Chaos reigns all around him in the Department of Mysteries. Spells are flying, both from the kids and the Death Eaters. Sirius Black sees Harry dueling for his life from the corner of his eye, before a curse nearly hits him. He refocuses on Bella laughing, cackling hysterically in front of him.
"My, my Sirius! You've gotten rusty!", she taunts. In the face of her rapid spellfire, all he can do is dodge and try to put shield charms up in time. Sirius hasn't duelled in sixteen years, and he's barely keeping up.
He retreats, Bella hot in pursuit. He ends up near some archway; from it he can hear whispers caught in the air, which dissolve into nothingness when he tries to listen.
(Pads! Just in time! What do you say we—)
(You filthy blood traitor! You are no son of mine—)
(Sirius, please help me. Mother wants me to—)
Sirius sends off a hex towards Bella, but she backs him up. The voices tickle in his ear, his stomach drops, goosebumps raise on his arms, on the back of his neck, because—
Because he knows these voices.
And they call for him.
(Sirius, some say. Padfoot, he hears. A pleading voice he'd know anywhere whispers, Siri?)
In the moment where his blood freezes and he stands petrified, he gets stunned. As he rapidly falls unconscious, he feels his body enter a cold, dark void. Bella cackles gleefully. A scream of Sirius from Harry, and another of I killed Sirius Black from Bella.
Sirius closes his eyes.
When he opens them again, he's greeted by a hospital room. Some nurse is holding him, and he feels disoriented. Until, he's handed over to a familiar face he hasn't seen in over a decade.
"Hello," Walburga Black whispers to her newborn child. She looks over at her husband, who nods. He tells her, "So it's decided. Welcome to the family,
Sirius Orion Black."
The newborn wails.
In this life, Regulus Arcturus Black has only ever known his brother to be kind (After all, only Sirius remembers his life from before). Although, Siri's a little bit weird; he'll ruffle his hair and play with him in the gardens and generally be a nuisance, but sometimes his brother looks at Regulus with something indescribable.
(When Regulus grows up, he'll learn this expression to mean several things. Grief and regret, but with hope, determination; a second chance.)
Life at their home is pretty okay. Sirius plays with him often, and teaches him things Regulus isn't sure how he knows. One time, they were hiding in the attic at the top floor, and looking out the window. They'd watched the people (muggles, his mother once said disgustedly) walking through the street, and buying things at the shops or hanging around in the nearby park.
Muggles, he remembers his mother explain, are people without magic. Regulus thinks of the magic that runs the house—cleaning spells that tidy things up in a second, summoning spells that find what his father's looking for, heating spells that get the tea done fast. He asks his brother this: "How do muggles live without magic?"
Sirius startles and looks at Regulus (I'll do better by you Regulus, I promise), before thinking and replying, "What we can do with magic, they can do with technology."
"What's tecnowlogie, Siri?" He asks back. He stares at the kids running around the park playground. Maybe he can convince Sirius for them to sneak out and visit the park sometime.
"Technology is uhh, things that run on electricity! And electricity is sort of like muggles' magic.", Sirius explains.
"They have lights powered by electricity", he continues, "and also things like kettles and toys. Oh! And they sort of have their own moving portraits that run with electricity, except theirs is a big box that can show stories. It's called a television."
"Really?", Regulus gasps. "I wish our portraits told stories. Uncle Phineas never tells me anything other than to brush my hair."
I wish we had electricity, Regulus thinks. Muggle magic sounds cool.
(Sirius looks over at him, and smiles.)
The years go by quickly for Regulus, until one day, he's ten and Sirius is eleven and they're on the platform for Sirius to go to Hogwarts. He's had Sirius all his life and now he'll spend a year alone at home. When Sirius turns to leave, Regulus tells him shakily, "Write back, okay Siri?"
Sirius turns to him and grins so widely that Regulus's fears are abated, just for the moment. "I will, Reggie." His arms wrap around Regulus so tightly that he giggles, and squirms to get away. His brother only tightens in response. "Sirius, ugh get off me!"
His brother complies, but not before he messes up Regulus's hair, who scowls. "Bye bye, Reggie! Don't listen to mother while I'm gone!"
He climbs aboard the train, before it starts moving. Regulus weaves between people's legs, chasing after it. Sirius leans out the window, and waves.
Soon, Regulus reaches the end of the platform, and the train and Sirius are only a dot far away into the horizon.
