Secret Keeper

Chapter Six:

October 26, 1981

Albus Dumbledore, Lily Potter, and James Potter all sat speechless in the Potters’ living room as Lily and James struggled to process the information they had just heard. Both looking extremely nervous, their faces etched with lines of pain and worry, they sat, deep in thought, wondering where Sirius was, if he had been captured by Death Eaters, and what he was going through if he had. Suddenly, a burst of flame appeared in midair, startling Lily and James out of their thoughts. A scroll of parchment fell to the ground, along with a shining gold phoenix feather.

Dumbledore did not seem surprised. “It’s from Fawkes,” he explained, noticing Lily and James’ puzzled stares. He took the parchment and unrolled it slowly, his eyes darting back and forth as he read its message.

“Hmm.” Whatever was in the letter that Dumbledore had just received obviously did not please him. It was so strange for James to see Dumbledore frowning, he was so used to seeing the benign smile that usually crossed the Headmaster’s face, but now, for the second time in a few hours, the corners of Dumbledore’s mouth turned down and his forehead wrinkled slightly with anxiety.

“What is it, Professor?” Lily asked quietly, as if fearing the answer that she was about to receive.”

Dumbledore looked at her wearily. “It’s been confirmed,” he said at last, his voice sounding tired and disappointed. “Sirius has indeed been captured by Voldemort.”

“No...” James whispered, an expression of disbelief crossing his face, “No, this can’t be...”

“I’m afraid it’s quite true, James,” Dumbledore said heavily. “I’ve a useful number of spies working against Lord Voldemort, and I’ve just been notified by one of them that Sirius is indeed being held captive.”

Lily blinked tearfully. “What – what are they doing to him?”

Dumbledore sighed deeply. “Looking for you and James, of course. He is aware of the fact that Sirius is your Secret-Keeper...”

James looked horrified. “This is all my fault, all my fault...” He buried his face in his hands.

Lily patted her husband’s back soothingly. “No, don’t say that, James. You didn’t know, it’s not your fault...”

Dumbledore looked at her inquiringly. Lily breathed deeply before answering the Headmaster’s unspoken question.

“Remus and Peter were here last night,” she explained dejectedly. “They had dinner with us. I guess what happened was we were so happy to see them that we – we...” Here, James was glad that Lily used the word ‘we’ instead of ‘James.’ Lily gulped before continuing. “We... forgot about your warning, forgot what you said about someone on our side...” She blinked miserably.

“And you gave them Sirius’ whereabouts,” Dumbledore finished for her, nodding slightly. “Completely understandable, Lily, completely understandable. And I must say, this bit of information makes everything much easier for us...”

“What?” James looked up sharply. “Why?”

“Because it narrows our list of suspects down to two, that is, if I am correct in assuming that you four were the only ones who had any knowledge of Sirius’ whereabouts,” Dumbledore said wisely. “Logically speaking, it must have been Remus or Peter – all we need to do is use some Veritaserum-”

“Couldn’t that have some nasty side effects, Professor Dumbledore?” Lily asked. “We shouldn’t-”

“Ah, but I did not say we would be administering any Veritaserum,” Dumbledore interrupted smoothly. “I believe that if we confront the two of them with our knowledge and threaten the use of Veritaserum in order to find the truth, it will be very obvious who our culprit is.”

James nodded, understanding the cleverness of this plan. It sounded good. “When should we – we...” He could not bring himself to say it. He couldn’t believe that it was one of his friends that had betrayed Sirius, one of his best friends. His head was spinning on his shoulders and his sight seemed to go blurry.

“As soon as possible, I think,” said Dumbledore softly. “The sooner we find out, the better it will be.”

“Yes,” said James curtly. “Shall I invite them to dinner again tonight, Professor?”

“Yes, that would quite an excellent idea, James,” Dumbledore said. “I shall be here too. I would like to see this.”

Lily looked thoughtful. “Do we have any Veritaserum, James?” she asked.

“Ah, yes, that’s right,” Dumbledore said cheerfully, “we’ll need some Veritaserum – I’ll ask Severus to send some over.”

