The Wizarding Act of 1978
Epilogue - Three Years Later
"What have you done?" Sirius Black screamed at his supposed friend Peter Pettigrew. "You've turned to him? To Voldemort?"
"Sirius, you h-have to understand!" the rat cried out in fear. "He has powers we can only dream of! He's going to help us, Sirius. He will help us all. In a pure world, we can be free to live openly instead of in secret … we can …"
"Enough!" Sirius shouted, his anger and fear taking over. "We trusted you! I-I gave up my place because I was an obvious target. But you! You were supposed to protect them! You were supposed to keep their secret, not piss it away to the Dark Lord! What kind of friend are you?"
"The only thing that matters is power, Sirius. You have to know that. You have to understand that. You come from the most noble House of Black! You know what blood and breeding mean. He's going to rid the world of inferior blood!"
"He's going to kill James and Lily! He's going to kill Harry! Doesn't that … doesn't that matter to you?"
"She's a mudblood," Peter said tonelessly.
"All this time," Sirius ranted, unable to move because the rat had him bound to a chair. "All this time I thought it was Remus. I thought he was the one who turned his back on us. I thought the clan had finally gotten to him. But it was you," he spat, anger increasing.
And then he paled. "Janie …" he whispered. His wife was over his brother-in-law's house so their sons could have a play date.
--
Although the Wizarding Act of 1978 had been rescinded in 1980, Sirius and Jane chose to remain married. True to their vows, they had fallen more in love every day.
It was almost funny how his life and James' had become almost parallel.
His brother-in-law and Lily Evans married the summer after Hogwarts. A little over a year later, the fall after Jane had graduated, both Lily and Jane had gotten pregnant, Jane a month before Lily.
It had been a long winter and spring for the two families, the women in particular, and in early July of 1980, Jane had woken up from a nap to find her water had broken. She handled the situation better than Sirius had.
She's calmly walked into his "game room" and told him it was time. He'd asked her what it was time for and she pointedly stared at him until he understood: it was time for him to become a daddy.
He'd rushed around the house trying to find everything she had specified she would be needing for the birth and the days following. Once everything was collected, he flooed directly to St. Mungo's. Upon his arrival, however, he'd realized he'd forgotten one thing.
His wife.
He flooed back home and helped her though, guiding her to the desk and following all the instructions. He was attentive and helpful. She was shocked.
After about 15 hours of labor, Sirius walked slowly out of the delivery room and into the waiting room where James, a very pregnant Lily, Andrew and Allison were waiting. He was tired and his hand was sore from her constant and unforgiving grip, but he knew that the outcome was worth the pain. He internally hoped she felt the same way.
Sirius smiled tiredly at the group and took a seat next to James, still not saying a word.
The other occupants of the waiting area tried to be patient but, after several minutes of silence, Allison blurted out, "Well?"
"Boy," Sirius beamed. "Phoenix Regulus Black."
A collective cheer rose from the assembled crowd and then Sirius quieted them. "Lily, Prongs … we want you to be his godparents."
James smiled proudly and nodded. Lily, as expected, burst into tears and threw herself (as much as an eight month pregnant woman can) at him, smiling and agreeing.
Three weeks later the roles were reversed and the crowd assembled again, a three week old Phoenix in tow, to wait for the newest Potter.
"It's a boy," James screamed as he entered the waiting room, not able to contain himself as Sirius had. "Harry James Potter."
The men patted him on the back and Allison cried. "Two grandsons …"
"Congratulations, big brother," Jane smiled as she stood and placed a kiss on James' cheek.
"Godparents?" he asked his sister and brother-in-law.
"Absolutely, mate," Sirius answered for the two of them.
--
"Sirius, love, we're home. Sorry we're a bit late but Harry latched onto Phoenix and wouldn't …" her voice trailed off as she saw her husband, bound to a chair, and his friend Peter in front of him. "What's going on?"
"Janie, run. Take Phoenix and get out of here. Go collect James and Lily and Harry and get as far away as you can!"
"It's too late," Peter noted as the clock struck nine on the chilly Halloween night. "He's already there."
"Who's where?" Jane asked frantically as she clutched Phoenix to her chest.
