December, 1987

The Three Broomsticks, Hogsmeade

"Ah, Remus, good to see you. I hope you haven't changed your mind? I realize that I can't offer anything right now, but there is a position for you next year." Dumbledore smiled at his former student and took another sip of his hot chocolate. He usually preferred tea, but he'd just come back from a visit to Azkaban. Azkaban was a wizarding prison, guarded by dark creatures called dementors that sucked the happiness out of people. The festive atmosphere and the chocolate helped the recovery process. The smugness he felt at the sight of Remus also helped. After years of losing his Defense Against The Dark Arts professors annually, often before the end of the school year, he had decided to take the step of arranging for a substitute in advance. Remus would be teaching next year's class and in the mean time would serve as back up in case of… Well, in case a back up proved necessary.

"Not at all, Dumbledore. Frankly, I need this. I…I need something to take my mind off of things. Something to look forward to." The past half a dozen years had been hard on Remus Lupin, not least because of the loneliness. Losing all his closest friends in a matter of hours, three to death and one to betrayal, had left him depressed and lonely. This teaching opportunity was the first thing he'd felt excited about in years, and would allow him to interact with his co-workers without needing to hide his nature. That was why he was here. He had been having a drink with Hagrid (groundskeeper at Hogwarts and therefore a colleague) when he'd seen Dumbledore sitting alone and had taken the opportunity to come and thank the headmaster again for the job opportunity.

"Yes, I understand. However, I am slightly disappointed in you, Remus. I thought you two were better friends than that."

"Us two? Who?" Remus went back over the last few minutes, trying to figure out when he had lost the conversation thread.

"You and Sirius of course."

"That traitor?! He-" Remus floundered around, his fists clenched and his face going pale. He wanted to shout, kick something (preferably Sirius Black) but all he could do was stare at Dumbledore with a mix of surprise, anger, hurt, and bitterness.

"I believe him innocent. I know I gave evidence to the contrary, but I went to see him and he told me his side of the story. To be honest, his side makes a lot more sense than what I originally thought happened, but I don't have enough evidence to set the ministry straight." Dumbledore remained calm as he had found this to be the best way to deliver unexpected news.

"What's his story then? It must have been good to get you believing it." The words were forceful if quiet. Remus felt a bit betrayed by his old headmaster, someone he looked up to and admired. Sirius's betrayal had left a deep scar not only on Remus, but also on everyone who knew him and the Potters. "He was their friend. They trusted him with their life, with Harry's life, and he – he just-"

"Think Remus. An individual's animagus form – yes, he told me about that – are linked to their personalities. Dogs are known for being loyal and playful companions. I urge you, for the sake of years of friendship – loyal friendship – to visit Sirius and give him the opportunity to tell you his version of events." Dumbledore took a final sip of his hot chocolate and set it aside. He was still surprised that three fifteen-year-olds had managed to become animagi without help from adults. Animagi were wizards who could transform into animals at will. This ability was high-level magic and the process of becoming an animagus was dangerous enough that it was illegal to do so without the ministry of magic being aware of the attempt. The wizard didn't pick what animal they would transform into. Instead, the animagus form (and there was only one per wizard) was predetermined by the wizard's own nature.

Dumbledore leaned toward Remus and began to speak quietly. "When he had every reason to distrust you, when he had every reason to not only turn his back on you but to also expose you, he didn't. Instead he took steps so as to keep you company in your hours of need, covered for you when you needed it. You have reason to believe that he betrayed years of friendship, but don't you owe him a chance to explain?" Dumbledore got up and walked out of the Three Broomsticks, hoping that Remus would at least think about what he had said. Sirius was starting to lose hope of ever getting out of Azkaban. He needed a friend now more than ever.

Remus sat alone for a long time, remembering the happy days when he'd been a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He remembered James, the mischievous, arrogant boy who grew to be a strong, honorable man. Lily, the talented girl who grew into a highly accomplished witch. Peter, hopelessly overshadowed by those around him as a boy, only to die in an attempt to bring Sirius to justice as a young man. And Sirius, who possessed enough loyalty for two, only to turn around and betray his closest friends. Sirius, who turned his back on his family because of their prejudice and their support of Voldemort.

Remus stewed on his memories of Sirius, and though it was possible that Sirius would revert to his family's way of thinking and become a death eater, it was unlikely. As Dumbledore had pointed out, it just wasn't part of his nature. If Remus moved past his feelings of hurt and betrayal, if he thought about what he knew of Sirius, he had to admit that Dumbledore was right. He did owe it to Sirius to ask for an explanation.

Remus checked his watch (3:20 pm) and hurried out of his seat. After a quick stop at Honeydukes for chocolate, he flooed to the ministry of magic. There he registered for a visitors pass to Azkaban (he had to make up a story of wanting to see Sirius suffering for his crimes) and was escorted there by Alistor "Mad-Eye" Moody, who had also known Sirius and the Potters.

The effect of the dementors were felt as soon as one stepped onto the island that housed Azkaban. Moody's presence ensured Remus was able to make his way to Sirius's cell with little close contact with the dementors, but there were enough of them on the island to make up for this lack. Moody knew where Sirius's cell was and lead Remus down long corridors and two narrow flights of stairs before making a right turn onto a dark corner of the building.

