Just Call My Name, I'll Be There

Autumn turned to winter as December rolled around. The cold air nipped at James' skin and ruffled his hair, not that he minded that second part. What he hated was the drop in temperature caused his glasses frame to numb his skin when he put them on in the morning.

"Prongs!" James turned over just in time for a pillow to land on his face, hard. It was Sirius, already in his uniform. Monday morning had come around as quickly as it left.

"Get up already, Moony left without us for breakfast," Sirius informed, tightening the tie around his neck as he spoke. James flipped onto his back with a huff. He didn't want to face the cold day yet, he wanted to savour the warmth of his bed for a few more minutes.

"Seriously Prongs, if you don't get up now I'll block off the entrance to the Shrieking Shack so you can't get in on Thursday night," Sirius threatened. James knew he wasn't serious, Remus would sooner transform in their dorm than let that happen, but the tone in Sirius' voice was enough to startle James out of bed.

Shortly after, James and Sirius entered the great hall and made a beeline to where Remus was sitting with Lily. He was drinking from a cup of tea when he spotted the other Marauders. Remus gave them a quick wave and placed the cup back on the table.

"Took you two long enough, did you encounter a troll on the way here or something?" Remus asked as the two sat down on the opposite side.

"Oh please," Lily piped up, "James' bed hair is worse than usual, that can only mean that he overslept and Sirius had to drag him down here." Sirius laughed and slapped the table.

"She's got you there, mate," Sirius teased.

"So what you're saying Evans is that you're looking at my hair long enough to notice if it's any worse than usual?" James smirked.

"What? No- I-," Lily stammered, cheeks heating up to match her hair, "you arrogant-".

"Leave her alone Prongs, you've got your own missus to worry about. I don't think she's too happy that you've been spending all your time with a certain Slytherin rather than her lately," Remus chastised. At this point, everyone else was used to James seeking out Severus in his spare time, but that meant James wasn't seeing Mary as much as he used to.

At the mention of the Slytherin boy, James cast his eyes to the table on the far side of the room. He scoured the length of the table, looking for a familiar head of black hair, but he was unable to find it.

"I spend as much time with him as I do with you lot. If she's really that upset, she'd come speak to me about it," James said, but his focus wasn't on the conversation anymore. It wasn't the first time Severus had been absent from breakfast, but James had grown to like their morning greetings over the length of the Great Hall. James was sure he'd see him in their shared Potions class after lunch.

***

Tuesday morning was almost exactly the same as Monday, except James got out of bed at the right time so he wouldn't miss Severus if he decided to show up to breakfast. Yesterday, he had been mysteriously absent from all the classes he shared with James.

When James asked Lily if she knew where he was, she didn't know either. He wasn't in the hospital wing, and he wasn't holed up somewhere in the Slytherin quarters, so James was out of ideas. It wasn't like Severus to disappear off the face of the Earth with no clue of his whereabouts.

As Tuesday dragged past in a blur of essays and assignments and NEWT preparation, not once did Severus show his face. Sirius was trying to take his mind off it.

"Don't worry about him, have you forgotten what Thursday night is? You're prepared for it, right?" Sirius asked in a hushed voice in the back of their Charms class.

"Of course Padfoot, who do you take me for?" James replied calmly.

***

Wednesday came and went with no sign of Severus. James could hardly focus on his absurd disappearance though; Remus was looking worse for wear, his transformation was 24 hours away. Sirius never left Remus' side when this time of the month came around. It's when he's the most serious, and if it wasn't for such a grave reason, James would say this side of Sirius is one he should show more often.

Once Sirius was in the mood to joke around again, James would have to tell him how whipped he looked for the slender werewolf.

"James, aren't you forgetting something?" Mary asked, bringing James back to the present. She was standing still, hands on her hips, it looked like she was expecting something.

"Oh, um, right," James fished a small, empty ink pot from his book bag and placed it in Mary's hand, "sorry that I didn't return it earlier, I've got some new, unbroken ones now. Anyways, I really have to go, I promised Remus that I'd meet him." James passed her and headed up to the shared dorm.

