Chapter 3- Harsh Reality

Author's Note: I have a couple things to say. First, with the last chapter, I still had a ton of hits and very few reviews, so if you have the chance, please review. I understand that not everyone who reads will review but please try to. Second, thanks to everyone who reviewed Chapter 2, your encouragement means a lot. I'm sorry that this took so long to post, but I've been swamped this week in school trying to finish everything before February break, but I have next week off, so I should be able to update more. I made a mistake: I have Bill Weasley starting his first year in this story when he's supposed to be born in 1970. Since this story takes place in Lily and James' seventh year (1978-1979), he's only nine and not yet old enough to start Hogwarts. If we see him again in the story (I'm not sure if we will) then he will be the proper age assuming he was born in 1970. Lastly, I'm sorry this took so long, but I had a lot of trouble writing this chapter. I just wasn't pleased with the way I wrote it at first so it took a couple tries. Then there was a lot of wind and the power went out while I was writing and I lost a lot work. Also, the Olympics have been on and I love them! Please bear with me. I hope to update with in a few days! Thanks!

Much later that night, long after they had arrived at the hotel, James, Sirius and Lily let themselves into their room. The room was very warm and welcoming, with three very soft and comfortable looking beds, and large TV, an enormous bathroom and a small balcony overlooking a river. Lily stepped onto the balcony while James collapsed on a bed and sighed. "Wow, it's comfortable," he called to her, out on the balcony. "I could fall asleep right here."

Sirius laughed and jumped on the bed next to him. "Come on," he shouted to Lily. "Let's have a pillow fight."

Lily turned and looked at him strangely. "I'm going to pass on the pillow fight thanks. James, come out here and look at the view."

James slowly stood up and made his way toward the sliding door out to the balcony. He stepped out onto the small balcony next to her and looked over the side. He smiled slightly. Lily was right; the view was nice. James couldn't muster the same enthusiasm for the view as Lily could. He was too focused on his grief and dread of the following day. Lily, being the sensitive girl that she was, noticed this immediately and turned to him. He leaned against the balcony and she leaned next to him. "Are you OK?"

"Not really," James admitted weakly, avoiding Lily's eye and tapping his fingers against the rail.

"Well, what's wrong?" Lily asked, knowing this was a stupid question, but also a completely necessary one.

"I think you know perfectly well what's wrong," James said, looking her in the eye with a hard glare to match his tone of voice.

"I don't know that I do," Lily said softly, countering James' glare with a friendlier one of her own.

"You know, Evans," James snapped, still glaring at her in the eye. "Maybe rooming with you wasn't such a good idea."

"Oh, I think it was," Lily said, matching James word for word.

"Really?" James asked, sitting up now.

"Really," Lily affirmed. "James, tell me how you feel right now. Tell me what is making you yell at me and treat me so badly right now. Will you tell me, James? Because I want to listen."

This reminded James of something Professor Dumbledore had said to him at the beginning of term. "She wants to listen and she wants to be the one to help you." He remembered what Lily said, too, "James, if you ever need to talk I'll listen...That's what friends are for isn't it?" Well, he did need to talk.

"Fine," James mumbled. "Fine, and Lil, I'm sorry."

"It's alright," Lily shrugged it off. "Do you want to talk?"

"Not particularly." James began, but continued anyway. "I just don't know what it'll be like without my dad and that scares me more than anything. It's a question of how am I supposed to go on without someone who has been the one person I could depend on for everything, for my entire life?"

"It must be scary," Lily agreed sympathetically. "But we all die. Whether it's tomorrow like your dad or in ten, twenty, thirty years is relevant, but at the same time it's not exactly, if that makes any sense at all.

"But, I guess the point I'm trying to make is, while he is going to die, someday so are you, so you will see him again at some point, and until then you have his legacy and your memories of him to remember. He can live on through you if you let him, if you continue to live after his death."

James smiled ever so slightly, "Thanks, Lil. That really helped."

