Chapter 58: Halloween 1981

She gave a heavy sigh as she walked into the flat she shared with Sirius. Once again, he was not there. Working late again. She thought she was late. It was 10pm and she was only just walking through the door. Their marriage was on the rocks again. They were arguing everyday. Despite the fact that they were trying for a baby and they had something to look forward to. But that was not happening. The arguments were causing them to drift apart.

May was excited to be coming home today. As she had great news for Sirius. But when she found the flat empty, her spirits were dampened. She cooked herself some dinner and sat in front of the fire to eat it. It was fast approaching half past 10. Sirius was definitely going to be late. She gave up and went to bed. She had spent the day with her young patients. They celebrated Halloween. She painted faces and gave them all a mini feast. She told them mild horror stories. Nothing too scary. Once they were all asleep, she was able to end her shift.

It felt like she had only been asleep for minutes, when she was pulled out of her sleep by the sound of someone pounding on her door. She grabbed her wand, forgot about her appearance and rushed to the door. "Who is it?" She shouted at the door, holding her wand out in front of her.

"It's me, Remus. Remus John Lupin. I have a furry problem once a month. Your brother... I am also called Moony."

May reached forward and opened the door, her wand still tight in her hand. "Oh Merlin! You scared me!" Sighing heavily and opening the door wider, letting him inside the flat. "Come in." She closed the door and locked it once Remus was inside. "Where's the fire? It's two in the morning."

He stared at her before he found his voice. This was going to be hard. "May," he took a deep breath. "It's James." Tears built up in his eyes and they fell down his cheeks. "They're gone."

"What?" She gasped and leant against the wall to stop herself from falling to the ground.

"James and Lily. They're dead."

It was over for him. No one would believe him. Unless. Unless he brought Peter to Dumbledore. It was the only way. He drove to Hogsmeade and stared at the ruins of his best friend's home. He was too scared to go inside. He was too scared to bring the bodies of his family outside. A loud cry brought him to his senses. "Harry. Oh Harry!" He swung his leg over the bike and was about to rush inside when the large form of Hagrid came out with a small bundle in his arms. "Hagrid! What you doing here?"

"Merlin, Sirius! Yer white as a ghost!" Hagrid stepped out of the garden and into the street.

"I'm fine." He was afraid right now. "Give Harry to me, Hagrid. I'm his godfather. May and I will look after him." Sirius reached his arms out towards the baby, who was fast asleep.

"No. I got me orders from Dumbledore. He's ter go ter Lily's sister."

"No!" Sirius protested. "He has to come with me. I'm his godfather."

Hagrid shook his head and stepped back. "I got me orders from Dumbledore. He has ter go ter Lily's sister." He stepped forward and gently put his hand on Sirius' shoulder. "I'm sorry fer your loss. Send my love ter May."

"Thank you." Sirius nodded. His heart filled with ache. He was never going to see May ever again. He knew that he was equally as guilty as Voldemort for James and Lily's murders. "Take my bike. It's magically reinforced. I don't need it any more." He looked up at the ruined cottage. "Take care of him."

"I will." Hagrid nodded as he placed Harry in a sling before swinging his leg over the bike and kicking it into life.

Sirius watched as Hagrid took off on his bike. His life was over. Not unless. "Peter." He sneered the coward's name.

Remus had to restrain May and stop her from leaving. He held her tightly as she sobbed in his arms. She was heart broken and she was betrayed. James and Lily were gone and Harry had been sent to Lily's sister. "May, you need to get dressed. Dumbledore wants you to go to Hogwarts. The ministry need to speak to you."

"No! My brother and best friend have just been killed. I don't want to speak to anybody!" She tried to push him away but he held onto her tightly.

"You have to! You know why!" He was getting angry because she would not listen to him. "May!" He pushed her away form him, holding onto her shoulders. "Sirius betrayed them. You're his wife. They are going to be suspicious of you. You are a suspect now."

"No!" She pulled away from him and stood up. They had been sitting on her sofa as it was the closest seat for them to sit on. "I don't want to! I want to get Harry! He should be with me!"

Remus sprang to his feet and rushed over to her, grabbing her shoulders, holding her still. "Listen to me! Come to Hogwarts. Listen to Dumbledore and then you can try and get Harry back." He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. "One step at a time."

May nodded. But the emotions were too much. "How... Why? Why would he do it? Why didn't I suspect anything?"

"I don't know." He rubbed her back softly. "Come on. Get dressed. You'll be safe at Hogwarts." He let go of her and allowed her to get up, watching her leave the room. He noticed her shoulders slumped as she walked away. This was a massive blow in her heart. Not just James and Lily's deaths, but Sirius' betrayal. That was the biggest blow. She put all her trust in that one man and he had now broken that trust.

Sirius sprinted after the coward. Not caring that he was in the middle of a muggle street. "Come back, you coward!" He shot a stunning spell towards the running man. "Pettigrew! Face me like a man!"

