Astrophile [J.P]

Chapter 64

~ Are you a killer? Oh, I think I know what you are;

A thief in the night, and though it's taken me so very long to figure you out. ~

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The news of the Dark Lord's defeat as well as James and Lily's murder spread the Wizarding World like wildfire. Sirius upon receiving the news was frozen to the spot, realizing that Peter had been the traitor among them.

There was no other way Voldemort could have found out the exact location of James and Lily's house in Godric Hollow. And the more worrying aspect was that the truth about the Secret Keeper switch was known only to the Potters, Sirius, Peter and Dumbledore.

The rest of the Wizarding World still suspected Sirius to be the Secret Keeper who had changed sides.

Most worryingly, Remus wasn't aware of the truth either and he would have thought the same that Sirius had betrayed James.

He had rushed to Godric Hollow as soon as he got the news but found the place in shambles and the Order members were already there to investigate. He had a fair idea that going up there would land him in trouble and no one would believe his explanation.

Hence, he decided to find Peter himself and make the rat tell the truth to the others before an arrest warrant for Sirius was sent up.

But as he watched the Order members surround the place, he failed to spot his boyfriend among them and that too increased the worry in his heart.

He had to clear things up to Remus before it got too late.

Right then he felt as if he had been stupid not to tell Rem about the switch in the Secret Keeper's task from himself to Peter and he knew well that the boy would be devastated both by the death of their best friends as well as thinking that Sirius betrayed them.

Deciding that he would take Rem into confidence first then the two would capture Peter, he went to Magnolia Crescent. A thunderstorm was raging, the rain drenched him wet from head to toe but he kept banging on the door since it seemed as if Remus had buried himself deep within the house in mourning and was unable to hear him knocking.

He couldn't even get inside as there seemed to be an enchantment keeping the door locked, apparently Remus suspected him too and had gotten a lot dejected that he had locked himself in, not letting anyone enter.

"Remus, please... Open the damn door," his voice was choked as he knocked harder, eyes drying from the tears that were running down his face, "you promised never to forsake me. Please, hear me out..."

Sirius knew the time was very short for him and the Order members would definitely come straight after him since they thought he was the Secret Keeper. And even though Dumbledore knew about the switch, the fact that there had been no news on where Peter had vanished to indicated that the old man had done nothing as of yet to defend Sirius from being wrongly accused of betrayal.

He could feel as if Remus was right on the other side of the door, his hand closed on to the door handle but his mind and heart in conflict within himself. And Sirius wasn't wrong in that assumption because Remus was in fact sitting with his back pressed to the door, his heart shattering with each passing second.

He knew not who to trust anymore as he loved James as a brother and Sirius as a soulmate but the current situation had torn him apart completely. Felicity wasn't there either as she was in Italy with her mother, surely she would have gotten the news too and just like Rem, she too would be shocked to hear of the Potters' death as well as the betrayal executed by a friend.

Little did they know that Sirius wasn't to be blamed for betraying his friends. He would have rather died than ever betray his brother James.

"Remus, listen to me for one last time. Please... I did not betray James and Lily, you know I would lay my life down for them in a heartbeat. Please hear me out..."

At long last, the door creaked open and Remus looked out, amber eyes bloodshot and features depicting the pain he was going through. Sirius attempted to reach out to him but the boy blocked him, eyes piercing through stormy grey.

"Why... Why did you betray us?"

Those words cut through Sirius's heart, "I did not..."

"Don't fucking lie to me, Sirius!" His voice was dangerously loud yet broken from all the sobs choking him internally, "how could you betray James? He was like a brother to you..."

"I did not betray them," he pleaded but Rem looked too broken to understand, "please, you have to believe me."

"You were their Secret Keeper, how else could the Dark Lord have known where they were?" His voice broke and the door slammed shut, followed by the unmistakable sound of him breaking down to tears.

Sirius had begun to realize that Remus wouldn't listen to him as the boy was too torn from the pain and sorrow. Hence, there was only one way left.

He had to track Peter down and bring him to the Order so that the blame for him could be lifted. At that moment, he felt terribly alone because his brother was dead, his lover suspected and almost believed that he was the betrayer while the actual culprit was nowhere to be found.

With shaking legs, he stood up, despite the exhaustion of going through too much in the span of just one night, determination was sparking in his eyes.

He would find Peter and avenge James and Lily's murder, even if it was the last thing he did.

He left Magnolia Crescent and hunted Peter down but luck wasn't in his favor as the latter continued to play innocent, denying the claim of him actually being the Potters' Secret Keeper.

Overcome with loss and rage, Sirius dueled with Peter, aiming to take him down once and for all. However, the latter faked an entire explosion and vanished by the help of his Animagi form, cutting his finger behind as a proof of his death due to the explosion.

Little did Sirius know that it was all a preplanned outcome, ever since Peter had joined the Death Eaters, he was well aware that Sirius would murder him for betraying James since the boy was immensely devoted to his best friend.

That was the very fact he used to aid his escape as a result of which, Sirius was sentenced to Azkaban for life, the accuses upon him being the cause of the Potters' murders as well as the public act of violence against Peter that resulted in his death.

In just the span of one night, the Marauders were all torn apart and their world had come crashing down on them. And all it took for such chaos to unleash was the act of one deadly betrayal committed by a person they considered their own. 

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