Tempus

Remus is the past. His skin is pale and, if you know where to look, scarred. He carries with him the weight of ages, things he has done, and things he could not do. He is full of regrets, even at 11, especially at 35. He surrounds himself with things of old - books, furniture, and memories. It is his armour against a world that would kill him as soon as look at him. He treasures happiness because he has found it so sparse in his life. For this reason he always looks backward, to a time when he was one of four, not one of one. Remus is the past, for nothing else can define him.

Peter is the present. His eyes constantly dart around the room. He doesn't live for the moment, but to ensure his own survival. He merely observes and acts, too concerned with the now to wonder about anything else. He finds it hard to concentrate, these days. Maybe being a rat all those years has had an adverse effect. He does not worry about the future, because he might not get there. Maybe he should have been in Hufflepuff. He does things slowly, methodically, in his mind at least. On the surface he is full of nervous twitches, which he tries hard to control. He tries not to anger his Lord and determines not to remember the sun shining down on four riotous boys, nor to imagine where he might have been had he not taken the path he did.

Sirius was the future. He was never still - it was one of the fundamental laws of the Universe, they used to joke. The day Sirius Black stood still, Time itself would halt. He had no time for dusty tomes, or for careful observation of the surroundings. He had not a care in the world and threw himself into everything. For Sirius the main question was 'How?' shortly followed by 'When?' He was always two steps ahead of everyone, even James. On the rare occasions he did reflect, he decided that he and Remus complemented each other perfectly. Then he would be off, bounding ahead - more Padfoot than man. Because he never stopped, he did not question whether he should have waited the night James died. Waited for Remus to get home. Nor, fourteen years later, did he stop to ask whether it would be best to wait for the Order to rescue his Godson. So he flung himself into the future, and fell.

James... was odd. If his heart had not stopped, with green light that filled his vision, maybe he would have been like Sirius. Possibly Remus. At a stretch, Peter. But his heart did stop and so James became the Time That Never Was. For James there was no removal of the Fidelis charm from Sirius, whilst the man winced and made obscene gestures at him. There was no Dreaded First Date, where James asked Harry's girlfriend the most embarrassing questions he could think of, and then had to spend two hours standing in the bath whilst Lily, Remus and Sirius tried in vain (for it is impossible to wave a wand when you're having hysterics) to stop the purple oil spouting from all his orifices. There was no watching Remus trying very hard not to drop James' daughter, cradling her like the child he and Sirius could never have. He did not grow old, with Lily at his side and Sirius and Remus at his back. He did not watch Harry become an Auror and his daughter a politician. He was not there when, crossing the road to avoid the Aurors who had inadvertently seen an old scar on his forearm, Peter was struck down by a Muggle bus. For James, there was no Time.