Peter turned to her, thus breaking his concentration and allowing Sirius to break free. He tackled his former friend straight through the large window. Glass shattered and Phoenix began to cry, but all Sirius could think to do was beat Peter to a pulp and then get to James, Lily and Harry as fast as he could.
Jane followed them out, through the door, of course, and was shouting at them to stop it. There was quite a crowd gathering on the street.
"Both of you! Stop it! Get back in here and work it out! Stop it!"
"Jane, go!" Sirius screamed as he turned to look at his wife.
"I'm not leaving you!" she cried in return, still holding a whimpering Phoenix to her chest.
As Sirius opened his mouth to retort again, Peter found the strength to throw the stronger man off of him. In a split second, the portly blonde grabbed his wand and shouted two consecutive Avada Kedavras. One hit Phoenix, who immediately stop whimpering and fell limp in his mother's arms, and the next hitting Jane, who, though now no longer living, still clutched her baby to her chest. she didn't even have time to turn and shield the baby before she was hit.
"No!" Sirius screamed as he launched himself at Peter once again. "You killed my family!"
Peter then got a vicious look on his face. "No, Sirius, you did. And you killed all these muggles as well." He then fired off multiple killing curses, killing twelve muggles who were gathered around the scene. With one last wicked smirk, he cut off his finger and transformed into his animagus form, scurrying out of the desperate grasp of a very distraught Sirius Black.
Within moment, Sirius scrambled to his wife and son. "Jane? Janie? Phoenix? Please," he cried as he shook them. "Please wake up. Please get up."
Without thinking, Sirius stood up and grasped his wand, heading for the garage so he could get his bike. He would go to James and Lily and then he would find that stinking rat.
Before he reached the garage, however, multiple pops alerted him to arriving wizards.
As the aurors took in the scene, they all immediately trained their eyes on Sirius Black.
"N-no!" he cried when he realized what they thought. "It wasn't me! It was Peter Pettigrew! He's working for Voldemort!"
"Pettigrew is too weak for that, Black," Alastor Moody barked as he put Sirius in a body bind.
One of the other aurors approached with a sad frown on his face. "A finger. No body …"
"We can run some scans to see who it belongs to," Moody said with a frown as he hoisted Sirius from the ground and trained his eyes on the culprit's murdered wife and son. "You killed Jane and Phoenix," he said roughly, shaking Sirius harshly. "Your own wife and kid!"
"It's Pettigrew's finger," the auror, Kingsley Shacklebolt said thickly. "His ring is on it."
"I swear," Sirius said pleadingly. "He cut it off and then ran away."
Moody snorted and turned to Kingsley. "Take him straight to Azkaban. He can wait there for his conviction … I mean trial."
"No!" Sirius screamed. "No! I'm innocent! I swear it! I promise!"
"Your words mean nothing to me, Black," Moody spat.
Just before Shacklebolt disapparated, Hagrid arrived with Dumbledore.
"Where's Sirius?" he asked the crowd in general. "He needs ter know the news … 'Least Harry's alive and You-Know-Who was beat … but sad. Poor James 'an Lily."
"Hagrid …" Dumbledore said slowly and then pointed at Sirius.
"Oy! Let 'im go!"
"He's the one who was working for Voldemort!" Moody shouted after silencing Sirius.
"Yer the one who got James 'an Lily killed?" Hagrid asked in a hurt tone, not really expecting Sirius to answer. And then the half-giant's eyes landed on Jane and Phoenix, who were being surveyed by Dumbledore. "I hope yeh rot in Azkaban!" he shouted.
As a haggard Remus arrived and saw the dead bodies of the muggles and his family, Sirius met his eyes. He could plainly see what Remus was thinking without having to hear his friend speak the words: none of this would have happened if she had married me.
In that moment, Sirius Black gave up his will to live. He lost his friends, his godson, and most importantly, his wife and young son. He personally hoped he received the Kiss. It was nothing less than he deserved. He put his trust in the wrong man and it cost him everything. It was his fault James and Lily were dead. It was his fault Harry was orphaned. And most importantly, it was his fault his wife and son were dead.
Yes, he told himself. I hope they give me the Kiss
