YOUNG PERCY WEASLEY didn't understand why the stranger of a man continued to stare at him. He had never seen the man on the Hogwarts grounds, but judging by the sneering lip that continued to form, he didn't look very happy to see Percy. Taking a step back, Percy looked to Professor McGonagall to intervene or at the very least, say something. She seemed to be trying to gain the man's attention by waving her hand in front of his face, but his gaze did not falter.

While Percy had been thrilled about getting the responsibility to request Professor McGonagall's presence on behalf of Professor Snape, he wasn't thrilled anymore.

"Should I go back and tell Professor Snape that you have a guest?" he asked, hoping to leave quickly. "I can tell him-"

Before Percy could go on, the man stood up and reached for his wand. Suddenly feeling cold, Percy lost all ability to move from his spot. He was frozen in fear, with the exception of the shaking. McGonagall called out for him to stop but he didn't seem to hear her in the slightest bit as he aimed his wand at Percy.

"S-s-s-sir," Percy stammered, " what are you doing?"

"Stay still."

Closing his eyes, Percy hoped that McGonagall would stop him in time, but he opened his eyes again when he felt Scabbers crawling down the back of his robes.

"Scabb-" Percy was unable to call out the name of his pet when he was shoved aside by the man who hurried right out the door.

At first, Charlus hadn't moved from his spot, too much in shock from the news being delivered all at once. However, he was stuck in a stalemate stare with the rat on the boy's shoulder. It felt ridiculous to claim that the rat was Peter Pettigrew, but Charlus had been there the night that James, Sirius, and Peter had finally managed to transform into their animagus forms. James stood as a proud stag, practically towering over the others. Sirius, of course, came as the loyal canine companion that was all too fitting. And then there was Peter, who caught them off guard as they expected to see another robust animal stand beside all of them.

He remembered how upset Peter was initially to become a rat, simply because he didn't believe he could play any role in helping Remus. But it was James who reassured him that they would find a role for Peter, and they did.

Peter's role was crucial for the Marauders, as Peter was the only one small enough to fit into the knot of the Whomping Willow, allowing him to immobilise the violent tree. Underneath, there was a secret passage from the castle grounds that would lead them to Remus. He had been more than crucial to the group, James considered all of them to be his brothers at one point.

And yet, if Charlus was right in his outlandish thoughts, James had been betrayed by one of his brothers, and if Charlus was wrong, he was still betrayed by one of his brothers.

He reached for his wand, ignoring the hand waving in his face as McGonagall attempted to gain his attention. He didn't point it at the child, but rather the rat. An ordinary rat wouldn't have sensed the danger, it was merely a stick being pointed at him from across the room.

A human in a rat form reacted differently.

As soon as the wand was pointed at him, the rat took off, using the boy's robes to climb down so he could reach the floor and scurry off. Charlus was not about to lose an opportunity as he jumped up and made his way out of McGonagall's office. He would apologise to Weasley boy later when it came to his poor manners.

But first, there were important matters to attend to.

Students in the corridors looked on with worry as they parted a path for the rat and the man who was chasing after him. Professor McGonagall hurried out of her office, about to put an end to Charlus' wild behaviour as she raised her wand. But as soon as she did, Charlus came to a halt and aimed his own wand once again. A blue light emitted from the wand, striking the rat from the back.

From behind Charlus, Percy screamed, believing his beloved pet had been stunned for no apparent reason. However, he continued screaming for completely different reasons as Scabbers started sprouting legs and arms that were that of a human. Other students gathered around until Professor McGonagall told them to get back and keep clear of whatever was going on.

It didn't take her long to see why Charlus had decided to go after a student's pet, but the last thing she ever expected to see was the body of Peter Pettigrew hit the floor.

Peter had thinned out plenty since the last time Charlus had seen him but he was still easily recognisable. A far cry from the chubby boy with a full head of brown hair. He was still relatively short as Charlus noticed as Peter shakily attempted to push himself up from the floor. His blue watery gaze met Charlus' almost instantly as he clapped his grubby hands together in a pleading gesture.

"Ch-Charlus P-Potter?" he stammered out in front of everyone in the corridor. " You're alive?"

Charlus didn't say anything and didn't shift the position of keeping his wand aimed at Peter. As much as he rejoiced in the idea of Peter still being alive, he realised the exact reason as to why Peter was still alive.

"I thought it was another rumour, made for gossip in the Daily Prophet when I read that you woke up in St Mungo's," Peter told him, " I didn't think it was true. But it is, you're alive! This is fantastic-"

With every word he spoke, Peter attempted to get closer to Charlus, reaching out his hands to touch him, but before he could, he found the tip of Charlus' wand pressed into his neck. McGonagall had finally reached his side, looking void of all colour in her face, as she stared down one of her former students that she believed to be dead for years.

Peter's eyes shifted back and forth to the two people before him as he trembled. "You're supposed to be dead, Peter," Charlus said. "You're supposed to be dead."

"I should have died that night, Charlus!" Peter exclaimed. "Believe me! I should have died, but it was a miracle that I didn't! You don't understand-"

"You're right. I don't understand. How are you before me right now? The rest of you intact when they only found your finger at the crime scene?"

Before Peter could answer, Charlus grabbed the frail man's right hand and lifted it up. Sure enough, he was missing his right index finger. A clean-cut by the looks of it, no other damage to any other part of his hand. Without realising, Charlus continued to squeeze Peter's hand tighter and tighter, to the point where Peter was crying out because his hand was being crushed slowly.

"You framed him," Charlus whispered, " you framed Sirius."

"No, you don't understand! Charlus, please! Believe me! Sirius went mad after you were attacked. You were the only thing keeping him sane. He blamed the Order for not protecting you, he blamed James and Lily! He betrayed them because he was angry and then he wanted to come after me-"

"YOU LIAR!"

The surrounding students screamed in horror as Charlus launched himself at Peter, disregarding the idea of his wand being any sort of use. His hands wrapped around Peter's neck as they fell to the floor, with Charlus landing on top. No matter how much Peter scratched at his hands, Charlus didn't loosen his grip in the slightest.

"Sirius would never do that!" Charlus yelled through the hot tears that streamed down his face. "He would never betray anyone like that and he certainly wouldn't commit those crimes in my name! He wouldn't, he wouldn't!"

Peter couldn't argue his case because he was left unable to breathe. His face turned from red to a slight purple from the lack of air. His body flailed underneath Charlus, attempting to knock him off but failed in doing so. However, he was given a moment of relief when Charlus was pulled off of him by another.

The two looked up at the professor as if they were schoolboys again, being caught up in a fight.

"Thank you, Professor!" Peter coughed out, touching the bottom of her robes. "Th-"

McGonagall pulled her robes away from his reach causing him to stumble forward. Her hands touched the top of Charlus' shoulders as she pulled on him gently to stand up. Clearly her actions to intervene had not been made for Peter's sake, but rather for Charlus' sake. She didn't want him to go through with something that he would regret later.

"Why did you do it, Peter?" Charlus asked him as he leaned against McGonagall's shoulder. "Why would you betray everyone? It's clear what you did. You're still alive! Everyone thought you were dead! But here you are, hiding in Hogwarts as a rat! A rat...you fuckin'-"

With the slightest wave of her wand, McGonagall silenced Charlus before he worked himself into another fit. Truth be told, her heart hadn't stopped racing since Charlus had raced out of her office in pursuit of the rat but she was trying to keep a calm outer appearance for the sake of Charlus and her students. She knew if she told all of her students to clear the area, more than likely, they wouldn't travel far and the commotion of the scene was bringing a wider audience of witnesses.

Peter seemed to realise that as well as he took a look around him in the corridor. The majority of the Hogwarts students probably didn't have the slightest clue as to who he was. His honourable title of being lost to the war was long forgotten as life continued on. However, everyone had heard that he had framed someone, he was supposed to be dead, and everyone had seen him forced out of his animagus form.

But it seemed Charlus had more to say as he broke through the Silencing Charm that was placed on him.

"You were one of their brothers," Charlus said quietly, but loud enough for Peter to hear him, " and here you are. My brother is dead, Sirius is in Azkaban because of you. Was it worth it, Peter? Worth it to live the rest of your life in hiding as a pet? I just don't understand why-"

"HE WAS GOING TO KILL ME!"

By the way, everyone flinched in the corridor, it was clear that Peter had reached his breaking point.

"I didn't go to him!" Peter cried out. "They sought me out! They kidnapped me and tortured me! Did anyone notice that I was even missing from the Order?! No! They tortured me for days, I don't even know how long it was! I had no other choice, if they weren't going after me, they threatened to go after my mother! She would have never survived what I went through. I had to protect my own family-"

"You should have considered us your family!" Charlus snapped. "We treated you as such! We helped you from the time we met in Hogwarts! James and Sirius considered you family-"

"It's not the same, it's not the same! If it were you, would you save me over your own mother-"

"Don't talk about my mother, you don't get to mention her, ever! She treated you with kindness and you're the reason one of her sons is dead. Even your own mother would be ashamed of you, Peter. You're a fuckin' coward!"

"Not everyone can be a hero-"

"But anyone can ask for help!"

Peter froze in place as if the sudden realisation washed over him. Charlus pulled away from McGonagall's side and approached the other man, face to face.

"The Order would have worked to protect your mother if we knew she was being threatened. We would have helped you. But you didn't ask, did you? DID YOU?!"

Suddenly, Peter shoved Charlus down as hard as he could and started running forward. The children scattered in fear especially as Peter transformed back into his rat form. He was just about to round the corner when a blast struck him back into the stone wall. He collapsed to the floor back in his human form, only to look up and see Professor McGonagall lower her arm and wand.

"No running in the corridors, Mr Pettigrew."