Chapter 2

Sirius was a mess.

After finding Peter's house empty the night before, he'd apparated straight to Godric's Hollow, and the Potter home. Only to find his best friend's hiding place burning out of control.

He screamed and sobbed, beating at the ground at the unfairness of it all. Sirius had been the one to get all those fireworks for Lily, knowing she planned on messing with them to make another layer of defense, something of a bomb of last resort. He knew she wouldn't have set the bloody things off if there was no other way to stop Voldemort from killing Harry - or, if the Dark Lord had already murdered her son, and the woman was pushed by grief into setting off the explosion.

No matter how it had happened, the Potters were dead.

And it was all Peter's fault.

The arrival of that thought in his mind did wonders for pulling Sirius back to his senses, and the man quickly got control of himself.

James, Lily and Harry were gone. So was Voldemort. And soon, Pettigrew would be dead as well.

Sirius swore it.

-CE-

Severus sat at his kitchen table, stunned.

Before him lay that morning's copy of the Daily Prophet, the front page covered with an article it had taken his reading through three times before the words began to sink in. He'd known, the night before, the very instant that Lord Voldemort was gone - his Dark Mark had burned with a fierce, agonizing pain one moment, and then went completely inactive the next. Not even a wisp of power remained to indicate his Master's presence.

Not that Severus was dejected, for he'd ceased to belong to man the instant Lily's life came on the line. For most of the night, he'd been debating messaging the woman, to ask if she was alright, but held back because of the supposed difference of their sides. Besides, he wouldn't have the first idea of where to send the owl.

But then, with dawn barely beginning to paint the world with bright color once more, the paper was delivered to his home, and it all became moot.

Because Lily was dead.

Dark Mark displayed in the sky or not, it was clear her home had been attacked - by Voldemort himself, most likely. Thanks to the flames utterly destroying the premises, it was unclear who had been inside at the time. The Prophet, though, was making their opinion clear in what was not strictly said: that they believed the members of the Potter family were dead, along with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

Granted, that latter point was only included thanks to some Death Eaters apparently turning themselves over to the Ministry, claiming that the Imperius Curses placed on them by the Dark Lord had been removed... Lucius Malfoy chief among them.

Severus knew how the older man's mind worked. With the Dark Lord gone, the Wizarding World was sure to right itself once more, delivering stern justice against those who'd terrorized it for so long. Any with the Dark Mark would be destined for Azkaban unless they did something to save themselves.

Reluctantly, Severus went to get a quill and parchment. He needed to owl Dumbledore right away.

-CE-

Peter was in a panic.

Not only had his Master gone and gotten killed while dealing with the Potter family, but soon afterward found the pudgy man fleeing for his life from one who'd once been a friend. He'd known beforehand Sirius would be furious, hence why immediately after spilling the Secret to the Dark Lord, Peter had departed for his safe house.

Too bad the other Animagus was a professional Auror.

Barely twenty-four hours after the destruction in Godric's Hollow, a security ward fifty feet from Peter's hovel was tripped. Knowing instantly who had apparated onto the property, the rat immediately ran. Through the entirety of the night, he was only able to keep just ahead of Sirius and certain death.

And that margin kept getting smaller.

"WORMTAIL!" The furious shout from behind the hill he'd just crossed spurned Peter on to new speeds, as he dashed up to the top of the ocean cliff. From there he would jump down to a narrow ledge, travel through a tunnel only large enough for his Animagus form, and emerge into an otherwise inaccessible cave. While Sirius attempted to get inside, Peter would recuperate. And should the other man actually succeed in gaining entry, well, the rat had one last failsafe in the form of an illegal portkey, one that would take him to a muggle town not too far away.

If even that did not do the trick... Losing a finger would be painful, but worth it if the Wizarding World assumed him dead.

Focused intently on his plan, Peter did not notice the newcomer emerging from a copse of trees to his left. The first he realized that someone else was there came in the form of the Tripping Jinx that sent him to the ground.

"Do not move, Mister Pettigrew." Minerva McGonagall said coldly as she stepped forward. Peter opened his mouth to spin some lie, beg her to release him before Sirius arrived, only for the Hogwarts professor to conjure a gag for him.

Then the furious Auror arrived.

"Hold, Mister Black," Minerva called before the man could run into her. He stopped short, breathing heavily and staring at the witch. Then Sirius' gaze switched to Peter, and he growled.

"Let me kill him."

"No."

"Dammit, Minerva, you don't know what he's done-!"

"He betrayed James and Lily to the Dark Lord." Both men jerked as if struck, looking at her with wide eyes.

"But- but how do you-?"

Sighing, Minerva cast a stunning spell at Peter where he still lay on the ground, and thus removed the third pair of ears from listening from what she was about to explain. "Sirius. Were you behind this? Did you convince the Potters to switch Secret Keepers from you to Pettigrew?"

"No! I mean, I did, but I thought- it was going to be a trick! The Death Eaters were supposed to suspect me, come after me, only I wouldn't be able to break and tell them anything, so the Potters would stay safe..." As he spoke, Sirius slowly sank to his knees, tears spilling down his face. "They were supposed to be safe. Peter was supposed to keep them safe. But now they're all d-dead, and it's m-my f-fa-ault."

"Oh, laddie," the elderly witch sighed, coming over to kneel as well, setting both her hands on either side of Sirius' head and forcing him to look at her. "They aren't all dead."

"H-huh?"

"Lily got out with Harry, Sirius. They're alive, and Lily told me everything."

"They- they are? She is? She did?" Hope was rekindling itself in Sirius' eyes, and Minerva was very glad to see it instead of the mad despair.

"Yes, my boy. They're hiding with the Longbottoms right now. And, after we've gotten Pettigrew handed over to the Ministry, I'll take you to see them." With a wild, relieved sob, the man dove forward to wrap his arms around her, hugging the witch as tightly as he could. Minerva let him, perfectly willing to give Sirius whatever comfort he needed before the time came again for staunch expressions and dignity.

-CE-

Remus couldn't bring himself to move. And unlike the previous day, it wasn't because he was too worn out from his transformation under the full moon.

No, this time it was because he was stuck staring at the man sitting on the chair opposite him. Sirius had arrived that morning, apparently coming straight from seeing Lily and Harry. He'd explained the entire, terrible story to his old friend, backed up by a letter the woman had sent to Remus the day before, which the man hadn't yet opened.

James was dead. Peter had been arrested and locked up.

The Marauders were broken.

"What now, Moony?" Sirius finally asked, his voice strained. In response, Remus finally hauled himself to his feet. He went to his friend's side, crouched, and wrapped an arm around the other man's shoulders.

"We live," came the simple answer. "We live, for Prongs, for Lily and Harry. We make sure nothing else happens to them, like he'd want us to."

They grieved, then. But by noon, the two men had regained control of themselves, and went to visit Lily and her son - the Potters who lived.