Disclaimer: See previous chapters.

The Brotherhood

A/N - Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. You guys are great!

~~~ Chapter Fourteen ~~~

Remus couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned in his bed for a while, but then gave up and sat up. Climbing out of bed, he decided that if he couldn't sleep, he might as well go work on grading those fourth year essays.

Grabbing his robe and slipping it on, he padded over to the door and left the room, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the light that was on in the main room.

Then he stopped. He had turned the light off, he was sure of it.

Looking around the room, Remus froze as he spotted two figures sitting on the couch. He recognised them both instantly. Sirius Black was watching him, his grey eyes sombre. The other figure, Remus had never met, but he knew it must be Harry. He looked almost exactly like James. The boy wasn't watching him, in fact, it seemed as if he hadn't even noticed another person had entered the room. His eyes were focused on the flickering flames of the dying fire.

Remus' eyes flickered back to Black and they stared at each other, waiting for the other person to make the first move.

Remus reached for his wand, but found only an empty pocket. He had left his wand back in his bedroom.

"Remus," Sirius' voice grated out. Harry lifted his head then, and turned to look first at Sirius, and then over at Remus.

Upon seeing the other man, he sat up straighter.

Remus' eyes flickered between the two. They didn't seem to be there to harm him, otherwise they would have done something instead of just stare at him by this point.

"What are you here for?" Remus asked.

Black answered, "We're just here to talk."

Remus highly doubted that. They had taken the trouble to break into Hogwarts just to talk to him? It didn't make sense.

"Do you remember, Remus, how it was before? When there was the four of us? The Marauders," Black started.

Remus frowned. The memories welled up, exactly as Black had been trying to do, he suspected.

As Black was still staring at him, Remus gave a short nod.

"Remember after Hogwarts, when things changed? Life was good. James had married his dream girl and had a son,"

Remus glanced at Harry at this point, but he had gone back to staring into the fire.

"We went over to the Potters' house nearly every evening because Lily was the best cook. You remember that?" Sirius asked.

Remus sighed, but nodded again, wondering just where this was going.

"Then things changed. James and Lily had to go into hiding. They had to choose someone to be their secret keeper. Dumbledore suggested himself, and James wanted me," Sirius went on.

"Why are you telling me all this? I already know," Remus questioned his voiced strained.

"It has a purpose. Just keep listening, will you?" Sirius said, irritated, before continuing.

"James wanted me to be the secret keeper. Lily didn't agree. She wanted you to be the secret keeper. I convinced her otherwise. I thought…I thought you were the traitor."

Remus flinched, and went to protest, but Sirius gave him a pleading look and Remus allowed him to continue.

"You were the only one. It couldn't possibly have been Peter. I don't think Lily really thought you were the traitor, James either, but she finally consented for me to be the secret keeper.

"We told everyone who knew they were going into hiding with the full intent that I would be the secret keeper. The day to set the charm came. Before the charm was set, I came up with a plan. I thought that I was too obvious a choice. Voldemort would suspect that I was the secret keeper. I suggested to James that he should use Peter instead. Nobody would suspect that Peter was the secret keeper.

"James thought it was a good idea and we switched. Only James, Lily, and I knew. It wasn't me that betrayed them. It was Peter."

"You expect me to believe that?" Remus asked.

Sirius reached down to the couch beside him and pulled out a photo album that was very familiar to Remus. It was Harry's album.

After Harry had been sent to Azkaban, Remus had been given all of Harry's stuff, despite never having met him. Dumbledore thought it best that it didn't go to the Dursley's, and Remus was the next guardian in line.

Sirius flipped the album casually and Remus shifted his weight from one leg to the other, impatiently.

He knew that he shouldn't have even allowed Black to tell the story. He should have gotten his wand and sent up an alarm. Some part of him, though, however deep it was hidden, longed for Sirius to be innocent, and Harry too. He couldn't just send up an alarm and perhaps get them caught; so he allowed Black to finish saying what he was trying to say.

Remus looked up again as Black pulled out a photo from the album and held it up. Remus studied the photo and was surprised to see that it was one from their school years. It showed Sirius, James, and Peter in animagus form, crouching behind some bushes, hiding, as Remus talked with Lily.

Remus remembered that day clearly. It had been a plan to get James a date with the ever-elusive Lily. Remus had drawn her out to the grounds where the three were waiting. Once she was alone, Sirius would go up to her as a dog and lead her to where James waited for her, as a stag.

They had discovered, two days previously, that Lily loved deer, and James had fully intended to use that to his benefit.

However, the plan hadn't worked. Lily hadn't followed Sirius. Instead, she had gone in the opposite direction, running away from the dog. They had later found out that Lily was allergic to dogs.

"Do you remember what happened the night that I went to Azkaban?" Sirius asked, still holding up the photo for Remus to see.

"Yes," Remus answered.

"I confronted Peter about his betraying James and Lily. He was hard to find; I had only managed to corner him on a street full of muggles. Before I could do or say anything, Peter started to yell out to the muggles about how I had betrayed James and Lily, and that I was the traitor. He then blew up the street before cutting off his finger and then turning into a rat and scampering away down to the dungeons. I could only stand there and laugh. Me, outwitted by Peter, can you imagine?" Sirius looked wistful.

Remus didn't comment.

"Once I was securely in prison, Peter found someplace to live. He chose a family of wizards. The Weasley's." Sirius then pulled out another photo, holding it up beside the first.

It was a picture of a family of redheads. Remus' eyes zeroed in on the rat that was perched on the youngest boy's shoulder.

He noticed faintly that the rat was missing a toe.

Looking up at Black's eyes, he searched them. In them, he found no trace of the murderer he thought that man was. Instead, he found sincerity and a sense of pleading.

Remus glanced once again at Harry, who was watching Sirius. On closer inspection, he saw that Harry's eyes weren't on Sirius, but on the photo of the redheaded family.

"Remus?" Sirius caught his attention.

Remus turned back to the man he had once called a friend. Maybe, just maybe, this story was possible. Hadn't he hoped that Sirius had always been innocent? Hadn't he hoped that he would have just one of his friends, no brothers, back?

"I believe you," Remus finally replied.

A/N - I have writer's block with this story. I have the next two chapters written already so I'll post those soon but after that the story just seems to not want to be written. Maybe reviews will help break down the writer's block?