Trick-or-Treat
What happened on the night of October 31, 1981
"Trick-or-treat!"
Peter Pettigrew jumped to the right, narrowly avoiding the foot of the little girl who had spoken, dressed as what was apparently supposed to be a fairy. Clearly, whichever stupid Muggle had made her costume had never seen an actual fairy before.
He scurried through the streets of England, trying to keep up with a tall, cloaked figure striding purposefully in front of him. A large, brown shoe stepped on his tail – the rat let out a squeak and stopped to yank his tail out.
Frightened that his master would soon be out of sight, Wormtail turned back in the direction the Dark Lord had headed off to. Luckily, the man in the black, hooded robes was hard to miss. Wormtail, anxious about what was to happen, hurried after Voldemort.
What if they overpower him?, thought Pettigrew, getting shakier by the second. No, no, that would never happen, he assured himself repeatedly. Still, he continued on his way to Godric's Hollow, to the Potters' cottage, just to be sure all would go as planned. If he fails...if the boy survives...then they'll know! Then Lily and James and Sirius will know what I did! What will become of me?
He shook some fur out of his eyes and put his thoughts to rest. Then, he saw it – the familiar cottage. He had been there not more than three months ago, to see the Potters. So much had happened between then and now. Wormtail thought about James and Lily – he had always looked up to them. They had been the heroes of his childhood. Yet he had always been incredibly jealous of both of them – of their good looks, of how the most complex magic came so naturally to them, of how Dumbledore had eagerly accepted them, Sirius and Remus into the Order, and had added him, Peter, as if as an afterthought...
Voldemort was at the doorstep. Pettigrew found a bush nearby and hid underneath it, watching the window, waiting.
"Trick-or-treat!"
As Severus Snape looked at the young girl standing in front of him, wearing a black, pointed hat made out of cheap fabric and covered with pointed aluminum foil stars, a memory struck him. Precisely fourteen years ago...
His mother had been crying, having endured yet another shouting match with his father. There had been a knock on the door – Eileen Prince, after quickly drying up her tears, had gone to open it. "Trick-or-treat!" There had been two girls at the door – one older and blonde-haired, another younger, red-haired, and very pretty...
He shook his head, trying to clear his mind of his memories. This was hardly the time for sentiment. There was work to do.
After he had shooed the girl away, he ducked into a secluded corner and mounted his broomstick. Less than an hour earlier, he and a small group of other Death Eaters had witnessed a frightened Peter Pettigrew spill out the location of the Potters to Voldemort, who had immediately formed a simple plan to kill them. Snape had tried everything he could to slow Voldemort down, but he had not had a chance to contact Dumbledore, and had only managed to buy the Potters a few extra minutes.
Now, as he casted a Disillusionment Charm over himself and kicked off into the air, he wondered if he should go to Dumbledore now. No, he thought, there is no time. I must stop the Dark Lord myself.
He flew in the direction of Godric's Hollow, where Pettigrew had claimed the Potters were, living in a cottage there. He craned his neck to see all that he could underneath him, but he saw no one that resembled the Dark Lord.
He descended towards the Hollow, trying to make out the houses below. Which one is their cottage?
The answer came quickly to Snape, for at that moment, one of the houses exploded.
"Trick-or-treat!"
Sirius Black grinned at the young boy standing in front of him, dressed up as a pirate. He reached into the pocket of his robes for a Licorice Wand, which he handed to the boy, who grinned back.
Halloween, he thought. The one day I don't have to worry about that blasted International Statute of Secrecy.
Humming to himself, he strode towards a small house at the end of the street. He had made plans to check on Wormtail tonight, to make sure that the Secret Keeper was safe. From the outside, the house looked perfectly fine – the protective spells on it, as far as Sirius could tell, were still intact.
He knocked gently on the door.
There was no answer.
Sirius frowned slightly, puzzled. One of his hands closed, in a fist, around the wand in his pocket, as the other hand knocked again.
There was still no answer.
A chill went down Sirius's spine – had something happened to Wormy? He was supposed to stay put until Sirius had made arrangements for him to be protected. Unless...
Sirius tried the doorknob. It was unlocked.
"Lumos," he muttered. The tip of his wand lit up, illuminating the inside of the house. He stepped inside cautiously. "Wormy?" he called out. "Wormy? You in there?"
He reached to the left for a light switch. Flipping the lights on, he extinguished his wand and said, "Homenum Revelio." Nothing.
Sirius stuffed his wand back into his pocket and quickly transformed into a massive black dog. He ran over to the front door and saw a long, winding trail in the dust – like the tail of a snake, only it was thinner. More like...a worm. Wormtail.
