[ The first indication for James that something is wrong is picked up from the way Sirius bristles under his arm. James shoots him a questioning glance, then adjusts his stance to smoothly support his own weight as Sirius ducks away.
Something in him instinctively braces when he takes in the wordless ferocity in his friend's expression.
Well... Almost wordless. That look conveys a lot more than James wants to see.
He opens his mouth to protest against the possibility that he could ever forget anything related to Sirius. Even with time all mucked up -- he feels like he should intuitively know about anything they've ever done together. But then the blunt delivery of what his future holds fills his veins with ice. ]
"Peter would never-- there's a mistake-- You--" [ James stops short before his protests can come close to implying that Sirius is lying.
Just as quickly as there was cold, now there's fire. It's a burning deep in his gut that sears away any fears regarding his fate and allows him to focus sharply on what he's been told. He automatically clenches his hands into fists as he processes a future he never imagined for himself.
Almost like a defense mechanism taking control, his thoughts flee from Peter's betrayal and circle back to focus on Voldemort. James has never made it a secret where he stands regarding the Dark Arts, but it seems mental to think at sixteen that Voldemort will come to personally off him.
His last chance to find a way out of accepting everything about what's happening lies with Remus. But he's doing that thing of his. The carefully neutral expression that James has come to define as everything is on fire, but if it doesn't show on my face we can pretend it's fine. Even when they all know it's not.
It's hard to keep up that last scrap of denial with both of his mates confirming every fact with their body language. Something in him prickles at how bollocks everything is. But, finally, he's got just one question. His expression is somewhat strained as he asks, like he's still unsure which emotion to go with at the news. Even now he doesn't want to believe it. ]
"Why?"
[ Peter is... was... is? One of his best mates. A Gryffindor. ]
"I'd die before I gave him up."
[ And there's the affront that at last solidifies into a statement. It's fact. Even if the situation has never come up for him before, James knows he wouldn't hesitate to die to save someone. ]
no subject
Something in him instinctively braces when he takes in the wordless ferocity in his friend's expression.
Well... Almost wordless. That look conveys a lot more than James wants to see.
He opens his mouth to protest against the possibility that he could ever forget anything related to Sirius. Even with time all mucked up -- he feels like he should intuitively know about anything they've ever done together. But then the blunt delivery of what his future holds fills his veins with ice. ]
"Peter would never-- there's a mistake-- You--" [ James stops short before his protests can come close to implying that Sirius is lying.
Just as quickly as there was cold, now there's fire. It's a burning deep in his gut that sears away any fears regarding his fate and allows him to focus sharply on what he's been told. He automatically clenches his hands into fists as he processes a future he never imagined for himself.
Almost like a defense mechanism taking control, his thoughts flee from Peter's betrayal and circle back to focus on Voldemort. James has never made it a secret where he stands regarding the Dark Arts, but it seems mental to think at sixteen that Voldemort will come to personally off him.
His last chance to find a way out of accepting everything about what's happening lies with Remus. But he's doing that thing of his. The carefully neutral expression that James has come to define as everything is on fire, but if it doesn't show on my face we can pretend it's fine. Even when they all know it's not.
It's hard to keep up that last scrap of denial with both of his mates confirming every fact with their body language. Something in him prickles at how bollocks everything is. But, finally, he's got just one question. His expression is somewhat strained as he asks, like he's still unsure which emotion to go with at the news. Even now he doesn't want to believe it. ]
"Why?"
[ Peter is... was... is? One of his best mates. A Gryffindor. ]
"I'd die before I gave him up."
[ And there's the affront that at last solidifies into a statement. It's fact. Even if the situation has never come up for him before, James knows he wouldn't hesitate to die to save someone. ]