Just Vanilla (James and Char)

by **James Irvine** Sat Jul 21, 2012 5:22 am

James had killed someone else today.

It was hardly something to shout about if he was perfectly honest. The man hadn't been his first kill and he very much doubted he'd be his last. It hadn't even been particularly memorable. No explosions, no loud noises and no choir of angels to sing the man off. Just a hand over the mouth and a knife in the back.

Perhaps a poetic ended to a spy, a man who stabbed his own countrymen in the back with every piece of information he leaked to the Germans. The man was the reason why the Germans had been able to send Charlie to his home town. Didn't make him feel any less sick to his stomach that he'd killed him.

At times like this only one thing kept him from weeping.

"Just vanilla please."

by **Charlotte Smith** Sat Jul 21, 2012 5:31 am

Charlotte wondered why she had decided to come out to Diagon Alley today, but she had felt the need to be away from the Bakery for a little while, to seek out some ice cream, maybe someone that she knew would be there to speak to, she was feeling a little lonely after all.

Walking into the Ice Cream parlour, Charlotte smiled happily and she looked over the flavours in the case, her hair was still the same shade of the whitest blonde, her eyes the same shining red colour, hopefully her piercings wouldn't get her a funny look at the counter, and Charlotte had recently allowed herself to morph herself in public.

After all what were people going to do? She asked herself.

Looking up at the man paying, Charlotte did a double take, her mouth slowly dropped open and she felt tears pricking at the corners of her eyes, it couldn't be?! It had been so long...she thought for sure that he had died...but here he was.

"Uncle James!" she shouted and ran over to attatch herself around his waist.

by **James Irvine** Sat Jul 21, 2012 5:35 am

James heard the shout and began to turn when he was attacked by what appeared to be a white blonde-haired mini rocker. He was about to ask what the hell was going on when he put the pieces together. Blonde haired girl. About fourteen. Called him Uncle James. Only one girl in the world had ever called him Uncle James. He grinned wider and hugged her back happily,

"Heyo ter Charlotte!" he greeted her with a giant grin, "Bee' awhile since I see' yer! How yer been doin'?"

He grinned and ruffled her hair affectionately before turning to the owner of the store, taking his wallet back out,

"I'll buy tis girl's ice cream fer her." he told the man, "Oh an' two coke yeah?"

He turned back to Charlotte with a massive grin,

"Go' yer all grown up! Turnin' inte a righ' youn' woman!" he teased her before smiling, "Missed ye kid."

by **Charlotte Smith** Sat Jul 21, 2012 5:47 am

Charlotte was so so happy that she had managed to see Uncle James again and she didn't want to think about all those times that she had thought that he might be dead, or hurt, just all of the good times that they spent together came flooding back to her.

Suddenly she wanted to say everything that she had ever imagined that she would say to him in the past few years, but something seemed to be wrong with Uncle James and she wondered what it might be.

"I'm so so happy to see you Uncle James!" she said with a large happy grin "Oh we can talk all about that when we sit down, you do want to have some ice cream with me don't you?"

When James told the ice cream lady that he wanted to pay Charlotte ordered her cherry ice cream and she flattened her hair down once more, she supposed she was going to have to get used to having messy hair again.

"I missed you too Uncle James, where have you been all this time! The war between the muggles and wizards was over ageeeees ago!"

by **James Irvine** Sat Jul 21, 2012 5:53 am

James had thought about Charlotte often when he was in Germany, she was an innocent soul back then. She'd touched his evil little heart and he'd welcomed her into his family without question. It was a bit surreal when you also realised that he had essentially kidnapped her for muggle experimentation and to blackmail her father into fighting for their cause.

But it had been so long her almost couldn't believe how much Charlotte had appeared to change. Of course she might have just morphed but somehow he didn't think so,

"It's bee' a long ol' time Charlotte." he agreed before laughing, "Yer damn righ' I do! I'm payin after all."

