How Four Became Three

HOW FOUR BECAME THREE

"Then you should have died!" roared Black. "Died rather than betray your friends, as we would have done for you!" Prisoner of Azkaban, ch.19, 'Servant of Lord Voldemort'

PART I - WORMTAIL

This was it. This was the night in which Peter knew he would finally have to face up to the consequences of his actions twelve years ago, actions which had forced him to spend over a decade living as a rat. Back then he had been convinced that this night would never come. It seemed inevitable that the Dark Lord would succeed in his plan to take over wizarding England, so when Lucius Malfoy apparated outside his house thirteen years ago the temptation was too great. This way, he would be protected from the inevitable massacre when the Dark Lord took power. Surely all those who didn't support him would be made to pay?

And of course, there was the promise of power. Peter had never been popular as a child, and had expected this to continue when he started at Hogwarts. He was the latest child in a long family line of Hufflepuffs, and, noble though the house undoubtedly was, the wizarding community clearly favoured Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. But to his shock and delight, the Sorting Hat had seen fit to place him in Gryffindor, where he made three of the greatest friends anyone could wish for.

However, he had always felt inferior in comparison to them. Remus Lupin, although initially just as shy as Peter, was extremely intelligent and well liked. Sirius Black and James Potter were the most popular boys in their year. By being friends with them, Peter was guaranteed some degree of respect, but he always felt that Sirius in particular looked down on him, and even the teachers seemed to favour them over him.

So when Malfoy came to him, Peter realised that finally there was something in which he could stand apart from the rest, and have the potential to command the respect he craved. All the bitterness he had repressed came flooding to the surface, and he rashly accepted Malfoy's offer and flooed to Malfoy Manor (he had not yet mastered Apparition) to receive the Dark Mark. And after that, there was no going back - he had seen what had
happened to Regulus Black when he tried to leave the Dark Lord.

It hadn't taken long, though, for Peter to begin to doubt his decision. More and more members of the Order of the Phoenix were being killed by the Death Eaters, and terror was widespread. One murder in particular lay heavily on his mind, because no matter how he looked at the situation, the deaths of Fabian and Gideon Prewett were inescapably his fault. He was the one who told the inner circle that they would be waiting in Stonehenge that night, waiting to listen in to the meeting, so it was his fault that they were murdered.

However much he tried to push thoughts like these to the back of his mind, the stirrings of his conscience were becoming more and more difficult to suppress, but he consoled himself with the thought that, this way, he would be able to look after his friends when the inevitable happened. The sneaking suspicion that they would be major targets for the Dark Lord was pushed to the back of his mind.

Then came the day he would never forget: 30th October, 1981. It started when he was woken by the demanding, incessant burning of the Dark Mark, signifying that the Dark Lord required Peter's presence. One of the few benefits of receiving the Mark had been an increase in his powers: he had now mastered Apparition, so apparated to his master's side. For the first time, he encountered the Dark Lord on his own, and a sick feeling of dread settled in his stomach. It had finally happened - he was going to be asked
to betray his best friends.

The Dark Lord wanted to kill James' son, Harry, and had been informed by one of his spies that James and his wife Lily were planning to go into hiding under the Fidelius Charm. The Dark Lord wanted Peter to become their Secret Keeper. He left that morning unsure of what to do. Surely he couldn't betray his friend? Though, on the other hand...there was the thinly veiled threat that the Dark Lord had made against his elderly mother....torn, Peter decided to wait for a sign: and it came. An owl from
Sirius fluttered through the window, inviting him to dinner at Godric's Hollow. He knew what was coming - a request he couldn't refuse.

He went straight to Malfoy Manor after leaving Godric's Hollow that evening, and placed the lives of the Potters into the Dark Lord's hands. And that was it. No going back now, for better or worse Peter had chosen his side. Just 24 hours later, he realised how wrong that choice had been. Something had gone awry at Godric's Hollow: he could no longer sense the Dark Mark. He apparated there, and was faced with the sight he dreaded - Godric's Hollow in ruins, and his master's wand lying abandoned in the wreckage. Peter snatched up the wand and apparated away to begin his life in hiding.

But he hadn't counted upon Sirius tracking him down, much less a Sirius gone mad with grief. Cornered on a Muggle street, Peter took the only way out he could think of. Shouting for all to hear how Sirius had betrayed the Potters, he used a simple Severing Charm on his finger, exploded a pipe, transfigured into a rat and sped down a nearby gutter. After a few months scavenging, he decided to stay near a wizarding house to listen for news of his master, for surely he couldn't be forever beaten? Ironically enough, it
was the house of the sister of the Prewetts, now named Molly Weasley. One day he entered he kitchen to look at her, the human face of his betrayals, and he was spotted by her young son Percy. One thing led to another, and then here he was today - waiting to finally pay for his crimes, and, deep down, he knew he deserved whatever he would get...

PART II - PADFOOT

It had seemed like the perfect plan. But then, those had always been Sirius' problem. It had been the undoing of his friendship with Moony all those years ago, and twelve years ago his unfailing belief in his own brilliance caused the death of his best friend. You'd think, wouldn't you, that after the Whomping Willow incident in their fifth year, he'd have learnt his lesson. But no, he was still unable to see past his upbringing as a Black to even consider that he might possibly be wrong. And it was this that caused the death of his best friend, James, and his wife, Lily. Now though, he finally had the chance to redeem himself by avenging James and Lily's deaths, no - murders - and by saving the life of their son Harry. He let his mind drift back twelve years ago...