Lily smiled back. They stood there for several seconds in an awkward silence, looking into one another's eyes until Sirius shouted, "Hey, you two lovebirds, get back in here. I'm getting lonely."

Lily laughed, blushed and hurried back into the room. Seconds later James followed. Sirius chuckled again, "Lily here is embarrassed to be associated with you, James."

James laughed and glanced at Lily, "Why am I so embarrassing?"

Lily muttered something under her breath and hurried into the bathroom, her face matching her flaming hair.

Sirius rolled over on his bed to face James, who was still standing facing the bathroom. "She's growing on me," he announced. "It's not like we're about to confess our greatest secrets to each other or anything, but I can actually stand her. She's not as bad as I thought she was."

As she listened through the bathroom door to James and Sirius' conversation, Lily smiled slightly. James continued, "Well, that's a good thing, I suppose. If she actually says yes when I ask her out soon, then it'll definitely be a good thing if you like her."

Lily smiled. She was thrilled that James was going to ask her out again. And this time she knew her answer would be different. With that thought in her mind, she busied herself preparing to go to bed.

Almost 15 minutes later when she was through washing her face and brushing her teeth and hair, Lily returned from the bathroom. James was shirtless and curled up on the middle bed, fast asleep and Sirius was sleeping as well. She smiled. They really were sweet boys.

Lily lay down in bed and stayed awake for much longer, thinking about James' situation, and how well he was handling it. Between the notoriety of his father and all the paper printings about the death, James was handling the experience very well. Just as she was rolling over to go to sleep herself, Lily heard a cry from James' bed. Sitting up and listening carefully, Lily heard James talking quietly. "No, please, Mum. Don't make me. No, Mum, I can't."

James rolled over in his sleep and stopped thrashing around. Even so, Lily stayed awake the rest of the night to keep a close eye on him in case anymore nightmares took over his sleep.

Sirius woke up to a loud ring in his room at 7 AM the next morning and looked around shocked. He looked around and wondered where exactly the shrill noise was coming from. He located the source of the noise and carefully tiptoed toward it, wand drawn. The ringing stopped and a red light began to flash. Startled and afraid, Sirius aimed his wand and whispered a reductor curse. The red beam hit it and the phone smashed into a million little pieces. Frightened by the unusual object and by the damage he had done, Sirius quickly shook James awake.

Groggily, James sat up and placed his glasses on his nose. "Yeah?" he asked.

A sheepish look appeared on Sirius' face as James looked around and noticed the millions of pieces of plastic all around the room. Already recognizing this as a bad sign, James groaned wearily and turned to wake up Lily.

Lily sat up, rubbed her eyes and glanced at the clock. "Oh, it's already seven?" she asked quietly, in what could only be called an early morning voice.

James nodded his consent and then opened his mouth to speak. However, he was cut off by an urgent rapping on the door. "Take your wand, Padfoot," James warned before turning to Lily and explaining Sirius' incident with the telephone to her.

"Prongs, it's just your mum," Sirius laughed after he opened the hotel door cautiously. James stood and walked toward the door and his mother. As she came into view, he had to hold back a gasp. She looked old. The stress of the previous months had taken an unbelievable physical toll on her. It had taken James a month away from his mother to notice it, but she was not the same. He hadn't expected her to be, of course, but still the shock was outstanding. In one glance at Sirius's equally shocked face, James knew that they both saw it.

"Mum," he said in a carefully restrained voice. He pulled her into a hug. "Are you okay?"

Mrs. Potter collapsed against James, thankful to be in the arms of someone she loved. "Oh, James, it's so good to see you. I've missed you."

James frowned at Sirius over his mother's head. Had she always been so clingy and needy, or was this new found enthusiasm at seeing him a result of his father's current condition? Sirius shrugged at him, clearly just as lost as he was. Seconds later Mrs. Potter pulled back from her son and hurriedly wiped at her eyes, as though she were hoping that James and Sirius wouldn't notice. It was then that she noticed Lily. Jumping back in surprise, Mrs. Potter quickly recovered and strode across the room to the bed Lily was sitting on. James followed her as Lily climbed off the bed. "Mum, this is my friend and the Hogwarts Head Girl, Lily Evans. Lily, this is my mum, Mariana Potter."

