Disclaimer: I own nothing
James washed the dishes from the night before and dried his hands on his apron. He grimaced at the lace that lined it, but Lily had insisted that he wear an apron while he washed the dishes, watched Harry, and cleaned the house. All this time she was out shopping with her friends. James had tried to tell her that it wasn't safe for her to go out in the open like that. Something could happen to her. But Lily had just laughed lightly, ran her hand through her deep red hair, kissed him on the cheek and told him to stop worrying.
"Stop worrying." He thought roughly, mentally mimicking her. There was a psychopath murderer who thought he could rule the world chasing them, and Lily tells him not to worry. Typical.
James glanced over at Harry, who had a suspiciously mischievous grin on his face. James noticed, just in time, the spoonful of carrot baby food that was poised in his hand. He dropped the pan he had been holding and ducked. The spoonful of baby mush flew over his head and splattered on the wall above the sink just as Lily walked in.
"James!" She said sharply, giving him a reprimanding look. "You were supposed to watch after Harry, not hide from him." The corners of her mouth twitched.
James stood up quickly and brushed himself off, smiling sheepishly. "Hi Honey." He said, his warm brown eyes sparkling as he leaned forward to hug her.
Lily looked at him suspiciously. "James, what – "
She gasped in shock as an ice cube was dropped down her back. After a great deal of wiggling, the ice cube, which had refused to shake out of her dark green robes (enchanted to do so, no doubt.), eventually melted.
"You!" She laughed, hitting his arm playfully. Then she turned and walked over to the bags of clothing that were on the floor. "Help me with these, will you?"
James' eyes narrowed with suspicion. Lily never gave up so quickly. He took a step toward her, eyeing the bags.
"Come on. Be a gentleman!"
Now James was sure that she was up to something. If there was one thing she didn't want him to be, it was a snooty, proper gentleman.
He took another step toward her.
At that moment Lily swung around and yelled, "TARANTALLEGRA!"
James' feet whipped out of control, his scarlet robes trailing behind him. He began to do a quick-stepped dance across the floor. Harry, in his highchair, squealed with delight and started clapping his hands. Lily watched on, a smile playing at her lips.
"Lily!" James cried, helpless. "Stop!" He burst out laughing. Harry bounced up and down in his highchair, his mass of black hair temporarily suspended in air before it was jerked down along with Harry. Finally Lily waved her wand and said softly, "Finite Incantatum."
James' feet stopped dancing. He turned to Harry and glared. "That's right. Take her side." Harry giggled and banged his hands on his tray.
"Well, you deserved it." Lily said, her bright green eyes dancing.
James walked over, laughing, and said, "Sometimes I wonder how I was lucky enough to meet you."
Lily prodded a finger on his chest. "You owe it to Severus." She said playfully. James grimaced. "I know. Oh well. I guess that pays off that debt he owes me."
"Severus borrowed money from you?" She asked, incredulous.
"Money? No. He still owes me for stopping him from getting eaten alive. And for trying to stop us from making the Marauder's Map. And for trying to knock me off of my broom. And for changing the Gryffindor Common room sofas to Slytherin colors. And for ripping my Invisibility Cloak. Do you know how long it took me to fix that thing? That Cloak's been in my family for EVER. Imagine what Dad would say if he had found out."
"He never found out?"
"Heck, no. He would've skinned me alive!" James paused at the look Lily was giving him. "What?" He asked innocently, shrugging.
Lily rolled her eyes. James could tell she was trying not to smile.
Out of the blue, James remembered something.
"Oh, Lily?"
"Hmm?"
"Sirius is coming over for dinner tonight... If it's okay with you, of course." James added hastily.
Lily's eyes twinkled. "I'm your wife, James. Not your mother." Then she added under her breath, "But they're close enough."
"What was that, dear?"
"Nothing." She said hurriedly. Her eyes scanned the room. "Well, if Sirius is coming, I've got to clean the house."
