[ closed ]

[cwiclac]

Who: Lily Potter (cwiclac), James Potter (heorot), Sirius Black (doggo), and Remus Lupin (xxxxx)
What: Keep calm, the Potters have arrived.
When: Lucky number Sept. 10 (or so).
Where: Varies depending on the thread.
Warning(s): Death. Sadness. Attempted child murder. Welcome to Harry Potter!

[ this is a closed log to deal with the initial waking up drama of the marauder era & co. harry potter cast, to avoid clogging the intro log and wasting away the captcha. threads down below to be created by the cast. ]

Comments

[xxxxx]

He did.

[ Remus sounds surprised, almost, which isn't at all logical. Of course she wouldn't know. It's just been such a fundamental fact of the universe for so long that it wouldn't have occurred to Remus, in his current holy fuck state, to clarify. Harry survived, Voldemort lost. Harry ended the war. Lily ended the war, from what little Remus could understand of Dumbledore's cryptic answers to questions like what do you mean Quirinus Quirrell had Voldemort living in the back of his head and they somehow got Harry alone?

That's old news. New news: Lily Potter is alive. But Remus tries to be useful instead of just staring at her some more, rubbing one of his arms where she'd just been gripping his sleeve. ]

He lost that night. He couldn't hurt Harry, after you... [ died. Of course. He doesn't want to say it, and he also doesn't want to start pouring out information—about Voldemort's demise with all its for now caveats, about Peter and Sirius, about Harry's life afterwards. If he starts he won't be able to find a clear place to stop.

His phone dings again, insistent, to remind him there's a message he hasn't looked at. Remus pulls it out of his pocket and holds it low, long enough to see the word on the screen and tap L, I, L, Y, send. ]

Sirius found James. [ Add the thought of that reunion, that further impossibility and further righting of the world, to the pile of things making him feel a bit lightheaded. He knows he probably looks a bit slow and overwhelmed at the moment, not to mention old. He puts his hand to his forehead for a moment, thumb digging into his temple while he gives his head a clearing little shake, and smiles again. ] You'll have to forgive me. Us. It's been twelve years.

[cwiclac]

[ her brow furrows slightly at that, almost trying to comprehend the news. not being able to hurt harry is important, but unimportant in the face of what else remus is telling her.

sirius found james. good. that means james stuck to his word and didn't do anything incredibly stupid, though lily isn't so sure she has the faith in the two of them together to continue keeping to that word. but -- twelve years? us. so sirius is older, too?

that would make harry thirteen.

-- she closes her eyes for a moment, visibly trying to shut down the rush of thoughts through her head. overwhelming isn't even an appropriate word for it, it's somehow worse than that. this gaping hole inside her that doesn't seem to want to go away, the thought that harry is now thirteen and (probably) at school and he had no parents. and suddenly, lily wants to ask a million questions, about what happened, in an effort to know . . . but she also knows that there's a time, and a place.

and it isn't here, surrounded by pods. ]

We can go through that later. [ finally, and she opens her eyes. she looks exhausted, but resolved. ] All of it, it's . . . you don't have to apologize. [ lily is having a difficult time envisioning the gap that now exists between them, between herself and her friend, but: ] What we need to do right now is find Sirius and James before . . .

[ but she's missing an important piece, here, and something remus needs to know, and lily sucks in a breath. ]

James didn't know. He didn't remember. Halloween, and I told him, but -- [ but it's going to sound extraordinarily different coming from sirius, and belatedly, lily is realizing splitting up was a stupid idea, and she huffs to herself, blowing her hair out of her face, allowing herself to look less overwhelmed and more typically-annoyed. ] You know James, I was crying and he was so focused on trying to make that stop that he probably didn't listen to a single word I said.

[xxxxx]

[ You know James, she says, present tense, indicative mood. If there were somewhere to sit down he might consider it. Instead he only nods, a little helplessly. Yes, he knows James. (He knows Lily. He knows the Potters. Merlin.) James will focus on everyone else and what needs to be done for as long as there are other people and things that need doing, like some emotional form of the adrenaline that keeps people from feeling the full pain of an injury until they stop running, and James and Sirius will...

Maybe they won't cause trouble. There's only so much trouble to cause up here. If Sirius is sending messages it means he has human fingers and therefore as much of a rational human brain as he ever does.

Remus nods again. He is still sort of looking at her like he's concerned she'll disappear and he has to make sure he has a good imprint of her in his memory when she does. He'll probably stop eventually. Maybe in a few weeks. ]

If he needs to hear it again, I can help. [ Sirius, too, if he isn't too busy staring soulfully into his eyes. Remus smiles again, and it's faint and overwhelmed, but this time it sticks to his face instead of sliding right back off, despite what he's about to say. ] We'll have to talk about it. Time doesn't seem to matter to the Orbiters—

[ thank God, present tense, indicative mood, the Potters are alive ]

—so anyone could be here. There are wizards here who fought Grindlewald, too, and...

