The first kill, he found, was the easiest. It could have been for a number of reasons, because the rat deserved it, because he was still half insane from Azkaban, because freedom was so close it was basically a taste on his tongue.
Verbally sparring with Snape was like old times, leaving a sweet taste of vindication on his tongue, Moony could fuck off trying to spoil his fun. He barely even knew what fun was anymore as it was. But Snape was caught unaware finally by Harry, he wondered how feral his grin looked right now as he turned to his Godson, it was a bloody good shot on someone as highly strung as Snivellus. He shrugged as the man was felled, turning back to the room, to his best friend, his Godson and his little friends. But most importantly, to Pettigrew.
"Only one will die here tonight." He flung the Animagus reversal spell at Pettigrew, features extending, nose becoming shorter and fatter but still twitching. Apparently surviving just on rat food wasn't good for the human body because their once portly friend looked emaciated now, bones sticking out of his face.
"Sirius! Remus! My old friends." Sirius could think of nothing but to spit at this man's feet, how dare he pretend that he had done nothing. There was only one valid response to the rat, he lifted his arm, the anger already behind the spell, long before the words.
"Wait!" He was brought to pause, if only for a moment at his Godson's voice, "Killing him isn't the right way. Dad wouldn't want this."
Whatever pause button Harry had pressed finally failed. Fuck what James would have thought, James wasn't here, James was dead, and Sirius had spent twelve years in Azkaban. "Avada Kadavra." Slipped from his lips like silk through his fingertips. The children were absolutely stunned, but Remus was not, he was unsurprised. He looked unsure on whether he should approve or disapprove of the action, but he was unsurprised, nonetheless.
"I suppose someone should summon both Dumbledore and Amelia to sort this sorry mess." His words were blasé, almost callous, in the wake of his actions, and yet it spurred action. Hermione and Harry aiding Ron, his leg a tiny bit mangled. He nodded at the leg, "Sorry, about scaring you, had to be done."
The redhead grunted, a man of few words so it seemed.
His next kill was not until after the summer, though mainly because he was so incapacitated. First there had been the retrial. After they had wrongly convicted him for twelve years, they kindly looked over his indiscretion with Pettigrew past a small fine. They were only going to give the rat the Kiss anyway.
After court had come weeks of constant supervision and psych evaluations. He supposed it was only fitting as Azkaban wasn't known for letting its prisoners out in the best state of mind, especially not those that had rotted there for twelve years. He begrudged the system though, it kept him away from his Godson who was otherwise situated for his protection. He had promised the boy a family and come hell or high water he would give it to him eventually. So, he sucked up their treatments and evaluation and by the end of summer they gave him a clean bill of health.
He ended up returning to Hogwarts as Remus' pet dog. Remus had, despite Snape's best efforts, retained his employment at Hogwarts though this year would be taking over History of Magic. He was sure the students, who already liked Remus as it was, thought anything must be better than Binns. He had deigned to come along as Padfoot as it allowed him to stay close to Harry without Dumbledore having to come up with convoluted reasons. With Remus' secret out it gave wary parents comfort knowing there was something at Hogwarts that could keep the wolf at bay.
When Harry had seen him sleeping at Remus' feet on the train, he had been over-joyed. Maybe this wasn't quite what he had expected to do with his freedom, but with the Black fortune at his disposal he could dedicate his life to Harry. He could keep him safe.
Yes, his second kill came after the summer, just after Halloween when the names had been called from the Goblet of Fire. He knew it wasn't Harry who had put his name in, but his damn well bloody best friend didn't know it. He deserved to be punished for that, because it was hurting Harry, and as far as Sirius was concerned, nothing should hurt Harry.
This would prove to be one of the trickier murders to plan out and make sure Harry was in no way implicated. His timing had to be perfectly right. And so, he planned, his pranking background faring him well. The poison he chose (stole from Snape) was fact acting, in a matter of minutes, with a strong enough dose it would ravage the boy so quick it would never be caught.
It was beneficial that Ron was always the first to meals. He waited for an evening meal, knowing Harry could not be implicated due to training with his Quidditch team. With Ron being almost predictable in seating arrangement placing the poison beforehand was a piece of cake. He made sure it deteriorated soon enough that Harry could not be accused of placing it before going to Quidditch.
He watched with grim satisfaction as the redhead sipped from the goblet, a surprised look on his face due to the sweeter taste, before he carried on wantonly with his meal as if nothing was amiss.
