Sirius Black was sitting in Remus Lupin's house, in the guest bedroom, regretting the choice he had made that had led to the chain of events that had killed Lily and James and left Harry with the Dursley's when the letter came. It was addressed to him, with no address, in handwriting he hadn't seen in fourteen years. He let out a strangled gasp, which was quickly followed by a "Sirius, are you o – holy shit!" He assumed Remus had gotten one too – it was the only thing that made sense for him to react like that. He opened the letter hoping against hope that it was really from James – even though it'd have had to be from a timed post office box.
Dear
Sirius, Hello, …I won't ask how you're doing because if
you're reading this, I'm dead. And if I'm dead, knowing you,
you found a way to make it seem like it was your fault – I don't
care what you did, it isn't. I'm writing this hours before
Halloween in 1981.
I just finished writing a
letter to Harry – you should've got this on his fifteenth
birthday. I told him what was in our will – just in case no one
else told him. And I told him the prophecy. Do you remember that? We
thought it had to be some sort of joke – but Dumbledore 'assures'
us that it's not a joke. My son…is going to defeat the most
powerful and evil wizard in history. That thought scares me – I
hope my letter doesn't anger him – at the end I wrote about what
hate and revenge could do to him and I think I phrased it a bit
wrong, but I can't really change it as I already sent it. So to
you, my friend, I've got a few last words. Thank you, so much, for
being the brother I never got to have. The marauders, we were all
brothers, but you must've been my twin, because we were closer. I
hope that my death doesn't bring you down too much. I guess I'll give you some of
the same advice I gave Harry: trust in your instincts, they are very
often right – and that doesn't mean go running into things
without a thought. Keep your friends close – even if I'm dead,
you've still got Remus and there are others, I'm sure. Padfoot,
you are my brother in everything but blood, and I don't want you to
ever forget me, but I do want you to move on – take care of Harry,
be friends with Remus, go on with your life. I love you, padfoot, but
I've got to go – it's getting late and I've got a few more
letters to write.
Your
brother and fellow marauder,
James Potter a.k.a. Prongs.Sirius
layed down on the bed with tears in his eyes, crying for everything
he had lost. But he knew James was right – he needed to move on.
Not that it was possible, what with being the most wanted criminal in
both muggle and magical worlds. He wondered how Harry had reacted to
reading his letter – probably not too well. He had to get
Dumbledore to let him come over soon, it was killing him not knowing
his godson. Sighing for what felt like the millionth time that day,
he rolled over and fell into a peaceful sleep – the first one he'd
had in fourteen years.