"I'll be fine mum, I promise.", James Potter says to his mother's shirt. Although he won't admit it, his hands are shaking, just a little bit.
His mother runs her hands through his hair, messing it up even more. She whispers that things will all be alright, wishes him luck, and lets him be on his way.
Now, James walks through the train carriage. He looks through the compartment windows, and notes the upper-years having settled already. In one cabin, a group of Ravenclaw and Slytherin girls are chatting; in another, some Hufflepuffs laugh uproariously. James hopes he can make a friend on this train.
James peers inside one cabin, and sees it being occupied by only one person—a boy that looks his age. He has wavy black hair, and his features are sharp; he has his eyes closed, like he's focused or concentrating. James enters the cabin.
The boy startles and looks up. His eyes crinkle with a grin when he says, "Har—"
He stops suddenly, and his mood wilts a little. "Uh, hi, I mean.", the boy finishes weakly (Not Harry, not yet.).
James shifts his feet, before deciding to just go ahead. "Hello! I'm James Potter!" He offers his hand, hoping this boy will take it.
The boy stands up, and shakes James's hand. He looks surer of himself now when he answers back.
"Hi", he grins. "I'm Sirius Black."
(Despite the awkward start, they spent the rest of the train ride laughing and ribbing each other. Sirius is fun, James thinks. He seems to know, or can guess, exactly what James is thinking. When James started ranting about Puddlemere's latest game, Sirius got his frustrations immediately, and finished his complaint before he could even say it. James, glad that someone was on his side for this debate thank you very much, could only reply: "Exactly!")
Afterwards, they rode their boat through the Lake, entered the Great Hall, and lined up for the Sorting. It was with great pleasure to James that Black, Sirius went to Gryffindor after what the whispering upper-years called a hat stall. Soon, Potter, James walked up to the stool in front, sat down, and put the hat on.
The hat called Gryffindor!, and James walked to the table on the far right. Sirius was clapping, and he stood up and hugged him before they sat down.
Oh, James thought distantly. I've made a friend.
The feast they had that night was absolutely delicious, in no small part due to the boy sitting beside him.
"Ready to go?", Madam Pomfrey asked him. Remus Lupin nodded a resoundly tired yes.
He supposes he should be more used to this by now, he thinks. After all, he's been a werewolf for seven years of his life. But well, it doesn't really get any easier.
(Though, that's a lie. His transformations these past few months at Hogwarts have been tamer, better, compared to the ones at home. He thinks it has to do with his friends; James, who fusses over him, asking after his wellbeing after every Full Moon; Peter, who quietly hands him notes on classes he's missed; and Sirius who looks at him with a knowing gleam in his eye, before giving him his favorite chocolates and food.)
Thinking about his friends envigorates him a little. Remus slaps his palms on his face twice, before following Madam Pomfrey to the Shack with more purposeful steps. Yeah, just gotta get through this Moon, and then tomorrow he'll play Exploding Snap with the lads in their dorm room.
He gets in the Shack, and Pomfrey rebriefs him on safety before leaving. He closes his eyes, before startling.
Someone's here.
This close to the Full, his senses are sharpened. Someone's downstairs in the Shack, walking carefully past the creaking steps in the staircase. He panics, and hides behind the old dresser.
I can't be discovered. I'll be expelled. Someone can get hurt. Who's there who's there who's—
The door opens. "Remus?", a familiar voice asks. A frighteningly familiar voice. The owner of said voice steps into the room, and walks up behind where he's hiding.
Remus knows the jig is up. He gets up, and replies a strained, "Sirius! What are you doing here, ahaha?" He hopes nothing gives away in his voice.
Sirius shifts around awkwardly. "I'm here to help", he decides to say. He looks at Remus unsurely and continues, "I know. About your lycanthropy."
Remus laughs hysterically. Good bye Hogwarts education.
"But I'm here to help! And I'll keep it a secret!", Sirius shouts. "I won't get you in trouble, I promise!"
"Sirius, thank you for coming here, really." Remus just sighs, tiredly. "But, there's nothing you could do. Nothing to be done. Theres no cure, after all, for lycanthropy." Remus drops his eyes to the ground. He hopes he can still be friends with Sirius after this.
"Please leave, Sirius. I'm gonna turn into a monster soon. I'm dangerous!", he begs.
(You are NOT a monster, Sirius remembers. He remembers having this conversation once, twice, thrice before. He'll go through this conversation as many times as he has to, he thinks.)
