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

26.

You're the scars on my skin,

You're the past I don't wanna erase.

You're the words on my lips that have left

But I still seem to taste.

-"Lost My Mind," Alice Kristiansen

August 2018

The next two days passed without much to do. James and Elise sat around the pool or sometimes on the beach nearby the resort, trying to appear as though they were not following the Annistons while also staying near enough to listen in on the conversation. The previous afternoon at the beach, James had tucked one end of a pair of Extendable Ears, disguised with a disillusionment charm for good measure, in the sand behind their chairs as he and Elise passed by lugging a cooler and a large beach bag. Even with the Extendable Ears, a sneakoscope, and a handful of Decoy Detonators tucked away under their things, it was difficult to remember to pay attention to the case while sitting on a hot, sandy beach in Spain.

James could see both Elise and Anniston growing more and more agitated as time passed; Elise because they were making no progress on the case, had not even collected any sort of evidence they could use to arrest their suspect; and Anniston, presumably, because he had not been able to locate the dagger. They hadn't heard anything from Maria since their visit to the ministry which James hoped meant that nothing of incident had happened. They had been on Anniston's tail near constantly to the severe detriment of their sleep so James was pretty sure there hadn't been an opportunity for him to slip away and make any trouble.

This morning however, when the Annistons were finishing up their breakfast around a round table on the patio behind the hotel, they heard him announce that he wanted to do a bit of exploring beyond the resort today, take a look at some of the local homes and architecture.

Elise, who had been sulkily picking at a spot on her knee, perked up at once. She glanced at him. In the past few days, James had gotten nervous every time they made eye contact. Their argument had been minor and over very quickly, but it still brought back memories of the how everything had ended. He was so hyper aware of himself, of the things he did, and the things he said to her. He didn't want to mess it all up again.

It was just, they had jumped into things so quickly, had begun pretending it was all normal after only a few weeks, when really, it was all very abnormal, this constant sense of deja vu, of scrambling to catch up on lost time. In so many ways, things were exactly the same; Elise was exactly the same. But in so many other ways, everything had changed.

The rapidly approaching school year had him worried, too. It would just be different. He had never known Elise when they weren't coworkers. But maybe this would be for the better. It would certainly relieve the pressure he'd felt ever since she had gotten annoyed with him the other night.

And then he realized he was doing it again, thinking more about Elise and his relationship with her than the task at hand.

"Should we send an owl to Maria, just in case?" he muttered.

She didn't answer right away, one ear trained on the Anniston's conversation.

"Where would we get an owl around here, though?" she said, her voice equally soft. "All muggles."

"Good point," said James. "We could send a patronus, but-" He paused and lowered his voice even further, leaning in on the pretense of making to kiss her on the cheek, because Mrs. Anniston had just glanced their way. "One of us would have to go back up to the room." He kissed her cheek and added, "Too many muggles around."