Authors Note: And the next chapter is finally here! Sorry about the cliffhanger last chapter - I had been planning it since I first started writing this so I couldn't just not include it! - but hopefully the wait wasn't too bad. As I said last chapter, unfortunately updates happen slowly - writing's a hobby that unluckily comes in after a lot of other things I have to do.
I did reply to reviews! About a day or so ago... (which was a lot later then planned). I'll try to do that a bit better this time round. Anyway, as always, reviews are amazing, and seeing the number of favourites and follows this story now has seriously makes my day. So thank you to everyone for sticking with me!
Disclaimer: As normal, anything you recognise belongs to J.K. Rowling.
From Chapter 9
Obviously remembering exactly what Remus had just thought, Arthur's head snapped back to the house. Before Remus could stop him, he was dashing back for the stairs.
"Percy," he roared frantically, "Get away from that rat!"
The door banged open, as a high pitched scream echoed through the room. Arthur stopped short; just inside and seemingly frozen in place. Wand out, Remus came in behind him, his heart beating furiously.
As soon as he could see the room, Remus stopped dead.
Crouching in the corner on the other side of the kitchen, a small rat cage discarded beside him, was none other than his ex-best friend, Peter Pettigrew. And it wasn't seeing Wormtail's face for the first time in 6 months that made dread seemingly fill his body … but seeing the wand his ex-friend's shaking hand was pointing directly at Percy Weasley's head.
Chapter 10: A Rat Revealed
In an instant, any niggling doubt Remus had left about Sirius' story vanished. Instinctively, he cast a silent disarming spell at Pettigrew, hoping to fix the situation before it got any worse. The green bolt of light sped across the room, before just centimetres in front of Peter it changed direction, as though bouncing off an invisible wall. Remus ducked automatically, as behind him a loud smash echoed through the room, before glass clattered to the floor.
Stunned, Remus stood back up. Wormtail, his eyes twitching nervously between Remus and Arthur, muttered, "Not as easy as you thought it'd be hey Remus?"
Shield magic like that was beyond anything he'd ever seen Wormtail do before. Staring at Pettigrew he noticed the sheen of sweat covering his face as he kept hold of Percy while poring magic into the invisible barrier between them.
A gasp came from behind them on the stairwell, followed by the thundering of footsteps on the stairs. Involuntarily, Remus' gaze flickered sideways. Molly, tear tracks still staining her face, must have raced downstairs after hearing Percy's scream. Wand in one hand, she was frantically trying to keep the rest of her children out of view. "Percy, oh Merlin, what … Pettigrew?" she finally managed to gasp out.
Suddenly, she seemed to snap out of her shock. Brandishing her wand furiously, she yelled out "What do you think you're doing! Let my son go this instant you bastard!" A spell burst forth from her wand before Arthur could stop her. Remus instantly dropped to the ground once more as light flashed around the room, glass smashing in all directions. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Arthur pull Molly backwards and to the ground, blocking the stairwell at the same time to protect the kids.
Screams echoed through the room. Glancing up, Remus noticed the shield waver slightly before holding still. Percy was still struggling against Peter's hold, but Remus could see the growing frustration on Peter's face.
"Stop… stop it!" Pettigrew yelled out over the noise in the room, pressing the wand firmly into the neck of the boy. Percy stilled slightly at the loud noise before finally giving into tears.
The situation was quickly moving from dangerous, to completely out of control. He could hear the children asking what was going on, trying to see for themselves, and the room was beginning to resemble a war zone. But Remus was at a lost to what to do. A more dangerous spell would obviously shatter the shield Peter was struggling to hold up – but with Percy in there – they couldn't take the risk.
Everyone in the room seemed almost frozen in place. Molly was still struggling to try to get to Percy, but Arthur, his face white had grasped her arm, keeping the other outstretched in front of the kids.
Remus frantically tried to think of a plan, but he had nothing. Wormtail was nervous. Any movement towards him at all could result in who knows what happening to Percy and the kitchen table put a large barrier between them all. Part of him wanted desperately to believe his old friend still remained, that he'd never curse a child. But then he remembered that Pettigrew was a Death Eater; the man who had condemned his best friend's family to death.
