Euphemia and Fleamont were old—James knew this, but he had tried his best to ignore it by any means. And now, he was being confronted by the fact that his parents were old head on.

A few healers walked in and out of the room the Potters occupied in the comforts of their own home, despite James telling them that they would be better off at St. Mungo's. The healers had reassured James that they would be getting the same amount of care at their home as they would get at the hospital.

He held the informational packet, a brochure of sorts, in his hands that one of the healers had given him about Dragon Pox and sat in the middle of the living room on the floor. He wished he could have remained oblivious to all the bad in the world as he was in first-year, but a child's innocence can stay around forever.

It was cruel to think about what James would have wanted to have on a brochure. Brochures were supposed to advertise foreign places with extravagant hotels and clothing, not deadly diseases. However, he was not traveling to Spain, and he had to digest the truth.

Euphemia and Fleamont Potter had Dragon Pox.

His parents had told him that they were fine and it was just a cold, yet it turned out that they were both a lot sicker than everyone originally thought. Apparently, they had caught the illness on a recent trip they had gone on with Slughorn, who had even more recently decided that he wanted to retire from teaching.

Memories surrounded him like ghosts of old versions of himself. In that very room, his mum had read him stories and his dad had given him his very first quidditch broom. Years had passed him by and he had taken them all for granted. It seemed that it had all caught up with him.

For the next few weeks, James and the rest of the crew took turns visiting Euphemia and Fleamont. Lily had convinced James that he needed a break and that Sirius and Marlene could handle a day with his parents, so she took him and Harry out for school supplies shopping with Annie. (There had been something they needed to ask Annie anyway.)

They walked around Diagon Alley with soft smiles gracing their features as Annie bounced around the sidewalk telling them every funny story she could think of from the past ten years. Lily and James listened intently even if they had already heard most of them.

Annie had bought all of her school books before the time lunch rolled around, so they visited a nearby diner where they could all eat. Annie held Harry in her arms and brushed a finger on his cheek, watching him gurgle caused Annie to giggle.

"Annie," Lily started, sharing a brief look with James.

"Yes Lily?" She responded, not looking up from Harry.

"We have a very important question to ask you about Harry," James picked up where Lily left off.

"And what's that?" Annie still focused her attention upon Harry.

"Well, you know how Sirius is Harry's godfather?" Lily's smile deepened as Annie cooed at Harry.

"I do, yes, and despite popular belief, I think that was the perfect choice. I wonder what he's going to be like when he has kids," Annie's hazel eyes sparkled as she finally looked up at Lily and James. "Was that your question, or was there something else?"

"Actually, Annie, we wanted to know if you would like to be his godmother," James asked finally.

Lily had learned over the years that the Potters were an unpredictable family, but she was not expecting Annie to burst into tears when they asked her this question. If anything, Lily had thought Annie would laugh hysterically because she thought they were pranking her.

"I would love to," Annie spoke through what were joyous tears.

...

As the war progressed, Dumbledore needed to develop more strategies, so late in August, James came home one evening after a day spent in Dumbledore's office. He was frankly exhausted and looking forward to at least eight solid hours of sleep when he remembered that he needed to check on his parents.

"Where are you going?" Lily raised an eyebrow as James pulled on his jean jacket after taking it off a second ago.

"To see Mum and Dad," James yawned as he ran a hand through his hair.

"You're going to splinch yourself if you try to apparate, James. You're far too tired to be going anywhere," Lily reminded him.

"They're sick, Lily! This might be the last time I get to see them!" James said hysterically, momentarily forgetting that Harry was probably asleep.

"Fine, then I'm coming with you," Lily said stubbornly grabbing the jean jacket she had ironed on patches on with Marlene.

"What? No! You have to stay here with Harry!" James crossed his arms as Lily rolled her eyes at him.

"Make up your mind, Potter, either I'm coming with you or neither of us are going."

"Evans, I think you're forgetting one important part of this equation," James paused for a minute until Lily beckoned for him to continue. "What about Harry?"

"We'll take him with us, he hasn't seen his grandparents in a while anyway," she turned to walk up the stairs to get Harry. "And, James, my last name is Potter, ya great toe-rag."

"I suppose great toe-rag is better than arrogant toe-rag," James muttered as he waited for Lily to come back downstairs.

...

Almost immediately after arriving at his parents house, James could sense that something was wrong. The air felt different as he rushed into their room, past the healers advising him against it.

Lily ran as fast as she could after him with Harry in her arms, but unlike James, she stopped to listen to what the healers were saying to her.

"We're sorry ma'am, we were about to call you-"

That was enough listening for today, Lily needed to get next to where James was sitting on the ground. The image nearly broke her heart in a second. James sat with Mia's hand in his on one side and Monty's hand on the other. In his eyes were tears and a look that Lily had never seen before.

"I hate Dragon Pox," James said as Lily pulled him into her chest next to Harry.

"Me too," she managed to croak out.

...

One time Euphemia and Fleamont offered to change Sirius's last name to Potter while they were on vacation with him and James. Even if James embraced the idea wholeheartedly, Sirius thought that if he kept the last name Black his biological parents would hate him even more. So, he didn't change his name, instead keeping it Sirius Orion Black.

Years later at his parents funeral, he wondered what would've happened if he hadn't acted out of spite and had taken a last name he actually liked. It wouldn't have much of a difference in the long run, but Euphemia and Fleamont did seem to deflate quite a bit when he chose to keep the name Black. There he went being the disappointment again.

He sat with a placid face in a chair with Harry in his lap as James walked ever so slowly to where everyone had been speaking. Old friends of Mia and Monty, Marlene, and Lily had already spoken, but now it was James's turn. Sirius had decided it would be better for him not to speak.

They held the funeral in a wizard cemetery Euphemaia and Fleamont chose before they had died. Flowers occupied the ground, but the air seemed to be just as dead as the people in the ground.

"Hello," James cleared his throat and drew everyone's attention to him. "I'm Euphemia and Fleamont's son, James Potter."

He was far too young to be giving a eulogy for his parents, far too young.

"My parents were two of the most beautiful souls to ever walk the planet. They were the most intelligent in each of their fields, and I know they inspired lots of witches and wizards to continue doing good in this world," James clenched his teeth to compose himself.

"Both of them raised my friends and I, which only the most patient of souls could handle," James paused for the laughter Lily told him would come. "They helped me grow into the man I am today, and for that, I am forever grateful."

He was far too young.

...

Author's Note:

As my first action of my summer (yesterday was my last day of school), I took the time to dedicate today to writing this chapter.

I would just like to state my sincere apologies for this chapter. It hurt super bad to write, and I bet it hurt to read too.

Next update will be a double update, so depending on my motivation to write and schedule, you might be able to read those chapters soon.

There's 11 official chapters after this one! (This excludes the epilogue and a/n's.) I can't believe this trilogy is almost over.

Lmao anyways thanks for reading
-teddy🧇