A/N: I forgot to include this in my last chapter, but I want to thank everyone who helped in my plagiarism battle. Everything (that I know of) that was stolen has been removed, and my work is once again my own. Thank you all for your help!

Good news! It looks as though my schedule will permit one update a week from this point on. I'm going to make a valiant effort to update every Friday, so keep an eye out for new chapters just in time for the weekend!

One thing before we start – Is Lily psychic? Well, not exactly . . . but, like Harry, she has her moments.

Thanks again for reading and reviewing! You're the best!

I don't own Harry Potter.

Blame

Con tu adiós, te llevas mi corazón (With your good bye, you take my heart)
- Como la flor, Selena

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine," Laura replied, annoyance finding its way into her voice. "You've asked me that at least fifteen times today, and we've only just finished breakfast!"

Remus smiled. "Sorry. It's all that Healer training. It's bothering me that we don't know why you passed out yesterday."

"Isn't stress a good enough reason? We were in a battle situation, you know."

"It would be if you hadn't been in similar situations before. Face it, love. You're a seasoned soldier at this point. I expect you to be able to handle it."

Laura smiled, and stuck her tongue out at him. "Well, I'm fine now."

"I'm glad."

She looked down at the cup of tea in front of her for a moment, then up at Remus. "Have you heard from James?"

"No, not since I saw him with his mum on the battlefield."

Laura shuddered. "I can't even imagine watching one of my parents die."

"God-willing, you'll never have to." He ran his hands over his face. "I want to check on him, but I don't want to intrude, you know? Maybe I could go over later today. He and Lily should be all right with visitors, right?"

"I should think so. I'm sure they have a million things to do, though."

"I know. But I can't wait to just say a few words to him at the funeral. This is James, Laura. He's my brother. I have to be there for him."

"Then you should be. Go visit today."

A crack split the air, and Sirius appeared in their kitchen. Laura and Remus both looked at him in surprise.

"Is everything all right, Sirius?" Remus asked.

Sirius gave him a lopsided smile. "No new tragedies, if that's what you're asking. I just . . . I need to talk to you, Moony."

Laura picked up her teacup, and stood to her feet. "I'll just leave you alone, shall I? If you need me, I'll be in the living room."

Sirius smiled as he watched her go. "You're a lucky man, Remus. She bounced back from yesterday pretty quickly."

"Yes," Remus said slowly, indicating that Sirius should sit down with him. "I'm still not satisfied, though. I need to know what happened to make her faint."

"Have you talked to Dana?" Sirius suggested as he took the chair that Laura had just vacated. "She might be able to help."

Remus shook his head. "I haven't had a chance. That's a good idea, though. Even if she doesn't know what caused her collapse, she can bring Laura up in class as a hypothetical case." He smiled. "But what did you come to talk to me about?"

"I slept with Rebecca last night."

Remus's eyes widened, surprised by the abruptness of Sirius's confession. "As in shared a bed, or . . .?"

"More than just sharing a bed," Sirius grinned.

Remus exhaled a long breath. "Well, congratulations, I suppose."

Sirius laughed. "I'm not here to ask for advice in that department, if that's what you're thinking. We did quite well on our own."

Remus held up a hand. "I don't need details."

"Moony, Moony, always such a prude. And you were the first one of the four of us to actually shag a girl, too."

"And I'm married to her," Remus replied a bit harshly. "Not exactly something I can say of you."

"I might marry her."

Remus laughed. "Sure, Padfoot, I can see that. You've already proven yourself not to be a marrying man. Don't you remember Olivia? She wanted you to marry her, and you practically sprinted in the opposite direction! And, as I recall, you had most definitely shagged her, too."

Sirius waved his hand. "Remus, you're jumping ahead of me."

"All right, bring this to where you want it."

Sirius ran his hand through his hair. "Rebecca told me that she loves me."

"Before or after you shagged her?"

"Both."

Remus's eyes widened again. "What did you say?"

"Nothing. I couldn't think of a good reply, so I just kissed her."

