Dark Destinies

Disclaimer: Most characters featured in this story are not of my creation. They belong to their respective creators, J.K. Rowling, Joss Whedon, and any and all parties related to Bloombury Publishing, Scholastic Inc., AOL/Time-Warner, Fox, and Mutant Enemy. Grrrr, arrgh.

Chapter 10

Rupert Giles crawled out of the sewers, rubbing his aching arm.  "Why couldn't have I been a grocer, after all?" he grumbled to himself as he threw his weapons bag on the pavement.  He leaned aganst the nearest building, still clutching his arm.  If he were lucky, he'd only be nursing a sprain for the next week.  If he were unlucky...well...broken arms heal eventually.  The demon wasn't as bad as the Council claimed it to be...it was worse.

"There's a bit of a problem in the sewers, Giles," Travers had said.  "Mind if you investigate?"

"A bit of a problem?" Rupert repeated under his breath.  "Wonderful how we British have a talent for understandment..."

He wondered how long he could keep this up, especially alone.  As long as he lived in London, and didn't have a Slayer under his tutulage, he was under the direct orders of the Council.  If he has to go and kill a 7 foot tall demon prowling the sewers under London, well, that's what he had to do.

"Oh, Ripper, how you reek!" a voice called from behind.

Rupert clenched his teeth and shut his eyes.  He did not want to deal with this.  Not tonight, not after he had almost gotten killed.  "I don't have the strength for you, Rayne.  Leave me..."

"Mmmm?" Ethan Rayne slipped closer to Rupert.  "What's that I hear? Ripper without the stregnth to beat me into a pulp?  A cause for celebration, I think."

"Just do your taunting, get it over with," Rupert grumbled.

"I'm amazed, Ripper.  You're still in England, after all that's been happening," Rayne said.  "You're so close to getting killed, do you know that?  Of course, it's too late for your precious cousin and her little family."

Rupert turned to face Ethan.  "Repeat that."

"You heard me the first time, Ripper.  Your ears aren't nearly as bad as your eyes."

"What's going to happen to Lily and James?  To Harry?" Rupert asked.

"I tried to warn you.  Don't ever say that Ethan Rayne is without...pity for others...you could have fled.  It's much too late now."

Rupert straightened to his full height.  "Voldemort," he spat.  "He's going to kill Lily?  Is he?" Rupert lunged at Ethan, grabbing the man by his shirt collar.  "Tell me!"

"He's already in Godric's Hollow.  Didn't take very long for my Master to find them, even with the Fidelius Charm on them."

"And you found me just to gloat.  You've had your fun, Ethan," Rupert said.  "You've got a bit of humanity left in you, haven't you?  A bit of mercy?"

"Perhaps..."

"Godric's Hollow.  Take me there.  NOW!" Rupert yelled, his good hand close to strangling Rayne.

"But Rupert, I can't do an Apparation spell.  I'm not a Wizard, I'm a Muggle.  And even if I did do a similar spell, there's be no guarantee we'd end up where you'd want us to end up."

"DO IT!"

"Damn it all, Ripper," Ethan said.  "I'll never understand your sentimentality."  He muttered a spell under his breath, which sent him and Rupert to Godric's Hollow, right in front of the Potter house.

"LILY!" Rupert bellowed at the top of his lungs.  He threw himself at the front door, but he found it locked.  "Dammit!"  He began banging on the door with his good shoulder.  "Rayne!"

"I can't open locked doors, Ripper.  I'm not that powerful..." Rayne said, with a small tinge of regret.  "But seeing you scurry around like this is worth being here, do you know that?"

"LILY!  LILY!" Rupert yelled again, banging on the front door with all his might.  "Dammit it all, Voldemort!  I'll kill you myself!  I swear to GOD, I will!"

There was a sudden crackling in the air surrounding the house.  Rupert stepped back, stumbling onto the porch.

"Now, you'll see," Ethan said.  "What my Master is capable of."

"No...the Killing Curse?" Rupert said, half-yelling and half-sobbing.

Sickly green light began to eminate from the upper bedroom window.  Rupert knew that this was little Harry's room.  Lily will die.  James will die, and Harry will die.  And all because Rupert wasn't there to protect them.  The crackling grew louder and louder, until Rupert had to cover his ears to protect them from the sound.

An intense humming that shuddered through Rupert's eardrums shook through the house.

Then nothing.

"Master, you've done it!" Ethan exclaimed.  After a minute, Ethan's triumphant smile mellowed into a grin.  "Master?"

Rupert finally managed to kick down the door.  "LILY!" he shouted as he entered the eerily silent house.

James lay nearest the doorway, crumpled up like a ragdoll someone has carelessly tossed aside.

