Durmstrang
Year 7
Theme: Veritaserum
Main prompt:
6. Sirius Black [Main Character]
Optional Prompts:
7. Begging [Action]
10. Drizzling - Rain [Weather]
Total word count (excluding AN): 1521
Definitely AU!
The Choices We Make
"NO! Don't...I can't take any more…"
"You should have thought of that, Mr. Black, before becoming the Potters' Secret Keeper. I need to know where the Potters are staying, and I need to know now." The voice, calm and collected, run chills down Sirius's spine.
"That information is not for you to know. They're safe; that's all the intel you need."
Sirius Black looks out the window and snarls. "James, I don't like the look of this weather. Are you sure Dumbledore wants us to do this mission tonight?"
James nods. "Apparently, Death Eaters don't have days off, so neither should we." Sirius watches his best friend throw some clothes into a bag angrily. He can't blame the young father.
"Mate, Evans will take care of Little Prongsly. Don't worry about them." Sirius tries to sound flippant, but he doesn't quite pull it off.
"Sure, just like you're not worried." James looks over at Sirius. "Dumbledore himself said he'd watch out for them, but I don't know just how comfortable I am leaving my family with him."
"You doubt Albus?" Though he himself had a few doubts about the Headmaster, Sirius had no clue that James was also wary of their leader. "Why?"
James glances around to make sure they're not heard, then moves closer to Sirius. "Padfoot, he wants to put us into hiding with him as our Secret Keeper. He's actually being pretty persistent about the whole thing. Too persistent, in my opinion."
While Sirius was suspicious of Dumbledore, this particular scenario wasn't exactly cause to raise an alarm. "Why is that a bad thing? He wants you safe." He could play devil's advocate as well as anyone.
"Because he knows that either Harry or Neville will be the one to defeat Voldemort, and Albus is nothing if not resourceful. He's keeping our kids safe, not us, and I don't want to leave Harry with someone who will just use him as a weapon," Lily Potter adds as she walks in, handing their young son to James. "I do think we need protection, but not with him as Secret Keeper."
Sirius nods. "Well, how do you want to do this?"
Sirius wipes the water from his eyes, still kneeling in front of his captor. "Please. I've done what is best for my friends...for Harry."
"Where are the Longbottoms?" Still calm and collected.
"I don't kno—Argh!" Sirius falls forward, incapacitated by the searing pain from the Cruciatus curse. "Why are you doing this? I thought you wanted them safe! Wanted them out of Voldemort's reach!"
Albus Dumbledore laughs. "I need them available, not hidden away in some crumbling cottage in the country. I can keep them safe until one of them is marked!" Then: "Crucio!"
Lily and James look at each other.
"We want you as our Secretkeeper, Padfoot." James shifts Harry to his other arm. "Someone is feeding Voldemort information, and my Marauders are the only ones I can trust right now."
At Lily's slight cough, James amended, "Well, you and Moony."
There it is. The quiet, hidden distrust of Wormtail. Sirius nods again. "So you feel it too," he states.
Lily shrugs. "The long stretches of time without checking in, the 'secret' meetings with 'contacts' that could help us, his overall attitude…"
"We've never been a group that kept secrets from each other, Padfoot; you know that." James sits down heavily on his and Lily's bed. "I just can't trust him. Not anymore."
"You know they'll suspect me first."
"I know. We're going to tell Dumbledore to meet us at his house in Godric's Hollow. That's the spot he's suggested for a safehouse. However, while he's there, we're going to a small Muggle home in Ireland." James looks to Sirius. "Moony can't do it; you know that. And you're the only other person I trust right now."
Lily speaks up. "Alice and Frank are already hiding out with Amelia Bones as their Secret Keeper. Dumbledore doesn't know yet. Or, if he does, he hasn't said anything yet."
Sirius sighs. "I'm there for you, mates. I just have one request."
"What's that?"
"Let's do this tonight. I don't like waiting."
"Who is the Longbottoms' Secretkeeper?" Dumbledore holds his wand under Sirius's chin.
"Not a clue."
