To Walk Through Fire

Disclaimer:  I do not own Harry Potter and the characters and world associated with him, they belong to J.K. Rowling.  I do not own the quote below.  I am only playing with the characters and mean no offense to anyone.  Please don't sue.

"I have lived through the war, and lost much.  I know what's worth the fight, and what is not.

Honor and courage are matters of the bone, and what a man will kill for, he will sometimes die for, too.

For the sake of love alone, would I walk through fire again."

                                                "Fiery Cross" Diana Gabaldon

Prologue: Memories

The small baby was the sweetest thing he had ever seen.  With ten little fingers and ten little toes.  And the baby was his.  Not anyone else's.  The small child was his.  He stared into the baby's bright eyes.  They seemed to glow in happiness, just as his father's were.  The baby seemed to be smiling, if that was possible for newborn infants to do. His father turned to stare at the babe's mother, pure happiness radiated off him like a beacon.  The woman smiled back happily, glowing with the same sort of happiness and pride as the man.  Love reflected in both their eyes.

"He's mine, my son."  The man whispered so softly turning his gaze back to his son.  The woman did not bother to silence him and warn him of the danger that those words could bring.  She had not seen him so happy in such a long time, no one had been happy for a long time, it was nice to have a relief from the fear, even if it was only for a little while.  It was a relief to know that he could still smile.  "I can't believe he's mine."  The man whispered softly to himself.  "He's so tiny and . . ." He didn't bother finishing his sentence; he was too caught up with looking at his son.  A look of awe lay upon his face, how could he have helped create something so beautiful and precious?  How could he love something so tiny so much?

He held the boy as if he was a fragile glass figurine.  He felt that the child would break in his grasp. 

The woman opened her mouth to say something to her son and her beloved but stopped abruptly when she heard footsteps.  They both looked at each other in instant agreement. The man instantly, albeit a little reluctantly, handed the child over to its mother and pasted a smaller smile onto his face, even though his eyes, dancing with joy and laughter, could not be dimmed. 

A tall dark haired man, much like the boy's father entered the room and smiled at the couple.  He laughed when he saw the almost guilty looks on the faces of the parents as they relaxed.

"Don't get too comfortable."  He said his voice full of mirth.  "Moony's coming in soon . . . Well as soon as he can convince the nurse that he is a friend.   Peter still isn't here, I think he's still on that mission for Albus."  He looked down at his Godson with happiness.  "Your parents are so funny sometimes."

Lily scoffed at the man.  "Be careful, we may just reconsider making you his Godfather, you're a bad influence on him."  She seemed to try to plaster a serious expression on her face but failed miserably and smiled at the man, passing her son over to his Godfather.

 "Me?"  The boy's Godfather responded innocently.  "What about his father, he's worse than I am."  He looked down at the boy, bushing a lock of soft hair back from the infant's forehead.  "Isn't that right, Harry?"

"Am not."  The other dark haired man replied in mock anger.  "You're the one who always wanted to turn Snape's hair red."

"You wanted to raid McGonagall's office in second year, and then . . ." The man wisely stopped as he saw the look on Lily's face.  The boy's father kicked him softly in the leg, knowing it would get them both in trouble, which was not a good thing, especially since the other man had to live with her.

He tried to think desperately of something to say to make her forget his companion's comments; he was usually good at charming women, especially her, but the small babe in his friend's arms kept his attention.  He was about to open his mouth to say something that he probably would regret later, when the brown haired man, called Moony by his companions, entered the room, his ragged robes swirling around him.

"Congratulations Prongs, Lily, I'm so happy for you both."  He said in a very professional, Moony manner.  The child's father was glad that Moony's eyes were focused on his friends and not him, as he crept silently across the room to avoid notice by the newcomer.

Before the newcomer could say anything more, the child's father playfully slinked up behind him and poked him in the back . . . 

Moony jumped almost three feet in the air, sending the child's father into fits of laughter. The child's Godfather and mother joined in as well when they saw the scowl on the man's face.  He couldn't help but join them in their laughter.  They had something to celebrate and they would not let this time go to waste.

