All the Difference

By: marauderette-47

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, and any characters, places, or dialogue that you recognize strictly belongs to JK Rowling and Warner Bros.

Author's Note: Feeling a little sad about Sirius and the Potters...thought I'd make it all better through FanFiction:) Please read & review!

Have you ever had a feeling? Well, not just a feeling, but the feeling? The feeling that you're about to lose something, something important, but you just can't seem to think of what it is? You knew if you could only know what it was, you would do anything to protect it, to stop it from being stolen, or lost, or whatever it was that was going to happen to it.

On the morning of October 31, 1981, Sirius Black awoke with this very feeling. He'd gotten in very late the night before, so he'd allowed himself to sleep in later than he normally would have. When he'd groggily made his way to his bedroom in the middle of the night, he'd set his alarm clock for eleven o'clock in the morning.

Sirius Black, instead of waiting for the annoying buzz of his clock, woke up at 10:55.

Five minutes earlier than he would have had his alarm gone off.

Sirius forced himself out of bed, and sleepily made his way to his small kitchen to make himself something to eat. He wasn't particularly hungry, but he still ate. It was part of his routine, something he did every morning...something was bothering him, though. Something was telling him to stop what he was doing...something else was more urgent...

But Sirius paid this feeling no mind- he'd only had a nightmare that he couldn't shake off from the night before, probably. No reason to panic, no reason to drop everything in search of something that might not even be found. Everything was fine, everything was just fine...

Sirius's days were steadily becoming more boring. He missed his friends, he missed the way life used to be. He missed James, and Lily, and Harry...he missed Peter, and even Remus. He wished that he could just go back to the way the world once was, and still be friends with everyone, and still trust everyone...

But these were dark times, there was no denying it. You couldn't trust anyone - it was too risky. Sirius at least wished he could talk to one of them...

And that's when he remembered - Peter was to supposed to have checked in with Sirius before lunch...

And it was already six o'clock.

Sirius sprang up from his couch, and ran outside, starting his enchanted motorcycle in half the time he normally would have. He flew to Peter's hiding place on auto-pilot, not thinking of anything or anyone. He was robotic as he made his way to Wormtail, praying to whoever was listening that Peter had only forgotten Sirius - wouldn't be the first time that stupid fat oaf had forgotten something...yes, that was it, he had only forgotten, and everything was fine, everything was just fine...

But everything was not fine - when he made it to Peter's home, no one was there. Sirius literally searched every corner of the old place, calling for Peter every other second...but there was no use. Everything was pristine, there was no sign of a struggle...everything seemed fine, just fine...but it wasn't. It was while he was searching was Peter that Sirius realized who the traitor - the real traitor - was. And Sirius dashed from the building with the speed of a wolf, and made it back to his motorcycle, flying to Godric's Hollow more quickly than he ever had before.

The grandfather clock in Peter's house said 6:55 - Sirius left the place five minutes earlier than he would have had his alarm gone off at 11:00..

It seemed to take forever to get to the Potters - Sirius was already pale and shaking. His motorcycle was swerving in his nervousness. All he could see in his mind were the lifeless bodies of Lily, James, and Harry, all three dead due to the unfaithfulness of a friend. All he could picture was closing James's eyes, or holding Harry's lifeless form in his arms for the last time...

But no! He could not afford to think of such things! His thoughts were making him go slower - if he hurried, he might get there in time, he might be able to save them! Sirius flew over the houses in Godric's Hollow, finally finding the one he was meant to. But it's standing form made no difference - Voldemort could have snuck in and out in an instant, killing the little family inside and not even leaving mud on the carpet...

Sirius landed his bike in front of their house, almost crashing it in his haste.

Sirius flung the door of the house open, thanking God that it was not locked. The front hallway lights were out - oh, no...no, no, no...

"JAMES!" shouted Sirius in a panicked voice. "JAMES, LILY, HARRY! PLEASE, TELL ME YOU'RE ALRIGHT, PLEASE, PLEASE!"

There was a beat of silence. Sirius's heart sankt to his stomach, and he almost threw up. He could feel the tears pricking his soft, gray eyes...his only family...

"Sirius, please, relax!" came a soft female voice from somewhere near him. "James is trying to calm Harry down so he can go to sleep!"

"Wasn't doing much good anyway, Lils," chuckled another, lower voice. "You must've read up on those puffs of smoke wrong - Harry's trying to catch them - they aren't the least bit soothing...Sirius? What are you doing here, mate? What's wrong?"

The breath rushed out of Sirius in a whoosh, and he launched himself at the two people standing in front of him. He had never appriciated them the way he did now - he had almost lost them...and the threat still wasn't over.

"Go, now!" he yelled, as he released Lily and James Potter from his embrace. "Peter's the traitor - he's gone and told Voldemort where you are - he's probably on his way here! You must go, and take Harry with you!"

"What are you talking about?" laughed James nervously, rubbing the back of his neck as he often did when he was nervous. "Peter isn't - he's not - he's our Secret Keeper, he's Wormtail, he wouldn't - "

"James, please!" begged Sirius, once again close to tears. "There's no time to waste! Take Harry and go! He could be right outside your door now! Take Harry, take your wands, go out the back door, and Apparate to Hogsmeade. Get to Hogwarts as fast as you can!"

Just as James, Lily, Sirius, and Harry were preparing for an emergency Apparation to Hogsmeade, the front door was exploded off its hinges.

Sirius turned around, and stared into the cruel eyes of the wizard who'd come to kill his godson - Sirius felt a surging hate rush through his body, and he raised his wand, poised for attack -

"Sirius, don't!" growled James, pulling his friend away from the fight. "We must go, now!"

Sirius allowed himself to be pulled out the door by James, and together, the four magical beings Apparated.