"James," Rupert said, unsure of what to do.  "Lily!"  Rupert rushed up the stairs, knowing by memory where Harry's room was.  He stopped at the doorway, staring at the horrific sight before him.

Near Harry's crib lay the body of Lily.

"No, dear Lord, no...no no no no..." Rupert croaked as he rushed over to her side.  "Oh, Lily...I'm sorry...I...I've failed you...you and Harry...I've failed you..." he said as he knelt by the prone form.  Tears flowed down his cheeks.  "Forgive me...forgive me..."

A weak noise from nearby stirred Rupert out of his teary-eyed trance.  "Ha-harry?" he whispered, not believing what he had just heard.  He winced, rolling aside Lily's body to get nearer to the noise.

There lay little Harry.

He was alive.

"Harry!" Rupert exlaimed, scooping up the baby into his arms and getting up.  "I've got to take you from this place.  I don't know where Voldemort is, but he can't be far.  Oh...your forehead," he frowned, staring at the fresh wound which marked Harry's face.  "Poor thing..."  He rummanged through his pockets and found a clean handkerchief, which he used to clean the wound.

Rayne appeared at the door.  "I...I can't find him," he said, half-frantic.

"Who?" Rupert said.

"Master...He's...he's not here...I cannot sense...the Mark..." he checked the tattoo on his forearm.  It seemed to be fading into his skin.

"Your precious Master," Rupert said.  "Gone...It must be Harry's doing."

"That...that boy?  Defeat the all-powerful Voldemort?  Impossible!"

"He is alive, is he not?  And your Master seems to have vanished.  You cannot sense him, his presence inside you has faded," Rupert said.

"NO!" Ethan growled.  "Voldemort is not dead!  He is beyond death!"

The walls surrounding them began to rumble and shake, just as Ethan's faith in Voldemort began to waver.

"Ethan, what are you doing?" Rupert said, clutching Harry closer to his chest.  "You'll bring this entire house down on top of us!"

"Do you really think I care?!" Ethan said, madness quivering in his voice.  "If Voldemort is dead, where does that leave me?  I was his favorite!  I was the first!"

"Dammit, Rayne!" Rupert said.  "Stay and be crushed, if that's what you wish!  I'm bringing Harry back to London with me."  He ran past Ethan, down the stairs and out of the house just before the building began to collapse.  He watched as the house fell in on itself.  There was no time to try and remove Lily and James before the disaster.  "Oh, Lily...forgive me." he said, one last time.

Another rumble from the sky caught Rupert's attention. A motorcycle cut through the night sky landing a few yards away from Rupert.  "Sirius!" Rupert breathed, recognizing the bike as belonging to one of the Potters' closest friends.  He hurried to Sirius' side.  "You're too late.  James and Lily are..."

"I know," the tall man said sullenly.  "Once I knew the Fidelius Charm was broken, I rushed over here, but I see I'm too late...The damage to the house...there's no doubt..."

"The house?  Not Voldemort's doing." Rupert said.  "I thought you were their Secret Keeper!  How did he find them?  How?"

Sirius shook his head.  "It was last minute.  I decided to have Peter be Secret Keeper."

"Peter...so he...?"

"Yes, he's betrayed us," Sirius sighed.  "He was the informant for the Dark Wizard all along.   Ah, this is my fault!"  he sighed.

"Voldemort seems to have been defeated, and Harry's alive, Sirius.  I don't know how or why, but Harry is still alive."

Sirius managed a small smile.  "Yes, at least Harry's still alive, but..." he said with regret, "Who will take care of him?"

"I will...Lily asked me to.  I promised her that I would..."

"Really?" Sirius said, amused.

"What's wrong with that?"

"It's about as wrong as me taking care of him," Sirius said.  "And I'm his godfather..."

Rupert did not enjoy Sirius' tone of voice.  "Why shouldn't I or you take care of him?  We're family..."

"And that is why we mustn't take care of him.  Voldemort may be gone, but his followers aren't," Sirius said.  "Harry must be protected.  Harry must be kept as far away from magic and the Wizard world as possible."

"But...I'm a Muggle," Rupert began.

"Giles," Sirius said.  "You're a Watcher!  Your ultimate distiny in life is to train the Slayer, not to harbor the one person who could defeat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!  What if you're called to some far-away place, somewhere that's no place for a small child?  And what if you are put in danger, hmmm?  What if you die?  What then?"

"I promised Lily," Rupert said again.

"A promise is no good if you end up dead," Sirius said.

"I keep my promises, or at least, I try to..." Rupert said, looking back at the ruins of the Potter house.  "But...if Harry...dies because of me..."

"You see my point?" Sirius asked.

Rupert nodded.  "Lily's sister, Petunia, she's about as Muggle as they come.  Harry will be safe there with the Dursleys."