tomriidle:

• it is october 31, 1981 and sirius black sends a patronus to james. “sorry prongs but there’s been another attack and moody won’t let me leave. we can’t take harry about godric’s hollow like we planned, sorry mate.”
  
• it is october 31, 1981 and james potter looks at his wife and shrugs mournfully. “guess harry can’t go out this halloween either. it won’t be fun without sirius.” because last halloween lily had thrown a fit about the men taking harry out when he was still so young and they had been looking forward to showing him about the neighbourhood this year.
  
• it is october 31, 1981 and sirius black is finally told to go home and he checks his watch and sees that if he hurries maybe he can still spend halloween with his family after all.
  
• it is october 31, 1981 and the moment the tires of sirius black’s motorcycle touch godric’s hollow’s boundaries, he knows that something is wrong. a sudden wave of fear overcomes him because surely the potter’s house was intact when he left hours ago, why is half the roof gone? 
  
• it is october 31,1981 and sirius black rushes into his home (because after his 3rd week of sleeping on the couch, lily just rolled her eyes and shooed him to the guest bedroom and told him to make himself at home) and sees his best friend- his brother really- slumped on the ground, eyes still open and glassy and expression fixed in a desperate, protective look. sirius screams and rushes forward to the body, his world stopping as he drops to his knees and cradles james potter’s head. he pleads and pleads and pleads for james to wake up, to live, to stop playing a prank on him, damnit prongs but james’ body only cools.
  
• it is october 31, 1981 and sirius black staggers to his feet while wiping away his tears to search for his godson and sister in all but blood. his heart, blood, bones sing a desperate song. please let them have escaped, please, please, please. a choked sob escapes his clenched teeth when he sees lily potter on the ground, a pleading look on her face and tears still wet on her cheeks. he takes a moment to stroke her hair, her cheeks and close her eyes before looking at the cot. he is greeted by quiet cries and shining emerald eyes as little harry potter stares back at him.
  
• it is october 31, 1981 and sirius black’s world starts again, albeit very slowly, because his godson is alive, praise merlin, his last remaining family is alive and has been saved somehow from a fate similar to that of his parents. sirius black lifts harry potter and cradles him close, their cries weaving together into a song of heartbreak and pain. “it’s just you and me, kid. i’ll take care of you, i love you.” little does sirius black know that soon he will lose his godson too as he sits in a cell in azkaban, never to see harry potter again for the next 12 years.
  
• it is october 31, 1981 and james and lily potter are dead. if only there hadn’t been a death eater attack, if only sirius black had been able to slip away, if only the trio had taken the baby trick-or-treating, if only they had been out of the house when voldemort came knocking, maybe the potters wouldn’t be dead. maybe little harry potter wouldn’t be an orphan and would have grown up with two loving parents and loving uncles.
  
• it is october 31, 1981 and the wizarding world was saved (if only for the time being) but at what cost?