AN: A sad chapter but I hope you enjoy it. I may add an Epilogue as I sometimes do, but I'm not sure yet, let me know what you reckon to this last proper chappy! :D Thank you a million times over for your devotion, you have kept me going through this story and have given me so much confidence to work harder! I hope I have lived up to your expectations.
"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death"
James' limbs felt like lead as he leaned against Sirius and gazed down into Remus' peace filled face, he swallowed hard and shifted slightly, Sirius put his arm around him and drew him closer. "It's...only us now Prongsy." He muttered.
James nodded mutely and slowly prized his gaze away from the dead, he turned them on the living and saw, to his surprise, his reflection gazing back at him. It clicked suddenly that Harry was standing by the doors to the Great Hall, his face was white as a sheet and his hands clenched into fists at his sides, he moved away and swung a silvery cloak over his shoulders before disappearing. James tried to move but his legs refused to obey him, he swore softly as Sirius caught him. "Harry...I need to go see him..."
"I'll go, you stay and rest." Sirius whispered and brushed a smudge of dirt from one cheek as he smiled softly. "I'll keep him safe."
"Thank you, Padfoot."
Sirius stood up, running one hand through his lank, dirty hair before loping off out into the hall. He closed his eyes for a moment and tried to detect Harry by scent, at first it was difficult to distinguish the scent of blood and soot from any other, but then he caught the scent of burning, blood and something that reminded him forcefully of passionate nights spent beneath the stars and moon. Harry smelt like James. He smiled to himself and followed his enhanced nose.
The grounds were dark and almost empty, Sirius traversed it easily, avoiding the bodies and bits of stone lying scattered over the blood and dew soaked grass. He could now see slight depression in the grass where feet had obviously been so he followed them, listening intently for any sound other than his own heartbeat. Ahead of him were a few loan figures picking through the debris and gathering the dead, one of them seemed to be speaking to someone, Sirius drew close enough to pick up what was being said. Harry's voice was instantly recognisable, he was telling the other boy, Neville, to kill the snake. Sirius frowned, confused by that, but assumed Harry knew what he was talking about.
Sirius followed Harry's footsteps right into the forest, he heard soft whispers of trees as a breeze blew through them and then he finally lost his way. Harry's trail was gone and he was unable to pick it up again, he searched the ground until he was finally forced to light his wand. The light splashed against the ground highlighting the leaf mulch and dirt, roots and tangles of vines, but no sign of the boy.
It was the sudden absence of sound that alerted him to the presence of another, he hardly had time to spin around before he was blown off his feet with a flash of bright red.
XXX
James sat on a bench, he had never felt more alone as he watched people comforting each other in hushed voices, he listened to the sobs of the grieving but it all seemed little more than a terrible dream. He had felt grief before, many times, but nothing could have prepared him for the terrible feeling that everyone he loved and cared for was slowly being torn from his grasping fingers, he sighed heavily and leaned back against the wall, in one hand he clutched a goblet full of water, he could hear the soft tinkle as his hand shook its contents, he couldn't stop the steady rise of fear as it wrapped its freezing fingers around his heart and squeezed. The night was cursed and he was almost certain that before it was over he would be subjected to more loss and gut wrenching grief.
He didn't know how long he sat there for but he knew it was a long time, the Hall was slowly growing quieter as people began dozing fitfully or trying to assimilate their situation. Abruptly, like a knife slicing through the air they heard loud, caustic laughter from outside. James was on his feet in an instant, he leapt towards the doors, running ahead of most others, he jumped down the steps and out into the lightening grounds. He ripped his wand from his pocket as a massive crowd of Death Eaters marched towards them...their laughter sent jolts of dread through James Potter's soul until he was almost sick, he trembled as he felt the rest of the survivors pouring into the courtyard around him.
He could hear mutters, soft whispers and questions; what was Hagrid carrying? Why were the Death Eaters so happy? What was happening? But somehow, James thought he knew exactly why they were so happy...
He couldn't hear what Voldemort was saying through the roar of blood in his ears. Everything was oddly muted as if someone had placed cloth over his head. His eyes remained glued to the small, seemingly lifeless body grasped in the arms of the giant...James' shaking increased. He looked at his son as his wand dropped to his side, despair overwhelmed him until he wanted to scream. Harry looked little more than a child in Hagrids arms and that was how James saw him, a pudgy little boy in blue pyjama's laughing at the smoke rings that erupted from James' wand...
