Albus Dumbledore hummed happily to himself as he turned the lemon drop in his mouth over with his tongue, sighing in contentment and enjoying the sweet and acidic flavour on his tastebuds. Rather surprisingly, considering that he had tossed and turned all night long as he ruminated on the exact nature of Tom's Diary, he had awoken in a cheerful mood that morning as his delight that his beloved school was back up and running as normal overshadowed any worries he currently held.
He signed off on his quarterly request to the Board of Governors for additional funds to replace the rickety old school brooms, knowing full well that the request would yet again be denied but not allowing it to diminish his good mood in the slightest as the lemon drop dissolved fully in his mouth. Absently, he reached out to pluck another from the bowl when a small crystal ball on his desk hummed and lit up in a soft blue light.
Glancing at the ball, he saw an image of young Harry, Miss Greengrass and Miss Davis standing before the stone guardian of his office. Harry stepped closer to the guardian and the sapphire gems embedded in its eyes that connected to the crystal ball and spoke haltingly. "Err, can we speak to the Headmaster? Sorry, I don't know the password, but there's...kind of an emergency. I think."
Frowning, the Headmaster tapped the crystal once with his wand, signalling to the guardian to allow the three students entry. Inwardly, his good cheer began to diminish as his mind quickly began to ponder what this visit was regarding. Harry was certainly not the sort of child to come to him for trivial matters, but his unsure demeanor did not hint toward any significant danger. Outwardly, he presented a genial and welcoming air as the sound of rumbling stone ceased, shortly followed by a quiet knock, and he bade the three students enter.
"Hello, sir," Harry said politely as he held the door open for the two girls, closing it softly as they both stepped through.
"Hello, Professor," Miss Greengrass greeted with a weak smile, whilst Miss Davis merely waved shyly.
"Good morning, children. To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" Albus enquired, leaning forward and steepling his hands under his chin. The two girls both looked to Harry to explain and the boy stepped forward until he was standing directly in front of him.
"Peter Pettigrew, sir," Harry said without preamble, pulling his father's map from his robe pocket and offering it to him. "The map says that he's in the Gryffindor common room right now."
Albus' bushy eyebrows rose ever so slightly at his words and he reached out silently to take the map from the boy. His eyes quickly located the aforementioned location and zeroed in on the scrawled lettering indicating that 'Peter Pettigrew' was, in fact, sitting almost on top of 'Ronald Weasley' and beside 'Fred Weasley' and 'George Weasley'.
The Headmaster lifted his eyes to look upon the worried face of Harry Potter, whose mouth was quirked to one side. "It has to be a mistake, right, sir? Peter Pettigrew is dead, Sirius Black killed him."
"Harry, have you seen this name on the map before?" Albus asked in a clear, emotionless voice. He exhaled slightly when the boy instantly shook his head.
"No, sir, this is the first time I've seen it. I looked at the map a few times during the last few days of the break, but he wasn't in the castle then, if he even is now." Harry reported, glancing back at Miss Greengrass who nodded her head emphatically, supporting his words. Albus looked between the two momentarily before he rose to his feet, his wand appearing in his hand in an instant.
"Please wait here until I return," Albus instructed firmly, waiting patiently for the three of them to finish giving each other concerned glances before they all nodded their assent. Once they had done so, he cast a Disillusionment Charm upon himself and, abusing the power allowed to him in his role as Headmaster, silently apparated from his office into an unused corner of the red and gold common room of Gryffindor house.
Thankfully his arrival went unnoticed by the occupants of the room as Albus' eyes immediately found the youngest male Weasley absently stroking a plump, dozing brown rat that was sprawled leisurely across his lap as he listened to the tale of trouble his older brothers were regaling him with.
Suspicions quickly formed in his mind and he began to wave his wand toward the other scattered occupants of the room, heavily suggesting that they would all much rather be outside of the common room on this surprisingly warm January morning. As the students began to make their way from the room, he continued to watch the three Weasley siblings. The twins continued their tale, each of them working in tandem, but the Headmaster noticed how, when one would speak, the other would look around the room with a frown as they watched the common room quickly empty. Once the last of the students left, the portrait hole closing behind them, Albus cast another spell silently.
'Homenum Revelio'
The tale that one of the twins, Fred if he had to make a guess, was telling immediately stopped as both tricksters stared horrorstruck at the arrow that appeared over the head of their younger brother's sleeping pet.
"Good morning, gentleman," Albus spoke softly, dropping his Disillusionment Charm and stepping out of his corner toward the three brothers. Young Ronald jerked in surprise, whilst the twins both slowly turned their heads toward him, though their eyes never left the rat atop their brother's lap. "You are familiar with this particular spell?" The Headmaster enquired of the two elder siblings.
The twin he believed to be Fred nodded. "Yeah, we learned that one early Professor."
"Right handy for our line of work," The other, George, supplied.
"Wonderful," Albus exclaimed quietly as he rounded the settee to stand before the three boys. "Then perhaps you can enlighten me to any drawbacks it may have?"
Ronald glanced around the three of them in confusion and opened his mouth to speak but was luckily beaten to it by his older brother.
"Only reveals humans, Professor," Fred reported as he slowly reached into his robe pocket to grasp the handle of his wand.
"Mrs. Norris always managed to sneak up on us until we found the map," George continued as he grasped Ronald's shoulder firmly when the youngest boy's face quickly began to pale. Ronald turned to his brother with a terrified expression but George just slowly and meaningfully lifted a single finger to his lips in a request for silence.
"Correct, boys. Take three points for Gryffindor," Albus said as he lifted his wand once more and sent a silent Stunning Spell toward the still-dozing man pretending to be a young boy's pet. His aim was true and the rat slumped further than it had already been as it fell unconscious.
Ronald, who had remained remarkably and admirably silent up to this point, jumped to his feet with a noise of utter disgust, dislodging the imposter from its perch. He danced away from where the rat fell upon the floor, his face scrunched up in disbelief.
"But-Scabbers-!" He exclaimed, lifting a shaking finger to point at the prone creature.
"Is not the beloved pet you believed him to be," Albus gently interrupted as he crouched down to pick up the rat. "I am afraid, Mr. Weasley, that you have all been deceived." Turning to the twins, who had both yet to remove their eyes from the rat, he questioned them. "How long has he been in the care of your family?"
