Chapter 1

James' room was big. Quidditch posters were hanging on the walls, his desk was spilling over with parchment and one wall was decorated with many pictures. His room was obviously held in red and gold. Their trunks were standing next to an old wooden wardrobe. They fell down onto the big scarlet bed and James turned to Sirius with a huge grin on his face.

"So, what are we going to do to the Slytherins when we get back?"

The rest of the late afternoon they spent discussing the different pranks they could and probably would pull on the unsuspecting Slytherins. They even made a list of ideas, items needed and spells that had to be researched. Even escape routes and excuses were planed beforehand. Remus would be very proud of them. Sirius felt more at home in James' room than in his own. Somebody knocked on the door.

"Boys, Christmas dinner will be in an hour! Be ready by then and please be on time for once!" The voice of James' mother was heard on the other side of the door.

"All right!" They both chorused back.

They made a race out of who would get to the dining room first. They overlooked one problem, Sirius didn't know where the dining room was. Sirius got lost, which led to James searching for him. Till the both of them arrived, they were once again late. They opened the old oak doors, and walked into a big dining room. The room was beautifully decorated in ocean blue. Portraits and old wooden cupboards filled with silver-ware were lined on the wall. The table was relatively small compared to the big room, probably shrunk in order to fit the people sitting there.

"As always late, my dear boy," The old lady at the head of the table said. Her eyes were deep blue, her grey hair short and curly. Her wrinkled face was smiling at the two of them. Her eyes landed on Sirius and she studied him as he squirmed under her stare.

"You must be Sirius. James' friend and a Black?" She asked him as she raised her eyebrow in the same manner as her son had done. James opened his mouth in order to defend him but his grandmother waved her hand and his mouth snapped shut.

"Yes, I am a Black" He said through gritted teeth.

To his surprise, she started laughing and pulled her chair back. She stood up. She looked impossibly frail, skinny and slightly bent. She was small, a lot smaller than James' dad. She walked towards him, a smile gracing her weary features.

"You don't like being a Black?" she asked as amusement danced in her eyes.

"I hate it" Sirius said without thinking and as venomously as possible. Only after the words left his mouth he realized that it might have sounded slightly rude. Before he could say anything else he was hugged once again. For such a small and frail body her hug was surprisingly strong. The smell of vanilla enveloped him. He was afraid he would crush her if he hugged back.

She whispered into his ear "Welcome to the Potters, my boy".

She accepted him, he felt like crying but he was not going to because then James would have been able to tease him mercilessly. James grinned from ear to ear as she released him. James and Sirius took their seats next to his parents, Dorea and Charlus Potter. He was eager to introduce the rest of his family. His grandmothers name was Alicia Fiona Potter. Cassandra Alicia Potter was the woman sitting in front of them. She was James' aunt and nobody called her Cassandra, they called her Cassi.

Aunt Cassi had long black wavy raven hair with very few silver strands and deep brown doe eyes. She was a beautiful woman yet the left side of her face was scarred heavily. It looked like burn marks and Sirius blanched slightly as he looked towards her non existing left arm, the only thing left was a stump lined heavily by healed burn marks. She looked at him and gave him a reassuring smile.

The one holding her hand was her husband, Gerome Daniel Potter. He had a relatively strong build but he did not look bulky. His hair was dark brown, but it seemed almost black, reaching his shoulders and his gold eyes seemed to smile at Sirius. His eyes reminded Sirius of Remus' eyes, as they both had nearly the same color. His short sleeved shirt revealed many scars running along his brown skin. It was like a map of scars was engraved into his bronze skin. It looked as if something had tried to tear him apart.

The rest of the dinner was held in a comfortable atmosphere while making small talk here and there. Mostly Sirius and James talked about Hogwarts and all the pranks they did in the last few months. Cassi told Sirius all about James' most embarrassing childhood memories much to James' dismay. Like when he tried to build a raft at the age of seven and tried sailing with it without trying to see if it could even swim. He ended up landing in a duck nest and the duck promptly bit him in the ass. Sirius laughed so hard his stomach hurt because Cassi was even trying to copy James' expressions when it happened whereas James just went beet red. As revenge James begged Gran to tell stories about Cassi's and his dad's most embarrassing childhood accidents. They spent most of the dinner laughing at something.

The food was excellent, after all, James' mum and his Gran had cooked it together with the help of the house elves. They had three elves who were currently eating in the kitchen because they didn't want to eat with their master and mistress. They called it inappropriate, much to the family's annoyance.