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" He screamed suddenly, his voice echoing through the grounds like the scream of a dying dragon. His throat was raw and his body weak beyond anything he had ever experienced, yet his legs took him forward, he broke into a sprint as he ran for his son, he only wanted to hold him, to pull him close one last time, to tell him that he was there now, that he would protect him...he wanted to tell him how badly he regretted missing so much of his life, he needed to tell him that everything was going to be alright now because he was there and he would die to protect him.
Sirius was bound almost head to foot in thick chains, he was on his knees, head bowed and a gag forced between his teeth. He gazed at the ground with wide, blank eyes as he relived Harry's death. The way he had fallen as if he were little more than a puppet with his strings cut, the way his body had crumpled beneath him and the awful, empty thud as he had hit the ground...He could think of little else until a scream more terrifying than all the Dark Magic in the world rent the air like a siren, his head jerked up and his eyes widened as he saw James running towards them, people tried to stop him but they were too slow, everything was too slow and Sirius was forced to watch as James ran. Without thought he managed to remove his own gag using his tongue, his own scream was loud enough to make his guards wince. He shut his eyes and screamed James' name with all his strength, yet, he was unable to block out the flash of green and the thud as something heavy hit the floor.
It was like someone had ripped him in half. He screamed again, this time out of pure, unadulterated agony as pain tore through him. his body went rigid and trembled, his arms strained against his bonds as he gasped and his eyes flew open, he threw his head back and gazed up at the dawn filled sky as the world held its breath. Slowly, ever so slowly Sirius Black took a shuddery breath and moved his head so he was looking out across the devastated courtyard.
He knew it even before his eyes landed on his body, he knew even before Voldemort laughed. His whole universe toppled and fell as he bent double and emptied the contents of his stomach over the floor and the sky went black.
XXX
Sirius remained on his knees and stared ahead of himself, his captors were laughing and celebrating their apparent victory or were they scared? He couldn't tell, he didn't care. His world had ended and his whole reason for being had been ripped from him as easily as a silk scarf, he was not even half a man, he was nothing and he wanted to end everything. Why should people be happy in a world with no sun? Why should the sky be blue or the stars shine without James? How could they still be talking, muttering, joking and laughing and even fighting when everything had been burnt to ash and bitter tears?
Sirius simply lowered his head and awaited his own death, he knew it would soon follow James' he was as much Voldemorts enemy as James had been. It took him a while to realise that the loud, popping noises were the evidence of people Dissaperating, and the whole tone of the surrounding noises had changed, as if someone had changed the channel on a muggle television set. Slowly, like a man trapped in a nightmare Sirius looked up and saw that there were a lot less Death Eaters than there had been...but the strangest thing of all was the sudden cheers, the renewed fighting and the shouts that surrounded him.
They were cheering. Everyone was shouting a name...
Harry.
Harry was still alive. That stirred something in Sirius, he knew with a sudden vibrant clarity that all was not lost, that James would want him to protect Harry at whatever cost. The thought gave strength to his limbs and his mind seemed clearer than it had in years, with a manic grin he concentrated on the chains binding him, they shattered like shards of ice and tinkled to the floor. Sirius stood and found his wand lying on the floor where one of his guards had abandoned it before fleeing, stooping he picked it up and wrapped fingers around it. "I will do this for you...Jamie." He muttered softly before hardening himself, he felt weakened, but knew that he had to make sure that if Harry lived he would know about his parents, about how much James had loved him. A grin split his face as he broke into a run from standing and pelted towards the Castle.
Voldemort's chest rose and fell rapidly, and Harry could feel the curse coming, feel it building inside the wand pointed at his face. "The true master of the Elder Wand was Draco Malfoy." Blank shock showed in Voldemort's face for a moment, but then it was gone. "But what does it matter?" he said softly. "Even if you are right, Potter, it makes no difference to you and me. You no longer have the phoenix wand: We duel on skill alone... and after I have killed you, I can attend to Draco Malfoy..." "But you're too late," said Harry. "You've missed your chance. I got there first. I overpowered Draco weeks ago. I took his wand from him." Harry twitched the hawthorn wand, and he felt the eyes of everyone in the Hall upon it. "So it all comes down to this, doesn't it?" whispered Harry. "Does the wand in your hand know its last master was Disarmed? Because if it does... I am the true master of the Elder Wand."
