It was a cold November.
The leaves started to fall early, Sirius remembered. They changed early too, transforming mid-September into the brilliant yellows and golds and reds of autumn.
The huge, ancient-looking tree (Melissa had confirmed it was an Alder) that stood across from the little yellow house held on to its last few leaves long after the rest of the tree-line had gone bare.
James and Lily came to visit often, rather preferring to bother Sirius than James' mother, and even Melissa popped in with little Jenny on Saturdays when she was off from work.
He was alone there but at the same time they were always there with him. There reading the Prophet at three in the morning on nights when all of them lost track of time and accidentally stayed too long; laughing too hard over unfunny jokes and warm tea; watching blackbirds at the window when they all needed a little silence and each other's company. Sometimes it felt like they were right back in Gryffindor common-room again, like they were home.
And then one day James and Lily weren't there. It was a Saturday and Jenny was in the process of figuring out that Sirius the human and Padfoot the dog were one and the same, giggling excitedly as she yanked fiercely on his tail and chased him around the living room.
The black faced owl entered of its own accord, sailing silently through the kitchen window and landing with a rustle on the table.
Sirius transformed again, Jenny still wrapped around his shoulders as he stood up and took the small grey envelope from the bird who promptly swooped out the window again.
Jenny shrieked with frightened joy as she grabbed tighter around his neck and he laughed as he slowly unfolded the note.
"Hey, sh!" he grinned, reaching around for the little girl and pulling her down until she was safely settled once again on the ground.
"Jennifer you leave him alone!" Melissa called from the other room.
"She's fine!" Sirius yelled back with a smirk.
He reached for the now lukewarm cup of coffee he had had earlier from the table and looked over the letter, recognizing James' straight-lined, not exactly neat handwriting.
Somehow, it seemed too serious. The normal waviness of the script was absent, replaced by an almost jagged abruptness to the words. Even the way his name was written was off.
Sirius.
It seemed forced, unwanted.
He walked to the door slowly as he read it through, patting Jenny on the head and taking his coat from a chair.
"Mel, I have to go," he called softly as she came laughing around the corner.
"Everything good?" she smiled and scooped up Jenny in her arms.
"Dunno, but I really have to go," he said apologetically, clumsily pulling on the jacket and wrapping a scarf haphazardly around his neck.
Melissa shook her head casually and shrugged and Sirius slipped out the door.
The house was silent upon Sirius' arrival and he had to work up the courage to knock on the door.
Lily opened it and immediately threw her arms around his shoulders. Sirius returned the hug cautiously and stepped inside, pausing a moment as he noticed a new portrait in the entryway, hung beside the one of James' father. Mrs. Potter looked down on him kindly from the scrolled frame and he could almost hear her welcoming him in.
Lily noticed his hesitation and smiled sadly, sticking her head around the corner and motioning for him to follow her.
"James."