"The king of the cover story couldn't think of anything to say?"

"Yeah, I guess that's about it. Don't tell anyone, though. I don't want my reputation slandered."

"Be serious for a minute. This is a major issue." Remus looked at his friend as though he could see right through him. "Do you love her?"

Sirius looked down at the table. "I'm not sure."

"Oh, man."

"I know. I have this beautiful girl who is absolutely fantastic in every way telling me that she loves me, but I can't say it back! What is wrong with me?"

"Didn't you have this same problem in seventh year with Olivia?" Remus asked. "You have issues with getting in touch with your feelings, Padfoot."

"True though that may be, I think the issue is greater than that."

"How so?"

Sirius finally looked up. "I think I'm still in love with Olivia."

Remus closed his eyes. "So just to make sure that I'm keeping up, you could potentially love one of these girls, both of them, or neither of them."

"Yeah, that's about it."

He opened his eyes again. "Padfoot, I hope I never have as many issues as you."

"Since you're married, I hope you never have this problem, too."

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know! That's why I'm here. I need some advice."

"Have you talked to James about this? What does he think?"

Sirius shook his head. "I can't put this on him with everything that he's dealing with right now. Maybe when this whole situation gets a little less convoluted, or when things settle down with his family, I'll tell him."

"And Peter?"

"I haven't seen Peter since he left us last night. Have you seen him?"

"No, I haven't." Remus frowned slightly. "I tried to talk to him over the Floo network this morning to make sure he was all right, but his mother said he wasn't home."

Sirius frowned. "Odd. I wonder what happened to him."

Remus shrugged. "It's Peter. He's been like this since we left Hogwarts. I always thought it was just because he didn't live with us anymore, but now none of us live together."

"He's been on his own longer, though," Sirius rationalized. "He's more used to spending time without us. You, James and I are still nearly joined at the hip."

Remus grinned. "Yeah, we are, aren't we?" His grin faded. "How is James?"

"I left him with Lily and his mother at St. Mungo's last night," Sirius replied. "They're all dealing as well as they can. Lily's being a rock for James. She's great, you know? You should have seen the way she just jumped in there and became the strong one for him."

"You didn't think she could?"

"I don't know. I mean, don't you remember how she fell apart after her parents died? I was a little worried about how she'd take this. But she's doing really great." He sighed. "And James is doing the same for his mother. He's totally there for her, being the supportive son. I'm just worried that he's not going to take care of himself."

"He has Lily to worry about him."

"I guess so." Sirius ran his hands over his face. "I just wish there was some way that none of them had to support one another like this. I wish this had never happened. I wish they could all be whole again."

"It's not –"

"I know, Moony" Sirius said wearily. "If one more person tells me that it's not my fault, I'm going to explode! I'm not blaming myself, okay? I'm not."

"Good."

"I know exactly who to blame." A hard glint shone in his eyes. "The Death Eaters caused this. Mr. Potter's death was their fault. His blood is on their hands." He smiled grimly. "I become a full Auror next week. I'm going to spend the rest of my life making the Death Eaters pay for what they've done."

Peter walked slowly around the snow-covered village, wondering idly if winter would ever end. As he looked at the clean white snow that surrounded the homes of his neighbors, he thought back to the night before – the night of the battle.

There had been snow there, too. It hadn't been white like this, though. Not after the battle had ended. The snow had been trampled, dirty. It had compounded with loose earth to create mud. It had been flung from one side to the other as feet ran across it. It had been stained red by the blood of those who had fallen in battle.

One of those was James's father. Every time he thought of it, Peter felt as though his chest was being torn apart. He knew what it was like to lose a father. He knew the pain that James would be going through. He knew of the sorrow that would haunt his friend's mother's eyes. He knew of the trials that lay ahead for them. He would never have wished this on them.

Yet, he could have been the one to prevent it. He had known what would happen – he had known! Well, not that James's father would die, necessarily, but he had known that lives would be lost. It was one of the costs of war, wasn't it? People died in all battles. They just weren't always the people close to him or to those he loved. But this time – this time it had been his best friend's father.

