PART 1

The Friday that had promised to be mediocre and ordinary started out just as it should've. Lily had managed to spill tea of a light color onto her cream blouse, so it darkened, but overall wasn't noticeable. Some important documents had been lost by the receptionist in her effort to copy them, and Lily was now dealing with the fallout.

"What do you mean you lost them?"

"I'm sorry they weren't in the copy box," the young receptionist defended herself politely.

"It's fine," Lily sighed. "Just get Reagan's assistant to find them online, make two copies, and put them on my desk."

The receptionist nodded and started punching the assistant's number when Lily spoke again, "Oh- and, don't tell Reagan we lost them"

With one fire put out and another sure to be around the corner, Lily plopped into her office chair.

She was in the midst of massaging her temples when someone knocked on the wall of her cubicle. It was a young man that she'd never seen before. He had shaggy hair, further unruled by his hand running through it, and thin wire-rimmed glasses. When she looked in his direction a kind smile broke out on his face. He extended his hand to her and she took it.

"Hi there- I'm James; a new temp here. I was just going around introducing myself,"

"It's lovely to meet you, James, I'm Lily Evans."

"Ah James," said a voice coming from behind Lily. She turned her head about found Reagan walking their way. "I see you've found Lily- wonderful. She's quite the asset to this company."

"That's me," blushed Lily. "all asset."

James let a laugh escape and grinned wildly while looking at the floor. Reagan had already lost her attention, and continued on her route around the office.

"See you around," said James, and took his leave.

The stretch of a long day's work was painfully close to payoff. Lily was packing up her things when Reagan stopped by her desk to inform her that she needed to stay late and finish organizing reports for a meeting in the morning.

"Don't worry, you won't be doing it alone," she gestured to the back. "James has offered to stay late and help out."

She passed Lily the company credit card. "Get some take-away. Fast food- nothing fancy."

Lily took the credit card from her.

"Thank you, Lily, goodnight." She watched Reagan walk out the office and turn her engine over.

She put her things back and went to find James at his desk.

"Looks like we have work to do,"

At the sound of her voice, a grin broke out on his face. "It looks like we do,"

Lily flashed the credit card between her fingers. "Chinese or Indian?" she grinned proudly.

He raised his brows and answered, "Chinese."

"I'll go put the order in," she said and walked into Reagan's office. All the information was sprawled out on the floor in not-so-neat piles. She was certainly glad for James's help, but it irked her that she didn't know why he'd offered it. Who in their right mind would volunteer to stay at work organizing reports, even if Chinese food was involved?

Lily called the restaurant and reported to James as he joined her in the office, "They said it'll be about an hour,"

He nodded and stared at the monster of paperwork before them.

"If you could go through these," said she, sitting on the floor, "and sort them by company that would be great"

"You got it," was his response. They rifled and sorted quietly for the next few minutes, each absorbed in the mindless shuffling of paper. Lily grew ever-increasingly aware of how his glasses shifting lower on his nose as he stared intensely at a contract before him. She also noticed how he pushed them back into place and continued working, mumbling quietly to himself all the while. He was cute unawares. His bravado overshadowed his mild, but equally as charming, mannerisms and quirks.

She was used to watching people, trying to make out their thought processes in the brief time she spent with them. People watching had always been impartial to her before, and yet James held her attention more than most. She didn't just want to know what he was thinking, she was inexplicably curious about the life he led. He seemed like a well-bred lad, with charm and looks enough to get him in and out of trouble as he pleases.

He glanced over at her during her contemplation of his features and she blushed, turning back to her pile as the redness spread over her cheeks.

"How long have you been working here?" he asked her.

She informed him of it being only a few years. "A graduate school friend hooked me up with an interview to fill a higher position, and I've worked my way up since."

"Impressive," he acknowledged.

"What are you doing working as a temp?"

He chuckled lightly. "I move around a lot. Temp stuff is easiest to do when you have to leave in a few months."

"Why move so much?" To say her curiosity was piqued was an understatement. She felt like she could almost guess his life, and yet, she still yearned to learn more about him.