By the time the Gryffindor Quidditch Team entered the great hall, spirits high, the first of Ron's convulsions were just started to creep onto him. Seconds later his brothers and sister were at his side, eyes frantic as they tried to stop the shaking that rattled his bones, stem the blood that oozed from his mouth and nose. By the time Madam Pomfrey arrived all was left was to announce a time and cause of death.
Sirius could not deny he felt sympathy for the family who had just lost a brother in such a tragic way. But he felt no remorse, he would make sure Harry experienced as little pain as possible.
His plan had worked well, when questions came Harry's way, between the Quidditch team and the nature of the poison, his name was cleared. Such a shame it remained an unsolved mystery. Really. It was.
The third he planned out would prove to be his sixth actually executed. He would have carried it out sooner, unfortunately he had to make it look as accidental as possible. And so, the three interims were taken out in one swell swoop. A family. Harry's caretakers. They deserved no such name. He was less careful with these deaths, taking pleasure in the bloodthirst of it. The plan stemming from a conversation with his Godson.
"Why is your name on the list to stay at Hogwarts?" Harry shrugged, not quite meeting his eyes.
"It's where I've spent Christmas since coming to Hogwarts. Plus, you and Remus will be here, won't you?" He hadn't planned on being, not until right this moment. He supposed Hogwarts would be better than dealing with Grimmauld place. So, he nodded instead. Remus wouldn't mind.
"You don't want to spend it with your relatives?" He pulled an absolutely disgusted look.
"They don't much care for me. And I much more care for the portion sized here." Harry's words sealed the Dursley's fate. They had been trusted with a precious burden, his Godson, and they had abused that gift. It would be the very last gift they would abuse.
He slipped away from Remus one evening on the ploy of getting Christmas gifts. If he came back empty handed, it was only because he hadn't found anything right. Alas, he did not find himself in Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley or even a muggle shopping centre. Instead he found himself in Surrey, a perfectly normal street, winter daylight providing darkness despite it barely being five in the evening. Number 4, Privet Drive. The address had not been difficult to get his hands on, and now he had it, it would be an address Muggles would not forget for a very long time.
He made sure his cloak covered his face well in the darkness. He couldn't continue to protect Harry if he got caught so early in the game. He barged through the door, he felt weirdly alive using his brute strength like a common Muggle, a scream of shock coming from within.
"Stay here, Pet, it's probably just some kids." He heard a deep voice from the sitting room, and then a whale lumbered his way from the sitting room, cheeks rushing with angry blood as he took in the intruder.
"What are you doing here?" His voice was demanding, but despite his size Sirius felt no fear. He let a grin spread onto his lips, eyes flashing in the meagre lamplight of the hallway.
"Officially, a robbery. Unofficially, I'm here to punish you for the way you treated my Godson." And then, before the man could formulate words, or even think those words, he rushed the landwhale, his knee coming up with all it's power. A dick shot really was the easiest way to incapacitate any man. Vernon Dursley crumpled to the ground, his knees indenting the carpet like it was made of thick foam as he crashed down. He grabbed the nearest heavy object he could find, an ugly beige lampshade, heaving it over his head and bringing it down onto the man's head where he knelt.
Except once he started, he could not stop. The first hit turned into ten, ten hits turned into twenty-five. His robe was splattered haphazardly with blood, but the carpet, the carpet was soaked. If he stepped too close to the body, his boot would squelch. He carried on way past the point the groans and whimpers had stopped, the only noise his own heaving pants.
When he finally moved on to Petunia she was curled into the corner of the sitting room, tears streaming down her face.
"For all you hated your sister, you'll get to see her again soon. Well, unless you go to hell." And then he pulled a knife from his pocket, jabbing it in any skin he could see. He wanted her to hurt, and hurt she did, screams raining down. But no one came running, because no one could hear. Magic truly was wonderful sometimes. When her body was more laceration than skin, he finally stopped. She was long dead anyway, even the blood on her face had started to congeal despite the tears that had kept it moist for longer. She was barely recognisable as human let alone Petunia Dursley.
He was kinder to the child, his end coming quickly with a clean slice to the jugular, his own mother's blood mixing into the wound from the shared knife. He smiled, satisfied, as he exited the house, stripping his cloak, letting an incendio take the house in its bitter flames. His face glowed from the heat of the fire as he apparated away.
His sixth kill, the one longest in planning, was Cedric Diggory. It was only right; he had managed to pull the girl that Harry had wanted for the Yule Ball and Harry should get the best. The perfect time had come around during the second task, just a nifty little spell.
