Breaking The Ice
(October 31st, 1982)
Remus Lupin was frustrated. This was his 100th rejection letter. "Why do I even bother opening them? The next envelope I see goes directly in the trash," he growled angrily to himself. He was just about to get ready for bed when he heard a knock at the door. He frowned. "Who could that be at this hour?" he thought. He opened the door, and standing there was none other than Regulus Black. Remus' jaw dropped. "Regulus Black?" He exclaimed. "But you're dead!" "Do I look dead to you, Lupin?" Regulus replied dryly. "But.. how? And why did you come here of all places?" Asked Remus, still shocked. "I faked my death. The Dark Lord made a huge mistake in sending Barty Crouch Jr. to kill me, seeing as he is my best friend. He pretended to blow me up, but he just hit the opposite wall. I escaped to Norway. I came here to tell you this: The Potters are alive, Sirius Black is innocent, Peter Pettigrew is the traitor." "Ok, I believe that you're alive, but not the other three things you said. It's just not possible. I read it in the Daily Prophet." replied Remus. "Well you will believe me once I roll the flashback." Regulus smirked and snapped his fingers for the flashback.
Flashback: (Norway, October 30, 1981)
"Thanks Anna." Said Regulus to his owl who was intercepting papers from Britain for him. Regulus read the paper and choked on his tea. "WHAT THE HELL!" He exclaimed. "What's the matter?" Asked Kristoff, a fellow wizard from Durmstrang. "The Potters are in danger. I gotta go back to Britain. Sorry Kristoff." Replied Regulus. "But I thought you hated the Potters? Seeing as they took your brother from you?" Asked Kristoff. "That's not the point. I'm not a death eater anymore, remember?" Asked Regulus. Before Kristoff could reply, Regulus Apparated to Godric's Hollow. Careful not to be seen by anyone, Regulus knocked on the Potters' door. James opened the door. "Oh hey Pads, What's up?" He said, mistaking Regulus for his brother. "I-im not Sirius. I'm his brother…" "Wait, what? No you're not. Regulus Black is dead." Said James, now alarmed and pointing his wand at Regulus. "No I really am Regulus Black. I faked my death." "Fine, tell me something only Regulus would know." "Sirius shut me out. After he ran away to Potter Manor, I came to your house begging for him to come back." Said Regulus confidently. "Wow, you really are Regulus." Said James, finally lowering his wand. "Why have you come here?" He asked. "To warn you. Your life is in danger. Pettigrew's working for the Dark Lord." "How did you know Wormtail's our secret keeper?" James exclaimed. "Because I knew that my brother would never betray you, and you don't trust Lupin enough seeing as he is a werewolf." "How did you know Remus is a werewolf?" "uhhhh Snape told me in your sixth year." Said Regulus, shrinking back. "HE WHAT?" Roared James. "D-don't worry, He only told me, no one else, and I didn't tell anyone else. I swear. " Said Regulus quickly. "Fine, I believe you. What do you mean Wormtail's working for you know who?" "Why else would you suddenly go into hiding?" Asked Regulus. "Oh, I see your point. THAT BLOODY TRAITOR!" Roared James. "What are we going to do?" He asked, finally calming down. "Well, I've got an idea." smirked Regulus. "Is everything ok here?" Asked Lily, coming to see what the commotion was all about. James explained everything to Lily. Then, smirking, Regulus told the Potters the plan.
October 31st, 1981
"Lily! Go! Run! It's him! Take Harry and run! I'll hold him off!" Exclaimed James as Voldemort opened the door. Voldemort laughed and blasted the Avada Kedavra curse at James who crumpled to the floor. Voldemort then moved upstairs to Harry's bedroom. "No! Not Harry! Please not Harry! I'll do anything!" "Move, you foolish girl," Voldemort growled and shot the Avada Kedavra at Lily, who also dropped dead. As Voldemort tried to kill Harry. Something happened and Voldemort suddenly lost all his powers. Harry was only left with a scar on his forehead.
