He was fighting by his godson's side, fighting against his cousin, and numerous Death Eaters along with the Order of the Phoenix. It was like fighting side by side with his old friend James, a brother, a class mate, a soldier, a father, and a friend that lived on from the night of Halloween. Sirius laughed like he hadn't in a long time in the Department of Mysteries.

"Come on, you can do better than that!"

Sirius deflected a hex from Bellatrix and didn't observe how a strike blasted past him.

"Harry!" Hermione shrieked.

Sirius turned in the direction of the veil watching his godson fall through the veil cupping his side and his wand was on the ground across from Sirius. Sirius stared at the impossible as his eyes met with Harry's stunned but disorientated gaze. He was unsure just as Sirius was; how did this happen? Is this real? What just happened?

Silence was in the air as the spells had stopped. Sirius began to reach a hand out taking a few steps forward to reach in then yank out Harry from the veil. It was possible long as he could live and breath, course it was, his mind nagged at him on that it wasn't the case.

"Harry." Sirius said, softly.

Harry's image back flipped into the veil then the-boy-who-lived was gone like that.

"HARRY!" Ron's scream broke the silence.

And Sirius's hand paused before the veil.

"HAAARRRRY!" Ron's scream was of pure agony from the most purist and genuine places of which torture could be inflicted upon; the heart. "NO!"

Bellatrix slipped out a corridor as it became real what had just happened.

"BELLATRIX."

It was a single but unexpected roar that held every single feeling coursing through Sirius as he turned around from the veil with eyes seeing red. Sirius transformed into his animagus form and ran after her form as the spells resumed and the group retreated from the room fleeing all except for the Black. Sirius was running along the walls at high speed chasing after her scent. He chased after the singing woman.

"I killed Harry Potter! I killed Harry Potter! I killed the-boy-who-lived! Nah nah nah nah!"

He was quiet as he tackled her down then bit into her arm and she laughed throwing her head back then sent him off.

"The-boy-who-lived is the-boy-who-fell!"

He lunged off biting along her cheek then was slammed off her figure against the wall as she cupped the side of her face with a mad smile.

"You lost, cousin!" Bellatrix threw her head back. "Voldemort will rise!"

Sirius returned to his human form then disarmed her.

"Not on my watch."

Sirius didn't remember much after that once lunging on to her in his dog form. By the time that he came to, he was covered in blood, and Bellatrix's tattered and severely wounded form was on the floor with her wand discarded on the floor. He was panting as he stood in the corridor. A hand came on to his shoulder then guided him away from the scene that he distinctively sensed it was Remus guiding him out as Sirius started to sob. His face had scratches, cuts, and pieces of Bellatrix's fingernails in his skin.

His hands were trembling even the one that held his wand in one hand. Sirius went through the motion of going home as his mid replayed over and over in his mind of how things went. How he lost Harry to his arrogance. How his world was once again shattered. Everything was broken. It was like watching a movie playing out but he were the one living in it. Everything had lost its brightness, innocence, and hope. By the time that Sirius snapped back to that everything was real; he was taking a cold shower.

He took his wand off the toilet seat then, "Silencio." He dropped the wand on to the counter and proceeded to scream as he fell down to his knees, his hands combing through his hair, hunched over as the cold water fell upon his bare figure. He sobbed, wailed, until all that was left was a husk of a man with his side against the shower. Harry is gone. That was the part that struck him. That was the wrong that stood out more than Lily and James being gone.

Sirius took a few minutes to let it sink in and then what he said echoed back at his mind as a figment of his memory. He got up to his feet, turned the shower head off, dried himself off with a towel, then changed into business clothing that was of a dark blue pinstripe suit. Sirius came out with his wand in hand as he rubbed along the handle. He came down the stairs with a trudge and heavy footsteps as the Order of the Phoenix shifted toward the new arrival.

"Sirius, how good of you to come down. We were just discussing--"

"I want you out of this room for the foreseeable future."

"Sirius--"

"You let my godson spend his entire life with muggles who abused him!" The Order of the Phoenix grew stiff and alarmed by the comments coming from the older Black.

"I am sure they didn't--"

"I made Harry write letters to me and send them here after his third year about how his life was since we had so little time to spend together." Sirius opened a drawer then shoved the paper into Molly's hand and she stared upon it, dumbstruck, as the words painted a picture that repulsed her. "You didn't send him to to the Evans, you just sent him to her sister---what was on your mind?"

"They were the only ones left that he had of family, Sirius."

The letters were exchanged among the Order.

"The Evans are alive and well last as I recall." His voice was a double edged dagger.

Now, everyone's eyes were on him.

"You knew how they would treat him." Molly said. "YOU KNEW!" She shook the paper at the headmaster. "You knew how they would treat Harry!"