When everyone had gained enough breath to say anything Moony started to scowl at his friend.  "That wasn't very nice, you shouldn't do that in a hospital.  Harry could have been hurt."

"Oh come on Moony, I was just playing.  And besides you were at least five feet away from Harry, you wouldn't have hit him."  The man told his friend, looking at him pleadingly. The brown haired man could only shake his head in response.

"May I hold him?"  He asked softly as he walked over to the bed, where Lily now held the small infant in her arms.

"Of course you may."  She said giving him a soft smile.  "You're probably the best influence he'll have.  Between James and Sirius, Harry will be turned into a trouble maker before he even learns to walk."

"Mischief maker, not trouble maker."  Sirius, one of the dark-haired men said sullenly like a whiny child.  "We were never trouble makers, we only made mischief." 

Lily smiled and rolled her eyes.  "Well excuse me, Mr. High and Mighty, but what's the difference."

"There's a big difference.  Mischief makers are loveable and sweet, like me and Harry here, James doesn't follow that description (at this his friend elbowed him in the ribs and Sirius gave him a small glare that wasn't very convincing for his eyes were still dancing with happiness) and trouble makers are just people who get into trouble and aren't sweet and loveable."  Sirius nodded happy with his small speech.

"Well then you are a trouble maker."  She stated firmly.

"That is not possible, I'm to cute and sweet to be considered as a trouble maker."  He gave her a simpering smile that made everyone laugh.  Lily's laughter rang in his ears, like a soft summer breeze.  None of them said anything to contradict him.

"So this is Harry James Potter."  Remus, otherwise known as Moony, stated as he stared in wonder at the small child.  Sirius knew that Moony was not one to handle children often and chances were that the werewolf would never be able to have any children of his own, due to the certain laws that governed the wizarding community. He felt sorry for his good friend, he always thought that Moony was the best with children; he had always been a good teacher.  It was a pity that he couldn't teach at Hogwarts instead of risking his life to help them try to fight off the Dark Lord . . . Sirius stopped his thoughts there.  This was supposed to be a happy night, not one to dwell on the evil that surrounded them.  It would do them all good to forget it for a night

"He is so cute."  Remus whispered softly to the child in a very un-Moony like fashion.  "He has your eyes Lily."  His brown eyes met Lily's bright green ones as she smiled at him, watching her son like a falcon.  "It's a pity that Peter couldn't join us."  He said sadly, "he would have liked to see your son James.  He is really good with children."

"Yes it is," James added softly, "Where is he?  Is he still off on that mission, I thought he was suppose to be finished it by now."

"He was, however you know Peter, it takes him a while to do something like that."  Remus said smiling at the thought of his friend.

"Yeah," Sirius added wanting to join in on the conversation.  "He needs to get up his courage.  Also he probably doesn't want to hurt anyone so he is being extra careful."

"Hey Padfoot, I think you learned a new word."  James proclaimed happily.

"Did not, I already knew the word."

"Did to, I have never heard you use that word before."

"Did not."

"You did to Padfoot."

"I did not Prongs."

"You did."

"I did not.  Whatever word it was.  What word are we arguing over anyway?"  A confused look came over the man's face as he tried to think of the word.

 

James laughed.  "You actually used the word careful."  He managed to gasp out in between breaths.  "I never thought it would grace your vocabulary."

"Of course I know the word careful, I, Sirius Black am always careful." He said raising his head up high in mock dignity. 

James snorted and started to laugh again.

"Hey earth to Padfoot and Prongs, the two of you are acting like children!  And you're supposed to take care of a baby!  I don't think I'll leave either of you alone in the same room as he is in.  Especially if the two of you are acting like that."  Lily stated taking her black haired child back from Remus.

The two men glared at her in anger, with laughter dancing in both their eyes, one set brown the other blue.

