Saving Their Lives

A/N:
A quick couple of things...To those of you who say Dumbledore is OOC, well of course he is. Most of these characters are OOC. That is why it is called fanfiction and is not cannon. This is all from my imagination, and I will write the characters how I want to portray them. That is why I don't get paid the big bucks like JKR.

Second, I know that I said I was going to the future, but I needed to tie up a couple of things first. Now they will go to the future. Please review and let me know what you think...




Later that night, Lilly and James layed together in their big comfortable bed for the first night in their new home. They snuggled under the thick blankets holding onto each other, savoring the feeling of each other’s arms. “James,” she asked.

“Yes love?” he said sleepily.

“I need to see Petunia. I can’t just disappear without letting her know that I am alright.”

James sighed. “Do you really think that she’ll even care?” he asked. He knew that Lilly’s sister and her husband had no use for magical people.

“I would like to think so. Once upon a time, Petunia and I were really close. I think that if I could just talk to her without Vernon being there, she would listen.”

“Her husband is a right nasty git, Lilly. He’s not going to allow the two of you to have any type of a relationship.”

“I know, but I have to try. I have to at least let her know that I am safe and that I love her.”

“How can you feel that way after what she and her husband did to Harry?”

“They haven’t done anything yet, and they won’t now that we’ve made sure he has a proper guardian. I would like to think that in my heart of hearts that it was her husband and his influence that made her turn her back on our son.”

James was quiet for a moment and then said, “Perhaps if you go in the morning after he leaves for work. If you arrive in a Muggle taxi dressed as a Muggle nobody will notice you. You could cover your hair.”

Lilly nodded. “I think that it would be best if I went alone as well. If anyone is watching her house, then it would be easier to disguise myself alone than with you or Harry with me.”

“You’re probably right, love. Tomorrow is Halloween. It is the day that we are supposed to die,” he whispered.

“We won’t die tomorrow, James. We’re not at the cottage in Godric’s Hallow, and nobody except Sirius and Molly and Arthur know where we are. We’re safe here.”

“I think that after you speak to your sister, we should spend the rest of the day here in the house. It would be better to stay out of sight from now on. There is no reason for us to go anywhere near the magical world. I’ve been thinking about this. I think that if we just hide out here until after the new year we should be safe. That will give everyone two months to forget about us.”

“Then what?” she asked.

“Then we die,” he said.

“What?” she gasped in shock.

“I think that we should fake our deaths. If we are dead, Voldemort will stop looking for us and then we can live in peace as Sirius and I collect the horcruxes. Once we have collected them all, we can destroy them.”

“But why pretend to be dead? How will we manage it?”

“I’m not sure on that part yet, but we’ll figure it out. I just think that if the Wizarding world assumes that you and I are dead, it will make things easier on us. We won’t have to keep looking over our shoulder to make sure that we are safe. Harry will grow up with two parents who love him and know that he is wanted. We’ll have the Weasley’s, the Grangers, and of course, Sirius.”

Lilly thought for a second and then nodded. “I think that you’re right. We’ll have to make sure that all of our affairs are in order. I’d hate to see the Ministry confiscate our property and we loose it all.”

“If we leave everything to Sirius we should be safe enough.”

Lilly snorted. “As long as he can keep himself out of trouble and not get his assets confiscated. James, what do we do about Peter?”

James immediately felt furry fill his body. He had trusted the man since he was a child and had counted him as one of his friends. For him to turn on him and betray he and his family that way was a huge blow. “I know what I’d like to do to him,” he growled.

“I don’t trust that Sirius won’t go after him.”

“I’m sure that if he is left to his own devices for to long he will. We need to take care of him before Sirius can.”

“Oh James! We can’t kill him!” she said, startled that he would think to do so.

“I had something else in mind. What if we put him under the imperius curse and he tried to kill someone? They’d lock him up in Azkaban. That way he would still be alive, but away from Sirius and temptation.”

