The other One

-By E.G.R. Woods

Disclaimer: Original storyline, characters, events and places belong to the wonderful J.K Rowling. I'm just borrowing them. New characters belong to yours truly.

Warning: Contains spoilers of 5th book. I recommend reading the Order of the Phoenix before continuing.

-Seal their fate II-

24 hours before…

A gust of wind blew one of the windows open. Madeleine Lovegood puffed in annoyance at the sound of the banging and rattling glass panes and the flapping curtains, then got up very slowly from her rocking chair, one hand protectively over her stomach. She reached the window and shut it close again, turning the little latch. She listened carefully now, hoping Janus was still sound asleep upstairs.

"Oh, dear God!" she exclaimed, nearly jumping out of her skin. Someone was banging on the front door, knuckles rapping at the wood furiously. She hoped it was Remus. With a nervous swallow, she approached the door. Whoever was outside was about to knock it down if she didn't open soon. She stood on tiptoe and peered through the peephole.

"Sirius, thank God!" she blew a sigh of relief at the sight of her good friend. She unbolted the door and opened it wide, allowing the light from inside the house to illuminate the distressed face of the young man. "What are you doing here? Is something wrong?" she asked, stepping aside for him to enter. But he just stood there, supporting himself against the frame of the door.

"Where's Remus?" Sirius asked breathlessly, his chest heaving with short gasps.

"What's wrong?"

"Where is Remus?"

"Sirius, please come in, you—"

"WHERE IS REMUS?"

Madeleine jumped back in fright, holding her chest and belly. Her heart started racing. She had never had Sirius shout at her that way. He seemed to be out of himself; he almost looked demoniac, his fierce stare glowing red with the light from the burning fireplace of the living room reflected in his eyes. He noticed her tense and stopped glowering in such a menacing way, and exhaled tiredly.

"Just tell me where he is," he pleaded, his voice and manner softer this time. Madeleine swallowed hard, ready to reach into her pocket for her wand if it was necessary. "Please," Sirius added, looking now as tense and frightened as her.

"What is your son's name going to be?" Madeleine asked, voice shaking.

Sirius did a double-take. Madeleine was asking him a security question, something only the real Sirius would know, to make sure this was not someone impersonating him. He realized he had frightened her enough with his behavior that she doubted who he was.

"Ryan, even if we still don't know for sure it will be a boy, but I've got a feeling. And your daughter's name is going to be Diana, even if you don't know it's really going to be a girl, but you've got a feeling, too," he replied after a moment. Madeleine blew a sigh of relief and stopped holding her belly so protectively.

"I'm sorry… I had to be certain."

"I know. I'm sorry too. I just need to know urgently."

"He is in the warehouse," she finally responded in a trembling whisper.

"Has he transformed?" Sirius asked worriedly, finally stepping inside. Madeleine closed the door and they both went to sit at the dining table.

"Yes. He's been in there for three days already. We had a miscalculation, we thought the full moon was two days ago. But we should've known. How much more appropriate could it be? Halloween night, full moon, and this dreadful windy weather for these dreadful times," she said with an ironic chuckle. "We ran out of wolf's bane. And he didn't dare get in touch with anyone to get some more, especially not risking transformation if he was out at night. And I can't go out either, I can't take Janus with me but I can't leave him either," Madeleine explained, gesturing to her large belly.

"And it's not safe for anyone."

"He had been so nervous about that, he couldn't even conjure his patronus, or else he would have contacted you or someone else from the Order," she added. "I have been, too."

"I understand. I have had the same problem. It's not strong enough. We have very little to be cheerful about. Especially tonight," Sirius said somberly.

"Sirius, are you alright? You look a fright," she asked, touching his arm. He was looking into empty space. "Where's Sam? What happened tonight?"

Sirius seemed to snap out of it as soon as she said that. He looked distressed all over again, something not seen often. Sirius was rarely the kind of person who ever had something to be stressed about. "Tonight… I don't know what happened tonight, if anything has happened. But I have a terrible feeling…" he mumbled, barely audible.

"Sirius?"

He looked at her when she said his name. "Maddy," he began, suddenly looking very agitated, "please don't tell Remus I came looking for him. I only thought, perhaps, and I was probably mistaken—"

"Thought what?"

