The night had arrived. Now spread her dark wings over the land. This unpredictable darkness that brings evil with it. The displeasure and despair. The fear and the horror.
Everyone said they would hear his heart pounding mercilessly against his chest. At that time, it was a permanent condition.
And especially for some people, that time came at a time in Hell. Treason. None of them even uttered the word. They tried to get the word out of their mind. Because the closer the threat came, the stronger the suspicion became. Suspicion of treason. The suspicion of that tearing the tape. The ribbon that was tied for years, that was braided for years. Strengthened and bound by blood.
Treason.

That night, everything was revealed. That suspicion, the apparently tangible betrayal.
In a little house. In a little haven, fortified by magic and sorcery.

He strode through the apartment. He hadn't done anything else in hours. He had had a remorse for hours. For hours he had been troubled by thoughts about his and her future. An hour ago he had called his friends. Some of his friends. You should be there soon. You should help him.
He came into the living room. She was sitting in the armchair. He had drawn up his legs and looked sadly into the fireplace, the bright flames of which licked up the wood. The red hair gleamed dimly in the firelight. Turning her face away from him, her soft voice came up to him.
"How can you believe that?"
He closed his eyes, leaned weakly against the door frame and nervously ran his hair through. There was reproach and horror in her voice. She always believed in the good in people. And he wanted to trust her, he didn't want to speak to her again. He himself hoped that he was wrong, that he would wake up and find that everything is just a dream.
“I want to protect us,” he replies. He tried to put so much strength and security in his voice not to worry her. He had to protect her after all, there was no other choice he could ask! She was his life, his jewel, his flower.
"He's your friend! I thought you would have more trust in your friends! I thought you would believe them! I thought ... I thought so much ... Why us?"

She shivered, though the warmth of the open fire shone on her like a pulsating living being. And she jumped violently when there was a knock on the door. It was heavy, loud, urgent blows. She gave him one last look before turning back to the fire. Ashamed of what was about to happen.
He went to the door.
Opened it and two people in black cloaks stumbled in. They didn't want to be outside longer than necessary. Out there.
"Hi Prongs! We thought you were attacked or something!"
"Yes." Beeped the other, "You sounded so panicked."

A smile crossed James' face. They were worried ... It didn't always happen in the Potter house. A Sirius Black usually only worried that food would run out or that his favorite show on television would be canceled.And a Peter Pettigrew put most of the worries out of his mind, like the subject matter at school.
"In the living room gentlemen ... We have a lot to talk about ... I would like to just fall over and wake up when it's all over."
Sirius' eyes narrowed to slits, but willingly let himself be led into the living room, where Lily was still sitting in the armchair in front of the fireplace. She looked sad. Not like the happy schoolgirl from the past.
"Evans. That they'll meet you again!" he smirked, intending to lighten the mood a little. But Lily just sighed and turned to them. The shadows under her eyes were hard to miss.
"You can also crack jokes when this is about something important. You are not aware of what you are doing!" she sniffed, now some tears rolled down her face, "I know him! I trust him! He can't do that! And I'm ashamed of you that you think that of him! You are his friends!"
Violent fits of crying rolled over her and James prepared to take her in his arms. Sat down on the armrest and rocked her carefully back and forth, whispered her soft word in her ear, stroked her red hair.

The laugh had fallen from Sirius' face, it had smashed on the floor. Yes, he knew what this was about, but he didn't want to believe it, it couldn't be true!
But nobody mentioned it. Nobody mentioned that any of them were missing here. The marauders were not complete.
But nobody wanted to address that, even if the looks said something else.
"So Prongs, you wanted to clarify something with us. We hear."
Peter nodded as he and Sirius collapsed on the couch.
James took a deep breath, unconsciously hugging Lily tighter.

"I spoke to Dumbledore today. You know what it was about. Again on the prophecy, again on the same subject with Voldemort." He paused for a moment, wishing the ugly, serpentine face out of his memory, "He got me something told about a traitor. "
There it was. The word. At least something like that. Traitor…
Sirius had opened his eyes. But he was something of a joker. Sirius Black was the blood brother of James Potter, you could say the two were Siamese twins. Neither of the two would accuse the other of anything bad that turned against either of them.
Sirius was out of it, that was clear.

"He said to you, there is a traitor among your acquaintances? Your loved ones?"
James nodded slowly.
"He told me a lot after that, apparently he wanted me to figure out who it might be for myself." Lily cried out, clutched at his sweater and buried her face even deeper in his chest, "He said Voldemort would his followers gather around them. The Death Eaters are looking for followers. The giants are said to have joined them, that's how it is said he had Inferi. And it is said that the dark one had turned to the werewolves. "
Sirius drew in a sharp breath. He sat tense, his hands clasped."You don't think so ... you don't mean that Remus ..."
"Dumbledore said the traitor would come from my circle of friends, my close circle of friends." He looked both of them in the eye for a while, Peter wanted to avoid him, "I don't want to blame either of you three, but I have to make a decision."
Peter nodded quickly.

"He is withdrawing more and more! It is being locked! Recently he hissed at me for what I was doing in his room! Then I secretly saw him practicing, spells that I don't even know! He often sits for hours on top of something black books, ponder and jot down things! "
Peter spoke quickly without taking a breath. He was talking about his head and neck.
Why?
No idea…

But Sirius and James just shook their heads.
"He can't have changed that much. I mean he won't just throw the rest of his life overboard!" put in Sirius.
"I also hope that everything will be cleared up, but until then, I don't want you to say a word about it. I know it will be difficult! But I can't take any chances!"
Again the monotonous nothing significant nod.
"But Remus?" Sirius asked into the room, "I mean, we can't blame him for trying to get his life under control! He tries to get a job every day, nobody takes him! There it is for me understandable that one withdraws! "

Lily straightened up. Wiped the traces of tears from his face and looked defiantly at them one by one.
"I can understand him. He's trying to survive out there, just as you can! He doesn't accept any help or money from you because he wants to do something on his own! And you just assume that he is joining the enemy Because he turns into a werewolf once a month? " her voice trembled slightly, "I thought you would see him with different eyes!"
"Lily darling, you step into it a bit." James tried to calm her down.
"But you have to remember that he stirs up a hatred of these people. The people who see him as a monster, who reject him." Peter said frantically and slid forward to the edge of the couch, "Isn't it natural that you start to block them cursed, wishing her death? "
"What are you thinking!" shouted Sirius, he had jumped up and was now wandering through the living room, "We are talking about the hardest matter in our life. We just have to decide whether we can trust one of our best friends to betray us!"
James eyes followed his very best friend across the room. Lily looked indecisively into the fire.

"You mustn't say anything about what we said today! Neither about the Order, nor about Remus ... And no more information about him ... As difficult as it is for you ..."

Sirius threw his head back and rubbed his face.

Peter's eyes kept flitting to the exits. The doors and windows. As if he wanted to memorize everything exactly. He muttered inaudibly to himself.

“I'm going now.” It came from Sirius, “Still on guard duty today.James Talk to Dumbledore again! Maybe he still knows something ... Get information together! It can't be true! "


We now know that these guesses were all just pieced together by the darkness. The blackness obscured the truth and made people judge their friends who were innocent.

Presumably that very evening destroyed everything ...