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The Unwelcome Friend by FloreatCastellum

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The evening was beautiful. A vivid pink sky, red clouds encircled with gold, and every tree with a spectacular burst of autumnal colours. Sirius and Wormtail walked along the cobbled road with less concern than they probably should have been showing, but it was hard to feel threatened or afraid in such a gorgeous place.

‘I didn’t think he’d manage it, his performance has been terrible this season, but once he made that sixth save I knew we were back in with a chance,’ Wormtail was saying. ‘It’s amazing how they fly, isn’t it? I wish I’d been any good.’

‘James tried to show you, but you couldn’t hack it,’ said Sirius. ‘I remember, every time you got higher than ten foot you were too worried about falling off to do anything else, you were practically paralyzed.’

‘I know,’ sighed Wormtail. ‘But at least I can enjoy watching it. My Uncle Hamish managed to get me some tickets to the match on Wednesday, you know, the Tornados against the Harpies. One of them is in my name so I have to go, but the others are all guest tickets, I thought I could maybe give them to Prongs, might cheer him up, you know-’

‘He’ll say no,’ said Sirius flatly. ‘He says no to everything now. Can’t hurt to ask though, it might cheer him up. And I guess you never know, he might have his cloak back.’

Bathilda Bagshot was clipping her hedges as they walked past. She gave them a cheery wave and Sirius waved back, though Peter simply gave an uncomfortable forced smile.

‘How come Prongs wanted me to come round anyway?’ he asked, sounding a little nervous. Sirius pushed open the gate and stood to the side, letting Wormtail go through first.

‘I’ll tell you when we get inside,’ he said quietly, still aware of Bathilda close by in her garden.

They did not have to knock the door. Prongs must have been in the living room, looking out the window, because he had opened the front door to let them in before they’d even made it up the garden path. He smiled at them, but he’d drawn his wand and was drumming his fingers against it anxiously. Wormtail stared at it.

‘Evening,’ he said to them quietly. ‘Evening, Batty!’ he called. She looked up from her hedge and waved her pliers at him.

‘Has she thought about using magic for that?’ asked Sirius as he stepped inside.

‘Says it helps her think,’ replied Prongs. ‘How are you both?’

‘Good,’ replied Wormtail, following James as he led them to the living room. The room had always felt homely and cosy to Sirius. A comfortable squishy sofa faced the fireplace on a thick rug, ancient wooden beams supported the low ceiling, and James’ cat purred contentedly from his perch on a wing backed armchair. Lily sat on the floor by the fire, holding Harry’s hands as he stood, wobbling in front of her.

‘Has the walking improved?’ asked Sirius cheerfully.

‘Definitely,’ said Lily, grinning proudly. ‘Want to see your godfather, Harry?’

At her words, the toddler looked over at them, his chubby face lighting up into a smile. Sirius crouched down, opening his arms into a wide, welcoming gesture, calling out Harry’s name in an excited, exaggerated drawl. Harry toddled towards him as fast as his clumsy legs would allow, reaching out his arms and babbling nonsense.

Wormtail winced a little at Harry’s high-pitched shrieks, but smiled as Sirius lifted the child up, throwing him into the air and catching him to delighted laughter.

‘Jesus, Sirius, watch his head!’ said Lily sharply. ‘I’ll never forgive you if you drop him.’

‘He’s all right,’ said Sirius, doing it again. Harry screamed with excitement. ‘You’re having fun, aren’t you? Aren’t you? Yes!’

Prongs was laughing too, though his voice was a patient reprimand. ‘You’re getting him excited, he’s meant to be going to bed.’

‘Can’t we get his little broom out? Haven’t seen him on that yet.’

‘Absolutely not!’ said Lily. ‘He’ll be up all night. Pass him here, I’ll get him to sleep while James explains things.’

‘Ah, right yeah,’ said Sirius, handing Harry over. He glanced at Wormtail, who was looking confused, but had settled himself into an armchair, ousting the now grumpy grey cat.

