Smoke.
For a moment, thats all Sirius can see. Smoke, thick waves of it rolling in towards him and burning his nose. His eyes water, and he ignores the sound of Frank and Marlene yelling at him.
Sirius takes off, sprinting in the direction of the stifling silence. His ears ache from the quiet, the only sounds the crackling of burning homes. The only sound until he hears screaming. Screaming that is coming from him,
"GWENYTH! GWEN!"
He races forward, ignoring the shouting behind him. He knows what Frank is trying to warn him about. They could still be here, Sirius could get them all killed. But in that moment he didn't care. He thought of long hair and cold eyes, a laugh that could grow flowers from cinder and a smile that changed tides.
The stars glow fuzzily through the blankets of smoke, and Sirius needs to find Gwen. He needs to tell her that the constellations over their heads are heavenly waters that he would swim through with her until this life turned into the next. He needs to find her so that they can finally get married, so they can win this war and have a life that isn't hanging on the threat of death.
"GWEN! INFERI!"
The heat from the homes on fire has drenched him in sweat, and he nearly trips over a smoldering corpse with no face. If he wasn't in such a hurry, he'd have been sick. But then he sees the black robes and the golden mask and savors the feeling of pleasure derived from staring at that corpse.
He waves his hand in front of his face, choking on black smoke and his feelings that threaten to cut loose from his heart like a monster freed from it's cage. Gwenyth. Gwen. Inferi. Where was she? He steels himself, swears to not look for a splash of pearl on the cobblestones. His nerves are frayed, and he spins around, deaf to the sounds of people calling his name. He couldn't tell what direction he'd come from. It didn't matter. He just needed her.
He begins to move forward once again when something hard slams into his back. He whirls around, wand raised and heart roaring in his ears. Arms band around his back, hands cup his face.
"Wait wait!! It's me! It's me, Sirius,"
His wand falls to the ground, and his arms cage her to his front, face buried in her ash stained hair. Gwen. His breathing stutters, and he knows he should let go when he demands, "Tell me something that only you would know."
He can feel her heart thundering against his, and his eyes clench shut at the wobble in her voice when she whispers, "The day you first came to the beach, we planted tulips. You asked me why i kissed you, and I said it was because I wanted to."
It's her. Sirius hugs her tighter, until her ribs are digging into his and their racing hearts become one. His chest shudders, "Gwen." Her name. It's all he can manage. His arms shake when he hears her whisper his own, a prayer, a gift. He leans back to look down at her, frowning at her dust covered cheeks and watery eyes.
"Gideon and Fabian. There's nothing left of them."
Sirius swipes at her cheeks, listening quietly as she works through what has just happened. The haunted look on her face tells him just how awful it had been, but he sees guilt too. She shakes her head, whispering, "We were here maybe five minutes before I told Madeye something felt off. By the time we realized what was happening, they were already here. So many of them, Sirius. He has an army, a hoard of dark wizards and beings at his command. And they knew we would be here."
"Where is James? Remus?" Sirius asks gently, and Gwen blinks, replying hurriedly, "It's okay. They're with Madeye. They're looking for anything that the death eater's might have left behind."
He runs his thumb across the scar on her throat, the question he's dying to ask on the tip of his tongue. A question that burns him from within.
"He didn't see me."
Dolohov. Sirius looks away from her, his heart twisting and turning uncomfortably in his chest. He didn't have to ask to know that Antonin Dolohov participated in the murders of Gideon and Fabian Prewett. Only a sadist like him would completely obliterate bodies until the ceased to exist completely.
Sirius looks up and sees Frank Longbottom talking a few meters away with Madeye and James and Remus. They look relatively free of harm, though Sirius can see a long cut down Remus' arm from where he's standing. Sirius exhales shakily, "C'mon. Lets get out of here before Vol--"
He flinches when her hand slaps over his mouth, her crystalline eyes wide. She quickly shakes her head, whispering, "Taboo. Dumbledore and I suspected it earlier, but we're certain now. Gideon and Fabian.... Don't say his name, Sirius. I mean it."
He doesn't ask about the Prewett twin's demise, he knows that she doesn't want to talk about it. The tiny flecks of red across her face are indication enough. He wants to get her home. He wants to clean her face and wash the smoke from her hair and the misery from her eyes. He grabs onto her hand, securing his other arm around her as they hurry over to where a crowd is forming around Madeye Moody. He's speaking lowly to Frank Longbottom, but straightens up when he sees Gwen and Sirius approaching. He grunts something in response to James, but his eyes are locked on the Veela at Sirius' side. Something passes between them, a wordless interaction that only the veela seems capable of achieving. Madeye clears his throat, saying loudly to the group, "All of you, go home. Dumbledore will be in contact."
Sirius moves to drag Gwen out of the smoke filled village, but her feet stayed planted. He peers down at her in confusion, but clamps his lips shut when she gives a tiny shake of her head. One by one, Order members begin to apparate away from the crumbled remains of muggle homes. Dorcas squeezes Gwen's arm while Sirius shares a look with Marlene. They disapparate, leaving Peter as the final straggler of the group Sirius had been in. The mousy boy hesitates, and then he too is gone, leaving Sirius, Gwen, Frank, James and Remus all facing Madeye.
He assess the group silently before holding out a cloth. Using his wand, he unfurls the fabric from a shiny mirror with ornate rubies encrusting the edge. Sirius leans in just as the rest of them do, touching the mirror and clenching his eyes shut as he's sucked into a spinning continuum of time and space.
His stomach turns when he lands, but Gwen is still pressed up tight against his side. James is already heading for the door, eager to see his pregnant wife. It's only now that Sirius can see some curse had struck James in the eye, mottling the white into a red splotched mess. He pauses in the doorway, glancing back at Madeye and Gwen. The veela smiles dreamily, far more calm than she'd been when Sirius found her, "Go ahead, love. We'll chat tomorrow. Remus, go see Little."
Remus glance's up from where he's conversing with Frank in a low tone. He nods and slips past where Madeye is standing in the corner of the Potter's dining room. Remus is nearly past them when Gwen reaches out and snatches up his hand. Sirius looks down at her after sharing a perplexed look with Remus. She crooks a finger, and then the werewolf hunches down to listen to her whisper in his ear. His eyes grow round, and Sirius tries to temper his urge to ask what it is. Remus nods and leaves without another word.
Madeye's sigh earns their attention, though it's Frank that speaks up first, "Maybe we should--"
"I do believe we're waiting on someone, Frank. Just another moment please."
Sirius peers down at his fiancé, her face still dappled with dirt and blood. Though her mask of serenity is intact, and clearly Frank is still unnerved by it. Madeye looks as if he's grown tired of asking the veela questions he wouldn't get the answer to. Sirius squeezes her hip as they wait, though he's not sure what for.
His confusion only grows when the familiar 'pop' indicates someone has apparated in the Potter's kitchen. Seconds later, Alice Longbottom appears in the dining room with frantic eyes and tear stained cheeks. She falters when she sees Frank Longbottom, crying out, "H-he said you were hurt!"
Frank's skin grows pale, and his jaw drops open,
"It's funny, isn't it? The wide range of effects that lying has on people?"
Alice and Frank have frozen like statues, and Madeye seems to have finally relented and expressed his curiosity in the form of an awkward cough. The pixie haired witch slowly turns her head, and Sirius watches nervously when Gwen smiles.
"Don't you agree, Alice?"
The last thing Sirius expects is for the veela and the auror to raise their wands.
{I love scaring you guys.}