Feeling like I'd been electrocuted by a whole electricity line, I stood stupidly with my mouth open as Black leapt to his feet.

"I found this at the base of the Whomping Willow," said Snape, throwing the cloak aside, pointing the wand at Remus' face. Gennie stood in front of her dad, scowling at Snape. "Very useful, Potter, thank you.... I suppose you're wondering how I knew you were here?"

"Because you're a crazy stalker obsessed with my father!" Gennie shouted, her face turning red.

"No, because your dear father hadn't taken his potion so I took along the goblet." Snape spat. "And I saw a certain map that told me all I needed to know..."

"Severus —" Remus began, but Snape spoke over him.

"I told him again and again you were helping him get into the castle, and here is the proof!"

"Severus, you're making a mistake," said Remus urgently. "You haven't heard everything — I can explain — Sirius is not here to kill Harry, or Aurora —"

"Two more for Azkaban tonight," said Snape his eyes now gleaming fanatically. "Dumbledore was convinced you were always a tame werewolf.... But now you'll leave your daughter an orphan, how does that make you feel?"

Gennie screamed and tried to throw herself at Snape, but her father held her back, and said to Snape softly, "You fool. Is a grudge worth putting an innocent man in Azkaban?"

BANG! Gennie screamed as her father pushed her aside as ropes twisted around Remus' mouth, wrist ankles and he fell to the floor. Gennie scrambled to her feet and was about to make a move at Snape when he pointed his wand directly at Black.

"Give me a reason," he whispered. "Give me a reason to do it, and I swear I will." Black stopped dead.

Everybody stood there paralysed and afraid, though Gennie looked ready to kill, and Cole looked as if he was watching a very exciting film.

Hermione, however, took an uncertain step toward Snape and said, in a very breathless voice, "Professor Snape — it wouldn't hurt to hear what they've got to say, w-would it?"

"Miss Granger, you are already facing suspension from this school," Snape spat. "The six of you are out-of-bounds, in the company of a convicted murderer and a werewolf. For once in your life, hold your tongue."

"But if — if there was a mistake —"

"KEEP QUIET, YOU STUPID GIRL!" Snape shouted, looking suddenly quite deranged. "DON'T TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" A few sparks shot out of the end of his wand, which was still pointed at Black's face. Hermione fell silent.

"Vengeance is very sweet," Snape breathed at Black. "How I hoped I would be the one to catch you..."

"The joke's on you again, Severus," Black snarled. "As long as this boy brings his rat up to the castle" — he jerked his head at Ron — "I'll come quietly..."

"Up to the castle?" said Snape silkily. "I don't think we need to go that far. They'll be very pleased to see you, Black... pleased enough to give you a little kiss, I daresay..."

What little colour there was in Black's face left it. "You — you've got to hear me out," he croaked. "The rat — look at the rat —"

But there was a mad glint in Snape's eyes that I had never seen before. He seemed beyond reason.

"Come on, all of you," he said. He clicked his fingers, and the ends of the cords that bound Remus flew to his hands. "I'll drag the werewolf. Perhaps the Dementors will have a kiss for him too —"

Something in Gennie snapped, and she ran across the room, blocking the door, wand raised.

"Get out of the way, Lupin, you're in enough trouble already," snarled Snape.

Harry piped up, "Professor Lupin could have killed us loads of times. We've been alone with him a lot—Rory even stayed with him for a month. Why wouldn't he finish us off then?"

"Don't ask me to explain the way a werewolf's mind works," hissed Snape. "Now get out of the way, Lupin"

"YOU'RE SO PATHETIC!" Gennie yelled. "JUST BECAUSE THEY MADE JOKES ABOUT YOU, YOU WON'T LISTEN TO AN INNOCENT MAN—"

"SILENCE! I WILL NOT BE SPOKEN TO LIKE THAT!" Snape shrieked, looking madder than ever. "Like father, like daughter, Lupin! I have just saved your neck, you should all be thanking me! You would have died like your mother—too foolish to believe these people could protect her—now get out of the way, or I'll make you. GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

Before Snape could take even one step toward her, she had raised her wand.

"Expelliarmus!" she yelled — except that she wasn't the only one who said a spell. With the force of six disarming spells, Snape was lifted off his feet and slammed into a wall, sliding down it—knocked out, blood trickling from his head.

"I'm glad for team work," Gennie said breathlessly, seeing the rest of us had acted as Snape's wand soared over our heads.

"You shouldn't have done that," said Black, looking at me. "You should have left him to me..."

