This Time, Last Time (A Harry Potter Universe Fanfiction)

17.

Say, if I ran through the rain,

And I jumped on a train

Said, give me a ticket anywhere

Would you come with me or would you

disappear into thin air?

-"All I Ask," Natalie Holmes

---

July 2018

James did not rush into work on Monday morning. Raigan's parents had stayed the weekend, only leaving just before dinnertime on Sunday night, and he'd spent the remainder of the evening playing Exploding Snap with Piper. Raigan, exhausted from a weekend of entertaining, had preceded them to bed bringing his count of days in which he had not had a private conversation with her up to eight.

She had woken up at five because she'd gone to bed so early so they sat at the kitchen table, cups of coffee in their hands. James had just finished filling her in on the events of the past week, all of which she had shown spectacular interest in, and yet, he couldn't help feeling she was waiting for the right time to bring up what she really wanted to talk about. It was seven oh eight exactly when she changed the subject.

"So," she said, lowering her mug from her lips. "You were with Elise a lot of the week, weren't you?"

Her tone, so mum-like, made him feel like he was a kid who'd just been caught arm's length into the candy jar. He purposely did not look up at her. "Some of it yeah," he said evasively.

"And?" said Raigan.

"And what?"

"And what happened?" she asked. "What are you thinking?"

James chanced a glance at her; her eyes looked bright and awake.

"Did you know Juliet's got four kids now?" he said.

"Of course," said Raigan, which surprised James very much. "She's due in February with the fifth."

"How did you know that?" asked James, utterly flabbergasted.

"I'm a mum," she said. "There's a network, you know? And her oldest is only a year younger than Pipe."

"Olivia," he nodded, still trying to reconcile himself to the fact that Raigan had kept up with Elise's younger sister all these years, or at the very least knew of her life by association. "Elise said she'll be at Hogwarts this year."

"Right," said Raigan. "Anyway, you're changing the subject. I didn't ask about Juliet, I asked about Elise."

"I don't know," said James. He was very distracted by this new knowledge. "We went out for a drink on Wednesday and then Thursday we-" he stopped.

"Stayed over at her house," Raigan filled in.

"Yeah," he said.

"So it's going well then?"

"I think- I mean, I don't know. We're just... I don't know." James took a long sip of his coffee to give him time to think of something to say about it, but he couldn't get past the fact that Raigan was possibility still in contact with Juliet. "Do you like... are you friends with her or something?" he asked.

"Elise?"

"No."

"Juliet," she said. "Of course not. She's a very Public Mum, you know. The wizarding community isn't large."