The Marauders: Year Six #Wattys2017

Not Entirely Sure Yet

Not Entirely Sure Yet

It took a good deal of coaxing before James had gotten Sirius to his room and into bed. Sirius had cried and asked for Moony and insisted the ceiling was crawling ("It's like it's coated with little white ants, James, can't you see all of the little white ants? What's wrong with your eyes? They're going to get us! Please - kill the ants, James!"). James sat on the carpet beside the bed with his head resting on his arms, which were crossed over his knees, and fell asleep, afraid to leave Sirius alone.

James's dreams that night were weird, to say the least. He was certain there was some meaning to them, but he couldn't piece together what...

In one dream, he was six years old and he was lost in Diagon Alley, running about, searching for Charlus and crying. And there was Sirius Black, just as he was now, sixteen and lean without his shirt on, and smoking a cigarette and little ickle James ran up to him. "Mr. Sirius!" he cried out, running up to him, grabbing Sirius Black's hand, "Mr. Sirius, please help me find my da!"

And Sirius Black had lowered the cigarette and blew smoke out his nostrils like a dragon and he'd said, "You're a bastard, you know." And this had made little James cry and cry and --

Guessing it was another dream, James had grown from a crying six year old to an age unknown and he was running - running, running, running - and the floor was moving like a conveyor belt and he could see a spot where the floor was still, where Sirius Black stood, smoking again, and James was holding his arms out, "Mate, mate help me!" and Sirius ignored him. "Mate! Please! Sirius, please!"

And Sirius Black looked up and he said, "I fucking warned you, I warned you the floor was moving and you didn't listen to me, so that's what you get. Just keep on running for the rest of your life!" And this had made James cry and cry and --

Yet another new dream. This time, James was alone in a room with pristine tiled floors and a tall glass case filled with shiny golden trinkets and he turned and there was a desk behind him and on the desk stood a glass bell jar. The jar had to be at least five feet tall, maybe taller, even, and inside of it was a glittering, shimmering sort of presence - like a wind. At the bottom of the jar was an egg. James lowered himself, looking into the jar at the egg and he was just about to reach for the glass of the jar, to push it off, to inspect the egg, when a great crack went down the side of it, splitting it open and from inside of the egg there emerged a tiny bird - a hummingbird with great green wings the colour of Lily Evans's eyes and James blinked in surprise at the bird, watching it's fluttering wings as it rose up to the top of the jar, flying on the gold shimmery wind. And it was mesmerizing at first, hypnotic and beautiful... until the bird reached the top and suddenly it was quite old and bedraggled looking, as though it had been through a great many days and years and lived a full life and suddenly it... it died and fell back to the floor of the jar, spinning as it went, landing in it's egg and -- and the egg closed about it and James stared, horrified... until the egg cracked once more and the bird was born again and James said, "It's like a phoenix, except... except smaller."

"Yes, James, precisely." The voice had come from behind him and when James turned around in his dream, he'd seen the speaker -- an old man, with many wrinkles and lines in his face, clutching a cane with a shaking hand. Mopsus. And in Mopsus's hands there was a golden trinket - a trinket James now recognized as a time turner. He stared at the dials. "Nobody warned you of the price you pay, then? For travelling through time? Or the fee to saved your loved ones?"

"No," James stammered. "How much is it? I'll pay anything..." and he thought of the piles and mountains of gold in the Potter vault at Gringott's.