Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the world of. Those rights belong solely to JK Rowling - the goddess of all evilness. (Where do you think I learned my evil ways...?)

Unforeseen

By Neurotica

Four

Sirius stared helplessly at James' unconscious form, Dumbledore's continued words only a buzz of sound in his ears. It couldn't be true… James was just hallucinating because of the flu… But then why was Dumbledore going along with it?

Sirius felt a tear escape his eye, but he didn't have a chance to reach up and wipe it away before more fell. This was only a nightmare, and everyone was fine. Dumbledore had everything mixed up in his old age. It was another witch Voldemort had killed (Please let it be someone else… Sirius thought painfully, desperately.) If it was Lily… then what of Harry? More tears fell at that thought.

A hand squeezed Sirius' shoulder, but he could barely feel it. "Sirius," Dumbledore said, his voice full of remorse. "James is going to need you now more than ever."

The younger wizard nodded jerkily. "Harry…" he whispered hoarsely.

Dumbledore sighed heavily and a painful sob escaped Sirius' throat. He buried his head in his hands, willing the world to just disappear around him. "Lily and James' home was destroyed," Dumbledore said, his voice catching. Sirius pulled at his long hair roughly, not feeling pain anywhere but his heart – it was oddly constricted. "There was an explosion inside the house; I am not yet sure what caused it."

Tears were flowing freely from Sirius' grey eyes now. He looked at James in his hospital bed, a peaceful look on the sleeping wizard's face. Oh God… how would Sirius break the news to James that his family, his reason for living, was gone - taken from him by Voldemort?

"There was no Dark Mark," Dumbledore continued – Sirius wished he wouldn't. "And there have been no further signs of Voldemort-"

"What?" Sirius said hoarsely, snapping his head up to the headmaster, thoughts on Lily and Harry and James momentarily pushed to the side.

Again, Dumbledore sighed. "I have been keeping a very close eye on all of the members of the Order, Sirius. The charms I had placed around the Potters' home alerted me to a strange combination of magic tonight. There was Dark magic, which I believe to be caused by Voldemort casting the Killing Curse – I believe he cast it twice, actually. But there was also a very strong, very curious amount of Light magic around the second time Voldemort would have cast the Killing Curse."

"What kind of Light magic?" Sirius asked breathlessly, holding on to a small shred of hope.

"If my theory is correct, it was a protection spell of some sort. It would make sense for Lily to have tried to protect Harry. Her wand, however had not been used-"

"How do you know that?"

"One of the charms in place was a spell detection charm. Minor spells – cleaning, household, that sort of thing – would not be detected. But defensive or protective spells performed with a wand would be. Lily's wand did not appear to have been handled once during the attack."

The attack… Sirius thought flatly. That's what tonight will be referred to as from now on. "Why wouldn't she have used her wand?"

"Perhaps she did not have it near her at the time-"

"She always has it nearby. James insists on it," Sirius muttered automatically.

"It's possible then that she did not wish to move to reach for her wand and give Lord Voldemort a clear shot of Harry…"

"So the protective charm didn't work-" Sirius muttered hoarsely.

"I did not say that, Sirius," Dumbledore interjected softly. Sirius started to ask what he was talking about, but the headmaster continued. "I believe, and I may be incorrect – I pray that I am not – that Lily sacrificed her life to save Harry's." Sirius furrowed his brow, remembering something from Defense Against the Dark Arts about a mother's sacrifice… "This would mean, Sirius, and this is only my assumption," Dumbledore went on, "that if Lily's sacrifice was not in vain, when Lord Voldemort turned his wand on young Harry, and spoke the Killing Curse, it may have rebounded on its caster."

Sirius' jaw dropped. "What would that do? It'd kill him, right? Voldemort, I mean…"

Dumbledore shook his head regretfully. "If it had been another wizard, one with more human in him than Voldemort, then yes, it would have killed him. As it is, Voldemort has undergone many transformations to make himself immortal. I am, therefore, quite uncertain as to what the Killing Curse would have done to him."

"And Harry? If the spell rebounded…"

"If the spell rebounded, Harry would have had a chance of survival."

"Would have…?" Sirius asked weakly, his heart shattering again.

"Even if Harry survived the Killing Curse, chances are slim he would have survived the explosion of the house."

"But you have to check!" Sirius said loudly. "You can't just assume-"

"I have already sent somebody to check," Dumbledore said soothingly, placing a hand on Sirius' shoulder again to keep him from rising from his chair.

"Who?" Sirius asked hoarsely.

"Hagrid."

Remus sat at the kitchen table in a small cottage in the forests of Kent, a cold cup of tea sitting forgotten in front of him. Though it was nearing two-thirty in the morning, he couldn't sleep. The reasons for this were unknown, but the wizard felt anxious, antsy even. His stomach was in knots for no apparent reason, and he couldn't calm himself long enough to get comfortable in bed.

