Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OCs and the alterations I make to J.K. Rowling's plot.
Warning: A very OC central mostly cannon AU. You have been warned. Manipulative, though not exactly evil, Dumbledore in latter parts of the story.
This story takes place the year BEFORE Philosopher's Stone.
Someone please tell me if my OCs are at all believable or just more of the crap that floods this genre.
Reedited 4/10/13
Eve Black and Asclepius's Gift
Prologue: A Black Eve
The house wasn't just in ruins; half of it was gone, leaving nothing but a pile of scattered debris. Bits of the second floor were still falling into the first and sections of the debris field smoldered. Twin plumes of dark smoke rose into the evening sky, twisting like dancing serpents. Sirius Black stopped his motorcycle and gaped up at the house in horror. For a moment, all he could do was stare in shock at the conformation of his worst fears. A part of him still wanted to deny the possibility, to believe that what he saw before him was some kind of trick or illusion, a sick prank James was pulling, because Peter would never—
A thunderous crack reverberated through the area and a large section of the house's second story collapsed. Sirius was off his bike with his wand out before the dust had even begun to settle. A brief moment of rational thought stopped him from charging headlong into the rubble but all his mind could truly process was that that was James and Lily's house and that his godson was in that house. His daughter was in that house.
A hulking figure loomed out of the dust cloud. Sirius instinctively drew and raised his wand with a spell on his lips before his brain caught and realized that there was only one person that size. "Hagrid!" A heavy cough answered followed by a much smaller series of coughs.
"That you, Sirius?" The half-giant called as he emerged from the house covered in a layer of dust. Cradled in one of his massive arms and held protectively to his chest was a cloth wrapped bundle. Perched upon his other arm was a two-year-old girl, her dark hair coated in dust and the thin arms that clutched Hagrid's beard were covered in long scratches and another gash crossed her cheek.
"Daddy!" The girl cried when she spotted Sirius, silent tears streaming down her cheeks. She leapt from Hagrid's arms and ran to Sirius, shrugging off Hagrid's attempt to hold her back. Sirius dropped to his knees and embraced her.
Sirius looked up at Hagrid, one arm wrapped tightly around his daughter, the other hand held his wand in a white knuckled grip, still alert for danger. "Where's Harry?" He asked, eyeing the bundle that Hagrid now cradled in both hands and prayed that it was his godson.
"He's right here." Hagrid shifted awkwardly and looked away. That answered Sirius's next question before he could ask it.
"No… it can't…"
"Daddy!" Sirius turned his attention back to his daughter. She gripped the front of his robes and buried her face in them.
Sirius tightened his grip on both his daughter and his wand. "Shh, Evie. It's okay."
Evie shook her head. "Is not! The scary man hurt Aunt Lily! An' he tried to hurt baby Harry! An' e'rything 'sploded!"
Sirius's didn't think his expression could get any grimmer but it did. "I'll take them, Hagrid," Sirius said. His voice shook a bit as he looked back up at the man who held his godson. "I'll make sure they're safe."
He tried to protest when the half-giant shook his head but Hagrid cut him off before he could. "Professor Dumbledore told me to bring Harry straight to him." Sirius was about to protest again but then a field mouse scampered across the ground between them. His eyes remained fixated on the place where it disappeared from view, his mind racing with thoughts of another worm-tailed coward.
Peter, the traitor, was still out there. Not only that, Sirius realized as ice seeped into his bones, his own brilliant plan had collapsed around him. James and Lily were dead. Dead! And nobody else knew who their true Secret-Keeper was. Sirius knew he was the obvious choice. That's why he had suggested Peter. Everybody, on both sides, would assume that it was him, Sirius, and he would draw the attention of the Death Eaters. But now, everyone would assume that he was the one who had betrayed the Potters. Unless he could catch the rat and convince the world of the truth, Sirius held Evie tightly, he was going to Azkaban.
Sirius took a shaky breath. He had to catch Peter. If he couldn't, then he was going to drag that damn rat to hell with him. He owed it to James and Lily. To Harry. To Evie.
"Hagrid, will you keep Evie safe for me? There's something that I have to do."
"a' course, Siri—"
"But Daddy!" Evie cried, her voice muffled by Sirius's robes.
"Shhh." Sirius whispered softly. He used the end of his sleeve to wipe tears and blood from Evie's face. "I need you to be a good girl for Hagrid, okay? Daddy has something he needs to take care of. I'll be back soon."
Evie lifted her face from her father's robes. "You promise?" Her smoky blue eyes shone with tears and a drop of blood dripped from the scratch across her cheek.
Sirius wiped the blood away, a stray tear of his own finally sliding down his cheek. "I promise."
Somehow, as he walked away leaving Hagrid with his motorbike and the remnants of his shattered family, Sirius Black knew he had lied.
(*)
She would only remember two things about that night. A man, who she dreamt of shrouded in bloody mist, killed her Aunt with a flash of green light and her father, pale and shaking, a lone tear falling, as he lied to her.
I intended for this chapter to be longer but then decided that I couldn't add the other stuff I wanted to without it turning into the narrator just spitting facts in the reader's face, which I hate, so the shortness is the result. I intended for the rest of the chapters to be a good deal longer than this but they may take me awhile to write.
Thanks for reading,
Ebony