Gerome taught them to juggle with the apples that were used as decoration. He got hit in the back of his head by his wife for teaching them during dinner and using the decorations. Sirius was just as full as he had been after his first Hogwarts dinner and the dessert was not even on the table yet. Three different cakes and ice cream appeared on the table just as he thought about dessert. A chocolate cake, one apple cake and a Christmas cake with cinnamon and vanilla. After eating a little bit of every cake and ice cream, Sirius felt as if someone could roll him on the floor through the door. The others didn't feel very different, it seemed. As if someone had pressed slow motion, they stood up from the dinner table.

They spent the rest of the evening in the living room waiting for the clock to strike twelve in order to open the presents. The Christmas tree took up a lot of space inside the living room and it was obviously decorated in red and gold, a gold star glistering on the top of it. It was sparkling in warm colors, and Sirius couldn't ignore how different it was from the one standing in the sitting room of the Black family. An old piano stood in the corner of the room. Gran opened its lid and started playing Christmas carols to which they all sang wholeheartedly. Sirius had never had so much fun on Christmas. After a little while Gran started playing a waltz and James' dad and Gerome invited their wives to dance. As they swept across the living room floor, Sirius couldn't help but compare them to his parents. They would never dance together purely for fun and they would most certainly not laugh as much as James' parents. It felt as if he was in the place happiness called home. Even the scars didn't disturb the warm glow of happiness. Sirius and James engaged into a fierce battle of Wizard's chess, which was declared invalid because Gerome and Cassi helped them.

As soon as the clock marked twelve o'clock, the presents were opened. Sirius felt overwhelmed once again when he got presents from every single Potter. He only had a handful of sweets to give them. Next year he was going to get each one of them a present just as James had done. He even got a new broom from James and his parents. When he said that he couldn't accept something so expensive, James and his parents just waved him off. They both got many prank supplies, a book about the best charms for a good laugh and many other entertaining things. After everything was unpacked and cleaned up, they were shooed to bed. Before they even hit the bed, they were already asleep.

James woke Sirius up the next morning, not even letting him change out of his pajamas before dragging him downstairs in order to eat breakfast. His mother came out from the kitchen holding plates on which many pancakes were piled into an unstable looking pancake tower.

"Special Potter pancakes!" She said with a smile and wink as they sat down on the table. James' father was already sitting at the table and reading the daily prophet. The pancakes tasted like vanilla, apple and cinnamon. The whole air smelled of it. In the warm presence of the Potters and with a mouth full of pancakes, Sirius felt as if he was finally, and at first, at home. Since then the smell of those pancakes signified a part of home to him.

oOo

He woke up feeling more well-rested than any other time in the last 13 years. He felt warm and cozy, a feeling which he had long forgotten. It didn't feel like he was lying in his cot, it felt like a normal comfortable bed. He groaned and turned around believing that he was still dreaming. He felt dread settle in his stomach, he shouldn't be feeling happy in any way or else they would come again. Without opening his eyes, he pinched himself in the arm. When nothing happened, he did it again.

"Pinching won't help. You're awake. Seriously Padfoot, open your eyes!" A voice whispered next to his ear and a chuckle accompanied it. He knew that voice well, he had known it since he was eleven. The timbre of his voice was unique.

He opened his eyes and sat bold upright. The person, who had whispered in his hair, was quite surprised. He backed away quickly in order to not collide with Sirius forgetting that he was sitting on a chair. He lost his balance and promptly fell backwards together with his chair. Sprawled out on the floor, on top of his fallen chair and rubbing the back of his head was James Potter.

"I hope for you that you did not do that on purpose!" James exclaimed as he stood up and dusted himself of. "Thanks to you I now have a big bump at the back of my head!" he said as he pointed at his head.

On autopilot Sirius answered: "You're welcome...?"

Sirius couldn't believe his eyes in front of him stood his dead best friend, behaving as if he had never been dead at all. He even looked like he did before he was killed. No dead hazel eyes but alive hazel eyes in which amusement shimmered, a smile alit in his lively features and no dead look on his face. Without thinking, he reached out and grabbed James' wrist, his finger enclosing the sun kissed skin. He could feel his pulse through his fingers. Alive. His mind was so overloaded with the situation that it started to shut down, and soon he fainted.

