DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER.
"NOOOOOO! NO, NO, NO! IT CAN'T BE! EDGAR, LEWIS, ALEXANDRIA, SUSAN, PLEASE DON'T BE DEAD!" Amelia cried out as she rushed into Bones Manor which had been attacked by Voldemort. Sirius rushed behind her crying out, "Amy, wait, someone might be in there!"
It was the 4th of September. There had been an Order meeting that evening at Hogwarts. Amelia and Sirius had noticed that neither Lewis nor Edgar were present. They had been planning on a dinner date, but after the meeting, Amelia had felt that something was wrong. Sirius and Amelia had tried to floo over to Bones Manor but somehow, the floo connection seemed to have been blocked. This had worsened their feelings of dread. They had walked over to the gates and apparated to the area where Bones Manor was located. Upon reaching, they had been horrified to see the dark mark in the night sky, just above the manor. Amelia had screamed upon seeing that and had entered the house to be greeted by the sight of dead family members, the first being her father. Desperate in the hope that someone might still be alive, she was now running here and there, with Sirius rushing after her.
Amelia entered a hallway leading to a staircase and just in front of it below, she saw what she had hoped not to find. Lewis was laying down there, a terrified yet determined look on his face, dead. "LEWIS, NO!" Amelia screamed before her knees gave way and she cradled his body and sobbed. She checked him for any sign of life in desperation, and found none. Weeping for her dead brother, she collapsed.
Sirius was equally horrified at seeing Lewis' corpse and wept too. He and Lewis had become very close to each other. He remembered their last conversation a few nights ago when he had been invited by Amelia's parents to have dinner with them.
Lewis approached Sirius as he was standing at the entrance of the dining hall and pulled Sirius to the side saying, "Sirius, there's something important that I need to talk to you about."
Sirius went with him and asked, "What is it Lewis? Is something wrong?"
Lewis remained silent for a few moments before saying gravely, "This war has been going on for ages, and several people have lost their lives fighting the Dark Lord. You remember Benjy, right?"
Sirius sadly nodded his head and replied, "He was killed by Voldemort a few months ago, blasted apart by him."
Lewis waited for a few moments and then said, "You know, there's a chance that Alexandria and I may not survive this war. If something happens to us and for some reason, neither Edgar nor Amelia can take Susan in, will you take care of her for me?"
Sirius was silent for a moment. He then firmly responded, "I'll love her as much as I love Harry like my own child. But I'm sure you guys will make it through."
Lewis smiled and said, "Thank You Sirius. I trust you to take care of my sister and my daughter. I have a feeling you and Amelia will be together in marriage. Whatever happens, if Alexandria and I don't survive this war, please take care of my sister and my daughter for me."
Sirius hugged Lewis and declared, "I promise!"
To think that Lewis had said all this a few days ago, and now he was dead. Edgar was dead too. Sirius had seen his corpse before seeing Lewis' corpse.
And then it suddenly hit him. What had happened to Alexandria and Susan?!
Hoping that they were still alive, he dashed up the stairs. He found himself running into a corridor with several rooms. He checked each one only to find dead bodies, mostly those of children, no doubt, Edgar's own children and other children of the Bones family. As he came to the last one, he was greeted by a shocking sight. Just before the door, lay the dead body of Alexandria. Just beside it lay a Death Eater's body. It looked Alexandria had been strangled to death, but had somehow managed to snap the Death Eater's neck before dying herself. Sirius supposed that either a stray killing curse had finally ended her life or she had simply died of strangulation.
Sirius pointed his wand at the door in front of him, behind Alexandria's dead body and said, "Alohomora." The door instantly opened and Sirius dashed into it, hoping to find someone alive in there.
He looked around the room, a nursery by the looks of it. Although he had been to Bones Manor several times, he had not explored every single room and corridor, and so, did not know whose room this was. And then, he noticed an upturned crib. He moved towards the upturned crib and lifted it up, to see a familiar baby girl hidden under a baby blanket, her face just poking out of it, looking scared and teary eyed, Susan.
"Susan, you're alive!" Sirius cried out in relief as he put the crib aside and picked her up, wrapping her in her baby blanket. "Sius," Sirius heard Susan say, "Ma, Da!" Sirius' heart broke as he heard her say that. How was he to explain on the spot that her parents were gone and would never come back?!
Sirius carried Susan in his arms and rushed out of the room, out of the corridor and down the stairs where Amelia was kneeling and yelled, "Amelia, Susan's alive! I've got her! She's ok!" Amelia looked up at Susan and rushed forward to take her from Sirius crying out, "SUSAN MY BABY!" She held Susan in her arms and cried. Sirius' eyes were filled with tears as he put his arms around Amelia trying to comfort her.
