Grateful that she'd declined to comment on the first part of what he'd said, he set the bottle down and took a sip as she seemed to be gathering her thoughts. As he swallowed, that nice burn seemed to descend through his chest when it happened again. Quicker this time, though.
The door to his parents' room at St. Mungo's swung open. His mother's bed was empty.
He threw the same door open again. The sheets were still mussed from the removal of his father's body.
Almost too slowly James pushed shut his front door, blotting out Lily's expression of hurt and concern before rejoining Sirius on the couch. They sported twin levels of stubble and inebriation.
She began speaking again, James blinked, and the present bloomed before him once again. It was a relief, the change. Part of him hoped it would be how they would proceed, if they had to proceed. They didn't suck him in as much, the rapidly flipping through recollections instead of having to relive whole scenes. If anything, it seemed to be rather assertive proof that alcohol was the clear solution here. Maybe it diluted the potions still in his system. Or maybe it just shortened his attention span. Or maybe alcohol really was medicinal. Who knew. When it worked, and James was tired, he didn't really bother to question.
"How'd he die?" James asked in something of a softer voice as he studied the liquid oscillating in his glass.
It was a terrible thing, to loose your father. Had he ever noticed how common it was? How many people walked around without parents? Probably not. It might have been an inappropriate question to have asked her, based on their habit of only sticking to the present. Inhabiting the present was far less complicated, but James was never good at sticking to boundaries for boundaries' sake, sometimes even the ones he imposed upon himself. She'd mentioned it, and he'd wanted to know. So he'd asked. And then he took another drink from his glass. He had the sneaking suspicion that if he continued drinking at too quick a clip she'd probably be made uncomfortable by it. He just wanted his mind back without having to feel self-conscious about the process.