Lily left the room, and Sirius sat sprawled on the sofa, an arm slung over the back and his legs stretching out towards the fire. James pulled up another chair, so they were all sitting in a close circle. Now that he was illuminated by the light of the fire, James looked even paler and more exhausted than normal. Dark circles were under his eyes, and he seemed unable to stop touching his face, pinching the bridge of his nose and rubbing his jaw, forehead and back of his neck.

‘Is everything all right?’ asked Wormtail. ‘What’s going on?’

‘Padfoot has had an idea,’ said Prongs. They could hear Lily’s footsteps creaking above them.

‘Well that’s never good,’ said Wormtail, smiling slightly.

‘You know it’s been a while since we could leave the house?’ said James. ‘How every time we made plans, somehow the wrong people were finding out?’

‘Yeah,’ said Wormtail sadly. ‘D’you still think it might be…?’

‘Probably not,’ said Prongs firmly, but Sirius couldn’t help but interrupt.

‘Come on, Prongs. There was information that only the four of us knew…’

‘Yeah, well, we still don’t know do we?’ snapped Prongs. ‘Either way, we need to be a bit cleverer about everything, because clearly we’re failing somewhere. So… Peter, I’m going to ask a really huge favour, and it’s perfectly fine to say no.’

‘What?’ asked Wormtail, turning his head wildly between the two of them. ‘What’s going on?

Lily had returned, and she sat nervously on the arm of the sofa. James looked over at her, and she gave a small smile.

‘You could… You could be our Secret Keeper. If… If you’re happy to.’

‘Me?’ said Wormtail, stunned. He looked at Sirius. ‘But… You’re the…’

‘I’m too obvious,’ said Sirius. ‘And obviously I’d never knowingly say anything,’ he continued fiercely. ‘But I’m still a target and they have ways of getting information out of you. It’s better that I’m unable to say anything, and they keep chasing me, rather than going for the person who actually holds the secret.’

‘So, you’d be… Like a decoy?’

‘Exactly.’

Wormtail looked at James. ‘And you want it to be me? You want me to be the secret keeper?’

Prongs nodded solemnly. ‘I know it’s a lot to ask, and I don’t want you to feel that you have-’

‘Of course I will!’ blurted Wormtail. Sirius looked at Prongs in surprise. He was expecting that Wormtail would need a little more convincing. He supposed that he was just very honoured to be trusted so much.

‘Thank you,’ said Prongs gratefully. ‘Wormtail, honestly, it means so much to us.’

‘We can’t tell you how much we’d be in your debt,’ added Lily.

Wormtail nodded, looking at them a little gormlessly. ‘I… Yeah, yeah, I mean… You’re my friends… Of course I will.’

‘Ready to do it now?’ asked Sirius.

‘Now?’ he looked slightly alarmed.

‘If you’re comfortable with that,’ said Prongs swiftly.

‘I… Yeah. What do I have to do?’

A faint crying came from upstairs. Lily looked up at the ceiling unhappily.
‘He’ll be all right for now, I’ll see to him in a bit. Let’s just get this over and done with first.’

James looked at Sirius. ‘You sure you know the spell?’

‘Positive. I’ve done my research. It’s complicated, but I can do it.’

Prongs turned to Wormtail. ‘Hold my hand.’

They grasped hands tightly, James chewing on his bottom lip slightly. Sirius held the tip of his wand to their fingers. ‘Wormtail, repeat after me… I, Peter Pettigrew…’

‘I, Peter Pettigrew.’

‘Vow to conceal the secret of the location of the Potter family.’ Harry’s cries were getting louder, James was glancing anxiously to the ceiling.

‘Vow to… conceal the secret of the location of the Potter family.’

Sirius gave him a reassuring nod, then muttered, ‘Obcultus secretum… Fidelius absconditus…’ A black wisp, like steam, encircled their hands. Sirius, pulled it with his wand, willing it with all the concentration he could muster to follow his guidance. He guided the secret to Wormtail’s chest, where it sunk in to the place where his heart was.