Peter stopped outside the village and leaned against a tree for support. A dry sob shook his body as he thought of what he had done. He had started this whole thing to help his friends. He wanted to save them, not to bring them more harm. Maybe he should just quit. Maybe he should forget the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord, and move on with his life. He could renew his commitment to Dumbledore, and fight solely for his side.

Even as the thought went through his head, he felt a burning sensation on his arm. He was being summoned. Did he really want to go? Could he really continue doing this?

The burning grew stronger, and Peter sobbed again. He had no choice, and he knew it. Once one became a Death Eater, there was no way out. He had seen people try to leave before. They had all been given two options: remain a member of the organization or face death at the hands of the Dark Lord or one of his minions.

Peter shuddered. He couldn't die. He remembered a long-ago conversation with his father, in which the older man had told Peter how much he hurt his mother by putting his life in danger. He didn't want to hurt his mother. He didn't want to hurt his friends. He wanted to live, to be able to help them all in any way that he could.

His choice was made. He would serve his master.

Closing his eyes, he Disapparated to the location that filled his mind.

When Lily opened her eyes, bright sunshine filled her bedroom. Panic filled her as she reached for her watch. If the sun was so high in the sky, she was very late for work.

As quickly as it had come, the panic subsided. She had taken the day off work. She needed to be with James. She turned her head, expecting to see him sleeping next to her. She was surprised to see his side of the bed empty. Surely he hadn't gone to work? How could he go to work today, the day after his father had died?

It still didn't seem real to her, even in her thoughts. Her father-in-law had died.

Tears filled her eyes at the thought. Though he had not been related to her by blood, Mr. Potter had truly been a father to her since she had first met him. He had cared about her, and had treated her as his own daughter. She would miss him.

The tears began to escape, falling quickly down her cheeks. She sucked in her breath in a gasp, and caught her lower lip between her teeth. She didn't want to sob uncontrollably. She needed to stay in control. She needed to be the strong one for James. He was always the strong one for her. She wanted to return the favor. But, for the moment, she needed to be weak. She needed to have a chance to grieve.

She let herself cry for several moments, taking time to be alone and feel the pain that was rushing through her body. There was something very therapeutic about tears; once they were spent, she felt more ready to begin the day, to face the sun that was shining despite the sorrow that now filled her world.

She climbed out of bed, and went to the bathroom. After a hot shower, she felt renewed. She wrapped herself in a warm robe, and made her way downstairs.

James was in the kitchen, sipping coffee and reading the paper. He looked up when she entered, and smiled.

"How are you, love?"

Lily was a bit taken aback by his rather positive attitude. "How are you?" she replied.

"Much better today," he said. "Listen, I think I want to finish this week out at work, so I'm going to set the funeral for Saturday or Sunday. Which do you think would be better?"

Lily blinked, and crossed the room. She slowly lowered herself into the chair across from him, trying to choose her words with care.

"James," she said, reaching out to touch his hand, "you can't make this go away. Not that easily."

"Lily, I'm asking for your advice," he said impatiently. "What day do you think would be better for the funeral?"

She flinched slightly. Had he truly become so callous to what had happened? "I – I – Why don't you ask your mother?"

He shook his head. "I promised my mum that I'd handle everything. I really don't think she's up to it, you know?"

"Of course I know," Lily said softly. "She's just lost her husband, James. You have to give her some time to grieve. You should give yourself some time, too."

James shook his head. "I need to keep going, Lil. That's the only way that I'm going to get through this. I just need to move on with my life."

"Don't you even want to think about ?"

"I don't want to think about anything except these funeral arrangements and what I'm going to do in class tomorrow," he interrupted.

Lily looked at him for a moment, then nodded. "All right, then," she said as she rose from her seat. "Did you make tea, too, or just coffee?"

"I heated some water for you," he replied, lifting his paper again. "It's on the stove."

