A/N
Team- Tutshill Tornados
Position- Captain
Prompt- Write about an action or event that has major consequences.
Word Count- 2562
Peter can't believe he is going to be captured after being on the run for 13 years. He is going to be handed over to the dementors. Peter isn't ready for it. He needs to do something to save himself but, he has no idea what?
Luckily for him, Remus forgot to take the wolfsbane potion and, when he changes into a werewolf when the moon rises, it creates the perfect opportunity for him to change into his rat form and run. That's what he does.
He runs and runs until he is out of Hogsmeade, away from any possibility of a dementor coming after him. He changes back to his human form and apparates to one place he knows that he won't get caught: Godric's Hollow.
Once he reaches Godric's Hollow, he books a room at the local inn and plans his next move. He knows he can't go back to Hogwarts at all. That's one place that's out of the question for him now.
He has two options now: either he stays on the run all his life or finds where the dark lord is and returns to his side. There is a third option where he surrenders himself to his fate, a voice inside his head says, but there is no way on the earth that he is going to take that option.
Peter is nothing but an opportunist. He knows that he is going to be the safest at his dark lord's side. Sure, the dark lord is going to torture him for his mistakes. It will still keep him safe and alive and that's all he wants.
He knows from his spying as Scabbers that Dumbledore thinks that the dark lord is in Albania right now, so that's where he will go from here but, first, he will need some supplies.
Knowing the dark lord the way he does, it will not go well for him if he shows up in front of him without any means of survival. He would like to avoid getting punished as long as he can.
He makes a list of things he will need to gather before heading towards Albania. He is going to need money, potions and potion ingredients, clothes, food. He will also need to find a wand for him to use.
He knows he will have to steal to get everything he needs. Trying to access his vault will be risky, especially since Dumbledore will be on the lookout for him now.
He will have to find an opportunity to find the right house for him to raid for the supplies, which, in a town containing many wizarding families, shouldn't be hard. He needs to find the right time to get it.
The opportunity arises when he is out getting food for himself. He overhears a couple talking about their neighbours who are visiting their son for the weekend.
That's perfect, Peter thinks, as he follows the couple to their home. His happiness soon turns sour when he notices the statue that stands opposite their house.
The house he was going to raid is opposite the church where they have built the statue honouring the Potter family.
Peter hesitates for a moment before he finds himself standing in front of the statue. His guilt has brought his feet over here. He has to apologize to his friends or else he wouldn't be able to breathe easily.
James and Lily look as beautiful as they did when they were alive. Then his eyes find Harry, and it makes him realize how he had robbed him of his parents. He is still denying him justice for his parents.
He averts his eyes, unable to look at the statue any longer. His heart grows heavy with each second he is standing there. The guilt that he had suppressed for so long is eating him alive now.
He feels as if his friends are looking at him right now and judging him for his actions. He can feel their disapproval in his bones. It makes him feel sick.
"Stop getting distracted, Peter, you need to go get supplies," he tells himself, trying to convince himself to leave.
He forces his legs to move and walk away from there, but the guilt is holding him in his place. Suddenly he remembers Sirius' words.
"Then you should have died! Died rather than betray your friends, as we would have done for you!"
Sirius is right, he thinks. All of them would have died for him no matter what was at stake. They were loyal like that, unlike him. He is just a lousy mouse who thinks only about himself.
He thinks back to his friendship with the marauders who always treated him as a brother, but he never saw them that way. They were just tools for him to feel powerful.
He had befriended James and Sirius because they came from powerful wizarding families. Being with them would have kept him, a cowardly half-blood, safe at school. Remus was probably the only one he had befriended without a goal in his mind.
He did everything with the three of them, which, he has to admit now, was fun. The time he spent with the three of them was the best years of his life. He might have become friends with them for a reason but everything he did with them was because he wanted to do it, be it pranks, making the map or becoming an animagus.
He smiles bitterly remembering the moments he had spent with them. He was happy with them but then the war had broken out. The dark lord kept gaining power and the light side kept losing out to him.
It is then he decided he needed to change sides because he didn't want to end up on the losing side. He had decided that the dark side was the right choice for him. How wrong he had been.
Becoming a spy for the dark lord was the worst decision he ever made. Every time he hung out with his friends, he was burdened with the guilt that he was betraying them. The dark lord rewarded him for every useful information and punished him for the rest.
He remembers all the times he lied to his friends and bailed out on them to attend the meetings with the dark lord. He still remembers the disappointment that they had shown when he would miss out on dinners, birthday parties and house visits.
He starts regretting the decision to even betray them. He decides he doesn't want to live with the guilt of hurting them anymore. He needs to apologize to James and Lily. He needs to make it up to Sirius for all the trouble he has caused him. He needs to make sure that Harry won't have to face any more trouble in his life, at least because of him.
If making amends for his actions means going to Azkaban, then so be it. He decides that he is no longer going to go and seek out Voldemort. Instead, he is going to head over to the ministry and turn himself into Amelia Bones. It's high time he did something right.
But first, he has to do something. He follows the path down to the cemetery. He finds the burial spot for James and Lily and conjures a bouquet for them.
"James, Lily, I know that I shouldn't be here, but I have realised how wrong I have been. I want to correct the wrongs I did. I want to make up for all my mistakes. I am sorry that I betrayed you to the dark lord. I am sorry that I destroyed your family. I hope someday you will be able to forgive me," Peter bows his head down.
He drops down on the floor and starts crying. The guilt and regret are flowing freely out of his eyes now. He sobs over his past actions. He sobs for his lost friendships. He sobs over how he turned out to be a pathetic man.