It was George who answered, his eyebrows furrowing together in a light frown. "Not sure really, Professor. Percy found him when we were young, he's just always sort of been there."
Fred began to tap his foot as he pondered the question for a few moments before his eyes alit with recall and, without turning to his twin, he began to converse with him. "Remember when Gin was a baby, and she pulled on his tail?"
George lifted his chin, his mouth an 'o' of surprise for a moment as he made a noise of remembrance. "Oh yeah, Perc shouted at her despite the fact that she was too young to understand."
"She'd have only been a few months then, don't you think?" Fred questioned, receiving a nod of agreement from George.
"Yeah, a year at most." George decided with a firm nod.
"And what year was Ginevra born?" Albus asked, glancing between the two, but it was neither twin who answered him.
"1981," Ronald intoned in a breathless voice, the freckles on his face standing out on his pale visage. "Professor, what's going on?"
Albus placed the rat into his robe pocket and turned fully toward the boy. "I am afraid I cannot answer with full certainty at this moment, Mr. Weasley, but it appears that a man believed to be long dead has been posing as this rat - Scabbers, did you say? - for some time. I will be taking him to my office now for questioning." He turned then to look at the two other boys for a moment. "I trust that, for the time being, I can rely on your discretion until I have all of the facts?"
Both twins nodded quickly, so Albus turned back to Ronald who swallowed heavily. "Err, yeah. Sure."
Albus smiled kindly at the boy and stepped forward to rest a comforting hand upon his shoulder. "Thank you, Mr. Weasley." With his spare hand, he removed the map from his pocket and glanced down at it for a moment before he turned his gaze back to the twins. "Your brother Percival is currently in Arithmancy, in classroom 7A, and Ginevra is currently sure to be enjoying a double Potions period with Professor Snape. I ask that one of you venture out to retrieve your siblings and return here, free of classes for the day."
The twin he had mistakenly believed to be George pushed himself to his feet and made for the portrait hole. "Sure, Professor."
Albus nodded at the retreating boy's back before he gently guided Ronald to sit back on the settee with his other brother. "Tippy." He intoned, receiving confused glances from the two for a moment before a crack announced the arrival of one of Hogwarts' House Elves.
"Tippy, please provide five hot chocolates for the Weasley family. Refillable, if you please." He requested with a smile.
Tippy nodded her head exuberantly. "Of course, right away Headmaster Dumbledore, sir!" With another crack, the elf disappeared and the Headmaster turned back to the two boys on the settee.
"I will take my leave now, gentleman, but please inform your siblings of the need for discretion when they arrive," He asked firmly, receiving another nod from George and a shaky "Yeah," from Ronald. Satisfied, he removed his wand to apparate back into his office, only just hearing the muttered complaint from Ronald.
"Is it just me, George, or have we become the unluckiest family in the world?"
Alastor Moody was - well, not quite happy - but certainly feeling a certain sense of contentment and deep satisfaction that morning after yet another successful overnight patrol.
Those three cursed jewelry pedallers in Croydon had finally slipped up and were currently in holding cells awaiting questioning, an inside informant from that underground illegal potions ring in Middlesbrough had come forward after growing dissatisfied with the ringleader's decision not to prioritise her modified Calming Draughts that were suspiciously addictive and to top it all off he had had the immeasurable pleasure of serving yet another cease-and-desist order against that stain on society Fletcher.
Yes, he was definitely content and satisfied, but, as he looked up from the last of his paperwork at the figure curled up on a corner armchair lightly dozing the last ten minutes of their shift away, he figured those feelings could quickly morph into a form of happiness.
With a flick of his wrist, his wand shot into his right hand and, as he fired a Stinging Hex at his unsuspecting protege, he roared."CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"
Trainee Auror Tonks jerked awake with a pained gasp and clumsily attempted to draw her own wand, succeeding only in flinging it from her robes and toward the shouting figure of her mentor.
Blinking the tiredness from her eyes as she stumbled to her feet, she offered her wryly grinning boss an embarrassed shrug. "Err, wotcher, Moody."
"So, girl, not only were you sleeping on the job but then you decided to disarm yourself and throw your attacker your wand?" Moody growled sternly, hiding his amusement in the lines of his scarred face.
Rather than apologise, his protege merely grinned back at him. "Actually," She began in a sing-song voice. "If you'll take a gander at that clock behind you, I think you'll find that we're now off the clock, thank you very much."
Moody's magical eye spun around in his skull to inspect the wall clock behind him, quickly seeing the hands denoting that it was now 11:05. Chuckling, he shook his grizzled head and threw Tonks' wand back to her. "You'll make up for this tonight, Trainee Tonks. Now off with you, bugger off home and do whatever it is you do when I don't have to babysit you." He told her, waving a hand toward his closed office door dismissively.
"I love you too, Moody. Goodnight," Tonks responded cheerfully, turning on the spot to leave the office and missing the small crooked smile her words elicited on her mentor's face. She froze, however, when an ethereal Phoenix flew through the closed door, and then through her, before coming to a stop in front of the owner of the office.
"Alastor," Albus Dumbledore's voice spoke in a clear tone. "There is a matter of urgency that I will need your help with at your earliest possible convenience. Please come to my office as soon as you are able." Once it had finished relaying the message, Albus' patronus disappeared, leaving a mildly stunned office in its wake.
Tonks, who had turned from the door to face the patronus, raised her eyebrow at him. "Does he do that often?"
Moody grumbled and nodded his head, feeling his almost-good mood beginning to recede. "Yes. Just expects me to drop everything and hobble over whenever he calls." He complained in a gruff voice.
Tonks just nodded serenely before suddenly perking up. "Can I come?" She asked brightly, receiving a glare from her boss. "What? The last time I came with you to Hogwarts I learned that a previously thought-dead man was not in fact dead at all and at imminent risk of returning and threatening all of our lives." She shrugged a shoulder lightly. "I kind of want to know what new life-changing news he has for you now. Could be interesting."
Before Moody could respond, the Phoenix patronus returned, once again flying through the office door and Tonks' body ("Rude!" she muttered angrily at the apparition, her hair briefly turning a fiery red), but Moody ignored her as Dumbledore's voice sounded through the office once more.
"Oh, and would you be so kind as to bring a vial of Veritaserum? I would rather not bother Severus with this delicate matter." Again, the phoenix disappeared after leaving its message, leaving a grinning Tonks and an exasperated but intrigued Alastor Moody who just summoned his staff from the corner of the room.
