The Messenger

by Seleighe-Sidhe

The Potters are murdered and Sirius, suspected of the crime, must race against time, trading his freedom to make sure that his sole remaining friend is ensured justice. Blatant Sirius worship. Warning – AU. PG-13 for language and dark themes. This is not

"The Messenger"

By: SeleigheSidhe

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize isn't mine. Giving credit where it's due – the Marauders are J.K.Rowling's. I'm not getting paid for the work I did or didn't do - such is the way of things.

Summary: The Potters are murdered and Sirius, suspected of the crime, must race against time, trading all that he has to make sure that his sole remaining friend is ensured justice. Blatant Sirius worship. Warning – AU. PG-13 for language and dark themes. This is not meant to be slash, but if you'd like to employ extreme doses of imagination you may take the story however you wish.

Characters: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, others

A/N: I generally don't like songfics, but when I listened to "The Messenger" by The Tea Party, I had to make an exception. Read as though the song lyrics are Sirius' voice. Also realize the justice system is developed on a view I gained from how Rowling represents the Ministry and has little to do with the English or American justice systems.

Got a letter from a messenger
I read it when it came
It said that you were wounded
You were bound and chained.

Halloween. Night of a full moon.

Sirius had managed to return to his flat. He had even managed to unlock the door and get inside. Though he was not aware of these facts. There, in a state of shock, he collapsed onto his couch and stared blankly in the space before him.

James and Lily Potter were dead.

He might have killed them himself since he had insisted that the Rat be Secret Keeper. That Rat Secret Keeper while his suspicions were targeted on Remus.

He hadn't even arrived in time to fight by his best friend's side. No, he'd arrived to see their loving home smoldering and baby Harry being lifted from the ashes. He had known then who the traitor was, he had been on his way to tell James, but now Hagrid was, despite Sirius' protests, taking Harry to be with his aunt and uncle.

Then, he decided he'd commit murder. It was the least that that Rat deserved. He'd found him in an alley and there that filth had had the temerity to accuse him of betraying the Potters.

Thirteen Muggles dead. Peter Pettigrew gone.

It really was only a matter of time until witnesses came forward and let the Ministry of Magic know what brave Peter Pettigrew had accused Sirius Black of. Or for the explosion and resulting deaths to be blamed on him.

The rays of early morning light spilled across the floor and over Sirius' face, but he did not wake. A large bird resting on the sill comically lent an owl shaped shadow on the same face, but he did not wake. Frustrated, the raptor hit the glass with its beak, and finally he awoke.

Rolling off the couch into a heap, Sirius fought for motor skills enough to reach the messenger. Tied to a leg, a parchment waited for his perusal. It read:

Mr Sirius Black,

Normally you would not be informed of these circumstances, but as Mr Lupin's lawyer, I need any information that you can spare to prove his innocence.

Mr Lupin is now being held at the Ministry of Magic awaiting trial for the death of Mr and Mrs James Potter. As their death came as a shock, even under veritarserum, I would argue his innocence, but of course as the events took place under a full moon . . .

Also counted against him is the fact that he was found among Death Eaters. Though seriously wounded, his chosen company casts doubts on his innocence.

The Ministry of Magic is keeping him under lock and key, but anything you can tell me will be of help in finding justice for your friend.

Nancy Whitman,

Nancy Whitman

W.S.S. (Werewolf Support Services)

This was all he needed. Forced into the lion's den to prove the innocence of his last living friend?

You had love and you were handled
You were poisoned you were pained
Oh no, oh no,

You were naked
You were shamed.

Twelve-year-old Remus Lupin sat at the kitchen table his right foot nervously thumping the ground before him as he wrung his hands. He was waiting for James, Sirius, and Peter – the first friends to come to his house since . . . since he was six and his life had changed forever.

There was a knock on the door and Remus jumped up and rushed to it. Mrs Lupin, who was baking in the kitchen looked up from her work, swiped a lock of her hair impatiently to one side and smiled at her son's antics. She dearly hoped that his claims of acceptence from the others were true.