"As much fun as I have had I must really be going."  Remus looked at his companions and smiled.  "I have some work I need to catch up on.  And Sirius, I am sure that Lily and James would like to spend some time with their newborn son, so why don't you come with me and you can help me write those reports."  Sirius looked at Remus as if he had grown two heads, as if he would ever voluntarily do work, it just wasn't something that he did, not even for a friend.  Remus just shook his head and rolled his eyes at his friend before turning to Lily and James.  "Congratulations the both of you.  Harry is really lucky to have you as parents."

"And me as his Godfather."  Sirius added thoughtfully.

"Sure Padfoot, whatever you say."  Remus told his friend.  "I'll see you on Wednesday."  With that he left the room.

"Well that wasn't so hard now was it Sirius?"  James asked his long time friend.  "You only had to pretend for, what, two minutes."

"Yes but it is so hard to trick Moony, he knows us too well."  Sirius sat on the bed beside Lily and softly touched the sleeping infant's head.  "I don't like doing this James, I don't know how much longer I can keep this up."

"The great Padfoot is admitting defeat."  James stared at his friend wide-eyed, then turned his gaze on Lily.  "Quick get a doctor, he must be feeling ill."  James dropped his sarcastic tone and moved to sit in one of the hospital chairs.  "Look Padfoot I know its hard.  Its hard for us all, me, you, Lily, even Remus and Peter.  But if you give up your acting career, danger will become a reality for us all, even more than it is.  As long as we lie low and keep the truth hidden, we will be able to save both Lily and Harry, and even me – even though I am sure I am at the top of Voldemort's hit list anyways.  Padfoot you know you can keep going do it for me, for Lily, for Harry, for yourself."  James looked his friend in the eye.  "I know you can do it Sirius, don't prove me wrong."

"I know you are right James, as much as I hate to admit it, but it just is so hard sometimes, especially to have to lie to Moony and Wormtail like that.  And stop being so serious, I'm the one whose suppose to be Sirius."  Padfoot's blue eyes glinted in a way that spelled troub-mischief.

"Awwwww," Lily said from her position on the bed.  "Look Harry, it's a Kodak moment." 

The men just ignored her comment.  Sirius turned to his wife, as he did so he saw James look away so as to give them as much privacy as he could, especially considering they were in a small hospital room.

"Lily, I love you.  You too Harry." He whispered softly to his family.  "I'll come see you as often as I can, I promise."

"We know Sirius.  But please don't put yourself in danger, Harry needs his father as well as his mother."  Lily whispered back.  Sirius smiled sadly at her and told her that he would try.  He bent down and softly kissed her.  She wrapped her free arm around him and held him close for a moment, their son squished comfortably between them.  Sirius wished that the moment would never end.  For once in his life he was content and happy.  He would even give up the title of mischief-maker to be able to stay with them, as a proper family.

The handsome dark haired man leaned down to tenderly kiss his son on the forehead.  He smiled at his small family.  With that Sirius turned and walked out of the room without another word.  He left his wife and child in James' care, knowing that for now they would be safe . . .

Padfoot rolled over in his sleep, murmuring something that couldn't be heard by the outside world.

He had somehow managed to finish his work early, he must have raced through all those reports on the Death eaters recently caught, but he didn't remember doing a single one as he raced out of the office and apparated to a small town.  All that was on his mind was his little son, with jets of black hair and beautiful green eyes.  James had informed him two days ago that Lily would be in the house alone with Harry.  He had told Sirius this under the pretense of asking him to keep an eye on things while he was out. 

Sirius raced down the street, he couldn't help it.  It was so very rare that he was able to spend quality time with his wife and son.  When he was there most of the time Moony was there as well, and sometimes Wormtail.

Moony.

Now there was an interesting topic.  Was Moony the traitor amongst the Marauders?  He was far more complex than Peter, and James definitely was not revealing anything to Voldemort – or Harry and Lily would have been dead by now.  So the only real option was that Moo-no Remus was the traitor.  Besides he spent most of his time at Lily and James place that it seriously did make Sirius wonder if he was trying to receive more information by spending so much time at the manor.  He was beginning to wonder if Remus knew about Harry's real parentage.  If he did, that would cause real problems.

