The Beginning of the Story
Chapter 1: The Beginning of the Story:
Sirius Black, Heir to the House of Black,
Godric's Hollow, 2001
The alarm set up by Sirius on James and Lily’s cottage began to ring madly in Sirius’s flat. That woke him up, and he immediately blanched.
“Prongs…”. Because of the war and him being a high target due to Bellatrix, he had prepared a bolt-bag with all the essentials. Grabbing it, he transfigured his pyjamas into proper clothing, he grabbed his motorbike and flew to Godric’s Hollow only to find the cottage in ruins and Hagrid, of all people, coming out with a little crying bundle of blankets, also known as his godson, Harry.
When he saw Harry, he stopped in his tracks, surprised to see any survivors from how the house looked.
“Hagrid, is that Harry?”
“Yeh, it is. The poor tyke was bawling out his eyes back in the crib” Hagrid said, looking at Harry with melancholic eyes.
“James and Lily?” Sirius said, dreading the most obvious answer.
Hagrid began to cry earnestly, getting Harry all wet. That made the baby cry even more, because of the tears stinging his already bloody scar.
“What happened to Harry in his head? Why does he have a scar?” It may have been a falling brick or anything, but being Voldemort, he could not take any chances.
“I suppose something must have fallen on top of him, or the crib has cut him when Voldemort came, I don’t know really”
Having relaxed a little, if something like that could be said in this situation, Sirius wondered why Hagrid was here if, to his knowledge, only him had an alarm set up in case of emergency.
“Hagrid, how on earth did you know to be here now. Most important, why are you here?
“Oh, Dumbledore, that great man, also set up an alarm and made me come to pick up Harry when he went to arrange his stay.
Shocked about Dumbledore planning Harry’s stay with someone else rather than him, continued on questioning the half-giant
“What do you mean “stay”, Harry is to live with me if James and Lily can’t take care of him, they decided so themselves when they made me his godfather” Dumbledore must have thought he was the secret keeper, and he went to Longbottom Manor to talk with Frank and Alice.
“Is it because you think I was the Secret Keeper of James and Lily? Oh Hagrid, they chose Peter, not me. It was, on paper, a good idea because no one would think that they chose itty bitty Peter Pettigrew, who could not kill a fly with his wand, instead of James’ best friend. Though now it seems that we have been played all fools.” Sirius growled with a rage reminiscent of his Animagus form.
“Well Sirius, Dumbledore told me to take Harry to where he sent me. Privet Drive I think it was”
“Privet Drive! Is Dumbledore crazy?! He wants James’ son to live with Petunia? That foul woman, married to a talking walrus, probably having birthed another talking walrus! I’ll be damned if the last of the Potters, MY godson, son of my best friend, will end up being raised by that sort of muggles!”
Hagrid, having taken a step back to protect himself from a very enraged Sirius, understood him, and decided to bring him along
“Well Sirius, you can tell him yourself. Dumbledore gave me a portkey from Hogwarts to here and to Privet Drive, so grab on”
“Oh no Hagrid, I am not taking a one-year old baby on a portkey, even less taking into consideration what he has gone through tonight. We will take my motorbike. You are more than welcome to ride behind me, or in the sidecar”.
“I think I will go with you, in the sidecar better, as riding behind you might make it difficult to drive the bike. I’ll hold baby Harry while you drive.”
To that last sentence, Sirius had a completely change of face, and grinning said
“Oh Hagrid, do you really think we will drive to Surrey?”
Little Whinging, 2001
That joke was good for all of five minutes, that is, until Hagrid was in the air, for he did not good in the air. Not. At. All.
“SIRIUS GET US DOWN!” He said, scared out of his wits. He was holding Harry very close to his chest, though surprisingly the little baby was very calm and quiet, as if he was relaxed by the high speeds and wind.
“Relax Hagrid, it will all be fine, and we will get to Surrey quick enough”
As Sirius said, they got to Little Whinging, which was near Privet Drive soon enough, landing in the smoothest way in a flying motorcycle. Luckily, little Harry seemed to have enjoyed the trip and continued to sleep peacefully.
Hearing the noise, Dumbledore and McGonagall walked across the street to where Sirius was now smalling down to motorbike and Hagrid was making cooing sounds at baby Harry.
Dumbledore was surprised to see Sirius, for he still thought he was the Secret Keeper, drew his wand
“Hagrid, please bring Harry here and get behind me. I don’t know what he told you, but it seems he played everyone, even me. Sirius, my boy, how could you do this to James and Lily. How could you become the thing you so hate, or at least have hated all your life?”
When he had heard his alarm on the cottage ring, he thought it had been a mistake, a muggle moving too close and making the spell act up. But then, he heard from Severus that Tom had left for some secret place and hadn't come back, then his Dark Mark faded out. That made him check the Potter Cottage out just in case he could find any indication of a struggle or even to find Tom dead.
But, to his sadness, his spells only showed a living person, and that was Hagrid. Knowing then that Sirius had betrayed the Potters, and with the other two Marauders being either away on mission or in hiding, he decided that the next best thing for little Harry was his mother’s sister and her family. While they were muggles, he hoped that Petunia would come to realise that this baby was her blood and care for him.