"Definitely going to be interesting." Tonks amended her previous statement excitedly before she bounced over toward the fireplace. "Let's go, then. You've some Veritaserum, right?" The young woman asked over her shoulder, receiving a flat glare from her mentor as he stomped after her. "Of course you do." She chuckled as she removed a handful of floo powder from the pot on the mantelpiece.
As she stepped in the flame, she cocked her head at him. "What're the chances that Harry Potter is involved again?"
Moody just growled and shooed her with his hand. "Get a move on, girl."
"So bossy," Tonks complained good-naturedly but she nonetheless acquiesced to his demand, quickly vanishing in a roar of flame. As soon as she had gone Moody stepped in himself, muttering his destination after throwing a handful of powder into the fire.
Leaning heavily on his staff once the spinning ceased and he arrived in the Headmaster's fireplace, his electric blue eye quickly scanned the occupants of the room, finding Albus himself sitting behind his desk, his wand pointed at a prone rat lying atop the desk, before it span and took in the Potter boy, the eldest Greengrass girl and an unknown female of similar age being greeted by his much-too-exuberant charge.
Stepping out of the fireplace, his magical eye still fixed upon the three students, he faced his old friend and sighed. "What have you got for me?"
Albus lifted his gaze momentarily from the rat before he nodded meaningfully toward it and answered in a deceptively mild voice. "Peter Pettigrew."
It was not for nothing that Alastor Moody was known as the greatest Auror of the age, and his many years of experience quickly showed him pieces of a puzzle that, until now, he had had no idea needed to be solved. Meanwhile, his protege gasped in shock, her violet gaze quickly turning to face the rat lying prone on the desk. Moody stepped closer to the desk and kept both eyes on the rat as he spoke to Albus.
"Does he need to be here for this?" He asked in a low rumble, nodding his head toward the Potter boy.
"That, I will leave up to Harry," Albus deflected, turning his own eyes to the boy.
"I have no idea what's going on, sir," Harry said instantly, shaking his head lightly. "But I want to know why he - Peter Pettigrew - is alive and hiding as a pet rat when Sirius Black was supposed to have killed him."
"A question that will soon be answered, Harry, but I must ask that you stay silent and uninvolved when we question Peter," Albus asked of the boy with raised eyebrows, receiving an agreeing nod from Potter.
"I'm staying too," The Greengrass girl spoke in a firm voice, stepping closer to the boy and wrapping her arm around his. The other girl blinked and half-stepped forward as well, though she faltered when the Headmaster's gaze, and Moody's magical eye, fixed on her.
"Err...I'd like to stay too but it's probably definitely not my place and I probably definitely should get going but I do want to stay to support Harry and I don't know-" She stammered nervously.
"You are welcome to stay if that is what you wish, Miss Davis, as you were after all also present when Harry discovered that Peter was present in the castle," Albus said kindly to the girl. "Though, like Harry, you both must stay silent, is that understood?"
Both girls nodded quickly as Moody turned his head slightly toward the brown-haired girl. "Davis, is it? Richard and Victoria Davis' kid?"
The girl, Davis, nodded again unsurely as Moody grunted in acknowledgment. "Your dad's tolerable, for a politician." The girl half-smiled and opened her mouth, perhaps to offer her thanks, but he cut her off by continuing. "Your mother is a piece of work."
"Alastor," Albus chided sternly, even as Davis muttered "He's not wrong," to herself before he waved his wand and conjured three chairs at the side of the room beside Fawkes' perch for the students. "Please take your seats, children, and remember what I asked."
The three kids walked over to where they were directed and Moody's keen gaze caught how stiffly Potter was moving. Narrowing his good eye slightly as he watched Fawkes swoop down from his perch to land on the boy's shoulder once he was seated, he spoke again to the Headmaster in a low voice. "Might be best if you call his guardians. I have a feeling Potter won't react well to what we'll find."
Albus nodded slowly and rose to his feet. "That may be wise. Please excuse me for a moment," He said as he walked quickly over to the fireplace. Moody kept both of his eyes firmly on the rat as Tonks sidled closer to him.
"So, how are we gonna do this? Can I be the scary and gruff one this time?" She asked jokingly, but when his magical eye turned to her she schooled her expression and adopted her professional mask.
"You're not allowed to be involved in this, girl," Moody told her. Tonks flushed and opened her mouth angrily to protest but he spoke over her. "Conflict of interest. You're Sirius Black's cousin."
Tonks paused as her eyes flickered down to the rat. "You think...?"
Moody breathed out heavily through his damaged nose, his content and almost-good mood of earlier that morning completely vanished. "I do."
When Marie Greengrass awoke that morning, awareness slowly filtering into her hazy brain, she smiled happily to herself when she felt her beloved husband's arms still wrapped securely around her body, keeping the embrace they had been enjoying as they had fallen into slumber the previous night.
Breathing in heavily, she wrinkled her nose when the combined scent of the two of them reached her senses. Showering was definitely the first item on the agenda for this morning - or afternoon, she was unsure of the time - before that, however, it was time to wake the rest of her husband.
"Daniel..." She said softly, running her hand through the hair on his broad chest. "Wake up, love."
"Mhmm." The man grunted, his head shifting slightly as he tried to ignore the voice attempting to rouse him from his blissful sleep. Slowly, her hand inched lower down his body.
"Daniel, wake up." She repeated, smiling to herself when she felt the rising and falling of his chest change. She pulled her head back slightly to stare at his still stubbornly closed eyelids as her hand grasped him. His breath hitched minutely even as his eyes remained closed and she cocked her eyebrow at him.
Sighing to herself, she released her grip and rolled away from him slightly. "Oh well, I suppose I'll just have to shower by myself." Twisting her legs around until her feet set upon their carpeted bedroom floor, she stretched languidly and sighed again. "And I had so hoped for a good morning from my husband."
She had only half-risen to her feet when strong arms encircled her waist from behind and pulled her back down. "I'm awake," Daniel said huskily into her ear.
"I can feel that," Marie smiled, turning her head to kiss the man slowly. Pulling back momentarily she whispered against his lips. "We need to shower."
"As my wife commands," Daniel responded as he slid his arm down her legs until he reached the backs of her knees. He stood swiftly, his wife's beautiful form held firmly in his arms and began to carry her toward their ensuite.
