Price of Peace
Chapter One
In Pursuit of Truth
Azkaban Prison
Cell of Sirius Black
October 31st, (1922/1989)
It had taken far longer than Remus would have liked to finally be granted a visitation with his former friend. Dumbledore had been resistant to the idea, to the point that Remus had eventually gone around the man and requested it through the Aurors office. He explained that he wished to confront his former friend, and hopefully gain the answers that had evaded them all for so long.
Remus, of course, had heard of the horrors of Azkaban. Every witch and wizard in Europe, at least, if not the world, had heard of it. The highest security prison available, situated in the middle of the stormy sea, guarded by Dementors. Creatures so foul the mention of them caused fear. He wished there was another way. He knew, and Severus agreed an unusual amount of sympathy, that he was likely to suffer nightmares for weeks from just the guards.
Dementors did not care for guilt or innocence. They cared only for fear and pain. They drug up the worst of memories for any who come across their path, leaving their victims with nothing but misery. As if no happiness will ever come again. Remus shuttered at the idea as he deboarded the boat along side Barty Crouch, who had insisted on accompanying him on the journey, and Kingley Shacklebolt. Kingley would be staying with the boat, Crouch had a different prisoner to question, or so he said.
Remus did not care why the other men had come, as long as he was allowed his private interview with Sirius. For, ever since his conversation months ago with Severus over the possibility of a second traitor among the order, Remus had wondered about the holes in the story they were given. Holes that until then were ignored in favor of grief and anger.
Remus shuddered again as he was lead to Sirius' cell. The silent creature floating in front of him filling him with dread as they walked. Even as he approached, he found himself wondering why he would bother trying to sort this mess out. After all, was it not all pointless in the end? Suddenly, he caught himself, and shook off the line of thought. The Dementors were affecting him, draining his will. He glared at the one in front of him, even as he felt others floating nearby.
This was indeed a foul punishment. He couldn't imagine a scarier fate, one, perhaps, Sirius had earned…or perhaps not. It depended on his answers today. Remus was let into the cell by the sightless wraith, then turned to his former friend. "Hello Sirius."
"Come to gloat have you?" Sirius rasped, slightly manic sounding. " Finally decided to check in? Perhaps you wish to watch my torment yourself."
"What I want Sirius is answers." Remus frowned at the other man. He had lost weight since his imprisonment, his face sunken and skin pale. His hair matted and grown out. He was not, however, raving like those around him. He seemed depressed but not mad. The Dementors' punishment was somehow less effective with him.
Remus considered the matter, wondering if perhaps it was Sirius' other ability that spared him, but no matter, it was not why he had come today. Sirius laughed at him now, not a happy laugh of youth, but a cruel laugh of the condemned. "I asked for you, many times. You denied me then. Why come now?" Sirius demanded.
"Did you work alone? That is why I came. To learn who else betrayed our friends." Remus said, cutting straight to the point. The sooner he could get away from Sirius and the Dementors the better.
"I did not betray them at all." Sirius sighed. "Ask Dumbledore. He knows the truth. He cast the spell."
"You're saying that Dumbledore knows something about this?" Remus demanded as he grabbed the front of Sirius' robes. "Was he involved in the betrayal?"
"So quick to accuse. Perhaps you are involved. I would not know. I do know that Peter took the oath, not me." Sirius sniffed angrily, pushing his former friend away. "We, James and I, knew we were betrayed, that someone close was switched. We announced I would take the oath. Death Eaters would come for me, and then we would know who, because each was given a different location for where I intended to hide. No one came to any of them. BECAUSE THEY WENT FOR JAMES. Peter. Peter alone knew."
"You're saying Peter betrayed James and Lily? Then why did you not tell me-" Remus inhaled deeply. "You thought I was the one."
"Of course we did. You are powerful. Prideful. Cursed. Peter was always weak and meek. Who would think."
"Dumbledore knows this, yet he said nothing?" Remus asked with a frown. He wanted to be hurt his friends thought he could do such a thing, but really until a few months ago he had thought the same of Sirius without question.