In the doorway stood a tall, dark boy with a silly grin taking prominence on his face. He had apparently flown on broomstick to get here (the Lupins' home was not connected to the Floo Network in accordance with Werewolf Registry Law, a branch of the Ministry of Magic) and as a result he was flushed and his hair was in the mild chaos suited to his personality. The boy was Sirius Black.

"Miss me? Oh, you should have seen Regulus! I put a time releasing charm on the Dungbombs I bought and . . .wow! I think it was a good time to leave," Sirius announced.

"No, I didn't miss you, I invited you because I couldn't stand the thought of seeing you this summer," Remus replied sarcastically and with a grin of his own.

Mrs Lupin abandoned her baking moved behind her son and dropped a kiss to the crown of his head. "You must be Sirius Black. I'm Anne Lupin and I'm off to work. If you need me, I'll be in the study. And please, you two, leave our home in one piece!" Chuckling and shaking her head, she left the room.

The home was small, but tidy and comfortable place for two people but nothing like the ancestral house of the Blacks or the fancy Potter home, but Remus' comparative lack of wealth didn't really occcur to him, or at least, not for long. He was worried that they'd catch a glimpse of his cage the damage and bloodstains done to it and the surrounding, basement walls which might result in his friends thinking of him as less than human. Though by law he had lost his humanity, he'd spent considerable energy keeping his friends away from the Shrieking Shack in order to keep his transformations as an abstract idea as possible.

"James should be coming soon. He said he'd fly to. I wanted to race, but I guess he was afraid he'd lose," Sirius was saying, though it was ridiculous as James was something of a prodigy when it came to flying. He was being overly cheerful, which meant that he was walking eggshells about whatever he'd bring up next.

Sure enough.

"Um, Peter isn't coming. He owled me saying he couldn't make it and asked me to tell everyone to have a good time. Why he didn't tell you, as host, or James, as his hero, I don't know, but that's Peter – strange."

Remus had a fairly good idea why Peter hadn't owled him – the boy didn't seem comfortable with the idea that his friend transformed into a monster one night out of the month.

Clapping his hands together, "So, Moony, where's your room? Gonna give me a tour?"

Remus smirked. "Right this way," he said with humour in his voice. Up the stairs they went. His room was small, but looked more cramped because of the furniture – a bed, a desk, and a wardrobe – were vying for space with the crowded book shelves.

"Gee, I knew you were a nerd, Moony, but this . . . ? That's it, I'm going to have to invite you over sometime. Show you how a room's supposed to look," though his words were possibly a bit harsh, he said them with an accepting, jesting air.

That's Sirius, as judgmental as a puppy dog.

There was a knock on the window. The two boys moved closer to see what had caused the noise. A waving, bespectacled boy with consistently messy hair sat comfortably on a broomstick on the other side of the pane.

The sun rose and time passed and finally Sirius drifted from sleep and extracated himself from the nest of blankets on the living room floor. Reaching over, he shook James awake and then gave a sort of half-hearted attempt at waking Remus. Predictably, James, bleary eyed, joined Sirius in the land of the waking. Remus, however, did not. Sirius rolled his eyes at his best friend over the sleeping form of their host. Remus, a bit of a night owl, was known for being nearly impossible to wake up.

"Let's explore, we've got a few hours," James suggested, and Sirius eagerly nodded. They didn't bother going upstairs as they knew that all that was there was Remus' and his mother's bedrooms and a bathroom. Together, they located the the study which was the only room they hadn't seen during their night's stay. That room and 'the door'. 'The door', had been avoided during the tour as had the study, so naturally Sirius wanted to know everything about 'the door'.

Dramatically, Sirius looked about and swung 'the door' open. But nothing interesting showed itself. Inside was a staircase and it was dark.

"Lumos," James muttered, the wand lighted, and down they went. The gleaming metal of bars greeted them and Sirius fumbled around with a lamp. They were greeted then by a disconcerting sight. The walls were torn by large claw marks, as was the ceiling and the floor. The stone floor was stained a rusty brown.

"Shit," Sirius muttered, his eyes wide with wonder, fear, and sympathy for his friend.

"You said it. No wonder Remus didn't want us to go into the Shrieking Shack," James agreed.