Lily nodded, even though he couldn't see her. She shook her head as she poured the hot water into a mug. She was shocked by the change in his attitude from yesterday. He had gone from a lost little boy who couldn't even find the words to tell her what had happened to a man who was completely calm and collected. What had happened to him overnight?

The emotional James of yesterday she could handle. This new James was completely outside her realm of understanding.

Lily stood in the kitchen, making dinner. She was once again using Muggle methods to cook. This time it was to give herself the satisfaction of using sharp knives to take out her anger and frustration on the food she was preparing. James had retained his "nothing has changed" attitude throughout the entire day. She had spent hour after hour watching him act as though nothing was wrong. Even when he spoke with the funeral director and priest, he remained eerily calm. She didn't necessarily want him to break down again, but she was sure that it would be helpful for him to at least discuss his feelings about what had happened.

But any time that she broached the subject, he shut down. A closed, guarded look came over his face, and he refused to say a word, letting Lily talk herself in circles as she tried to get him to open up about his emotions.

The only time he had acknowledged that something had happened in their lives had been when his mother had stopped by for a visit. She was still clearly shell-shocked over the loss of her husband; James had immediately become the devoted, supportive son. Lily had been thrilled to see him so tender with his mother, certain that he was within moments of opening up to her.

But she was disappointed. As soon as his mother had left, the barriers had gone up, and the smile was back in place. James was detaching himself from his emotions.

She had finally given up and retreated into the kitchen, where she was preparing a huge dinner. The size of the meal actually had more to do with the amount of time she had given herself to cook it anything else, but she was rather proud of what she was creating. She was sure that James would appreciate her efforts. And if he didn't, he would learn to, given the number of days they would be eating leftovers.

A rapid succession of pops and cracks broke through her thoughts, and she dropped her knife. She heard James's voice, quickly followed by several others. She was sure that she recognized one voice as Sirius's, but hadn't heard enough of the others' voices to identify them. She put the knife down properly, and wiped her hands on a towel before making her way into the living room.

Sirius was there, as she had assumed, joined by Remus and Laura. She smiled at them in greeting.

"Hi, everyone."

Laura crossed the room instantly, and pulled Lily close. She held her for a moment, then pulled back to look at her. "How are you?"

"I'm all right," Lily smiled, knowing that Laura asked the question in honest concern. "We're making it."

Laura nodded. "James seems . . ."

"He's doing pretty well today," Lily said haltingly.

Remus hugged her next. "Is there anything we can do for you?"

"Talk to James," she whispered. "He's really going to need you, Remus. You, Sirius and Peter may be the only ones who can get through to him."

Remus nodded, and squeezed her hands. "We'll try. I can't make any promises, but we'll do our best."

Sirius made his way to them, and pulled Lily close. "What's wrong with James?" he whispered against her hair.

"If only I knew," she muttered back. "He's been like this all day."

Sirius pulled back from her, and looked searchingly into her eyes. "I don't like it."

"Neither do I, but I can't get him to talk," Lily replied. "Maybe you and Remus will have better luck than I've had today."

Sirius nodded. "We'll try."

Lily smiled. "I know you will." She looked around at the group, and raised her voice. "Well, you've picked an excellent time to drop by. I was just making dinner, and I'm currently on my way to having enough food for an army, so you may have saved James and I from a week of leftovers."

"Excellent!" Sirius laughed. "You know I'm always up for food."

"Indeed," Lily replied. "Laura, will you help me finish with everything?"

"Of course," Laura replied, following Lily into the kitchen.

James looked at his friends with a smile, and sat down on the couch. "Well, gentlemen, I think she's telling us to stay out of the kitchen."

"It's better this way," Sirius grinned as he sat down next to James. "I've never trusted Lily with a knife in her hands."

"Laura seems all right," James said, turning to face Remus, who had sat down across from them in Lily's favorite chair. "Sirius told me that she collapsed yesterday?"

"Yeah," Remus replied. "It was a little scary for awhile there, but she seems better today."

"But you're not satisfied?" James inferred, raising his eyebrows.