"Albus Dumbledore knew Peter Pettigrew was the Secret Keeper. He has never spoken to me since the night the spell was cast." Sirius said. "For years I mourned, alone with the knowledge that our plan to flush out the traitors among the order cost the Potters their lives. James. Lily. Little Harry. Then, I saw in the papers. They claim Harry lives. No one knows how or where or why. Thank Merlin he lives. Until Peter is found, the boy must stay hidden wherever he is. Please Remus, do not seek him out."
"Peter's dead. You killed him." Remus frowned at his former friend's increasingly hectic speech. Clearly he was more effected by the prison than he first appeared.
"No, I didn't. I cornered him, yes. I wanted to know how he could do such a thing to our friends. I intended to catch him myself. He yelled loudly about my guilt then blew up the street. In the confusion he got away and must be hiding somewhere." Sirius frowned. "I do not know where he could be hiding. Somewhere near by I assume, in search of clues for the boy, or his Lord. So please, I implore you, do not seek out the boy. Peter could follow you."
" Peter cannot follow me anywhere Sirius. I haven't seen him in years." Remus replied. "I will look into your claims. We will speak again…though perhaps not in person."
"Please! Remus, promise." Sirius demanded as Remus left the cell. He walked back toward the boat, he could still hear Sirius yelling for him until he reached the end of the wing where Crouch waited for him.
"Did you receive the answers you were looking for?" Barty Crouch asked as they left the prison.
"Not at all. Though I wonder, how deeply troubled he has become must come from prolonged exposure. I doubt he can answer anything at this point." Remus replied, not willing to tip his hand to someone who he did not trust.
How strange it was, really, that the one person he had decided to trust in this quest was the one who had started them all down this road in the first place. Severus Snape. Who had openly and honestly admitted to Remus that he felt the majority of the blame for the Potter's death fell to him for repeating the prophesy to Voldemort years ago. He admitted that he had no idea that it would cause the horrific hunt that came after. It had caused Severus to trade sides. It had caused Dumbledore to trust Snape. Now though, Remus wondered who else knew about all of this.
Severus had not betrayed the Potter's location, he couldn't have even if he had wanted to. He hadn't betrayed the boy's current location, a feat that would be far easier to work around that it would have been for the first attempt. Severus was Remus' one concrete ally in the magical world when it came to the safety of the last remaining Potter.
Remus didn't trust Severus. He couldn't trust the man, after everything. He did, however, like the man and consider him a friend. Remus realized with a start, that he had come to the point where he trusted no one in the magical community to help keep the boy safe. They would have to go help them with their shields again from time to time, which was not a problem for either man since Remus worked inside the shielded area and Severus was a regular guest at the boy's house.
Had either of them wanted to betray the boy, he would have been found or killed years ago. This was the reason they trusted that the other was innocent. It was not an ideal test, and would not be able to repeat the experiment, for other parties. It did work for them. At least enough that they were seeking answers together. As Remus dealt with the prison, Severus researched everything he could find on the Horcrux so that they could end the ongoing threat that no one else in Europe wanted to admit existed.
Dumbledore knew. They both knew that. So did the Order, because Dumbledore had told them. At this point though, after everything he had heard and seen the last few years, Remus like Severus, was not inclined to completely trust Dumbledore's motives.
Edward said that Albus Dumbledore, like Voldemort himself, believed the prophesy to mean that young Harry had to die. Unlike Voldemort who thought it was the path to victory, Dumbledore was convinced it was the only way to defeat the Dark Lord. Severus believed Edward to be right, and after spending time with the man…and looking at other events in a new light… Remus found he believed Edward as well. It was clear then, to Remus and Severus both, that they needed to protect the boy not only from the Death Eaters but the Order of the Phoenix as well, because they had no idea how many among the Order who would allow the boy to die if Dumbledore ordered it to happen.
