Bellatrix never had good aim. He taunted her and laughed, at least until the pain hit him. Then he could only stare.
What if?
Pacing back and forth, Sirius was going stir crazy. If only he could owl Harry. An idea flashed through his mind. The mirrors! They were secure, and it might work if Harry had his mirror on him. He hurriedly took his mirror out of his pocket. All right, he was a little paranoid, but a little suspicion never hurt anyone.
"Sirius?" Harry's voice quavered.
"Harry!"
"Sirius! Are you all right?"
"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?"
Harry was mute for a moment before responding, "I had a dream. You were in it. You were being tortured. Voldemort wanted you to bring him something. But you wouldn't do it." Harry's voice had gotten quieter and quieter as he went on.
"What happened after that?" Sirius asked in morbid fascination.
"I woke up."
"Oh." They were both silent for a while before Harry spoke again.
"Sirius? Will you promise me not to leave the house?"
"I will." He answered after mulling it over a little. For a while they spoke of other, less significant things, but their hearts weren't in it. But Sirius kept his promise.
It didn't.
As he began to fall he noticed Harry. Then he wished he hadn't.
What if?
Sirius scowled as he dragged himself through the train. It was his luck that most of the compartments were filled with half-breeds and mudbloods. Some of the purebloods were sitting with them, but he'd promised his mother that he wouldn't and had decided that for once he was going to listen to her. And none of the older students including his relatives were letting him sit with them, even though he knew his mother ordered them to. He was nearing the end of the compartments. Fabulous. At the very last one he was pleasantly surprised when there was only one black haired boy his age sitting in there.
"Are you a pureblood?" Sirius asked, on the verge of not caring at this point.
"Y-Yes." The other boy responded, a little intimidated.
"Good," his mother's request now accomplished, Sirius began to make himself at home. "Sirius Black. Who are you?"
"Severus Snape," the boy made an awkward half-bow. Sirius returned it.
"Pleased to make your acquaintance. Do you play Exploding Snap?"
Severus smirked, "Who doesn't? I have to warn you, I'm pretty good."
Smiling cockily Sirius replied, "So am I." As the train sped onwards the two boys became good friends. And when Sirius was sorted into Slytherin he didn't mind as much as he thought he would.
It didn't.
Funny, you'd think the veil would look a little more sinister. It could at least have the decency to stop shimmering like that. Then he heard the voices.
What if?
Sirius growled. After all this time he had finally found him. Peter was as good as disemboweled. He slowly pulled the curtains back. There he was, the coward. His growled increased in volume.
The Weasley boy stirred. Sirius quieted himself, but the boy just turned, still fast asleep. And the movement gave him a better view of Peter. Carefully, Sirius lifted the sleeping rat in the air. He would have his revenge, but clearing his name was more important, and Peter needed to be … recognizable for that. At least he had come prepared. He had the knife, and a wand he had found downstairs.
Sirius never knew how he managed it, but somehow he reached the Great Hall undetected. Under his breath he muttered the spell that would change Peter into his human form.
The pain was what Peter registered first. It was almost as bad as Crucio in its own way. But who knew his secret? Was it his Master, demanding punishment for abandoning him? He saw who it was. His eyes widening he cowered and prepared to beg, hoping he would die quickly. "Sirius…"
Sirius stepped back and admired his handiwork. Noticing the light in the Great Hall for the first time he scampered off. Moments after Sirius was out of sight two sixth year Hufflepuffs entered, hoping to avoid the breakfast rush. Then they saw corpse. It was hard to tell that it had ever been alive, let alone a human being. The only clue to the identity of the person was the bloodied four fingered hand lying next to the body. Suddenly the two weren't so hungry.
It didn't.
He was almost through the veil now and time was becoming distorted. Shouldn't he be falling faster? And why couldn't he move? Then he hit the ground.
What if?
"James…" Sirius paused and struggled to voice something he didn't want to even think about. "I think Peter might be a spy."
It didn't.
*
A/N: This entire story came about when I wondered what would have happened if Harry had opened his Christmas present from Sirius. I quickly realized that no, I could never write a fully fledged AU, but I could write little tiny scenes from several. And thus this fic was born.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.