Instead of all that, Sirius simply corrects him and says, "To humans". When Remus looks at him with counfusion, he says, "Do you know what Animagi are?"
And then Sirius explains a ritual, used to transform oneself into an animal that can revert back at will. Werewolves aren't dangerous to animals, Sirius says. You can't hurt me.
Sirius transforms into a big, black, fluffy dog then. It wags its tail at Remus, who bends down to the floor to pet it.
"Thank you, Sirius." Remus is amazed at the length Sirius is going to help him and keep him company. A dog indeed: loyal and selfless. The dog licks his face in response.
The transformation that night, while painful as always, was not as lonely. The wolf had a dog to keep him company, running around the room, barking and howling at each other. For the first in a very long time, the wolf (and Remus) slept peacefully that Full Moon night.
Regulus smiles as another owl flies through his open window, some parchment tied to its leg. Sirius kept his promise.
Throughout the year, he's received Sirius's letters. He's happy, unbelievably so. His letters detail the adventures he's had with his newfound friends and roommates in Gryffindor, as well as the pranks they've pulled off on unsuspecting students and professors alike.
He's a little scared then, when the Hogwarts Express arrives back on the platform in King's Cross. Sirius has got friends now, he thinks. Although he's been sending letters, Regulus hopes Sirius won't mind spending the summer back at their home in Grimmauld. Regulus has missed him a lot, this past year.
To his great delight, when the train stops, he hears a shout of "Reggie!". Sirius runs towards him and hugs him tightly, like he's scared Regulus has turned astray. Regulus hugs him back, before he inevitably has to hit Sirius's arm. "Sirius, let me go!"
When he pulls back, Regulus finds Sirius's face stretched into a grin. He turns around and calls behind him: "Guys, meet my annoying little brother". (The grumble of "I'm not that little" goes ignored.)
Regulus gets to introduced to the messy-haired James ("Hiya Reg!"), the somewhat short Peter ("Hello Regulus"), and the tired-looking Remus ("Condolences for growing up with this one" "Hey!"). He meets the people written into the ink of Sirius's letters, and finds himself happy for him, for them.
Eventually, Sirius and Regulus have to leave, but not without long good byes and hugs from Sirius's friends.
That summer, Sirius regales him with more stories of his school year. Some of them he's read in his letters, some not, but having Sirius there to tell the stories makes them feel so much more alive. A little later into the summer, Regulus gets his Hogwarts letter, goes shopping with his family in Diagon Alley, and even gets his wand.
Fast forward even more, and now he's in the Great Hall. The first years are lined up behind Professor McGonagall, before she heads to the front with her list of names. He glances at the Gryffindor table, where Sirius and his friends smile and wave at him.
When it gets to Black, Regulus, he walks forward with somewhat shaky steps. He sits down in front, and the last thing he sees before the hat is placed on his head is Sirius's reassuring smile.
When he comes out of the Sorting with the hat having called "Slytherin!", he's not sure what to expect. He knows the rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin, but he's never begrudged his brother for going Gryffindor when he's so obviously happy there. He hopes he can be happy in Slytherin, too. But, when he walks to the Slytherin table on the far left and glances at the Gryffindor table on the opposite side, his brother's friends are clapping for him. His brother is clapping the loudest, most of all.
Things will be all right, Regulus thinks, before he takes his seat.
(I will not abandon you this time, Sirius thinks. I'm here. I'll always be here.)
Lily Evans talks to her friend, Severus, in the Slytherin table one morning. By now, in their fourth year, the Slytherins have mostly come to accept that she's staying, her own Gryffindor placement be damned. She and Severus are friends, and have been ever since they were small. No arbitrary school house system will change that.
She nods her head at Regulus, one of Sev's friends, when he arrives in the Hall and sits down at their table. And with Regulus comes Sirius, who comes to sit over by this table as well sometimes. The Slytherin table is popular recently, as it seems.
When Sev and Sirius start a conversation of their own—mostly composed of insults and verbal attacks—she shares a glance at Regulus, and they both roll their eyes. Really, it's like they're children.
But, she knows Sev, and knows that begrudginly, he does indeed consider Sirius Black a friend.
Lily reminisces on their first year here in Hogwarts. Although Sev was protective of her, he went to Slytherin. Meanwhile, she and the brash and loud Sirius were sorted into Gryffindor. At first glance, they would've mixed like oil and water, if the oil was scalding hot and the water was freezing cold.