Sirius quickly put those thoughts away as he neared the front door.  Like any other civil human being he knocked on the hard wooden door.  That is before he entered without waiting for someone to get it – but he was Padfoot, he was allowed to do that. 

"Hello?  Anyone home?"  He called out softly, even though he hear squeals of delight coming from the living room.

"Daaadddyyy."  A small shrill voice answered in response.  Sirius hoped that no one but Lily was home, he would be in big trouble if that wasn't the case.

 It was then that he heard a voice that he had dreaded to hear. "James is that you?"

"No Moony, it's me Padfoot."  He answered carefully.  He could feel his throat tighten in terror, if Remus found out and he was the traitor . . . No he couldn't think like that.  Remus was not the traitor.  Somehow the Dark Lord had bugged one of them so that he could listen to everything that had been said.  So which one of them had been captured?  If that was true.

He walked into the living room.  His stomach still painfully lodged in his throat.  Before he could explain anything to Remus a small black haired figure rammed into him, nearly tipping him over.  Tiny arms entwined tightly around him.  The boy's head was buried partly into his knees, the black hair sticking out at odd angles.  For once he was glad at Lily's insistence that they put glamorie on the child.

"Well hello to you too Harry."  He said bending down so he could pick the small child up.  The boy laughed in glee when he flew up into the air.  Sirius couldn't help but smile at the boy, his son.

"So Padfoot you've been corrupting James' boy I see.  I wondered how long it would take, especially since you visit everyday."  Moony said attempting to sound strict and pitifully failing as the laughter entered his voice.  "So what have you done to the poor boy?" He teased.

"I haven't done anything but try and teach him to talk." Sirius grinned.

"The way he acts around you makes me wonder who really is his father."  James said coming into the room.  "I would almost think that you are Sirius, especially the way you are corrupting him."

"Me?  Corrupt him?  I would never do that."  Sirius said failing to look aghast at what his friend implied.  "Besides I am his godfather, I have the right to teach him – I think that's what I am suppose to do.  Right Harry?"  He said nodding proudly at his speech, looking at his son who nodded solemnly back. "See even Harry agrees with me."  He looked innocently up at James.  Padfoot hated this game, but it needed to be played.  He especially did not like dragging the poor child in, who must have been very confused at the changes that were made so often.  One day he was 'Pafoo', the boy's godfather, and the next he was 'daddy'.

"That's because you spoil him rotten." James muttered back glaring at him. 

Instead of answering Sirius tickled the small boy and put him down on the ground.  He waited to see what the boy did.  Harry just stared up at him expectantly.  Sirius laughed and put his hands into his pockets, pulling out a muggle toy that he had found extremely amusing and couldn't resist buying for the boy.  "Here you go Harry."  He said happily as he handed the small stuffed toy to the boy. Harry reached for it and laughed when it suddenly jumped out of Sirius' hand.  He started to chase it ignoring the adults who were now staring at Sirius.

"Whahhaatttt?"  Sirius looked at his friends.

"Padfoot, old buddy, old pal, you didn't charm that toy by any chance did you?  It just moves on its own right?"  Remus asked doubtfully.  "You know that is illegal and you could get in big trouble for it."

"I didn't do anything, just bought my godson a toy."  He told them innocently, the smirk on his face revealing the truth.

"Uh hu."  Prongs nodded smirking at him in return.  "And you just happened to find a motorcycle that flew right?"

"Of course Prongs, right next door to the toy shop."  Sirius still looked at them innocently.  He quickly changed the subject, he didn't do anything wrong and he didn't like people looking at him like that.  "So Moony, what are you doing here?"

Remus smiled.  "Well I heard that you were coming here tonight and since I haven't seen you in a while I thought I would drop by.  Also I thought I would check on Prongs junior over there to see how much his godfather had corrupted him."  Remus replied smiling.

"I haven't done anything to him.  Just taught him a few words I thought he would need."  Sirius whined.

