Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Everything you recognise belongs to J. K. Rowling.

Warning: OOC Characters

Prologue: Fallen Heroes

"Go faster, you blasted thing!" roared Sirius Black, banging a hand on his flying motorcycle.

He changed its course rapidly, flying toward Godric's Hollow. He had gone to Peter's home to check on him, but the little blighter was nowhere to be found. Naturally, Sirius assumed the worst. He was immediately confronted by his worst fear when Godric's Hollow came into view – the Fidelus Charm had collapsed and the house was nearly broken down.

Sirius crashed the motorcycle and ran hastily into the demolished house. Tears clouded his vision, but he tried to ignore them in favour of finding his friends.

"Come on," he whispered frantically. "Please be alive!"

"Who's 'ere?" asked a gruff voice.

Hagrid.

"Hagrid!" cried Sirius. "Hagrid, please tell me it –," his voice faltered.

The gentle half-giant approached his long-time friend and looked at him sadly. "Sorry, Sirius, but James an' Lily are – are,"

Hagrid burst into tears. "They're dead, Sirius! Dead, I tell yeh!"

Sirius held on to Hagrid to keep himself upright. This was no time to show weakness – not with his friends gone and Pettigrew still out there.

"And Harry?" asked Sirius. "Hagrid, please tell me Harry's safe!"

Sirius, despite his desperate pleading, knew his little godson was dead. If James, a battle-hardened Auror, and Lily, the most talented witch of her generation, were gone, there was no way a toddler had survived.

"Harry's alright, Sirius. 'E managed to survive with nothin' but a scar on 'is forehead. Dunno how 'e did it, but 'e's still in 'is cot."

Sirius, not believing Hagrid, rushed to the nursery. A soft sniffling could be heard from the cot. Harry was sitting up, crying silently, his forehead bloodied. Sirius gasped and ran to pick him up.

"Give him 'ere, Sirius. Dumbledore said we should take him to 4 Privet Drive."

Sirius snarled. "I don't bloody care what Dumbledore wants! This is my godson, I'm not going to ship him off to Petunia Evans," he said, spitting out Petunia's name as if it was poison.

"Sorry, Sirius, but Dumbledore's said –,"

"I heard you the first time!" exclaimed Sirius.

Anger boiled inside him. How dare Dumbledore suggest that his godson should be sent to Petunia bloody Evans instead of him? How dare that old blighter think that Harry would be taken care of there? Sirius, taking a bigger risk than he ever would have with Harry, held the toddler close to his chest and Apparated away to a small street in Buckinghamshire. He knew he could get help there.

"Andy!" he yelled, banging on the front door of a fairly large house.

A confident voice could be heard from inside. "Declare yourself!"

"Sirius Black," he said more calmly. "I turned Bella's hair blonde when I was nine."

The front door swung open, revealing a woman in her mid-thirties with long, curly black hair and grey eyes. It was Andromeda Tonks – Sirius's disowned cousin.

"By Merlin, Sirius, what's going on? And why are you holding a baby?" said Andromeda, her eyes wide.

"This is Harry Potter. James and Lily were just attacked, Pettigrew's still loose somewhere and Dumbledore and Hagrid are after me. I need you to take care of Harry for a while, until I get a few things sorted."

Andromeda stared at her cousin, oblivious to his frustration at her lack of action. Finally, she took the boy from his arms and entered the house again. "Of course, Sirius, but be careful. Good luck."

Sirius nodded his thanks and disappeared once more. He appeared in Diagon Alley, right before Gringotts. Placing an emotionless mask over his grief and pain, he entered the bank.

"Ironclaw," he called. "I require your assistance."

It sounded quite ridiculous to him, but it was always what his father, Orion Black, had said when visiting Gringotts – other than 'Useless, foul, impure rubbish,' of course.

A goblin popped up in front of him. "Mr Black," it said. "What do you wish my assistance with?"

"I want you to lock down all vaults the Black and Potter families have sole, unrestricted access to."

