CHAPTER 37
MR. POTTER'S ABSENCE

Remus was right about the seventh years. Everyone who had been named over the intercom had never been seen inside the school walls again.

And it didn't really cause any disturbance, since there was only a few more days of school left. Sirius was looking forward to having the boys over for a week of fun and marauding in London sometime in July. And in the meantime, he was going to check out motorbikes to purchase with his remaining money from Uncle Alphard.

Soon, the four of them were boarding the Hogwarts Express to return to London. Sirius was talking excitedly to Remus about all the décor he was going to add to his flat, and Peter was listening with excitement, sometimes interrupting them with a "I've seen one of those!" or "That would look excellent with the couch!"

James not being the interior decorating sort of person, had zoned out completely from the conversation. He pushed his belongings in front of him, and Dag hooted as he stopped the cart in front of the storage car.

"You need help there, Miss?"

James looked up, and saw the conductor trying to help Lily Evans lift her large trunk.

"No, I'm fine, thanks," she said, adjusting her prefect badge on her cloak before trying to heave the trunk up into the car again.

"You sure," James said, as another train worker took his things. He walked over to her, and took hold of one side of the trunk, "On the count of three, lift it, all right?"

Lily gave him a look of distate, but did as he said, "One, two, three." They heaved the large trunk into the car, and James mussed his hair as the two of them stepped out of the way of the line of students piling behind them.

"That thing must way a ton," James commented, "What do you have in there?"

"Different things," she said, and then quickly added a, "Thanks."

"Yeah, any time," James said, "You see, egotrips on broomsticks come in handy sometimes."

Lily's face dropped, and she crossed her arms, "You know," she said cautiously, "I've been thinking about what I said."

"Now which instance are we talking about?" James muttered.

Lily smiled guiltily, and then said, "Well, I'm talking about in particular what I told Remus Lupin to tell you."

"Oh, it didn't bother me," James said, "I forgot all about it."

Lily's face dropped again, "Well, I was sort of … regretting … saying the things I said. It was very immature of me. I know I've said some pretty … harsh … things in the past years. And, well . we are going into our seventh year, and I thought it was time for me to grow up and ."

"And what?" James prodded.

"And apologize," she said quickly, "There. I said it. I'm sorry. Now it's your turn."

James blinked, "What? What did I ever do to you?"

"Well, for one," Lily said, "You embarrassed me in front of my friends."

"I didn't ---"

"I knew you couldn't grow up," she interrupted her, putting a hand up to silence him, and then walking back in the direction of her giggly friends.

It was now or never. It was the moment of truth. James breathed in deeply, and shouted, "Hey, Evans!"

Lily turned to look at him, ready to say another rude comment.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, too," he said quickly before she could open her mouth.

Lily looked surprised, and she stood looking at him with that wide eyed expression for a moment, before smiling, nodding, and turning back to her friends. She disappeared in the sea of students clambering onto the train.

"Hey, Prongs! Get on the train!"

James turned to see his three friends' heads hanging out their usual compartment, ushering him to come join them. He grinned, and jumped onto the passenger car.

***

"Come on, you stupid lock!" Sirius jiggled the Muggle keys to his lift. He had changed into his Muggle clothes in the loo of King's Cross. Mr. Potter had warned him that his real estate friend was non-magical, therefore, so would his home. No wizard clothes. No magic.

Not to mention that he was an underage wizard, still.

"Work!" Sirius shouted at the door knob, "Work, you bloody lock!"

"You need some help?"

He looked up from his door, to come face to face with a woman, carrying a shopping bag. It was the same woman from the park. The mother with the boy on the swing. And sure enough, standing next to her and holding a toy car, was her son.

"Yeah, sure," Sirius said, and stood back. He slicked his hair back, and looked down at the boy. The boy smiled at him.

"It won't open?" she said, setting her bag down.

"No," Sirius said, "I can't get it to turn."

"My friend Estella used to live here," she said, taking Sirius's keys from him and sticking them in the keyhole, "You just have to practically break the door down to get in there."

And, with a kick of her foot, the door slammed open. She smiled, and pulled her bangs out of her eyes, "There you go."

"Thanks," he said, taking the keys back, "I'm Sirius Black."

"Jessica Lindher," she extended her hand, "I live here with my husband and son, Joey."

"Well," Sirius said, shaking hands with her, "Thanks."

"You seem a little young to be out on your own," Mrs. Lindher said, picking up her shopping bag again, "First time away from home?"

"I guess you could say that," Sirius said.

"Well, we're right down the hall in 4C if you need any more doors open or anything. I know how hard the first flat can be," Mrs. Lindher smiled at him, "And stay out of trouble."

"I will," he lied, and picked up his trunk, "Thanks again."