"Well I didn't you do anything when he insulted my mother," Gennie said hotly.

"We attacked a teacher... We attacked a teacher..." Hermione whimpered, staring at the lifeless Snape with frightened eyes. "Oh, we're going to be in so much trouble —"

Remus was struggling against his ropes. Black bent down quickly and untied him. Remus got up, and gave Gennie a hug. "You shouldn't have done that."

"You would have done that for me," Gennie pointed out.

"Then it's time we offered you some proof," said Remu. "You, boy — give me Peter, please. Now."

Ron clutched Scabbers closer to his chest. "Come off it," he said weakly. "Are you trying to say he broke out of Azkaban just to get his hands on Scabbers? I mean..."

Cole however continued for Ron. "Right, though I heard that there's a rat for every person in Britain. How do you have a clue of which rat is the right one?"

"You know, Sirius, that's a fair question," said Remus, turning to Black and frowning slightly.

Black put one of his claw-like hands inside his robes and took out a crumpled piece of paper, which he smoothed flat and held out to show the others. It was a photo of the Weasley's in Egypt after they'd won all of the money—and on Ron's shoulder, was Scabbers.

"Where did you get that?" Remus asked, shocked.

"Fudge," said Black. "He gave me his paper. And there was Peter, on the front page on this boy's shoulder... I knew him at once... And the caption said the boy would be going back to Hogwarts... to where Harry was..."

"How did you know I was there?" I whispered my voice hoarse with nerves. "I was presumed dead, but you muttered my name in your sleep..."

"There was a woman opposite me—Bellatrix Lestrange—and a person would visit them every now and then. I don't know who they were—they always wore a dark cloak, and I was too out of it to recognise them. But I heard them talk about you on several occasions—that you showed no sign of magic, and didn't know who you were.... But then they visited in August to say you were going to be attending Hogwarts...."

"So, somebody's betraying me to some... follower of Voldemort?" I said my voice far away. I was so close to so many people in the Muggle world, any number of them could have ratted me out....

"His front paw..." Remus trailed off.

"What about it?" said Ron shortly.

"He's got a toe missing," said Black.

"Of course," Remus breathed. "So simple... so brilliant... he cut it off himself?"

"Just before he transformed," said Black. "Before I could curse him, he blew apart the street with the wand behind his back, killed everyone within twenty feet of himself — and sped down into the sewer with the other rats..."

"Didn't you ever hear, Ron?" said Gennie quietly. "The biggest bit of Peter they found was his finger."

"Look, Scabbers probably had a fight with another rat or something! He's been in my family for ages, right —"

"Twelve years, in fact," said Reus. "Didn't you ever wonder why he was living so long?"

"We — we've been taking good care of him!" said Ron.

"I had an amazing hamster too, but he died within two years." Cole said gravely.

"Not looking too good at the moment, though, is he?" said Remus. "I'd guess he's been losing weight ever since he heard Sirius was on the loose again..."

"He's been scared of that mad cat!" said Ron, nodding toward Crookshanks, who was still purring on the bed.

Remus was right, Scabbers had been ill since Black had escaped...

"This cat isn't mad," said Black hoarsely. He reached out a bony hand and stroked Crookshanks's fluffy head. "He's the most intelligent of his kind I've ever met. He recognized Peter for what he was right away, so he tried to help me..."

"What do you mean?" I said cautiously.

"He tried to bring Peter to me, but couldn't... so he stole the passwords into Gryffindor Tower for me..."

My mouth was very dry, and I was getting a headache from all that I'd heard. It sounded ridiculous, but it all added up...

"But Peter got wind of what was going on and ran for It." croaked Black. "This cat told me Peter had left blood on the sheets... I supposed he bit himself...."

"And why did he fake his death?" Harry spoke up furiously. "Because he knew you were about to kill him like you killed our parents! And now you've come to finish him off!"

"Yes, I have," said Black, with an evil look at Scabbers.

"Then I should've let Snape take you!" Harry shouted.

"No, see we were wrong the whole time. Peter betrayed your parents, not Sirius—"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Harry yelled. "HE WAS THEIR SECRET-KEEPER! HE SAID SO BEFORE YOU TURNED UP. HE SAID HE KILLED THEM!"

"Harry... I as good as killed them," he croaked. "I persuaded Lily and James to change to Peter at the last moment... The night they died, I'd arranged to check on Peter, make sure he was still safe, but when I arrived at his hiding place, he'd gone. And when I saw your house, destroyed, and their bodies...Rory's body missing, and I realised what he'd done...."