Severus Snape seemed to appear from nowhere as he made his way down the long, dark corridors of the old castle that he was in. His long, black robes billowed behind him, moving in synchronization with each crisp, sharp step that he took. But he wasn't walking – no, Severus knew that he did not have patience for walking on this evening. Severus had just heard – but no. Surely Lucius was misinformed. The Dark Lord could not have gone after them tonight - not tonight. It was too soon... Severus needed to hear only one thing from his former Headmaster, whom he was currently running to see. He had to know that Lily was alright.

Severus made his way through the maze of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry quickly, and before he knew it, he was facing a large, stone statue of a gargoyle. Yet he had no patience to sit at the mouth of Albus Dumbledore's office for the next decade while he tried to guess the password. Without thinking, he smashed his hand into the side of the gargoyle as if it was nothing more than a door, and shouted, "Albus!"

Severus knew that the password was not 'Albus', yet the gargoyle still moved aside, allowing Severus passage. Just as he was about to run about the large marble staircase, footsteps from very near him could be heard. Impatiently, he turned his head in their direction, and stared in wonder at the four people facing him.

Well, he wasn't particularly staring in wonder at Potter, Black, and Potter's spawn, but Lily was another story. There she was - alive, breathing, and just as beautiful as she always was. She was crying, and Severus felt his heart break, even though he had not spoken to his former friend for over four years. He could heard Potter and Black growling back and forth at each other, and he could see that the little thing in Lily's arms was crying, but he didn't care about any of that. Without even acknowledging his existance, Lily, Potter, Black, and Potter's son pushed right past him and ran up the staircase to Dumbledore. Severus - now knowing that Lily was okay, turned around on his heal and went home.

The house was completely destroyed, the roof blown off. He ran - he ran so quickly, his legs were burning, but he pushed himself - they were not dead, no, they couldn't be! They were his only family, they were fine, completley fine, there was no such thing as Voldemort, Peter had only stepped out for a little walk -

He was lying on the ground in front of the staircase, his black hair matted with blood and his open eyes vacant and unseeing. And she was in the nursery, her long red hair sprawled across the floor like spilt water...and they were gone, both gone, and their son was nowhere to be seen...

"No, please, no! Don't leave me, you promised you'd never leave me, James! And Lily, and Harry, no! God, please let this be a nightmare, please! I can't lose them, if I lose them, I lose everything! Please! Oh, if only I'd come sooner, please, no! NO!"

"Sirius?"

"Sirius?"

"Sirius!"

Sirius Black jolted awake from his nightmare, sitting up in the soft bed as quickly as he could. He blinked his eyes furiously, and barely recognized the dormroom for the Head Boy at Hogwarts. The addition of two beds and a crib had been made, and Sirius was staying there for the night, along with Lily, James, and Harry...

Lily. James. And Harry.

"Padfoot?" asked James, concern apparant in his hazel eyes. He stared Sirius down, and asked, "Are you alright?"

"Fine," mumbled Sirius, not meeting James's eyes. What seemed only a moment ago, those eyes were vacant and unseeing. "Nightmare. Didn't wake Harry, did I?"

"No, you weren't making any noise or anything." assured James, tossing his head back to gesture to his wife and son, who were both fast asleep. "But I lived with you for seven years - I can tell when something's wrong."

"It was too close tonight," said Sirius, letting his guard down for his brother. "I almost lost you three."

"But you didn't," said James. "You saved us, Paddy. Who knows what could have happened if you'd arrived only five minutes later?"

Sirius thought back to that morning, when he'd woken up at 10:55 instead of 11:00...was it fate? Or just luck?

"Does Remus know that you're alright? Did Dumbledore catch Voldemort?" asked Sirius, trying to take his mind off of what had happened.

"Remus knows," said James, a kind of gleeful expression crossing his face. "I fervently apologized for thinking he was the traitor, and he's coming over tomorrow - it's a bit late tonight - and Voldemort's disappeared. They searched all through Godric's Hollow, but he was nowhere to be found. They're sending Aurors to the Longbottoms, in case he decides to change targets."

"I was scared, Prongs," murmured Sirius quietly. "He was at your house - he was going to kill you all...it was Peter..."

"I know," said James with equal sadness. "But they're going to find Peter and deal with him - everything'll be fine, you'll see-"

"And it was all my fault," continued Sirius, looking down at the sheets of his bed.

"Don't you dare think that!" James nearly shouted, forcing Sirius to meet his gaze.

"But if I hadn't suggested Peter-" said Sirius, but James cut him off.

"If you hadn't suggested Peter, we never would have found out who the traitor was. Thanks to you, we're alive, Sirius. I owe you so much-"

"You don't owe me anything," said Sirius, glancing over to Lily and Harry. He turned his attention to James, and said, "What are brothers for?"

Epilogue: Because every reader needs a good ending.

Neville Longbototm was being babysat by his Grandmother that evening. After Voldemort lost his chance to kill Harry, he went after Neville. Neville's grandmother died for him, protecting him with a shield of love, and Neville became 'The Boy Who Lived'. Alice and Frank were notified of the evening's events, and raised Neville.

James and Lily remained safe, and together - with the help of Sirius and Remus - raised Harry in a Voldemort-free atmosphere, and sent him off to Hogwarts.

I may do one more chapter of this, about how the Battle at Hogwarts turned out, who Harry was friends with, and who ended up dying with Neville as the fearless leader, but I won't if you guys didn't enjoy this - though I hope you did!

I hope you guys liked this! If you want, I'll make this a two-shot, like I said:) Please review if you read! I'm really hoping that this becomes a successful little snippet of what could have been:) I apologize if anyone was OOC, but I'm a huge fan of fluff;) And that's that! Please review, and thank you ever so much for reading!

Until next time, marauderette-47

Mischief Managed