And then he was awake.

He slowly became aware of what he was lying on, something that was soft and spiky and tickled against his bare cheek.

There was something warm, like heat from a radiator, on his face, and combined with the grass under his fingers he deduced that the warmth and the light bright even through his closed eyelids was sunlight. Wind skipped across his face and blew through his hair, and he was so comfortable that it took him a minute to realise that he probably should get up.
Blinking fiercely and holding up a hand to shield his eyes from the sun, James Potter climbed slowly to his feet and brushed the grass off of his trousers, scanning the area as his basic Defence classes kicked in.
Look around, access the area and situation.

There was a tall gnarly old tree that reached up to the sky, leaves waving lazily in the warm breeze. In the distance there were what looked like houses, so James swallowed back his thirst and jogged across the meadow towards them.
Then he stumbled, and stopped.

Memories were rushing through his head like cars zooming past on a road; he could only catch a glimpse of them before they rushed past and were lost in the weary heat and his own tiredness.
James started off again with new urgency as his fingers failed to close around his wand, which was unusually absent from his pocket.

The houses were squat, cosy little buildings, with pretty front gardens and hedges and sprinklers that made a droning whir as they sprayed him with water. The road he had to cross to get to them was quiet and still, dust rising in lazy spirals as he kicked it up from the gutter.

As he hurried up the front path to the first house James suddenly realised that he had no idea what he was about to say, or do, but it was too late because his fist had hammered on the glass door and made it shake, there was the blurry shape of someone fumbling the keys behind the frosted glass and then a elderly woman opened the door.

Her dress looked too big on her, bright oranges and pinks and reds, but it clashed wonderfully with the pumpkin coloured knitted scarf she had tossed around her neck and she peered at him, setting her glasses on her nose with two fingers.

"Yes?"
"I, umm, I just...I'm lost. Would it be possible for you to tell me where I am, and what date it is, and what year it is, just in case?"
"That does sound rather lost. You're on the outskirts of Spinners End, dear, on the 13th of June 1995."
"Right. 1995." James massaged his temples with his index fingers. "What's the quickest way out of town? I need to get to London."
"You could get a bus dear, into the town a mile that way, and there's a train station near there."
"Okay. Did you say...Spinners End?"

"Yes dear, near to Spinners End, anyway."
"Lily lived here..." His voice trailed off, and then started again excitedly. "Do you know anyone called Evans? Lily Evans?"
"The Evans? They're from across the way."
"Across the way?"
"In the posher part of town, dear."
"Alright. Do you know if they still live here?"

James' memories were too scrambled to work out if he knew Lily's parents.
"They passed away, dear, a good few years back now. I remember...Lily, did you say?"
"Yeah, my wife."
"Oh, she's your wife, is she? She came down here looking for someone. Knocked on my door just like you did. But that would have been...ooh, I was a lot younger then. Good thing I've still got my memory, eh?"

"Yeah, yeah it is. Thank you. Sorry for troubling you."

James started to walk into the town, because it is always good to have a purpose, (even when that purpose is to walk until you miraculously find a wand and a map), and as he walked to count off what he had on his fingers. This thing was, it was getting difficult to list things he had, so he started to list the things he didn't have.

"Shit, okay, I don't have...money...wand...means of transport...anyway of contacting anyone...and I'm stuck in 1995. Last time I checked, it was...1981. Okay, so...the world isn't on my side. But what do I have? ...Charisma? I don't think that's going to help me here…okay, we're staying positive. I know where I am...sort of...and I know who I need to find, Lily, which means…" He trailed off, then slapped a hand to his forehead angrily. "Harry! How could I forget-"
Someone appeared with a faint pop, grabbed his arm tightly and Disapparated, his cold fingers closing around James' arm like a bracket of steel as the familiar feeling of Apparating filled his senses, glorifying at having him in his grasp.
Then he could breathe again as he touched hit solid ground, but only for a second because then someone collided with him, hard, and was sobbing into his shoulder.
"What-"
"You're…is it…James?"
"Yeah…?"
"You're…and…Sirius!"
Remus' shout nearly deafened James, who grabbed at his ears out of habit, and there was the sound of feet thundering on stairs, and Remus stepped back as James took in the sight of his best friend.
They're older? What the-
He'd barely had time to gasp when Sirius had hurtled into him too.
"God, James-"

James stood there, bewildered, as they both crushed him in hugs, and then wriggled out of their grasps.
"Hold up, hang on guys, what's going on, it's 1995? Where's Harry? And Lily? What's happening? Where are we? Is that...Sirius, is that beard?

Let me know what you thought!
Fly x