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roozilwalib · 2 years

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Bc this trope makes me hnnnng ✨🥰

Remus was exhausted. His bones ached in only the way bones could after they’d spent a night ripping themselves apart and moulding back together. He struggled to stay awake as he lay wrapped in a jacket that wasn’t his and he felt strong but gentle hands doting on him.

The jacket belonged to James—he could smell the cologne. The hands belonged to Sirius. It was always Sirius who bandaged up Remus after a full moon. Peter didn’t know what to do and James would never admit it, but his hands shook just a little too much at the sight of a dear friend so badly injured.

But not Sirius. His movements were sure and graceful as he rubbed in salves and wrapped bandages around Remus’ bleeding limbs. Remus hated to think about why Sirius was the way he was. His mind couldn’t help but wander to stories that Sirius would tell of the nights where he had to quietly take care of the wounds inflicted by a belt or a staff without his parents hearing.

Sirius had lines of concentration etched into his face and Remus tried not to allow a smile when he saw Sirius’ tongue start to dart out subconsciously. Sirius happened to glance up at that moment.

“What’re you smiling at, Moony?” Sirius asked as he tied off a bandage. Remus managed somewhat of a shrug and a nonchalant smile.

“Oh, nothing. Just my doting Padfoot.” He teased. Sirius rolled his eyes and scoffed.

“Wouldn’t have to be so doting if you weren’t so bloodied up, hmm?” He asked as he tightened James’ jacket around Remus’ shoulders. Standing up and brushing off his pants, he held out his arms for Remus to use to hoist himself off the ground. Remus took Sirius’ forearms in his hands and allowed himself to slowly be pulled off the floor of the Shrieking Shack.

Remus’ body however had different plans, and when he tried to stand on his own, his knees crumpled. He was lucky James was there to help Sirius hold him up.

“Woah, there, Moony.” James worried. “Tonight was a bad one, huh?” Remus nodded dully. The effort to stand had taken more energy than he’d realized.

“Of course it was. Bloody wolf hardly paid any attention to us at all tonight.” Sirius replied gruffly. He and James helped Remus back down to the floor while he tried to catch his breath.

A loud thud rang out throughout the house. The four boys looked around frantically to find the source of the noise. Wand at the ready, James was the first to head toward the door.

“Pete, with me.” He ordered. He gave Remus and Sirius a confident and he and Peter left the room to find the source of the noise. Once they were gone, Sirius began fussing over Remus again.

“Do you hurt anywhere? Did I miss something?” He fretted. Remus chuckled weakly.

“Is everywhere an acceptable answer?” He leaned back against the wall and allowed Sirius access to his abdomen, where he was already bleeding through the bandages Sirius had applied.

“Jesus, Moons.” Sirius began undoing the bandages again so that he could apply more dittany and bandage him again.

“We’ll need to just get you to Madame Pomfrey as quickly as possible. There’s only so much I know how to do.” Remus hated hearing the concern in his voice and seeing the lines of worry on Sirius’ face. He reached a hand up to run his fingers lightly over Sirius’ scrunched brow.

“You worry too much.” Remus sighed. Sirius’ grey eyes moved slowly up to lock with Remus’. He looked more serious than he had in a while (no pun intended).

“You kinda scared me tonight, Moony. You were agitated, more aggressive than normal. What’s going on with you? Did something happen you won’t tell us about?” There was a million dollar question. What happened, Remus? Oh, nothing I just realized I’m in love with one of my best friends. No biggie.

“Remus?” Remus shook himself out of his thoughts. He was bandaged up again and he felt a little better. Weak, but better. He didn’t know what to say. How could he sum up everything he was feeling in a simple answer? Mustering what little strength he had, he leaned up and delicately pressed his lips to Sirius’. When he pulled back, Sirius eyes fluttered open and there was a light blush across his cheeks.

“Oh.” He spoke softly. “Oh, Moony.” Sirius put a hand on Remus’ cheek and looked at him with a kind of softness Remus never thought he deserved. Ever since Remus was bitten, he’d felt like nothing but a monster. When he met the Marauders, it was the first time he felt like he could be anything. Like he deserved success and happiness, like those things were possible. But, this softness that Sirius was allotting him right now, Remus didn’t know how to handle. Before either of them could say anything, James and Peter burst back through the door.

