A/N: Written for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizadry (Assignments and Challenges) forum. Thanks to my wonderful buddy for beta-ing this for me!
Subject/Task: Careers Advice - Task 2: Write about a character seeing someone for who they really are
Word count: 444
Remus hadn't wanted to believe it, not at first. He remembered Peter from their days at school as a good, loyal, kind boy. Yes, he could be cowardly and he had an energy to him that made most stay away, but Remus had known him to be true at heart. He had, after all, joined with the others in becoming illegal Animagi just so they could keep Remus company during his transformations. If nothing else, that assured Remus of Peter's friendship.
Peter's death had come as a shock to him, especially so soon after James and Lily. Remus had mourned deeply for all his friends because he was the only one left. Out of all of them, he never would have expected Sirius to be the one to turn. Not steadfast, trustworthy Sirius who was always practically joined at the hip to James. But then, Remus thought, he never would have expected any of them to have ended up like this.
It came as a surprise, then, when Harry told him about Peter's name showing up on the map. Remus had wanted to think the map was broken, like Harry had suggested, but he knew that it couldn't be, being one of the creators. They had put every charm imaginable on that thing to make damn well sure that it would never fail its owner, however old it was. So. Peter was alive after all.
This revelation caused Remus to frantically begin researching the circumstances leading up to James and Lily's deaths, and Peter's apparent murder. He had already known the situation of Sirius's arrest had been… convenient, but what he found made him doubt everything he had unquestioningly believed for twelve years. He laid the facts out bare before him, and with every minute that passed, the truth he had never wanted to discover became ever clearer in his mind. Remus hadn't wanted to believe that sweet Peter was a murderer, a traitor, but he had no choice.
Remus rested his head in his hands and cried.
Later, when Peter stood trembling in front of Remus and Sirius in the Shrieking Shack, Remus looked deep into the frightened eyes of his old friend. He was equal parts furious and saddened when all he saw was the exact same Peter who had been their friend for seven good years of their lives. The cowardliness, the fear, the lust for power, they had always been there, but they had ignored them in favour of Peter's kinder qualities. Now, Remus saw. He saw who Peter truly was and he saw how foolish he had been to believe otherwise.
He would never make the same mistake again.
A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed that! Please leave a review if you have a moment. Bye!