A few minutes later,
Sirius Black burst through the door to Godric's Hollow. "NO! PRONGS!" He yelled and sobbed over James' lifeless body, when he heard a wail from upstairs. Sirius froze and looked up. "Is Harry alive?" He thought hopefully. He went upstairs to Harry's bedroom and choked back a sob as he saw Lily was also dead and Harry was crying. Sirius picked up Harry and took him outside where Hagrid was waiting. "Oh, hey Hagrid, i'm just gonna take Harry if that's alright," "No yer not. Harry's ter go with the Dursleys." "Wait, what? No! Harry's coming with me!" "Sorry Sirius, Dumbledore's orders." Sirius nodded, "Fine," He said and went to look for Pettigrew.
Still a few minutes later,
Regulus opened the door with two new lifeless death eater bodies. "Okay James, you can open your eyes now." James opened his eyes. "Oh, hey Regulus." "What's wrong?" Asked Regulus when he saw that James' eyes were wet. "P-padfoot came by earlier. He took Harry." "Oh, ok" said Regulus, unsure of what to say. "Why are you carrying two dead bodies?" Asked James suspiciously, thankfully changing the topic. "For polyjuice potion. I'm pretty sure Aurors are going to come back to retrieve your bodies." "Oh, ok. I'm going to get Lily." A few seconds later, James came back down the stairs with Lily. "Okay, the polyjuice potion is all ready. Now I just need a strand of hair from both of you." James and Lily obliged. After making sure the bodies were in the correct position. "Now what?" Asked Lily. "I'm going to take you somewhere safer than Godric's Hollow. I hope you don't mind but… I'm hiding you in Number 12 Grimmauld Place." replied Regulus. "WHAT?" James and Lily yelled together. "It's the only place I could think of, and if it makes you feel any better, you're going to stay in Sirius' old room." Said Regulus quickly. "Fine," grumbled James and Lily.
End of Flashback:
"You hid James and Lily Potter in NUMBER 12 GRIMMAULD PLACE?" Exclaimed Remus. "Look, the important thing is that James and Lily are alive and well, and Sirius is innocent." Said an exasperated Regulus Black. "Fine, I believe everything you just said, but what are we going to do?" Asked Remus. "We're going to break Sirius out of Azkaban, bring him to Grimmauld Place to reunite with the Potters, go to Dumbledore and explain everything to him, try to get a fair trial for Sirius, go to the Dursleys, rescue Harry, reunite him with his parents, repair Godric's Hollow, and everyone lives happily ever after." "Look, I know Slytherins are supposed to be ambitious, but there are so many things that could go wrong with that plan." reasoned Remus. "We never know if we don't try." smirked Regulus. "So what do you say, Lupin? Are you going to help me carry out this crazy plan? Or are you planning to break the world record for how many rejection letters one person can get?" Remus blushed. "Sure ok i'll help."
In Azkaban
Sirius Black was sobbing. Today was the anniversary of James and Lily's deaths. The dementors were just about to open the door to give him food when a large, silver white wolf chased it away, and in its place stood Remus Lupin. "M-moony? No! The dementors are getting to me! I'm going insane! YOU'RE NOT REAL!" Sirius screamed. In response, Remus promptly walked over and punched Sirius, hard, in the stomach. "I'm pretty sure no hallucination could ever do that," he growled as Sirius gasped in shock. "Moony, you're real! But, why did you come here?" asked Sirius. "Because I know you're innocent. Regulus told me everything. The Potters are alive. I've come to take you to them." "But Moony, they're all dead." said Sirius, frowning. "How could Regulus have told you anything?" "Oi, Regulus, you're brother wants to see you," called Remus casually over his shoulder. Regulus Black finally came into view, riding his notorious Hogwarts broomstick. The one that every Slytherin admired, every Gryffindor hated, and every Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff feared. "Sup, Siri" he grinned as he saw his brother's eyes widen in shock. "R-Regulus? But how?" he exclaimed. Remus and Regulus both explained everything to him. "Wait, YOU HID JAMES AND LILY POTTER IN NUMBER 12 GRIMMAULD PLACE?" Sirius roared. Regulus only rolled his eyes "Honestly, this is getting quite old. It's okay Sirius, if it makes you feel any better, I hid them in your old room." "No it does not make me feel any better." Sirius grumbled irritably. "Are you going to sit here moping about how the Potters are in the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black or do you want to actually see them after one year?" asked Regulus, exasperated. "Fine, I'll see them," muttered Sirius. "I see you still haven't changed," said Remus dryly as he followed him onto Regulus' broom. Sirius grinned. "Nope, not one bit." he replied cheerfully.