Sighing, Remus thought, for the hundredth time that night, of his friends. He thought about Flooing them, just to make sure they were all right. The only thing that kept him from doing this was the time of night. They were probably all sound asleep right now, and wouldn't be too thrilled to hear a worried werewolf in their fireplaces. Maybe if he just poked his head into their fireplaces, making sure everything was normal. He didn't have to call out for them…

He nodded decisively and stood quickly from his chair, moving to the living room. He threw a pinch of Floo Powder into his fireplace and called out Peter's address first before sticking his head into the green flames. He waited a moment for his head to stop spinning and for his eyes to adjust to the darkened living room of Peter's tiny London flat. Nothing seemed out of place…

Next, he checked on Sirius' flat. Ignoring the usual mess of clothes and empty Butterbeer bottles all over the floor of his friend's home, Remus strained his eyes and ears, trying to listen for Sirius' loud snores. There wasn't a sound in the flat…

Maybe he stayed at Lily and James', Remus thought, trying not to panic. He and James probably came back from Hogwarts, got smashed, and now Sirius is asleep in the guest room…

But when he tried to connect to the Potters' fireplace, nothing happened. The flames were supposed to turn an emerald green after Floo Powder was thrown in and the address was called. But the flames remained orange and yellow.

Remus heart began to bear wildly in his chest. The only way a Floo connection would fail is if the owner of one fireplace went to the Ministry and had another fireplace blocked. Or if the fireplace had been destroyed… And Remus didn't think James and Lily would block his fireplace from theirs, no matter how upset James was with him…

A buzzing sound came from the kitchen, but it took Remus a few minutes to hear it. When he finally did, he stumbled through the living room into the kitchen. His wand sat on the table vibrating against his teacup. He picked it up, and the vibration ceased immediately. A blue mist emitted from the tip. A message from Dumbledore – this was how the Order of the Phoenix communicated…

The blue mist formed a square. A picture developed in the center of Hogwarts. The message was clear: Come to Hogwarts immediately. There were different levels of urgency, each coded by color. Yellow meant it wasn't important, but a message needed to be relayed soon; orange meant a meeting would occur that night; red meant there had been an attack, no casualties; purple meant there were casualties; blue meant a message could not be passed by anything but face-to-face communication; and black… black meant a member of the Order had fallen.

Remus dressed quickly in faded Muggle clothing and went back to the living room, preparing to Floo to Hogwarts.

Dumbledore had left the Hospital Wing not long before to send messages to select people, and await Hagrid's return from Godric's Hollow. Sirius remained by James' bedside, hoping his best friend didn't wake until he had formed a plan on how to tell James the news of his wife's, and possibly his son's, death.

It was common knowledge that James Potter's life revolved solely around Lily and Harry. It was something Sirius had always envied. He'd watched James with his family, saw how happy they were just to have each other, and Sirius wanted that. The love James had for Lily, and vice versa, was unbreakable. Their devotion to one another was amazing, considering the relationship they'd had before seventh year at Hogwarts. Lily was the only girl James had ever truly wanted for his own. He'd dated others, of course, but they'd never lasted long. James' excuse was that the other girls just weren't right for him.

The only times Sirius had seen happiness radiate off his best friend was at Lily and James' wedding, and the day Harry had been born. Not even war had dampened James' spirits on those days. Now what would he do? Everything James cherished was gone… Sirius wouldn't be surprised if James simply died of a broken heart when he found out about his family.

The Hospital Wing door opened, but Sirius didn't hear it. Only when a hand closed around his shoulder did the wizard turn around. Dumbledore was back, and Hagrid stood not far behind holding something protectively… Something in a pale blue, slightly dirty, baby blanket. Sirius' heart soared, and he didn't even realize he'd stood. He crossed the room to Hagrid in a rush. The half-giant smiled sadly and unfolded the blanket far enough for Sirius to see what he was holding.

"Harry," Sirius said weakly, immediately taking his godson from Hagrid's arms. "Oh God, Harry," he muttered over and over, holding the child closely to him, tears of joy falling freely. He didn't care about the strange cut on Harry's forehead; all he cared about at the moment was the fact that Harry had somehow survived… "What about Lily?" he asked hoarsely, finally looking at Hagrid and Dumbledore in turn.

Hagrid sniffed loudly, removing a large handkerchief from his coat. Dumbledore shook his head sadly. "Lily did not make it," the headmaster said quietly, his own eyes shining with tears.

Sirius nodded. He'd expected that answer, but had been hoping he was wrong. Any other time, he would have been wrong. Why did he have to be right about this, of all things? He took Harry, who was sleeping soundly, back to James' bedside and sat down.

He didn't know how long Hagrid and Dumbledore stood beside him; his entire focus was on James and Harry. What would they do now? Their home in Godric's Hollow – the only home Harry had ever known – was destroyed. All their possessions were gone… And without Lily, would James even want to go on?

Hours passed - Sirius didn't know how many, and he didn't care. Both remaining Potters were still asleep. They would live with him in his London flat. He would take care of them, help James get through this somehow.