Remus raised his eyebrows in question, but didn't say anything.

"Mommy." 

The three men who had been staring at each other mischievously jumped as they heard the small voice call out. 

"Well, well, well," Lily said as she came into the room holding her son "who have we here?"

"Daddy, 'Rongs 'n Moony."  The small boy in her arms declared gleefully.  Lily raised her eyebrows at her son.

"You mean Padfoot, daddy and Moony."  She told the small boy as he entertained himself by tugging at her red hair.

"No," the boy looked at her with serious green eyes.  "Daddy, 'Rongs 'n Moony."

Lily sighed, shaking her head she glanced over at Sirius who was making funny faces at Harry.  "Sirius Black you will stop teaching my son.  I will not have him not knowing who is who and then have James spends hours trying to re-teach him.  Which, by the way, does not work."

"I agree."  James added firmly, his eyes glowing in amusement.  "You will stop teaching our son that you are his father, 'cause your not."

Sirius rolled his eyes, thinking of a witty comeback.  "How do you know that you really are his father?" He smirked at the look James gave him.  He knew that they were playing on a dangerous ground, but from the way Moony looked, Sirius doubted that Remus suspected anything of a sort.  In fact he looked more amused at the idea than anything else.

"Because Padfoot, I know you would never take Lily away from me and did know that even if you did you would not survive a minute with her.  You'd end up tied to a chair so that you didn't

break any of her precious furniture (at this Lily scoffed and lightly whacked James on the shoulder).  And besides Harry looks just like me."  James retorted in mirth.

"Well its Harry's opinion that matters," Padfoot told them seriously.  Then with an evil grin on his face. He looked at his son still cuddled in Lily's arms.  "Harry who am I?"

"Daddy." The boy stated happily.

"Who is he?"  Sirius pointed at Remus.

"Moony."

"Who is that fellow over there with the messy hair."  Sirius grinned and pointed to Prongs.

"Hey!" Prongs called out slapping his friend on the shoulder in retaliation.

"'Rongs."  Harry called out gleefully.  "'Rongs!"

Sirius smiled happily.  He had proven his point.  "Good boy Harry, that's right."

"Padfoot."  James growled.  "You are forbidden to teach him any more words.  I would banish you for a week, but I don't know how we would keep you out."

"Then you'll just have to live with me.  And besides, why would you want to get rid of my handsome face?  You would miss me within a day."  He asked innocently, in a way only he could.

"All three of you mischief makers should move their handsome faces into the kitchen or I'll let Harry play with your supper."  Lily turned around and headed towards the kitchen with a knowing smile on her lips.

The three men stared at each other, they knew that Lily would carry out her threat and leave them without any food, for Harry would destroy it, painting the walls with whatever she had made.  She had done that before, leaving them to try and cook a meal by themselves, which had turned out disastrous.  Sirius, a man who never turned down food, quickly followed Lily's retreating figure into the kitchen.  He still couldn't believe how beautiful she was, or how proud he was when he saw her holding his son.  He could hear James and Remus following quickly after him. 

Diner was wonderful.  Lily was the best cook he knew of, even better than his mother.  Her food tasted much better after having to eat his home cooked meals for the past week.  All of which tasted like charcoal.  Despite the fact that the food was a simple fair, it was the best meal he had for weeks.  He ignored the conversation around him – something about how the ministry wasn't doing their job properly (wasn't that always the story?) – and dug into the food like a starving man, with the occasional glance at Lily who was feeding his son. 

He was a little angry at Remus for being there and cutting into his time with Lily and Harry.  He rarely spent any time alone with them.  If he did, it was usually only for a couple of hours and no more.  It seemed like all the Marauders, and anyone who knew James, felt the need to check up on him all the time to make sure everything was going fine.  Sirius scowled into his food.  As much as he like the fact that Harry had people constantly watching him, he wish they would stop coming all the time. 

But wishes never came true. 