30th October, 1981

James stared earnestly into the eyes of his best friend.

"Padfoot, please. Lily and I can think of no-one we trust more."

Sirius sighed. "Prongs, you know I would be honoured, but..."

A look of confusion passed over James' face. "I really don't see what the problem is. We need a Secret Keeper as soon as possible, and you're able and willing; aren't you?"

"But this is exactly what Voldemort would expect, We can't fool ourselves any longer - someone in the Order is spying against us. He's bound to know that you're going under the Fidelius charm, and he knows that I'm your first choice for Secret Keeper."

"I trust you implicitly, Padfoot. I know you won't let us down," declared James.

"I know that, and you know that I would rather die than betray you. But I can't guarantee that he won't be able to get the information out of me...if Dumbledore doesn't think he can defeat him..."

There was silence while the two friends thought about what had been said. Then Sirius said softly, "Wormtail. Think about it, Prongs, it's the perfect plan. No-one would ever suspect we'd turn to a talentless thing like him!'

"Padfoot," James admonished.

"What? It's true. You know he always struggled. Look how much trouble he had with the Animagus transformations...come on, let's owl him now."

James, however, still wasn't convinced. "Surely Moony would be a better option? At least he can defend himself."

Sirius looked pained. "We know there's a spy, Prongs, and Remus has seemed - well, different, recently."

That was it. Suspicion is a terrible thing, and once the seeds had been planted in Sirius and James' minds there was no going back. Peter became the Secret Keeper, and as far as Remus was concerned, nothing had changed. So when Sirius found Peter's hiding place abandoned the next day, and when he flew to Godric's Hollow to find it ruined, and when he eventually tracked down Peter the next day...no-one knew the truth...

"My fault; all my fault..." moaned Sirius as the Ministry officials led him away. The irony that he'd been outwitted by that dumb rat suddenly struck him, and he started laughing, and knew that if he stopped laughing he'd start crying, and if he started crying he wouldn't be able to stop. But at least he would get a trial, and then he would be able to prove his innocence and get justice for James and Lily...

Twelve years later - July 1993.

Padfoot was curled up in the corner of the cell. He spent most days like this now, as it was easier to cope in his Animagus form. Then something alerted him; a scent of cleanliness, fear - something different. Sirius transformed back and sat staring blankly out of his cell. His eyes narrowed as Minister Fudge hastened between the cells, a bodyguard either side and the Daily Prophet under one arm. He paused at Sirius' cell, and motioned for a guard to open the door. "Ah...er...Black," he said. Sirius merely stared back at him, and the Minister made to walk away. As he turned, Sirius caught a glimpse of the front page, and what he saw was hauntingly familiar. He simply had to get a closer look at that paper.

"Cornelius, have you finished with that paper? I do so miss doing the crossword," he said in a hoarse voice.

Unnerved, the Minister stared at him, then broke eye contact, threw the paper into the cell and scuttled off. Sirius unfurled the paper, and stared at the photograph. The number of times he had seen Peter transform...there was no mistaking the fact that it was him sitting on the boy's shoulder. And he was going back to Hogwarts, to Harry...Sirius had to stop him harming James' son...he had to finally bring justice to that stinking rat.

PART III - MOONY

Sometimes Remus felt guilty for thinking it, but, for the last twelve years, he had felt that out of the four Marauders, he'd had it the worst. Sure, James and Peter had died, but they were in a better place, and at least they weren't left behind on their own like he had been. And as for Sirius - well, he may have been in Azkaban but no-one could deny that he deserved all that he received.

But Remus...he had suffered. Before that fateful Halloween night, James, Peter and Sirius had been his life. Without them, he had struggled to carry on. They had been his only true friends, and Remus had never envisaged the bond they had ever breaking. So when he lost all three of them in the space of 24 hours, he had felt utterly lost. With no-one left to turn to, he moved abroad, but even there his past haunted him. Unable to find paid work because of his lycanthropy, he'd merely drifted aimlessly from town to town until he received an owl from Albus Dumbledore inviting him to teach.

But when he came to Hogwarts, he ended up teaching James' young son, Harry. Seeing Harry so often brought all the memories to the surface again. When he began teaching Harry the Patronus Charm, it was a constant reminder of Halloween 1981. Harry was reliving his mother's death over and over again with each Dementor attack, and Remus had to be there to relive it with him.

The guilt he'd felt at the time then re-appeared; maybe everything had been his fault. James and Lily's deaths, Sirius's attack on Peter...there was no way to escape the fact that after Harry had been born, he'd consciously begun to pull away from the group. He'd only done it to protect them. After all, James and Lily might have denied it on numerous occasions, but nobody would want a dangerous beast around their child - for that was what he truly was. And with Voldemort ever on the rise, werewolves were certain to be targeted. The further away he was from his friends, the better it was for them.

He hated himself for this now. If he'd been there more often, then they wouldn't have suspected him of being the traitor, and he might have even track down the real betrayer. But tonight was his chance to make amends - tonight, he would finally bring justice for the Marauders once and for all.