The Good Son

Chapter Twenty One

Brotherhood

James Sirius Potter walked towards the great doors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the waves of darkness washing over his barriers like the roaring waters of the ocean. The shields were powerful, held in place by some of the most powerful witches and wizards alive but even so, it did little to mask the raging inferno of dark energy that crashed around him, laced through with the magical signature of his brother. He took the steps slowly, not seeming to notice the stains of blood and gore that stained them where those bigoted few who had thought to stop his brother had perished, torn apart by the Shadows that now darkened the sky.

The sky was dark and stormy, the torrential rain and crashing fury of thunder seeming to tear apart both worlds, sky and earth both being sundered beneath the rampaging power that had been loosed upon the planet. James shuddered as he pushed open the doors, he could see the spiralling beam of black energy rising from the Astronomy Tower, the tower upon which he was sure he would find his brother.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Jamie. . . too strong," he heard a voice upon the air and felt a barrier break around him, his brother's powerful dark aura having drained its caster of their magic, forcing them to relinquish their connection to him. Remy Lupin, eleven years old and still a first year had leant his magic to the barriers. It was surprising his barrier had lasted this long – then again the boy was strong for his age.

Two boys sat side by side on a bed, one six and one four, playing a game of exploding snap. One, the youngest, jumped backwards as the stack exploded and singed their eyebrows. The older reached forward instinctively to comfort him, his brother had always been scared of thunder – something that the booming deck must no doubt sound like.

"It's just a pack of cards Al," said James with a smile on his face, wanting to tease his baby brother but caring too much to make fun of his fears.

"I know Jamie," replied Albus, "It just made me jump is all."

James shook himself, where had that memory come from? He had almost forgotten it, it had been so very long ago and they had been so young and naive to the sins of the world. Of the two of them it had always been Albus who had hidden behind James; it had always been James who was the protector.

Till James had chosen what was easy instead of what was right, and had stabbed his baby brother in the back.

His feet were leaden as he climbed the stairs of the abandoned castle. Around him the portraits screamed in fear, a dull harmony to his ears. He tuned out their shrieks, concentrating solely on forcing his way through the Darkness which fought to drive him back. He couldn't let Albus down again; he needed to renew the wards.

"It's up to you now," said Delphin Zabini, his voice a ghostly whisper on the wind, his power breaking at the same time as Xavier Avery's did. There was a cry of frustration which echoed through him and he knew that his grandparents had relinquished their barriers as well.

"I don't want to!" pleaded Albus, looking up tearfully at his older brother, "I'm scared."

"C'mon Al," said James with a grin as he held two broomsticks in his hand, "Flying is fun."

"But what if I fall?" he asked, lip trembling as he took the broom his brother handed to him. It had been specially crafted for an eight year old to use, a perfect first broom for a child.

"Then I'll catch you," shrugged James.

"Promise you won't let me fall?"

"Promise," agreed James.

He walked past the entrance of Gryffindor Tower, closing his eyes to numb the childhood memories that kept surfacing. Suddenly he felt something hit him in the face, something brown and leathery. The Sorting Hat. How much trouble had it caused through the years, James sincerely doubted his brother had been the first who had been made to suffer because it had placed him in a different house than the rest of his family. He thought of flinging it away but that seemed oddly disrespectful to the school, especially seeing as the Hat was a part of Hogwarts. So he picked it up in his free hand and kept walking, his wand shuddering in the other.

He gasped, wincing as he felt the icy tendrils of darkness brush against his skin, his barriers buckling ever so slightly as with a series of yells and grunts several dissipated under the onslaught. His cousins and god-brother, his mother and uncles all speaking broken phrases as they left him to walk into the abyss with just four barriers remaining.

"Bring him home James."

That was his mother, her voice thick with tears that she could not bring herself to shed.

"He's our brother," groaned Teddy, "But he's so strong."

"We can't" muttered Rose, "Too weak to hold it up."

"I love you," whispered Alison, "Please be safe. Please come home safely, Jamie."

"I don't want to be a Slytherin!" cried Albus, stamping his feet as his brother goaded him.

"Well too bad, little snake," grinned James mischievously, "You are so going to be a Slytherin!"

"I won't! I'll be a Gryffindor just like you and dad!"

"You need to be brave to be a lion kid," pointed out James.

"I am brave," said Albus quietly, stung by his brothers insinuation.

"Yeah right."

James had never regretted a conversation more than the one he had had on the eve of his brother's first train ride to Hogwarts. Because Albus was the bravest man he knew, he had suffered so much and still managed to achieve so much. He had found love in a world that hated him, found a family when his own had turned on him, found happiness when his own father wished him nothing but sorrow. It took a subtle type of bravery to rise above so much pain, not the brash kind that every Gryffindor possessed, the kind of courage that existed within your own heart.

The type of courage that had led Lily Evans Potter to giving her own life for her son, the type that had led Dobby to die rescuing the Golden Trio, the selfless bravery of somebody who wanted to help others more than himself.

And how had his brother been rewarded for it? He had had his son taken from him.

"Ward his heart," said Draco quietly; "Help him," added Scorpius as the two purebloods had their barriers break like waves on a cliff. James was now at the foot of the tower, without looking back he began to climb. He felt his wand tremble and then shatter, a tortured screaming of splintering wood filling the air. He could feel the darkness more tangibly than ever now, buffeting his twin barriers with more power than he could contemplate.

"I can't do anymore," murmured Hermione as she left him and James reached the top of the tower with only a single guardian, his sister-in-law: Cassiopeia. He could feel her straining, her barrier already thinner than paper and being shredded to dust but she clung on, endangering her own life in the process.

