The discussion about the fleeting nature of life was forgotten as she kept speaking and her words stopped him short, literally and figuratively. He stood there, frowning. Why had he not talked to her? Merlin, that seemed like such an easy question. "I'm an idiot." The realization hit him like a ton of bricks. He should have talked to her because he knew that there was nothing more powerful than a mother's determination. His own mother had proved it, while raising a child as a single parent and with no support in the Muggle world.
"I-" He couldn't seem to make his feet or mouth move. He leaned against a wall, looking at her. "It never occurred to me and it should have been so obvious. Merlin, I'm- God, sorry doesn't seem appropriate here, but I am. The solution was obvious." He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. His stomach was tied in a knut. Had it been so simple and he'd missed it because of the Marauders?
"In the past few months, I've realized just how much the Marauders held us back. I don't mean the friendship, but the title, the name. We held on tight to something that didn't exist anymore," he said, shaking his head. "We wanted to be the same. Sirius is basically having a breakdown because people grew up, none of us trusted Remus because he didn't share everything, I was the most obtuse of all, never considering that you could convince James. We kept thinking of us as the Marauders and James just happened to be married, and- I know it's not going to change the past, but I want to do better. For all of us, you included. The Marauders can't be who they were, four plus one. I'm sorry that's how we- I treated you."