“Albus, I haven’t changed one bit. Please let me explain, I am sure you will understand when I do”
Minerva decided then to check if this person was really Sirius Black, asking a question only he, or her dear deceased favourite student, would know
“Mr.Black, what did you do during your first detention with me?”
Remembering the memory, Sirius began to laugh earnestly for the first time during the whole day
“Oh Minnie dearest, that collar looked fabulous on you. And you still keep the self-refilling milk bowl that we gave you”
“Only because every time I chuck it away, it transports itself to my bedside. Believe me, I have tried” Looking at Dumbledore, she said “He is who he says, so I think we should grant him the benefit of the doubt at least”
Sirius took that chance and ran with it, explaining everything. That shocked Dumbledore and McGonagall, with the latter getting very emotional
“Oh poor James, trusting him! He always looked so harmless, who would ever think that Peter would become a Death Eater! He is no Gryffindor, not a true one. I am ashamed to think of him as one of my lions.”
“Well Sirius, after dropping off Harry, we will head to the Ministry and lead with them the arrest effort on Pettigrew”
Sirius felt his previous anger rise up again, and began screaming at the Headmaster
“WHO do you think you are Albus! I am Harry’s Godfather! I. Am. Who. Decides. That means NO Petunia. Harry will stay with me”
“Sirius, you must understand. Lily invoked an ancient power to protect Harry, and that protection would still work if Petunia takes him in”
“Albus, I think I have found the-...”
Sirius stopped in his tracks when he heard his cousin’s very personal cackle, reserved for when she was torturing anyone. Her being in Little Whinging only meant one thing.
“Hagrid, take Harry and go! Go now. Minerva, go with him instead if there are any hidden Death Eaters. Sirius run with me, we must get to Petunia’s house quickly!” Albus slipped into his commander tone, ordering people left and right.
While Minerva and Hagrid left, Sirius stopped Dumbledore for a moment
“Albus, wait a second. If we are going to encounter my dearest cousin” He said with sarcasm dripping from his voice “It will be high chance we also find The Lestrange Brothers”
“That is true Sirius, then, Minerva, I would like you to stay here with us, in case we need back-up. Sirius and I may be good duelers, but Bellatrix and Rabastan are very powerful wixen, and may prove to be our undoing.” Albus was more preoccupied with the fact that if faced with two fierce opponents, and a third dueler to support them, Sirius and him may end up hurt, or worse. Plus, with equal numbers, the chances of getting them into ministry custody are higher than against two.
They hurried their pace while Hagrid stayed in the air, watching them from the flying motorbike. Harry was placed in the sidecar with a temporal sticking charm that held him in place.
When they reached Number 2, they could see the characteristic green Dark Mark from the Death Eaters. The corpse of Vernon Dursley was sprawled over the front yard, with foam coming out of his mouth indicating Cruciatus-induced torture.
Dumbledore used his deluminator to hide their presence and gain surprise for a possible confrontation. From they were hidden, they heard the screams coming out from the house. Petunia’s shrill voice had turned almost animalistic from the torture. Luckily, there were no baby screams. Of course, that could only mean two things: either Dudley was hidden or at Marge’s, or he had been granted a quick and painless death.
When the house seemed to quite, Bellatrix and the Lestranges came out laughing as if coming out of a friend's meet-up. That was the moment where Albus, Minerva and Sirius came out of hiding and displayed a dome-like shield around them, in order to prevent their escape and the destruction of muggle property.
“Dear cousin, I would say I’m glad to see you again, if I was in Hell. Sadly, I am not in Hell. What brings you to a muggle neighbourhood? Looking out homes for your new threesome family? And I thought you were a blood supremacist… How far the “mighty” have fallen”. Sirius said with a chuckle. He did enjoy railing up his cousin, specially when she got that manic face she always wore when growing up.
“HOW. DARE. YOU. The Dark Lord will have you, and then my fun will begin in truth. I will make you regret ever talking to those blood-traitors and mudbloods!”
Dumbledore decided to step in, to impede a conflict before they were prepared to defend themselves.
“Dear Bellatrix, you should really consider your actions tonight. Voldemort has been defeated tonight, defeated by the power of motherly love in the shape of a one-year old baby” He said calmly, not caring about his adversary’s reddening face”
“LIES.LIES.ALL LIES” screeched Bellatrix, while Rodolphus and Rabastan began to step slowly away from her.
“Please Mrs Lestrange, this screeching didn’t work when you were in school, and it certainly doesn’t work now. Stop that at once!” Minerva, ever the teacher, still treated her and all her ex-students as her students.
“HOW DARE YOU YOU FILTHY HALF-BLOOD!” I’ll kill you for this, how dare you talk to me at all! You should be grovelling at my feet in order to be allowed to breathe!”
And after that last enchanting piece of filth, Bellatrix hurled a Cruciatus to Minerva, who conjured a marble block to cover herself.
The Battle of Little Whinging began.