introduced herself. miracle of nature, that one. see where you get your looks, jamie-boy.”

             ‘ there’s  always  room  for  improvement  ,  love ’  a  strong  hand  claps  the  other  on  the  back  ;  his  lips  thinning  into  a  SMUG  smirk.  god ,  this  felt  good.  for  a  moment  james  was  afraid  he  was  alone  in  all  this.  a  single  piece  of  a  whole  set  traversing  alone  was  a  scary  thing.  james  feeling  relieved  in  the   k n o w l e d g e   sirius  would  be  here  along  for  the  ride.  ‘  shut  the  fuck  up  man–  i  always  knew  you  fancied  my  mum  ;  i  knew  it.  her  baking  was  NEVER  that  great  but  you  always  ate  it  up  too  eagerly. ’

james’ nonchalant look turned quickly to one of confusion when someone he was almost certain he didn’t know began calling over to him. “hello ?” he raised an eyebrow. his confusion only grew as the man continued. he looked eerily similar to james’s dad, and yet he knew that it wasn’t him, so who was it ?  “i’m sorry mate, you’re talking to me like i should know who you are. i don’t think i do.” he told the other with a frown. “you too ? honestly. i’m surprised no one’s blamed me for this whole thing yet either ! i’m quite the prankster where i’m from, but i never mess up. so wasn’t me either.”

               how  WEIRD  it  was  to  be  in  a  place  where  so  many  of  the  students  walking  around  the  halls  were  from  different  times––  so  many  unfamiliar  faces  but  always  the  same  look  upon  their  faces  while  headed  to  class.  ‘  you  must  be  from  a  different  time  then.  so  what  is  it ,  the  past?  the  future?  what  year  is  it  where  you’re  from?  and  who  is  the  head  of  the  ministry  of  magic–-  that   should  be  VERY  interesting.  oh––  i’m  james  by  the  way.  james  potter ! ’  he  held  out  his  hand  to  the  other  for  a  good  ole’  gentleman’s  shake.  ‘ really?  as  am  i.  whats  your  best  prank? ’

        Mary smirked as she watched him squirm away and let her hand fall back to her side. She knew she made her point. “I suppose I can let you sit with me,” Mary said with a laugh before she simply rested her cheek on his shoulder. “I’m happy you’re here too, James, more than you know.”

                  ‘  is  everything  alright ,  love? ’  he  asked ,  eyes  looking  down  at  her  as  she  rested  upon  his  shoulder.  thinking  about  it  now ,  sirius  had  the  same  kind  of  mood  when  they  first  saw  one  another.  it  wasn’t  necessarily  concerning  to  james  (  could  be  hormones  for  all  he  knew ) ,  but  it  was  a  different  kind  of  SHIFT  in  the  air.  ‘  lily  &  sirius  are  here  too ,  ya  know?  so  is  marlene.  all  we  have  to  do  is  find  remus  &  pettigrew  now.  the  whole  gang... ’

         Euphemia turned when she heard someone speak to her. Her brow furrowed because at first, she thought he was Monty. But then, she started to notice the differences between this young man and her husband. Monty would never let his hair grow as long as this man did. “I’m glad to know that this situation has nothing to do with you, sir,” she replied and then extended her hand, “but I don’t believe I’ve had to pleasure to make your acquaintance. Euphemia Potter.”

                  the  moment  she  stepped  closer ,  he  knew.  sirius  had  mentioned  he  had  seen  her  so  james  was  prepared  to  make  contact ,  but  it  was  still  so  shocking.  it  was  his  mother.  at  the  AGE  he  had  only  seen  her  in  pictures.  he  had  seen  her  just  over  a  week  ago.  older  but  still  as  beautiful  as  ever.  reaching  out ,  he  took  her  hand.  she  didn’t  know  it  was  him ,  but  how  would  she?  james  wasn’t  even  a   c o n c e p t   in  their  mind  yet.  clearing  his  throat ,  he  finally  shook  her  hand.  ‘ i  know  who  you  are..  i’m  your  s––’   he  couldn’t  complete  the  sentence ,  the  words  getting  stuck  in  his  throat.