They were always there.

The voices. Their voices. James. Lily. They would follow him, screeching, screaming, shouting. They would say over and over again 'Traitor! Traitor!' They would make him miserable, draining the happiness out of him. He saw their faces in the messy-haired men, the red-haired women.

'Traitor! Traitor!'

He would yell back at them, 'The Dark Lord - he forced me!' He had never been the bravest of the Marauders, nor the smartest, nor the funniest. He was their tag-along, though James insisted otherwise. He had transformed into an Animagus last, and it all had been for nothing - after all, who would want to be a rat Animagus? He should have known it was an omen, a sign - a warning.

Bellatrix had tortured him for long long minutes, 'Crucio! CRUCIO!', until he finally gave in and gasped, short of breath, the Potter's cottage address, the precious secret that protected Lily and James' lives. He gave it away so easily, it was horrifying. As soon as he forced the words out of his throat, it was like erasing Lily and James off a chalkboard - he'd doomed them and Harry.

For short periods of time, the voices inside his head would go away. Those blissful moments of peace. Those moments where he could relax, to cleanse his mind - to forget. But then they would come back. They stayed forever, tormenting him because he said 3 simple words. They stayed for the rest of his days. Screaming

'Traitor! Traitor!'