Fake It

Moon: Hello, I'm back and thanks to everyone who reviewed! I do not own Harry Potter!

Chapter 2: Shockwaves

Sirius was woken by Remus. He was about to let his friend have it for waking him up so early when he saw the man's expression. "Remus? What's happened?" He asked, alert immediately.

"Fire...Privet Drive...Harry.." Remus was inarticulate, something Sirius hadn't seen in a long time. He'd always been so calm and levelheaded, even in emergencies. "Dumbledore...called Order meeting...Tonks went to look...hasn't had news..."

Sirius sprang to his feet, blood roaring to his ears. Fire? At Privet Drive? What had happened? Dumbledore said that it was the safest place for Harry! "And Harry?"

"Don't know...come on, Sirius..." Remus needed not to give him any prompting; Sirius was haring out the door and down the stairs a minute later.

The entire Order was in the living room, staring at the door and exchanging pieces of news, looking anxious. The tension in the air was so thick it was almost suffocating. Dumbledore was standing in the centre, telling everyone to remain calm and that it was probably nothing. The twinkle in his eye made Sirius want to push the old bugger. Harry, his godson, was in trouble, and that old man had the nerve to tell him to stay calm?

It seemed to take forever, but Tonks did re-emerge. It wasn't pretty.

She lurched into the house, completely heedless to having set off his mother's portrait. There were tears streaking down her face. She was shaking.

Something was wrong. Very, very wrong.

"Oh god...everywhere...Harry...he-"

She was immediately swarmed by the people in the house, Ginny in the lead – the girl had appeared at the top of the stairwell at the mention of Harry's name, and at Tonk's teary expression had come down the stairs so quickly she may as well have Apparated. "What happened?"

"Where's Harry?"

"Why are you covered in soot?"

"What's going on?"

"Why isn't he with you?"

Evidently, the verbal assault was too much for the emotionally strained Tonks to take, because she went from muttering "He, he, he..." to screaming, "HARRY POTTER IS DEAD!"

That silenced the room immediately. You could have heard a pin drop on a mattress in the next city over. The words hung in the air like a rockslide about to fall. They seemed to echo, a wave of shock and then disbelief spread through the Order. Ron, Hermione, Fred and George all appeared at this phrase, looking stunned.

Oddly enough, it was the youngest who found her voice first.

Ginny slowly shook her head, staring at Tonks. "N-No. That can't be. I owled him two days ago, he was f-fine. You must have made a mistake."

When Tonks said nothing, the youngest Weasley grabbed her wrist. "You made a mistake, Tonks! Tell me you made a mistake!" She begged.

Tonks was shaking her head, tears dripping off her cheeks. "There was a fire...he was alone in the house...he...he didn't get out."

"No." Ginny muttered. When Tonks merely stared tearfully back at her, her voice began to rise steadily, "No no no no no! NO! HARRY!"

"-half bloods and filth, bringing dishonour on my house-"

"SHUT UP!" Ginny screamed at the portrait. There was an enormous crash, and suddenly the wall was quiet. At any other point – literally any other – the Order would have admired her for shutting up the Black matriarch.

The little redhead was getting hysterical. She whirled on Dumbledore. "He's fine! He's got to be! You promised, you said he'd be okay!" She cried, tears starting to come out of her own eyes.

Sirius, who'd been standing rock still the entire time, finally came out of the trance he'd been in. Because Harry couldn't be dead. Not his godson.

Dumbledore shouted, "Sirius!" and Molly gave a distressed cry of "Ginny!" but neither headed them; Sirius shot down the stairs and felt Ginny grab his wrist just before he Disapparated to Privet Drive.

Some small part of Sirius knew it was completely insane for him to go out in the open like this, he was still a wanted criminal, but he didn't care if anyone saw him or told the Ministry, not now, Harry needed him, and he'd go through every Auror in the force to get to him...

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Sirius appeared in Privet Drive, Ginny stumbling and coughing from her first side-along Apparation. The sky was covered in black smoke. There were muggles everywhere, all focused on the scene. There was yellow tape and several white and blue cars parked up and down the street. People were babbling and pointing, and the three Dursleys were standing off to the side staring at their house in shock. Petunia even looked a little teary-eyed.