Remus smiled, and shook his head. "I just need an explanation, I suppose."

"Do you think she could be pregnant?" James asked. "Lily was really sick at first with this pregnancy, and we had no idea why until she saw a Healer." He grinned sheepishly. "We weren't exactly trying for a baby, so it didn't occur to me to think that she might be pregnant. But you and Laura . . ."

"No, I already did a pregnancy-detecting charm," Remus replied. "That was my first thought, too, honestly. I was a little disappointed when it came up negative . . . But if she's sick, it's better that she's not pregnant."

"You think she's sick?" James asked, concern filling his eyes.

Remus waved his hand as if to dismiss the possibility. "I'm sure she's not. I'm just the product of years of living in a Healer's house, followed by time in Healer training." He shrugged. "I worry, but I'm sure it will be fine. Like you said, she's fine today."

James nodded. "Good."

"How are you, James?" Sirius asked, his face uncharacteristically serious.

"I'm fine," James replied. "I made the funeral arrangements today, so if you guys are free on Saturday, I'd really appreciate it if . . ."

"We're there," Sirius said instantly. "You know we'll be there."

"Thanks," James said, relieved. "I need to tell Peter . . ."

Remus frowned. "We've been trying to get a hold of him all day, but we can't seem to track him down. Have you heard from him?"

"No," James replied, frowning slightly. "I know he was with me for awhile last night, but then he left to go find my mum and disappeared."

Sirius nodded. "How is your mum, James?"

James shook his head. "She's not dealing with this very well. When I told her all the arrangements I had made, she just started crying. She said she can't handle the idea of putting my dad in the ground. I don't like the idea myself, but we have to do it, right?"

"Yeah, James, but she just lost her husband," Remus said carefully. "You can't expect her to just bounce back from that. She was married to him for over twenty years."

"Twenty-three," James said automatically.

"What?"

"Their anniversary was last month," James said. "They were married for twenty-three years." He sighed, and ran his hands over his face. "I know she's hurting. I can't imagine losing Lily, and we've only been married a year. But we have to do this, don't we? We have to accept what's happened and move on."

"You don't have to accept it within a day," Remus said gently. "It's all right to give yourself some time to get used to the idea."

"That's time I should be using to get over it," James said harshly. "I may not be dealing with this the same way you would, Remus, but it's the only way I know how."

"We're not saying it's wrong, mate," Sirius said quickly. "We're just worried about you, that's all. Yesterday you were a different person, and this quick transition is a little scary."

"I like myself better this way," James said stubbornly.

"Do you, really?" Remus asked, still in the same gentle voice.

James sighed, and ran his hand through his hair. "I just don't want to cry anymore. I want to feel normal again. I want to live my life again."

"Yeah, but James . . ."

"I'm dealing with this the best way I can, guys. Now let's just drop it."

"Dinner's ready," Lily said, stepping into the living room.

"Excellent," James said, practically jumping up from his seat. "I'm starving." He kissed Lily's cheek as he walked past her on his way into the dining room.

Lily looked at Sirius and Remus with raised eyebrows. They both shook their heads.

"He's determined that he needs to move on," Remus said. "And he's going to do that at all costs."

Lily nodded. "That's what I was afraid of."

Remus, Laura and Sirius left soon after dinner. Although they all professed exhaustion, Lily was sure that they didn't want to watch James try to act normal anymore. She didn't want to herself, but didn't have a choice. With a sigh, she began to gather up the dishes.

"Want to dry?" she asked James.

"You're really into Muggle methods today, aren't you?" he smiled, picking up a stack of dishes to carry into the kitchen.

"Every once in a while I like to change the way I do things," she replied.

James smiled, and placed the dishes on the counter. "All right," he agreed, picking up a towel. "But if I pull a muscle from all this manual labor, I expect a massage."

"I'm carrying around your child, and you're whining about drying dishes?"

"Ouch," James laughed. He touched her abdomen. "You know, that's going to be more effective when you can actually tell you're pregnant just by looking. But, I'll give you a massage, if you want."

