A/N: Ok, so I am on a roll… Why is it easier to write when you need to be doing something else? I know the diary link(s) aren't working right now. Something is wrong on the website's end. I tested them and they work fine when I first created it (rather annoying that isn't not working now). So, read and review so I know if you are liking it (I might just stop if you aren't enjoying it any more).
Disc.: I own a sock monkey, this laptop, and I am making payments on the car. The rest I own naught.
***
C35: Washington vs. Washington
Lily had checked into the modest little hotel just outside of the Nation's capital. She had rented a car, and luckily she had better luck driving Alice and Frank versus this time last year. She didn't mention this as she drove and parked the car back at the hotel. She had already broken her own rule and magically altered the size of their hotel room so that it would comfortable accommodate the three of them and the four Marauders. She just couldn't see being crammed in the tiny hotel room together and not argue.
"Sustenance! Feed me!" Alice called eagerly as Lily dumped an arm load of the snacks on to one of the beds. Lily laughed and climbed into the unoccupied bed. She watched as Alice picked through the snacks, glancing at her watch.
"Anything good for me to eat, Alice?" Frank asked suggestively as he came out of the bathroom. Lily glanced up and laughed, covering her eyes.
"Oh, sorry Lily," Frank said covering his body. "I didn't realize that you were back."
"Um, it's ok," Lily said with her cheek aflame and her hand still over her eyes. Alice laughed.
"Like you've not see this before," Alice teased.
"It was Sirius' and still, it is different," Lily said shaking her head hard.
"I'm decent," Frank promised. Lily glanced up to see a fairly decently dressed in sweats and a tee shirt. Lily grinned.
"I think you've just got to add Remus and Peter to your voyeurism and then you've seen all the Gryffindor boys in our year," Alice said.
"No, actually just Peter, but I'd rather not," Lily said making her face.
"You saw Remus?" Alice asked as she pushed Frank away.
"Accidentally walked in on him," Lily said grinning. She glanced at her watch, again.
"Are you expecting someone?" Frank asked raising an eyebrow.
"It's July first," Lily said absent mindedly. "James should be here today."
"He'll be here," Alice promised. Alice gave Lily a look and nodded toward the door suggestively, though slightly. "So, you said that you were going for a walk around the capital for a bit."
"I get it, I get it," Lily said climbing up off the bed. "I'll go for a walk, newlyweds."
"You'll be here with us soon enough yet," Alice taunted as Lily shut the door behind. Lily shook her head and drove the rental car to the tourist part of town. Lily found herself walking around the various monuments, taking pictures.
"God, this is boring alone," a man murmured as Lily stood taking a picture of the Washington Monument. Lily glanced over at him and smiled.
"You're alone?" Lily asked quietly.
"Ah, a foreigner?" He asked. He outstretched his hand, his blue eyes bright and his thick waves of brown hair glinting with flecks of golden strands. "I'm Gable Aubrey, from West Virginia. Where are you from?"
"I'm Lily," she said as she shook his hand. "I'm Surrey, England."
"Welcome to America," he said grinning as he spread his arms to gesture the world. "So you're here all alone?"
"Oh, no," Lily laughed. "There are seven of us."
"Couldn't talk them into walking blisters in your feet?" Gable asked. Lily shook her head.
"Two of them are newlyweds, so they are preoccupied," Lily said chuckling slightly. The man laughed, nodding. "And the other four are supposed to meet us today. I kind of wished they'd hurry up because I don't want to look at the Lincoln memorial alone or visit Arlington National Cemetery alone. James knows I hate to look alone."
"A boyfriend?" Gable asked. Lily nodded.
"Yeah, my boyfriend James is supposed to be in that group," Lily said. "He's supposed to meet me here in Washington. Flying into Atlanta."
"Why Atlanta? Why not New York?" Gable asked. Lily shrugged.
"I never understood that. Alice, Frank, and I flew in to New York," Lily said shrugging. "He and his friends always have to be different."
"While you wait, do you want to grab some lunch?" Gabe asked suddenly. Lily looked at him, surprised.
"No, I don't think so, thanks for the offer though," Lily said shaking her head. "It's more like dinner for me and anyways, I am sure that Alice and Frank would worry for me"
"Should you change your mind," Gable said writing a number on a slip of paper. "I'm staying at this number."