He had so many more wishes.  He wished that the Dark Lord would disappear or die then he could stay with Lily forever and watch his son grow up.  He missed not being able to watch his son grow up.  At least he had been there for his son's first word – which had been daddy.  But he hadn't been able to see his son's first steps.  Or even get up at night, like every other normal parent, to calm his crying son. He had once tried to feed Harry though, the kitchen had ended up being covered in baby food, with both Lily and James scowling at him, forcing him to confess that he did start a food fight with Harry – it had been the boy's fault though, he had thrown the stuff first.  Then before anything else could happen Wormtail had come in.

He really did hate playing this game, tricking his friends, even though one of them was thought to be a spy.  Ever since the first day at Hogwarts the four of them were friend, they had rarely held secrets from each other and even swore – after they found out about Remus being a werewolf – not to keep secrets from each other and now he was betraying their trust and going behind their backs.  Oh he knew well enough that James was right and telling them would send Lily and Harry right into danger.  But that didn't mean he had to like it.

"Well, I should be going, have to get up early tomorrow."  Remus said as he stood up, breaking through Sirius' thoughts.  The man still looked haggard from his transformation last week.  "Thank you so much for supper Lily.  Prongs, Padfoot, I'll see you guys later I guess.  See you Harry."

"Bye Moony."  Sirius waved at his friend as he attacked a fourth helping of mashed potatoes.

"Bye Remus." Lily said as she stood up, going over to the sink to grab a cloth.  "Say bye to Moony, Harry."  She told her son softly.

The green eyes looked at Remus.  "Bye tooo Moony, Harry."  The boy said, sending the adults into laughter.

"Bye Moony." James said as soon as he stopped laughing.

With that Remus took his leave.  As soon as he disappeared from sight, Sirius looked at James accusingly.

"How come he was over here?  I thought you said it was just me."

"Padfoot, when Moony asked if he could come over tonight, I couldn't refuse. Did you look at him?  He looks exhausted, like he hasn't slept for weeks.  He looked like he needed a good supper.  And besides I knew that he had to get up early tomorrow.  I knew that you wouldn't begrudge a friend some comfort.  You still don't think he is a spy do you?"

"I don't know Prongs.  But I hope he's not, I don't want to loose my friend, but Voldemort could do anything." Sirius admitted softly, putting down his fork.  Everything was so confusing.  He didn't know who he could trust.

"Has he approached you again?"  James asked softly in a worried tone.

"As a father asking his son to join him?"  Sirius asked bitterly.  "No, thank Merlin.  I don't think I could stand listening to his self righteous speeches one more time."

"That's good."

"Hey are you two going to sit there talking of gloomy things all night?  It does get rather depressing listening to all that.  I suspect you are staying all night Sirius."  Lily looked at them cheerfully.  Sirius knew that she hated all that talk of Voldemort, even though before she had Harry she had been an Auror like he and James were.

"Yep."  Sirius said.  "All night with you and Harry.  Well and James too of course.  Well . . . maybe we could send him away.  He could stay at my apartment."

"I'll sleep in my bed thank you very much for your offer Padfoot."

Sirius smirked as he thought of an idea.  A mischievous glint danced in his eyes.

"Oh Merlin help us all."  Lily said rolling her eyes to the ceiling as she saw the familiar glint.  "Well then I guess you can wake up with your son tomorrow morning at five."  Lily said handing the child over to him so that she could clean up the high chair. "You always said you wanted to do that, so here's your chance."

Sirius groaned.  He knew that Lily had said that on purpose.  He was about to get up from the table when –

CRASH!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sirius jumped out of his bed startled by the noise.

"Remus?"  He called out softly.

***************

Remus was a morning person.  He always had been, unless it was after the night of the full moon, then usually he would sleep in until almost noon.  He had always been the first one awake in the dormitories in the morning.  It would always leave him the prefect opportunity to lay traps for his fellow dorm-mates, but by himself he had never laid a trap on James or Peter.  Sirius was always the target of their morning pranks; he was the one who always slept in late and had the highest record in the school for missing part of or being late for his morning classes.  Remus smiled.  The marauders had figured out a way to stop Sirius' bad habit by playing pranks on him every morning.  Once James even went so far as to transfigure his curtains into a rain cloud so that by the time he was out of bed there was a small puddle growing on his blankets.  It was a pity they didn't have a camera then, the look on Padfoot's face as the water came pouring down on him was priceless. 

