A/N: Co-authored by Beyond the Shadows Edge and Mad-as-a-hatter1997. Sorry for any grammatical mistakes, we suck! AU NO FLAMES PLEASE. Sorry for replacing the chapter so soon, we noticed some things we wanted to edit. Disclaimer: We do not own Harry Potter.
Godric's Hollow was livelier than ever that night. It was Halloween, and everyone was in for a huge surprise. All of a sudden amid the laughter and squeals of frolicking children there was an explosion, people ran to the area only to find it was the Potter's house. The house itself was on fire and debris rained down from the roof which had collapsed inwards.
Two loud cracks echoed through frantic village. Among the frenzy two figures emerged. As they shoved through the hordes of crying people they came upon the devastating ruin of what used to be their father's best-friend's family home. Blasting open the back door what they saw would forever be engraved in their minds; scorch marks littered the hallway walls and strewn over the house stairs was the body of the late James Potter. As the taller girl moved up the stairs the shorter one fell to her knees beside the body, tears crowded her vision as her heart filled with sorrow and her stomach dropped.
The taller girl had now reached the nursery, as she expected Lily was lying dead on the floor. She turned to leave the room when she heard a faint whimper coming from the cot. Walking towards it she found a crying Harry Potter coated in a thin layer of dust. She lifted the struggling infant and cooed at him in an attempt to calm him down. The baby stopped crying, he curled up in the girl's arms and went to sleep. The girl heard faint noises emitting from downstairs, picking her way across the room she headed quickly down to find out what the commotion was.
Nearing the kitchen, she heard raised voices, recognizing her sister's angry drawl she sighed. As she entered the kitchen she found Rubeus Hagrid arguing with her twin Jamie Black. "No you're not taking Harry. I don't care about Dumblydore's orders Harry stays with us and that's how it's going to go." Jamie growled through clenched teeth at the half-giant.
"I've never seen you before. Who are you and what are you doing here?" Hagrid asked. Gently opening the door so the baby didn't wake Elizabeth Black walked into the room.
"Jamie… Take Harry and go wait outside." Elizabeth demanded in a dark tone of voice. Jamie quickly took Harry from her arms and made a hasty retreat, knowing not to make her sister angrier than she was. "Hi there. I'm Elizabeth Black and my younger sister is Jamie Marie Black, now let's try and get this mess sorted out in a rational manner. We're taking Harry with us, no arguments. We don't want to fight but if necessary we will use force." Hagrid tried to bargain.
"Why don't we talk this out? I can ask Dumbledore to hold a meeting and until then I'll take Harry just to ensure his safety." Hearing a quiet snort of laughter Hagrid turned to see Jamie holding Harry close and motioning for her sister to hurry up.
"More like you'll take him, leave him with some horrid relatives and obliviate us!" In the background an echoed "*cough* Dursleys *cough*" was heard. "I don't give a fuck about Dumbledore and his fucking order we are not letting you near Harry" And with that said Elizabeth motioned to Jamie and they apparated out.
They arrived at their home in the growing dawn light to hear frenzied pacing coming from the living room. The door was flung open and the girls were caught up in a hug that they were sure was intended to crush their ribs. "Dad please you're crushing the baby" Elizabeth gasped in order to make their father calm down.
"Yeah and don't forget us your crushing my chest dad. I CAN'T BREATH!" Sirius let go of his daughters, thoroughly confused. He placed his hands on Elizabeth's shoulders and held her in front of his body.
"Baby, what baby? Please tell me neither of you had a baby!" Sirius asked.
"God no dad we're better than that. We found Harry in the ruin of Godric's Hollow." Jamie stated, her voice shaking.
"Voldemort. James and Lily?" Sirius' voice shook with worry for his two friends. Both girls cast their gazes at the floor causing Sirius to sink into a chair, grief ridden and cry.
"Dad… Dad please. We need you to check Harry over to see if he needs a healer. Can you do that for us?" Elizabeth hated to ask their father for something while he was in such pain but neither she nor her sister had the training to accurately assess any damage that may have been done to the child. Sirius sucked in a breath before nodding slowly.
"Okay. Can you pass Harry to me please?" Elizabeth handed the boy to her father, with a glance down Sirius uttered a few words and frowned. Harry would definitely need a healer to check the any wounds they couldn't see.
Arriving at St Mungo's Hospital they found more than mild panic. After waiting half an hour to be seen Sirius asked what was going on, only to find that the Longbottom's had been tortured to insanity. Frank and Alice's only child had survived and was sat in his grandmother's arms. A healer signalled to Sirius and the girls and they entered an examination room. "Hello I am Healer Brunner. How can I be of assistance?" the man was middle aged with a slowly receding hair line.
"Hello, I was just wondering if you could check Harry over for us please. He was involved in what we believe was a serious fight." Sirius demanded as politely as possible.
"Of course." Scanning over the little boy with his wand, what the healer found worried him but he also knew there was nothing he could do. "Well physically he's fine. However, I am afraid that this scar is the product of a rebounded unforgivable curse. The signature matches He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. This child is The Boy-Who-Lived."
*Time Skip*
As soon as they exited the hospital Sirius began pacing and muttering to himself, "How could this have happened. The house was protected by the fidelius charm, as long as the secret keeper didn't reveal its location then they should have been safe." Sirius was wracking his brain trying to figure out how the Potters were discovered, he regretted letting them pass him over as their secret keeper. A sudden thought occurred to him; the only person who could have told Voldemort where the Potters lived was the secret keeper, and Sirius knew of only one person the Potters would have chosen instead of him… Peter Pettigrew.
A feeling of uncontrollable rage washed over Sirius. That little rat had betrayed them all, betrayed the only friends he had ever had in Hogwarts. Sirius was going to kill him for what he had done, but first he had to find the hole that Peter had crawled into. "Girls, take Harry home and get some rest. I'm going to talk to Remus, see if we can't figure out what to do." The look that crossed Elizabeth's face at the mention of her beloved uncle broke Sirius' heart and settled his resolve; he was going to punish Peter and then return to his family and finally tell his stupid mutt of a best friend that he loved him.
Sirius watched as his two daughters - his pride and joy - disapparated in front of him, not knowing that would be the last time he saw them for twelve years. He closed his eyes as he disapparated and ended up in Remus Lupin's tiny single bedroom apartment, "Remus, old friend, I'm sorry to have to tell you this. James and Lily, I'm sorry they're… Oh god" He looked to his friend as for the first time that evening he finally allowed himself to completely break down. He felt the scent of the man he loved encompass him and allowed himself to be comforted. The fact that he could hear Remus sobbing into his hair was mentioned by neither man. Suddenly Remus asked.
"Harry, what about Harry?" the look of pure panic broke something inside Sirius and he replied.
"He's with the girls. He's safe, he's okay… or rather he will be." Remus quickly gathered his coat and shoes and floo powder as he kissed his best friend on the forehead and left to see his soon to be children.
"The rat, I have to get the rat. I'll avenge you James" Echoed around the now empty apartment as Sirius allowed his anger to consume him. He left on foot, plan in his head.