Disclaimer: As much as I want them to, they're not mine. They belong to J.K. Rowling. The chapter titles belong to West life. The plot and the character 'Daniel Irving' belong to me.

Summary: See the first chapter.

Forgotten Time

By Misaki Sakura

Ch. Eight : Against All Odds

James was out of breath by the time he reached the entrance of the Forbidden Forest. This is the only place he hadn't looked Sirius for and he knew how damn wide it was. Making no further thoughts, he made his way inside.

"Sirius!" he called in a desperate tone of concern. No answer.

He looked around and spotted a cave not far from where he stood. Quickly he ran to it, heart beating fast.

"Sirius!"

Sirius was lying on the ground. Next to him was an empty wooden box. James didn't make any move, too shocked by the scene before him. After a few moments, he collected himself then ran over to Sirius. He checked his pulse and sigh in relief when it was still there. Quickly, he lifted him up and made his way back to the castle.

They were rounding Sirius' bed in the Hospital Wing, each face filled with concern and fear. Silently they hope that he'd open his eyes soon, especially James. So many things he wanted to say, so many things he wanted to apologize about … and seeing Sirius in that state once again ...

Harry couldn't help but let fear and worry engulfed him. He had just found his true family, his parents, and now he's in the brink of losing Sirius again. He didn't think he could handle this. Draco could sense that also and made sure he never left Harry's side.

Madam Pomfrey had checked him and said everything was right. All they had to do was wait. Wait for him to open his eyes, wait for him to greet them with his charming smile.

"What happened?" Remus asked him, full of concern.

James shook his head, suddenly found himself wasn't capable to say anything. Remus exchanged look with Harry and they decided to leave them alone.

"Tell me! Do you think there's another thing that's more unforgivable than being that Potter's slut!"

"I know I'm in love with James. Happy?"

"I'll give you my baby."

"Lily's pregnant."

"Why did you lie to me?"

"Good bye, James."

Good bye.

As he opened his eyes, Sirius found himself in the Hospital Wing once again. Shaking his head, he slowly lowered his feet and felt the cold floor under them. Carefully not to wake James up, he padded down the floor and walked outside the room.

"Sirius?"

He stopped upon hearing the soft voice behind him. James was awake.

"Hello, James. Nice seeing you all alive and well." He said with a tinge of sarcasm behind his words.

"Si-" then it dawned to him. "You remember me!"

Sirius nodded. "It's hard not to, don't you think? Oh well, I guessed I did that."

James went speechless as he felt a pang of guilt hit him. "Sirius, I-"

"Don't! Don't say any … thing …" he said between sobs. Damn those tears! He wouldn't break down in front him and gave him the chance to gloat. Despite his thought, his body went limp and he fell on his knees, covering his face with his hands while sobbing uncontrollably.

Saying nothing, James took Sirius' hands and pulled him into a hug. That's when he felt the darkness once again overcame him.

The day Sirius could leave the Hospital Wings was a week before Harry and his friends took the NEWTs. They had talked about so many things … Voldemort's defeat, about Lily and James, about Daniel, … and the most important was about them, as a family. Harry couldn't say that he wanted James and Sirius to be back together again but he could see the unspoken hope in his son's eyes.

He had thought about it too. His love for James had never changed and it seemed that James' hadn't either but to forgive the fact that James didn't trust him enough then made his heart ached.

Since then, he had seen James at all. He didn't come to the Hospital Wings and he didn't even there when he was out. While everyone was rejoicing his release, Sirius couldn't' help but to feel suddenly gloomy.

The morning after the feast Dumbledore held for him, he found a parchment with something scribbled on it. Sirius, out of curiosity, took a look at the parchment and immediately recognized it as James' handwriting.

Meet me in the secret room now. I have something to tell you and it's very important. Please come.

Sirius bit his lower lip, frowning. Should he go?

"What's the matter, Padfoot?" Remus, who had just walked into the room, asked, eyeing the parchment in his hand.

"It's this, Moony." He answered, handing him the parchment James' wrote.

