When news of James and Lily Potter's deaths reached the wizarding world it was greeted with bittersweet reactions. Many people had known or heard of them and their endless efforts to rid the world of Voldemort and his supporters. No one was happy that they died but the news of Voldemort's demise was so over powering that many factors were overlooked. No one could pretend to be upset when there was so much cause for celebration. Well, almost no one.
***
Peter Pettegreiw triumphantly bought himself the highest of standings among the Dark Lord. He'd be greatly honored for this when his master returned.
Of course Sirius Black caught up with him before he was summoned to collect his reward. The man was murderously angry. Pettergreiw had planned for his friend's appearance though. He knew he could not let Sirius get away for he was the only one that knew the truth. The only on that could darken his name. He also knew he'd never survive a duel with the man.
So he started screaming. Yelling for a street full of muggles to hear that Sirius had betrayed him. Then he killed them all and transformed, slinking away into the sewers with the other rats, leaving Sirius Black, his former idol, to the Ministry.
But things did not turn out for Peter. His master did not summon him to grant him his reward. Instead he had been destroyed, leaving Peter one option. He would have to remain a rat until the time came to return to the Dark Lord.
He found his way into a caring a loving family so he would be well cared for, away from the elements of the world. There he stayed, there he waited, sleeping on the pillow of a boy who quickly befriended his former best friend's son.
He felt safe until the day he heard of Sirius Black's escape. He knew the man would come for him as soon as he got the opportunity. He tried his best to run away, but not before Harry Potter was made aware of his presence, his treachery.
He knew he'd die that night in the Shrieking Shack. He knew Lupin and Black would finish him off. He wouldn't escape this time.
Only Harry Potter saved him. Harry Potter refused to let his parents murder be killed.
This thought left Wormtail in a world of confusion. He returned to his master because he knew nothing else but Harry Potter's kindness did not leave him. He constantly wondered at it, never forgot it, and couldn't understand it. He began thinking he'd chosen the wrong side. He couldn't decide where he stood.
He regretted every minute of his life, regretted ever being born, and when death finally came for him, he was grateful. He died, pathetic and small, just like he knew he ought. He didn't deserve more.
***
Sirius Black landed his flying motorbike in front of the wreckage of his best friend's house and he felt, for the first time in many years, the unforgettable and unbearable pain caused when your heart is being torn to pieces. Grief overwhelmed him. They were dead. Lily and James were dead, and it was his fault. He had convinced James to switch secret keeper, he had convinced them to trust that filthy, ungrateful, murdering traitor.
His heart had taken as much as it could take. He was beyond grief, he was beyond sorrow, and he was unable to think clearly.
Hagrid approached as he sat there in a surreal trance willing the scene before him to disappear.
"How you doing Black?" he said in his rough grisly voice. Sirius jumped.
"Hagrid," he croaked, his throat was dry and he was finding it hard to talk.
"Sirius," Hagrid began.
"I'm not alright, you don't have to ask to know that Hagrid. My best friend is dead."
"Course yer not alright," Hagrid said, he clapped a great hand on Sirius' shoulder and looked down at him. "I'm truly sorry fer yer loss Black, they were good people, good as any. They didn't deserve this." He walked away towards the house, Sirius couldn't think of why Hagrid would want to go into the house but he didn't stop him. He didn't want to go closer then he already was. That is, until Hagrid came out carrying Harry.
"Harry," Sirius choked.
"Yeh, poor little thing, look at the state of him," Hagrid growled, looking down at the lightening shaped cut on Harry's forehead.
"He's alive," Sirius said. "How the hell is he alive?" He was in shock. He couldn't believe it.
"No idea, Dumbledore just told me to come get him."
"No, let me take him Hagrid, he's my godson, I owe it to James."
"Can't Black, I got me orders to take him to Dumbledore. I'm sure he'll be giving the boy to you anyways but I gotta take him to Dumbledore first."
"Yes, I understand. Here, take my bike, I won't need it anymore." He climbed down from his bike and walked off into the night. Seeing Harry had cleared his mind considerably. James and Lily were dead. That poor boy was orphaned. There was only one thing on his mind now.
Revenge.
He followed Peter. He found him in a small pub on a street filled with muggles. He didn't care. He saw Peter leave the pub, probably drinking in celebration of his betrayal, the dirty bastard.
"Come here Peter," he said softly. He had lost all his ability to think clearly or reasonably. Peter looked up, his face filled with savage rage. He pulled himself upright and walked towards Sirius, stopping just out of his reach.
"YOU KILLED LILY AND JAMES!" he bellowed for the whole street to hear. Sirius couldn't believe his ears. Peter couldn't possibly be saying that, there was something wrong with his hearing.
"You bastard," he hissed.
"YOU KILLED THEM AND I'LL KILL YOU!" Peter yelled. He drew his wand and aimed for Sirius.
Sirius laughed. He let out a colorless, humorless bark of a laugh. This idiot was going to kill him was he?
"Is that so?" he asked when he stopped laughing.
"Yes!" Peter squeaked. Sirius drew his wand but before he could move Peter had cast his spell. A blinding flash of light, a huge explosion and when the smoke and dust had cleared Sirius Black stood alone in a street full of dead muggles, Peter was no where to be seen. He still had his wand out as the Ministry of Magic representatives arrived and as he looked at them all he did the only thing he could. He laughed again. He laughed at the injustice of what was happening now, he laughed at the pathetic thing he had once called a marauder and a friend. He laughed at Voldemort and his failed attempts to kill his best friend's son, and he laughed at the fact that he would never see his friend again. He was still laughing when they took him away. He could think of nothing else to do.
