Cold as Ice

James and Sirius walked slowly down Diagon Alley, under the Invisibility Cloak that now barely fit the two of them. They reached the end of the street, and stood looking up at the entrance to Gringott's Bank, as the person they'd been following entered.

"What now?" Sirius asked under his breath.

"Now we wait," James replied just as quietly. "He's got to come out again, hasn't he?"

"But what if he's gone in there to... I don't know."

"There's nothing we can do about it. Do you fancy trying to get past those goblins, even under the Cloak?"

Sirius shook his head and the two young men leant against a wall, making sure their feet were still fully hidden. They were on their first mission for the Order of the Phoenix, which was an organisation formed by Dumbledore to fight against Death Eaters, such as the one they were now waiting to emerge from the famous bank.

"So..." Sirius said, breaking the silence that had settled between them.

"Padfoot, if anyone hears us we're screwed," James reminded him.

"I know, I'm just bored. Besides there's nobody that near and the street's crowded enough to be too loud for anybody to overhear."

"I suppose," James said grudgingly. "What do you want to talk about?"

"What are we doing about the full moon on Thursday?"

James looked at Sirius in confusion. "What do you mean? We're running with Moony. What else would we do?"

Sirius frowned. "Do you think it will carry on working? Voldemort's after werewolves and it's going to get suspicious if we're always away on a full moon. We're working closer to Dumbledore now. He's bound to notice."

James glared at Sirius. "What are you suggesting, Padfoot? That we abandon Moony? You know we can't do that. We promised him."

"I know," Sirius replied gently. "I don't want to leave him alone. He was so much worse before we started to help. I just think we're starting to get into a delicate situation where everybody wants to know everybody else's business in case it's relevant to the war. It was hard enough at school when we only had to worry about Filch locking the door or clashes with Astronomy class. It's going to be so much more difficult now. What do we do if someone from the Order asks us to do something on a full moon night? We can't say, 'oh sorry, we're busy playing tag with a werewolf that night'."

"I think we should register. As Animagi," James said.

"We'll have to pretend to be learning and make it believable. It would be suspicious if we managed it too quickly. Most people take over three years."

James nodded in agreement and was about to reply when a tall figure walked out of Gringott's Bank. "We're on the move," he muttered. "Let Moony and Wormtail know."

Sirius was about to cast a Patronus to send a message to Remus and Peter when clouds appeared to move across, turning the sky black. Sirius frowned up at the sky, feeling suddenly chilly.

"That's weird," he said.

James shivered and shook his head. "Do you have a bad feeling about this?" he asked. He turned, looking up and down the street to see that the crowd had become lethargic, noise levels dropping. Some people seemed more affected than others. One girl even appeared to have fainted. He turned back just in time to see their Death Eater Disapparate and he swore quietly. He found himself thinking of things he'd tried to forget. Various Death Eater attacks resurfaced in his mind, along with memories of bullying Snape, times that all hope had seemed lost with Lily, worry for Sirius who'd turned up on his doorstep at sixteen, half-dead.

Remus and Peter ran around the corner and James just about gathered his thoughts in time to stick his hand out of the Invisibility Cloak for them to see. Next to him, Sirius had dropped to the floor, holding his head in his hands and causing James to crouch next to him, a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Remus walked up close to them, pretending to look at a poster on the wall behind them.

"Dementors," he muttered.

"Moony, don't kill me," Sirius groaned. Remus looked down in surprise, though he couldn't see what state his friend was in.

"Is the coast clear?" James asked shakily, feeling like his insides were freezing.

Remus looked over his shoulder, to Peter who was persuading shoppers to evacuate, and to further down the street where the Dementors were closing in. "Nobody will see you," he said, knowing that this was what James meant. James pulled the Cloak off, shoving it in his pocket with one hand as he kept the other firmly on Sirius' shoulder.

"Moony, help," he said, trying to lift Sirius to his feet. Remus came around to the other side of Sirius and pulled him up.

"Regulus. It was Regulus," Sirius said weakly. Remus and James exchanged worried looks.

"I know, Sirius. But you got him back, remember?" James said, struggling to remember happy memories himself to bring Sirius back to full mentality. He hardly even noticed Remus casting a Patronus.

