We Must Choose by james_fanatic
Chapter Notes: Hope you like it! Please R&R! Thanks so much to my beta spazticapple!
The sky was pitch-black. There was no moon. The trees stood tall and firm, letting small pools of light fall onto the ground. No one could have seen the small grey rat scurrying along the forest floor.
As the rat went around a tree, it froze. There was a man in a hooded cloak standing about three yards away from the rat.
"Wormtail!" the cloaked figure hissed. Suddenly the rat disappeared. In its place stood a short, squat, trembling man. He had a very pointy nose. You could hear his ragged breathing from one foot away.
"Wormtail," the person said again.
"My Lord," the man who appeared to be Wormtail said in a shaky voice.
"Where is the house?
"It is down the first street in the town, my Lord, but you will not be able to see it, nor be able to get in," Wormtail informed the cloaked man.
"And how is it," the cloaked figure advanced maliciously, "that Lord Voldemort is unable to get into the Potters' home?"
Wormtail cowered, and squeaked, "The Fidelius charm had been placed upon the house. No one can get in, unless..."
"Unless what, Wormtail?" Voldemort asked softly. Wormtail shrank away from Voldemort.
"Unless," he gulped, "the secret keeper tells you exactly where the house is."
"And who is the secret keeper, Wormtail?” Voldemort pressed in a whisper.
As Voldemort waited for a reply, Wormtail's mind was working furiously. Should he tell the Dark Lord? If Sirius, James and Lily found out that he had betrayed them, he would never be forgiven.
"Wormtail!" Voldemort spat. Wormtail was torn away from his thoughts. "I am tiring of this! Silencio! Crucio!"
Wormtail fell to the ground. He curled himself into a ball, and writhed. His mouth was opened wide, screaming, but he emitted no sound.
Voldemort lifted his wand, and released Wormtail of the silencing spell. "Now, Wormtail, I will ask you one more time. Who is the secret keeper?" Wormtail didn't answer. "Avada-"
"It's Sirius!" Wormtail screamed into the night air.
"Very good, Wormtail," Voldemort said softly. "You have done well. Now you must go to the Potters' house, and get more information. I will go back to headquarters to contemplate what you have informed me of. Now go!"
Voldemort turned away from Wormtail, and walked a few paces into the bushes. Suddenly, he took a step forward, turned on his heel, and was gone with a small pop.
Wormtail stayed curled up in a ball, and cried.
~*~
"James!" Lily yelled through the house.
"What?"
"Sirius and Peter should be here any minute now!"
"Halloween!" James sang as he waltzed into the kitchen were Lily and little baby Harry were. He picked up Harry, and started dancing around again. Harry started to giggle, and Lily smiled.
"All right, you two. Harry, it's timed for bed. It's almost eight," Lily said.
"Aw, come on Lily. It's Halloween," James said with a puppy look in his eyes.
Lily looked at the two people she loved most in the world. "Oh, all right. I give in. But Harry goes to bed after dinner," she said. Harry squealed in delight as James swung him around and around the kitchen.
Lily watched the two boys, and thought. The older one acts just as the younger one does. But that's part of the reason why I married him.
Lily came out of her reverie when she heard a knock at the door. "James! Stop, someone's here," Lily scolded. She walked to the door, and looked through the peep hole. When she saw who it was, she opened the door.
"Sirius! How are you?"
"Good as ever, Lily!" Sirius said in a sing-song voice. "Where's Harry and ol' Prongsie?" he questioned.
"In the kitchen," Lily replied. Sirius skipped down the hall to the kitchen and stopped when he was halfway there. He started to tip-toe very quietly. He had plans of scaring little Harry out of his wits, even thought he would get a very severe scolding from Lily.
Just as he reached the corner, and was about to carry out his plans, something jumped out from behind the wall. He yelped.
When his heart was beating normally again, he said, "Yeesh, Harry! You are one scary baby!"
Harry giggled at the look on Sirius's face, and reached his little arms up toward the man that always made him laugh the most (besides his daddy, of course).
Sirius picked Harry up, and carried him into the kitchen where his father was. "James, you have a monster for a son!" exclaimed Sirius.
James laughed, and Sirius put Harry down. They embraced like old friends would.
"How have you been doing Padfoot?" James asked.
"Pretty well, but I have some news for you and Lily," Sirius said gravely.
"Wha-" James was cut off by a knock at the door. "Oh, that must be Peter. Come on."
The two men strode down the hall towards the door. James was about to open the door when Lily called from the kitchen, "Don't forget to check who it is first, James!” Both men rolled their eyes, and looked through the peep hole.
"It's Peter," they both muttered together. Sirius grabbed the door knob, and swung it open.
Peter stepped into the house looking disheveled.
"What happened to you, mate?" James gasped.
"Just a small bit of trouble along the way," Peter supplied. "Smells good in here. What's Lily making?" he asked.
"Roast ham, but don't get off the subject, Wormtail," Sirius said. "What happened?"
"Well, I was leaving my house, and I saw, er, Bellatrix," Peter said. The truth was that Peter had seen Bellatrix because she was telling him to meet the Dark Lord, but Sirius and James didn't need to know that. They also didn't need to know the real reason why he was so shaky.
Sirius got a sour look on his face. He muttered some words under his breath, and walked back to the kitchen.
"Where's Remus?" Peter asked James.
"He's doing something or other for the Order," James replied. "Come on. Let's go eat,"
~*~
A couple of hours later, Harry was upstairs and sound asleep. The four adults were sitting around the table in the kitchen. They were all having a glass of butterbeer (because Lily wouldn't let anything stronger in the house) when Sirius started to speak.
"Lily, James," he said, "I have some bad news. I think Voldemort may know that I'm your secret keeper."
Peter flinched at the mention of Voldemort's name and also at the fact that Sirius was right.
James and Lily tensed, and grabbed each others hands. "What are we going to do James?" Lily whispered.
"I don't know, darling, but we'll figure it out," James whispered back.
Sirius went on, "I think it would be the best to...change who your secret keeper is."
"What?!" the other three gasped.
"You heard what I said."
"No, Sirius," James said flatly.
"Why not?" Sirius asked. "I could never live with myself if I were the one to reveal where you lived. I don't know if I could hold out to the Death Eaters..." he trailed off softly.
"Sirius, you're strong. Besides, who would we switch to?" Lily questioned.
Sirius looked at Peter. He gasped, and started backing away.
~*~
"Enter," hissed the man called Voldemort. "Ah, hello Wormtail. How are you?" Voldemort asked. Peter whimpered. "I see you have found some information, otherwise, you wouldn't be making such a fuss, would you? Tell me, or else I shall have to take more drastic measures."
"The Potters live at one hundred ninety-three Godric's Hollow," Peter cried.
"Ah, so you are the secret keeper, Wormtail? Very good," Voldemort said. He stood up, Apparated, and was gone.
Peter fainted and collapsed in a heap.
~*~
A cloaked man strode up the walk of one hundred ninety-three Godric's Hollow. When he reached the porch, he took out his wand and unlocked the door. As he opened the door, he saw into the living room. Two people were staring at him, and he laughed his cruel, high-pitched laugh.