Green light. That's the first thing that I remember as I wake up. I groan and place my hand to my forehead. It hadn't throbbed this much since my first quiddich practice and one of the beaters had accidently hit me with the bludger.
I sit up and look around. I quickly realize that I'm not in my house and that makes me worry. I see a couch, a kitchen, a couple of reclining chairs and some lights on the walls. I then see a pool of red hair pouring out from behind the couch.
"Lily? Lily?" I murmur. Scrambling over to the woman I manage to pick her up and lay her on the couch. I pace in front of it wondering what to do when I notice something funny about the walls in front of us. Unlike the other walls, which are draped in scarlet fabric, this one shows pictures. Looking closer at it I see that there's a picture of my house back at Godric's Hollow. The portion of the wall where Harry's bedroom was has a great hole in it and I can hear crying. "What the…?" I couldn't finish my thought because at that moment I heard an engine. It sounded like a motorcycle so I knew instantly that it must be Sirius.
As I wished that the picture could be bigger it grew and I watch as Sirius lands in front of the house horror on his face his eyes wide.
"Sirius Black?" a voice calls out. It sounds from the door of the house and I turn to see who it is.
Hagrid is thumping out of my house holding a small bundle of blankets and looking at Sirius with concern on his face.
Sirius doesn't even notice Hagrid as he looks up at the house, his face paler than I'd ever seen it and his hands shaking. Sirius looks up at the part of the house that was blown up. The part that had held Harry's crib where he would go in and get Harry to sleep when Lily and I needed a break.
"Sirius?" Hagrid whispers.
Sirius seems to finally realize that Hagrid is there and looks up at the giant with wide eyes.
"Did they…is possible…?" Sirius stutters.
"Lily an' James are dead, I jus' got Harry out of there. Not too sure 'bout the house holdin' up."
Sirius pales even more and looks up at the house. That's when he lost it. His shoulders began to shake and he would have fallen to the ground if it weren't for Hagrid.
Hagrid lets Sirius cry and after a few moments Sirius gathers himself up and looks at the bundle in Hagrid's arms.
"Give Harry to me, Hagrid, I'm his godfather, I'll look after him," Sirius says.
I look at Hagrid and hope that somehow the giant is able to see me or hear me.
"Yeah, give Harry to Sirius, Hagrid it's alright. I trust him and I know that he'll take care of Harry," I say nodding. I swear if I wasn't dead already that I would have died from whiplash.
"Sorry Sirius, but I have me orders from Dumbledore. I have ter take Harry to him. "
"Hagrid, I understand perfectly that Dumbledore probably has a plan for Harry, but Harry needs someplace safe," Sirius explains.
"Dumbledore is taking him someplace safe!" Hagrid roars.
I cringe and hope that Sirius can talk his way out of this mess like he had on countless times at Hogwarts.
"I wasn't saying that he wouldn't take Harry someplace safe Hagrid. I trust Dumbledore beyond belief! I'm just thinking about what James and Lily had wanted. They named me godfather for a reason. They know that I'd rather die than let anyone get to him," Sirius explains, "I would rather it be me in that rubble then them. Merlin knows that they deserve to live more than me! Let me take care of Harry."
"Orders are orders. If I could I'd let yeh look after him, but Dumbledore said Harry is ter go to his aunt an' uncle's."
I watch as the two men fight back and forth. I can see Sirius's resolve slowly ebbing away. I don't want Harry to live with his aunt and uncle. I pace back and forth watching the scene play out. After another minute Sirius sighs and looks at Hagrid.
"I take it that you know how you're getting Harry to Dumbledore, then?" Sirius asks. His voice is somewhat bitter and hard.
"Well…."
"Take my motorbike to get Harry there. I won't need it anymore," Sirius says. Something in his voice makes me look up at him. He has the same expression on his face that I used to see whenever someone mentioned someone from his family, or whenever Snape had been especially brutal.
Hagrid looks surprised for a moment then nods his thanks.
"Would you like me to hold Harry while you get situated on the bike?" Sirius asks, and continues at Hagrid's look, "I promise that I won't take off with him. You know I'm a man of my word Hagrid."
