Chapter Text
November 1st, 198
8:03am
Emerald explodes along his vision quickly accompanied by the sound of what could have only been equated to a mighty raging typhoon.
Limbs jerk in all directions. Attempting to catch himself as if he were simply tossed from his broom and was currently hurtling towards the earth. Heart thundering and ears still deafened by the raging storm within them, he finds himself quite safely seated upon a rather plush mattress. A far cry from the horrifying end that it had felt as though he had been moments from succumbing to.
Trembling fingers snatch up well loved glasses from the nightstand, nearly taking out an eye as he jams them on his face. A fresh wave of panic setting in once it was clear he was not in grave peril.
Where is my family.
Spilling out of the bed, he barely feels the chill of the floor as he launches himself out of the bedroom. The noise alone would be enough to wake the dead as he tosses open doors and calls for his too absent wife and child. Where were they. Why are they not responding! Had it been more than a dream. Please whoever was out there don’t let it be the truth he would be forced to relive.
Vaguely he hears his name being called from somewhere in the too familiar house. But the voice is wrong. Too deep. Too male.
Sirius, he decides without much hesitation. He will surely know where his wife and son are. He will know they’re safe and alive. Hands shove his body from the doorframe, feet carrying him in the general direction the voice had come. Desperation fuelling his every move as if operating purely on autopilot.
Landing at the bottom of the stairs like a wild animal attempting to outrun a predator, his chest heaves. Hazel darting everywhere searching for a glimpse of bright red hair or the wobble of a toddler learning to walk still. James finds none of that. Only a ghost from the not so distant past.
“James?” Concern colours the ghost’s features. He didn’t have time to worry about this right now.
“Lily. Harry. Where are they?” He can hear himself speaking, but he feels as though he’s watching a film rather than living the moment. Confusion joins the fray along the ghost’s face, drawing in dark brows as it moves forward.
“I — what are you on about?”
“I have to find them!” Clearly the spectre was going to be of no help, drawing a spark of anger into the storm of anxiety and panic raging inside of him. Was this what Remus’ panic attacks felt like? How horrible. Leaving the apparition where it stood, he moves through the lower floor in his desperate attempt to find his family. They had to be here. Why couldn’t he find them?! He didn’t have the time or care to consider the footsteps that followed him as he tore through the ground floor, yelling for his wife at this point. Nor the fact that he finds himself outside. Or the way that the frost that blanketed the grass bit at his feet.
“James, get back inside. It’s freezing out.” The spectres voice calls to him. A distraction. It had to be.
Or had the whole thing been a ruse. Anger quickly took hold. Rounding on the phantom it was clear that this was all a trick.
“Where are they!” He shouts, too absorbed in his own thoughts to notice the way the being in the doorway flinches. “What did you do to them!” The lack of answers from the ghost before him was only serving to upset him more. And the way that it backed away only served to prove his own point that this was a trick. “Where are my wife and son.” It leaves him in a growl that he barely recognizes. Instincts kick in to protect himself he seizes the wand that had been so carelessly left on the counter. Aiming at the spectre without hesitation.
“J—James what are you doing…”
“You died. Two years ago. What ever sort of trick this is it wont work. You should have picked someone who wasn’t a dead man.”
“Trick? James, this isn’t some kind of trick. You need to calm down and put the wand away…”
“So you can have the upper hand? I’m not an idiot. Who are you and what have you done with my wife and son?”
“James you’re not married!”
An absolute hysterical laugh leaves him. Trembling hands grip the wand harder, until he’s sure it will crumble in his palm. “You should have obliviated me if this is best you could come up with.” The stinging jinx snaps free before he can even consider stopping himself. The ghost is knocked back further into the kitchen with a yelp. Pathetically attempting to drag himself away from him.
“Master Regulus…” Even for a house elf the concern and confusion is clear on the creatures features. A fresh flicker of panic painting the dead man’s own.
“Get out of here, Kreacher!” There isn’t a question from the creature, only a hesitant glance between the two before the elf vanishes with a pop. “James, please. I’ll help you find them… just put the wand down.”
It was clear the offer was made out of desperation to save himself. James had heard a lot of things thrown around while fighting a war. From many like the Death Eater before him. Pleading for their lives while they had never before spared anyone doing the same. And now, this one had clearly done something to his family. His mind swirls, losing its grip on time and reality. All he knows is that it’s hard to breathe and he can barely see what was around him. Though he’s vaguely aware that he is shouting every hex and jinx that he could think of at the ghost before him.
“JAMES STOP!”