Instead, the two men had cast their lot with the Amestrians and the belief that they could keep the boy safe while the Wizards sorted out the war. Remus sighed happily when the boat arrived back in the harbor, far away from the prison and it's guards. He had not spoken to the others since they had started back, and had no intention of saying much now. He did need to throw them off the idea that they should consider questioning Sirius further themselves.
"He's stark raving mad." Remus said as they walked down the dock. "He seems to honestly believe that he has won."
"Well, it tends to be pointless to speak to anyone who has been there more than a few days." Crouch said in return. "I did try to warn you after all."
"Thank you sirs. I just wanted to know why. I guess I always will" Remus said sadly. "I must go, I must return to my duties."
"As should we. I had no problem indulging you this once. It seemed a fair request, after all the man betrayed you, his friends, in a manner beyond imagination. I can understand the need to confront him." Crouch said with a haunted look in his eyes that Remus neither understood nor cared to explore, before they went their separate ways.
Remus apparated to the safe house in Amestris where Severus sat waiting for him as promised. Remus smiled tiredly at his friend, who looked up from the papers he was grading as Remus appeared. "Grading never ends." Severus said as Remus sank into a chair.
"No, it doesn't. I saw Sirius." Remus answered. "If he is to be believed, and I do believe him for some reason, he wasn't the Secret Keeper of the Potters. Pettigrew was, and Dumbledore knew."
"He knew, yet Black rots in Azkaban." Severus did not sound either surprised or displeased with the information, instead he sounded resigned, as if it was to be expected.
"That is Sirius' claim. It would be rater difficult to prove I suppose. He was rather insistent that I promise not to seek out young Harry. He claimed to fear Pettigrew follow me back to wherever the boy is hidden."
"So, he claims that Pettigrew is still alive. Do you believe that to be possible?" Snape asked.
"… I do. You do remember what I am. Did you ever know what they did to keep themselves safe?" Remus asked.
"No, I never bothered to wonder either. Had they gotten themselves bitten or killed it would have served them right for the carelessness."
"Werewolves are no threat to Animagi. So that's what they became. Pettigrew can transform into a rat." Remus said softly. "When the street exploded, the sewer was exposed. What better place for a rat to hide."
"Who knew about this ability."
"No one aside from us, and now you."
"Dumbledore was unaware?" Severus frowned in thought. It was entirely possible then that he allowed Sirius to go to prison without protest thinking the man had killed the only possible lead to proving his innocence.
"I believe him to be unaware. Though I wonder sometimes how unaware he is of anything." Lupin said with a sigh. "No matter. Pettigrew cannot arrive here in Amestris. He would not even hear the name properly, should he overhear someone speaking of it. Only those who are invited by one already included can enter."
"I am aware." Severus frowned. "Still, we must be very careful with this information. I am going to have to go speak to Edward and Roy on the matter…and inform them of a possible Animagus situation. Which means I must explain an Animagus to begin with. Wish me luck."
"Why would you need luck?" Remus frowned at Severus' dour tone.
"Simple. Chimera." Severus sighed. "Read the papers, better, read the letters I sent you about the horrors of alchemy."
"I remember you mentioning chimera. I fail to see the connection." Remus frowned.
"Chimera, at least the ones that matter for this conversation, are humans fused with animals. The process cannot be reversed and if done incorrectly, is extremely painful. Edward has had the misfortune of dealing with chimera on more than one occasion and they drive him to insomnia." Severus explained carefully. "It is not the same process at all, as they well know, however it is close enough that encountering them can be upsetting for the alchemists."
"Perhaps then wait until morning. Let him have one more night. It isn't as if Peter is going to suddenly appear while they sleep just because we are now aware of his continued existence." Remus said, horrified at the idea of what Severus was explaining.
"Edward already knows of them at any rate, thanks to McGonagall, delaying the conversation is pointless. I simply worry that bringing it up again will disturb him." Severus said with a sigh. "There's nothing for it. Should Pettigrew remain a threat, they need to be warned."