"Pettigrew!"
Sirius' voice rang through the cottage, and Peter wouldn't have been surprised to see the windows rattle. Closing his eyes briefly, shoulders sagging in relief, he let his wand hang loose in his hand. Stepping forward to pull away the curtain that separated the living-room from the kitchen, he was met by the bizarre sight of his friend backing slowly into the house, soaking wet.
"Um… What are you doing?"
"Quiet, Pettigrew, I'm putting up wards. You seemed lacking so I, being the good friend that I am, decided to help. It's Lupin's fault, you know."
"Right, sorry. Why did we do it?"
"The question is supposed to come before the answer, Pettigrew, not after. Now," Sirius spun around, water droplets flying from his hair, his face curiously blank. "I thought you were sick. Was it just a passing cold?"
Belatedly, Peter rubbed his nose, sniffing. "Yeah, just a cold. I'm over the worst of it, just a bit of a head ache, you know. So… we're having dinner tonight at James's. I suppose you couldn't wait a few hours to see me?"
Sirius scowled, crossing his arms. "Is that so hard to believe? Get me some towels, Pettigrew, I'm soaking wet. Or hadn't you noticed?" There was a brief pause while he waited expectantly, then let out a long suffering sigh. "Will you please get me a towel, Pettigrew? It's the least you can do after I set up those new wards."
"Stop using my name every other sentence, Black, and I've only got one towel which I'm going to need tonight. Go shake off outside." In an attempt to show some gratitude, because Sirius had had a point, Peter added, "Would you like something to eat? I don't have any firewhiskey, but I can make tea if you'd like."
"I'll ask you to kindly not spread your germs, thanks." There was a pop and then Padfoot stood on Peter's rug, giving him a calculating look. A second later he found himself and all his belongings subject to a shower of doggy water droplets.
Spluttering indignantly, Peter made to shove the dog out the door. "For Merlin's sake, Sirius, was that really necessary? How did you get so wet anyways? It's not even raining out!"
Padfoot gave a bark before transforming once again, less wet though still damp. "A well placed Auguamenti my dear Pettigrew. Now, to business. Sit." A long finger pointed to the couch, and Peter, far too used to taking orders by now, sat without hesitation.
A second later Sirius had flung himself into the opposite chair, and there was a moment of silence as the two regarded each other, suddenly wary. Peter was trying desperately not to panic at the sudden intensity of Sirius' gaze, fighting to keep his face neutral while frantically searching for anything that could have given him away. Did he find the mask? Am I still wearing –
"They're not enough, you know. The protections around James, Lily, and Harry. They've been staying at Hogwarts after the last attack, but we all knew that wouldn't… that couldn't last. They were putting the students at…" Sirius closed his eyes for a moment, and Peter saw suddenly just how tired his friend was. In a moment of humility, he remembered that he wasn't the only one fighting in this war. Every day it seemed Sirius was away at Order meetings, fighting against the prejudice surrounding his name, even after all these years trying to prove to the world that he was worth more than a grimace of distaste.
"Sirius, I – I know. That's why we're having dinner tonight, to see their new place. It's in Godric's Hollow, isn't it?"
"Look, you don't understand. Tonight isn't just… Remember Muggle Studies, when we read the Bible? Whatsisname had this big dinner party when he was saying good-bye to everyone, the Last Supper, right. Tonight's like that, but without the whole dying part." Sirius swallowed, looking Peter in the eye again. "No one's dying. It's just that we're not going to see them for a while, that's all. Lupin's going to be there."
Peter couldn't help but twitch as Sirius said that, guilt bubbling up to try and make an appearance on his treacherous face. It had been more than three months ago that Dumbledore had suggested there was a traitor in their midst, and Peter, in a moment of panic, had said the first name that came to mind.
'I think it's Remus. No, it makes sense…'
Remus, who was always disappearing. Remus, who would never look anyone in the eye, who always seemed to shut down when someone asked how he was, or where he'd been. Remus, who had never deserved any of this. And Peter had seen it on Sirius' face, that split second when he had been glad that he wasn't the first one to be blamed. It had taken more than just a week to convince them, of course, but even as Peter choked on his own words, regretting every syllable he pronounced, horror had changed to bewildered disbelief on James and Sirius' faces, and finally to grim acceptance. They had yet to share their concerns with Lily, but even she must've noticed the change. It had been a long time since Remus had been invited to dinner, and tonight… Peter didn't know if he could face them, not with the knowledge of what he'd done.
"O-okay. I… thanks for the warning, I guess, but why – "
"No Pettigrew, Merlin, that's not why I'm here! Why are you making this so difficult?"
At a loss, Peter shook his head slightly, saying nothing. It had always been difficult for him to keep up with what Sirius was saying, and now, without James or Remus to interpret, it was nearly impossible.
"Look," Sirius began again, leaning forward suddenly, "just listen, because this is important. We need to keep them safe. James, Lily, Harry, we need to keep them all safe. Do you agree? Say it out loud."
"Y-yeah, of course. Of course I agree. We need to keep them safe." That's why – no, don't think about that, not now. Peter new how short his friends attention spans were – how could he not – but he dreaded the day when one of them learned the art of Legillimancy and decided to give his admittedly feeble Occlumancy shields a poke. It would be disastrous, to say the least.
"Right, of course." Sirius echoed, eyes suddenly distant, and Peter didn't need the skill of mind reading to know who he was thinking of.
"Do you remember History of Magic, fourth year?" Peter nodded once, confused. "Right, well, Lupin was trying to convince us not to become Animagi, and then James said that he would do anything for him, and I –" Sirius swallowed, and it occurred to Peter that he must be afraid. "I said I would die for him. For any of you. I meant it then, but it's still true. Pettigrew, you have to understand, I would do anything to keep them safe. Even Lupin. Merlin knows whether he d-deserves it or not, but still… Do you understand? Wouldn't you do anything, if only they were safe?"
Peter could feel his alarm mounting with every passing second, but he forced himself to remain calm. He could tell that Sirius was on the verge of something, tears, laughter, hysteria, something even worse, and he couldn't let himself be pulled in. Someone had to be the voice of reason in their increasingly dissolving world, and in this case it happened to be himself.
"Are you planning a heroic, self-sacrificial deed, Sirius? Because I can tell you right now that if it ends in you dying, I'd be forced to stop you."
Sirius let out a strained laugh. "No, you're getting it all wrong, Pettigrew. Haven't you learned anything? I don't have a plan. You see, my plans tend to go wrong half the time, so by my reasoning, the only way to prevent this is by not having a plan at all. You see? If I don't have a plan, it can't go wrong. Now, as I was saying before you interrupted, it really is necessary to keep them safe. So listen, because I have an idea and I'm going to need your help."