But, whenever she would visit the Slytherin, even if that James Potter would get a suspicious look in his eye, Sirius often just looked contemplative. After a few times, he asked to meet this friend of hers, and she agreed.
She found herself glad for the friendship this formed between Sirius and Severus. When James and his friends started getting into pranking, she found that while both she and Sev weren't exempted from their shenanigans, they did receive a considerable lighter share of it. It was all in good fun though; their pranks were simply intended to cause mayhem and laughter, not harm.
(In another life, this wasn't the case. However, this was not that life.)
(Sorry, Snape. You didn't really deserve most of what we did to you. Sirius ponders on a prank that risked Snape's life, and Moony's future. Never again, he vows.)
Lily pulls herself back into the present conversation when James drops by. He pulls up a chair beside Sirius, across from herself. He opens with a confident smirk and says, "Good morning Evans! Lovely as always." Lily laughs inwardly; James is so hilarious.
"Yes, yes, good morning Potter. Your hair is atrocious as always." He gasps, and then she laughs for real. After some more back and forth, James concedes defeat, and heads back to the Gryffindor table (but not without a final "Goodbye, my dear Evans").
When Lily looks back at her present company, she finds an exasperated Sev and Regulus, and a cheerful-looking Sirius. "What", she asks Sev. "He's funny and charming, if I do say so myself."
This makes Sirius laugh, and by then Regulus and even Sev smiles a little. Sirius, most of them all, is beaming.
For all that James thought this was going to be a boring summer, that certainly was not the case.
It's the summer right after their fifth year, and they've just had their OWL exams. James is pretty proud of his Outstanding in Transfiguration, as were his parents. Due to said exams having passed, he then planned to spend the rest of his summer lazing about and not studying, thank you. He was to spend days either on his bed, or on their backyard Quidditch field.
Well, plans change when one of your best friends and his little brother turn up on your doorstep at half past eleven in the evening, shivering in the nighttime cold.
What happens next is a blur for James. It's a rush of letting his friends in, calling for his parents, assisting his mum in her check-up of the brothers, preparing tea and food.
When things have settled down, it's past one in the morning. James, Sirius, and Regulus are in the sitting room, their fireplace lit for warmth. Sirius holds his tea with shaking hands, sipping occasionally. Regulus has his head down on his brother's lap, sleepy, but not wanting to be separated. Despite the situation, Sirius has a small smile on.
(I didn't leave you this time, Reg.)
After leaving them some time to recuperate, James asks his question gently. "So", he begins. "How did it happen? If you're okay with explaining this right now."
Sirius laugh somewhat harshly. "Don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight, anyway."
And so he explains. Sirius recounts how with Regulus nearing his coming-of-age, Walburga had been doubling down on her efforts to secure a respectable pureblood heir within him. Their mother had been trying to goad Regulus into discussions of blood purity, anti-muggle rhetoric, and politics. The arguments between Walburga and Sirius, and eventually Regulus, had been escalating in intensity, until tonight; when it became clear Walburga was not going to get her pureblood heir, she tried to curse them both. Sirius quickly stunned her, before they packed their things and escaped.
James watches Sirius sigh when he finishes his story. He stands up then, walks over, and pulls Sirius into a tight hug. James feels him tense, before relaxing into the embrace. If he feels some wetness on his shirt afterwards, he doesn't mention it.
"Things will be okay, Pads", James whispers solemnly. "They'll be okay. Whatever happens, you're family to me. You always have been."
Regulus, half-asleep below them, mumbles. "Family.."
James huffs a laugh. "And Regulus too, now. You guys are welcome here."
(And Sirius, who's had two broken families before—one left behind when he left home at sixteen, and another broken with death and betrayal and imprisonment at twenty one—marvels at this concept.)
James pulls back, and Sirius looks at him with a look of gratefulness, and hope, and determination (a second chance). Sirius tells him, "Thank you, Prongs."
(There's still one more, Sirius thinks. One more step to healing this broken family.)
Peter Pettigrew watches the proceedings go by. They're out in the Hogwarts field grounds, where a stage and seats have been conjured up. Flowers have been planted, and they bloom and scatter petals with the light breeze. The air and atmosphere are light and filled with excitement, but also tinged with nervousness—for change, for endings, and for new beginnings.
Because today, the seventh years are graduating.
Peter looks across the seated students. James is beside him (Pettigrew and Potter are consecutive, after all), while Remus is in the row before them. Sirius and Lily are seated near the stage.
