Halloween 1981

AN: I'm not even going to try to say that I didn't take this idea from other fics because there are tons of these things out there. I've read some of them, didn't like the way they portrayed it so I decided to write my own. I hope you like it, and please review once you're done.

Halloween 1981

    A harsh wind blew Sirius's hair away from his face and stung his eyes, but he pushed the pedal of his motorcycle faster. He was more then willing to endure these discomforts if he could just get to Lily and James's house a little bit faster. He desperately wished that he could just Apparate there, but the Fidelius Charm made that impossible.

    Memories played in his head over and over again. Just last week James had asked him to be the Potter's Secret-Keeper, but instead of agreeing Sirius had advised them to choose Peter as a bluff. His mind fast-forwarded to four days ago when they had performed the Fidelius Charm, Sirius had been present to make sure nothing went wrong. At the time he had just thought that it was his imagination but he could have sworn that he saw Peter smile when the ceremony was finished. Again his memory skipped forward to just over an hour ago when Sirius had gone to check on Peter in his London flat. Peter hadn't been home, and it was obvious that Peter had left on his own accord being as there was no sign of a struggle. Then Sirius had had a sudden sinking feeling that something was horribly wrong. Something clicked in his mind, and he knew why Peter had looked so happy to be the Potter's Secret-Keeper. Sirius had immediately left for Godric's Hollow.

    For the past hour Sirius had been cursing himself for not seeing it sooner. Peter was a rat; he wanted nothing more then to save his own skin. It should have been perfectly obvious to Sirius that that out of everyone Peter was the most likely to go over to Voldemort's side. Even Remus, who was a werewolf, a dark creature, and thus subject to much prejudice in the wizarding world, was a less likely candidate for a Death Eater. Sirius cursed himself again for being so stupid, and pushed the thoughts aside. They were no good to him now; all he could do was hope that he arrived there in time to make a difference.

    Sirius could tell by the faint outline of the forest below that he was would soon be at the Potter's home. He squinted against the wind for any trace of the Dark Mark in the sky and for a moment he saw nothing. He let out a breath that he didn't realize he had been holding in relief.

    Then he saw the twinkling green in the distance. He swore, and pushed down even harder on the gas pedal while squinting at the green, hoping that it wasn't what he thought it was. Within seconds he was close enough to make out the shape that the twinkling green stars made, a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth as if it was sticking its tongue out at the world, mocking the destruction that lay beneath it.

    He was still going fast when he landed and he plowed through the front yard, ripping up grass and turning dirt as he skidded to a halt. Not that the damage to the yard mattered, for the once beautiful house that had sat on it was now nothing more than rubble.

    Sirius shakily got off of his motorcycle and approached the ruins. With a blood-curling yell he released his grief for the entire world to hear and fell to ground, sobbing. "Damn it James," he screamed hoarsely between sobs. "Why did you have to listen to me? Why did you ever trust me?" He pounded the ground with his fist to emphasis his questions but still received no answer; there was only silence.

    A soft breeze blew; Sirius looked up to see the front door open eerily, as if the dead residents of the house were inviting him inside. He rose to his feet and took a deep breath to steady and prepare himself for what lay inside.

    Wooden beams that had once supported the second story of the house had fallen into the first and chunks of plaster lay in heaps on the carpet. Not really knowing where else to go Sirius made his way for the back of the house, the kitchen. He stumbled down the hallway, and swerved around the fallen beams.

    He heard the snap of wood breaking and looked down at the floor. His foot was on top of a long thin piece of mahogany, James's wand. He picked up the broken wand, and looked around for any sign of his friend. He walked into the living where he found the body of his old school friend on the floor. Sirius felt more tears well up in his eyes and blinked them back harshly.

    He kneeled down next to James, and took in the sight before him. James had usually had a smile on his face, but there was no more smile now. Nor was there a look of absolute horror on his features. Instead there was a scowl, as if James had been in the midst of a fight when he died. Sirius was comforted slightly by this thought. James had always been very noble; it would have been a great injustice if he had not even been able to attempt to protect himself and his family before dying.

    There was a muffled cry from another room, and Sirius's head jerked up. That had sounded like a baby crying, but it couldn't be, there was no way that little baby Harry could have survived this. There was another wail, and Sirius left his friend's body to find its source, hoping that he wasn't just imagining the sound. Sirius followed the cries into the kitchen where he quickly saw Lily's body just a few feet from the back door; she had almost made it out. Sirius came closer to Lily and saw that she was huddled over a bundle of blankets, Harry.

