This is actually a story I wrote almost three years ago for an AP Psych project (published on Wattpad at the time) about the stages of grief. Which, if you haven't guessed, means it's going to be a sadder story.

Godric's Hollow was quiet, a hush had fallen over the neighborhood. The silence was broken by the roar of a motorcycle as Sirius Black ascended onto the lawn of a house in ruin. He had barely landed the bike when he was off, running towards the house even though he was terrified of what he might find. When he got close, however, he saw Hagrid walking out of the house with a small bundle in his arms. His heart dropped and he rushed forward.

"Harry?" Sirius saw the bundle squirm and Harry's head popped out of the blankets. He saw Sirius and started reaching for him. His face went pale, "No. It can't be. They-" His voice cut out as he sobbed. He started mumbling too incoherently for Hagrid to understand him, so the giant just tried to comfort him, mumbling words Sirius couldn't hear.

"Pafoo!" Harry shouted, reaching for Sirius again.

"Hagrid, please." Sirius looked up from Harry into Hagrid's eyes, "Give him to me, I can take care of him, I promise. I'll even have Remus come over to make sure I don't do anything stupid. Please, Hagrid. It's what James and Lily would have wanted."

"I got orders directly from Dumbledore ter bring him ter his Aunt and Uncle's Sirius. An' Dumbledore knows what's best fer Harry."

It felt like a punch in the gut to hear that. "Please Hagrid, you know Lily and James would've wanted him with me, please, he's my godson Hagrid. You know I trust Dumbledore as much as you do, but you know how much Lily's sister hated her."

Hagrid hesitated for a moment, but stayed firm in following his orders.

Sirius bowed his head, "Okay. Just - just take good care of him. You can use my bike to get him there, I... I won't be needing it after this."

Hagrid thanked him and carried Harry with him as he launched into the night sky. Sirius watched him go before turning back to the house. He knew he shouldn't go in, that it would only make it worse, but he had to see them with his own eyes. He just couldn't bring himself to believe two of his best friends were gone, despite all the evidence. But the truth hit him as soon as he stepped in the door. He saw his best friend in the world on his back, no signs of movement at all. He spotted two massive footprints in the dust next to him, and Sirius knew there was no hope. He collapsed right in the doorway, tears flowing freely as he tried to deny it.

But when the tears dried, nearly twenty minutes later, he remembered who had caused all this, who everyone had mistakenly trusted, and rage consumed him. He turned and punched the wall nearest to him, making dust fall from the destroyed ceiling. He turned his head upwards, where an entire section of the sky was visible through the crumbling house. "I will get you for this Peter." He vowed, his voice a deadly whisper, "If it's the last thing I do, I will make you pay for this. You will not get away with this, you coward."

He pulled himself up and forced himself further into the house, desperate to find some sign of life. Hell, even the cat. He didn't find anything else on the first floor, and he picked his way up the crumbling stairs to look up there. The first thing he noticed when he got upstairs was the nursery door hanging on a single hinge. It looked as if the destruction of the house had originated from there and gone outwards. If he wasn't sure Harry was safe he would have fallen apart completely.

"Please," he murmured to himself, "Not Lily too. I'll do anything, just let Lily be safe. Let her have escaped. For Harry, just let her be safe. Don't make him stay with those people. She has to be safe. If she's safe I'll keep them both safe forever."

He begged until he could bring himself to walk into the room. All his hopes were crushed as soon as he did. Her hair was strewn across her face, covered in dust but still as red as ever. Sirius could see right away that any hope he had of his friends being alive had been crushed. For the second time that night, he collapsed, sobbing as he talked to himself. "This is all my fault. I should have known! I could have stopped this, I should have stopped this! I've lost everything. Everyone. Remus will hate me, he thinks I was the Secret Keeper. There's no way Harry's Aunt and Uncle will let me anywhere near their house, but he'll hate me too, once he knows the truth. This is all my fault."

He picked up a picture frame, the glass had cracked, and he took out the picture inside of it. It was a picture of him and Harry, the day he found out he would be Harry's godfather. Dogfather, they'd joked, "I'm so sorry Harry. I'm so, so sorry."

He put the picture in his pocket and left the house. He knew exactly what he was going to do. He was going to avenge Lily and James, laws be damned.

Sirius never truly got to the point where he accepted that he had lost two of his best friends until years later. The first time he met up with Remus after moving to Grimmauld Place, Remus walked into the room to see Sirius staring at a picture Harry had sent him of Lily and James.

"They're really gone, aren't they?" He asked without looking up.

Remus just nodded and joined Sirius at the table.

I'll openly admit I sobbed when I first wrote this, and shed a tear when setting it up to publish here.

~PH