Chapter 3: Betrayal

The wind whipped through Sirius' dark hair as he rode to Lily and James' house. The dark feeling inside him was continuing to grow, and a light sweat glistened on his forehead. Millions of thoughts bounced around inside his head and before he knew it, he was landing in front of Lily and James' two story house. He walked up the pathway and knocked on the front door.

He was immediately answered by a pretty, red-haired woman holding a baby. "Sirius!" she exclaimed, letting him in. "Thank goodness you're here, we were getting worried."

"Sorry if I'm a little late," he apologized as he entered the house. "I had to drop Arie off at Remus and Vicky's."

"Oh, it's alright," Lily said, leading Sirius into the living room. "We were just about to start the spell." Sirius walked in to see James and Peter both sitting on the couch. James jumped up when he saw Sirius and rushed over to him.

"Padfoot!" he shouted, pulling Sirius into a one-armed hug. "Thank God you're finally here, I couldn't do this without you, mate." Sirius nodded, a grim look on his face. James noticed Sirius' odd behavior and gave him a questioning look. "Are you alright, buddy?" he asked. "You're not upset that Peter's going to be the secret keeper, are you? Because I told him to explain it to you-"

"I'm not upset, James," Sirius cut in. "I just…I don't know, I'm just nervous, I guess."

James nodded understandingly. "Don't worry, mate," he said, placing a hand on Sirius' shoulder and leading him to the couch where Peter sat. "We have everything under control. Nothing's going to happen, you'll see."

Sirius nodded and sat down, looking over at Peter. For a split second, Sirius would have swore Peter was glaring at him, hate glinting in his beady eyes, but a second later he thought he must have imagined it. Peter was back to normal now, looking nervous and slightly bewildered as he sat there.

Sirius took in a deep breath as Lily took out her wand and began casting the spell, the spell that would put hers, James', and Harry's lives into Peter's hands.

After the spell had been cast, Peter and Sirius had both left. Peter had went to his mother's house and Sirius had decided to just fly around for a while, to take his mind off things. Hours passed and it was soon midnight. Sirius was just about to start heading home when a huge explosion met his ears. It had come from behind him and he immediately turned his bike around to see what had caused the noise.

An enormous cloud of smoke was billowing in the air above a cluster of houses. Sirius stepped on the gas as soon as he realized that the smoke was coming from the neighborhood that Lily and James' house was in. Horrible thoughts raced through his mind as he sped through the sky to James and Lily's.

As he got closer to the smoke, mush to his horror, he saw that it was indeed coming from James and Lily's house, or what remained of their house. He landed his motorcycle and jumped off it, sprinting to the wreckage of the house. Tears burned in his eyes as he looked around; everything was totally destroyed. When he came across a body lying in the midst of all the destruction, he froze.

Sirius stared at the lifeless face of his best friend for a few moments, then fell to his knees. He couldn't move, he couldn't cry, he couldn't do anything but sit there, his brain trying to take in everything. James, his best friend in the entire world, was dead. How did this happen? He was supposed to be alright, hours earlier he had told Sirius not to worry about anything. No one was supposed to ever suspect stupid, clumsy Peter….Peter.

Anger began to boil within Sirius, he could actually feel his body temperature rising. Peter had done this, James was dead because of him. Sirius was finally able to stand up and he walked a few steps until he spotted another body. He didn't have to look twice to see that it was Lily, and another jolt of pain swept through his body. He kept control of himself this time, and his rage became so intense that his arms began to shake with fury. He would find Peter, he would find him and make him pay for what he had done.

Sirius wasted no time and ran back to his motorcycle. He was just about to take off when a movement caught his eye. He stopped and saw that a huge figure was walking through the remains of the smoldering house. Enraged that someone was trespassing so soon after such a tragedy, Sirius got off his bike and ran after the person. As he got closer, however, he began to make out who it was.

"Hagrid!" Sirius exclaimed in surprise. Hagrid, hearing his name, turned around in shock. Sirius immediately saw what had brought Hagrid to the horrible scene: in his arms, wrapped in a bundle of blankets, was none other than baby Harry, alive and well.

Sirius stared, bewildered for a moment. His first instinct was to take Harry and get him away from there. "Hagrid," Sirius said, taking a step toward the half giant. "Give Harry to me, I'll take care of him; I'm his godfather."

Hagrid wrapped his arm around Harry defensively. "Sorry, Sirius," Hagrid replied gruffly. "I can' do that. I've got strict orders from Dumbledore ter take Harry straight ter him."

"Alright," Sirius said, deciding it was better Hagrid take Harry for now anyway. "But take my bike. I won't be needing it…" Hagrid looked confused but didn't argue. He climbed on Sirius' beloved motorcycle and thundered away into the night sky.

Sirius watched him go. As soon as Hagrid was out of sight, Sirius transformed into his Animagus form; a big black dog. With his heightened sense of smell, he instantly picked up Peter's scent. A low growl filled his throat and he took off, following Peter's trail into the night.

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