the_debt_of_time

sight before his eyes drifted to the side where he could still clearly see the tattooed name
scripted across Sirius's chest: Mia.
"All right, then." Remus nodded and held a wand out to Sirius. "As you wish."
"No!" Harry moved to step in front of his friends. "You betrayed my parents! You
sold them to Voldemort!"
"That's a lie!" Sirius growled. "I never would've betrayed James and Lily!"
"Harry," Remus said softly, calmly. "You have to listen―"
"Did he listen?" Harry shouted, pointing a finger at Sirius. "When my mother was
dying! Did he hear her screaming?!"
Sirius winced at the words. "No! I wasn't there when it... I wasn't there to stop it.
And I'll regret it the rest of my life!"
Harry looked murderous, and Sirius looked broken. Remus knew that if the boy
attempted anything, Sirius would not defend himself. Harry would kill his own godfather
and suffer so greatly for it when the truth did come to light. Remus needed to act fast.
Harry had the temper of both of his parents and Black blood to boot.
Remus stood protectively in front of Sirius. "Someone else betrayed your parents,
Harry. Someone in this room right now. Someone who, until quite recently, I believed to
be dead."
"He's as good as dead," Sirius added viciously from behind Remus's arm. "Come
out, come out, Peter. Come out, come out and play."
"You're not helping, arsehole," Remus muttered.
"Peter Pettigrew?" Harry stared at Sirius. "He's dead! He killed him twelve years
ago!"
"I meant to," Sirius snarled, "but Peter got the better of me. Not this time, though!"
He lunged forward at Ron, who fell with a yelp of pain as Sirius's weight landed on his
broken leg.
"Sirius, NO!" Remus yelled, launching himself forward and dragging Sirius away
from Ron again, "WAIT! You can't do it just like that. They have a right to know why! We
need to explain!"
"We can explain afterward! There will likely be a lot of explaining." Sirius glared at
him, his grey gaze darting quickly to Hermione, who stood protectively near Harry.