Sirius Black and the Betrayal of Wormtail
"Padfoot, are you sure?" A young woman with hair that was a calm red color paced across the room, avoiding her husband's eyes. "I mean, it's not that I don't trust Wormtail, I just think that you-"
"Look, Voldemort knows that I'm close to you guys," the man named Padfoot said. He ran a hand through his black hair. "If anything, this will fool him. Trust me."
Another man, who had been silent, stood up and looked the woman and Padfoot in the eyes. "Sirius, I trust you." He nodded. "We'll arrange to have Wormtail be our new Secret Keeper."
Padfoot, his real name Sirius, smiled happily. "Good, Prongs. Then you'll be in no danger, and Dumbledore should be satisfied. You two and Harry will be safe."
"Speaking of Harry…," said Prongs. His real name was James, and he put his ear to the door of the living room, listening intently to the noises upstairs. "Sounds like he's awake. Lily, would you-"
"Of course," said Lily hastily, trotting out of the room and up the stairs to comfort the baby Harry. The two men, Sirius and James, were left alone.
James sat down on the couch. "Sirius, I don't know how I could ever thank you."
Waving his hand as if to say it was nothing, Sirius sat down in an arm chair opposite the couch. "James, you're my best friend. I'm not going to let you get murdered by Lord Voldemort. Peter is such a tiny, fragile thing. No one would expect him to be a Secret Keeper."
"Yeah… yeah, you're right, Sirius," said James, now calming down. "This will help us all, won't it?"
"Oh yes," said Sirius. "You're sure to be safe."
--***--
Sirius landed his flying motorbike next to the ruins of his best friends' house. He couldn't believe it. James and Lily, dead. Tears began to form in his eyes, but he blinked them back. Not now. He couldn't cry now. All that mattered was to see if they were still alive, or if Harry was. Sirius couldn't believe every rumor he heard.
"Who are yeh?" came a booming voice. Sirius flipped around and saw Hagrid. "Sirius? What are yeh doin' here?"
"I was… just seeing if it was true," said Sirius in such a low voice that Hagrid almost didn't hear him.
"Oh," said Hagrid. "Well, uh… I'll just be lookin' through the ruins if yeh need me." Hagrid went on to search through the piles of rubbish while Sirius stood next to his motorbike, trying to recede his feeling of crying.
Sirius heard Hagrid gasp. "What?" asked Sirius, his voice stinging the night. He didn't dare look up at the sky at the Dark Mark.
"Harry," said Hagrid.
Sprinting over, Sirius took one look at Harry and let one tear of relief fall from his eye. There was still something—well, someone—alive that proved that James and Lily Potter really existed. "Harry," he whispered. "Hagrid, let me take him. I'm his godfather."
Hagrid seemed to hesitate before saying, "I can't let yeh do tha', Sirius. Professor Dumbledore told me himself tha' I had to bring Harry to him."
"Right," said Sirius, heartbroken. "Well, take my motorbike then. You'll get there faster."
Giving him a strange look, Hagrid said, "Well, uh, thank yeh, Sirius." He cradled the bundle that was Harry and took off towards Sirius's motorbike. Sirius waved as Hagrid flew away with his only godson and the only living proof that James and Lily had walked on this planet.
There was something bothering Sirius, something that had been bothering him since he had heard the rumors: Wormtail (also known as Peter Pettigrew) was the Secret Keeper. Maybe he had been tortured for information, thought Sirius. He pulled out his wand. I'd better go check up on him.
When Sirius arrived at Peter's hiding place, he was nowhere to be found.
--***--
Three days later and Sirius had tracked down Peter right in the middle of a busy street. "Peter," began Sirius.
"James and Lily, Sirius, how could you?!" sobbed Peter, putting a hand behind his back.
"What are you talking about?!" roared Sirius. "You're the one who betrayed them!"
"No, no," cried Peter. "It was you, you murdered them!" People began to stare.
Sirius saw the flicking movement of Peter's wand before anyone else did. Peter's finger popped off as half the street blew apart. Bodies flew everywhere, and Sirius ducked for cover. As he ducked, he saw the tail of a rat running down to the sewer.
When the dust had cleared, Sirius stared in shock at the dead Muggles around him. There was not only Peter's wand, but another one beside it; there was another wizard here.
Sirius didn't know how long he stood there until Aurors arrived on the scene. They immediately arrested him. Sirius was chuckling lightly, as if he couldn't believe it. This is a dream, he kept thinking. This is a terrible dream.
That's when Sirius realized—Wormtail had committed the ultimate betrayal by selling Lily and James to Voldemort.
"I will find you," whispered Sirius maniacally as the Aurors Apparated to Azkaban and stuffed him in a cell. Sirius didn't even get a trial, courtesy of Barty Crouch.
"I will find you, Wormtail… and one day I hope you kill yourself."