Peter Pettigrew
"Well, hello Peter. Long time, no see," Remus said, his voice strangely pleasant.
"S-Sirius, R-Remus. My friends, my old friends," Pettigrew squeaked out.
"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," Pettigrew gasped, although this seemed quite exaggerated to Venus, "you don't believe him, do you? He tried to kill me, Remus."
Venus' jaw twitched. She wanted to hex Pettigrew to oblivion.
"So we've heard. I'd like to clear up one or two little matters with you, Peter, if you'd be so - " Remus started, his voice a bit more hostile this time but Pettigrew interrupted him.
"He's come to try and kill me again! He killed Lily and James and now he's going to kill me too. You've got to help me, Remus."
The man was starting to get on Venus' nerves. She took a look at her father, but the latter's face seemed to be completely blank.
"No one's going to try and kill you until we've sorted a few things out," Remus told Pettigrew.
"Sorted things out? I knew he'd come after me! I knew he'd be back for me! I've been waiting for twelve years!"
"You knew Sirius was going to break out of Azkaban? When nobody has ever done it before?"
"He's got Dark powers the rest of us can only dream of! How else did he get out there? I suppose He Who Must Not Be Named taught him a few tricks!"
Sirius laughed. It was nothing like the times he laughed with her. It was terrible, as if a crazed man was laughing. Pettigrew was sweating. Venus noticed his eyes looking for ways to get out; windows and doors.
"Voldemort, teach me tricks?" Sirius asked and Pettigrew flinched at the Dark Lord's name.
"What, scared to hear your old master's name?" Her father taunted, "I don't blame you, Peter. His lot aren't very happy with you, are they?"
"Don't know... what you mean, Sirius -" Pettigrew seemed scared.
"You haven't been hiding from me for twelve years. You've been hiding from Voldemort's old supporters. I heard things in Azkaban, Peter. They all think you're dead, or you'd have to answer to them. I've heard them screaming all sorts of things in their sleep. Sounds like they think the double-crosser double-crossed them. Voldemort went to the Potters' on your information and Voldemort met his downfall there. And not all his supporters ended in Azkaban, did they? There are still plenty out there, biding their time, pretending they've seen the error of their ways. If they ever got wind that you were still alive, Peter -"
"Don't know, what you're talking about," Pettigrew repeated. "You don't believe this - this madness, Remus -"
"I must admit, Peter, I have difficulty in understanding why an innocent man would want to spend twelve years as a rat," the man in question replied.
"Innocent but scared! If Voldemort's supporters were after me, it was because I put one of their best men in Azkaban - the spy, Sirius Black!"
Venus was furious. She stalked forward, her wand ready to hex Pettigrew, but was pulled backwards again by Harry who restrained her from doing anything rash. Sirius, however, was beyond angry.
"How dare you! I, a spy for Voldemort? When did I ever sneak around people who were stronger and more powerful than myself? But you, Peter - I'll never understand why I didn't see you were the spy from the start. You always liked big friends who'd look after you, didn't you? It used to be us. Me and Remus, and James."
"Me, a spy, must be out of your mind... never... don't know how you can say such a -"
"Lily and James only made you Secret Keeper because I suggested it. I thought it was the perfect plan, a bluff. Voldemort would be sure to come after me, would never dream they'd use a weak, talentless thing like you," Sirius spat out, hostility filling his voice, "It must have been the finest moment of your miserable life, telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters."
"Professor Lupin? Can - can I say something?" Hermione asked. Venus wanted to tell her that now was definitely not the time for interrogations, but Remus answered her.
"Certainly, Hermione."
"Well, Scabbers, I mean, this - this man, he's been sleeping in Harry's dormitory for three years. If he's working for You-Know-Who, how come he never tried to hurt Harry before now?"
"There!" Pettigrew sounded quite excited, "Thank you! You see, Remus? I have never hurt a hair of Harry's head. Why should I?"
"I'll tell you why," Sirius said, "Because you never did anything for anyone unless you could see what was in it for you. Voldemort's been in hiding for twelve years, they say he's half dead. You weren't about to commit murder right under Albus Dumbledore's nose for a wreck of a wizard who'd lost all his power, were you? You'd want to be quite sure he was the biggest bully in the playground before you went back to him, wouldn't you? Why else did you find a wizard family to take you in? Keeping an ear out for news, weren't you, Peter? Just in case your old protector regained strength and it was safe to rejoin him."
Pettigrew did not know what to say anymore. He opened and closed his mouth like a fish.
"Er, Mr Black, Sirius?" Hermione asked again. Venus snickered lightly at the way she had addressed her father. Sirius, on the other hand, was a bit shocked. It had been long since someone had addressed him this way.
"If you don't mind me asking, how - how did you get out of Azkaban, if you didn't use Dark Magic?" The younger girl asked. Of course, Venus already knew the answer. After all, she had to ask her father that when they first met after twelve years.
"Thank you! Exactly! Precisely what I -" Pettigrew grew excited again, but immediately shut up when he noticed Remus' steely glare.
"I don't know how I did it," Sirius started. Venus smiled at him encouragingly, knowing that it was a touchy subject for him.
"I think the only reason I never lost my mind is that I knew I was innocent. That wasn't a happy thought, so the Dementors couldn't suck it out of me, but it kept me sane and knowing who I am helped me keep my powers. So when it all became too much, I could transform in my cell, become a dog. Dementors can't see, you know... They feel their way towards people by sensing their emotions. They could tell that my feelings were less - less human, less complex when I was a dog, but they thought, of course, that I was losing my mind like everyone else in there, so it didn't trouble them. But I was weak, very weak and I had no hope of driving them away from me without a wand."
Everyone, even Pettigrew was silent as they listened to Sirius. Pettigrew kept sweating, his hands trembling and fidgeting.
"But then I saw Peter in that picture. I realised he was at Hogwarts with Venus and Harry, perfectly positioned to act, if one hint reached his ears that the Dark Side was gathering strength again, ready to strike the moment he could be sure of allies, to deliver the last Potter to them. If he gave them Harry, who'd dare say he'd betrayed Lord Voldemort? He'd be welcomed back with honours. So you see, I had to do something. I was the only one who knew Peter was still alive. It was as if someone had lit a fire in my head, and the Dementors couldn't destroy it. It wasn't a happy feeling. It was an obsession, but it gave me strength, it cleared my mind. So one night, when they opened my door to bring food, I slipped past them as a dog. It's so much harder for them to sense animal emotions that they were confused. I was very thin, thin enough to slip through the bars. I swam as a dog back to the mainland. I journeyed north and slipped into the Hogwarts grounds as a dog. I've been living in the Forest ever since, except when I came to watch the Quidditch match of course. You fly as well as your father did Harry."
Harry still had not said anything. Instead, he kept staring at Sirius.
"Believe me," Sirius told him, "Believe me. I never betrayed James and Lily. I would have died before I betrayed them."
Finally, after so much of explanation, Harry nodded, signaling that he believed Sirius.