"Enough of this," said Remus sharply. "Ron, give me that rat."

"What are you going to do with him if I give him to you?" Ron asked.

"Force him to show himself," said Remus. "If he really is a rat, it won't hurt him."

Ron hesitated. Then at long last, he held out Scabbers. Black had already retrieved Snape's wand from the bed. He approached Remus and the struggling rat.

"Together?" he said quietly.

"I think so", said Remus holding Scabbers tightly in one hand and his wand in the other. "On the count of three. One — two — THREE!"

A flash of blue-white light erupted from both wands; for a moment, Scabbers was frozen in mid-air, his small gray form twisting madly—

And unbelievably, a head was shooting upwards like a deformed tree, limbs were stretching from furry arms—and then a man was stood where the rat had been, looking terrified.

He was very small, bald and looked very skinny. He was grubby and resembled the rat he'd spent the last twelve years as with a pointed nose and small watery eyes.

I was literally speechless.

He was the reason my parents were dead, the reason I lived a lie under the Oswin's roof. If he hadn't done what he did, Harry and I could have grown up together, we probably would have had Gennie over for tea every night.... We might have even had a younger brother or sister....

"Well, hello, Peter," said Remus pleasantly, as though rats frequently erupted into old school friends around him. "Long time, no see."

"S—Sirius... R—Remus..." Even Pettigrew's voice was squeaky. Again, his eyes darted toward the door. "My friends... my old friends..."

Black's wand arm rose, but Remus seized him around the wrist, giving him a warning look.

"We've been having a little chat, Peter, about what happened the night Lily and James died. You might have missed the finer points while you were squeaking around down there on the bed —"

"Remus," gasped Pettigrew, and I could see beads of sweat breaking out over his pasty face, "you don't believe him, do you...? He tried to kill me, Remus..."

"So we've heard," said Remus, more coldly. "I'd like to clear up one or two little matters with you, Peter, if you'll be so —"

"He's come to try and kill me again!" Pettigrew squeaked suddenly, pointing at Black, and I saw that he used his middle finger, because his index was missing.

"He killed Lily and James and now he's going to kill me too... You've got to help me, Remus..."

"No one's going to try and kill you until we've sorted a few things out," said Remus.

"Sorted things out?" squealed Pettigrew, looking wildly about him once more, eyes taking in the boarded windows and, again, the only door. "I knew he'd come after me! I knew he'd be back for me! I've been waiting for this for twelve years!"

"You knew Sirius was going to break out of Azkaban?" Gennie said sceptically. "When nobody had done it before?"

"He's got dark powers the rest of us can only dream of!" Pettigrew shouted shrilly. "How else did he get out of there? I suppose He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named taught him a few tricks!"

Black started to laugh, a horrible, mirthless laugh that filled the whole room. "Voldemort, teach me tricks?" he said.

Pettigrew flinched as though Black had brandished a whip at him. "What, scared to hear your old master's name?" said Black. "I don't blame you, Peter. His lot aren't very happy with you, are they?"

"Don't know what you mean, Sirius —" muttered Pettigrew, his breathing faster than ever. His whole face was shining with sweat now.

"You haven't been hiding from me for twelve years," said Black. "You've been hiding from Voldemort's old supporters. I heard things in Azkaban, Peter.... Sounds like they think the double-crosser double-crossed them. Voldemort went to the Potters' on your information... and Voldemort met his downfall there. If they ever got wind that you were still alive, Peter —"

"Don't know... what you're talking about..." said Pettigrew again, more shrilly than ever. He wiped his face on his sleeve and looked up at Remus. "You don't believe this — this madness, Remus —"

"Why would an innocent man want to spend twelve years being a pet rat?" Coe snorted.

"I must admit, Peter, I have difficulty in understanding why an innocent man would want to spend twelve years as a rat," said Remus.

"Innocent, but scared!" squealed Pettigrew. "If Voldemort's supporters were after me, it was because I put one of their best men in Azkaban — the spy, Sirius Black!"

Black's face contorted. "How dare you," he growled, "You always liked big friends who'd look after you, didn't you? It used to be us... me and Remus... and James..."

"Me, a spy... must be out of your mind...—"

"Lily and James only made you Secret-Keeper because I suggested it," Black hissed, so venomously that Pettigrew took a step backward. "I thought it was the perfect plan... a bluff... Voldemort would be sure to come after me, but I bet it was the best time of your life, being useful for once!"

"There's one thing I don't get." I spoke up. "This thing has been sleeping in Harry's dormitory for the last three years. Why hasn't he tried to hurt Harry before?"

