AN: Written for the Hogwarts Oneshot Wars. Prompts Used: Floral (word) Golden (word) Ecstatic (emotion) Coral (color) Mirror of Erised (Object.) Reviews are lovely!

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In the heavy silence of Grimmauld Place, a ticking clock sounds like the countdown to an explosion. Sirius paces back and forth, muttering beneath his breath. All he wants is to be out of the house, assisting the Order, helping, but instead he's stuck inside. A wanted criminal. A bad dog.

He hates this house. He hates the memories of it: every time his parents were cruel or heartless, every fight with his brother, every anti-Muggle slur. But more than that, he hates the good memories: Christmas morning with seven-year-old Reg, playing hide-and-seek in the attic, teasing Kreacher… he hates that he can remember any part of this dark, depressing place with fondness.

Angrily, he turns and kicks one of the old boxes he hasn't bothered to empty yet. The box falls on its side, and a gilded silver picture frame falls out. Muttering a swear word, he crouches down and picks it up, wiping off the dust so he can see the picture beneath.

He inhales sharply. He's seen this picture dozens of times before, but in the silent and empty house, it's like a slap to the face.

In it, Lily and James have their arms wrapped around each other, him in his tuxedo and her in her wedding dress. Instead of a veil, she's wearing a crown of white flowers on her hair. They're both laughing, so much younger than they should be. Around Lily's neck is a delicate golden chain, and at the end of it, a single coral bead.

Sirius closes his eyes and allows the memories to come back, of another night he was stuck at home, waiting, years and years ago.

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Sirius impatiently tossed aside the book he'd been trying to read. Remus had left it for him, smiling and saying something about distractions, but he simply couldn't concentrate on anything while his friends were out there, risking their lives.

Marlene and Remus. Of course, it had to be them. Curse Dumbledore for not choosing me, Sirius thought, pacing back and forth. He knew that he was being ridiculous. Just like him, his friends had chosen to join the Order straight out of Hogwarts. They were prepared for the risks. Sirius couldn't be the only one to ever go on missions

But still…

"At least Lily and James are safe," he muttered aloud.

At that moment, the doorbell rang.

Stomach twisting, he hurried down the hallway and wrenched open the door. To his shock, Lily was standing on the doorstep, sopping wet. Sirius hadn't even realized that it was raining.

"Lil!" he said, taking in her wild, wide-eyed appearance. "Is everything okay? Is it James? Remus?"

"Everyone's okay!" she said hastily. "I'm sorry for worrying you. I just… I need your help. Can I come in?"

"Of course," he said, holding the door open so she could step inside. He slammed the door shut and ducked into the bathroom to grab her a towel.

"Thanks," she said, wrapping the towel around her wet hair. "Yikes, I'm getting your carpet all wet."

"No big deal," said Sirius. "Come on, I'll make some tea."

A few minutes later, when Lily was wrapped up in one of Remus's old sweatshirts, cautiously sipping from a mug, Sirius sat down in front of her and picked up his own cup of tea. "So," he said. "What's this about?"

Lily bit her lip. "I have some news."

"You're freaking me out, Lil," said Sirius. "Is McGonagall permanently stuck in cat form? Have James and Petunia finally killed each other?"

"James proposed," Lily blurted out.

Sirius dropped his cup. It cracked on the table, tea spilling everywhere.

"What?" he said, jumping to his feet. He didn't even care about the hot liquid that was soaking into his shirt. "Lil, that's fantastic!" Ecstatic, he grabbed her by the hands and spun around in happy circles. "Merlin knows it took him long enough- what's wrong?"

For he had just realized that Lily wasn't smiling.

He dropped her hands. "Hey," he said. "What's going on?"

Lily sat down at the kitchen table and took another sip of tea, seeming reluctant to speak.

"I love James," she said, inhaling shakily. "I love him. If there's one thing in the world that I know for certain, it's that. But…"

"But what?" said Sirius, reaching across the table and taking her hand.