"Are you really muggle-born? James mentioned that you were, I believe."

Cautiously, Lily nodded in agreement. Sensing her discomfort, Mrs. Potter quickly backtracked. "Not that it matters to me, of course. I give nothing to the purity of blood. It has nothing. When I went to Hogwarts my best friend, Kim, was muggle-born. I think it's great that Professor Dumbledore has put a muggle-born in such high authority in the turbulent times in our world. The purity of blood issue is so controversial."

Lily smiled, trusting James mother. "I know. It was nice to meet you, Mrs. Potter. I'd love to chat more, but I'm going to take a shower and get ready."

"That's fine, Lily. All of us need to be prepared. We leave at 8:30." Mrs. Potter threw a pointed look in the directions of James and Sirius. Lily laughed appreciatively and headed into the bathroom.

James watched her go in and then turned back to his mother and Sirius. She looked at him with compassion in her eyes. "James," she said, "I'm sorry for going to pieces on you like that. I shouldn't have. This is as hard for you as it is for me. You're only 17; you shouldn't have to deal with my sadness on top of yours."

James smiled without pleasure. "Thanks, I guess, Mum. But, as we can all tell, this war is going to get worse before it gets better, and I'll have to deal with more people close to me suffering and even passing away, so now is as good a time as any to learn all about it." He exchanged a pessimistic look with Sirius, knowing that they shared the same sentiment about the beginning of what was sure to be a reign of terror on Voldemort's part.

At nine o'clock that morning they reached the hospital which was only a short walking distance from their hotel. They stepped easily through the glass, barely having to check for muggles as the street was almost completely deserted. Sighing, James led his two friends through the glass and to the front desk. The lobby was completely empty; James was thankful. He didn't want to have to do be near too many people during this hard time, but the emptiness also meant fewer people than usual were suffering. He stepped right up to the smiling, blonde witch sitting behind the counter. "Hi," he said. "I'm here to see Harold Potter."

The change in expression on the witch's face was monumental. The smile folded into a straight line, her eyes took on a look of sympathy and her shoulders slumped. She immediately dropped her gaze from James' face and uncomfortably shuffled some papers. "He's in Room 412."

"Thank you," Lily said, steering James toward the double doors leading to the hospital section of the building. When they arrived at Room 412, Lily stepped back as though she was going to stay in the hall. James didn't even notice because he had already entered his father's room and gone to his mother. Sirius was about to follow when he saw that Lily was not behind him. "Come in, Lily," Sirius said wearily, turning and facing her. "James will want you here."

"If you're sure…" she trailed off. "I've never even met Mr. Potter and James and I have only been friends for a month and a half."

"But you're best friends now," Sirius responded in a tone which clearly said that he was too stressed out and weary to argue with her. "He invited you, didn't he?" He wheeled around and strode into Mr. Potter's room. Lily followed a moment later.

She saw Sirius holding a tearful Mrs. Potter in his arms and whispering words of comfort to the older woman. Shocked, she couldn't pull her gaze away. She had never known Sirius to be particularly kind or sympathetic, but here he was, holding and comforting Mrs. Potter in her grief. James' voice reminded her that she wasn't alone in the room.

"You know, there's more to him than you see at school."

Lily spun around and saw James seated in a seat next to his father's bed. For the first time, she took in the sight of Mr. Potter in his impaired state. Since he was an incredibly famous auror, Lily had seen pictures of him in Defense books and in a biography about him, and his change from the talented, strong auror was undeniable. Seeing this man who was considered infallible by most of the wizarding world lying in a bed with a chart next to him keeping track of all the spells sustaining his life was humbling for Lily. This man was supposed to be the greatest wizard after Dumbledore and almost equally invincible, and yet he had been hurt in a small battle. Worse still was that he was about to die from those injuries.

