Chapter 13

Truce

The next morning, James woke up in Ron's room not feeling any better than he had last night. He got up and walked into the bathroom. He didn't feel like getting ready for the day at all. He just grabbed his robes that Professor McGonagall had provided for him, put them on, and walked out of the room.

"Prongs! Are you okay? You don't look to well." James sat down on the couch.

"Do you remember last night?" he asked irritably.

"Oh come on, James! You heard McGonagall! He's just having a hard time right now."

"Have you ever thought that it might be because of my being here?"

"Cheer up! Today's a brand new day! Who knows what will happen today? Maybe he forgot all about it." James looked up at Sirius and snorted. "Well, then, come on. We only have a few minutes left to get down to the Great Hall. Lily's already there with Ginny and Hermione. She's really worried about you."

"I have to drink the potion first. Go on without me."

"Here's one of my hairs," he said, pulling one out, and then walked out.

James sat there for a few more minutes, staring into the fire. Finally, he got up and retrieved the vile and drank the polyjuice potion. It was disgusting to drink and made James feel sick. He leaned over the bed gasping. When it finally stopped, he looked in the mirror and did not see himself, but Sirius. He left the room and walked toward the Great Hall. It felt weird being Sirius. Sirius was a little taller and his hair was longer and it brushed against his cheeks. James smiled inwardly. This is actually pretty cool! He thought.

He arrived at the Great Hall and walked toward the Gryffindor table. He spotted the real Sirius and sat between him and Lily. Ron was sitting next to Hermione on the other side of the table and he did a double take when he saw James. He then smiled. "Two Sirius's! This is awesome!"

"Remember I'm still called James. Only my last name changed." He looked around the table. "Where's Harry?"

Ron frowned. "He said he'd meet up with us in class."

"Oh," James said, looking down at his plate. After a few minutes, McGonagall called the attention of the entire school. "Students, I would like to inform you that we have received three new students today who have already been sorted into Gryffindor and are in Seventh year. Miss Lily Martin and Sirius and James Bradford." The school clapped politely, looking over at the Gryffindor table, trying to catch a glimpse of the new arrivals. McGonagall sat down once more and the Great Hall quickly turned back to their conversations.

Sirius started eating; Ron and Hermione were talking and Ginny was talking to Lily. James just stared at his empty plate. "You know I'm not really hungry," he said.

"James, you have to eat," Lily said.

Ignoring Lily, James asked, "What do we have first?"

"Defense Against the Dark Arts," Hermione said. James got up.

"Where are you going?" Lily asked. Sirius looked at James.

"Class, where else?" he turned and walked out. James didn't go strait to the classroom, though. He headed to the Room of Requirement. He needed to be alone for a few minutes before he had to face Harry again. He waked into the enchanted room and sat on the couch in front of the warm fire. He thought about what Harry had said about him and about himself. He hadn't said it out front, but James heard that he felt so guilty about causing so many deaths. But it was our choice to die for you. He thought. You shouldn't feel guilty about our choices. He thought about what Harry had said the night they had been kidnapped. He thought about all the names that Harry had listed off. Himself, Lily, Hagrid, Neville, Cedric, Dumbledore, and Sirius. Seven deaths. Harry blamed himself for seven deaths. I wouldn't be able to handle that! Seven! I'm going crazy over my parents' deaths! I'd die if I felt responsible for seven deaths! He looked into the fire and thought about Sean. He thought about how he had made him realize how he had treated Harry. Sean actually saved him. He sat there a few more minutes before deciding to head to class. He was still early, but went anyway.

When he reached the door, he heard voices from inside.

"He doesn't hate you! You should have heard him after you left. He was so upset that you thought of him the same way Snape does."

"But Snape was right. The James Potter you described wouldn't tell me I'm not his son."

"Harry, he was scared and frustrated. He didn't know what to do. He's only seventeen!"

"I'm seventeen!"

"Are you saying you aren't immature at all? You never make a mistake?"

There was silence. "Look, Harry, think of this as an opportunity to get to know your father since you never got that chance. He really is an amazing person. And he is a lot like you."

"Everyone says that."

"But it's true. Even Snape says it, but coming from him, it's probably not meant to be a compliment!" Harry gave a small laugh. "Your father really is an amazing guy. Now you have a chance to find out for yourself. You know, after you left the room last night, James said the only thing that made him want to keep living was apologizing to you."

"Really?"

James smiled at himself and strained to hear more, but didn't get the chance because Sirius came up behind him.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm better." James smiled.

"You know, it's really weird to look at you!" Sirius said, smiling. "I'm not used to seeing myself!" he laughed and James joined him. "You want to go in?"

"Sure."

Sirius opened the door and looked in. He saw Remus sitting on the corner of the desk with Harry standing in front of him. They looked up at him when he entered.

"Hello, Sirius…You are the real Sirius, right?" Remus asked.

"Yep, it's me! Here's James." James came out from behind him and Remus couldn't help but burst out laughing. Harry gave a weak smile as he looked at his father in the body of his best friend.

"What do you think, Harry?" Sirius asked. "Did your idea work?"

"So far," he smiled.

"Hey, Harry. Could I talk to you for a minute?" James asked.

"Can it wait until after class, James?" Remus asked. "Students are showing up and it's about time to start." James looked at Harry, disappointed, and then nodded his head. He took a seat in the front row next to Sirius and Harry sat on the other side of Sirius. Lily, Ron, and Hermione soon joined them..

"Where's Ginny?" James asked.

"She's in sixth year." Ron answered.

"Oh, really?"

Just then, Professor Lupin called the class' attention and everyone settled down. He told them to take out their wands. Remus had given Harry his before class, but didn't tell him how he got it and James had gotten his from Lily the night before.

"Harry," James said after class. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Um, sure I guess." He followed James to the Heads Dorms. Harry sat in a chair as James paced around on the rug. "Look, Harry, this is really strange for both of us and I really don't know what to say. I have had more than one person talk to me about how I mistreated you and how I was wrong to act like I did. I'm really not like that."

"I know. You were just scared. I shouldn't have dropped everything on you at once."

"It wasn't really your fault. We, er, I pushed you into telling me. You were just as scared as I was. I shouldn't have over reacted. I'm sorry. Truce?"

"Truce." Harry stood up and shook his father's hand. "Just one thing," James said.

"What's that?"

"Don't call me 'Dad', okay?" Harry grinned.