Disclaimer: I own nothing more than a semblance of an idea and an overabundance of free time, I don't make any kind of money off of this.
Getting Sirius
Chapter 0
Sirius Black was a man who had been though much, a man who had made the truest of friends. And who lived long enough to see them die.
They had all been in hiding at this point; Voldemort was looking for James and Lily, Dumbledore believed the situation dire enough to require the Fidelius, which alone said more than words could convey. And Sirius… Sirius was the obvious choice for the secret keeper, he was James's closest friend, his best man, and his son's godfather, if anyone could be trusted it was him.
It was obvious who would be the key to reaching the Potters, and that's precisely why he suggested someone else, someone they had known for years, their fellow Marauder, Peter Pettigrew, for who would suggest such an insignificant man to be trusted with a matter of such importance? That line of thought was there undoing.
Peter had been a traitor; he traded the Potters for his life. In his cowardice he betrayed the friends that had stood by his side. And on Halloween night Voldemort made his move.
James was the first to die, he fought as a man possessed, but it only earned him a more painful death, his blood painted the landing at the foot of the stairs. But Voldemort was not satisfied with that, he had come here for a reason, he had come for the boy.
He continued up the stairs finding Lily shielding a cradle from him, as he approached she pleaded with him,
"Not Harry, please not Harry!"
But her words fell upon deaf ears, she was offered an ultimatum, if she would stand aside her life would be spared. The words need not have been spoken, the offer was refused, and without hesitation she was sent crashing to the floor. With the last obstacle removed Voldemort turned to his prize, and with the speaking of two words, the Wizarding World was forever changed.
Sirius would arrive not long after, finding Peter had vanished he immediately made his way to Godric's Hollow. His heart dropped in seconds, the cottage was aflame, and they had been found. He rushed through the doors, nearly tripping over the first body, over what had once been his truest friend. As sorrow began to overcome him he continued up the stairs, he needed to find Lily and Harry.
And he did. He entered what remained of the nursery, his eyes instantly catching Lily, crumpled against the wall, unearthly still. His heart sunk yet further, where was Harry?
Scanning the room he found it, an overturned cradle, and next to it, his godson. He rushed over to him, holding him close to his chest. He was so cold, he needed to get him warm. Tears welled in his eyes as he continued to try and warm the child in his arms. Peter had betrayed them. James was gone… Lily was gone… and Harry… his godson… was dead.
Sirius woke up under an all too familiar celling, the Hospital Wing back in Hogwarts. As he wondered how he had got there he could hear a voice approaching.
"…'s how I found 'im, just sittin' there sobbin'… can hardly blame 'im though…"
The words trailed off as the door began to open, and in walked Hagrid along with Dumbledore.
"Hello Sirius, it's good to see you're awake, I do hope we haven't kept you waiting for too long, Hagrid I'll speak with you again when I'm done here" Dumbledore greeted amicably, though his eyes had a barely hidden core of steel.
"O' course Headmaster" Hagrid quickly replied, leaving the room and closing the door behind him.
Still disoriented Sirius asked all that he could,
"What's going on? What's happened?"
"I was hoping that you could tell us that, near as we can tell you were the first one there."
And with that it all came crashing back James's blood pooling around him, Lily so unnaturally still… and… and Harry… so cold…
Unbidden tears began to well in his eyes,
"It's all my fault. They're dead and it's all my fault."
Eyes widening near imperceptibly, Dumbledore pressed,
"What did you do Sirius, why? They were your friends!"
Tears continued to fall uncontrolled; Dumbledore placed an arm on his shoulder, turning him towards him,
"This wasn't supposed to happen! They were supposed to be safe!"
The tears just kept coming; he couldn't choke out the words,
"Why did you betray them!?"
And everything froze… 'Why did "I" betray them? …how did I betray them?'
"W-what? I never betrayed them!"
Taken aback at the sudden outburst Dumbledore appraised him again, and speaking softly asked,
"Then who, pray tell, was it that gave Voldemort the secret?"
"…it was Peter, the bloody rat… I thought I was too obvious of a choice for the secret keeper… and now they're dead… because of me…" Sirius trailed off, sorrow welling up inside him once more. Set off guard by the revelation Dumbledore began to speak,
"You've been out of sorts for the past few days Sirius. Halloween was an eventful night; even now we are still only beginning to find all of the pieces. What we know is this on the night of October 31st Voldemort gained access to the cottage in Godric's Hollow."
"He dueled, and killed James at the foot of the stairs. Lily's wand was found not far from him, so when Voldemort went up she was unable to do anything to try to stop him. I do not know why but he seemed to choose to spare her, instead of killing her immediately he banished her across the room, that is why the cradle was knocked over."
"But when he turned his wand on Harry that is when things changed, I believe that Lily's magic, driven by her love for Harry and her protective instincts formed a barrier… it unfortunately was not enough, the killing curse still penetrated, and the drain killed Lily. The backlash from breaking the barrier seems to have dealt with the Dark Lord, his wand was found, but nothing else of him remained."
"I have been waiting to come forward with any evidence I have in regards to their deaths until I could speak with you, it seems it is good that I did. I will be speaking with Bartemius Crouch about what I had known and what I have said. We will find the truth, and in time, we will justice for those that have fallen."
And with that Dumbledore stood and made for the door, turning back just before leaving,
"For the time being Poppy has recommended that you rest, these have been trying days, and the worst may be over, but we still have much to do"
Having said his part Dumbledore left, leaving Sirius alone with his thoughts,
"…Harry"
…and his guilt.
AN/
This is less a story more a product of my own curiosity, for the past week or so an idea has been bouncing around in my head, suppose jolly old Tom tried a bit harder to follow Snape's request.
From there I decided that while it wouldn't stop Volde from taking his "sabbatical" that it would stop Harry from living.
And I felt that adding his godson to the losses would be enough to stop Sirius from chasing down Peter and getting himself locked away.
Now we have Dumbles hearing Sirius's story a good decade and change early.
We'll find out where that leads us together.
Any and all constructive criticism is welcomed and the more specific the better.
And my apologies for any rough patches, it's been nearly a decade since I've stretched my creative writing muscles, I'll polish things up as I get back into my groove.
/AN