"Hey, what's that?" Sirius said, thinking aloud as he nodded to the bowl shaped, stone basin, the sole occupant of the shelf, that rested near to the cage. Sirius lifted it from the shelf and brought it down to the floor. There both he and James looked into it.

Inside, the bowl seemed to contain only a cloud of white, silvery light. Looking up, the two regarded each other a questioning look in their eyes. "Touch it with your wand," Sirius suggested to James. James did and the two found themselves being transported.

It was very dark and bracingly chilly. They were in the woods. Each tree loomed above them like a dark monster. When they could see the sky through the branches they saw that the sky was cloudy. A pale, full moon gleamed down lighting all that they could see. Where were they?

Suddenly, they could here frightened whimpers of a small child. They moved closer to the sound warily. There stood a little boy with light brown hair looking around fearfully, apparently lost. "Remus?" James and Sirius asked in unison. But the child didn't acknowledge them. James touched the boy's shoulders, but his hands went through as though he were a ghost.

"I don't think we're here, James. Not really."

An unearthly howl split the air nearby.

"Oh no, I think I know what this is," Sirius groaned. "This must be his memories."

A blur of fury, horror, claws, fur, and teeth. Most of all teeth – and no escape. Then the beast moved on. The child lay there crumpled and bleeding.

Time passed. Sirius and James looked on helplessly. Then, Mrs Lupin and a man who must have been Remus' father could be seen through the trees with a wand raised and deep fear in their voices they called for their son. Then they came to the body. Mr Lupin muttered, "Oh, G-d, no . . ."

A shift of scene. The family is at home, a different home than they lived in now, Remus shaking from illness on the couch. He looked as though he might die on the spot.

"The werewolf's bite – it's poison," Anne Lupin muttered, holding desparately to her husband for support. Not caring to look upon her son's pain. He wrapped his arms around her.

Angry shouts and the sound of many people approaching. Muggle farmers, perhaps, for they carried tools as weapons which they could see when the crowd passed by a window. Three in the lead broke from the group and entered the house.

"Michael, we've come for the boy," the leader said, striding past Mr Lupin to the couch, he grabbed ahold of a skinny arm. Mr Lupin moved to stand in front of his son.

"You can't have him," Mr Lupin stated angrily, crossing his arms. The other two, grabbed Mr Lupin and thrust him hard against the wall, holding him there as the third started dragging Remus across the floor.

"Unhand my husband and my son!" shouted Anne Lupin. She yanked her wand from her robe's pocket and pointed it threateningly at the men.

"A stick? Lady . . ."

"Petrificus Totalus!" One man fell to the floor paralyzed.

"A witch! We've got a witch in here! Help!" Another of the men yelled.

Surprisingly, some of the mob did come, having more guts than expected.

The scene shifted again. There were two pyres and Mrs Lupin was tied to one. The other was currently empty.

Two villagers struggled a fearful, but barely conscious Remus out of his clothes. Then, 'dressed like the animal he is' tied him to the other heaped pile of wood. The crowd sneered down upon the young Remus, too distracted to notice Mr Lupin sneaking behind to his wife . . .

Then, Sirius and James were back in the basement, an irate Remus glaring at them with hands on his hips. "Next time you feel like invading my privacy, I'd suggest not taking so long," he muttered angrily through gritted teeth.

"No! It wasn't like that!" Sirius retorted. "We didn't know what that thing was."

"It's a pensieve," Remus explained, as calmly as he could while ripping it from his friend's grasp and replacing it on the shelf. "It stores memories. Mum looked long and hard to find one so I could sleep at night."

"We're sorry-" Sirius started, his puppy eyes begging for forgiveness.

"What happened," James said softly, "to your da?"

Remus turned to face the shelf again as if to adjust the pensieve. "He didn't make it through that night."

You could almost touch heaven
Right there in front of you
Liberty just slipped away on us
Now there's so much work to do
Oh the door that closes tightly
Is the door that can swing wide
Oh no, not expecting to collide.

They'll kill him.

Sirius groaned. He believed last night that it was only a matter of time before the witnesses in the ally came forth naming him the killer of the Potters, Pettigrew, and those muggles. He hadn't even considered that Remus would get dragged into this – death on his door, waiting, right in front of him.

