Musical Inspiration: Akon-Lonely

Chapter Dedication: Mal!

Lily had still been gazing blankly into the mirror as she heard a voice cry out downstairs, an all too familiar voice.

"James!" she heard Sirius calling out, and she wondered wildly why she hadn't heard his motorbike. "James, come on…no, you can't be dead," she heard him declare, but she knew by the sobs Sirius had conjured that there was truly no hope. James was gone.

"God, James, what did he do to you?" the words echoed through the house, and she felt her eyes widened as the man mentioned her and Harry. "He didn't get them, did he? He couldn't have gotten your family," he whispered before she heard footsteps. Sirius was coming up the stairs.

Pulling Harry away from the door, she didn't know what to do. Hide? How could she hide from him? He wasn't the enemy; he wasn't going to hurt them. But she had never felt so much fear before of anything. After all, how could he possibly react to her current condition? It was definitely not normal, even for the wizarding world.

As Sirius walked through the door, however, she knew there was no way to avoid the contact. She just had to run the pain of discover run it's course.

"Lily? Oh my God, Lily, you're alive? And Harry!" she heard his voice cry out, disbelief in his voice. "I didn't think, after…" he trailed off, both silent as they were left to reminisce all thoughts on James.

After a lengthy, uncomfortable silence, however, Sirius managed to croak out a few words as he looked at her in worry. "What happened? I mean, you…your face. And Harry's forehead. What did that man do to you?" he murmured uneasily, hissing on his last words referring to Voldemort.

Lily merely shook her head, looking away in agony of the memory as a shattering sigh erupted through her lips. "I don't know. He's…he's gone, though. He tried to kill both Harry and me and he…he just disappeared," she whispered in a still deep amount of disbelief. "Why didn't he do it…why couldn't he kill us?"

Frowning, Sirius shook his head as he felt a familiar shudder shoot from him. "I don't know. Maybe Dumbledore himself will know," he whispered in thought before looking over his shoulder and sighing. "I think I should get you out of this house, however, before it falls," he commented in concern, looking back towards her and meeting her eyes.

Nodding, Lily stood up slowly before she froze in midair, looking at Sirius in panic. "Sirius, it's Peter. Peter had to have told…you of all people know we made him secret keeper," she whispered, her green eyes wide. How could someone they had trusted so much told?

She could tell by the look in his eyes that the thought had never cross his mind until she brought it up. But when she did, she couldn't believe the spout of anger that seemed to come from him. "That rat!" he declared in a deranged way before looking towards his best friend's wife in submission. He couldn't do anything about it, especially now that he had to keep the two out of harms way. "Come on, we must go. Quickly, now!"

Sensing Sirius' thoughts, Lily grabbed his arm with her free hand before staring into his eyes fearfully. "No, Sirius. You can't go after Peter. They'll get you for it…even if they know it was him, you still murdered him then Sirius. Don't do anything stupid. Harry needs his godfather now more than ever."

Merely nodding, Sirius protectively went to her other side to make sure nothing would happen to Harry. There were many weak beams, now, and he didn't want anything to hurt the boy. The spirit of James would surely kill him.

As they slowly arrived outside the house, Sirius having had to support most of Lily's weight as she spotted James, the two were shocked to see the burly figure before them, looking curiously between them. Lily's gasp, however, brought Sirius out of his shocked daze as he cleared his throat.

"Hagrid! What are you doing here?" he questioned, shocks running through him. He hadn't seen the giant-like man when he had arrived. How had he come so fast? But spotting the paperweight clutched in his hand, he knew it had to have been by portkey.

"Professor Dumbledore had sent word that something had happened in the house and wanted me to check it out, but I had no idea that you lot would be alright. Apparently he has miscalculated…something," Hagrid trailed off, looking around them. "But the house is in ruins. Where's James?"

But as he heard Lily's strangled cry, he feared the worst. "No, not James. How did the blimey git get into the house? Who was your secret keeper?" he demanded, looking between them in disbelief.

"It was Peter, Hagrid. I can't believe it…Peter! If only we had stayed with Sirius as we originally planned. But no, we switched…" Lily wept, the tears rolling dangerously down her cheeks.

Sirius suddenly growled, landing on his knees as he punched the soil beneath him. "It's because of me!" he declared, shoulders heaving as he shook. "I told them…I told them to change me. They would never suspect them to choose Peter!" he shouted, for all of Godric's Hollow to hear. "I might as well have killed him myself!"

Hagrid's brown eyes widened as he shook his head, looking upon the grieving forms of James' wife and best friend. Amazing, he couldn't help but think, that Harry hadn't let out a fit of shrieks himself. "Don't say that, Sirius. You couldn't have known."

"He's right, Sirius," Lily wiped away a stream of tears. "You couldn't have known. None of us knew. We were all tricked by him."

As Sirius' eyes widened, he shook his head. "And that is a mistake I won't make again," he whispered as he looked around them. "How are we going to keep you two safe now? Now that we can't trust anyone? And we don't even know where Voldemort has gone!"

A sudden voice, one that neither of them could ever imagine arriving, came through the darkness and caused them all to jump. "He is gone, for now. And I can assure you, he will be back. But something has happened and I doubt he will be returning soon," Dumbledore stated, walking over towards then.

"Sirius, I'm so glad it was not you that was indeed the Secret Keeper after all. I had feared the worse in the situation when I thought it may have been you. It grieves me to know, however, that it is indeed Peter. Please, I ask you to stay calm Sirius. The Ministry has already dispatched several men after him."

Noticing the looks of mixed disbelief and adoration for the man had him chuckle dryly, the situation still dark. "I have my connections, my friends. But for now, we must find a place for you all to stay safe."

Nodding in submission, Lily looked longingly back at the house. What were they going to do with the body? How would she be able to survive without her husband? But these thoughts were to be pondered upon later as Harry, for the first time that evening, began to cry.

To Be Continued