The Last Reason Left

It had been a month already that Voldemort came to Godric's Hollow. A month that the sun seemed to be unable to warm up the earth, the hearts and the dead bodies left behind. A month that the sky and beyond remained dark and hopeless. 30 days that James Potter was gone. 2592000 seconds that Sirius Black was empty.

After one whole month spent locked up in a room staring at a blank spot, Sirius felt his legs move on their own and lead him into the snow. He walked and walked, his eyes lost somewhere. After a moment or so, he found himself standing in front of the Potte- Lily Evans' cottage. He lifted a numb fist up and knocked.

"Who's there?" A hoarse, alarmed voice came from behind the door.

Sirius opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came out. He cleared his throat from not speaking for a month.

"Sirius." was all that he was able to say.

The door took a certain moment to open, probably out of hesitation, but it did. Sirius' heart jumped to his throat when Lily stood inthe doorway, her hair greasy, her eyes red and swollen with dark circles under them, her skin paler than ever. But he thought he couldn't look any better. What really made his heart sink was the little toddler that was wrapped around her waist, quiet, safe.

"Harry…" He whispered.

The baby was sleeping deeply, his head resting on Lily's shoulder. He looked up at her, not knowing what to say.

"Welcome back, Sirius." She smiled weakly. "Come in, i've made some tea."

She held Harry tightly in one arm to shut the door behind Sirius, who had stopped in the middle of the hallway, staring at the couch, where a dusty quidditch magazine layed.

"Alright, Pads! So good to see you!" James said, putting his magazine aside to walk over to Sirius.

"Sup Potter!" Sirius smirked, embrassing James like his own brother. "Where's Prongs Jr?" He asked, looking around.

"Hey there!" Lily said, emerging from the kitchen with baby Harry in her arms.

"Hullo, Evans!" He kissed her on the cheek and bend down at eye level with Harry "Guess what i've got for you, little man."

Harry giggled as Sirius took out a fluffy snitch from his pocket, making it fly over him. Harry giggled even more as he tried to catch it. James roared with laughter, and kissed Lily on the lips.

The magazine layed where it had been left a month before, on the 31st of October. Sirius' throat tightened painfully, and his stomach kept contracting as if he was about to throw up. He turned around, his eyes watery, and found Lily staring at him, tears dripping on her watched each other for a short moment, until both of them ran into each other's arms, sobbing uncontrollably. Lily's hands were gripping Sirius' shirt tightly, as if she was trying to dissaparate from this nightmare, while Sirius fought to hold back loud cries of pain to not wake harry up from his crib.

One month that James Potter's laughter didn't fill the room. 30 days since he didn't pick up his quidditch magazine from the couch. 720 hours that he didn't ruffle his hair or showed that cocky smirk of his. 43 200 minutes that he didn't hold Harry in his arms. 2592000 seconds that the other half of Lily's bed was cold and empty. One month that a part of Sirius black had died. One month that James Potter was gone.

When the room went quiet and sob-free, Sirius and Lily broke appart. Sirius went to sit on the couch, carefully avoiding the magazine, and soon Lily joined him with a cup of tea. They drank, the silence crashing upon them.

"You didn't move it." Sirius croaked. Lily looked up from her cup.

"What?" She whispered, a tear dripping down her cheek.

"His magazine. It's still on the couch."

She gasped and her eyes became watery as she fixed her eyes somewhere in front of her, just like Sirius was doing.

"Oh… Well, I… I don't know, I just…" He voice grew more and mora shaky. "I just tought he might come back and put it back to its place." She admitted, her voice breaking.

"But you know he never does that, Lils." Sirius said, his face straight.

After a short moment, they both chuckled quietly, tears still dripping down Lily's face. But the laughter didn't last long, and soon they were both staring blankly again.

"What's left for us in this world, Lily? What's the reason left for us to wake up every morning? Why shouldn't we leave too?" Sirius finally asked, his voice hoarse again.

Lily remained quiet. Then she put her cup aside and slowly stood up. She walked towards Harry's little crib. The baby was awake, peering at them over the crib's bar, so that only a pair of bright green eyes under a tuft of black hair were visible. She smiled and took his in his arms, before returning next to Sirius.

"There it is, Sirius." She smiled, carefully handing him Harry, who instently stretched his arms towards his uncle.

Sirius looked down at him as he took him in his arms. Indeed, Sirius thought, there it is. What's left of James. What's left for us. The reason why the sun is still rising. The reason why we're still alive. Because someone needs us.

Then, unexpectedly, Harry smiled up at him.

"Pafoo." He said quietly, curling his tiny fingers around Sirius' thumb.

Sirius' face brightened after being hidden by the shadows for weeks.

"Hello, Prongs Jr."