"Release me, for the sake of your child," said James quietly and her voice replied tearfully, sorrow and pain so strong in her voice that for a moment in reminded him of a phoenix song.

"I love him," she said, anguished that she could do no more, "Please save him."

As his barrier broke the darkness struck him head on, forcing him to take a step back. His skin burned with the intensity of the cold but he persevered onwards, finally coming face to face with Albus just as he felt flecks of his skin begin to tear away. His blood began to spot the ground around him, a perverse imitation of the pictures that Albus and he had finger painted when they were just but four and two.

"Albus! Stop!" he yelled even as the cloying power filled his mouth and scraped his throat raw and bloody. He bit back a shriek as the raging magic ripped out two of his fingernails in a streak of scarlet.

The Lord of Shadows contemplated him with an amused look on his face. His eyes were black, the whites invisible as he let out a mirthless laugh and flicked his wrist. James couldn't bite back the scream as he felt three ribs snap, the pointed tips stabbing out through his skin. His shirt had long since been ripped away, leaving him standing bare-chested and bloodied before the creature that was once his brother.

"Please Albus. Think of Cassiopeia! Do you know what this is doing to her," he needed to reach his brothers humanity; he knew Albus was still inside somewhere. A patch of skin across his shoulder was suddenly torn off, baring the muscle and tissue to the world.

"Mum is scared Albus! You're hurting her so badly right now. Lily could be dead. Lily, our sister. You remember her–" he was cut off when his brother cocked his head slightly, as if his interest had waned before slamming out his hand and grabbing his throat in a death grip.

"Cass . . . she's . . . she's pregnant, Albus," James choked out, his hands flying up to try and pull his brother's hands away from his neck. Albus fixed him with an icy glare, James' words not seeming to affect him in the slightest.

Albus' touch scorched his throat as if it was doused in acid, he tightened his grip and James coughed bloodily as he fought for air. Black spots began to fill his vision; his body wasn't struggling as much anymore. He looked at his killer, the beast that was once Albus and he whispered; his voice ragged like broken glass.

"Please, Albus . . . You're still . . . my baby brother, Al."

He fell to the ground, clutching at his throat and staring up in disbelief as pain seemed to spasm across Albus' face. The darkness in his eyes seemed to recede, still coating the edges but his gaze of emerald had returned. He met James' eyes, a look of horror and pain filling his gaze as he gasped, taking the short heaving breaths of a man fighting to stay in control. Something hard poked against James knee, his eyes widened as he saw the rubies sticking out of the hat.

"Let me . . . renew the wards," gasped James, kneeling because it was too much to stand. He winced when Albus shook his head. A second spasm of pain crossed Albus' face as for a moment the eyes glazed over with inky black before the Darkness was being forced away once more.

A jet of purple lightning struck the tower with enough force to send a chunk of the building crashing to the ground. James forced himself to stand up in the ruined tower, shaking unsteadily from blood loss and broken bones but strengthened by his determination to not fail Albus again.

"It's too strong James," he said in a thick voice, "I can barely hold it back, I only have a few moments before the Shadows take hold again." His eyes were broken and haunted, James' words being the only thing that strengthened him enough to fight the Shadows that threatened to engulf him and then engulf the world. James looked on in defeat, blood dripping from where his skin had been ripped off.

"Save me," said Albus softly, his face trembling under the strain of fighting to stay in control.

"How?" asked James, hope sparking in his eyes because his brother had always been the most intelligent one between them. Where James had been brawn and blindly courageous, Albus had always been cunning and methodical.

He was sure that Al had a plan. He would do anything to save his baby brother; his magic began to flood his fingertips as he prepared to recast whatever wards his brother desired.

His heart dropped when Albus gestured at the Sword of Gryffindor sticking out of the Sorting Hat, waiting to be drawn.

"No . . ." pleaded James, "You can't ask that of me."

"Please Jamie," said Albus, "Please. I don't want to hurt anyone else . . . Please."

James drew the sword and prepared to fling it away, tears filling his eyes as he clenched them shut. The world seemed to stand still as he fingered the hilt, the rubies shining like blood in the growing darkness. He couldn't kill his brother, there had to be another way.

The earth shuddered, a large chasm opening across the grounds and began to bleed molten red.

I don't want to hurt anyone else . . . Please.

"I love you," he said, his voice breaking as he stabbed his brother through the heart.

Albus cried out, his back arching as he threw back his head in pain before sinking forward. James caught him as they both fell to the ground, the sky already beginning to clear, a single beam of sunlight piercing the storm as the sleet abated. The earth beneath them stopped rumbling. The wind began dulling to a gentle breeze as dozens of Shadows screamed and clawed at the walls of the tower in vain as they were dragged back to from whence they came.

"I . . . love . . . you too, Jay-Jay," Albus managed, his eyes a bright emerald green, a faint smile on his face.

Then his eyes stared without seeing, his face growing wet with tears as James howled in agony, crying as he cradled the body of his brother, shrieking as for a moment his heart ceased to beat. So great was his anguish that he did not see the dark Shadow pull away from Albus' body or its familiar silhouette as it was called to the side of it's summoner.

"I'm so sorry, Al," he cried, his blood still dripping and mingling with Albus' upon the cold stone floor.

The blood of two brothers . . .

Who tore gaping holes out of each other's hearts but never stopped loving each other, no matter what.

You're still my baby brother, Al . . .

(*)(*)(*)

A/N: Thoughts

Just the Epilogue left . . . wow I felt like crying writing this. Did you cry reading it?