Tattered Innocence

Child of the new Dawn

Disclaimer: don't own don't sue

Summary: AU: Voldemort didn't die that night at Godric's Hollow, but returned to his followers weeks later lacking a body and bearing a grudge against a little scar-headed boy. Sirius convinced Dumbledore of his innocence and now must raise Harry with the help of a werewolf and the threat of Voldemort hanging over them. The first war never ended, and the fate of the world has landed on a one-year old child, with his over-protective godfather and werewolf 'uncle'.

A/N Thanks to Kemenran for betaing this for me, this fic has been stuck in my head for ages now, so hope you like it!

The sun had set, leaving a blood red line across the horizon in its wake as the inky blackness of night covered the sky. A loud rumbling cut through the soft sounds of dusk as a huge motorcycle tore through the sky. The rider clutched the leather-covered handles tightly, his hands paling as the blood drained away, as he forced his bike to go as fast as it could, ignoring Moony's motorbike rules that had been set when the Marauders had given him the bike. "You don't have to break the sound barrier every time you ride the basted thing..." 'Oh Remus, how could I have ever thought it was you?' The rider, or rather, Sirius Black the disowned child of the Black family and proud member of the Marauders, thought. 'If anything happens to them...'

The Potters had taken refuge in James' hometown called Godric's Hollow. Though Sirius had pretended to be suffering from what he called 'Harry Withdrawal', he knew the danger his best mate, Lily, and his godson were in. His heart clenched as he remembered the last letter he had been sent from Lily before they went into hiding. She had included a picture of James with his arms around her with Harry giggling in her arms. 'They have to be okay...'

If they're not... a wave of betrayal and anger washed over him, as his thoughts turned to Peter. That traitor! He had trusted him! They all had trusted him! The anger was gone as soon as it came, however, to be replaced with bubbling guilt. He had been the one to suggest the switch... hell he had insisted on it! His hold on the handles tightened. 'There's still time... I still have a chance to make it okay...'

"Oh Merlin..." Sirius gasped as large clouds of black smoke rose in front of him, nearly blending in with the sky. He waited for the familiar uncomfortable feeling of passing through a ward, but a wave of panic consumed him when he felt nothing but the cold air whizzing past as he zoomed over the country side. 'Breathe Sirius, there's no dark mark... James would fight back...'

Sirius felt the blood rush from his face as he saw the smoldering wreckage that had once been his best friend's house. He landed outside of the iron gate that had once surrounded the Potter's yard and now lay twisted and broken on the dirt. Sirius jumped off his bike and leapt over the remains of the gate. He sprinted toward the house and stopped at the door way. The door had been blasted off its hinges and lay on the floor, among ashes and rubble from the destruction of the house. Sirius took a step forward but jumped back sharply when his foot hit something soft.

"Oh my god... James!" Sirius knelt quickly at his friend's side and pushed the debris off of him. He shrugged off his robe and wiped James' face off with it. He searched for a pulse.... nothing. His best friend was dead. With a trembling hand, Sirius closed James' eye lids and tucked the broken and cracked glasses James had always worn in the front pocket of his robes. A noise from upstairs made his jump and with one last hopeless look at his best friend's still face, he sprinted up the stairs.

The first thing that registered in the haze of Sirius' thoughts was Harry, so he raced towards his room. The white door was already open, hanging only by the top hinge, and covered in streaks of ash. Sirius walked in slowly, jumping when he heard glass crack underneath his foot. He looked down to see he had stepped on a photo of Harry just hours after he was born. Sirius looked away quickly, unable to look at James and Lily's proud and smiling faces.

He looked up to see a mass of red hair on the floor. "Lily!" He hurried to her but cried out in shock when she lay still and as pale as James. He touched her wrist... no pulse.

"Damn you Peter!" He cried out as tears trickled down his face. Lily's beautiful emerald eyes, Harry's eyes, were half-closed and stared lifelessly at Sirius. He laid her body gently back onto the floor, her deep red hair spread around her, like a halo of fire. Sirius started to shake uncontrollably, Lily and James were gone.

