45. As They Lay Dying
When Minerva McGonagall first heard of what You-Know-Who had done to the Potters and to himself, she refused to believe it – neither the horror and the heartache nor the hope and bittersweet joy – not until she would have heard it from the lips of the one man she trusted never to tell a lie.
And then she waited.
When Remus Lupin was told what Voldemort had done, what unimaginable, ultimate betrayal the Fidelius Charm had failed to prevent, he realised that the bite of a werewolf was not the worst pain he had ever felt.
And then he howled like the beast that he was.
When Severus Snape found out what the Dark Lord had done, what Dumbledore had failed to stop him from, but what he, Severus, had made him do, he wept.
And then he died inside.
When Sirius Black saw what Peter had done, what he, Sirius, had enabled him to do, he knew he would never again wash his hands clean of the blood of his friends.
And then he went to murder another.
When Albus Dumbledore learned that the best and worst of what he had suspected Tom to be capable of had come to pass, he added James and Lily Potter's deaths to the ever-growing list of failures he could never hope to atone for.
And then he vowed to make sure their son would live.