[ He could be here. Voldemort could be here. Peter could be here. It's implied, and Remus almost says it out loud, but Lily already looks so tired. So maybe they can talk about dark wizards and possible executions after all the crying and hugging is done. ]

We should find James and Sirius.

[cwiclac]

[ we'll have to talk about it. the weight in her stomach is nearly impossible at the concept, but lily's jaw clenches as remus continues -- because the same names pop into her head.

lily doesn't know what happened to peter. not yet. she hadn't talked about it with james, simply mentioned that they needed to find him. and she knows that discussion is going to be an uphill battle with james, and she knows it is going to result in an argument.

lily draws in a breath. ]

Time is in flux. [ that is the first thought that comes to mind, and the first one she says. think clearly, lily, there is an explanation somewhere. ] And we need to figure out when... and why, and how, but we'll figure that out later, after ... after.

[ after the hugging. after the crying. after lily and james have time to digest what has happened to them. after lily tells james about harry. after they have a solid night or two or seven of sleep. ]

The most important thing, right now, is that we're safe, and that Voldemort [ and she says the name with purpose ] isn't here. Or, at least, if he is, he isn't awake. We would have heard him by now.

[ lily is quiet for a few moments before she reaches out her hand to squeeze remus' arm again. trying for a faint smile, but not quite getting there. ]

I'm not going anywhere.

[xxxxx]

[ That's what they all say, Remus could say, but it isn't the time for even joking about that, and might never be the time. Not with Lily Potter, of all people. He was alone, but he was alive. And free. And not a rat.

He's still sort of thinking it, though, so his answering smile is a little sad before he forces himself to stop gawking at her—not because he's finished disbelieving his own eyes, not because he won't be sneaking astounded looks at both Potters later and possibly forever, sketching back in the details that memory erased or distorted or confirming the details he does know for the twentieth time just to make sure. But he can at least see how unwavering astonished staring could become unnerving. He looks down the row of pods instead. ]

You'd better not. I'd hate to have to explain to James first thing that I lost you.

[ And, speak of the devil and his devil companion, there is distant—but not too distant—and familiar barking, maybe some equally distant collision sounds, and Remus covers his mouth with one hand. It's a double-purpose gesture that accomplishes both exasperation and smiles hiding, and therefore one of his favorites. So much for rational human brains. ]

[doggo]

[So much for anyone at this reunion standing on two legs is perhaps what the previous line of narrative text ought to have said.

Because now the distant barking is less distant, and has been joined by other ambient noise--a galloping sound, hooves on whatever these floors are made of--and alarmed shouts from people who have found themselves suddenly leaped over by a fully grown stag--and then there is the stag, perhaps turning the corner fluidly like a painting come to life, or else leaping over some obstacle--but either way, wholly majestic and surprisingly nimble for a beast of its size.

And then there, close behind and barking madly, is the dog, who is perhaps a little less nimble, because as he comes around the corner, his paws skitter and he bulls forward and whops Lily with his tail and Remus with his shoulder, wriggles between them to get to the stag, or to the arbitrary finish line--if this is where James and Lily agreed to meet or if this is some point earlier on that particular path, who can say, certainly Padfoot can't, but it is probably a surprise; it certainly is a surprise to him, when all he wanted to do was beat a certain stag in a footrace, but now he has found Lily and Remus as well, Remus and Lily, all familiar scents and shapes in the unfamiliar--

He twists around and comes back at this the other way, throws his forepaws in the air and then comes down, hard, so that he can bull right back against Remus and Lily all over again, sniffing and barking and licking and generally not behaving at all like the aged dog he really is.]

[heorot]

[ prongs makes it to the spot. prongs wins this race. and his less-than-graceful slide to a stop around the next corner would have been a lot more embarrassing if not for the fact padfoot wasn't there to see it. when he does stop and look around, he doesn't see the dark mass at his feet. confused, curious, unsure- then there's the bark, the barking, and prongs cautiously starts back off in that direction. the barking doesn't sound angry, or aggressive, but what would it...?

moony is his first thought, then lily, then prongs is sprinting off in that direction. it only takes a few more moments before he comes to another stop, walking up behind where lily stands and nudging against her shoulder, rubbing his face against her back, before he sees the other figure there. catches the eyes of the other man. he pauses, briefly, once again struck by the age and the different and the change, before prongs is suddenly james again, the change smooth and fluid as breathing. one moment, there is a large stag. the next, it's james - tired and a little out of breath, but smiling - despite the way his chest curls dangerously at the sight of remus. despite everything it just adds to with regards to what happened.

james, after pressing a hand to lily's back in a comforting and all together habitual need to touch and let her know it's okay, holds his position briefly. just a beat, and then a second. ]

Hey, Moony. [ wrapped around those words is all the anxious worry he'd had before. the uncertainty and the pain and the general knowledge that where he'd thought he'd stopped this, before him is one more example that he didn't. that his worst fears did come to life.

but then james exhales, and then james steps forward, closing the distance between them and pulling remus into a tight hug. he feels as though he should say something, too - something to lighten the air that settles between them all - but he can't find the words. so instead, he moves to act, pulling remus tight against him. ]