James Potter was washing dishes in a kind of coma. The Potters had received the letter yesterday. The letter from Albus Dumbledore describing how Voldemort was targeting them next. Them. The Potters. To kill them. Albus had suggested the Fidelius Charm. He had offered to be the Potters Secret Keeper, but, after much debate, they had refused saying that they would use Sirius, James' best friend.
'Rap, Rap.' James looked to the window and saw, not one but two owls. He opened the window to let them in. One was from Sirius, with the letter needed for the charm to work properly. This part had to be in written words. Now all they had to do was wait for Sirius to show up for the main part to be performed.
The other letter was from Peter Pettigrew, another of James' close Hogwarts friends. This was to tell him and Lily not to worry, that they would be fine. James thought fondly of Lily, he knew that Lily would be touched by his letter.
Five Days Later, heh heh heh
James and Lily were reading over another letter that Sirius had sent. It read:
'Dear James,
Peter and I have discussed this and have come to the conclusion that I will be your obvious choice for a Secret Keeper. Voldemort will know to come after me. I'm terribly sorry, but we have come to the conclusion that Peter will be a better choice, Voldemort won't think to come after him. If you decide to use Peter as Secret Keeper, read the next letter and write to me.'
James and Lily were scandalized. Lily felt betrayed, and she wasted no time in telling James this. After much debate, they decided to use Peter, although they wrote back that Sirius should try to keep a close watch on Peter. James scrawled a return letter to Sirius and Peter, confirming the decision.
Sirius's Point of View
I was still worried about the Potter's three days into the switch. I didn't know why, after all, Peter's house was only two minutes away on foot, I could get there in 6 seconds flat on my motorcycle. If there was a problem, I would be able to hear it, as there were scrying devices all over his house.
I was a fool.
Later on that night I went to check on Peter. I casually walked up and knocked on the door. There was no response. I knocked again, harder. Still nothing. I tried the doorknob. It was locked.
"Alohorma," I whispered, pointing my wand at the door. It opened without me touching the knob. I entered, wondering what I would find. The house was empty. Then I realized the truth. Peter was the tratior. I dashed out of the house, sprinted back to my motorcycle. I hopped on, nearly missing the seat in my urgency to get on. As the motor was roaring I screamed for all the world to hear.
"Damn you, Peter Pettigrew, Wormtail, if you can kill the Potters you might as well kill God!!!!" I kicked off the ground too panicky to Apperate, and roared at top speed to Lily and James house.
"Ahhhh." I felt a calm return as I saw the house. Actually, there was no house. I felt a strange sense of calm, now that I knew what had happened. I slowly sunk down to the ground. All at once I started shaking uncontrollably. I landed, and then slowly walked over to the pile of rubble. I started digging where it looked like most of the action had been. I found James', buried under the heaps. His eyes were closed, thank God. His wand was still in his hand, broken but it was something. His body was not yet cold, and I tried to dig him out of the pile. Once that was done I tried to find Lily, and hopefully Harry. I found Lily, and carried her over to where James was lying. Then I started looking for Harry.
Suddenly I realized something. There was no Dark Mark over the house. This meant that Voldemort must have had to get away quickly. Strange though, that he didn't even have enough time to cast the Dark Spell. This was interesting. I continued to look for Harry.
Then, there he was. Lying on a cracked board, with a thin, lightning shaped cut down his forehead. But he was alive.
"Oh my." I couldn't even say anything more than that. This boy, only a year in age, had been the downfall of Lord Voldemort. That was why there was no Dark Mark. "He wasn't able to cast it!" I said, too dumbstruck to pick the babe up. Jeez.
"Lily, James. How much I would give for you two to be back among us." I picked up Harry and took him over to where James and Lily were. I let him rest in her arms one last time before we left. Just then Hagrid, a man twice the size of a normal man, came into view. He was running as hard as possible towards Harry, and I. His small black eyes scanned the room, and I noticed a large teardrop running down his face. Then he spotted Harry and I.
"Sirius!" he cried. "What're you doin' here?"
"Lily and James," I said, for the first time fighting back tears myself, "are dead. Dead and gone and I won't ever speak to them again."
"Bring Harry here Sirius," Hagrid said gently. He took out a plastic muggle water container and used some of its contents to wash the cut on Harry's face. "Les' go out o' here" We walked outside and stared at the Sky for a while. I found my namesake, Sirius the Dog star, at the nose of the Dog.
Then I said "Voldemort is gone, Hagrid."
"I know, Dumbledore told me," he responded. "Thas why I'm here. I gotta take Harry to his aunt and uncle."