They had done nothing wrong. But the betrayal of one of their supposed best friends would mean death or . . . loss of liberty.

It occurred then to Sirius. Should Remus sit in court as accused the only thing awaiting him at the end of trial, after his short imprisonment, if proven guilty was to be "put down". However, he as a normal, human wizard would face prison. At the worst, and he would see the worst for this crime, Azkaban.

The name that struck terror into sane individuals and also Sirius. The only glimmer of hope shining through such a bleak realization was that someone on the outside could one day prove his innocence. Then, he could rejoin the land of the living.

Sirius' chief attribute was loyalty.

Actually, Sirius' chief attribute was a desire for fun, but loyalty wasn't that far behind on the scale of things. One event waved heavily on his conscience and it seemed like the time to repay the debt to Remus, to set things right, but he brave Griffindor Sirius was terribly afraid.

Sirius whipped the dicarded cloak from the huddled mass on the floor. He wrapped it around himself and hurried from his flat the door slamming shut in his haste.

For a minute I let my guard down
Not afraid to be found out
I completely forgot dear
What our fears were all about
Oh no, oh no

There's no need to be without.

Damn.

Remus always chided him for using words he claimed should be reserved for desparate circumstances as he insisted they lost meaning when used so frequently. However, this instance, Sirius was sure, was more than appropriate.

He paced the waiting room sure that his gait was leaving permanent damage to the floor. Inside, a member of the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures and a member of the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures argued with Proffesor Dumbledore about the wisdom of not 'putting down' his good friend.

The Ministry of Magic had even refused to hold the hearing in the normal, level ten courtrooms. It was farce.

Damn.

Remus was shaking and rocking back and forth, terrified. Around his neck hung a silver dog tag that identified him with a number. Whenever Sirius' eyes met James' or Peter's, they looked angrily away from him. He had given his accounting of the events as did the others. He stressed that it had not been Remus' fault. That both Snape and Remus had been victims of his idiotic prank. That it been his fault.

Shit, Piss, and Corruption.

His fault. In a single moment he had let down his friends. Betrayed their secrets. In one moment of anger towards Snape he had let Remus' secret out and he hadn't been afraid, hadn't even thought of the consequences until James had reacted to his victorious gloating. He hadn't considered Remus' fears of hurting someone, cursing them, or even his fears of crossing the line with the Ministry.

He left the waiting room turning corners and walking until he was sure that no one would hear. And then he collapsed. The confident, suave Sirius wept.

A hand on his shoulder made Sirius leap into the air with a startled yelp. He looked up as he picked himself off the floor. It was Professor Dumbledore. Sirius was shocked to find that the Headmaster was looking at him kindly. He didn't deserve this.

"How's Remus? What's going on?"

"He's as well as can be expected-" Dumbledore began.

"They didn't! They can't say he's guilty! I'll take his sentence before I let-" Sirius desperately began.

"Now, now, everyone has given their account. All in aggreement. There's no need to be without hope, even prejudices can be overcome in the wake of overwhelming evidence."

I'm frightened but I'm coming
Please, baby, please lay still
Oh, no, I'm not coming for the kill
Oh, no, I'm not coming for the kill
Oh, no, I'm not coming for the kill.

Remus looked awful – more so than usual. He was huddled on the floor of his cell curled in on himself and shaking.

The Great Talented Marauders. Look at us now. Sirius thought grimly as he tried to get Remus' attention. "You look how I feel," Sirius remarked upon seeing Remus' grief-stricken face.

"It's true then? They weren't just saying that?" Remus asked, his voice struggling to remain expressionless.

"It was Peter, he was spying on us. I wonder how long the Rat was working with the Death Eaters," Sirius explained grimly. Then, he didn't care about saving Remus' feelings, he had to know the truth. "They said you were found among Death Eaters."

Remus cringed, "I was."

"I've got to go," Sirius said, his voice catching. Everyone he loved.