He reflects on seven years of friendship with the Marauders. James and Sirius hit it off immediately in their first year, while he and Remus only met them once they were roomed together. Although they were the more reserved of the four, he and Remus both found themselves getting sucked into their mischief as well. Years were spent plotting, and executing, and pranking; these were the best years of Peter's life. Through them, Peter found the bravery within himself that is so embodied by the Gryffindor house.
And now, they'll be leaving each other behind.
He's wistful when he claps for Black, Sirius and Lupin, Remus when they're called onstage, and he walks over when Pettigrew, Peter is called as well. He shakes Headmaster Dumbledore's hand, and receives the parchment bearing his name. This parchment certifies that Peter Pettigrew has satisfactorily completed his education and schooling at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
When the ceremony is over, he hugs his mother who sheds some tears for her son. He heads down to the Entrance Hall with the rest of the graduates. There's laughter and crying all around as the graduates huddle near the Great Lake's bank, choosing boats and partners for the ride across.
He's surprised when Sirius asks to be his partner. He was expecting James to be with Lily, with Sirius and Remus together. Peter accepts, and they board the boat together.
The sun is setting by this time. Orange rays glow and illuminate the lake around them. He hears an argument from the boat to his left, where James is hassling Remus for the last time as Hogwarts students. Behind him, Peter hears Lily and Marlene's plans for the future. He faces Sirius beside him, who smiles.
And they talk. Peter hears more of Sirius's goals to be an auror, while he explains more his plans to apply for a Ministry position. ("You'll be good for it", Sirius smiles warmly. Peter thanks him for that.). From under his robe, Sirius pulls out some sparklers, which he lights up with his wand. From their and James and Remus's boats, fireworks erupt. They ooh and aah, and talk and laugh, and cheer with the rest of their fellow graduates.
When they reach the opposite bank of the Great Lake, the Marauders come and huddle together. Peter has James and Remus on either side, with Sirius in front of him. Their arms are around each other, tangled and pushing at each other's shoulders. They take a moment to breathe.
"What do you say lads?", Sirius asks. His grin is wide across his face.
"MISCHIEF?", James shouts.
"MANAGED!"
Who's he kidding, Peter thinks. We won't be leaving each other behind. We'll be brothers for life.
(Brothers, Sirius agrees.)
The war is finally over. Lily sighs in relief.
It's been two years since their graduation. She and her friends have spent most of it on the war frontlines, either duelling, tending to the injured, or planning. But, since Sirius and Regulus have discovered the Dark Lord's secret, the Order's spent a lot of time looking for and destroying his soul fragments.
And now, it's over. As much as the war can be over.
Afterwards, there's celebrating, then grieving, then taking care of the last remnants of Death Eaters and radicals. Then, there's Ministry elections, social reform, new legislation. And then, finally, is relaxation. Lily Evans Potter can let go. She is not anymore a soldier. She can simply be Lily.
Lily Evans Potter, she thinks again, giddily. She married James during the height of the war, when things were hopeless, because she needed someone and something to hold her together. Now, they can fully enjoy their time together; there's no more weight on their shoulders. She spends the breakfasts that James cooks for her in bed, spends her afternoons talking and laughing and planning her future with him, and spends the evenings curled around him while reading a good book. It's nice, domestic. She loves the life they've built, and will build, together.
Sirius and Regulus have rented out a flat together nearby. The other two however, Remus and Peter, both live a little bit farther away. Regardless, all of them, including her own friends Mary and Marlene, get together for dinner quite frequently. Severus also drops by from time to time, and it's like she's back at Hogwarts, flitting between the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables.
And then few months later, she has a child with James.
The pregnancy was tough, with the stress of the war and the post-war happenings. But things have settled down, and by then, she was due. She gave birth to a beautiful baby boy on July 31st, 1980. They named the boy Harry.
When they were ready for visitors in Lily's room, they handed baby Harry over to Sirius, his godfather. He holds Harry carefully, like he's made of glass. Lily doesn't mention that Sirius has wide, glassy eyes, while staring at their boy. He's beautiful, right?, Lily almost says.
Sirius speaks softly, almost whispering to Harry's ear. "Hello, Harry."
(Sirius, he remembers Harry last called out to him. I killed Sirius Black, Bella said.)
"Hello, Harry", he repeats. "I'm here. I'm alive."
(His family is now whole, Sirius thinks. It is complete.)