Here's the next part! It's not horribly interesting, but it bridges the gap between the last chapter and the story's end. I hope you enjoy it, even if you don't review. =]
Realization
Remus stumbled and caught himself before he landed face-first on the streets of Hogsmeade. He was pretty sure he had somehow managed to land on a rock and been set off balance. With his wand still out, he scrambled out of Hogsmeade and into the Shrieking Shack. He knew he would not be able to get into the school through the main gates without having to wait for someone to confirm his identity and let him in. The Shrieking Shack was a much better option, for Dumbledore had set up defenses that could only be broken by Remus when he had allowed his use of the Shack to continue after graduation.
He ran down the path, snaking his hand out from the entrance of the Whomping Willow, to stop the branches from swinging dangerously. He bolted from the opening of the tree and made his way without falter to the school. He yanked open the front doors and ran head-first into Hagrid. Slightly stunned, he put a hand to his temple and stepped back.
"Hagrid!" he exclaimed, cutting off Hagrid's own projections of greeting and confusion. "I need to see Albus!" Noting the urgency in Remus' tone and his harassed demeanor, Hagrid, without question, scooped him up into his arms in quite an embarrassing fashion, and ran as fast as his large legs could carry him right to the entrance of Dumbledore's office.
"Peppermint stick!" he yelled, rushing the gargoyle out of his way. When they reached the winding staircase, Hagrid thankfully placed Remus back on his feet. "What is it?" he whispered, his gruff voice full of concern. "It ain't Sirius, is it?"
Remus shook his head. They had reached the Headmaster's office. It was still strange for Remus to be here and not feel as though he were in trouble. There had been very few times while at school that he had graced the Headmaster's office without being in some sort of trouble caused by James and Sirius. Right now, that all seemed so far away.
"Come in," said a voice that was unmistakably Dumbledore's.
Suddenly, all of Remus' thoughts and fears rushed into him, and out through his mouth. He was talking as soon as he walked through the doorway.
"Lily and James are dead," he began, his voice calm in his current state of shock at the truth of what he had just witnessed. His entire focus was on Sirius' orders: Get Dumbledore. "Voldemort got them. He killed them, Albus." Tears were leaking profusely from his eyes as his thoughts jumped back to the still, cold, pale form of Lily Potter. Two of his oldest and dearest friends were gone. They would never be replaced. It was devastation like he never thought he could physically or mentally handle. Hagrid, who stood behind him, was shocked and appalled. He seemed to have lost his voice entirely, silent beetle-sized tears crawling down his massive cheeks and into his wiry beard.
Remus put a calming hand on Hagrid's elbow, silently wishing Sirius were here to do the same for him. The werewolf continued with his bomb-dropping. "Harry is alive."
At this, the old wizard's eyes visibly widened. "Powers he did not foresee," he whispered more to himself than anyone in his presence. "Where is he, Remus?"
"Sirius stayed with him at the house." Remus paused, "Or what's left of it."
Suddenly, Dumbledore was on his feet, looking over Remus' shoulders at Hagrid. "I need you to go to Godric's Hollow. I need you to get the child and bring him to this address." Dumbledore held out a small piece of parchment, scribbled on in his loopy penmanship. Hagrid nodded once, before exiting the office in determination.
Dumbledore turned back to Remus, whose face was contorted in confusion. Dumbledore silenced him with a hand, signaling that he would explain everything. He beckoned Remus into the chair across from him. Remus had a silly urge to yell at the man that he wasn't a school boy anymore. He had seen death. He had seen the death of two of his closest friends. He didn't want to be treated like a child.
"Sirius was the Potters' Secret-Keeper," Dumbledore explained, gently. "He was the only one who could have given the Potters to Voldemort."
The realization and stupidity at having missed it smacked Remus across the face. Hard. "No," he whispered for the second time that night as something unbelievable wormed its way into his mind. "Albus." His voice was pleading, his eyes welling up again. "You should have seen him when we got to James'." Remus couldn't believe it. He wouldn't believe it. This was the man he loved more than anything in life. Sirius was the one person he trusted and truly understood. This was not something Sirius was capable of. And yet, Remus' own mind had to rationalize, what other explanation could there have been? "He cried over Lily's body. He found Harry. He carried him through a crumbling house. How…how could he have been the one?" His voice was becoming frantic as he fought to defend his lover. "This is James we're talking about, Albus! Sirius and JAMES!"