"No! Wait! I was working undercover for Dumbledore. I couldn't be a Auror, but my lycanthropy was good for something. The Death Eaters were recruiting werewolves. Ask him. I'd rather die than betray you and James. That's what they found out last night. They tested my loyalty but they already had the information. They knew I was lying. They told me – they told me that they were going after James and Lily and Harry. Then – it was worse than transformation, but there was that too. When I woke, the Ministry questioned me about . . . James' death."

Sirius sunk to the floor and leaned on the bars. Behind him the woman who had introduced herself as Nancy Whitman spoke, "At least we know now that even transformed he didn't leave the clearing. That is, as long as they find the actual murderer he'll be off the hook. However, they've still got him on charges of involvement with Death Eaters, the penalty for such a crime according to the Beast Division is death." She rubbed the bridge of her nose. She hated her job. She had been one of the top most talented lawyers until she had been transferred to the Werewolf Support Services, since then she had never won a case.

They heard heavy footfalls coming and Sirius supposed that his alloted time was almost up when several Aurors burst through the door and seized him. A gruff man with salt and pepper hair stood before him. "Sirius Black, you are under arrest for the murder of sixteen people come with us now."

Something snapped in the brain of Sirius Black. He didn't struggle to escape but began to laugh maniacally in an unhinged sort of way. Our Justice System – a revolving door of unjust accusations.

Sirius had to wonder if he'd ever feel brave again. His trial was about to begin. They didn't waste time gathering evidence and as he looked around the room his heart sank. There was a bench with the witnesses to be brought up and questioned. Sirius recognized one or two from the ally and beyond that he knew no one.

The judge already seemed sure of his guilt. What bothered him the most was the absence of his last living friend. Sirius knew that Remus had gotten off by Dumbledore's accounting of his abissmal failure as a spy. The courts had unofficially cleared him of the murders because they were sure that the true murderer was safely stowed in their jail.

As if summoned, Sirius could hear a familiar voice near the doorway.

"I insist that you let me into this farce of a trial!"

Something was said that Sirius could not hear.

"This isn't justice if you don't allow anyone to speak for him!"

Again a murmur of a response.

Remus then lowered his voice and there was a quiet discussion. Sirius could have laughed at the absurdity of the situation.

It seemed as though Remus was winning.

"Good," Sirius could hear Remus say now that the room had hushed to listen to this unexpected distraction. "Uh, you'll have to remove some of these wards and that." He gestured toward the bundle of garlic and, more pointedly, wolfsbane.

Now the beleaguerd guard looked more confident in his position, "I can't do that, sir. The wards are to protect trial proceedings from dark magic."

"Fine," Remus pulled the front of his shirt up over his noise and prepared to walk through. Suddenly he stopped and asked for some parchment and a quill. He hastily wrote something and asked the guard to deliver it. The guard brought it to Sirius.

Padfoot,

I'm here for you. I can try to entre despite the wolfsbane, but I'm not sure that that won't cast doubts on your innocence. Should I try to speak for you? Even Dumbledore isn't sure that your not guilty. He won't be coming. I don't know what to do. Tell me what you want me to do. I knowyou're innocent.

Your friend always,

Remus

Sirius groaned and scribbled a response and sent it back with the guard.

Moony,

Don't Come. Stay where I can see you. If Dumbledore thinks I'm guilty than I'm going to Azkaban. No one else will speak for me. If you can, look after Harry. Try to find a way to get me out of there. You know how I feel about Dementors. Worse than snape.

Padfoot

In later years, Sirius was said to have been sent to Azkaban without a trial. This was true enough when one takes in consideration the trial that followed.

Epilogue

Remus was never convinced that Sirius was guilty of the Potters' deaths. He continued searching for Peter, for evidence, for anything to break Sirius out of his terrifying fate. He was very rarely listened to. When the news began reporting the escape of Sirius Black he hoped that his irrepressible and rash friend would just lie low. When he was appointed the post as professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts he never revealed Sirius' secret knowledge of Hogwarts. That Sirius would harm Harry was absurd. That night in the Shrieking Shack, Remus embraced Sirius in a way that went beyond family ties. Sirius was more than a friend or even a brother more than his saviour, but the representation of the goodness in the life of Remus Lupin.