He left. Just when they'd needed him most, he fell. He left.
The fourth fell apart. Not now, not again
"Friends forever", they'd sworn.
"Marauders' honor."
It was a solemn promise, one that was meant to be kept.
Friends forever.
Brothers.
How had they lost that? Just how did it happen?
Why?
They were the closest friends anyone had ever seen. Best friends,
Friends forever,
And brothers.
There were four of them. Four brothers.
After years of friendship and laughs, smiles and love…
One slipped away, sorely tempted, by terrible power he could only dream of.
The others would not approve.
He said nothing.
They suspected nothing.
Instead, he slipped. Far too easily, into the back of their minds.
How had they not noticed?
He was not as discreet as they would like to think he was. The signs…
The signs were there.
The signs were everywhere,
The signs were always there.
How had they not noticed?
Ignorance. Trust.
Arrogance. Love.
Adamance. Brotherhood.
All these things, killed the second brother.
Betrayed by the first, he perished, along with his lover. His child lived.
The child lived a cursed life, full of betrayal. And then, he became a great man.
A man with brothers of his own. Loyal brothers.
But before that, the third brother was angered, no, infuriated,
By the utter unfaithfulness of the first.
He lashed out, determined to avenge the second brother. He was livid. So close…
He failed.
The third brother was imprisoned, without questions. He laughed.
It was silly, they were silly.
How had they not noticed?
Well. It was too late.
The third brother was imprisoned, without questions. He cried.
But he lived on.
The fourth brother, the last, lost.
He lost everything. All meaning of life for him…disappeared.
His friends. His brothers. Gone.
They were the stars in his dark world. Together, the moon.
The very thing that had the power to comfort him, greatly,
So that he never knew anything was wrong.
The very thing that had the power to cause him great pain. Agony.
The stars disappeared, and the moon stayed new, hurting him, silently.
Then, suddenly, a quarter moon.
The third brother had returned.
A sliver of hope in the black sky.
Bright.
The fourth brother smiled at it, smiled for the first time in a very long decade.
He smiled.
But, sometimes, even for the man who had gone through too much,
Happiness is fleeting.
And now, the third brother fell.
He left. Just when he'd needed him most, he fell.
The sky became black once more.
Not now, not again.
Hadn't they promised?