Sunday October 31, 1981.
"But, as we all know, You-Know-Who met his downfall in little Harry Potter."
Sirius Black landed his flying motorbike in front of the small house. It was the end of the afternoon and the sun was already setting. The front garden of the house was decorated with pumpkins, and a small sign at the door said: "Mrs Pettigrew". Sirius was here to check if Peter was really hiding. Of course, Peter could be trusted, but you never knew; he was very attached to his mother. He rang the bell and a small woman answered it. She had always been smaller than Sirius and his friends, even Peter was bigger than her. Mrs Pettigrew seemed delighted to see him; she kind of adopted them all as her sons when Peter introduced them to her. James even showed little Harry to her and she was deeply in love with the little boy. But, thought Sirius, who wasn't? Mrs Pettigrew pulled him inside, reasoning that it was far to cold to be standing in the front garden and telling him all about the decorations she made herself. Finally, after a long story about her neighbours and after a cup of tea, Sirius managed to say something.
"Have you seen Peter lately?"
"Peter?" she replied, as if she just remembered she had a son. "No, I'm afraid not, dear. He's living in a house of his own now and I haven't seen him for at least two weeks. I'm afraid he's not doing well and that he's going quite wild. Last time I saw him he had a big black tattoo on his arm. Goodness knows what will be next. Green hair?" She smiled, amused by the thought of Peter with green hair.
"Well, that's a pity. Thank you for your tea, Mrs Pettigrew, but I promised James and Lily to come round." He did not, he wanted to check if Peter was in his hiding place. There was something bothering him: a black tattoo. Where did he hear that before? He couldn't remember…
Mrs Pettigrew was looking around, searching for something. "Now where was that bag?" she muttered. "Ah, there it is! Sirius, would you be so kind as to give this to James and Lily?" She handed a him a big bag, filled with clothing. "These are baby-clothes I found yesterday. Maybe they're of use for them, they were Peter's once."
"Thank you, Mrs Pettigrew. I'm sure they will be very happy with it" said Sirius as he walked down the garden path. He was tying the bag on his motor when suddenly it shot inside his head, a conversation with James, a few months ago…
"James," he asked, "how can one recognise a follower of Voldemort?"
"A follower of Voldemort? Er… A black tattoo on the arm, a skull with a snake. They call it the Dark Mark" his friend replied.
A black tattoo… Sirius threw the bag with baby-clothes on the street, jumped on his motorbike and set of for Peter's hidingplace.
~*~
When he arrived at the hidingplace it was deserted. But there was no sign of a fight or a struggle or something like that. Quite the contrary in fact: the bed was made up, the dishes were done and the door was locked. It was like the occupant was off for a visit and would return soon, thought Sirius. He wasted no more time. His instincts told him he should go to Godric´s Hollow immediately, so he set of, hoping he wasn't too late. A nasty little voice in his head kept repeating his own words: I've got a better idea. Let's take Peter…
~*~
James Potter was laying in a chair, his feet on another chair and his son in his arms. Little Harry couldn't sleep, even with his toy dragon he got from Hagrid for his first birthday, so James had read him a story (actually it was Quidditch through the Ages) to make him fall asleep. Lily had had to smile when she saw James telling Harry about the different Quidditch teams and Harry slowly falling asleep.
"Apparently Harry thinks Quidditch is kind of boring" she said.
"Oh, don't worry" James replied, "he will like it one day. And one can never to young to start with Quidditch."
Lily entered the living room with two mugs with hot milk. James managed to take one without waking Harry up. He put the book aside and took a big gulp of his milk.
"I think it's time we go to bed" Lily said.
"Hm, hm" James answered thoughtlessly. "Can you take Harry please?"
Lily picked up her son. "There we go, little one. James, will you lock the doors, please? Then I will put Harry in bed." She started walking up the stairs while James locked the back door. When he was locking the front door, he thought he heard something. Footsteps, the cracking of the gravel outside. He stiffened. No one would come this late… It could only be one person… He could feel the hairs in his neck going on end.
His hand reached for his wand as he shouted: "Lily, take Harry and go! It's Him! Go! Run! I´ll hold him of – "
The next moment their front door was blown away. A tall man entered the house, his wand drawn. He laughed a horrible, cackling laugh. Before James could even draw his wand, Lord Voldemort simply said: "Avada Kedavra." A green flash, a rushing sound. James fell on the floor.
