Penny laughed. It was a broken sound and Sirius realised that she was crying. "You precious idiot. How am I… How are you?" Sirius smiled. "I'm not alone anymore." [[Outtakes from my multi-chapter fic Old Scars and Future Hearts. Will contain stories about Draco x Astoria, Harry x Hermione, Penny x Sirius. Genres will differ between Romance, Friendship & Hurt/ Comfort]]

"Am I really alive?" James asked and in the midst of the chaos Sirius laughed. The words that came from James lips was so odd and yet so right. Sirius nodded. "Yeah, you're alive Prongs."

"I thought I'd come visit to tell you that I became an auror yesterday." He said with a smile. The look of annoyance vanished from McGonagall's face but Harry knew that it would appear when he said his next sentence; and the knowledge made his smile grow even bigger. "Have a biscuit Professor."

He wondered if Hermione felt what he felt. And if she did was she as oblivious to her own emotions as he had been? Hermione rested her forehead against his. She looked straight into his eyes and then she smiled. When their lips connected, Harry knew that he had been oblivious to the entire thing but Hermione hadn't.

Euphemia opened both of them at the same time. She recognised the hand-writing the moment she laid eyes on the words. James and Sirius. Their letters began the same with two simple words that brought tears to her eyes and a feeling of warmth inside her chest: Dear Mom.

"I didn't even tell you that something was wrong." Harry's voice sounded strangely vulnerable. Hermione softly kissed the top of his head. "We're friends. I just knew. No words needed."

It was the first time in years that she wrote a letter to Sirius and October 31st was the first time in many years that she received a letter with her real name written on it; and Narcissa Black was yet again the white sheep.

It had been a full year since he saw the child. Remus assumed that Harry didn't know who he was. And he didn't know what to think about that. Then the boy smiled. His emerald eyes glimmered and he reached his arms forward as he spoke the word that simultaneously broke Remus heart and fixed it. "Moony."

Harry didn't know why they were there. He didn't understand that his parents were laying underneath the stone. Petunia vowed that she would one day tell him. She would tell him about his parents; she would tell tales of their bravery, their kindness and their intelligence. She could do whatever she wanted because Vernon no longer controlled her, not anymore.

It had taken her many years but at the age of sixteen Hermione Granger believed that she knew what the difference between a book and a person was. She realised that the difference was that you could learn everything about a book if you only read it closely enough. People on the other hand, she quickly learned, seemed to constantly grow new layers that they could reveal at any time.

"He's in." James said and patted Fred on the shoulder as he began walking down the corridor. He was quick to apologize when he saw Fred scrunching his face together in pain. Sirius frowned but followed James down the corridor still. "Is he?" "Yes, he's in." Remus replied. "We're three of the four Marauders. Nice to meet you, substitute."

"I want to fight with you." He said, feeling nervous that he was going to be sent to the dungeons with the others. "He's a Slytherin." Someone called from the crowd. Harry nodded his head and smiled. "Yes, he is. But he's one of the good ones."

Barty laughed too. A shrill sound that echoed through the streets as he leaned down and pressed his wand into Mad-Eyes cheek. "Because I'm madder than you." A bright light. Mad-Eye fell unconscious to the floor and Barty nodded to himself as he dragged the man into his house. "Thank Merlin for that because otherwise this probably wouldn't have worked."

Images flashed before his emerald eyes. Sirius smiling, laughing, frowning and looking into space so obviously lost in one of the memories that taunted his tortured mind. And lastly there was Sirius dying.

Luna and Astoria saw the fear that both boys felt when one of them was hurt or just sick. Luna and Astoria saw all of it. They saw that the boys spent their days acting like they hated each other while their nights were spent loving each other. And the women who had nothing in common saw that without each other Draco and Harry would be two very lost boys.

"Where have you been all my life?" she eventually asked. She felt vibrations go through his body as he laughed; it was a carefree, genuinely happy laughter and she vowed that she too, would to her very best to make sure that he was always happy. "Love, I was always right here."

"Fighting it is." She gave Lily a questioning smile. "Are you sure you're up for it? You look exhausted." Lily took one last deep breath. "I'm just a bit unsteady." She assured as her body stopped shaking. "Unsteady but strong."

The door screeched as it was suddenly pushed open and awoke the two from their slightly hazy state and George stuck his head inside. "Oi, what are you two doing?" Fred tore his eyes away from Hermione's now blushing face. He pointed at the mug in her hand and gave George a one-sided smile. "We fixed our mug."

"No!" the word came out as an order, a hissing such, and Salazar's eyes widened as he shook his head. It felt like someone had kicked him in the gut. He knew that he needed to breathe and yet he didn't want to. "Don't say that. Please, whatever you do don't say it. Tell me I'm screwed up and that you don't want me. Tell me to never talk to you again but please don't tell me that."

The processes of nature did not discriminate. It hit all humans equally; wizards, witches and muggles alike. But it also brought them closer together. Because in face of pain, loneliness and no hope the things that kept people separated, that had them hating each other, all of the sudden made very little sense. Why would they argue when they could heal together?