Sirius looked embarrassed. "I thought he might have… betrayed Lily and James," he said in a very low voice.

"Betray them how?" Madeleine looked surprised.

"Revealing their whereabouts to someone— anyone! A Death Eater! Lord Voldemort! Heaven knows!" Sirius practically shouted. Madeleine instinctively recoiled slightly at the sound of that name. The baby in her womb gave a great wiggle.

"You really—you think that he would be capable of doing such a thing?" she asked, outraged. "Remus would never… He has never… He's not even their secret keeper!"

Sirius was thoughtful for a moment, before his expression turned pained. "He… isn't?" he whispered. "How do you know?"

"Because he has stayed with me for as long as I can remember, he has been with me even since before Lily and James and Frank and Alice went into hiding, and when they performed the Fidelius Charm. If Remus had been appointed as a secret keeper—"

"Oh, dear God!" Sirius exclaimed, much like Madeleine had done a while ago. He was frantic again, and he got up and paced a bit. Then he stopped in front of her, but did not look down at her. "I have to speak to Dumbledore. Maybe he can tell me… I need to know they are fine."

"Sirius, calm down. I'm sure everything is fine. You shouldn't got bother Dumbledore at a time like this," Madeleine said, taking Sirius's hand. She looked at the cuckoo clock on the wall and saw that it was midnight in half a minute. Sirius was trembling.

"He's coming for them…" he was muttering, eyes lost in space. "He's found them…"

Something about what Sirius was saying really made Madeleine uneasy. She wished so badly for Remus to be there, her voice of reason, to put her at ease, and Sirius, too. In an attempt to calm herself, or just cover her anxiety, she squeezed his hand reassuringly. "It's alright, Sirius," she said as firmly as she could.

"No, it's not. Can't you feel it? It's terrible," he replied. The cuckoo started to whirr and wail to announce the stroke of midnight. At that very instant, massive goose bumps sprouted all over her body, making every single hair stand on end. She let out a trembling sigh. The baby seemed to shiver in her womb, too. She didn't know what might have caused it, what could have passed through her mind so swiftly so as to give her that sensation, but she was suddenly filled with a deep sorrow, and her eyes filled with tears.

"Where are you going?" she asked as she came out of a sudden trance. Sirius had let go of her hand and was now standing before the fireplace. "You can't risk the Floo network!"

"It doesn't matter anymore. I have to speak with Dumbledore. I need him to tell me how to find James and Lily and Frank and Alice. I need to see them." He had already grabbed a pinch of Floo powder.

"Dumbledore won't be able to tell you. He's not a secret keeper either!" Madeleine argued. Sirius threw the powder into the hearth, and the flames instantly turned green.

"If the Fidelius Charm has just been broken, then it won't matter anymore," he said darkly.

Before Madeleine could stop him, Sirius had stepped into the roaring fireplace and stood firmly among the green flames. With a booming voice, he said clearly "The Hogwarts Headmaster Office!", and instantly he vanished behind a puff of smoke. The flames turned back to their normal color, and the fireplace was empty. Sirius was gone, leaving a heavy-hearted Madeleine all by herself with silent tears spilling and a great somber feeling at the very core of her womb, where her baby was going back to a restless sleep.

The great black dog was sprinting through the trees, going deeper into the forest, further away from the lights and sounds of the quiet village in the valley below. His keen ears could still perceive the faint roaring of an engine, flying away in the starless night sky. Sirius stopped to look around. Black and white through his colorblind dog eyes, he found he had arrived back at the place where he had apparated from Dumbledore's office. Now he needed to see the Headmaster again.

Just as he was changing back into his human form, the events of that night began to flood back into his mind. He had taken his motorbike, leaving Samantha alone, and rushed to the forest on the outskirts of the village of Godric's Hollow; he hid his bike among the bushes, and before he knew it, he had apparated to the doorstep of Remus's house. He just had to make sure that his suspicions were not true. As much as he hated not trusting his good friend, he realized these days, everything that had been happening, hardly gave any chance to trust and certainty. To his great relief, Madeleine Lovegood had proven him wrong. But that did not dissipate the darkness that had deliberately settled over that fateful day.