Ginny whispered, "no," again, this time much quieter. Sirius's throat was tight, no words could escape him. Silently, he walked forward, pushing past the firemen, the neighbours, everything and stared at the burning wreckage of Number 4 Privet Drive. Muggle law enforcement were walking in and out of the house, talking in hushed, grim voices.

There was a larger white-and blue vehicle right in front of the house, called an 'Ambulance'. There was a stretcher in front of it. And on that stretcher...

Sirius broke into a run and saw his worst nightmare, all of Tonk's words were true. His pup, his godson lay burnt and lifeless on the stretcher.

Ginny let out a little scream and rushed towards the body right on Sirius's heels. They pushed past the men trying to hold them back, muttering 'he's family, he's my godson, let me see him!'.

Finally he looked down at the body and there was no denying it anymore. It was Harry.

Ginny stared blankly at the body for a long minute before her legs gave out and she started sobbing hysterically, the force of her tears shaking her tiny frame.

Sirius screamed even louder than when he had seen his best friend dead. Harry was gone. Gone.

Harry!

He'd been begging him, for weeks, for comfort, for anything. Begged. The last words he remembered written by his pups hands were words begging him not to abandon him.

This knowledge crushed Sirius's heart worse than anything Azkaban had done to him.

Sirius hadn't cried since he had lost James and Lily, but he cried then, harder than he had in years. He'd failed Harry, so badly, so completely. He should have been there for him! He should have said something – anything helpful! Hell, he should have kidnapped him from that house and taken him to Grimmauld, to hell with what Dumbledore said.

He should have, he should have...

Sirius uttered a choked sob and collapsed backwards. He landed in a chair that a teary-eyed and worried nurse had pulled out for him when she'd seen him walk up to Harry. Another nurse had put a blanket on Ginny's shoulders and was holding the crying girl gently.

"Hey!" One of the muggle police exited what used to be number 4. He was holding something in his hand. "You've got to see this!"

Another man – the chief of police, according to one of the nearby muggles – walked over to the other man and barked, "What is that?"

"I'm not sure, but it has way to much of a resemblance to a KKK mask than I think is a coincidence." The younger muggle reported. "there's also something carved into the wall in the poor kid's room. It says, 'Voldemort Lives'."

"Flight from death," The chief muttered, "think that's some kind of code name?"

"Possibly. But that suggests this was a hit. But why would anyone go after a fifteen year old kid?"

Sirius sat frozen. He stared at the mask the younger police officer was showing his superior. It was cracked and burnt but it was undoubtedly a Death Eater mask.

Death Eaters had killed his godson. They had found him and killed him. He'd been so far away from anyone who could have protected him that he stood no chance.

Ginny made a strangled noise. She had seen it too.

Sirius didn't remember what answer he'd given the muggles or what excuse to leave the area, away from his godson's broken, lifeless body.

They had killed Harry. Those words bounced around the inside of his head. Murdered him.

Sirius's rage and grief was about to explode, though thankfully he had no Wormtail to chase, or her certainly would have gotten himself killed.

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Remus's reaction when Sirius and Ginny finally got back to Grimmauld with the news was to let out an anguished scream that would have shocked anyone who merely knew him casually. He never lost control of his emotions, but Harry had meant very much to him, and too lose him like that...

Molly had been sobbing inconsolably ever since she heard the news, Arthur had remained at her side, staring into the distance as though he couldn't accept the reality of the boy's death.

Ginny had shut herself in her room, spelling the door so no one would come in. Her quiet sobs broke the heart of anyone who heard them.

Ron was simply staring at a wall in shock.

Hermione had been in total denial, and would impress desperately on anyone who would listen that there had to be some way Harry would come back.

Fred and George had been completely silent since his return, not giving even the slightest wisp of the laughter so characteristic of them.

Tonks had been at Remus's side ever since and would glare threateningly through her tears at anyone who dared approach the grieving werewolf.

Moody had vanished to Privet Drive to run a perimeter and see if he could pick up the trail of the one responsible.

