Does Anyone Really Know?

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: Major Character Death

Category: Gen

Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling

Characters: Sirius Black, Voldemort (Harry Potter), Tom Riddle | Voldemort, Peter Pettigrew, Harry Potter

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, James Potter & Lily Evans Potter Live, POV Sirius Black, Canon-Typical Violence, Blood and Gore, Mild Gore, Minor Character Death, Character Death, Hurt No Comfort, First War with Voldemort, Torture, Crucio | Cruciatus Curse (Harry Potter)

"-he feels more forceful jabs against the wards at the door and hastily casts his Patronus.

'Go to James and Lily,' he instructs it hurriedly. 'He's here. I'll hold him off as long as I can, hurry…'

The tags tell pretty much all; this is an angsty little AU where Sirius is babysitting Harry the night Voldemort comes to Godric's Hollow, but hey! Turns out a Dogfather's love is just as powerful!

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: Major Character Death

Category: Gen

Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling

Characters: Sirius Black, Voldemort (Harry Potter), Tom Riddle | Voldemort, Peter Pettigrew, Harry Potter

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, James Potter & Lily Evans Potter Live, POV Sirius Black, Canon-Typical Violence, Blood and Gore, Mild Gore, Minor Character Death, Character Death, Hurt No Comfort, First War with Voldemort, Torture, Crucio | Cruciatus Curse (Harry Potter)

"-he feels more forceful jabs against the wards at the door and hastily casts his Patronus.

'Go to James and Lily,' he instructs it hurriedly. 'He's here. I'll hold him off as long as I can, hurry…'

The tags tell pretty much all; this is an angsty little AU where Sirius is babysitting Harry the night Voldemort comes to Godric's Hollow, but hey! Turns out a Dogfather's love is just as powerful!

McGonagall: There may well be a new Minister of Magic by the time Potter is ready to join!

Umbridge: Aha! Yes! Yes, yes, yes! Of course! That's what you want, isn't it, Minerva McGonagall? You want Cornelius Fudge replaced by Albus Dumbledore! You think you'll be where I am, don't you, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister and headmistress to boot!

Truly, the second Harry tells Sirius that Harry has memories of his mother being murdered…Sirius stops trying to argue with him or protest Harry’s actions at all. He doesn’t have anything else to even SAY, he just…stops. A whole year of planning, and Peter is right there…and Sirius stops and looks at Harry and waits. He doesn’t speak again until the end of the chapter, well into Remus coming in and establishing how he got there.

And it’s maybe one of the top five most Tragic moments in the whole series tbh. There’s this moment where Harry thinks he’s looking in the eyes of someone who betrayed his parents…and he can’t quite bring himself to even avenge them. And Sirius is looking at the child of James and Lily—who thinks Sirius is an absolute Monster of a person—and he can’t argue with Harry, because Sirius blames himself so much for their deaths. So they are just Staring at each other, waiting for Harry to decide what he’s going to do. Sirius hands over the anger in the scene to Harry…compared to what happened to Harry, what right does Sirius have to be angry? To demand any kind of hearing? He genuinely doesn’t have any words.