Hagrid debates for a moment then slowly hands Harry to Sirius. Sirius immediately adjusts Harry in his arms and looks down at the baby boy while Hagrid climbs aboard the monstrous bike. I watch as Sirius rocks back and forth slightly. Harry calms down quite a bit whenever he's around Sirius, always has, and this evening is no different.
I look at them and I can't help but to feel as if something is going to end up dreadfully wrong. Something is wrong and this is not going to end well. I can see it in Sirius's eyes as he looks at Harry. I can hear it in the unusual silence that consumes the small court.
Hagrid finishes with all his preparations and Sirius gives Harry to Hagrid. With a final look at the baby Sirius walks off to a certain point and, as the motorcycle growls to life, disapperates.
The screen goes black and I sink into one of the recliners. I can't believe what has just happened. First Lily and I die (which is a bummer in and of itself), second Harry can't even live with Sirius (who happens to be one of the few people who can calm Harry. Lily believes it's because Sirius is always so hyper himself.), third Sirius gave Hagrid his bike (undeniable shock here) and finally I know that Sirius is going to do something reckless (he couldn't be Sirius if he didn't).
I pace the room a little more and when I decide that I can't do anything, because I'm dead, I punch the wall.
A low groan reminds me that Lily is lying on the couch and I rush over to her.
"Where…where…Harry…?" Lily mutters as she wakes up.
"Harry's alive, but we're not so fortunate," I tell her.
Lily looks up at me and her emerald eyes shine. I can tell that she's worried about her baby, wondering where we're at, and extremely pissed off all at the same time. Ah…the love of a woman.
"James, where are we? Where's Harry? And where in bloody hell is that RAT?" Lily asks. Her voice is a growl on the last question, and I can tell that she wants to rip him apart.
"Um…as to the first question I don't know, the second one is with Hagrid, and the third one is I don't know," I reply.
Lily's eyes widen, "Harry is with Hagrid? Why? Didn't Sirius? Sirius isn't…?"
"No Sirius is alive. He went to our house to try and protect Harry as best he could, but Hagrid was already there and said that Dumbledore wanted him to live with your sister and her husband," I explain.
"NO! She'll kill him! She hates me so she'll kill him! Why didn't Sirius fight for Harry? Didn't he remember what I told him about Petunia?" Lily gasps.
"Honey he remembers. You know how Hagrid gets when he has an order from Dumbledore. And he did fight for Harry. In fact it went on for about ten minutes before he finally gave in," I muse, "Plus Petunia won't kill Harry. She might be made of ice, but she's not a murderer."
"True, but I still don't like it. Wait…how do you know all of this?" Lily asks.
As if to answer her question the screen flickers to life, but this time it shows a divided screen. One showing Privet drive where her sister lives and the other shows a dark room. I was able to instantly tell that it was Sirius's flat because of the furnishings.
I look at the two pictures. I knew it was important to watch both, but the moment that one of us wished for a bigger picture the other one would be destroyed.
"Wait, what if…" Lily ponders for a moment, "Can that wall turn into a screen like that?"
Sure enough a moment later the wall she was pointing at turns into a screen like the original and all the pictures that Lily would want to watch move to that one.
"Even in death my wife is a genius," I smile. Turning my attention back to the pictures of Sirius's house I wish for it to enlarge. A moment later I watch as Sirius walks into the room. After looking around he stops in the middle. He seems lost, like he doesn't know where he is or what to do.
"I'm sorry James," he mutters. He then takes off his leather jacket, strides to his closet and pulls out a black cloak. After placing that on he grabs his wand and disapperates. The scene changes back to my house and I see a huge black dog sniffing around one end of the house. It then takes off into the woods and the screen shows Padfoot racing through the forest.
"He's gone to find Peter," I whisper. Looking around the room I see that Lily is curled up on a recliner with a light blanket in her lap. She's watching Albus and McGonagall talking and soon Hagrid appears on Sirius's bike. I turn away and glance at my screen really quickly. Padfoot is still racing through the forest so I know that he's still hot on Peter's trail. The bloody rat.
"Oh, hello."
I whips around in my chair and look at Sirius. I blink for a moment. It's not Sirius who I'm looking at. Sirius had longer hair, and his eyes were a darker shade of grey. Also Sirius would never be caught dead wearing an emerald shirt.