"It must have hurt. I hit it pretty hard."

James sighed, realising that Sirius was right. They were wrong to have been so proud of Sirius' Bludger that had sent Regulus to the Hospital Wing in their last match against Slytherin. Regulus might have been seriously injured.

"No," Remus said harshly, looking at both of them. "Stop thinking negatively! They're nearly here. You need to cast your Patronuses."

James shook his head, unable to believe he would ever be able to cast a Patronus again. The world was so cold and he was never going to be happy again. Next to him, Sirius was now mumbling about his father, his breaths getting shorter and heavier as he got closer to his worst childhood memories.

"Stop it!" Remus snapped at them. "Think of Meg and Lily. Lily, James. You're going to marry her and have little messy-haired green-eyed babies and live happily ever after."

"She'll say no. She'll run away again."

"She already said yes," Remus said softly. "She's not going to run, James. She loves you."

James gasped as some of the ice in his heart melted a touch. He looked up at the Dementors, a flurry of memories breaking to the surface of his mind. He thought of Lily's Patronus dancing towards his.

"Expecto Patronum," he croaked. A silver stag burst out of his wand, charging at the Dementors. James suddenly felt so much better.

"Sirius," he said. Sirius didn't respond, his eyes flickering slightly, all his weight on Remus' shoulder. "Padfoot," James tried again. "Remember when Lita kissed me?"

"How will that help?" Remus asked incredulously.

"Trust me. Sirius, remember? She kissed me and you were jealous and stormed into my room."

Sirius glared at James.

"Good," James said, obviously encouraged by this reaction. "What did I tell you, Pads? When I came in?"

Sirius shook his head frowning.

"I told you that she liked you and wanted to make you jealous. I told you that she was the one for you."

"You were wrong," Sirius said hoarsely.

"No I wasn't. Think what that kiss meant, Sirius. I would never do it again, I love Lily too much. But that's what came from that kiss, Sirius. Lily admitted she likes me. You and Meg admitted you like each other. That kiss started made Sirius Black fall in love."

"Yes."

The one word came out of Sirius' mouth so quietly that Remus might not have believed he'd really said it, if at that moment he hadn't stood up straight and closed his eyes, breathing two words and blasting his dog Patronus out of his wand.

James and Remus both sighed in relief as their three Patronuses targetted the Dementors, along with the Patronuses of several other people in Diagon Alley. Peter joined them, his own rat Patronus looking small next to the others but causing just as much trouble for the Dementors as it glowed with the happiness the Marauders had given him. James could feel the cold leaving him completely as the Dementors backed away and the sky started to lighten again. Once they'd been driven away completely, the four men looked at each other glumly.

"We lost him," James said.

"I know," Remus sighed. "There wasn't anything we could do."

Sirius groaned, frustrated by his supposed weakness in the face of the Dementors. "I can't believe it. Our first mission for the Order and we've failed."

The other three all shushed him, glancing around nervously in case anybody had overheard the mention of the Order. They then caught sight of another Order member, Benjy Fenwick heading towards them.

"Tough luck, guys. We'll get a break with Travers eventually," he said, "but so far tracking him has been like trying to catch air. At least you have the excuse of the Dementor attack. Everyone else just lost him without any other distractions. Well done by the way, you did brilliantly with them. I've got to rush though. I'll see you tomorrow."

Benjy turned on the spot, disappearing with a loud crack, and leaving the Marauders standing there, James and Sirius looking rather ashamed of themselves and Remus and Peter looking on sympathetically.

"It's not your fault," Remus said softly.

"Why did they affect us more than you?" James asked desperately.

"I don't know," Remus replied. "You'd have to ask Dumbledore to be sure, but maybe it's something to do with the memories that they bring up. You two have worse memories than either of us and they all resurfaced at the same time. Then, you have some really strong happy memories that usually keep you stable but the Dementors get rid of them."

Sirius sighed and rubbed his head.

"Come on," Peter said. "I know what you need."

He started to walk off down the street.

"What?" Sirius called after him, noting that he was heading towards Florean Fortescue's.

"Chocolate ice cream!"

"He knows me so well," Sirius smiled.