(PoA) CHAPTER TWELVE: The Secret-Keeper Switch
They were in a new place—one Ellie didn't recognize from any of the other memories. The inside of a wizarding house. James and Lily were both there with Sirius, looking to be older than she'd seen them thus far—at least twenty. Lily was pacing and rocking a crying baby in her arms—baby Harry, in all likelihood. Ellie spotted her own younger self in a play pen in the same room. Young Sirius turned anxiously to look at her every few seconds.
"This is James and Lily's house," Lupin told Ellie quietly. "In Godric's Hollow."
"Are you sure about this, James?" Lily was asking her husband. "That it has to be Peter? What about Remus?"
Lupin glanced up at that.
"Remus has enough on his plate already," said Sirius. "We can't ask this of him—not that we should ask it of Peter, either." He glanced pointedly at James. "Can't you just stick with me?"
"You're too obvious a choice," James insisted. "We're lucky he hasn't come for you already."
"Let him come! You know I'd never betray you, James. Can you really say the same for Peter?"
But James' expression was firm. "I'm not worried about you betraying me, Sirius; I'm worried about you dying for me. You have a daughter now. She needs her father. We have to trust in Peter; we have no other choice."
Sirius' grey eyes trailed over to little Ellie as she played obliviously with her toys.
"Fine," he said with a reluctant nod. "For her."
"They were talking about Secret-Keepers," Ellie whispered to Lupin as they were torn from that memory and to the next. She recalled Sirius telling her the Cliffnotes version of the story she had just witnessed when they were still at Serena's that summer. "Weren't they?"
"Indeed," Lupin whispered back. "The Fidelius Charm. James and Lily used it to remain hidden from the Dark Lord. We always thought…"
She was starting to understand. The rest of the world—at least, those closest to James and Lily—had believed Sirius to be their Secret-Keeper. But James had insisted on switching to Peter at the last minute to protect Sirius and Ellie, and Peter had betrayed them.
She scanned her surroundings carefully. They were in a small, mostly unfurnished wizarding house, and its only inhabitants were Sirius and Baby Ellie. It was the same house that Serena had dropped her off at, Ellie realized as she looked around. Sirius' home. Their home.
The phone rang, and Sirius jumped out of his seat to answer it—clearly already on edge.
"It's me on the line," Lupin said quietly to Ellie. "When I heard what happened to James and Lily, I assumed he had betrayed them. I called to confront him about it."
"What are you talking about?" young Sirius was shouting into the phone. "No—no—surely it isn't true, Remus. I—"
But the line had gone dead. Sirius dropped the phone, looking horrified.
And then, suddenly, he was grabbing baby Ellie and leaving the house.
Ellie didn't recall having seen a flying motorbike before, but judging from the way her toddler self was sobbing when Sirius landed the bike in front of a mysterious, new house, she'd had a bad experience or two.
"It's alright, little one," Sirius cooed to her as he nestled her deeper into the little compartment within the sidecar. "I'll just be a minute."
Ellie watched with rapt attention as Sirius headed for the door of the small house and banged on it for all he was worth. His eyes were manic, and his mannerisms even more so. He had just lost his best friend, she reminded herself. She doubted she'd even be able to stand up straight if she lost Fred.
"Peter!" Sirius bellowed through the door. "Open up, you filthy coward!"
But the door didn't open.
Sirius didn't wait another second, nor did he take out his wand and use magic; he was a man possessed with rage. He rammed so hard into the door, it splintered into pieces. Ellie and Lupin followed him cautiously inside.
"Nothing," Sirius muttered as he stormed through the perfectly pristine house. "Nothing out of place—not a chair—not a desk. No struggle."
"He's realizing that Peter came to the Dark Lord willingly," Remus whispered to Ellie. "That he wasn't tortured at all."
Sirius stormed back out of the house at that, making his way back to the motorbike and to Ellie. But he stopped short when a great, hulking figure came toward him.
"Sirius," said the figure, sounding surprised. "What're yeh doin' out here?"
Ellie recognized that voice. She took a step closer to him, and her eyes widened when she realized who it was: Hagrid. And in his arms was baby Harry.
"Is that Harry?" asked Sirius, eyes trailing down toward his godson. "What are you doing with him, Hagrid?"
Hagrid stiffened, taking a step back from Sirius. He looked… apprehensive, to say the least. "I'm takin' him to his aunt and uncle's on Dumbledore's orders. Yeh heard about James an' Lily?"
Sirius nodded gravely, grey eyes still locked onto the baby in Sirius' arms. "He's my godson, Hagrid. Let me take him. He can grow up with Ellie."
