Chapter Text
October 31st 1981
Dumbledore failed.
Severus failed.
They felt it before ever entering the house, the house that was missing half of its roof.
They vaguely registered seeing Hagrid, of all people, walking away with a bundle of blankets that, presumably, held a baby. There was a flicker of hope in Severus’ chest, if the baby was safe then surely so was Lily. That spark was quickly smothered as they nearly ran through the front door of the Potter Cottage.
The wooden door was blown off its hinges, the house still dark, the streetlights outside barely illuminating the cozy interior. Severus walked into the living room, heart beating out of their chest and ice freezing their veins.
James Potter’s body lay in front of the stairwell, dark brown eyes wide open and empty- the personality, arrogance, defiance gone with his soul.
This body was just that, a body.
A body that wasn’t holding a wand.
Severus stared at the man for a moment, frozen as they took in the sight of their childhood tormenter. Years of being terrorized by Potter and his friends somehow felt decades away. They thought that they would feel vindicated, but all they felt was dread.
After a moment Severus looked past Potter up the dark stairwell, they reached down and with a slightly trembling hand closed James Potter’s chocolate eyes for the last time.
They stepped over the body and continued up the stairs, grief already creeping up on them as they entered the nursery. The door was open, not blown open, but left open as if the occupants had known it would not protect anything or anyone inside.
There, on the floor, lay Lily.
They only noticed the tears when their vision was too blurry to see her glassy green eyes.
Their best friend.
Empty.
Lily was life, she was stubborn and loud, she was kind and could be equally cruel. She made flowers bloom and terrible jokes. She wasn’t empty. But here she was, sprawled on the floor of her hodgepodge nursery that she never planned to have, unmoving and unfeeling, it was wrong.
There was a wall behind them, they felt the plaster through their heavy black robes as they slid down it. Trembling arms clawed at the stiff body of the red-haired woman, pulling her close.
Severus rocked with her body, as sobs wracked their own.
~•◇•~
November 1st 1981
Remus wasn’t sleeping.
Remus hadn’t slept for a while, nightmares plagued him, worry for his friends, memories from the packs, and pain, coalescing into a sleep schedule that was nowhere near healthy for anyone.
He was glad he wasn’t sleeping when he got the call.
Ringing from Remus’ phone broke the silence of his tiny apartment, he could afford it only because of James and Sirius, with his schedule and spying on the werewolves for the order he couldn’t get a job, not that he thought he could even without the war going on, not many people hired werewolves, and muggles tended to drop you after the second sick leave.
Remus levered himself up from the couch he was reclined on, wincing at the sharp pain that traveled up his legs as he stood. The only time the phone rang was for Order business; it was a more secure way to communicate than owls.
Remus picked up the phone’s receiver from the wall and steeled himself for another mission, he’d hoped he would have more time to rest, but war didn’t afford rest, Remus knew that.
“Lupin?” Mundungus Fletcher’s scratchy voice came over the phone line, he sounded... happy? Which was unusual for the man, none of them sounded happy. Even James and Lily, they tried for Harry, but there was only so much fear and despair you can hide behind smiles and jokes that fall flat.
“Yes? What’s happened?” Remus responded with hesitation, he didn’t know why Fletcher was so happy, but it was freaking him out a bit.
“The war’s over mate” came the excited response.
Remus blue screened. “What-?”
“Yeah, I got the update from the big guy ‘imself! Something bout the Potters? No sign of You-know-who. Dead, people sayin’.” Fletcher continued oblivious to Remus’ dread and elation mounting with every word.
“The Potters? What happened to the Potters?” Remus asked with urgency, cutting off the other man’s rambling.
“The baby killed him” the criminal explained “Least that’s what people sayin’. ‘parrently You-know-who tried to AK the little bugger an’ it backfired, blew the fucker up in the nursery. They’re callin’ im the Boy-Who-Lived, no one knows how he did it y’know, block an AK? Shouldn’t be possible obviously”
Remus was frozen, he couldn’t think.
“James and Lily, what about James and Lily?” Remus was barely able to get the question out of his numb lips, but he felt he already knew the answer, the only way James and Lily would let Voldemort get close enough to Harry to kill him, was if James and Lily weren’t alive to stand between them. What did that mean? Did they leave Godrics Hollow? No. they would never put Harry in danger like that. Was it Sirius? Oh God was Sirius dead...?
Fletchers voice was more subdued when he answered Remus’ question “They tried to fight 'im” he started, Remus felt like he was dumped in a bucket of ice, He knew where this sentence was heading, he knew the end, but he couldn’t believe it. “But y’know how these things go, they were strong but unprepared, there’s no way to prepare for that. Went down fightin’ though, Heroes the three of ‘em” Remus’ legs stopped working at that point, but Fletcher was still talking.
“Black got taken in” Remus’ heart froze in his chest, he couldn’t breathe couldn’t interrupt “Aurors found ‘im after he blew up a pack a muggles, and that chubby lad too. Got memories from the muggles and arrested him on the spot, fucker was laughing can you believe it? Those blacks are crazy as anythin’, knew that one was bad, don’t come from a family like that and choose to fight for muggles, do ya? Anyway, he’s in Azkaban where he belongs now.”
Remus was barely listening—a low buzzing had infested his mind. "Sirius betrayed us, James and Lily are dead" repeating in his mind. He didn’t hear Fletcher say his goodbyes, didn’t register the click of the call being disconnected.
All Remus felt was pain.