James barely caught him before he slumped off the bed. He chuckled to himself because this was the first occasion he saw Sirius faint from shock. Careful as not to wake him, he put him back onto the bed, making sure that he was covered completely by the thick warm blanket. He stroked Sirius' hair out of his face and his hand gingerly touched Sirius' hair, brushing through it with his fingers. He managed to wash most of the dirt away while Sirius had been asleep.

The fever which had had Sirius in its grip since they had gotten him out of that freezing hellhole was nearly gone. With relief, James also noted that his skin was also no longer as clammy as before.

James felt like killing every single dementor on the planet. They had nearly destroyed his best friend. His innocent best friend. When he saw him crumbling onto the floor in the cell, he feared that he had been too late. That he had lost his best friend as Sirius had lost him. Death was quick and painless, and yet the torment and pain he had endured after death by watching his best friends' and his son's pain at his and Lily's death was almost unbearable. He had screamed and cried when they had thrown Sirius into Azkaban. Lily had not been able to hold him back from throwing himself at the Aurors who arrested him. He passed right through them. He hated being unable to do anything. Having to watch his friend get tormented by Dementors as they sucked away every last bit of his happiness drove him insane. Hearing him cry out his name in the worst nights, that lonely broken sound tore his heart. Lily had held him nearly every night as he cried for Sirius.

He and Lily were able to walk on earth but not being able to touch anything, and nobody could see them. After they had died, they were given a choice. They could have moved on to heaven or stayed in the in-between and watch and wait. Both of them could not leave Remus, Sirius and Harry behind. They swore to watch over them and move on to heaven when they died. They promised to go to heaven together with them.

Being unable to do anything to help them tore both Lily's and his heart apart. Having to watch Remus' transformations, which were so much worse after their death. He nearly ripped his own heart out once. Remus' loneliness was almost touchable, but the fact that he believed that Sirius could betray them had made James so mad at the beginning. After a while he felt only sadness at the fact that he closed off most of his feelings and memories of the marauders in order not to go insane. Lily had tried to hug both him and Sirius so many times only to pass right through them.

Watching his son being abused by that fat walrus, the little fat pig and the skinny horse was like torture to his heart. The pain from watching their son wonder if his parents loved him brought tears to their eyes every time. The fact that he dreamed of the night when they were killed weighed down their hearts, as did his cries for somebody to love him for who he is. When his stomach growled because he was not allowed to have dinner, James just wanted to hold him close. He was so small and skinny, the clothes of the fat pig underlining that even more. James went on a rampage, trying to throw everything at the Dursleys' heads. The fact that Lily didn't try to stop him spoke volumes. Sadly, though, his hands went through everything he touched, so nothing hit the walrus' head, much to his big disappointment.

James will never forget the happiness he felt when Harry got his Hogwarts letter, his first best friend Ron and when he saw Hogwarts for the first time. He was delighted when his son flew after Malfoy in order to get Neville's Remembrall back and got onto the Quidditch team. Lily had been highly disappointed with his disregard of the rules, but James obviously had never been so proud. Oh, how he and Lily cheered during his Quidditch matches. He was also very proud of his sons flying talents. Just like him his son loved soaring through the air. The duel with the mountain troll was not as worrisome to him as it had been to Lily. He danced around the room when Harry got his invisibility cloak, Lily had a frown on her face, but she couldn't hide the amusement that shone in her eyes.

They felt as if they were trapped in a nightmare when they saw Voldemord's face on the back of Harry's professor's head. Why, oh, why couldn't the bastard leave his son alone?! Harry managed to protect the philosopher's stone but he had nearly died, and, as far as James and Lily were concerned, he was not allowed to die till he became old and grey.

But James knew that Noseless would try again to kill his son, it was a feeling rooted deep in his gut. He was right when second year came and Voldemord tried to kill his little baby once more. Using the diary, oh how he wished he could strangle Tom Marvolo Riddle. He feared that Voldemord would try again and again and he feared that, at one point, he would succeed. He could not let that happen.

The fates then gave him a chance. Well, waking up in a coffin after being brought back to life was quite a shock. He hadn't known he could be claustrophobic till the moment he was six feet under the earth. He panicked and kind of blew up half the cemetery. Well, expect Lily's coffin which was still where it belonged.