Harry go to live with the muggles? Disgraceful! "Don't take him to the muggles, give him to me, I'm his Godfather." Hagrid looked at me sadly.
"Sorry Sirius, I got special orders from Dumbledore. Yeh know I would if I hadn't got me orders.
"Well, can I say goodbye then?" I asked awkwardly. Hagrid handed Harry over to me. He had been very quiet this whole time, and the pain had apparently subsided. I took Harry back through to the wreckage, to the spot where his parents lay. "This is James, Harry, James Potter. He is your father. He was clever and brave and never hesitated to pull even his worst enemies out of danger." I paused, remembering the time when he had pull Servrus Snape from certain death. Snape, our worst enemy at school "But get a good look at him now because you will never see him again." I stood up and gave Harry to Hagrid.
"You can take my motorcycle," I said, in a hollow voice. "I won't need it. Hagrid nodded and mounted.
"'Bye Sirius," he said gratefully. I couldn't have cared less. I stuck my hands in my pockets and started to walk away. Good bye James. Good bye forever. Have a good life in heaven.
On the way to where ever I was going I thought about Peter. I stopped dead in my tracks. Peter. The one who ruined my life. I bet it was with four words. Peter who killed Lily and James. That did it. I took a detour through the back alley to where I assumed he would be. Wormtail was waiting.
"Sirius," he said, as I stepped out onto the main street. "I expect you were blubbering over your dead friends?"
I couldn't even speak. I felt as if I was going to explode with anger. He casually fired a curse my way, which I ducked. Muggles were starting to notice us and were coming out onto the street. A wizard had just Apperated. Wormtail suddenly broke out in sobs.
"Why did you do it? Lily and James Sirius, how could you?" It was funny, really, how such a poor fool could have me so dumbfounded. Wormtail took out his wand and blew the street apart. I went for mine, but he was quicker. He transformed into a rat, that was why we called him Wormtail at school. Then he scampered off into the sewer. I noticed the finger he left behind which would be my bane. I just stood there, and watched knowing that he would dodge any curses I tried to throw.
Then the strangest thing happened. I started laughing. Laughing at what my life had become. I was going to Azkaban, no doubt about that. I laughed at the futility of it all. My best friend and his wife were dead, their son was going to live with the Muggles, and I was a convicted murderer. And they thought Azkaban would hinder me in any way. I laughed until I started crying. Oh, it was hilarious, oh my it was funny. I just stood there, cracking up, until the Ministry wizards got there. I laughed until they locked me up. Then I started crying.
'Rap, Rap.' James looked to the window and saw, not one but two owls. He opened the window to let them in. One was from Sirius, with the letter needed for the charm to work properly. This part had to be in written words. Now all they had to do was wait for Sirius to show up for the main part to be performed.
The other letter was from Peter Pettigrew, another of James' close Hogwarts friends. This was to tell him and Lily not to worry, that they would be fine. James thought fondly of Lily, he knew that Lily would be touched by his letter.
Five Days Later, heh heh heh
James and Lily were reading over another letter that Sirius had sent. It read:
'Dear James,
Peter and I have discussed this and have come to the conclusion that I will be your obvious choice for a Secret Keeper. Voldemort will know to come after me. I'm terribly sorry, but we have come to the conclusion that Peter will be a better choice, Voldemort won't think to come after him. If you decide to use Peter as Secret Keeper, read the next letter and write to me.'
James and Lily were scandalized. Lily felt betrayed, and she wasted no time in telling James this. After much debate, they decided to use Peter, although they wrote back that Sirius should try to keep a close watch on Peter. James scrawled a return letter to Sirius and Peter, confirming the decision.
Sirius's Point of View
I was still worried about the Potter's three days into the switch. I didn't know why, after all, Peter's house was only two minutes away on foot, I could get there in 6 seconds flat on my motorcycle. If there was a problem, I would be able to hear it, as there were scrying devices all over his house.
I was a fool.
Later on that night I went to check on Peter. I casually walked up and knocked on the door. There was no response. I knocked again, harder. Still nothing. I tried the doorknob. It was locked.
"Alohorma," I whispered, pointing my wand at the door. It opened without me touching the knob. I entered, wondering what I would find. The house was empty. Then I realized the truth. Peter was the tratior. I dashed out of the house, sprinted back to my motorcycle. I hopped on, nearly missing the seat in my urgency to get on. As the motor was roaring I screamed for all the world to hear.
"Damn you, Peter Pettigrew, Wormtail, if you can kill the Potters you might as well kill God!!!!" I kicked off the ground too panicky to Apperate, and roared at top speed to Lily and James house.