"Let my son go," Arthur said finally, the fury evident in his voice, "He's a child. Surely even scum like you …"
"Stay back!" Wormtail stuttered out again, as Arthur began to move slightly towards him. The wand in his hand dug further into Percy's neck, causing the little boy to sob even louder. Remus felt his heart plummet as he recognised the words Percy was mumbling through the sobs – begging his 'mummy' to help him.
"I'll do it," Pettigrew, said determinedly, backing towards the door, "I swear, I will."
Arthur grasped hold of Molly's arm once more, stopping her from moving forward.
"Mummy," a voice said, "Wha… What's the bad man doing to Percy?"
Molly stopped pulling against Arthur immediately, twisting around to see Bill, Charlie, Fred and George watching wide-eyed from the stairs, their parents no longer blocking the entrance. Bill in particular had gone completely white; seemingly having realised exactly what was going on. She looked completely lost as to what to do.
Remus knew he had to do something; they couldn't keep standing here.
"Why would you do this Peter," he finally said out loud.
Just as he expected, Pettigrew's eyes immediately darted to him.
"Remus," Pettigrew started, "My friend…"
"Six months," Remus cut him off, "For six months I mourned you, alongside Lily and James, believed you dead."
"I had to hide," Wormtail said, "Remus, I had no choice."
"I'm must admit I'm curious Peter, why you'd choose to hide as a rat," Remus said as calmly as he could, moving forward slightly. Out of the corner of his eyes he noticed Bill pushing his brother's back up the stairs and out of sight, as Molly turned back around. Arthur had slowly begun to edge around the table. Feeling a small sense of relief he kept going, "Why don't you put your wand down and we'll talk?"
Wormtail let a small sadistic laugh out, causing Remus to jolt back as he suddenly saw a completely different side to his ex-friend.
"You really still think I'm that stupid, Remus. You and James, always treating me as though as was the dumb one." Wormtail said, his stutter momentarily disappearing.
Remus couldn't help but feel sick. He'd done nothing but help Peter while they'd been at school. Sure, they'd played practical jokes on each other at times, and James and Sirius had excluded him by accident once or twice, but to think that it was the whole reason he'd decided to turn dark…
"You wouldn't listen to me for a second the moment I lowered my wand," Wormtail continued, "Sirius' has got you all convinced I'm the bad one after all, hasn't he? It shows again, of course you'd believe him before me."
"Sirius isn't the one holding a five year old hostage," Remus growled out.
Wormtail's eyes darted down to the struggling boy he held in front of him, before glancing back around the room. Arthur froze in place.
"Put your wand down," Peter said finally, looking back at Remus.
"Peter…" Remus started.
"Put it down, Lupin!" he yelled out, a touch of nervousness coming back into his voice, obviously remembering Remus' own skills at defence. "You don't want to be the reason I have to hurt him, do you?"
A year ago, Remus would never have imagined being in this position. Wormtail had always been the weakest; would have never had the courage to do this. Now though - perhaps it was the look in his eyes, or his obvious use of Remus' last name – he couldn't help but think that Wormtail wouldn't hesitate to do anything anymore if it helped himself.
Hesitantly, he leant down and let his wand drop to the ground, instantly feeling naked without its comforting presence in his hand. Holding his hands up so that Pettigrew could see them, he said quietly, "Now, just let the boy go."
Wormtail barely held his gaze, before turning to Molly, who still had her own wand drawn.
"You too!" he yelled, "
"He's five," she said, as her wand too dropped to the ground – her voice shaking with anger, "What do you think you're doing?"
"Move against the wall," Wormtail stuttered out, jolting his head sideways slightly to indicate the back wall, watching Arthur particularly closely. No one moved at first, but as Wormtail's shaking hand pushed the wand into Percy's neck again, they slowly complied with his command. Pettigrew's eyes darted once more around the room before he finally seemed to settle on a plan.
Remus watched as he visibly swallowed, before he said with the merest hints of a stutter, "Ok so this… this is what we're going to do. Lupin here" he waved the wand in Remus' direction, "is going to stop looking for me. He's going to convince the ministry that Sirius's dangerous – which he is!" He said the last part with a slight squeak.
Remus felt his face merging into a snarl.
"I'm going to leave here – without anyone stopping me," Peter continued, his voice a slightly higher pitch than normal, "Then when I hear that Sirius is safely back in Azkaban and any charges against me are dropped, I'll let the boy go."