"If I answer that, do I get to ask you a personal question?" He looked up at her from over his wire spectacles. She stared unbreakingly and extended her assent.

"Me and my mates are kinda spread out. Remus lives here year-round, Peter had flats all over for his job, and Sirius likes to always be experiencing something new. Usually I'll go with him around the world, but parts of the year I'll stay with Remus or Peter and get a job for a bit."

"Your friend...Sirius, he just travels internationally on a whim?"

"You could say that. He was raised well-off, so he's splurging his way through his inheritance in Milan, Paris, Athens, Amsterdam, and Nice; to name a few."

Lily sighed contently. "Wouldn't that be nice. Milan one day, Nice the next."

"It certainly is a lifestyle. But after a few months of that I need to be in one place for a while, just to recharge."

"What's been your favorite?"

"Oh Amsterdam, easily. We saw the tulips in full blossom and it was incredible."

"Amsterdam is your favorite because of the flowers?"

"The weed and prostitutes don't hurt," he replied cheekily.

She gwaffed and rolled her eyes back to her work.

"All right then," he challenged. "What's your favorite place?"

Lily met his eyes and responded, "Paris. The Opera Garnier."

"What's the Opera Garneigh?"

"Gar-neie." she corrected. "It's the most beautiful Opera house in the world and my favorite place on earth. You might know it from the Phantom of the Opera?"

"It rings a bell,"

"Well it's overwhelmingly decadent and so well preserved that you can't help but envision what it must've been like to attend an Opera or a Ballet there. Elbow-length gloves, elegant ball gowns, classic music, all in the heart of Paris."

James was smiling at her as she went overboard on the detail. "It sounds amazing," he assured her politely.

Lily returned his smile softly. James opened his mouth to add something, but was cut off by the office phone ringing. Lily answered it and buzzed the delivery man inside.

She excused herself from the office and went to pay for their food. When she returned, James had cleared a space for each of them to set their food down.

"Smells good," he noted.

"Best Chinese this side of the river," Lily assured him. She doled out their servings and began feasting. She had good food, promising company, and a determined mind; this night was looking to be more enjoyable than she'd ever first hoped for.

This break had allowed each of them to attend to the other more fully, without the burden of work pressing on their minds.

"Do you want to stay at this company forever?" James asked between bites.

"I believe it's my turn to ask the question," she informed him.

"I didn't realize we were taking turns,"

"Well we are now and it's your turn to answer." She punctuated this order with a bite of her eggroll. "If you could have the life of anyone, whose would it be?"

"Do book characters count?"

Lily nodded that they did.

"Then I suppose I'd like to be Gulliver."

"From Gulliver's travels? You know he gets brainwashed by horses, right?"

"Okay so maybe not that part, but I think traveling to all those miraculous places would be pretty cool. My dad used to read me chapters as stories, and they always sounded like such amazing places full of interesting people."

"Jonathan Swift is very clever," Lily acknowledged.

"And you? Who would you want to be?"

"It's hard to choose just one," she admitted. 'But I guess I'd have to go with Elizabeth Bennet or Dante Alighieri."

"Those two are wildly different," James pointed out in a way that showed he didn't mind the contrast, but found it amusing and enchanting instead. "And why, pray tell, those two?"

"Well Elizabeth Bennet is quite obvious I should think. Every girl might hope to meet a man half of what Mr. Darcy is. The other, I find simply compelling. To go through all the layers of hell, purgatory, and heaven and live to tell the tale is a life like no other."

"It certainly would be something, though I'm not sure hell would be my first choice of book universe," he cracked as smile.

"To each his own," replied she, and toasted him with the last of her eggroll.

They passed the night after that talking of all sorts of things. The work was accomplished, perhaps a bit slower than it could've been if both parties hadn't been so engrossed by the other. Lily had even laughed so hard at once point lo mein almost came out of her nostrils. Neither could recall the last time they'd laughed so hard while at work; and neither wanted to stop the laughter as their workload dwindled to an end.