Professor McGonagall had been last seen weeping, something so strange in comparison to her usually unshakable character.

The damnable twinkle was gone from Dumbledore's eyes.

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The news of Harry's death spread through the wizarding world like wildfire. It was on the front of every paper. The Daily Prophet immediately dropped the smear campain they'd been working on all summer to be shocked and horrified by the boy's death, and wrote up the message he'd left on the wall.

Apparently this and the mask was suddenly 'clear evidence' of Voldemort's return, since who else would have wished death on such a noble and selfless boy?

Ginny took a moment to be angry at this hypocrisy, something she heatedly discussed with Hermione. The bookworm had been devastated that she ever believed wrongly of Harry and that he died with her turning her back on him for his last memory of her. Ginny wasn't willing to forgive her just yet, but she accepted this.

Fudge was having immense pressure put on him to acknowledge Voldemort's return.

Instead he said, "As you all know You-Know-Who was destroyed...but obviously some of his followers escaped Azkaban, and Harry Potter's earlier defeat of him was enough reason for them to go after him. I'm putting my Auror force into searching for the boy's killers now. The closest suspect we have is notorious mass-murderer Sirius Black, who has gone after the boy before."

"That pathetic bastard, Harry's dead and he still won't admit Voldemort's alive!" Astoria Greengrass snarled when she read this in the paper. "Does Harry really mean that little to these people? !"

Daphne sniffed. They'd both been crying almost nonstop since hearing about Harry's death for reasons neither of them could explain. "I hate it too Ash. It's like it doesn't matter that he's dead, he's just an image and a figurehead to some of them."

Daniel Greengrass watched his two daughters and sighed. He wished he knew how to help his two precious children, but even they didn't know why they were so upset. He thought it was a pity Harry had died; Dumbledore should have put more effort into safeguarding the boy. His family had been neutral in both wars against Voldemort...perhaps it was time for him to pick a side.

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Harry's funeral occurred a week into the school year. It was a lavish affair, with people coming from all over Britain to see him off, dead so young. The day at Hogwarts had been suspended so the teachers and students could see their friend. Many ministry workers had taken the day off to make it. A huge crowd of people had either entered the building or were milling around on the grounds outside, straining to get a look.

If only Harry could have seen this, and known the kind of support he had.

Flowers and wreathes were laid everywhere. The casket was made of unbreakable glass, and an honour guard stood around it so no one unscrupulous would get too close to it. Security around the building where it was taking place was the highest in the country.

Three girls pushed through the crowd and got close. Ginny, Astoria and Daphne stared down at Harry's body and put their hands on the lid of the casket. "Wake up, Harry," They pleaded before they started crying.

People, still reeling in their own grief, watched in pity as the girl's parents gently pulled them aside and held them. The big black dog lying down next to Remus went unnoticed.

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Dumbledore sat down in his office, Harry Potter was gone. It was an undeniable fact. But how would the prophecy be fulfilled now? He needed Harry, as much as he loathed to admit it he couldn't win this war without Harry defeating Voldemort, that's what the prophecy said, right? But now the boy was gone, and there was no way Neville Longbottom would have the same capabilities as Harry had. He needed a new plan...but what could he do?

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Ginny didn't want to see anymore, she wanted to wake up from this nightmare and see her Harry again. But she couldn't. He was gone. The last week had been absolutely merciless about hammering that in, no matter how much she wanted to deny it.

The goblins had summoned her and many others to the reading of Harry's will.

When everyone was inside the room at Gringotts, Griphook activated the dictating will, and several people cried when they heard Harry's voice again.

"If you're reading this, it means something has happened to me." Harry said. "I had this feeling, when Voldemort returned, that I should be making this. I realized that I could die any day now...I hope I defeated him, I hope I got to live a little, before I died..." There was a short pause, like a young boy recomposing himself. "I'm sorry I died. I really am."

Sirius gave a choked laugh. Harry always apologized for things that he had no control over.

