[FIC] [Fic Challenge #12] Adventure.
Title: Adventure
Summary: Direct sequel to this piece. Lily and James turn up at Albus' house uninvited. [Supernatural crossover, non-magical AU].
Characters/Pairings: Lily Luna, Albus Severus, James Sirius, Dexter the kitty cat, mentions of Albus/OFC
Genre: Gen, crossover, AU.
Rating/Warnings: PG
Medium: Fic
Word Count: 1707
The first time Albus sees his siblings in four years, he slams the door in their faces. He stands with his back against, his heart pounding in his chest in a way he can’t identify. He hears Lily speak. She stopped calling him every Sunday about two years ago. He never picked up, but she left messages on his voice mail. Her voice hasn’t changed. She still has that accent that is an awkward blend from at least five states. Her teeth still click around her t’s. She still says his name like he’s the youngest sibling, not her.
“Albus,” she says. “We bought you croissants.” She still can’t pronounce croissant.
It’s with a sigh that he opens the door. On the other side, Lily is holding up a paper bag stained with grease and James has his lock picking tools in his hand. He at least has the decency to look sheepish as he slips them back into his pocket. Albus takes a moment to look at them - his stupid, crazy, occasionally wonderful siblings.
He’d expected them to look more different, he thinks. Lily was balancing on the edge of seventeen when he saw her and now she’s not, now she can use an ID with her real birth date on it in the skeevy bars he’s sure she still frequents. Her hair is as wild as it ever was, pulled back in a ponytail but still, somehow, falling around her face. Her cheeks are still bright, but there’s less makeup on her face than there used to be. There’s a piercing in her nose, and that must mean she’s not hunting with Dad anymore. She’s apparently never grown out of stealing James’ clothes, because her tshirt is knotted at the waist and baggy at the neck.
James looks almost identical to the day Albus left. He was twenty one then, had just started buying alcohol for Lily and Albus on his real ID for the novelty of it. He’d had an obsession with Sammy Davis Jr., and Albus wonders if he still does. There’s a new scar on the edge of his cheek and more stubble than there had been before. His hair’s still that dark red, still short and sleek in a way Albus had always been jealous of. His sleeves still strain around muscles and Albus remembers that he used to be able to do one-fifty push ups without stopping.
Albus doesn’t know if he looks the same as he did, or if they remember strange little facts about him.
“You look great, Al,” Lily says.
“Gunna let us in, baby brother?” James says at the same time.
Albus almost wants to shut the door again.
He lets them in, though. He takes the bag from Lily with a smile and a trite thank you and leaves them in the living room. He thinks, as he putzes around the kitchen, that that’s probably a bad idea. He hopes they take the coffee the same way they did four years ago.
He hears a crash and he sighs.
“You have a cat,” Lily calls. “She’s adorable.” He doesn’t call back to tell her his name is Dexter and he’ll claw your eyes out if you’re not careful. She’s dealt with worse, he thinks, and she’ll figure it out soon enough.
When he walks into the living room, three cups of coffee and the croissants placed carefully on an antique tray that cost him more than he’ll admit to, Dexter is in Lily’s lap, purring loudly. James is peering at photos on the coffee table, an eyebrow raised.
“Who’s the chick?” he asks as Albus passes him a mug.
“My girlfriend.” He watches as James takes a sip. He barely seems to notice the taste, still inspecing the photos like he hopes to find the meaning of life in them. “Brianna. She’s in France.”
“She’s hot,” James says.
“She’s very pretty,” Lily says at the same time.
Albus wonders when they started doing that.
The silence that settles is awkward and uncomfortable. They sip at their coffees, and James stares at the wall and Lily stares at Dexter and Albus runs through the prime numbers in his head. He’s up to 1709 before he thinks of something to say.
“Any hunts recently?” He asks. He stretches his legs out and his feet settle between Lily and James’. He’s wearing socks with ducks on. Socks with ducks on, and they’re wearing steel toed boots.
He’s not sure he has anything in common with them any more.
“We’re on a break,” Lily says, voice chipper and accommodating. James nods. “A vacation. We’re going to see Rosie and Hermione and Ron next. Haven’t seen them in a while. You should come.”
“I’ve got work,” Albus says.