"Who are you?" I ask.
"Don't you recognize me? Well then again I'm not wearing Hogwarts robes with the Slytherin crest on them so I guess that you wouldn't recognize me as easily," the Sirius look alike rambles.
I think about it for a moment and realize that this has to be Regulus, Sirius's younger brother.
"Regulus? I haven't seen you in a couple of years," I say, "Wait why are you here?"
Regulus's eyes cloud slightly, "Because I finally did something that made me worthy of being Sirius's brother."
"What?"
Regulus sighs and lifts the arm of his left sleeve. The dark mark is on his skin, but it isn't the pure black like I'm used to seeing. It's more of a pale grey, but that's not the really odd thing. There is a pure black paw print over it that seems to drown out the mark.
"What's the paw print for?" I ask.
"Sirius."
I tilt my head to one side and look at Regulus. His eyes are distant and there is sorrow there. He looks much too old for his age, and that makes me realize that he has probably gone through his fair share of things.
"So, what's going on now?" Regulus asks.
I turn back to the screen. Sirius is still running along, but there is orange on the horizon which tells us that it's becoming day.
"Well Peter Pettigrew sold me and Lily to Voldemort, who came to our house and killed me and her. He then tried to kill Harry, but for some reason that didn't work and he ended up dead or something. Hagrid came along, pulled Harry from the ruins of our house and comforted Sirius. Sirius then fought with Hagrid for ten minutes over Harry since he's Harry's godfather, but gave up in the end and gave Hagrid his motorcycle. Sirius is now running through the forest in his animagus form tracking down Pettigrew to get revenge of some sort," I explain.
"Ah, so that's what happened. I was curious after Sirius made you switch from him to Pettigrew, I knew it wouldn't end well, but I had been hoping that the rat might have remembered everything that you have done for him," Regulus says. He then holds out a bottle of Butterbeer and gives a quick wink.
For a moment I am defiantly reminded of Sirius, but I shake off the feeling and grab the bottle. When I take a drink I realize why he gave a wink. He's spiked it with Fire whiskey.
"You are defiantly Sirius's brother," I smirk. Regulus smiles before taking a swig.
"Yeah, but if I had paid attention to what he had been telling me sooner I would probably be alive, and you two might be as well. Sorry," Regulus says.
"Why apologize for something that you have no control over? It's not your fault so don't worry about it," I shrug. I look back up at the screen and see that Padfoot has slowed to a walk and has his nose to the ground. He is in a muggle town and apparently is closer to the rat.
"I hope Sirius doesn't get himself killed," Regulus whispers.
"Naw, he won't be killed. He's too good at stuff like this. He graduated at the top of our Auror training," I say.
"Yeah, but he is a Gryffindor," Regulus says.
"What's wrong with Gryffindors?" I ask.
Regulus smirks, "You all are reckless to the point of suicide."
"Hey! I take offense to that!" Lily calls from her seat.
Regulus laughs a little. His laugh isn't a bark like Sirius's, it's more of a soft chuckle, but there is plenty of mirth in it.
"You're right, you aren't as reckless as them, but you have a temper that makes it pretty even. I remember some of the fights that you got into Evans," Regulus smirks.
"Please don't call me Evans. I'm a Potter now, but I prefer to be called Lily," Lily says.
"Whatever you say."
I watch them for a moment before turning my attention back to the screen. Padfoot is running down a street towards a man who I would recognize blindfolded. When he is ten feet from the man Padfoot jumps into the air and turns into Sirius, who lands perfectly in front of Pettigrew.
"Hello, Peter. Nice day isn't it?" Sirius asks. His voice is cheerful, but there is some ice to it.
"Pettigrew better watch it. Sirius is beyond furious," Regulus mutters.
"S…Sirius! H-h-how are you?" Pettigrew asks.
"Not bad, not bad at all. Say did you see James and Lily recently? They told me that they are worried that you haven't been around lately," Sirius says.
"I h-h-haven't b-b-been home in a wh-wh-while," Pettigrew stutters.
"Really? That's a pity. So then you don't know about Voldemort visiting Godric's Hallow last night?" Sirius asks.