"I am going to the ministry now. I will turn myself to Amelia tonight. I will make sure that Sirius gets a trial and comes out as a free man. Harry, Sirius and Remus will be a family, and that's going to be the last thing I ever do in my life. I am sorry for everything, please forgive me," he tells his friends once he has composed himself.
He apparates to the ministry after that. He changes into Wormtail and passes the security. He heads down to the department of law enforcement to Amelia's office.
He gets inside her office and sees that she is alone. He takes the opportunity and turns back to his human form. He scares Amelia with his sudden appearance, but the next moment, her wand is in his face.
"Who are you?" she demands from him.
"My name is Peter Pettigrew, and I am here to turn myself in," he tells her.
The name seems to clicks in Amelia's mind as recognition flashed in her eyes.
"Peter Pettigrew is dead," she says.
"I am alive. I framed Sirius Black for my death and those 13 muggles. He is innocent. I am ready to take the veritaserum to prove myself," he begs her to believe him.
Amelia seems to take her time coming to a decision. In the end, the decision is in his favour.
"Stay right there," she warns him and orders her secretary to get the truth potion.
Soon, she has it with her and she gives the potion to Peter who readily takes it.
"What is your name?" she asks him.
"My name is Peter Pettigrew," he answers.
"Did Sirius Black kill those muggles that night?" The interrogation continues.
"No, I killed those muggles and framed him."
"Why did you frame Sirius Black?"
"I framed Sirius Black because he knew the truth,"
"What truth did Sirius Black know?"
"He knew that I was the secret keeper of James and Lily Potter's home. He knew that he was innocent."
Amelia is taken back by the knowledge. She, like others, believed Sirius Black to be guilty of all his crimes. She realises that they have committed a big mistake that needs to be corrected.
She administers the antidote to Peter and orders the Aurors to take him to the holding cells.
She then calls for a press conference to take place in the next 10 minutes. She knows that she needs to take actions without consulting her superiors because they will leave no stone unturned to save themselves instead of delivering justice.
There are many reporters present by the time she reaches the atrium for the conference. She takes the stand and delivers the statement she prepared.
"Earlier in the night, a man visited my office, claiming to be Peter Pettigrew, a man who we thought has been dead for 13 years. He agreed to take the veritaserum and answered all the questions truthfully. He confessed that he is, in fact, Peter Pettigrew, and he killed those 13 muggles on the night he supposedly died. He also confessed that he was the secret keeper for James and Lily Potter. He admitted that he framed Sirius Black for the crimes he himself committed. Peter Pettigrew is now in custody.
"The Ministry has committed a grave mistake with the way the case with Sirius Black was handled. I am officially taking back the case against Sirius Black, which means he is a free man effective immediately. I would like that Mr Black would come and see me as soon as he can so that we can take care of the formalities. The search for Sirius Black is officially called off. Thank you for coming to the press conference," she dismisses them.
She doesn't take any questions or wait for anyone else to cross her path. She is a woman on a mission. She has to declare Sirius innocent before Corelinus takes charge.
She heads to her office and takes care of all the paperwork that would declare Sirius innocent, totally unaware of the havoc she is about to create for someone.
The news is all over the papers the following morning. Remus and Harry see the paper together.
"Why would Peter turn himself in?" Harry asks Remus.
"I believe he realised that he was wrong and that he should correct his mistakes, I am glad he did that. It shows that the Peter we knew still exists somewhere," he replies.
"What does this mean for Sirius?" Harry questions.
"Well, Sirius will have to meet Amelia and get the formalities done before he is a free man," Remus answers.
"I hope he does it soon. I can't wait to see him as a free man," Harry says.
"Me too, Harry," Remus agrees.
They are unaware of the fact that Sirius is doing exactly that at the moment.
Sirius is sitting with Amelia going over his own interrogation and signing paperwork.
"That does it. You are now a free man Sirius," Amelia declares.
"Thank you, Amelia," Sirius thanks her. "Can I ask for a favour Amelia?" she then asks her.
"Of course Sirius," she agrees.
"You know that I am Harry's godfather? I would like to get his custody as soon as possible," he requests.
"Was it mentioned in their will?" she asks.
"It was," he answers.
"Then I don't see why you can't get his custody immediately," she says.
She then asks for someone to come from the department of child welfare to come to her office with Harry's file. The three of them quietly transfer Harry's custody to Sirius.
Later that week Sirius goes to the station to pick up Harry to take him home for the summer. Harry is surprised to see him at King's Cross.
"Sirius, what are you doing here?" he asks him.
"I am here to take you home of course. I am officially your guardian now Harry. I told you we are going to be a family," Sirius grins.
Harry can't believe his ears. He finally gets to be a family with Sirius. He is overjoyed. So after saying goodbye to Ron and Hermione, they finally head home.
They don't bother dealing with the Dursleys today. That's for a later time. Today, they are going to be a family.
They are a family because Peter decided to confess. Peter's trial was set to take place later that month. At his trial, Peter was sentenced to life in Azkaban and where he eventually died of old age.
Peter's one decision changed the course of Harry's future. Since Peter never went to Albania, Voldemort didn't come back to life either as nobody knows about his whereabouts. He is still living a weakened life. Harry's name never came out of the Triwizard cup. Umbridge never came to teach at Hogwarts. The death eaters never break out of Azkaban. Dumbledore didn't die in Harry's sixth year. Neither did the death eater take over Hogwarts. Harry graduates from Hogwarts and goes on to become a successful quidditch player for Puddlemere United and England. He marries Ginny and they have James Sirius, Albus Remus and Lily Luna together who grew up together with Remus and Tonks's children. Harry never had to worry about Voldemort coming back to life again.