"Excellent," she said, filling the sink with water and soap. "I'll expect that as soon as we're done here."

She plunged several glasses into the sudsy water, and began scrubbing them. James stood waiting with a towel in his hands. When she finished the first one, she bypassed the dish rack, and handed it straight to him.

Unfortunately, James didn't get a good grip on the glass; he had no more than started to dry it when it slipped from his hands, crashing on the floor. Lily jumped back, trying to avoid being hit by the flying glass.

"Shit!" James exclaimed.

"It's all right," Lily said, grabbing her wand to do a quick cleaning charm. She collected the shards of glass, and banished them to the bin. "No harm done."

"But I broke our glass!" James exclaimed. "Damn it!"

"James, it was just a glass," Lily said easily. "We have others."

"But now we don't have a complete set!"

Lily raised her eyebrows. "James, it's fine. We still have plenty of glasses."

"No, it's not fine!" he yelled, slamming his palm down onto the counter. "I can't believe I broke that glass!"

"It's really not a big deal."

"Yes, it is a big deal!" Tears gathered in his eyes. "How could I have been so stupid?"

"James . . ." She had a feeling they weren't talking about a glass anymore.

"I brought his attention to what was going on," James said in a choked voice. "If Sirius and I hadn't gone out of the store the back way . . . They baited us out. We could have gone around to the front and gotten help, but I wanted to see what was going on, I wanted to fight, I thought we could take them on our own. Sirius wanted us to think it through first, but I wouldn't let him. I said we should just get to it. He went out first, you know. He said that I have a family to think about now, so I couldn't go first."

He paused, and drew a shaky breath. "There were so many Death Eaters out there, Lil. So many. Sirius and I were doing our best, but we couldn't fight them all off. And then my dad came flying out of nowhere to help us. He's not just the reason that Sirius is alive; he's the reason that we're both alive. He truly saved us."

Tears began to fall, but he didn't seem to notice. "If I had just listened to Sirius, we wouldn't have put ourselves in that situation. If we hadn't been there, my dad would never have come over to rescue us. I'm the reason he's dead, Lil. It's my fault."

"It's not your fault," Lily whispered, tears filling her own eyes. "Those Death Eaters would have been there regardless, James. And your dad was an Auror. His job was to fight Death Eaters, to bring them to justice. Regardless of where you were, he would have done just that. Either way, he would have found himself in that situation." She paused, and drew a shaky breath. "And, James, you and Sirius gave your father a wonderful gift last night."

"What's that?"

She touched his cheek, letting her hand push back his hair. "You let him save your lives. He died knowing that because of his actions, you and Sirius, two of the people he loved most in the world, would live."

James's face crumpled completely as he began to sob. Lily pulled him close, crying with him. Maybe now, they could begin to heal.

"How did you know Harold?"

"He was my mentor my first year as an Auror. You?"

"We were in Gryffindor together. I shared a dormitory with him for seven years. I never imagined I'd be at his funeral – especially not when he was so young."

"He died doing what he loved, though."

"And look at the number of people whose lives he touched."

The two men paused their conversation to look at the line of mourners that stretched around the funeral home, waiting to get inside to pay their respects to the fallen Auror and his family. They were sure that Harold Potter would have been proud to know how many souls he had touched during his lifetime.

Inside the funeral home, James and Lily stood next to Mrs. Potter, receiving those who had come to say farewell to Mr. Potter. Lily was amazed by how well her mother-in-law was holding up. Although tears sparkled in her eyes and she clung to James's arm for support, she did her best to speak to each person who took her hand.

So many people had come. Lily had never realized exactly how popular the Potters were until she saw the number of mourners who made their way into the funeral home. Aside from nearly the entire wizarding world, Muggle friends, neighbors, and acquaintances from church made their way through the line to say a few words of comfort to the grieving family. Mr. Potter's coworkers were out in full-force. She was certain that the entire Auror department had come, each member wearing a black armband. They had all been at events like this one before; each knew the pain the family would be have to endure during the coming days and weeks.