"I'm surprised you're willing to go into Azkaban, Moody. You have so many enemies here, you're likely to cause a riot." Remus was privately glad that it was Moody escorting him. Moody had fought in the Order of the Pheonix, a group founded by Dumbledore and dedicated to defeating the dark wizard Voldemort and his followers, called death eaters. As such, Moody already knew what Remus was and could be trusted to keep quiet if the dementors caused Remus to reveal his condition. It went without saying that Moody was an accomplished auror more than capable of dealing with dementors if they decided to cause trouble. Remus himself was not allowed a wand within Azkaban. No visitor was for fear of a prisoner getting a hold of a wand and using it to escape.

"You're old friends. Just wanted to make sure you wouldn't do anything foolish."

"Constance vigilance?" Remus was torn between insult and amusement. In the end, he chose to be amused as that was the safer alternative when dealing with Moody.

Moody just shrugged and pointed to a pile of rags behind the prison bars. Remus gasped when the rags changed position to reveal a dirty, skeletal face. "Sirius?"

Sirius could not believe his eyes. He had hoped for this (when the dementors left him long enough to clear his thinking a bit) but had never thought it would actually happen. Remus had come to see him. Slowly getting to his feet, he shuffled to the bars of his cell and used them to hold himself up. "Moony?"

Remus flinched at hearing his nickname, something he hadn't heard since James and Lily's death. "Here." He unwrapped a chocolate bar, broke off a few blocks and offered them to Sirius.

Sirius grabbed the offered chocolate and stuffed it into his mouth. He kept staring at Remus as the chocolate worked at clearing his mind. "Why are you here? You've never visited before and it's been… It's been…"

"Six years, Sirius. It's been six years. I… I want to know why. Why would you do that to James? To Lily? To Harry?"

"I didn't! I'm innocent!" Sirius took a moment to calm himself as he was faced with Remus's look of disbelief. He knew he only had this one chance to convince Remus and he needed to. He needed Remus to believe him. "We switched, Peter and I. He was their secret keeper. I thought the death eaters would come after me since I was the obvious choice, you were chasing after Fenrir Greyback and could have been killed at any moment, but Peter, he always managed to stay out of the skirmishes. We were all okay with that because he wasn't exactly useful in a fight, but it meant that he had the best chance of staying out of Voldemort's way. So, I convinced James to make the switch at the last moment. I… it was me, my fault that they died, but I didn't betray James and Lily. I made the mistake of trusting Peter and I convinced them to follow my lead." His voice was hoarse by this point and he had to take a few deep breaths. Remus offered him more chocolate and he stuffed it in his mouth again.

"But you killed him. He tried to bring you in and you killed him and a bunch of muggle bystanders." Remus (and Moody, who had also been friendly with Sirius at one point) was trying absorb what Sirius was saying, but couldn't make sense of it. It was true that the confrontation between Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black had taken place in front of dozens of muggle (non-magical) witnesses.

"He's alive, Moony! I was the one who tried to bring him in, and I almost did except I underestimated him. He accused me of betraying James and Lily, cut of his finger, blew up the street, then escaped as Wormtail! I was too surprised and when the aurors showed up all I could do was laugh. Wormtail got the best of me, Moony." Sirius shook his head in continued disbelief. "Wormtail got the best of me."

"Alive?! What- How- Alive?!" For the second time that day Remus was floundering for words.

"Who's Wormtail?" Moody was interested despite himself. He prided himself on being able to judge people, but Black had surprised him with his betrayal. Now though, it was looking as if his initial judgment had been right all along.

"Peter is an illegal animagus and could turn into a rat. We called him Wormtail because his tail looked like a worm." Remus answered Moody absentmindedly as he digested what Sirius had told him. "It's in his nature to be a rat." This made much more sense. While Peter's betrayal was still blow, it wasn't as painful as Sirius's. He had always known that Peter was equal parts friend and hanger-on, spending time with them mostly because they provided him with protection and social standing. Obviously, Voldemort had offered him a better deal.

"A literal and figurative rat. I never liked him. Always thought it weird that the rest of you were friends with him. Black, how do we prove your innocence? Where is Pettigrew?" Moody was almost looking forward to another hunt. It had been a few years since his last tough case.

"I've had some time to think about this." Sirius grinned. Six years in Azkaban was a long time, long enough to think. "And I think he would have stayed hiding as a rat. My esteemed cell mates," Sirius's disgust was obvious to see and hear, "Have on and off been planning nasty surprises for him. They think he betrayed his master, that he was the reason they're stuck in here."

Moody was nodding along to what Sirius was saying. "It would make sense for him to hide out with a wizarding family, to keep up with wizarding news-"

"And be assured of regular meals and a warm place to sleep." Remus tagged on. Peter was known for his laziness. He wouldn't enjoy life as a street rat.

"Yes." Moody sent a scowl (barely discernable as his resting face was a scowl in itself) at Remus for the interruption. "But not a family that knew about him being a rat animagus."

"That puts the death eaters that managed to avoid Azkaban out of the running." Sirius pointed out.

"Also members of the Order in case any of us bothered to question your guilt and learned about him." Remus was feeling very guilty for not having questioned Sirius before this.

Sirius reached out a hand for Remus. "I distrusted you, too. Knowing there was a spy, I thought Voldemort may have used your condition to turn you against us. It's why I didn't tell you about the switch beforehand. I told James that I would get word to you, but I hadn't actually planned to." He gave a weak grin. "Great minds think a like."

"So do stupid ones apparently." But Remus was grinning; it was good to know that even after all these years he still had one friend. "I'll make it my life's work to get you out of here, Padfoot. I promise."