A/N: The final chapter. I know it was short], but beyond this, well…that’s where SS/PS comes in. Though I just wrote a little one-shot about Sirius confronting Peter the next day. It is entitled “Pain Can Lead to Laughter”. So now I present to you, the reader, the final chapter of Before They Died.
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Disclaimer: You’ve seen this before, I’m sure. I don’t own Harry Potter, etc.; that belongs to the brilliant J.K. Rowling.
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A large man was walking up the road toward the Potters’ house. It was Hagrid, and he looked worried because the ruins of the house were still smoking. The only noises that he heard as he approached, were Harry crying and screaming, and the muttering of the Potters’ few wizarding neighbors; the Shorts, the Andersons, Miss Jones, the Purdys, and the Lovegoods. Coming up nearer to the ruins, he stopped next to Neo Anderson, a middle aged wizard who lived three houses down.
“Gallopin’ gargoyles!” he exclaimed, shocked. He turned to Neo. “What ‘appened here?”
Neo cleared his throat and began to tell the story he had heard from Miss Jones.
“Well, You-Know-Who turned up just about an hour ago and came up the street here for the Potters’ place. Word is he killed James, and then went after Lily. He killed her and then went to kill little Harry. Funny thing is, the spell didn’t work. We all think it bounced off him and back onto You-Know-Who. Most of us think he finally died.” He paused, with a thoughtful look on his face. “Strange though, isn’t it? He’s been killing powerful witches and wizards all over the country and he couldn’t even kill a one year old baby!”
Hagrid nodded absentmindedly as his attention immediately turned back to the job Dumbledore had set him to. He walked over the wreckage and into what was left of the house, trying to find Harry. He followed the baby’s miserable screams echoing loss and pain. He finally found him lying on the bed where his mother had left him. He bent down and looked at Harry. The first thing to catch his eye was the lighting bolt-shaped gash on Harry’s forehead.
“Merlin’s beard!” he whispered hoarsely.
Hagrid picked him up and rocked him gently to calm him down, and he stopped crying almost instantaneously. Suddenly, the roar of a motorcycle was heard in the sky, growing steadily louder. It was Sirius on his flying motorcycle. He came in for a fast landing, shut it off, and dismounted quickly, all within a matter of ten seconds. He looked completely terrified and shocked all at once; every trace of laughter that appeared to permanently adorn his face was gone, replaced by fear. Just with one glance over his best friends’ house, he knew that, most likely, everyone inside had died. He saw Hagrid and ran to him and, upon reaching him, broke down.
“Oh God! Hagrid, are they all…are James…and Lily…and…and Harry…all…”
He couldn’t bear to finish due to an overwhelming force of emotion flowing through him. He collapsed to his knees next to Hagrid and raised his head and let out a howl of sadness. He ran his hands through his hair and looked up at Hagrid, expecting the worst. Hagrid heaved a heavy sigh.
“Well, I’m real sorry, Sirius, James and Lily are dead,” he confirmed sadly.
“Wh-what about Harry?” he sobbed, thoroughly shaken.
Hagrid crouched down to Sirius’ level and showed him the bundle where Harry was, still whimpering softly. Only his face was visible above the blanket his mother had wrapped him in. Sirius peered at his godson and saw the laceration on his forehead.
“Oh no!” he moaned. He looked up into Hagrid’s face again. “Hagrid, can I take him home with me now, please?”
Hagrid shifted guiltily and avoided looking at the now anxious look on Sirius’ face. It was like hope had sparked back into him, knowing Harry was alive and having one last link to two of his best friends who now were among Voldemort’s countless victims. It was taking all the strength Hagrid possessed to say what he knew he had to. As he straightened up, he saw that Sirius looked almost hurt, staring longingly at the little bundle, and Sirius stood up too.
“I got orders from Professor Dumbledore ter bring him ter his aunt an’ uncle’s house,” he reported miserably.
He looked away from Sirius who now wore an expression similar to that of a wounded dog.
“I’m real sorry Sirius, but I have specific orders from Dumbledore.”