“Coast is clear! Let’s get you to the hospital wing, Moony!” James declared triumphantly. He quirked an eyebrow at the way Sirius’ was still holding Moony’s face in his hands. “Everything okay?”

Sirius and Remus both nodded silently and Sirius rushed to try to help Remus up again. This time, Remus’ knees wobbled for a different reason, but with the help of his friends he was able to make it back to the castle. That next morning, Remus woke to Sirius at his bedside, hair tousled from sleep and drool leaking onto Remus’ sheets. More importantly, his hand was gripping Remus’ tightly even as he slept and when Remus gently woke him, that same softness was there, just for Remus.

#sirius black #remus lupin #wolfstar #sirius x remus #harry potter #hogwarts #marauders era #bandaging wounds #no beta we die like men

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roozilwalib · 3 years

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We’ll Do This Together

When they brought Rose home for the first time, Ron couldn’t stop his hands from shaking. He couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that there was this tiny little helpless thing that he was now responsible for. He would spend minutes to hours watching her when she slept, just in case.

The war was over but the scars were still there. Sometimes Ron would wake up to Hermione having a nightmare about losing Rose. Those nights, they would move their bedding to the nursery just in case. Some days Ron founding his fingers turning a nonexistent radio dial, his ears listening for names that wouldn’t be said just in case.

Outside of the effects of the war, Ron found that parenting came somewhat naturally to him. Changing nappies actually wasn’t too bad, and when Rose’s delicate little fingers curled around his own, he could forget about everything else in the world for just a moment. He found that he really enjoyed his walks in the park with Rose in the pram and more often than not he’d let her nap on his chest instead of the crib.

Hermione, however, was having more difficulty. Rose latched on quickly, so luckily breastfeeding wasn’t as issue, but Ron could tell that Hermione was struggling. He found himself surprised, considering how much he felt she took care of Harry and Ron in school, but then again, that wasn’t exactly the same. But he was hesitant to say anything.

For one, he didn’t want to offend Hermione or make her think that he thought she was a bad mum. Ron never wanted Hermione to believe he thought she was anything but incredible. He also didn’t want to overstep a line. Sure, they were both parents but motherhood and fatherhood were different, or so Ron thought, and he didn’t want to interfere in some mother-daughter bond that maybe took more time to form.

One day, though, he felt he needed to step in.Hermione was in the nursery trying to rock a crying Rose back to sleep. She had gotten her down for a nap earlier, but in her efforts to clean up, Hermione had dropped a rattle onto the floor and the noise caused Rose to wake up and subsequently scream.

Immediately fretting, Hermione had reached in to pick up Rose and hold her to her chest, quietly shushing and cooing and swaying back and forth. Ron was content to watch her at first. He admired the soft curves of his wife’s body and the changes that the pregnancy had left. He smiled at the way the sun peaking through the curtains bounced off of her curls. Ron often liked to think there was some magic in Hermione’s hair; the light always hit it perfectly.

In his distraction, Ron didn’t notice the tears making their way down Hermione’s cheeks. He did, however, notice the quiver in her voice when she softly spoke to their daughter.

”I’m so sorry, Rosie. Please, please go back to sleep. Shh, I’m sorry you got stuck with such a rotten mummy, but I promise I’m trying.” She adjusted Rose to her other hip as she desperately tried to get her to calm down. Ron took a careful step into the room and set a hand on Hermione’s shoulder. She didn’t turn around to face him.

“You okay, love?” Hermione nodded fervently, still not looking at him.

”Fine, fine! Just sweet little Rose being a little fussy. Nothing her mother can’t handle.” She summoned a pacifier into her hand and tried to get Rose to suckle on it, but she just spit it out and cried harder. Her pudgy face was red and blotchy and her hands were balled into fists. Hermione let out an exasperated sigh, and Ron gently tugged on her shoulder to turn her towards him.