"What would you say to getting a drink?" James asked her as they stacked the paper's neatly on Reagan's desk.

"I'd say you're on- but only if I'm buying. It's the only way I can think of to say thank you for your help. I probably wouldn't be done for hours if it wasn't for you,"

He waved off her offer. "Time spent with great company is time not wasted."

It was only ten, and on a Friday night, Lily could comply with a late night if it meant she could spend more time with James.

James led them out of the building and to his car. It was certainly nicer than what could be afforded on a temp's salary.

"It's my mate Remus's," he told her. "He works from home; says I can use it whenever I'd like,"

He helped her into the car and started off towards the nightlife. "Pub of choice?"

She shook her head. "I don't fancy anywhere in particular. Dealer's choice."

"You asked for it," he grinned, and sped off towards his favorite homely tavern.

The Phoenix had all the charm and rusticness that a Bristol pub should have. It was a bit of a hole in the wall, but its customers were loyal and kept the repairs at bay tolerably enough. James found a spot round the back and parked the car.

"This," he gestured to the neon sign above them, "is the Phoenix. Best draft beer of your life." He opened the door for her and led her to a table tucked in the corner by the bar.

"What's your poison?"

"Whatever they have on tap is fine with me," she answered him.

"I appreciate the simplicity; I'll be right back,"

James expertly maneuvered his way through the patrons to the barkeep, who he greeted as an old friend. The bartender appeared to be about the same age as James, though he had a face more worn by life that added a few years to his features. He poured a pitcher for them and handed James the glasses, who, in turn, tipped him generously and made his way back to their table.

"A friend of yours?" Lily asked.

"Been selling to us since before we could legally drink, Arthur has."

Lily poured their drinks and offered a toast, "To friends in high places,"

"To unlikely friendships," he countered. She tilted her head to him and tapped his glass.

"Do you believe us really so different as to not being friends?" Lily asked him over the rim of her glass.

"It's not that we're different to a point where we can't be friends, only that it's unlikely." He answered.

"And why's that?"

James let out a light chuckle. "I find you rapturously invigorating, but I can also see us butting heads on touchy subjects. You're the flame to my spark, so to speak."

"You're saying we're both hotheads?"

He tilted his head sideways and weighed his answer. "In the best way possible, yes"

They spent the remainder of the night like this, hunched over the table from opposite ends, engrossed in each other's presence as the pitcher's contents dwindled away.

Finally, at one am, when they were both right and properly drunk, James suggested they call it a night.

"My flat is right around the corner. We could sober up there and then I'll take you home, okay?"

Lily nodded her agreement as she was much too busy keeping herself from falling straight on her face on the empty sidewalk.

The warmth of his lobby was welcome on her frozen knuckles and nose.

"Think you'll be able to make it up the stairs?"

Lily hiccuped a giggle in response, prompting both of them to burst into laughter all the way up the two floors to his flat. They stumbled through the door, sides aching and weezing, until James guided Lily to the couch and she flopped down.

Once she settled on the couch and cuddled a pillow, James sagged at the opposite end and sighed.

A light flicked on from one of the back rooms. Remus, rubbing sleep from his eyes, mumbled sleepily, "Wha's goin on?"

"Remus!" James sprung up from the couch and ran to embrace the tall, lanky fellow.

"You smell like the floor of a bar," noted Remus.

"You always did have a way with words, old Moony man." James patted his chest and perched on a barstool.

"Coffee?"

"Please,"

"Any for your friend you have yet to introduce yet?"

"Ah! Right- Remus this is Lily; she's an uber-genius at the new temp place I'm at. We-" he gestured wildly between him and Lily, "went out," James walked his fingers across his palm slowly, "for drinks." Here he threw back a mock drink and smiled satisfied.

Lily rose from her place on the couch and took the stool next to James. She shook Remus's hand and accepted the coffee he'd poured for her. She sipped it graciously and let the coffee warm her stomach with its familiar sensation.