Severus + James
James very much enjoyed large social gatherings like the annual Museum Gala. He had to hand it to Narcissa Malfoy, she knew how to throw a party. Completely rubbish human being married to an even more rubbish human being, but she had style. The Morgana exhibit was impressive, and less romanticized than he'd thought it might be when he heard of it. It didn't shy away from her use of Dark Magic, but neither did it make her out to be a misunderstood victim. He'd never say this to Narcissa's face, but he was almost impressed.
He'd spent the hour since dinner networking with various contacts, setting up meetings for the coming weeks, discussing new board appointments, and when that got boring, catching up with friends and acquaintances. He'd lost Lily somewhere in the crowd, but he wasn't worried. He'd find her later for a spin around the dance floor, but for now he needed a refill on his wine.
It didn't take long to hunt down a glass, and it was while he was takign the first sip that he noticed the figure trying to blend into the background. He considered, for a moment, pretending he hadn't seen him and walking in the other direction, but he was rather bored at the moment. A quick conversation with Severus Snape was bound to be entertaining, at the very least. That was not something he would have thought at Hogwarts, but in recent years he'd learned to tune out most of Snape's antagonism, and as he'd said to the others, it was really fun to be extremely pleasant to him and watch his head explode. Metaphorically, of course.
So he headed over, his bright patterned robes impossible to miss. The mix of purples, greens, oranges and pink shouldn't work, but James knew he carried it off. He loved the fashion of the 1980s, which basically boiled down to the more ridiculous the better. The wide shoulders, mish-mash patterns and bright colors were made for James Potter.
"Good evening, Professor," James said, voice low and drawling as he sidled up next to Severus Snape. "They forced you out of the dungeons, did they?"