In which Lily gets two dates for the price of one and condemns a man to death for the price of another's freedom.

The trouble with Hogsmeade was that there were only three eating establishments.

Technically, this was a lot for a village of Hogsmeade's size. In fact, for a village of Hogsmeade's size, the place was practically swarming with stores. With two pubs, a joke store, a candy store, and more the place was easily the second largest shopping district in Wizarding Britain aside from Diagon Alley.

It was practically a tourist destination. Those who had business in Hogwarts usually made it a point to stop in the village. Otherwise, alumni often made their way back to the place to revel in the feeling of youthful nostalgia the village brought them.

Then, of course, there were the Hogsmeade weekends when the place was swarming with children aged thirteen and up. Each of them spending every sickle they, and their friends, possessed for candy, jokes, and butterbeer.

Hogsmeade was the closest thing Wizarding Britain had to a college town.

But it only had three places to eat if you didn't want to shovel candy in your mouth right at Honeyduke's register.

There was the overly crowded, and frankly overrated, The Three Broomsticks. You entered that place, and every single seat would be filled, you wouldn't be able to hear a word anyone said even if you did manage to scavenge a table, and if you were lucky you managed to get through the line by the time it was time to leave Hogsmeade for the day.

There was The Hogshead, Hogsmeade's obligatory dive bar. Lily had frequented the place on a few occasions, had met Frank there in her first year back when A.L.F. wasn't even a concept, but she wouldn't be the first to say that it had this kind of ambiance that took some getting used to. It was the place where you went to drink yourself blind and then keep drinking. Given the rest of Hogsmeade and its location in a tourist hotspot, it seemed it was kept purposefully dark, dreary, and frightening.

For Lily's purposes today, that left only one place in Hogsmeade, Madame Puddifoot's Tea Shop.

Sitting here, with Scabbers petrified in a small covered birdcage resting at her feet and Rabbit sitting in a daze in the seat across from her, she was almost regretting she hadn't just gone for the dive bar.

The place looked like where Rabbit had chosen to vomit Umbridge's half-digested remains.

Every table was covered with lace. The napkins were lace, the white tablecloths were lace, even the placemats were a bright pink lace. Every china tea set and every brightly patterned chair was decorated with half a dozen ribbons and bows, each a bright shade of pink or purple.

To compliment this, at nearly every table was some fifth year or older couple gazing into each other's eyes romantically, holding hands while sipping tea, or else simply forgoing the tea to try and suck the soul out of each other's mouths. Each couple was well dressed, the girls all with the makeup and hair perfectly done, and the boys in nicer robes. It was clear each couple had planned this date at least a day if not an entire month in advance.

Lily, with her muggle clothing, her thirteen-going-on fifteen face, her hair a barely contained mass of curls, and her lackluster date in the form of Rabbit, stuck out like a sore thumb.

Unfortunately, no matter how much Lily considered it, it couldn't be helped.

"Shacklebolt."

That was the name that Wizard Trotsky, in the form of Ginny Weasley, had dropped after Lily had returned from Lupin's office hours.

They'd been alone in the Default Common Room, not something that was all that unusual. Hermione was likely in the library busy being angry at the world, Luna was probably prancing around the woods feeding thestrals again, and Zabini and Greengrass were doing whatever the hell it was they did on weeknights.

The lack of witnesses didn't mean the sight of Wizard Trotsky using Ginny's body to sexily drape himself over Lily's bed was any easier to bear though. In fact, while she was sure they wouldn't have had this conversation in front of any witnesses, a few witnesses meant that he probably wouldn't be quite so… ostentatious.

Lily had blinked at the name, blinked again, then asked, "If that's some kind of bolt cutter or brand of magical lock then—"

"It's a name," he said with a sigh, going so far as to roll Ginny's eyes, "Not a bad one either, respectable as it were. He's not from an ancient and noble house, not solely from Britain either, but he's more than a few generations out from being muggle born."

"Alright," Lily said slowly, "So what's the deal with Shacklebolt?"

"He's an auror," Wizard Trotsky explained, "Very high up, very well respected, shockingly uncorrupt, and a man with a firm sense of justice and moral superiority. He's in Dumbledore's pocket, but only because he does not recognize what Dumbledore truly is. If you give him Pettigrew and evidence that Sirius Black is innocent, he will get Black exonerated for you."

