alotofgood | 026. 27 august 1976.

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026. 27 august 1976.

August 27th, 1976
The Potter Residence
London, England

The doorbell rings.

Florence is catching up a bit on her reading in the living room while Dexter the house-elf dusts the furniture off in the hallway when it happens.

"I'll get it, Dexter," Mrs Potter says, marking the place with her bookmarker. She gets to her feet and heads towards the front door.

Dexter bows along the way with a, "Yes, Mistress," before disappearing into the dining room to continue his chores.

When Florence opens the door, the last person she expects to see is a young girl who looks about James' age.

Her first thought, once she's digested this, is that perhaps this is the 'Lily Evans' her son has been writing to all summer ... but she remembers overhearing little bits and pieces of her son's conversation and 'Lily Evans', she swears, had long, straight, ginger hair.

Oh, well.

It's not entirely unsurprising that James is a rather popular fellow.

"Hello, my dear. Can I help you?"

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Cliona smiles. "Yes. Hello, I'm Cliona Byrne. I'm sure James has mentioned me. I'm here to see him. Is he in?"

Because she suspects the boy needs looking in on.

And possibly talking to.

"Oh! Of course, dear."

She has heard about Miss Byrne from James. Something about her being a 'brilliant chaser' and a 'very good friend', too.

Florence Potter stands aside to let the girl in.

"He's just out in the garden with the others," she says, gesturing towards the back of the house. "Did you want anything to drink while you're here?"

"Thank you," Cliona says, stepping into James' house.

"And not just now, I don't think, but thank you.

"You have a lovely house," she adds, heading in the direction Mrs Potter has indicated.

"Oh — well, thank you, dear," Florence says, smiling. "That's very kind of you to say."

Outside, Sirius and Peter appear to be in some sort of loud debate over something nonsensical.

James is sitting next to Remus on the grass.

If Cliona bothered herself with every nonsensical argument she's ever found some of James' friends in, she'd get nothing else done.

"Hello, boys," she says, cheerfully, coming into the garden.

The Marauders look up or across at her.

It momentarily stops Sirius and Peter's argument, in any event.

James blinks.

"Cliona? What are you doing here?"

"Recruiting for a gang to case the Tower of London and steal the Crown Jewels," Cliona says.

"What do you think I'm doing here? I'm visiting you."

Sirius snorts.

James gets to his feet and crosses the grass to reach her.

"Blimey. I hadn't expected you. You're all right?"

"Oh, I'm fine.

"Except that apparently I have to work out that you're my new Quidditch captain on my own.

"I ran into Aurelius in Diagon Alley yesterday. He didn't get it, I didn't get it, Raquel and Eugene would be longshots, so congratulations."

"Right — sorry. I was going to tell you the other day, but —"

Things got a little ... messy.

And ... yeah.

He ended up leaving early.

James runs a hand through his hair.

"Thanks, though."

"Right," she says.

She looks over at the rest of the Marauders.

"You boys don't mind if I borrow James for a bit, do you? There are some things I want to talk to him about before he's completely distracted by people begging him to make them our new Keeper."

James laughs a little.

Sirius waves a hand in a rather, 'Yeah, do what you want with him' manner.

Remus and Peter both nod.

While Sirius and Peter return to their debate, Remus glances up once in James and Cliona's direction.

Then James turns back to Cliona.

"... is everything okay?"

"Show me around," Cliona says.

It's only when they're out of earshot of his friends that she'll add, "You tell me. Is everything okay, James?"

They've made it to the far side of the garden before James responds with a shrug.

"I suppose," he says, feigning nonchalance. "Why? What ... did you hear?"

"I didn't have hear anything, did I? I've got three older brothers, James. And I got a good look at your face as you were leaving.

"Though, to be honest with you, I've heard a little about what happened, too. From Lily."

"Oh.

"Right."

James rubs his face.

"Honestly, Cliona? I don't really know if 'everything is okay'. I don't think I know anything at all, at this point."

And the weird bit is, despite the dramaticism in his statement (which is to be expected, given James' penchant for it), it's actually pretty true.

Cliona sits down on the grass at the edge of the garden.

"So let's talk about things.

"Tell me what happened."

She knows what Lily thinks happened.

She doesn't know what James thinks happened.

After a moment's hesitation (or reluctance — or a combination of both), James joins her.

"Well. After you left with Sirius," he says, "Evans and I just talked a bit. Mostly about ... how things were."

And Harry was a huge part of the conversation. Not that he can tell Cliona this.

"And then —"

Ugh.

James shrugs.

"And then?" Cliona prompts.

James starts to pull out bits of grass from the ground, for lack of something to do with his hands.

And also because this conversation is really uncomfortable.

"Then," he says, "she basically tells me that that's it. All the letters over the summer, our conversations —" Harry "— nothing's going to ever happen beyond that.

"Which, I suppose, I should have known because she's always said 'no'. Only ... I dunno. It started to feel a bit different."

Cliona sighs.

"Oh, James. You have to understand something about Lily. She's brilliant and lovely and clever, but she can also be absolute rubbish at saying how she feels about things. She either doesn't want to talk about things, or she overstates her case and lays all her arguments out one after another, even when she doesn't need to.

"That may have been what she said, I don't know, but I do know it's not what she thought she was telling you. She was trying to tell you that she doesn't think she can go out with anyone right now. I don't think that she meant to imply that there was an 'ever' involved.