Lily put it in her pocket without even looking at it. She waved good-bye to the stranger and headed back to her car. She glanced at her watch and headed back to the rental car. She wondered if James and the others had made it to the hotel room yet. She had been missing him terribly, and while not getting a single note from him had bothered her, she refused to dwell on it. Lily got into the driver's seat, starting to drive back toward the hotel. Suddenly, she felt ill and pulled off of the road just in time. Lily threw open the door enough to stick her head out and vomit all over the asphalt.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
James held the itinerary in one hand and a map in another. This was his third attempt to get directions. The Marauders had flown into Atlanta without a problem, caught their connecting flight to Washington, and successfully rented a car that Remus was currently piloting. They were having a hard time understanding the locals at the petrol stations, though, and had been driving around for hours.
"Son, this is Washington… this whole place," the clerk behind the counter said waving his hand in front of him. James glanced around. It didn't look like Washington at all; it looked like a petrol station.
"We're looking for the monument," James said. The guy raised an eyebrow at him and pointed at the mountain in the distance.
"That's the most famous place here in Washington," the clerk said. "It hasn't erupted in over a hundred years, though, so if you're coming hoping that it will you're in for a sad trip for nothing. It probably won't ever erupt again."
"Um, ok," James said slightly confused. "How do you get there?"
"I wouldn't, but only because I have no desire to go there, but you? To get there, you're going to take a left out of here and head up to the state road five. The visitor center is right there, you can't miss it," the clerk said. James looked at where the guy was pointing at on the map.
"These cars take gallons of gas," Remus murmured as he came in. "I wonder how gallons relate to liters."
"About four to one, give or take," the clerk said as he rang up Remus' gas purchase. "That'll be six dollars and thirty two cents."
"Hm," Remus said as he looked at the money that they had converted to pounds in London then into dollars when they had reached the States. He handed the clerk seven dollars and received his change.
"So what are you boys doing so far from home?" The clerk ask curiously.
"My girl friend planned this tour thing for us," James said. He leaned toward the clerk. "I'm going to ask her to marry me."
"I could think of better places than the mountain," the clerk muttered as they left.
James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter stood at the base of the inactive volcano, rather bored. The glanced at each other skeptically. Remus routed around in his bag and pulled out the site-seeing book Lily had given him. He flipped to the picture of the monument she had really wanted to see.
"It looks different," Sirius murmured.
"It is different," Remus said frowning as he glanced at the picture of the tall, pointing monument. He stopped a man who was standing around with his family. "Excuse me sir, where would this be? Is it behind the mountain, on the other side?"
"Golly son! You're on the wrong end o'der world! Shelia! Shelia! These boys are lost!" the man called to a woman who was trying to wrangle three boys back into their overalls.
"G'damn, Jefferson," Shelia hollered. "Whatchin' you want me to der about it?"
"Boys, you're on the wrong coast. How'n the hell did you four manage a'get all the way out `ere?" Jefferson asked.
"We flew into Atlanta," James said.
"Alanner? Been der once, right next to our good ol' home state of Allerbamer," Jefferson said. "Come cop a squat with us for vittles an' we'll point you to the innerstate."
"I don't think we should," Remus said shaking his head. James looked at Sirius befuddled and shrugged, not certain the man was even speaking English. "We've got to get an idea of where we're really supposed to be."
"Come on," Sirius begged. "Free food."
So the four joined the others for a meal made right there in their RV, so lovingly called Betsy. The kids were silent, watching the four foreign boys eat and talk, fascinated with their accents and such. James stepped out to use the payphone, ducking under its modest covering from rain that had decided to start up, dialing with much difficulty the hotel's telephone number. A man answered the phone.
"Holiday Inn," he said in a too chipper to be real voice.
"Um, yes," James said. "I'm calling about the party in room 308. I was wondering if I could ring the room please."
"Just one second, please remain on the line," the chipper clerk said. The phone was silent a moment before the man came back. "I'm sorry sir. It seems that they aren't answering. Would you like to leave a message?"
"Yes, please let them know that the Marauders, that's spelled M-A-R-A-U-D-E-R-S, the Marauders ended up getting lost and we will be there soon," James said. The man read the message back to James.
"Any return number?" The clerk asked.
"No, we're just trying to get oriented with where we are," James said.
"Ok, well I'll leave the message for them," the clerk said.
"Please make sure that they get it," James pleaded. He heard the sound of a piece of paper rip.
"I am putting it in their box right now," the clerk said as a new guest walked up, his hand still placing the message in the slot. "If there is nothing more?"
"No, thank you sir," James said.
"Thank you for calling Holiday Inn," the clerk said and hung up the phone.
"James, we've got a problem," Remus said as he pulled out the itinerary and the book, trying in vain to protect it from the rain. "Jefferson in there says we're really off from where we want to be."