“I know you can handle it.” He spoke softly, lifting a hand to brush a curl out of Hermione’s face. “I’m just saying you don’t have to do it alone.” He held out his hands and let Hermione shift Rose into his arms. Ron began to bounce her gently, and gave Hermione a peck on the side of her head.

”Why don’t you take a bath or do something relaxing and I’ll see if I can get our little mandrake to calm down?” Hermione laughed softly at that and nodded her head. She let her hand linger on Ron’s arm before making her way to their bathroom.

Turning his attention to his daughter, Ron tried to remember what he had seen his mum do with Ginny when she couldn’t stop crying. He decided to try for the distraction tactic and pulled out his wand. He conjured a little pink butterfly that flitted around the room and across Rose’s face. She was immediately taken by the bug. Her sobs turned into hiccups and the flush slowly left her cheeks.

After about ten more minutes of slow rocking, Rose’s breathing slowed and Ron carefully laid her down in her crib. He took a moment to watch her, tracing the shapes of her face with his eyes.

With Rose finally in bed asleep, Ron made his way after Hermione, shutting the nursery door softly behind him. He found her laying in the tub with magical bubbles singing softly and a bewitched towel making the occasional swipe across her brow.

Ron got down to kneel next to the tub. He leaned his arms on the edge and allowed a finger to slowly run up and down Hermione’s arm. Her eyes lifted open and she gave him a sleepy smile. Ron returned it, reaching into the tub to take her hand in his.

”You know how much I love you, right?” He asked, kissing the back of her knuckles. Hermione nodded.

”I love you too.”

”And you know how incredible you are, right? How brilliant and strong?” He pushed. This time, Hermione was hesitant and Ron’s heart ached at the tears that welled up in her eyes again.

”I haven’t felt so incredible recently.” Her eyes trailed disdainfully to the door of the bathroom, where down the hall their daughter lay.

”But you are. Nobody said parenting was easy, you know?”

”It is for you!” She protested indignantly. “I could not get Rose to stop screaming, but you-you swoop in there and everything is fine in minutes! I mean, am I just a horrible mother? Am I not cut out for this? I thought that mothering was supposed to be the most natural thing a woman could do, but I feel anything but natural when I’m with her.” The tears were now cascading down her cheeks, and she furiously rubbed at her face with her hands.

“I feel like a terrible person.” She admitted defeatedly. Ron took a moment before standing up to shuck off his clothing.

”Alright, budge up.” He said with his pants in his hands.

”Ron, what—“ Hermione looked up at him bewildered. Ron just looked at her expectantly until she scooted forward to make room for him behind her. He slid into the tub with the grace of a troll, but recovered enough to wrap his arms around her and pull her into his chest.

”You are not a terrible person, Hermione. I will not let you believe that.” Hermione’s body deflated into Ron’s chest and he pressed a firm kiss to her temple.

”You are the smartest person I’ve ever met and you have the fiercest heart. You say you’re a terrible mother, but I’ve seen how much you love Rose. Because of how awful you feel right now, you should know that that makes you a great mum. Not everything will come easily, and that’s okay. What matters is that we handle it together. I mean, I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I’ve done anything completely by myself since I was eleven.” Hermione let out a ghost of a laugh and Ron felt a little balloon of hope swell in his chest. He ventured a joke.

”Who knows, maybe what we need to do is call Harry and he could expelliarmus her to sleep!”

”Ron!” Hermione admonished. He just laughed in reply. She turned back to scold him, but found herself caught up in laughter too. She allowed herself to relax in his embrace again as he soothingly caressed her side with his hand.

”And what if…what if I want to go back to work sooner than I thought?” Ron could tell Hermione was nervous of the answer but he just shrugged his shoulders.

“Then you go back sooner.” Hermione sat up and turned around on her knees, cupping his face in her hands.

”Really?” Her eyes darted back and forth between his. Ron just smiled and nodded.

”Yeah, really. You know, I’ve been talking to Harry and I don’t think I can do this whole auror thing anymore. I think we’ve done enough saving the world, you know? And George actually mentioned to me the other day that he could use some extra help with the shop. I think I could do alright there. I’m sure I could work from home. Plus, I reckon I’d make a sexy stay-at-home dad.” He winked.