The paper was crumbled in her hands and Snape was staring at a stranger as his hands were trembling holding the letter in his hands.

"You knew he wouldn't tell anyone what he was doing if he went through the Dursleys." Snape said. "Abuse of parental figures, childhood abuse, neglect---" his eyes widened as the comment fully sunk in to each member of the Order now staring at the headmaster in righteous fury. "No wonder Potter was so thin when I first laid eyes on him.'"

"Why did you allow my godson to have such a terrible life in the muggle world?" Sirius asked, facing the headmaster.

"I needed him to see the Wizarding world as a safe haven."

"AS A SAFE HAVEN! " Molly roared.

"For Merlin's sake, Headmaster," Remus hissed as he and Nymphadora acted as shields for the headmaster from the two young Hogwarts students. "you never needed to do that."

"He would have loved the Wizarding world anyway if he were raised by loving grandparents who kept him out of the Wizarding world." Sirius said, cooly, dropping the letter on to the counter then his hand rolled up into a fist and set his hand into a knuckle on the counter. "He would have died for it! He would have fought for it! He would have had a FULL LIFE!"

"You don't know that."

Sirius raised his arm up along his side then pointed out the door.

"Get out of my house." Sirius said. "And never come back."

"Sirius, I am the head of the Order."

"Then let's have a vote on that." Remus suggested and Sirius smiled at his long time friend. "Red for being outed, blue for staying in."

The Order nodded at once. It was decided. The adults raised their wands and prepared to vote. There was only red spells thrown into the air then Sirius stepped forward, his gaze staring into the man who had wrong Harry Potter from infancy, as he stood eye to eye.

"I asked you once, Headmaster. Don't make me force you out."

"You're going to need help taking you-know-who down." Dumbledore rationalized to the younger man. But Sirius did not seem to be persuaded as his fingers tightened against his palm. "Finding pieces that contain his soul is not easy---"

"OI!" Ron shouted. "We will use good ol' Draco for that! He is great at attracting trouble!"

"And we're take care of it!" Hermione said. "For Harry!"

"For Harry." The others chimed in staring down the headmaster with a death glare.

"I will take my leave." And the headmaster made his exit.

The air cooled then Sirius shifted toward the members of the Order.

"If we're going to topple the Death Eaters then we have to start with Draco." Sirius said. "And recruit him."

"Recruit Draco!" Hermione exclaimed. "But he has their ideals."

"He wouldn't be willing to join this proud and patriotic order." Ron agreed with a nod.

"We will just have another Peter Pettigrew in the crowd." Snape sneered.

Sirius sucked in a breath then exhaled.

"If we can make Draco believe that we accept him for who he is, what he believes in, and not for what his blood is then we can change the tide of the war." Sirius explained to the group as he had his back to the door with his arms folded. They listened intently to what he had to say. "Hate is what got us into this war in the first place. It starts with forgiveness, being kind, but it won't be easy to get there where he will prefer our company over the Death Eaters and betraying his own family if they are in it."

His words came out calmly with certain logic in the argument. The members looked aside wincing at memories of insults wavered toward muggleborns by the purebloods as Sirius scanned their faces one by one. It was Remus who shifted his gaze on to Sirius.

"You mean love him unconditionally?" Remus asked.

"It's a cheesy thing." Sirius admitted with a snicker. "He is young, he is not too far gone like Bellatrix was, and his family is his primary concern."

"Speaking of family, has anyone seen Kreacher?" Remus asked.

"No."

"I haven't seen him."

"I haven't seen him at all."

"Neither have I for a long while."

"Is he missing?"

"No, house elves don't go missing unless they have been given a sock."

"I will check his nest." Sirius was almost gone in a flash as he reappeared with a locket in hand. "Couldn't find him---" he paused then his forehead fell into his hand and lowered the locket as his head fell back. "For the love of Merlin, I accidentally kicked the old racist out of the house!"

"That is probably for the best, Padfoot." Remus noted on the matter. "You and he don't get along very well."

"This place does need a new house elf touch to it here and there." Sirius admitted then scanned the crowd, sheepishly. "Does anyone have some recommendations where I can get a reliable house elf?"

"I can think of a few rescue elf sanctuaries." Molly replied. "But, the meetings normally have to be done by women."

"How about you and Nymphadora do that?" Remus suggested.

"That sounds like a very good plan." Nymphadora admitted.

"I like the sound of it." Moody agreed with a nod of his own. "Give something for you to do."

"As do I." Sirius then lifted his hand up with the locket in tow. "Anyhow, I found this."

"Isn't this Salazar's Locket?" Arthur asked.

Hermione swept through the crowd then stared at it and her eyes widened.

"It is!" Hermione said. "Looks just like the one from the heirlooms of Hogwarts houses book."

