[He's set to answer, and then he hears that laugh, and it's like--
Look, to Sirius, there is no one anywhere that matters as much as James. Everything starts and stops with James. And he couldn't point to a specific instant and say here, yes, here's where that happened, it was more one minute they were first years, swaggering around, showing off for each other, and then suddenly they're places like here, on the brink of the awful future, and James' laugh has that little catch in it and he knows what that means, because he more or less knows everything about James, because that laugh opens something deep in him and that's it, then, he moves forward and closes that distance between them, grabbing for James' shoulder all at once, swift and decisive and hard, because what else does he have? Because if he stops himself, he'll have to give in to the hot feeling building behind his eyes, and he can't.]
Because we're going to change it, because we have to. Because I'm never letting anything happen to you, and if there's anything to do then I'm going to do it. [There's no choice in it, and he's not going to stop and think maybe it won't work because it will, if he has to will it into being then he'll do it. Because being without James is empty. He's had some small taste of it here, but at least James was out there somewhere. This is different, this is never going to happen, and he grips hard at James' shoulder and forces his voice steady.] It's not going to happen that way, James. I'll swear on whatever the hell you like, I'm not letting it happen.
action;
[He's set to answer, and then he hears that laugh, and it's like--
Look, to Sirius, there is no one anywhere that matters as much as James. Everything starts and stops with James. And he couldn't point to a specific instant and say here, yes, here's where that happened, it was more one minute they were first years, swaggering around, showing off for each other, and then suddenly they're places like here, on the brink of the awful future, and James' laugh has that little catch in it and he knows what that means, because he more or less knows everything about James, because that laugh opens something deep in him and that's it, then, he moves forward and closes that distance between them, grabbing for James' shoulder all at once, swift and decisive and hard, because what else does he have? Because if he stops himself, he'll have to give in to the hot feeling building behind his eyes, and he can't.]
Because we're going to change it, because we have to. Because I'm never letting anything happen to you, and if there's anything to do then I'm going to do it. [There's no choice in it, and he's not going to stop and think maybe it won't work because it will, if he has to will it into being then he'll do it. Because being without James is empty. He's had some small taste of it here, but at least James was out there somewhere. This is different, this is never going to happen, and he grips hard at James' shoulder and forces his voice steady.] It's not going to happen that way, James. I'll swear on whatever the hell you like, I'm not letting it happen.