"It's scary, eh?" James asked, shattering her thoughts. "He was supposed to be the best. If he can't be safe, can any of us?"

Lily sighed. "It must be worse for you though. You knew him personally when he was at his strongest. I've just read books and seen pictures."

"I guess," James said noncommittally and drifted into silence. Moments later, Sirius sat down next to James and Mrs. Potter took her seat across the bed from the other three.

Almost an hour passed in silence before a healer in lime green robes entered with a trainee dressed in blue behind her. James immediately stood, offering his hand to the woman. "Hi, I'm James Potter, Harold Potter's son. I expect you've met my mum. This is Sirius Black, my best friend and surrogate brother and my friend, Lily Evans."

The healer grasped James' hand. "I'm Marie Corriveau; I've been your father's main healer since July," the woman said with a slight French accent. "This is the intern who's been working with me, John O'Leary."

James smiled sadly as he shook the intern's hand as well. "Thanks for coming."

"We're sorry we didn't meet under better circumstances," commented Healer Corriveau. Suddenly turning businesslike, she continued, "Well, if this is everyone then there's no sense in delaying the process."

Mrs. Potter turned a shocked face to James. He shrugged. The healer had been kind one moment, and the next she was businesslike and cold. James didn't care; if that's what she needed to do to get herself through the day, then so be it. He was sure that some emotional detachment was needed to be healer at any time but particularly during the violent times of Voldemort's current reign of terror. He walked over to his mother and sat down next to her, silently offering support. Mrs. Potter smiled slightly at her son before returning her attention to Healer Corriveau who was definitely ready to begin.

"Okay, since this seems to be everybody," she began, and James nodded his confirmation, "then I'll give you a basic overview of what is going to happen. Currently, Mr. Potter is on a spell that's monitoring his breathing, a spell which is providing him with the nutrients necessary to stay alive and a spell keeping his brain functioning. Removal of these spells will result in Mr. Potter's painless death within 20 minutes of the last one's removal." She looked around the room, taking in Mrs. Potter's, James', Sirius' and Lily's faces.

"I know it's a lot of information and must be very hard to deal with at this time. Please know before I begin that I give you my deepest condolences."

"Thank you," Mrs. Potter said. "If you could excuse us for a moment before you begin the process."

The healer nodded and beckoned the intern to follow. Mrs. Potter stood and James, Sirius and Lily followed suit. "Well, let's say our good-byes," she told the three.

"I'm going ask Healer Corriveau a few questions. I've always wanted to be a healer," she said, sliding out the door. It clicked shut behind her.

"Where'd Lily go?" Mrs. Potter asked, delaying the inevitable moment when she'd have to say good-bye to her husband and call the healer back in to begin the procedure.

"She claims she wants to talk to the healer about becoming one, but I think she thought that this was too personal to be a part of. She's almost overly conscientious about those types of things," James told his mother.

"She could have stayed," Mrs. Potter commented unnecessarily. "She wouldn't make a good healer. She's too emotionally attached to everything she sees."

"Mrs. Potter, I'll say good-bye first," Sirius said, sensing that Mrs. Potter needed someone to make this real or else it was going to take a very long time with Mrs. Potter trying to delay the inevitable at every turn. He sat down in the plastic chair next to Mr. Potter's bed while Mrs. Potter and James turned away as though that would make the moment more personal for Sirius. He sighed and looked at Mr. Potter's peaceful face. If you looked at him, he seemed to be in a deep slumber, the only sign of his coma the chart on the wall tracking all the life support spells in effect. Again, Sirius sighed and then spoke. "Mr. Potter, mostly I want to tell you how much I appreciated all that you did for me before and after I ran away from home. You always treated me as though I were a second son and I was thankful everyday. I know that even though you can't respond to me, you can hear me and I just wanted you to know how appreciative I am, and how much, uh, how much I love you." As the words escaped his mouth, Sirius blushed a bright red and James and Mrs. Potter made sure not to turn around so as not to embarrass him. He leaned down and hugged Mr. Potter and then silently left the room, trying to discreetly swipe at the tears forming in his eyes.