James's friends were there, of course. All those he had played Quidditch with at Hogwarts were there, as well as many students Lily barely remembered, but who knew her and James as Head Girl and Boy. Many Hogwarts professors had come, including Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and Flitwick. Danny, James's childhood friend that Lily had met on several occasions was there with his parents, his face stricken. She knew that he, like Sirius, had seen the Potters as a second set of parents; like Sirius, it was almost as if he was losing his own father.

Sirius, of course, was there. All their friends had made it, including Peter, who had been absent from their lives for several days. Lily was surprised to see a girl she assumed to be Rebecca hanging on Sirius's arm. She looked up at him with love and admiration in her eyes. Surprised the first time she noticed this look, Lily had searched for Olivia. She was standing with her former Quidditch teammates, nodding along with something that Eric was saying. Judging by the look on her face, she wasn't actually listening to a word that came out of his mouth. Lily was sure that Olivia, too, had observed the way Rebecca obviously felt about Sirius; she was glaring at them with something akin to hatred in her eyes. Lily prayed that she wouldn't make a scene at the funeral, and turned back to the woman who was trying to take her hand.

The funeral that James had organized took the form of a celebration of his father's life. Several people had been commissioned to give eulogies. An Auror spoke first, imparting words of praise regarding Harold Potter's long and prestigious career. A church member spoke next, discussing his generosity and compassion. A friend from school gave humorous anecdotes describing the way he would always remember his childhood friend.

Once that man took his seat again, Lily was surprised to see Sirius make his way to the front of the church. She had not known that James had asked Sirius to speak. She looked at her husband with raised eyebrows, but he did not meet her eyes. He stared straight at his friend, blinking repeatedly.

Sirius cleared his throat, and looked down at the paper he was holding, which shook slightly. "When James asked me to speak about his father, I was rather surprised. All right, I was shocked. When it comes to eloquence, I'm not usually anyone's first choice.

"But I did love his father, and I think that's the reason James asked me to do this. Mr. Potter truly was a second father to me. No, that's not right. He was more of a father to me than my own father ever was. My family never really formed a true family unit the way the Potters did. Everything I know about how to be part of a family and how to love, I learned from time spent with them.

"The Potters have always been there for me at the lowest points in my life. They have always taken me in and loved me. From the very first time I met them, they treated me as one of their own. In Mr. Potter I found for the first time a man I could truly look up to. He was everything I wanted to be – loving, just, caring and kind. He genuinely loved his family, and he wasn't afraid to show it. He was a strong, powerful man, but he only used those qualities to help others, never to harm them.

"He inspired me in so many ways. Without ever giving me a single traditional lesson, he taught me how to be a good person – he taught me how to be a man. It's because of him that I chose the career that I did, and because of him that I'm the person that I am today. He saved my life both figuratively and literally; it's because of him that I'm standing here today at all.

"The Potters took me in at a time when my own parents wanted nothing to do with me. They became like parents to me, to the point that James often referred to me as their 'favorite son.' Well, I don't know about that, but I do know that their love and kindness have meant the world to me. I know that I love their family like it is my own. I know that I'm grieving right along with them today." He paused and swallowed, blinking rapidly. "I know that –" His voice broke, and he swallowed again. "I know that I feel like I've lost my own father." He drew a deep breath. "I hope that Mr. Potter had some idea of how much he meant to me, of how much of a difference he made in my life. I never really told him, but I hope . . ."

His voice broke again, and this time he chose not to continue. He made his way down from the pulpit, stumbling slightly, only to be met in the aisle by Mrs. Potter. She put her arms around him, hugging him fiercely.

"He knew," she whispered. "He knew, and he loved you, too."

She released Sirius, both of their faces wet with tears. Sirius looked past her to James, who was also crying. Without saying a word, he threw his arms around his friend.

They stayed like that for a long moment, unashamed of being two men locked in a tight embrace. They were brothers, comforting one another after the death of their father.