PART I JAMES
His parent's funerals are held two days after Remus gets back. People fill the Potter's home, they line up down the street. They bring flowers and food and alcohol. They bring pictures. Of his mother as a little girl. Of his father after selling his first potion. Of the pair of them dancing at their wedding and smiling at the camera.
Lily stands on one side of him and Sirius on the other. Remus is there. Peter. Mary, Marlene, Dorcas, Alice, Frank. They build walls around him. They stand guard. Never leaving his side. It's an endless and brutal day. Maybe he's supposed to take comfort in it. In how many people loved his parents. How many lives they touched. Maybe he's supposed to think that they're in a better place. That he'll see them again. But he doesn't. He spends the whole day feeling their absence like stones in his chest. He spends the night trying to figure out how he's ever going to fill the gigantic hole they've left behind.
Naively, James thinks that burying both his parents will be the worst part of his week.
It is not.
"We should do our best to capture as many of them as we can," Frank is saying as he pulls on his flying gloves. "Information is what we need right now." His voice is steady, he doesn't sound nervous, or like he's barking orders, merely advising.
"But surely we don't need all of them for information," Sirius is twirling his broom lazily in his right hand like a baton. It's hard to see him through the night, what with his black leather jacket, jeans and boots. His hair is pulled back in a bun so at least his face is clear.
"No," Frank admits reluctantly, "we don't need all of them."
Sirius grins, teeth catching in the moonlight. "Well then, lets go kill some motherfuckers."
Frank's mouth forms a thin line. "Careful Sirius," he says, after pausing for a minute. "You're starting to sound just like them."
"Good thing I'm on your side then, isn't it Frankie boy?" he winks, throwing a leg over his broom and pushing off the ground.
Frank watches him go before turning his unimpressed look on James who rolls his eyes. "He's showboating," James takes his own broom in hand. "It's just to hide how nervous he is."
Frank doesn't look convinced. "Is he going to be a liability out there?"
That irks James. "Has he ever been a liability in the sky?"
"Do you really want me to answer that?"
"Yes," James's stare meets Frank's and doesn't waver. "He may not have always listened to what you said, but he never once made a choice that didn't end up getting us the goal."
He can see Frank clench his teeth, knows he's unhappy that he can't come up with an example to prove James wrong. They might have fucked around but neither James nor Sirius ever took winning lightly.
"This isn't Quidditch," Frank says finally.
"And Sirius isn't a liability," James matches his tone.
"What're you boys talking about?" Alice calls out as her, Mary and Marlene start making their way over.
James holds Frank's gaze for another beat before tearing his eyes away. "Nothing. Time to go. You guys ready?"
"Where's Sirius?" Mary asks as the other two nod.
James gestures upwards. "Already flying," he mounts his broom. "Stay in formation yeah? Don't break, at least not until the fighting starts. We wanna have prisoners at the end of this not bodies," he shoots Frank a look and the other boy dips his head in thanks. "They're no use to us if they're all dead."
