Harry Potter and the New Start: Public Enemy

Hello to you all! Thanks so much to all of the reviewers! I'm glad that no one was especially against what I'm planning. Drama will arise, so be prepared for that.

------------------------------------Sewers Under London

The rat called Wormtail raced underneath the streets of London. Muggle London no less. For a animal so small, a rat was surprisingly quick. It was easy to move about in the slimy tunnels. And once you got used to the smell, it only made it that much easier.

But Peter Pettigrew was not used to the smell of the sewers. He wasn't used to hunting for his food and facing other – real – rats. But he had no choice. This was the result of a choice. Of course, he would have chosen differently had he know the outcome would be this.

The plan had been foolproof on his end. Sirius and James had chosen him to be the secret keeper for the Potters. Why, he would never really know. But he had his guesses. They thought that little Peter was too weak. That he wasn't anyone's choice for anything important.

They were wrong.

It was ironic, because Sirius and James were never wrong. Nor was Remus. But there they were, one dead, one alone and one a convict. All because they'd been wrong. Look who was the winner now!

The past still brought a small smile to his pale, drawn out face. All those conversations with Remus about how Sirius had to be the traitor. How torn up the werewolf had been to even suggest such a thing. And Peter had been right there next to him, agreeing in the horror of it all. But he'd agreed with all of Remus's speculations, telling him that it had to be Sirius.

And then, sometimes not hours later, he would be with Sirius mulling over how dear Moony could be the traitor. How Sirius wished that it was someone else, but how all the evidence pointed to Remus. Not that there was a lot of evidence on either end, but with the times people needed little evidence.

He played his part very well. The Dark Lord would have been so happy with him had things gone right.

For a while, things had done just that. He knew the secret keeper to be Sirius. It wouldn't take long for someone with as much power as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to find Sirius Black. But then Sirius, in all his clever glory, had come up with a new plan. A plan that made things so much easier for he and his master.

They changed the secret keeper to Wormtail.

Peter relished in the fact that James had signed his own death certificate. The dark lord would get Harry and James, and then there would be no threats to him.

But that wasn't how it went. That stupid little child had defeated his lord. How, no one knew. But he had done it. Once the news had reached Peter he knew what he had to do. There was no one who knew that Peter was the secret keeper, no one alive anyway, except Sirius. Not Remus or Dumbledore. Not Arabella. Just Sirius.

So he framed him, he cut off his own finger, transformed and sped away. Leaving Sirius with the aftermath. In his dreams, Sirius's laughter still floated in his mind. But that would only help the Ministry's case. Finally, Sirius's tendency to laugh when he should cry would catch up to him.

Peter anticipated a life of extreme ease afterwards. Yes, he would have to hide, but he had enough money to burrow up in the old flat that the Marauders – and only the Marauders – knew he owned. Remus wouldn't dare go there after he thought his friend to be dead.

But Sirius screwed things up again. He got out of Azkaban. Azkaban. The only person to ever escape was the only person in the place that was a threat to him.

So Peter had left, he ran far and wide. He had to stay hidden from Sirius at all times. But now he had a new plan. He had framed Sirius once, he could do it again. All he had to do was find them.

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Minister of Magic Ends Four-Year Search for Harry Potter!

By Rita Skeeter

The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, held a press conference last week to announce that the Ministry would be calling off its search for Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived.

As many remember, four years ago the child who defeated the Dark Lord was sent to live with his muggle relatives in a undisclosed location. Albus Dumbledore, head of choosing where to place the child, said that he would grow up under the protection of many wards and away from the public glare. Disbelief of such a choice ran rampant through the wizarding community. Why Dumbledore chose muggle relatives over the hundreds of families who had offered to adopt the child was a mystery to all.

The protection, it proved, was not enough to keep the little boy safe. Worry once again resurfaced one month later when known Dark Lord supporter Sirius Black escaped from the Azkaban fortress. A feat which was once thought impossible.

Our fears were confirmed when it was reported that Harry Potter had been taken from his relatives home in the middle of the night. The bitter truth that the child had been taken by Black stung in the hearts of wizards and witches everywhere. The ministry, naturally, launched a massive search for the child and offered up a reward for any information that could be given.

Four years later, the ministry is calling off the search, which had brought forward no results. At the press conference, Minister Fudge sadly stated, "The kidnapping of little Harry Potter is a terrible thing. We have looked long and hard for any leads or locations of Black and the boy, but have turned up only dead ends. There is no solid proof that the child is even alive anymore, or that if he is he will ever be found. We can no longer keep this search going, and have called it off."

Once again, the wizarding community was shocked at another – what many consider to be poor – choice was made in regards to the Boy-Who-Lived. Most people are in agreement that this is an unwise choice, and a action that will give up all hope to finding little Harry again.

Albus Dumbledore, current Headmaster at Hogwart's School, could not be reached for a comment in regards to the press conference.

Could the ministry have done more? Were all the leads exhausted? Or was this yet another blunder of a ministry that has many on its record. This special correspondent will be combing the streets for anyone with a comment on the matter. Perhaps, with enough public support, the search can be re-launched. Or is it too much trouble for the Minister of Magic. The wizarding world will soon find out.

I couldn't just forget Peter! So don't be angry, you were all warned before chapter one that he would be here, if you don't remember when, read the story summary! Hehe, it's there.

Sorry for the shortness, the next one will be longer. It's going to be the Diagon Alley trip, so you'll have that to look forward too.

PLEASE REVIEW!

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