James scowled, his displeasure clearly shown on his face.

“Now, now, James,” said Dumbledore, chuckling softly. “It will not do for you two to be quarrelling. You are no longer schoolboys. I expect you to to talk to each other civilly. Especially at a time like this.”

“All right, all right,” James looked distinctly ruffled. “I’ll contact Remus and Peter, shall I?”

“Yes,” said Dumbledore. “And be sure not to inform them of any news of Sirius, at least not yet.” James nodded his consent before heading upstairs to send off two owls to his friends.

“I hope Sirius is alright...” Lily whispered softly. She was close to tears. “I wish I knew who it was, Professor, I wish I knew who – who-” She seemed to be unable to finish her sentence.

Dumbledore breathed heavily. “We will find out soon enough, Lily, who betrayed us,” he said quietly. “I only hope that we discover the truth in time to save Sirius...”

Sirius’ vision was returning to him as he felt himself slowly drifting back into consciousness. No, he thought miserably, no, just let me sleep, let me rest. He did not want to be awake to experience yet another round of pain from Voldemort.

He saw an owl zoom through a slightly open window and past his head towards the group of Death Eaters conversing in the corner. It looked strangely familiar... had he seen it before? Of course not, you stupid git, he admonished himself harshly, you’re going completely around the bend.

The owl perched on Peter Pettigrew’s shoulder. Peter stared at the owl blankly for a few seconds. He was almost positive that this was one of the Potters’ owls, but... why would they be writing to him now? Unless they knew, somehow... Peter gulped.

“Well, Wormtail, it seems as if you’ve got some mail there,” murmured a soft voice. Voldemort had suddenly appeared at Peter’s side.

Peter immediately sank into a low bow. “My Lord, Master,” he stammered quietly, “I – I don’t know what-”

“You’ve got a letter, Wormtail, I suggest you open it.”

“Y-yes my Lord,” Peter whispered as he slit open the parchment with trembling fingers. His eyes skimmed over the lines of writing a few times. He looked as if he scarcely believed what he was reading. Biting his lower lip nervously, he looked at Voldemort.

“I-it’s from James P-Potter,” Peter stuttered weakly, “he wants me to h-have d-dinner with h-him-”

“Perfect,” Voldemort said smoothly. “You know where the Potters are staying?”

“Y-yes, Master, they’re at G-Godric’s Hollow.”

Voldemort looked amused. “I see,” he said finally. “Now I just need to hear it from Black – well, well, well, looks like he’s awake. You will have dinner with the Potters, Wormtail, and report to me anything interesting you might hear there. I will deal with our – friend.” He walked over to where Black’s body lay motionless on the ground.

Sirius stared up at him. Voldemort had been talking to a Death Eater – who was it? Sirius had been unable to see them or hear their conversation, but he had caught snatches of the words ‘letter’ and ‘Potter.’ So the owl had been delivering a letter to Voldemort, a letter concerning the Potters. Sirius choked slightly as he thought of Lily, James, and Harry. What were they doing right now? Did they know that he had been captured?

“Well, Black, I see you’ve woken up,” Voldemort remarked lightly.

Sirius stared at him, looking up at him with silent, hateful eyes. “Glad to see you’ve noticed.”

Voldemort chuckled. “Still haven’t learned your manners yet, haven’t you, Black? We’ll add that to the list of things I have to teach you before I kill you, shall we? But first, we have some old business to settle.” Voldemort gazed at him intensely. “I know where the Potters are staying. They are at Godric’s Hollow, of course. But you see, my knowledge is useless unless you tell me, Black. So tell me. Tell me that the Potters are at Godric’s Hollow.”

Sirius glared up at him defiantly. “And what makes you think I’d tell you that?”

“Well,” said Voldemort pleasantly, “I was rather hoping that, er, recent events would convince you to cooperate a little.” He smirked, looking at blood that had dried on Sirius’ mouth and the long red welts around his arms, chest, and shoulders where the ropes that bound him had cut through his shirt and into his skin. “Apparently, I was wrong. Shall we try again?”