And then they heard a cold voice full of evil say, "I see you've escaped the fate that befell your family, Amelia Bones." Sirius and Amelia turned around to find themselves looking at none other than Lord Voldemort.
Even as Voldemort spoke, four other Death Eaters including the Lestranges surrounded them. Bellatrix looked at Susan and began to cackle evilly, causing Susan to hide her face into Amelia's shoulder.
Sirius pulled out his wand and stood in between Amelia and Voldemort shouting, "You will not touch them, Voldemort!"
Voldemort laughed and said, "So foolish of you to come here tonight, Sirius Black. You are from the most Ancient and Noble House of Black and yet you throw your support behind Muggleborns and Muggles, how pathetic!"
Sirius declared, "You're a monster!"
Voldemort pointed his wand towards Amelia and Sirius saying, "Such a pity that a witch and a wizard, both from houses of noble blood, did not join me. Now, I will…"
But the next moment, he was cut off by shouts of "Stupefy" and "Flipendo". Although the Death Eaters managed to avoid the stunner, the second spell got Rudolphus and he was thrown back. Sirius and Amelia turned around to see Gideon and Fabian speeding towards them, casting spells at Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Just as Fabian managed to stun the non-Lestrange Death Eater, Gideon shouted, "Sirius, take Amelia with you and run! Just go! Go now!"
Fabian shouted, "We'll hold him off long enough for you to get away, but you need to run, now!"
Sirius did not waste any time, but grabbed Amelia's left arm and ran as fast as he could, Susan safely held in Amelia's right arm. They exited the manor and Sirius took out his motorcycle, which he had shrunk, from his pocket. He enlarged it and attached the sidecar (which was also in his pocket) after taking it out and enlarging it, feeling that it would be safer for Amelia and Susan.
Amelia quickly strapped herself and Susan into the sidecar and Sirius drove away at full speed. Luckily, they managed to lose a few Death Eaters that tried to pursue them and then flew into the air.
Sirius instructed, "Amelia, there's a mirror in my left side jacket pocket. Pull it out and say James Potter to contact him. He needs to know we're on our way to Godric's Hollow." Amelia put her hand in the pocket on the left side of Sirius' jacket and pulled out a mirror. She spoke, "James Potter," and her reflection changed into James' face a few moments later.
James spoke, "Amelia, it's you. What's going on?"
Amelia collected herself and answered, "Voldemort attacked Bones Manor. Sirius, Susan and I managed to escape. Gideon and Fabian told us to go while they held off Voldemort."
"What?!" someone shouted and she could now see Severus' face in the mirror as he continued, "You mean Voldemort attacked your family?! Where are you right now?!"
"Sirius is driving us to Godric's Hollow." Amelia replied.
"Get here as soon as you can!" James said worriedly.
Sometime later, Sirius landed on the road passing through Griffin lane, Godric's Hollow, and parked right outside the Potters' cottage, which was on that street.
Sirius carried Susan with his right arm and wrapped his left one around Amelia as they walked through the gate and up to the cottage.
That evening, Frank and Alice had brought Neville to play with Harry for a while. They had been in the living room with James, Lily, Severus and Remus when Amelia had informed them about the attack on Bones Manor. Needless to say, they were absolutely horrified to hear about it and were now waiting for Sirius to bring Amelia and Susan.
As usual, James went to the peephole upon hearing a knock to check who was there. Sirius who was outside answered James' security question after which, James opened the door. Lily went over to Amelia and pulled her inside and onto a couch in the living room. As soon as she sat down, she buried her face in her hands and broke down sobbing. Lily wrapped her arms around Amelia and hugged her tightly trying to comfort her, while silently mourning for Lewis and Alexandria and the rest of the family who had perished. She then motioned to Alice and Frank who nodded, and understanding Lily's gesture, took Harry, Susan and Neville to the nursery.
Upon entering the nursery, Frank and Alice set the toddlers down and attempted to cheer them up by taking a few stuffed toys nearby to play with them. For a while, Susan seemed to be occupied in playing with a stuffed giraffe, but after a while her expression became sad and she slowly said, "Want Ma and Da."
That statement broke Alice's heart. How was she going to explain that Susan's parents were never coming back?!
Harry looked at Susan and seemed to understand that she was sad. He crawled over to her and hugged her. Susan hugged him back. Neville looked at his friends before crawling towards them to hug them. Alice and Frank felt their hearts melt as they witnessed this beautiful moment.