"Lily," James said, eyeing her uncertainly. "You know that Sirius doesn't care if the house is clean. You should see his house."
"I hate to turn down such a kind offer, but I'd prefer not to." She turned to him. "Will you watch Harry while I get the house and dinner ready?"
"Of course."
"Okay. Thanks."
As both James and Harry watched Lily leave, an owl flew in through the window. It was Powys, Peter's owl. Tied to its tattered claw was an old-looking piece of parchment. Peter was short on money. He couldn't get any jobs anywhere because of his low grades from Hogwarts, no thanks to Professor Vilescere, the Potions master. Powys had been Peter's owl while he was at Hogwarts. He couldn't afford a new one.
The owl, flapping its wings feebly, began to fly toward James. Harry chose that moment to hurl a spoonful of carrot mush across the room. It hit Powys' face with a squelch. Powys was knocked backward. He became a spiral of tattered feathers heading toward the ground. James reached out and caught him, thinking wildly that the poor thing might be dead. He felt for a pulse. It was slow, but steady.
"Powys." James sighed, exasperated.
He decided, right then and there, to buy Peter a new owl.
James carefully untied the letter. It read:
Prongs,
Long time, no see, eh? You know, Dumbledore suggested that you should try the Fidelius Charm. (Is that how you spell it?) It's supposed to be some sort of spell that'll hide you.
"Some sort of spell." James laughed softly. The Fidelius Charm was a really advanced form of magic, which he himself could probably barely cast. It was a very good idea, though. The letter went on:
Anyway, I thought that it sounded like a good idea and thought I should mention it to you. Who's going to be your Secret-Keeper?
Peter
James laughed again. Peter was always trying to be the best, the first in line for everything. Like a little kid. He also noticed that Peter hadn't been signing his nickname for a while. Dumbledore had specifically said that they should sign in code so that, if the letter were intercepted, the person wouldn't know whom it was to or from. James shrugged off this concern, remembering that Peter had never liked his nickname. His whiney voice echoed in his memory.
"Why does my name have to be Wormtail? Couldn't it be something better?" Peter cast a sulky look at Sirius. "He gets to have a cool name. Padfoot. The girls dig names like Padfoot, Moony, and Prongs. But who would want to date a guy called 'Wormtail'?"
"Do you have any other suggestions?" James asked mildly.
Peter spluttered. "Well, yes." James could tell by his face that he was racking his brains for a name. "Okay. No." He glared at Sirius again, who raised an eyebrow at James.
"Well, Peter," James said, pointedly ignoring Sirius' look. "If you think of something, let us know."
Peter looked affronted and stormed out of the library, leaving James and Sirius to put away the stacks of books back into the Transfiguration section.
"Yes, that must be it." James thought aloud. But he couldn't shake off the uneasy feeling settling in the pit of his stomach.
"Honey?!" Lily's voice called down the stairs as James carried Powys to his own cage, where his eagle owl, Audrey, usually slept.
"Yes?" James called back.
"Will you start up dinner for me?"
"Sure."
"Thanks."
James turned and walked over to Harry. "Alright, you." He said, half-smiling as he took the spoonful of mushed carrots out of his hands. He noticed that Harry had found a new target: Powys. 'Like father, like son.' The old saying popped into his head. He smiled. He hoped that Harry would be like him: adventurous, funny, and sarcastic. Maybe he'd even be an Auror like him. But James also hoped that Harry didn't inherit his stupidity, but Lily's common sense.
James sighed as he wiped the orange goo from Harry's face. Harry began to squirm in his seat. When James was satisfied, he lifted Harry out of the highchair and onto the ground, where Harry stood, wobbling. James stepped back to look at him and smiled at the pride that shone from his son's face for managing such an extraordinary feat.
Someone knocked on his door. Harry was so startled that he toppled backward onto his behind. James walked up to the door cautiously and muttered, "Occaego". He saw through the door to the other side. He saw Sirius waiting expectantly. He smiled and muttered "Exsto." And the door solidified in front of him. He thrust open the door.
