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Sirius had imagined this moment for years. Ever since he saw Peter standing alive and well in that busy street, when all bonds of friendship and loyalty and love were shredded in an instant of brutal, staggering realization, he had waited for this chance.
And after weeks of single-minded pursuit, of chasing leads and following trails long gone cold, he finally had the rat cornered.
Peter had anticipated Sirius's wrath when he made the decision to betray the Potters' location to the Dark Lord. He specifically took that factor into account when making his final arrangements. He thought he had handled it beautifully, to be honest.
It wasn't enough.
When Peter turned and saw Sirius standing silently in the doorway behind him, he knew his life was at an end.
No words were exchanged. There was nothing to say. No explanations, apologies, or pleas that Peter could come up with would make a single bit of difference. And no words Sirius could put together would express what Peter had thrown away, what he had destroyed.
Peter's strengths were his intellect and skill at manipulation, neither of which stood a chance against the unstoppable fury of the man before him.
He went down quickly, and Sirius Black furiously and meticulously beat Peter Pettigrew to death with his fists.
It brought him no happiness, or peace, or closure. He hadn't expected it to.
When Remus finally caught up with Sirius, he found his friend standing calmly over what was once a human being, his arms coated solidly up to the elbows in bright, red blood. Red splatters covered his torso and face.
Sirius looked across the room at his horrified friend for a long moment, then stepped around the bloody pile on the floor and walked past Remus without a word.
Remus looked at the walls, the ceiling, anywhere but at the remains of Peter Pettigrew. His enhanced sense of smell couldn't endure staying in the room for long, however, and he soon turned and followed Sirius.
We used to be four, he thought. What happened to us? What will happen now?
Several paces ahead of him, Sirius thought of nothing at all.