A/N: I'm really glad that the last chapter was received the way it was. I was afraid that it might be a little melodramatic, but I thought it was necessary to show the start of the Dark Times; the beginning of tragedy, and how it affected James in particular. Everything that happens in your life shapes how you become as an adult. I wanted to show this in the story as well!
The Whirling Wheel of Time
Winter holiday ended, and the seventh year Gryffindors returned to Hogwarts a little older, and a little wiser.
James was on the slow path to recovery, but if one looked closely, they could see the slight change in him. While he still laughed, joked, pranked, and continued on, he would now occasionally study, and would oddly lapse into silence at times. He became aware of his friends as a support system. Only Sirius and Lilly knew the depth of James' troubles. The nights were continually interrupted by agonizing screams and sobs. Lilly was always before James when he awoke, with a warm hug and soothing words, closing her eyes to hide her concern. It killed her inside to see her James, always so strong and confident in the day, screaming in the night. Lilly saw a side of Sirius she'd never known. He was supportive, unflinching, and unselfish. He was always ready with a quick joke to pull James out of his darkest depths, and a listening ear when necessary. The Potters' death, his surrogate family, had wounded him deeply, but he did not mention it to James. Yet still, Lilly was afraid of the hoarse yells that would inevitably shatter the night's silence.
But time marches forever onward, as sure as the sun will rise. The haunting dreams slowed to a trickle, until they only occurred every so often.
As January flew swiftly by, the group became inseparable. It was the beginning of the end of their childhoods. They began to build the memories one makes in that primitive knowledge that change was upon them. The feeling that something was ending.
They went ice-skating, twirling in never-ending circles, cutting precise designs in the mysterious ice with their metal skates.
Snowballs flew thick and fast in the vast stretches of sparkling white. Flashes of red dove beneath a snow bank. Shrieks and yells could be heard as four girls were tossed into a pile of powdery snow.
The nights found them joking and laughing in the Head Common Room. Even the quiet Tabitha managed to fall off her chair with laughter, as tears gathered in the corners of Remus' laughing eyes.
Impromptu quidditch matches were won and lost, a shocking volley of Marauder pranks were planned and executed. For several weeks, it was not odd to see a person with violet skin, or their uniform stuck on backwards.
Mid-January found the gang witting by the fire as Lilly stared out the window. She couldn't place it, but she felt as if she was losing something. She was holding onto something so tightly, yet it was sliding through her finders like water cupped in a child's hands. She was desperate to know what was to come, what she was losing, how she could-
"Lilly!"
She looked up, startled from her thoughts.
"Come on! James and Sirius are going to teach us basic animagus theory!"
Turning back to her seat on the couch, she blocked her friends' voices. She was content to stare into the fire, flames comforting and easing her worries.