"Is that so?" James asked crossly. "You can understand him?"
"Son, this is a monument in Washington, as in Washington State. You want to be at the Washington Monument in Washington D.C.," Jefferson said scratching his head slightly. He pulled his fingers free of his balding scalp, glancing at them before flicking the little white flakes that clung under his dirty nails. "Damn scalp condition."
It was all it took for Remus and James to continue looking at the man. Inside they were disgusted, and James lost his appetite. James told Remus that he left a message for the girls and Frank. Within thirty minutes, the four were heading away from the stupid mountain that was obviously not where they were supposed to be. They stopped at the same petrol station from before, this time Remus and James went in with the sightseeing book and Lily's perfectly scrolled itinerary.
"Back so soon? Did she say no?" The clerk asked.
"We think we are in the wrong place," James said quickly as Remus spread the book out on the counter and placed the itinerary next to it.
"Where is this?" Remus asked quickly. The clerk looked at them and then the book.
"It is on the other side of the country, son," the clerk said. "That is our nation's capital."
"She should have said something to that effect," James grumbled. The clerk pointed at Lily's neat itinerary.
"See those two letters right there, the D and the C? Those differentiate from Washington the state and Washington the Capital," the clerk said. "It stands for… actually, I don't know what it stands for but it stands for something."
"How do we get there?" James asked. "And how long does it take?"
"To drive?" The clerk asked shaking his head. "It's a little over twenty three hundred miles."
"Doesn't sound too bad," James thought aloud, his face hopeful. Remus shook his head.
"James, that's over thirty seven kilometers," Remus said. James' face fell. "And we have to do it the muggle way."
"The what way?" The clerk asked curiously.
"Oh, the American way," Remus said quickly.
"We could fly," James suggested.
"Good luck getting tickets," the clerk said. "This time of year, everyone wants to get in on that action."
"How long would it take to drive then?" Remus asked. The clerk shrugged.
"I'd say if you drive straight through, forty two hours, give or take," the clerk said. He pulled out a map of the United States of America and a scrap of paper. He carefully traced the path on the map, and wrote verbal directions.
"How much for the map?" Remus asked. The clerk shook his head.
"Boys, it's on the house," the clerk said. "I hope you get to where you're going."
"We have until the Forth, and then Lily's gone," James said. Remus nodded as he took the map and book.
"Thanks, sir," Remus said and the two joined Sirius and Peter in the car.
"So, where is the monument thing?" Sirius asked. James sat in the passenger seat.
"On the other side of the country," Remus said as he started the car. "Seems like we are going to have ourselves a little road trip."
"I knew we should have let Lily arrange our tickets for us," Peter grumbled from the back seat. "Can't we just apparate there?"
"No," James said. He shook his wand. A few pathetic sparks dribbled from its tip. "Damn thing doesn't work right."
"Let's just get started, ok? Where are we aiming for James?" Remus asked as he pulled out into traffic.
"Um, looks like Interstate 90 for like nine hundred miles," James said as he stored his wand in his pocket, completely ignoring the fact that the itinerary was gone.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Lily walked into the lobby of the hotel, not feeling really well. She walked up to the front desk where a pretty girl was standing. Lily waited patiently as the woman checked the box for room 803, Lily, Alice, and Frank's room.
"No, ma'am," the clerk said in a bubbly voice. "No messages for room Eight-oh-Three."
"Thank you," Lily said as she headed upstairs. She completely ignored Alice and Frank sleeping in each other's arms. Lily climbed into the other bed, closed her eyes, and dozed off until Alice woke her.
"We're going to go get dinner," Alice said as she looked at her friend.
"I don't feel great," Lily said quietly. "You go."
"Is it because James isn't here?" Alice asked. Lily shook her head.
"I knew he'd never make it on time," Lily said. "I must have just eaten something that didn't agree with me."
"Do you want me to just send Frank out to get something?" Alice asked concerned. Lily shook her head.
"Nah, I'll just eat your left over food when you get back," Lily said waving them off. Lily waited until they were safely clear of the room before she climbed out of bed and ran straight into the bathroom. She vomited until she felt void of food she'd had yet to even eat.
"What is wrong with me?" Lily asked as she wiped the tears from her eyes and rinsed her mouth of the acidic and foul bile from her mouth. She closed her eyes, counting in her head… "Twenty three would have two weeks ago… so… thirty seven… I am on day thirty seven of my cycle."
Realization hit her like an icy wave. She was nine days late.
-->