With Grief Comes Determination

As the morning sun rises

I awake and finally realizes

My closest friends are dead

And the sky is bathed in red

I can't escape, try as I might

Blood has been spilt that night

Sirius jumped off his motorbike and stared at the ruins of what had once been Godric's Hollow. His eyes took in the Dark Mark above the pile of rubble and felt his throat constrict tightly.At least one of them was dead. It must had been too late when he told them to run for it.

A loud clearing of a throat from behind startled him. Spinning around, Sirius raised his wand and a Stunner was just about to leave it when he realised it was only Hagrid. Sirius lowered his wand with a sigh of relief; he had no intention of meeting another Death Eater.

Hagrid studied him for a while, making him rather conscious of the blood congealing on his face and the tired look. Fortunately, he did not comment on the injuries, but instead asked, "So, yeh just arrived 's well?"

"Yes," Sirius whispered, for a moment unable to get his next few words out, "and I think they're all dead."

"James, Lily and Harry? I s'pose so." Hagrid sighed.

"And Ariel as well." Sirius whispered in that same tone.

"Ariel? Why would she be here?" Hagrid asked, but finding Sirius in no state to answer, he led the way into the remains of the house.

It was Sirius who spotted James first. "There!" he shouted, rushing over to his best friend and kneeling down. Hagrid roughly pushed debris aside in his rush to join Sirius at James' side.

Only then did Sirius realise James's hazel eyes were open and staring blankly at the ceiling. Fighting the surge of panic that threatened to overcome him, Sirius checked his breathing and pulse. Nothing.

Sirius half-rose, stunned. He had known they would not be alive, but there was just a tiny glimmer of hope behind his thoughts. Now, that hope was extinguished. He stared unseeingly at his best friend's dead body and tried to make sense of his whirlwind of emotions.

"Noo…!" A piercing scream ripped itself from Sirius's throat. He felt himself tearing apart with grief as tears poured down his face. Not James. Not James. Please, it's a nightmare. It just can't be real.

Hagrid patted his shoulder consolingly, nearly knocking him flat. He looked pityingly at the sobbing young adult in front of him, and then stood up to find the other occupants of the house.

When Sirius finally raised his tear-stricken face, he noticed that Hagrid had gone into the nursery. Not wanting to miss out on anything, he stepped inside and froze at the sight.

Lily Potter lay half-buried in a pile of rocks which seemed to be part of the wall. One glance at her glassy emerald eyes was enough to show that she, too, was dead. Her eyes spoke clearly of sadness and a fear for her son.

But what really caught his eyes was a movement from the bundle in her arms. He hardly dared to believe what he was seeing as he bent down to find Harry, wrapped in a blanket and blinking up at him. A scar in the shape of a lightning bolt was slashed across his forehead, but Sirius could hardly care less. Harry James Potter – his godson – was alive!

Hagrid stood beside him, smiling slightly. "Well, not everybody's dead."

"I'll take care of him. I'm his godfather." Sirius declared, standing up with his godson wrapped tightly in his arms.

"Eh what?" Hagrid exclaimed. "But I'm takin' him."

"What!" Sirius yelped with such a ferocity that it startled Harry and even causing Hagrid to step back. "No way!"

"Dumbledore's orders. Harry's ter go live with his relatives."

"To blazes with Dumbledore!" Sirius roared. "Haven't he seen those Muggles? They loath magic with all their heart!"

"An order's an order. And it's important too." Hagrid began to get angry as well.

Sirius's temper died as swiftly as it had started. What would James have thought of me if he was here, actually surrendering my godson to those Muggles?

He had no choice but to give up. Even then, he was going to do his bit. For Harry. For James. For Lily. And for Amurila.

"Take my motorbike, Hagrid." Sirius sighed. "I won't need it anymore."

For he was going to hunt down Pettigrew. And kill him for what he did.

They walked back outside, into the sunshine, which neither knew nor cared the Potters were dead. Sirius watched Hagrid mount his prized motorbike without emotion. There was a dead, haunted look in his eyes as his beloved motorbike departed. He was beyond feeling, beyond pain. An empty void was in him, gnawing away at his life.

When he finally lost sight of the motorbike, he staggered back to his best friend's side. Watching James's dead body, Sirius collapsed into a sobbing heap, shrieking and moaning. "Why is it James, why not me? Why? That stupid prophecy!"

He did not know who long he had lain there, crying. Time seemed to stop and the whole world froze around him. He wanted nothing better than to drown in his fears and sorrow. James was dead. Dead. DEAD.

He did not even realise when a small feathered head poked into his hand. Only the familiar feel of an owl jerked him to his senses. He raised his head from James's unmoving body a second time and spared the bird a glance.

A beautiful snowy white owl met his startled gaze. "Skye?" Sirius asked, hardly daring to believe his eyes. In light of recent events, he had completely forgotten about Amurila. And there she was, in front of him, very much alive. "Come on! Change back! What are you doing in your Animagus form?" Sirius inquired.

The owl shook its head, almost sadly. That action alone convinced Sirius that she was indeed, Amurila in her Animagus form. "Why not?" he questioned. Voldemort was dead, or at least gone, isn't he? He knew it the moment he saw Harry alive, because of that stupid prophecy.

For an answer, Skye hopped over and gently took his wand in her beak. She scrawled two words that caused a chill to run up Sirius's spine. "Shapeshifter Curse."

The Shapeshifter Curse. Sirius remembered it only too well. His dear cousin, Bellatrix, had cast the curse on Lily – at her wedding. The Marauders barely escaped, with James holding a large swan – Lily – for a whole hour.

The spell turned the victim into the animal most like them, just like an Animagus form. There was no known counter-spell, but it would wear off after an hour, if the castor used the wand again. Bellatrix could never stop doing magic, so Lily was spared the horror after a long hour.

"It's ok, the spell will wear off in an hour. Didn't you know that?" Sirius told Skye cheerfully. She hooted impatiently and tapped his wand with her beak.

The wand…there was something to do with the wand…"But wait! Voldemort's gone! He can't use that wand an hour later! Does it mean," Sirius lowered his voice, "that you'll stay an owl forever?"

Skye moved her wings up and down in an attempt at a shrugging manner. She picked up his wand again. "Dunno…no…lose…hope…Peter…die."

Peter. Die. The last two words struck Sirius as he stood up. The haunted look appeared back in his eyes. Permanently. He finally had another goal in life. He was going to hunt down Pettigrew. Betrayer of the trust the Marauders placed in him. Peter was going to pay dearly.

"Amurila, I solemnly swear as a true Marauder, that as long as I have another breath in this body, I will track down that bloody traitor of a rat and see that he is eliminated." Sirius promised, a cold edge to his voice.

They departed from Godric's Hollow, a man with one sole purpose in the world, and a snowy white owl flitting ghostly through the trees above him.

Author's note: Skye refers to the owl, Amurila the human. There are no typing mistakes whereby one name is mistaken for the other. As owls do not have emotions, all emotions belong to the human side of her. Think of it as split personality.