Pettigrew gives a small jerk, "I swear I didn't sell them out! I didn't make it so that they were killed!"
"You know," Sirius says his voice going cold, "If you had been away then the proper response would have been 'Are they alright?' not 'I didn't sell them out!'. If you haven't been home in a while then you wouldn't know about their deaths! It's not even in the papers!"
Peter backs away from Sirius, who is now towering over him, and ends up in a corner.
"Uh-oh, Pettigrew had better not start begging for mercy," Regulus mutters.
"I know Sirius is mad, but…wait why would begging for mercy hurt the rat?" I ask, going over the current list in my head, which is already quite long.
Regulus sighs, "Sirius has never liked it when people beg. And right now you are seeing the Black family temper in full swing. I'm lucky I got grandma Melania's temper, but Sirius has the worst out of our family, even mum and that's saying something. It's never a good thing to piss off a Black, especially if their name is Sirius."
"Sirius! You wouldn't hurt me! I'm Peter, I'm your friend!" Pettigrew whimpers.
This throws Sirius off who looks at the rat with wide eyes.
"Lily and James, how could you Sirius?" Pettigrew shouts. A moment later there is a large explosion and dust and rock flies everywhere.
The cloud of dust disappears and I see Sirius against the wall of another building. He shakes his head and climb down through the rocks to where Pettigrew was. He finds nothing but a finger and Pettigrew's robes. Sirius looks at the finger with disgust for a moment then he starts to laugh. He sits on a rock and laughs.
"What is he doing?" Lily asks. She's wandered over from her screen and is watching Sirius with concern.
"Lily he's having a breakdown. Think about it. He just lost you and me, finds out that the rat is the traitor, realizes that he's been giving Moony the cold shoulder for no good reason, and now can't even pin the whole thing on the rat because the rat has gone," I tell her, "I think he has a good reason to have a breakdown."
"But laughing? It makes him seem insane!" Lily argues.
"He's always been insane," Regulus and I say at the same time. We face each other with wide eyes. After a moment Regulus smiles and laughs.
"I knew you guys thought that he is crazy! I just knew it!" Regulus laughs.
Lily smiles, "Well there was this one time when he convinced you three to jump down a flight of stairs because you were late to class."
"And we got there on time too," I defend my friend.
Regulus laughs, "Is that all? When we were younger, I was about four and he was six, it had been snowing like crazy outside and I was sick, but wanted to go sledding. Mother said no, but Sirius…he ended up bringing buckets of snow in through his bedroom window and placing them on the stairs. When he had them completely covered he placed a pile down at the bottom so that we wouldn't get hurt. We then went sledding inside the house. When mother found out I thought that she was going to start yelling, but she saw how happy we were and placed a freezing charm so that the snow wouldn't melt."
"That sounds like Sirius," my brow creases in confusion as I think of something, "Though what caused you two to fall apart? If you were that close…Sirius is loyal to a fault…."
Regulus looks at the screen, pondering his answer when his eyes widen, "You've got to be kidding me."
I glance at the screen and frown. Sirius is surrounded by a bunch of Aurors and hit wizards, yet he's still laughing. He doesn't even seem to notice that they had apprehended him, and he just keeps laughing.
"What the hell?" I mutter, "I've only seen him act like this once…."
"When?" Lily asks.
"In our sixth year…"
"What happened?"
I face them and swallow, "It was after he had run away, and I don't think that any of us realized how much that had affected him. I mean…we saw changes. He seemed happier, but he also seemed like he was haunted somewhat.
"He acted a lot more like…well like a Black when he was mad or upset. There was something lurking in his eyes. Well eventually Snape was being a real bastard and he kept going on and on, annoying and belittling Sirius. This was one of the few times he was trying to be civil to Snivillus and that seemed to make Snape go after him even more. Finally Sirius just spun around and told him to go play chicken with the willow. Sirius had also said something about the knot at the base of the tree. I found out because I was behind a tapestry at the time, and well…when I came out Sirius looked somewhere between pissed and terrified. He told me what happened and…I think you know what happens afterword."
