milliways_bar | (no subject)

The trip home from King's Cross had been much quieter than the one there, and not just because Al and James weren't in the backseat anymore arguing or teasing each other. Lily noticed that Mum was crying a little to herself, and even Dad looked a bit misty-eyed.

Lily wasn't sure how she herself felt about both of her brothers being gone at school. On the one hand, it was going to be lonelier around the house without Al and James (okay, Al at least) to have to play with. But on the other hand, for the first time in her life Lily Potter was an only child. I get Mum and Dad all to myself! she thought cheerily as she headed to her room. Lily opened the door to her room-

-and quickly shut it again. Was that a...bar...on the other side of the door? She opened the door and looked through again. Yup, that's a bar in there.

If Lily were anyone else's child, she would have called down to her parents and told them about the sudden transformation of her room. But Lily's a Potter, and James and Al didn't get all of the sneakiness genes. So, in she goes.

The door shuts behind her.

OOC: [I'm ~~having a lot of fun, but sadly must call slowtime. Heard a lot of good stuff about this thing called 'sleep', so...~~ back, but there might be slowtimes starting early afternoon. But I'm ready to tag!]

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James starts to laugh, rubbing at his arm while doing so.

"Ha - I got you, didn't I?" he says, when he's sufficiently calmed himself.

She just glares at him. "Whatever you did to my bedroom, James, you'd better change it back right now before I tell Mum and Dad."

She's not thinking about just why James is here and not on the train to Hogwarts at the moment. She's too mad about her bedroom being transfigured into a bar.

James raises an eyebrow, already puffing with pride at the chance to show off his knowledge of this place.

"Oh, Lil - you're not even close to your room anymore. You're in a place at the end of the universe."

He beams.

Her eyes widen, then go back to the glare.

"That's not funny, James."

"I'm not lying," he says. The 'this time' is unspoken.

He puts his hands on his sister's shoulders and steers her around towards the direction of the observation window.

"Look."

She looks, and the angry expression on her face is replaced by one of terror.

"James..." Now her tone of voice is more frightened as she shrinks back against her oldest brother.

"Don't worry, Lil," he says, patting her with one hand. "It won't hurt us. We're safe in here. And it's kind of cool, see? There's explosions and things, and it does that all the time. You get used to it."

He smiles.

"But you believe me now, don't you?"

"Maybe," she answers, giving the Window one more wary look. How can something that scary be cool?

Lily looks back at him.

"How come you're here instead of school?"

James proceeds to scratch his head a little sheepishly.

"Well, you see...Teddy was having this party - for his birthday - and I sort of wanted to see what he was up to, you know, and to wish him a 'happy birthday', of course. Well, we both came through into this place. But - oh!"

The young boy blinks, turning back to the wall where the Door is located. "Does your door open?"

James' explanation makes Lily roll her eyes. Typical.

"Why wouldn't it?" she answers. She walks back over to the door and pulls it op-

pulls it-

pulls-

"Uh-oh."

He watches her, and slowly any hope he might have had sinks into oblivion.

Bugger.

"It doesn't, does it?" He mutters a word that his mum and dad would certainly scold him about if they'd heard him. "So you're Bound, then. Like me."

It certainly makes Lily's eyebrows rise.

"So, I can't go home?" she squeaks.

James shakes his head.

"Nope. Sorry, Lil. But you can stay in my room with me. I've got one, you know. It's really cool. And I bet you'll never guess who gave it to me."

He griiiins.

"Who?" Her curiosity overrules the thoughts of have to share a room with my brother.

Hey - he's not that bad. He'll totally respect her space, and stuff. Really.

"Dad," he answers, practically bursting with excitement. It's as if he's been simply waiting for someone he knows to come along so he can tell them. "Dad when he was young."

Lily gives James a Look. "You're joking," she says.

James returns the Look with one of grave solemnity.

"Oh, Lily. Lily, Lily. Would I really pull your leg in such a serious situation?"

"No," she admits.

James may have enjoyed a good joke, but he wasn't that cruel.

"But how could you have met Dad when he was younger?"

"Well," James starts, excitement on his face almost instantaneously, "I was in the bar, just looking around, and I saw someone who looked exactly like him (and granddad too) - only younger. So I asked him who he was, and he said he was Harry Potter! He talks like him, and acts like him, and he was so cool, Lily! You have to meet him when he comes back."

He grins.

"Oh! I also met mum, too."

"Mum? Our mum? Or was she young like Dad?"

"She was young, too," James answers. "Around dad's age, I think. She said she was in sixth year."

Then thoughtfully, he muses, "I wonder why they never talked about the bar. We're going to have to ask them once we get out of here, you know."

She nods. "Especially since it showed up in our house."

"I suppose it'd show up at home," James says thoughtfully, one step away from tapping his chin and making a 'hmm'-ing sort of sound. "Since you obviously weren't at Hogwarts."

He shrugs. "Apparently the door to this place can show up just about anywhere. I wonder whether Albus might find this place, too."

Although, knowing him, he'd just run away from it, rather than enter.

"Probably," she says. But what she's really thinking is I hope so. "I mean, if you and I found it, Albus could."

"Yeah - but it's a matter of whether he'd come in or not. You know Albus, he'll probably ask a whole lot of useless questions, and then when he finally decides its safe enough, maybe he'll put one foot through the door - for a second, too."

James laughs - he doesn't mean to say anything bad about his brother; it's all in good fun, really.