he’s leaving home - a one shot 𐂂

a special thanks to lizzle for the tpl

𝙷𝙴𝚂 𝙻𝙴𝙰𝚅𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙷𝙾𝙼𝙴 by Ana

─────

.˚ ᵎ┊͙

⋆* 🦌 :wolf: :dog2: :rat:

❝ it matters not who you love, where you love, why you love, when you love or how you love, it matters only that you love. ❞ ~ john lennon

this blog is dedicated to my many sirius’

over the years. I can’t thank you enough x

࿐

hello hpa. I come to you with a

small one shot I wrote in the spur

of the moment. It is inspired by

graduating and leaving behind

a life of innocence and fun.

I haven’t seen many about this topic

based on James particularly so I thought

I’d try my hand at it. Thank you for the

love on my blogs recently. you’re all amazing !

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:**:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

➪ 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚗 - 𝟸 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜

➪ 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝 - 𝟷,𝟷𝟾𝟼

➪ 𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛 - 𝚊𝚗𝚊 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚒𝚝 𝚡

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:**:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Warmth filled the small tower room. James Potter stood with a pile of clothes and odd pieces of the last seven years above the trunk that sat on his scarlet sheets of the bed that would soon belong to another boy. He imagined a new set of eleven year olds, running in from the sorting ceremony and greeting each other with the promise of great memories ahead. James hated the thought of somebody else being in the same bed he’d cried, laughed and loved in. He supposed this was how it always went. It was a cycle. Time to go out into the real world, a far cry from the safe comforting walls of the castle and Gryffindor tower. Thump. The clothes hit the bottom of his trunk as he packed the last bits of his Hogwarts life away. He’d gotten used to the packing up and leaving but this time, he wouldn’t be returning. He didn’t think he would be this affected by it all. He’d always mouthed off to the other boys that he was ready to go and get out, go into the real world where he could actually make a difference. Now that he was peeling off the tacky photos stuck to the ancient bed frame, did he think he would like to stay, even for another year or a week. Time was something every man and woman sought after because whoever had created the concept had not given enough of it. James looked up to the plain dark ceiling, as if it were the sky and let out a sigh, trying to pull himself together so he could his friends downstairs.

The other three beds were all tidied away and evidence of they ever having been lived in had disappeared almost completely. Apart from a leather jacket, hung up that Sirius had forgotten- perhaps on purpose, James thought, so he’d have an excuse to come back one last time. His hazel eyes found the Gryffindor flag by his bed and he gripped it, taking it off gently and folding the bunting that had hung for almost 5 years, into the trunk that basically held his teenage melodrama in its contents. Most of his area had been done but now he had to face the box of miscellanies and curiousities that hid away in his first draw. He was leaving that until last as it was the hardest to face. He’d not seen things in that draw for years. Who knows what he could be confronted with.

First, laying across the top was an old dusty copy of Band on the Run by Wings- oh how he adored every bit of it last year. A flashy muggle record store in London town, just opened and musical heaven for young Sirius, James, Peter and Remus. He ed buying that exact one and as the pads of his fingers brushed over it, he felt the beats pulse through him like it did when he first heard the title track. He and Sirius had probably listened to it hundreds of times in his bedroom that summer on the muggle player Sirius had bought himself. The summer of 75 was one he’d never forget, for lots of reasons.

Into the trunk.

Next, several photos of the four of them throughout the years. He picked one up of Sirius stood, spread out by the lake and clearly enjoying himself and the one just under was Remus and Sirius holding up their first forbidden firewhisky, sat on the oak floor of the very dorm room he was stood in. There were a few others, of Lily and himself, filling James with a sense of warmth no other person could make but she.

“Told you it would all work out didn’t I?” A voice behind him, hands on his shoulders, a chuckle erupting from his throat.

“Ah the power of hindsight- wish I could have told that thirteen year old that everything would go exactly the way he wanted.” James turned to Sirius with a smile and showed him what he’d discovered and they talked for a moment, recalling and recreating each event.

“Your jacket’s on the hook, lad.” James broke the bike ride down memory lane when he turned and pointed at the jacket. Sirius nodded casually, as if it had been his plan all along.

“Right- can’t be forgetting that. I think I’d actually cry.”

The Potter smirked and pushed him forward playfully as he retrieved the coat and put it on.

Suddenly there was an even more overwhelming sense of melancoly and it hit him in that moment, looking at Sirius in that jacket and images of past tragedy, eliation and chaos filled his head. It was sad to go, but the legacy they’d left behind was what really mattered. With every mud splatter from his quidditch boots and every fire whisky stain, half a life lived in the walls of the dorm.

They talked and joked some more, for perhaps the last time on those creaky floorboards and tucked the rest of the memories into James’ trunk and when it was all said and done, the boys stood by the window for one last time.

Neither one said anything for a while, comfortable in each other’s presence.

“So that’s it.” Said Sirius finally as he leaned a head on James’s shoulder.

“That’s it. I think, we did alright didn’t we, pads? not a castle wall in Hogwarts won’t know of us. What we did. I hope, McGoogs still thinks of us when she sees a kid messing about in her class.” James spoke and let out the breath he was holding.

“The marauders are part of Hogwarts history- our kids will be famous.” Sirius laughed and thought for a moment.

“Siri”

“Jamie?”

“Heres to today, yesterday and the first day we set foot here. And the next year.. “ James paused for a moment and Sirius shushed him for a moment before speaking.

“Promise me something mate- promise me you’ll always be here. That we’ll face whatever’s in that big bad world together.”

James looked into Sirius’ eyes and withou hesitation, he replied.

“Always. You’re never alone, never, just look around and you’ll see me. I am the trees, the blackbird that sits on the roof, I am the sky. But you have to promise me something too.”

“Yeah?”

“Think of me from time to time old friend-“

Leaving the tower with his friends and new-found family his heart felt warm and fuzzy. Innocence had come and gone, it was time to fight.

May 1998

Harry Potter took a last look at the dorm as he helped clear away the rubble of a long night indeed. He peered closely and moved a clump of dirt away from what looked like a break in the wood. Cautiously, he pulled it up with his dusty hands and found a photo, staying hidden for all these years. His father and his friends together and smiling, young and fiery. He held it close to him and he knew then. They had been there with him the whole time.

that’s all folks, thank you so much for reading along and coming on this journey with me. :sparkles:

𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚌𝚎𝚜 - 𝚙𝚒𝚌 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚐𝚎, 𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝, 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗, 𝚞𝚙𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚝