Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling
"You shouldn't have done that," said Sirius whose inflection reflected the surprise that Remus felt. "You should've left him to me." Harry's silence told Remus that he was not convinced he'd made the right decision.
"We attacked a teacher!" Hermione said quietly from somewhere that Remus could not see. "Oh, we're going to be in so much trouble."
Remus was still struggling against the bonds, and Sirius bent down and quickly untied him. They looked at one another for a moment, then at Snape, who lay slumped against the wall, a bit of blood coming from an injury that Remus could not see. He did not care. Sirius helped pull him up, and Remus held his friend's shoulder and nodded his thanks. Sirius smiled grimly in return, and Lupin rubbed his wrists, trying to assess the damage, and looked past Padfoot.
"Thank you, Harry," he said.
"I'm still not saying I believe you." Harry said quickly, but Remus understood that at the very least he was willing to listen.
"Then it's time we offered you some proof," he said, and Sirius nodded. "You, boy," he said to Ron, "give me Peter, please, now." But Ron only clutched the traitor closer to his chest.
"Come off it," Ron said. "Are you trying to say he broke out of Azkaban, just to get his hands on Scabbers. I mean…" He glanced at Harry and Hermione. "Okay, say Pettigrew could turn into a rat, there are millions of rats. How's he supposed to know which one he's after if he was locked up in Azkaban?"
The anger and frustration Remus had been feeling moments before disappeared with Ron's question. He turned back to Sirius and raised his eyebrows and frowned slightly "You know, Sirius, that's a fair question. How did you find out where he was?"
Sirius thrust his hand into his pocket, pulled out a crumpled up piece of paper, and quickly smoothed it flat and held it out to show everyone. Remus stared at it. It was the photograph he had seen ages ago from when Arthur Weasley had won the lottery and taken his family on vacation. Remus looked closer at it, and on Ron's shoulder sat a very familiar looking rat. He stared at his friend absolutely astonished and took the photo from his hand.
"How did you get this?" he asked.
"Fudge." Sirius said shortly. "When he came to inspect Azkaban last year he gave me his paper, and there was Peter on the front page on this boy's shoulder. I knew him at once! How many times had I seen him transform? And, the caption said the boy would be going back to Hogwarts. To where Harry was."
Remus looked back and forth from the photo and the rat in Ron's hand, wondering how he never noticed when the article had come out.
"My god," he said, looking very closely now. "His front paw."
"What about it?" Ron asked accusingly.
"He's got a toe missing," Sirius said simply, and Remus nodded along his mind finally catching up.
"Of course," he breathed. "So simple, so brilliant. He cut it off himself."
"Just before he transformed." Sirius finished Remus' thought for him. "When I cornered him, he yelled for the whole street to hear that I'd betrayed Lily and James. Then before I could curse him, he blew apart the street with the wand behind his back. Killed everyone within twenty feet of himself, and sped down into the sewer with the other rats."
Remus nodded, realizing now, how much more sense it made for Peter to be the traitor rather than Sirius. Somehow he felt less surprised than he had expected. "Didn't you ever hear, Ron," Remus said now staring fixity on Peter "The biggest bit of Peter they found was his finger." He could see Ron trying to justify any other reason in his head, for the rat that had slept by his side for nearly all his life not to be the man responsible for his best friend's parents deaths.
"Look, Scabbers probably had fight with another rat or something. He's been in my family for ages! Right?" Ron looked over at Harry, and Remus decided to answer the question on Harry's face.
"Twelve years in fact," Remus said. "Didn't you ever wonder why he was living so long?"
And there it was, they were getting through to them finally. Harry was questioning it, Hermione was looking at the facts, and Ron was beginning to run out of defenses. "We've been taking good care of him," said Ron.
"Not looking too good at the moment, though, is he? I'd guess he's been losing weight ever since he heard Sirius was on the loose again."
"He's been scared of that mad cat!" Ron said, nodding towards the ginger cat who was still on the bed.
"This cat isn't mad!" Sirius said as he scratched the cat's head. Remus smiled. It would be Padfoot to, despite the desperate situation they were in, defend the honor of a cat. "He's the most intelligent of his kind I've ever met. He recognized Peter for what he was right away, and when he met me? He knew I was no dog! It was a while before he trusted me. Finally, I managed to communicate to him what I was after, and he's been helping me."
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, looking at the cat as if it had somehow personally hurt her.
"He tried to bring Peter to me but couldn't, so he stole the password to Gryffindor tower for me. As I understand it, he took them from a boy's bedside table." Sirius said.
Remus sighed, remembering that night and how much trouble Neville had gotten in.