“That seems so cruel. What if we put him under the imperius and made him leave the country? We could make him go live in America or something,” she asked.

James thought for a moment and then nodded. “That would work as well. I honestly don’t believe that he deserves any quarter from us, but if that will make you feel better, I’m fine with it.”

“When will you do it?”

“Tomorrow when you get back from talking to Petunia, I’ll get Sirius and the two of us can have him meet us at The Three Broomsticks. He’ll come if Sirius sends him an invitation.”

“Don’t tell him that you’re going to be there!” she shrieked.

James smiled. “Believe it or not, love, I’m not a complete imbecile. Any way, Voldemort is after Harry, not us. If anything, if he knew I was there, he might show up to try and follow me home, he wouldn’t hurt me. He wants Harry to badly for that.”

“Its just so awful that that demented man wants to kill our baby,” she cried.

James squeezed her tighter against him and kissed her brow softly. “We’ll keep him safe,” he whispered.

“I know. You know, you should probably send a message to Sirius now. If he’s sitting alone in his apartment drinking, he might work himself up into a frenzy and do something stupid before you get a chance to talk to him about our plan.”

James sighed. “You’re right. Damn, its cold, I don’t want to get out of bed,” he said pulling his wife underneath him. “I can think of something better to do then send a message to Sirius,” he growled taking her lips in a demanding kiss.

Lilly moaned. “Sirius first, love,” she whispered.

“The slimy git isn’t even here, and he’s ruining my sex life,” James muttered, but sat up and pushed the blankets back.

“Just send Rosie with the message. It would be the quickest way.”

“I’ll be right back,” he said. “Don’t go to sleep without me, I have plans for you,” he said as he pulled on a robe and walked towards the door.

Lilly smiled and snuggled back down into the thick warmness. She closed her eyes and thought about how much she loved her new home. Within minutes, she was asleep.

“Rosie!” James called after he finished writing his message.

A second later the house elf appeared. “Yes, master, sir?” she asked.

“I need you to talk this to Sirius Black and wait for a return message. It’s very urgent,” he warned.

“Yes, master, sir,” she bowed and then popped away.

James shook his head and thought that they would need to work a bit on the bowing and the address. He sat back down at his desk and waited.


Sirius stared into his empty glass and thought of Peter Pettigrew and all of the things that he was going to do to him when he got the chance. There was no way he was going to ignore the bastard and let him get away with his betrayal. James wanted him to leave it alone, but he just couldn’t.

He reached across the table and picked up his bottle of Ogden’s and swirled it around for a moment. He then set it back down. He needed to have a cool head and not be fuzzy with the effects of liquor. It was time to start acting like an adult. He had heard the story that Harry gave of his life. He didn’t want to spend the best years of his life in Azkaban mourning the death of his best friends while their son was abused daily by Muggles. He abruptly stood and took his bottle to the sink where he poured it out.

He had been the first in his family to not be sorted into Slytherin, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have some Slytherin tendencies. It was time to use his sneaky side and plan. Killing Peter Pettigrew would require precise timing and a flawless execution. He had to make sure that there was no way it could be linked back to him. There could be no witness’s and no evidence. The best way would have to be a potion. There was no way of tracing it back to anyone.

He walked to his fireplace and stood staring for a moment. He threw in a handful of powder and waited.

“Sirius?”

“Father, I need your help,” he said to the head in the fireplace.

“I’ll come through,” he immediately said.

Sirius stepped back and waited for a moment for his father to come through. They had had a strained relationship most of his life, but when push came to shove, Sirius knew that he could always count on his father. They had to keep their relationship secretive so that his mother did not find out and curse her husband but that was all right with both of them. Walburga Black was not a witch to cross and neither one of them were anxious to feel her wrath. Sirius had already been zapped off the family tree.

“Hello, father,” he said when his father stepped through his fireplace.

“Sirius,” the older man said with a smile. “It’s been a long time,” he said.

Sirius nodded. “How have you been?”