"Pa-foo!"

Sirius' head snapped up, he'd recognize that voice anywhere. Slowly he got to his feet and approached the overturned cradle. He lifted up Harry's light blue blanket and was met with tearful emerald eyes looking into his. "Pa-foo!"

"Harry?" Sirius fell to his knees and cradled Harry to his chest. He looked down at his godson and saw a large gash on his forehead, but no other wounds. His godson was alright, he survived...

In a daze Sirius ripped part of his sleeve off and wiped the blood off of his godson. He grabbed the blanket and wrapped little Harry in it, still holding onto him tightly. When he turned, Harry spotted Lily on the floor. "Ma!" he shouted and reached out with his small arms toward her.

When she didn't respond, Harry wiggled more reaching his arms out to her. "Ma's gone Harry..." Harry knew what gone meant but kept staring at his mother's body, still reaching out to her. Sirius pressed a soft kiss onto Harry's forehead, careful not to agitate his wound, and quickly threw Harry's favorite toys into a baby bag along with some dippers, trying hard not to look at Lily. He handed Harry the small stuffed black dog he had given him for his birthday and little Harry wrapped his arms around it.

Sirius paused in the doorway and whispered a soft prayer for Lily and for James. "I'll take care of your son, just like you wanted... I won't forget you...either of you... and I'll make sure Harry doesn't either... I'll love him like he was my own... goodbye old friends...Prongs and Lily will live on..."

With the baby bag slung over one shoulder and Harry in his arms, Sirius walked stiffly out of the Potter's house, careful not to look back at the destruction behind him. One foot in front of the other... A loud crunch from the gravel, however, told him he was not alone.

"Who's there?" Sirius called out, hand already going for his wand. There was another crunch and Hagrid appeared before him. "Hagrid? What are you doing here?" Sirius asked relaxing slightly.

"Professor Dumbledore sent me, to collect young Harry there." He gave a great sniff, "Poor Lily an' James! They didn' deserve this!"

Sirius lowered his head and clutched Harry tighter, he was not going to give Harry up, not even to Dumbledore, "It was that traitor Peter Pettigrew that did this!" Sirius snarled looking up furiously.

Hagrid stared at Sirius, "Peter Pettigrew? How'd ya mean?"

Sirius winced slightly, "It's all my fault. Lily and James wanted me to be secret keeper for them, but I turned them down at the last minute and told them to switch to Peter. I thought that would fool Voldemort," Sirius ignored Hagrid's wince and continued, "I'd thought he would go after me and never suspect Peter. But that rat betrayed us! We didn't tell anyone about the switch! He gave Lily and James to Voldemort!"

Sirius looked down at Harry again and said softly, "I don't know how, but somehow Harry survived."

"That poor little thing...he survived the killin' curse?"

Sirius nodded and lifted Harry's black hair to revel the cut that resembled a lightning bolt, now that all the blood was gone. It would undoubtedly scar, a standing tribute to the horrors that occurred not a few minutes ago.

There was a loud hiss suddenly and Sirius whipped around to see a large black cloud of smoke floating before them, with blood red eyes and back slits for pupils, the eyes of Voldemort. His wand arm froze as he stared into those red eyes... The eyes stared at the bundle in Sirius' arms and a high cold voice whispered, "Revenge." before disappearing into the night.

Sirius let out the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. Voldemort was still alive... He turned to Hagrid quickly, "Hagrid, where is Dumbledore sending Harry? Hogwarts?"

Hagrid just stared at Sirius for a moment, his normally ruddy face milk white. "Hagrid!" Sirius half-yelled, causing Harry to wake up and start to fuss at the sudden loud noise. Sirius shushed him and pressed a soft kiss on his forehead, "Sorry pup." He murmured softly and turned back to Hagrid, "Where is Dumbledore taking Harry?"

