entrancelogs | ( semi-open ) love is a many splendored thing

Entry tags:

( semi-open ) love is a many splendored thing

Who: Everyone who signed up for SHIPPING
Where: All around Wonderland! See below for specific locations.
When: Tuesday, September 9, evening
Rating: PG13 just to be safe, but if anything gets steamy (she hopes it does), I can up the rating.
Summary: Becky sets Wonderlanders up on blind dates. Also, will be image heavy.
The Story:

You receive a letter under your door sometime on the afternoon of Tuesday, September 9. This letter will be addressed to you in fancy script (Becky's best attempt at calligraphy) from a "secret admirer." You might be wondering, but it isn't February! What's with all the romantic nonsense? Well, my good friend, romance can be celebrated on more than just one day out of the year. That day happens to be today. The letter will ask you to meet your secret admirer at 6PM at a designated location. You'd best not be late! A night of romance (and perhaps even intimacy) awaits you! At least, she hopes so...

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[Sirius does his best to keep any real emotion off his face, but he ultimately can't help how his lips turn downwards. He isn't happy about any of this. He understands-- and trusts --that James thought he was, to an extent, doing the right thing. Or at least that he wasn't deliberately doing a wrong thing. But that doesn't really change the fact that this hurts, and hurts immensely.

When James suggests the chess, it feels a bit like a twist of the knife. Not that James knows that. And they've certainly played chess before. But the implications in this setting make things more difficult. Although at this point "difficult" might just mean "annoying". He's going to have to give whoever set this up a talking to.]

I suppose. Although I don't know what the point of is. You always win.

[That's sort of just the James Potter Story all over, isn't it?]

[It's always difficult when Sirius goes quiet this way, and it's hard not to feel like he needs to talk twice as much to make up for it. There are other times where they can have an entire conversation in the silence between them, but when it's a fight between them there's a difference.

James tries not to let it show either though. He just seats himself down in front of the black side of the chessboard.]

I do not. [Yes, he does. Unless Remus is playing.] Besides, the point is that it's fun, and you'll never beat me if you don't at least try. It'll take a while to say everything that needs to be said anyhow, so it's something to do in the meantime.

[Despite the somber things he needs to tell him about, James manages to keep his smile bright and friendly.]

C'mon, I'll even let you go first. You can play white.

[He says it like it's a special offer, but James has always let him go first, every time they've ever played.]

[Sirius rolls his eyes. He's heard that a thousand times, and he's never fared any better as a result of this supposed advantage. Ah, well. At least it means he has something to stare at and fiddle with as James gets into...whatever this will end up being.

He doesn't dwell too long on the first move, shifting a knight out of its place before gesturing vaguely at James and settling back against the pillows.]

Alright. Where do we begin?

[James thinks for a minute, more on how to tell the story than where to move his piece, but he pretends it's the other way around. Eventually, he moves a knight out as well, on the opposite side.]

It's odd having to move them ourselves...

[He's stalling too much. There's officially no avoiding it anymore, and he sighs.]

Right, so...have you met anyone who already seemed to know who you are just from your name? Or Muggles who know a little too much about Hogwarts and magic? [He pauses, and then fishes his letter out of his pocket and holds it up.] Actually, this is a good example - Peter and Lily wouldn't have done this, but someone knew our names.

[Sirius knows what he means. Their other names.]

It's because this witch, someone going by the name J.K. Rowling...she's written these books. Seven of them. ...About our futures, sort of.

[Sirius is about to point out that James had told him these muggles knew about magic, but then James pulls out the letter. Being aware of Hogwarts because of magical extended family was one thing. It happened. But their nicknames, the nicknames they gave each other because of the illegal, secret magic they did together.

He presses his lips together tightly and moves a pawn.]

"Sort of"? [He pulls a pillow into his lap and starts fiddling with it.] Why are we even worth writing about? I mean. Not that I'm not thrilled with fame, since obviously it's all I've ever deserved, but. Still a bit...surprising.

[James stuffs the letter away again to make his move - bringing out his second knight so they stand like two guards in front of all his other pieces.]

Well, it's not so much us, exactly. They're all set around fifteen or twenty years in our future, about some boy named Harry Potter who's inherited his father's dashing good looks and his mum's beautiful green eyes.

[This is clearly not the part of the story James is worried about telling. He grins and raises his eyebrows a couple of times, as if to silently say "Yes, that means exactly what you think it means.".]

There's seven books about him, about each year at school. He's probably the most famous child in the entire wizarding world.