“Right.” He pretends he doesn’t see the disappointment on her face.
“How’s Dad?” He asks, and that’s when everything seems to go silent. Dexter stops purring, and outside, the traffic stops. James shuts his eyes and grimaces, like he’s in pain. Lily looks at her feet. Albus already knows the answer. “Was it a hunt?” He’s not sure what he wants the answer to be. His chest feels tight and his breath catches in his throat because, okay, he’d not spoken to his Dad since he left, but, he’d always been close to him, always wanted to be him in a completely different way because he’d never wanted to hunt. Lily nods and Albus thinks he might choke.
He wants to scream at them. He wants to yell and ask them why they didn’t save him or why they didn’t tell him sooner or why did they even come here and it’s all ready to come out, burning on the tip of his tongue and he looks at James.
James, who’d always been the closest to Dad. James, who’d been their brother and their mother and their father when he wasn’t there. James who was an adult before he was even ten years old. James who’s had his eyes clenched shut for the past five minutes and James who hasn’t looked straight at him since he turned up on the doorstep.
And Albus remembers how much he looks like Dad, and he realizes that he’s not the only one hurting.
“We didn’t want to tell you over the phone,” Lily says, and her voice shakes.
“It’s okay,” Albus says, and then he says something he’s sure he’s going to regret. “Could we get to Ron and Hermione’s place and back by Monday?”
There’s another silence, and James opens his eyes. He looks at Albus, really looks at him for the first time.
“Sure,” he says. “But you can’t bring the cat.”
When Albus finally slides into the back seat of the car, Dexter deposited with a neighbour who knows just what he’s like and an email sent off to Brianna that probably raises more questions than it answers, he realizes what a terrible idea this is.
Lily’s in the passenger seat, the place where James used to seat. Her legs are crossed, feet propped up in the dashboard and her chair is so far back Albus isn’t sure he could even get one leg behind it. Her shirt’s falling down over her shoulder, the top of her bra showing. Brianna hates that, he thinks, when she can see people’s underwear.
Not for the first time, Albus wonders if Brianna would like his siblings.
He watches as Lily and James argue, Lily slapping James’ hands away from the CD player. The sunlight catches against the CD in her hands and for a moment, Albus is blinded. By the time he can see again, Lily is crowing with joy and the familiar sound of Cockney Rebel is filling the car.
“This shit is so old,” James mutters under his breath. Albus’ breath catches in his throat, because it’s so much like the summer before he left. It’s like nothing changed. James had spent that summer driving them around aimlessly, Lily in the passenger seat, because Albus never cared enough to fight her for it. James had never liked Lily’s music. Lily had never liked James’. No one ever asked what Albus liked.
“You shut your whore mouth.” Albus is snapped back, away from the sun warmed memories of being with his siblings and having nothing to do, back to the now, and he’s in a car that seems to have gotten smaller, with two people who he doesn’t know anymore, but they’ve gotten louder.
“Put your seat belt on,” James snaps. He pauses, then turns to look over his shoulder. “And be louder, Albus, I forgot you were here.”
“It’s strange,” Lily says, twisting in her chair to look at him. Her makeup is smudged under her eyes, but it doesn’t hide the dark purple circles beneath them, or the red lines marring the whites of her eyes. She smiles at him, truly and genuinely and it reaches her eyes, but it looks like it feels unfamiliar on her face. “The three of us back together. The Potter brats, on one last great adventure.”
“We didn’t go on adventures in the first place,” Albus murmurs and looks down at his shoes. The laces are a pure white, the edges not scuffed. He’s sitting next to a pile of trash - burger wrappers and empty soda bottles fighting for space alongside a duffel bag with a broken zip and two pairs of boots in drastically different sizes.
“That’s a lie,” Lily says, but she’s turning back in her seat, curling into herself and leaning against the window. When Albus looks up, James is looking at him in the mirror, eyes narrowed and Albus can see the protectiveness in them. She’s his baby sister now, not theirs.
He feels sick, he thinks. He shouldn’t be doing this. He should be at home. He opens his mouth, ready to tell James to turn the hell around. James would say no, though, Albus knows that. He’d do it to spite Albus and he’d do it because that’s what Lily would want.
He takes a deep breath and clenches his fists into his jeans.
The last great adventure. He can do that.