"James! Wait! That's not what I meant!" Mary shouted out after him, but he could no longer hear her.

***

James was too preoccupied on Thursday to worry about Severus. He had reached Sirius' level of mother-henning, to Remus' dismay.

"Seriously, I don't know how many times I have to tell you two that I only need your help at night," Remus sighed. He was propped up in his four poster bed by an extra pillow, willingly donated by Sirius.

"Dear sweet Moony, who else would cure your boredom if we weren't around?" Sirius asked, sitting on the end of his bed with a hand casually resting on Remus' knee.

"I'm a teenage boy, I'm sure I'll find a way," Remus retorted. Sirius retracted his hand like he'd been burned, while James laughed harder than he had all week.

"I don't know how the professors all claim you're the innocent one, Moony. You're worse than us sometimes," James said.

Several hours later, just as the sun was setting, they made their way to the Shrieking Shack, and James and Sirius transformed before the moon rose.

***

Friday morning found Lupin in his usual spot in the hospital wing, and there was still no sign of Severus. James bargained with himself: if he hadn't heard anything from Severus by that night, he was going to see Dumbledore the following morning.

It turns out that seeing Dumbledore wouldn't be necessary. Lily approached James in the late afternoon, clutching a letter. He was with Mary, and she didn't seem too thrilled when Lily asked to speak to James alone.

"I had to talk to you, sorry for pulling you away from Mary," she brandished the letter, "this is from Sev. He's ok." James' eyes widen and his heart thudded suddenly.

"Is he ok? Is he safe?" James rushed out, moving to snatch the letter from Lily. She anticipated his movements and held it out of his reach.

"Ah! That's private. He's ok, or rather, he will be," Lily explained. She saw the disappointment in James' face that he wasn't allowed to know what happened.

"Hey, I'm sure he has a reason for not telling you just yet. It says here that he'll be back tomorrow night," Lily reached forward and rubbed James' arm before she left.

James really tried not to feel hurt. Severus and Lily had known each other for a decade, it's normal that he would send her an owl first. Merlin, this wasn't even about him, something terrible had obviously happened to his friend and all he could worry about was his pride.

***

Around breakfast on Saturday, James and Sirius helped Remus limp back up to the Gryffindor tower. This transformation hadn't been as taxing on his body as normal, so Madame Pomfrey lets him go early. Remus was just tired now, so he spent the day underneath a multitude of blankets Sirius threw on him.

"If you add anymore I'll suffocate!" Remus warned. He then forced the two down to breakfast so they didn't go starving half the day.

"I think Moony will catch on soon enough if you don't leave him alone," James teased, elbowing Sirius in the side. Sirius coughed and tucked a loose, dark curl behind his ear.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he asserted. They had made it to the Great Hall just in time for the post. Before they even reached the Gryffindor table, a letter fell for James, hitting his shoulder on its way to the floor. He picked it up and immediately recognised the cursive scrawl.

"It's from Severus," James mumbled.

"Ah, so the bastard decided to let you know that he's still alive?" Sirius scoffed.

"Hey, don't-,"

"-call him a bastard, I know. I'm still getting used to the whole…you two being good friends thing," Sirius defended. "Besides, if you've come around to him after hating him for all these years, then he mustn't be as bad as he used to be." James supposed his reasoning was better than Sirius outright hating him like he used to.

"Padfoot, one day you'll become friends with Severus, and you'll be kicking yourself like I did," James stated. Sirius didn't bother defending himself more than a cheeky eye-roll, it's clear that James' mind was already made up. One thing Sirius has grown to love and hate about James is his stubbornness.

James ripped open the envelop and tried his best to keep Sirius from reading over his shoulder.

"James,

I'm sorry that I haven't been able to contact you this past week. I'm ok, but something happened. If you're free tonight, could you meet me in the Room of Requirement?

Sincerely,

Severus Snape."

James carefully folded the letter and placed it in his pocket.

"Well he's concise, I'll give him that," Sirius noted, and that coaxed a small smile from James.

