He was a fighter, that one. Maybe I hadn't been in the business long, but hell, I'd been Mad Eye's apprentice long enough to pick out the fighters from those who came quietly.
Maybe that was what scared me so much. I saw him. My arm was thrust out, Auror stick-up style. It was trembling. I couldn't hide that. My facial muscles twitched when I saw the bodies. Mad Eye saw me and I knew he'd have words with me about that later. For the moment, though, he couldn't do anything about it.
Sirius Black. His head turned slowly in our direction, as we edged carefully up the street, stepping over lolling, lifeless bodies. A woman was sobbing over a motionless child, barely looking up as we passed her. Her agonised screams followed us up the street, where he stood alone. His eyes were blank, scheming, murderous pits. My arm shook even more, but I kept it trained directly at his heart.
His wand was clenched in his fist, and he stood facing the enormous crater that had split the entire street in two. Hair rose, lifted by the strong, enraged wind, and his face seemed frozen, pulled, putty like, in a grimace of shock. He would run. I could see it in his muscles, tensed, alert, waiting for the right moment. Mad Eye had described people like this to me – the runners. The guys who wouldn't quit. He would run.
Sirius Black. Friend to the Potter's, I'd heard. Questions, thousands of them, were running through my head. I took several deep, gulping breaths, trying hard to ignore the stench of death. My first Away Call. I needed to remain calm.
"Sirius Black." Mad Eye, stepping forward, the first to speak. His face, I saw, was twisted in his effort to conceal any emotion. He had always spoken highly of Black. "Drop your wand and raise your hands to shoulder height."
I was still convinced he would run when he started laughing.
Just like that. He started laughing.
The wand dropped to the floor with an audible clatter, and a harsh, bark of a laugh racked its way from his mouth, and he stood there, surrounded by chaos, surrounded by death, despair, laughing. Mad Eye stepped back, momentarily surprised. Then his face snarled in disgust.
"Accio wand." Black's wand sailed into his outstretched hand. Loud, undignified laughter roared from Black's mouth. Other, younger members of the Away Team were shaking their heads, disgust almost tangible emanating from them. Sykes and McGanin, at a nod from Mad Eye, walked slowly and deliberately forward, keeping their wands outstretched at all times. Then, with two quick flicks, ropes bound Black's wrists together.
Laughter was now echoing around us all as they arrested him, callous, loud, grating laughter. He was hysterical, tears were literally running down his face. My stomach heaved, and I inwardly begged with them to remove him as soon as possible. My wand arm trembled violently, and I didn't know how much longer I could stand there without being sick.
Sirius Black, a murderer, and a traitor. I never knew the guy. But from that second, I knew he would become one of the most hated men in the whole of the Magical World. And I knew, as they took him past me, that his laughter in the face of death would haunt me for the rest of my life.
0o0
Hey, I don't know why, but I thought this would make a good sequel to the previous chapter. Please let me know what you think!