Seeing Charlotte hurrying to straight her hair out again, James chuckled as he collected his purchases and set them down at a table outside. He sat down before passing one of the coke bottles to Charlotte,

"Ah yer know... here an' ter... mostly ter te be fair." he joked before shrugging, "Bee' workin fer te Brits. Keep sendin' me inte Germany. But wha' abou' ye? Ye alrigh' yeah? School goin well? Yer dad still in line?"

by **Charlotte Smith** Sat Jul 21, 2012 6:02 am

Charlotte thought that it was so surreal the way that she had run into Uncle James here, and she was glad that she had decided to go to Diagon Alley today, if she hadn't she would have still been none the wiser that he was still alive.

Moving outside she sat down on the tables and she smiled gently at him, showing off her new nose piercing as she did so, taking the coke bottle she sipped at it and sat down on the chair.

When he told her that he had been in Germany a lot, Charlotte bit her lip and she wondered if James was always going to fight on the side of whatever cause he seemed to be closest too. Sucking on her lip piercing, she smiled happily;

"You're working for the British Ministry?" she asked with a grin "Then you must know Grandpapa Chris! He's reallt nice I hope you're behaving for him. But school's going great thanks, I'm doing really well at potions and transfiguration. What do you mean still in line?"

by **James Irvine** Sat Jul 21, 2012 6:08 am

James was so very glad that he was now able to see Charlotte again, he'd missed her terribly. Of course she was also happy to see him, very unlike Aurelia and others who had seen him for the first time since he left with his brother.

He had to admit he was surprised to see that she had a nose peircing. He'd though that Cobalt would have put his foot down on that idea but apparently he was cool with it. James remembered that when she was worried, Charlotte would suck on her lip peircing. She was doing that right now so he could only deduce that she was either nervous or disapproved of his fighting in the war. Probably the latter to be honest,

"Yea... workin wit some of tem anyway." he told her, not lying but not exactly telling the whole truth. He sighed a little bit, "I actually work wit... te rebels. So te big man, Chris, he ain't too happy wit me at te moment."

James smiled,

"Tha's good te hear Charlotte! I knew yer wer a smar' one bu' tis proves it o' course." he grinned before laughing, "Is he givin yer any grief? Abou' boyfriends or maybe tha nose peircin?"

by **Charlotte Smith** Sat Jul 21, 2012 6:19 am

Charlotte was more than surprised when it turned out that James had in fact lied to her in the first instinct when he told her that he was working for Britain, she thought that it was strange that he was working with the law seeing as they hadn't gotten along very well but...

"Uncle James, how could you work for the Rebels?" she asked quietly "They kill so many people for no reason other than that they are German, I didn't think that you would do something like that...did Jack persuade you to do it?"

Shaking her head with a happy smile on her lips, Charlotte scooped up some ice cream and she quickly ate it with a grin, it was so nice to be able to be with James again even if she really disapproved about what he was doing.

"Oh no no, in fact he's given me one of his motorbikes, he's going to teach me how to ride it in the summer holidays." she giggled "But he still says no to tattoo's, how's Jack, and Aurelia doing?"

by **James Irvine** Sat Jul 21, 2012 6:27 am

James hadn't really lied to her when he said that he worked for Britain, he worked for the best interests of Great Britain after all. He did not, however, work for the British government. He was sure that this probably would have caused some confusion for Charlotte, who was looking at him as if he'd kicked her puppy,

"Because I ain' really go' a choice Charlotte." he told her quietly, "Me brother brough' me inte te group withou' me knowledge an' when I foun' out... well tey don' jus' le' yer quit."

James tucked into some of his ice cream. It was nice to sit and talk to someone who, even if she disagreed with him, would not sit there and try to lecture him. Charlotte was one of those few people who was actually a good listener,

"A motorbi'? Well ten te guy's te cooles' paren' tis side o' te planet. Wit him on tats though, ter only fer idiots Charlotte. Tha's why I hav one." he joked before looking a bit more subdued, "Aurelia ain' really talkin te me. Jack... well Jackie boy is turnin ou' te be an even bigger fuckwi' tan I thought. Let's talk abou' someting fun... yer love life! Yer go' a boy?"

by **Charlotte Smith** Sat Jul 21, 2012 6:35 am

Charlotte pouted a little bit, she knew that she could argue with James about this but she didn't want to at the moment she just wanted to have a little bit of a chat with her old friend and that meant that they would only talk about nice things.