After perusing its content, which was only two lines long, Remus looked at Sirius. "Are you going?"

"I'm not sure. I mean … there've been so many things happened between us and not all of them are good and … I'm rambling …"

"Do you still love him?"

"With all of my heart, Remus, but will it do any good if he doesn't trust me?"

Remus sat down beside Sirius and smiled. "It's a past. A past is a past. Voldemort's defeated, we're not in a war anymore. The only thing that's in your way is James' pride, and yours. Both of you have wasted sixteen years, now when everyone's entering a new life, you have to enter yours. Can you imagine it without James in it?"

Sirius shook his head slowly.

"It's decided then. You have to go there quickly."

Sirius let out a laugh, though a bark-like one, it sounded like a song in Remus' ears, with a sparkle in his eyes that Remus hadn't seen since he had run away from Azkaban. His old friend was back.

"You know, I felt like stupid teenager again. Well, I have to go now. Thank you, Remus."

Remus smiled as usual. "I hope this is going to be a happy ending for both of you."

James was pacing back and forth. He had to make things good as it once was. The sound of the door opening brought him back from his thought. Sirius stood before him, as he muttered a spell to conceal the door.

"I found your note." He started nervously.

"Yes, thank you for … coming." Taking a deep breath, James took Sirius' hand and brought him to sit on the couch. With his eyes never leaving James', Sirius sat down.

"Okay, first of all … Sirius, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for making you sad, for … everything that I have done. I was stupid for not trusting you and to believe that you'd cheat on me … I'm sorry."

Sirius watched as the feeling of uncertainty filled James. He closed his eyes and drew something out of his pocket. A ring. The ring, the exact same one that James had given him the night he proposed to him almost over twenty years ago. And as James fell down on his one knee, Sirius felt that he's having a déjà vu.

"I love you, Sirius Black. Will you marry me?"

Sirius stared wide-eyed at the bespectacled man before him, the person who showed him that he's worth loving, the one that hurt him more than his parents had ever done to him, yet the same person he had loved for so many years.

James looked at him nervously. He could predict the answer by seeing Sirius' eyes filled with tears but he couldn't bear to lose his love again. Especially when he knew the said lover was still deeply in love with him.

"Do … do you think it'll be that easy, James?" the words left his trembling lips slowly, along with the tears that trailed down his cheeks. "Do you think by saying you're sorry, everything will go back like the way it was? It won't work, James."

"It will. We can try to make it work, Siri."

"Can we? After all that's happened, I … it's not that easy to forgive and forget, James …"

James face fell at this. He was about to give up when he heard Sirius said, "but I'm willing to give it a try."

"Padfoot! Does this mean you'll marry me?" James took Sirius into his arms as he saw him nodded.

Both of you have wasted sixteen years, now when everyone's entering a new life, you have to enter yours. Can you imagine it without James in it?

Remus was right. There's no point of having a new life without James in it. When James took his hand and slipped the ring in his finger, when he heard and saw the contented look their friends sent at them as they saw the ring, he knew it's the right thing to do. He's finally home.

The End

A/N: It's finally finished! Oh, hell, it's been a long time since I last updated this story. I'm so sorry for that. What do you think about the ending? Is it too anticlimactic? Should I write an alternative ending (probably about how they decided to live separate lives)? I thank all the reviewers. Thanks for reading and reviewing this story.

I'm writing a prequel to this story, 'Spark and Electricity', and it's going to be a chaptered one … again. Anyway, do any of you know Full House? It's a Korean TV series and I'm planning to write a story based on it. However, I don't know which pairing I'm going to use, James x Sirius or Severus x Remus. Here's the summary :

AU. Sirius/Remus was a writer who tried to earn some money with his story while living in his parents' only inheritance. The house. Unfortunately, he lost his house because of his friend's/friends' deceit (old Petey or maybe Lily, or both). Having nowhere else to go, he lived in that house with the owner of it, a model and a movie star, (aka James Potter / Severus Snape) … as a servant.

Please tell me which one is better. Thanks!