"Sirius!"
Sirius' face broke into a smile. He had smile-lines from his eyes to his ears, and his shoulder-length black hair was untidy.
"Hey Prongs, old friend."
James gave him a sideways glance. "Don't get all sentimental on me."
"Oh, yeah, you don't want to ruin your apron." Sirius said, a smile creeping on his lips as he glanced down at the frills.
James' face went red. "Oh… This…Lily made me wear it."
Sirius raised one eyebrow, something James had always wanted to do. "James, you've only been married a little over a year. Your wife is already bossing you around?"
"I heard that!" Lily's voice echoed down the stairs.
Sirius smiled. "Whoops."
James stepped back. "Come on in."
Sirius stepped into the house and looked around, impressed. "Wow. Nice place you got here. Even better than last time."
James pushed Sirius as Sirius winced and held up his hands in mock defense, laughing. "That's what you said two days ago." James turned around. "I was just fixing dinner…" he lied.
Sirius raised an eyebrow again. "First you're left with a baby that's intent on knocking you out with baby food, then you prance around your house wearing a dress…"
"It's not a dress! It's an apron!"
"Oh. Okay." Said Sirius, unconvinced. Then he continued, "Now you're baking dinner. I don't know, but if Julie saw you prancing around a kitchen in a lace dress, cooking dinner while jumping out of the way as a glob of carrot muck flew past your ear, thrown at you by your 1 year old son, I think she'd faint."
James reddened at the sound of his ex-girlfriend's name, who, thinking that Sirius' motorcycle was 'radical', ran off after graduating from Hogwarts and joined a motorcycle gang. James opened his mouth to defend himself, but was cut off by Lily's voice.
"So, this is what the most famous Aurors in the world talk about. A world mystery is finally solved."
Sirius jumped at the sound of her voice. James looked behind Sirius and offered a feeble smile to Lily, who was tapping her toe, her hands on her hips.
James grabbed Sirius' hand and pulled him into the kitchen. When they got in there, Sirius was looking at James in disbelief.
"You really have become a husband, haven't you?"
"Oh, shut up."
Sirius let out a shout of laughter. "I knew it! I knew it!"
"You just wait until you're married! Those poor guests won't know what hit them when all of my booby traps go off. I'll beat yours any day. Although," James continued, pondering, "Those biting doorknobs were very original. What was the enchantment, again?"
"Oh, yes, very original. It scared away all of our guests!" Lily had followed them into the kitchen. "Poor Petunia. Vernon said that she was in a frenzy for weeks afterwards."
"She deserved it." Sirius said, then quailed under the stare that Lily gave him. "Well, she did."
Lily sighed. "Sometimes I wonder if you two'll ever grow up."
"Oh, yeah. We'll grow up in time." James said gloomily. "We'll get old and wrinkly and tell our Great-grandkids about the time Sirius tried repelling down the Astronomy tower using Toothflossing Stringmints."
"Sirius did what?"
"Nothing." James said quickly. Then he added, "But we'll still get old and wrinkly."
"You'll never get old and wrinkly." Lily said, putting her arm around James. "And even if you do, I'll love you just the same."
"Yeah," said James, putting his arm around Lily. "We're gonna get really old and go live in a really fancy retirement home where they serve us little martinis with umbrellas sticking out of them. And we're gonna have grandchildren and Great-grandchildren, and Great-Great grandchildren, and we're gonna watch them all go through Hogwarts and wreak havoc on any unbroken tapestry or statue that we might've missed."
Sirius' face broke into a grin. "Have you got some room in that retirement home?"
James laughed. Then he got serious. "Well, even if something happens to Lily and I, at least we know that Harry'll grow up riding giant flying motorcycles through the neighborhood."
Lily looked horrified. "And that's supposed to make up rest in peace?"
James was about to answer when Sirius interrupted him. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's all this talk about you dying?" he asked nervously, glancing at each of them.
"Sirius, no one lives forever… and the Dark Lord is constantly searching for us. I think that sometime he may catch up with us."
