Burden of a Destiny Deleted Scene (Takes place after Chapter 29)
For the Love of a Child
Silence, darkness and dark colored walls were the first things Sirius Black noticed when he opened his eyes. Confusion instantly set in. Looking around, Sirius realized that he was lying in bed in his room in the Marauder Quarters. How had he ended up here? The last thing he remembered was sitting at Harry's bedside, waiting for his godson to awaken. It didn't matter that everyone had told him it would be at least another day before Harry would recover from his injuries enough to wake. It didn't matter what safety measures had been placed on the private room. Sirius had wanted to remain in the room but someone clearly had other plans.
Dumbledore.
It was the only possibility. The Headmaster had tried to persuade Sirius to take a break and rest but Sirius outright refused. Obviously, Dumbledore couldn't take no for an answer and Sirius had every intention of giving the old man quite an earful. Why didn't people realize that Harry could always sense when someone was at his side? How could they not know after all these years that Harry needed reassurance that he wasn't alone?
Biting back some rather colorful phrases that entered his mind, Sirius pulled himself out of bed and quickly changed clothes. He didn't care that it was still dark outside. It was probably a good thing that no one would be up yet. He would have plenty of time to put together what he needed to say to make Dumbledore see that nothing like this ever happened again. Dumbledore had to realize that Harry wasn't like the rest of the students here. Dumbledore had to realize that Harry never would be.
That was probably what annoyed Sirius the most. No one saw Harry as the teenager who had seen too much too soon. All they saw was what Harry had overcome. Of course, none of them had witnessed the screaming that usually came with Harry's nightmares so why would they? Why would they think that Harry was anything other than their defender? Sirius had heard plenty of gossip during his months at Hogwarts to know that many of the students believed Harry was some sort of unbeatable hero. In fact, the only people who didn't were probably the Weasleys, Hermione and the Council members of the D.A.
Sirius let out a frustrated sigh as he left the Marauder Quarters for the hospital wing. He knew that he needed to get his priorities in line quickly. Harry came first. Once he had a long talk with his godson, Sirius would then move on to his confrontation with Dumbledore followed by the possible removal of Harry from Hogwarts. He didn't care how many people would protest to that. Once again Harry nearly died because the security at Hogwarts had failed.
Once again I failed to protect him.
The fear and panic that had set in when Harry's disappearance had been discovered was something Sirius wasn't going to forget anytime soon. Both of the Marauders had felt their pendants heat slightly and immediately set off for the Gryffindor Tower. Sirius knew he hadn't handled himself well with Ron and Hermione when they told him Harry hadn't returned yet. Remus had really laid it into him for scaring two teenagers to death when he had rushed out of the Gryffindor Tower, leaving Ron and Hermione to draw their own conclusions. Remus had been just as frantic but he still managed to keep his cool demeanor and assure Ron and Hermione that Harry would be found in no time.
Harry was found all right, just not at Hogwarts. After a quick search of the school, Dumbledore activated the tracking charm he had placed on Harry's suppression necklace only to discover that Harry was at the Ministry of Magic. The Order had been summoned and mission: 'Rescue Harry Potter' had begun. They knew where to find Harry and weren't surprised to find Sturgis Podmore dead or the Death Eaters who had been apparently waiting for them. The fight began with the Order knowing that time was not on their side. Who knew what was being done to Harry while they were being detained.
Sirius remembered the horror he had felt when he saw Crouch strangling Harry. He had wanted to rush to Harry's side so badly but had known that any sort of action would have cost Harry's life. Fortunately, Harry fought back with a vengeance. Sirius had been shocked at Harry's attack and instantly knew they would have to act fast the moment he saw Harry's glowing eyes. The battle resumed with the Death Eaters separating Harry from the Order. Sirius and Remus had tried to reach Harry but Wormtail had reached Remus first.
Once again Sirius hadn't been quick enough. By the time Sirius had reached Remus, Wormtail had released his hold and was being hexed, badly. Sirius had been at a complete loss at how to help his best friend and could only pull him away from the battle. No one had thought of the possibility of silver poisoning. No one had thought of much of anything other than rescuing Harry. All Sirius could do was try to console Remus and beg him to hang on, that Harry needed him. Slowly, the seizures came to a stop but Remus' haggard breathing was enough for Sirius to know that the worst wasn't over.
