October 31, 1981

"Sirius Black."

Sirius whirled around, a curse on his lips.

"Pettigrew snitched. He blabbed the Secret," the mysterious figure said, hands raised in a gesture of surrender.

"How do you know Pettigrew is the Secret-Keeper?" Sirius snarled suspiciously.

"Snape is a Death Eater and I killed him earlier this evening, but not before an extended interrogation in which I discovered everything he knows." It was technically true.

"You killed Snape?" Sirius asked. "You know, the Ministry doesn't approve of vigilantes-"

"Then what the hell do you call the Order of the Phoenix?"

"How do you know about the Order of the Phoenix?"

"Um, are you even listening? Snape knew about Pettigrew's treachery, and thus he also knew about Pettigrew spying on the Order of the Phoenix." Sirius was starting to get on the time-traveller's nerves.

"Peter, a traitor? I can't believe you, telling lies about my friend. I should kill you right here and now-"

"Suit yourself, though you'll be eating your own words when Lily and James are dead because you didn't listen to my warning," the figure said.

Sirius launched a curse, but the time-traveller had already Disapparated.

Peter, a traitor? Him telling the Secret to Voldemort? What?

He began thinking about it.

To have been able to come up with this load of tripe, someone had to have known Pettigrew was the Secret-Keeper.

If someone knew Pettigrew was the Secret-Keeper, the Death Eaters would be looking for Pettigrew, not Sirius.

If the Death Eaters were looking for Pettigrew, they would find him. Augustus Rookwood was an insanely good tracker. So was Bellatrix, for that matter.

If the Death Eaters found Pettigrew, they'd demand the Secret from him.

And if they demanded the Secret from him, Pettigrew would refuse to tell it to them.

And if Pettigrew refused to tell it to them, they would Cruciate him for information.

And if the Death Eaters Cruciated Pettigrew for information -

Oh, fuck.

Sirius spun on the spot and Disapparated instantly, reappearing at Godric's Hollow.

Several kilometres away, a prophecy labelled "S.P.T. to A.P.W.B.D." slipped from the numb fingers of a completely insane Augustus Rookwood.

If his mind weren't completely destroyed, he'd have cursed the damn bastard who'd Transfigured the prophecy into a Snitch and Banished it at him, tricking him into catching it.

He would never be able to tell Voldemort about the dangerous time-traveller on the loose.

TBC…

Author's Note (1): Sirius is unwilling to believe our time-traveller about Pettigrew at first because he's trusted him for years. He's not going to immediately dismiss that because of what some stranger told him.

So why does he eventually believe it? His train of thought (inaccurate though it is) leads to the conclusion that the Death Eaters have already found Pettigrew and Cruciated him for information. Pettigrew, under torture, confesses to the true location. The Death Eaters then kill him, as he is no longer useful to them. In Sirius' mind, this is what happened. It's now too late to save Pettigrew, but it's not too late to save James and Lily.

Author's Note (2): You can only touch a prophecy if you're one of the people of which the prophecy speaks. Anyone else who tries to touch the prophecy is rendered completely insane. (Broderick Bode in the Order of the Phoenix; this is canon). This is the explanation for Rookwood's current state.