Chapter Seventy Two
Three days later Peter dropped by again and Lily told him that they had made Sirius their Secret-Keeper. "You came at exactly the right time," she said as she handed him a plate of biscuits, "Dumbledore is casting the spell this evening."
"I'm going to miss you three so much," he sighed. "But if this helps then... there's nothing else to be done."
"Exactly," she agreed. "Life is so... terrifying at the moment and all I can think about is finding one of you dead or someone vanishing- It doesn't bear thinking about and I know James feels the same way."
"Where is Prongs?" Peter asked.
"He's just upstairs sorting Harry out; I'm sure he'll be down in a minute."
"Nice to see that there's still some normalcy around right now," he chuckled. "Although I still can't really get used to the idea of Prongs having a child."
"Me neither," Lily snorted, "and I wouldn't exactly call this normal. I didn't want children until I was at least in my late twenties," she laughed.
"It's a lot more normal than out there," he muttered. "If I'm ever out in the evening I stare at my feet the whole way, worrying that I'll see the Dark Mark if I ever look up. Every time I leave my house I worry that I won't be coming back... But it'll all work out in the end I'm sure."
"I'm sure it will. You just have to trust the Order and Dumbledore."
"Can we trust Dumbledore though?" he asked. "Sometimes it seems like he's... I don't know," he sighed, "I just don't know what's happening anywhere and it makes me doubt so much. I just want this to be over."
"It will be," she said, giving him a hug.
That night Dumbledore returned to their house. "Lily, James," he said seriously, "I cannot cast the Fidelius Charm tonight; the conditions for the spell are not right. They ought to have been, but something I had not foreseen took place, which altered the state of the evening. However, it is refreshing to know that Nature is still capable of thwarting my plans; even the best of us must be reminded that they are not omnipotent every so often. I will add some more enchantments to your house, but I believe that you will be perfectly fine until I do cast the spell - I have heard that Voldemort is focusing his attention on Barty Crouch and his Aurors at the moment. It is not too serious, there ought to be a number of times over the coming few weeks when the conditions will be right, so the delay is not of much importance. Do not fear, Professor McGonagall will not let me forget about you."
James frowned, but Lily placed her hand on his wrist and held him back. "Dumbledore," he began, and she shot him a warning glance, "I was wondering if you've quite finished with my Cloak?"
"Ah yes, rest assured I haven't forgotten about returning it to you," he said. "I have been too busy to examine it at the moment, as I'm sure you'll understand. Would you object greatly to my keeping it for a little longer? If I have not looked at it before I cast the Fidelius Charm, I will give it to Mr Black to return."
"No it's fine," James said, clearly reluctant to let Dumbledore keep it.
A few days later, and at the other end of England, Wormtail felt his Dark Mark burn; Disapparating, he reappeared in the Lestranges' grounds. He scurried into the hall and stood against the wall, tucked into the darkness which lingered in the corner. It wasn't long before he was called upon and, coming forward, he awaited his chance to prove himself. "Wormtail," Voldemort said, "fetch the captive."
Wormtail sighed and headed downstairs. He had done so much for them, had passed them so much information - had even given them the information which meant that they had this captive - and yet they still insisted on treating him as if he were useless. All he wanted to do was to prove that he was worthy of their respect, and yet Bellatrix and Rabastan and Rodolphus and all the others refused to look at him with anything but contempt and threaten him. It was even worse that Snape was there and was favoured by Voldemort - he was continuously making snide remarks, reminding Wormtail that he was the one with the power now and it took all of his self-control not to retort that, regardless of how much Voldemort trusted him, it was still James that had married Lily.
Still, this would turn the tables on them and wipe that smug look off Snape's face for once; he hadn't brought any information like this back, no matter how good he was at inventing hexes and fighting Aurors. This was a different kind of cunning, one which he doubted Snape had.
Towards the end of the meeting, Voldemort turned to Wormtail. "Now, Wormtail," he hissed, "do you have anything to prove for our... trust in you?" The Death Eaters sniggered, and Wormtail suddenly had a vision of what it would have been like for him had James, Sirius and Remus decided to pick on him instead of protect him.
"Yes my Lord, I have news," he said desperately, wondering if Bellatrix would torture him again.
"Oh yes?" asked Voldemort. "I hope it is of worth this time Wormtail," he continued. The Death Eaters laughed, jeering at him and he distinguished Bellatrix's cackle soaring high above the others; a shiver ran down his back, and he remembered the last time he had heard her laugh.
"Oh yes, of course it is my Lord! It is about the Potters! They have made Black their Secret-Keeper!"
This seemed to please Voldemort and a terrifying expression which was perhaps supposed to be a smile crossed his face. "Ah... you have done well for once Wormtail. Black... Sirius Black I assume?"
"Yes my Lord." Wormtail peered through the darkness, pleased to see that none of the Death Eaters were looking amused anymore. If this was what it took for them to protect and respect him, he would do it.
"Is he not a member of your dear family, Bellatrix?" Voldemort asked, turning to his favourite. She scoffed and shook her head, letting the candlelight flicker on her unruly hair as it tumbled down her back and over her shoulders. "He is no family of mine, my Lord. I would sooner have him dead than associated with me." As if to emphasise her desire to kill her cousin, she twirled her wand in her hands, pressing one fingertip against its end and smiling maliciously.
"Well Bellatrix, perhaps you will soon have that chance..."
