Life With The Marauders

Chapter Two

"I'll mirror you when I get home." James said happily as he prepared to Apparate. It was impossible to floo to the Potters' home even if you did know the location, a ward Dumbledore had set up himself.

"Bye James." Sirius waved as James disappeared on the spot.

James found himself about three streets from his and Lily's home. He looked to the sky to see a dark cloud. The man put it off as someone having a bonfire. As James walked past the houses, he saw Muggle children in costumes of all sorts; ghosts, ghouls, goblins, werewolves, witches, and much more. He couldn't help himself, he had to laugh. These Muggles had no idea what a real goblin looked like.

Before he knew it, he had arrived on his street. Looking up he expected a few things: the living room light to be on and his house. What he saw was much, much worse.

The dark cloud he had thought to be from a bonfire was actually from his own home. The front door was completely destroyed, also. No one had been around to investigate themselves or call the Muggle authorities because the majority of Godric's Hollow, well this part of it, were wizards and witches.

Breaking into a run, James rushed to his home. Through the front door he went. No sign of anyone besides the scorch marks on the walls from when the door had been blasted open.

"Lily!" James shouted desperately, "Lily!"

He ducked his head into the kitchen which was untouched. Leaving the kitchen he checked another room on the first floor before rushing up the stairs, "Lily?" he called out again and again as he checked the rooms. Finally, he came to the last room in the house; Harry's bedroom.

Maybe James had subconsciously left this room alone until now because he just knew both his wife and his son were dead. The door was open, but he couldn't make himself look into the room. Closing his eyes tightly for a moment, he reopened them and stepped into the room.

Lily was lying dead on the floor. Her eyes were shut and her chest wasn't moving. A loud sob broke through James' mouth. Slowly he made himself walk over to the only girl he'd ever loved. When he reached her he fell to his knees and allowed more and more sobs to come.

He didn't notice around the room that there was a mark on the wall where Voldemort himself had stood and pointed his wand at Harry James Potter after killing the boy's mother. He didn't notice said boy was watching him silently from the crib behind Lily.

For what felt like hours, James sat there on his knees and cried his heart out. Never again would he see the most beautiful girl in the world give him the best smile he'd ever seen. She'd never laugh. She'd never scold him and Sirius for flying on broomsticks with their one year old son. She wouldn't tell James to, "-stop being such a prat-". The Christmas gift he had already bought her months ago, a gold bracelet with a small heart attached to it, would remain in the box hidden under James' side of the bed.

James didn't even notice Sirius enter the room.

"James?" Sirius said his best friend's name softly before seeing what his friend was staring at. "My God..." he swallowed and just couldn't tear his eyes away from the unmoving form of Lily Potter. It had been two hours since James had left Sirius' home when Sirius got worried. Sometimes James forgot to mirror him for around an hour, but two hours? Never. He'd quickly dressed and Apparated two streets away from the Potters'.

"H-He k-k-killed her." James got out, letting another sob out. His voice was hoarse from all of the crying he'd just done.

For a minute Sirius seemed not to have heard anything, then he mentally shook himself and walked over to his best friend since First Year. Crouching down, he put a hand on James' arm, "Come on Prongs, we need to get out of here-"

James shook his head violently, "No! I c-can't leav-ve her."

Sirius swallowed a couple of times and inwardly sighed. He released his friend and stood up. His gaze found a pair of emerald green eyes. Harry. He had almost forgotten all about his godson! Swiftly, Sirius strode over to the crib and lifted Harry out.

It's amazing he's still awake. Sirius mused as he gently bounced the quiet child, James and Lily are- he winced physically. It was so hard to believe she was...gone. He turned back to his friend and said, "James. We need to get you two out of here. Come on, Harry needs to get to sleep."

As soon as Sirius said 'Harry' James' attention focused on his son. James stood up and held out his arms. Sirius wasted no time placing the child in James' waiting arms as tears slid down both of their faces. He took James by the elbow and led him out of Harry's room, the room where Lily had died. A strange thought occurred to Sirius, Why was Harry still alive? Of course he was over-joyed the boy was okay, Sirius shot a look at his godson. Wait a minute... Harry wasn't alright. A lightning-bolt scar sat upon his forehead, red and inflamed against his pale skin. Sirius reached out a hand when the trio arrived at the living room. He was just about to touch Harry when James jerked backwards.

"James...?" Sirius asked, bewildered by Prongs' reaction to him. "I'm not going to hurt him, Prongs. I just wanted to look at his forehead."