"There!" said Pettigrew shrilly "Thank you! You see, Remus? I have never hurt a hair of Harry's head! Why should I?"

"I'll tell you why," said Black. "Because you never did anything for anyone unless you could see what was in it for you. Why else did you find a wizard family to take you in? Keeping an ear out for news, weren't you, Peter? "

Pettigrew opened his mouth and closed it several times. He seemed to have lost the ability to talk.

"Er — Mr. Black — Sirius?" said Cole awkwardly

Black jumped at being addressed like this and stared at Cole as though he had never seen anything quite like him. Well, Cole was one of a kind.

"If you don't mind me asking, how, well I'm going to ask anyways — how did you get out of Azkaban, if you didn't use Dark Magic? I mean, I always wanted to know in case I got into sticky situations."

"Thank you!" gasped Pettigrew, nodding frantically at her. "Exactly! Precisely what I —"

Everybody glared at Pettigrew.

"I don't know how I did it," he said slowly. "I think the only reason I never lost my mind is that I knew I was innocent. That wasn't a happy thought, it kept me sane and knowing who I am... helped me keep my powers... so when it all became... too much... I could transform in my cell... become a dog. Dementors can't see, you know..." He swallowed.

I thought of Sirius as a dog, curled up on the floor of a cell as the roars of prisoners droned on, and I felt my pang with sadness that it was his life for twelve years.

"But then I saw Peter in that picture... I realized he was at Hogwarts with Harry. And from that odd person visiting Bellatrix, I knew Rory would finally be going to Hogwarts... And of course, if Pettigrew could bring both Harry and Aurora Potter to his master he would be rewarded..."

Shuddering at the thought of being captured, Sirius continued.

"It was as if someone had lit a fire in my head, and the Dementors couldn't destroy it... it was an obsession... but it gave me strength. So, one night when they opened my door to bring food, I slipped past them as a dog... was thin... thin enough to slip through the bars... I swam as a dog back to the mainland... and stopped in Oxford where I heard Aurora lived. I found her in a park, and she took me for a stray. From what she told me, I knew that she would be attending Hogwarts soon."

Black paused. "And she christened me with the name 'Sirius'. It was quite amusing."

"What can I say; I was always a creative child." I said, a smile twitching onto my face, all previous anger for him vanishing. The truth in his words with evident now, and I couldn't help but see who the real villain was here.

Sirius continued his story. "I then left and slipped into the Hogwarts grounds as a dog. I've been living in the forest ever since, except when I came to watch the Quidditch, of course. You both fly as well as your father..."

"I thought you were a Grim, I almost died of shock." I shook my head, trying to hide my smile. I could see the genuine caring side of Sirius.... He was right, he just wanted to protect us, like he'd promised our parents....

"Believe me," croaked Black. "Believe me, both of you. I never betrayed James and Lily. I would have died before I betrayed them."

And at long last, Harry seemed to believe him. He nodded, looking speechless.

"Hey, I believe you too, Dog Star." I teased, and he gave me a smile that made him look twenty years younger, like the man in my parents wedding.

"No!"

Pettigrew fell to his knees as if we'd just sentenced him to death. He shuffled on his knees in front of Sirius, clutching at his robes.

"Sirius — it's me... it's Peter... your friend... you wouldn't —"

Sirius kicked out, and Pettigrew whimpered. "There's enough filth on my robes without you touching them,"

"He's so sarcastic; I can see you guys are pretty much related." Cole muttered, looking at Sirius in admiration.

"Remus!" Pettigrew squeaked, turning to Remus instead, looking pathetic. "You don't believe this — wouldn't Sirius have told you they'd changed the plan?"

"Not if I thought he was the spy, that's why you didn't tell me, right Sirius?" Remus said casually.

"Forgive me, Remus," Sirius reached out, his voice broken.

"Of course I do, Padfoot, my old friend." Remus said softly. "Will you forgive me for not believing you?"

"Of course," said Sirius, a ghost of a smile on his face. "Shall we kill him together?"

"Yes, I think so," said Remus firmly.

My stomach twisted in knots. They wouldn't, would they?

Pettigrew stumbled over to Ron. "Ron... haven't I been a good friend... a good pet? You won't let them kill me, Ron, will you... you're on my side, aren't you?"

But Ron was staring at Pettigrew with the utmost revulsion. "I let you sleep in my bed!" he said.

