InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I don't know, mom, a ton"

james potter is SUPERBADASSNINJAAWESUM (staghearted) wrote in flippedrpg,
@ 2012-11-17 15:42:00

Entry tags:

ch: knap: james potter, ch: knap: remus lupin, p: annalisa, p: emmy

Who: James & Remus (knap)
What: catching Remus up on what the hell is going on.
When: Saturday after Remus's journal
Where: outside the Lee house, at least for starters.
Warnings: TBD

This world had started out exceptionally well. At the end of the countdown, James had found himself in a classroom, teaching English; then he'd gone home and cooked dinner for his 'family'. He had trouble taking the teaching part seriously (he'd looked once at his stack of papers to grade, given them all a B+, and decided he was done with it) but he really didn't mind that he was in a house, playing dad. Even if it wasn't strictly his family.

And then, as if on cue, his family had started to return. His youngest son was back, only eleven years old (but almost twelve), and he was part of James's fake 'family' here as well. James had shed a tear or two with sheer, overwhelming happiness at seeing his son again, and now--

Now Remus was back as well. James had had a moment of relief and happiness at seeing him, too, until he'd realized that Remus didn't remember anything. Didn't remember what they'd found out about Lily and Sirius, didn't remember what they'd learned about their future, didn't remember his time in the compound and the people he'd loved here that he didn't have back home. Which of those was worse, James honestly didn't know.

He was still relieved and happy to see him, of course, but blimey, the task of catching Remus up on everything that had happened was daunting. He ignored that for the moment, and dropped everything that he was doing to find Remus, heading for the Lee house. He was a little ways down the street when Remus came outside, and he took the rest of the way at a run, tackling his best friend in a big hug-- one that was quite reminiscent of the tackle-hug he'd gotten from Remus when he'd arrived.

"Don't you dare run off on me again," he said, holding his hubby tight and refusing to let go. There was a teasing note to his voice though; he knew it hadn't really been Remus's choice to leave, and wasn't going to hold it against him. "Golly, I have so much to tell you. I don't even know where to start."

(Post a new comment)

atamewerewolf
2012-11-18 12:18 am UTC (link)

He had been on his way to meet with the lovely train conducter, seperating from James for just a few intended hours, when he had turned down a street and everything changed. Color was gone, the smell of street vendors had went away, and he staring an old lady in the eyes with sheer confusion. She had seemed far too happy to see him for being a complete stranger but he didn't dare question that, instead taking the journal from her, and noting her statement of it being able to help him communicate.

It all had to have been James doing as far as he was concerned. It felt like something he would have done.

And James had certainly answered. His first, brief, thoughts had been that perhaps James was the only one who could respond to him and it was all part of an elaborate scheme. Yet, then he saw other handwriting. Handwriting he hadn't seen in years and he had dropped the journal as if it were on fire. When he was able to steady his hands, he had called for response from James, demanding an explanation as his mind rushed forth at a million miles a minute.

He was still glancing at the pamphlet, slowly beginning to understand, even if it all sounded perpostuous. He was scribbling responses to the various people who were writing as he came down the steps of the house, shutting the book, and looking out. Sure enough, there was James, and a moment later his arms were around him.

He stood there, frozen for a moment, before he returned the hug. It hadn't been all that long since he had seen his husband but clearly it wasn't the same for him. He didn't try to pull from the embrace early, sensing that he needed to stay right where he was, and gave a slight laugh.

"Everyone in this book is welcoming me back. I didn't know I was even gone," he told him, giving him another squeeze, before nodding his head in agreement. "We could start with..." he cleared his throat, "Lily and Sirius are found in 1999?"

"Or how there is two of me? And you, technically. Maybe more?"

(Reply to this) (Thread)

staghearted
2012-11-18 12:40 am UTC (link)

James let himself enjoy the hug for a moment, to feel simply glad that his Remus was here. He loved them all, every one, but this Remus was the one who had been at his side since they'd first met, through the hardest parts of his life. No matter how many Remus's he met, no matter how loyal they'd been to their James, this Remus was his and would always understand him best.

He pulled back finally to look at his friend, taking in his appearance. Even in the black and white, he could tell that Remus was younger than he'd been before. "Yeah," he said. "I found that out when I got here, too-- it was only 1989 for me. You were from 1998, before. What year was it for you this time?" He paused. "We found Lily and Sirius here, too. They sent Sirius home, just before you left... Lily's still here."

