31 October 1981-Godric's Hollow

Sirius Black turned the key of his motorcycle, shutting off the engine, and stood up to look at the destroyed house in front of him.

His heart sank when he looked at it, and he feared the worst. He feared they were dead.

'I swear to God, I'm going to fucking murder that rat bastard if I ever see him again,' he thought angrily as he quickly pushed open the gate and ran up the pathway to the door, barely attached to its hinges.

Not bothering to knock, Sirius just let himself in. The inside of the house was no better than the outside. The ceiling was partially caving in, the radio was on the floor in pieces, the chairs and table looked more suitable for firewood than for their real purposes, and James's wand was on the bookshelf.

Sirius stopped himself when he saw the wand. He moved towards it. He picked it up.

"J-James?" he shouted. "Are you there?"

No reply came. Sirius hoped the anti-Apparition Charm over the cottage had been disabled and that they had gotten out alright.

"Lily?" he cried out, silently praying for an answer. No answer came.

Slowly, James's wand in his hand, he took out his other wand and moved towards Harry's bedroom.

It was in the hallway outside Harry's bedroom that Sirius's hopes began to be dashed.

"No," he moaned. "No, no, no…James! No."

James Potter, his best friend, father to Sirius's godson, was lying dead on the floor, his glasses askew and his skin pale.

Sirius could no longer suppress his fears, not when one of them had just been confirmed: James was gone, and never coming back.

Kneeling down, tears welling up in his eyes, Sirius hugged James's body and began to cry.

"James…James," he muttered.

So focused was he on James's body for those brief moments, it took him a few seconds longer than it usually would have for the scared cries of a baby nearby to register to him.

"H-Harry?" he said, letting go of James, straightening his glasses and quickly heading to his godson's bedroom.

Inside, there were splinters lying all across the floor from where, most likely, Voldemort had blasted the door open with his wand. Sirius kept looking around-the stuffed toys on the shelves were torn, a black cloak was lying on the floor near Lily's feet-

Lily. She was gone too. She was lying on the ground, her wand clutched in her hand. Sirius didn't dare try to picture what her final seconds were like, in case he broke down completely.

He turned to the crib, in which a one-year-old baby with black hair, green eyes and chubby cheeks lay, crying.

"Hey, Harry, hey," he said reassuringly, picking up his godson. Harry's crying, although it didn't stop, lessened.

"Ma," he whimpered.

"Oh, God," sighed Sirius, holding back the tears. "I'm so sorry, Harry. I'm so sorry. This is my fault…all of it."

He looked at Harry's face, eyes wet from the crying, and that was when he noticed the lightning-bolt scar on Harry's forehead. He didn't know what it meant fully, but he knew that it meant Harry had survived the wrath of the most evil Dark Lord of the century, and for now, that was enough for him.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

The trinkets and devices in the Headmaster's Office began going off all at once, some of them shaking and others cracking and breaking in pieces. The portraits of past Headmasters on the wall, unable to do much about it, simply watched and waited for the current Headmaster, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, to arrive.

Headmaster Dumbledore, a tall man with long white hair and a matching beard wearing a bright purple cloak and blue buckled boots with half-moon spectacles, rushed in a minute later, stopping once to catch his breath.

He looked around at the chaos that had formed in his office, and realised immediately what had happened, as the Fidelius Charm in Godric's Hollow was broken.

The Secret Keeper had betrayed the Potters and given their presence to Lord Voldemort. There was a very good chance that, unless Lily had made a breakthrough in decoding the old spells, all three of them were dead.

Dumbledore was of half a mind to go to Hagrid and ask him to check up, and if Lily's efforts had been successful, bring Harry to his closest relatives in Surrey. Knowing how strained the relationship between Lily and Petunia had been by the end made Dumbledore feel regretful for this decision, but the only way for Harry's protection to hold was for him to live with the family of the caster.

Just as he began moving down the steps out of his office, however, he stopped. Yes, he trusted Hagrid-he would always trust Hagrid, no matter his faults-but was this really something that Hagrid ought to be doing, considering his…nature? It would make more sense for he himself to go and check on the Potters if Voldemort had indeed gone there.

After all, everybody said he was the only wizard that Voldemort ever feared. Seeing as Voldemort rarely fought whenever he was around, coupled with the fact Dumbledore probably knew the Dark Lord better than anyone else, meant this opinion was very justified

That said, he could always bring Minerva with him-it would be wise to bring back-up to Godric's Hollow, in case Tom had done the same thing.

As Dumbledore exited his office to find Minerva, he found his thoughts shifting to the Potters' Secret Keeper-the one who had betrayed their trust to Voldemort.

Like many other people, he suspected that the Secret Keeper had been Sirius Black. He was James's best friend, his best man; the two were brothers in all but blood. Thus, it was obvious that James and Lily would choose him as their Secret Keeper. His heart sank at the thought of Sirius betraying his best friend.

Dumbledore was also aware that there was a spy in the Order working for Voldemort, a fact that he had been made aware of over a year ago, thanks to Severus. Having slowly worked on the information received from the turncoat Death Eater since that revelation, Dumbledore had only been able to narrow it down to four suspects: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and Mundungus Fletcher.

Fletcher's inclusion, he found unsurprising-the thief was a known drinker, which made everyone in the Order nervous in case he was taken advantage of in his inebriated state. However, this risk had been lessened by keeping him away from the meetings discussing the most important details and by threatening him with Azkaban if he overspent on alcohol. That said, Fletcher was always tailed by either an Order member or a Hogwarts house-elf for security reasons.

The inclusion of Lupin disappointed him-he was a bright student, a Prefect, someone who had worked hard to ensure his lycanthropy did not define his identity. He was also a good man; Dumbledore was certain. But his 'furry little problem', as he christened it, meant he had real problems integrating into wizarding society, and Sirius Black himself had become concerned that he was spying on the Order, owing to Voldemort's swaying of most of Britain's werewolves.

Pettigrew's inclusion was a real surprise-he was not the brightest of the 'Marauders', nor was he the most magically talented or skilled member of the Order. Still, it was better to be safe than sorry, as like Lupin, Pettigrew had not been able to find stable employment since his graduation, and there were one or two times in which he had been late to Order meetings or absent from his mother's house for the weekend.

Sirius Black making it to the list of suspects, like the inclusion of Lupin, disappointed Dumbledore. He was well aware of Black's problems with his parents and cousins (bar Andromeda), and that he had run away the summer before his Sixth Year when they tried to force him to take the Dark Mark, subsequently living with James's family. Black also fought with real passion and zeal when engaged with Death Eaters, especially Bellatrix, and the way he had torn up the justifications for pureblood supremacy time and time again made it clear he was not of the same mind-set as his blood family.

Or was he? He had been acting suspiciously secretive since the Potters had gone into hiding, and it was likely that he had been pressured into turning double agent, and that his suspicions of Lupin were merely a way for him to cover his own tracks.

Arriving at the door of Minerva's office, Dumbledore stopped and emptied his mind, praying that James and Lily had been able to make their escape with Harry. At the very least, he prayed Harry was still alive.

AN: 1. This idea has been kicking around in my head since late 2017, and I've only been acting on it in the past few weeks.

2. I own nothing-not the characters, and not the locations.

3. Your reviews are always welcome-not obliged, but welcome.