Silently he crept down the stairs, careful so as not to make a noise.  Before, when they were in school, or even when the four of them were sharing a house right after school, Sirius and James would have slept through anything.  He and Peter would bang around pots for a good half hour before stopping, figuring that it was totally pointless.  Now Sirius would wake up at the slightest noise, probably the habit had been inbred in him after sleeping in Azkaban and then in caves for two years.  Whereas before only the smell of breakfast that had wafted into the two rooms, would wake the two marauders up and James and Sirius would race down the stairs trying to beat one another to breakfast. 

Neither Padfoot nor Prongs could cook anything. 

It was amazing the Sirius had survived for two years on his own, but then again he could always be found over at Lily and James' place. That in itself was not odd; Sirius and James had always been friends, even before they entered Hogwarts.  But Remus found it rather odd that Sirius seemed always to be there.  Every time Remus had been over to Godric's Hollow, Sirius had been there.  Fourteen years ago, after Sirius was convicted he had thought it was so that the Potters would get use to his visits, but now he knew that it was Sirius' protective nature.  Who would have ever thought that Padfoot, one of the best pranksters of all time would be so protective of his friends?  When he had found out that Padfoot had been living in a cave near Hogwarts last year, eating rats (and who knows what else) he had almost fainted.  But then Sirius had always been loyal to his friends, even more than any Hufflepuff that ever existed.  He knew that was why Lily and James chose him as Harry's godfather, they knew that he would protect the boy in every way that he could.  And he had.  Remus was nearly sick of listening to Sirius worry about his godson.  For everyday in the last month he had to listen to how Sirius had not received any letters from Harry and how worried he was.  Remus was worried to, but he knew that Dumbledore was keeping an eye on the boy and would make sure that nothing happened to him from either his relatives or the Death Eaters.

SMACK!!!

Remus hit the kitchen door smartly, ramming right into it.  He had lost track of where he was. He had been doing that too often.  Between worrying about his friend's sanity, Harry's safety and the Dark Lord and being a werewolf on top of it all, Remus didn't know how much more he could handle.

He quietly opened the door, so as not to wake his friend, who had been getting too little sleep as it was.  He made his way over to the kettle and filled it with water so he could make his morning tea.  It was his morning ritual, or had been for the past twelve years or so.  Wake up early, drink tea and read the newspaper – which usually consisted of wild stories that were probably exaggerated to the point where they were a lie – that he had on early delivery.  He pulled out the tea bags from where they were stored in the top cupboard and put them in the cup waiting for the water to boil.

Just then an owl flew into the room, a copy of the Daily Prophet tied on its leg.  Remus untied the knot and handed the owl a few knuts, sending the small tawny creature on its way.  He laid the newspaper down on the table, not bothering to read it right away, he had all morning to do so.  Especially since Sirius would probably sleep until noon.

The kettle started to whistle a tune, calling to Moony telling him the water had boiled.  Remus used an oven mitt and poured the water into the mug.  Despite the fact that he had grown up in a wizarding family, he found some of the muggle ways of doing things were so much more fulfilling than the wizard ways (which had bothered James and Sirius to no end).  He sat down at the small, simple table and unfolded the newspaper.  He honestly wondered what wild news they would come up with next.  The last story he had read had been about how Sirius Black had taken control of the Death eaters and was killing muggles.   The Ministry still didn't believe that Voldemort was back.  Remus sighed at looked at the paper as he took a sip from the mug.

His eyes widened as he read the headlines.

The mug slipped from his hand and fell to the floor with a loud crash.

The article couldn't be true.  It just couldn't be true.

***************

End of Prologue.

Please review and tell me if I should continue or not.  This is my first fanfic so feedback would be wonderful.  Thank you.