"Please my Lord," she begged, her eyes alight with fervour, "at the first chance!"
"And you shall have it Bellatrix, you have served me faithfully and well, and I like to reward my followers. Well done Wormtail, for once you have proved your worth. Perhaps there is still hope for you yet," Voldemort said as the Death Eaters around him laughed mockingly once again.
Unaware of the meeting that was happening that very evening, Sirius had Apparated to Godric's Hollow to talk to James. "I've been thinking; surely You-Know-Who will immediately assume that it's me... whereas if it was someone else, he might not go after them as quickly because he wouldn't realise." Sirius had been thinking about this for days, and he thought it might work. They had told everybody that he was their Secret-Keeper, so if Voldemort interrogated anyone that they knew, they would tell him that the Secret-Keeper was Sirius. Sirius himself had decided that Cassie and he ought to go into hiding; they were planning to move in the next couple of days, and if he was found... well at least he would have protected James, Lily and Harry.
"Who did you have in mind?" James asked, understanding him immediately.
"Do you trust Wormtail?" It hurt him to ask but, since Sirius had come to suspect that someone in the Order was a traitor, he couldn't be too careful. Even though James would never not trust a friend, Sirius was becoming warier. For a second he considered Remus but... he had been spending so much time away, who knew what he had been doing.
"Of course, he was over here just before Harry's birthday," Lily replied.
"Well he never truly fit in with us when we were in school," Sirius said slowly, "so maybe You-Know-Who wouldn't realise that he's your Secret-Keeper."
"That does make sense," James murmured. "I mean, we were best friends so he'd be much more likely to go for you first."
"And I'm sure Wormtail would never betray you, think how much he owes us and how much he worshipped you in school," Sirius continued.
"I can't ever see him selling us out," James agreed.
"He's a bit misunderstood but he seems trustworthy," Lily added. "Should we tell Dumbledore?"
"No," James said. "He was a bit unsure of Padfoot being our Secret-Keeper, if he knew we'd changed it to Wormtail he'd probably collapse. Also he thinks that someone's passing information to You-Know-Who about us which means it could be a sort of bluff. If you don't mind," he said to Sirius.
"No of course not. He's going to hunt me down anyway so it's better if I'm not your Secret-Keeper and then it'll take him longer to find Wormtail."
"So that's that then," Lily said, their decision made. "Will we see you again?"
"I doubt it, not for a while," Sirius answered. He frowned and ran his hands through his hair, a habit that he had picked up from James, somewhere along the way, even if his was nowhere near as frequent as James'. Before he left he kissed Harry and, lingering in the doorway he hugged Lily about a hundred times, each time slightly tighter than the last.
"So this really is the last time we'll see you," Lily said, her mouth wobbling as Sirius pulled her against his shoulder.
"Hey don't say that Lil, I'll be back. You know me, always turning up like a bad penny. You hated me for about six years and not even that could stop me." She giggled against his chest and squeezed him. "I can't believe I'm saying this but you better come back. If anything happens to you I'll kill you."
"Trust me Evans, even if I die I'll come back to haunt you. You can't get rid of me that easily."
She let go of him and stepped away, taking Harry from James and hurrying upstairs to put him to bed. James blew him a kiss and turned to face Sirius. He took off his glasses and polished them on his shirt, staring resolutely at the floor, before putting them back on and looking at Sirius. "You... er... be good," he said uncertainly, running his hand through his hair.
"Don't go getting yourself blown up without me," Sirius replied.
"Wouldn't dream of it. Pinky promise," he said, holding his little finger out. Sirius took it and James heaved a sigh. "We had a good run didn't we Padfoot," James smiled.
"The best," he smirked. "I couldn't have asked for anyone better. It was a... privilege to have roamed the halls of Hogwarts with you."
"Me, you, the Marauders and McGonagall, 'til death do us part." They stood there in silence, facing each other for a moment as James ran his hand along his cheek, not surprised when he felt himself smear a tear across his skin.
"But we'll see each other again," Sirius said eventually. "Even you die and I have to go and find that stone from the story of the Three Brothers I'll see you again."
"It's a children's story Sirius," James groaned, smiling in spite of himself. "But yes we will. This isn't a real goodbye, just one for... possibly way longer than we've ever had before."
"Not since we were eleven."
"Not since we were eleven," James echoed. "And we still have the mirrors." Suddenly both of them lunged at one another simultaneously and they grabbed each other in a hug.
"I love you James," Sirius mumbled, "remember that you moron."
"Not as much as I love you and your ugly mug, you absolute idiot."
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he said as they let go of each other and parted.
"Mischief managed," James said, his face crumpling into a wry smile as he saluted Sirius.
"You two do realise that this isn't permanent, right?" Lily called from the stairs with a laugh.
"Course we do Lil," James said.
"Stop ruining the mood Evans," Sirius called. She reached the bottom of the stairs and he hugged her one last time. "I love you too Lily, you know that right."
"Course I do Sirius; and I love you, as I'm sure you're already aware."
"Well... it is difficult not to love me," he smirked. James opened the door for him and, as Sirius stepped out into the darkness, he paused for a moment and looked back, squinting into the light that emanated from their cottage. James and Lily were standing in the doorway smiling at him, and he was overcome by the realisation that these two were integral to the core of his family; hit by a sudden rush of love for them he waved at them and then buried his hands in his pockets. "Mischief managed," he said to James, one last time, accompanying it with a nod, before turning around and heading out into the darkness.