"Am I the only one who feels like this is all my fault?" Ellie asked, breaking the angry silence.
Sirius glared at the door as though willing it to set fire, while Remus sat darkly in a corner, deep in thought.
"If it was anyone's fault, it was probably mine," Rose replied.
"It wasn't anyone's fault," James reasoned.
"Except Peter's," Sirius shot, angrily.
"Well, yes, I suppose so," James replied, with a sigh.
"'I know what true friends are' my ass. We've always been true friends to him. Let him hang out with us even though he didn't fit in. Defended him from Snape. Let him copy our essays. And now just because he's not the center of attention any more, he wants to leave?" Sirius ranted.
"It isn't just that. This whole thing comes from Magda Crem. And she hates all of us. She's been hanging out with him a lot... I'd wonder if there's something between them." Ellie mused.
"It doesn't matter. I don't care that he's insulted my pride, or that he wants to go. He knows too much. Just because he's bound not to tell about the animagus, he can still tell the teachers that James knows something and they can force it out of him. Slughorn has a stock of Veritaserum, I'll bet. If we make him angry, it could all be over," Sirius ranted.
"What are you suggesting?" James asked. Rose was the first to reply.
"Memory charm. Get rid of the memories that he has of this place, and even of Remus' secret too."
"Isn't that dangerous?" James asked.
"Not as dangerous as him walking around with all of our lives at stake. Plus, with Ellie doing it, it will be completely humane. We'll have to use his own wand though, just in case, and he won't be able to hang around any of us, because it might trigger him to remember."
"He won't be able to so much as stay in your dormitory. Do you think that you can do to him whatever you did to get Frank moved out?" Ellie asked.
"Depends," Sirius answered. "Longbottom requested to be moved."
He smiled a bit, recalling all of the torment that Frank had endured before McGonagall had finally relented and let him have his own dormitory.
"I can get Peter to do that," Ellie confirmed. James doubted them.
"Wait just a moment. Isn't this going too fast? Peter is our friend. He's probably just going through some stuff, scared or-"
"I say we get rid of him." Remus stood, surprising everyone. "He never fit in or added anything to the group. All he wanted was to be cool. Popular. And now... You heard what he thinks of me. If he doubts himself and lets anyone know about what I am, I'll be gone faster than you can blink. No education, no magic... Nothing. He doesn't care about me, so I can't afford to care about him. I say that he goes."
James looked at Remus with pain in his eyes. He watched the rest of the group. Rose reached out to Remus, but he turned away, rubbing his forehead. Sirius looked determined, Ellie fearful.
"And he can stop taking the animagus potion without any ill effects?" James conceded.
"Yes," replied Rose. "Its lucky he chose tonight. On any other day, he would have had to keep going until now, and after tonight, it would have been too late."
"What if he says no?" Sirius asked hopefully, wanting to hex him.
"Then we tell him he has to take the potion." James replied, sighing. He turned to Remus.
"All right then. Let him out."
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Peter was thrilled. Not just in the good way, though. He could feel his heart hammering in his chest, his breathing wheezing more than it ever had before. But he was also entirely sure that he was making the right decision. From what Magda told him, all five of the others were in for some serious trouble from the Witches, and the only way to get away from them was to end their already broken friendship.
Perfect.
The marauders talked for a long time. Longer than he had expected them to. They must be arguing.
He squirmed in his seat, a disused armchair, while he suddenly wondered which of his old friends had stood up for him. Definitely not Sirius or Remus, but James, perhaps. Surely James would try to sort things out. Sometimes people who were a little overconfident were also kind, weren't they?
The door opened, and Remus' glare immediately silenced any doubts that Peter may have been having. His eyes were dark and cold, looking murderous.
"Come on, Peter. We're ready."
He noiselessly followed Lupin out of the room to where the others were waiting.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx
They stood in a semi-circle facing Peter, not one of them looking very pleased.
"Peter. Can you tell us why you're mad at us?"
"I already did."
"Yes," James replied impatiently. "But nothing else?"
"No. I just want to be left alone. I've changed, and I don't want to be the worst at everything any more," Peter explained, as though teaching arithmacy to a toddler. James tried hard not to be insulted.
"Well that doesn't change the fact that he still is," Sirius muttered, just loud enough for Remus to hear.
"All right. And you're sure that you want to go? There will be absolutely no coming back from this," James inquired.
"More sure than I've ever been in my life," Peter replied, again with his chin in the air. "I never want to so much as see you again."
"Well then. We've agreed to let you go, under one condition. If you don't agree, then you have to take the potion with the rest of us. But I really think that its the only way," James explained.
"Only way? What in Merlin's name are you talking about?" Peter suddenly seemed jittery again.
"You know too much about us. About Remus. We can't risk that information being found out. We want to wipe your memory, but you can still stay if that's what you choose."
"There's no way in hell that I'd stay here." Peter immediately looked alarmed by James' options, and knew that if he did choose the latter and stayed... Things weren't the same anymore. Remus knew how he really felt about him, Sirius never forgave anyone easily. Even James looked angry.
He had dug himself into a hole, and there was no way out of it. And like any lesser trapped animal, he panicked.
"Let me out. Right now. Or- I'll, I'll go and find McGonagall."
Ellie could see the fear in his beady eyes, and she was the only one between him and the exit.