[He hesitates on the "why" though. Let's just be happy for a minute that James and Lily are apparently going to have an incredibly famous baby, mm?]

[James' excitement is catching, and Sirius can't help but grin.]

Harry, is it? I imagine his middle name must be Sirius, then.

[The next bit of information catches him mid-move, and he only sort of decides to actually leave his bishop where he does. Mostly he drops it, eyes flicking upwards.]

Most famous-- what for? And why would anyone want to read about his awkward teenage years?

Edited 2014-10-22 01:44 (UTC)

[That puts one of his pawns in danger, so James slides the pawn next to it one square ahead. That way, if Sirius wants to try and take it, he's going to lose his bishop immediately. He never promised he'd go easy on him.]

It's James actually, but I'll bet you threw a fit over it for months.

[He doesn't actually know - the books are sort of vague about that time in their lives. And he tries to hold onto that smile, he really does, but it slips into something a little...sadder.]

Well...when he's just a baby, he becomes the only person to ever survive the Killing Curse. Voldemort tries to kill him and it backfires.

[Sirius lifts his eyes from the board. He does nothing but stare incredulously for a few moments.]

He-- why would You-Know-Who even-- I don't. [His jaw snaps shut as he realizes he's babbling and he sucks a breath in, nostrils flaring.]

Why did he even bother? With...just a baby? And Harry, just, what? Baby deflected it?

[He scoffs, moving his own pawn. This story is starting to sound like it's entirely made up. He doesn't think James has that kind of imagination, but he does think he's a little naive at times...]

[James moves another pawn forward without much thought. His mental energy is being devoted to telling this story, at the moment. He does manage to snicker at the thought of baby deflection though.]

Something like that. The how is a bit complicated, and I'll get there in a moment but...well, there's going to be this prophecy, apparently. One that says Harry might be the one to able to defeat You-Know-Who once and for all.

[He wishes he hadn't made his move so quickly. His stomach is turning over now, and he wishes he had something to do with his hands.]

So...naturally that makes Harry a target, and Lily and I will take him and go into hiding. Of course.

[But clearly something happens between going into hiding and Voldemort attempting to kill their child.]

[Sirius is silent for a while. He uses intense contemplation of the board to cover how much this is worrying him. Eventually, he moves a bishop and mutters:]

Hard to picture you being okay in hiding. You'd go stir crazy so fast.

[Was that the problem? Did James make a mistake?]

Edited 2014-11-03 02:52 (UTC)

[James shouldn't, but he can't help looking at Sirius when he says that, with a strange sort of sadness on his face. Sadness that's more for Sirius than himself His heart breaks hearing that, knowing that Sirius will have to suffer that too - knowing that Sirius will be forced back to Grimmauld Place one day and have to live in hiding himself.

But, they aren't there yet. It's going to get confusing if he skips around, so he forces up a smile and presses on.]

Yeah, I...I can't either. I assumed I'd be on the front lines in this war.

[Of course he would. There was never any question of it.]

Anyway, you know how it goes. We'll need a secret keeper. Naturally we'll go with you, the single most trustworthy person I know...but, at the last moment, you suggest a plan to change secret keepers, because anyone would guess it's you and come after you...I don't like it at all, but it sets you up as a decoy. The only ones who will know about it are you, me, Lily...and the new secret keeper.

[As that sinks in, James moves one of his knights to challenge Sirius' bishop. It's not a real challenge, since he would lose his knight immediately to a pawn, but it's meant to look intimidating.]

[Sirius isn't thinking about the game now. He thrusts a knight out as a request, as a demand for James to just tell him.]

Alright, then. I said you change it, so you change it. Who's the new secret keeper? Who else is there?

[Remus? James' parents? Dumbledore?]

[There's a split second of hesitation. But, since Sirius asked outright...]

...Peter. We'll switch it to Peter, since no one would think we'd pick him first for it.

[Rather than elaborate further, he slides a pawn forward, in the path of Sirius' other bishop.]

[Sirius' pulse picks up. Peter. They picked Peter. Poor, bumbling Peter. Nobody'd pick him, not as a first choice. He was brave enough for Gryffindor, sure, but he wasn't-- he just wasn't as...

Either way, it'd be his fault.

His jaw clenches. He shoves a pawn out.]

What happened?

[This is always the hardest part, and James is visibly nervous about it. It reflects in his playing as well - he retreats his knight and hides it between three pawns.]

It...It doesn't go well.

[That's not enough, and he knows it isn't enough, but it takes him a long time to find the words.]