"Not a chance," Arthur started, as Remus struggled against the urge to leap across the table and try to strangle Wormtail with his bare hands. "You let my son go right now or Merlin help you…"
"No!" Pettigrew squeaked out again, moving towards the door now that they were against the opposite wall, "Black's dangerous and if this is what I have to do to make everyone see it then I will! Come on Remus, can't you see he's tricked you – like he used to trick all of us at school. And James and Lily! What about them?"
"How dare you even speak their names," Remus growled out, furious at what Pettigrew was trying to do.
"I haven't done anything wrong – only what I had to do … to survive!" Wormtail said in response, looking Remus in the eye for the first time as he kicked the door open, still dragging Percy along.
The kid finally seemed to realise what was happening. His high-pitched young voice echoed across the room. "No … No - let me go! Mummy, Dad help me!"
At their son's screams, Molly and Arthur finally seemed to snap. Never before would Remus have imagined Arthur yelling as he did. Molly tried desperately to reach out to him through the shield. Yet distracted as they were, no one noticed the small body suddenly moving across the room until it was too late.
His mother's wand in his hand, Bill had obviously had enough of watching his younger brother from the other side of the room. Accidental magic did what none of them had been able to do and the shield disintegrated the instant he reached it. Remus watched, frozen in place as Bill knocked into Pettigrew. The sudden attack surprised him, and they along with Percy tumbled out the door as light shot out of the wand in Wormtail's hand at random angles.
It took only seconds for everyone in the room to react, and Remus rushed out the door behind Molly and Arthur, scooping his wand up in the process.
But those few seconds had been crucial. Outside, Bill was struggling to punch Pettigrew – who was holding one of the 11 year olds arms to keep Molly's wand from stabbing him. Percy lay unconscious and forgotten next to the door. The instant the three adults made it outside behind him, Wormtail looked up. Without a pause, he raised his wand and disappeared from the Burrow's backyard with a loud crack.
The silence was deafening. Suddenly, a loud wail escaped Molly as she slumped to the ground beside her third son. Arthur stood frozen in place, as Remus dropped his wand in defeat, before wearily sitting down on the stairs and placing his head in his hands.
Pettigrew had escaped again.
And Bill was with him.
Several hours later Remus found him sinking back down into that same place on the stairs outside the Burrow kitchen. It was now in the early hours of Friday morning, and they had no leads on where Pettigrew had gone. The few Aurors who were talking to each other outside – their muttering indistinguishable even to Remus' ears – barely gave him a glance. Inside, the Aurors were still going over the strategy for the search with the Weasley family, but he'd desperately needed some time to think. So much had happened in one night, and after the constant questions he needed some time to work things out for himself. He was still half in shock at what Wormtail had done.
Minutes after Pettigrew had disappeared, Remus had sent a patronus off to Dumbledore. He'd had an eerie flashback to doing the same in situations during the war as he did it, which was the last thing he needed to be reminded of. Dumbledore had come within minutes, bringing what seemed like at least half of the on duty Aurors with him.
Understandably, both the Weasley seniors were distraught, though Molly was showing it more. She seemed to be going from hysterical, to frantically worried, to angry. Initially she'd even broke down and blamed him for causing Pettigrew to reveal himself. Honestly, he had already felt guilty about it, but she had stopped yelling at him minutes later and apologised before collapsing in a chair and bursting into tears over Bill again. Arthur just looked half lost. He'd tried to barge past the Aurors to start searching as soon as they sat down to start asking questions, but they'd have none of it. The anger and stress that lined his face as he went back to comfort his wife aged him by years from the kind, softly spoken man he'd been earlier that night.
Percy had regained consciousness soon after the Auror's arrived. Remus could vividly remember the moment the boy had woken up, scared and wide-eyed. He'd calmed down after realising his head was resting on his Mother's lap, but had burst into tears after realising what had happened to Bill. He seemed convinced it was his fault, and it took many teary reassurances from both his parent's before he gave up that argument. Remus doubted the guilt had truly disappeared yet. Inwardly, he shook his head; no child should have that kind of burden at this age.