That was when Sirius had been dealt a second blow. The Death Eaters who had been conscious had fled but Harry was no where to be found and the Prophecy had been destroyed. Sirius had wanted to search for his godson but Dumbledore had sent him back to Hogwarts with Remus. Deep down, he knew that Dumbledore had made the right call since Sirius knew the most about werewolves but the thought of leaving Harry behind left Sirius with more guilt than he knew what to do with, especially when Dumbledore had finally returned with Harry in the state he had been in.
Not much was known of what happened, only that Harry had faced Voldemort once again and held the dark wizard off from reaching the Department of Mysteries. Sirius could tell there was significantly more to the story but Dumbledore only told him that now wasn't the time to discuss it. That was never a good sign but Sirius had enough to worry about at the moment. Whatever happened, they would work out. They always did when it concerned Harry.
Entering the dimly lit hospital wing, Sirius pushed that night out of his head. He needed to keep his mind on the present. He needed to be there to help Harry through what was going to be a difficult time. Harry's sense of security was going to be completely destroyed. Death Eaters had snuck into Hogwarts and no one had noticed. No one had been there to stop them. No one had been there for Harry, not even two guardians who had taken positions at Hogwarts for the very reason of protecting their charge. Hogwarts was supposed to be the safest place in the wizarding world but it wasn't safe enough for Harry. That line of thought only increased the dread that Sirius was currently feeling. Locking a teenager up was only asking for trouble, regardless if it was for his own good or not. People didn't like to be confined. Sirius had plenty of experience with that.
He reached the closed door which lead to the private room where his 'son' and 'brother' were currently residing. Placing his hand on the doorknob, Sirius felt a tingling sensation before he whispered: "Sirius Black, family first." The door had been charmed to only allow people in who passed the hand print recognition on the door knob, voice identification and a password. The only people who had those three pieces of information were Sirius, Madam Pomfrey and Dumbledore.
Harry's friends hadn't been happy with that along with the fact that no one would tell them what happened. Ron and Hermione had even threatened to camp out in the hospital wing until someone told them something but McGonagall had won that argument. Nothing had been said publicly but plenty of students had noticed Harry was missing by lunchtime. By dinnertime, the entire school had learned that Harry Potter and Remus Lupin were being hidden in a private room in the hospital wing…and no visitors were allowed. Sirius had been glad that he had been sitting at Harry's bedside when the chaos broke out. He doubted he would have been able to stand firm against the pleas from everyone.
At the sound of the door unlocking, Sirius let out a breath and turned the knob. He knew it was for the best that no one saw who was behind the door yet. So much needed to be said, so much needed to be done but it all had to wait until Harry woke. Pushing the door open, Sirius rubbed his tired eyes as he made his was to Harry's bedside. It had been a long day and a half regardless of how much sleep had been forcibly given.
He raised his gaze to Harry's bed only to gasp when he found the bed empty. Panic quickly set in as Sirius hurried to the screen and looked to see his best friend in the bed but no one at his side. He didn't know what to think. All that was running through his head was how could this possibly happen again? Pulling out his wand, Sirius set off the alarm that would tell the entire staff to report to the hospital wing but Sirius had no intention of waiting around for them. He needed to find his godson.
Running out of the room, Sirius nearly ran over Madam Pomfrey who still appeared to be half asleep. "Sirius Black!" Pomfrey scolded. "What is the meaning of this?"
Sirius glared at Pomfrey for a brief moment before he continued on his way. "Harry's gone!" he shouted over his shoulder. "Be sure to pass that piece of information on to the Headmaster!" Running out of the hospital wing, Sirius had only one destination in mind: the Gryffindor Tower. Countless possibilities ran through his head with each step. The door had been charmed to alert the entire staff if it had been opened by anyone other than the three who were allowed access. Harry should have been protected! No one should have been able to sneak in or out of the room without the entire staff knowing about it!
Before he knew it, Sirius had reached the Gryffindor Tower and was gasping for breath. He impatiently gave the portrait the password then hurried inside. He ran through the Common Room, up the stairs and into Harry's dorm room. His eyes immediately fell upon Harry's undisturbed four poster bed. This is not happening! This can't be happening! Moving towards Harry's bed, Sirius couldn't stop the dread that swelled when he noticed a letter resting on Harry's pillow and the suppression necklace Harry always wore on the bed. He dropped his wand as he reached for the letter with a shaky hand. For some reason, Sirius knew that the letter held all the answers but he wasn't going to like the answers in the slightest.