James took the vacated plastic chair and looked down at his father, contemplating their life together for a moment. After several long moments he said something. "Dad? Do you remember that time so long ago when everything was okay? Before Voldemort, but after you became so busy? I asked you if it would always be like that. With you rushing home just in time to tuck me into bed and read me a story. I was probably only seven, but I still remember. Every night after that, you came home by four o'clock and we'd play Quidditch or chess or read a book. You always made time for me if I asked and sometimes when I didn't. Thank you so much. You were the best role model I ever could have asked for. Without your influence, I couldn't be the man I am today, and truthfully I'm pretty proud of that man. Without your influence, I would have no hope of becoming a good father, Dad. Thank you so much for everything you've ever done for me. It means the world and I love you so much." With tear-filled eyes, James leaned down and hugged his father good-bye. He then stood to leave and give his mother some space. Before he did though, he held her tightly to him for several moments. Then he stepped out of the room.

The moment he set foot through the door, James saw Sirius sitting another of those hard plastic hospital chairs, head in hands. Sighing for what felt like the millionth time that day, James rested at hand on his best friend's shoulder. "You alright, Padfoot?"

Sirius looked up with red-rimmed eyes. "Is Evans around?"

James shrugged, "I don't think so. Why?"

"Do you want to cry in front of girl?" Sirius asked rhetorically.

"I have. In front of her to be precise. What's up?"

"That was the hardest thing I've ever had to do," Sirius said truthfully.

James removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes wearily. "I know, Padfoot. I know. But I'm glad I got to say good-bye. It's a little bit better this way since I got to tell him everything I've wanted to say to him. There are no regrets of what I didn't say to him."

"Yeah," Sirius agreed, staring straight ahead. "I guess I'm glad I got to tell your dad how I felt about him."

"He's your dad too, you know," James told him. "He loved you as much as you loved him. He thought of you as a son ever since he met you when were in second year."

Sirius nodded again and James felt a hand softly being placed on his shoulder. He spun around only to see Lily clutching a cup of coffee and smiling sadly at him. "Is everything okay?"

"As well as can be expected," James told her, motioning for her to sit down next to him. She did so.

"How do you feel?" Lily asked, directing the question at either James or Sirius, but Sirius had already closed back up into the Sirius Black most seventh year Hogwarts students knew.

James answered. "Shockingly, okay. I think that being able to say good-bye and tell him everything that I love and appreciate about him actually helped quite a bit."

Lily smiled, but didn't say anything because Mrs. Potter emerged. "I'm going to go find Healer Corriveau." Her face was blotchy with bright and red-rimmed eyes, but she was smiling ever so slightly.

Sirius nodded, and she turned to walk away, but James called out to her. "Mum?"

"Yes," she turned and faced her son.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes." Mrs. Potter smiled sadly, but it was obvious that she truly would be okay. She turned and continued walking down the hall. As she turned the corner to get the healer, James stood and led Lily and Sirius into the hospital room.

Only five minutes had passed before Mrs. Potter returned with Healer Corriveau who had mercifully lost her assistant on the way back to the room. James wanted as few people as possible in the room for this ordeal. In a small file folder the healer was carrying a piece of parchment which she spread on the table and then turned to speak to the four people in the room. "Alright, Mrs. Potter, I'm going to need you to sign these papers for our records here at St. Mungo's. They will be used no where else and will be kept completely confidential." Healer Corriveau handed Mrs. Potter a rather fancy eagle feather quill and a bottle of ink.

Mrs. Potter took the quill in her right hand, dipped it in the ink and lowered her hand to sign the parchment when the tears started. Instantly, James was at her side, pulling her into a comforting embrace. He rubbed her back and whispered words of solace to her as she sobbed into his shoulder. Sirius stood just behind James, perplexed at Mrs. Potter's mood of sad resolution to this hysterical crying. Eventually the tears subsided and Mrs. Potter turned a bright red as she realized Healer Corriveau had been looking on sympathetically for the entire time. "I'm sorry to go to pieces like that. I'm sure you have a million other things to do."