She wondered, for a moment, how Wizard Trotsky knew all of this. She doubted Shacklebolt wore a badge on his chest announcing, "I Belong to Albus Dumbledore". That said, this seemed like the sort of thing Wizard Trotsky would somehow know. As if it was in Tom Riddle's very nature to fish out people's secrets when they weren't looking.

Regardless, she didn't doubt a word out of his mouth.

"What if Dumbledore talks to him?" Lily asked. She was sure, once Dumbledore realized what was happening and just who had delivered Pettigrew to Shacklebolt, that he absolutely would.

"Dumbledore would have to convince him that the firm evidence you presented to him was false," Ginny said, and then with a smile a little too amused added, "That, or, he'd have to tell Shacklebolt that it's in their best interests to let an innocent man, who had once been a comrade in arms wrongly betrayed, be executed."

With a small giggle that suited Ginny just fine but Tom Riddle not at all, he said, "The trouble with Dumbledore is that he's put so much effort into making his goons believe he's a saint that he can never reveal his true colors."

Lily nodded slowly, not necessarily agreeing, but more in acknowledgement of the words. At this point, she didn't care what Dumbledore presented to anyone. Let Lupin and the like keep him, as for Lily herself, she was done with the man and would never approach him for anything again.

"Just Shacklebolt?" Lily asked. She'd asked for a name, but she'd been hoping for at least a few options in case the one didn't work out.

"There are others," Wizard Trotsky said with a sigh, "But they're not ideal."

"Alastor Moody was once a well-respected auror. Certainly, one known for his lack of corruption and belief in at least the spirit of the law. However, those days passed long ago and he is now seconds from being fired," Wizard Trotsky said with a shrug, "He's a loose cannon, a paranoid wreck, and driven by an irrational hatred of dark magic. His bringing Pettigrew forward would be seen as his latest and greatest conspiracy theory. More, the man would all too likely accuse you of being a spy and dark wizard should you bring Pettigrew to him, no matter what evidence you have of his treachery."

"Arthur Weasley while well-meaning is an idiot, Dumbledore's lackey, and in a department that's such a joke it's not even listed on the ministry registry. Going to him would be the least wise thing you could possibly do," Wizard Trotsky continued, seeming to pay no mind that he had just insulted Ginny's own father in Ginny Weasley's body.

However, it appeared that Wizard Trotsky wasn't done, and that he was very eager to show off the fruits of his research doing whatever it was he did at the ministry.

"Amelia Bones, while generally seen as just, is too far up in the chain of command. You'd never get her attention. More, she was directly involved in Black's case and sentencing, having been one of those to imprison him without trial. She'd be very… unwilling to consider the possibility that she aided in the conviction of an innocent man."

He didn't even let Lily get a word in before he continued.

"Nymphadora Tonks is a mentee of both Moody and Shacklebolt, clearly in Dumbledore's circle, and nauseatingly eager eyed and moral. However, she's far too green with far too scandalous of a background to be of any use to you. Black is her mother's estranged cousin, her bringing Pettigrew forward could be seen as having sympathies for Sirius Black or else having been hoodwinked by him. That, and given her family history, she's unlikely to believe Black was ever innocent no matter what you tell her."

Wizard Trotsky then gave Lily a pointed look through Ginny's dark eyes, a smug expression on his lips as he asked, "Need I go on?"

"So, just Shacklebolt," Lily summarized dully.

"Just Shacklebolt," Wizard Trotsky confirmed, "What a country we live in, that there is only one uncorrupt man of any use in our government."

Well, when he put it like that, it really was downright depressing.

With that, Wizard Trotsky had quickly reminded her that she owed him one unnamed favor, that he would be collecting shortly if she didn't mind, and then it had been time for dinner and Ginny Weasley's reappearance.

All through dinner and into the next day, the wheels in Lily's head had spun.

Lily's first plan had been to simply storm Shacklebolt's office unannounced and throw Pettigrew onto his desk and let the rat speak for himself.

Unfortunately, given the situation with Rabbit, that meant that Rabbit would also have to come with her to the ministry. This made navigating the place twice as cumbersome. Worse, Lily had never actually been to the ministry before. If she was just wandering around looking for Shacklebolt's office, when he was one of Dumbledore's known people, then Wizard Lenin's moles were sure to notice and if not them then someone was bound to alert security.

If she wanted to stay under Wizard Lenin and Dumbledore's radar, at least until she had a chance to explain to Wizard Lenin, then she couldn't go to the ministry and certainly couldn't be seen entering Kingsly Shacklebolt's office.

Her next idea had been to send Shacklebolt a letter telling him everything. The trouble was, that could and would be intercepted, which would get her right back to Wizard Lenin or the ministry intervening before she could even think about it.

If she went him a vague letter, simply telling him they needed to talk, then all too likely it'd be intercepted and either Wizard Lenin himself or one of his agents would show up in Shacklebolt's place. Even if Shacklebolt did get the letter, Lily had never met the guy before, and he'd probably think it was a prank or else a hoax.

So, it couldn't come from Ellie Potter.

All these factors had led to Lily having her worst, and perhaps best, idea to date.

Lily technically wasn't allowed to attend Hogsmeade. First, she hadn't had any contact with the Dursleys in years, and as a result Slughorn had seen straight through her forged permission slip. Second, even if she'd had a genuinely signed form, Slughorn informed her that he would never allow her into Hogsmeade while Sirius Black was on the loose.

That said, Hogmseade weekend meant that Lily's absence would be much less remarked. It'd allow her to blend in with the crowd of students and give her an excuse to be out of the castle and meeting with Shacklebolt (who would undoubtedly ask why a good student like Ellie Potter wasn't in school or hadn't just gone to Dumbledore with her Scabbers related woes).

The Three Broomsticks was too crowded, everyone and their brother would see the pair of them, and they wouldn't be able to hear a word each other said. The Hogshead was a dive that she couldn't see Shacklebolt willingly entering no matter who the letter came from.

Which left Madame Puddifoot's tea shop.

As far as Kingsley Shacklebolt was concerned, he was headed to Madame Puddifoot's on this fine Saturday afternoon to meet with his eager-eyed protégé, Nymphadora Tonks, for lunch somewhere other than the ministry's dull and overpriced cafeteria. And yes, she absolutely did have to send him this as a letter rather than asking in person because she said so and if he dared to bring it up to her in conversation, she'd pretend she had no idea what he was talking about.

The slight compulsion she'd added to the letter, to get Shacklebolt to actually show up, had felt very necessary.

Only, sitting here now, staring at these teenagers all but making love with each other over tea, Lily realized that she had inadvertently asked Kingsly Shacklebolt on a date.

And Lily was very underdressed.

She'd also brought Rabbit which… Well, the woman she assumed was Madame Puddifoot clearly thought that Rabbit and Lily were a couple and had made sure to give them both a beaming smile when they entered the shop and the best selection of her tea to help along with their lackluster date.

Finally, with a cheery tinkle of the bell above the door, the man she assumed must be Shacklebolt entered.

He stood, tall and proud in the doorway. He didn't scream cop, exactly, but Lily couldn't say she was surprised he was a cop. Something about the way he held himself gave this feeling of competent authority.

There was an uncomfortable on his face as he searched the shop for Nymphadora Tonks. A look that grew more uncomfortable as he looked at every happy couple inside.

Lily stood quickly, accidentally bumping the table and rattling the china, and waved across at him, "Here, I mean—over here, sir, I sent the letter."

He clearly recognized her. His eyes practically bulged out of their sockets and he looked as if he dearly wished he could turn around and leave right then and there. Well, apparently Lily had that much of a reputation even in the ministry.

She probably deserved that.

Lily quickly diverted everyone's attention from him, her own table, and anything that might happen in the next hour or so. Best to keep this meeting extremely private, for all Hogwarts knew, Lily had snuck out of the castle to have a date with good old Rabbit.

Slowly, with a long suffering and painful looking sigh, he made his way over to the table. On seeing only two seats, and the other occupied by Rabbit (who he spared a dull glance), he pulled one from a nearby unoccupied table.

"Tonks," he said dully as he sat across from her.

He said nothing else.

"Tonks—" Lily repeated, blinking in confusion, only to realize what he must mean, "Oh, Nymphadora Tonks didn't send that letter. I just—I couldn't send you the letter in my own name, you see, and so I thought you might accept one from her."

His expression didn't change in the slightest, if anything, he looked less amused.

"I'm Ellie Potter," Lily explained slowly.

"I can tell," was his dull response.

Right, well, this wasn't…

She wasn't sure how she had expected this to go, but this wasn't it. She didn't think she'd ever seen anyone less impressed by Ellie Potter before. This included Wizard Lenin meeting her in her mind for the first time after having been blown up by a toddler.

Normally, just by showing her face, people were stunned into silence and at least willing to listen.

"Who's the kid?" Shacklebolt asked, nodding over to Rabbit, who of course hadn't so much as blinked when Shacklebolt sat down at the table.

"This is Rabbit," Lily said, "He's—um, we're kind of a package deal these days. Don't mind him, he has nothing to do with this."

Shacklebolt said nothing to that. Neither did Rabbit.

Right, time to get to the point.

Just as Lily reached for Pettigrew's cage, Shacklebolt interrupted her, "Tonks, what are you doing?"

Lily paused halfway and gave him a funny look, "Tonks? I told you, Tonks doesn't know about the letter, I'm the one who sent it. I'm the one who invited you here. I just used her name because—well, it was the first that came to mind."

"I was going to find a gentler way to say this," Shacklebolt said, "But then I saw you dressed up as Ellie Potter, inviting me to be the third wheel on your date at Madame Puddifoot's with a Hogwarts student named Rabbit—"

"Hold on a minute—" Lily said, letting go of Pettigrew's cage to hold up her hands and try to slow him down, but it seemed Shacklebolt didn't have time for that.

"Tonks, I am not interested," Shacklebolt said, "I will never be interested. I'm flattered that you… think of me in this way, but our age difference is too extreme, it would be a complete breach of professionalism, and more to the point I simply do not see you that way."

He paused as he looked her up and down, "You or Ellie Potter, for that matter."

"Wait, wait, hold up," Lily interjected, "You—you think I'm actually Tonks?"

"Who else would you be?" Shacklebolt asked with a sigh, as if this was the world's most obvious thing and Lily was an idiot for pretending otherwise.

Lily looked down at herself and back up at him in utter bewilderment, "Who else—I told you, I'm Ellie Potter!"

"Yes, and you've done a marvelous job," he said, looking her up and down critically, as if judging the merits of how Ellie Potter she was, "Her height alone must have taken you half a day's work. Well done, I'd be very impressed if it were any other situation."

She had no idea what he was saying, she had no idea why he believed it, but apparently, he really did think she was Nymphadora Tonks disguised as Ellie Potter and that this was, in fact, the date.

"Um, I am not Nymphadora Tonks," Lily said with some awkwardness, "I've never even seen her before, so I really have no idea what she even looks like—"

Shacklebolt actually laughed at that, like Lily had unintentionally said something very witty.

"But I really am Ellie Potter, and I desperately need your help. Well, not me, per se, but someone else desperately needs your help," Lily cleared her throat and with a grandiose motion towards him said, "In the words of Princess Leia, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you are our only hope."

"Tonks—"

God, how could a twenty-something year old woman possibly pass for Lily? Who in the wizarding world could even pass for Lily? With her skin, her hair, and her eyes, Lily had a very distinct look about her that made it extraordinarily easy to pick her out of any crowd.

"Look, is there anything I can do to prove I'm not her?" Lily asked, "I'd say ask me something only Ellie Potter would know but you probably know next to nothing about Ellie Potter."

"Tonks," Shacklebolt said, this time almost fondly, "Even if I were inclined to believe you, I wouldn't. You know as well as I do that the last place Ellie Potter would be right now is wandering around Hogsmeade unsupervised. With Black on the loose, all too likely after her personally, the staff would be mad to let her leave the castle."

Lily blinked, blinked again, and laughed awkwardly, "Yeah, funny that."

Slughorn probably would have her head when he found out.

Lily decided then and there that it wasn't worth it. For this meeting, it appeared she was going to be 'Tonks'. That was fine, that worked just as well, maybe even better as then Wizard Lenin could blame 'Tonks' for delivering Pettigrew to the ministry.

"Right, you got me, I am Nymphadora Tonks," Lily said with a small laugh, raising her hands in surrender.

However, something about what she said must have sounded funny, because Shacklebolt was giving her the weirdest look. Like she'd just gone and grown a second head.

"I'm here, in Hogsmeade, pretending to be Ellie Potter on a date with the world's most beautifully braindead teenager," she motioned to Rabbit, said braindead teenager, "And invited you also on this date because—I think it's best if I just show you."

With that, Lily brought up Pettigrew's cage, uncovered it, and showed Scabber's stunned form to a dumbfounded Kingsly Shacklebolt.

"Tonks, that's a rat," he said slowly.

"Oh contraire," Lily corrected, "This isn't just any rat, good sir. This rat is. in fact, a man who has been in hiding for over ten years out of fear of the law and his former master. This is a man who murdered dozens of muggles, sold out his best friends, and let his other friend take the fall for him. This, my friend, is none other than my parents' true Judas, Peter Pettigrew."

At her last words, Lily undid Pettigrew's transformation and turned the stunned rat into a stunned fat man. Lily imagined, that if she hadn't put wards around their table, the entire shop would be shrieking in terror and disgust right about now.

As it were, Shacklebolt nearly fell out of his seat and scrambled backwards in stunned alarm.

"Merlin, Tonks—"

"Pettigrew," Lily corrected and with a snap of her fingers undid Peter's paralysis.

At his first moments of freedom, at recognizing his surroundings as somewhere other than a basement, he immediately started scanning for exits. However, before he could make a dash for it, his eyes landed on Lily who smiled cheerfully back.

"Remember the day I told you was coming, Peter?" Lily asked the man cheerfully, "Well, it's finally here."

With another snap of her fingers, a chair materialized out of thin air and Peter found himself bound to it.

"Now, Peter, why don't you tell Mr. Shacklebolt about all the terrible things you've done?" Lily asked.

"Peter," Shacklebolt breathed in horrified wonder, "Peter, you're alive… Tonks, how did you—"

Lily decided to cut to the chase, "Sirius Black is innocent. The reason that Peter here is alive, has been in hiding for ten years, is because under any careful questioning it'd be revealed that he was the one behind James and Lily Potter's deaths."

"Ellie, please—" Pettigrew tried.

"Can it, Scabbbers," Lily said almost out of habit by this point, to the stunned Shacklebolt she explained, "Peter here has been pretending to be the Weasley pet rat, Scabbers."

As an afterthought, she couldn't help but add, "It was gross."

Shacklebolt didn't look as if he knew what to stay, he just kept staring at Peter, then continuing to stare. He opened his mouth, closed it, and then only a single word came out, "Peter—"

Pettigrew evidently saw his chance, his eyes darted to Shacklebolt's face, beady with growing terror, "She's lying, Kingsly, I would never betray—"

"Are you really going to accuse the girl who lived of lying, Pettigrew?" Lily asked dully, "Not even just that I'm terribly mistaken? That I've been deceived by people who know better?"

Granted, Peter had been suffering under her lackluster care for about a month now. She was sure, no she knew, that Peter was both terrified of her, confused by her, and resented her.

Lily couldn't say that the feeling was not mutual. For all she'd never taken the murder of her parents too personally, there was something about the sniveling cowardness of Peter Pettigrew's entire existence, the sheer wretchedness of him, that she couldn't abide.

To Shacklebolt she said, "Go ahead, give him veritiserum if you have any, he's the real deal."

Shacklebolt hesitated, which meant that he must have at least some on him, as aurors usually did. Peter saw his hesitation too and began to sweat in terror, "Please, Kingsly, you must believe me. There's no need to—"

"Oh, I think there is," Lily interjected, "And I think we both know that this has been coming for a very long time."

Hesitantly, a look of growing fear on and confusion on his own face, Shacklebolt took Lily's cup of tea and a vial from his robes. He carefully placed one drop of clear liquid into the tea and passed if to Lily, who in turn, floated it over to Pettigrew's lips and forced him to drink.