There was plenty of time for the bad things in a later conversation; "Okay Uncle James, you know that I don't like you being in that group, but, I don't think you really like it all that much either so..."

Tilting her head to one side, Charlotte's eyes flicked over James and she wondered where he might have a tattoo and what he might have it of; "Go on, what is your tattoo James? Where do you have it? It's not something weird like a girlfriends name or something?"

When he asked her if she had a boyfriend Charlotte nodded; "I sure do! His name is Airen, he was in the last tournament task between Hogwarts and Durmstrang. He's very nice, we've been together for three years now! Do you have a girlfriend?"

by **James Irvine** Sat Jul 21, 2012 6:41 am

James saw Charlotte pouting and couldn't help but notice how cute it made her look. Of course she'd dispute that if she was like he remembered her. But now was not the time to talk about his involvement in the rebels. It was a depressing conversation and here he was in the company of his little Charlotte. He didn't want their reunion to be anything but happy so he just let the subject drop.

Seeing her looking for where his tattoo might be, James laughed a little bit. When she asked if it was something like a girlfriend's name he shook his head a little bit,

"Nah more importan' tan tha." he told her before unbuttoning his shirt a little bit at the top. He was wearing his cross on the silver chain, as he always did, but when he moved it to the side the tattoo was revealed. It was a tattoo of his chain hanging around his neck, "Tis way even if it's taken from me, I can still pra' an' be closer te te father, te son an' te holy ghos'."

James blinked a little bit at the name before grinning, "Ah yea, te guy wit te flashy swor' moves righ? Tough guy tha. As fer me... well na. I tink I blew it wit te only woman fer me."

by **Charlotte Smith** Sat Jul 21, 2012 6:50 am

Charlotte smiled happily and she looked forwards at James' tattoo when he showed it to her he thought that it would be something important like that and she knew exactly how much his faith meant to James. So overall the tattoo made sense to her.

"Well it makes sense for you to have that as a tatto James, if you ever wanted a new one I would be able to draw it up for you." she said with a happy little smile on her lips.

Nodding her head, Charlotte beamed happily and she couldn't help but feel proud of her boyfriend for being so well known, unlike her, in some ways she wished that she was, but in others she wouldn't want to take the spotlight away from Airen.

"You mean Aurelia?" she asked with a little sad droop to her head "Well I think she was just really upset when you left, I mean, she had to deal with the effects of the loss of the war all on her own."

by **James Irvine** Sat Jul 21, 2012 6:56 am

The tattoo was as much a part of him as his faith was, he kept them both close to his heart and wore them on his skin. He didn't have any desire to hide his faith. And to him that's what a tattoo should be, it should be an outward sign of your commitment or passion for something,

"O' course. Me an' me brother are still followin' te faith after all. No one can take tha from us." he told her with a proud smile before grinning, "Yea mean it? Cus I've bee' tinking o' gettin another one fer me back..."

James chuckled a little bit as Charlotte beamed at him. It was clear as day that not only was she happy with her boyfriend, she was proud of him too. He nodded a little bit,

"Yea." he said quietly. James closed his eyes, "An' more tan tha too. But tha' ain' me place te talk abou'. I'll have te take ye to mee' her if ye wan' te talk abou' her. On tin ice as it is yer know?"

He chuckled a little bit at the end before helping himself to another spoonful of ice cream,

"Wha' abou' yer dad? He go' a special lady in his life?" he smirked, "Aside from yer o' course."

by **Charlotte Smith** Sat Jul 21, 2012 7:20 am

Charlotte smiled happily and nodded her head, she really did mean what she said and she hoped that James would allow her to draw him a tattoo for an artist to make, after all it shouldn't be hard, magical tattooist could just directly transfer the design.

