❝ MEMORIES OF A
LIFE THAT'S BEEN
L O V E D ❞

〽〽〽

C H A P T E R   T W E N T Y - T W O

REMUS ROLLED HIS EYES at them, "remind me again, why am I still friends with you guys?"

"Because you love us!" Sirius purred. This made Remus to contort his features to disgust.

"Shhh!" Peter suddenly whisper yelled frantically, making the two boys jump up in alert before taking their position. Peter leaned next to their dorm room, Sirius was inspecting a plant while Remus stared up the ceiling.

The door opened to reveal the couple. James was practically smitten based on his expression. He let her go through the door first, eyeing his friends suspiciously, who, in turn, gave him thumbs up while Roxanne wasn't looking.

IT WAS A particularly gloomy night in Godric's Hollow. Roxanne felt an unnerving feeling in the pit of her stomach. She held her child, Harry, close to her. She may not have liked the existence of the books but she didn't want to botch the name of this dimension's supposed hero. Plus, the name had a nice ring to it.

She looked down worriedly at the child, kissing his forehead gently. "I swear on whatever higher being out there that I'll always be here for you." She whispered.

Little Harry smiled brightly at his mother's touch. Roxanne couldn't comprehend how she loved Harry. She knew about the scary adventures he'll go through after seeing the wrath of the Dark Lord himself. She closed her eyes as she recounted all the friends she had lost. Lily, Juliet, Anne, Marlene, Dorcas... It made her all the more to keep her family safe.

James suddenly burst through the door, hair messier than usual and eyes frantic. Roxanne turned to him, scared.

"He's here," he said. The fear in the girl's eyes made him want to go over to her. But he knew he couldn't waste any time. "Take Harry, you need to get out of here."

"H-how did he know..." She trailed off.

James didn't reply, he only at her with a stern look, confirming her assumption. A mixture of hurt and betrayal flashed through her face. "Oh Peter..."

"We don't have much time." James said, walking towards her.

Roxanne grabbed his arm, "I'm not leaving you, James. I didn't before and I'm not going to now."

His gaze softened. He took her arm off him. "You have to."

"You don't have your wand." She told him. James only ignored her. He looked down at their son, kissing the top of his head. He turned back to Roxanne, silently begging her to go. He gave her one last kiss, pulling away quickly. He took one last good look at Roxanne. No matter how many times he had looked at her, it always felt like that night in the Quidditch field. Without another thought, he was outside.

Roxanne stood helplessly in the middle of the room, Harry staring up at her curiously. She sighed, her hand reaching for her pocket only to realise that her wand wasn't there. Her eyes widened, her heart pounding faster than ever as she watched a spark of green light peek through the small spaces around the door.

She settled Harry in his crib, who now began to wail out loud. The tears fell on both their faces as Roxanne tried to calm the toddler down.

"It's going to be okay Harry," she whispered. "I love you so much, Harry. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere." She chanted, caressing his cheek. The doors burst open, revealing Voldemort.

She stood in front of Harry defensively. The only thing in her mind was to protect her son.

She suddenly wondered if she somehow fucked up the whole story. She looked over to Harry who was still crying. What if he dies because of her? Then she wondered, was James really supposed to die? Or was that because of her as well? She didn't know. All she could do was hope that what she's doing is enough.

The last thing she saw was the ray of green that struck her chest.

Peter watched her fall. Eyes struck with fear. He didn't even realise the man next to him point his wand at the small baby. Once he uttered the words, the curse somehow backfired. His feet seemed to froze on the spot as he stared at his master evaporate slowly.

Once he was gone, Peter began to laugh, almost maniacally slowly turning into a fit of sobs. He almost crawled closer Roxanne's lifeless body.

"You were right," he whispered, holding her hand. "I should've trusted you... I-I just thought that this was all your fault. That m-maybe the story will change because you stayed and n-no one will defeat him a-and I got scared... I-I am so sorry."

The loud wails of Harry seemed to pull him back. He scooted himself close to him, patting the boy's head. Peter frowned, "I'm sorry Harry. I-I'll do what I can to protect you now."

He teared up again. Suddenly, a set of footsteps were closing in on him. With a squeak, he transformed himself quickly into a rat.

Sirius made his way in the word, dropping to his knees as he saw Roxanne. It shocked him when Snape came to him in the dead of night, telling him to go to a cottage in Godric's Hollow quickly. But even that was too late. As soon as he arrived, he saw James laying on the hallway staring lifelessly at the ceiling.

He held her body close to him, crying for them. His eyes turned to a deadly glare, "I'll kill him."

He heard a small squeak erupt from the other side of the room. He turned around quickly his pupils travelled across the room. Eyes stopping at the small rat by the corner.

"You!" He yelled, taking his wand out and aiming it menacingly at the rodent. He blasted a spell its way, causing a small hole to form on the wall when he missed. Peter took this opportunity to escape through it.

And so ensued, Sirius pursuit to his traitorous friend and consequently his thirteen year imprisonment.

"WAKEY, WAKEY, EGGS AND BACIE!"

Roxanne woke up in a flash, heart beating loudly and out of breath. There were still tears from her eyes as she tried to control her breathing.

"Whoa, you okay?" Jasmine asked. The blonde ignored her, shuffling towards the book on the floor. "Harry Potter? I thought you hated that---"

Roxanne frantically flipped through the pages, finally landing on one that mentioned Harry was alive.

"---which is really ironic since you have the same name as his mum!" Roxanne turned to her, a look of relief gracing her features.

"I said what I said," Jasmine replied. "Me and Nicole have been trying to get you into it for years because of that coincidence."

"Nothing changed..." Roxanne whispered. "What happens to Harry?"

"You already know this, Rox." She deadpanned. "He defeats Voldy and all that jazz..." Jasmine eyed the girl before smirking. "Don't tell me! THE Roxanne Andrews who hates the Harry Potter franchise with a passion is now interested in it?"

Roxanne only rolled her eyes. Harry lived, she thought to herself. Suddenly tears began to form her eyes by the recent events that occured mere hours ago.

James was dead.

AUTHOR'S NOTE
Hi there! It's been a while since I uploaded anything here but I hope you guys liked this!! I also have an announcement to make. voidmartell has just posted a translation of this story! Feel free to check it out if you like^^

-camille