James looked around the table he sat at, thinking about how lucky he was; in a time wherehis whole world was shivering under the fear of death he was able to sit here in a muggle pub with his best friends, the loves of his life, and laugh about the little things. He looked over each of his friends, creating an image to hold in his mind to last until the next time, it was something he did every time he saw them.
Sirius was a scruffy black beard and matching long hair pulled up into a bun telling bad puns to do with werewolves and laughing harder than anyone else, Remus was all loving annoyance, grudging laughter, and beanpole thin, James reminded himself to make sure that Remus had food at his flat before he and Lily dropped him off at home.
Peter was uncontrollable laughter, bright smile, shining blue eyes, and depths of sadness that James wished he could erase. Lily's hair looked like it was on fire in the candlelight that surrounded them, she had her arm around Remus and was continuing off the joke Sirius had just made, hardly able to breath from laughing so hard.
They were all perfect, they were his family, he couldn't help but laugh along with them, smiling at everything, but at the back of his mind was the ever-present terror that one day their group would shrink.
So he saved the images of them all, he tucked them away in his mind so that he would have a piece of them no matter what. No matter what.