Reading makes little things like this just come to me. Little one-shot type thing. You have to understand, little beast, to remember us.

Here is my present to you, my preface.

Here are five little people. They are your toys, and this story is only in your head now, and you may play it however you wish.

But first, see it as it was, at the beginning. Close your eyes and watch them clatter excitedly up the stairs. One stumbles and someone catches his arm and shoves him up. They burst through the door of the dorm room and lock it behind them, and collapse onto the floor, laughing and smelling strongly of Firewhiskey. They're at Hogwarts, of course, way back when.

Study them. The group pulses with energy. They can't be older than sixteen. Sirius has to be the most striking. Oh, I wish you could have known him like this, little one, little creature. You might recognise his hair, something about the line of his jaw or the arrogant way he holds himself. He's not so much elegant when intoxicated as reckless, cackling and using my arm as a support. See how he sways, and hold him in your mind like a puppet, rocking drunkenly forever in the chambers of your stubborn intellect. I don't want him to be forgotten.

Next you'd probably notice Lily, because she's the only female and she's bright, and beautiful. Oh, how I wish you'd have known her: that laugh, the swirl of her hair, her pearly little teeth. There's something about her that you might call Enchantment, or Surrealism or Wonder, perhaps Awe, or maybe just Lily, which is all of those things summed up. Would you recognise her, now, had you not the desperate photographs and peeling pictures? I doubt it. All you know of her are impressions captured on paper. She's so very beautiful, my little monster. Her red lips gleam and her arm's thrown around Remus. Merlin, how I wish you'd have known her like she knew you.

Remus, you knew. Maybe he's the one you knew best out of all of us. You wouldn't recognise him now. He's not the tall, commanding Professor we all secretly knew he was bound to become. He's laughing and so very young. He's troubled and tragic and witty and surprising and fantastic. He's carefully holding up your mother, and he's being gazed at by your Godfather. Yes, little one, that's true. I think you knew it, in the back of your mind, little creature.

Last into the room are Him and Me. You'd recognise me instantly. You see me every time you look into a mirror. I'm you, back now. You're me, and her. Harry, in you, I know I live on. Harry, my little beast, look into your own eyes and remember me. I cling to the idea of you doing so.

Peter's stumbling in a little behind me. He's not rat-like and twisted with hate yet. I know, little one, don't turn away. I've seen all three of my friends become monsters, in some way, and it's odd that Peter's transformation disturbs me the most. Remus always recovers by morning and though he's bruised and he's frightened and it's horrible, I know, I've been there: he's human. He wakes up and he's terrified of the beast that he is. My little beast, I know you know that we struggle too. And- Sirius recovered too, remembered again how to love and feel, remembered himself after all those years; they two had each other.

But- him. See him closely and know that Peter wasn't always like that. Right now he's just a boy. He's innocent and smiling. The worst thing he's ever been to me is an annoyance. He's going to betray me, but right now, he hasn't. Right now he isn't ever going to. Do you understand?

The dorm is quiet and right there on the spinning floor, Peter's the first to fall asleep. Lucky how that always turned out- is this the real story, or is this you dreaming, changing things? Everything falling into the right place. I'm just an echo in your mind.

Sirius becomes Padfoot and goes to sleep in Remus's lap. Remus doesn't mind this, we all know. For a while, the werewolf slips away from him and he cuddles up to Sirius's Padfoot comfortably with a dopey grin. Lily understands what's going on. Did I? I can't remember. Your dreams are changing things again, Harry. This picture is so fragile, I can't even remember if it happened at all.

Watch Padfoot turn back into Sirius. Watch him fall asleep in Remus's grateful arms. Remus's head is tucked into his chest. They always were built for each other, those two. I must have been completely obsessed with Lily not to have noticed them.

And I didn't, you know, and I was, you must know. Little monster, your parents loved each other, and you. We fall asleep in each other's arms on this night before you ever existed, as you always knew we would, at the foot of my rumpled bed. We're on my bed and I'm probably snoring. Do you snore? Do you hold Ginny Weasley like I hold Lily, right now, in this moment that lasts an eternity? I hope you do. I'm not gone so long as you are my echo. I know you'll be just like me, Harry.

Except I don't and you won't. That's selfish. In my mind's eye Remus is looking at me amused, and shaking his head. Because I died, and you'll live. I'm just the echo. My only foe was Peter, spineless, cowardly Peter. And I failed. Your foe is bigger than him, more malicious, cleverer. Poor dim Peter was weak but I was weaker, because he killed me. At the end of the day he killed me in cold blood.

You have to be bigger than me, Harry. You have to be stronger, because your foe is stronger. You have to defeat Peter and the Dark Lord both, because I failed to do either.

Oh, contrary little beast. We never could've imagined it would be you who outranks us all. We're just your toys now, ready to grow or shrink at your command. This whole thing is inside your head, ready for you to control or ignore, you say which. You get to choose what happens to all of us, you get to write the story. This is your book, Harry, not ours. We had such big adventures but yours are going to be bigger yet. Ours happened but they'll fade into sepia. We were just the preface.

As always, thanks for reading :) I'm working on that chaptered fic, which will include Confessor!Lily, Plotting!Sirius, Headstrong!James and Ticklish!Remus. And so on.

Please review to let me know you read this, and loved, liked, or wanted to hunt me down. :)