James swallowed and glanced at his son's forehead, having to do a double take. He too had seen the strange marking. "What in the-" he said as he touched his son's forehead. James was cut off by the startling sound of Harry bursting into tears. "Hey, hey. It's okay, I'm sorry Harry. I'm sorry." he tried to comfort his only son, rocking him in his arms like he had seen Lily do a million and one times. Harry continued to cry and soon James' sobs had returned. The Potter father hadn't even noticed Sirius pulling him into the fireplace with him and taking them to 'Hogwarts, Headmaster's Office'.

Sirius watched as James began to pace, trying to soothe Harry as he did so. He couldn't make out any of the words since the baby was crying and James himself was crying, also.

A flash of orange and yellow fire had the two men looking up towards the only desk in the room to see Albus Dumbledore appear with Fawkes behind him. Dumbledore had a long white beard, a purple cloak on, and half-moon glasses. His usually twinkling blue eyes held no twinkle tonight.

"I've just been to Godric's Hollow." Dumbledore said sadly, "She will be missed by many, James. I'm sorry for your loss."

Those five last words sent James' tears into overdrive.

"I think it would be best if we discuss...recent events in the morning." Dumbledore continued after a moment, "You can all three stay here in the Room of Requirement as long as you need to. If you need anything, please feel free to come to my office."

When James didn't say anything Sirius answered for him, "Thank you, Professor." Again he took James by the elbow and led him out of the office, down the staircase, past the gargoyle and through many twists and turns to the Room of Requirement. Sirius walked past the entrance three times, focusing on what kind of things he needed right now. A brown door appeared and he pulled it open, James following him.

The room was painted in a dark red color and the floor was carpeted white. There were two beds and a crib between them. Near the crib was a small chest of toys for Harry later on if they were needed. A round table with three chairs sat towards the center of the room. On the far wall, a small kitchen was set up with a refrigerator, microwave, stove, sink, and a counter.

James immediately began his pacing again. Sirius watched him for several minutes before suggesting he go to bed. Reluctantly the father agreed, putting Harry in the crib. James pulled his wand out of his back pocket and muttered a spell to change his clothes into a pair of blue pajamas. Sirius did the same, but his pajamas were brown.

About an hour later the two men were awoken by the sound of a crying baby. At first, Sirius was very confused. It took him several minutes to turn over and figure out where he was and why he was there. Just as he was about to get up and move to his godson, James was up and already picking up Harry.

"Sh, sh, sh." James said as he bounced Harry. Despite his father's attempts, Harry continued to cry and cry. After thirty minutes of this Sirius forgot all thoughts of sleep.

"Is he hungry?" Sirius suggested with a yawn, getting out of bed and walking over to his best friend and his son in the kitchen.

James shook his head, "I've tried giving him a bottle three times already." His voice was tired-like.

"Does he need to be...you know...changed?" Sirius made a motion with his hands.

Again, James shook his head. "Already been done."

"Then what does he want?"

"Lily." James told him painfully. His son was never going to be held by his mother again, and for some reason James had the idea that Harry knew that and that was why he was crying continuously.

Sirius pushed down the lump in his throat and said, "Want me to give it a go? You look bloody tired, Prongs."

"I can't get to sleep Sirius...every time I close my eyes I see L-Lily on the fl-loor."

A knock at the door stopped Sirius from replying. He ran over to the bed and pulled his wand out from under the pillow before moving to the door, opening it slowly. Once he had seen who was there, he opened the door more quickly and ushered the man in.

Remus Lupin hurried to James' side and put him in an one-armed embrace. It was a bit awkward since Harry was between them, but James was just glad he still had two good friends.

"I came as quickly as I could." Remus said, pulling away from his friend.

"Thanks Remus." James thanked him as Sirius joined them. Harry was still crying, but the cries were slowly getting better. Without any warning, he stopped.

Sirius raised an eyebrow, "Glad you came along, Moony. No offense James, but your son has a set of lungs on him."

a/n: Alright, I know that last sentence Sirius says is a bit lame, but he's trying to lighten the mood a little even if it is unintentional. Sirius is the kind of guy that still jokes, even if it's lame and such, no matter what.

Reviews? I love them!

Honestly, I'm shocked at how many people wanted to see the next update up so soon...which is exactly why I wrote this chapter earlier than I originally planned!

And also, I know that these chapters aren't too long...but I end them where I think would be a good place to end them. Sorry.