Chapter 33
"All ready to go?" asked James coming out of the bathroom. Sirius was sitting on the bed looking around the room sadly. He didn't seem to want to let go of the past just yet.
"I'm gonna miss it," he sighed and stood up. "Hogwarts always was so important to me. It was my escape from my insane parents, it was where I met my first true friends, where I met my first true love, where my entire outlook on life was turned around. And now I'm leaving for good."
James looked at Sirius out of the corner of his eye as he made some last minute checks. The last thing he wanted to do was leave something behind. "Ah, Padfoot," he groaned, "this is a new start. Phase one is over and phase two begins now."
"Doesn't mean I have to completely welcome it," grumbled Sirius. James smiled at Sirius and walked over to him.
"Siri, nothing horrible is going to happen. We will maintain our close friendship with Remus, Peter, and Lily and we will get jobs and support each other while expressing our love for each other."
Sirius raised his eyebrows. "Wow, you've got our entire life planned out, don't you?" he teased. "Impressive."
"Well, I try," he said, laughing at himself.
A knock on the door sounded and then Remus entered without waiting for an answer.
"The first time you actually knock instead of barging right in and it's the day we're leaving," an incredulous Sirius exclaimed. "How does that work?"
"I don't have Lily with me. She insists on just breaking and entering," answered Remus, a small smile tugging at his mouth. "Anyways, you guys already to leave?"
James nodded and Sirius smiled slightly. He could remember when he first met Remus. He was a shy kid sitting alone in a compartment. Sirius had gone in and asked if he could sit down.
-flashback-
"I'm Sirius Black," he said, holding out his hand, expecting to be rejected.
Instead, the boy held out his hand as well and said, "Remus Lupin."
-end flashback-
What a huge difference from that small, shy, scrawny boy to the confident, handsome young man in front of him. He had been an incredible friend throughout the years, providing a comforting ear and good advice from time to time. Siruis knew that he would remain to be an awesome friend too.
"Come on, we should go," urged Remus, snapping Sirius out of his thoughts as James pulled on his elbow, forcing him to get up. Quickly he bundled up Anastasia and followed two of the people that had made his life better from day one of Hogwarts.
They met Lily at the entrance of the great hall and walked out together. Lily started chatting about what they were going to do now that they had graduated. Sirius smiled slightly. Lily would never change.
-flashback-
"I'm Lily Evans," the red headed girl said sticking out her hand. "So, what do you know about all of this magic stuff. I'm a muggle born so this is all really fascinating."
Sirius watched her talk with raised eyebrows. "I'm Sirius Black. And I don't know what to tell you about the magic…"
-end flashback-
"You okay Siri?" asked James as they boarded the train. Sirius nodded in response and followed James to an empty compartment. How many times had he followed James to a place to sit down? James was always taking the lead. Whether it was in a prank or simply walking around the school, James was the leader without a doubt.
-flashback-
"And how are we going to manage to pull of this prank?" asked Remus anxiously.
James smiled. "Don't worry about it. Sirius, you're going to do the dye, Remus, you handle all of the spells, and Peter, you're the diversion."
"What are you going to do?" asked Sirius. James simply smiled.
"You'll see…"
-end flashback-
"Where's Peter?" asked Lily as they settled down, Lily sitting snuggled against Remus and James with his arm around Sirius who was holding Anastasia. Sirius shrugged. He hadn't seen much of Peter lately. It was like he had completely vanished. Then again, he was always finding someone more powerful to conform with.
-flashback-
"Yeah, I wouldn't mess with me if I were you," Peter snapped at the Slytherins. "I have strong friends who could beat you up."
Sirius came around the corner, feeling slightly used by Peter and raising his wand as he walked. "You heard him. I won't hesitate either."
-end flashback-
"We should play chess," Remus suggested after about thirty minutes of silence. Lily and Sirius groaned. The last time they had played a fist fight had begun because they were both convinced that they were cheating.
"Bring it on, Lupin," challenged James and immediately began setting up the game. Lily and Sirius sighed and just sat there watching. Sirius, however, was really just wrapped in his own thoughts, yet somewhat wary for a punch that might be thrown randomly.
He remembered their explorations of the castle. They started out as innocent curiosity and ended up being a brilliant discovery.
-flashback-
"This witch looks mighty suspicious to me," whispered Sirius to James.
"How do you figure?" he responded in an equally low voice.
"It just does," hesnapped and then began examining it closely."I wonder what she does."
James shrugged and said, "Only one way to find out." He tapped the witch on her hump. Suddenly Peeves came out from no where and watched the two boys.
"Try 'dissendium'," he cackled and floated away.
-end flashback-
"I'm going to miss this," whispered Sirius unexpectedly. Lily looked at him with concern in her eyes. James and Remus stopped playing and looked at him as well.
"So am I," replied Lily, sorrow shining through her eyes. "Things will definitely be different."
Remus nodded slowly. "But we'll always be good friends. Nothing can stop that."
"Death can," muttered Sirius. James looked at him curiously but then understood immediately.
-flashback-
"What do you fear the most?" asked James. They were sitting by the fire late after a letter from his parent's came.
Sirius shrugged. "I guess…what I fear most is death. Not dying necessarily, but death."
James looked confused. "Why do you not fear dying but fear death."
Sirius thought for a moment and then answered, "Death takes away the ones you care about most. If I died, then it wouldn't matter. But if you or Remus died I'd be all alone and lost. Death is a permanent way of separation."
-end flashback-
James smiled grimly while Remus and Lily remained confused. "No one's going to die, Padfoot," he said in a reassuring way.
"No one guarantees death," replied Sirius. "One of us could die getting off of the train. Or we could die the next day of an unknown heart problem."
"Sirius, let's not think like that," Remus said softly. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm planning on living forever."
That caused them to all burst into laughter. There was always someone ready with a joke for tension relief. Several times the methods had been used to avoid disaster.
-flashback-
"Your parents beat you?" a shocked Peter whispered. James and Remus looked at him as if they'd never seen him before.
"Only occasionally," he muttered defensively.
"Define occasionally," snapped James losing his patience. He couldn't stand that someone would hurt his best friend.
"Occasionally means," defined Remus, sounding like a dictionary, "now and then or here and there."
Sirius looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. Peter began chuckling and before anyone understood what was happening, they were all laughing at the insanity of it alluntil tears of mirthflowed down their cheeks.
-end flashback-
The train pulled into the station slowly. James held up his hands to show that they should wait for a moment. Remus nodded and Sirius and Lily seemed to not really care. Anastasia was asleep in a baby carrier. They waited for about five minutes and then began pulling their items down.
As they made their way onto the platform, they halted and looked at each other awkwardly. This was it. They wouldn't see each other for a while. It was different than it usually would be.
"Well," James said, uncomfortable with the silence. "I guess we'll see you around."
Remus and Lily nodded and, after exchanging farewell hugs, walked off to find their families.
"Phase two, aye?" Sirius asked, glancing at James.
James looked at him and nodded. "Phase two begins now."
A.N. what's up y'all? I'm so happy. People actually like my story! Teehee. Anyways, the Lakers are winning! Bye bye.