The Ghosts of the Past (The Marauders' Story)

FORGIVENESS

One day, at the end of a meeting, Sirius and Remus remained in the dining room. Ron and Hermione had stopped their Headmaster and tried to persuade him to let them tell Harry what was happening. Dumbledore refused.

"They are good friends of Harry," said Sirius, sipping his coffee. "They believe he can handle anything."

"Yes," said Remus. He did not know why he said the the next thing he did. "Friends trust each other." His voice was cold.

"I—I know," mumbled Sirius, not meeting Remus' eyes.

"I never thought you were the spy!" cried Remus suddenly. "Not till you confessed under Veritaserum."

"Remus, I..."

"You thought I was the spy!'

"I know I did. I'm—I'm really sorry for that, Moony. I still can't believe I was so foolish..."

Remus crossed his arms.

"Peter was so weak and useless. I never considered that Voldemort might use him. And I was so worried about James, Lily and Harry, Moony..." Sirius' argument sounded feeble, even to him.

There was a silence.

"I won't try to excuse what I did, Remus," said Sirius, at last. "But I still wish you would forgive me."

Remus still didn't answer.

"Do you think I don't regret suspecting you, Remus? If we had switched to you, they would never have..."

"Sirius, don't," said Remus, beginning to feel bad about accusing Sirius, after life had been so cruel to him.

"I have made too many bad choices in my life, Moony. But I've paid for them, too. James and Lily's lives..."

"That wasn't your fault!" cried Remus, horrified at the turn their conversation had taken.

"Come on, d'you really believe that, Moony? It wasn't my fault?"

"Of course it wasn't! Why do you think it was?"

Sirius stared at the floor, and when he looked up, Remus saw that there were tears in his eyes.

"I made them switch, Remus—it was all my idea," whispered Sirius.

Remus hastily got up and sat beside him.

"You were doing it for their safety, Padfoot. You were trying to protect them. Just because it didn't work out doesn't make it your fault," he said gently, slinging an arm around his shoulders. "I don't blame you for it. Neither would James or Lily."

"Are you still—"

"No, I'm not angry at you for not trusting me. I understand, Padfoot," said Remus, looking at his best friend earnestly. "After all, I also believed for all these years that it was you. So I'm sorry, too."

"It wasn't your fault," muttered Sirius. "You can't not believe Veritaserum."

"Anyway...let's forget all that, Sirius. We have a job at hand. We need to protect Prongs' son."

Sirius stared at Remus.

"We're friends. We're the Marauders. We stick together, remember?" said Remus, beginning to smile.

Sirius grinned. "Yes, Moony. I remember."