Just thought of 14 year old Sirius and Regulus going to a DADA class and studying about unforgivable curses and suddenly there is a waterfall in my eyes.
Lyall Lupin loves his son. He loves that he has his chin and his mother's hair. He loves that he is compassionate and smart. He loves Remus. He just can't look in his eyes; the golden-green of his eyes made Lyall angry. He looked at his son and saw the monster looking back, and he supposed that was Greyback's intention. Lyall Lupin loved his son but he hated what he had become.
No. That wasn't true. It was..it was fine. But as Regulus exited the thestral-drawn carriage and approached the castle, it hit him over and over that James wasn't there.
"It's one year, baby," James had reassured him before he left, both of them clinging to each other. "I'll be waiting for you the entire time. Kick arse on your NEWTs and come back to me, yeah?"
But as confident as Regulus tried to be in his and James's relationship, every corner of the castle seemed to remind him of his boyfriend- seemed to evoke a feeling of unease and longing. He missed James. And how was he supposed to go so long without him?
The feast passed sluggishly, but he waited until he got to his dorm- now labelled Seventh Years before he opened the present he promised James he would wait to unwrap. He wasn't sure what would make him feel better, but he did it anyways, eager for even a small token of love.
So he was a bit let down and shocked to see a mirror in the wrapping. "What the-?" he stared to ask, before he realized it wasn't his reflection in the glass, but James's. "Jamie?" he asked, emotion flooding through him at once.
"You didn't think I'd wait a whole four months to see your beautiful face, love?" James grinned back at him through the mirror, his entire face alight. "I begged Sirius to let you borrow this for the year. He agreed as long as we didn't use it for anything unsavory."
Choking with laughter on unshed tears, Regulus murmured, "What Sirius doesn't know won't hurt him."
Before the betrayal dynamics shifting, I feel like it for really bad and you’re the angst queen so
It’s over a month later, time for me to finally answer this 😋😋😋😋😋😋
TW for…. Everything 😭😭
K so let’s start simple.
James and Lily are married at this point, probably pregnant too. As such, James becomes much more invested in her and the baby’s safety, unintentionally neglecting his friends.
Remus can excuse this, probably helping Lily through the pregnancy. The wolfsbande potion was invented somewhere between 1973-1990, but for angst purposes we’ll say he didn’t have access to it yet and thus the pandemonium of life meant he had to stay dealing with full moons on his own again
Sirius is always angry, constantly getting letters from his family either demanding he join them or harassing him for being a traitor.hes upset bc James isn’t paying any attention to him anymore, and even if he’s trying to stay calm and help his friends when he can, he’s strained. Everything’s so tense nowadays.
Pete….. Pete’s getting worse. He’s trying to be there for James, Remus, Sirius, and Lily, but things just aren’t going well. It feels like, no matter how much he puts into other people, they never give back. He’s starting to get tired.
All around, they’re starting to get disillusioned with this. With Dumbledore. With life. They just want peace. They want to go home and feel safe I. Their homes, not like someone could kill them at a second’s notice.
"En esta casa no existen fantasmas, son puros recuerdos."
Hi loves! I bring you a special for Día de muertos, I hope you like it and I hope you had a beautiful Día de muertos with your loved ones.
(I'm sorry if something here is "wrong" I did it based on my own beliefs and how this is celebrated in my city)
Sirius was not someone attached to traditions, in fact, he was quite the opposite, but this could easily change by his best friend, James.
“What's this?” Sirius asked with a frown as he entered the room, the desk where James usually placed his Quidditch books was now decorated with a strange colored paper and food was spread out on it.
“It's called Altar de muertos, it's a Mexican tradition" James explained calmly, arranging a few things on the altar, Sirius said nothing, silently watching James' every move.
Sirius had to admit that he was a little curious, he had never seen anything like this, if his poor Spanish didn't fail him, “Muertos” meant dead, which increased his curiosity.
Sirius didn't have to say anything, because James seemed to notice his confusion and curiosity.
