milliways_bar | (no subject)

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It has been a million and a half years since James was last in the bar.

So, what is the first thing he does? (Well, after a quick bite to eat and a visit to his old room.) He takes his broom out for a spin.

Later, while his younger brother is elsewhere in the bar - at an older age than James currently is, might we add (only in Milliways!) - James himself (in his Quidditch robes) is outside by the porch, absent-mindedly picking at the worn leather of his boots. His broom is propped next to him.

He'd forgotten how much he missed this place.

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... h'okay. All of that is sailing over James' head like a particularly mis-aimed Bludger.

So he nods slowly.

"Right. Right. Well - er. It's rubbish that Megabyte's here anyway. Sometimes I don't know why the Bar lets some people in when it really shouldn't."

"Yeah. But I'm not letting it ruin things for me! As long as he doesn't start anything, it's totally fine."

See? See how calm and cheerful he is?

... Uh.

Yeah, definitely. He can see it.

Another slow nod.

"Er."

Enzo's not so mad that he's oblivious to James' reaction. He closes his eyes and does his best to breathe slowly and evenly.

"Sorry," he says, opening his eyes again. "It's stupid, anyway, it's not like it was totally safe here to begin with, but..."

"S'all right," says James with a shrug.

"I mean, if someone like ... I dunno ... Voldemort or something came here, I reckon I'd be pretty angry too."

... actually, he wouldn't - but that's mostly because he never even knew Voldemort aside from what he'd read in books.

(Which isn't very much.)

"Voldemort?"

Sounds... vaguely familiar.

James nods.

"Yeah. He was this really evil bloke from when my mum and dad went to Hogwarts. He nearly destroyed the entire Wizarding World and he wanted to kill my dad."

"Oh. Yeah, in my world he'd be a virus. Why your dad? Like, specifically?"

"My dad used to be called 'The Boy Who Lived'," James explains. "I think Voldemort tried to kill my dad when he was a baby but he'd failed. He sort of took it upon himself to - er. Finish what he started, I suppose."

This is working to distract Enzo from his mood over Megabyte, but mainly due to confusion.

"He got a special title just for not getting killed? And why'd Voldemort want to kill a baby so bad in the first place? I get that he was evil, but what's the point?"

James shrugs.

"Well, I'm sure it probably had something to do with the Order of the Phoenix, and my granddad really peeving Voldemort off. And then when he tried to kill my grandparents, they didn't make it easy for him, which probably only made him even angrier."

And then one thing leads to another, and when a bouncing baby boy defies the All Powerful Wizard? That's got to leave a bruise on any ego.

"So why couldn't he kill your dad?"

"I reckon my grandmum must've used some really powerful magic right before she died. Sort of like a protection spell?"

He knows he should be aware of the details, but the part he was really interested in involved his dad facing Voldemort off later on.

"But he did get your grandparents?"

"Yeah."

He makes a face.

"My grandparents on my dad's side - I never knew them. Luckily I've got my grandparents from my mum's side."

Enzo nods, and looks unaccountably sad.

"Is it nice, having some?"

Okay, maybe not that unaccountable.

He nods.

"Yeah. They're brilliant," he says. "My granddad's got this really funny fascination with Muggle things. My grandmum's kind of like my mum, only ... older. And fussier."

But give Ginny another twenty years, and he's sure they'll be practically identical.

"Mmmm. I don't remember mine much. Just... little scenes."

"Yeah? Er ... what happened to them?"

Sigh.

"Mainframe used to be two cities. One of them was destroyed. They were in it."

"Oh. Blimey, I'm really sorry Enzo."

He really is, too.

He might not have known his dad's side's grandparents at all, but he couldn't even imagine life without grandmum and granddad Weasley.

"It's okay."

If you consider 'I mostly don't have nightmares about it anymore' to be okay.

James nods.

There's a moment of uncomfortable silence before he asks, "So - uhm. Have you been playing any pranks on your schoolmates lately?"

"Not too much lately." Then he brightens a little, even if it is deliberately. "But a while ago, I went to Dani's world and visited her school, and I totally overthrew the status quo while I was there."

Not to toot his own horn, but... well, he needs to toot a little right now.

"Dani's your girlfriend, yeah?"

James is at the age in which girlfriend-things aren't as icky (or hilarious) as they used to be.