Emily/Gryff/62
Summary: Direct sequel to this piece. Lily and James turn up at Albus' house uninvited. [Supernatural crossover, non-magical AU].
Characters/Pairings: Lily Luna, Albus Severus, James Sirius, Dexter the kitty cat, mentions of Albus/OFC
Genre: Gen, crossover, AU.
Rating/Warnings: PG
Medium: Fic
Word Count: 1707
The first time Albus sees his siblings in four years, he slams the door in their faces. He stands with his back against, his heart pounding in his chest in a way he can’t identify. He hears Lily speak. She stopped calling him every Sunday about two years ago. He never picked up, but she left messages on his voice mail. Her voice hasn’t changed. She still has that accent that is an awkward blend from at least five states. Her teeth still click around her t’s. She still says his name like he’s the youngest sibling, not her.
“Albus,” she says. “We bought you croissants.” She still can’t pronounce croissant.
It’s with a sigh that he opens the door. On the other side, Lily is holding up a paper bag stained with grease and James has his lock picking tools in his hand. He at least has the decency to look sheepish as he slips them back into his pocket. Albus takes a moment to look at them - his stupid, crazy, occasionally wonderful siblings.
He’d expected them to look more different, he thinks. Lily was balancing on the edge of seventeen when he saw her and now she’s not, now she can use an ID with her real birth date on it in the skeevy bars he’s sure she still frequents. Her hair is as wild as it ever was, pulled back in a ponytail but still, somehow, falling around her face. Her cheeks are still bright, but there’s less makeup on her face than there used to be. There’s a piercing in her nose, and that must mean she’s not hunting with Dad anymore. She’s apparently never grown out of stealing James’ clothes, because her tshirt is knotted at the waist and baggy at the neck.
James looks almost identical to the day Albus left. He was twenty one then, had just started buying alcohol for Lily and Albus on his real ID for the novelty of it. He’d had an obsession with Sammy Davis Jr., and Albus wonders if he still does. There’s a new scar on the edge of his cheek and more stubble than there had been before. His hair’s still that dark red, still short and sleek in a way Albus had always been jealous of. His sleeves still strain around muscles and Albus remembers that he used to be able to do one-fifty push ups without stopping.
Albus doesn’t know if he looks the same as he did, or if they remember strange little facts about him.
“You look great, Al,” Lily says.
“Gunna let us in, baby brother?” James says at the same time.
Albus almost wants to shut the door again.
He lets them in, though. He takes the bag from Lily with a smile and a trite thank you and leaves them in the living room. He thinks, as he putzes around the kitchen, that that’s probably a bad idea. He hopes they take the coffee the same way they did four years ago.
He hears a crash and he sighs.
“You have a cat,” Lily calls. “She’s adorable.” He doesn’t call back to tell her his name is Dexter and he’ll claw your eyes out if you’re not careful. She’s dealt with worse, he thinks, and she’ll figure it out soon enough.
When he walks into the living room, three cups of coffee and the croissants placed carefully on an antique tray that cost him more than he’ll admit to, Dexter is in Lily’s lap, purring loudly. James is peering at photos on the coffee table, an eyebrow raised.
“Who’s the chick?” he asks as Albus passes him a mug.
“My girlfriend.” He watches as James takes a sip. He barely seems to notice the taste, still inspecing the photos like he hopes to find the meaning of life in them. “Brianna. She’s in France.”
“She’s hot,” James says.
“She’s very pretty,” Lily says at the same time.
Albus wonders when they started doing that.
The silence that settles is awkward and uncomfortable. They sip at their coffees, and James stares at the wall and Lily stares at Dexter and Albus runs through the prime numbers in his head. He’s up to 1709 before he thinks of something to say.
“Any hunts recently?” He asks. He stretches his legs out and his feet settle between Lily and James’. He’s wearing socks with ducks on. Socks with ducks on, and they’re wearing steel toed boots.
He’s not sure he has anything in common with them any more.
“We’re on a break,” Lily says, voice chipper and accommodating. James nods. “A vacation. We’re going to see Rosie and Hermione and Ron next. Haven’t seen them in a while. You should come.”
“I’ve got work,” Albus says.
“Right.” He pretends he doesn’t see the disappointment on her face.