    Sirius didn't think that there was anyone who had ever been so relieved to hear the wails of a baby before. He removed the bundle from Lily's cold arms, and looked at her while he tried to soothe Harry. A look of fierce determination was on her face. Sirius found this fitting, Lily had always been rather stubborn, and even in death she stubbornly protected her child.

    Having found Harry, Sirius went back outside and was just about to leave when he saw a massive figure on the lawn. Sirius blinked to make sure that he wasn't seeing things. "Hagrid?" he managed to croak.

    The gigantic man was crying. "Oh, Sirius, it's 'orribable isn't?" he sobbed. "He got Lily and James!"

    Sirius nodded solemnly and felt new tears come up to his eyes, a few managed to escape before Sirius could wipe them away. "Hagrid, what are you doing here?"

    Hagrid blew his nose into a large handkerchief. "I'm suppose ter get Harry, he's goin' ter live with his aunt and uncle."

    Sirius sat stunned for a moment at this news, it felt like a fog had descended on his brain. He didn't want to give Harry up. He had already betrayed the Potter's trust by having Peter be their Secret-Keeper; he didn't want to do it again by neglecting his responsibilities as Harry's godfather. "But Hagrid, I'm Harry's godfather. I'm suppose to take care of him."

    Hagrid blew his nose again. "Nope, Harry's goin' ter be raised by Lily's sister."

    "Lily's sisters..." he trailed of thinking of what Lily had told him about her sister, "but she's- she's a Muggle. Lily said that she hates magic. You can't let them raise Harry."

    "I'm sorry, Sirius, but that's what Dumbledore wants ter do." Sirius thought about it for a moment. Dumbledore had always known what was best in the past; there was no reason why he would be wrong now. Sirius nodded numbly as he gave Harry to Hagrid, he would just have to trust Dumbledore's judgment on this. "Thanks, Sirius, I best be off, got a long way ter go."

    Sirius nodded again, and then thought of something. He had to do something for Lily and James, something to prove that he hadn't meant for any of this to happen and if he couldn't raise their son then he would avenge their deaths. "Hagrid, hold on a minute," he called after the oversized man. Hagrid turned around to face Sirius. "Here why don't you take my bike here, it can fly, and I don't think-" he took a deep breath preparing himself for what he was going to say next, "I don't think I'm going to need it anymore."

    Hagrid looked at him for a moment; he seemed slightly perplexed by Sirius's choice of words, but agreed to take the motorcycle. Hagrid climbed onto the motorcycle and made sure to tuck Harry safely into his coat. After Hagrid had thanked him again he took off to deliver Harry to his aunt and uncle.

    Sirius watched the sky until he could no longer see Hagrid, and once the giant sized man had disappeared his eyes did not shift earthward. Instead they focused on the skull, it was a bit dimmer now, but could still be seen clearly in the dark sky. Rage flooded into Sirius at the sight of the skull still mocking his grief with its snake tongue.

    It was his fault that the Potters had used Peter as their Secret-Keeper, but it was Peter's fault that the Potters were now dead, and their infant son was going off to live with Muggles. Sirius knew that he couldn't undo what had happened, but he would make that little rat would pay for betraying them. All he had to do was find Peter. That would be easy enough, Peter would probably stay in London so that he wouldn't arouse suspicion by suddenly disappearing.

    He wanted to Apparate to London right away and take care of Peter, but one look at Godric's Hollow stopped him. The grief flooded back into his heart, and he felt new tears spring to his eyes. There would be plenty of time to kill Peter, he realized. Right now, he needed to mourn the loss of his friends.

    Sirius turned into Padfoot so that anyone who came by wouldn't recognize him. The great black dog wandered back into the ruins of Godric's Hollow and into the living room. Padfoot sniffed and whined at James like a faithful pet reminding his owner to wake up and take him outside. Padfoot nudged James's head with his wet nose, and still he did not stir. Then the dog mind of Padfoot comprehended why his friend did not move and he let out a great howl to mourn the death of Prongs.

*****

    The early morning hours of November first found Padfoot lying in an alley near Peter Pettigrew's flat. He had apparated there during the night, and had been carefully watching Peter's door ever since. When he saw a short, chubby man emerge from the building he changed back into his human form and followed him.