"Really?" Marie chuckled, gazing up at him. "I do have legs of my own, you know."
"Oh, believe me, I know," He grinned back at her, moving his gaze slowly and deliberately toward her legs before he looked back to her face. "I just wasn't sure if they were working properly yet." He said, raising his eyebrows suggestively.
Marie guffawed as he pushed the ensuite door open with his foot, shaking her head. "Oh, that was awful. Sometimes, I forget why I ever married you."
Stepping into the shower cubicle, Daniel gently lowered her down to her own feet before he lightly pushed her against the wall, one hand firmly holding onto her hip and the other turning the shower on. "Then let me remind you," He murmured seductively as he leaned in to capture her lips with his own.
RING
With their faces mere inches apart the couple froze and stared with widened eyes at each other as the chiming of the floo continued.
RING
"How many people know our floo address?" Daniel asked in a low voice before he swallowed heavily.
"The Delacours and Dumbledore," Marie responded as she began to work her lower lip with her teeth.
RING
"I hope it's the Delacours, then," Daniel said, slowly pulling away from his wife. "Because if it's Dumbledore..."
The couple stared at each other for a further second before they both sprang apart and began to race out of the shower and back into their bedroom. Whilst Marie tore toward the wardrobe and began frantically pulling out clothes for them both, Daniel sped toward his bedside table and took up both of their wands. Waving his quickly over himself to cast Drying and Freshening Charms, he quickly did the same for his wife before she threw the first shirt and trousers of his that her hands could find at his head.
Dressing in under a minute, Daniel decided to forgo motion and apparated directly into the receiving room that held the floo-connected fireplace whilst Marie instead dashed out of the room and vaulted the banister, landing gracefully downstairs and muttering prayers to whatever higher powers might exist.
"Please be the Delacours, please be the Delacours, please be the Delacours..."
Unfortunately for her, when she stepped into the room she found her husband looking down on the disembodied head of Albus Dumbledore as he continued to explain why he had called. "-a development that requires your presence, if you would both be so kind as to step through."
Daniel nodded, glancing over his shoulder at his approaching wife with an apprehensive look before he turned back to the Headmaster. "Of course, we'll be right there."
Dumbledore nodded once before his head disappeared from the flames, clearing the fireplace for them. Marie schooled her fearful expression as best she could as she stepped forward to the mantelpiece, taking the jar of floo powder from it with shaking hands.
"I never thought I'd say this, but I hope this is simply because Astoria has caused mayhem." She confessed to her husband as she offered the jar to him.
Daniel plucked a handful of powder from the jar and snorted humourlessly. "Hope in one hand, shi-"
"Language," Marie interrupted her husband absently as he threw the powder into the fire and stepped into the roaring green flames. "Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts," Daniel commanded clearly, and he vanished with an upsurge of flame.
Throwing her own handful into the fire, Marie stepped in and followed suit, her eyes closed shut tightly. "Please please please please please..."
Once the spinning had stopped and she arrived at her destination, she allowed herself a final mental plea before she opened her eyes and immediately spotted Harry, with Dumbledore's phoenix perched majestically atop his shoulder, sitting between Daphne and their friend Tracey with the Auror Tonks standing behind them with a concerned look on her face. Next, she spotted the pink-haired girl's mentor, the one and only Mad-Eye Moody leaning against the desk and staring hard at a nondescript brown rat lying motionless atop it. As her eyes moved to where Dumbledore was whispering quietly to her stunned-looking husband, she screwed her eyes closed again and cursed despairingly to herself.
"Shit."
Peter Pettigrew had been having another rather good morning. Sure, he had been jostled awake from his peaceful slumber by his young caregiver suddenly throwing back the covers and sending him flying across the room, but the boy apologised with a quick "Sorry, Scabbers," and placed him back onto the now-empty bed before bounding from the dormitory toward the bathroom, muttering to himself that he was going to be late for breakfast. Peter just twitched his whiskers and proceeded to make himself comfortable once more, sighing softly to himself in fond exasperation.
Despite occasionally causing him to become suddenly airborne, Ron really was a much better owner than Percy had been, and the boy proved it when he returned from his first class of the day and plucked him from the large, empty bed he had been enjoying all to himself to take him into the common room and feed him a large slice of buttered bread that he had saved from breakfast. Peter quickly scarfed down the torn offerings the boy fed to him and listened to the twins' tales, reminding him so much of bygone days with his former friends.
Once his treat had disappeared, he had settled into Ron's lap for another well-earned nap, enjoying the feeling of the boy's large hand stroking the fur on his back. This really was the life, he thought to himself as he drifted back off into peaceful slumber. Really, if he had known life could be this good, he would have done this as soon as he had graduated from Hogwarts and not gotten himself involved in that terrible war at all.
When he next awoke, blinking awake groggily, he attempted to stretch his forepaws but was confused to find his movement quite restricted. Awareness quickly seeped into his mind and he looked down at his body with widened eyes.
He was in his human form again for the first time in over eleven years.
He was currently seated in a hard-backed chair and tied in place with thick, tight ropes.
He was under scrutiny from the cold, powerful eyes of Albus Dumbledore himself.
Squeaking in surprise and no small amount of fright, he futilely attempted to transform back into his preferred form but found himself quite unable to accomplish the feat. Dumbledore smiled slightly without humour and shook his head. "Hello again, Peter. It has been quite some time, has it not?"
"H-headmaster! H-h-hello!" Peter stuttered. "It's s-so good to s-see you."
"Really?" A gruff voice to his left spoke. Peter turned his head and almost physically shrank back when he met the mismatched gaze of Alastor Moody. "Then why did you try and escape just now?"
"E-escape? W-why would I t-try to escape?" Peter attempted with a weak chuckle, which quickly died a death when Moody just moved his lips in a facsimile of a smile.
"Well, we were rather hoping you might answer that question yourself, Peter. Amongst others, of course," Dumbledore said in a firm voice, catching Peter's attention once more. The Headmaster leaned forward on his hands and met his eyes with a hard gaze. Peter panicked and immediately broke eye contact, breathing heavily. The room was stifling with power, he could feel it clearly in the air, and he knew that he was in a whole heap of trouble.
"Q-questions?" Peter attempted with another lifeless chuckle.
"Yes, Pettigrew, questions," Moody said impatiently, stepping forward with a heavy clunk on his wooden leg. "But first..."
