The wind blew softly through the tombstones, lifting and lowering long, dark brown hair. A slight man, but not skinny, emerged from the shadows and moved towards a tall marble headstone. The moonlight was bright enough to let the man see the inscription on the headstone…
James Potter (Prongs) 1957 – 1980Friend, Father and Husband
A Marauder Forever
The man fell to his knees before the headstone, the soft brown earth of the freshly turned grave giving way before his weight. Choking back a sob, the man ran his fingers along the edge of the stone. Tears fell unashamedly, and Sirius wished with all his might that Voldemort had taken him instead. Sirius shuddered as he fought to hold back the sob that threatened. Memories flooded through him, and the tears fell silently down his face.
FlashbackIt was morning, and Sirius Black had managed to get away from his parents, finally. Wandering along the platform, he'd run into a skinny, jet-black haired boy. The boy had smiled, and stuck out his hand.
"Hi!" the boy said brightly, "I'm James, James Potter."
Sirius smiled in reply, "I'm Sirius Black," he said, "d'you want to sit together on the train?"
James nodded, and the two climbed onto the train. Soon after that, they encountered another boy, looking nervous and trying to get his trunk into the luggage rack by himself. James and Sirius stopped to help him, and the three boys soon found themselves sitting together and chatting. It turned out that the third boy was Remus Lupin, and then Remus introduced them to one Peter Pettigrew.
That train ride had been long, but they'd played Exploding Snap and stuffed themselves, courtesy of Sirius' pocket money, on Pumpkin and Every Flavor Beans.
End FlashbackSirius smiled at the memory, and looked over to the white angel between James' stone and another just like it. The other stone was for Lily, beautiful and headstrong Lily. James had never admitted to liking Lily during their school days, although Sirius remembered that it had been very apparent.
FlashbackJames and Sirius walked along the Charms Corridor, talking about nothing and joking around with each other. They were coming back from detention with Filch, as they'd been caught trying to explode a toilet, and both had sore arms from being made to wash the dungeon floors with toothbrushes. It was late, and both were tired, but not tired enough to warrant sleep.
They clambered into the Gryffindor Common Room and collapsed on wing chairs by the fire. Remus looked up from his Potions essay and shook his head. "He made you wash the floors didn't he?"
Sirius nodded, "sure did Moony," and he stretched. Peter had already gone to bed, too tired to wait up for them. Remus packed up his essay and headed for bed himself, but Sirius and James decided to remain awake for a bit longer.
Sirius found himself watching James. Watching the way the fire played on his face and the way his hair always fell into his eyes, those hazel eyes that held such emotion. He watched long fingers deftly twirl a wand and felt a quickening deep within him. Sirius pushed it down, this was his friend for God's sake, and James, well, he'd never go for that sort of a thing.
But still, Sirius thought, if there ever was someone I could watch for hours…it would be James. Then Lily had shown up, returning to the Common Room looking like she'd been snogged senseless and Sirius had watched as James hardened and as all his muscles tensed. James' knuckles turned white as he gripped his wand and didn't look at Lily.
End FlashbackSirius wiped away tears, picking up a handful of dirt with the other hand. The dirt fell through his fingers, and Sirius looked up at the headstone.
"I never got the chance to tell you while you were alive…" Sirius began, his voice breaking, "but I love you James, and I always will…"
With that, Sirius stood and turned away from the stone. "Goodbye Prongs," he said softly, before walking from the graveyard. As he left, the wind whispered around him and he swore he heard a voice.
"Goodbye Padfoot, I love you too…"