The fates brought him back into the world of the living under one condition. No, scratch that, two actually. One, he could only tell one person who he is outright, like saying 'I am James Potter'. He could still drop hints, like being a marauder, his animagus form and such information. He could also say 'I am who I seem to be'. He and Lily had discussed that they would tell Sirius. The rest of them would have to find out on their own or be told by Sirius. Harry would probably learn it from Dumbledore because he trusted him, as James doubted that he would believe him were he to say "Hi, I am your father"

The second condition was that his revival needed a sacrifice and in this case Noseless' death would suffice. He had four years to wipe every bit and piece of Voldemord from the world. His son was prophesied to kill Voldemord but that did not mean he couldn't help and prepare him. He was sooo looking forward to killing the bastard. He was the reason for his family's pain and he would not go unpunished.

An evil grin spread across James' face as he thought about all this. He felt arms encircling him. Where they touched him, it felt as if he was touched by warm air. He turned around. His wife was standing behind him. She was see-through, one of the quirks of being a ghost. When the fates brought him back to life, they turned Lily into a ghost attached to his soul. For as long as he lived she would be by his side as a ghost. When he died, he would go to heaven together with her. He was able to touch her, because he had once been dead, and, apparently the dead can embrace each other. Even though he was once again alive and breathing, he still counted as dead in certain sense. Someone who was once touched by death is able to touch those who are dead. Lily had explained it to him in great detail but he only understood that he would still be able to touch her. He kissed her on the mouth as he hugged her close.

"How's Harry?"

"As good as he can be while living with that sister of mine." Lily sighed "I am starting to think your idea of haunting her dreams might not be so bad!"

"The idea is simply brilliant because I thought it up!" James exclaimed as he grinned down at her slightly disapproving face. Her eyes betrayed the fact that she was not as disapproving as she appeared to be. Her eyes fell onto Sirius thin and ill looking form.

"How is he?"

James sighed as he looked at Sirius "His fever went down and he is no longer mumbling and coughing in his sleep," James chuckled "Well, he actually woke up, only to faint at the sight of my handsome good looks!"

She let out a sigh and rolled her eyes at her husband's antics. He took her hand and pulled her along into the kitchen in order to make some special Potter pancakes for Sirius for when he woke up.

The second time Sirius woke up, there was no James in the room. He should not have felt the twinge of disappointment because James was dead. The dead did not come back alive, but it had felt so good to see James even if he had only been a dream or a hallucination. He started looking around the room. With a shock, he noticed that he was lying in James' childhood room. He was not in his cell in Azkaban. Oh God, everything was as they had left it when James moved out 16 years ago. Sketches of the marauders lined the walls, old photographs of happy days. Even the table filled with old parchments and long forgotten school books was the same. As quickly as he could, he scrambled out of bed, swaying slightly as he stood after a long rest. He was wearing loose cotton trousers and a warm red sweater instead of his prison rags. He took a few calming breaths, so that his mind could process what was going on.

Okay, firstly, he had somehow escaped Azkaban and ended up in Potter manor. Secondly he was in James' room wearing normal clothes and thirdly the smell of vanilla, cinnamon and apples was drifting through the open door. Without thinking, he followed the smell till he stood in front of the door to the kitchen. He could hear laughter coming from inside, and his heart seemed to stop beating when he immediately recognized that laugh. Taking a deep breath, he pushed the door open, thankful for the fact that it did not make a sound as he opened it.

With his back turned to Sirius a tall, lanky man with black messy hair stood in front of the stove. He seemed to be making pancakes, next to the stove a plate stocked with pancakes stood. When he turned to the side in order to put another pancake onto the plate he saw his profile. There was no mistaking it. The person standing there looked just like James Potter. But that was not possible because James was dead. He crashed onto the stone floor. The person who looked like James whirled around, holding a spatula in his hand and wearing a pink frilly apron. The apron had belonged to James' mother. Had he not been shocked into stone, he would have laughed at how ridiculous James looked with the pink thing.

Instead he shook his head and whispered in a hoarse voice: "No, no ... James is dead... dead..."

As quickly as possible, James took off the frilly apron, highly embarrassed. He had not imaged that explaining to Sirius why he is alive would happen while he was wearing a pink frilly apron. Lily had disappeared as soon as the door creaked open, giving the two best friends privacy. He got onto his knees in front of Sirius

"No, Padfoot. I am right here!"

Rage started swirling through his veins. "You're not James!" he bellowed, shocking James. "Stop pretending to be James!" "

"Stop Sirius, I am James! I am Prongs!"

"You're not Prongs! Prongs is dead! James is dead!" Sirius had gotten up and started pacing in the room. His hands were clenching and unclenching. James was still kneeling on the floor staring at Sirius in shock. Quickly he got up and stood in front of Sirius, preventing him from continuing pacing.