In a sudden movement, Moody drew his wand and waved it toward him. Peter closed his eyes fearfully, but rather than the expected burst of pain, he simply felt the rope tying his left forearm to the arm of the chair slacken and the sleeve of his grimy robe slide upwards to his elbow.
Peter opened his eyes to meet Moody's mismatched glare before he turned and instead looked upon the Headmaster, whose own eyes were surveying him with a cold, steely fury. Peter winced and turned away from the powerful wizard to look down at his left arm and what had been bared for all occupants of the office to see.
The Dark Mark of Lord Voldemort stood dark against his pale skin, the snake writhing slightly in an almost mocking salute to the eyes upon it.
And Peter, who had enjoyed eleven years of naught but good days, was now almost certain that his future held nothing more of the sort, even as his eyes darted around the office and plotted potential means of escape. Turning away from the horrifically scarred man and the beyond-angry Headmaster, Peter looked to his right and blinked when he finally saw the group of six gathered there. First, he noticed the three adults standing behind three seated children. The only man was blonde-haired, barrel-chested and tall, his face set in a hard mask of barely-hidden disapproval. The woman beside him, however, was doing nothing to hide the malice she felt for Peter. Her lips were drawn back in a snarl, her teeth long and sharp, and Peter quickly looked away lest he drew her ire and fury any more than he currently was. He let out a small gasp when he saw the younger woman beside her, as even with the short, spiky pink hair she held an uncanny resemblance to Bellatrix Lestrange, and Peter could do little to stop the involuntary shudder of fear that ran down his spine.
It was when he looked down from the adults to the children, however, that he froze. Meeting the emerald-green eyes of Lily Evans, set into the face of James Potter, his mouth dropped open and he stared at the boy with the phoenix on his shoulder, who was looking back at him with growing anger.
"H-Harry!" Peter stammered, blinking in shock. "L-look at y-you! Y-you-"
A loud bang echoed around the office as Moody slammed the butt of his staff onto the floor angrily and Peter turned back to the famed Auror in fear.
"You don't get to speak to him, Death Eater," Moody growled. His magical eye spun into his own head as he directed his next words to the Headmaster. "Set up the recording, would you?"
"Of course," Dumbledore responded, flicking his wand and summoning a Dictation Quill and a few sheets of blank parchment.
Peter's attention, however, was still firmly on Alastor Moody, who had reached into his robes with a gnarled hand and was withdrawing a vial with a crystal-clear potion held within. "Open wide, Pettigrew."
Peter shook his head wildly and attempted to push back the chair he was strapped to, which stubbornly refused to move. "N-no! Y-you can't! I d-don't c-consent!"
"Don't need your consent, Pettigrew. You're dead, remember?" Moody rumbled as he stepped close and grabbed hold of Peter's hair. With a painful yank which elicited a squeal of pain from the bound Animagus, Moody continued as he unstoppered the vial with a thumb. "Dead men don't have rights."
Peter could do nothing to stop the three drops of Veritaserum that landed upon his tongue, nor the hazy fog that overtook his panicking mind.
Harry had, rather naively, believed that today was going to be a good day.
Such days had been hard to come by at Hogwarts of late, what with a teenaged Dark Lord running around possessing people and attacking innocents, including the girl he firmly felt was his little sister. But, after he had killed Tom Riddle, and Daniel and Marie had let the three of them return to Hogwarts and reunite with Tracey and Luna, he had mistakenly hoped that his life might now approach a state others might call 'normal'.
But of course, he was Harry Potter and apparently, he didn't do normal.
"Interrogation of the suspect to be carried out by myself, Alastor John Moody, Head Auror, and Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. The date, Tuesday the 5th of January, 1993." Moody said to nobody in particular, though Harry noticed that the quill that the Headmaster had summoned began writing upon the parchment seemingly by itself.
"Can you state your full name for the record?"
"Peter Timothy Pettigrew." Pettigrew's answer was free of his usual stuttering, squeaking voice, and instead came out in a dull, lifeless drone.
"Date of birth?"
"February 27th, 1960."
"Are you a follower of Lord Voldemort?"
"Yes."
"A Death-Eater?"
"Yes."
"You were a willing servant?"
"Yes."
"Were you the Potter's Secret Keeper?" This time, it was Dumbledore who questioned Pettigrew, the old man leaning forward intently on his elbows.
Harry could hear sharp intakes of breath from the adults behind him, and for a moment he turned to try and look over his shoulder at Marie behind him, but Pettigrew's answer stopped him cold.
"Yes."
"You betrayed their location to Lord Voldemort, resulting in their deaths on October 31st, 1981?"
"Yes."
Ice-cold fury rushed through Harry's veins, his vision becoming hazy as he stared at the man tied to the chair before the Headmaster. Books began to fall from bookshelves, shiny trinkets slid from their placements to fall loudly on the floor, and the entire room began to shake.
Harry did not care. All he wanted to do was kill Peter Pettigrew.
His wand shot into his right hand and he began to lift it toward the bound man, but before it could fully rise Daphne clamped both of her arms over it, preventing him from lifting it fully. On his other side, Tracey did the same, grabbing his left arm and holding it close to her body as behind him Daniel placed a firm, steadying hand on his shoulder. At the same time, Marie leaned in close to whisper in his ear as Fawkes began to trill lowly. "It's okay, calm down, it's okay, just breathe..."
The room continued to shake until Tonks moved from her place behind Daphne to crouch in front of him, her violet eyes wide and beseeching as she rested her hands firmly on his knees. Harry stared unseeingly at her for a moment before he noticed that her usual pink hair was now a fiery, furious red.
"You promised Dumbledore you wouldn't interfere, squirt," Tonks whispered in a strained voice. The room continued to shake as Harry scowled at the woman, but she just shook her head slightly. "You promised. Let them do their jobs."
Harry met her gaze furiously for another few moments before Daphne began to prise his wand from his grip with one hand whilst the other stroked circles into the back of his hand. "Listen to Tonks, Harry, please."
Harry listened to her words and closed his eyes, drawing his raging magic back into himself and allowing Daphne to take his wand from him. Once the room had stopped shaking, he opened them again and met Tonks' eyes.
"Sorry," He muttered, looking down at this lap and her hands still grasping his knees.
