Sirius's last words (AU)

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)]

Suppose that during the Christmas holiday, Harry and Hermione 
had a chance to hang out with Sirius and Remus with no Snape 
and no Kreachur and no Weasleys. Sirius would have been fairly 
cheerful, with the company; Harry, Hermione, and Remus, would have 
been careful to keep him cheerful, and Sirius, Remus, and Hermione 
would have made an effort to cajole Harry out of his book-long bad 
mood. Suppose they succeeded enough to get Harry to actually speak 
about a few of the things on his mind. Such as all those people in 
the first Order of the Phoenix group photo who had been killed, and 
Sirius's statement to Fred and George that there are some things 
worth dying for. Hermione might recite Victorian poetry about Roman 
heroes, or quote dramatic gallows speeches. The conversation might 
take a turn in which one of the kids asked the grown-ups, "What if 
you had to go with the Order on a raid to the Department of 
Mysteries to protect it from a band of escaped Death Eaters who 
had broken in and they were holding Harry hostage and you got killed 
fighting them?"

When it's a hypothetical, that gives Sirius more time to think it 
over than when it happens for real. With time to think it over, I 
think his concern would be to leave *good* last words. Not "Oops" as 
someone suggested on HPfGU main list!

I propose that he would say: "I'd say: 
"There are some things worth dying for, as I said." 
Or maybe, 
"Better me than someone useful." (nice bitterness, but is it too 
self-pitying?) 
Or,
"Better than going back to that horrible house."