Take My Seconds
It was after nine o'clock in the evening when Sirius came upstairs to the chairs were Lily and James were asleep again and he knelt down before Lily and nudged her gently so that he woke her up without waking James. She blinked down at him in confusion for a moment then, "Sirius? Blimey. What time is it?"
"Late," Sirius murmured. "You'll be wantin' to go home so your mum doesn't worry 'bout you, I reckon?"
"Yeah. Oh goodness. I can't believe I've slept all day here..." she looked down at James's peacefully sleeping face and frowned, "I hate to disturb him..."
"That's what I'm here for," Sirius answered and he carefully lifted James's head up from her lap where it had fallen and motioned for her to scoot out across the seat. Once she was out, Sirius expertly slid himself in, resting James's head back against his knees. He smirked, "Tada," he murmured, quite pleased with himself.
Lily smiled and reached down to brush a bit of hair off his head. "He'll be okay?"
"I'll see to it, Evans," Sirius answered solemnly.
James was still hugging on the balled up jumper Lily had brought him - the only thing he really had left in the world, she thought sadly. She looked at Sirius, "I feel awful."
"I do too," Sirius agreed. Then, "Moony had a brilliant idea, though. We spent the day at the Lupin house and cleaned it all up nice so the Potters have a place to go when it's time for Mr. P to get out of here. Remus's said they can stay there s'long as they have need of it."
Lily's eyes softened, "He's so sweet."
"That's my Moonykins for you," Sirius replied dotingly. "I fucking love that wanker."
Lily shook her head, "You're filthy."
"And that's the way -- uh huh uh huh -- I like it," sang Sirius, "Uh huh uh huh..."
Lily laughed, "No no no! I'm going to have that bloody song playing about in my head all night now!"
Sirius smirked. "Glad to be of service."
"I'm so getting you back for that."
"Uh huh uh huh I like it, uh huh uh huh... That's the way --" Sirius sang, just to be an arsehole, his face aglow with the mischief of it.
"I hate you, Sirius Black," Lily said lovingly.
Sirius grinned. "Get out of here before your mum gets pissed, darling."
"Thanks Sirius," she said and she looked at James and sighed, wishing there was more she could do than what she'd already done. "I'll see you."
Sirius saluted her with his free hand - the other holding onto James's shoulder so he wouldn't roll off the benches somehow - and watched as Lily Evans walked off down the hallway. She paused before she took the corner and Sirius waved at her again and she waved back, swallowed, eyes lingering on James Potter, then disappeared.
Sirius shook his head, "Fuck me with a lighted Filibuster if she isn't coming 'round to you after all, Prongs... And all this time we thought you were rubbish at Divination!"
Later, when James woke up, it was nearly midnight and he was stiff from having slept so long on his side across plastic chairs in the corridor. He sat up, waking Sirius, and looked around. "Where's Evans?" he asked, confused.
"She went home," Sirius murmured, wiping his hand across his face.
James hugged the jumper closer to his chest. He never thought he'd be so jealous of someone being able to go home in all of his life. He stared at his trainers over the tiles of the floor.
Sirius said, "I'm sorry, James."
He nodded. "I know you are. I'm sorry I shouted. It was your home, too."
"My home's wherever you are, mate." Sirius said, "If there's one thing I've learned in the last five years, Potter, it's that home isn't any one specific place, it's a moving, changing thing that is wherever the people you love are."
James nodded slowly, although it made him ache because it was sort of a place, too. It was when you'd lived there all of your life and everything was so uncertain with the people you loved and all you wanted was to curl up in a familiar smelling blanket and smush your face into a familiar smelling pillow and hide. He had felt so safe there, under the Fidelus Charm's reach... and safe was something James needed right now.
Sirius said, "Remus has offered you lot his house 'til you can get a new one, however long it takes. We spent the whole day there cleaning it up today so it's ready for you, whenever you want to go take a shower or eat or anything."
A lump rose up in James's throat. "Really?"
"Yes," Sirius nodded. "I mean, it's not exactly the same as going to your own house, but it's a house, and it's better than nothing."
"That's possibly the nicest thing anyone's ever done in the entire history of the planet, really," James said.
And he told Remus so later, after he'd checked on Dora and Charlus to make sure everything was okay with them, and Sirius brought James down to the waiting room where Remus and Ned Veigler were still. James was touched to find them waiting there just for him, and he gave them both really big hugs, though Remus got the tightest squeeze of the lot. "You have no idea how much this means to me," James said.
"After all you've done for me?" Remus asked, shaking his head, "I'm just glad I can help."
They took the Floo to the Lupin house from St. Mungo's and brought James up to the guest bedroom they'd set up all nice for him. Ned bade them all goodnight and fell asleep himself on the couch, guarding the floo. Remus and Sirius sat with James, talking and trying to distract him late into the wee hours of the morning, when James finally fell asleep.
But without Lily there, somehow protecting him in his sleep, James found the nightmares came and he tossed and turned with images of smoldering wallpaper and curling family photos beneath green flames...
Smoke, loads and loads of smoke... rising up from the house and the dream of the smoke changed from the memories of the house to a dream of his father coughing - of the smoke rising up out of his mouth - and dream James grappled at holding his father's shoulders, at rubbing his back to knock the coughs out of him, of the scent of sulfur in the air...
"Help me, James," Charlus said, thick and desperate. "Help me!"
Even as James watched, new scales grew across his father's face - fast, taking over, stealing him away...
"DAD!" James cried, "DAD!... No... Mopsus! MOPSUS?" And he spun about in the dream, and he ran for the door of the hospital room and yanked it open to find that outside the room was the night sky and he ran out beneath it, looking about for the one star that had paid attention to him before, "MOPSUS!" he begged, "MOPSUS, TAKE MY SECONDS, TAKE MY PRECIOUS SECONDS!! I NEED MY DAD MORE THAN I NEED MY SECONDS!"
And the star turned again and this time he could see the old man clearly, could see his eyes as they gleamed with delight, see his furled old hand tight around that old cane, that cane that was like the roots of a tree had wrapped themselves tightly 'round one another... and Mopsus said, "It's about time you came to me, boy. I was starting to wonder if you would be too proud to ask for my help."
"Help me, help me Mopsus, help me."
"Your father will be well, James. Your father will be well... and your precious seconds taken." Mopsus smiled.
"Swear that he will be okay, Mopsus, swear it on the most important thing you've ever seen," James begged.
And Mopsus replied, "I swear it, James Potter. I swear it on the Chosen One."
James woke up in a pool of sweat.
The door burst open and Sirius came running in, wearing nothing but his shorts, and he stared wildly at James - he was followed by Remus, who was tugging on a shirt over his head. Sirius ran to James's side, transforming into Snuffles even as he ran, leaping onto the bed with all four shaggy feet. "We heard you shouting!" Remus explained, coming over and kneeling beside the bed as James sat up, shaking, and Snuffles wrapped himself around James protectively, looking around the dark corners of the room with piercing eyes. "Are you alright?"
James said, "Bloody horrible dream is all. It was only a dream." Part of him was upset it was. Part of him felt as though Kostos Mopsus was perhaps the only person in all of time that really could help Charlus Potter.
And really, what was a few seconds of time?
Nothing important could happen in a few seconds.