With a sympathetic nod, James communicated he knew exactly what Harry meant. None of them, it seemed, were particularly well suited to being stuck someplace. The more he thought of it, the more it sounded like a good idea. It might remind Lily of other things to remember, good things, especially with Harry. In fact, he thought it would do her a world of good to spend more time with Harry, if for nothing else to remind her that it was real. Harry was safe. Alive. Even a bit happy, maybe. The mention of Harry's being orphaned somehow didn't sting, not the way Harry said it. It was just... how it was. Not that anything had turned out like they'd planned, but there was no sense dwelling on the past. It was a comforting backdrop, and something James wasn't ready to forsake by any means, but the point of living was going forward, wasn't it?
Not a one of his thoughts, however, was able to diminish the sense of pride in his son. His son who raked his hands through his hair just like he did. It could be worse, couldn't it? But here he was, in the restaurant he'd found with Sirius, talking with his son about his charity work. No need to wax poetic about that, though. After all, there was something to be said for a man's pride.
"Well done, Harry, really," he grinned. Content to shift to perhaps a lighter topic, he asked, "How's your girlfriend like the idea?"
He grinned a bit... there was a small part of him that would never get over being told he'd done well by James, Lily, Sirius and Remus... they ranked among the most important influences in his life, even though they'd been woefully absent for most of it. It gave him a warm feeling to know that his Dad was actually proud of him, something he'd never been able to hear from other's lips for most of his life.
"Cheers." he said, blushing just slightly. He reached for his food again, chuckling softly at his Dad's question. "Luna? She thinks it's brilliant... well, anything that gets me out of the house really." he joked. "Actually, she's thrilled about it. But then, she's always encouraging me with whatever I want to do. Though, I didn't tell her yet that Ginny suggested I go play quidditch... she'd be fine about it, I know, but I'm just not sure I even want to think about it."
"Harry Potter, quidditch star?" James mused. "My dad've have been over the moon. We used to go see the World Cup together, every time. He always got tickets because of his job."
Somehow his fork found its way into his hand, and then into his mouth with a large chunk of chorizo. He felt a great swell of sympathy for Sirius and Remus, that they were missing this. Yeah, definitely before they left he'd introduce Harry to Graciela. It was sort of hard to keep track these days, of when the next World Cup would be. More now than ever, he was determined that they go. Him and Harry and Lily, along with Sirius and Remus.
"We managed to take your mum along once," he added, pleased by the memory of it. "Sirius was always hopping to go, him and Pe-" he very sharply cleared his throat and gave a stiff shake of his head, as if to dislodge the name from his memory. Carrying on, the strain in his voice eased as he kept talking "... and Remus, so long as he could bring along a trunk of books."
He nodded as his Dad spoke, and when he stumbled, he realised that none of them had likely dealt with things concerning the betrayal of their friend... a friend that, while Harry remembered him as the horror he became, they remembered as someone as dear to them as they were to each other.
"Yeah... I got to go with the Weasleys in my 4th year. Arthur got tickets and we all camped. It was nice, other than the Death Eaters," he rolled his eyes... Merlin, had every event in his life been destroyed by them? "And... you know, if you want to know about Peter, what happened, all you have to do is ask. It doesn't bother me to talk about," he shrugged.
He reckoned it was best to give his Dad the chance to hear what'd really happened, rather than everything that everyone passed around, all the muddled gossip and such.