Dumbledore bowed his head graciously. "I know you are upset, Remus, and you have every right to be. But there is no other explanation. Sirius was their Secret-Keeper. Only he could have given their whereabouts to Voldemort. And as far as I can assume, he did this willingly. You must remember that there was a traitor in the Order."
Here, Remus cut him off violently. "IT WASN'T SIRIUS!" He was leaning menacingly over the Headmaster's desk, staring into his great blue orbs with malice he liked to believe belonged solely to the wolf.
Dumbledore only sat quietly, patiently. Remus hated the way he could be so calm when the world was falling around their shoulders. James and Lily were dead, and it was Sirius' fault. It was almost too much for Remus to handle.
"He couldn't have done it, Albus," Remus pleaded, breathing heavily, his voice kept steady with practiced skill. "He was with me from the time he left the Pettigrews' to the time we arrived in Godric's Hollow." He paused, racking his brain for any other fact that could save Sirius from persecution. "He wouldn't have had time to go to Voldemort."
"Were you with him at Peter's?" Dumbledore inquired knowingly. Remus did not have to answer. "There is no way of knowing where Sirius went before he arrived at your apartment." His voice was soft, understanding, but it only served to make Remus' anger bubble. He remained silent, staring across the cluttered desk with an awful mix of nausea, anger and disbelief sitting in his stomach.
"I have to find him, Albus," he made to stand up, but the old wizard had already seen this coming and had magically kept the werewolf bound to his seat. He could move freely, but his body could not physically be removed completely from the chair. It served to anger him even further.
Dumbledore's hands were folded on top of his desk, his eyes gleaming sadly behind his half-moon spectacles. "I can't let you go, Remus," he said calmly, oblivious to the werewolf's outrage. "I have to awaken Professor McGonagall and meet Hagrid at Harry's aunt and uncle's house to explain their situation. When all is said and done, I will do my best to find Sirius and withdraw from him the truth."
Remus' eyes glistened as tears poured down his cheeks. "You can't leave me here, Albus," he begged. "I have to find him. I have to know if this is his fault. I just can't believe it."
The Headmaster had already walked around his desk and was heading towards the door to his study. Before shutting the door behind him, he gave a short flick of his wand in Remus' direction. He smiled sadly as he stepped out onto the spiraling staircase.
After his departure, Remus knew he would be able to leave. He left through the same door Dumbledore had exited through just seconds before, and yet the man was nowhere to be seen. Ignoring the curiosity his brain registered at this fact, Remus ran as hard and fast as he could through the school and back into Hogsmeade the same way he had come. When he tried to apparate, he realized Dumbledore had not made it quite that easy for him to leave. He could not apparate; not here, at least. With a quick swear, he began running again.
***
Sirius watched as Remus twisted himself out of sight as he left on his search for Dumbledore. In the few seconds after his departure, Sirius felt a severe loneliness and was at a loss for what to do. He continued to hold young Harry, even as the child struggled against him, wanting to get down and run and play. Sirius could not bear the thought of losing him like he had lost James. This was the last little piece of James left in the world, and he would never let it go. James had made him Godfather for a reason. Eventually, Sirius and the child sat on the brick wall that surrounded what was left of the Potters' home. Harry, seeming to realize his loss in the battle against Sirius' embrace, had fallen asleep on his chest. The man moved him into his lap, where the child curled up in an almost dog-like fashion that, in different circumstances, would have made Sirius proud.
It was the thought of how he would have teased James about his son taking after his Godfather rather than his real father that sparked a horrendous understanding in his mind. Peter Pettigrew was responsible for this.
Sirius swore quietly under his breath as he realized what he had to do. No one but himself, James, Lily and Peter knew that the Secret-Keeper had been changed at the last second. It was him everyone would be after. It was him who was now as good as a murderer. But more importantly, and sickeningly, it was his fault James had died. James and his entire family had died because Sirius had done something indescribably rash, changing their Secret-Keeper when there was a traitor in their midst. He could not deny that he had never once suspected Peter of being the traitor, but he should have been wary of everyone. For Merlin's sake, he had even suspected Remus! He never should have given his duty away. He, himself was the only person he knew for a fact was not the traitor. For that reason alone he should not have given the responsibility of Secret-Keeper to anyone else.
