The Sacrifice
Chapter 1: Destruction and innocence
Parts of the house were on fire and there was smoke everywhere. The house itself was creaking and groaning, as if it might collapse around him at any moment. He was kneeling on bits and pieces of glass that had come from the shattered windows and they were making his knees bleed... but Sirius didn't notice any of it. He didn't see the destroyed furniture in his best friend's living room, or notice that the only light came from the flames in the kitchen. He noticed nothing but the face of his best friend as he held James in his arms...his face...lifeless, cold, and gray, his eyes wide and terrified.
Sirius held James in his arms and sobbed as though his heart would break with grief. How could I let this
happen? It was my idea to switch, it was mine. I talked them into this and now....now.... He held the dead James
to his chest and cried even harder, unable to stop the flow of tears and the crushing wave of guilt that threatened to
consume him entirely.
I'll kill him for this...that stupid, weak, slimy RAT.....oh god, James...poor James, poor
Lily.............Lily
Sirius' eyes opened as his mind finally registered what was happening around him: his surroundings, and the sound
of a screaming from upstairs, a baby...
"LILY!" Sirius screamed at the top of his lungs. He let James fall to the floor as he stood and fled for the
stairs. She's hiding with Harry...he didn't find her, he thought as he ran. But he knew...even as he
ran flat out towards the source of baby Harry's cries, he knew in his heart of hearts she was gone.
Sirius stopped in the doorway and stared in shock at what lay before him: Lily, dead on the floor next to the bed,
beside her, sweet baby Harry with an ugly, dark red wound on his forehead crying and crying, and there on the wall...a
dark shadow lingered, a shadow Sirius didn't see for he couldn't take his eyes off of Lily. His beloved
Lily.
Sirius slowly walked into the room and knelt beside her. He gently closed her eyes and kissed her soft lips. She was
cold already. "Goodbye, love," he whispered softly. He didn't know if her spirit was still near enough to
hear him. He wasn't sure if he even believed in any of that himself. But he had to tell her goodbye. They had been
so close to being...if only there was no James, they might have stood a chance......
A small cough stirred Sirius from his painful thoughts. He turned away from Lilly and looked in mild surprise at the
figure standing in the doorway.
Hagrid had arrived.
-------------FLASHBACK - 7th Year------------
Sirius, Remus, and Peter sat in the stands watching Gryffindor squash Slytherin in their latest Quidditch
match. After a while, Remus noticed his friend's attention definitely wasn't on watching James. He followed
Sirius' gaze down to the front of the stands. In the middle of a group of giggling girls was a very familiar head
of red hair...
"Padfoot."
Nothing.
"Padfoot!" A bit louder.
Still no response.
Remus grinned at Peter, who caught the drift instantly. They each leaned over and screamed at the top of their
lungs:
"SIRIUS!" "AURGH!" Sirius attracted the attention of their entire section by shrieking like a
girl and falling backwards off the bench. Remus and Peter howled with laughter at Sirius red face.
"And what," he sputtered as he stood up," was the point of that? "
"Just making sure your head is in the game and not thinking up some new form of torture for Evans. You really
should be nicer to her." Remus could hardly stop laughing long enough to give his answer.
" Just attempting to figure out what Prongs sees in her that's all."
"Make an effort will you? It's important to James." Remus wasn't laughing now.
"THEY AREN'T EVEN DATING! She can't stand either one of us! She'll never look at him, so why does he
waist his time on that little-"
"Oi! Calm down, Padfoot, you're making a scene!"
Sirius sat down with a huff, trying to control his temper. "She's an annoying little-"
"Drop it, will you?" Peter didn't like arguments; he was anxiously biting his fingernails and watching
them. "Or a teacher might come over."
"Is that the worst that can happen, d'you think," Sirius asked scornfully. "Lighten up,
Wormtail."
"She's not so bad," Remus said quietly.
"Yes, she is!" Sirius was adamant. "She definitely is" So why do I see her face in my mind
every night?
---------------------------
Lily sat with her friends and tried to ignore the scene behind her. She couldn't understand what was being said,
but she had a nagging feeling it was the infamous Marauders once again. Probably Black doing his
look-at-me-I'm-just-so-special routine he and Potter are famous for. Why don't they just GROW UP?! Yet for
some reason, she couldn't take her eyes off of James Potter. He looked so handsome on his broomstick, so confident.
NO! she thought to herself. I will not waist any more brain power on him or I'll have a mental
blackout! What's wrong with me?
Lily couldn't understand why seeing his charming, lopsided grin or thinking about his hazel eyes sent chills up and
down her spine. The same reaction she got when she heard that familiar, yet annoying bark-like laugh, like right
now...
She chanced a glance behind her. Sirius and Peter were laughing at something Remus had apparently said. What is
wrong with me?
She rubbed the gooseflesh on her arms, hoping no one would notice.
------HALLOWEEN, 1981, GODRIC'S HOLLOW--------
"Give Harry to me, Hagrid. I'll take him."
"Sorry, Sirius, I've orders straight from Dumbledore himself. He's ter go ter his aunt 'n uncle's
house."
"But I'm Harry's godfather, Hagrid!" Sirius couldn't understand why Dumbledore was doing this.
Lily and Petunia hadn't spoken in years; there was no relationship there at all. Surely Dumbledore knew this?
"This is what Lily and James wanted if something happened. Harry is supposed to go with me. Why on earth would
Dumbledore...oh god...."
It had come to him in a flash. They hadn't told Dumbledore about the switch. They hadn't told anyone
about the switch. And now Dumbledore thought..........and with the stinking rat vanished to
heaven-knows-where......
It was almost too much for Sirius to take in . . . James, Lily, now Harry was being taken from him. His last link to
the two people who meant everything to him. Hagrid put a clumsy hand on Sirius' shoulder.
"It'll be a `right mate. Dumbledore knows what he's doin'. An' James an' Lily..." Hagrid
found it very hard to continue and made a point of looking at the floor.
" I understand, Hagrid," Sirius said in a hollow sort of voice. He understood all too well. "Take the
motorbike."
"What?" Hagrid looked up in surprise. There was no possession greater to Sirius than his motorbike, and
everyone knew it.
"Take it to get Harry to his aunt's safely. I won't be needing it anymore." With that, Sirius took
one last look at his now quiet and exhausted godson, and walked out of the house. His mind knew only one thing:
find Wormtail. He, nor Hagrid, ever saw the shadow glide out of the upstairs window and disappear with
a wisp into thin air.