Gritting his teeth, Sirius replied, “You might as well just kill me now; I’ll die before I ever tell you where the Potters are.”

“Oh, of course I will kill you, Black,” was the cold reply, “but not yet. Do you think me a fool? You are their Secret-Keeper. If I kill you, I’ll never be able to find the Potters, and where will I be then? They’ll be protected forever.”

“Exactly,” whispered Sirius.

Voldemort smiled coldly, his scarlet eyes boring into Sirius. “Haven’t got you convinced yet, Mr. Black? Perhaps another little dose of pain will do...” And again, Sirius had been hit by the Cruciatus Curse.

This time, he didn’t even try to keep from screaming as he writhed on the ground. This time was worse than before, much worse. He felt as if every nerve in his body had been set aflame, his head seemed pound relentlessly, his skin felt as sore and raw as if it were being stripped off him in chunks. He gasped for breath as he lay on the floor, screaming, his face twisting in pain. He had to be loyal to James. He couldn’t give in. He had to keep it up, to keep defying Voldemort. But he wasn’t sure he could hold out much longer, and Voldemort was showing no signs of being about to lift the curse any time soon... the pain. The pain was too great, too great-

No! What was he thinking? How could I even think of giving in? he asked himself furiously. Lily and James and Harry, I’ve got to protect them! He had to keep going. James, he thought, gritting his teeth, think of James...

James Potter was pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace. Any minute now. They were coming any minute now, and then, they would know who had betrayed them, who had been a traitor, who had delivered Sirius into Voldemort’s hands. Remus or Peter? Peter or Remus? James’ head felt heavy on his shoulders.

“Could there be some mistake?” he asked, stopping abruptly. Lily and Dumbledore both stared back at him.

“I suppose so,” Dumbledore said, drawing the words out slowly, “but I am fairly sure that someone on our side has turned against us...”

“But maybe it wasn’t Remus or Peter, right?” James asked, glancing at Dumbledore hopefully. The Headmaster seemed to be considering his next words.

“There is that possibility...” Dumbledore conceded.

“Then maybe it wasn’t one of them,” James said excitedly. He knew it. Remus and Peter could never have become Death Eaters, he was sure of it. He almost wanted to hit himself for even suspecting it.

Lily opened her mouth, about to say something, but Dumbledore silenced her with a look. “I will not raise any false hopes, James,” he said calmly. “We will just have to see.” James gulped and nodded.

The fire had turned bright green again and two rotating shapes fell out.

“Remus! Peter!” James greeted his friends eagerly.

“Er, hello Prongs,” Remus said. He noticed that Lily had not jumped up to greet him or Peter; she was staring at them with an unfathomable expression on her face. And sitting next to her was-

“Professor Dumbledore!” Peter greeted the Headmaster with surprise and a slightly apprehensive look. “Wha – what are you doing here?”

“Oh, I just fancied having a chat with Lily and James,” Dumbledore said elusively. “To keep up on... current events.”

Peter’s face paled visibly while Remus look puzzled.

“Something’s going on,” said Remus with a bit of uncertainty in his voice. “What happened, Lily? Is something wrong?”

Lily did not reply. She sat perfectly still, staring into space, that same unfathomable expression still on her face.

“Lily?” Peter croaked. “What happened?” He glanced at James for a second out of the corner of his eye before turning back to her.

“Er,” she began. She glanced in Dumbledore’s direction and met his eyes; he nodded in approval. “Well...” She tried to continue, but couldn’t. Her hands were beginning to tremble. “Well-” she said again, but James interrupted.

“Sirius has gone missing.”

Peter’s eyebrows jumped into his hair, while Remus let out a small gasp. “Missing? Do you mean missing like you can’t find him, or missing as in someone’s captured him?”

“He was captured by Death Eaters. We believe he was taken not long after the two of you had dinner here,” said Lily.

Peter gulped nervously, while Remus looked slightly taken aback.

“What are you implying, Lily Evans Potter?”

“We are not implying anything, Remus, at least not yet,” Dumbledore interjected calmly. “However, we have reason to believe that one of you has been passing information to Lord Voldemort. If either of you has been doing so, I would suggest that you come clean right now. You cannot hide this. You cannot lie.”

