Skipping Stones

Prologue

Fireworks of every color that one could imagine, and some colors one couldn't dream of were bursting outside Remus's window. He walked over the window of his loft, and closed the blinds. He could shut out the color, but nothing could shut out the noise. People cheering, yelling. New Year's had come early, so it seemed. With He-Who-Must-Not-be Named gone, the wizard world felt a weight lift off its shoulders and they felt lighter then they had in years.

But at what cost? Remus thought as he looked at the contents of a shoebox on top of his desk. He had not looked through the box for many years. Never one to dwell on scenarios that never came to past, he had put the box and its contents away until this morning when he heard the news that James and Lily Potter had been killed.

He sifted through the items in the box. He found his Prefect badge. A broken snitch James had given him once as a memento from a memorable Quidditch game. When Remus asked if he was allowed to take it, James winked and said "Remus, you are a good boy. Let's keep it that way." Bit by bit, he looked through the results of seven years of Hogwarts. Each held a memory of events he had wanted to remember.

He stopped when he found a flat gray stone. A skipping stone. When he was child, he use to take these to a pond by his house and watch the pond ripple. Each time he would try to count the number of rings before they faded away into the water. When he first came to Hogwarts, he use to try to make the pond ripple, because it reminded him of home. He would spend hours looking for a skipping stone so that he could get a break from the loneliness he felt that first year of Hogwarts. But skipping stones were hard to find there, no matter how hard you looked. At least for him. For Lily, it was second nature.

He closed his eyes and felt the smooth stone in his hand. He still couldn't believe that she was dead. Lily and her tomboyish attitude. Her brains for charms. Her laugh that always made him smile. As much as he loved the marauders, Lily had been his best friend. But like most things that start when you're young, adulthood approaches and things change.

His tears ran down his face. Even though she was no longer a part of his life, knowing that she was out there made his life a little easier.

Remus was never one to make a spectacle of himself. "I will give myself tonight", Remus said out loud as his own defense of muting the noise outside. Tomorrow he would go about his day, and be joyous with the others that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is gone, but for tonight, he would remember his best friend.

He opened his eyes, and remembered the first day he met the red haired Lily Evans.