The Face of Betrayal

Chapter 3: Redemption

Disclaimer: See chapter 1

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Last time:

The entire room was silent and still for at least ten minutes after the final words were spoken. All were amazed at the suffering and torment that this man subjected himself to, including the hatred of his brothers and the child that he loved as much as if he were his own, and all to save as many of them as he could and protect the world from Voldemort. Peter hadn't moved from his chair and had his head hung waiting for the verdict of the only people he ever loved; his family.

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Remus stood and walked over to Peter, grabbed his hand, pulled him to his feet and wrapped him in a hug. At that point, the rat animagus couldn't hold it in any longer and began to cry in relief that at least one of his brothers forgave him. The minister interrupted after a moment. "As nice as this all is, we do have the matter of the 12 dead muggles during the confrontation of Sirius Black to settle."

Peter sighed and stepped back from Remus and they both returned to their seats. "I was always a master of illusion. I was never a particularly powerful wizard, but my gifts lied in illusion."

Sirius chuckled for a moment before he realized what he was doing, but added to the conversation, "That's right. That's how we never got into trouble running around outside on the full moons. Pete always put illusions of all of us sound asleep in our beds. It saved Remus' secret too. He can't very well be a werewolf if he's asleep in his bed on full moon nights."

Peter nodded to Sirius. "So I planted an illusion of the people around me. There were plenty of actual witnesses of course, and some of them did get hurt a bit from the debris, but no actual people were killed. That's why you found no remains other than my finger. All of the witnesses would swear that there were other people around, but none of them would be hurt."

"Why put an illusion of other people anyway?" Harry asked.

"Because it had to be bad enough for Sirius to go away without a trial. If they had given him a trial he would have gotten off and gotten custody of you and then you all would have ended up dead." Peter explained.

Sirius had a look of agony on his face. "Why didn't you just explain the situation. Tell me I had to leave Harry with the Dursleys and what would happen if I didn't."

"You were always a hothead Sirius. You would never have believed that you couldn't protect him. You would have at least insisted on being able to visit him, which would have led the death eaters to follow you and you would lead them straight to him. They couldn't have touched him in the wards, but what about grocery shopping or going to the park or any of a hundred other places a child could go. Not to mention, you would never have stood by while he was abused by his so-called family. I truly regretted having to send you to Azkaban, and I did everything I could think of to find another way. I really did, but it was the only way that could work. I'm sorry for everything you all had to go through, but 13 years of heartache is worth it for a lifetime of peace and happiness I think."

The minister chose that moment to enter the conversation again. "So the only crimes we have against you are leading James and Lily to their deaths, which given the circumstances will be pardoned for the greater good, exposing magic to muggles, and being an unregistered animagus…" Everyone held the breath waiting for the verdict. "Given the circumstances I don't thin a trial will be in anyone's best interest. I understand your wanting to keep your seer abilities secret, and a trial would expose them. Therefore your sentence for these crimes will be 10 years of being a test subject for spells and potions, sentence already served at the hands of the Weasley twins. Any arguments?"

No one spoke, but Sirius threw back his chair and stormed from the room without a word. Remus started to go after him, but Peter stopped him. "Wait Remus. All that my actions put all of you through he had it the worst. He has every right to be angry and feel like there has been a grave injustice. Don't go after him with the intention of making him forgive me. Don't make him feel like he has to choose. If he is to forgive me it needs to be in his own time of his own free will. He can't handle it if you abandon him now too. The same goes for the rest of you as well, but especially you Remus and Harry."

"Very well said Mr. Pettigrew," Dumbledore made his first sally into the conversation. "I think we can all understand Mr. Black's feelings quite well, but I feel confident that given time he will forgive you and you will regain the friendship you lost." He looked around at the others, "Unless anyone has any other business I think we should leave Mr. Pettigrew and Mr. Potter to catch up while Remus goes to commiserate with his errant friend."

The others all nodded, but before leaving McGonnagal turned to Pettigrew. "I'm glad we were all wrong about you. Many times over this last year I wondered how you were sorted into Gryffindor, but now that I know the whole story, I think you were the bravest of us all. Thank you."