With extreme care, Sirius opened the letter as he sat down on Harry's bed. Tears filled his eyes as he took in its contents. Breathing became difficult. It was too much for him to grasp. Harry couldn't be gone! Harry wouldn't leave! If I had been able to talk to him, he wouldn't have. Despair was replaced with fury as Sirius rose to his feet and stormed out of the dorm room. Harry had felt guilty for what had happened. Harry blamed himself once again. All because no one had been there to explain…all because Dumbledore interfered once again.
Not caring what anyone may think anymore, Sirius pushed the hospital wing doors open forcefully, causing a loud bang to echo throughout the silence. The entire teaching staff was there, waiting for him. Sirius' eyes fell upon Dumbledore and at that moment, the knowledge that anyone else was in the room vanished. "I hope you're happy," he said icily as he stormed up to Dumbledore and threw Harry's letter at him. "If you hadn't given me that bloody potion I would have been there! I could have stopped him! BUT NO! THE GREAT ALBUS DUMBLEDORE KNOWS ALL!"
"Sirius—"
"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT!" Sirius shouted. "HARRY IS GONE BECAUSE HE BLAMES HIMSELF FOR WHAT HAPPENED! BECAUSE NO ONE WAS THERE LAST NIGHT! HE HAD TO SEE…" Sirius looked away and struggled to regain his composure but it just wasn't coming. Looking at Dumbledore again, Sirius glared hatefully at the old man. "I don't care what you do or say," he hissed. "You can jump off the Astronomy Tower for all I care. I am going to find my godson and we are going far from here. You promised that Harry would be safe! YOU PROMISED!"
Professor Dumbledore glanced over the letter before letting out a sigh. "Sirius, I never thought he would wake so soon," he said regretfully. "With as physically, mentally and magically exhausted he was, Harry should have slept for at least another day. I know you are worried but we have to work together if we're going to find him." Sirius rolled his eyes and turned to leave. "Sirius, please! Harry needs to be found as quickly as possible. Whoever helped him leave could have another agenda than helping him."
Sirius slowly turned back and stared at Dumbledore in horror. Harry had help? Someone actually snuck him out of Hogwarts? Of course. It was the only possible explanation to how Harry managed to leave with no one noticing but who would do that? "I thought you said the entrances to the Common Rooms had been charmed," Sirius said cautiously. "No one should have been able to sneak out and with the new wards no one should have been able to enter Hogwarts."
Dumbledore nodded in agreement. "And to my knowledge no one has entered Hogwarts," he said firmly. "The Heads of Houses have reported that no one is out of bed. Hagrid is already searching the forest although I doubt Harry would venture in there. I will contact the Order immediately. Sirius, normally I would advise you to remain here and try to think of any place Harry may have gone but I know you have no intention on listening to me." Dumbledore met Sirius' furious gaze with his own compassionate one. "Wherever you go, please take someone with you and please try to be discrete. If Voldemort's followers were to discover that Harry's missing they won't hesitate to start hunting for him."
Sirius let out a shaky sigh and nodded. Dumbledore had a point but that didn't erase the anger and frustration Sirius still felt towards the old man. After they found Harry, Sirius had every intention of making his personal opinions well known. This war had only begun and it had already cost him so much. It had already cost him Remus and now it had cost him Harry. He really didn't know how much more he could take. It seemed that the world was against him, throwing obstacles at him that would cause the strongest minded individuals to crack. He wanted to give in, to break down and cry out at the injustice of it all but a faint voice from a memory long ago pushed that thought aside.
"It's hard at times, trust me, but all I have to do is look into those innocent eyes and that adorable face to know that it's worth it," James Potter had told him long ago. "Harry makes it all worth it. I'll never give up fighting because I want the world to be a better place for him. No child should ever have to see the horrors that we are forced to face, Padfoot."
Determination coursed through Sirius Black. He would find a way to pull himself through this. It was the least he could do for James, Lily, Remus and Harry…his family. I will find you, Pronglet, Sirius vowed. I promise.
A/N: And that's the end of the deleted scenes from Burden of a Destiny. I am currently working on Book 6 and hope to have a good start when HBP is released. Since I don't know how much of JKR's book I'll include in mine, I really can't give a timeline for updates. All I can do is ask for you to please be patient. I am determined to finish the Series.