“It's an altar where we leave ofrendas for those people who are no longer here, it's done every november to remember our loved ones who passed away” James explained in a soft voice, the brunet tried to summarize it in the simplest way for Sirius, it was a very old tradition and he knew that maybe Sirius wouldn't understand it at all, he even thought that maybe he would find it weird or scary, like many others.
But sirius didn't look scared or confused, his face was calm and even interested in the altar, his gaze roamed over every part of it, from the shredded paper to the food and candles.
“It's…interesting” Sirius said quietly, but there was nothing malicious in his voice, he seemed genuinely interested. “What's the food and water for?” Sirius asked, looking at the different dishes James had set out.
James hesitated for a moment to answer, he would love to talk for hours about what each thing meant, he had no one else at hogwarts to tell, but he didn't want to bother sirius, so he tried not to ramble too much.
“It's for the one who passed away, it's believed that they come to visit us every second of November, so we put food and water out for them to eat after the journey.” James explained without looking at Sirius, definitely to someone outside of Mexican culture it would sound weird or even confusing.
Sirius nodded slightly, processing the information.
“And the candles? What are they for?” Sirius asked, his curiosity only seemed to grow.
James couldn't help but feel a warmth in his chest, it had been a long time since he had spoken to anyone about his culture.
“They are to guide the path of the deceased, it helps them find their way here.” James explained, lighting one of the candles and placing it on the altar.
Sirius felt his chest tighten as he saw James take the picture next to his bedside table and place it on the altar, it was James' parents, Fleamont and Euphemia, the ones who had welcomed him into their home and who had passed away just a year ago.
Sirius didn't understand how James had the strength to do this alone, to place the picture of his parents and still keep standing.
“Can I help you?” asked Sirius quietly, his voice sounding so sweet. “I don't fully understand but I want to help you, this is…lovely.”
James could have sworn tears flooded his eyes, he had been waiting for Sirius to ask him, never in a million years did he think he would have to have his parents placed at the altar, so having Sirius to help him was really something meaningful.
James was quick to nod, giving Sirius a small smile and trying to hold back his tears.
They both spent the rest of the afternoon making the altar, not leaving the room for a moment, James took care of explaining every detail to Sirius, explaining the meaning of everything, the flowers, the calaveritas, the fruit, everything.
Sirius listened attentively to everything, helping James to cut out the papel picado and placing it on the altar, he also helped to prepare James' parents' favorite food, Sirius felt it was the least he could do after they welcomed him into their home.
When they were finished they both remained silent for a few moments, sitting in front of the altar and looking at it, the picture of Fleamont and Euphemia in the center of the altar.
Sirius couldn't help but notice the tears forming in James' eyes as he looked at the picture of his parents, Sirius didn't say anything, just put his arm around James' shoulders and pulled him close, letting him cry on his shoulder.
Sirius also let out a few tears, thinking of that couple who took him in during his darkest moments, the ones who gave him a home.
The altar was beautiful, Sirius had never seen anything like it, it was colorful and full of meaning, a way to remember and keep present those people who were gone.
Sirius promised himself to remember that day, he memorized every detail, promising James that he would help him do it every year, he promised him that he would never have to do it alone, that he would be there for him, to keep the tradition alive.
But Sirius never thought he would have to be the one to make that altar alone, Sirius never thought he would have to put his best friend's picture on that altar, nor Lily's picture,
Sirius never thought that one day he would be setting up his own altar, having to remember every detail that James had told him, preparing Lily and James' favorite food, placing flowers and candles as James had taught him.
It was the second of November, there was an altar in the house, full of food, flowers and candles, full of color and life, and in the center was a picture of James Potter and Lily Evans, Sirius was standing in front of the altar, wishing he had done it right, hoping that James could find his way home and could visit him one last time.
I hope you liked this special, I'm sorry for the grammar mistakes!! It hurt me to write it but I loved it, I hope you do too, xoxo.