Answering questions made it easier, gave him a place to start. He grinned at Remus, a slightly ridiculous expression, because he felt giddily pleased with having his family returned to him. "There's multiple versions of all of us, from all the different worlds they have listed in that pamphlet. When I got here the second time-- they have a thing about sending us home and bringing us back, I guess-- you and Harry had already made a little family here. Other versions of us, another version of Sirius and Lily... there's been more than one Harry, too, and people from our own world that we're going to meet in our future. This place is a little bit insane."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

atamewerewolf
2012-11-18 01:04 am UTC (link)

James didn't look that much different to him as he glanced at him. His hair was a different length then it had been when he saw him just a few hours ago but not much changed in the span of two years. He took in a heavy breath when he heard him state the years. It was all askew. "Tardis hiding anywhere?" he asked with a light smile, before rubbing at the back of his neck. "1991," he said after a moment, as his mind was still fixated on this concept of 1998 and an entire year of life spent in this place.

The evidently he wouldn't remember ever happened, not if the Pamphlet was accurate.

Pushing that thought away, he instead fixated on the other words James stated. "One of the other Sirius' mentioned he was here, said he might come back? But Lily's here too?" He couldn't help but grin. 1999 seemed a very far amount of time ahead but they were able to see them ahead of schedule. Lily was there. And Sirius would be, hopefully, soon too.

"This is my second time, then?" He found himself asking as he stuffed his hands into the slacks he had arrived in. These clothes were not at all suitable to his preferred style. His head tilted to the side as he zoned in on the notion of a second family, brought together of multiple versions of those he cared about, tilting his head down lightly as he thought about it.

"Is that what one of the Sirius' meant? He said I was close with people."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

staghearted
2012-11-18 01:17 am UTC (link)

"Only two years off me now, then," James said. "Harry's from 1998, still. Lily's from 1993 now, but at first she and Sirius were from 1987. Maybe they're bringing him back from a different time, too. There's-- there's a lot to tell about what happened to them, and I'm really sorry, mate, but most of it isn't going to be fun to hear." He took a deep breath. "It ends well, though. I mean, we all live. Have more kids, even."

He took hold of Remus's arm, and started to guide him gently down the street towards the park. They really should be sitting down when he delivered some of this news, and in a place a little more private; there were neighbors that James didn't know milling around, mowing and watering their lawns, checking their mailboxes, walking into town in groups and alone. He didn't really think that anything would happen if they overheard this conversation, but it still seemed like something that should happen in private.

"Your second time, yeah," he said, a little more soberly. "I didn't think they'd take you away, honestly, because you were so-- well, not everything here is nice, but there were things here you didn't have at home. That you wanted to keep."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

atamewerewolf
2012-11-18 01:38 am UTC (link)

He was silent when James began to recount the ages. The last he had seen Sirius or Lily, they had been just past twenty one. The idea of seeing them drastically older, even if he had known they would clearly be older if/when they ever found them, still did not settle well with him. He bit down on the inside of his lip while his mind mulled over it all. If Harry was from 1998, the year he had previously been, then that meant he was either on the cusp of eighteen or had already turned so.

He had only just sent Harry away to Hogwarts.

"Pamphlet said that. Delayed happy ending, I believe, was the choice of words," he commented before lifting his eyes to look at James.

"I am trying to grasp how they accomplish it. Pulling people from time without them being missed. You are from two years ago...and I know it says I wouldn't notice you being gone, because you didn't leave, but I am just trying to...wrap my mind around the how," he explained, as he walked with James towards the park.

"Do they take into consideration what we want?" He hadn't been given that impression from the material directed at him.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

staghearted
2012-11-18 01:48 am UTC (link)

"Yeah," James said, with a slight smile. "Because of this place, I suppose you could say we got it a little ahead of schedule."

There was so much in there that he needed to tell, before he got to the happy ending part. The things that he and Remus had been blamed for, the Lestranges had done to Lily and Sirius. The fact that Rodolphus was here. And that was barely scratching the surface of the wealth of information that James had about them, their lives here and in the compound, that Remus now no longer had. He had gotten so used to being on the same page as Remus, back home and here, that the gap between them now was a bit staggering.

But he was determined to manage it. "That's really the least of your worries, mate," he said, shaking his head. "The fact is, you and I and our family have lives here and back home, and they're different in some ways and similar in others. I don't know how it's happening, and I don't think anyone knows except the scientists, who aren't going to tell us. So you may as well let your brain off the hook on that one, there's plenty more that you're going to need to figure out."

He paused. "No. Well, sometimes it seems that way, and sometimes it seems like they're purposefully doing exactly what we don't want. Personally, I'm starting to think they just ignore what we want and anything that seems purposefully done to us is actually just something that they did without even thinking-- definitely without caring-- what effect it'll have." He shrugged. "The worst part, at least from my perspective-- and yours too, I think, from before-- is when people leave. We have even less control over keeping the people we love with us and getting them back here than we did at home."

(Reply to this) (Parent)