Disclaimer: I own only the plot. Dialogue is from HPSS.
Inconnu
By Silberner Wolf
AN: Wow, two chapters in one night. I'm on a roll. Sorry the chapters are so short, but it should be a long story! That makes up for chapter length…right? Right? Right.
Silberner
Part 1: Ein Neuer Anfang
Chapter 2: Meetings in the Dark
After a very long day of searching, Sirius still had absolutely no idea where Peter was. He felt that he should have started sooner. Maybe then Peter would not have had a chance to disappear.
Around midday, he had taken a break and decided to look up this aunt and uncle Hagrid had mentioned. He was startled to find that they were both Muggles and had a son as well—a Muggle—who was about the same age as Harry. Why was Dumbledore going to leave Harry with Muggles? A good wizarding family was what Harry needed—someone who could understand him and raise him properly—even if it was not his godfather himself.
Sirius decided that he was not going to find Peter today and might as well see who his godson was going to live with. He disapparated.
He appeared in the middle of a yard. Immediately, he hated the neighborhood.
Every house was the same, except for small details, such as color. Near-identical cars waited each near-identical driveway in front of each near-identical house. The only light was the misty orange glow of the street lamps. Number four, the aunt and uncle's house, was just across the street from himself. It, of course, was like all of the others. He shuddered. How could Dumbledore send Harry here?
Sirius transformed into his Animagus form, that of the large black dog, crossed the street, and concealed himself in the shadows. Just in time, he realized, because there was barely a moment to spare before a man appeared at the end of the street. Sirius crept toward the corner, where a cat sat on the brickwork wall and watched the man.
The man, who was very obviously Albus Dumbledore, rummaged through his cloak. Finally, he pulled out something very like a silver cigarette lighter. He clicked it and the nearest street light went dark. He stowed the object in a pocket of his purple cloak and walked toward the cat, sitting next to it on the wall.
Without looking at it, he said, "Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonogall."
Sirius jumped--he had not recognized his fellow Animagus. The cat morphed into the form of Professor McGonogall.
"How did you know it was me?"
Sirius crept closer. He could no longer see them, but he could hear them perfectly. He forgot any qualms about eavesdropping. He sensed that this would be an important conversation and he needed answers. Dumbledore was the only one who could give them.
"My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."
"You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day."
"All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here."
Sirius fought down a wrathful growl. Celebrating?
"Oh yes, everyone's celebrating all right. You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no--even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news. I heard it. Flocks of owls…shooting stars…Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent--I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."
I missed something, Sirius realized. Something big happened. He listened even more intently as Dumbledore spoke again.
"You can't blame them. We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."
"I know that," McGonogall said irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumors." A short pause. "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore?"
Sirius's heart nearly stopped with his astonishment. You-Know-Who--gone? No wonder he had been unable to find Peter! He would have gone back into hiding if he had any sense at all.
But still…he now understood the celebrations. The feasts. The most infamous wizard of his time--seemingly gone after eleven years of terror. He suddenly realized that Dumbledore was speaking again.
"…Voldemort." Sirius winced at the name. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name."
"I know you haven't. But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know--oh, all right, Voldemort, was frightened of."
"You flatter me. Voldemort had powers I will never have."
"Only because you're too--well--noble to use them."
"It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my earmuffs."
Sirius frowned. He began to doubt his earlier assumption. This is pointless--
There was another short pause before McGonogall spoke. "The owls are nothing next to the rumors that are flying around You know what everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?" Sirius's ears perked with interest. This was what he wanted to know. "What they're saying is that Voldemort turned up at Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumor is that Lily and James are--are--that they're--dead." Sirius's jaw clenched as Dumbledore's shadow bowed its head. McGonogall gasped. "Lily and James…I can't believe it…I didn't want to believe it…oh, Albus…"
Finally, Dumbledore spoke. "I know…I know…" he said heavily.
McGonogall's voice wavered as she continued. "That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potters' son, Harry. But--he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke--and that's why he's gone." Dumbledore must have given some sort of silent affirmation, for McGonogall said, "It's--it's true? After all he's done…after all the people he's killed…he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding…of all the things to stop him…but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"
Sirius was wondering much the same thing.
I know. I didn't write a whole lot of this myself. But this is an important bit of the story, so I felt the need to put this conversation in here. The next chapter will be similar, then it becomes more and more AU. Please R/R.
Silberner