"How could you, Sirius?!" He finally stopped and turned to face the angry man. "James and Lily! Your best friends!"

"You liar!" He growled at the man. "You did it!" Throwing another curse towards the cowering man.

"You killed them!" Peter continued to shout. They were gaining quite a lot of attention from surrounding muggles.

Sirius was about to send another curse when Peter raised his wand and the area seemed to explode. Sirius stared in horror at the sight of 13 dead muggles. "Peter!" He screamed when he saw the pile of clothing. "You rat!" He shouted and rushed to the clothes, to find nothing. Except a finger. "Coward!" He screamed to the air. Sirens filled the air from muggle emergency services. Soon wizarding authorities appeared. "Coward!" Sirius was still screaming. "I'll kill him!" He started laughing when the aurors restrained him. "The clever little rat!" He laughed as they dragged him away. Away from the terrible massacre.

May and Remus had been at Hogwarts for an hour when they heard the news about Sirius. "What..." She gasped. Shock stopped her from speaking. She could not speak.

"May?" Minerva spoke softly and stepped forward. "She's going to faint!" Seeing the signs.

Remus rushed to her side and caught her just in time. "This is too much." He spoke softly and carried her to the sofa, which stood under the window in Dumbledore's office. "She didn't do anything." He explained to the aurors, who were standing and watching them all sternly. "She's innocent in all this."

"We have to interrogate her." The man sneered at Remus, who was kneeling next to May, stroking her hair. "She is a suspect. She is married to a murderer and traitor."

Remus was soon on his feet and stormed over to the man. "She may have married a murderer, but her brother has just been killed. Have some compassion!" He glared at the man. "You can wait a moment. She's mourning."

The man grit his teeth and stepped away from him. "Fine. She has half an hour to get her story straight." He stepped away from Remus. "So do you."

The man glared at him. "Fine," said Remus and moved away, back to May. He waited for the man to leave. "May." He gently tapped her hand. "Wake up."

"Leave her for a minute." Dumbledore spoke gently. "She needs to rest." He put his hand on his shoulder. "You need to rest."

Remus stood up, tears were running down his cheeks. "They're gone. Everyone's gone."

The two professors watched Remus as he walked to the other window, staring out of it. "Remus," Minerva stepped forward and stood next to him, "did you suspect Sirius? In any way?"

"No. Not at all." He ran his hand over her stubble. "May has said that he had been working late a lot. Now I think of it, that doesn't sound like him normally. He must have been working for Voldemort."

"I think he was." May spoke softly and sat up. "He was always late. Especially in the last month. That's when the attacks had gotten worse." Another set of tears began to fall. "He tried... He tried to say that he didn't trust you. We barely saw you."

"I'm sorry." He sat next to her and wrapped his arm around her. "I've been working for Dumbledore. I've been away a lot. I'm so sorry." He kissed the side of her head. "Right, the aurors want to speak to you. They said they need to interrogate you."

"What?" She gasped and pushed him away. "I don't want to speak to anyone!" She stood up and walked to the door. "I'm going home."

"You're not, Mrs Black. We need to talk to you about your husband." An auror was standing in her way. It was one that she did not know. They hadn't even sent Mad-Eye. Probably because he was friends with May's father and he was Sirius' mentor. "Now, sit down please."

May glared at the man. She eventually moved back to the sofa and sat next to Remus. "Fine. Ask away."

"Were you helping your husband?"

She scoffed and laughed. "Merlin, no! I had no idea. He was staying out late. I just thought..." She stopped for a moment and wiped her eyes, she was finding it too hard to speak. "I thought he was having an affair. I wish he was now." She sobbed against Remus' shoulder.

"Where were you last night?" The man spoke with no emotion. He did not care for the wife of a murderer.

"I finished work at 9. I didn't walk through my front door until 10. I have to get to and from work the muggle way; on the tube. I had dinner, waiting up for Sirius and went to bed. I woke up early this morning to Remus banging on my front door. We came here as soon as we could."

"Where were you, Mr Lupin?"

"I was at home. I had an owl from Professor Dumbledore and went straight to May." Remus explained as he tried to sooth May, who was crying against his shoulder. "Are you done yet? I want to get May home."

"We need to search her home." The auror explained, not even asking May.

"No!" May shook her head. "I'm not going back there. No one is going in there." She looked up at him angrily. "I'm going to stay at Remus'."

Remus answered by kissing her on the top of her head. "You stay as long as you want to." He turned and looked up at the auror. "Are we done here?" The auror nodded and watched Remus stand up with May. "Come on. Let's go." He wrapped his arm around her and led her out of the office.

A/N: Nearly there. Two more chapters and an epilogue. Then... sequel!

Responses from chapter 57:

SilverDreams24005: Thank you. Sorry I've taken a while getting this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it.

Warewolf-princess558750: Thank you. Sequel will not be too far away.

CharlotteBlackwood: Thank you. I love your work. Stole a few ideas ;) Changed it around a little bit. But I did. ;)