Alice turned to Frank and whispered, "Frank, how are we going to explain that Susan's parents aren't coming back, that they're dead?"
Frank whispered in response, "Susan barely survived the attack. We definitely should keep quiet about it until tomorrow at the very least."
Alice replied, "I agree with you Frank. We definitely don't want Susan to be traumatized as much as possible."
Frank nodded and said, "For now, let's just play with our little ones. Susan needs to be safe and happy as much as possible."
Meanwhile, Amelia was still sobbing in Lily's arms and Sirius was explaining everything to James. Severus and Remus listened as well and finally, Severus quietly told Sirius, "We need to alert Dumbledore of this at once. For all we know, he may already be at the manor. Remus and I will go. You should stay here. Amelia needs you."
With that, Severus and Remus flooed over to Hogwarts. Upon not finding Dumbledore there, they headed to Bones Manor to find him looking sadly at two dead bodies. Severus moved closer and was appalled by what he saw. The bodies were those of Gideon and Fabian. They were dead.
"It can't be it can't be! No! Gideon, Fabian, this can't be!" Severus exclaimed in disbelief and sorrow. He broke down as realization of the fact that they were dead dawned upon him. He cried out, "You died so that Sirius, Amelia and Susan could get away! What will Molly say? I should have been there to help you!"
He felt a gentle hand touching his shoulder and a sweet old voice saying, "Severus my dear boy, you had absolutely no idea of what was going on. Do not blame yourself. The Prewett twins died bravely, and they will be honored."
Severus went around the place with Remus and was horrified when he found the dead bodies of Lewis, Edgar and Alexandria. The manor itself was in a terrible state due to the destruction that Voldemort and his Death Eaters had inflicted. Upon examining Fabian's and Gideon's wands and observing the surroundings, it was concluded that the Prewett twins had put up a good fight.
Molly was devastated upon hearing that her brothers had been slain by Voldemort. James and Lily wanted to help her as well, but the only way they could do so was to babysit her children (minus her oldest son Bill Weasley who was in Hogwarts) for a day while Molly mourned for Gideon and Fabian. James and Lily did their best to comfort Amelia and Susan who had been staying with them since the night of the Bones family massacre as well as the junior Weasleys. Fred, George, and Percy in particular, cried a lot that day, and Ted and Andromeda who had come over to visit and offer their condolences felt their hearts break to see the children crying. Amelia played her role in comforting them as well, knowing how it was to lose family, especially to a monster like Voldemort.
A few days after the massacre, Dumbledore came over and told Amelia that she needed to go into hiding. The reasons he gave were that as Harry's godmother and Sirius' girlfriend, it was likely that Voldemort would target her, and also that she had Susan to take care of. James and Lily offered to let Amelia stay with them and help her with Susan but Amelia refused saying that she did not want to impose on them.
Sirius was there with Amelia at the funeral of her dead family members, and so were Severus, Remus and Moody whom Dumbledore had specifically asked to protect Sirius and Amelia should Voldemort disrupt the final rites. Of course, Dumbledore came as well. Amelia broke down at the end of the funeral and this time, it was Sirius' turn to comfort Amelia as she had comforted him when Fleamont and Euphemia had died.
The funerals of Gideon and Fabian were held on the same day. The only junior Weasleys that went to the funeral were Bill, Charlie, Percy and the twins. Ron and Molly's recently born daughter, Ginny were looked after by James and Lily, as Molly felt that they were too young to come. She hadn't wanted any of the children to come actually, but Arthur had felt that it was important that they see their uncles for one last time. Finally, Molly had agreed to let them come except for Ron and Ginny.
That evening after the funeral, Amelia took Susan and went into hiding in an apartment in Broadway, Muggle London, under the Fidelius charm with Severus as her secret keeper (on Lily's suggestion). Harry cried when she left the Potters' cottage, and did not stop for a long time. Andromeda, who was there with them, picked up Harry and managed to calm him down for a while, but he cried shortly after the Tonkses left.
But this was not the end.
One night, the day just after Amelia had gone into hiding with Susan, Severus was on his way to the McKinnon family residence to talk with Marlene. As he reached the street leading up to his destination, he was taken aback to see the dark mark in the sky, just above Marlene's house.
"MARLENE!" Severus shouted in horror as he raced towards the house.
He entered the house to find several Death Eaters inside fighting members of Marlene McKinnon's family. The living room which was quite large was literally a bloodbath. Severus knew he ought to call for help but before he could send a patronus, a Death Eater spotted him and he found himself in the fray.