Silence hung in the air then Snape snatched it out of Sirius's hand and casted a spell against it.

"Difindo!"

The object fell to the ground with a clatter unharmed.

"What was that for, Professor Snivellus?"

"Look at the locket."

Everyone looked at the intact locket.

"It's intact." Ron picked up the locket and looked at it strangely.

"That's dark magic." Moody took the locket from Ron's hand and rubbed the dirt away to reveal the shinier aspects to the aged locket. "Very dark magic is inside of it."

"The only person who is dark enough to protect what is concealing something prized to them is you-know-who." Snape said.

Their eyes flashed open as the implication set in.

"What kind of dark name is reserved for these?" Remus asked.

"Horcruxes." Snape said.

"My brother was part of the Death Eaters and a Slytherin." Sirius noted with a disappointed shake of his head and shame upon him. "If he hid it here for safe keeping then we have to destroy it."

"Then we destroy it in the cauldron." Molly said. "It cannot exist not one moment longer."

"We will, Molly." Arthur put a hand on Molly's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "For Harry."

"This way." Sirius directed them into the living room.

The locket was set into the cauldron then the order lifted their wands and performed the spell with the two youngest members at back watching the destructive ceremony be performed. Loud flames erupted from the cauldron as did a bright green light as did a loud and memorable dreadful shriek that faded with time that passed. The Order lowered their wands down then Remus reached in, picked up the cracked and dirty locket, grimly looking upon it.

"Dead as a nail." Remus said.

"Now, what else have they put his ugly soul into?" Moody asked.

"We have to consider that there may have been each member of each house part of the Death Eaters half of two decades ago so the heirlooms of each house must be sought for." Sirius said.

"How easy will that be?" Arthur asked.

"We don't have any idea." Remus admitted.

"Well, we could start with Hogwarts, much of Harry's murderer's vault, and wherever you-know-who used to live before he, well, uh, destroyed himself." Ron said.

"Not bad of a idea." Sirius said. "And if we do that; then we may be able to take completely rid of the Dark Lord this year and we won't need to go to war."

"A world that Harry should have lived in." Molly said, her voice bitter, carrying the same bitterness and anger that most of the members carried.

"Uh, Sirius, don't we need a leader voted in?" Hermione asked with a lift of her brow.

"Everyone is a leader here if we agree on a matter, Hermione." Sirius told the younger woman. "And common sense rules."

"The most important matter is a wizard or witch getting close enough to him and giving the killing blow." Snape said.

"If that is all the Horcruxes." Moody chimed in.

"We really don't know from there. ." Sirius let the words hang there for a moment. "But from now on, starting today, this is a active war and people will die. Good people."

He cleared his throat, quite emotional, as they fell silent at the mention of 'Good people' as Harry's confused face crossed their minds.

"Whatever happens, we will have to die fighting for children like Harry and muggleborns. They are our future and we will have to destroy everything that Voldemort has with him let it be people, a entire house, or a pet. We must never give up as Harry would never have given up on us. Now, when is Harry's belongings open to be taken?"

"Any time." Ron said.

"What are you going to do, Sirius?" Remus asked.

"Bury what is left of him with his parents in Godric's Hollow." Sirius said. "Any Death Eaters who intrude will be crucio-ed, is that clear?"

The members of the order nodded in agreement.

"I don't care how legal it may be by then but that will be a line that they crossed and knew that will be a terrible moment to start a fight." he pointed toward the ground. "Or if I am not in the mood to give them a hex fight, I will disarm them and ravage them in the same way I did with Bellatrix!"

His hand opened from the fist form then gestured toward the cauldron.

"Spread that, please."

Sirius turned away then walked on from the living room passing by the tapestry and went down the corridor. He came to the kitchen then sat down at the long table across from it. He sat down with a loud and audible sigh then rubbed his forehead. He heard the sound of footsteps then the steps come to a pause behind him and a hand was placed on to his shoulder. Sirius put his hand on the hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks, Moony, for bringing me home." Sirius said.

"You have helped me stay down to Earth since being back," Remus said as he put his hand on Sirius's hand and squeezed it. "I had to return the favor."

Sirius looked toward Remus with a smile.

"When we get to Peter, what do you want to do with him?"

"I like the idea of getting the wolf cubs from the forest outside Hogwarts and disabling his ability to turn into a rat then let them go after him."

"That blood fucker would be screaming like his life depended on it."

"Yes, but it would be the sweet sounds of justice."

"Shame the court isn't that interested in justice. A Dementor's Kiss would never do James and Lily justice."

"As a shell. The only form of justice they would get is Peter's severe and ultimate suffering that is done slowly as possible with little chance to frighten him."