At Number 12 Grimmauld Place,
"Where's Regulus?" Asked James. "He's not back yet?" Asked Lily, worriedly. "Doesn't look like it." Just then the door slammed open and in walked Regulus Black, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin. "PADFOOT!" James went to hug Sirius. Lily fell into Remus' arms "I'm so sorry Remus,'' she wailed. "What are you sorry for?" asked Remus, surprised. "We thought you were the traitor, that's why we didn't tell you we were switching secret keepers." "Yeah, sorry mate." said James sheepishly. "That's okay, I don't blame you guys," replied Remus. "Are we going to Dumbledore now?" Sirius asked his brother. Regulus thought for a while. "No, let's all stay here for the night to rest. We'll go to Dumbledore first thing tomorrow morning." "Fine," grumbled Sirius irritably. "Wait, I just thought of something," exclaimed Remus suddenly. "What is it?" asked James. "Well, if we don't find Pettigrew, then we don't have enough evidence to prove that Sirius is innocent." explained Remus. "Way ahead of you, Lupin, I already know where Pettigrew is." replied Regulus. "How?" asked Sirius, shocked and amazed. "Why did you think it took one year to break you out of Azkaban Sirius? I was there in the street when Pettigrew blew it up. I transfigured myself into a rat and followed Pettigrew to The Burrow." replied Regulus, looking proud. "I'll get Pettigrew to Grimmauld Place, you guys stay here," he instructed. "How will you do that?" asked Sirius. Sighing, Regulus turned into a large, bear like dog, the same size as Padfoot, but white. Sirius gasped. "How did you-" Regulus turned back and said "Mother and Father wanted me to become an animagus in case the Aurors came looking for me. When I finally did it, Mother and Father decided to keep it a secret, so I guess you guys weren't the only unregistered animagi running around Hogwarts." explained Regulus. "Anyways, I gotta go to The Burrow to get Pettigrew," he added as he transformed back into a big white dog and headed for The Burrow.
At The Burrow,
It was the middle of the night. Fred and George Weasley were planning to play a prank on their older brother Percy when they heard a whimper at the door. Curious, they cautiously opened the door and saw a huge, beautiful white german shepherd whining. He was obviously in pain. Delighted, the twins decided to bring him inside and put him in Percy's room to scare him. Regulus was surprised that the redhead twins didn't call their parents. "Must be pranksters," he thought. Suddenly, he saw Wormtail. He went up to him and whispered. "Hello, Wormtail, I am Regulus Black, a death eater, come with me, I promise I won't hurt you." Wormtail squeaked in alarm. "N-no thanks, won't the death eaters kill me?" "No they won't. I promise. Now please come with me." Wormtail agreed.