"But Peter got wind of what was going on and ran for it," Sirius continued. "This cat, Crookshanks did you call him? Told me Peter had left blood on the sheets. I suppose he bit himself. Well, faking his own death had worked once."
Something flashed in Harry's eyes and he glared at Sirius once again "And why did he fake his death? Because he knew you were about to kill him. Like you killed my parents!"
"No." Remus said, stepping forward, careful to keep his hands visible "Harry—"
"And now you've come to finish him off!" Harry nearly shouted.
"Yes. I have," said Sirius with fire and Remus looked at his friend indignantly, but Sirius only had eyes for Peter.
"Then I should've let Snape take you!" Harry shouted and Remus sighed.
"Harry, don't you see, all this time we've thought Sirius betrayed your parents, and Peter tracked him down, but it was the other way around! Don't you see? Peter betrayed your mother and father. Sirius tracked Peter down," Remus said hurriedly.
"That's not true!" Harry yelled and pointed a finger at Sirius "He was their secret keeper! He said so before you turned. He said he killed them."
Remus looked at Sirius, who shook his head slowly. His eyes were glistening. "Harry, I as good as killed them. I persuaded Lily and James to change to Peter at the last moment. Persuaded them to use him as secret keeper instead of me." Sirius looked quite beside himself as he continued speaking "I'm to blame, I know it. The night they died, I'd arranged to check on Peter, make sure he was still safe, but when I arrived at his hiding place, he'd gone. Yet, there was no sign of a struggle. It didn't feel right. I was scared, I set out for your parent's house straight away, and when I saw their house destroyed and their bodies, I realized what Peter must have done. What I'd done."
His voice broke and refused to look at Remus or Harry. He felt no anger towards Sirius, instead shared his grief and guilt.
"Enough of this," Remus said, and he kept his voice flat and emotionless as he stared at the rat. "There's one certain way to prove what really happened. Ron, give me that rat!" The time for talking about Peter was over. He was done trying to convince them of the truth. Peter could tell it to them himself before he died.
"What are you going to do if I give him to you?" Remus could not believe how protective a boy could be about such a creature, and he spoke rather tersely.
"Force him to show himself," he said, and then added when he saw Ron's face, "If he really is a rat it won't hurt him." If Ron did not hand over Peter, Remus was going to stun him and take the traitor from his unconscious hands, but finally, Ron handed Peter over. Peter began to twitch all over, and Remus only squeezed harder. His small beady eyes bulged.
"Ready, Sirius?" Remus asked over his shoulder.
"Together," Sirius said, pointing Snape's wand at Peter.
"I think so." Remus glanced at Padfoot and smiled before turning his attention back to Peter. "On the count of three. One, two, three!" And then they were blinded by a flash of blue light, and Remus slowly watched as Peter frozen in the air slowly transformed from a rat to a human.
He was much thinner than Remus remembered, but he supposed that being terrified that the very friends you betrayed were coming to kill you could do that to a person.
"Well, hello, Peter!" Remus said as if they had run into one another randomly on the street or at a class reunion. He rocked back and forth on his heels staring at that the ragged, balding man he had once thought a dear friend. "Long time, no see." He smiled wryly.
"S-Sirius, R-Remus!" Peter's squeaking voice stuttered as he glanced at the two of them before at the door. "My friends, my old friends!"
Sirius's wand rose suddenly, but Remus grabbed him around the wrist and looked at him seriously before turning his attention to Peter. He smirked and kept his voice just as light and casual as he had in Snape's office.
"We've been having a little chat, Peter, about what happened the night Lily and James died. You might have missed the finer points while you were squeaking around down there on the bed."
"Remus," Peter stared at him with fear in his eyes that Remus had never imagined seeing in a friend's face. The problem was, and he was sure Peter knew this, that he only ever acted this pleasantly when he knew the battle was already over, just like he had with Snape. It was how he often gloated.
"You don't believe him, do you?" And Remus gave him a pitying look. This would be so much easier if Peter did not beg or try to worm his way out of the situation, surely he knew that. "He tried to kill me, Remus."
"So we've heard." He said his voice losing some of its cheeriness. "I'd like to clear up one or two little matters with you Peter. If you'd be so—"
"He's come to try and kill me again!" Peter shouted, and the smile on Remus's face grew strained as he pointed at Sirius with his middle finger.
"He killed Lily and James, and now he's going to kill me too! You've got to help me, Remus!" How could Peter not understand that they both were going to kill him the moment they heard the whole story? Remus glanced over at Sirius and saw that his face had gone stone cold.
"No one's going to try and kill you until we've sorted a few things out," Remus continued, but his smile had vanished.
