Samsara's Curse (Drarry Slowburn)

THE MARAUDERS

The scene faded in around them, and Draco and Harry were suddenly back at Hogwarts. It was a little different, though. Students passed right through them, not seeming to mind their presence as they headed to Transfiguration class. The leaping arches of the courtyard breezeway resembled the supports of a viaduct bridge, with a sort of dreamy haze that glistened in the light.

"Evans!"

Harry and Draco whipped around to see where the voice had come from. The culprit wasn't hard to identify. It looked to be Sirius Black, but much younger and with a lilt in his cadence that suggested he was perpetually up to no good.

A girl with fiery red hair rolled her eyes as she turned around, "What do you want, Sirius?"

There was a lull in the memory as Harry involuntarily paused it.

Draco didn't need to ask. This was, without a doubt, Harry's mother. They had the same green eyes.

Harry wanted to reach out to her, but he knew doing so would be futile, much like how his hand went through Lily's ghost twenty-one years ago, in the Forbidden Forest. Harry took the time to compose himself before the memory proceeded.

"A little birdie told me you fancied James," Sirius smirked devilishly.

"Potter?" Lily said with a sneer, "I think I'd be better off fancying my toothbrush."

Harry knitted his brow, shocked that his mother could have ever disliked her future husband. Draco, on the other hand, laughed loudly.‏‏‎ He hadn't expected that. ‎He wished for a brief moment that he had brought popcorn. ‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎

Sirius shrugged nonchalantly, not backing down from the line of questioning, "So is that a yes, or . . . ?"‎ ‏‏‎ ‎

Lily thought quietly to herself. "He is quite handsome," she considered generously. "I suppose–"‏‏‎ ‎

A well-featured young man appeared out of nowhere from under an Invisibility Cloak. "I knew it!" he said pointedly, as if he bet all the Galleons in the world on it.

"Potter!" Lily spluttered in anger, "You and that stupid Cloak!"

James chuckled, "It adds to my charm, no?"

"Your charm?" Lily scoffed derisively, "You have as much charm as an old broom!"

The redhead brushed past James with a fire in her eyes, one that left James dumbstruck and speechless. He could not tear his gaze away from her, not until she vanished from his line of sight.

He then turned to Sirius. "Old brooms can be very charming, you know," James said, flashing a winning smile. ‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎

"Just don't do anything reckless," Sirius strained, knowing how hard it was to change James's mind once it was made up.

"Why does everyone always assume I'm going to do something stupid?" James asked, baffled.

Sirius patted him on the shoulder, "Because assuming otherwise is unrealistic."

As the memory phased out, Draco tittered, thinking to himself, I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

The viaduct entrance phased into their line of sight, busy and bustling with life. As James passed by the grand fountain, Sirius and Remus caught up with him.‏‏‎ James seemed to be leaving the library, but his friends knew that was impossible.

With a stern voice, Remus asked pointedly, "Where have you been?"

Harry felt tears well in his eyes. Sirius couldn't have predicted that Remus would perish during the war, too, but hearing his voice and seeing his face, even as young as it looked, was a small comfort to Harry.