Tonks just patted one and smiled lopsidedly. "It's okay, squirt, I'm angry too." Rather than move from her position, Tonks just let one hand drop from his knee and turned to face the two men questioning Pettigrew. Finding them both looking over at them, she nodded once to let them know it was okay to proceed.
Moody turned back to Pettigrew first. "Was Sirius Black, to your knowledge, a Death-Eater?"
"No."
"Was Sirius Black ever the Secret Keeper for the Potters?"
"No."
"How is it that you were chosen for the task? Explain in as much detail as you can."
"Albus Dumbledore suggested to James Potter and Lily Potter that they go into hiding under the Fidelius Charm. He offered to be their Secret Keeper but James Potter refused and decided to entrust one of his friends. At first the Secret Keeper was going to be Sirius Black but he and James Potter decided that it was too obvious and so James Potter approached me and asked if I would be willing to be the Secret Keeper while Sirius Black would act as a decoy. I accepted and Lily Potter performed the Fidelius Charm on their cottage in Godric's Hollow, Lavenham, Sussex on September 29th, 1981."
"Were you a Death Eater on this date?"
"No."
"When did you decide to betray the Potters?"
"September 29th, 1981."
Harry closed his eyes again and concentrated on taking long, slow breaths whilst Daphne continued to rub comforting circles on the back of his hand.
"At no point did you consider protecting your friends?"
"No."
"Why?"
"The Dark Lord had already won the war in my view. I needed to protect myself as a known member of the Order of the Phoenix and when I was chosen as the Potter's Secret Keeper I knew I had important information to offer that would result in him accepting me into his service and his protection."
Harry felt the ice-cold anger begin to rise again. Rather than allow it to consume him, he turned quickly to face Daphne, who shifted in her seat so she could fully face him and meet his eyes with her own. Harry breathed out long and slow as he tried to concentrate only on the blue eyes of the girl, even as the questioning from Dumbledore and Moody continued.
"When did you present the secret to Voldemort?"
"October 22nd, 1981."
"Why did you delay presenting the information?"
"It took until that date for me to find a Death Eater willing to listen to what I had to offer and take me to the Dark Lord."
"Who was the willing Death Eater?"
"Rabastan Lestrange."
"Why, to your knowledge, did Voldemort wait until October 31st to attack the Potters?"
"I do not know."
Dumbledore held up a hand then to prevent Moody's next question and directed one of his own to Pettigrew.
"Explain your actions on the night of October 31st, 1981, in detail."
"I was in my flat on 22 Tewkesbury Street in Grimsby, Lincolnshire when I felt the Secret disappear. I knew that it meant that James Potter and Lily Potter were dead. I abandoned my flat as I knew that if I stayed Sirius Black would eventually seek me out and try to kill me. I apparated to Godric's Hollow, Lavenham, Sussex, and found the property in ruin and the only sign of life being what I believed to be the cries of Harry Potter. I was intending to enter the property when I heard the arrival of Rubeus Hagrid. I transformed into my rat animagus form and hid whilst Rubeus Hagrid entered the property. I continued to hide when Rubeus Hagrid exited with Harry Potter in his arms. Shortly after he exited the property Sirius Black arrived and argued with Rubeus Hagrid to hand over Harry Potter. Rubeus Hagrid refused and cited that he had orders to take Harry Potter to Albus Dumbledore. Sirius Black stopped arguing and gave Rubeus Hagrid his flying motorbike, embraced Harry Potter, and disapparated. I waited until Rubeus Hagrid had also left using the flying motorbike provided to him by Sirius Black before I entered the property. I saw the body of James Potter lying in the living room of the property and found the body of Lily Potter in the destroyed upstairs nursery. I found bloodstains and viscera that appeared to be the body of the Dark Lord also. I searched further and found the Dark Lord's wand amidst the wreckage. I took the wand and left the property before apparating to Hull, Yorkshire, then Derby, Derbyshire, then Taunton, Somerset and then the night ended when it became November 1st, 1981."
Throughout all of this, Harry's eyes had remained locked onto Daphne's, but when Pettigrew had finished his long monologue he turned to face the center of the room where Moody had stepped closer to Pettigrew urgently.
"You have Voldemort's wand in your possession?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
"In the left inside pocket of my robes."
Moody stepped forward and loosened the ropes holding Pettigrew in place with his wand whilst Dumbledore pointed his own at the drugged man in case he tried to take the opportunity to escape. Once the ropes were loose enough, Moody reached into the left inside pocket and pulled out a pale, white wand with a disgusted look on his face.
With a flick of his wand, Dumbledore tightened the ropes back up as Moody stepped away from Pettigrew and carefully placed the wand on the desk. For a moment he glanced with his magical eye at the Dictation Quill and the parchment, ensuring that it had recorded all that had been said thus far, before he continued his questioning.
"Explain in as much detail as you can what happened on November 1st, 1981?"
"I continued to apparate around Britain and at some point Sirius Black caught my trail. At around midday, I arrived on Columbia Road, London but found myself exhausted and unable to apparate any further. Sirius Black arrived only moments after I had and I acted quickly, implying loudly that he had been the one to betray the Potters to the crowd of muggles that gathered. Whilst he was refuting my statement I cast an Exploding Curse at the ground in between us, shielding me from Sirius Black's vision. Then I sent another Exploding Curse on the ground in front of the gathered crowd, killing some of them instantly. Then I severed my right index finger and threw it beside one of the bodies. I then transformed into my rat animagus form and escaped Sirius Black through a nearby drainage system. I spent the rest of November 1st, 1981 traversing the sewers and making my way out of London."
In the stunned silence that followed, Harry saw from the corner of his eye that Tonks was shaking her head slowly in disbelief at what they had all just heard. With a jolt, he remembered the short conversation between the two Aurors he had overheard earlier when he, Daphne and Tracey had been making their way over to the seats.
Sirius Black was Tonks' cousin.
Sirius Black was innocent.
Sirius Black, the man he had sworn to kill had not betrayed his parents, or himself, and had not killed the thirteen muggles and Peter Pettigrew. He had embraced him on the night his parents had died, had provided Hagrid with the means to take him to safety, to Dumbledore, and then had hunted down his parent's true betrayer.
Turning his face from Daphne's, Harry looked to Dumbledore and Moody, who both seemed to be having a silent conversation between them. After a moment Dumbledore shook his head and Moody withdrew his wand and sent a Stunning Spell at the bound form of Pettigrew, who slumped lifelessly in his bounds.