And so it happened that Sirius Black, best friend of James Potter, was sent to Azkaban and labeled a killer. He spent the next twelve years in that place of horror thinking of a time when he would finally get to commit the murder they had imprisoned him for.
Yet the world would never give Sirius Black his one and only wish. Years later his chance would once again escape him because his best friends son would remind him that James would not have wanted Peter dead. Harry Potter would once again find the reason in Sirius Black, and only when he was looking at this exact image of James, with Lily's startlingly beautiful green eyes, only then, would Sirius finally start to grieve the loss of his best friend. Still wanted by the ministry, Sirius ran. He ran from Azkaban, he ran from the Dementors, he ran from the Ministry, he ran from his past.
One dark night Sirius found himself in the Ministry of Magic, no longer caring who caught him, no longer caring who saw him as he tried to rescue his godson. There he was battling the cousin he loathed. He laughed at her, he laughed to make fun, just as he used to. Here he was, in the middle of an exhilarating battle with dark wizards, just as he and James used to fight, watching each other's back and Sirius knew that, finally, after fifteen years of suffering, he was truly starting to heal. And with that thought shining a ray of hope into his life, Sirius Black died.
***
News of the Potter's death reached Remus Lupin on an undercover mission. He immediately abandoned his post in light of the news of Voldemort's disappearance. He couldn't believe that this was the end. Not just of the war but of his friends. They were the last sacrifice in this painful and deadly war. They were the price he didn't think he could pay. Pain was searing through him, threatening to engulf him, threatening to tear him apart. He wanted Sirius' blood on his hands. That proved to be impossible as the ministry had already thrown Black into jail. He instead went to find Dumbledore.
"Tell me I'm dreaming," he said to Dumbledore. Dumbledore, having just returned to Hogwarts from his mission to take Harry to the Dursleys, did not answer right away. Hidden away in his office as they were it was very hard for him to keep his temper in check when two of the greatest people he had ever known had been destroyed.
"I cannot lie to you my friend. I have fought next to you these past eleven years. Together we have dealt with hideous and bewildering offensives that I would not have dreamed possible of any human before Lord Voldemort appeared but this outweighs them all. I know that this will be extremely difficult for you to accept, given your past with everyone involved." He stopped and looked at Remus, whose eyes were glittering with unshed tears
"Albus, they were the only ones I ever completely trusted. Now, the only one I want dead is in jail and Lily and James, two people I would lay down my life for if only to bring them back, are both gone forever. Why didn't Peter come find me before chasing Black? Then, at least I could be dead too."
"Remus, I think it is fate that has kept you alive. You are now the only person Harry will ever be able to go to in order to learn of his parents past. He will need to know, Remus. He will have to know. Only you will be able to explain what life was like before Sirius was a traitor. Only you can tell him of his mother's kindness, his father's courage and the deep love they had for each other. Only you know the story of his birth, only you can tell him how much his parents loved him. He will need you Remus." Remus Lupin let the tears fall as Dumbledore spoke. Images of Lily and James flashed through his mind. Memories played through his mind, times of laughter and joy. Times when the war was not written on their faces, times when Sirius was still a friend, times when the world was still good.
But Dumbledore was right. Harry would need him. This was what he'd gone to the man for in the first place. This was his reason to continue living. Nothing else would have been enough.
Remus heaved a heavy sigh and looked at the silver-bearded man in front of him. He looked as exhausted as Remus felt. He sank down into a chair and placed his head in his hands.
Dumbledore watched him quietly from his chair behind his desk. After a time, Remus spoke to his knees.
"There's a full moon tomorrow night," he said, through his tears.
"So there is," Dumbledore replied quietly. Remus Lupin felt grief and anguish flood his heavy heart and he stood carefully, trying to move under this newly acquired weight.
"I have to leave. I can't stay here. Everywhere I ever felt at home is filled with them. I have to go someplace else and escape this agony."
Dumbledore watched him make his hasty retreat. He understood and he wouldn't stop the man from running for a while. They all deserved that.
Remus Lupin left Hogwarts, left Hogsmeade, left London, left England, he left everything he'd ever known. He traveled, roamed the quieter, distant lands, never quite shaking the darkness that had fallen on his heart. He grew weary.
He didn't believe he'd ever return until, thirteen years later, he received an owl from Dumbledore about a cursed job opening.
When the truth of everything was revealed to Remus, when he found Black to be innocent and Peter to be the traitor, when he saw his best friends son, when he heard of everything that had happened, he felt the weight he'd been carrying lift.
He felt himself begin to open again. He found the heart he'd buried after that painful night. He found the strength to be human again.
He even fell in love. He didn't think that was possible. Even when Lily had still been alive telling him he would, he didn't believe he'd ever fall in love. Then he met Tonks. The strange woman had a wonderful affect on him. She didn't see him as a werewolf or a monster. She saw him as a human, as a man.
And she'd given him a son. He understood James' pride in being a father. He knew he'd give his child everything and anything he could. He knew he'd do whatever it took to keep the young boy safe.
And he did. As James and Lily had done years before, he and his beloved died to save and protect the child they'd brought into the world.
He died for his friends, for his past, for Harry, for Tonks, for his son. But more importantly, he'd lived for them.