It was going on mid-afternoon a few days after the worst day of his life that James finally opened his eyes to the world. A large blanket was currently blocking the sole window in the small guest bedroom of Sirius's apartment that James vaguely remembered sticking to the wall as the first rays of sun had begun to light the room several hours earlier in the day. The near pitch darkness of the room did little to abate the pounding of his head that had forced him to consciousness.

His mother would certainly have an adverse opinion of his recent insobriety and at the moment he couldn't disagree. He had been, as would be expected, a wreck after coming home to find his parents, the only remaining family he had, murdered in his home. Upon arriving at his best friends apartment three days ago he had immediately told Sirius the tragedy that had befallen his family and the two men had spent several unabashed hours mourning the loss of the people who were parents to both of them.

It did not take long for anger to overcome the sadness however, and they had stayed up until the early morning hours plotting revenge on the still unknown assailants. Sirius, being the friend that he was and also in mourning himself, had flooed into work that day and the next and James honestly did not know what he would have done had he not. His other two best friends, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, had joined them the following day and the tears had fallen fresh again. James was sure he had never cried as hard and long as he had those days and he hoped that he never would again.

Being young adults as they were and with all of them searching for ways to forget their most recent tragedy they had fallen deep into a bottle of firewhiskey that night and their plans for revenge had grown more bold with each pull. Their last plan, before Peter falling asleep at the table had forced them all to bed, had involved infiltrating a criminal ring in Knockturn Alley and forcing answers out of the leader. While no one knew for certain that such an organization actually existed, it had at the time been the answer to all of their problems.

As James lay there in the darkness and allowed his head to clear he began to feel increasingly foolish about the previous nights discussions. Infiltrating a criminal organization might be a plausible course of action for an Auror trained for duty, but it was equally implausible that he or his friends could do the same and probable that the only thing he would achieve was joining his parents in death. It was true that he was better than your average student in Transfiguration and he could certainly hold his own in the Defense Against the Dark Arts field. Unfortunately, the people who had murdered his family were clearly skilled if they had been able to take down his parents with apparent ease.

One thing he was certain of was that his life dream of playing professional Quidditch was no longer in consideration. As a younger boy he had scoffed at the idea of following in his father's footsteps and joining the Department of Magical Law Enforcement but that feeling had now changed entirely. Only by becoming an Auror would he get the proper training needed to avenge his parents. Luckily, despite his general lackadaisical attitude towards education, he was still in-line for meeting the requirements to join Auror training.

Along with changing his poor study efforts he would also have to become a better student in general. His rebellious attitude and shockingly large detention record would make it difficult for anyone to actually consider him for a law enforcement position. He could only hope that a renewed drive in his 7th and final year at Hogwarts would be enough to change minds of his ambition. His friends might be disappointed in his new plan to be a proper student but he knew he would receive their support. Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if they joined him in it.

That was the kind of people his friends were. While admittedly they were frequently assholes to their classmates, especially Slytherins, they were iron-clad in their support of each other no matter the situation. When they had the drive to accomplish something, such as becoming Animagi to help Remus out during transformations, they would let nothing hold them back.

James decided that he needed to thank Professor Dumbledore the next time he saw him. Coming to be with his friends had been exactly what he needed right now. Had he chosen to stay at his parents place in solitude it was likely he would have done something equal parts stupid and dangerous.

Pulling himself from his thoughts James groped around in the dark for his wand and upon finding it sent a banishing spell towards the covered window. He let out a yelp and quickly covered his eyes as the mid-afternoon light suddenly filled the room. He forced himself out of bed and scrambled around looking for his clothes and more importantly his glasses.

He needed to get out of this place for awhile and get some fresh air. While Siruis's modest living arraignment was impressive for a man who had been kicked out his parents house before finishing school, it had begun to feel cramped in the two days he had stayed their without leaving. The claustrophobia was quickly outweighing his desire to stay out of the public.

He made his way out of the bedroom and was immediately hit with a smell that nearly sent him sprinting for the toilet. The living room was a disaster with various alcoholic bottles littering everywhere from the table to the floor and for some reason even inside the cage of Siruis's pet owl. Apparently they had thought that Talon might want to partake in the festivities. His first thought of leaving the room to be cleaned later was quickly changed after an indignant hoot and glare from the aforementioned owl.

James set about cleaning the room muggle way because he thought his pitiful grasp of household charms would probably exacerbate the mess rather than speed up the process. He was glad he did as he caught sight of a hastily jotted note from Sirius on top of the disaster that was the dining room table.