He fought his way through desperately. He could already tell that he and McKinnons were outnumbered. As he wondered where Marlene could be, he suddenly heard a familiar cry and turned around to Marlene being backed against a corner of the living room by three Death Eaters. With a cry of desperation, Severus charged towards the Death Eaters. As he neared them, he cried out, "Sectumsempra," and a Death Eater fell down, severely mutilated deeply by the power of the curse. He cast stunners and managed to stun the other two but just as he took down the last one, he saw Marlene being knocked against the wall and falling down, unconscious. He turned around and lashed out at the Death Eater who had knocked her out and snapped his neck in a fit of rage.
Just then, he saw one of Marlene's brothers Dennis McKinnon fighting a few Death Eaters nearby. Dennis saw Severus and yelled, "Severus, take Marlene with you and get out of here! There's too many of them!"
Severus shouted, "What about you?! I can't just…"
"NO! JUST TAKE MARLENE AND RUN AWAY FROM HERE! WE'VE GOT NO HOPE, BUT YOU HAVE! TAKE CARE OF HER!" Dennis screamed. Right after he said this, a green bolt of light hit Dennis squarely in the chest and he fell down to the ground, dead.
And then, it hit upon Severus. There was no way he could hope to save the family.
But he could save Marlene.
As quickly as he could, Severus scooped up Marlene in his arms and ran as fast as he could. He managed to exit the house the same way he had come in but when he looked back, he saw Voldemort and Bellatrix pursuing him. He held Marlene over his shoulder with his left arm while shouting, "Fiendfyre".
Luckily, Severus knew how to control that charm properly, and managed to target Voldemort and Bellatrix without damaging the house or the other surroundings before he fled. Although he knew that Voldemort, being a powerful dark wizard would no doubt handle it, this would at least give him and Marlene time to escape. Carrying Marlene in his arms, Severus ran as fast as he could away from the house and once he was sure that he was out of range of any anti apparation wards that the Death Eaters would have no doubt set up, he held her and apparated to Godric's Hollow.
James and Lily were in the living room holding Harry when they suddenly heard a knock on the door. As usual, James went up to the door and asked who it was. The answer came, "It's me, Severus Tobias Snape, Lily's brother in all but blood, one of Harry's godfathers, the other one is Sirius, and I'm also dating Marlene McKinnon. Open the door now, Marlene needs help!"
James hurriedly opened the door and Severus came in with Marlene, still unconscious. He and James made her lie on the sofa that he and Lily had been sitting on.
Just then, Marlene's eyes fluttered open and she suddenly stood up crying out, "Where am I?! Where's everybody?"
Severus went and hugged her saying, "You and your family were attacked by Voldemort and a Death Eater knocked you out. You're in the Potters' cottage right now."
Marlene asked worriedly, "What about my family? Did anyone else make it?"
All that Severus could do was to hug her and whisper, "I'm so sorry."
Marlene nearly fainted upon realizing that she was the only survivor of her family. Severus held her and made her sit down on the couch. Some moments later, Marlene burst into tears and buried her face in her hands crying out, "NO! NO! NO! IT CAN'T BE! WHY?"
Severus, Lily and James all did their best to comfort her by holding her comfortingly.
All of a sudden, Harry flew into the living room on a toy broomstick and stopped right in front of Marlene crying out, "Maine" (pronounced as 'mine'). He looked up at her and stared at her. Lily was just about to take Harry out of the living room but then Harry went and wrapped his arms around Marlene's legs.
Marlene felt something around her legs and slowly looked down to see Harry trying to hug her looking up at her as if trying to say, "Don't be sad."
Without even realizing it, she suddenly picked up Harry and held him against her chest sobbing. Somehow, Harry's presence seemed to be comforting.
In such dark times, a ray of innocence was what was needed.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Malfoy Manor, a certain woman sat in a bench by herself near a fountain in one of the elaborate gardens. She was filled with regret that she could not save the two families that the Dark Lord had destroyed. There had just been too many Death Eaters who were not part of the inner circle patrolling around during those meetings. By the time she had found out and had been able to send that information to Dumbledore, the Dark Lord had already set out on both occasions. Her information had reached Dumbledore too late.
She had tried to tell her husband about her growing resentment for the cruel practices that Voldemort carried out, but he had refused to listen to her and had eventually stopped telling her anything discussed in the Dark Lord's meetings unless it was not about a raid or something like that.
She knew that if she were discovered, she would be in terrible danger, but she just could not stand the cruelty being meted out any longer. For every child that she heard about being tortured and killed, Muggleborn, Muggle, or otherwise, she felt the same thing happening to her child, and just could not stand this.
As she sat on the bench, she thought, "When will it all end?!"