He slammed the door shut, and looked back at the door lock, and then at the keys. Stupid Muggle inventions.

He threw the keys on his kitchen table, and then dragged his belongings back into his bedroom. No Chudley Cannons posters hung here. The walls were bare. Maybe he could redecorate with some Mad Mike posters. It was his favorite band.

He fell onto his bed, and he heard a spring from the mattress break. It wasn't home yet, but it was better than intruding on the Potter's lives, and it was much better than 12 Grimmauld Place.

Joey. That's what his name was. The little boy on the swings lived a beautiful life, with his toys, his mother and father who obviously loved him.

It hit him like cold ice that he was alone now. He didn't have James to tell him what to do. He didn't have anyone to come up with elaborate plans or even ideas on what to do to take up the evening. He didn't have a screaming mother at him.

He was free. He could do anything that he wanted to do.

Sirius grinned as he sank back into the mattress. He had the whole summer to do what he damn well pleased.

And he thought that he would begin his summer by walking to James's house.

***

"So, ten minutes away from me and you couldn't take it, could you?" James laughed as they walked up to his room. Music was blaring from an unknown speaker inside his walls. Wizard Wireless.

"Nice choice of music," Sirius said.

"Thanks," he said, and then shut the door behind them, "So what was wrong with your flat?"

"Too quiet," Sirius said, "Too . Muggle-ish."

James laughed, "Met any of the Muggle neighbors yet?"

"Yeah," Sirius said, "Jessica Lindher …"

"Ooh, who's Jes-ih-cah?" James smirked, jumping onto his bed.

"… And her son and husband," Sirius added, "She's as old as my mother."

James's face dropped, as if he wanted to wash out his mouth, "Well, better luck next time, mate."

Sprite opened the door, with a basket of clothes, and waved at Sirius, dropping the basket on her foot, "Oh! Sprite is in pain!"

"You can just set that over there," James pointed to his closet.

"Oh, thank you, Master James, for letting Sprite do Master James's laundry! Sprite had much fun!" Sprite limped over to the closet, basket in hand, "And Mistress Potter wanted to welcome Master Sirius back for the day."

"Thanks," Sirius said, taking a chair, "So, James. Is your dad here?"

"Master Potter hasn't been home for days," Sprite said, "Sprite has been waiting for Master Potter to return home, but Master Potter hasn't."

"What's up?" Sirius turned to James, who was looking sort of weak.

"Well, I really don't know," James said.

Sprite, seeing the look on the boys' faces, decided that it was a good time to go. She cleared her throat, and then said quickly, "Well, Mistress Potter says that Master James and Master Sirius's sandwiches are almost ready."

And then she let herself out and shut the door behind her.

"Mum says that he left a few nights ago. Said that he had to show some rookies the ropes or something."

"Do you think it has anything to do with that Order?" Sirius asked.

"Probably," James said grimly, "I wouldn't be surprised. But, according to Mum, he's just on another business trip. He won't talk to me anymore. It's like he isn't even the person that I grew up with. He's a total stranger anymore. And his hair's been thinning. Getting grayer. He looks a lot older."

"Can you turn this music off," Sirius said.

James clicked his fingers, and it went silent. Quieter than the field.

"Have you heard about the Jessons?" James asked slowly.

"No," Sirius said, "Who are the Jessons?"

"Barnard Jesson was in the Order," James said, "And his entire family was killed last night. All of them. Not just his immediate family, but his brothers and sister's families as well. Sirius, they're growing. And look at this," he went to a drawer, and opened it. Out came spilling hundreds of clipped articles from the Daily Prophet, most of them with the Dark Mark plastered on the picture.

"There was another Muggle killing just last week," he said, fishing through the papers, "An entire village, Sirius. And a few nights ago, there were four killings right in a row. One for every hour of their rampage. No one knew where they were going to strike next. They weren't even targeting anyone!" James said, "Just random people! One of them was a ninety year old Muggle! And here --- look! The Minister says that our country is in a state of emergency! And Mr. Crouch isn't even giving anyone trials anymore! They're just shoving them into Azkaban!"

"So the world's coming unglued," Sirius sighed, "What's new."

"The Great War started a long time ago," James said, "And soon we won't have Hogwarts to go to and escape from it. We're going to either have to fight it or die."

"I don't think it's that bad ---"

"But it is, Padfoot," James looked back at his drawer, "Voldemort is stronger than anyone thought. He isn't just a terrorist with a few tricks up his sleeve. He's a General. He's got an army. And he's going to take out anyone that stands in his way."

The door opened again, and Sprite appeared, fidgetting with her worn red mitten, "Sandwiches are ready."

James shut the drawer, and followed Sirius and Sprite downstairs for their food.