But he had. And his best friend and his family had paid the price for it. Sirius' breathing was labored, and had Harry not been curled in his lap, he would have left right then, and hunted that traitorous rat down. As was so characteristically Black, he replaced his sorrow with anger and a rash desire to get revenge. He vowed, in those moments of silent thought, that he would not rest until Peter Pettigrew was dead.
His fists had clenched tightly at his sides. He looked down at the small figure sleeping on him, and could only manage to twist his lips into a mangled, pained mix of a smile and grimace. This child had no idea what he had just lost. He would never know what he had lost. He had lost the greatest and most loving parents anyone could have asked for. Sirius knew, as he looked into the sleeping face of Harry Potter, that he had to avenge his family, his loss. He had to try to make this right, before the entire Wizarding World hunted him down. He was sure, were he given time to speak with Dumbledore, he could worm his way out of Azkaban, but at that moment, prison was not what he feared or even what he cared about. His every thought revolved around his dead best friend, the child left behind, and the man who was responsible. Peter Pettigrew.
His gaze had been glazed and unfocused. Even so, he could not miss the gigantic figure rushing towards him. It was unmistakably Hagrid. Sirius could see the tear-streaks on the man's face as he neared.
"Hagrid," Sirius spoke softly, as the man stopped before him. "Where is Dumbledore?" That was who Sirius really needed to speak with.
"He's with Remus," Hagrid said, his voice cracking as he looked at the ruins behind the animagus. Harry had stirred and woken up at their voices. He sat up happily on Sirius' lap, looking at the great man before him with interest. "I have orders from Dumbledore ter take Harry ter his aunt an' uncle's," Hagrid said with purpose.
At this, Sirius looked at him sharply. "I'm his Godfather. Why should he not stay with me?" He wrapped a protective arm around the boy struggling to get away from him and explore the man of monstrous proportions before him.
Hagrid stood tall, towering over Sirius, who had also stood as he allowed Harry to scamper away from him. In most situations, Sirius succeeded in becoming the intimidating one, being very tall. But he could not compete with Hagrid's giant blood. Hagrid scooped Harry up in his arms as the child stared up at him in something like shock. Hagrid was smiling broadly as the small child ran his fingers through the man's great beard. Looking back at Sirius, he repeated, "I have orders from Dumbledore."
Sirius understood this to be final. He wanted to protest, but he knew Hagrid would not hesitate to knock him out if it meant following Dumbledore's orders flawlessly. His shoulders sagged in defeat as he nodded once in Hagrid's direction. "All right," he said quietly, that feeling of utter loneliness threatening to overcome him once more. "Take my bike," he said, pointing towards his massive motorcycle lying on its side several yards away. "I suppose I won't be needing it anymore." He knew where he would go when Hagrid and Harry were gone. He would be hunting Pettigrew and he would either die or be sent to Azkaban for his efforts. Both options seemed to be a fair choice if it meant the end of that vile creature he had mistakenly given power to.
Hagrid moved towards him cautiously. "I'm sorry fer yer loss, Sirius," he said in his best gentle voice. "They were good people, Lily n' James. They'll be missed." With that, he turned to walk towards the motorcycle Sirius had offered him. He knew about this bike, having received the honor of riding it once. He knew it could fly.
Hagrid sat atop the motorcycle that quickly sank several inches into the ground, holding small Harry tightly to his chest, when Sirius' voice stopped him again.
"Hagrid?" Sirius said, walking towards him, "How did you get here?" Both men knew Hagrid used magic though he was not allowed, but Sirius knew the man could not apparate. He wanted to know how Dumbledore would be arriving, for he was sure Dumbledore would not apparate at a time like this.
"Oh," the great man said, as he kick-started the motorcycle's engine with a roar that surprised the small child he held. "I flooed in through Bathilda Bagshot's fire." With that, he gave Sirius a short salute before shooting himself, Harry and the motorcycle up into the air and away from the horrible devastation that had ripped young Harry's life to shreds. Sirius could only watch sadly as they went.
I promise, the next part is more exciting.
And I'd like to specifically thank Moony's daughter for taking the time to review on every chapter. This is all for you!
