Come Home + Sirius Black

eleven: full moon

Charlotte was holding her breath. She had already believed Sirius' story before this, but it was still unbelievable that Peter was standing before them.

"Well, hello, Peter," said Remus. "Long time, no see."

Peter's eyes were darting all across the room. For a brief moment, his eyes landed on Charlotte, but they darted away just as quickly as they glanced at her. "S-Sirius... R-Remus... C-Charlotte... My friends... My old friends..."

She said nothing as Sirius raised his wand in Peter's direction, but Remus had managed to get him to back off. "We've been having a little chat, Peter, about what happened the night Lily and James died. You might have missed the finer points while you were squeaking around down there on the bed —"

"Remus, you don't believe him, do you...?" For another moment, Peter looked at Charlotte again. "Charlie? He tried to kill me..."

She had to look away. Right now, in this very moment, she could not help but pity him. There was still rage bubbling within her, but right now, all that stood before her was a pathetic creature, and she could not bear to listen to the man that betrayed Lily and James, to the man that got them killed. He was pleading with Remus, failing to convince him of his innocence, that Sirius just wanted to kill him. Then she felt a hand on the top of her arm — Harry's hand — and she looked at him. He was staring at her, his eyes full of concern. Even now, when she's not even sure if he believed her, he never failed to ground her.

"I'm okay," she whispered, offering a reassuring smile to him. This... was just a lot for her to take in. Hermione was speaking now too, asking questions — clever questions. Harry had always spoke of her as the smart one, but Charlie has to admit, her intelligence and quick thinking was something else entirely to witness. She was only thirteen years old, but it was obvious to Charlie that she would do well in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. She knew precisely what questions to ask so that there was no information left out. But as clever as her questions are, Sirius had an answer to each and every one of them, which only further implicated Peter.

"Believe me," Sirius said. "Believe me, Harry. I never betrayed James and Lily. I would have died before I betrayed them."

For the moment, all eyes were on Harry, as finally, he nodded. It was like a weight being lifted from her shoulders. She hadn't realized how much — or why — Harry believing Sirius had meant so much to her. Maybe because it meant that she was not crazy for wanting to believe in him all this time.

"No!" Peter cried out, and everyone's attention was on him again as he fell to knees. "Sirius — it's me... it's Peter... your friend... you wouldn't..."

But Sirius kicked him off of him, making Charlotte flinch. "There's enough filth on my robes without you touching them.

"Remus!" he turned to Moony now, still on the ground. "You don't believe this... Wouldn't Sirius have told you they'd changed the plan?"

"Not if he thought I was the spy, Peter. I assume that's why you didn't tell me, Sirius?"

"Forgive me, Remus..."

"Not at all, Padfoot, old friend. And will you, in turn, forgive me for believing you were the spy?"

"Of course. Shall we kill him together?" She could have sworn she saw a hint of a grin on Sirius' face as he began to roll up his sleeves. Panicked, Peter scrambled to now lay at Charlotte's feet. He knew his time was coming to an end.

"Charlotte... please... you're good and... and kind, you always have been. You won't let them kill me."

Whatever pity she had for him was gone. "Both James and Lily would have given up their lives for you, you were family to them, and you killed them. I'm not going to let them kill you, Peter. I'm going to help them."