AN: Hi guys! Guess who finally got a fully functional laptop? :D It's been long overdue. It's getting slightly chilly where I live (damn you topical country!) What's the weather like where you live? Please let me know, so I can dream of a white Christmas. Yes, I know I'm late (tell us something new you freak) What! Who said that? See you at the bottom.

Everything was so surreal. One day he was trying to forget Lily Evans and the next she was kissing him. He could not believe his luck. They had become the talk of the school, not that James was new to that kind of thing, but this time he didn't really care.

"Oh man, nothing can rain on my parade!" he said excitedly to Remus while they were walking back from lunch. But perhaps he spoke to soon. They entered the common room and went up to their dormitories. The first thing James saw was an envelope lying on his bed. He recognised the seal to be his family's immediately. He ripped it open eagerly. Although he'd never admit it, James did miss his parents while he was at Hogwarts. His eyes scanned the parchment, the colour draining from his face with every line. He flopped down on his bed, the paper falling to the floor as he stared ahead, his eyes unseeing.

"James?" Remus asked. "James? Are you ok?" but he got no response. "What does it say?" Still no response. He waved his hand in front of the paralyzed boys face but James didn't even blink. Remus picked up the parchment with slight uncertainty.

James,
I'm so sorry dear but your father is no more. He was on a mission for the Ministry and things didn't go as planned. There was a spy in his squad who ratted him out to the Deatheaters. Your mother wanted nothing more than to come to Hogwarts and pick you up but she isin no condition to travel or even apparate. I wish I could come but someone needs to take care of her.
By the time you get this, Headmaster Dumbledore already knows and you are to leave first thing tomorrow morning.
I'm so very sorry, James. Be safe. Be strong. And know that he loved you.
Yours Constantine.

Remus felt his heart stop. He could not process what he had just read. Mr Potter, the ever so lively Mr Potter, Head of the Auror Department, could not possibly be dead. He refused to believe stood there, helpless. He didn't know what to say. What do you say to someone who's just lost a parent? Tell them It's ok? That everything will be alright? Well, Probably. But those are just lies. Sweet nothings. And Remus knew that.

No words of comfort came to him. And somewhere while he was trying to find somehting to say, Sirius was on the floor, holding James's hand a single tear on his cheek, asking him to go find Lily. He found Alice lounging in an armchair, completely unaware of what was happening above her.

"I need Lily. Now."

"What?" she asked, clearly feeling a bit disoriented. But the expression on Remus' face told her something wasn't right. "What's happened, Remus? she asked cautiously. He told her everything he could with his quivering voice, and returned to the dormitory an unsettling sensation taking over his stomach.

James was vaguely aware of someone holding his hand and giving orders to someone else in the room. He thought he heard Lily's voice beside him but he was too dazed to be sure. He couldn't feel anything. Like all the feeling had been sucked out of him. Like a dementor had kissed him but instead of taking all his happy memories, it had taken every emotion he had ever experienced. He felt a hand on his face and blinked a few times, taking in his surroundings.

"Dad..." James said, quietly. "My dad... It can't be." He suddenly turned to Remus, the desperation clear in his hazel eyes. "Tell me it's not true Remus," he whispered. "It isn't, is it? It's all just some sick joke. It has to be. It's probably Ruthy Dorris trying to get me back for that time I made him dangle in the Entrance Hall. Yeah, that's probably it." Remus stayed silent. "Why won't you say anything, Moony? I'm right, aren't I?" He turned to Lily, who was sitting in front of him.

"Hey Lil, we should probably get going. We're getting late for our rounds." The only response he got was a painful expression from his girlfriend who looked like she was fighting back tears.

James had never felt so confused, angry and sad at once and at the same time he felt nothing at all. His father could not be dead. It just wasn't possible. He had promised James, when he was younger, that he would always be there. And he was not one to break promises. He was not dead.

AN: No, he really is dead. It's just that James can't come to terms with that fact. And he isn't crying because he's in shock and he doesn't know how to cope with the loss. I'm sorry if you don't like it and thank you if you do. Please let me know what you think in a PM or a review! And thank you for reading, it's greatly appreciated :)