A/N: Warning: Character death!!!

I feel really mean for this one, but it had to be done. I'm sorry.

Title lovingly borrowed from the Funeral for a Friend song of the same name.

(You'll probably find that a lot of my chapter titles will be song related from now on)


Chapter 16

Roses for the Dead

James Potter bounded through the portrait hole into Gryffindor common room ready to dive into the first year boys' dormitory and pounce on his best friend. He had his foot on the first step ready to run up stairs when he heard a snore coming from the sofa by the fire.

"Hey guys, look at this" He whispered, sneaking over to where his friend lay sleeping.

"Lazy git" Remus laughed softly "Couldn't even make it up to bed"

"Wait here, don't wake him up"

James charged upstairs and a minute later, flew back down with his arms full of toilet paper and shaving cream.

"Harry pulled this one on me when I was little" He smirked, chucking toilet roll to his two friends. "Come here, I'll explain"

After James' short speech, Remus and Peter carefully wrapped the sleeping Sirius in toilet paper, making sure to strap him tightly to the chair he was lying in while their raven haired friend silently coated the boy in thick amounts of shaving form. Giggling quietly, the three friends stood back to observe their handy work.

"How're we going to wake him up?" Peter asked

"We don't" James smirked "We'll let nature take its course"

With that, James settled himself into a worn armchair to the left of the sofa and took a book entitled "Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland" from his backpack, although he wasn't really going to read it. His friends followed his lead and waited.

Soon Gryffindor common room was filling up, back to the way it was before the holidays. As students of all different ages made their way in, chatting about their various Christmas adventures, they couldn't help but glance over at the strange sight of the four first years by the fire.

"What's-" a third year started, before being cut off by James.

"Shh! We're waiting"

Curious, the third year joined them gathered around the sleeping boy on the sofa and it wasn't long before a small crowd had started to form. Most, if not all, of Gryffindor had collected by the fire when Sirius made a small grunt and began to stir. Everyone in the room had frozen, watching.

"Uuurg" Sirius groaned, attempting to roll over, but finding he couldn't. He awoke with a start.

"What the-!" He yelled, instantly cut off by a roar of laughter from his fellow house mates. "JAMES POTTER!"

The long haired first year wiggled around in his cocoon in a desperate attempt to free him self whilst mentally damning Hogwarts toilet paper for being ridiculously strong. He fidgeted and squirmed, only to result in everyone laughing harder.

"GET ME OUT OF HERE POTTER!"

But James had collapsed on the floor in fits, clutching his sides.

"Remus? Peter?" Sirius called anxiously. Both boys shook their heads, also holding tightly to their sides as they chuckled at their friend. Giving up on asking for help, Sirius continued to struggle against his prison until, with a great amount of effort; he managed to sit up, tearing the paper from around his body.

"POTTER!" He bellowed, diving onto his best friend and covering him in the shaving cream still plaster all over him.

"I'm sorry Sirius!" James spluttered, unable to stop giggling. "I couldn't resist!"

"What's this?"

A rather grumpy looking prefect had descended the stairs leading to the boys' dorm rooms, glaring at the crowd of people until he spotted the two friends on the floor.

"There will be no fighting in the Gryffindor common room" He said in an authoritative tone. "If you don't get cleaned up right now, I will have to put you in detention."

"Spoil sport" Sirius growled as he and James made their way up to the bathroom.

80)

"I will get you back James" Sirius said once again.

"I know" James smirked "I'm waiting"

It was the morning after James had pulled his welcome back prank and the four friends were sat around Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, happily chewing their breakfast and discussing their Christmas holidays. Sirius had become increasingly aggravated as the topic continued so decided to change it. Unfortunately for him, that only distracted his friends for a second causing him to go back to trying to scrap off the Black Family Crest from his new ring with one of the schools knives.

"Anyway" Peter continued his story through a mouthful of bacon "My uncle Thomas got very drunk at the new year party and ending up crashing in my bed! I had to sleep in the same bed as my Aunty Betty!" He finished with a shudder.

"Say it, don't spray it Pete" James smiled, wiping his face with his napkin.

"Oh look, post" said Remus, distracted by the sudden appearance of hundreds of owls.

As they watched, a tiny tawny owl flew down to land by James' pumpkin juice with a scroll tied tightly to its leg.

"It's Snitch, Harry's owl!" James stated with a look of confusion "Why's he writing to me so soon?"

He tore the letter from the owls' leg, who then snatched up some of James' own bacon before flying off to the Owlery. As he read, the bespectacled boy's grin grew larger and larger and once he had finished he chucked the letter to the three curious boys.

To Jamesie

I've just had the best news ever! I've been called up to the Ministry to begin my Auror testing tonight! There's a whole bunch of us being trained up, personally I think it's because the Ministry are slightly more worried about this Voldemort bloke then they're letting on, but that doesn't bother me, I'm getting closer to my dream!

Of course, this means I've had to quit Zonkos, so that means I can't get you anymore prank items, but I'm sure the supply I got you for Christmas is more than enough.

Anyway, I hope you're enjoying being back at Hogwarts, I'll make sure to keep you up to date with my training.

Keep on making mischief,

Harry.

"That's brilliant James!" Remus exclaimed "I'm sure Harry will make a great Auror"

"Too right!" James beamed "He got Outstanding in all of his N.E.W.T.S and all of his school reports said how amazing he would be if he didn't pull so many pranks!"

With huge smiles across their faces and high spirits, the Gryffindors made their way to their first lesson.

80)

James awoke with a start that night; he hadn't even been asleep that long. He couldn't explain it, but something didn't feel right. Shrugging the feeling off, he settled back down, falling back into an uneasy sleep.