"Peter-"
"Move Ellie," Peter tried to push past, but she blocked the way.
He tried pulling her away.
"I'm not afraid to hit a girl. Let me out," Peter threatened, voice trembling, glaring at Ellie.
"Keep your hands off of her," James threatened quietly from behind Peter. It only served to scare him more.
He kept trying to get past, horribly panicked, and after a moment, he charged. Or he meant to. Ellie had gone as far as to cringe and brace for impact, when James pulled on the back of his robes, using Peter's momentum against himself, swinging him around to face him, and punching him in the eye.
Peter broke down into a blubbering slump, which Sirius prodded with his toe. James' hands were still clenched into fists.
"I've asked you to listen, and I've asked you to take the deal, but I told you to stay away from Ellie. You know, you miserable vomitous mass, I was on your side. I defended you. I trusted you. But now..."
"Please James. Please. I just want to go. I won't tell anyone anything. I swear."
"I might have trusted you before you turned out to be such slime," James said, disgusted, saddened. "Give me your wand Peter. And consider yourself lucky that you don't have to remember tonight, when everyone who cared about you lost their faith."
Peter did not want to turn in his wand. He knew that by then it would all be over.
He hesitated for a moment, pulling it out, and then whipped it around and pointed it at James.
"EXPELLIA-"
"PETRIFICUS TOTALLUS."
Ellie's spell froze Peter's limbs to his side and locked his body as stiff as a board. She nudged him with her toe.
"Sorry, but I didn't know what he was about to hit you with, James. I just didn't want anybody hurt," Ellie apologized.
"Its fine," James replied, glaring at the paralyzed Peter. "Here's his wand."
"Thanks." Rose promptly put Peter into a deep sleep.
It took Ellie about twenty minutes to do the delicate work of altering the memories, erasing his friends from his life, not completely, but enough so that he might not realize that they had once been incredibly close, making them strangers, even on the line of tormentors.
She added suggestions too, like that he should swear dedication to Magda Crem, and that he needed to change dormitories immediately. That his now swollen black eye was from walking into a door handle, and that he hated James Potter and Sirius Black with all his heart.
Xx
When she was done, she made Sirius return Peter to the dormitory that Frank Longbottom (who was on holiday in France) shared with two other random boys, while James moved his trunks and other belongings to meet him there.
They stared for a moment at one of their best friends lying unconscious, with a nasty bruise forming where he had been punched.
"I dunno why I feel so bad about this," Sirius said, fending of the silence that was threatening to overtake them. "I never really liked him."
"I don't think that I did either. I think it might be pity. I bet that its just that we've spent so much time with him that we must miss him."
"I still want to hex him."
"Sirius, you can't hex him."
"Why not, exactly?"
"Cause he won't remember being hexed. It could undo his memory wipe," James reasoned.
"Well, at least you got a good punch in," Sirius allowed.
"I wonder what animal he would have changed into," James wondered, as they made their way down the dormitory stairs.
Sirius thought for a moment as he opened the door to the secret tunnel.
"Probably some kind of vermin. Maybe a cockroach."
The common room was still empty, the fire dead in the grate as it closed behind them.
"Hey, that talk of animagi reminds me. What did Rose whisper to you to make you stop yelling at him?" James asked, curious.
Sirius turned to reply before continuing down to the hallway.
"She told me that that was exactly what my mother would have said."
James followed after a moment of standing in shock.
"And she was exactly right, as per usual. She knows how things are at home, and she knows that I never want to be like my mother."
"You won't be, Sirius, you already aren't-"
"Yes, I am. I'll always be like her, at least a little bit. But I want to be... More than that. I want to be compassionate, loving, accepting. But tonight..." He shook it off. "Rose was right. I'm just glad its over." There was a pause. They walked down the hall, runes glowing in the light, as both boys actually took the time to look at them for once. Usually they were too busy talking or joking to notice.
"Well, what I was going to say was that you're far too hideous to be related to that woman. But if you want to talk about your behavior, then fine. I didn't even manage to keep my temper, and he was saying the more insulting things to you. Sirius, you're the best mate I've ever had, and I know you. You're nothing like her. You chose your own path, and here you are. We all think you're smashing. So don't look so down."
"Thanks, mate."
"Don't thank me. I've probably just consoled you to get you closer to taking a death potion that I commissioned."
"Look on the bright side. At least we get to die among friends," Sirius grinned.
"I'll toast to that," James laughed.
"Toasting using a death potion? Seems a bit modernized," Sirius replied.
"Well, it beats toasting to Christmas," James defended.
"Nothing beats Christmas!" Sirius gasped, looking scandalized. They finally made it to the door. Sirius turned the golden handle, and held the door as James entered the room. Both of them were grinning.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxx
So, just a bit of bros James and Sirius. Also, you should note that if you read the earlier chapter with Sirius' birthday, I wrote that long before the actual date was released, and I think I've ranted about this before but now its not accurate and it makes me sad :'(. Anyway, Thanks again for reading and for all of the great reviews. Don't let the muggles get you down!
post edit: WOW OKAY, I AM A HORRIBLE PERSON, LEAVING YOU ON THIS CLIFFHANGER FOR LIKE FOUR MONTHS, I AM SO SO SORRY, I WILL POST THE NEXT BIT IN A FEW DAYS AT LONGEST, THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR PATIENCE!