Orion Black shook his head. “You didn’t call me here for pleasantries. We’re both obviously fine. I can’t stay long or your mother will notice I’m gone and remove me from the family tree as well,” he joked. “What do you need?”

“I need a potion that will cause a painful death, but won’t be linked back to me,” he said bluntly.

Orion Black was shocked. Maybe his eldest son was finally becoming a Black after all. “Is it for any of the relatives?” he asked. He didn’t want to see his son kill a family member, even if a couple of them did deserve it.

“No. It is for a disgusting back stabbing traitor.”

“You just described half of the family, son,” he laughed at his own little joke.

“I wouldn’t risk Azkaban for any of our foul relatives,” he said in contempt. “Well, maybe for Bellatrix, but nobody else.”

Orion nodded. “How soon do you need the potion?”

“As soon as possible. I thought perhaps you might have something in your stores. This matter needs to be immediately taken care of,” he said.

Just then a popping noise sounded and Sirius looked over across the room to see, Rosie, the Potter family house elf. “Rosie! Is everything alright?” he immediately demanded racing across the room to the startled elf.

“Yes, Mr. Black, sir. Master wanted me to give you this,” she bowed. “I needs to wait for a reply, sir,” she bowed again.

Sirius snatched the rolled parchment out of her hand and quickly read the message:

Sirius,
Don’t do anything stupid regarding PP tonight. I have a plan.
Ask him to meet us for lunch tomorrow. Don’t tell him that
I’ll be there, it will be a surprise. You’ll be happy with my plan.
It will solve our problem of revenge on PP and get him out of
London. Let me know where and when you agree to meet.
James

Sirius read the parchment a second time and grinned. Perfect. If they met for lunch tomorrow he could slip the potion into his glass. James may have a plan, but he had a better one. James had a bit of a weak stomach when it came to death, but Sirius had no problem with killing of the little rodent. Anyone who messed with his family deserved to die, and James and Lilly Potter and their baby was his family.

“What is it, Sirius?” his father asked interrupting his thoughts.

“Can you have the potion before lunch tomorrow? I have the perfect place to execute my plan. It should be something slow acting that someone can digest and then it will take a couple of hours for it to work. Of course, the incredibly painful part should still apply,” he grinned evilly.

Orion smiled at his son. “I think that I know just the thing. I’ll return here around eight am. Your mother never awakens that early and I can easily sneak out. I should have a vial in my stores. I used it to get rid of one of Regulus’ friends that kept coming around to beg money. Your brother doesn’t pick very honest friends.”

“Was it a death eater?”

Orion nodded. “They always need money to feed our Dark Lord’s coffers. This war is going to bankrupt many families before it is done,” he said sadly.

“Are you sending money to him?” Sirius demanded.

“Not much. Your mother makes her monthly contributions, but I have kept a limit on the amount she can send. If she goes over the limit she looses her clothing allowance, and she doesn’t like that,” he said with a chuckle. “I must return now, I will see you in the morning, son,” he said patting his son’s shoulder before turning to the fireplace.

“Father,” he called.

“Yes, son?”

“Thank you,” he smiled.

“I’ll always be here for you, regardless of what your mother thinks. She may have zapped you off the family tree, but I have not disowned you,” he said. “You will always make me proud. You’re a bit strange, and definitely not a Slytherin, but proud of you I am,” he said and disappeared into the flames.

Sirius smiled and then called, “Moxie,” and a few moments later an elf appeared.

“Yes, master Sirius?” she asked bowing. She was bound to him but still resided at the Black family home. He didn’t like having an elf under foot all the time.

“I need you to take a message to Peter Pettigrew. I want him to meet me at noon at the Three Broomsticks. Ask him if he is available for lunch,” he said.

“Yes, Master Sirius,” she said. She glanced around the room and asked, “Does Master want Moxie to clean?”

Sirius looked around at his disgusting apartment and nodded. “When you get back with an answer you may clean up this shit hole,” he said flopping down on the couch. James’ elf still stood in the room waiting for a response. “Hurry up, Moxie,” he growled.