Thousands of questions floated in and out of Sirius' mind. Why would Voldemort want the Potters gone? How had Harry survived? What the hell was the Prophecy James was muttering about…? Where was Voldemort now? Who was the spy in the Order, and did he or she have a part in Lily's death…?

He thought of Remus a lot in those hours. Why would Remus have a part in Lily's death? He adored Lily. Had he had a part in her death? Dumbledore had said many times that Voldemort was a master manipulator, and it was no secret that he was trying to recruit werewolves. Maybe Voldemort offered Remus something he always wanted. But what could possibly be enough to turn Remus to the Dark side? The Lupins had never had much money; maybe Voldemort offered Remus riches beyond his wildest dreams…

Sirius vaguely heard the creaking of the Hospital Wing doors again, but paid no attention. It was probably just Dumbledore.

"Sirius…" said a weak, hoarse voice.

That was not the voice he was expecting to hear tonight. He tried to keep his emotions in check – there still wasn't any proof – as he turned to face Remus. The other wizard looked back, his face strained and stained with dry tears, his eyes rimmed with red. What was he more upset about, Lily's death or the disappearance of Voldemort…? No, you can't think that, he chided himself. You don't know he's a Death Eater.

But the image of Lily leaning up to kiss Remus' cheek the afternoon before flashed before his eyes and he couldn't keep his feelings from the surface. As calmly as possible, trying to keep his hands from shaking – he was still holding Harry – Sirius stood. "What did you do to her?" he asked in a wavering voice.

Remus' eyes widened. "What?" he breathed.

"What did you do to Lily?" Sirius repeated, his voice rising a bit.

"Sirius, what are you-"

"I saw you there," Sirius interrupted in a cold sneer to usually only ever used against Slytherins. "I saw you two together." Remus eyes widened further. "What were you doing, Remus? Making sure the coast was clear to your master could take care of Lily? I'm not stupid, Remus."

"Yeah? Well, you could have fooled me," Remus said coldly. "What the hell are you on about?"

"How long have you been a Death Eater, Remus?" Sirius shouted. Strangely enough, Harry remained sleeping.

Remus looked as if he'd been slapped. "Excuse me?" he breathed.

"You heard me," Sirius said calmly, adjusting Harry in his arms.

Before either of them could say another word, Dumbledore entered. "Is there a problem here, boys?" he asked quietly, taking Harry from Sirius' arms. The younger wizard was shaking so badly that he nearly dropped the baby. Sirius didn't protest; he was busy contemplating what spell to use on Remus that would cause the most pain possible.

"Sirius seems to think I'm a Death Eater, sir," Remus said tonelessly.

"And are you?" Dumbledore asked conversationally, as if they were discussing the weather. Both wizards looked at him in surprise. The headmaster looked back between them not accusingly but interestedly.

"Of course not!" Remus said loudly.

"There is no need to shout, Remus," Dumbledore said, looking down at Harry. "I may be old, but my hearing is just as adequate as it always has been."

Remus started to mutter sorry, but Sirius interrupted. "And you believe him?" he hissed.

Dumbledore looked away from the sleeping child in his arms up to Sirius with a calm expression on his old face. "Remus says he is no Death Eater, and yes, I do believe him. Just as I believe, Sirius, that you are no Death Eater."

"But he was there! In James and Lily's house! Tonight!" Sirius shouted.

"Mr. Black," Dumbledore said sternly. "If you cannot control the volume of your voice, I will have to ask you to leave the Hospital Wing." Sirius looked away and crossed his arms. Dumbledore turned to Remus. "Were you at the Potters' home this evening, Remus?"

Remus nodded, his anger replaced with immense sadness. "Yes," he said tensely. "I was taking Harry his birthday present, and I was hoping to speak with James, but Lily said he and Sirius had come to see you."

"Indeed they had. I noticed you were not in attendance," Dumbledore said.

"They didn't tell me the meeting had been rescheduled. I thought it was next week," Remus muttered.

"I see. Then this has all just been a misunderstanding. I trust the two of you will cease your petty arguments and take good care of James and Harry during their time of need," the headmaster said.

"What about the spy?" Sirius snapped, careful to keep his voice down.

"The mystery of the spy has been solved, Sirius," Dumbledore said.

"What spy?" Remus asked, his brow furrowed.

Dumbledore sighed and explained the things he'd told James and Sirius earlier in the day about information being passed on to Voldemort for the last few months.

"Who is it?" Sirius growled, his eyes blazing.

"I believe the proper term is 'who was it'. Hagrid discovered a second body in Godric's Hollow when he retrieved Harry. I believe it was this person who was our spy." Dumbledore looked between the two young wizards and down at Harry before continuing. "Our spy was Peter Pettigrew, and he was killed in the explosion of the Potters' home."

AN: So what do you guys think so far? Depressing enough for you? Oh, it gets much worse... Thank you for the reviews thus far - Please keep them coming:-D More in a few days!