I held Harry, bouncing him slightly on my hip, just incase he might decide to begin complaining or crying. I could tell I had a slight smile on my face as I watched Lily who was bent over, looking at a lower shelf, a contemplative finger resting on her lower lip. I walked over, my eyes searching for the object she was gazing at. I didn't have to search long.

"How cute is this, hun?" She held up a bright orange candle that rested in what was, admittedly, a particularly cute candleholder. The holder was shaped like a teddy bear holding a Jack-O-Lantern, it's legs, arms, and head protruding on their respective sides. The bear had the top of the carved pumpkin on its head like a rather mushy hat. Vines strewn about the ground were curled pleasantly around the scene. It was beautiful, but chipped.

I smiled at her, noticing that she had looked up at me, waiting for my opinion. "It's adorable. But there's a chip." I pointed at the tiny flaw. She bit her lip, thinking.

"I know, I was looking for more, but that was the only one left."

"Oh well," I shrugged it off, "I think we should get it anyway. No one will notice, and it really is perfect." I looked at Harry, who reached for it and gurgled. "Even Harry thinks so," I chuckled.

Lily smiled, planting a kiss on Harry's forehead. "Well that settles it then," she cooed to the infant.

The upcoming Halloween being the first in our cottage in Godric's Hollow, we had gone to a muggle shop in the village, seeking decoration. We had found two candles besides the teddy bear one as well as a set of Halloween salt and pepper shakers. In unspoken agreement, we walked over to the register, content with what we had chosen.

Exiting the shop, Lily gestured for me to take the bags and give her a turn to Harry. With a kiss, I passed Harry to Lily, picking up the bags. We walked down the road, basking in the perfect, crisp fall weather.

A hanging sign for a small pizza place caught my eye as it swung, creaking, in the slight breeze. My stomach protested to and movement away from the glorious smell of pizza. "Lils?" She looked back at me. "Lunch?" I said, gesturing.

She rolled her eyes in false exasperation, then joined me as we entered the building. A few moments later, we sat down with three slices of pizza, Lily cutting it into small pieces and watching joyfully as Harry managed to feed them to himself.

Our peace was interrupted however when Sirius burst into the door, making the bell jingled wildly. "James!' he exclaimed, walking quickly over. I looked at him, observing how worried he seemed. His face was tight and withdrawn, his eyes dancing with painfully intense emotion. "Lily," he said too politely, "Harry." Even in his current state, Sirius couldn't help but smile and lighten his voice as he greeted the blissfully innocent child. Harry, at the moment, didn't bother looking up. He was much too busy sliding a piece of pizza around the table while he waited for himself to finish chewing.

"James," Sirius said, urgently, "I need to talk to you for a bit. I was hoping we could walk around of something," he let his voice trail off. I looked over at Lily, who nodded. Gathering up my plate and remaining pizza, I stood.

"Don't wait up, Lil'" I said, kissing her and Harry both on the cheek before walking with Sirius to the door.

We walked for a while in silence. I had finished my pizza and we were now walking on one of the paths in the forest. Leaves fell, spiraling down, and crunched under our feet as we walked.

"I hope I didn't interrupt a family outing of sorts," Sirius said tentatively, breaking the silence. Sirius was always the one to break silences whether they were awkward or not, Sirius didn't seem capable of living with quiet.

"No, not at all." I replied, "We were just going home anyway." Sirius looked at me, an eyebrow raised.

"Really." I said, chuckling. We both knew that even if he had, I wouldn't have told him.

"So I see Harry's begun feeding himself," Sirius' voice softened predictably at the mention of his godson.

"Yeah," I smiled, "Although more often than not, he finds it amuses him more to play with food rather than eat it." It was Sirius turn to chuckle.

"Well, nothing makes more memories than old food stains on the wall." Sirius sniggered. I punched him lightly on the shoulder.

Sirius was quiet as if trying to think of what to say next. Finally, he burst, in a combination of a muffled sob and what he probably wanted to be a calm voice, "James, it's Regulus. They found my little brother dead. " Sirius collapsed to his knees, his face in his hands, tears falling from his face, staining his cheeks. His shoulders rocked violently as he sobbed. I put my arm around him, offering as much comfort as I could by just being there for him.