9The four Marauders were sitting in the best armchairs by the fire in the Gryffindor common room. It was a Sunday afternoon, so the common room was filled with people laughing and talking. Suddenly, the babble of noise ceased and all heads turned to see Professor McGonagall climb through the portrait hole. She walked past the staring students until she came to where the Marauders were sitting.
"Mr Potter, if I could have a word outside, please," said the professor, in rather a softer tone than usual. James, confused, got up and followed. As soon as the portrait hole swung shut, the noise started picking up again, most people assuming that James was getting told off for yet another prank. The Marauders, however, knew that they had not pulled any pranks recently, so were wondering what could be the matter.
After a few minutes, the portrait hole opened once again, and the common room fell quiet for the second time that evening as James, pale-faced, made a beeline for the stairs leading up to the boys' dormitory, ignoring the calls of his friends. Soon there was the muffled sound of a door slamming. Sirius jumped up immediately to follow him, and Peter also got up, but was stopped by Remus.
"Peter, stay here. Let Sirius go and find out what's wrong. James won't want us crowding him."
So Sirius made his way upstairs by himself, full of concern and filled with some trepidation. He had never seen James looking so upset about anything. He reached the door to their dormitory and knocked. There was no answer.
"James?" he asked. "It's me, Sirius." Still there was no answer.
Sirius slowly opened the door and walked into the room. The curtains around James' bed were drawn, and muffled sobs could be heard coming from inside. He was momentarily shocked because James never cried, but he went over and pulled back one of the hangings to reveal James with his face buried in his pillow, soaking it with tears. Sirius put a hand on his shoulder in support, before asking the dreaded question.
"What happened, James?"
At first there was no response, and Sirius was starting to think that perhaps he should leave James alone, when with great difficulty and immense willpower, James brought his head out of the pillow and turned around to face Sirius. His eyes were already puffy from crying and yet the tears continued to stream down his face as he explained what Professor McGonagall had told him outside the portrait hole.
"They're d-dead, Sirius. My p-parents are d-dead because of s-some bastard Death Eaters who think it's f-funny to k-kill innocent people…"
The news hit Sirius like a freight train. He had been eternally grateful to Mr and Mrs Potter for taking him in when he had nowhere else to go, and treating him like another son. In time, he learnt from them how parents should really behave, and started to think of them as his own parents. To learn that they had been murdered was almost as devastating for him as it was for James, and soon he too was crying in earnest, which did nothing to relieve the agony he was feeling inside.
The two brothers sat on the bed for a long time, not talking (for what could they say that could convey their pain?) but being comforted nonetheless by each other's presence. Eventually they ran out of tears and started noticing their hunger, having missed dinner.
"Time for a trip to the kitchens?" asked Sirius hoarsely. James nodded in reply and the two went downstairs.
The entire common room turned to stare at them as they emerged, but they held their heads high and found their friends, who pretended not to notice their red-rimmed eyes and tearstained cheeks, and agreed to accompany them on their quest for food.