Tonks pushed herself up from her crouched position with the hand still on Harry's knee and turned fully toward her mentor. "What now?"
Moody glanced at her with his magical eye as he levitated Pettigrew from the chair. "Now, I'll take him to the Ministry and stick him in a holding cell. He'll be questioned further and then he'll be put on trial."
"I will accompany you, Alastor," Dumbledore told the man as he rose to his feet, taking up the parchment holding the transcribed interrogation before walking around to the front of his desk and picking up Voldemort's white wand with a faintly disgusted grimace.
"What will happen with Sirius Black?" Harry asked urgently, jumping to his feet and dislodging Fawkes, who hopped from his shoulder onto Daphne's.
"I will present the evidence we already have to the Minister and then I will personally go to Azkaban and remove Sirius from its walls myself," Dumbledore promised, attempting a reassuring smile. "Fawkes?"
Fawkes trilled and took flight from Daphne's shoulder, flying toward the Headmaster's outstretched arm and landing softly upon it. Moody stepped closer to the man, lifting his hand to rest it on Dumbledore's shoulder as his other gripped Pettigrew firmly around the collar.
"You are all welcome to stay here in my office for as long as you need," Dumbledore told the rest of the room's occupants before settling his gaze on his three students. "You have my permission to be absent from the remainder of your classes for the day. I am sure Professor Snape would understand you missing your double period with him this afternoon." He told them with a wink, receiving grateful nods from all three.
Moody spoke up then, his gaze fixed on his protege. "Go to your parents tonight, girlie. Go to your mum."
"I will," Tonks promised, nodding her head.
"Harry, you will understand that I must keep the map for now as evidence?" Dumbledore asked of the boy, who nodded firmly.
"Of course, sir, whatever it takes to get Sirius Black out of Azkaban and him," He glared murderously at the unconscious form of Pettigrew. "In it."
"Quite so." Dumbledore smiled. "Then I wish you all a good day. Fawkes?"
With a flash of phoenix fire, the four of them vanished from the room, leaving Harry alone with his friends, family and Tonks. None of them said a word for a few moments until Harry turned and faced the woman behind him.
"I'm sorry, Marie."
Marie blinked at him, startled. "Whatever for?"
"I broke my promise to you. I did try to have a normal year, but..." He shrugged helplessly and Marie chuckled as she pulled the chair he had been sitting on out of the way, clearing the path so she could step forward and draw him into a warm, comforting hug.
"You're forgiven, my silly boy."
Sirius Black's day was as miserable as the last however many days he had spent in this hell on earth. It could have been weeks, months, years or even decades, he had no idea.
He deserved it though. He deserved every minute of misery he had endured for his unforgivable stupidity.
He had thought himself so clever to suggest Wormtail as the Secret Keeper, he had been so sure that it would keep his brother and Lily safe until they managed to defeat Voldemort.
What a fool he was, what a fool he had always been.
Thanks to him, kind, brave James lay dead in the ground.
Thanks to him, beautiful, sweet Lily was gone from this world.
Thanks to him, wonderful, adorable little Harry had to grow up in a world without his loving parents. He would never again feel his mother's warm hugs, or his father's smiling praise.
Oh, Harry.
He walked into the pristine hospital ward with quick steps, heading toward the bed in the far corner that held a beautiful red-haired woman holding a small bundle in her arms. As he approached, a dark-haired man sitting beside her lifted his head, smiling widely when he caught sight of him.
"Sirius!" James exclaimed happily, jumping from his seat and rushing around the end of the bed toward him. When he reached his best friend, his brother, James engulfed him in a crushing hug. "He's here, Harry's here, he's a boy!"
"I gathered that from you saying he, James." Sirius laughed as he clapped the man on the back. Breaking apart, James stepped aside so Sirius could approach the exhausted Lily, who nevertheless smiled happily at him.
"Hey, Sirius," Lily greeted tiredly as she lifted the bundle in her arms higher up her chest. "Come meet Harry."
Sirius stepped closer but focused his attention on the woman. "You're okay, Lils?"
"Knackered and sore, but that's what nine hours in labour will do to you, I suppose," She said with a snort and a shake of her head.
"She was amazing Sirius, she really was," James gushed as he retook his seat beside his wife.
"Well, that's Lily for you," Sirius agreed with a fond smile. He looked down at the baby in her arms, though the blanket covered his face from view. "And Harry's good? Everything as it should be?"
"He's perfect, healthy as can be," Lily said with equal parts joy and relief. "Would you like to hold him?"
Sirius blinked at her in surprise. "Are you sure? I've never..."
Lily chuckled and raised her arms to offer the baby to him. Sirius, concerned that she was struggling in her weakened and exhausted state, darted closer and held his hands under Harry. Before he took him from his mother, Sirius gulped.
"How do I...how do I hold him?" He asked.
"Hold him close to your chest so he can feel your heartbeat, and keep his head in the crook of your elbow," Lily advised as Sirius took Harry from her arms, carefully maneuvering the baby into the right position. Lily tensed as she watched, but sank back into her pillow when Sirius perfectly positioned her baby.
When he looked down, Sirius saw the sleeping boy's face for the first time and felt his heart expand in his chest with pure love.
"Oh, wow. Look at him, he really is perfect," Sirius breathed out in awe, staring at the sleeping boy's face before his eyes lifted to the mop of jet-black hair. "Even if he does look like James."
"Hey!"
Slowly, Sirius reached over and lightly stroked Harry's cheek with his index finger. "He's so soft."
He continued to stare down at the boy, his finger resting on his cheek, when he heard James clear his throat.
"You know, before you got here we were talking about who will be his Godparent..."
"Yeah?" Sirius responded absently, now engrossed in the tiny rise and fall of little Harry's chest as he slept.
"And we decided that, well, seen as Lily did all the hard work she could decide," James told him in a light voice.
"A wise decision," Sirius said with a distracted nod as he slowly began to rock the baby in his arms.
Lily hummed to herself. "I'm thinking...someone smart, loyal and brave."
"Good qualities to have," Sirius agreed as he moved his finger to Harry's tiny little hand which was now poking out of the blanket.
"Someone who gets along well with both James and I..."
"You're easy people to get along with," Sirius murmured, entranced when Harry's little hand closed minutely around his index finger.
