Black Hole

Sirius Black climbed off his motorcycle, eyes grim as he gazed at the small cottage near the woods. The lights were off and all the windows shuttered, doors shut up tight. He strode up to the front door, his leather feather duster billowing in the late-night breeze. With an absent frown, he pulled the coat tight around his narrow frame. The Halloween night was chilly and dismal.
He rapped on the door, once, twice, three times, frowning all the while. Dear old Peter – probably holed up in the basement, shaking… or maybe drowning his sorrows in a bottle of gin.

He waited impatiently

No one came to the door.

Frowning, he went to the back door, knocking more insistently this time.
Three minutes passed.

Nothing.

The wind picked up around him and Sirius felt the chill growing, the night seeming to become more dismal before his eyes. "Peter?" he called, slipping his wand from his sleeve. "You all right, mate?"

No answer.

Anxious now, Sirius raised his wand, scanning the surroundings quickly. No sign of a struggle – no footprints that weren't his… He gazed steadily at the door, gripping his wand tightly, and with a wordless spell –

The door's hinges exploded and quickly, Sirius kicked the door in, sweeping quickly into the cottage. His eyes swept his surroundings immediately as he walked through the small kitchenette, quickly noting that there was nothing out of place – on the contrary, the place was immaculate. That was unusual for Peter. He was usually such a packrat.

"Peter?" he called again.

Silence.

Scared now, he moved quickly through the living room, checked the bathroom, the bedroom – nothing. His heart pounding, he opened the basement door with a shaking hand, wincing as it creaked.

"You down there, Wormtail? Did someone get in?"

No answer.

"Lumos," he whispered, and slowly, his throat tight, he descended the stairs.

The basement was filthy, cobwebs and dust bunnies everywhere, dirt all over the floor. Absently, Sirius kicked at a box on the floor, staring as a paper fell out. Nervously, he picked the slip of paper up.

The Potters can be found at number 1 Gryffin Lane in Godric's Hollow.

Of course,Sirius thought as finally, the memory of his friends' location came rushing back to him. Where else would they be?

Feeling an odd sense of relief mingled with dread, he looked up and glanced around the basement. No Peter – human or rat. Where could he–?

There is a traitor among us, Dumbledore's voice whispered through his mind. The meeting nary a month ago… Immediately, Sirius paled. "No," he whispered, shaking, the paper falling from his hand and drifting carelessly to the ground.

You-Know-Who's recruiting all the Dark Creatures! Vampires, Giants… werewolves! Peter's voice squeaked in his mind.

There is a traitor among us…

A traitor among us…

A traitor among us…

"PETER!" Sirius screamed.

PAINT IT BLACK

He pounded up the steps frantically, swinging his wand in every possible direction as he checked the perimeter for Death Eaters. Trembling, he crossed the rickety porch of the old cabin and banged on the door, cursing all the while.

"Remus?" he called, his hair swinging wildly in the breeze. "Remus? MOONY!"

No answer. Swearing under his breath, he walked around to the back door – and froze when he saw the note pinned to the door

"You didn't trust me.
You didn't listen.
The hell with you."

The hell with you. Shaking, he crumbled the note in his hand, tears springing to his eyes. And remembered a time, years before, when someone else had said that to him. When Bellatrix had become dead to him.

You're a failure… his mother's voice whispered in his mind, and he fought back the sob.

Peter did this, he thought with rage. Peter took his brother away.

No, he corrected himself bitterly, I let him.

Turning, he ran back to his motorcycle, overwhelmed with fear. There was only one place Peter could be, and now Sirius was all that stood between Voldemort and the Potters.

He raced up to the clouds and flew as fast as he could, even then knowing he could never make it in time.

Sirius didn't even feel the wind whipping around his frame as he threw the motorbike to the ground. Racing across the rubble, he ran to the giant form standing in the middle of the demolished house. "Hagrid?" he asked uncertainly, his voice quavering. "Hagrid, is that you? Are they–?"

But the half-giant was shaking, and as Sirius drew closer, he heard the man's barely-restrained howls of grief.

James, Sirius thought brokenly. Lily. Harry!