Peter and Remus exchanged glances.

“If neither of you is willing to be honest, I may have to resort to...” Dumbledore pulled a small crystal vial out of his robes, “...desperate measures.”

Peter involuntarily let out a loud gasp and took a large step backwards towards the fire. He kept opening and closing his mouth, but no sound was coming out.

The room seemed to be frozen in time for a few seconds. Then-

“My God,” whispered Remus quietly. He was visibly shaken. Suddenly, as if on impulse, he grabbed his friend’s left arm and pulled up the sleeve of his robes, revealing Peter’s bare forearm. There, branded on his skin, was-

“The Dark Mark.” Lily seemed to be going into shock. Peter kept glancing around nervously, looking as if he were going to break down at any minute. “Peter, how could you-” she began, but was not allowed to finish.

“You little shit!” James lunged at Peter, looking as if he would like nothing more than to rip the other man’s liver out through his throat. Quickly, Remus jumped to his friend’s side, pinning back his arms.

“James, don’t-” he began, trying to reason with James, but James seemed determined to escape from his tight grip.

“Do you understand what you’ve done, Peter?” James bellowed, the rage showing clearly on every inch of his face. “Do you understand?!”

“J-James, I – I never m-meant to, you don’t understand-” Peter’s eyes darted nervously from side to side, as if he were looking for an exit. He found none.

“I DON’T UNDERSTAND, PETER? I DON’T UNDERSTAND?!” he screamed, trying to writhe his way out of Remus’ strong grip on his arms. “You put my wife, my son, and my best friend in danger! Sirius could be dead right now, and it’s your fault!”

“-n-never meant for it to h-happen, James, I’m sorry, I c-couldn’t-”

“SHUT UP! YOU TRAITOR, YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SCUM, I’LL KILL YOU!”

Dumbledore put a hand on James’ shoulder. “I think that you should calm down now, James,” he remarked coolly. He waved his wand at Peter; black cords shot out of the end and bound themselves around him. He fell into a corner, unable to move, shooting frightened glances at those in the room around him.

“DON’T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!” James wrenched his arms out of Remus’ grasp and raised his fist to punch Peter, but before he could, Lily forced him back on to the couch.

“James, stop, we don’t have time for this now, we have to find Sirius-”

Remus looked at Peter coldly. “I suppose you know where he is, Peter?” he asked with a look of deep disgust. Peter shook his head frantically.

“-h-haven’t got a clue – don’t kn-know-” he mumbled.

“DON’T LIE TO US! YOU KNOW WHERE HE IS! TELL US, TELL US!” James leapt forward shaking Peter’s shoulders. “Where’s Sirius? Tell me right now, where’s Sirius?!”

Peter tried to shrink away from James, but only succeeded in backing himself further into a corner. “I – I – he – few miles north of H-Hogsmeade – old – m-manor-”

“We have to find him!” James exclaimed, the anger in his eyes changing into panic and anxiety. “We have to get him, Voldemort’ll kill him! This is all my fault, oh my God!” He began to stride towards the door, but Lily pulled him back.

“You can’t go!” she hissed at him. “Don’t you see? If you go there, you’ll only be putting Sirius in more danger! As long as Sirius doesn’t reveal the secret and Voldemort doesn’t find some other way to get us, his life is safe. Voldemort’s not that foolish; he won’t kill Sirius until he has the secret.”

James glared at his wife furiously. “How can I not go?! I have to save him! This is all my fault! If I weren’t so bloody stupid-”

“I think,” interrupted Dumbledore calmly, “that this is hardly the time for guilt and self-pity. James, Lily is quite right, you mustn’t go find him, you’d only put him in more danger, and yourself as well. Remus,” he said turning towards the other man, “will you go inform the Ministry of the situation? I trust they will send a few Aurors to assist Sirius.”

Remus nodded resolutely, his face shaken and pale. He scowled darkly at Peter before grabbing some Floo Powder and disappearing back into the fire. I can’t believe Peter did that to you, Sirius, he thought to himself. I can’t believe he did that.