Astrophile [J.P]

Chapter 65

~ It's no secret that the stars are falling from the sky,

It's no secret that our world is in darkness tonight. ~

***

She had left her mother's house in Genoa in a haste and apparated to Godric Hollow. The cold air struck her hard like a whip but she continued taking long strides, moving swiftly against it. Even though her eyes were watering by the constantly striking wind, she continued determinedly.

She could still not believe the news she had received from Dumbledore. The letter had come late at night when she was preparing to sleep and yet the owl had swooped in through the window carrying the most dreadful piece of information anyone could possibly receive.

James and Lily were dead. Voldemort had found out about their hiding place and gone off to finish Harry. He had killed both of them and yet little Harry survived.

But the one thing which haunted her most was hearing about her best friend. The one thing which her mind was still not able to completely process.

James Fleamont Potter was no more.

"If I were the Sun I would want my friends to be close to me. And Lily, I would want her to be just where Venus is. And Snape must be on Pluto's place."

His voice rang in her ears and even though she wanted to shut it out, she couldn't. The day they had first met face to face flashed before her eyes as vivid as if it was just yesterday.

It seemed like just a short while had passed ever since she had had to tutor him for Astronomy. She could recall clearly how she had explained him the solar system by giving an example of him being the sun and his friends and family being the planets revolving around him.

And yet by then all of it seemed so far fetched. As if she had lost all those times, all those happy memories forever.

"I have a hunch that years later you'll be relating my dreadful tutoring experience to my kids as well. And we'd still be arguing on how you were such a violent tutor."

She closed her eyes in exhaustion. That day could never come now. James could never come back from where he had gone. She would never see him again, argue with him again or even hear his teasing remarks again.

And that feeling of losing him forever felt like the end of the world for her.

She remembered how much she had hated James at first due to his attitude and inflated ego. And it wasn't until after their sixth year that they had reached on friendly terms.

To her, James became the brother she had never had. That one person with whom she could truly be herself. That one person who understood her for what she was and didn't shun her for that.

And now that he had left so suddenly, she had no idea how she was going to keep going with her life. She knew she could never forget their constant bickering, his stupid hypothetical questions, their bets on Gigglewater shots, his habit of purposefully annoying her to death and most of all the way he had always made her laugh.

He was the only one person with whom she could be pessimistic to the point of infinity and yet still not be actually distressed about it.

"I don't hate you, in fact I absolutely despise your pathetic existence."

"Love you too, Latvia."

That had been their Always and Forever. He would always reply as such whenever she said she hated him.

She continued walking through the solitary streets, not paying any heed to what was happening around her. Her mind was only focused on confirming the truth. 

Her heart still hoping that somehow the news of their murder was all a hoax and that when she would reach their house at Godric's Hollow, James would open the door smiling at her just like he always did.

But that tiny flame of hope shattered soon as she stepped into the Potter's street. Where once stood their home, there was nothing but a destroyed rubble.

The house that was once bubbling with happiness now stood in a pitiful state, as devoid of any sign of life as a desert is of water.

The door stood ajar and the destruction inside was visible. Seeing the awful mess, she couldn't bring herself to go any further.

Unsure of what to do, she willed herself to step inside, to look at what really had passed last night. Crossing the threshold reluctantly, she shuddered, the lingering horror of it all was chilling her to the bone.

The whole place was destructed badly. Everything was lying around as if tossed forcefully here and there. The wrecked state of the house shattered her from the inside.

Unable to bear it any longer, she was about to collapse when her eyes got caught by something gleaming among the debris.

Bending down, she picked up a photo frame that was lying cracked on the floor, it's silver borders catching the light filtering in through the shattered windows.

The frame held a photograph of James holding a newly born Harry in his arms, grinning wide from the happiness of becoming a father.

A tear trickled down her cheek as she stroked her friend's smiling face with her fingers longing for him to step out of a room, out of anywhere, safe and sound. Alive and breathing.

And yet she knew that it wasn't possible. She kept repeating it over in her mind as she walked out, holding the frame close to her, trying to get her heart to accept the fact that he was no more.

Her feet automatically headed for the Graveyard of Godric Hollow where she knew they would have been buried. Reaching there, she couldn't mistake where they were due to the large headstone erected in their memorial.

Her feet seemed weighed down and heavier than ever as it was getting difficult for her to walk. Yet she continued resolutely until she was standing right in front of the white marble headstone on which two names were engraved.

In loving memory of James and Lily Potter. Died 31st of October, 1981.

Seeing the inscription on the tombstone, there was only one thing that came to Felicity's mind, "last night the sun didn't set, it fell."

***

NOTE: This chapter is dedicated to Purplemist14 since she helped me out in writing this chapter by lending her one shot "Forever Eclipsed" for me to use. In fact, this entire story was inspired by that one shot which she wrote years ago for a contest.