After leaving Remus's house by Floo network, he had arrived at the Headmaster's office at the Hogwarts castle. Formalities thrown aside, Sirius demanded in the most respectful tone he could manage to know how to get to Lily and James, and also to Frank and Alice. What he really wished, however, was for Dumbledore to be unable to do so, to tell him anything; that would mean that the secret keepers had not divulged the secret locations, the Fidelius Charm had not been broken, and that the Potters and the Longbottoms were safe.

Unfortunately, that had not been the case. Sirius had known it from the very moment his gaze met Dumbledore's saddened eyes. He told Sirius, in a drone-like voice, where to look. He didn't tell him what had happened, he just explained that arrangements had already been made, that Hagrid was on his way to do his part. Sirius could not understand what kind of arrangements were those, what was Hagrid's part in all this, or what was going to happen now. But he took his leave, and decided to find out on his own. Saying goodbye to Dumbledore, he had disapparated with a loud crack.

He had gone back to the forest, returning to the place he had hidden his motorbike. Hurriedly he brought it out of the bushes. He rode as fast as he could out of the forest and down the steep hill to the valley of Godric's Hollow. That is where they were hiding; he knew the cottages well, he had been there before, a long time ago. He wanted to see his friends, make sure they were alright in spite of the ill omen of Dumbledore's words. But half-way there, something in his conscience was telling him he had to see Frank and Alice first.

When he arrived at the very edge of the forest, he killed the engine, and pushed the bike along the rest of the way. Hagrid was already there when he arrived, digging through a pile of rubble. He didn't even hear or notice when Sirius approached. Staring at the remnants of what once had been a two-story cottage, Sirius had felt a dreary cold sweat creep up his spine. There was nothing left standing; wood and stone, piled in a hazardous heap, were charred here and there; the grass and plants surrounding the house were blackened; ash swirled in the breeze. He stared in complete awe, stunned, paralyzed, choked. Frank and Alice…

"Oi! Who's there?" Hagrid had called out, finally noting there was someone in the vicinity, and quickly drew out and brandished a pink umbrella. Sirius couldn't reply; he had been rendered speechless. The corpulent groundskeeper walked toward him with a threatening step, but stopped in his tracks when he realized the stranger was Sirius Black. Not knowing what else to say or do, Hagrid greeted him briefly before turning back to the rubble, picking through it again, throwing massive pieces of wood and stone aside as he went.

"Perhaps yeh can gimme a han'," he said over the noise of his digging. "I think I migh've found 'im already. Looks like I made it jus' in time."

Sirius still couldn't move. He wondered for a fleeting moment how Hagrid had turned up so quickly if he could not apparate, and how long had he been on his way if he had to use regular means of transportation. But it didn't matter. Sirius had no idea of what Hagrid was talking about. What could he possibly have found?

His question had been answered right away. Bending down in the middle of the wooden carcass, Hagrid had picked up something. A bundle of white fabric –sheets— with something wrapped inside. He made his way back erratically to firm ground and approached Sirius, who was still silently taking in the devastating scene.

"I wish yeh hadn' come, Sirius," Hagrid said, his voice lower. "I wish yeh hadn' seen this." And he had patted Sirius's shoulder consolingly with his large hand. Sirius was nearly knocked off his feet, but he managed to regain his voice.

"How- how-" he sputtered, his eyes wide in horror, his mouth wide open. "What happened here? Where are Frank and Alice?"

Hagrid hadn't said anything in response. He just held the bundle of sheets toward Sirius, and gently pushed some apart. There was a baby inside, with a wisp of mousy brown hair and a tiny round face. He started to cry upon exposure to the cold night air. On his forehead there was a clearly etched scar, still red and swollen, in the shape of a lightning bolt. Sirius did not know what to make of this.

"Neville? Frank and Alice's son? How… how come he was in there, under the rubble? What's this on his forehead? WHAT HAPPENED TO FRANK AND ALICE?"

Sirius had started shouting. The baby continued to cry. Hagrid held him close in his massive arms once again, covering him so that he wouldn't be cold. He hissed at Sirius to be quiet.

"Don't want the muggles ter come an' start snoopin' 'round, do yeh?" he scolded. The baby quieted down a bit. "I don' know what happened here. I jus' came here 'cos Dumbledore told me ter come. He told me ter find Neville an' get 'im outta here. That's all I know."

"Dumbledore knew this was happening?"