The dog's nose picked up Wormtail's familiar scent. His fur stood up, his ears perked up, and he ran off, following the smell of the rat.
Oh, Wormy, where did you run off to?, Sirius thought. He soon found himself in front of an old, abandoned shack, where, judging by the smell, Wormtail had transformed back.
There was more, though. The trail of scent led off in a different direction. Sirius followed – knowing that this path led to Godric's Hollow. After a few minutes' run, he entered the familiar village, ran through the graveyard, and stopped, just in time to watch the Potters' cottage explode in a fiery blaze.
"Trick-or-treat!"
Rubeus Hagrid looked directly down at the child in front of him, wearing a white sheet over his, or maybe her, body with two round eye holes cut out.
"Eh? What?" Hagrid frowned at the child, whose eyes grew wide, staring at Hagrid's enormous physique. The sheet shook slightly – then the child ran off in the opposite direction.
"'Ey! Where's yeh runnin' off ter?" Hagrid stared after the child in confusion. He sighed – everything had been so confusing today. He had just received hurried instructions from Dumbledore to travel to Godric's Hollow and, if necessary, transport baby Harry Potter to a Muggle house in Surrey. Dumbledore, being his usual self, had failed to tell Hagrid why this might be necessary.
Not knowing how to Apparate, create a Portkey, or enlarge a broomstick to fit his massive size was very problematic for Hagrid, as it meant that he would have to walk for much of the way to Godric's Hollow.
Did summat 'appen to Lily and James?, he thought, slightly scared for his two good friends.
After a long walk, he reached the Hollow and glanced around. A house was on fire in the distance.
Tha' don' look good, he thought, running towards it.
"Hagrid?" a voice called. "Is that you?"
Hagrid turned to see a handsome young man, whose facial features had been filled with a clear expression of fear. He recognized the fellow Order member as Sirius Black.
No, thought Severus. Lily...no! Lily, please don't be dead...don't be dead...stay in there...stay alive...for me...please...
They're just dueling him, he tried to assure himself. Lily and...and...and Potter are fighting the Dark Lord off. That was why the house exploded. It must be.
He dived towards the house and landed in front of it. Setting his broomstick on the ground, he pushed the door open and walked carefully inside.
The first sight that came to his eyes was that of James. The tall, bespectacled man was very definitively dead. Snape's first reaction at this was, admittedly, glee – but it was soon replaced with the creeping feeling of dread, as he did not know if anyone could stand a chance against the Dark Lord alone. Also, the house was eerily quiet.
He kicked James's corpse aside with his foot, climbed up the stairs, and pushed open a door that was already partially ajar.
His eyes fell on the body of the beautiful young woman at his feet.
"NO!" Severus collapsed. Tears erupted from his eyes and streamed down his face. "No! Lily!"
He checked Lily's pulse, hoping dearly that he would feel something, but there was nothing there. Lily was dead as well. Severus wept, picking up Lily's still-warm body and holding her in his arms.
After what seemed like hours, he heard voices downstairs. He would have to leave. The tears still staining his pallid skin, he finally let go of Lily, stood up, turned on the spot, and Disapparated with a pop.
"Accio Motorbike!"
Sirius's familiar flying motorcycle flew across the sky and landed neatly beside him.
"This...this will help, Hagrid. It's...big enough..." Sirius shuddered, trying to force himself to be calm. It didn't work.
James...Prongs...No...you can't be dead. Please don't be dead. Lily...James...no...how could you be dead? Why? It isn't fair...
Moments earlier, he and Hagrid had entered the Potters' home, only to find James, Lily, and even the family cat dead, but the baby Harry miraculously alive. Hagrid now held the boy, bundled up in several blankets, in his arms.
Wormtail betrayed us, Sirius thought bitterly, a feeling of rage bubbling inside him. We trusted him. We were his only friends for ten years. How could he do such a thing?
Tears filled his eyes, blurring his vision. He reached up to brush them away, but instead crumpled down to the floor and wept.
It started to rain.
Then Sirius realized it was Hagrid, standing behind him. He, too, was in tears, large droplets which were falling on Sirius's head. Hagrid knelt down and placed an arm over Sirius's shoulders.
"'S all righ'...they died a noble death...'s painless, likely..." Hagrid mumbled. Sirius wasn't sure if the half-giant was comforting Sirius or himself.
"Well," announced Hagrid, finally standing up, "I bes' be goin', then."
"Let me take him," Sirius said, suddenly. "I...I'm his godfather. Lily and James trusted me to take care of Harry if...if..." He could not finish his sentence.
"Er, 'fraid not, Sirius," Hagrid said, mounting Sirius's motorbike. "Dumbledore...clear instructions, yeh know."