***

James paced the seventh floor. Back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. His thoughts couldn't be any louder if he tried.

'I need a place to find Severus Snape'.

He was almost nervous to speak to Severus, a feeling he wasn't well acquainted with. What if he didn't want to speak to James anymore? No, this was irrational, James could get past this.

The door for the room appeared and James all but raced inside. Inside, there was a roaring fireplace a few chairs and tables, and a couch. Rows of books lined the walls, and the room seemed to glow a dim red hue. It reminded James of the Gryffindor common room a bit. Curiously enough, there was an abundance of bedding strewn around the room, such as pillows and blankets.

Severus was by the fire, sitting cross legged on the Kashan rug and prodding at the logs with a poker. He didn't seem to notice that James had entered. James clear his throat.

"Long time, no see," he spoke. Severus whipped around to face him. He dropped the poker on the tiles and stood to face James. Even from a distance, he looked like he'd been crying. James' face fell and he immediately rushed over to Severus' spot by the fire.

Without even thinking about it, he enveloped Severus in a hug. One of James' hands found its way to Severus' back and the other rested on the back of his head, guiding Severus into James' shoulder. As James threaded his fingers soothingly through the other's hair, he realised how soft it was.

Severus wrapped his thin arms around James' torso and buried his face into his neck. They stood in front of the flames, breathing deeply, bathing in the heat. Neither of them moved, except for James' hand running itself through Severus' surprisingly thick, shoulder-length hair.

"What happened?" James whispered, eyes on the flickering fire. Severus pulled away from James and sank back down into his cross-legged position on the floor. He leaned back against couch behind him, head resting on the cushion and eyes staring blankly at the roof.

"My father died on Monday," Severus said softly. He looked over to James, but the other sank to the floor beside him.

"Severus, I'm so sorry," James said. He went to rest a hand on Severus' shoulder, but stopped, he didn't want to seem patronising. To his surprise, Severus scoffed.

"Don't be sorry, he was an asshole. I mean, he was my father, but he made my mother's life a living hell while she was still alive," Severus sighed, "after she passed, he just got worse. Dumbledore came and found me early Monday morning, it turns out it was the booze that got him in the end. Not a surprise."

Severus paused for a minute, trying to plan what to say next.

"The funeral was on Friday, and I had the absolute pleasure of reconnecting with the muggle half of my family on the days between. They're just as horrible as he was, they think I've been living at some boarding school for teenager delinquents and were treating me as such." Severus uncrossed his legs and turned to face James.

"Thursday was the worst day. A solicitor came to discuss his will, seeing that I'm listed as the next of kin, and-" Severus drew in a ragged breath, "it turns out that he accumulated a massive amount of debt when he was alive. There's no one who can afford to pay it back in the family, so they're repossessing the house." Severus let out a bitter laugh, "It's funny really, he still finds a way to be a problem in death."

"Wait, so that means that after school-,"

"I'll be homeless? Virtually, yes," Severus answered quickly. He shook his head and rested a hand on the back of his neck. "I don't know anyone from the Prince line, my mother was disowned when she married my father, and I'd rather be homeless than live with his side of the family. There's nowhere for me to go."

James in that moment felt completely and utterly useless. There was almost nothing he could say to change the situation at hand. Well there was one thing, but it was drastic. Screw it, he thought.

"I'll pay for the house," James burst out. Severus raised an eyebrow and went to refuse, but James continued, "seriously, I will. The Potter fortune is large enough to buy it fifty times over."

"Please, you're just saying that," Severus scoffed.

"No, seriously. I'll swear to it if you don't believe me. I don't want to see you go without a place to live just because of your father," James reassured. Severus studied him, it didn't seem like James was bluffing.

"I can't let you do that. Besides, I don't want to go back there anyways, there are too many bad memories associated with that house," Severus declined.

"What can I do you help you then? I feel a bit useless," James asked.

"What do you mean? Just keep me company," Severus playfully hit his forearm, "I asked you here tonight for a reason. Besides Lily, you're the closest friend I have now," Severus confessed. James tried to think of a way to cheer him up for a minute.