Hermione laughed and kissed him and laughed some more and kissed him again. Ron felt drunk on her.

”You would be a very sexy stay-at-home dad.” She nodded in agreement. Sitting back on her heels, Hermione took Ron’s hands in hers and looked at Ron with a kind of love he didn’t always think he deserved.

”Thank you, Ron.” In order to hide his tears from the overwhelming emotions running through him, he just pulled Hermione into his chest again and kissed the top of her head.

”Anything for you, ‘Mione.”

#romione #ron x hermione #Golden trio #harry potter #ron weasley #hermione granger #Ron is soft for hermione and I am soft for ron #I love these two

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roozilwalib · 3 years

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Comfort jily

bc honestly they are my comfort couple and when I think about jily and their essence I just imagine comfort

When Lily got the news she felt the world shift beneath her. She sat silently in a state of shock for a moment, clutching the letter in one hand. For a minute she was transported. She forgot she was at Hogwarts eating breakfast with her friends, beginning to prepare for their next set of exams.

For just a moment, she was eight again. She and Tuney were still best friends. She didn’t know what magic was. Her mum called her and Petunia inside because dad was home from work and it was time for dinner. Lily and her sister ran inside to give their father a hug, and then sit down for dinner.

But as little Lily raised a spoonful of soup to her mouth, seventeen-year-old Lily’s fork clattered loudly onto the Gryffindor table. Pairs of eyes whipped up to the ruckus and Lily briefly registered a light hand on her elbow.

“Lily, are you alright?” She thinks the voice was Marlene, but the world around her was turning to static and before anyone could comment on the tears already streaming down her face, Lily was up and gone out of the Great Hall, letter still clutched in hand.

She didn’t notice all of her friends sitting silently in shock for a moment. Nor did she notice the first person to get up and go after her.

All that Lily could focus on was the fact that she couldn’t breathe. She was trying so hard but it felt like her lungs were betraying her. Every intake burned in her chest as it scraped through her bronchioles. Every outtake was a loud shudder that shook her ribcage. She couldn’t get enough oxygen.

She stumbled her way into an abandoned classroom and sank to the floor against a wall, too caught up to worry about locking the door. With her knees to her chest, elbows on knees, and her face in her hands, she tried desperately to fight for the air her body needed.

But with every breath, a new memory forced it’s way through her consciousness, which only caused her to sob harder. Right when she thought she could pass out, she vaguely heard the rattling of a door and footsteps approach.

By the time the figure was at her eye-level, Lily’s eyes were blown wide and her fingers were tangled roughly in her hair. She could see a mouth moving in front of her but the static covered up any sound. There was a flick of a wand in her periphery and her breathing became slightly easier. The tears didn’t stop, but her brain seemed to be getting more oxygen and her breathing wasn’t as ragged as before.

There were hands on her shoulders and she started to make out the sounds of a familiar voice.

“Evans—hey—can you hear me?” James asked, a bit frantically, Lily noticed. She nodded her head in response and James let out a sigh as he nodded his head along with her.

“Oh, thank Merlin. I’ve been practically yelling at you for the past five minutes.” Lily merely let out a sniffle in reply. She didn’t have a witty remark—or any reply, really. Lily noticed numbly that she didn’t feel like she had anything anymore.

This realisation caused her to break into another fit of tears, burying her face in her elbows. James scooted to sit next to her and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her tightly into his chest. Lily allowed herself to be comforted by the dark-haired boy. She didn’t know what to do, she felt so lost, but James was warm and whispering comforting words in her ear I’m here, it’s going to be okay, I’ve got you. His presence grounded her.

James stroked Lily’s back soothingly and never let up on his grip on her. She didn’t know what she did to deserve this. She’d always been so mean to James. Of course, there were times when he definitely deserved it, but there were also times when he didn’t.

