PRONGSLET AND THE CERYNEIAN GUARDIAN

Chapter Sixteen

"Where's Peter?" James asked glancing around. "I thought he was with you."

"And I thought he was with you," Sirius replied, " it doesn't matter though, we should probably find Remus. Last I saw him, he was getting a little too close to the unicorn herd and I think we all learned early on that it's not a good idea to get around them, especially during mating season. Peter will catch up."

"I don't think it matters much in this situation, it's not like he can help restrain, Remus. He's much too small, with a swipe of his paw, he would send Peter flying into the lake from where we are."

"That would be a sight to see," Sirius snorted. Milo watched as the two returned to the animagus forms and then took off deeper into the forest. He was going to run after him when he caught sight of something in the corner of his eye. Turning his head, he saw Peter standing beside him with a disheartened look. Neither of the three had seen Milo, but he had witnessed the interaction, that left him confused. Peter didn't transform and run off after them, instead, wearing the same frown from earlier, he turned around in the opposite direction and walked away.

Milo wasn't sure what he was supposed to be taking away from the scene, it mainly just looked like Peter felt excluded from the group. But Milo couldn't deny that Sirius and James had a point, a rat would be no match for a werewolf when it came to restraining him under any circumstances. However, seeing the disappointed look on Peter's face brought a frown to Milo's, but once again, he was left confused by the scenario. Why was he shown the scene of his father and the cause of his murder being good friends?

He had stories from Remus and Elspeth, he knew that Sirius and his father had been good friends, brothers of sorts, so why would his father take to show him the painful scenes of happiness before the betrayal?

Suddenly, once again, the scenery around Milo changed and he found himself in a familiar setting that he had not been around for many years. Back in Godric's Hollow, in his once home. However, much like it had been left, the house was in fresh ruins as he found himself in the hallway. He couldn't remember it, but the shattered frames and pictures on the floor caused Milo to look around. Was it back on the night of Halloween when it all happened? The night that the Potter boys lost their parents and the night when Harry became the Boy Who Lived.

The faint sound of crying from upstairs caused Milo to look towards the stairwell, swallowing hard as it was the sound of two toddlers. He looked away, not sure if he could bring himself to go see the scene of he and Harry left without their parents until someone arrived to take them away. However, it seemed Milo didn't have to wait for someone to arrive as he heard the commotion coming from the area of the living room. 

The front door to the Potter household was open but no one could be seen until Milo glanced over in the corner. There, James Potter's body laid slain as he was the first to die that evening. There was no wand in sight, meaning he had died defenceless. Yet as Milo entered the room, he saw Sirius, once again, he was slightly older than the last memory that Milo had viewed. This time there was no smile or amusement on his face. Instead, he was crying over James' body, loud sobs that he couldn't possibly choke back no matter how hard he tried. 

He kept trying to wake James up, calling out the man's name and shaking him, but as Milo witnessed the same, his father was merely staring blankly up at the ceiling as all life was gone from him. Seeing his father dead, it was not something that Milo had anticipated and it left him to look away as he began to cry himself. He had heard countless times that his parents were heroes of the war, beautiful people that had loved their children so much and were willing to do anything for those they cared about. But to see that their fight wasn't enough, seeing the dead body before him, Milo stumbled back.

However, the sounds of Milo and Harry crying from upstairs finally seemed to draw away Sirius' attention towards the stairwell.

"Milo...Harry...Lily!" The man called as he left the body of his best friend behind and hurried up the stairs to answer the call of the cries. Milo was left standing in the doorway, completely unnoticed and terribly confused as he didn't know what to make of it all. Sirius Black had been sent to Azkaban, Elspeth was the one who had made the arrest, sending the father of her child away to prison for the crimes, but if he had been the one to betray the Potters, why was he there? Why was he there crying over the loss of the family? Was it out of remorse or was there more to the story?

"Why are you showing me all of this?!" Milo called out, sure that someone could hear him. "I don't understand? What are you trying to show me? Hello?!"

Of course, no one answered to him and moments later, Sirius came running down the steps of the home, looking furious. His wand was drawn and he was muttering something about  "making him pay."

Milo watched as Sirius left the Potter home, seeking vengeance, leaving one question to pop into the boy's mind.

Was Sirius guilty of the crimes or not?

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"I don't understand it," Madam Pomfrey looked over the boy that had been brought into the Hospital Wing. Cedric had been the one to carry the boy on his back after he claimed that Milo had simply passed out when they were outside. They had been talking and he seemed fine until he stopped talking and then just fell over. Now as he was lying in the Hospital Wing, he was running a high fever and no matter what Madam Pomfrey did, she couldn't bring it down.

Professor McGonagall had been alerted and in no time arrived shortly after Milo had been admitted. She asked all sorts of questions but Cedric didn't have any answers, he didn't understand what had happened. They had only been talking, yet he knew somehow that it was probably his fault. 

Paden was in the boy's hands, once again, staring down his owner from across the way in despair. He didn't understand what was going on, no one did. The only fortunate part about it all was Milo was moving about even with his eyes closed and his mouth was moving. He was muttering something but no one could make it out. 

Remus arrived, looking bewildered by the scene and right behind him was Elspeth. There was a suspicion that maybe Milo had a run-in with a dementor but as Elspeth neared the bed, she shook her head. Her hand came to rest on the boy's forehead.

"A dementor never brings about a fever," Elspeth informed the group, " their speciality is to leave one feeling cold. The cold brings one closer to death and that's their mission, to bring one closest to the feeling of death without killing them. A dementor didn't do this, there's a fire brewing inside Milo for a completely different reason."

She went to remove her hand, but suddenly, Milo's hand snatched up and grabbed her by the wrist, holding her in place. Everyone was staring down at the boy as his eyes opened and they settled right on Elspeth. The Auror was silent but she met his gaze.

"Milo-" Minerva called out to her son, preparing to ask him what was going on, but Milo didn't answer to her calls. Instead, his first words caught everyone off guard as he didn't speak of anything that had suddenly made him feel ill while he was outside. He didn't look in Cedric's direction with an accusing glare, he merely just his eyes on Elspeth. 

"I'd like to speak with Elspeth alone, please."