"Ter his aunt an' uncle o'course, they're all he's got now." Hagrid managed to say after a few moments.

"Those muggles?!" Sirius exclaimed in disgust, "They hate magic! The things Lily used to tell us about them... Harry's not safe there... especially with Him back...." Sirius muttered more to himself than Hagrid. He looked up at the huge man and clutched Harry tightly, "Let me take Harry, Hagrid. I'm his godfather. It's what Lily and James wanted..."

"I have me orders from Dumbledore an'-"

"Tell Dumbledore everything that happened here, take my motorcycle to get back to Hogwarts, and then tell him to fire-call me at Remus' house." Sirius interrupted, "Please Hagrid, I have to tell... Merlin, Remus doesn't even know.... He'll think.... Please Hagrid tell Dumbledore everything that I told you, he'll know what to do then."

Hagrid regarded Sirius silently for a moment with his kind black eyes, before sighing, "All righ' Sirius. I'll tell Dumbledore wha happen'd. And wha 'bout little 'Arry?" the half-giant asked, "He's not safe with tha' great demon smoke flyin' round, what was tha' thing?"

"That was Voldemort." Sirius said starting to get irritated as Hagrid winced again, "I'm Harry's godfather, I'll keep him safe, while I wait to hear from Dumbledore."

Hagrid looked like he was going to argue more, so Sirius continued in a quiet voice, "I just lost Lily and James in one night. I'm not going to lose Harry too, especially if Voldemort is still alive." There was a moment of silence, before Hagrid spoke.

"You'll be at Lupin's then?" He asked gruffly.

Sirius nodded gratefully, "I'll be waiting. Besides... Remus needs to know as well..." Sirius sniffed and looked away, he didn't know how to break it to Remus, how he had thought Remus was the traitor and how it was all his fault Lily and James were dead.

Sirius was brought back from his thoughts by Hagrid's gentle pat on the shoulder that nearly made his knees buckle. The gentle half-giant gave Harry, what must have been a scratchy and wiry kiss, on the top of his head. He watched as Hagrid flew away on the motorcycle, before turning back to the Potter house, after a few long moments, he apparated to Moony's house with Harry asleep in his arms.

Sirius appeared in Remus' front yard with a soft 'pop'. Harry stirred slightly in his arms, only to shift and fall back asleep. Sirius crossed the neat-looking lawn, feeling the wet dew on the grass begin to soak his shoes. Remus had inherited a little cottage from his parents when they died in his last year at Hogwarts. Due to Remus' 'condition' he could not find much work and could almost always be found at his home.

As he raised his hand to knock on the door, it all hit him. This was real. James and Lily were gone... Harry was an orphan and the only survivor of the most lethal curse known to wizard kind. There were only two marauders, betrayed by the third. Peter had as good as killed Lily and James... Peter had betrayed them... He had to raise Harry by himself... Harry shifted in his arms again and Sirius jerked himself to the present and banged on the door as hard as he could to keep himself distracted.

He jumped slightly when the door was opened soon after and just managed to stop from falling through the doorway. He looked up into the amused face of Remus Lupin, "So Padfoot, care to explain why you're trying to break down my door?" His expression changed when he saw the bundle in Sirius' arms and his gaunt face, "What happened?"

Staring at his friend's concerned face, Sirius broke down, "Gone..." he managed to choke out, "Lily and James... gone."

Remus' face went paper white, "How?" he asked hoarsely.

"Changed secret-keepers... Peter- he gave them to Voldemort. I thought it'd be a bluff but... they're gone!"

Remus leaned against the door frame breathing hard; he looked up suddenly, "Harry?"

At hearing his name, Harry stirred and blinked sleepily up at Remus before breaking into a grin, "Moony!" He reached out for Remus who held Harry gently, staring at him as if he'd never seen him before, and then he looked up at Sirius, "You'd better come in."

A/N Please Review!!