When Lily quieted enough for James to feel comfortable speaking, he delicately pulled away enough to cause a whimper to fall out of Lily’s mouth. James’s heart broke at the sight of her. She looked unbelievably devastated. He could only wonder what the letter said. He softly tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and ducked his head to meet her eyes. Cradling her cheek in his hand, James asked softly,

“What happened, Lily?” Her bottom lip quivered and she could do nothing but thrust the letter in front of him. He took it carefully and read the words that caused Lily to spiral. Her parents were dead. He didn’t bother to read further because he had enough information to know what caused Lily to feel like this and all he cared about was fixing that.

James pulled her into his arms arms again and rocked her as she began to cry again.

“I’m so, so sorry Lily. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s hurts.” She cried out. Her fists were twisting his sweater and her entire body leaned into him, desperate to crawl into the warmth that was James Potter and never come back out.

“I know it hurts. But I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll do whatever you need.” James allowed himself to plant a firm kiss to the top of her head and held her close.

“Just please don’t leave me.” She whispered. James shook his head.

“Never.”

For the rest of that day, James stayed true to his word. He skipped his classes and instead accompanied Lily to the dorm room. He tucked her into his bed and snuck down to the kitchens to grab her any comfort foods he could get his hands on.

When he made his way back up, he found Lily sitting in front of the fire, parchment in front of her and quill gripped tightly. She appeared to be fighting for words.

“Hey, what’s going on?” He tucked a stray hand behind her ear again (a habit he seemed to be forming quickly).

“I, um, I’m trying to write to my sister,” she croaked, “but I’ve realised that I don’t even know her current address.” She gave a watery laugh. “Isn’t that ridiculous? My sister. My—my only living relative hasn’t spoken to me in years, and I have no idea where she lives!” She laughed hysterically and James scooted closer to her.

“Lily…” He started warily, but she cut him off.

“My only living relative!” This time she shouted. The laughing had stopped and the tears returned. Before either of them realised what was happening Lily’s body sank into his chest. James didn’t hesitate: he curled his arms around her and rested his chin over her shoulder, softly swaying left to right.

“My only living relative.” Lily whispered, so softly James wouldn’t have heard it if he weren’t right next to her. “My entire family is just one person who hates me.” James stiffened at that and forced Lily forward to turn her around and lift her shaking chin up so she could look him in the eyes.

“Lily, I love you, and I know how much you’re grieving right now, but I need you to understand one thing for me, okay?” Brushing past his confession and the colour filling Lily’s cheeks, James continued,

“I know your parents have died and nothing can replace them. But Petunia is not your only family. You have Marls and Dora and Mary and Remus and Sirius and Peter and me.” He finished. He cradled the redhead’s puffy cheeks and wiped the tear streaks away.

“We may not be blood but we are your family. And we’re here for you, however you need us.” Lily nodded deftly and allowed James’ words to wash over her.

She closed her eyes and allowed new memories to infiltrate her mind. Studying with Remus, helping Peter with potions, giggling with the girls in the dormitory, Marlene helping Lily learn how to do a fierce dark lipstick, she and Sirius cackling over a joke only they understood, and James. Yelling at James, hexing James, hating James, befriending James, asking him for help with transfiguration, snuggling into his side, warm with fire whiskey.

With him right in front of her, James filled her senses and before she allowed herself to second guess anything, her hand shot out and pulled him by the sweater into a kiss.

It wasn’t a snog because Lily was tired and pretty sure she still had snot on her face, but it wasn’t just a peck either. Their lips slotted together slowly, and James’s grip on her face tightened. When she pulled back, she could hear James’ shaky breath.

“Lily…” he managed out.

“Thank you.” She replied softly, looking into his warm brown eyes. She hoped that James could tell everything that she wanted to say just from those two words. Thank you for being there for me. Thank you for loving me. I love you too, so much. James nodded, eyes blown wide in shock and Lily let out her first giggle of the day, allowed the first smile to etch its way onto her face.

Lily allowed herself to sink into James and his warmth again. Despite his shock, his body reacted to hers and held her tight. James was so warm, Lily thought to herself. She wanted to wrap him around her like a blanket.