"It's not a problem," Healer Corriveau smiled gently, again confusing James. One moment she was gentle, the next she returned to being terribly cold and emotionally detached and seconds later she was gentle again. Shaking his head to clear it, he tightly gripped his mother's hand as she signed the parchment for the St. Mungo's records. It was also required that she give oral permission to the healer and he tightly held her hand as she recited: "I, Mariana Potter, executor of Harold Potter's will, as his wife, give you, Healer Marie Corriveau, official permission to remove him from the two spells that are keeping him alive." She said all this firmly, but as soon as she finished, she broke down sobbing into Sirius' shoulder. Healer Corriveau respectfully inclined her head to James before pointing her wand at Mr. Potter and quietly repeating "finite incantatem" twice to end both spells.

This just caused Mrs. Potter to sob all the harder and brought tears to James' and Sirius' eyes. Sirius cried as he held Mrs. Potter close to him while James stood in the middle of the room staring dejectedly at the spell chart which now showed no signs of spells but only a jagged line. He turned his tear-filled eyes to Healer Corriveau for an explanation.

"The line shows his heart rate. It's like a heart monitor you'd find in a muggle hospital. When he passes away, the line will go flat and there will be a high-pitched beeping noise. I'll be alerted when that happens, and I'll return."

James nodded and began to cry as well. Lily held him in her arms for several more minutes until a high pitched beeping filled the room. The tears continued in full force as James, Mrs. Potter and Sirius clung to one another while Lily went to check if Healer Corriveau was returning.

Three days later on the morning of October 7, pandemonium reigned in James, Sirius and Lily's hotel room. James was missing his eulogy; Lily couldn't find her shoes, and Sirius couldn't figure how to tie his tie. James was successful first as he pulled the piece of paper out of the dresser drawer.

"James, help me," Sirius whined as he made yet another fruitless attempt at knotting his tie. James turned to his best friend and laughed. Sirius had the tie wrapped several times around his neck and was helplessly trying to untangle himself from the silk. James reached out, pulled the tie over Sirius' head, untangled it and tied it properly around Sirius' neck. "Don't touch it," James warned before turning to the mirror and buttoning his black suit jacket. Despite that he was pureblooded and had a wizarding upbringing, James had been to many muggle functions in his life and was not foreign to muggle clothing especially suit and tie.

Seconds later, Lily located her other black shoe and the three departed from the hotel room. They exited through the lobby for the first time that trip and climbed into a black car waiting for them just outside the hotel's main door. Because it was a muggle and wizard event, they couldn't show up by apparition or wear robes, so they were fully muggle.

It was only a 20 minute car ride to the church, although that didn't sit well with Sirius. Being a part of a pureblood, traditionalist family, he had never ridden in a car before and was impatient with the amount of time it took. He knew that the driver was muggle and was discreet about his curiosity and impatience. He still spent the entire ride whispering obnoxious questions to Lily and James about the car's inner workings and why it took the car so long to get to the church.

When they did arrive, they were immediately pulled to the side by Mrs. Potter who was wearing a nice black and dress and talking a mile a minute. "Okay, the four of us will be waiting hear until they bring the casket with your father's body in. Some aurors from the Ministry will carry the casket in and place it in the middle of the aisle and we will follow. Behind us will be the remainder of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The mass will begin. Then after the Eucharist it will be time for the eulogies. Alastor Moody will be first, followed by you, James, and lastly Sirius. Does everyone understand?"

They all nodded their heads. Several minutes later eight aurors paraded through the vestibule of the church with Mr. Potter's casket on their shoulders. The church's organ began to play and the priest walked in, followed by the aurors carrying the casket and then Mrs. Potter, James, Sirius and Lily. As he walked up the aisle, James carefully examined the people there. All dressed in their muggle finest, James was stunned with the amount of people whose lives his father had touched.

