Character: Sirius

Prompt: cityscape

Sirius is rubbing a cloth down the engine of his brand new motorcycle. It was only after several Muggle Studies lessons with James' father for two summers before he was given the beauty as a graduation present. Everything was worth it to have it in front of him right now.

The back door opens and James comes out, whistling. "You cleaned it up good."

Sirius steps back to admire the motorcycle himself. "Didn't I?" he asks. "I'm thinking that we should make it fly." He throws an arm around James' shoulder, pointing towards the sky. "Imagine being on that and having the wind rush through your hair. It would be like playing Quidditch."

"Dad would murder both of us if you did that," James says seriously. He sounds a lot like Remus at that moment. Then his demeanor changes and he grins. "We totally should make it fly."

It takes days of searching for the right spells before they can enchant it to fly.

.

"Sirius, are you going to do anything about the policemen after us?" James yells. He's holding onto the back of the motorcycle as Sirius makes a turn.

"I'm not planning to stop, if that's what you're asking," Sirius counters. He makes another turn. "How close are they?"

"You might be able to lose them if you get out of the city."

Sirius makes another turn. And he slows down until he's stopped. They can hear the sirens of the policemen behind them and they are trapped in an alley. "Mind if we test out the spell?" Sirius asks.

James laughs. "Let's do this." He wraps his arms around Sirius as the sirens finally appear behind them. "We should do this now, if we're doing this."

Sirius doesn't reply. He speeds up, until they are almost at the wall. Then he pulls upward, like he was controlling a broom, and the motorcycle starts to leave the ground behind. Sirius is sure that if he dropped his feet, he would've hit the wall.

As soon as they are airborne, James' hands drop. "They look so confused!" he calls out cheerfully.

Sirius watches the cityscape as the motorcycle continues to climb in the air. He was right; it does feel like he's on a broom.

.

"We should make it bigger," James suggests.

Sirius is sitting on the couch in the flat they share. He looks up from where he's eating cereal. "What?"

James plops down next to him. "The motorcycle," James clarifies. "We should make it bigger. It barely holds the two of us anymore."

"That might be useful," Sirius agrees. He smirks. "Only because I'm tired of having you wrap your arms around me when you think you're going to fall."

James shoves Sirius' shoulder, causing him to spill his cereal all over himself and the couch. "Shut up, it's not like you don't like it," he teases.

Sirius shoves James back. And then picks up his wand to vanish the mess. "You wanker. I was actually eating that."

A fight ensues. But three weeks of research later, they finally manage to enlarge the bike. It can hold the both of them comfortably.

.

They are putting away the motorcycle as James says, "You know what would make this even better?"

Sirius simply raises his eyebrow at his best friend.

"We should make it roar," he says.

"It already does."

James scoffs. "Not like a lion."

Sirius ponders this. He glances back at his motorcycle. It's larger than a regular one from their spell. "Not a bad idea," he relents.

"All my ideas are great," James says defensively.

Sirius laughs. "The pudding incident, fourth year."

"I still say that she was in denial."

Sirius wraps his arm around James' shoulder as they head into their flat. "Sure mate, whatever helps you sleep better at night."

A month later, the motorcycle roars like the Gryffindors Sirius and James are.

.

He can't hear his own thoughts over the roar of his motorcycle. Godric Hallow comes into view slowly, too slowly for Sirius. He heard the bad news and hopped on his bike.

Sirius can barely land the bike when he sees their house. He had known where they lived before the spell, not the address, but he knew. He had been there so many times before and after Harry was born. But the once beautiful house is burned and Sirius drops the bike as he stumbles toward the house.

"No," he says.

The front door is cracked when he reaches out to push it further open. The first thing he sees is James' body at the foot of the stairs. Sirius doesn't remember how he made it to James' side. He reaches out to touch James, hoping that it's just an elaborate joke. He knows better.

When his hand touches James, he is ice cold. And Sirius cries for the first time since he was a child. "No, no, this isn't supposed to happen," he sobs. "You were safe."

Only this time, James doesn't respond.

He doesn't know how long he sat there, but he's jolted into reality as he hears Harry cry. Sirius maneuvers around James' body and takes the stairs two at time. The only door open on the second floor is Harry's nursery.