It wasn’t like everything was all of a sudden perfectly fine again. Lily’s parents were still dead and there was still a terrifying war going on outside, but James was right. Lily still had a family, and they would hold her when she cried, support her as she grieved, and fight by her side until the very end.

#jily #james potter #lily evans #lily evans potter #Harry potter #the marauders #marauders #marauders era #until the very end #UNTIL THE VERY END BITCHES #IF I SEE ONE MORE JILY FIC WITH ALWAYS AS THE KICKER LINE ILL MCFRICKIN LOSE IT

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roozilwalib · 3 years

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I think one of my favourite things is how every parents!wolfstar has one of them being Harry/Teddy’s influence on cursing but that we can’t agree on whether it’s Remus or Sirius. I was literally just scrolling through the tag and right after another is this lol:

Like I love it

#harry potter #remus lupin #sirius black #wolfstar #sirius x lupin #parents!wolfstar #marauders #teddy lupin

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roozilwalib · 3 years

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OKAY HON HEADCANON (albeit kinda long) COMIN UR WAY

aight so i’ve been reading some harry/ron fanfic and they’ve just got me thinking

we can all agree that the whole “emotional range of a teaspoon” is hella wrong and that Ron is probably the most emotionally mature of the golden trio.

Hermione is logical and analytical and doesn’t have time for emotions or listening to her heart. she’ll go with her brain, every time.

Harry on the other hand has the time for emotions but has no fucking clue how to process them. *cough* HBP

so when Ron and Harry get together the summer before their fifth year--much to the surprise of no one--Ron has a little teaching to do.

Harry has strong morals; he is guided by his sense of right and wrong, we know this. but these feelings of righteousness and the need to fix things that are wrong are powerful feelings, easily overruling anything else.

Harry hasn’t had time to think about his softer feelings: liking someone, navigating how to handle yourself when you find out you have feelings for them, especially when you’re around them.

so naturally when Harry starts to wonder if how he feels about his best friend is normal for most best friends, he immediately shut it down.

Voldemort is back for Christ’s sake, he doesn’t have time to think about having a crush.

but when Harry rescues from the lake in the second task Ron has a moment of contemplation. he was the person Harry would miss the most?

at first Ron couldn’t believe it, but when he thought about it a little more, it actually made sense. Harry was his best friend, and he didn’t have a family like Ron did to have the strong emotional attachment to.

but then Ron thinks about it more and puts himself in Harry’s shoes. who would he miss the most? there was his family, of course, but in these past years Harry had definitely moved up in Ron’s chain of importance. and why was that?

Ron took a couple weeks to contemplate just what his feelings towards Harry were. He knew he loved him, but Harry was his friend, so that was it, right? He knew he missed Harry when he wasn’t around him, and he’d probably follow Harry just about anywhere. He knew he trusted Harry with his life.

But all of this didn’t feel like it really encompassed everything Ron felt for Harry. There was this feeling, this warmth that spread in his chest that didn’t quite match up with what he would expect to feel for his best friend.

He was ardently protective of Harry, too. But again, it was different than the protection he felt for his siblings or Hermione.

Now, Ron figured out he was bisexual when he was 13 and realized that he was the only boy he knew who fawned over Victor Krum in the way that he did.

So Ron took that information, and took the feelings he got when he thought of Harry and realized there was a pretty good chance he was harboring feelings for his best friend.

He took a few days to watch Harry, to see how he should go about telling him, and wondered if maybe Harry felt the same way.

Since the second task Harry had gone a bit more quiet, his interactions with Ron a bit shorter and he avoided eye contact. Ron wanted to do something about it but he wasn’t sure what.

He may have known how to handle his emotions, but acting on them, that was an entirely different story.

#harry potter #ron weasley #hogwarts #hermione granger #hon #harry x ron #harry/ron #golden trio #Harry #Ron #maybe a part 2 at some point?#idk yet but if anybody happens to see this and does want a part 2 lemme know #rarry

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roozilwalib · 4 years

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hi more hp writing that I forgot to reblog to this account :)

Sirius opened his eyes. The world around him was a soft white. Immediately, he whipped out his wand, spinning around, ready for a fight.