He looked sorry too. Sirius began to look really desperate after Hagrid spoke the second time.
“Hagrid please,” he begged. “I’ve just lost two of my best friends. They said if anything ever happened to them, I was to take care of Harry.”
Hagrid looked down at him mournfully and patted Sirius awkwardly on the shoulder, lowering his voice to a gentle tone.
“Sirius,” he began, “I’m feeling real bad about this, but Dumbledore must have his reasons….”
Sirius looked defeated, a hollow mask having descended over his face.
“Can I just say goodbye then?” he requested, his gray eyes with tears.
“I…I guess tha’ wouldn’ hurt,” he answered hesitantly.
He brought Harry back down to Sirius’ level, and Sirius began to stroke Harry’s head while looking at him lovingly. It was a heartfelt moment that Hagrid didn’t want, but knew he had, to break. He cleared his throat and Sirius looked up at him, still stroking Harry’s hair.
“Oh,” muttered Sirius, as though coming out of a reverie and walking into a realm of melancholy. “Sorry to hold you up.”
“It’s alright,” Hagrid replied calmly, and then to no one in particular, “Wonder how I’m goin’ ter get ter Little Whinging in Surrey…”
Sirius thought for a moment.
“Why don’t you take my motorcycle, Hagrid?” he suggested. “I’m not planning on using it anymore.”
“Tha’s right nice o’ yeh Sirius,” he said. “But I’m afraid tha’ I’ll break it when I sit on it.”
“That’s no problem at all,” he replied, drying his tear-stained face.
He reached into his robes, pulled out his wand, and tapped the motorcycle twice, causing it to grow to accommodate Hagrid’s size.
“Thanks,” he said gratefully.
“You’ll take good care of him, won’t you?” Sirius asked him anxiously.
“Course I will,” Hagrid reassured him. “Take care now, Sirius.”
“Don’t worry, I will,” Sirius replied.
Hagrid got onto the motorcycle and secured Harry to him. He started the motorcycle and drove it a few yards before taking off. Sirius stood there, watching them disappear into the black, star-strewn sky complete with the full moon shining brightly. Tears sparkled brightly in his eyes again with some rolling down his cheeks. As soon as they were both out of sight, he wiped his eyes dry with his sleeve. He began to walk away, but paused as something among the rubble caught his eye. He knelt down, brushed away the rubble, and lifted a hand-held silver framed mirror off the ground. He looked at it with a sad smile and placed it in his robe pocket, remembering the days of the Marauders.
I think I’ll give this to Harry when he’s older. I think he’d like that, he thought smiling inwardly.
He looked toward the road and noticed that the Muggles from the opposite side of the village were starting to come up the road, wanting to see what all the fuss up there was about. He also saw the wizards and witches had begun to cast Muggle-Repelling Charms on the perimeter. Sirius walked out through a gap in the crumbling wall toward the small patch of woods bordering the yard. He passed through Lily’s immense flower garden, which had most thankfully survived, and inhaled its sweet fragrance filling his mind with many more memories of the times he had spent there with them all, feeling grateful that the garden had been spared.
Once he was across the yard, he Apparated home, not knowing what the week to come would bring for him.
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A/N: That’s the end of my story. I hope everyone enjoyed reading it because I loved writing it. I have a one-shot to follow this and a Harry/Ginny romance that I need to type. So now it’s review time! I also have a mini questionnaire thing that would make me happy if you did it.
1. What was your favorite chapter?
2. What was your favorite quote?
3. Was there a part that made you cry?
4. Out of 10, how would you rate this story?
5. Would you read anything else by me?
Okay I’ll use this space down here to thank Secret Lily for giving me the idea for the mini questionnaire above. I also want to ask you guys to read some of her fics (because they are completely awesome!) Thank you to those you read and reviewed my first fanfic. Thanks to draco_is_hot for being my first ever review! One last shout out to my totally awesome Beta, dracoslovebunny for fixing this up after it was deleted the first time. *does dance in celebration of success of first fic* ~lily_writes