The rest of the Weasley kids weren't much better. It had almost broken Remus' heart to see their reactions when they came back downstairs, all hiding behind Charlie as the oldest, to find their parents outside still with Percy, and no sign of Bill. While Ron and the twins hadn't seemed to grasp more than the fact that Bill was gone, Charlie's face had gone completely white. At 7 years of age, he was old enough to understand exactly what had happened for Bill, his best friend and brother, to disappear. Either way, the kids had understandably completed refused to go back to bed. Their parents hadn't even tried to argue – not really minding keeping their family close together after what had happened. Molly had even gone and fetched Ginny, who had woken up to the sound of new voices echoing through the thin floors of the house. However before he came outside, both Ron and the twins had nodded off, and Percy and Charlies' eyes were beginning to droop.
"Lupin?" a voice asked from behind him, halting the memories of the night constantly flowing through his head.
"Yeah," Remus replied warily, turning his head slightly to see two Aurors standing there.
"We need you to come with us," the leader said.
"What? Why?" Remus questioned, an uneasy feeling beginning to stir in his mind. Those words had sounded eerily familiar to the day Sirius had first been arrested. Too similar.
Looking at them, Remus suddenly noticed the younger Auror, who he recognised from a year or two below him at Hogwarts, was shifting his weight between his feet – obviously uncomfortable with what was happening.
Suddenly, it hit him. Thinking about it, he shouldn't have taken that long to figure it out at all. "You've got to be kidding," he said, too tired to care about being blunt as he stared at them, "You're arresting me now?"
"Not arresting so to speak," the younger one started slowly. He stopped at a warning look from his partner.
"We just need your help with a few questions," the senior Auror said smoothly. Remus resisted the urge to scoff loudly. Of course he thought to himself sarcastically, a few questions – that's obviously only what it is. He wasn't a fool, although at times he felt only his friends could recognise that fact. The first Auror obviously knew he was a werewolf – the disgust was clear from the coldness of his gaze. Combine that with the fact that he was Sirius Black's friend and he didn't have a chance of it just being a few questions.
"So you really think I'm involved?" Remus said angrily as he stood up, "Because of what I am – you think I'd put innocent kids in danger."
"Lupin," the younger Auror started, "It's more about Black…"
"Shut up," his partner muttered.
"So you think Sirius had something to do with this now – that he managed the impossible and is organising things from his cell?" Remus felt his voice getting louder, finally losing control of his temper. He just couldn't believe this. He was dead tired and sick with worry about what was going on. He'd already recounted his story countless times, and now they were blaming Sirius and questioning him?!
The senior Auror looked set to cuff him where he stood, but the other simply said, usurping his partner. "Look Lupin, we have to check out all possibilities. Just come with us and we'll try to make it quick."
Shaking his head he stepped next to the Auror's. Obviously there was no way he'd get them both to see sense here first.
"Your wand, please Lupin," one of them said.
"What?" he said. His wand – seriously – what happened to just a few questions?
"Your wand, Lupin," the older Auror growled out.
Frustrated, but with little choice he thrust his hand into his pocket and almost tossed his wand to the younger Auror to take; like hell would he give it to the other one. For the second time that night, he found himself feeling naked without its protection.
"Remus, is everything alright?" Arthur said wearily – appearing in the doorway as his eyes darted from Remus to the two Aurors, one whose hand was obviously on the wand in his pocket. The argument must have caught his attention. Molly wasn't far behind him, and Arthur drew her in close as she came to stand beside him.
As the senior Auror grabbed one of Remus' arms – Remus couldn't be bothered to shake it off – Remus watched as Arthur's arms narrowed.
"You're taking Remus in for questioning?" Arthur said disbelievingly.
"He's a known close friend of both Pettigrew and Black," the Auror holding him said. "We have to cover all angles…" Remus was strongly tempted to shout that Peter hadn't been his friend from the moment he'd betrayed them, but somehow managed to keep his mouth shut.
"You should know that neither of us put any blame on Remus for any of this," Arthur said bluntly. As one of the Aurors went to cut him off, he ignored them, "He was our guest tonight, and he did everything he could to help our sons. If you seriously think Black had anything to do with this other than the fact the man he had apparently murdered is alive and dangerous, you're out of your mind. Even more so if you think Remus had anything to do with it. Arresting him is not going to help you look for our son!"
"For all we know, this very well could be an elaborate scheme Black concocted to try to show his innocence," the Auror said, "As such Lupin is obviously a possible suspect."
"You think my son missing is an 'elaborate scheme'. He's been kidnapped – by someone obviously half out of their mind. What about him, what about Bill?!" Molly said angrily, a hint of desperation also in her voice.
