This is the Road
Title: This is the Road
Author: kanella
Disclaimer: not mine
Word Count: 302
Rating: G
Summary: Some paths we choose for ourselves, and some are chosen for us.
Notes: blanketforts Day 12 (Prompt). Feedback would be lovely.
This is the road that goes to the lake, where Sirius will slip on a wet rock and go crashing into the water, grabbing hold of Remus’s shirt so that he is forced to follow. The boys will swim and splash, and Sirius will throw his arm around Remus’s shoulder as they are walking back to the castle, dripping and bearing easy grins.
This is the road that goes to the village, where Remus will pull Sirius into a shadowy alcove behind the Hog’s Head Inn and twine his fingers in that silky black hair and just look, until Sirius’s impatience takes over. He will press Remus against the dirty brick wall and kiss him messily, because it isn’t easy to kiss a smiling mouth.
This is the road that goes to the cemetery, where Remus will go for the funeral. He will stand pressed between Frank and Alice, and they will discreetly put their arms around his back when his knees turn to water. He will splash three silent tears on James’s coffin and wipe them away with the sleeve of his borrowed dress robes.
This is the road that goes to the Shrieking Shack, where Remus will go once Sirius falls through the veil. He will sit on the floor and smoke and drink a bottle of Ogden’s to toast his fallen friends. He will hear the laughter of four foolish boys and remember the pleasures of the life he once had.
None of these roads are open to them now, and they don’t think about the lengths that they may travel on them. They are just a boy in shabby robes and a black dog, wandering on a beaten path during a Hogsmeade weekend, beginning their legacy in the footprints they leave behind in the snow as they walk.