    Sirius walked behind Peter for awhile, steadily gaining ground. Peter looked nervously over his shoulder to see Sirius standing right behind him, wand drawn and scowling. "Peter," he said gravely.

    The smaller man smiled nervously, and took a step backwards. "Sirius, why, what are you doing here?" Peter's nervousness caused him to stumble over the words and his feet as he fell down onto the cement.

    "You know why I'm here," he growled. "You killed them, Peter. You killed Lily and James." Peter's eyes darted around for some way to escape, but they found none.

    "Wha-whatever would give you that idea?"

    Sirius grabbed him roughly by the collar and hauled Peter to his feet. "You were their Secret-Keeper, you murdering bastard." Sirius shoved Peter away from him, and the chubby man stumbled but remained on his feet.

    A few Muggles had stopped to observe the spectacle on the streets. Peter glanced around again for a way to escape, and Sirius saw the hints of that strange smile playing on Peter's face. Sirius's eyes narrowed in suspicion, Peter had a plan.

    The odd smile quickly disappeared and was replaced by loud sobs; even more Muggles stopped to watch. Peter looked back up at Sirius, tears now streaming freely down his face. "Lily and James, Sirius!" he shouted through his false sobs. "How could you!"

    Sirius scowl deepened as he realized what Peter was doing. He raised his wand, and was going to curse Peter into the afterlife when an explosion rocked the street. Chunks of cement soared into the sky and gracelessly returned to the earth. White dust filled the air, but through it Sirius heard a faint pop from where Peter had been standing and saw a tiny figure scurry across the ground. He swore and sent a curse at the rat running towards the sewer. He missed, and the rat escaped beneath the streets.

    Sirius coughed as he breathed in the dust. He blinked through the cloud and saw the ruin that Peter had caused. There was a large creator in front of him, and bodies were strewn about the area, Sirius was positive that several of them were dead.

    He heard the sirens of the Muggle police men coming to see what had happened, and knew that the Ministry Hit Wizards would be there shortly. He saw a few Muggles struggle to their feet, and fearfully back away from him.

    For a moment he wondered why they would fear him, but then it occurred to him how what had just happened looked to them. They though that he had caused the explosion, and they would most likely think that he had killed Peter. Sirius felt suddenly sick to his stomach when he realized that they would also think that he had killed Lily and James.

    All the sudden the nausea passed as it occurred to Sirius that in a very bizarre, sick sort of way all this was really rather funny. The irony in the whole situation was unbearable; Sirius slowly started to chuckle. His laughter was sick and twisted just like the humor he saw in the moment.

    He laughed even harder as he took in the events of the past day. Peter, who had always seemed so loyal to them, had betrayed the Potters to Voldemort, who killed Lily and James, two of the more powerful people in the magical world. Here Sirius realized was something absolutely hilarious, the Potter's little infant son had survived what countless fully trained witches and wizards hadn't. Now little baby Harry, who was well started on the path towards becoming a great wizard someday and was probably already known by every witch and wizard alive, was going to live with the biggest Muggles to have ever lived. He laughed even harder.

The Hit Wizards arrived shortly, and stood in shock at what they saw. A large hole in the middle of the street surrounded by chunks of the sidewalk, and Muggle bodies everywhere while a few were still screaming in terror. There he was right the middle of it all laughing his head off.

    Sirius bent over to hold his stomach; his sides were starting to hurt from laughing so hard. That was when in he saw. Peter's robes were lying in a heap a few feet away with a bloody finger next to them. Sirius really had to hand it to Peter. He never would have though that poor, blundering Peter would have been capable of coming with such a plan.

    The Hit Wizards made a circle around him. They nervously looked at one another, none really sure what to do or make of the situation. One of them raised a wand and sent a stunning spell at Sirius, but he dodged and continued to laugh. Then came another shout of "Stupify" which he dodged. It was followed closely by someone yelling, "Expelliarmus!" Sirius felt his wand slip from his grasp, but didn't really care at this point.

    With Sirius finally disarmed the wizards closed in on him. One of them shouted another spell and long roped sprung from his wand and wound themselves around Sirius. With his legs so firmly bound together Sirius was unable to walk. A witch muttered a charm, and Sirius's body was lifted from the ground. The witches and wizards started off for the Ministry headquarters. They formed a tight circle around his floating body. Sirius continued to chuckle on his to the Ministry.