Chapter 29
Disclaimer: HP isn't mine, but give credit where credit is due: I was smart enough to read it.
"We only knew the magnificent boy by the name of Jack DiMento for a few short months, a minuscule stretch of time. We should have had years and years of memories with the bright, energetic, happy, and so unbelievably brilliant soul that Jack was. He was a reminder that even in the darkness of war, there are lights. His sacrifice is one of them. Jack loved you. All of you. He truly loved his friends. He died saving one of his closest companions, whom he considered a brother. But that is only a very small part of the message Jack taught us.
"No one is invincible, or infallible or omniscient or perfect in any way. But when we protect each other with our lives and fight until our last breath for the ones we love, we are a powerful force indeed.
"Jack DiMento will never be forgotten. His name will be sung in the epics that depict the downfall of Voldemort." The torches seemed to burn lower at the name. "And it shall be whispered throughout the halls of this great school for years to come. They will speak of a kind, compassionate, unimaginably clever soul who departed far too soon. And he will live again."
Dumbledore seemed to relax slightly, though his worn, tired face did not change. "He always said he'd be remembered. We will make sure he is never forgotten."
He raised his wand slowly. "Jack DiMento."
The students repeated the motion and whispered the name, the sound hissing and echoing off of the great stone walls of the Great Hall, faces solemn, all of them, yes every single one of them, feeling at least a single moment of grief.
"Jack DiMento."
...
It was a week before James smiled again.
A week more before Sirius laughed.
A month later Peter finally made a joke.
But it wasn't the same. Not without him.
Remus, for some reason, took it the best, all things considered. But he would never take a small onyx depiction of a raven from his keychain; it was all he had left of Jack, and damn it if he didn't deserve to be remembered.
Time passed quickly. The only thing of note happened on the third day after Jack died.
Lily was coming back from dinner when a hand wrapped around her mouth and a cold wandtip was pressed into her temple.
"You will move very slowly. And very nicely. You will not make a sound. Or I will kill you."
A flash of fear ripped through her before she steeled herself, eyes hardening, hand inching toward her wand. She was Lily Evans, Head Girl, top of the class (well, close enough), not some bloody damsel in distress.
Just as she parted her lips to send her attacker into the nearest wall, she heard the thud of a strong punch and a grunt of pain.
The hand slipped off her mouth and the wand clattered to the floor. With a slightly relieved look, she turned to thank her savior-she snorted internally at the term, even if it was used in the privacy of her mind-only to be met with the liquid brown eyes of Remus Lupin.
"Hello Lily. Are you alright?"
Lily sighed in relief and thanked Merlin it wasn't James. Of this was a book or movie, it would be James. He would smile a cocky smile and say-
"Guess we saved you there, huh? However will you repay me?"
Lily groaned. Of course. Why didn't she expect James to be with him? She craned her neck to look past Remus, a snappy comeback on her lips- only to be met once again by a face that did not belong to James Potter.
She was staring into the grey eyes of Sirius Black.
She laughed then, a laugh that let out the fear that had filled her when the hand went over her mouth.
It wasn't the boy she wasn't sure if she yearned for or dreaded seeing that had saved her.
It was her friends.
Just her friends.
...
Finally, a little over a month later, on the last day of April, it happened.
What, you may ask?
No, I promise this isn't some kind of make-everything-perfect-in-the-end kind of story. Jack won't miraculously resurrect.
No. What I'm referring to is a bit less dramatic, but just as unrealistic. (Yes, I'm being sarcastic. No, I don't care that it was a stupid joke.)
"You know, I don't think I've ever been in your room before."
Lily glanced up from where she was digging through a bag. "Really?"
James was laying on her bed, tossing his wand up and down and trying to catch it between two fingers. "Yeah. Never really thought about it before. Weird; I mean we've lived in the same dorm for what, seven months?"
Books thudded to the ground as Lily flinched subconsciously. James instantly leapt up, grabbing her forearm to steady her. "Hey. You okay Lils?"
"Er... yeah. Just thinking about how a good amount of the year was spent with only one of us in here, between... your dad and... you know."
In a vain attempt to distract her, James grabbed a photo of a grinning Lily taken when she was about eight years old, sporting a braid she'd clearly done herself and a grin from ear to ear, covered in mud, clutching a small terrier-like dog.
"You were so cute."
Lily gave him a mock hurt look. "As opposed to now?"
James gave a "duh" look and said, "Well, yeah, obviously."
Lily was now no longer completely faking. "Oi. What's that supposed to mean?"
James squinted at her. "Isn't it obvious?"
"Now you're beautiful."
A/N: Starts off solemn and ends cheesy. Perfect.
Hope all four of my readers that are still actually reading enjoy! See you next week.
~~~J, a friend. "Sanctissimi cordis, quam acerrimi animi!"