Now Sirius looked downright scared. "But – but James, there's the Fidelius Charm! Peter must have told you about it…"
James raised his eyebrows. "Peter said that it was 'some sort of spell that'll hide you'."
"Idiot." Sirius muttered. "It hides the secret of something inside one living person. Your secret would be where you are. So Voldemort won't be able to find you if that person doesn't reveal the secret. Pretty good, eh?" He asked. "It was Dumbledore's idea." Sirius sat down in one of the kitchen chairs and conjured up a roasted chicken leg.
"Sirius! You know that's illegal! You're supposed to buy food."
"Whoops. Oh well. It's not going to kill anyone."
Lily glared. "Think of that! You're an Auror and you break the law. How ironic."
"Anyway," Sirius said hastily, changing the subject, "Dumbledore thinks that someone on our side is leaking information to the Dark Lord. I was thinking that we don't have many people who are "close" to us. There's you two, me, Remus, Peter, Dumbledore, Moody and Arabella Figg."
"Wait, wait, wait. Someone is leaking information?"
"That's right." Sirius said grimly. "And I think I know who it is."
"Who?"
"I think it's Remus."
"Remus?" James asked, incredulous. "What makes you think that?"
"Well, think about it. Have you gotten any letters from him lately?"
No. Come to think of it, he hadn't. "What does that prove? Maybe his owl's sick. Maybe he was afraid it'd be intercepted."
"He doesn't have a job. What do you think he does all day?"
"Sit around?" James guessed weakly.
"James, you know I'm not prejudiced, but he's a werewolf. What if his Dark Creature side of him led him to Voldemort?"
James looked away. "Remus wouldn't do that."
Sirius sighed. "Okay. I'm just saying that you should watch your back."
James didn't want to believe it. Remus had always been so kind, so sweet. He was a Gryffindor, not a Slytherin. He was… he was… suddenly James couldn't remember any good reason to believe that Remus was good. His thoughts were interrupted by a loud bang. All three of them jumped. Lily, who had been listening silently, walked over to Harry, who had banged on the floor for attention.
"I think it's just about time for someone to go night-night." She said gently, picking up Harry and walking upstairs, patting his back.
James turned to Sirius. "I think that this Fidelius Charm sounds like a good idea. You can be my Secret-Keeper."
Sirius paled. "James," he began. "Wouldn't that be… obvious?"
"Well… yes it would." James admitted. "But you won't tell anyone! You wouldn't."
"I know I wouldn't. It's just… they may try to torture it out of me. What if I tell them when I'm delirious? James… you should pick someone else. Someone who no one would suspect."
James looked at Sirius closely. "I don't know, Sirius. I don't trust anyone but you and Lily. I used to trust Remus, but now I'm not so sure… Who would no one suspect?"
Sirius looked thoughtful for a minute. Then his face lit up as if a light bulb in his brain had been lit up. "Wormtail."
"No." James said automatically before he even thought about it.
Sirius looked disappointed. "Why not?"
"I don't know… I just – "
"Come on, James. Who would suspect him? No one would think that we would entrust your life to someone who can barely do a Jelly-Legs curse."
"Well…" said James. He still had that uneasy feeling from the letter from Peter. He didn't know why he was so paranoid about it. Maybe he was just being stupid…
"Come on, James. It's a great plan!"
James sighed, resigned. "Okay, Sirius. I'll owl Peter and tell him. I'll send another owl to Remus, Arabella, Mundungus, and Dumbledore saying that you'll be my Secret-Keeper. I'll arrange for the charm to be cast tomorrow, by Amanda. She's really good at charms."
Sirius laughed, his smile-lines crinkling up, and patted him on the back. "Now you're thinking like me."
James offered a weak smile, the uneasy feeling in his stomach growing.
"What was that?" Lily called as she walked down the hall. "You had an idea?"
"Yes. We – "
Lily laughed. "Miracles do exist!"
