Time it was, and what a time it was, it was
A time of innocence, a time of confidences
Long ago, it must be, I have a photograph
Preserve your memories, they're all that's left you
Bookends, Simon & Garfunkel
Still Time
Remus had given me some of his old photo albums after I'd arrived with Buckbeak at Grimmauld Place. I hadn't known so many pictures had been taken while we'd been in school, and seeing as I didn't have much else to do, I'd been having fun looking through them.
After pouring myself a glass of Firewhisky, I sat down on the sofa and grabbed the nearest album and opened it. So many old memories…Man I'd forgotten so much of this! Azkaban had permanently sucked away so many of my memories that the ones I had left were quite precious to me.
The first picture in the album was of all four of us. The Marauders, the Four Musketeers, inseparable for seven years. Were we really ever that young? Here I was, 14 years old, waving to myself as I looked at the photograph. I was grinning like a madman. This wasn't a surprise, for it's basically what I was. Oh hell, I still am a madman, who am I kidding? I had my arm around James's shoulders. Dear James, we were the best of friends, when we weren't at each other's throats, that is. We were always fighting over something, but it was only for fun really. I liked to see how much he'd take before exploding, it was totally fun! He didn't always see it that way, as the black eye on my photo image proved.
We stood a safe distance away from the Whomping Willow, Remus stood next to James and myself, with his arm around Peter's shoulders. Those two had been the backbone of the group, supporting me and James during all the trouble we caused, yet never seeming to get into trouble themselves. Remus was always the thoughtful, studious one. He was the one I usually went to to help make up a good excuse for why I'd stayed out too late, or had snuck into Hogsmeade some night and managed to get caught. Peter was the one we all used to tease. It was just too hard to resist, he took everything we said about him so damned seriously, how could we not? He made it far too easy, but he always forgave us afterwards. At least I thought he had. It was still difficult to believe he'd turned traitor and ruined all of our lives.
I looked at the picture on the next page. It was of my fourth year self sitting on the sofa in the Hufflepuff common room, surrounded by all the fourth and fifth year Hufflepuff girls. I had no memory of how I'd gotten into their common room, or who had snapped the picture, but the amount of empty Firewhisky bottles strewn across the floor probably had something to do with why I couldn't remember it. There was a very pretty brown haired girl sitting on my lap and holding a bottle up to my lips while I drank from it. I wish I could remember what happened after the picture had been taken.
The next page was a photo of James and Lily. It looked like it had been taken in 6th or 7th year. They were standing next to one another, and seemed to have been taken in a rare moment of peace between those two. Lily was smiling into the camera while holding James's hand. James was gazing lovingly down at her.
The picture on the page opposite James and Lily was of Remus. He was sitting at the Gryffindor table with a plate of shepherd's pie in front of him, and a book in one hand. I would always remember Remus best this way. He was always reading some book or other. He was usually so quiet I used to tell him to shut the hell up just to get his attention. I remember it always made him laugh.
Before I shut the photo album in order to go make myself some dinner, I glanced at the next photograph. It was all four of us again. We were holding up bottles of butterbeer and smiling into the camera. It was during our leaving feast. One of the last times all four of us would be together. I gazed at myself. I'd had no idea what was to come from that friendship. Ah, so young…so innocent…all of us.
With a sigh, I slammed the photo album shut, finished off my firewhisky, and stood up to walk to the kitchen. As I walked towards the ice box, I couldn't help but wish things could have stayed as they'd been when I was younger. Maybe I'd have had more to show for my life. But at least, I thought to myself, there was still time. I was still pretty young, and had plenty of time to do something worthwhile with my life, but for now, my main goal was to make, and eat an entire triple-decker ham, turkey, and cheddar sandwich. A man had to have priorities in his life after all.