Peter nodded nervously to her as the rest of the group filed out and looked to Harry who had yet to say anything beyond his questions. "Harry…" He began before the boys hand held out stopped him.

"I understand the sacrifices everyone has needed to make to stop Voldemort. I understand the sacrifices you made for me. But every time I think about it, I remember all the abuse I took from the Dursleys. I remember that my parents are dead. I understand why you did it, and I will come to forgive you in time, but I need time to wrap my head around everything. I can't just pretend that nothing happened. Not yet."

Peter hung his head. "I understand Harry. That is very mature of you. I will wait for you to contact me, just never forget that I love you cub, and will do whatever is necessary to make it up to you; all of you."

Harry nodded and turned to walk away. Before he left he thought of something. "Do you have someplace to go?" He asked curiously.

Peter nodded with a slight smile. He may not be forgiven, but at least the boy cared enough to make sure he would be alright. "I can go to my mother's house. It was never sold and is technically still in my name. Thank you for being concerned."

At that Harry left the man alone and went for a walk around the lake to clear his head. What was he going to tell everyone? The fact that Peter was a seer couldn't get out, but how could he explain what happened without it. This would take some thought.

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Meanwhile with Sirius and Remus:

Remus caught up with Sirius who had apparated to Godric's Hollow and found him on his knees in front of the wreckage with tears streaming down his face. He went up behind his old friend and wrapped his arms around the devastated man. "It's just not fair Moony. He caused so much pain and he got to spend 12 years as a pet rat, while I never did anything wrong, except for love my friends and godson too much and I had to spend 12 years with the dementors of Azkaban. How is this justice?" He howled.

"You're absolutely right Sirius. It's not fair. Nothing about this war has been fair. Nothing about any of our lives has been fair." Remus bit back the rest of what he wanted to say. It needed to be said, but Peter had been right. Now was not the time.

"This is where it all began. This is where it all started to go wrong; where our lives were ruined."

"No Sirius. This is where it began for us, but it actually began long before this. When Voldemort began his crusade; maybe even when that muggle orphanage turned him cold and cruel; that's where it really began. Our lives aren't ruined. We had a very difficult time, yes, but we still have the rest of our lives ahead of us. At least a hundred more years. If you look at it from that perspective, then this time has just been a blip on the radar," Sirius snorted at the muggle expression. "That doesn't mean that it is any less real or any less painful, but we will get past it and we will have the rest of our lives to make up for it. Don't let pain and bitterness consume you."

"How can I get past it Moony? How can I forget?" He asked in a tortured voice.

"You don't forget. You can't forget. You learn to understand. The first step is to get up off the ground and go file for custody of your godson before he has to go back to that cow. Everything else will come in time."

Sirius nodded, stood, and wiped his face. "So you're not angry that I can't forgive him?"

Remus shook his head and repeated some of the same words that Peter used. "You have every right to your feelings, and what was done to you was worse than what the rest of us had to go through. It will take time to heal before you can hope to forgive."

"Thanks Moony," Sirius said with a smile. "Now what say we go get my godson from the clutches of those animals?"

Remus laughed and apparated with Sirius to the ministry where the paperwork was approved, but Sirius was ordered to be looked after by St. Mungo's to make sure there were no lasting effects from the dementors and his time on the run. Sirius was worried that they would keep him and Harry would have to go back to the Dursleys. When he voiced his concern they assured him that he now had custody and could choose where Harry would go and who with while he was indisposed. Sirius immediately turned to Remus and asked him to look after Harry if he wasn't home from St. Mungo's when school got out. Remus looked at the case worker. "Is that allowed?" He asked.

She gave him a sly smile. "The law, however stupid it may be, says that a werewolf cannot have custody of a minor, but who a guardian chooses to babysit is his own business." Sirius and Remus shared a chuckle at her logic, thanked her and left to Hogwarts to give Harry the good news.

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Back at Hogwarts:

Sirius and Remus arrived just as Harry was coming back from his walk around the lake. "Good news cub. You're coming home with us when school lets out." Sirius said bounding energetically up to Harry.

Harry laughed at his exuberance. "You mean I don't have to go back to the Dursleys? Ever?"

"Nope. You're all mine now. Assuming you still want to be of course."

"Are you kidding? This is a dream come true. Of course I want to be!"

"There's only one catch." Harry looked at him anxiously waiting for him to explain. "I have to go to St. Mungo's first to make sure I'm ok after the dementors, but if they keep me for longer than school is in you will be staying with Remus until I get out."

"That's ok. You do need to take care of yourself, and I would love to stay with Remus." Harry then turned to Remus. "I can go visit the Weasleys this summer right?"

"Of course cub," Remus ruffled his hair affectionately earning him a glare from the teen. Sirius agreed that visiting the Weasleys is a must do this summer.

"Where are we gonna be staying?" Harry asked.

Sirius smacked himself in the head. "I completely forgot about that. We definitely don't want to stay at the Black family home." Sirius thought for a few minutes. "We have a couple choices. There is the Black vacation home in the south of France, but that would make visits a little difficult. International floo travel is a headache, or we could stay at Potter Manor in Whales. I'm sure between the Blacks and the Potters we have more properties but those are the only ones I know off the top of my head other than Godric's Hollow which was destroyed."

Sirius looked to the other two for the decision. Remus is the one who spoke up. "Why don't we stay at Potter Manor for now if you are in St. Mungo's. It would be better for you to be with us at the Black house. Then when you get out, we can take a little vacation to the south of France. We can make a permanent decision later on."

"You guys are talking like Sirius is going to be there for a while." Harry said slightly despondent.

Sirius put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "You have to understand that the dementors messed me up big time. It will probably take me a little time to get over things. Before, getting help wasn't an option, but now that I can, and have you to take care of it's something I need to do."

"But you seem ok"

"I do right now. There is a lot going on to keep me occupied, but when it's quiet and I don't have anything to keep me busy, I tend to have pretty violent flashbacks, and I have bad nightmares. I won't go into details, but it might take a few weeks to get me sorted out, not to mention taking care of my physical state. Don't worry though cub. I'll be ok and back with you before you know it." He said wrapping his godson in a big hug. Harry nodded into Sirius' chest.

"I'll be at King's Cross when you get off the train, but for now we need to go. It's after curfew and you should be in bed." Remus said.

When Sirius got to St. Mungo's he was admitted to the dangerous creatures ward to treat his exposure to dementors. They estimated that he would be there for 3-4 weeks. He made sure to write Harry to let him know.

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After Remus left Sirius at St. Mungo's he headed to Peter's mothers old house, guessing that that was where Peter would be. Peter was right that Sirius needed him, but so did he. Remus couldn't imagine everything that Peter was feeling at that moment.

Remus knocked on the door of the old cottage, surprised that it was still standing. It had definitely seen better days. When Peter opened the door it fell off the hinges. He sighed and looked at Remus. "Would you mind?" He asked gesturing to the door. Remus used repairo to fix the door. "Thanks Moony. I've pretty much magically exhausted myself fixing the necessities and cleaning the layers of dust and grime. I thought this place was bad before, but after all this time it wasn't even livable when I got here.

"It's no problem. You should just come stay with me for a couple weeks until school lets out at Hogwarts. After that I'll be moving into Potter Manor with Harry until Sirius gets out of St. Mungo's, but neither of us should really be alone right now."

"You don't have to do that Remus. I'm okay here."

"I know I don't have to Wormtail you goof. I need some company after everything that's happened and I'm sure you do too. We have a lot of catching up to do, so grab whatever you want to take and let's go." Remus said good-naturedly.

After getting settled in at Remus' cabin the two spent the remaining evening chatting, mostly about Harry. Peter told Remus what Harry had said to him. Remus nodded like he wasn't surprised. "Harry, for all that he handles dangerous situations like an adult, is still just a teenager. You hit him with a lot of information and he needs time to process. I'm sure he will come around, probably sooner than you think." Peter took heart from that. If there is one thing Moony is good at its reading people.

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