The Potter Twins and the Deathly Hallows {7}

24. The Seven Trials

"Meanest dog you'll ever meet, he ain't the hound dog in the street - he bares his teeth and tears your skin, but brother, that's the worst of him. The dog you really gotta dread is the one that dwells inside your head. It's him whose howling drives men mad, and a mind to its undoing" - Wait for Me II, Hadestown

JAMES III

Together, James Potter and Sirius Black dunked their heads into the ornate Pensieve, allowing the inviting golden substance to draw them in as they plummeted towards the bottom of the basin. All around them, silver whisps began turning transparent, like glass, and when they looked down towards the bottom of the basin, it disappeared, revealing the pale white abyss which so often haunted James' dreams. 

It was just as he remembered. Nothing. Neither Heaven nor Hell, simply an eternal nothingness which seemed to drain your very spirit away. And though it was only a memory, James felt his eyelids grow heavy, and his limbs began to ache dully: the sensation seemed to encapsulate him, and a wave of fatigue washed over him. He removed his glasses, and rubbed his eyes, which stung as if he had not slept in a millenia. 

"So this is what Purgatory looks like," Sirius said, his voice echoing in the simulation of the abyss. "Where do you suppose it all begins, Prongs?" 

Though James does not appear to have heard him; instead, a colossal yawn escapes his mouth.

"Bit tired, Prongs? You should have said so," Sirius laughed. 

James blinked a couple of times, seeming to be snapping out of a trance. "What?" 

Sirius stared at his friend for a moment: his eyes had grown suddenly bloodshot, and he could swear that purple marks were beginning to form beneath them. "Sloth," he then murmured, and once James grew attentive again, he continued his train of thought. "Herodotus said the first trial was Sloth, you must be remembering what it felt like to really be here."

He yawned again, and then shook his head erratically as to wake himself up. "Well," he said, putting his glasses back on, "let's get this over with, shall -- L-Lily?"

She had appeared in the abyss like an angel, her flaming red hair contrasting against the white like a symbol of hope. James sunk to his knees, a strangled sort of cry leaving his lips as he did so. Sirius placed a bracing hand on James' shoulder, his own heart being torn apart by the sight of Lily Potter after so many years. 

"Lily?" called another voice, foreign yet so very familiar to James and Sirius. The memory of James, one glasses lense cracked and still dressed in the clothes he died in, crossed the empty space to Lily, drawing her up in his arms. "I'm so sorry," he whispered frantically, cupping her face in his hands, "I couldn't stop him, he -- he --"

"I know," she said softly, shushing him. "It wasn't your fault."

They stood like this for a while, in a tragic silence, save for the occasional whisperings of Lily's reassurances. Sirius noticed that both of their eyes shone bright green, reminiscent of the spell that killed them. 

"I failed the Harry and Haylee," James whispered finally, squeezing his eyes shut as if to stop tears from dripping down his cheeks. 

"No, you didn't," Lily said quickly, and for the first time, there was true strength - true hope - in her voice. "We didn't!" She glanced around the abyss, staring straight through James and Sirius and across the way. "Harry and Haylee aren't here, which means they're safe, James. They're safe!"

James stared at his wife, a million thoughts running through his head. "Lily, they're babies --"

"Exactly, James, they need us!" Lily continued, unnaturally esatic. "We have to go!"