"Sorted things out!" Peter squeaked and his voice was so high that it made Remus flinch and his ears hurt. The rat finally seemed to realize that this was no trial, but rather a sentencing. There was no way around the fact that Peter was going to die tonight. But, Remus and Sirius were not so heartless as to not at least try to determine whether it should be painless or not. Again his eyes darted to every possible exit, but there was no way Peter had forgotten that it was Dumbledore who had enchanted them to never open.
"I knew he'd come after me! I knew he'd be back for me. I've been waiting for this for twelve years!" Remus did not even try to hide the disappointment in his face.
"You knew Sirius was going to try and break out of Azkaban?" Really, Peter, he knew the rat was clever, and surely he could do better than that. He furrowed his brow. "When nobody has ever done it before?"
"He's got dark powers the rest of us can only dream of!" Peter shouted "How else did he get out of there? I suppose He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named taught him a few tricks."
Sirius laughed, and it was not his usual hearty laugh but something rather cold that lacked any possible chance of mercy. It echoed around the shack.
"Voldemort teach me tricks?" he shook his head at Peter as Wormtail flinched at the name. "What? Scared to hear your old master's name? I don't blame you, Peter. His lot aren't very happy with you, are they?"
If possible it seemed that Peter lost five more pounds for the amount he shrank. "Don't know what you mean, Sirius." Remus jerked his head, trying to stop the shrill voice from piercing his ears. He could smell the rank that Peter was perspiring in fear. He could hear Peter's breathing quicken, and Remus got the impression that he and Sirius were dogs playing with their food before devouring it.
"You haven't been hiding from me for twelve years." It seemed the only person to whom this fact was not obvious was Peter himself "You've been hiding from Voldemort's old supporters. I heard things in Azkaban, Peter. They all think you're dead, or you'd have to answer to them." Peter shuddered at the very thought of being held accountable for his actions, and it was with a small sigh that it became clear that even though it was his friends pointing wands at him, Peter was more afraid of the Death Eaters. The lump truly did not understand his situation.
"I've heard them screaming all sorts of things in their sleep. It sounds like they think the double-crosser double-crossed them. Voldemort went to the Potters on your information, and Voldemort met his downfall there, and not all Voldemort's supporters ended up in Azkaban, did they? There are still plenty out here, biding their time, pretending they've seen the error of their ways."
Remus's eyes flicked over the Snape, and he thought of the Malfoy boy back up at the castle.
"If they ever got wind that you were still alive, Peter..." Sirius let the implications go unsaid, and Peter sank to the floor in fear.
"Don't know what you talking about" He wiped his face on his filthy sleeve and Remus decided he would give credit where it was due. At the very least Peter was doing the very best to stick to his story, even after they had disproved it. He looked into Remus' eyes.
"You don't believe this? This madness? Remus?" And Moony looked at Wormtail, realizing that he had never seen anything more pitiful.
"I must admit, Peter, I have difficulty in understanding why an innocent man would want to spend twelve years as a rat." His voice was no longer pleasant, and at most it was flat, but he did not care. He knew they were only minutes away from avenging Lily and James.
"Innocent, but scared!" Peter said almost sincerely. "If Voldemort's supporters were after me, it was because I put one of their best men in Azkaban. The spy! Sirius Black!" Personally, Remus thought Peter went a touch too dramatic, but Sirius did not disappoint in his response.
"How dare you," he growled "I? A spy for Voldemort? When did I ever sneak around people who were stronger and more powerful than myself? But you, Peter! I'll never understand why I didn't see you were the spy from the start!" Remus now realized this was why his mind could accept Peter as the spy so quickly when it had never been able to do so with Sirius. Their natures were opposites. Sirius always wanted to do things his way, and Peter only ever did what people told him to do.
"You always liked big friends who'd look after you, didn't you? It used to be us! Me, and Remus, and James." Sirius hit his own heart and pointed to Remus. He even gestured to his other side as if James were somehow still here. Peter could hardly breathe, Remus noticed. He looked as if he was going to pass out from hyperventilating.
"Me? Spy? Must be out of your mind! Never! Don't know how you can say such a thing!" Peter once again squealed, but Remus could see the façade slowly slipping away.
"Lily and James only made you secret keeper because I suggested it!" Sirius nearly threw the words at Peter, and Peter took a step back. "I thought it was the perfect plan, a bluff. Voldemort was sure to come after me, would never dream that they'd use a weak, talentless, thing like you. It must have been the finest moment of your miserable life, telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters."
It seemed Sirius had finally reduced Peter to the disgusting glob of goop he deserved to be. He could only hear random words in the muttering of the rat, and none of them held any value to Remus's ears. The only thing that seemed important was that Peter still kept looking at the door every few seconds.