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Not long after the death of the Mckinnon family, the orders came for the Potters to leave their old home and allow the real concealment to begin.
The place was called Godric's Hollow. It was a smaller Wizarding village, less likely for Voldemort to search, safer for Harry to be hidden. Quaint and cosy, Gwen actually could have enjoyed it, if she were not being forced into it at the prospect of Voldemort hunting her son.
"It is homey," said Sirius, shrugging off the creeping winter's chill and glancing round himself as they headed up the road. "Small, but alright. It'll be nice. Nice house. Nice town. Oh, look, they've got a little church to—"
"Sirius," snapped Gwen, "is there a reason you wanted to meet us right now?"
He glanced back at her—and was it her imagination, or did he seem nervous? Surely it was just the cold.
"No, yeah, of course," he replied, shakily, leading them up the cobblestone path toward their new home. "There is a reason, and I need you both to hear me out, alright?"
Gwen and James exchanged a grim look.
"No, it's not bad," Sirius was quick to amend, waving his hands. "I only... I know we agreed with Dumbledore that I'd... Well, don't you both think it'd be kind of... obvious for me to be your Secret-Keeper? I mean, even when Dumbledore appointed me, we said it: Obvious. If word gets out that you're hidden under a Fidelius Charm, I think the very first person Voldemort would go to for your location would be—"
"You," finished James, looking quite pale in the face. "You're right, Sirius. But who else? Remus's tucked away for the full, and he wouldn't do too well as Secret-Keeper, anyway—got a lot going on with his furry little problem, you know—"
"I was thinking Peter," said Sirius, all in one breath. "Think about it, you two; who'd suspect him, Wormtail? 'Yeah, James's best mate in the whole wide world is Sirius Black. Why don't we ask Pettigrew where they're hiding?' Nobody would think twice about him, believe me. He'd be the perfect little two-timer. They think they've got it, they track me down, demand to know where the Potters are, and I—no matter what potions nor spells they try to use on me—can honestly say I don't know."
Gwen and James each mused on this for a moment, Gwen's face inscrutable and James looking quite bewildered. It was true that all traces of tension toward the stubbiest Marauder had dissipated on the untimely arrival of Harry, and Gwen had nearly forgotten the oddity of him trying to convince Remus and Sirius that she was the spy.
Now, anyway, the entire fact slipped from her mind—just as all important things tend to do, when they're most needed.
"But why Peter?" said James, finally. "Lily's available, isn't she—"