“Harry? Harry!” Where was he? He needed to protect him; those kids couldn’t win this fight on their own.

“Harry!” He knew he wasn’t at the ministry. This room didn’t exactly look like the room he was previously in, but he had to find Harry. He had to save him.

His hands went to his hair to tug on the locks but he pulled away at the feel of his hair. It was long and soft, like it was back when he was at Hogwarts. He looked at his hands and they’re much younger, fewer lines. Where the hell was he?

Stumbling back, he tries to keep his breathing down. Did he die? No, he couldn’t have. Bellatrix only hit him with a stunning spell, but…but then. He fell. He fell through…the veil.

“No! No, no, no.” He paced. How could this happen? How could he fail? Twice.

“Padfoot,” a voice from behind. Sirius stopped dead in his tracks. No. It couldn’t be. He wanted it to be, but that would mean he really was….

“Sirius.” No, not her. This couldn’t be real. Sirius slowly turned around and choked on a sob. There stood Lily and James, no older than 18, beautiful as ever. Sirius slowly made his way over to them. He couldn’t help himself: he jumped straight into James’ arms, laughing through the tears. James seemed to be doing the same. But then Sirius lost the laughter, and the tears continued.

“I’m so sorry, god, I’m so fucking sorry. I should’ve protected you. I should’ve saved him. I should’ve done so much more. I’m so sorry.” He kept repeating himself. God he was such a fuck-up. But James squeezed him tightly to stop his apologies.

“Don’t you dare. We made the decision to switch. And you did so damn much for Harry. He loved you so much.” Loved. So it really was real. He’d really died.

Sirius nodded and pulled back, taking James’ head into his hands. James recriprocated with a hand to the back of Sirius’ head, bringing their foreheads together.

“It’s been a while, Pads.”

“Too long, Prongs.” Lily cleared her throat behind James.

“No hello for your other best friend?” Sirius couldn’t help but grin as he lifted his head to look at the ethereal redhead. He let go of James to lift her into his arms and spin her around. She giggled in his ear and Sirius almost passed out at the familiarity. He couldn’t believe all of this was real. He finally had them back. Lily and James.

“We’ve missed you, Siri.” Sirius smiled at the nickname reserved only for Lily.

“I’ve missed you too, Lils.” He set her down. They all took a moment to look at each other. Sirius spoke up first.

“So. What is this? Heaven?” James shrugged.

“It’s in between, I think. We meet you here, take you to the final place.” Sirius nodded.

“Guys. I—I know that you entrusted me with Harry. I know that I was supposed to raise him, and god I wanted to. I didn’t want to dis—“

“Pads, there was nothing you could’ve done. You were framed, put in Azkaban—“

“Yeah, but I could’ve escaped! I did! But twelve years too late! He was stuck with—with those people who treated him—“

“We know, Sirius.” Lily put a hand on his arm to stop him. “But we don’t blame you, and you shouldn’t blame yourself. Dumbledore made some decisions that we can have words with him about later.” Lily took a breath and James set a hand on her shoulder.

“We’re a little frustrated with the old man.” James cracked a crooked grin. Sirius could’ve cried at how much he’d missed that grin.

“But that’s not the point. The point is we’ve got our Pads back.” James’ grin widened and Sirius couldn’t help but grin back as he brought the two of them into another hug. When they let go, he couldn’t help but ask.

“What about Harry?” Lily and James both drooped slightly at the question. James pulled Lily into his side as she spoke.

“Our Harry is going to have to follow the path laid out before him. It’s going to be long and hard, but we knew he’ll succeed.”

“He’s so much like you. The both of you.” Sirius told them. James and Lily smiled sadly with tears in their eyes.

“We’re so glad he got to know you, even if it wasn’t the way we would have originally had you two get to know each other.” Sirius nodded.

“He’ll be okay.” James nodded. “Nothing can beat our Harry.”

James took Sirius by the shoulder and brought him into his other side as the three of them started walking. Where to, Sirius didn’t know, but with James by his side he’d go anywhere.

#harry potter #james potter #lily evans #lily evans potter #sirius black

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