"Ma'am," the senior Auror replied, "We've already got people out their looking for him. And we'll put a call out for search parties in the morning. We'll find him."
"But Remus used to know him. He should be one of the people looking for him like he wanted to – not stuck answering your questions!" Molly argued back, her voice raising.
"Madam Weasley," the Auror said, "Please calm down….
"My son is missing," she cut him off, her voice breaking slightly, "Don't tell me to calm down."
The Auror was getting annoyed know, his grip on Remus' arm slowly tightening.
"Ma'am, as soon as we've cleared Mr Lupin, he will be free to go. I'm sure the search parties will manage fine for a few hours."
As Molly opened her mouth to retort, Remus cut both her and the guard off this time, just wanting to get this over with. If he was going to the ministry at least he'd hopefully be able to see Sirius as well. Though if they really thought Sirius was behind tonight, he had a feeling Padfoot would probably already be in tan interrogation room.
"Molly, they're only doing their jobs," he said wearily, "As soon as I'm out I'll be looking for Bill – I promise."
Molly still looked uncertain, and Arthur looked just as wary but they weren't given another chance to say anything. The Aurors gave them both a small nod, as the younger one lifted an old coin up. The moment both Auror's fingers touched it, Remus' world spun, and the Burrow faded from before his eyes.
Sirius was confused, to say the least. Firstly, he was pretty sure it was some insanely early hour in the morning. Then secondly, the Auror's had been a complete mix of surprisingly gentle, to ridiculously rough as he was transported to an interrogation cell and chained to his usual chair.
All in all, he had to admit he had no idea what was going on. He'd been shaken from sleep by yelling at the door to his cell, then moved here without being given a moment of time to wake himself up, eat or drink and without a word as to what was going on. The only thing he could kind of work out was that this probably wasn't another visit from Remus – it was definitely too early for that.
The light in the interrogation room was dim, yet he could still make out at least two Aurors standing in the corners opposite him in the room. They both had their wands out, and one was casually pointed in his direction. He almost had to hide a snort – even if he had been a Death Eater, he doubted he could so much as move in this position, let alone attack anyone.
He blinked slightly, desperately wanting to rub his eyes – or even get some cold water – just to wake himself up.
The door suddenly slammed open, causing Sirius to start awake as an Auror whose scowling face was startling familiar. While he hadn't seen him since being brought from Azkaban, this time it took only second's for Sirius to recognise the man; Scrimgeour – the Auror considered second in command in the department. In an excellent but somewhat typical display of Auror interrogation training techniques (at least, in Sirius' opinion), he slammed a file of parchment down on the desk in front.
"We can do this the easy way, or the hard way Black," he started loudly, causing Sirius' heart to sink slightly. This didn't sound like it was going to be fun. Unless, you know – they decided to give him Veritaserum. That could potentially solve a lot of problems. But he doubted it. No his bet was that he was going to be pretty beat up and relatively close to deafness by the end of this 'session'.
Scrimgeour leant forward on the desk, staring him down before growling out slowly, "Where has Pettigrew gone?"
Sirius stared at him as though he was insane. If he knew where Pettigrew was – he probably wouldn't be here anymore!
Then again, didn't the ministry think he was dead? Why were they even asking this? What did it mean?
Utterly confused, after seconds of silence all he managed to do was blurt out "What?!"
Scrimgeour looked completely unfazed, as he said again, "I asked you - where did Pettigrew disappear to last night."
Finally, it hit Sirius what must have happened. Suddenly wide awake he completely ignored the question ,asking loudly, the excitement clear in his voice, "You mean, you found him? Finally! You've got proof he's alive?"
One of the Aurors in the corner shifted slightly, and Sirius took that as a yes.
"Why am I still even here then – can't you see I was telling the truth!" He yelled in frustration.
Scrimgeour stood up, muttering, "The hard way it is then", before sitting down in the chair across the table and opening the file.
Sirius couldn't stop looking at him like he was crazy. Inside, he was elated – the search must have payed off. But why were they possibly asking him these questions?
Silently, the senior Auror pulled out a moving picture of a family, before another of a young boy – who appeared to be around Hogwarts age.
"Take a look, Black," he said.
"Why?" Sirius started after less than a cursory glance.
