"We're friends. We're the Marauders. We stick together, remember?"
"Yes, Moony. I remember."
One of them was mischievous and brave and had the perfect life.
Another of them was reckless and loyal and desperate to leave behind his family name.
The th...
On her 20th birthday, Lily sank down on a chair and sighed. James and Harry were upstairs preparing her gift, and had forbidden her to go up. Though Harry had brought a lot of joy in their lives, it had its compensation. More than a year had passed since she entered the hiding, and she missed fighting with the Order.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
James had turned restless and listless. He tried to hide it, but Lily could sense his frustration at having to stand back when others were risking their lives for the Order.
Feeling rather miserable, Lily took out a sheet of paper and a quill, and sat down to write a letter to the one person who could always cheer her up in her black moods-the one whom she hadn't considered even a close friend few months back, but now considered family.
"Dear Padfoot,
Thank you, thank you, for Harry's Christmas present! It was his favourite by far. Not even one year old and already zooming along on a toy broomstick, he looked so pleased with himself. I'm enclosing a picture so you can see. You know it only rises two feet off the ground, but he nearly killed the cat and he smashed a horrible vase Petunia sent me for Christmas (no complaints there). Of course, James thought it was so funny, says he's going to be a great Quidditch player, but we've had to pack away all the ornaments and make sure we don't take our eyes off him when he gets going.
We had a very quiet Christmas tea, just us and old Bathilda, who has always been so sweet to us and who dotes on Harry. We were sorry you couldn't come, but Order's got to come first. James is getting a bit frustrated shut up here, he tries not to show it, but I can tell-also, Dumbledore's still got his Invisibility Cloak, so no chance of little excursions. If you could visit, it would cheer him up so much. Wormy was here last weekend. I thought he looked down, but that was probably the news about the McKinnons. I cried all evening when I heard.
Bathilda drops in most days; she's a fascinating old thing with the most amazing stories about Dumbledore. I'm not sure he'd be pleased if he knew! I don't know how much to believe, actually, because it seems incredible that Dumbledore could have ever been friends with Gellert Grindelwald. I think her mind's going, personally!
Lots of love,
Lily."
Lily sent the letter through James' owl Melly. Sirius' reply arrived in the evening while she was opening the gifts her husband and son had given her. A large box arrived with letter. She opened it and saw a pretty peach-colored vase.
The letter said:
"Hey, Lily, happy birthday! Look, I gave you a vase to replace the one my godson broke, but be sure to keep it out of his way. 'Course he'll be a great Quidditch player, just like his dad.
From your letter, I gathered that you are down in the dumps. I know exactly the thing that'll cheer you up.
Let's plan a secret birthday party for James, shall we? Let me know if you agree.