Regulus tilts his head to one side, "So let me get this straight. Sirius didn't tell Snape how to get into the willow, just to go get beaten up by the thing. You go down, save him, do that whole bit and find out that Snape, who has hated Sirius for years, blames him. You confront Sirius about it…Sirius is horrified to hear what happens and blames himself, something I can tell you that he's done for years, and you think that he purposefully wanted Remus to kill Snape?"
"What do you mean 'something he's done for years'?" I ask.
"Sirius has always been like that. He hates knowing that people are getting hurt and he can't do anything about it. That's why he became an Auror. If something happens and he even thinks that he could have prevented it he blames himself," Regulus growls.
I can tell that he's mad for some reason, and when he grabs me and slams me against the wall I know that he's mad at me, it's that same look the older Black gets when you piss him off too much. Why is what I don't know.
"Back to what I figured out. You thought that Sirius had tried to get Remus to kill Snape, so you ostracized him! At the worst time of his life you abandon him!" Regulus yells.
"It's not like you or your family did any better! I didn't see you becoming all friendly with him!" I yell back.
"Boys! Enough!" Lily shouts, but goes unnoticed.
Regulus's eyes narrow, "I left him alone because he had you!"
I blink in surprise, "What?"
"I left him alone because he had you. I thought that it would be better if he was able to break all ties with the family." Regulus shakes his head and lets me down, "Y-you have no idea how much it hurt to do that…how much it hurt to act like your own brother was dirt. I-I…I couldn't let him get hurt anymore. He's done too much."
I watch in surprise as the youngest Black sinks onto the couch and places his hands in his hands. He seems to shudder for a moment and when he looks up his eyes are glassy, but no tears have been shed. I'm reminded of the night when Sirius came to live with my family before our sixth year. He had looked so close to crying and mum had told him to just cry if he had to. Sirius had looked her in the eye and told her that Blacks don't cry.
"I may have treated him horribly, but he's my brother. I tried to protect him, but in the end he was always protecting me."
I don't know what to do, but Lily sits on the couch and places an arm around Regulus. He stiffens at first, but relaxes and we all turn to the screens.
Petunia has found Harry and is feeding him in one arm, and reading the letter in the other. She seems shocked and doesn't even notice that her own son is watching Harry with envy. Vernon enters the kitchen and stops in his tracks.
"P-P-Petunia, what is he doing here?" he stutters.
"Read." She hands him the letter then places Harry in a chair while she grabs Dudley and begins to feed him. Love adorns her face while she watches her son, a look that had been absent while feeding Harry.
"We have to take it in?" Vernon sputters.
"My son is not an it, Dursley," Lily growls, her eyes narrowing.
"Well if we get rid of him it won't seem normal. I'm the boy's only living relative. We'll take it in and give it the basic necessities, nothing more," Petunia whispers.
I turn away from that screen, knowing that if I don't I would end up trying to break something. I look at the other screen and see that they've placed Sirius in a holding cell at the ministry. He's leaning against the wall his head down. A lock on the door clicks and he looks up. His eyes are filled with sorrow and self loathing, something I've seen in his face far too often. The door opens and in walks Barty Crouch and a couple of dementors.
"It's time for the sentencing."
"Sentencing? What about a trial?" Sirius asks.
Regulus's head whips up, "He hasn't had a trial, but they're sentencing him?"
Crouch laughs, "We don't need a trial with all the evidence against you Black."
Sirius's eye turn to steel, "So you're going to sentence an innocent man without giving him the chance to prove himself? What happened to the people who I worked for?"
"We've already got you proven Black. We don't need to waste time on a trial. Come on Black, time to go to Azkaban."
The dementors grab Sirius and drag him into one of the old courtrooms. He is placed in the chair with chains, and they instantly clamp down onto him. It's a testament to Sirius's strength that he doesn't show that it hurts when the chains touch him. They are made to burn whoever is placed in them.
"Sirius Orion Black, you have been convicted of killing twelve muggles and one wizard with a single curse, of working alongside he-who-must-not-be-named, for spying against the ministry and for betrayal of the Potters. For the previously mentioned accounts you are sentenced to life in a maximum security prison in Azkaban," Cornelius Fudge states.