"Ahhhh." I felt a calm return as I saw the house. Actually, there was no house. I felt a strange sense of calm, now that I knew what had happened. I slowly sunk down to the ground. All at once I started shaking uncontrollably. I landed, and then slowly walked over to the pile of rubble. I started digging where it looked like most of the action had been. I found James', buried under the heaps. His eyes were closed, thank God. His wand was still in his hand, broken but it was something. His body was not yet cold, and I tried to dig him out of the pile. Once that was done I tried to find Lily, and hopefully Harry. I found Lily, and carried her over to where James was lying. Then I started looking for Harry.
Suddenly I realized something. There was no Dark Mark over the house. This meant that Voldemort must have had to get away quickly. Strange though, that he didn't even have enough time to cast the Dark Spell. This was interesting. I continued to look for Harry.
Then, there he was. Lying on a cracked board, with a thin, lightning shaped cut down his forehead. But he was alive.
"Oh my." I couldn't even say anything more than that. This boy, only a year in age, had been the downfall of Lord Voldemort. That was why there was no Dark Mark. "He wasn't able to cast it!" I said, too dumbstruck to pick the babe up. Jeez.
"Lily, James. How much I would give for you two to be back among us." I picked up Harry and took him over to where James and Lily were. I let him rest in her arms one last time before we left. Just then Hagrid, a man twice the size of a normal man, came into view. He was running as hard as possible towards Harry, and I. His small black eyes scanned the room, and I noticed a large teardrop running down his face. Then he spotted Harry and I.
"Sirius!" he cried. "What're you doin' here?"
"Lily and James," I said, for the first time fighting back tears myself, "are dead. Dead and gone and I won't ever speak to them again."
"Bring Harry here Sirius," Hagrid said gently. He took out a plastic muggle water container and used some of its contents to wash the cut on Harry's face. "Les' go out o' here" We walked outside and stared at the Sky for a while. I found my namesake, Sirius the Dog star, at the nose of the Dog.
Then I said "Voldemort is gone, Hagrid."
"I know, Dumbledore told me," he responded. "Thas why I'm here. I gotta take Harry to his aunt and uncle."
Harry go to live with the muggles? Disgraceful! "Don't take him to the muggles, give him to me, I'm his Godfather." Hagrid looked at me sadly.
"Sorry Sirius, I got special orders from Dumbledore. Yeh know I would if I hadn't got me orders.
"Well, can I say goodbye then?" I asked awkwardly. Hagrid handed Harry over to me. He had been very quiet this whole time, and the pain had apparently subsided. I took Harry back through to the wreckage, to the spot where his parents lay. "This is James, Harry, James Potter. He is your father. He was clever and brave and never hesitated to pull even his worst enemies out of danger." I paused, remembering the time when he had pull Servrus Snape from certain death. Snape, our worst enemy at school "But get a good look at him now because you will never see him again." I stood up and gave Harry to Hagrid.
"You can take my motorcycle," I said, in a hollow voice. "I won't need it. Hagrid nodded and mounted.
"'Bye Sirius," he said gratefully. I couldn't have cared less. I stuck my hands in my pockets and started to walk away. Good bye James. Good bye forever. Have a good life in heaven.
On the way to where ever I was going I thought about Peter. I stopped dead in my tracks. Peter. The one who ruined my life. I bet it was with four words. Peter who killed Lily and James. That did it. I took a detour through the back alley to where I assumed he would be. Wormtail was waiting.
"Sirius," he said, as I stepped out onto the main street. "I expect you were blubbering over your dead friends?"
I couldn't even speak. I felt as if I was going to explode with anger. He casually fired a curse my way, which I ducked. Muggles were starting to notice us and were coming out onto the street. A wizard had just Apperated. Wormtail suddenly broke out in sobs.
"Why did you do it? Lily and James Sirius, how could you?" It was funny, really, how such a poor fool could have me so dumbfounded. Wormtail took out his wand and blew the street apart. I went for mine, but he was quicker. He transformed into a rat, that was why we called him Wormtail at school. Then he scampered off into the sewer. I noticed the finger he left behind which would be my bane. I just stood there, and watched knowing that he would dodge any curses I tried to throw.
Then the strangest thing happened. I started laughing. Laughing at what my life had become. I was going to Azkaban, no doubt about that. I laughed at the futility of it all. My best friend and his wife were dead, their son was going to live with the Muggles, and I was a convicted murderer. And they thought Azkaban would hinder me in any way. I laughed until I started crying. Oh, it was hilarious, oh my it was funny. I just stood there, cracking up, until the Ministry wizards got there. I laughed until they locked me up. Then I started crying.