Strength {Sirius Black}

4. PHOTOGRAPH

| CHAPTER FOUR |

PHOTOGRAPH.

ECHO HAD NEVER MET HARRY Potter before. She had only heard of the boy from a newspaper that came out the day of James' and Lily's deaths. She remembered the two extremely well, when she was still at Hogwarts, she would always have a small, friendly Quidditch competition with James. The two of them were some of the best Chasers the school had ever seen, and seeing them go against one another was certainly an enthralling show. 

And Lily Potter (née Evans). Well, she was certainly one of a kind. A Muggleborn witch who was certainly one of the smartest of her age. She always saw the good in people, and from the sounds of it, she eventually must've seen the good in James. 

Harry Potter looked like the spitting image of his father, with his mother's eyes. When Echo walked into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place one morning, her heart almost stopped beating when she noticed the familiar black messy hair and circular glasses. Only when she saw his eyes did she realised exactly who he actually was. 

Much to her surprise, Harry welcomed her with open arms, confessing that he recognised the woman. She looked puzzled for a moment before watching him pull out a folded up photograph from his jeans. It was a moving picture of the Marauders plus Echo in their fifth year. The black haired woman was standing in between Sirius and James, a wide grin on her face. Sirius towered over her, his arm thrown lazily over her shoulder, his lips attached to her cheek (an action that certainly made them both blush straight after the photo was taken). James was looking off into the distance, a love-sick smile on his face (there was certainly no question as to who he was looking at). Remus was standing in the middle of James and Peter Pettigrew, laughing hysterically at the fact that a bird shat right on Peter's shoulder, the shorter boy's face contorted with disgust. 

Echo couldn't help but smile fondly at the photograph. Memories of Hogwarts flashed through her mind as she couldn't help but think what would've happened if she hadn't moved away. Would she had died in the first war against Voldemort? Would Sirius and herself have gotten together? Would they be married by now? Would they have both landed in Azkaban? She just couldn't help but wonder.

She finally snapped out of her daydream when she heard footsteps approaching. Glancing over her shoulder, she watched Sirius as he walked directly towards her and Harry. He suddenly looked worried when he spotted the unshed tears in Echo's dark eyes.

"Is everything okay?" He questioned when he finally reached them.

Neither of them replied, Echo simply nodded before passing the photograph over to Sirius. She watched as he looked confused for a second before his eyes landed on the image and a wide grin graced his features. The black haired woman couldn't help but just watch him. The way that his grey eyes sparkled when he looked down at their younger selves, his long hair brushing against his chin as his head tilted down slightly. He still towered over Echo, even with her heeled boots she barely came up to his neck. 

"I remember that day," Sirius suddenly said, grinning from ear to ear, "Do you?" He questioned, letting his eyes fall onto the woman besides him.

Echo nodded, biting her lip, "Of course I do," She told him, her eyes sparkling with reminiscence, "It was at the beginning of the half-term break, wasn't it? James' mum took it."

Sirius nodded, "She did," He chuckled, "She loved taking our photographs."

Echo chuckled, "She really did, didn't she?" She grinned, it felt strange but for the first time in a very long while she felt happy. Her heart felt full as she looked at Sirius' smile, "You guys hated it so much. I'm surprised James didn't burn all the photos she took immediately after she took them."

Without either of the adults noticing, Harry grinned to himself before, as quietly as he physically could, he slipped away, leaving the pair to have their little moment. Out of all the years he knew Sirius, he hadn't seen the man looking so at peace. It certainly seemed that Echo Bennett returning was probably the best thing that could've ever happened to him.