Darkness is my ally

The Darkest Secrets

"You betrayed my family, your best friends, for the sake of that half-blood pretender and then you murdered people in trying to ensure someone didn't get you first."

"That's only half-true," Sirius argued, his eyes looking into Hadrian's as he lifted his other hand, which the Black Kaiser saw to hold a wand of Sirius' own, before he gave his exclamation, "I, Sirius Orion Black, do swear on my life and magic that I did not betray Lily or James Potter and that I do not have any intentions to harm, threaten or kill Hadrian Potter: by magic it is decreed, by magic, it is done!"

A bright flash of light filled the Shrieking Shack, the force of the light blinding Hadrian as he tried to pierce it, his mind racing with what he'd just heard:

'Why would he swear such a powerful and dangerous vow if he's guilty? Unless…'

Chapter 19: The Darkest Secrets

Sirius' vow still rang in Hadrian's ears as he watched the light from the magical aftermath fade, revealing a still-alive Sirius Black, though he was now unarmed and on his knees, his eyes looking right into the green eyes of his godson as he spoke, "There, maybe now you will listen to what I have to say, Hadrian?"

"Start talking," Hadrian replied firmly, his words edged by darkness as, despite the vow, he still felt a desire to actually kill this man for what he'd done to abandon the family and, through them, Hadrian himself.

"The day you were born, nearly fourteen years ago," Sirius explained, keeping himself still and calm as he told his story, "Is where it all really began as your parents, not long after that day, were approached by Albus Dumbledore and told of some reason for them to go into hiding. When they asked why, Dumbledore told them that it concerned you, their only son, and that it was for the Greater Good that they do as he said and go ahead with it."

"Meaning he convinced them using his manipulative old bastard ways," Hadrian scowled, earning a nod from Sirius as he asked, "So what? How did that lead to this?"

"The Fidelius Charm," Sirius explained, "It's a…"

"I know what the Fidelius is, Sirius," Hadrian scowled, "I'm not some Freddie First-Year after all: someone cast a spell of privacy and protection and thereby anointed a chosen member of my parents' circle as the appropriately-mentioned Secret Keeper. I'm guessing that person was you?"

"Correct," Sirius nodded, still holding his hands up as he spoke, "But don't think that means I'm guilty of what they say I did, Hadrian: on the contrary, shortly after your first birthday, I was approached by your Father and, for some reason I couldn't understand, he started yelling at me and telling me that he had trusted the wrong person. I had my suspicions, but I needed to know more and, when I approached Albus about this, he said that he'd had a word with James about me and said that it could be too obvious that I was the one protecting him. I didn't mean to do what I did next, but I did it anyway: I allowed Dumbledore to switch Secret Keepers from me to our lowest-ranked friend, Peter Pettigrew, and then I was banned from Godric's Hollow and told never to come near you until they were sure that you were safe."

"So Dumbledore struck again," Hadrian scowled, earning a raised eyebrow from Sirius before, to the Slytherin King's surprise, Sirius shook his head.

"No," Sirius explained, "I asked Dumbledore and even went as far as enacting my right as Lord Black to force a magical oath out of him saying that he hadn't done anything to James to convince him of this. He was surprised at my ferocity, of course, but he swore the oath and, strange as it's going to sound, when he told me that he was simply asking this for your own good, I believed him also."

"So you switched to Pettigrew," Hadrian scowled, his voice now edged by a growl as he hissed, "You still killed him…and thirteen Muggles…andleft my parents to die because of a lie."