Back at Grimmauld Place,
Regulus, now in human form, opened the door to Sirius' room, and to Wormtail's horror, standing there were Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and the Potters, alive and furious. Wormtail let out a loud squeak of alarm and tried to escape, but Regulus held on to him with an iron grip. Regulus then threw Wormtail to the floor and transformed him back to Peter Pettigrew. "J-James, L-Lily, y-you're alive," he squeaked. James growled and stepped forward, fists clenched. Lily held her husband back, looking at Peter in disgust. Peter then turned to Sirius and Remus. "S-Sirus, R-Remus, my old friends," squeaked Peter pathetically. Sirius raised his wand. Remus held his arm down, gave him a look, and addressed Peter, "Hello Peter, fancy seeing you here," he said stiffly. Finally, Peter turned to Regulus. "You said you were taking me to the Death Eaters," he accused. Regulus only smirked. "What did you expect, Pettigrew? I AM a Slytherin after all, and Slytherins can be quite deceiving, can't they? Although, I must admit, I never heard of a Gryffindor who willingly turns over his friends to the Dark Lord." said Regulus. "AHA So you admit that you were a secret Death Eater?" exclaimed Sirius. "N-no," stuttered Peter. Remus rolled his eyes and said "You always were a terrible liar Pettigrew." "I'm disgusted just looking at him. Throw him in the cellar." said Sirius, looking away in disgust.
The next day,
"GUYS, I explained everything to Dumbledore, He says he'll write to the Ministry for a fair trial for you Padfoot!" exclaimed Remus, bursting into Grimmauld Place. "Wow, that's awesome, Moony!" exclaimed Sirius, James, and Lily. Regulus was in the cellar, making sure Peter didn't escape.
A few hours later,
"Hey guys, I got a letter from Dumbledore, the trial's next week!" exclaimed Remus. "Nice!" the others cheered. Sirius was finally going to be free!
Next week, at the trial,
"Sirius Orion Black, you are accused of betraying the Potters and murdering Peter Pettigrew. How do you plead?" asked Cornelius Fudge. "Not guilty, your honor," replied Sirius. "Very well, please give satisfying evidence that you are innocent," said Fudge, rolling his eyes. "I'd like to call to the stand, James and Lily Potter," said Sirius. James and Lily came into view. "Your honor, Sirius is really innocent. We switched secret keepers at the last second. Sirius would never betray us." said James. "Fine, even if that is true, Peter Pettigrew is still dead." "That's what you think," retorted Lily and transformed Wormtail to Pettigrew. The whole courtroom gasped in shock. "That will be all, you honor," said Sirius. "V-very well," said Fudge, recovering from his shock. "All in favor of throwing Black back into Azkaban?" He asked the courtroom, raising his own hand. About half raised their hand, but before Sirius could count, they lowered their hands again. "All in favor of releasing Black?" asked Fudge. About the same number raised their hands. "Very well it is a close call, with a vote of 26-24, the accused is… cleared, of all charges, and Pettigrew shall be thrown into Azkaban in his place," he said very reluctantly. "Thank you, your honor," said Sirius solemnly, hiding a grin as James, Lily, Remus, and Regulus cheered and danced behind him. As the five were exiting the Ministry, Sirius heard a voice behind him that said, "Hey, Sirius Black." Sirius turned around and saw Ted Tonks. "Hey! I know you! You're that Hufflepuff Prefect. Andromeda's husband." "That's right. Also head of the Aurors department. Listen, Sirius, on behalf of the Ministry, I want to apologize for believing you were a mad mass murderer." "That's okay, the Ministry's kind of thick headed if you ask me." Ted smiled and said, "Is there anything the Aurors can do for you?" Sirius thought for a while and said, "Well, you can repair Godric's Hollow." "Okay, I'll inform you when it's done." "Sounds good."
1 Week Later,
"Prongs! Lily! I just got a letter from Ted Tonks! He says they finished repairing Godric's Hollow!" exclaimed Sirius. "Took them long enough," muttered James. "That's great Padfoot!" said Lily happily.
In the Middle of the Night,
"Ok Lily, here's the plan, we take my Invisibility Cloak, Apparate to the Dursleys, rescue Harry, and Apparate back to Godric's Hollow," James whispered. "ok," said Lily. James and Lily then Apparated to Number 4 Privet Drive under the Invisibility Cloak, found Harry in the cupboard under the stairs, ("I'm going to kill Petunia," Lily growled angrily) and Apparated back to Godric's Hollow. The next morning, Harry woke up and was delighted to be back in his old house and to see his parents standing over him, beaming. He was finally reunited with his parents.