She looked down at the tabletop, red hair spilling across her shoulders. "I'm afraid," she whispered, and Sirius knew exactly how much it cost Lily Evans to speak those words- Lily Evans, who had been called a Mudblood by her childhood best friend and not wavered, who had withstood sneers and jibes from dozens of purebloods and still stood tall, who had snuck out to her sister's house in the dead of night to cast protective charms over it- fearless, daring Lily was frightened out of her mind.

"There's a war going on," she continued. "And… Sirius… I'm a mudblood."

"Lily!" he said. "You are not."

"I am," she said. "I'm Muggleborn, and James is Pureblood, and I just can't stop thinking… won't James be safer if he's not with me? If we get married, he becomes the worst kind of blood traitor. The Death Eaters might target him, or both of us-

"Lil," said Sirius. "Can I tell you a story?"

She blinked at him. "I- I guess so?"

"Okay," said Sirius. He closed his eyes and inhaled, remembering. "This is actually supposed to be a deadly secret, so you can't tell anyone. A few years ago, James and I were sneaking around Hogwarts." He opened his eyes and grinned at her. "You know, setting up a prank or whatever. I don't remember. But anyways, we stumbled across this big, empty room. Neither of us had ever seen it before."

There was a small smile on Lily's face now, like she was imagining teenage James and Sirius wandering the halls together.

"And in this room, there was this weird mirror thing," said Sirius. He paused and then went on. "When I… when I looked in it, I saw me and Regulus, together. Not really doing anything. Just hanging out, messing around… like we did when we were kids. Yeah." He cleared his throat, not quite meeting Lily's slightly-too-sympathetic eyes. "But anyways… James saw something else."

"Yeah?" she said softly.

"Yeah," he said, smiling at her. "He saw you. Just you and him, spending time together. At first, we were really confused, but eventually we figured it out. The mirror thing… it's called the Mirror of Erised. It shows you your heart's deepest desire, nothing else." He looked up and met her eyes.

"And James…" she said, trailing off.

"He saw you," he said, giving her a small smile. "Not even the two of you in a relationship or anything like that. It was just the two of you spending time together, hanging out, like friends. Even back then, the thing he wanted most in the entire world was the chance to show you that he'd changed, that he cared about you. He couldn't stop thinking about how mean he'd been to you. It was his biggest regret. It still is, probably."

Her green eyes were shining with tears. She blinked them back.

"And eventually, you gave him the chance he wanted," said Sirius. "And see how that turned out? Maybe you're both in a little more danger, but you're happier. Better. You make him a better person, and he makes you a happier one. Just think about how terrible the two of you would be doing if you never gave him that chance. You've got to take risks, Lil. Better to live a risky life than an unhappy one, yeah?"

"Yeah," she whispered. She slipped out of her seat and wrapped her arms around him. He squeezed her back for a moment before letting go.

"Dry your eyes, Lily-pad," he said, grinning at her. "We have a wedding to plan! Floral arrangements to choose! Dress colors to debate!"

"Dress colors?" said Lily, raising her eyebrows. "Wedding dresses are white, silly."

"Untrue," he said. "They can also be pearl, off-white, ivory, coral…

"Coral!" she said. "Do you even know what coral is?"

"Sort of white-ish color, isn't it?"

"It's pink," she said. "Pink!"

"It'll look lovely with your hair."

"Yes, I'm sure."

"I'm not kidding. If you don't wear coral to your wedding, I'm going to be extremely disappointed."

"Maybe we can compromise with a coral necklace or something," she said. "Deal?"

"Deal," he said. "Now hurry home to your fiancée!"

"I will," said Lily, standing on tiptoe so she could kiss him on the cheek. "And, Sirius… thanks."

"For showing you that coral is the world's greatest color?"

"For being the friend I can talk to at eleven o'clock at night," she said.

"Any time, Lily-pad," he said. "Any time."

XXXXXX

Sirius opens his eyes and stares down at the picture. Too young, it screams at him. Too young to be gone forever. For a moment, he is achingly sad. He wants to go back to those days. They were dark, frightening times, yes, but they were good, too.

"I want them back," he whispers. He wants Lily and James. He wants to see a love so infallible a story and a necklace can fix all of its problems. He wants to drink tea with Lily and laugh with James and steal Remus's sweatshirts and worry about Marlene. He wants those days.

But those days are gone.