Voldemort moved over to where Lily was standing with Harry in her arms. His eyes shone with an evil sort of joy. Finally, he had the Potters where he wanted them. He waved with his hand.
"Stand aside, girl. Let me take the boy."
"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!" she cried. Voldemort felt his anger raise.
"Stand aside, you silly girl. Stand aside… let me kill him."
"Not Harry! Please, have mercy! Take me instead, but don't kill Harry!" She turned her back towards him, blocking his way. He raised his want.
"Then you leave me no choice!" He pointed his want directly at Lily and Harry.
"Avada Kedavra."
Again a green flash, a rushing sound. Lord Voldemort screamed. Then, nothing more but the cry of a baby…
~*~
Peter Pettigrew was hiding in the bushes nearby when he saw the house explode. He could think of only one thing. He ran.
~*~
Sirius´ motorbike hit the ground with a crash. He jumped of it and did not care whether his motor fell or not. He stared at the ruins of what was once his friends´ home. There was smoke coming from it, and the smell like something was burning. He took a few steps forward and saw two bodies. One was a man, a tall man with black hair and a wand in his hand. He was laying at his back before the other body. The other body belonged to a woman with red hair. She was laying with her face down like she was trying to protect something in her arms. They both had a look of fear on their face. When Sirius saw the dead bodies of his friends, his legs couldn't hold him anymore. He fell on his knees, took James in his arms and started crying.
~*~
After a while he felt a hand on his shoulder. "An´ what're ye doin´ here?" he heard a loud voice say. It was Hagrid. Sirius looked up at him, tears on his face.
"Hagrid, they're – they're – they're- " He couldn't say it. Hagrid patted him on the shoulder, his beetle-black eyes filled with tears. "I know" he said. "I know…"
Sirius noticed Hagrid was holding something, a small bundle. He asked: "Hagrid, what´ve you got there?"
"Here? Ah, a small suprise fer ye, I guess!" Hagrid smiled and handed the bundle over to Sirius. First he thought it was just a bundle of old clothing, maybe some wizard-stuff muggles weren't allowed to see, then he felt it was moving and breathing. He pushed the cloth away a little. Two familiar green eyes looked at him.
"Harry!" he gasped. He turned around to look sharply at Lily. Now he noticed she was holding nothing in her arms.
"I dunno what happened, but this lill´ kid survived. He must be something really special" Hagrid said.
"He's got a cut on his forehead. Do you have a handkerchief or something?"
Hagrid gave him a handkerchief like a tablecloth. Sirius whipped the blood away and looked at the cut. It had a strange shape, a bit like a bolt of lighting. Hagrid stretched out his hands.
"Yer better give em to me. He's to go to his uncle an´ aunt in Lill´ Winging."
"What?! The Dursleys? You can't mean that! Who came up with this ridiculous idea?" said Sirius, pressing Harry to his chest.
"Dumbledore said so, he said he was to go an´ live with them lot."
"Dumbledore said so? He can't mean that! And besides, I'm his godfather, I´ll take care of him!"
"I'm very sorry, but the professor said so, an´ I always keep my promise."
Sirius looked around, searching for an excuse, something to say. He saw something in the sand, near the bushes. Were those… footprints?! Who would have been hiding there, and, as the footprints showed, been running away? Why would somebody hide and run away? Only a person who didn't want to be discovered. Like somebody who was watching his master kill his best friends… Peter. Sirius knew it.
He turned around to Hagrid. "Okay then, bring him to his uncle and aunt. You know what? Take my motorbike. I won't need it anymore." Chasing after Peter would be a lot easier on foot.
"Er… Okay" Hagrid said in amazement because of the turn in Sirius behaviour. Sirius pulled the cloth tightly around Harry so he wouldn't get cold.
"What about James and Lily?" he asked Hagrid.
"´spect the ministry will take care of them. They'll be here any minute."
Sirius gave Harry one last hug. "Goodbye Harry" he said. "Maybe I´ll see you later." He handed Harry over to Hagrid who took the baby in his arms. He was able to ride the motor and hold Harry in the other arm. "Bye Sirius" he said.
"Yeah, goodbye Hagrid. Take good care of Harry."
Hagrid set of for Little Winging. Sirius gazed after them until he couldn't see them anymore. Then he changed into a big black dog and started following the footsteps.