Lily's body is lying in front of Harry's crib, and Sirius doesn't doubt that she died trying to protect Harry. Everything in him wants to mourn the lost of his friends, but Harry is alive and he's crying, and Sirius needs to take care of him. That's what they agreed on - James and Lily - when Harry was born.

He picks up Harry. He makes shushing sounds that Lily so often made to him and pats his back. "It's okay, Harry. Uncle Padfoot got you." Harry's cries don't stop. Sirius closes his eyes. "I know, buddy."

He makes his way from the room, and into James and Lily's bedroom. He takes his wand out. "I'm not sure what you need," he tells Harry softly, "so I'm going to try things until you stop crying. That'll work, won't it?"

He summons the things to change him with and sets about changing him. It's been a while, months, since he's last been on babysitting duties, back before James and Lily went into hiding, but somethings just come back easily. When Harry is changed, Sirius pulls him into his arms. He's quiet for a moment before he starts crying again.

Sirius summons a bottle to him. Harry takes it eagerly. Sirius heart aches as Harry stares back at him while eating. "I'm going to take care of you," he tells Harry. "I'll make sure you're safe. I promise."

After he's done, he remembers to burp the boy. ("Sirius, you have to burp them!" Lily is telling him.)

Harry's eyes flutter shut when he's done. Sirius sits there, on the edge of his best friend's bed, holding his godson, wondering how he's going to care for this little boy, when he hears the sound of footsteps.

Sirius draws his wand.

"Anyone here?"

Sirius can recognize Hagrid's voice almost anywhere. He takes Harry down the stair to meet him. He can barely look away from James' body as he goes into the living room. "Hello Hagrid," Sirius greets.

"Sirius," Hagrid nods. "An' young Harry's safe, I see."

"He survived."

"Lily?"

Sirius shakes his head. He can't quite force the words past his lips. "What are you doing here?"

"Dumbledore sent me," he says. "Fer Harry, if he survived."

Realization dawns on him and he takes a step back. "I'm his godfather. I should look after him," he argues.

"Dumbledore orders I'm afraid. Seems ter believe he'll be safer at 'em Muggles house," Hagrid says. "I'm sorry, Sirius."

Sirius is quiet for a long time. He knows why Dumbledore is doing this; everyone believes that he is - was - the Potter's Secret Keeper. Him taking Harry would look suspicious. But he's heard the stories of Lily's sister and her husband from James, and none of them were pleasant. He doesn't want to let Harry go into that.

But it's what he has to do. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. When he opens his eyes, he nods at Hagrid. "It's okay," he says. He uses his wand to summon a blanket. He wraps Harry up in it. Harry is awake and just looking at him with Lily's eyes.

He walks out of the house that used to hold so much life, Hagrid not that far behind him. He hands Harry to Hagrid before he can change his mind. "I could never raise a child," he tells Hagrid. "Could you imagine how much I would fuck up?" He shakes his head. "Dumbledore is right; Harry's safer with Lily's family."

Hagrid gives him a disbelieving look. "Sirius, what 'bout -"

Harry starts to cry.

"How'd you get here?" Sirius asks. Then he shakes his head again. "You know what, nevermind." He digs his key to the motorcycle out of his pocket. "Take my motorcycle. It's had some modifications over the years, so you should be able to ride it just fine. It also flies so it'll be a lot quicker than whatever you used to get here. Just pull up on it like a broom."

If Hagrid was confused before, he's baffled now. "This is yer favorite thing. Are yeh sure?"

Sirius nods. "I'm sure. I'm not going to need it anymore. Just go. Get him there safely, okay?"

Sirius watches as Hagrid climbs onto the bike and kicks it start. Harry's cries have died down, and Sirius is sure that he's looking at Hagrid, fascinated.

Sirius stands there as Hagrid takes to the sky, Harry held against his chest. He stands there until the last bit of any reminiscence of James is out of his sight. He wants to cry; he wants to fight for Harry; he wants a lot of things, but the only thing he can do is track down the reason James and Lily are dead and Harry is an orphan.

He Apparates away to find Peter.