"I don't know. All I can guess is that sumthin' happened here that had sumthin' ter do with… You-Know-Who," Hagrid continued, and he shivered. "If yeh want answers, then I'd tell yeh ter go ter Dumbledore an' ask 'im the questions. For my part, my work here is done. I'm takin' Neville with me. This place isn' safe anymore. Yeh don' wanna be seen 'round here tonight. This whole place'll be swarming with muggles in no time."

Hagrid began to walk away quickly, in the direction of a patch of tall, lush trees. Sirius still could not think straight. He was trying to make sense out of all of this, but he couldn't. There were too many things he didn't know, couldn't understand. He needed to find out what happened. He needed to go back to Dumbledore.

"Wait. Hagrid," Sirius said, turning to follow, and Hagrid stopped. For a moment, Sirius didn't know what to say, what he could do to alleviate some of the ill foreboding in his heart. He was so puzzled at the events of this night. "Where are you taking him?" he asked, but not really caring for the answer; he was more curious as to know what had happened to him, and to Frank and Alice.

"Can't tell yeh, Sirius. Sorry," Hagrid replied, not unkindly. "I think it's best if we keep it as secret as we can, eh?"

"Well, how are you getting… wherever it is you're going? I think it would be best if you took my motorcycle. It's big enough, and it might get you there faster. It's a flying motorcycle. You can drive or you can fly, whatever suits you."

Hagrid thought for a moment, and then agreed to it. Sirius fetched his motorcycle and Hagrid clambered onto it, still holding the baby safely in the crook of his arm.

"Thanks, Sirius. This is a great help," Hagrid said. Sirius thought he heard his friend's voice crack slightly. "I should go now. They might be expectin' I get back soon."

"Sirius, yeh need ter go home. I know yeh wanna understand what's goin' on, and I'm sure Dumbledore will be able ter explain. But yeh should go home. Yeh should be with Sam an' yer daughter. They shouldn' be alone tonight. And neither should yeh."

Sirius could only nod in understanding. There was a lump in his throat all of a sudden. He watched Hagrid start the motorbike, the engine sputtering loudly as it roared to life. A moment later, the motorbike was rising off the ground, higher and higher, until it was barely visible against the inky black sky. When he couldn't see it any longer, he exhaled, only realizing he had been holding his breath. Another sound assaulted him. Faint voices, steps, and even a few dog barks. There was a group of people, probably all muggles, approaching, just on the other side of a hill, carrying flashlights and lanterns. They had seen or heard something odd in the middle of the night, half of them most likely startled out of their sleeps, and they were coming to investigate. Suddenly afraid, Sirius broke into a sprint, his boots scuffing the grass, toward the patch of trees Hagrid had intended to go to a moment ago. Before anyone could see him, he slipped into the shadows of the forest.

It was better to change into his dog shape, because he could run faster and be more aware of his surroundings. He was frightened; he almost sensed things lurking all around him among the shadows, as he ran and ran. It all just looked the same to him; black shadows, blackness all around. He needed to get out of there as soon as possible.

Standing once again in his human form, near the bushes where his motorbike had been, he tried to get his breath back, wincing at a stitch on his side. He was terrified, he realized. This whole night was terrifying. His thoughts wandered to Sam, alone in the house, probably worried sick. He wanted to go home, go back to her, to comfort her, but he knew he couldn't. Not right away. He needed answers. He needed Dumbledore. He had to know what had gone wrong, and whether Neville would be alright.

He will be alright, he told himself, getting ready to apparate again. Everything is going to be alright.

But deep down, he knew he didn't really know that. Despair washed over him, making him wince painfully as if he had just been injured. Dropping to the ground, he sat still for a moment, feeling a sense of defeat overcome him; then he buried his face in his hands and wept silently.

Meanwhile, on the very edge of Godric's Hollow, inside a small cottage surrounded by trees and bushes, oblivious to what had taken place only a few acres away, Lily and James Potter sat together in front of the burning fireplace, ready to call it a night after finally managing to put their son, Harry, to sleep.

There. That should set the tone for the rest of the fic. I'm a bit dark and romantic. But I can also be funny (or at least I think so. I hope so). Hopefully I can brew a good combination to entice and satisfy the lot of you. Or rather more simply put, hopefully you'll like it enough not to feel like throwing something at me. I bruise like a peach.