80)

Whispers followed James all the way from Gryffindor Tower that morning. People watched him closely, others sympathetically, many even asking if he was ok. Confused, James came up with only one conclusion in his head.

"What've you done Sirius?"

"Me!? Nothing mate! I'm just as confused as you!" Sirius replied truthful as a fifth year gave the boys an awkward smile as she passed.

They were about to enter the Great Hall when their path was blocked by Professor McGonagall.

"Mr Potter, would you come with me please?" She asked. Her tone wasn't the angry one James usually associated with that request, instead it was almost sad.

"What's going on Professor!?" James demanded "Everyone's been giving me weird looks all morning, I don't get it"

"Mr Potter, I really think we should discuss this else where-"

"Um, James" Sirius interrupted, holding a copy of The Daily Prophet in his hand and wearing a grave expression "I think you ought to see this"

James snatched the paper from his friend. Perplexed, he started to read quickly.

Mayhem at the Ministry

Chaos erupted at the Ministry of Magic last night when a gang of dark wizards fought their way though the many defences in the building and broke into the Auror department where numerous wizards and witches had been brought in to begin their training. The break in resulted in a destructive riot that left many dead. It is a devastating blow to the magic community who have become dependant on the authorities in these times.

Among the deceased is 19 year old Harry Potter, a young hopefully fresh out of Hogwarts who had begun training to handle situations such as these. Described as an incredibly clever student by those who had taught him, Mr Potter made sure he didn't go without a fight, taking down not one but two dark wizards before his tragic demise.

The article continued but James couldn't read on, unable to believe the words in front of him. He blinked furiously to get rid of the tears stinging his eyes and looked up at his Transfiguration teacher wearing an expression somewhere between worry and humour. The look in his eye was daring her to tell him this was all one big joke.

"I'm sorry James" The tall witch said softly, placing a hand on her young students shoulder.

"It's not true" James stated emotionlessly. He stared at the paper in his hand then spotted a picture of his older brother next to the writing. The tall, scruffy haired boy looked out at him, his usual mischievous grin spread across his face as he laughed at something unseen. He was dressed up in a smart black suit with a single rose tucked through a button hole which James recognised as the outfit he had worn before taking out his then girlfriend, Rose, out on a romantic date (Harry had thought it was a brilliant idea to wear the flower she was named after). Mrs Potter had been so proud of her son she had to take a picture. Unfortunately, Rose had dumped him that night, saying he was too childish to stay in a stable relationship. Harry had been heart broken. James felt a tear trickle down his cheek at the memory.

"Your parents will be arriving soon James" Professor McGonagall told him in a hushed voice. "Professor Dumbledore said you can wait in his office until they arrive"

"No" James replied flatly "If it's ok with you Professor, I'd rather stay with my friends for a while."

Sirius stepped forward, placing his hand on James' other shoulder. "It's okay Professor, we can look after him"

The transfiguration teacher looked very much like she wanted to say no, but she glanced towards the short, dark haired boy and gave a small smile.

"You better do Mr Black. But remember James, anytime it gets too much, the headmaster is more than willing to let you rest in his office"

James nodded glumly.

"I shall collect you when your parents arrive"

Professor McGonagall gave James one last sympathetic look before making her way back to the table at the very end of the Great Hall. The bespectacled boy sat himself heavily on the nearest seat at Gryffindor table, picked up a knife and started stabbing at a sausage.

"You gonna eat that or massacre it?" Sirius asked jokingly, seating himself beside his friend.

James just glared in response. He placed his knife to the side of his plate and sat with his head in his hands.

"At least he went out fighting" Peter said, trying to cheer his friend up but instead gained angry frowns from the other three "I'll just shut up"

"Smartest thing you've ever said, Pete" James snarled bitterly.

"Come on guys," Remus muttered seeing the hurt look on Peters' face "We're going to be late for potions"

The four Gryffindors trudged their way out of the Great Hall and through the entrance hall, all the while receiving more awkward glances and quite words of comfort that James ignored totally. It wasn't until they reached the staircase near to the dungeons corridor did they hear a happy, gloating voice.

"Who needs Aurors anyway? Once the Dark Lord takes over the world won't need a ministry dictating what we wizards do. The Dark Lord will sort out all the scum of the wizarding world and make sure only us who are pure remain. What's one less blood traitor Potter to the world? No loss at all."

"Shut your mouth Lestrange" Sirius growled

"Or what Black?" Rabastan laughed

"Or this!"

James had charged forward towards the Slytherin, forgetting all about magic, and punched straight in the nose.

"James!" Sirius, Remus and Peter cried together, running forward to stop their friend causing anymore damage. Rabastan had fallen back against the staircase clutching his bleeding nose.

"I will not have pieces of dirt like him insult my family!" James spat

"We know" Remus sighed "But there's no need to resort to violence. Do you really think Harry would want his little brother to be getting into fights?"

"YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HARRY WANTS!" The raven haired boy roared at the taller boy "AND NOW NO-ONE WILL BECAUSE HE'S DEAD AND NOTHING CAN BRING HIM BACK!"

Without another word, James wrenched himself out of his friends grasp and stormed up the stairs.


Think I'll leave it there.

A/N: I'm sorry! It had to be done! =(

I also apologise for my poor attempt at a newspaper article, I'm not a journalist, so I don't know what I'm doing =P

I'd barely written the articles headline when my laptop crashed on me. I don't think it wanted me to kill off Harry and, in all honesty, I didn't want to either,

Anyway, I hope you like it. x