A Marauder's Guide to Falling Forever

Chapter Fifty One

Sirius

It was difficult for Sirius to say goodbye to James, Lily, and Harry. He knew they would see each other again, but didn't want to think about how long he would need to wait for their reunion.

Returning to the home he had begun to build with Marlene was difficult. He had to relive the nightmare with every second he was in the house. In the end he kept only the mirror, leaving everything else, including the ring intended for Marlene, behind.

He didn't know how to move on.

But he had finally accepted that she wasn't coming back.

And it hurt too much to hold onto any physical reminder that she was gone.

Dead.

Marlene was dead.

And Sirius was dead but living without her.

And then, like a bolt of lightning in a summer storm, like the lightning shaped scar inflicted upon his one year old godson, the news of the Potters tragic end and Harry's miraculous survival struck.

Sirius hadn't wanted to believe it. But he stared at the ruins of the cottage, everything hit him all at once.

"Alright' there Black?" The towering form of Rubeus Hagrid approached him. He was already on scene at the time of Sirius's arrival. The rest of the Order members arrived shortly after, all having received Dumbledore's patronus of the tragic news.

"Is that really a question?" Sirius said stone cold, refusing to take his eyes off the house. He felt numb and disconnected, as though what he was experiencing wasn't real. How could it be?

He had been wrong. So very, very wrong.

Because Remus Lupin wasn't the spy.

It was Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius had handed over his friends on a silver platter. Sent them to the slaughterhouse. Killed them like he had killed Marlene.

"I suppose not," Hagrid said apologetically. "Not here to cause any sort of trouble," he continued, "but I have orders from Dumbledore to take young Harry here to the Dursley's."

Sirius looked to Hagrid and realized he was holding a small bundle of blankets in his large hands. "Is that Harry?"

"Thought you might want to see him before I take him," Hagrid said.

Sirius reached out for him. As he stared at the small toddler in his arms, sleeping and oblivious with only a small bloody scar etched into his forehead, he decided a lifetime in Azkaban wasn't worth murdering Wormtail over. Even though he desperately wanted to.

James and Lily had trusted Sirius to take care of Harry if the time ever came. He knew nothing about raising a child but he knew that he would raise and love Harry as his own. He would do anything to keep Harry safe. He wouldn't fail his loved ones a third time. He couldn't.

"Why are you taking him to the Dursley's?" Sirius knew enough about them from Marlene and James' account of their horridness to question Hagrid's intention. "I'm his godfather."

"I don't want no trouble," Hagrid repeated gruffly. "But I got instructions. See?" His hand pulled out a folded piece of parchment and Sirius shifted Harry's body so that he could grab it with his free hand.

Hagrid,
Harry must be taken to 4 Privet Drive immediately. I shall meet you there shortly.
-Albus Dumbledore

Sirius didn't feel like arguing and the letter appeared credible, written in Dumbledore's own hand. He would sort it out with Albus later and decided to trust that his former headmaster knew what the best course of action would be while the dust settled. Besides, he had business to attend to first, business that wasn't suitable for a baby.

"Take my motorcycle," Sirius insisted. He had been storing it at the cottage, continually forgetting to take it home. Marlene had hated it and he had very little use for it these days. He reluctantly handed Harry back over to the half giant and directed him to where it was stored.

"Yeah?" Hagrid asked.

"It will be the fastest way. If Dumbledore thinks he will be safe there then you better get going. It won't be long before Voldemort's followers show up."

Hagrid shuddered and then carried baby Harry away, clambered into Sirius's bike, gave a firm salute and the engine roared to life.

Without waiting for Hagrid to depart, Sirius disapparated away on a mission to find and destroy Peter Pettigrew.

***

He wasn't hard to find.

He had surrounded himself in a very public setting, no doubt sure that he would not be accosted in front of muggles. He must have known that Sirius would come looking for him.

"I always knew you were dumb, Wormtail," Sirius sneered at him, corning him into a brick wall against a local shop. People were walking around giving curious glances at the way Sirius predatorily stalked towards his friend turned foe. "But this is an all new level of stupid. Even for you."

"I - I - don't k-know wh-wha -" Peter stammered. "What your t-talking ab-bout."

"If you think muggles are going to protect you then you're even dumber than I thought. And that's saying something because your intelligence level is microscopic at best."

Peter scowled, and suddenly the stammer was gone. "Obviously not as stupid as you thought. Fooled you all, didn't I? And all along you thought it was Moony. Whose the stupid one now?"

Sirius let out a growl and lunged forward. He held his wand firmly in his hand despite the numerous witnesses pausing to watch. He wouldn't kill Peter. No. He would hex him good enough to render him unable to flee, maybe torture him a little, and then let the Order figure out how to proceed. So what if they'd need to use some memory charms on the muggles nearby. The end would justify the means, and a tiny memory charm was surely better than letting another death eater escape capture.

Of course he'd push to kill him later, because if Peter was going to die, Sirius wanted to be the one to do it. But he needed to prove that Wormtail was a death eater first, other wise the threat of Azkaban hung over his head, and he couldn't do that to Harry. However, it didn't appear that Peter was going to go willingly.

Peter's confidence was short lived; his eyes widened at the threat coming towards him and that was when he started to sob loudly. "You killed them," he said, projecting his voice enough for others to hear. It caused Sirius to pause in his tracks. "James and Lily. How could you betray your friends like that? My dearest friends. You killed them!"

"What the fuck - ?" Sirius started. He didn't get a chance to finish because Peter let out an agonizing scream and ran into the middle of the street.

Suddenly an explosion erupted around him; bricks flying, smoke billowing, and the screams of surrounding muggles being masked by the thunderous sound of the street being blown to pieces and a nearby building giving way to gravity.

Peter had blown up the street. And then he had vanished.

The screams of those nearby, the ones that hadn't been close enough to be instantly killed by the blast, rang through the air. A large crater in the street from where Peter had been standing was littered with a dozen or so bodies. Sirius could feel the wet fragments of blood from the remnants of casualties splattered across his face. He could see it painted across the pavement and storefronts in a sickening shade of crimson.

Then flashes of apparating wizards popped up around the crater. Sirius assumed they were other order members or ministry officials. Maybe they were even death eaters. He didn't pay them any attention. He didn't care.

Instead he saw the flash of brown fur scuttle through the smoke and disappear into the sewer drain that had cracked open from the explosion. The rat disappeared before he could properly register that Peter had transformed himself into his animagus form. He had planned it all.

All he could do was stare at the bloody, amputated finger that remained where Peter had once been standing.

And then Sirius laughed.