I look around the room and notice that the entire Wizingamot is there. I see Dumbledore watching Sirius with sad and cold eyes. There's no twinkle there and it makes me shudder slightly. That's when I realize that during the whole thing Sirius has been staring Dumbledore down. Silver and blue meeting and it's a clash. Cold sad eyes against fiercely determined eyes.
"I've never met anyone who would stare Dumbledore down like that," Lily mutters. Apparently she's turned to watch the "conviction".
"That's Sirius for you," Regulus chuckles.
"To be honest I'd be scared beyond belief to have Dumbledore watching me like that," I shake my head, "Hold on… this has been showing Sirius, can it show Remus as well?"
Regulus nods then turns to the screen, "Remus Lupin."
The screen flickers for a moment then turns to a cabin in the middle of a forest. After a couple of minutes a crash is heard and the camera zips into the house to show a pissed off Remus.
"Now that is scary. I've never known your friend to lose it," Regulus mutters.
I shake my head slowly, watching Remus with wide eyes.
Remus picks up a photo. It's one from when we were in our fourth year, and shows the four of us lying by the lake. Remus shakes for a moment before throwing the picture across the room. The whole thing shatters on impact, but Remus has moved on to destroying something else. After a few more broken objects Remus sinks to his knees in the middle of the floor. He picks up another picture. This one was taken by Peter and shows him and Sirius and me lounging around in the dorm room relaxing.
"How could you?" He whispers, "HOW COULD YOU?"
"Oh, Remus…." Lily's eyes have are filled with tears as she watches his shoulders shake.
"Sirius…how could you?
I shake my head, "Remme, it's not Sirius. Think about it, you know Sirius. He hated those people, why would he join them?"
"He wouldn't. Remus knows that he wouldn't but Remus is also a logical person. He 'knew' that Sirius was your secret keeper. You two are dead. The only way that could have happened was if Sirius betrayed you all. That's the way he's seeing things right now," Regulus says. He's watching another wall that he turned so that it showed Sirius. Apparently he doesn't want his brother to be totally alone, even though there's nothing Regulus can do to help.
I sigh and watch as Remus calms down just slightly, then turn to Regulus, "So, what is time like in here?"
"Time? Well, every day here is a year on Earth. It's not too boring though, trust me, I've been here for two days already, " Regulus pauses, "However since there's really no need for sleep you're up for twenty-four hours a day straight. Magic still works here, and it is actually easier to learn here. Other spirits call this place the nether world. This is just one of the 'houses' in the world. There's one just down the block if you want to go back as a ghost."
"If we go to be a ghost can we…."Lily starts, probably thinking about giving her sister a piece of her mind.
Regulus shakes his head, "You two are already permanent residences in the nether world. If you weren't then you would be in that house. And becoming a ghost is permanent anyway; you wouldn't be able to come back."
Lily seems to ponder this for a moment, then nods. I can tell that she's slightly upset, but that she's also curious about this new world that they're in.
"So…what is this place like? From what you've been able to see I mean." I ruffle my hair, feeling slightly embarrassed, but also knowing that I have to ask. Have to give this guy a chance, even if only because he's Sirius's brother.
"Well," Regulus starts, "from what I've been able to see every quote unquote family gets a house. It adjusts on the insides to their needs and never grows too cramped, no matter how many people are in it. If you want something, like Butterbeer, then all you have to do is go to the supply depot across the street and get it. There are no jobs and is no money up here, so you have tons of recreational time."
I groan, "Can we fly? Or something? Granted I'll probably be in here most of the time watching Harry, but…"
"He's a Marauder," Lily finishes, glancing over at Regulus, "I'm sure you've dealt with their pranks before."
Regulus laughs, "I lived with a marauder for most of my life. I'm used to it by now."
My eyebrows raise, "Used to a Marauder? That's not possible."
"Want to bet? Life at the house of Black while the parents were away was the best. Sirius, believe it or not, is an amazing cook. Every morning was pancakes or something of the like. And the days were often spent just doing whatever we wanted. From flying in the house, to playing pranks on each other, and just about everything in between," Regulus's eyes grow distant before snapping back, "And then of course mother and father would return and the trouble would begin."
"Trouble?"
"Yeah, Kreature would always tell on what had been going on. Of course mother and father always blamed it solely on Sirius. To this day I don't know why."