"Right...yeah..." Sirius sighed, blinking the tears away. He probably wasn't in a very good position to raise Harry, anyway.
He saw it then. A rat, running about in the bushes. Wormtail. A fierce, raw hatred welled up inside him. It was Wormtail – it had all been Wormtail.
Sirius made up his mind.
"Yer sure yeh don' mind me takin' this?" asked Hagrid, preparing to start the motorcycle.
"Nope," said Sirius, still staring after the rat. "I won't be needing it anymore."
Wormtail knew that he had been spotted.
He bolted off, through the graveyard and out the village, with Sirius, having transformed yet again into a dog, in close pursuit.
Pettigrew had to think quickly, but thinking had never been his strong point. Sirius was the only Order member who knew of the betrayal. If Sirius were to tell Dumbledore, that would be the end for Wormtail.
Earlier, he had crawled into the house after the explosion and found his master's yew wand. His master himself, however, was nowhere to be seen. What happened to him?
He saw a dense group of Muggles, dressed up in all sorts of costumes. An idea sprang into his mind – a good one. A very good one! Yes!
Wormtail turned back into his human form, taking out his wand and holding it behind his back. As he had expected, Sirius turned back as well, a vengeful look in his eyes.
"You told him where to find them, Sirius!" Wormtail screamed at the top of his lungs. "Lily and James, how could you?"
Sirius clenched his teeth and reached into his pocket for his wand. "How dare you?" he shouted. He whipped out the wand and pointed it directly at Peter, who twirled his own wand behind his back.
BOOM.
Snape had realized that he had forgotten his broomstick at Godric's Hollow.
He returned, just in time to see Hagrid disappear below the horizon, and he picked up the broom. He mounted it and flew off into the cold, autumn air.
He heard a shrill voice below – someone screaming. He heard Lily's name. In a daze, he dived towards the voice.
The second explosion within an hour lit up the ground below him – this one much larger than the first. He stopped in midair, looking down at the huge crater that had formed in the ground.
Sirius wondered if he was dreaming.
It did not seem real. First James and Lily – now dozens of Muggles, lying on the ground, bleeding from cuts and burns. Several were already dead, others crushed underneath stones.
Those who were conscious were all staring at him, an expression of shock and fear etched on their faces. Do they all think it was my fault?
Sirius searched the ground. There was no sign of Wormtail – except a single finger, lying on the ground. Wormtail had turned back into a rat and fled.
"Murderer!" a man yelled, pointing an accusatory finger in Sirius's direction.
Me?, Sirius thought. A murderer? The idea was preposterous. It was Wormtail's doing, all of it – couldn't these people tell? Didn't they know?
In fact, the idea that he, Sirius had been the traitor and caused the explosion was so absurd and utterly untrue that it was laughable. Quite funny, even. Sirius let out a snort and began to laugh.
He kept laughing as a group of uniformed wizards and witches arrived – Hit Wizards and Obliviators. They were coming to arrest him? It was hilarious! Unthinkable! He let them do it, not fighting back.
He looked up to see another figure in the darkness. Snivellus, he thought. They made eye contact. For a moment, Sirius thought that Snape might have been crying – but no, it was not possible.
Then a thought hit him, like a bolt of lightning. It was my fault, he thought. I was the one who told them to use Wormtail as their Secret Keeper. It's my fault they're dead.
Sirius's laughter died away.
Snape stared into Sirius's eyes, looking into Sirius's mind. He heard a single thought – It was my fault. It was enough.
Sirius must have threatened Wormtail – the frightened, feeble Wormtail into giving away the Potters to Voldemort. The reason for this, he did not know, but of one thing he was certain – he hated Sirius Black with all of his heart.
A/N: In Prisoner of Azkaban, it was mentioned that some Death Eaters knew of Wormtail giving Voldemort information on the Potters, but they didn't (necessarily) know that Wormtail was a Death Eater as well. This would mean, however, that Snape would have known that Wormtail was the Secret Keeper and had betrayed the Potters – so why hadn't he told Dumbledore?
After debating this with myself, I reached the conclusion illustrated here – that Snape had known that Wormtail had given away the location of the Potters, but, after witnessing certain events (Wormtail screaming that it was Sirius who had betrayed the Potters, and Sirius believing himself to be partially responsible), he came to the conclusion that Sirius had been the one who had forced Wormtail to do this. He never told Dumbledore this so as not to complicate matters, because he believed – or at least, he wanted to believe – that Sirius was guilty, and he knew that telling Dumbledore about how Pettigrew had been the one to tell Voldemort the location of the Potters might cause a re-investigation of whether or not Sirius was actually guilty. (Also, this version of events makes for a good fanfic.)