Risen from the Ashes (A Harry Potter Fan Fiction)

Chapter 18

Once Dumbledore had left, this left the five Gryffindors with nothing to do, and plenty of time to do it.

"You, ok?" Harry had curled himself into his mother's side and she was gently stroking his hair.

He gave a small nod, "I just... don't like talking about that kind of stuff..."

"I know son." James squeezed his shoulder. "But you did fantastic. Thank you for telling us."

"We can leave all of that behind us now." Sirius gave him a smile. "You never have to think about the Dursleys again."

"So, I don't have to go back?" he said with hope.

"Heavens no!" Lily squeezed him tighter, "We just got you back, there's no way we're letting you go ever again!"

He smiled to himself, "I'm glad..."

Remus stood up, "I believe I'm in the mood for a lazy day around the house and some hot chocolate. Would anyone else like some?" the three Potters all nodded.

Sirius snorted, "Who'd have guessed, Moony was in the mood for chocolate."

Remus glared at him, "Alright, so four hot chocolates and one glass of ice water."

"What?! No wait!" Sirius protested and followed him into the kitchen. "I was only joking! Moony! I don't want no bloody water!"

James laughed as they continued to argue in the other room. "I'm glad to see that some things haven't changed." His face took on a serious expression, "I still cannot believe Peter betrayed us..."

Harry hung his head, "He's not who he used to be..."

They both looked at him in surprise. "You've met Peter?"

He nodded, "He had disguised himself as my friend Ron's rat for years. We had no idea until Sirius showed up. Everyone thought he died along with the two of you. However, when he finally changed back... he had been transformed for so long... it was like he was more rat than man..."

At this point, Remus and Sirius came back in, quietly handing out the hot chocolates as Harry continued his story. "I... he got away..." he looked down. "Hermione and I tried to catch him, but there was all the trouble with the time turner and needing to save both Sirius and Buckbeak... we just didn't have time. I'm sorry..."

"Time turner?" Remus asked.

"Yeah, I guess no one but Hermione, Dumbledore, and I would know about it." He chuckled, "We never even told Ron. There was so much going on that night, with it being a full moon, and then that prat showing up." Both Remus and Sirius knew who he was referring to, but they decided it would be best to not bring up a certain Slytherin at this exact moment.

"The first time we went through it, we failed. You were captured by dementors, and Buckbeak was killed." He said solemnly. "However, Dumbledore had given Hermione a device that could go back short periods of time so she could take extra classes. We used it to go back and save you and Buckbeak. But Pettigrew still got away. I'm sorry."

"Hey, don't be." James put a hand on his shoulder. "You saved one of my best friends from going back to Azkaban. And I don't know what a Buckbeak is, but you saved him too so I'm very proud of you."

Harry looked down at his feet, "If I had let them kill Pettigrew, then they could have proven he was still alive, and we could have cleared Sirius' name. I was the one that stopped them, so it's my fault." he looked up at James, "I told them you wouldn't have wanted them to become killers. And they knew I was right, so they let him go."

James gave Sirius and Remus a skeptical look. "Really?"

Harry looked at the three in confusion. "What?"

Remus gave Harry a fond smile, "Harry, we didn't refrain from killing Peter because we thought your dad wouldn't have wanted us to be killers. I expect he would have been fine with that outcome."

"Oh, I would have killed the rat in a heartbeat." He said plainly, shocking Harry.

"We let him live," Sirius continued, "Because in that moment, you reminded us so much of your mother." Lily's eyes were welling up.

"James wouldn't have cared if we had killed him." Remus went on. "But Lily, you've always been kind to everyone. And Harry, when you were looking up at us with those big green eyes, we just couldn't bring ourselves to do it."

"Oh..." Harry wasn't sure what to do with that information.

"I'm very proud of you." James put a hand on his shoulder, "Bravery isn't always about doing something courageous. Often times, its simply doing what you know is right, even if no one else agrees with you."

"I'm proud of you too." She kissed the top of his head. "I know he betrayed us, but Peter was our friend. It's... comforting almost to know that he's still out there somewhere..."

"I have a feeling that we won't be hearing from him for a while." Sirius muttered. "I wouldn't be surprised if he pulled the old 'pet rat' trick again on some other unsuspecting family."

"The good news is," Remus smiled at James and Lily, "With you both once again among the land of the living, whenever you decide to go public about return, we can clear Sirius' name."

"Don't feel rushed though." Sirius assured. "I am perfectly content mooching off of Moony for as long as you both want to lay low. I'm sure Harry can tell you all about how much publicity you both will get."

He groaned, "I know! Everywhere I go its, 'Boy who lived this!' 'Boy who lived that!' It's bloody ridiculous! I do have a name!"

They all laughed, "Don't worry. When we do finally go public, we'll make sure to find a house that's fairly secluded, so we don't have to deal with all of that." Lily assured. "But for right now, I don't want to think about any of that. I just want to relax."

Harry smiled, "That sounds wonderful..."

(A/N - Thanks for reading!)