A red-glow burst suddenly across the enchanted sky above them as an edge of dazzling sun appeared over the sill of the nearest window. The light hit both of their faces at the same time, so that Voldemort's was suddenly a flaming blur. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he too yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco's wand: "Avada Kedavra!" "Expelliarmus!" The bang was like a cannon blast, and the golden flames that erupted between them, at the dead centre of the circle they had been treading, marked the point where the spells collided. Harry saw Voldemort's green jet meet his own spell, saw the Elder Wand fly high, dark against the sunrise, spinning across the enchanted ceiling like the head of Nagini, spinning through the air toward the master it would not kill, who had come to take full possession of it at last. And Harry, with the unerring skill of the Seeker, caught the wand in his free hand as Voldemort fell backward, arms splayed, the slit pupils of the scarlet eyes rolling upward. Tom Riddle hit the floor with a mundane finality, his body feeble and shrunken, the white hands empty, the snakelike face vacant and unknowing. Voldemort was dead, killed by his own rebounding curse, and Harry stood with two wands in his hand, staring down at his enemy's shell.
XXX
Sirius sat upon the steps of a battered Hogwarts, he gazed unseeing up at the sky with tears he didn't know he was shedding falling slowly down his face. His wand hung limply in his hand as he listened to the mixed sounds from within the castle, it was little more than background noise, a soft rise and fall to the melody of his pain. He hadn't been able to gain the courage to see James' body, it would have been too much, he had sworn to himself that he would have found a way to prevent James from dying, even if it meant separating their Horcrux connection, but he had been too late. The call to arms had come before he could do anything more than read books, he had been too late and now his failure slept an eternal sleep by the side of Remus in the Great Hall. He lowered his head and curled his knees closer to his chest, resting his forehead against them as he listened to the grief-tinged joy radiating from Hogwarts at his back.
Sirius Black was now alone, utterly devoid of purpose. Harry didn't need protection, he never really had, and now what did he have to live for? Remus dead, his brother, his friends, his lover...all gone, forever, he stifled a sob and wiped the tears away, ashamed of himself. When he next looked up he could see the beginnings of a perfect day, the sky high and blue and clear with a brilliant yellow orb that hung low over the horizon as day filled the world with a light and warmth that refused to touch the shattered remains of Sirius' soul.
Five months later...
The knock startled Sirius into dropping the fork in his hand, it clattered against the stone floor and skidded away beneath the kitchen unit. He swore loudly, standing up and making his way towards the door, the portrait of his long dead mother eyed him with distaste, yet he managed to ignore it as he swung the door open.
"Sirius." Harry smiled at him from the front step.
Sirius returned the smile weakly, even months on from the last battle he still found smiling difficult. "Harry! It's good to see you, come in!" He stepped aside and let the boy enter. "Tea?"
"Erm...no thanks, I can't stop for long, I'm meeting up with Ginny..."
Sirius raised an eyebrow as he moved back to the kitchen down the dingy hallway of twelve Grimmauld Place. "Oh really?"
"Yeah, she and I are..."
"Seeing each other again? Yeah, Ron told me, that's really good, I'm happy for you." He was, he knew that soft glow warming his chest must have been something positive, but emotions were very difficult for him to grasp and sometimes he sat for hours feeling nothing at all. Once they had sat down Sirius turned to his Godson. "So, why are you visiting this lonely old dog when you should be out getting laid?"
Harry flushed and avoided Sirius' intense gaze before clearing his throat and forcing his eyes back. "I received a letter..." He rummaged in his jeans pocket and withdrew a parchment bearing the green and red wax seal of St. Mungos. Sirius frowned. "It was addressed to my father, I think that the owl delivered it to me because we share the same name...Um...It's..." He struggled with his words for moment, trying to find the right way to bring the topic around. Finally he decided to treat it like a plaster, rip it off as quickly as possible to lesson the pain. "It says that you and dad have a baby girl awaiting you in the maternity ward..." He winced, he had read and re-read the letter over a hundred times before finally sending an Owl to Hermione to tell her about it, she had laughed at him and explained the way two men could easily have a child due to the advancements of new technology in both magic and science, but still, he found it very odd that he now had a baby sister with two fathers.
Sirius gazed at him as if he had gone mad. "I...what-now?"
"The parchment...it says that;" Harry looked down at the crumpled paper in his hand. "Mr. James Potter, we are writing to delightfully inform you that your surrogate has just given birth to a healthy baby girl, she will, by your insistence, be named Mira Lily Black. She will be ready to pick up in a few days, after we have run some basic tests to make sure she is in top health. Congratulations." He trailed off, suddenly not willing to look up and see Sirius' face, he had no idea just how close his father and godfather had been...even after all of Hermione's hints and teasing. Finally he gathered his Gryffindor courage and looked up to see...shock made his jaw drop. Sirius was staring into the distance, his eyes wide with surprise but he had clear drops of liquid falling down his cheeks.