James

Had to run into work before ol Sallow gave me the boot. Kicked out Moony and Wormtail to give you some privacy. Drop in to The Shoe if you need anything. I will probably be stuck here all night.

Sirius

P.S. Hope your head is feeling better than mine is. Bloody hell.

P.P.S. Never get a fucking job.

As James read the note he smiled for the first time in days. He didn't envy Sirius as The Shoe, the tavern where Sirius worked to pay for his apartment, probably looked and smelled similar to the room that James had just cleaned. It was nice of Sirius to offer his company but James knew that he was on thin ice at work as it was for not showing up the last two days.

The thought of returning to his own home crossed his mind but he squashed that idea. He wasn't ready for that yet. Even the thought of going for a fly didn't bring about the thrill of excitement that it usually did. Resigning himself to the pitying looks of well-wishers he eventually decided on a trip to Diagon Alley. The large wizarding community was high on the list of places he least wanted to be currently but it was home to Flourish and Blotts where he planned to purchase some books to begin his new drive towards becoming an Auror.

Deciding he didn't care enough about his appearance to clean himself up he stepped into the fire place and called out, "The Leaky Cauldron".

xxxxx

"Hey, don't worry Harry I'll pay the bill," Teddy said sarcastically as he handed some coins to the girl at the counter. The day was stretching into evening when Harry and Teddy had arrived at Diagon Alley and the crowded streets had slowly dwindled down to just a few stragglers finishing up shopping before returning home for the night.

The relative emptiness of the Alley eased Harry's worries some. The attack that was about to take place was not a large one but with the way the Death Eaters seemed to enjoy flinging around Unforgivable curses it was best to have as few innocent bystanders as was possible.

"Is this how you treat women when you go on dates?" Harry asked as he received the offered ice cream cone from Teddy, "Might explain why that blonde friend of yours hasn't come back around."

"I treat Stacy like an angel because she is one," Teddy said in mock seriousness as the two men made their way to the small tables out front of the ice cream shoppe, "And because she's got a great rack."

That comment earned a snort out of Harry, "It is becoming more and more obvious why you are still hopelessly single Teddy."

The table Harry chose was nearest to the alley and offered a clear view of the jewelry store that was across the street and two buildings down. Speed would have to be enough to prevent any casualties because any warning Harry offered to the store owner would only be met with suspicion.

Teddy plopped down into the chair as care-freely as possible and replied, "Ah yes, and I'm sure your stoic attitude has women coming at you in droves."

The slight shake of the hand that Teddy was using to hold his own ice cream cone gave proof to his actual nervousness. It was good that he was nervous, Harry thought, at least he understands that we are stepping outside of talk and moving into action.

"Your mum likes my stoic attitude," Harry said idly as he surveyed the street in front of him. He wanted to scream at the couple that was leisurely making it's way down the Alley to hurry the hell up but he restrained himself.

"What?" Teddy asked confusedly, "Why would my mum know or care about your stoic attitude?"

Harry glanced back at Teddy and rolled his eyes, "Never mind, it's just a stupid joke from my time."

Teddy took a bite from his ice cream as he considered that then asked, "Is stoic-ness the norm in the future?"

Harry laughed again and turned towards Teddy while brandishing his cone threateningly, "First of all, if you say the word stoic one more time I'll shove this ice cream in your face. Second of all, I was jokingly implying that I had gotten with your mum and therefore your opinion is irrelevant. For some reason it got popular to rib your friends by claiming to have slept with their mom."

Teddy accepted that answer with a snort, "Merlin, the future sounds awful."

"You have no idea," Harry replied before turning his attention back to the jewelry store.

Teddy eyed the back of Harry's head suspiciously before asking, "You seem to be in an awfully good mood all of a sudden. I think I heard something there that vaguely resembled a laugh."

Harry didn't reply because the sight of a man walking down the Alley had drawn all of his attention. The unkempt black hair had been nearly identical to Harry's own before he had trimmed it down the day previously. The man's glasses covered brown eyes that held a sad look as he slowly made his way down the Alley. The sight of his father wasn't unexpected but it still left Harry frozen in shock for a moment.

Harry's heart went out to his father as he saw the slumped shoulders and distraught look that always accompanied the recent loss of loved ones. I could have prevented that, Harry thought, if I had only been better. He was pulled from his thoughts as a loud bang sounded from down the Alley. Approaching Harry's own position were four figures in dark cloaks with hoods raised to cover their faces.

The Death Eaters would easily reach Harry's father well before he could.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me."