Despair
1 Nov '81
Sirius Black grinned triumphantly at his best friend – Peter Pettigrew. They had done it. Yes. The had cast the Fidelius Charm, hidden away James and Lily and little Harry from all harm. Who was the Secret Keeper? Sirius? No.
Sirius laughed to himself. He thought it was a brilliant plan – to make Wormtail the Secret Keeper instead. Who would have thought? Wormtail was now bouncing up and down, perhaps with excitement at finally being in the thick of things. Being the Secret Keeper for the Potters when Voldemort himself was after them was no joke. It was 'Sirius' business. Naturally, everyone would assume that it was him. And right they were, until now. No one would think that the Potters would choose Wormtail, someone not famous for his skill or valour but rather prefers to be left out of anything even remotely dangerous, to be their Secret Keeper. And that was why it was a brilliant plan.
When Sirius had first proposed the idea, he imagined he saw Wormtail's eyes momentarily gleam with, what? Excitement? Probably. Then he had immediately reverted to his old self – scared out of his wits, mumbling he was not up to it. But there was a little detail Sirius had not been able to quite put his finger on. He thought nobody else had noticed it. But it had taken a surprisingly small amount of coaxing to get Wormtail to agree, for a job so important and risky. The Marauders had had to literally drag him out of his bed the first time they had snuck out at night at Hogwarts. It was eerie, almost as if he wanted the job. And then there was also the spy. Everyone knew there was one – someone they considered their own. Someone from the inside passing on information to Voldemort. Many thought it was Moony. But Sirius thought it was rubbish. Moony would never do that to James, after all that he had done for him. Besides, Moony did not even know what went on during the Order meetings for he was barely present at them, and understandably so. It was impossible for him to pass on information to Voldemort when he did not have any.
Sirius's thoughts came back to Wormtail. He was too cowardly to join the Dark Side. It was not like praising them, but they did require people who had the nerve to kill without batting an eye. Not someone like Wormtail, scared of his own shadow. Definitely not someone like his brother, Sirius thought bitterly.
It was fine, he told himself. He had made the right choice. Wormtail was an excellent choice. No one would believe. No one would know. It was perfect. It was going to be okay. He was protecting his best friends. He trusted Wormtail.