Disclaimer: Again, nothing belongs to me. If it did, I would be living in the lap of luxury, but I don't. I am taking a few creative liberties with the storylines but that's about it.

As a reminder, I am borrowing heavily from Lady Fox Fire's Death, Destroyer of World for the prologue.

Prologue (pt. 2)- Truths

Sirius sat in his chair, squirming nervously as he glanced over now and then at the man who had introduced himself as Death, who was stretched languidly across two chairs, his legs sretched out in front of his with his ankles crossed.

"This place never changes, does it? Same old industrial grey walls and uncomfortable chairs."

Sirius nodded and said, "Hard to believe that Fudge hired a designer to "make this place into an area where one can relax and drop their guard."

Death snorted and asked Sirius, "So, when do they start?"

Sirius shrugged and said, "Oh, they already finished. This is what the designer came up with. This creative setting was what the Ministry's designer came up with… wasn't cheap either."

Death scoffed and said, "It must have been a relative of Fudge's… or maybe Fudge did himself, and pocketed the money that he would have used."

Sirius grinned at Death and said, "Do I sense that Death has a low opinion of our beloved Minister of Magic."

Death snorted once and said, "Pond scum rates higher than he does right now… and that waste of space is making me very angry. I do have other plans for today: people to see, people to kill, you know."

Sirius smirked and said, "Well don't forget, he is putting off a meeting with Death, after all."

Death chuckled while shaking his head at Sirius's bad joke before plopping back into his chair. "Well, if we have to wait for that hypocrite, we might as well be comfortable. Sitting on these torture devices they call chairs and staring at these walls is the farthest thing from comfort I can think of. " There was a brief flare of light from the darkness under the hood as he waved his hand through the air in front of him.

Suddenly, a yelp exploded from Sirius as he sank into a suddenly comfy cushioned chair. "How… how the fuck did you do that?" He panted out as he struggled to get out from the chair's death grip.

Death turned slowly to Sirius, who suddenly got the feeling that he thought he was stupid or something before saying, as if he was teaching a small child, "It was a simple transfiguration spell. Surely Professor McGonagall taught you?"

Sirius nodded and then said, "Sure, but you're not supposed to be able to do magic in this room."

Death laughed and said, "You mean an anti-magic ward. Those things never did mean much to me."

As he spoke, the walls around them melted away to reveal a rich, mahogany wood. Another wave of his hand caused the wall nearest them to melt away, replaced almost instantly with a hearth with a fire roaring away within, and a final hand wave caused the tiling to vanish under thick vermilion carpeting.

"Who. Are. You?" Sirius sputtered in awe at this person who had done what no wizards should have been able to accomplish in such a heavily warded place.

The head turned to look at him and said, "You already know who I am Sirius, you just don't recognize me yet. You could say that I've changed quite a bit since the last time that we met. You need to trust me Sirius. I am here to protect you and your godson. He is in grave danger, and only you can save him."

"Harry! What is it? Whatever it is, I'll do it, as long as it helps protect him."

The man laughed and said, "I know you will. Tell me, Mr. Black, what do you think would have happened to young Harry had Pettigrew's plan succeeded?" As he asked Sirius this Death poured the two cups of tea.

Sirius looked confused for a few minutes before saying, "Well I suppose that Dumbledore would have placed Harry with Remus or with a Wizarding family, someone he trusted." Here he took a long sip of his tea before continuing, "I suppose Dumbledore has him now; I suspect Harry's the toast of Hogwarts."

The hood nodded before Death said, "What if I told you that Dumbledore did not do as you suspect? What if I told you that in blatant disregard of Lily and James' will, your beloved headmaster placed Harry with his maternal aunt, Petunia, and her husband."

Tea was spewed from Sirius's mouth upon hearing that. "What? But they hate magic! They'll… They'll…"

The hood nodded again and Death said, "Yes, they will. They'll lock him into the cupboard under the stairs. They'll feed him just enough to keep him alive. They'll work him from the moment he awakes till the moment he goes to sleep. Hell never know a single moment of love or happiness." Death took a sip of cup before continuing. "That's what I'm here to prevent Sirius… The future that that will bring- a future of absolute darkness. To give Harry a chance to grow up surrounded by people who love him, like you and Remus."

Sirius looked at Death with wonder and asked, "Are you a seer?"

But Death never got a chance to answer for at that moment a loud, whining screeching came from the doorway. "What! What the hell is going on in here?"

Death continued to look at the fire but he said, "Ah, Minister Fudge. You kept us waiting. That's very rude you know."

Fudge puffed up and said, "Well, I am a very busy person. I don't have time for crackpots and Deatheaters."

The hood nodded again and Death said, "That is true. However, Minister, from what I've seen, you don't have a clue on how to tell the different between an innocent man and a follower of Voldemort. You always cared more about your image than about the Wizarding community."

That got a reaction. If there was anything Fudge loved, it was his image. "HOW DARE YOU! I am the Minister of Magic for Great Britain. I have done nothing to endanger the safety of the Wizarding World. That man" he was outright bellowing, pointing his finger at Sirius, "is a danger to the entirety of the Wizarding world. He beatrayed his friends, heck he betrayed us all."

Death simply said, "Fudge, shut up." Suddenly, Fudge started to struggle, as if there was a great weight on his throat, but when he moved to remove the weight, he found nothing there. Death continued, not caring about Fudge's obvious trouble. "Now, you will summon here Arthur Weasley, Albus Dumbledore, Amos Diggory, Remus Lupin, and Harry Potter. I want them here within the hour. My associates will get the rest of the people needed."

With a nod, the pressure disappeared, though it took Fudge a few moments to get used to not having to choke for breath. When he did, however, his stupidity came back. "And if I refuse?"

The hood turned for the first time towards Fudge and Death said, "Then I will destroy everything in London, starting with the Ministry, until they are brought to me. Am I understood?"

Fudge started to whimper, realizing finally that, maybe he was telling the truth… and if he was, that meant that he was very powerful. But his stupidity still won out. "You wouldn't dare."

Death laughed a single note and said, "Try me… on second thought, Fudge, I want Remus to get Harry. Because of that, I'll give him two hours with which he can clean, feed, and change the baby. Also, have Moody bring Peter here."

But… but Lupin is a werewolf. He's a threat to the boy." Fudge stuttered indignantly.

Death scoffed and said, "You are more of a threat to the boy then Lupin is. Time is running out Minister. You'd better hurry." He made a shooing motion with his hand, clearly dismissing Fudge.

"You wouldn't really destroy London, would you?" A nervous Sirius asked Death.

"In a heartbeat." When he saw that Sirius was gaping at him in horror, he simply shrugged. But then, as something important came to him, he said, "Damn it! I forgot. How could I forget him?"

"Forget who?" Sirius asked.

"Snape… We need him. I can't believe he slipped my mind."

"Snape? Severus Snape? Why do we need him? You do know he is a Death Eater, right?" Sirius looked down at his tea cup

"He is more than a Death Eater Sirius. He is much more than you know. And if you are to protect Harry, you will need his help. And you must end this old rivalry before one of you dies."