“Yes, Master Sirius,” she said disappearing.

Several minutes later she reappeared and said, “He will meet you, Master Sirius,” she said.

Sirius snorted. Of course the little rodent would be him. It wasn’t like he had anything better to do,” he said. He reached for a parchment and scribbled a reply to James telling him the time and location. “Here,” he called to Rosie. “Take this to James,” he said.

The elf bowed and disappeared. Sirius looked around the room and back to Moxie. “Do it quietly, I’m going to bed,” he said.


“Poena Excessum,” Orion Black said handing a small vial to his son.

“What does it mean?”

“Painful death,” he laughed. “Whomever you give that to won’t die easy,” he said. “Just pour it into their beverage and within a few hours the potion will start to work. He should have several hours of gut wrenching pain, muscles will spasm, bones will break, joints will stiffen, throat will close off making it hard to breath, eyes will swell so they can’t see, ears will clog so that they can’t hear. It is a nasty potion that will leave the consumer to sick to move or call for help.”

Sirius grinned. “Perfect. Where did you get it?”

Orion grinned. “Actually, from Bellatrix.”

Sirius snorted. Leave it to his cousin to find the vilest way of killing someone. “Figures,” he said.

“I must go. If you need anything, you know where to find me,” he said.

“Thank you, father,” he said.


Lilly handed the cab driver money and opened her door and stepped out. She was wearing a brown Muggle trench coat, jeans, boots, and a hat covered her now charmed black hair. She sported thick horn rimmed glasses and her skin was covered in freckles. She walked up the sidewalk to the front door and knocked.

A moment later Petunia answered, “Yes?” she asked.

“Tunie, can I come in?” she asked. It was her special name for her sister and she was the only one whom ever used it.

Petunia Dursley’s eyes rounded as she stared at her younger sister, but she stepped back and let the woman in. “What have you done?” she demanded.

Lilly waited for the door shut and then she snatched off her hat and glasses and threw her arms around her sister. “I’m in disguise,” she grinned.

“Why?” her sister demanded.

“Can I come in for a bit of tea? Perhaps we can sit down and talk?”

Petunia sighed and lead her into the house to the back where the kitchen was located. “Sit at the table,” she said walking to the stove where her teapot was already boiling.

Lilly sat down and looked around. Her sister had always been such a tidy housekeeper. Her counters and cupboards were scrubbed, her floors immaculate, her windows shined. Lilly had never been able to keep her home this clean. “It is so lovely in here, Tunie,” she said with a smile.

Petunia glanced at her sister and then back to the tea. She pulled down two cups and saucers and carried them to the table. She reached into her refrigerator and pulled out the
Milk and poured a bit of it into a creamer. She then grabbed a potholder and carried the boiling pot to the table. Setting it down she said, “I baked some muffins this morning if you would like one.”

“Oh definitely. I would never turn down anything that you bake, you’re the best!” she said happily. “Here, I also brought you a recipe for Blackberry scones, you’ll love them,” she said handing her a small slip of parchment. Petunia took it and put it into her apron pocket. Lilly looked around the room again and said, “Where’s Dudley?”

He’s napping. He should be up soon,” she said smiling. Her son was her pride and joy.

Lilly smiled. “I can’t wait to see my nephew again. It’s been so long,” she said softly.

“Vernon…” she started.

“I know, Tunie, Vernon doesn’t like me because I’m a witch,” she sighed.

“He doesn’t understand,” Petunia said defending her husband.

“He doesn’t want to understand,” Lilly said.

Petunia was quiet for a moment and then said, “Why did you come, Lilly?”

“I needed to see you. I’ve missed you so much. There was a time when you were my best friend, and now everything has changed. I just needed to see you,” she softly said with tears in her eyes.