"I am not dead! Or do I look like a corpse to you?" James said in order to lighten the mood, even though he knew that it was probably inappropriate.

"He is dead! I saw his corpse! I was the one who closed his eyes! I was the one crying and screaming for him to wake up!" He screamed into James face. It felt as if Sirius had slapped him.

In a quiet voice he whispered: "I know..."

Sirius let loose a sarcastic laugh "Oh you know! And how do you know that?! Did you know how that felt, to lose your other half?!"

"I know! But I am James!" He reached out his hand and touched Sirius shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" he slapped James hand away "Did you not hear me?! He is dead! I as good as killed him!"

James felt as if someone had literary sucked all the air out of him. He shook his head frantically. "No, NO!" James cried out "You did not kill me! You're not guilty!"

"I as good as told Snake-face where you were hiding! I was the one who said that you should use Peter! I was the one that led you to your death!" In the back James mind a small part of him felt relieved by the fact that he had just called him 'you', meaning he was accepting that he was indeed James. The rest of him felt anger at the fact that Sirius thought that he killed him.

Without thinking James slapped Sirius. He held his stinging cheek and stared gob smacked at James.

"You stupid bloody idiot! Were you the one firing the bloody killing curse?! NO! Were you the one who told Voldemord where we were hiding?! NO! You are not in any sense guilty for my death! You did not kill Lily and me! Peter and Snake-face are the ones to blame! You always tried to protect us and we love you for that!" James ranted eyes blazing "And for the record, I am James Potter! I should bloody know who I am!"

Sirius seemed to open his mouth in order to protest but James didn't give him the chance to say anything.

"The rat did not tell me anything! I was and am no Death Eater and I will never be one of those prejudiced killers! I was there when you told me that you were scared to be like your family, you held me as I cried for my family's death and all four of us became Prongs, Padfoot, Moony and Wormtail..." James finished with a small smile as he stepped back and did what they used to do every full moon. He felt the change overtake his body. His hands turned into hooves, brown fur spread over his body, his head became heavier as big antlers started to grow and he now stood on all four. In his place a tall and proud stag stood.

One could not duplicate an Animagus form, no spell and no potion could do that. It was just not possible. In front of Sirius the real Prongs, a very alive Prongs, stood.

With trembling hands, Sirius reached out. He came into contact with warm fur as he gently pated the stag's head. Hazel eyes studied him gently and intelligently.

"Prongs..." without warning he threw himself at the stag, James had to stop his animal instinct from flinching away. His arm circled around James neck as he hugged him close.

"James, James, Oh Merlin, Prongs, James" He was sobbing and murmuring James' name over and over again while clinging to the stag's neck. James changed back to his human form and hugged Sirius back just as fiercely, wallowing in the feeling of being able to touch Sirius. He was finally able to touch his brother. He was holding Sirius in his arms and gently rubbing circles on his back while making soothing noises in the back of his throat. Sirius had put his ear right where James heart is and listened to the steady beat. It reassured him that James was really alive and not a hallucination. For good measure, he pinched himself without James noticing, because he would have laughed at him. After a while of listening to his heartbeat and his breathing, Sirius calmed down enough to look at James.

"Mind putting on that apron again? You looked quite sexy in it!" He almost purred with a roguish grin. His eyes may have been red and slightly puffy but there was no mistaking that mischievous glint.

"Wanker." James exclaimed but the insult lacked its power because he was chuckling. He hit him in the back of his head without much force.

Still Sirius cried "Ouch!" and send a mock glare at James. "That's animal abuse!" He proclaimed and added his best puppy dog eyes and his pouty lip.

James was unable to come up with an appropriate retort because he was quite lost in laughter, in which Sirius joined him shortly. Oh how they had missed this.

oOo

"Sirius?" James' voice drifted towards Sirius. He turned his head towards the direction of James' voice. It was the middle of the night and Sirius was half hidden underneath thick blankets.

"Yeah?" He answered in a bleary voice.

"You know that you will always be my best mate and brother?" James voice asked in nothing more than a whisper and Sirius couldn't help the smile that broke out on his face. He felt the warmth of the words meaning seeping into his very soul. It was said with certainty which would last for an eternity.

"I know and you will also forever be my best mate and brother ..." His words slurred slightly as he fell asleep. That night he had only had pleasant dreams.