Chapter Two

Traitor

He burst into the training facilities, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw his department head separating the aurors and hit wizards into separate squads.

"Moody, Moody. I need you. Help." He yelled as he rushed across the mat.

To his horror his found himself in the center of at least 40 wands, and Moody was advancing on him, a furious expression on his face.

"Give him to me." He growled, nodding at the baby.

"No, you have to listen to me. Think about it. Just listen." Sirius plead, glancing at the wands of his coworkers. All of them there excepting his partner, except for James.

"Dumbledore sent word. I know what you have done. He was your partner, your friend. How dare you hold his son." His role model said flatly, still approaching him.

"How could you believe I would ever do that to Lily? To Jamie? You know me better than that old man. You have known me since I was seventeen years old, you know that I would never, never do such a thing. Give me a potion, take my memories, anything, but think about it Alastor. If I killed them, if I ever could have handed them to Voldemort, why would I have walked into the sodding ministry of magic with Harry? This is the very last place I would have come. I would never, never hurt James, and you will have to kill me before you get Harry from my hands."

His words seemed to register with Moody on some level. His eyes weren't quite as hard as they once were. "You are a suspect Sirius, you have to give him to me. You have to be placed under arrest." He said calmly. "If you are innocent, you will cooperate."

"Get Remus, go find Remus, he should be at our flat in London. Get him, I will give Harry to him and I will turn myself over. But I will only relinquish Harry to him and until I am proven guilty legally I am Harry's guardian. And until then, what I say, it is what goes." He said firmly.

He looked up as the sounds of new footsteps came into the room, he glanced down at the toddler who was now asleep in his arms. Dumbledore and the new Minister of Magic, Fudge, walked into the fray.

"Black you have very little options here, do you forget? I know that you were the secret keeper." Dumbledore said coolly. "Give me Harry, he needs to go to his aunt and uncle's. It is where he belongs. How will you raise him from Azkaban? All this is doing is traumatizing him more."

"No, I will not go to prison. You will listen, because you are wrong. You will listen. I will give Harry to Remus. I swear it, and then I will submit to questioning and potions or whatever else. But until you prove me guilty that boy is mine, Dumbledore."

He saw Fudge look at Dumbledore who nodded. "Remus knows too, he was there the night it was decided. We will get him, but it will be to your detriment. I have already talked to him tonight, he was with me when I found out about James and Lily. If you think he will find pity on you, well you are wrong." Albus said.

Fudge pointed to a group of aurors who all apparated away, after having worked with Sirius since he left Hogwarts they all knew where he lived.

Sirius slumped down into the floor, letting Harry lull in his arms. He looked at Dumbledore's disapproving glare.

"It wasn't me Albus, it was Peter, it was always Peter, you have to find him. It was Peter. Remus will know, he will believe me." He said softly, letting the emotions of the night wash over him while he waited for Remus.

He did not have to wait for long. In a few moments Remus clattered into the training room. His face was white, his eyes red rimmed, it looked as if he had dug his nails into his cheeks. He opened his mouth to speak before Dumbledore held up his hand to silence him.

"Remus, Sirius has agreed to give Harry to you. As legally he is Godfather if we take him forcefully it is kidnapping, not to mention it would be dangerous for Harry if we took him by force. I have brought you here, to take Harry." He said in a low voice.

When Remus didn't speak, Sirius got nervous, he merely stepped closer to him, when he was an arms length away Remus visibly flinched, his eyes swam with tears.

"Give him to me." He said hoarsely.

"Remus, it wasn't me, you know that it was not me." Sirius choked.

"Just…Just give me Harry. I will take him, just give me Harry."

When Sirius made no move to hand him over Remus stepped closer and placed his hands under the sleeping child's arms, pulling him from Sirius' grip. Harry woke with the transfer and began to cry at Sirius' absence. He stepped forward to take him back when Remus stepped back from him and raised his own wand.

"How…How could you do this? Do Lily? To James? To Harry! He is your Godson, he needed you, he trusts you, and look at him, look at his face, you did this. How, I don't understand how you could do this." Remus said in a deadly quiet voice.

Sirius gaped at him like a fish out of water, he thought that he had done this…How could he even begin to think that. Granted, he had thought the same of Remus before tonight, but Sirius betraying James? It was absurd.

"Moony, please, you know I couldn't have done that. Not to them. Not to Jamie. It was Pete, you have to listen to me." He stuttered. He was so stunned that he didn't even notice Moody stepping closer and binding his wrists together.

"You are officially in custody of the Ministry of Magic for questioning and suspicion of the conspiracy for the death of James, Lily and Harry Potter." He said in a gravely voice.

He shook his head as he watched Remus pat the back of the again sobbing toddler, this could not be happening. He couldn't even speak as he felt himself be drug from the room. When he saw Remus hand Harry over to Dumbledore it felt like he snapped.

"NO! Do not do this! Remus please. Do not give him to those muggles. He doesn't belong there. You have to keep him. Just keep him. Harry! Harry!" he screamed, until he was silenced with a swipe of Moody's wand.

He continued to fight all the way to the interview cell where he was thrown into the room and unbound, Moody came in behind him and locked the door before sitting in the chair behind the table, he silently removed the charm and allowed Sirius to speak.

"Where did they take him?" he demanded.

"I believe they are taking him to Privet Drive." Moody responded. "How could you do this Sirius? He was your partner."

"I didn't! I didn't do it!" Sirius yelled. "I am telling you, it was Peter, it has always been Peter. It wasn't me, it wasn't Remus as I had thought, it was Peter."

"Albus and Remus both are going to testify and submit memories that it was you who were their secret keeper." He said simply.

"Let them, it is what I wanted them to think. What James wanted them to think. It was my idea, all mine, James just went along with it. I did not sell them out, but I may as well have. It was my fault that we switched. You have to find Pettigrew. You have to find him." Sirius pled.