"Just do it," he snapped out. Sirius suddenly became aware of the wand he was casually taping on the table, and decided to do as he was asked.
Craning his neck slightly he examined the pictures. It took him a few minutes, but finally a spark of recognition came to him. "Wait," he said slowly, "Isn't that the Weasley's – the Prewett's sister, Molly?"
"Good to see you remember your victim's families Black," Scrimgeour said, "and the boy?"
Sirius clenched his hands in their position behind his back, struggling against the temptation to let his temper. Accusations such as this were what he truly hated about being a prisoner. Barely glancing at the second photo he ground out, "I'd assume it'd be one of their sons."
"William Weasley, 11," Scrimgeour said forcefully. "Last night, Pettigrew took him from his home after a confrontation where he had been forced to reveal himself. I want to know where he's taken him. And I think you know exactly where that is."
Sirius barely took in anything after the first sentence, as he found himself looking down at the picture of the boy happily waving to his parents. So they'd found him – but now he was in the process of ruining another families life.
"Was anyone else there? Anyone hurt?" he queried desperately.
The Auror rolled his eyes, "Don't think you're tricking me Black by attempting to show concern. Now answer the bloody question – where has Pettigrew taken the boy?"
That was it, they'd all gone mad – officially.
"Are you insane?" Sirius yelled out, "Until a few days ago, I'd been in isolation in Azkaban. And now I'm tied to a freakin' chair or dumped in a bloody cell – how the hell would I know where that rat is?"
Scrimgeour burst out of his chair, and his hand made its way to Sirius' throat, as the wand was pointed at his head. The chair tipped back unsteadily on two legs under the force of the Auror's hold.
"I don't care if you've been locked up here – who knows what methods Death Eater's could have," he said threateningly, "I care about finding this boy. And let me tell you right now, I don't like being yelled at – or do you not remember that from your training? So don't yell at me and it might... it might just make this easier for you. Do I make myself clear Black?!"
Self-preservation kicking in, Sirius gave a barely perceivable nod. It must have been enough for the pressure on his throat disappeared as the chair rocked back into place.
As Scrimgeour started tapping the wand on his chair again, Sirius had one thought – this was definitely going to be one hell of a long interrogation.
Sure enough, several hours later Sirius was still in interrogation. He was sure his wrists were beginning to turn bloody after hours of them being restrained behind the same chair, and he doubted he'd be able to move from this position without help. Seeing the water Scrimgeour was currently drinking was almost torture. After yelling at the Aurors for who knows how long (Scrimgeour's warning hadn't lasted long) as he tried to bang some sense into them, he desperately needed a drink.
At least it looked like Scrimgeour had finally yelled himself hoarse. Sirius even thought he may have started to come to his senses after the last few time's he'd rephrased the question. He still was completely bewildered as to why they'd think he'd have any part in this at all!
A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts. With a few stride's Scrimgeour had wrenched the door open, "What?"
"He's asking to see him," the person said.
Scrimgeour growled out some undefined words before stepping outside and closing the door behind him.
As an awkward silence filled the room, Sirius said jokingly, "So don't suppose the Auror regulations have changed and I could have some of that water, hey fellows?"
He was rewarded by seeing one of them roll their eyes, while the other completely ignored the comment other than to continue tossing his wand around in his hand.
The door banged back open, "Saved by the bell, Black," Scrimgeour muttered, before adding threateningly, "You better have told the truth."
But Sirius was barely paying attention; his eyes were focussed on the person who had come in behind him. Remus had heavy bags under his eyes and was rubbing one of his own wrists, but he still managed to send Sirius a grim smile as he entered the room.
"You have 10 minutes, Lupin," Scrimgeour stated, exiting the room as Remus slumped down in the chair opposite him.
After a few tense seconds of silence, Remus muttered, "Well, he's not hiding anymore."
Sirius snorted slightly, raising his eyebrows in response. Moony always had tended to state the obvious. He shrugged nonchalantly back.
"So what actually happened," Sirius questioned, unable to wait any longer to find out the truth, "All I've had is questions being pelted at me since who knows what time this morning. Though how they think I'm a part of it is a complete mystery in itself."
Aware of their limited time, Remus went through the events of the Burrow the previous night as quickly as possible. By the end of it, Sirius was sure he looked like a frog, his mouth had dropped open that wide, while he was once again trying to keep his temper at Pettigrew reigned in.
