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War!
During Voldemort's reign, Sirius learned a lot of things. He learned more spells after school, some good some bad. He learned how to stay up all night with out any potions or coffee. He learned as much as he could about known Death Eaters and how to defeat them, in case he ran into one in a dark alley.
Out of all the bad times in Sirius's life, the war was one of the worst. Experiencing dark, dreary fear every second of the day. Wondering if you or one of your comrades was gonna sleep tonight with the Dark Mark hanging over them. Having every laugh emitted sound weird and inappropriate, and having it silenced immediately.
Sirius hated that sinking feeling when something dreadful happened. The destruction of a home, the scream of an innocent person, the death of a companion. He was scared witless when he found out that a person he talked to yesterday was killed last night.
He was careful and serious all of the time now. Instead of the easygoing, cocky student he was once, he was now uptight and stern. Even though he trained himself to be alert all the time when he was on duty, he was still scared when there was a bang, a flash of light, and the person next to him collapsed, unclear if he was dead or not.
The war changed Sirius. He thought he knew what a bad life was, but he realized he had no idea. He was shaken with every death. He nearly threw up when he saw what was left of Marlene McKinnon's body. He barely slept a wink those years.
The most important thing he learned during the war was that he couldn't make friends. For one thing, if you made a friend, he or she could be dead in a few days, which would bring more gloom and sadness. Secondly, no one could be trusted. Anyone could be a spy to the Dark Lord. Divulging in them would be as bad as divulging in Voldemort himself. Sirius felt that the only people he could trust was his friends from Hogwarts.
How dearly wrong was he.
Regulus continued to smile. His face remarkably calm for being in a dark street during an evil night. He grinned at the shocked face implanted on Sirius's face.
Sirius, through his massive amount of alarm, managed to find his voice.
"Reg…..Regulus?"
"Yep," said his brother, smile still on his face.
With that smile, something arose in Sirius. Within his astonishment and surprise, a bubbling anger pulsed through him. The anger brought bad memories, which morphed his anger into hatred. All Sirius wanted to do now was strike the man before him, grinning.
Regulus, who seemed to feel his brother's anger, sighed. "You really want to hurt me. Go on attack. It will save us some interruptions."
With those words, Sirius thrust out his wand and shouted every curse he knew at Regulus. The street was lit with sparks and spells, bursting from the wand. The curses made contact with Regulus, but seemed to do no harm. The seemed to fade into nothingness as they bounced off his body.
Sirius, noticing the spells were doing no damage, stopped his barrage. He lowered his wand, panting with anger staring at his brother's smiling face. "You done?" asked Regulus.
Sirius glared. Regulus chuckled. "Come, lets walk," he said, beckoning Sirius.
Sirius through all his anger, glared at Regulus again, but then walked over to Regulus.
The walked for a few minutes through the ruined city. They walked in silence, letting the cold, hopeless, city overcome them. The silence was broken by a distant scream.
"I suppose this is your paradise," said Sirius bitterly. Regulus merely chuckled.
"If you only knew," he said quietly.
Sirius glared at Regulus. "What's that supposed to mean?" he muttered in quiet hatred.
Regulus stared at Sirius. "Why so hostile?" he inquired.
"Why so hostile?" repeated Sirius in disbelief. "You were a Death Eater! You hurt innocent people! You worshipped a lunatic! Not only that, but you got scared in the end and dropped out like a bloody coward!"
Regulus looked down. "Again, if you only knew."
"Am I missing something?" said Sirius angrily. If I only knew? He thought bitterly.
There was a few moments of silence as They kept walking. Regulus then turned to Sirius.
"So, how long have you been an Animagus?"
It was a dark night in the Potter household. Sirius and James, both active members of the Order, sat in the living room silent. A fire was blazing in the fireplace, casting them in a yellow glow. It was very late, they both yawned in tiredness.
Lily Potter walked in with a tray of coffee, wearing a green bathrobe. "Here you go," she said quietly laying the tray before the two. Both took the cups and drank in silence.
Their was a knock on the front door. Lily, wand at the ready, walked slowly to door and creaked it open. With a sigh of relief, she fully opened the door and let Benjy Fenwick in the room.
He was a tall man with long brown hair. His short beard matched his hair and his eyes were cold and gray. "Evening, lily," he said, shrugging off his cloak. He nodded to James and Sirius, who nodded back.
"Anything new?" asked lily quietly, as she conjured another cup of coffee for Benjy.
"Oh yeah," he said gloomily, taking the cup from lily. "We found a muggle family dead in Liverpool a few hours ago. No doubt Death Eaters."
"Oh my," gasped Lily, sinking down next to James on the couch. "How many were killed?"
"A husband and wife were found dead at the house, but it appears that the Death Eaters took their nine-year-old daughter," said Benjy.
Lily stared into the fireplace, her eyes shocked. "Is she still alive?" asked James groggily.
"No," said Benjy sadly, "She, was found in a ditch a short distance from the house. Apparently they tortured her before killing her."
"Why?" asked Lily quietly. "Why do that to a child?"
"She was a witch," said Benjy bluntly.
"She was a muggle-born," concluded James, his expression angry.
There was a sad silence. "Do you know who did it?" asked Sirius.
"well, we don't know who the killers were, but we do know who tortured the little girl," Benjy finished nervously.
"Who?" asked Sirius urgently. "Who did it?"
"Well," said Benjy nervously. "Oh Sirius, I'm sorry you had to find out this way, but…"
"Who?" asked Sirius again glaring into Benjy's apologetic face.
"Oh Sirius, it was Regulus."
There was a shocked silence. Sirius covered his face with his hands, his expression hidden.
"Well, time to be off," said Benjy braking the silence. "Thanks for the coffee Lily. Stay safe you three." And he Apparated out of the gloomy house.
Two weeks later, at one in the morning, Sirius and his friend Peter were called into duty. Death Eaters were destroying a Muggle village and they needed to be stopped immediately. Sirius and Peter rushed to help.
When they Apparated to the neighborhood, they witnessed a scene of total chaos. Every house in the neighborhood was on fire. Trees were pulled up from the roots. The scene was filled with painful screams. Muggles in pajamas were running down the street until they were struck down by bolts coming from the wands of hooded, masked men.
"Peter!" yelled Sirius over the din. "you go put out the houses, I'll go get the Death Eaters!"
Peter nodded, his face stricken with fear. He ran towards the nearest house and began extinguishing it with water from his wand.
Sirius charged after the hooded men attacking the muggles. The men walked at a quick pace, shooting fire at the houses and basting the muggles off their feet. They caught sight of Sirius, wand in his hand, and they sprinted.
Sirius quickened his run, desperate to catch the Death Eaters. When he reached the end of the street, one Death Eater set two more houses a blaze before disappearing. One Death Eater remained.
"Impedimenta!" cried Sirius. The Death Eater fell to the hard street. Sirius stopped, pointing his wand at the immobile man. "Don't move," said Sirius menacingly.
The Death Eater over and looked up at Sirius through his mask. "Sirius?" said the Death Eater quietly.
Sirius tightened his grip on the wand, the scene around him blazing.
"Sirius," said the hooded man. Then, he pulled off his mask and pulled down his hood.
His face was streaked with handsome features. His eyes were cold and gray. His hair short and lank. His face was scared and full of concern. Sirius recognized it immediately as Regulus.
They stood in silence, oblivious to the fiery hellhole around them, and the screams all around. The tension thickened with every second.
R&R! pleez