"And it's partly my fault. Because I should not have thrown you two together quite so blatantly, especially since I knew how she felt about not wanting to date anyone right now. So I think it made her very uncomfortable, and I think she was worried that you'd think she'd put me up to it."

"Well, it hardly matters now anyway," James says. "And I don't blame you. I wouldn't blame you."

He pauses in his grass-pulling.

"You know, it's one thing to sort of be a prat and ask someone out, and it's another to be serious about it and get rejected.

"And then it's a completely different case when you aren't even asking, and you still get told a preemptive 'no'."

He rubs his face.

"Sirius says I ought to just learn to get over her."

Funny. That's the exact phrase Lily used.

"Well, technically, I don't think you were being told 'no' so much as 'not yet.' And I think she was doing that to try to avoid having to tell you 'no.' Like I said, not her strong suit at the best of times, and she's a bit of a mess right now.

"But ... all that aside, what do you want, James? D'you want to get over her?"

"I don't know," he admits. "It'd probably be easier, wouldn't it? For both of us?"

But a part of him knows he can't.

A part of him also knows there's a possibility somewhere, in some alternate timeline where things do work out.

In the end, Lily's just ... sort of It.

"Maybe, maybe not.

"Is that your goal, though? 'Easier'?" Cliona asks.

There's a vaguely Coco-like toss of her hair on the word 'easier.'

James notices that.

Oh, James definitely notices that.

"Well, I've never really liked when things are easy. The challenge is half the fun," he says.

But this, admittedly, is not terribly much fun.

"It's like Quidditch. I think the reason you love it as much as you do is that you actually have to work at at. An awful lot just gets handed to you, James.

"Let me ask you something. When we lost last year ... if someone had told you that you just ought to give up on Quidditch, what would you have said?"

"'Bugger off'?" he supplies.

Because, yeah.

That about sums it up.

"Fair enough," Cliona says.

"So, you and Lily. Are you at 'that's it, I'm done'? Or is it still 'bugger off, it's what I want'?

"And the only person who can answer that question is you."

James thinks about it.

"I don't want it to be 'that's it, I'm done'," he answers honestly. "But I also don't know that it's worth 'bugger off, it's what I want' anymore either.

"Not if Ev — if Lily doesn't want it."

"Also fair enough.

"But all she's told you she wants, or tried to tell you she wants and made an utter mess of, is that she doesn't want to go out with anyone right now, and that's not about you, James, it's about her.

"Because I think she's as worried as I've ever seen her, about going back. Not that she'll really admit it.

"So whatever you decide to do, or not do, I just wanted you to know that.

"Okay, Captain?"

"Okay."

James starts to smile.

And after a moment's thought, he adds, "Is there anything you think I could do to help?"

Cliona studies him for a second.

"She talks to you. She actually talks to you about things she cares about. I don't think you really know how little of that she does, even with Mary and me and all. So just let her, when she does.

"And, um ... well, are you taking Potions next year?"

James nearly beams in response.

The fact that Evans does talk to him about things (which is sort of the problem, as brilliant as it is at the same time) is enough to make him feel a little giddy, as ridiculous as it is.

But — it's not the time or place.

"Yeah. I wasn't going to, but Professor McGonagall told me it'd probably be a good idea — to give me a few more options later."

"Good.

"Then you can keep an eye on her in there.

"And on him."

Cliona doesn't actually have to spell out who she's talking about here, does she?

Oh, of course.

You don't go through all the things you do without becoming quite familiar with him.

James nods.

"You're not taking it?"

"Only got an "A" on that OWL, so I can't."

"Oh."

James shrugs in a, 'Well, it's hardly important anyway' sort of way.

"Probably for the best anyway.

"The idea of sharing a class with him makes me think adopting an Acromantula might be more fun."

Edited 2011-05-20 02:40 (UTC)

"Yeah, but if tries to worm his way back into her good graces, I think that's where he'll do it."

"That's true."

It'd definitely be the best place for it.

Their class, for one, will be much smaller.

And it was the class where they tended to work together, too.

"Good," Cliona says.

That's settled then.

Especially that.

And there will be no more back-of-the-class blow-things-up sessions with Sirius anymore, as his best mate won't be continuing Potions this coming year.

Neither will Remus, for that matter.

James nods.

It's going to be a fun class, indeed.

"Right," Cliona says, standing up. "We'd better get back to your friends. Who knows what they think we're doing back here."

She looks back at James and grins. "And I've got to be careful about that sort of thing now that I'm dating the Head Boy, you know?"

Not that there is the slightest danger of anything like that happening with James.

It would be like snogging one of her brothers.

Definitely no danger here.

Besides the fact that it'd be like snogging his sister (if he ever had one), it's not exactly news that James Potter fancies Lily Evans.

(And has for a couple of years now.)

"So it's official, then? Fenton's been made Head Boy?" James asks, as he dusts the grass blades off his trousers and stands up as well.

"Yeah, he is. Brilliant, isn't it?

"Fenton and Iphigenia McGraw. Gryffindor and Ravenclaw."

"Brilliant, yeah," says James, nodding.

"And our deal regarding your dating the Head Boy still stands, doesn't it?"

"If you're lucky."

It's not like he can actually stop speaking to her, after all.

She's one of his Chasers.

And he really would be a bit lost without her.

James laughs.

"Right."

And to use her words, he adds, "Fair enough."

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026. 27 august 1976.

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