On Halloween, 1981...You-Know-Who pays us a visit.

[Sirius moves a pawn quickly, not really concentrating. It's almost as if he hopes that moving the pieces faster will get James to tell the story faster.]

Not for tea, I'm guessing?

No. Not for tea.

[James sides his bishop forward and nestles it between two pawns. This is it. He can't avoid it any longer.]

He kills me and Lily. And since we're the only ones who know that you and Peter switched, you'll get blamed for it. You go looking for Peter and...and he causes an explosion. He gets away as a rat, but there are casualties and a street full of witnesses. ...You're framed for Peter's murder, the murder of a dozen muggles, and for betraying us to You-Know-Who.

[Then, much quieter:]

...They throw you in Azkaban, Sirius.

[Sirius' eyes are open, but they're unfocused. They're lost in the images James is bringing to mind. James and Lily dead. He knows Peter's to blame, knows he's the only one who stood between their friends and Voldemort and he didn't simply step aside he led the way and of course Sirius went after him he had to he had no choice because it was his fault even so, somehow it was all Sirius' fault.

He deserved to go to Azkaban. Deserves.

Sirius grabs a knight, his attention shifting to the other half of the board.]

But Harry survives. What happens to him?

[His knuckles are white when he places his piece.]

[James moves up a pawn to threaten Sirius' knight, but does not put much thought into it than that. He knows Sirius well, and he knows that pain on his face. He's seen some variant of that look every time they've had this conversation, and it shatters James' heart to pieces every time.

Contrary to Sirius' thoughts, James firmly believes he doesn't deserve any of this. He never has, and he never will. He's quiet when he speaks though, for this never really stops being an unpleasant story.]

Dumbledore has Hagrid bring him to Surrey, to live with his aunt and uncle - Lily's sister. Without us, they're the only family he'll have left.

[James is as delicate as he can be with that point. It means more than just Harry being alone. It means that within a few short years James' parents will be gone, and James knows they were...are precious to Sirius. It twists at James' insides to know they won't be around to see Harry grow up. He honestly doesn't know if either of them will ever see Harry at all.]

...Sirius, they're awful people. They're muggles, but they're the worst sort of muggles out there. They treat him like a house elf and make him live in the cupboard under their stairs while their own son has two bedrooms to himself. They never tell him who he is or what he is, and they blame him for any bits of accidental magic he uses. They hate him, just for being a wizard and for being Lily's son.

[Sirius ignores the danger to his knight and moves a pawn. Just as he ignores the way James pauses just long enough for the reality of Lily's sister being the only family Harry has left settle in. Because ignoring it is easier when there's so much else to take in.]

Dumbledore let Harry suffer? For years? Why wasn't the Ministry keeping an eye on him?

[James wastes a move on a pawn as well. Who cares. There's more important things to talk about.]

I dunno. It had something to do with...with how we died for him. There's some protection, but it only works with blood relatives. Supposedly, as long as as he could call it "home" it would keep him safe...which, of course, is absolute bollocks. It sounds like it's about as much of a home as your house.

[They've long moved past the point where James would have felt the need to clarify that he meant no offense. Sirius just ran away those horrible people to stay with James; any offense directed at the Blacks would be deserved at this point.]

[Sirius takes a deep breath and then lets it out. He's going to need some time to sort this out on his own, obviously, in ways that he can't with James watching him. So for now, he does his best to shift his attention back to the game, just to let his anxiety and anger abate. He can't blow up at James right now. He'll never get the whole story then.

Eventually, he moves his queen. As James ponders his next move, Sirius finally comes up with something to say that won't shut things down or start some fight:]

We can't let that happen. What do we do?

[James is actually sort of impressed. He was expecting him to lash out in fury, and to have to explain all of this in stages as he calms down. James knows better than to think that it isn't there though. That rage is quieter but it burns just as hot.]

...We need to figure out how to leave Wonderland. On our own, with all of our memories of this place in tact. If we can do that, we'll be able to change everything. We'll even be able to end the war for good, before any of this happens.

[Which sounds wonderful, but it isn't the real reason they would change things and they bother know it. With that, James nestles a knight between two of Sirius' pawns, threatening one of his bishops.]

[Sirius moves his king without thinking, eyes immediately raised back onto James' face.]

But you've been here for ages. If you haven't figured that out yet...and if we can't just leave...

[He wants to know they're putting their efforts in the right place. Because they don't know when one of them might just disappear for good.]

( semi-open ) love is a many splendored thing

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