"Don't worry, I've got just the thing, trust me you'll love it," James grinned as he rose to his feet.

***

"I knew I shouldn't have trusted you. I think you meant to say that you'll love this, not me,�� Severus groaned as he eyed what James had spent the past ten minutes building. He'd used the various pillows and blankets around the room to assemble a pillow fort, which he was now inside. Severus stood at the foot of the fort.

"What do you mean? Don't tell me you're too good to enjoy a pillow fort?" James teased. The Gryffindor used to love building them when he was younger, however the Slytherin never got to make once in his youth.

"No, what I mean is that you look like an idiot right now. There's no way I'm getting in that unstable mess," Severus retorted, his arms crossed.

"Come on Severus," James drawled, "get in here right now."

"Make me," he shot back. James surged forward and wrapped his arms around his legs, pulling him down and into the structure. "Get off me you git!" Severus threatened, desperately trying to free himself from James' grip. James only let go of him when he was inside and there was no chance of his escaping.

"See, it's not so bad in here right? The Room of Requirement knew that we'd need a load of pillows, that's why they were sprawled out everywhere," James mused, flopping onto his back and looking at the blankets overheard. Severus eventually laid down next to him and sighed.

"It's…better than I expected. I have to applaud your craftsmanship," Severus replied. "What do we do now?"

"Anything really. We could gossip, I know how much you love doing that," James suggested sarcastically.

"Oh you know me too well," Severus went along with it. However, something did come to mind that he wanted to ask James about.

"Can I ask you something now that you've brought up gossip?" Severus asked. James nodded expectedly. "It's about Black and Lupin. What's…going on there?" Severus asked cautiously.

"If I knew I would tell you, but it's obvious how hard poor Sirius is pining," James laughed. Severus joined in too.

"Speaking of Sirius, I think he's finally warming up to you. I mean, as much as Sirius is willing to warm up to you before I force him to," James explained.

"He has no reason to like me though, you don't have to force him to befriend me. If anything, that'll make him dislike me even more," Severus replied.

"Well if that's the case, it'll be his loss. You're fantastic and you deserved to be liked," James mused in a rare serious moment, but that smirk soon returned to his face. "Although, that goes the opposite way too, I can see you and Sirius being quite the duo if you both let your past animosities die."

"Fine, I'll try then, but I'm only doing this for you," Severus warned. James laughed at how annoyed he looked. They lapsed into a comfortable silence before Severus spoke up.

"Thank you for building this stupid fort to take my mind off everything that's going on," he said quietly.

"We can stay in here forever if you want, it's cozy enough. We could grow old in here, get a couple of cats, pee in a bucket," James suggested with a smile. Severus whacked his arm to shut him up and laughed. James watched Severus out of the corner of his eye, he seemed to be fighting against what he wanted to say. He finally cleared his throat and inhaled.

"Hey James?" Severus paused. "This might sound lame, but I think you're my new favourite person," he confessed softly.

"Really?" James asked, taken aback. He propped himself up on his left elbow to look at Severus properly. Severus looked over to meet James' eyes.

"Yeah, really," Severus let out a nervous laugh, "is that tragic since we hated each other until recently?" James carefully thought about what to say.

"I don't think so, you're my new favourite person too," James replied, "just don't tell Sirius because he will kill you."

"Ok, I won't." The two laughed together.

"Hey, come stay with me over the Christmas break," James suddenly proposed. "Sirius has been living with me since our sixth year, and Remus is coming to stay with us for the holidays too. It'll be fun."

"I guess so, sure," Severus replied. James grinned.

"Heads up though, you'll have to share a room with me. That is, unless you want to stay in the bigger guest room with Sirius and Remus, but something's telling me you wouldn't like that," James said.

"You're right," Severus cursed the blush that rose to his pale cheeks at the implication. James, however, couldn't stop staring at the faint pink dusting his friend's cheekbones. That weird feeling in his stomach returned for the millionth time that evening.