"Oh, shut up, Lily." Sirius joked. "Sit down and listen to this."
When Sirius had finally gone on his way, later that night, Lily and James had trudged up the stairs to bed. Now James lay on his back, staring at the ceiling, listening to Lily's soft breathing beside him. "So many things can go wrong…" he thought anxiously. "So many things…"
And he drifted off into an uneasy sleep.
* * *
The next day Lily and James got up a lot earlier than usual. Harry was still asleep. Lily wandered through the house, nervously dusting every piece of wood she could find. She was so preoccupied that when James walked down the stairs and missed a step, he grabbed onto the railing, only to find it greasy. He tumbled down to the floor with a crash.
"James, are you all right?" She cried, running up to him.
"Yeah." James said, tenderly touching a bruise that had already begun to form on his arm. He looked up. "Lily, are you nervous?"
"Nervous?" Lily asked, her voice rising several notches. "What would I be nervous about? I – I'm not nervous."
"Lily, you dusted the railing."
"Oh, did I?" She asked distractedly. She looked at the clock. "Listen, I've got to run. I'll be back before Dumbledore gets here. Watch after Harry for me."
"Okay. Where're you going?"
"I'm going to go visit Kris. After the charm is cast, she won't be able to see me again for a long time."
Kristy Addams was Lily's long-time best friend. They were inseparable and had known each other since Hogwarts.
"Okay."
After Lily walked out the door, James suddenly realized that Sirius wouldn't be able to come to his house, either. He strode to the fireplace, threw in some powder, and stuck his head in.
James' head appeared with a pop in Sirius' fireplace.
"Hey, Sirius!" James called. Sirius, who was busy jinxing a package, turned. James eyed him suspiciously. "Who's that to?" He asked, indicating to the package.
"Oh, nobody." Sirius said lightly. James glared.
"That's not to Remus, by any chance, is it?"
"No." Sirius said in a false innocent voice.
"Padfoot, I'm serious."
"Oh, all right. You caught me." Sirius said, a bit snappish. He stole a glance up at James. "But he deserved it!"
"Sirius, we don't even know if Remus is the traitor. And even if he is, wouldn't it be a bit of a giveaway if we sent him a dangerously cursed box?"
Sirius shot a glare at him. "I hate it when you're right."
James suddenly remembered why he had come. "Sirius, I was wondering if you'd like to come over today… it's the last time in a while I'll be seeing you."
"Sorry. I've got to go."
James regarded him doubtfully. "Where?"
"Oh, nowhere. I just need to go to one of the motorcycle gang's meetings and marry Julie."
James' mouth dropped open so quickly that it hit the bottom of the hearth.
"I'm just kidding, you dolt." Sirius laughed. "I've just got to go get some groceries."
"Sirius, if I had my hands I'd strangle you."
"What? Jealous for a second?"
"Sirius!" James said sharply.
"I'm just kidding!" Sirius said defensively.
James smiled and shook his head. "Okay. I'll see you… whenever."
"Okay. See you!"
"Bye." James said before disappearing with a pop.
He pulled his head out of the grate to hear Harry crying upstairs. He smiled and walked upstairs to take him out of his crib.
Hours later, Lily walked in the door, trailed by Peter. She glanced up at James and smiled, lighting up her anxious face. "Outside of town I ran into Peter. Now all we need is Kristy."
James studied Peter's face closely. Peter, who was busy looking around the house (he hadn't been there before), suddenly glanced up and smiled. James' face relaxed into a smile. "If I'm going to trust him with my life," James thought, "I should trust him with everything else."
James took a step forward. "Peter, this is Harry." He held up Harry in front of him. "Want to hold him?"
However, this was out of the question. The moment Harry saw Peter he began to squirm to get away.
Peter laughed uneasily. "Kids don't like me."
James laughed and led him into the dining room. A moment later Kristy walked through the door, her dark blue eyes twinkling.
"Is everything ready?" Kristy asked merrily, treating Lily to a small smile.
"Yes." James said solemnly.