"Mr. Black, I didn't want to have to resort to this, but—" Dumbledore turns and summons someone to his side. "Mr. Snape, please administer the Veritaserum. Get what we need, then dispose of Mr. Black."
"No!"
A short time later, Sirius shows up to the rendezvous location, soaked from the rain. Dumbledore looks behind him curiously, no twinkle showing in his expression.
"Where's Mr. Potter?" he asks. "He's never late."
Sirius looks at Lupin, then to the professor. "He's not coming. He decided his family was more important than this mission."
"That's unfortunate. I was depending on his presence tonight. Any word from Mr. Pettigrew? Mr. Longbottom?"
Mad-Eye shakes his head. "I couldn't find Longbottom nor his family when I stopped by their place earlier. Augusta swears she hasn't seen them in a couple of days. As for Pettigrew, he said he had to meet with some more contacts tonight."
Sirius shakes his head. "Contacts," he mutters under his breath. Moony looks at him and shakes his head slightly. None of the Marauders trust Peter's "contacts."
Dumbledore sighs. "Well then, I don't see how we can go through with this tonight. We'll just regroup in a couple of nights. I'll let you know when. Stay alert."
"I still can't decide who will be blamed for their deaths—you or the werewolf. You were the logical choice for Secret Keeper, but Mr. Lupin is an animal. You'll be left to look like a failure, and their deaths will be on your hands. Lupin will be killed immediately." Dumbledore grins, the twinkle back in his eye. "I say, I like that plan." Turning to Snape, he nods. "Now."
Sirius meets secretly with Remus to fill in the werewolf and to seek a bit of comfort. His best friend has been hidden safely, but for how long? How effective are the wards? What if he's killed? What will happen to the Potters?
"Sirius, calm down. Prongs and his family will be okay. They have to be."
"I just can't shake the feeling I had tonight. Dumbledore's not happy, even more so after he found both the Potters and Longbottoms missing."
Remus tucks a bit of Sirius's hair behind his ear. "Dumbledore will calm down. He just likes having complete control."
Sirius shakes his head. "I don't know, Moony. It just doesn't feel right."
Dumbledore laughs. "Mr. Black, you're much more cooperative when you have a bit of Veritaserum in your system. Though I'd have appreciated it a good bit more had you just cooperated the first time." Looking at his lackey, he nods. "I think there's enough there to report back to Tom. There'll be no way he can kill Harry tonight, but James and Lily won't be as lucky, unfortunately for them." Missing the angry look on Snape's face, he turned back to Sirius. "Now, what do we do with you, Mr. Black?"
Still in a fog, Sirius shrugs. "Kill me, for all I care. I just turned over my best friend and his family to a madman. Does Voldemort know that you're even more of a snake than he is?" The rain has soaked him through, sending chills over his body, but Sirius doesn't notice.
"Oh, honesty! I appreciate it, Sirius. However, the silver lining here is that you won't even remember you are the reason the Potters are dead. I think a life in Azkaban will be more than fitting for you. But I can't have you spouting that I'm to blame. No, we cannot have that. Obliviate!"
Sirius wakes to find himself asleep in his bed, a bit sore, but alive. The rain on the roof tempts him to turn over and go back to sleep, but he looks over to where Remus normally sleeps to find that side of the bed empty. He has a sinking feeling as he sits up. His head keeps telling him he needs to go to Godric's Hollow to check on James.
"Remus? Love, are you here?" The house is quiet, and the cold chill that travels down Sirius's spine alerts him to a bigger, much scarier, picture. He has to get to James...Lily…
Harry.
The scene is a mess when he arrives. Why didn't they appoint me as Secret Keeper? Why did I insist on Wormtail? Why? Sirius runs into the house, out of the drizzling, constant rain, but all he sees is James, dead on the floor. Forcing himself to run up the stairs, he almost loses his resolve when he sees Lily's body beside Harry's crib. Harry's cry draws him to the toddler, and he picks him up to comfort him as he makes his way back down the stairs.
When Dumbledore arrives in Godric's Hollow, he smiles as he sees Sirius on the floor beside James Potter's body, holding Harry closely. This is going just as planned.