"They never… they never had a chance," Hagrid sobbed as Sirius drew even with him. "Poor little tyke… lost his mummy and daddy already."

"Harry?" Sirius gasped, staring at Hagrid – surely Harry wasn't still alive? "Hagrid, is Harry dead?"

The large man threw his head back, nearly screaming in grief, and Sirius felt his heart shatter.

Then he looked at the bundle in Hagrid's arms.

"Hagrid!" he said sternly, "give him to me! I'm his godfather, I'll look after him–"

"Can't, Sirius," Hagrid said tiredly, quieting, and he sniffled as he gazed down at the bundle of blankets. "Dumbledore's orders – I'm to bring him to Dumbledore."

Dumbledore. The name raced through Sirius's mind and he felt an overwhelming flood of relief rush through him. Dumbledore would have to listen to him. Dumbledore would let him go with Harry. Dumbledore would understand –

–nothing.

Stupid, Black, he sneered at himself. Forgotten so quickly, have you? The only living person who knows you're not a traitor is an infant!

"Lily and James would want me to have him, Hagrid," he pleaded softly, and the half-giant cringed.

"Ah, tha' they would," he agreed, "but Dumbledore's orders, Sirius, yeh understand–"

"Yes," Sirius replied slowly. "Yes, I do."

I could take Harry, he thought frantically, overpower Hagrid and run away –

Yes, a voice in his mind shot back angrily, and Sirius started, you could. Enjoy making the child grow up on the run. Enjoy explaining to him that he can't go to Hogwarts because they'll find you. Have fun telling him why he can't have any friends, why he –

He couldn't do that to the poor child.

"I understand," he continued. There's no proof of my innocence, and they'll all be after me as soon as they realize what's happened. Even if Dumbledore would listen, Bagnold wouldn't let him – she would refuse to use Veritaserum, call it a waste of Ministry funds…

There was only one chance, he realized. Find Peter and bring him to the Ministry as a hostage. And demand Veritaserum for the both of them.

Even that, he knew, was likely to accomplish nothing but his own imprisonment.

"Take my motorbike, Hagrid," Sirius said quietly, and the half-giant started.

"Eh?" Hagrid replied blearily. "But yeh love tha' thing!"

"You need to get Harry to Dumbledore safely," Sirius said. "You can't Apparate, and you can't make a Portkey. Take my motorbike."

"Are yeh certain?"

"Yes," Sirius replied. Grimly, he gazed at the smoldering ruins surrounding them. "I won't be needing it any longer."

When Hagrid had flown off, Harry held firmly in one of his large hands, Sirius moved through the ruins, kneeling beside his best friend's body. Choking back tears, he quietly said goodbye.

And then he went to Lily.

"You were so brave," he whispered, gazing down at his sister-at-heart. "So very brave. Everything for our little Harry, right? You gave everything for him."

Eyes hardening, he rose to his feet. "Now it's my turn," he murmured, and gently, he shut Lily's unseeing eyes. Turning on his heel, he disappeared with a swish of his feather-duster.

He'd go after Peter, after his chance for freedom, for Harry's sake. But he wouldn't go so far as to believe it would work.

PAINT IT BLACK

It was dark in the prison, not that it was ever any different. He wasn't quite certain if it was day or night – there were no windows in his little cell. The Dementors brought his food in perfectly timed rotations, giving no indication whatsoever about the time. He simply received food four times in what he assumed was a twenty-four hour period. And so far, there had been sixty-three twenty-four hour periods. He had been in Azkaban for only two months, and already, he longed for death.

Idly, he wondered where Harry was. Was Dumbledore taking care of him? Did he have a new family? Was he loved?

Did he know it?

And Remus – was his old friend surviving on his own, had the wolf killed him? Had Remus gone crazy with grief?

Did Remus still think him a traitor?

Were Lily and James watching him with disgust even now?

You'll be nothing more than a failure, Walburga Black whispered in his mind. A failure – you'll betray everyone who loves you, your flesh and blood, your friends, your precious godson – none of them can trust you. You're a failure.

Sirius Black looked up from the dirt floor, eyes staring without sight at the bars that enclosed him. "I know, Mother," he muttered bitterly. "I know."