He'd been hexed, cursed, screamed at, thrown out of his own house, and so much more. He thought his life was hard. He thought that he was the unluckiest guy in the world.
All that changed today, though.
He watched James pace up and down the hallway outside the dingy room, counting his steps. James was almost on his two hundredth step, when he suddenly changed his mind and plopped down on the sofa, his head in his hands.
"Problem?" Sirius asked, poking his best friend on the shoulder.
As a response, James glared at him threateningly.
"Sorry," Sirius said, raising his hands in surrender. "But cool down James, it's not like your son's dying. It's just a little... green... gross... cut."
For a moment, Sirius thought James was going to punch him. But then a defeated look settled on James's face. It didn't suit James; it just wasn't right. James was a winner. A champion.
"I know," the young boy sighed. "It's just that... I can't live like this, knowing my son's in danger all the time, and I won't even be around to help him. Did you hear what that dude Dingo said? It was a HEX MARK. Someone attacked him."
"Django, not Dingo," Sirius replied, reading the label on the wall beside the dull door. "Have you ever heard a name like this? Django. It's awes- I mean, er, it isn't our problem right now."
This time Sirius was sure James was going to hit him, but he raised his arms to shield his face. No blow came, though, for James had simply groaned and started pacing once again.
"There's gotta be something... anything I can do about this..." he muttered.
"Whoa, there, Prongs," Sirius said, pushing his best friend back down on the chair. "We promised Dumbledore we wouldn't let the future get to us. We could go insane. Or change the future."
"That's what I'm trying to do!" James exclaimed. "Change it! I don't want my son to end up like this!"
Sirius stayed quiet. Firsthand experience gave him the knowledge that if you keep prodding a thing that could engage in spontaneous combustion, it WILL explode. So he kept his mouth shut and watched as James entered the Men's Room, slamming the door behind him.
He stared at the opposite wall, allowing his thoughts to spin wildly around in his head. Raw memories, suspicions, doubts... All of it flashed past Sirius's eyes as his mind went hyperspeed.
"Don't you dare walk through these doors again!"
"James Potter, meet your son."
"We only had you for a year?"
"I'm the only person to have survived all three Unforgivable Curses."
"PRONGS!"
He understood how James felt. He felt the same way. He felt the strange, unpleasant emotion stir him inside. He wanted to do something. He couldn't. He REALLY wanted to do something. He REALLY couldn't.
Sirius felt completely and utterly helpless.
Harry Potter. A name that will forever be known in wizard kind. He was probably on a Chocolate Frog card. Everyone would look at him and say, "I wish I was like him."
But none of them knew the pain he went through. The sufferings, the losses, the struggles... He was a good boy. He tried to put others before him. But even when he smiled, you could see the echoes of his past in his green eyes.
Sadness, torture, stress... Death.
Sirius wondered how he had survived it all. All that pressure would've broken him, shattered him like a fragile piece of glass. And yet... he knew that Harry HAD been shattered. But somehow, in some way... The poor boy held the broken pieces together. He had to. For the sake of the world.
And Sirius wondered when Harry wouldn't be able to hold it together anymore. When would he let go, and let the pieces crash to the floor? When would he finally have had enough?
The Men's Room opened, and out came a very tired looking James. He nodded at Sirius, and he stood up. They walked through the doors together, ready for anything...
But unfortunately, they were slipping through the seams. They had to keep it together, like Harry did. He'd been through much more than the both of the Marauders put together. And he managed. Why can't they?
They had to hold it, like Harry. For Harry.
-oOo-
Ooooooh, I like the depth of this one. :D
