He was supposed to meet them for drinks at eight o'clock on the dot, but Sirius was always casually late. It was one of his endearing qualities. He smiled as he walked up the pathway to his best friend's home with a bottle of wine in hand, eager to see the Potter family. When seeing the front door busted open, the young man dropped the bottle against the brick pathway.
Sirius was terrified at what would greet him once entering the home. The cold air bit at his neck, sending a shiver down his spine as he made a dash towards the front door. His arm pushed the wooden door out of the way, and he was met with the dead body of James Potter.
"James, no!" he screamed. Sirius tripped over the stairs, pulling his way up violently to get to James' body. Once close enough, he hesitated at what to do. James was dead, or he looked dead. Tears formed in the young man's eyes as his mouth opened but no sound came out, his hands trembling before reading out to cup his friend's cheek.
It was cold. James was really dead. "Please, no," his voice cracked with sorrow, his other shaking hand grabbed at the corpse's shoulder. "Wake up, please, Potter!" he shook the lifeless body of his. . . former best friend, his voice getting louder as the situation sunk in. "James Potter you wake up right now!"
But James Potter would never wake up, not for anyone. Never again.
A sharp cry began upstairs, repetitive and loud. Sirius' head snapped in the direction of the cry, and he bolted from beside James, scurrying up the stairs as fast as he could. He had to find Lily and Harry. They were his priority now, keep them safe. Just finding them was all he could think of.
"Lily! Where are you?" he called, kicking in the doors to the bathroom and the master bedroom. No sign of them, but the crying continued. "Evans, answer me! Where are-"
Sirius had walked into Harry's room when he lost his voice. On the floor, near a pile of dust, was Lily Evans. Her arm was reaching out to the crib where a screaming Harry sat.
Sirius fell to his knees at the sight, his emotions finally being pushed over the edge. Lily Evans, the girl that didn't fall for his tricks and put up with him when not many others would, the lovely young girl he met on the train his first year, was dead. "No, not you. . ." he grabbed her cold, limp hand in his and wept.
"Tell me I'm a prat, tell me it's just a prank, scream at me. . . Just wake up, please," there was no use in begging. It never worked when she was alive, and it was unlikely to work in death.
His whole world was thrown upside down in one night. In just one night he lost his best friends, and he knew exactly who to blame.
Harry's cries continued into the night, which finally brought Sirius back into reality. Harry was his now, his godson had seen the death of his mother and needed him. Sirius needed Harry just as much as Harry needed Sirius. "Sh, sh, sweet boy," he whispered to the baby. Sirius released Lily's hand and stood up, walking over to the crib and picking up Harry in his arms.
"You're safe, you're okay," he kissed the side of Harry's head, catching a glance of a scar forming on his forehead. He elected to ignore it, swaying back and forth to calm down his godson. He wandered over to the window that looked down onto the street, perhaps looking away would calm Sirius down as well. "I've got you, I'll always have you."
Something caught his eye in the street, a person standing in the middle of the way staring at the house. Sirius recognized the mess of light brown hair and squirmy demeanor immediately. His blood boiled, his upper lip curled into a snarl and he whipped around and set Harry back into his crib. "I will get revenge, Harry. Uncle Sirius will bring justice. Know your parents love you, know that I love you," Harry's small hand held onto Sirius' pinky fingure in wonder. "By morning, Peter Pettigrew will be dead."
Sirius ran faster than he's ever ran before. Hurdling down the stairs and jumping over his best friend's dead body and out the front door with his wand at the ready. The figure jumped and yelled his name, then ran off.
"Avada Kedavra!" the curse missed, hitting a tree instead.
"Sirius, please!"
"Traitor!"
"Sirius!"
"You were their friend!"