"Of course I mean it Uncle James! My drawing is much better than it was before and I would love to make sure that you got the best tattoo possible, what were you thinking of?"

Sucking on her lip piercing a little Charlotte ate another spoonful of ice cream and she wanted to ask him something, she hoped wouldn't put her in a bad light;

"Uncle James, can I ask you a question?" she asked quietly

When he asked if Cobalt had a special lady in his life, Charlotte shook her head; "Nope, just me!" she giggled.

by **James Irvine** Sat Jul 21, 2012 7:29 am

James had to admit that from what he knew of Charlotte's art back when they first met, her design would be a hell of a lot better than any tattooist's. Not to mention the fact that she was bound to have gotten even better, having had a lot more time to practice her art and to find a unique style she liked,

"Now tha' I can believe Charlotte. Yer wer' already amazin te las' time I saw ye, ye mus' be bloody brilliant now!" he agreed with her before chuckling, "O notin much... jus' a back piece o' te grim reaper."

He ate another spoonful of ice cream and sighed happily at the taste of vanilla in his mouth. When she asked if she could ask him a question he smiled,

"O' course ye can." he ate some more ice cream, "Ask anyting yer like."

He laughed a little bit before smirking teasingly, "An' I'm sure ye keep him as happy as anyone else ever coul'."

by **Charlotte Smith** Sat Jul 21, 2012 7:42 am

Charlotte happily beamed at James, she was glad that he wanted to trust her with something so personal. it was making her very very proud of her art skills and she already had ideas that she was going to use for the back peice, she didn't want it to be so overpowering...but then again too light and it would loose its message.

"What is the meaning behind it then James?" she asked with a smile "It must be something personal for you to get it done, and such a big tattoo as well." Charlotte grinned.

When James said that she may ask him anything that she liked, Charlotte sucked on her lip piercing and she asked, quietly; "Is it wrong of me to be a little bit jealous of Airen, I mean, he gets all the attention now and, I get none no matter how hard I try to make my art and clothes the best."

Running her hand through her hair, Charlotte pouted gently and ate more ice cream, hoping to appease her bad feelings about all of this.

by **James Irvine** Sat Jul 21, 2012 7:57 am

James had to admit that one of the things he'd missed the most about Charlotte was the way that her smile seemed to light up the room. Hell, they weren't even in a room and the entire area seemed to brighten. He knew that he could count on Charlotte to do the piece justice. Hell she'd probably make it even better than he could ever hope,

"Well ye see I live a dangerous life an'... I know tha' te Grim is always at me back. He's houndin me an' me brother Charlotte." he told her before chuckling, "Tha an' I nee' te hide a heck o' a lot o' scars."

When he saw her sucking on her lip peircing, James knew that whatever she was going to ask him was serious. Not only that but it was something that had her very worried,

"Na' it's natural te feel tings like tha Charlotte. Yer worried because ye don' tink yer shoul' feel tis way towar's yer boyfrien' righ'?" he asked her before patting her on the shoulder, "It happens te us all like tha' Charlotte. Hell, sometimes I even ge' jealous o' me brother. He's almos' a freakin' clone o' me an' I get jealous. It's natural an' it'll go away."

He shrugged, "Plus his fame will die soon enough."

by **Charlotte Smith** Sat Jul 21, 2012 8:52 am

Charlotte smiled gently and she was already thinking about what she could do, she hoped that James would like her rather different idea about what she should do to represent death, if he wanted a traditional reaper that would be fine too, she just had some big ideas.

"Do you have any ideas of what you want in specific, like, do you want anything on the tattoo to say anything?" she asked with a smile "I have some pretty radical ideas, so, you best reign me in if you want it anything like you're thinking."

With a slight smile on her lips Charlotte nodded her head and cupped her bottle of coca cola as if for comfort, she didn't want to talk to Airen about this because she was happy for him, she really was, she just wasn't used to her work going unnoticed.

"I suppose it's normal, I just don't want to tell him because it will make me seem really unsupportive and...I just don't want it to build it up and up until it really upsets me."