The Dying Wish of Sirius Black

Summary: Starts off in book three. Lupin is a good werewolf, takes his potion and stays away. Snape also doesn't show up. Sirius stands alone against Pettigrew and three teenagers, one of which very much wants to kill him. Sirius is more than willing to allow this – but on his own terms. And first he has to kill a certain rat… Sirius B., Harry P. Some violence and angst. Rated M for safety.

A/N: As I'm not a native Speaker of English (or writer, for that matter) please have mercy when judging my language. And don't be shy to report any mistakes, I'll gladly correct them! Also, this is my first HP fanfiction. I hope you like it.

1. A Wish to Kill

Harry was running, Hermione right behind him. Trying to make as little noise as possible, they followed the trace on the floor, where Ron's body had left a smear of dirt and blood in the dust. Where was that ominous black dog?
He heard Hermione's whisper that they were in the Shrieking Shack, but he didn't care. They had to find Ron before….

Harry entered the room and saw his best friend. Ron was laying on the floor at the wall to his right, motionless, his face white as death. He had lost consciousness. Without even looking left, Harry started off in his direction, but before he could cross the room, he heard a shriek behind him, and a raw, deep whisper: "Stupefy."
Hermione's body sank to the floor with a thud.
Harry whirled around, but his wand was already ripped out of his hand by the next whisper, "Expelliarmus." Harry's eyes followed the piece of wood that was flying a graceful arc before landing in the dirty hand of none other than Sirius Black. The criminal's face contorted into a weak smile, which was even worse than the dark expression he had worn in all the mug shots. He was in a ragged state, his robe hardly more than faded shreds of fabric over black trousers, his hair and beard long and wild, the wet locks tumbling over his shoulders. He was thin and looked worn-out, save for his eyes, which betrayed an intense energy, a murderous intent. Despite his crouched stance, he was still more than a head taller. Shock numbed Harry's body for a second. His gaze fell to the floor, saw the paw prints of the hound which stopped directly at Black's heavy boots. How could they have been so stupid? He could turn into a hound. He was the Grimm.

Harry made a lunge for Hermione's wand, but the next spell knocked him from his feet and he ended up on the floor at the other end of the room, next to Ron. Scrambling to his knees, he could only helplessly watch as Black raised his wand again.
"Silencio", the raw voice whispered and he moved his wand in a gesture that encompassed the whole room. Harry opened his mouth to scream for help, but not a single sound left his lips. Black had effectively silenced him. Then he stepped around Hermione's lifeless body, threw one look outside the door, and closed it shut.

"So", he said. "Now to you, Pettigrew."
Harry only now recognised that there was a trembling rat in Black's free hand. It was Scabbers, and judging by the blood running down Black's fingers, the rat was biting every bit of flesh it could reach. Harry silently encouraged it, but then Black rasped his next spell and the rat turned into a pitiful, ugly man before Harry's eyes. Dumbstruck, he could only stare.

The small man tossed about on the floor and was begging without voice.
"Hello, Peter… long time no see." Black's voice dripped darkly with sarcasm. "You may speak your last few words, you piece of shit." He flicked his wand at the man and suddenly, Harry could hear his voice. It was high and squeaky, and shrill with fear.
"Sirius… no, please, don't kill me, Sirius!", he begged. "I didn't… I never wanted… It wasn't me!" He looked half like a rat himself, and one of his fingers was missing. Harrys brain slowly started working again, although his body still felt numb.
Sirius Black gave a hard, cruel laugh. "Pointless, Wormtail. Don't waste your breath. You know I will kill you. You know you deserve it, don't you?" He stepped closer to the trembling form of what Harry now realised was Peter Pettigrew, the man who Sirius allegedly had killed twelve years ago together with a dozen of muggles…. Only that Peter, as it seemed, had survived the attack and was still alive. By the murderous look on Black's face however, he was about to change this fact right here and now.
"Nooooooo", Pettigrew wailed. "Please, Sirius, you can't kill me… Weren't we all friends? You, and James, Remus and me… You can't kill your old friend!"
"Friend?" Black spat the word like an insult. "Stop babbling, you scum. And don't ever dare to call their names again! It's all over. They're dead, and it's high time you followed them."
As Black raised his wand, Harry finally found he could move his muscles again. He had no idea what was going on, but Black was about to kill Peter for the second time and the little man was helpless, that much was clear. Harry jumped forward and tried to reach Black's wand hand, but the criminal reacted a split second before he got there.
"Immobiliate", he croaked. Harry felt his body freeze on the spot, cursing inwardly.
"Not… bad", Black said with a gasp. "You are as quick as James… but there is one thing I have to do before –" He interrupted himself and brought his wand down on Pettigrew, who, as Harry could see from the corner of his eyes, was wildly digging for his wand in his pocket.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
Pettigrew froze and fell on his side, his wand landing on the floor with a soft clang. Black was breathing harder now, his arms trembling, as if every spell cost him great amounts of energy. Harry, who only stood a step away from him, could not only smell his sweaty, dirty body, but also see in detail how twelve years in Azkaban had hollowed this man out. He was nothing but bones and skin, but the fire in his eyes never wavered. He stared at Pettigrew with a mixture of disgust and cold hatred.
"You should not have wasted your last few words on me", he rasped. "You should have used them to apologise to Harry here. Apologised and expressed your remorse, maybe, before going to hell. Yes, Peter… this is Harry Potter. You spent the last three years in his company, you should have had lots of chances to feel remorse."
Harrys eyes, the only thing he could still move at will, wandered involuntarily from Black to Pettigrew. The small man had grown pale and tears welled in his eyes.
Black took a step back and raised his wand.
"Stop! Don't kill him!", Harry screamed, but again no sound left his lips.

Sirius Black smiled. "Avada Kedavra."
Horrified, Harry watched how the light left the eyes of Peter Pettigrew and his small body stopped trembling. He wanted to retch. Even more, he wanted to kill Sirius Black. But he knew he would not get another chance. The only reason Harry was still alive seemed that Black's business with Pettigrew was even more important.

"Harry." The dark, rasping voice was closer now. Harry clenched his teeth.
"Do you want to kill me, Harry?", Black asked. There was no sarcasm in his voice this time, but Harry knew he was only teasing with him. This man was mad, had been mad maybe even before Azkaban. As Harry still had no voice, he could only stare at Black, send him all his hatred and fury in one single glare.
"Good", Black said. "You really want to kill me." His voice sounded even stranger now. "You are right to hate me. I am the reason your parents are dead. I didn't wish it, but it's my fault, all my fault… James and Lily… God, you look so much like James." He nodded, very slowly, his eyes never leaving Harry's face. The young wizard squirmed furiously under the spell, trying to move, to reach Black, to stop him from calling his parent's names.
"You are the only one who shall kill me, Harry. The dementors and the ministry will not get me, I promise you. I will wait for you in Godric's Hollow… in the house of your parents. Come alone, or I will disapparate. Come alone. I will wait for you as long as it takes." His voice gave out at this point and he coughed violently. When his fit subsided, he pointed to Pettigrew's dead body on the floor.
"It was not me who murdered all those muggles back then. It was him, Pettigrew. He spoke the curse, hacked off his finger and disappeared in his rat form. Take his wand, Harry, and show it to Dumbledore. He can use the Priori Incantatem to prove it. I'm not lying. Take the wand." He turned to Harry again, a desperate urgency in his voice.
"And don't be sorry for that scum, Harry", he murmured. "He deserved to die, more than you can imagine."
Harry would have shook his head, would have called Black the worst names he could bring up, but his body was still frozen. His heart nearly leapt out of his throat as the murderer came even closer until he stood directly before him.

"I will wait for you in Godric's Hollow", he rasped. "I know you will come. Don't drag anybody else into this. I will only allow you to kill me… My godson."
And with these words, Black did the most horrible thing Harry could ever have expected, even worse than killing Pettigrew right before his eyes: He stepped up and laid his arms around Harry, embracing him for one horrible, long second reeking of sheer madness. Harry felt his skin crawl. Then Black let him go, opened the door and was gone. About one minute later, Harry felt that he could move his limbs again and Hermione opened her eyes with a moan. Ron was unharmed as well, apart from his leg. Harry felt like waking up after a long, dreadful nightmare, only that the corpse on the floor was real.

Thanks for reading!
By the by, if perchance you have seen this plot somewhere before, please tell me. I'm aware that it's not exactly new or original, but couldn't find it written out anywhere yet and so I had to write it down... I don't want to copy anybody though.