Petunia stared in horror at her younger sister. She had always been the strong one and now she was crying at her table. Petunia couldn’t stand tears. She abruptly stood up and walked to the stove where the warm muffins sat covered on a plate. “They’re blueberry,” she said, setting one down on the table in front of Lilly.

Lilly looked up at her sister. “Is that all you can say? I tell you that I need you and that I miss you and you tell me that you made blueberry muffins?” she demanded.

“I don’t know what to say,” she said.

“Don’t you miss our friendship? Don’t you miss how things use to be?”

“That was a long time ago. You went off to that school and I stayed here. Our lives went in different directions. What do we have in common anymore?” she stopped and listened for a moment. “Dudley’s awake. I’ll be right back,” she said, standing and walking down the hall.

Lilly stared at her retreating back and wondered if James had been right. It was probably a big mistake to come here like this. Petunia was her sister by blood, not by heart. She slowly stood and took one last sip of her tea and took her cup to the sink. She walked back to the table and reached for her jacket. She might as well just go.

“Are you leaving?” Petunia asked standing in the doorway holding her son. He was staring wide eyed at Lilly.

“Hello, Dudley,” she crooned, reaching out to take her nephew from his mother. “Aren’t you a big boy now,” she said kissing his chubby cheek. “He’s beautiful, Tunie,” she smiled.

Petunia grinned. She was so proud of her only child and she thought that he was the most wonderful baby in the world. “He’s such a good baby,” she said with pride.

“Don’t you ever wish that we could get our son’s together?” Lilly asked.

“Vernon would never allow that,” she gasped.

“But don’t you think that’s wrong? Their cousins! They should grow up knowing each other. They should be friends and playmates,” she said.

“Lilly, you live in a different world than we do. Your part of something that we can never share. Your son will go off to that Hogwarts and my Dudley will go to his father’s school. We are Muggles, while you and your family are magical.”

“That shouldn’t matter. We are sisters, Petunia. We are all each other has left. With Mum and Dad gone it is you and I and Dudley and Harry. Do you really want to cut off all ties with each other because your husband doesn’t understand? Its not like we are murders or rapists! We can just do things that others can’t! The same blood that flows through your body flows through mine, Petunia!” she hissed trying to remain calm so that she wouldn’t upset her nephew. She pulled him tight against her, kissed him one last time, and passed him back to his mother. “Your son could have just as easily turned out to be magical as well,” she said pulling her coat on.

“My son won’t be a freak!” Petunia shouted clutching her precious bundle close to her.

“I am so sorry that you feel that way. I came here today to tell you that we are leaving the magical world and going to live in Muggle London. There is a bad man who is after Harry because of a prophecy that was made. We can’t keep him safe unless we hide. I wanted to let you know where we were in case you ever needed me. I can see that I came her today with false hopes and expectations. I can see that there is nothing left for us,” she said with tears streaming down her face. “I love you, Petunia, whether or not you believe that or care. I will always love you and my nephew, and I will always be available if you need me.” She took a piece of parchment out of her pocket and handed it to Petunia. “You can leave a message for me here,” she said.

Petunia pushed the parchment into her apron pocket and watched in sorrow as her younger sister walked out of her door and out of her life. Part of her wanted very much to stop her and pull her into her arms and hug her and tell her everything was going to be all right, but the other part of her just let her go. It was for the best. Her life was with her son and her husband, and her husband didn’t approve of Lilly or hers. She softly closed the door, wiped a tear from her eye, and then kissed her son.

“That was very sad,” a deep voice said.

Petunia screamed and jumped back. “Who are you?” she demanded.

“You don’t remember me?” he asked with a slight smile.

“You’re from that freak school!” she hissed.

“I am Albus Dumbledore. I would like to ask you a few questions about your sister,” he said.

“Go away, I don’t want to talk to anymore freaks today!” she hissed.

“Did you know that your son is a “freak”? He has been down on our books since the day of his birth,” he told her.

“What? No! You’re lying!” she screamed at him. Dudley sensing his mother’s distress started howling. His mother was always calm and smiling.