"Okay, then." Kristy said as she pulled out her wand. She began to mutter the charm, waving her wand.
The room looked like it was an oven. The pictures on the wall were wavy, as though it were underwater. Everything around them was sucked away, leaving Lily, James, Peter, Kristy, and Harry floating in complete nothingness. James saw an orb in front of Kristy's wand. It was constantly changing colors. The orb glittered like a crystal, yet its contents flowed through it like quicksilver. Kristy raised her wand and thrust it down in Peter's direction. The orb shot forward and melted into Peter's chest. James felt himself get thrown backward.
When he opened his eyes, they were back in the dining room.
Kristy stood up and walked over to Peter, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Peter." She said seriously. "The lives of this family are in your hands. Do you swear by all that is good that you will not reveal this to anyone?"
"I do." Peter said.
"Good. Then you will go to the hiding place that Lily and I have chosen. Sirius will check on you once a week, beginning tomorrow." Kristy turned to the Potters. "Lily, James," She looked down at the baby in James' arms, her eyes dancing. "And Harry. Good luck and may you be safe."
"Thank you, Kris." Lily said. "Would you like to stay for lunch?"
"No thanks, Lily. I got to go shopping." She replied, her eyes twinkling mischievously. Her eyes slid over to Peter, who was pointedly staring at Lily. "But I think that Peter, here, would like to." Kristy stepped back and beamed at the four of them.
"Then let me show you to the door…" Lily said as she walked ahead of Kristy down the hall, her deep, red, long wavy hair swishing behind her. Their laughter rang out down the hall.
James turned back to Peter. "Please sit d– "
Peter yanked out one of the chairs and sat down, licking his chops.
"Um, okay. I'll go get Lily. Make sure Harry doesn't kill himself."
James set down Harry and walked down the hall, where Lily was waving Kristy goodbye. He wrapped an arm around her waist and waved with the other. Then he looked down.
"Our… er… guest wants some food."
A slightly agitated look flashed behind her eyes before she grinned brightly. "Okay! I'll go fix him up something." She turned and walked down the hall. Then she stopped. "Oh, and Honey?"
"Yes?"
"This is for letting Sirius cast an illegal spell. "Locomotor Mortis."
James' legs snapped together. "Hey!" He said, laughing as he hopped down the hall after her.
* * *
James sat heavily down in his armchair. A week had passed since the Fidelius Charm had been cast. It had taken James all day to convince Lily to take the Leg-Locker curse off of him. She hadn't taken it off until well after Peter left (after he finished eating he had to run off to do some "business") and after Harry fell asleep.
James listened idly to the sound of Harry banging on his tray and to Lily, who was talking to Harry as if he understood every word she was saying. ("There are starving people in China! Do you ever hear them complain? You have plenty of food to keep you happy.") Then he heard an odd noise. It was the sound of a trash can getting kicked over.
"Lily?" He asked uneasily, standing up. "Did you hear that?"
"What?"
At that moment James heard a sound that made his blood turn to ice. High-pitched laughter rang from outside.
"LILY! It's him! Get out the back!"
James heard Lily gasp sharply. He heard her pull Harry out of his chair.
"James, what about you?!" she cried.
"I'll hold him off!" James yelled, losing his mind. Lily and Harry were all that mattered right now. He'd do anything to save them.
"James! You can't – "
"TAKE HARRY AND GO!"
James heard Lily stumble toward the back door. He raced out of the room and down the hall. The front door blasted out of the way. Splintered wood rained down. James wavered on the spot at the horror that he saw.
Lord Voldemort was standing in the doorway. He opened his mouth and his high, cold laugh echoed up the stairs. His face was like the face of death itself. He looked like a snake… a poisonous snake. Voldemort's eyes glowed red as a cruel smile began to curl on his lips.
James was sucked back into reality. He raised his wand, but the Dark Lord was too fast.
"CRUCIO!" The Dark Lord screamed.
