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[James pops up o the screen, in what is clearly a pre-planned and perhaps even rehearsed message. By now he's been in Wonderland so long that the network devices are no longer a mystery to him, and he's nicely centered in front of a blackboard and grinning.]

Hullo! I'm James Potter - yes, that one, and if it sounds vaguely familiar it's likely because my future son is going to be a rather famous wizard.

[He waves a hand though, like it isn't a big deal. No one can fourth-wall James Potter harder than he's already fourth-walled himself.]

Now that that's out of the way, I've been thinking a lot about Wonderland lately, and how long it keeps people here. When I first arrived, it was fairly common for people to vanish after a year or less, but lately I've noticed more and more of us have been staying longer and longer. I'm not certain why either, but it does present one awkward problem - counting ages. [James vaguely gestures at himself.] I'll wager a guess that no one would believe I'm in my twenties, right? And it's hard to feel I'm twenty-two when I'll never look the part as long as I'm here.

[He's right. Frankly, he looks like he's barely out of school, and even that's being somewhat generous.And there's the pesky fact that he's only scheduled to live until twenty-one at home, but that's not the point.]

So, I've been thinking about how to reconcile the two ages in a way that won't take ages to explain in casual conversation, and I think I've got it.

[He steps aside and reveals a formula on the board - A (+W).]

The 'A' stands for age - the age you were when you arrived - and the 'W' is the amount of years you've spent in Wonderland. For myself that would be...[Underneath his formula he writes 17 (+5)]. So, I'd write it this way, and in conversation I'd say "seventeen and five" - you know, like that song about the blackbirds and the pies? I forget how it goes, but it'd be like that.

Does that roll off the tongue as well as I think it does? I'll keep trying to make it happen either way, and maybe it'll start to catch on. I could start a trend here! But I'd also welcome theories on why Wonderland seems to be keeping us longer and longer, because frankly that should be alarming everyone at least a bit.

[On that cheery note, he waves the camera goodbye and shuts it off.]

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[It may not be cheery, but James listens anyway, struck by how similar their situations are. He never realized - it's not as though Dean had ever mentioned it, and there was no reason for it to come up with Sam before now. At first, he doesn't know what to say. But, in those cases, sincerity usuallly does the trick.]

...Thanks. I'm sorry about your mum though, and I'm glad you're getting the chance to know her. Honestly, it's...it's like that for us too. If we can't fix things, it'll have been our only chance to know Harry. We couldn't waste that.

[Of course, there's the books, but that isn't the same thing as knowing a person.]

Does she-- [James hesitates. Maybe it's too nosy of him, but he can't help wondering. Not many people are in the same position as himself and Lily. He's not sure he's heard of anyone in Wonderland with the same sort of story as them.] ...Does she know what'll happen?

Yeah. [ He'd confirmed it by accident, once. ] She... got manipulated by a demon when she tried to save our dad's life. When it tried to come back for me, she got in its way.

[ And then, she'd come to Wonderland. Jesus. ]

If I could do anything to save her, I would. [ They'd tried, after all, and failed. ] ... I don't think time works that way, though. No matter what you try and do... you know?

[ He asks weakly, almost pleadingly. ]

That really does sound familiar...

[Not so much the manipulation, but everything else. They're going to die protecting Harry. ...And he does understand what Sam is saying. He's heard it enough times before, but it's...different when speaking to someone whose mother died the same way.

James glances downward.]

...We've got to try. Me, Lily, and Sirius, that is. Even if everyone winds up being right and we can't change anything, I wouldn't feel right about it if we just accepted that. There's no reason it has to happen. That last book is essentially an instruction manual for ending the war twenty years early. And Harry-- my son is going to live in a cupboard under the stairs, with people who don't care about him, because of some stupid prophecy!

[Maybe time doesn't work that way, but James can't just roll over. He's not going to stop until he's sure he's tried everything he can.]

Edited 2016-07-13 02:59 (UTC)

I'm not saying you should give up. [ Comes the quick response. ] Trust me, they told us we couldn't change anything and we tried anyway. It's not the same, but they said the end of the world was inevitable, and we did figure out how to stop that from happening, so... you never know. And-- No matter what happens, you're part of the reason Voldemort is stopped forever. That's something to hold onto.

[ He'll be dammed if he lets James Potter get down on himself for basically anything, okay. ]

Prophecies are crap. [ Sam finishes, with a little, nearly-embarrassed smile. ] If anyone can beat it, it's you two.

[James spends a lot of time telling other people that, even his friends, so...it's oddly good to hear it from someone else. It calms him down right away and he goes from briefly stunned to sincerely smiling in less than thirty seconds.]

...Thanks, mate. [He has a grin to match. It'd be hard not to, after that.] I'm sure we'll figure something out. ...And either way, I'm glad you're getting to spend time with your mum.

Thanks, man. [ The sentiment is returned in a weak smile. ] Means a lot.

[ There's a pause. ]

We should grab a drink sometime. Talk about something less depressing.

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