“How’s Dad?” He asks, and that’s when everything seems to go silent. Dexter stops purring, and outside, the traffic stops. James shuts his eyes and grimaces, like he’s in pain. Lily looks at her feet. Albus already knows the answer. “Was it a hunt?” He’s not sure what he wants the answer to be. His chest feels tight and his breath catches in his throat because, okay, he’d not spoken to his Dad since he left, but, he’d always been close to him, always wanted to be him in a completely different way because he’d never wanted to hunt. Lily nods and Albus thinks he might choke.
He wants to scream at them. He wants to yell and ask them why they didn’t save him or why they didn’t tell him sooner or why did they even come here and it’s all ready to come out, burning on the tip of his tongue and he looks at James.
James, who’d always been the closest to Dad. James, who’d been their brother and their mother and their father when he wasn’t there. James who was an adult before he was even ten years old. James who’s had his eyes clenched shut for the past five minutes and James who hasn’t looked straight at him since he turned up on the doorstep.
And Albus remembers how much he looks like Dad, and he realizes that he’s not the only one hurting.
“We didn’t want to tell you over the phone,” Lily says, and her voice shakes.
“It’s okay,” Albus says, and then he says something he’s sure he’s going to regret. “Could we get to Ron and Hermione’s place and back by Monday?”
There’s another silence, and James opens his eyes. He looks at Albus, really looks at him for the first time.
“Sure,” he says. “But you can’t bring the cat.”
When Albus finally slides into the back seat of the car, Dexter deposited with a neighbour who knows just what he’s like and an email sent off to Brianna that probably raises more questions than it answers, he realizes what a terrible idea this is.
Lily’s in the passenger seat, the place where James used to seat. Her legs are crossed, feet propped up in the dashboard and her chair is so far back Albus isn’t sure he could even get one leg behind it. Her shirt’s falling down over her shoulder, the top of her bra showing. Brianna hates that, he thinks, when she can see people’s underwear.
Not for the first time, Albus wonders if Brianna would like his siblings.
He watches as Lily and James argue, Lily slapping James’ hands away from the CD player. The sunlight catches against the CD in her hands and for a moment, Albus is blinded. By the time he can see again, Lily is crowing with joy and the familiar sound of Cockney Rebel is filling the car.
“This shit is so old,” James mutters under his breath. Albus’ breath catches in his throat, because it’s so much like the summer before he left. It’s like nothing changed. James had spent that summer driving them around aimlessly, Lily in the passenger seat, because Albus never cared enough to fight her for it. James had never liked Lily’s music. Lily had never liked James’. No one ever asked what Albus liked.
“You shut your whore mouth.” Albus is snapped back, away from the sun warmed memories of being with his siblings and having nothing to do, back to the now, and he’s in a car that seems to have gotten smaller, with two people who he doesn’t know anymore, but they’ve gotten louder.
“Put your seat belt on,” James snaps. He pauses, then turns to look over his shoulder. “And be louder, Albus, I forgot you were here.”
“It’s strange,” Lily says, twisting in her chair to look at him. Her makeup is smudged under her eyes, but it doesn’t hide the dark purple circles beneath them, or the red lines marring the whites of her eyes. She smiles at him, truly and genuinely and it reaches her eyes, but it looks like it feels unfamiliar on her face. “The three of us back together. The Potter brats, on one last great adventure.”
“We didn’t go on adventures in the first place,” Albus murmurs and looks down at his shoes. The laces are a pure white, the edges not scuffed. He’s sitting next to a pile of trash - burger wrappers and empty soda bottles fighting for space alongside a duffel bag with a broken zip and two pairs of boots in drastically different sizes.
“That’s a lie,” Lily says, but she’s turning back in her seat, curling into herself and leaning against the window. When Albus looks up, James is looking at him in the mirror, eyes narrowed and Albus can see the protectiveness in them. She’s his baby sister now, not theirs.
He feels sick, he thinks. He shouldn’t be doing this. He should be at home. He opens his mouth, ready to tell James to turn the hell around. James would say no, though, Albus knows that. He’d do it to spite Albus and he’d do it because that’s what Lily would want.
He takes a deep breath and clenches his fists into his jeans.
The last great adventure. He can do that.
Emily/Gryff/62