It felt as if his very skin was ripped off and his bare nerves had exploded into flame. James crumpled and screamed, though he couldn't hear his own scream over the torrent of pain roaring by his ears. In a rush it stopped abruptly. James, shaking, stood up and looked Voldemort in the eye. It was like looking into Satan's eyes. They were fiery red, and all of the people that he had killed seemed to drown in the endless flames of his eyes.
Voldemort laughed, high and cold, amused. He raised his wand and James was flung to the hall's wall with such force that James could hear splintering wood. It felt as if someone had swung a metal bar into his face. He forced himself to open his eyes… they were now blurred with blood. He set his jaw and stared at the monster's face.
At the sight of this defiance, a snarl rose on Voldemort's lips. He furiously pulled James toward him with his bare hands and slammed him into the wall. James couldn't see anything. Every time he opened his eyes, blood flowed in. He could sense the coldness radiating from the Dark Lord, though. With every ounce of his strength he spat at where he knew the Dark Lord's face was.
With a roar of rage, Voldemort used his wand to pull James away from the splintering wall and sent him crashing into it with incredible force.
The wall gave way, and it collapsed on top of the unconscious body of James.
Voldemort swung around and stormed into the kitchen, where Lily was fumbling with the doorknob. She had stayed to help James, but she was too late. She looked up, terrified.
"Give me the child."
"No!" She screamed. "Not Harry! NOT HARRY!"
"Get out of the way, you silly girl!"
"NO!"
Harry started to cry. His cries rose to a long wail.
Voldemort raised his wand and pointed it at Harry.
"AVADA KEDEVRA!"
Lily jumped in front of the screaming baby, who was sitting on the ground. Green light blinded her for a second as she heard rushing wind.
"Harry'll be alright." She thought, smiling slightly.
Her body crumpled on the spot as her soul was ripped from her body.
Voldemort turned to the screaming baby on the ground. "AVADA KEDEVRA!"
* * *
James moaned as he regained consciousness. He heard footsteps.
"Harry!" he tried to say, but his mouth didn't seem to be working. "Lily!" The footsteps neared.
"James?" Came a familiar voice. It sounded incredulous.
He moaned again.
A ray of light shone onto his face as a piece of debris was pulled off of him. He saw himself looking at the tear-streaked face of Sirius.
"Sirius?" He croaked.
"Oh my God." Sirius said, his voice trembling.
"Is it bad?" James asked, his eyes stinging.
"N-n-n-no. You're going to be alright."
"Where's Lily?"
"Oh, God, James. I'm so sorry. Lily's dead."
"No she's not." James said, his eyes widening. Lily… dead? Lily couldn't be dead. "Sh-she went out the back door with…" James suddenly tried to sit up. Pain sliced through his lower body, paralyzing him. James looked down and realized that several pieces of wood were piercing his body. Sirius pushed him back down, very gently.
"Harry!" James demanded, his head spinning. "Where's Harry?!"
"Harry's… fine. Just fine. Hagrid has him." Sirius said, choking on his tears.
James forced a weak smile. "Well, he'll get all the girls, riding on that motorcycle around the neighborhood. You take care of him."
"James, no." Sirius, said, his voice quavering. "You – you're gonna live."
A little smile, a real one, appeared on James' face. "I'm dying, Sirius. You know I am."
"James – "
"I… I guess I won't grow up to be old and wrinkly, after all. Lily was right. She always was. You… share that retirement home with Remus. Enjoy the martinis." James smiled.
"Oh, God." Sirius said, putting his face in his hands, the tears overflowing. 'You idiot, James. You always were a joker.' He thought. He looked up and saw the smile still on James' face. The light in his eyes was gone.
"Oh, God, James!" he cried. "Don't go! How am I supposed to live? What about Harry?! "
A warm breeze swept over him. He looked up.
"I trust you." A voice echoed. It may have been a memory, but maybe not. "I trust you." The voice echoed again.
And Sirius was suddenly left alone and cold. The words echoed through his head, pulsed through his memory.
I trust you.