For a moment he spluttered, desperately tried to cough it up, but he swallowed none the less.

When he looked across at Shacklebolt, it was with dull resignation and horror.

For a moment though, Shacklebolt didn't ask anything, he just stared at Peter's face.

Then, quietly, he asked, "Are you the Peter Pettigrew I knew from the Order of the Phoenix, graduated from Hogwarts, 1978?"

"Yes," Peter said quietly.

"What was your first birthday present given to you by your favorite uncle?" Shacklebolt asked, brow furrowing.

"My first gobstone set," Peter answered in horror, the correct answer, by the look on Shacklebolt's face.

"Where have you been since October 31st, 1981?"

"Hiding," Peter said, he tried to bite his lip, but the rest of the words came gushing out, "Hiding as the Weasley's pet rat, first the son Percy's and then Ronald's, until I was captured by Ellie Potter."

Shacklebolt glanced at her, eyebrows raised, but evidently decided to keep his questions concerning her identity to himself.

Instead, he asked, "Why were you hiding?"

"Because of Sirius Black," Peter said again, and again when he tried to stop himself the rest came gushing out like a flood, "They all thought Sirius was the secret keeper, we hadn't told anyone else. After James and Lily died, Sirius was the only one who knew I was the secret keeper, and he came for me. They took him away to Azkaban and if they realized I was alive, they might ask questions, they might ask him questions, they might have a trial with veritiserum and then they'd know everything."

"You were the secret keeper—" Shacklebolt breathed in growing horror, "You—Peter, were you a Death Eater?"

"Yes," he said, his voice hitching as he fumbled over his words, desperate confessions and forced truths, "No, I mean—yes, not always, I wasn't at first. For a long time, I wasn't, for nearly a year I wasn't, I was just as loyal and honorable as everyone else. I was—yes, I was a Death Eater. Oh, Kingsly, please—"

"Were you the one to betray Lily and James?"

"Yes—I didn't want to, please, Kingsly, I had no choice—I had a choice, but I mean that—"

"Were you the one to murder the muggles?"

"Yes—yes, but Sirius might as well have, there were spells going back and forth everywhere and—"

"Is Sirius Black innocent of all charges?"

"Yes—yes, yes, he didn't do it, he didn't—"

Shacklebolt turned to look at her and commanded, "Stop him, please."

With a snap of her fingers, Pettigrew suddenly fell silent. She and Shacklebolt stared at one another.

"You are not Tonks," he finally said.

Lily said nothing to this, did not repeat that she was Ellie Potter or insist she was Nymphadora Tonks.

Instead, she said "The exoneration of Sirius Black will be a scandal like no other. It will devastate the political careers of half the ministry, make them look dangerously incompetent in an era where they cling to any shred of legitimacy. More, the dark lord wants Pettigrew back, and I don't believe he's above using his moles in the ministry to accomplish this task. If I had simply taken him to the ministry, handed him over to the Wizengamot or the auror corps, he would have either been dead in thirty minutes or back in the dark lord's clutches."

"If Pettigrew disappears," Lily continued, "Not only will there be no justice, but you will have condemned an innocent Sirius Black not only to twelve years in Azkaban, but to the most horrifying death I can imagine and a legacy of dishonor he did not earn."

With that, Lily finished, waiting for Shacklebolt to say something, anything.

"His memory could have been manipulated," Shacklebolt said carefully, surveying Peter as if the world started and ended with this quivering man, "He could simply think he's Peter Pettigrew, he could be under the influence of a Polyjuice Potion—"

"Polyjuice only works if the DNA is fresh," Lily noted, "Pettigrew would still have to be alive. As for his memories, go ahead, look through them, and ask yourself why a Peter Pettigrew who is alive would ever seek shelter from the law for over ten years."

"Why didn't you inform the Weasleys—"

"Ron wouldn't appreciate it," Lily said and explained, "Scabbers here has been sleeping on his pillow, nibbling on his ear for the past three years. You try to tell him that was secretly a grown man this whole time."

Shacklebolt looked as if he was remarkably close to vomiting.

