Katana Wands

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Prologue:Where do we go from here?

Two figures stumbled through the dark, digging through the ruble that had once been a sturdy mansion for their fallen comrades. "Lily! James!"

"Answer us!"

One of the figures with his shovel sized hands, tossed the giant sized boulders out of the way. Dust and gravel caught in his wild black hair and scraggly wire like beard. His beetle-black eyes whizzed back and forth, frantically searching the debris.

He had no worry of hitting his companion, even if he had time to think. For even though he was shorter than average, he would zip back and forth, clearing away smaller debris, so fast, most people would only see his fiery hair in the neat high ponytail. As he whipped his head back and forth, searching franticly, his hair brushed past the cross-shaped scar on his left cheek was the only thing that blemished his otherwise perfectly-handsome features. His amber eyes flashed in the night as he caught sight of a glimpse of red hair that was a different shade from his own.

"Hagrid!" he called out. "I think I found Lily!" The young man ran to the locks of red that tumbled out from under the collapsed wall. He unsheathed the ever present katana by his side, and made a few swift movements, slicing the wall into many pieces to reveal the young mother beneath.

"Kenshin, is she all right!" cried the one called Hagrid, as he ran over. He looked down, and saw something that made his heart freeze and the color drain from his face.

The sound of his motorbike and the roaring wind filled the ears of Sirius Black, as he rode over the clouds that covered the moon from the view of the Muggles that slept in their beds, oblivious to the tragedy that would occur if his hunch was right and he didn't get there in time.

The wind-chill made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end when he thought of what would happen to his best friends if he were too late. He didn't think he could stand it if he found the corpses that had once--

He immediately stopped that line of thinking right where it was. He was going to make it. He would make it in time to save them. They weren't going to die! His heart began to beat furiously against his ribcage, making him think that the Muggles could hear it from all the way down on the ground. He was approaching Godric's Hollow, and would soon see their house in the distance . . . but he couldn't see it. He got lower, so that he was clear of the cloud cover that had made him virtually invisible to the rest of the world. What he saw made his heart stop. Or rather . . . what he didn't see.

He didn't see the walls that had once held up a roof that sheltered those who he considered his family. He didn't see the windows that had shone with happiness not four days previous. He didn't even see the gate that kept so many a Muggle from crossing into the yard and accidentally discovering the secret of the Potters. What he did see was a pile of rubble that spread ten feet off the property, illuminated by the full moon.

He landed on the driveway like a plane on a landing strip. As soon as his bike had come to a stop, he got off, threw his helmet away, and dashed forward. He ran a few paces into the rubble and collapsed to his knees. All of the color had drained from his face and his eyes were wide as he looked around at the scene in front of him, not really seeing it.

"They went down fighting."

The cold, yet gentle, voice snapped Sirius out of his trance as his eyes finally registered what he was seeing. In front of him was the nineteen-year-old boy, Himura Kenshin, who had fought beside him, James, and the others for five years now. The only exception to the age limit in the Order to ever be conducted. He was standing as still as a statue, his hands hung at his sides, one holding his sword in a loose grasp as he looked down at the dead body of James Potter. A small trickle of blood flowed out of the corner of James' mouth, as well as down from his brow, where a gapping cut in the shape of a lightning bolt could be seen. His gray, lifeless eyes stared out blankly into the night.

Sirius watched as Kenshin knelt down and gently closed the eyes of Sirius' fallen brother.

"From what we could tell, James held Voldemort off, while Lily tried to escape with Harry." Kenshin got up from his kneeling position and Sirius stared at him.

"'We'?" he asked.

As if to answer his question, Hagrid appeared out of nowhere next to Kenshin. In his hands, he held something that was wrapped in a blanket and squirming ever-so-slightly. As the first shallow rays of dawn started to peek over the horizon, Sirius knew instantly what, or rather who, Hagrid was holding in his shovel-sized hands. He got to his feet in a flash.

"Give me Harry, Hagrid!" he commanded the giant of a man. "I'm his godfather; James gave me the responsibility to take care of him if anything happened!" He didn't mean to shout, but for some reason, he was.

Hagrid stood firm with little Harry in his oversized hands. "Sorry, Sirius, but Dumbledore said that Harry is going to go live with his aunt and uncle," he said.

Sirius could not believe his ears; he had met Lily's sister and he knew that she hated anything and anyone that had to do with magic. He could not believe that Dumbledore would even consider sending Harry to her. "Hagrid, you can't send Harry there; they're Muggles, and worst of all, you know how much Petunia hates wizards and any type of magic!"

"I'm sorry, Sirius, but I can't ignore Dumbledore's orders!"

Sirius looked at Kenshin for help; he hadn't said a thing while Hagrid was there. Kenshin was just standing there, in the same position he was in when Sirius got there, staring out into the rubble. He didn't even look like he was listening. "Kenshin, you've met Petunia, and you know what she's like. We can't send Harry there!"

Kenshin then turned to look at Sirius with the golden eyes of a predator. Sirius froze when he saw those eyes. He knew right then that there was no way he was going to win this argument.

"All right then. Just let me hold him a bit before you go."

Hagrid handed the little bundle into Sirius' outstretched arms. Harry stirred in his sleep as he was passed from one person to the other. Sirius looked at the face of his godson with a silent sadness that made him forget that he was crying. This would be the last time he would see Harry in a long time, he knew this, and he was saddened beyond belief that this had to happen. He then noticed the cut on his forehead . . . in the shape of a lightning bolt. "We don't know how he survived it." It was Kenshin. He must have noticed the look on Sirius' face.

After a moment of silence, Sirius handed Harry back to Hagrid. "Take my bike; it will get you there faster." Hagrid looked at Sirius in surprise. Seeing this, he said, "I won't be needing it anymore."

After Hagrid had left on the flying motorbike, the sun almost fully in the sky, Kenshin took his eyes off of the departing giant to look at Sirius. "Where do we go from here?" he asked.

Sirius knew what he had to do. He had to find that sleazy little rat that betrayed the trust of his brother. As for Kenshin . . . "No offense or anything, but you're on your own. As for me, I have some business to take care of." He began to walk away, but then, looked back. Now that he thought about it, the war was officially over. What was this kid, who had chosen to kill too early in his young life, going to do now that he was out of a job? He couldn't apply for Auror; he was too old. "What are you going to do?" he asked.

Kenshin looked at Sirius, closed his eyes . . . then, in Sirius' view, did something that no one would believe: he took the scabbard of his katana out of his belt, sheathed the weapon, and planted it in the ground. It stood there, vertically, like some ghastly marker of death, as Kenshin started to walk away. "I made a promise," he stated, his back still turned to Sirius. "I made a promise to someone, and I intend to fulfill that promise. I'm going back to Japan for a while. Shaku wanted to see me before I go." He stopped and turned to face Sirius. Sirius was startled to see that the color of his eyes had changed. They were no longer amber, but a calm violet, even though they still held their piercing quality. "I don't know when the next time we will see each other again will be, so for now . . . ja ne."

He then continued on his way.

Ja ne-see ya'