PRONGSLET AND THE CERYNEIAN GUARDIAN

Chapter Forty-Seven

"Get back here!" Cedric scrambled out of bed and ran after him, only the sound of the chirps portrayed as laughter could be heard in the early morning hours of the Hufflepuff Common Room. 

Milo stood near the Entrance Hall waiting for Remus to arrive, he was all bundled up, his Hufflepuff scarf and hat proudly on display as he sat in one of the window seats. As he looked out the window and saw the fresh snow, he truly hoped that Sirius had found some warmth, or maybe Elspeth had figured out something for the man to remain warm. After everything that had happened, with meeting up with a god and goddesses, not to mention going through a dementor attack, Milo had so many questions that revolved around Sirius. He wanted to ask Remus, seeing as at one point they had been best friends and Milo wanted to know what had brought an end to all of it.

From what he saw in his memories, the falling out of their friendship had happened before the night where everything went to hell, something happened beforehand that ended the friendship. Enough that Sirius was pointing fingers and calling Remus a traitor, but Remus was doing the same thing. So what led both of them to think that each other was the traitor? Perhaps Peter had manipulated the entire thing between the two? If so, why?

Why did Peter feel the need to betray his friends and ultimately get two of his friends killed and another one sent to Azkaban for a crime he didn't commit? Sure, he might have been upset about feeling left out, but that was no reason to actually have someone killed, at least, not in Milo's mind. Maybe Peter's mind worked differently. And if it was that case that Peter had done, was he truly dead? Did he die that night where they found his thumb as the only remains or was there even more to the story?

"Er...Milo?"

The boy jumped at the sound of his name and looked over to see that Remus was standing before him. It appeared as though he had been calling to the boy for quite some time but Milo was so wrapped up in his own questions that he didn't even hear his voice. Immediately, he turned a light shade of pink before muttering an apology and standing up to his feet. 

"Sorry, I got lost in my own mind," Milo said as the two made their way to the double doors to head outside. He had to assume that Remus was going to take him to Hogsmeade for the day, and if they were walking, that offered plenty of time to talk to the man.

"Anything you wish to discuss?" Remus prompted him as their boots crunched along in the snow. "You know I'm all ears if there is something you wish to talk about, Milo."

The boy was sure that his mother had probably confided in Remus about trying to get Milo to talk especially since he wouldn't really talk to anyone else about the matter. As much as he did want to confide in his mother, Milo didn't think it was the right time to do so, there was a lot to cover in such a short amount of time and with more questions than answers, Milo had to wait until he had all his ducks in a row. 

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"I just have a lot on my mind right now," Milo said, baiting Remus to lure him in for the answers he needed. "It's really not a big deal-"

"It's a big enough deal that you have people worried, Milo, so what's going on? This conversation will remain between me and you and no one else," Remus told him. "I won't talk to your mother about it, or Elspeth. It'll be just between us, alright?"

"You promise?"

"I promise," Remus nodded. "Now out with it."

Milo let out a heavy and dramatic sigh, perhaps he was spending too much time around Sirius. But he needed the dramatics to get his point across. "Well, the last time I went to Hogsmeade, I...I snuck Harry into Hogsmeade with me. I know I shouldn't have but I didn't want him to be at the castle by himself, so I got him there, using the map. We were just going to grab a couple of Butterbeers, when everyone suddenly came into the Three Broomsticks, including my mum. I couldn't let anyone see Hary there, so we hid. Only, we probably should have left right then and there because they started about Sirius Black."

Remus made a face, knowing very well that he should have prepared himself better for the conversation so that it didn't catch him off guard.  "Oh, Milo,  you two didn't-"

"They started talking about Sirius and how he betrayed my family as Secret-Keeper but then Fudge mentioned that you were my godfather and that Elspeth was both of our godmothers, then he mentioned that Sirius was Harry's godfather. So now Harry knows all about that and he knew that I knew, so now he's upset with me."

"I don't think he's upset with you, Milo," Remus reassured him, 'but probably more upset with the idea that Sirius is his godfather and was the one to betray your parents."

"Do you honestly believe that?" Milo questioned him suddenly, bringing the man to stop in the middle of the pathway. 

"What do you mean?"

"Do you honestly believe that Sirius was the one who betrayed my parents? Betrayed us? Do you think he is the reason as to why my parents are dead?"

"Milo, where is all this coming from-"

"Answer the question!"

He didn't want Remus beating around the bush, avoiding questions because Milo wanted answers but true answers, not just the nonsense adults fed children to protect them. Milo didn't want protection, he wanted the truth so that he could understand what was actually going on. He had to know if he was making the right decision to trust Sirius.

"Of course I believe it," Remus answered him after a minute or so in silence, they started to walk again as the wind picked up. "You heard what they said, didn't you? Sirius was made the Secret-Keeper, that means he was the only one who could have given up the location to You-Know-Who."

"Why did they choose Sirius? Why didn't they choose you?"

"Your father and Sirius were much closer, we were all like brother, Milo, but those two, there was a much stronger bond. Your father would go to Sirius first for anything, that's just how it played out. Besides at the time, I wasn't always around to check in with your parents, I was off seeing to other matters for the Order."

"What kind of matters?"

Remus rubbed his hand over his face, he didn't honestly believe that the day would start out in such a way. " At the time, I was travelling between werewolf colonies, in order to persuade people to not join in with Fenrir Greyback, I was giving them a second chance by joining the Order. That was my job at the time, and it was also what led certain people to stop trusting me like they once did."

"What do you mean by that? Who stopped trusting you? People of the Order?" But it suddenly clicked inside Milo's head. "Sirius...Sirius was probably the one that said people shouldn't trust you because of the werewolves?"

"Of course and naturally, there were those that believed he was right. Not your mother and father, but others did grow suspicious of me. They grew suspicious of me just like he wanted, but no one paid attention to the fact of who Sirius' family was, who he was influenced by....The Black family...you had Bellatrix Lestrange and even Sirius' own brother, Regulus turned to the Dark Arts, the rest of them were all big supporters."

"But Sirius ran away from home when he was younger to go live with my dad. You just said it yourself that they were closer than anything."

"People can change, Milo, when it comes to the idea of holding power, many people change."

Milo stared at the man for a few moments before shaking his head. "I don't believe that, Uncle Remus. I believe that for some people, that it might be the case, but if you look at everything, that doesn't make sense. My father was not some fool, if he didn't believe that you were a traitor, just because you're a werewolf, then he would know better not to believe that Sirius would be a traitor just because who his family is. Deep down, you know that too. You're just looking for a reason to point your finger because he pointed the finger at you first."

"Milo, did you not hear a word of what I said? Or what anyone has said? Sirius was the Secret-Keeper-"

"Yeah? And what if he wasn't when it all went down?"