Swallowing his bile, Shacklebolt tried again, "What about Dumbledore—"

"I tried," Lily said wryly, "He told me I was mistaken and refused to even see Pettigrew."

Why was it, Lily wondered, that they always asked her about running to Dumbledore?

Before Shacklebolt could say anything to that, perhaps insist that this couldn't possibly have happened, Lily spoke, "Your reputation proceeds you, Mr. Shacklebolt. I was told, of all those in the ministry, that you were the one not only capable of bringing Sirius Black justice but willing to do so. Check anything you want, check him for Polyjuice, for tampered memories, for anything at all. Please do, in fact. All I ask is that you give both Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black the trials they never received."

For a moment, Shacklebolt said nothing, he just kept staring at Peter Pettigrew as if waiting for him to disappear.

He didn't.

He didn't ask for her to drink the veritiserum, of how she'd known to find him or else use Tonks' name, or ask her why she was so invested in this. He didn't ask why she'd snuck into Hogsmeade for this, why she hadn't sent a more honest letter, or why Rabbit was here for that matter.

Instead, Shacklebolt stood. Then, as if struck by a whim, he held his hand out to her. Lily blinked at it and realized that he intended for her to shake it. She took it in her own, felt him grasp hers firmly back.

Gruffly, in a voice thick with emotion he didn't dare to voice, he said, "Good work, Potter."

With that, he grabbed hold of Pettigrew, and disapparated right in the store with a loud crack. In the blink of an eye, both Kingsly Shacklebolt and Peter Pettigrew were gone.

It was out of her hands now, for better or for worse.

She was sure that Shacklebolt would spend at least a day, maybe a week, verifying her claims. He'd look into her own background, read up on what he could of Ellie Potter. He'd put Pettigrew under veritiserum, wait out the hypothetical Polyjuice potion, and have his mind checked for tampering.

It would all come up clean, of course, because Pettigrew really was a traitor.

And it had felt like, for whatever reason, Shacklebolt had been inclined to believe her.

Still, if Shacklebolt didn't take her seriously, if someone didn't take him seriously, then Pettigrew would either wind up dead or be returned to Wizard Lenin like an errant package.

If he succeeded…

Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and the dementors in Hogwarts all held their breath as they waited to see what fate had in store.

And Lily, she now waited for the hammer to fall. She waited for that moment when Wizard Lenin realized she had not only deliberately disobeyed him, disregarded the only task he had set for her to accomplish, but had gone far out of her way to aid and exonerate his enemy.

It was over, finished, just like that.

"Is this not what you wanted?" Rabbit asked from across the table.

His eyes held a spark of curiosity, a spark of life, that had not been there earlier with Pettigrew and Shacklebolt.

"Perhaps," Lily said, "We'll see."

"It's the same outcome regardless," Rabbit said, cocking his head in an almost birdlike manner.

"Sirius Black or Peter Pettigrew," Rabbit explained, "Regardless of which way the humans fall, one will surely be devoured. What difference does it make, trading the life of one man for another?"

What difference did it make?

Lily hadn't thought of it like that.

Innocence, Uncle Death would probably say. Sirius Black was being condemned for a crime he did not commit, crimes that Peter Pettigrew had. Sirius Black did not deserve Peter Pettigrew's punishments.

However, that wasn't what Rabbit meant.

Good men, bad men, did it make a difference when the punishment was to be obliterated from reality? To have your very soul stolen from you?

Lily had, perhaps, just saved Sirius Black's life. However, she had only done so by giving his miserable fate to Peter Pettigrew instead. From Rabbit's perspective, perhaps even from her own, there was no difference.

She'd just swapped out their names.

Reaching out for Rabbit's untouched tea, for all that it cost Lily a pretty penny, it tasted bitter.

Author's Note: To be Kingsly, and thinking of a way to politely turn down Tonks, who has invited you on a date at Mme Puddifoot's where she's cosplaying as Ellie Potter on a date with a kid so beautiful he belongs in a boy band. Then to find out that, actually, this is Ellie Potter, Sirius Black is innocent, and here take Peter Pettigrew.

Thanks to readers and reviewers, reviews are much appreciated.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter