He had a hearty laugh over the "too much trouble" statement, nodding. "Too much trouble indeed." He stepped out once she was finished, setting the beer down on the table. "You know, you really shouldn't leave me alone with people who used to know you and Sirius. She had a bit to tell me." he smirked, dropping down into his chair and grabbing his beer and taking a long swig. then kicked his feet up on a nearby chair... he didn't know if it was just being out with his Dad where no one really knew him, or the two beers he'd already polished off, but he was really beginning to settle in.
James gave a melodramatic groan, easing his misery with a drink from his freshly delivered beer.
"Reputations," he sighed. "Something of a curse sometimes." Still, he joined Harry in a mirrored posture. It was easy and comfortable for the pages of past and present to turn back and forth with the breeze blowing in off the sea.
"Merlin, the first time I brought Lily here, Rosa had been all to keen to talk her ear off," he smirked. Quite suddenly he felt the need to explain, "Not that any of it would be news to your mum." A wistful sort of smile blossomed as he mentioned, "That's the best thing of it all, you know. Having someone really, really know you. And, you know, love you anyway."
"Yeah... I know a bit about reputations." he nodded, taking a long pull from his beer, then smiled a bit at his Father's statement about finding someone that knew you and loved you anyway. "You know, I think I found someone like that. I've known Luna since fifth year... not a lot she doesn't know about me, but she still seems to hang in there." he chuckled, a sort of self-deprecating chuckle. "I hope so anyway...I really love her." he mused, the bottle partially to his lips so that it was nearly a mumble. "Is that what you thought with Mum? I mean, when did you know you really loved her?" He tore at the label of the beer, toying with it idly.
At the first of it, James reckoned he was probably lecturing the apothecary on herbs when it came to talking to Harry about reputations. It was hard for him to conceive of Harry needing all that much forgiving. Then again, Harry was his son, and from what he understood had inherited something of his knack for making rules rather... flexible.
"Beginning of fifth year," James said with a definitive nod. "She hexed my eyelids inside out, and I was smitten." He'd known her since the beginning of school, of course, but not as anything particularly serious. But back then it was always 'Evans' and 'Potter.' Actually, now that he thought about it he couldn't really pin down when it had switched to 'Lily' and 'James.' It had happened sporadically, mostly when they were yelling at each other, oddly enough. Of course there was that one day, that first time when she'd treated him like she wasn't hoping he'd fall of the face of the planet, but it hadn't exactly been smooth sailing after that. "Course she still hated me, then. Took her quite a while to come 'round to the idea that was I wasn't completely insufferable."