As the 31st of October drew to a close - Sirius Orion Black was not finishing up his Halloween celebrations, as he had every Halloween for years prior, with his friends.
He wanted to, he had really wanted to.
They'd planned this for weeks- Harry's first proper Halloween. Dressed as an adorable Golden Snitch, they'd go and gather as many sweets as they could - James was even thinking of galloping around as a Stag, thinking it would impress everyone who saw them and get Harry even more sweets, Lily thought James just wanted the attention.
And at the end of the night, all of the Marauder's would gather, gorge themselves on sweets and horror movies, and stay up until they crashed- just like they were in Hogwarts.
But instead of doing any of this, Sirius was struggling to breath, his chest burning from the frozen air that forced its way into his lungs, his body was shaking and he was functioning on nothing but adrenaline.
He Apparated for what felt like the third or fifth time, landing painfully onto the ground, just as the sun rose, cementing the true beginning of the 1st of November.
His arm stung from his messy Apparition, but he ignored it - his arm was still intact, so the minor Splinching doesn't matter.
It took him hours to find Peter.
Running through busy streets and Apparating to the next so frequently his world began to spin.
By the time he landed heavily in a crowded street and his gaze landed on the familiar short stature and straw coloured hair of his friend and fellow Marauder, the sun was high in the sky, the sky a bright blue.
Sirius gasped for breath, crying out for Peter as he rushed forward, pleading for an explanation, begging to know what happened to him- deep down he already knew the answers, but those answers were impossible to believe.
Peter stared at him, blue, watery eyes wide with fear, his sickly looking form shivering in anxiety as he stumbled back, opened his mouth and began to yell.
Sirius froze in shock at what he was saying.
"How could you?!" Peter screamed, reaching back for his wand, "How could you do such a thing?! To Lily- to James!? You said he was your brother!"
For the briefest of seconds, his sleeve shifted and Sirius saw the deep blank ink that stained his pale skin, and the truth collapsed on him like a falling building, leaving Sirius struggling to breath past his quickening sobs.
He tried to get a word in - yelling at Peter, screaming at him to stop and just explain.
Some small, broken part of him hoping that maybe Peter was just mistaken- that something else had happened- that there had been some kind of fault in their spell-
But as Peter raised his wand, Hexing him painfully, and there was a flicker of something in those sapphire blue eyes - something that made him unrecognisable to the man now kneeling on the ground in pain.
The person standing in front of him was not Peter Pettigrew- it was not the small, nervous, shy boy he'd met on the Hogwarts Express eleven years ago- it was not the loyal, kind, funny boy who broke the law to spend more time with Remus- it was not the tearful, excited man who had held Harry so carefully when he was born-
It was some cruel, monstrous creature that Sirius didn't know.
A loyal follower of the most twisted Wizard of their time.
Sirius glared angrily at him, "You did this- you- you killed them. You betrayed everything Lily and James ever stood for siding with him-!" Sirius croaked, and for the briefest of seconds - Peter was standing there once again, with tearful guilt in his eyes.
But a second later he was gone.
Peter raised his wand minuscule, eyes narrowed in determination, before a ferocious explosion threw Sirius to the side, he instinctively reached for his wand and cast Proteago.
He looked back just in time to see Peter cast a minor severing charm, hand shaking but determination in his eyes- and then he was gone. Leaving nothing but his finger on the floor, and destruction around them.
Twelve Muggles dead, a further twenty five injured, Sirius kneeling on the cold ground, staring blankly at the spot Peter had been, dimly aware that the rat scurrying away from the crime scene, disappearing from view, was Peter.
Sirius didn't know how long he'd knelt there, the cold reaching into his bones, the screams of the Muggle civilians around him muffled by the rising static in his mind.
At some point, a hand roughly grabbed his arm and yanked him off the ground, his wand was snatched from the ground- there was screaming and yelling from people who sounded important, and there was a familiar growl in his ear-
Alastair.
What was Alister doing here?
Sirius couldn't make out his words- and he didn't even try.
It took him a second to realise who was laughing- only when he took a breath did he realise it was him. Tears burned in his eyes, rolling down his face as he struggled for breath.
Why was he laughing, he wondered, this wasn't funny. Nothing about this situation was funny.
But it was, in a way.
Eleven years of never knowing what love felt like- he met James, Peter and Remus.
He never knew what a family should feel like until he met them - until he was pulled into a warm hug by Euphemia Potter-
He ran away at sixteen - moving in with the Potter's and feeling truly safe for the first time-
They'd planned to spend the rest of their lives together, all four of them.
They'd planned to fight Voldemort and his followers, win the war and spend the years together, raising Harry and living life.
And just as they were all finally coming together- the war was looking up, though there would still be a few hard years ahead, and Harry was happy, healthy and full of personality- it was all taken away from him.
His family was dead, the friend he had loved for so long used the ability they'd helped him acquire for good to escape a mass murder, his boyfriend would be alone- if people thought he was the killer- and if they thought Peter was dead...
His laughter quickly became hysterical- manic, and he was dragged away from the scene - something hurt incredibly badly, burning through his arm, but Sirius ignored it- he couldn't focus on it if he tried, anyway.
Sirius was thrown into a cage at some point - he had no idea when.
The sun was beginning to set now.
Alister stared at him through the bars of his cell, like he was trying to decipher some mystery.
Sirius just sat there, unable to move, unable to think.
As the sun rose once more, Sirius was dimly aware that it was the 2nd of November.
The cell door banged open, and he was dragged out by his arm - an Auror he didn't recognise.
Sirius was once more thrown into a cage - this one round and bronze and scarily familiar. He had seen many Death Eaters sitting in this cage, before the Ministry and the crowd of angry people.
He was tied into a chair - chains biting painfully into his arms and legs.
As he rose, Sirius kept his head down.
Crouch's voice was muffled and far away - the banging of his gavel only slightly registered.
There was shouting, people screaming questions at him, but he just stared at the ground.
What else could he do?
He was a Black.
A Pureblood.
His mother, father, brother, and cousin were known Death Eaters- even if his parents had died before Sirius had joined the war, and Regulus had died a few years ago-
Bella was well known, Narcissa was married to Lucius, another Death Eater if rumours were to be believed-
What could he say?
Everyone believed he was the Keeper, after all.
No.
He couldn't do anything.
So he sat there, Crouch screaming at him to answer for his crimes.
Eventually- they forced Remus to the stand.
Sirius looked up for the first time since he'd been yanked out of his cell- Remus stood there with tears in his eyes.
"Why?"
Sirius opened his mouth, wanting to scream that he didn't do this- that Peter was the Keeper and was still out there and they needed to find him now-
But no shouts came from his mouth.
He managed to croak out, "Moony- I didn't do this" but he didn't know if anyone heard him, as he looked down once again, screwing his eyes shut as Remus was dragged from the stands by McGonagall as he sobbed loudly.
Before he knew it, he was thrown back into his cell.
When he woke up - it was to someone grabbing him once again.
He was dragged away, many spells and enchantments placed on him, not that he'd try anything.
Sirius was dragged across the freezing water as it lashed against the rickety old boat, he stared at the bottom of the boat.
Then he was dragged into the tall, imposing prison.
Azkaban towered over him as he was dragged through its doors.
A shrill laugh echoed through the hall he was being dragged through - a Death Eater he vaguely recognised grinning through the bars.
"Sirius! Sirius Black! Happy Birthday, cousin!" they laughed, crazily.
November 3rd.
He hadn't realised.