#bc he knew firsthand how protective s was of j and h

[padfootastic]

Sirius claims that he overheard other Azkaban inmates speaking of Peter, so the other Death Eaters blamed him for Voldemort’s fall, and that’s why Sirius and Remus believed Peter stayed a rat for so many years, he was afraid of free Death Eaters harming him but Peter also said he knew Sirius would escape somehow, so it’s really up to the reader to decide who to believe on this; maybe it was both.

Also, James might’ve been up in the afterlife encouraging Sirius and Remus to kill Peter since Peter got Lily killed, framed James’s Sirius for James’s murder like Sirius was ever capable of thinking of harming James, and led to Harry living with the Dursleys. James and Lily were getting ready to square up in the afterlife only to get monumentally disappointed that Peter wasn’t going to die yet.

see, i’m combining these because both of them have a james in the afterlife scene, even if they’re on two different ends of the spectrum and i just wanna say i love both possibilities.

no. 1, of course, i love because it’s protective james + someone getting mad on sirius’ behalf. also there’s an element of subversion where the morally black & white guy is advocating for murder and that appeals to me. quite a bit. it’s also a bit funny if u imagine harry saying ‘dad wouldn’t want this’ while james is screaming ‘NO NO NO! I DO WANT THIS DAMMIT’ in the afterlife as he looks on at this train wreck. also, lily & james have been preparing all year to welcome peter when he gets there bc they were so sure that it’d happen. sirius literally escaped azkaban and this would at least be one part of his plan, right? so they come up with all sorts of creative ideas, rope in others for the execution, and sit their asses down in anticipation. finally, d-day is here, they’re so eager they can’t think straight and bam! murder-blocked by their own son. betrayal.

no. 2 is funny from a mom friend!james perspective. sure, deep down, he wants revenge for himself and his family. he hates that peter’s actions had dire consequences for sirius and harry but at the same time, what harry said. he doesn’t want his friends to become murderers. not fully bc of moral/ethical reasons (i think james can accept the darker side of his friends if required) but bc of the logistical issues of it. his priority rn is harry’s well being & sirius’ innocence being proven (and i guess remus getting a better life but meh. see if i care). neither of those will be accomplished by peter being murdered. in fact, it will be actively detrimental to the latter.

he’s also probably stressed as fuck due to the utter chaos that’s being spread. there’s limbs being broken, shouting & shrieking everywhere, secrets are exposed mercilessly & sirius still hasn’t explained a single thing. harry is looking at his godfather with mistrust and rage and it was never, ever supposed to be that way. on top of all this, severus fkn snape has to make an appearance bc when has he ever been able to resist sticking his leg into others business? it’s too much, too fast, and none of it seems like it’ll end well and it’s giving him a stress ulcer up there in the afterlife where he’s supposed to be chilling & not feeling any humane emotions. but oh well. when has james potter ever listened to stuff like that? so yeah. i can see him fully panicking as well.