'Chapter 1: Possibilities'
By ABlackRaven
The sound of his godson's screams had not stopped ringing in his mind--had only just stopped echoing off the halls of the Atrium--as the Aurors rushed forward to drag him away. Sirius wanted nothing else in the world but to stay, to hold Harry and Cedric--two teenagers who had faced darker moments in their waking lives than most people's nightmares.
Cedric looked like he was about to fall over, and Sirius remembered bitterly what he had endured before Harry had rushed off to save him. Just how long, Sirius wondered, was he alone with Bellatrix? What, exactly, did she do to him? Poor kid...
And Harry didn't look much better. The panic that had jolted through Sirius' heart when word that Harry and his friends had rushed off to save Cedric was only now--with the battle reaching its end--beginning to end.
But the battle had left wounds that would take lifetimes to heal.
It had taken Cedric's mother far before her time. Sirius felt the aching grief in his chest, the empty place left by all the people he had lost, deepen. How could he go on living when the core of his being felt so...hollow? How had the pain not killed him many years ago? But this was nothing to the look in Cedric's eyes; the teenage wizard looked like he was minutes from falling apart.
And Remus... did Remus survive? Last Sirius had seen, Remus was hanging on the edge of life and death, only held on this side by Cedric's willpower. Cedric had appeared in the atrium, Remus was nowhere to be seen...it was unthinkable.
But there was no time to ask Cedric what had happened, Aurors were rushing forward, Harry was screaming, Dumbledore was arguing with the Ministry...Sirius knew none of them had the energy to keep fighting that night.
"Harry," Sirius' voice was as empty as his chest felt as he lay a hand on his godson's shoulder. The evenness of his voice was strained, forced--beneath it was turmoil. "Let it go. Dumbledore will protect me. We'll see each other again--I promise."
Promises were never to be made lightly in times of war, and Sirius was not about to lie to himself--they had truly entered a time of war. There was no other word for it.
"No..." Harry's voice was barely a whisper as Sirius began to walk away, and Sirius felt his heart breaking--for what was surely the thousandth time in his life--for the pain in a voice so young. Cedric pulled Harry close, and Sirius was again grateful Harry had found someone so strong to help him through the burdens of living.
Sirius tried to smile and failed; belatedly, he realized he was crying. An Auror was taking his wand, another was magically binding his hands, the cameras of the press were illuminating the scene in harsh flashes...the last he saw of Harry and Cedric they were both crying, and then he was gone, engulfed by the green flames of the floo.
The Aurors were leading him down long, dark hallways. Sirius was too tired to object as they took him to a holding room, too tired to really listen to whatever they were saying. With every step, he felt the pain building in his chest...what if Remus wasn't okay? The healing spell Cedric had been using to sustain his heartbeat looked really advanced, and Cedric was a powerful and talented young wizard but he lacked experience. If only Thea, a trained Combat Healer, could have gotten to him...
What if Remus wasn't okay? What if he was...gone?
There was a high probability he was.
The Auror who had been sitting across from him in the holding cell, apparently realizing he wasn't likely to get any coherent answers out of Sirius, left. The door to the cell closed with the sound of a lock, as if Sirius had the energy to attempt any escape. In an instant the adrenaline of battle finally faded, and Sirius was left struggling to process.