"I've had a look at my estate, and I hereby divide it among the following people -"

"To my godfather Sirius Orion Black, I leave one of three vacation homes in Florida and vault 330. I also leave a piece of advice – Sirius, you're like a father to me. Find your witch, start a family, settle down. Be happy." Sirius, tears in his eyes, nodded and accepted his key.

"To Remus John Lupin, I leave Shell Cottage, the surrounding woods and vault 340. Remus, thank you for everything you've done for me. And my advice to Sirius goes double for you. You, of all people, deserve happiness."

"To Dumbledork I leave thirty silver sickles and this to say – stop treating people like expendable pawns. You know Voldemort's alive. Fight him. For real. No more stalling. Please, for me."

"To Professor McGonagall, Flitwick and Sprout, I leave vault 350. Its for your Quidditch teams. If I hear that Slytherin won the cup again, I'll haunt your bathrooms worse than Peeves."

"To Arthur, Molly, Bill, Charlie, Fred and George Weasley, I leave vaults 510 through 516. thank you for your kindness to me over the years. Percy, I know you joined the ministry and denied Voldemort's back. Therefore, you get nothing unless you quit the ministry. Ron, you get nothing because you abandoned me. Ginny, there's a little more to your story, so please bear with me."

"To Nymphadora Tonks, yes I said it. I leave you vault 520 and instructions to get a certain werewolf to stop stalling and get in front of a priest. How do I know this? Remus, don't leave your secret love letters lying around – Dobby has a mischievous streak."

Remus's cheeks flushed and Tonks gaped at him, stunned and blushing herself.

"To Severus Snape – hating me because I resemble my father is not very mature of you. However, I leave you vault 530 as thanks for you saving my life all those times." To say Snape looked shocked at this was an understatement. He felt horrible for having failed his promise to Lily to protect her son; he would redouble his efforts into taking down Voldemort as penance.

"To Hermione Granger, I leave vault 440. Your friendship meant a lot to me, you know. I hope you believe me now."

"To Alastar Moody – the real one – I leave vault 450. It's for the Order. Good luck against Voldemort (if I haven't killed him).

"I dedicate most of my remaining assets to my other aunt, Sarah Winter. I never met you, but I read my mother's letters to and about you. I wish I could have known you."

"Finally, Ginny Weasley, and the Greengrass sisters. This might surprise you, but the three of you have been spelled. Ginny has been under a powerful compulsion spell, to see me as nothing more than the boy-who-lived caricature. Astoria and Daphne Greengrass have had their memories of me erased and modified ten times. I leave the three of you vaults 600, 610 and 620 and request you speak to Ragnok about having the spells removed. I'd rather you remember me as I was."

To say Molly was shocked was an understatement; someone had put her darling girl under a compulsion spell? And she'd never noticed? She was angry and unhappy about this, she had considered Harry to be like a son and she should have done more for him. Now she was finding out about a spell put on her daughter from his will. Molly didn't think she was being a very good mother this month.

Daniel Greengrass was floored to hear this, so that was what happened to his children. But who could have done it? He thought Dumbledore was looking particularly shifty; and he was clearly unhappy about what Harry had given him. If he had been the one responsible, there would be hell to pay the minute he could prove it.

Ginny, Daphne and Astoria exchanged a look, teary-eyed and angry, before saying, "Yes. We'd also like to be checked for other spells." Ragnok nodded and gestured for the girls and their parents to follow him into another room.

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Ginny felt like she was in a deep sleep, the images of her repressed memories passing in front of her like a muggle movie. She felt simultaneously overjoyed and deeply depressed; she remembered Harry and his love as it really was but that only served to remind her that he was gone.

Eventually, she and her two unlikely friends woke up. They were each given an envelope. Curious, they opened it. A red (Ginny) green (Daphne) and blue (Astoria) necklace fell out of each envelope, with letter with a single sentence on it reading,

"If you love me, if you need me, you can find me."

They exchanged confused looks over this cryptic statement, but kept the necklaces and the letter nonetheless. They didn't know it at the time, but Sirius and Remus had received rings along with the same note attached to it.

The statement would make much more sense a few months later.

End Chapter

...I felt so mean writing this chapter...so sad...

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