‘Done?’ asked James brusquely.

‘Done,’ replied Sirius.

James gave a sharp nod then stood quickly, the legs of his chair scraping loudly against the floor. ‘I’ll get him,’ he said to Lily, who had begun to rise. He left the room. They heard his heavy footsteps hurrying up the stairs.

‘Thank you, Wormy,’ said Lily, a little apologetically. ‘Don’t mind James…’

‘It’s all right, I quite understand,’ said Wormtail. ‘You must both be exhausted. Lazy day tomorrow?’

‘Yes, I suppose so. I might Floo Alice Longbottom around lunchtime, I think they’re getting very bored stuck in the house all the time too.’

‘Does this mean you can come to the meeting tomorrow night? At Dedalus Diggle’s house?’ asked Sirius hopefully.

‘Hmm?’ asked Lily, after yawning sleepily. ‘Oh, no, probably not. Sorry. That reminds me, though, let Dumbledore know you’re the Secret Keeper, won’t you?’

‘Of course,’ replied Wormtail. ‘I’ll Floo him as soon as I get home.’

‘Cheers,’ she said, smiling. ‘Don’t tell anyone else though, obviously.’

‘Obviously,’ repeated Wormtail.

Prongs had returned, also yawning widely. ‘I’ve got some beers in the pantry if you guys want any?’

‘Sorry, I’d best be off,’ said Sirius apologetically. ‘You both look like you could do with some sleep anyway.’

‘That’s probably true,’ admitted Prongs. ‘As soon as I get my cloak back, we’ll go for a fly though, yeah?’

‘Definitely.’

Lily looked a little reproachful, but said nothing.

‘He’s still got it, then?’ said Wormtail sympathetically. James nodded glumly. ‘Never mind, you’ll have it back soon. I suppose we’d best be off, leave you guys to get some sleep?’

Prongs smiled. ‘Well not now that Padfoot’s got Harry all worked up. He’ll be up and down all night.’

‘Sorry,’ said Sirius, though he was grinning broadly. James began showing them to the door. ‘He’s getting so big now, isn’t he? Looks just like you, he’s definitely not the milkman’s baby…’

‘Excuse me, that joke wasn’t funny the first fifty times you said it!’ called Lily, teasingly. Sirius winked at her.

‘Don’t worry, Lils, we know you’re an honourable woman.’

She rolled her eyes and hugged him tightly. ‘See you soon, stay safe.’ She turned to Wormtail and hugged him too. ‘Are you sure, Peter? Absolutely sure? We won’t be in the slightest bit offended if you can’t go through with it. If you change your mind, come over, any time, we’ll make sure the Secret goes back to Sirius.’

Wormtail pulled away from her. Now that she had said it, Sirius noticed that he did look a little ill. ‘Of course I’m sure, Lily,’ he said. He looked at the floor, embarrassed. ‘I’ll make sure that everything’s all right.’

‘Knew we could count on you, mate,’ said Sirius, clapping him on the back. Wormtail stumbled forward slightly.

‘Thank you,’ said James quietly. ‘Both of you.’

They could draw out the goodbye no longer, and with one final wave, Sirius and Wormtail walked down the garden path and out of the gate.

‘They look exhausted,’ said Wormtail.

‘Yeah, it’s getting to them a bit, I think,’ said Sirius.

‘How much longer can they keep this up?’ asked Wormtail helplessly. ‘This isn’t living.’

Sirius shrugged. ‘As long as necessary, I suppose. What’re you doing tomorrow?’

‘Oh, er… Moony’s coming over for some dinner, and then we’re going to the meeting together. See you there?’

‘Yeah, see you then. Night, Wormtail.’ Sirius thought Wormtail looked rather odd. Pale, and even more nervous than usual, as though he were on the verge of saying something…

‘Night.’

They parted ways, and Godric’s Hollow fell silent.