Brothers Apart

Brothers Apart

There is a street in London that is very strange. This is because, to the casual passer by, it appears to be missing a number 12. Nobody worries about this, however, as that is how it has always been.

But a small number of people can see it, and today, those who can, see something more out of the ordinary than is usual for this strange house.

Looking at that photograph

That was taken in your youth

Convince yourself that nothing's changed

But you can't deny the truth

Time has moved on

The past is long gone

Taking all that once made you strong

On the step outside the front door of the missing number 12, a man sits with his head in his hands. From a distance, a person could be forgiven for assuming him to be forty or fifty, his hair is greying and his shoulders are slumped as if he carries the weight of the world on them. But closer up, his face gives him away. He cannot be more than thirty six or seven, but his world-weary eyes are those of an old man. A discarded photo album lies on the step beside him.

Four people look back at you

One's been gone for years

Another betrayed the friendships bond

You know he isn't worth the tears

But the third has just passed

Meaning you are the last

You wonder how time could go so fast

He is remembering the time when the photos were taken. He clutches one loosely in his hand, of a group of boys. Although times have not been kind to this man, he is easily recognisable in the picture. He stands with three other boys, all of them grinning at the person who is taking the photo. They are obviously a close knit group, but from his face now, it seems that it has changed.

He remembers how the black-haired, hazel-eyed boy with glasses was the first to leave their group. He was a casualty of the war they lived in, but the man can't just leave it at that. That skinny, grinning boy could still be alive now, if it wasn't for the shorter boy who stood next to him. Pale, with a pointed face and a pudding-bowl haircut, he was the one who betrayed his schoolfriend and caused his death. But the man cannot feel angry. His grief is so complete that there is no room for more emotion.

The carefree, innocent bespectacled boy continues to laugh up at the man, but he knows that he isn't really there with him.

And where he's gone

Can he see us here?

Does he see

His brother shed a tear?

Torn apart by hate and lies

Reunited all too brief

Hope that wherever he has gone

He can now rest in peace

The man blinks. He knows he needs to move on. The betrayal and death occurred over ten years ago. He bids a silent farewell to James Potter, but does not feel the need to do the same for Peter Pettigrew.

There was no time to prepare for it

No chance to say goodbye

When you were just getting back together

One of you had to die

Together for a spell

But divided you fell

Want to talk, but there's no one to tell

The fourth boy in the photo, tall and handsome with laughing grey eyes, was also lost to the man for a while. Thought by the whole world to be a traitor, he had disappeared from the day to day life of the silent man for twelve years. But he had returned, and they had started to rebuild their friendship. It was still only a shade of what they had all had at school, but the traitor had seen to it that all that remained of that relationship was a mere memory.

But still, the man had felt less alone. His friend had slowly started to become one of the brothers he had lost again. But it couldn't last. That tall, handsome boy who had become a feared and hunted man, was also dead.

And where he's gone

Can he see us here?

Does he see

His brother shed a tear?

Torn apart by hate and lies

Reunited all too brief

Hope that wherever he has gone

He can now rest in peace

The man knows he must say another goodbye. This one is perhaps harder than the other. He has had many years to grieve for the hazel-eyed man, but the scars left by the death of the tall one are still raw. But he needs to put it behind him. There is too much at stake for him to allow the luxury of dwelling on it. Head bowed still further, he whispers a final goodbye to Sirius Black

Back to thirty years ago

You're on your own again

But this time you remember

All about your friends

The happy times, the sadnesses

The times that you all shared

But now when you visit your old haunts

You're the only one who's there

He looks for one last time at the photo. His own image waves back at him, looking content and happy. He was surrounded by his friends, the first friends he ever had. He is suddenly painfully aware of the emptiness that surrounds him now. To know friendship, and then to lose it is perhaps the hardest thing he has ever been through.

He went back to their favourite pub the other day. The décor and barmaid were the same, but the atmosphere was different. Without the jokes and pranks of the two black-haired boys, the air was overwhelmingly oppressive.

He knows that there is no way he can ever get back what he has lost, and it is that fact that has resulted in him sitting here alone for hours. With a sudden compulsive gesture, he thrusts the photo back in the album then, picking it up, he enters the house, leaving the front doorstep as empty as his heart.

And where they've gone

Can they see him here?

Do they see

Their brother shed a tear?

Torn apart by hate and lies

Reunited all too brief

Hope that wherever they have gone

They can now rest in peace