“Oh but, Petunia, he is. He is a wizard, just like his cousin.”

Dudley continued to scream and get redder and redder in the face. A second later all of the light bulbs in the house started shattering. Petunia cried and pulled her son tighter against her. “Stop this! You’re scaring him!” she shouted.

“I am not the one who is doing this. Your son is. When a magical child is young their magic is not controllable and strange things happen. You can’t tell me that this is the first thing that has happened here before,” he said.

“Dudley, Mummy’s here, darling, don’t cry!” she said soothingly as she quickly went back to the kitchen. “Here you are darling, a nice biscuit for my little baby,” she said handing him a freshly baked cookie. Immediately the power surges throughout the house stopped.

Petunia looked up at Dumbledore with frightened eyes. “Make it stop! Make the magic go away!” she whispered.

“I can help you if you help me,” he said.

“What do you want?”

“I want to know where the Potters are staying,” he said. He needed to make sure that their son stayed alive to fulfill the terms of the prophecy.

“I don’t know where she is staying.”

“If you want my help, you can’t lie to me. I saw her give you a piece of paper. Give me the information that I need, and I will make sure that your son stays as a Muggle. I can take away his magical core and he will be just like you and your husband.

“And nobody will ever know that he was born as a freak?” she demanded.

Dumbledore looked at her in disgust but shook his head. “Nobody will ever know.”

“Do it now!” she demanded.

“The information?” he said holding out his hand.

Petunia briefly thought of the “bad man” who was after her sister and her family but pushed it to the back of her head. Her son couldn’t be a freak, Vernon would leave them. “Here,” she said handing him one of the small pieces of paper that Lilly had handed her.

Dumbledore waved his wand over the head of the chubby baby who was greedily inhaling a cookie and said a quick incantation. A second later a blue light glowed around him and then disappeared into the wand of the older wizard. “It is done,” he said.

“Now leave, and don’t come back,” she demanded, ushering him towards the door.

“If you get any other information, I expect for you to give it to me. I can reverse this spell,” he said.

Petunia shuddered. “Just get out!” she screeched.

Dumbledore walked out of the door and smiled. The Muggle woman had been so easy to manipulate. She was so afraid of the magical world she would have done anything to keep her son away from it. Pity, really, that he hadn’t been a wizard. It would have been fun to play with her a bit more.

On the other side of the door Petunia smiled. She hoped that the idiot liked Blackberry scones. She quickly read the address, committed it to memory, and tossed the parchment into the fireplace and watched as it went up in flames. She might not want to have a relationship with her sister, but she wasn’t going to stand back and let her die either. She quickly went to the phone and called a taxi. She would go to the public owlery and send Lilly a warning.

“He should be here any minute,” Sirius said to James. They were sitting in an end booth in the Three Broomsticks waiting for Peter to arrive.

“You know he’s always late,” James muttered taking a long gulp of his beer.

“So Lilly’s sister acted in her usual manner, I take it?” Sirius asked.

“Yeah. Lilly is quite upset. She had really thought that her sister would welcome a relationship. I tried to warn her.”

Sirius snorted. “Sibling relationships are so much work. Sometimes you just have to cut your losses and move on.” He knew from first hand experience how much pain your siblings could bring you.

“Here he comes,” James said.

Sirius looked behind him and then at James who was occupied with glaring at the small man and quickly dumped the contents of the vial into the beer that they had ordered for him. “Hello,” Sirius said when he joined them. “I ordered you a beer,” he said pushing the glass towards him.

“Thanks, Sirius!” Peter said smiling and then taking a large gulp of the beer. “James! I didn’t know you would be joining us! I was going to stop by and visit later,” he said jovially.

Sirius growled and James had to stomp on his foot under the table to make him sit back. “I bet you were,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

The sarcasm went straight over his head and he smiled as he took another long pull from his glass. “So what are you guys having for lunch?” he asked picking up his menu.