Ellie's heart lurched painfully at that. She knew, of course, that Hagrid wouldn't give up Harry, and that Harry would be raised by his aunt and uncle. But what if Hagrid had given him up? Would Sirius have abandoned his need for revenge and focused on raising the children? Would Ellie and Harry have grown up together? Sure, it probably would have stomped out any chance of romance between the two, but both of them would have been so much happier, growing up with a father who loved them—growing up with magic.
"No," said Hagrid firmly. "I'm righ' sorry, Sirius, but orders are orders. This is wha' Dumbledore wants."
For a second, Ellie saw the same rage in Sirius' eyes that she had seen inside Peter's house. Anger that could explode if unchecked. She thought he might even do something to poor Hagrid—which she would never forgive him for.
But, instead, he reached into the sidecar of his motorbike, pulled out Ellie and a folded-up stroller, and said, "Then you'd better take the bike. Little Whinging is a long way from here."
"He should have given you to Hagrid," Lupin said darkly as they appeared at the next spot. Ellie had a feeling they both recognized the significance of this location; the city streets at night were distinctly London, which was, of course, the place Sirius had reportedly killed twelve Muggles and Peter Pettigrew with a single spell. "Or to Serena. He should never have brought you here."
"He thought he could handle Peter," Ellie explained, recalling the explanation Sirius had given her back at Serena's. "He didn't think I'd be in danger."
They both turned their attention toward Sirius as he placed Ellie's stroller beneath a dark, shadowy awning. His eyes were rabid with fury, but they softened when he looked at her.
"Wait here," he said to toddler Ellie. "This'll only take a minute."
To her surprise, her younger self spoke back to him—just a single word. "Daddy."
Sirius' eyes clouded over with love, and for an instant, Ellie half-hoped he might forget all about his quest for vengeance and take her away from that place.
But then the sound of footsteps approached from behind him, and his look of love was replaced by a look of fury.
"Peter!" Sirius screamed, tearing toward the man Ellie had only seen in a few of the other memories. He was fatter now, and starting to go bald already. "You traitor!"
Ellie scanned their surroundings as a lump started to form in her throat. There were people around them—Muggles. Just about twelve of them.
"Traitor?" repeated Peter with a sadistic sort of smirk. "You're the one who betrayed your friends, Sirius—the one who betrayed James and Lily."
"How could you?" Sirius was wailing. "To do that to your—"
But before he could so much as finish his sentence, Peter was lifting his wand into the air. From next to her, Ellie sensed Lupin tense up. This was important, she knew. This would make or break Sirius' story.
"Confringo," Peter bellowed—at the exact time Sirius pointed his wand at Ellie's stroller and shouted, "Protego!"
The blast that ensued was so gigantic, it resulted in a giant crater forming in the middle of the street. All around them, Muggles were screaming—some half-dead; some all-dead; some perfectly fine. Sirius stared in confusion at the spot where Peter had just been, then, suddenly, seemed to remember Ellie.
He dived over to the spot where he had left his child, reaching frantically into it to pick her up. She was screaming, too, just like the Muggles around her. But she was unharmed.
"I don't understand," Ellie whispered to Lupin. "If he cast a shield charm on me, how did he survive?"
"Your father was—is—extremely powerful," Lupin explained. His eyes were still on Sirius. He looked amazed. "I'm sure his shield charm was strong enough to protect you both."
"They're going to be here any second," Sirius whispered to Ellie. "The Ministry can't know you're my daughter. I need you to stay hidden, my sweet girl. Just until your mummy comes. Can you do that for me?"
Baby Ellie had to be less than two years old at this point; she wasn't exactly fluent yet. But even then, she locked eyes with her father, grey on grey, and whispered, "Don't go, Daddy."
Current Ellie had to fight very hard to stifle a sob at that.
"I love you, Ellie," Sirius whispered to her. "I'm sorry."
And with that, he placed her back in the stroller and turned away from her.
"Peter!" he shouted, stepping back over to the scene of the crime. "I know you're out there, you traitor. Where are you?"
"He disappeared as soon as the blast went out," Ellie said to Lupin, confused. "Isn't he…?"
She watched in further confusion as Sirius stooped down to pick something up. Her hand flew to her mouth when she saw what it was: a finger. Peter's finger.
Sirius cursed in disgust as he tossed the finger aside and rose to his feet. The Ministry witches and wizards were starting to appear—Ellie even spotted Fudge himself in the fray.
"Sirius Black," Fudge said, stepping over to him, wand raised. "What have you done?"
It was the perfect setup, Ellie realized. She knew it, and Sirius knew it, too.
And that was why, in the moments leading up to his arrest, all Sirius Black could do was laugh.
Mostly straight from the book, save from the obvious difference that he had a daughter! Will these memories be enough to convince Ellie and Lupin that he's 100% trustworthy? Things are only going to get juicier and juicier, folks, so keep on staying tuned, and keep on reviewing!