So Pettigrew was still trying to get him locked up permanently. Sirius honestly had no idea how the rat thought taking a kid hostage would help him with that plan. Then again, he'd never been particularly smart. And no wonder Remus looked half dead, he mustn't have slept in over 24 hours.
"So you're telling me," Sirius finally spoke up, "That the little coward managed to outsmart 3 other fully mature adult wizards."
Remus rubbed his eyes wearily, "I told you Sirius – he had Percy in front of him. I couldn't risk it … after what he's done, I didn't know what he could be truly capable of. I'm sorry ok?"
Sirius shook his head, "Wasn't blaming you Remus. Just trying to figure out where the rat suddenly got some brains. What I really don't understand is why he didn't just run. The Pettigrew that we once knew would never have had the courage to do that…."
"Arthur said they still had wards up around the house which prevented him apparating immediately. It was probably the only way he could get out of the house once Arthur was inside," Remus said, "Arthur sounded pretty cut up about it – kept saying they were supposed to protect them. And Percy had been trying to put him back in one of those 'escape proof' pet cages. I think he probably realised a confrontation was the only option – and he did whatever he could think to save himself.
"Damn," Sirius muttered half under his breath, "Of course all the rat thinks about is himself. Still, it's a damn pain he got away – even more so that he's decided to ruin another family. If anything, this whole thing's my fault. If I'd just been smart enough to not go after him in the first place…"
"No, Sirius," Remus cut him off, half reaching across the table towards him, "How many times do I have to say this – it's not your fault. None of this would have happened if it hadn't been for Peter's idiotic choices so don't you dare blame yourself."
Sirius was only half listening, for he'd just noticed an all too familiar mark circling around one of his friend's wrist. "Remus," he started, "Please don't tell me that bruise is from what I think it is?"
Remus jolted back upright, covering it up with his other hand, and not meeting his eyes. But Sirius just kept staring at him, waiting for an answer. Finally Moony let out a sigh, "I'm a werewolf Sirius, remember? I can't be trusted. It's nothing, especially compared to this," he waved his hand at Sirius' current position, "I just had one hand chained to a table for an hour or so." He rolled his eyes slightly, adding sarcastically, "Security precaution, apparently."
Sirius let out a curse. Bugger the ministry and their bloody prejudice. "They seriously thought you were involved in this?" he said.
Remus shrugged, "I'm helping you aren't I?"
"Shit Moony, I'm sorry. I should have known you'd be getting a fair bit of hate your way from that. If it's…"
"Don't even suggest me staying out of this, Padfoot," Remus replied forcefully. "You're my friend, we've only got each other left. And really, compared to what I've dealt with in the past, this morning was nothing. Molly and Arthur fully backed up my story, so they had a lot of trouble trying to make up that I somehow let him escape. The only thing they did accuse me of was setting the thing up to make you look good – but as I've been searching for Pettigrew since the trial they had nothing. And Moody made them let me go pretty quickly."
"Less than a minute left, Lupin," one of the guards said, before Sirius could reply. He had never felt more grateful to have his friend on his side once more. He couldn't believe he'd ever suspected Remus – especially with the loyalty he was showing now.
"Right," Remus said in a business like tone, "So there's a hearing this afternoon to decide what's happening with your trial. I don't think you're invited somehow – stupid security issues." Sirius had to hold in a laugh at Remus obvious derision at that issue.
"It's mostly a formality and logistics thing anyway. It's pretty certain that your trial's going to be delayed slightly." Remus continued.
As he nodded in response, he couldn't decide what to think about that. On one hand, no Azkaban, on the other… well he desperately wanted to be free from these chains for good - the sooner, the better. Hopefully Pettigrew would stuff up sooner than later.
"I'm helping with the search team for Bill, so I'll try to drop by again in a couple of days, if not sooner to keep you updated ok." Remus added as he got up to leave.
Sirius coughed slightly as his friend turned his back. Remus turned back around, "Thanks Moony," Sirius said, "for everything… and good luck finding the bastard"
Remus just nodded in response, as he was virtually shoved out the door by the waiting Aurors. Sirius had barely even scratched the surface of what he truly felt in those words – just how much having a friend at his side meant. But it was enough. From the look in his eyes, Sirius knew Remus had known exactly what he'd been trying to say.