“I’m not real hungry today, Peter,” James said. “I thought that we could just talk for a bit,” he said.

Peter’s eyes looked up and he paled across the table. He could see the anger in both men’s eyes. “You know,” he said.

“Why?” James demanded.

“I don’t know,” the little man said, gulping down the rest of his glass.

“How can you not know why you betrayed me and my family? I thought that you were my friend!” James shouted.

“I was tired of living in your shadow! My Lord doesn’t want you or Lilly, he just wants the brat! This was my chance to be something more than just your sidekick!” he hissed.

“The brat is my son!” James said diving over the table at Peter, who instantly turned into a rat and scrambled away.

“Immobilus!” Sirius shouted and the rat immediately stopped. Sirius scooped him up and glared. “You’re lucky that I don’t stomp on you with my boot and kill you now!” he hissed.

“What’s going on here?” Dumbledore demanded. He had watched the scene play out as James and Sirius sat across from Peter Pettigrew.

“He gave up our location to Voldemort!” James growled. He wanted to kill the rat, but he refrained. He couldn’t be sent to Azkaban and leave Lilly and Harry without any protection.

“What?” Dumbledore demanded. “I thought that Sirius was the secret keeper!”

“No, we decided that it was to obvious, and changed it to Peter. He betrayed us. We barely made it out of the house!” James said, embellishing the story a little.

Dumbledore was shocked. He hadn’t realized that Voldemort had already made a move. He knew that Peter had switched sides and that he was the Potter’s secret keeper, but it was his understanding that the attack was planed for this evening. It was getting hard to keep all of the things that he knew that he was not supposed to know straight in his mind. “James, give him to me,” Dumbledore said holding out his hand.

James shook his head. “No. I am going to turn him into the Ministry of Magic. I will let them deal with him,” he lied.

“He knows to much information to just hand over. We can use him for the greater good,” Dumbledore argued.

“I promised Lilly he wouldn’t be tortured,” James said tucking the rat into his pocket. “Let’s go to the Ministry,” he said.

“I think that I will just follow along with you, if you don’t mind,” Dumbledore said.

James and Sirius quickly glanced at each other and Sirius shrugged his shoulders. “Fine with me,” he said with a smile.

James wondered what Sirius was up to but nodded his head and went along with it. A moment later the three men apparated to the Ministry of Magic where they handed the still stunned Peter Pettigrew, who was in his illegal amnimagnus form, into the Minister of Magic.

“You say he was your secret keeper and gave the information to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?”

“Yes,” James said.

“Well, that is an illegal offense. We’ll hold him in a cell until its time for his trial. He’s also an unregistered amnimagnus, so we bring up charges on that as well,” he said flicking his wand at the rat and returning him to his human form.

James glared at the frightened man and said in a deadly voice, “I hope that you get the kiss for what you have done,” and turned and walked away.

“You are no friend of mine,” Sirius said and followed his best friend out of the door.

Dumbledore watched as the two men left and turned back to the Minister and Peter. “Perhaps I could interview him?”

The minister nodded his head and said, “Could you come back later this afternoon? We’re a bit over crowded right now and I would like to get him into a cell. How about five? Most of the employees will be gone by then and you should have all the privacy you need,” he said with a smirk. He knew what kind of questioning the old wizard would be doing.

Dumbledore nodded and smiled. “I’ll see you then,” he said.

At five o’clock when Dumbledore entered the cell of Peter Pettigrew, it was to find the man lying on the stone floor, dead. “Has anyone else been here?” Dumbledore demanded.

“Nobody!” The minister said in shock. “We locked him up and nobody has even asked about him, let alone visited him.

He ran his wand along Peter’s crumpled body and said, “Poison!”

“You don’t think that the Ministry had anything to do with it do you?” The minister demanded.

“Did you search him before you brought him in?”

He nodded. “We took his wand as well,” he said.

Dumbledore wondered how everything just kept spiraling out of control.



A/N: well, what did you think? please reivew! i love reviews!