"Someone who will fall in love with him at first sight..."
"Who wouldn't?" Sirius said, though he gasped when he lifted his eyes from the baby's hand and back to his adorable little face to see bright emerald eyes staring back at him. "He's awake!"
"Well, of course, he wants to see his Godfather," Lily told him in a lilting voice.
Sirius nodded uncomprehendingly before he suddenly froze and turned to the smirking woman lying in the bed. "H-his Godfather?"
"You, you stupid mutt." Lily laughed, shaking her head at him fondly.
"Me?" Sirius questioned disbelievingly as the little hand still gripping his finger tightened.
"Yes, you. Who else, other than us, would love him as much as you? Who else would protect him to the ends of the earth like Sirius Black?" Lily smiled, locking eyes with him. "You will, won't you Sirius?"
Sirius swallowed heavily. "I will." He told her with utmost certainty before he tore his gaze from one set of emeralds to the other. He stared into the eyes of little Harry, his Godson, and felt a grin that stretched his face wide begin to form.
"I will."
He hadn't.
He had failed his godson, he had failed to uphold his promise to Lily, and had instead condemned him to a lifetime without his parents.
He wished that the Dementors would just hurry up and take his wretched soul.
Unbidden, his memory of that awful night began to play in his mind once more as a deep, despairing cold seeped into his cell, causing him to shiver in both chill and misery. He allowed his head to fall weakly from where it was leaning against the harsh stone wall to face the door of his enclosure and the Dementor floating beyond.
Perhaps he was to get his wish this night.
The lock opened with a loud click and the door swung open ominously, but surprisingly to him, the Dementor did not float menacingly toward his curled-up, shivering form. Rather, it outstretched its bony, disgusting hand and beckoned him toward it.
He stared at the floating nightmare in confusion, wondering what was happening. When it merely continued to beckon him forward, he sighed to himself and began to push himself painfully to his feet. Atrophied muscles strained almost beyond breaking point as he rose shakily, panting from exertion, but he eventually stood unsteadily upright. Knowing it was useless to question the Dementor, he merely shrugged and fell more than stepped toward it.
Slowly, he made his way toward the creature of darkness, his feet barely lifting off the floor. To his surprise, the Dementor began to float backwards but continued to beckon him toward it.
His hazy mind was struck with the thought that it wanted him to leave his cell, but for the life of him, he couldn't understand why. Never had he been allowed to leave his own little corner of hell since he had been thrown in here.
So why now?
Shaking his head, he decided not to ponder the matter further and instead dutifully followed along after the Dementor, painstakingly slowly. Eventually, he stepped out of his cell for the first time since November 1st, 1981, and stared down the cold stone hallway he had walked only once and found a figure he thought he would never see again.
Albus Dumbledore stood smiling sadly before him, his bright magenta robes clashing horribly with the grey, drab architecture around him. Fawkes the Phoenix sat astride the man's shoulder, and when the bird spotted him he trilled happily.
He stared at the two of them over the sounds of his fellow high-security prisoners shuffling further back into their cells and away from the sound.
"Hello again, Sirius," Albus greeted in a soft voice. "I think it is high time you leave this place, don't you?"
Sirius felt the need to swallow heavily despite his dry, parched throat. All he could provide for an answer was a desperate nod of his head, which didn't seem to bother the great wizard all that much. Dumbledore nodded back and began to approach him, but paused when dull laughter began to sound.
Sirius tiredly turned to the cell that sat opposite his own and found himself meeting familiar and surprisingly lucid violet eyes.
"They've finally realised you're not one of us, then." The woman rasped, her mouth moving oddly around the few rotted teeth that remained. "Took them long enough."
He stared down at the woman, his eyes dropping momentarily toward the skull and snake tattoo proudly adorned on her forearm before meeting her eyes once more. "I'd never be one of you." He croaked with his unused vocal cords, the action painful in his throat.
"Hmm," The woman grunted as she kept her violet gaze locked onto his own for a long moment. All of a sudden she seemed to lose whatever burst of energy and lucidity she had been enjoying and she slumped down the bars she had pressed her skeletal frame against. She closed her eyes and leaned heavily against the door to her cell. "Bye-bye, baby Siri."
Sirius turned away from the woman and looked instead to the Headmaster, who lifted a wrinkled hand to rest upon his own filthy shoulder. "H-how? W-why now?"
"New information has come to light this day, in the form of a captured Peter Pettigrew," Albus told him lightly.
Sirius' mouth dropped open in surprise. "You found the rat?"
Albus smiled wryly at him. "I captured him earlier today at Hogwarts, but I would never have known he was there if it were not for that rather ingenious map you and your friends created." Sirius stared uncomprehendingly at him and Albus chuckled. "Nor would I have known if it were not for Harry pointing him out to me."
Sirius stared at the man's blue eyes unseeingly, his mind conjuring up images of a small, black-haired, green-eyed boy. "Harry?" He repeated in a wobbly voice.
"Harry," Albus confirmed with a nod. "Now, come, let us get you out of this dreadful place and to the hospital. Fawkes?"
The Phoenix trilled once more and then, in a flash of flame, Sirius Black vanished from Azkaban Prison, never to return again.
Because Harry, his Godson, had saved him.
It's only now, as I reach the end of this update, that I realise Astoria didn't show up once.
And if that isn't evidence for you that this story is going downhill at a breakneck speed, I don't know what is.
(I'm joking please still love it)
Yeah, I know, it's been a while, but I have reasons...mainly that I could not for the life of me think how to do this chapter. Absolutely no creative juices have been flowing for the past two - almost three - months, until suddenly, around a week ago, I got ideas.
For other stories.
My beta (hi mum) quickly banned me from being allowed to write any of them before this story is finished so I figured I'd best get to it.
It was interesting writing the scenes from different character's POV's but I doubt it'll happen again any time soon, this was just the only way I could think to do it and have it be legible. I never really felt my flow when writing this (yeah, the flow talk is back) so I doubt it's all that good (especially the interrogation bit) but hopefully you enjoyed it.
Oh, one more thing, for the love of god people I've left hints all throughout this story pointing toward something and not one of you has picked up on it (or maybe you have and didn't mention it in the reviews) so this chapter got a BLARING one so come on people, make me proud.
Let me know what you think in the reviews, that's one thing I've really missed while I've been gone.
Enjoy!