Ironclaw snapped his fingers and a piece of parchment appeared. "That includes Vaults Gryffindor, Peverell, Potter and Ambrosius vaults on the Potter side and Le Fay, Black, Flamel and Slytherin on the Black side."

"Very well," said Sirius, shocked at the number of famous, even legendary, magicians they were related to. "Make sure nobody learns about Le Fay. The Blacks' reputation is bad enough as it is."

"Of course," said Ironclaw. "Will you be taking your title of Lord Black? The ring has been in Gringotts Bank since the death of Orion Black.

"Not yet, Ironclaw. I have more pressing matters right now."

Ironclaw nodded and started working on locking down the vaults. Sirius took that is his cue to leave. He Apparated away, turning into his Animagus form in order to locate his target – Peter Pettigrew.

Pettigrew was in a deserted alleyway, muttering to himself. Sirius crept up to him, wand raised. He knew it wouldn't do him any good if he killed Peter – the Ministry would send him to Azkaban instantly. Instead, he shot a stunning curse. Peter ducked just in time and spun around.

"Sirius!" he cried with mock misery. "How could you do this?"

Sirius's expression morphed into one of pure hatred. "Be silent, Peter!" he snarled.

"How could you sell James and Lily to You-Know-Who?" exclaimed Peter louder.

"YOU BLOODY WELL KNOW I DIDN'T SELL ANYONE! YOU DID IT, PETER! IT WAS YOUR FAULT! YOU KILLED THEM – YOU'RE A MURDERER, PETER!"

Aurors started arriving at the scene, grabbing Sirius.

"Let me go," he seethed. "I am an innocent man. It's him! It's Pettigrew! Catch him – he's getting away!"

The Aurors grabbed him tighter and dragged him away. Sirius took a deep breath. Finally, on his third try, he managed to Apparate back to Andromeda's home.

"Sirius!" she exclaimed, jumping up at his sudden appearance. "What happened?"

Sirius quickly explained everything that had happened that day. "I suppose Dumbledore will be out for the Potter Vaults any minute now, that bumbling old fool."

"He always did put his abnormally large, crooked nose where it didn't belong," stated Andromeda calmly.

Sirius nodded distractedly. "How's Harry doing?"

Andromeda smiled at his concern. "Sleeping," she said. "Poor dear..." she said, more to herself than to Sirius.

Turning her attention back to her cousin, she asked a question that had been bothering her. "Where are you going to stay? Grimmauld Place is not suitable for living. You could always stay here, of course..."

Sirius's head snapped up. "No, no," he muttered distractedly. "I have a house a couple of kilometres from the Thames in London."

"But surely, Sirius, Buckinghamshire is safer? After all, the magical community is much smaller here."

"Perhaps," agreed Sirius. "But London will have to do for now."

"You're staying for a couple of days," said Andromeda. "You're in no condition to be living on your own, let alone taking care of a toddler."

"You have your own family, Andy, I can't do this," said Sirius.

"I want to do it," said Andromeda after a short pause. "And I'm sure Dora will be delighted to have someone to cause chaos with."

Sirius chuckled. Nymphadora, his eight year old cousin once removed, had a particular affinity for neon hair colours and causing mischief, much to Andromeda's displeasure.

"What about Ted?" asked Sirius quietly. "Is he okay with this?"

Andromeda looked at him sadly. She had never seen him so withdrawn. "You know he what he thinks of you, Sirius," she said softly. "Of course he doesn't mind."

"I'm going to get my title of Lord Black tomorrow – convicted murderer or not, it's still money, and you know goblins love it," said Sirius.

"Good," said Andromeda approvingly. "You should contact poor Remus, too. He's probably sick with grief and worry by now."

Andromeda had only seen Remus a couple of times, when he had come to babysit Dora.

"I will," said Sirius. "I should write him now."

"Now you will rest," said Andromeda forcefully.

Sirius huffed, but obeyed nonetheless. Andy, being a Healer, had every right to keep him in bed for a week if she deemed him unhealthy.

"May Merlin be with you," muttered Andromeda sadly as she watched her cousin almost crawl up the stairs.