He really shouldn't have chosen the bubble-head charm. As when he got under water it slowly shrank, so slowly Cedric did not notice until it was too late and it was more like a plastic bag over his face, suffocating him. Sirius was almost disappointed he could not see it in action, having to rely on his imagination. He could almost see it though, the boy calm for a good five minutes of the task before suddenly the feeling of being unable to breathe would catch him unaware, taking great gasping breaths as he tried to take in oxygen, but he would get no air, the bubble head pressing against his open mouth like latex, stretching but unforgiving. The panic would crawl into his veins like locusts, buzzing through him making the gasps come quicker, making the carbon dioxide fill the bubble and slowly replace oxygen as the only breathable substance. It would not last long, five minutes, maybe ten. And then his body would come floating to the top of the river, eyes vacant.
Honestly, it was a tragedy, simple human error from a badly erected charm.
He was like an alcoholic, one was never enough. As time went on his body count increased, the reasons for the crime flimsy at best. He had never felt so alive.
A rejection from Cho Chang led to her death. She jumped from the astronomy tower, still distraught from Cedric. Very sad.
Dean Thomas trying to date Ginny, when the girl belonged to Harry, meant his days were numbered. He fell back on the poison for a second time.
Marietta didn't just betray Harry, she betrayed the whole DA. It was just chance she was allergic to one of the spot treatments she used to try and get rid of 'SNEAK' across her face.
Umbridge would be one nobody would miss; she should have known better than using a blood quill on her Godson. One really shouldn't go so close to the Forbidden Forest so late at night, the Centaurs, when trampling her to death, were only protecting their home.
Those Occlumency lessons were a farce and Snape knew it. Took pleasure in the mental torture he subjected Harry to. Snape's death would prove to be simultaneously one of the most satisfying and dissatisfying deaths. Satisfying because he had wanted Snape to die for years on end. Dissatisfying because he could not be the one to carry it out. He merely ratted him out, anonymously, to Voldemort as a spy for the light. It turned out Voldemort did not suffer traitors well.
Malfoy was a given, had been a git his whole life. Slitting his throat and framing Pansy Parkinson had been beautiful. She had just been a disgruntled girl, scorned by his lack of attention. That one more snake ended up in Azkaban was no water off his back.
On and on he went, the cycle like a water wheel that never stopped. There was always someone upsetting Harry, and all Sirius wanted was for Harry to be happy. He was killing someone new nearly every week. Hogwarts students, adults, professors. Voldemort was doing much the same. Numbers were depleting, fear was high. And that was then Dumbledore gave the final blow.
"Harry is a Horcrux. For this war to end, he must die." And inside Sirius was screaming. He was good, but he could not face the entire Wizarding World. Not without being caught.
If he hugged Remus a little tighter that evening before going to his own room, well then it wasn't a goodbye. And if, on his way to his own room he pulled Harry to his own room, well then it wasn't final.
Except it was a goodbye, and it was final. He pulled Harry into the tightest hug he could physically manage; he placed a kiss to the lightning bolt on his Godson's forehead.
"I'm so sorry that I've failed you Harry. I tried so very hard to protect you, but in the end it wasn't enough." He could feel the tears in his throat, feel the finality in the shake of his weary hands.
"What are you on about Siri? You've been great, you are great. I love you." He was so sincere, green eyes blazing with it. The reason he had tried so hard, and yet it had all been for naught.
"I'm sorry, Harry." His words barely above a whisper before he pulled his wand. He spoke those words that had started it all, just as easily coming to him, yet the bitterest thing he had ever felt, "Avada Kadavra." The shock was still etched into Harry's face as he caught the falling body, finally he let the tears he had not let Harry see show.
He lay Harry on his bed, he looked asleep, in the midst of an uncomfortable dream. Maybe that's what it was. Sirius lay down next to Harry, pulling the corpse into his chest with one hand, his tears wetting Harry's cheek. He lifted his wand, turning it inwards.
"Avada Kedavra." The words rang out again, green stripped towards him and then there was nothing. His wand clattered first to the bed before bouncing and rolling to the floor. He had tried his best, but his best was not enough.
It was for the best that death brought nothing, for the best that neither Harry nor Sirius heard the guttural screamed ripped from Remus' lips as the realisation that they were not, in fact, asleep dawned upon him.
I'm not quite sure where this plot bunny came from, but I had to get it out. Both a bit darker and shorter than usual. But I hope you enjoy and drop a review