"But a lot of pain to make his nerves go raw and force him to be awake every damn minute for twelve years!"

Sirius stood up to his feet then paced back and forth.

"TWELVE YEARS!" He roared. "TWELVE FUCKING YEARS! TWELVE YEARS because of listening to that fat backstabbing lousy ass traitor!"

He shook his head

"Twelve years you and I could have raise Harry, twelve years we could have been happy, keeping him from the Wizarding world, without Dumbledore's intervention, seeing it as a beautiful place to live in that was hopeful, optimistic, and a escape from the sad muggle world." Sirius's voice lost its boom and rage as began to calm with sorrow then seated down into the chair as he became a heartbroken version of himself. "A place . . . to call home."

Remus sat down alongside Sirius as his friend proceeded to cry. Remus let his friend cry for a long while then caught the man in a hug that was quite natural between them. The sobbing began to lower in volume as Remus did the only kind of hug that comforted a unhappy Sirius Black. The same one that he gave him after his family sent back a howler after being sorted into Gryffindor along with Lily, Peter, James, and Remus.

"This is our home." Remus said as he took his friend's hand listening to the sobbing of Sirius Black. "And his home. He called it home in your letters, remember?"

Sirius nodded with a sniffle.

"I remember it dearly." Sirius said.

"Then we're going to protect it." Remus said.

Sirius nodded then backed out of the hug with his hands lingering to the shoulder of Remus.

"For Harry." Sirius said. "Moony. . ." He looked up toward Remus. "You brought me home last night, didn't you? All covered in blood? You let me go after her."

Remus was quiet for a solid moment then nodded with a sigh.

"I did." Remus said. "I knew that if I stopped you then I would have never gotten to hear her screams as she died by the Dementors in Azkaban."

"You know there is a fat chance in Hell they would ever allow Dementors back as jailers after this war." Sirius raised his head up looking toward the werewolf professor.

"Life sentences are a thing for a reason in the Muggle World since they have been fighting against the death penalty after the chair was revealed by a member of the press who sneaked in their camera and snapped the photograph before the convict was electrocuted to death. Life sentences mean something to the muggle world and it does in the wizarding world, too."

"Then you made yourself the judge, the jury, and the lawyers."

"No, I only allowed what the previous court had ordered after the war." Remus revealed to the animagus. "Azkaban, a trip to certain death. A mad dog is both of those."

Sirius smiled then squeezed Remus's hand.

"I can't argue with that." Sirius said. "And thank you," his grip loosened on the hand. "Thank you, Moony, for getting me out of there."

"You are welcome, Pads." Remus's smile was warm, happy, but tinged with sorrow at the recent loss that they had experienced. "Maybe, before your version of Peter's sentence, you get your name cleared by Peter at court?"

"The Wizengamot court will never agree to it." Sirius reminded as he leaned back into the chair with a laugh. "They are the most decent court in the Wizarding world."

Remus lifted a brow in surprise to his friend's comment.

"Oh, I don't know about that." Remus shook his head with a smile. "Peter did escape and let you be sent to Azkaban." he held a lone scarred finger up. "That was the cruelest crime a criminal can ever do."

"We have to settle with the decent and legal consequences for Peter in the mean time." Sirius relented.

They were quiet at the table.

"Yeah." Was Remus said.

"We can only dream such cruel sentences being given to men and women like Peter and Bellatrix." Sirius admitted, looking aside. "I can't tell you how many times I have dreamed of Peter being in Azkaban and you and I raising Harry." The dream made Remus smile as Sirius turned his gaze upon the man. "Most days, these memories feel real."

"How real, Pads?"

Sirius shrugged.

"As though they were from another life."

"I dream of those days, too."

Sirius looked toward Remus with a fond smile.

"How about after this war is over, you and I, just go and adopt a muggleborn in need of a family and enjoy what we should have had?"

Remus grinned at the appealing idea.

"That is a wonderful idea, Sirius."

"Though, it is going to be delicious teasing their friends about being a ex-convict and a formerly suspected death eater!"

"Be careful, you might get some shenanigans with that teasing!"

"Oh, that is exactly what I want! The best kind of mischief! And I would be having the time of my life! We would be encouraging mischief, think of it, Remus, think of it! Proooomoootttting it! And James would be totally behind it."

"He would have wanted to be the one spreading that rumor among the students."

"And Lily dismissing it left and right then going against what she said a moment earlier and the students being so beside themselves."

The more Remus thought about it the more that it was a pretty welcoming idea. The men laughed at the amusing ideas of what to do after the war and how the Potters would have reacted to it, the more their hearts began to heal to the loss and the reality of what was to come before that. Remus and Sirius were cackling in the kitchen with seas of positivity radiating off them and the sorrow being little more than something that didn't matter with tears of laughter.