The mass was a blur of tears and memories for James. He went through the motions of standing, sitting and responding to the priest, as he had been a Catholic his entire life and knew exactly what to do and when to do it. After the Eucharist, James kneeled and, placing his head in his hands, said a prayer for his deceased family members.

Alastor Moody's eulogy flew by. He spoke fairly ambiguously about how good a man Mr. Potter had been, how devoted to his work, and how brave he had been. When Moody reoccupied his seat, James realized that he was supposed to be at the pulpit speaking. He staggered up to the altar and stood behind the microphone.

Looking back, the only eulogy he could remember was Sirius'. Moody's had been a rush of nerves and things he already knew about his father. And when he himself stood at the front of the church seeing everyone there who was paying their final respects to his father, he forgot about his speech and just spoke from his heart. This led to his eulogy being only a blur of both familiar and unfamiliar faces and tears. The only thing he could remember was Lily smiling proudly at him while he spoke.

However, Sirius' eulogy was very memorable. He walked, almost swaggered up to the pulpit after James was finished. Facing the congregation, he grinned and his confidence washed over everyone in the church. Then he spoke.

"Harold Potter was the best man I've ever met in my 17 years of life. He was always kind and welcoming to me. To some of you this might not seem like a big deal, but for me it was the best thing he could have done.

"In order to understand this you must know that I grew up in a very traditionalist family, but for some reason we never agreed on some fundamental issues. Despite the fact that I grew up in this family with their views being forced on me every day, I came out with the completely opposite opinions from anything they believed in. Maybe it was their fundamental values or the influence of my Uncle Alphard, but for whatever reason I was able to escape my family, and I'm eternally grateful that I did. You probably don't see where Mr. Potter fits into this story.

"When I went to my first year of boarding school, I met James, Mr. Potter's son, on the train. Immediately, James and I became the best of friends. I found that he and I agreed on those same fundamental issues that I hated my family over. For Christmas of our second year, James invited me to his house. I jumped at the chance. I had wanted to meet James' family ever since that day I had met him on the train.

"They did not disappoint. Soon after that vacation, I was an honorary member of the Potter family. I only went back to my house over the summer, and even then it was usually only for a couple of weeks. Understandably, I never wanted to be in that house again.

"After a few more years, I finally cracked. My mother and aunt were laughing at a sick joke and I finally lost all common sense. I grabbed everything I owned and left. I didn't know where to go or what to do. In leaving my home, I had not thought anything through carefully. I was lost except for one idea. Mr. Potter worked in London; I would visit him there.

"I got there and spent that day with him at the office. That night he took me home with him. No one has ever been kinder to me.

"Since the day I met him, Mr. Potter has served as an inspiration to me. He not only welcomed me into his family, but he also made sure that I learned everything my father neglected to teach me in my younger years. In the past year since I officially moved in with the Potter, Mr. Potter introduced his religion to me, thought me all of his values and inspired me to be a better person. He also motivated me to improve my grades to become a part of the Law Enforcement Department. Without him, I wouldn't be a devout Catholic, know any moral values and certainly would not be half the person I am today. Mr. Potter touched the lives of many before his unfortunate death, and I know he would have been thankful to all you of for showing up here. Thank you for coming here today. Mr. Potter, rest in peace."

Sirius' voice cracked as he said the last bit, and he hurried down from the pulpit and the altar. James stood at the end of their pew to greet him. When Sirius reached him, James wrapped his arms around him in a hug. The two nearly grown men hugged one another fiercely. Forgetting that they were two men who weren't supposed to show emotional, they held one another as they cried for the loss of their father.

The mass ended, and the church emptied. James, Sirius, Lily and Mrs. Potter climbed into a black limousine behind the hearse holding Mr. Potter's casket. The two cars led the funeral procession to the graveyard nearly 20 minutes away. Many people who had been at the funeral followed, and the ceremony to bury Mr. Potter was short and sweet. After, there was a reception held at the Potter's home and then Lily, James and Sirius returned to Hogwarts just in time for dinner. They entered the Great Hall and were greeted by complete silence.