Cole started laughing. "Oh god, oh my god this all makes sense!" everybody looked at him weirdly. "After one Quidditch match I drank too much butterbeer, and I looked at the map, and saw a man called Peter on top of Ron... " He broke off to laugh again.

"And you didn't think to mention it?" Ron cried.

Cole held up his hands, looking marginally more serious. "And I thought hey, if Ron likes dicks then he'll come out in his own time!"

Ron turned bright red.

"Kind boy... kind master..." Pettigrew crawled toward Ron "You won't let them do it... I was your rat... I was a good pet..."

"If you made a better rat than a human, it's not much to boast about," Gennie snorted.

Ron, going still paler with pain, wrenched his broken leg out of Pettigrew's reach. Pettigrew turned on his knees, staggered forward, and seized the hem of Hermione's robes.

"Sweet girl... clever girl... you — you won't let them... Help me..." Hermione pulled her robes out of Pettigrew's clutching hands and backed away against the wall, looking horrified.

"Funny boy, you have mercy." Pettigrew was creepily stroking Cole's trainer now. "Please help me..."

Cole's innocent expression darkened. Once again I saw the boy who was expelled from Durmstrang for hurting his brother, not the non-judgemental ray of sunshine that was my best friend.

"No. You've done wrong, and you have to pay the price." Cole said harshly. "My brother knows that."

Pettigrew, desperate turned to us. "Harry... Harry... you look just like your father... just like him... Oh Aurora, you look so much like Lily.... Her face, her eyes...."

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO HARRY OR AURORA?" roared Sirius. "HOW DARE YOU FACE THEM? HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT JAMES AND LILY IN FRONT OF THEM?"

"Harry," whispered Pettigrew, shuffling toward him, hands outstretched. "Harry, oh Aurora, James wouldn't have wanted me killed... James would have understood, Harry... he would have shown me mercy..."

Sirius and Remus grabbed Pettigrew and threw him on the floor.

"YOU SOLD THEM OUT!" Sirius screamed, his face inches away from Pettigrew's. "Do you deny it?"

Pettigrew burst into tears.

"Sirius, Sirius, what could I have done? The Dark Lord... you have no idea I was scared, Sirius....I never meant it to happen... He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named forced me —"

"DON'T LIE!" bellowed Sirius. "YOU'D BEEN PASSING INFORMATION TO HIM FOR A YEAR BEFORE LILY AND JAMES DIED! YOU WERE HIS SPY!"

"He — he was taking over everywhere!" gasped Pettigrew. "Wh-what was there to be gained by refusing him?"

"What was there to be gained by fighting the most evil wizard who has ever existed?" Sirius roared. "It was saving lives!"

"You don't understand!" whined Pettigrew. "He would have killed me, Sirius!"

"THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED!" roared Sirius. "DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!"

Sirius and Remus stood united, their wands raised.

"You should have realized," said Remus quietly, "if Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. Goodbye, Peter."

Hermione covered her face, and even Cole and Ron looked serious. Clutching onto my mother's locket, I closed my eyes, tears forming. Justice, at last would be done.

"NO!" Harry yelled.

Opening my eyes I saw he was in front of Pettgrew, Gennie at her father's arm, looking desperate.

"You can't, dad, you can't." she said hurriedly. "Snape will know, and you'll both be put into Azkaban. I lost mum before I knew her, I can't lose you too..."

Something snapped in Remus and he lowered his wand, embracing Gennie, kissing the top of her head. "I'm sorry, Gennie, I'm so sorry. I'm—I'm not going anywhere."

Sirius however, stared at Harry looking amazed.

"Harry, this piece of vermin is the reason you have no parents," Black snarled. "He's the reason you were separated from your sister. He would have seen you dead too."

"WAIT!" I said loudly as Sirius pointed the wand inches from Pettigrew's heart. "I have a better idea. We hand him over to the dementors.... He can get kissed by them, and you two get to be free. Everybody wins but him.

"Aurora!" gasped Pettigrew, and he flung his arms around my knees. "You — thank you — it's more than I deserve — thank you —"

"Get off me," I spat, kicking him off me. "This isn't about you!"

"Yeah," Harry said, joining me, his hand on my shoulder. "Our dad wouldn't have wanted his friends to become killers for the likes of you."

Sirius lowered his wand. "You two are the only people who have the right to decide... .But think... think what he did..."

Remus and Sirius began tying the sobbing Pettigrew up. "If you transform Peter, we will kill you." Sirius said harshly. He looked at the two of us. "Are you okay with this?"

Harry nodded his jaw tight. Bending down so I was meeting eyes with Pettigrew, so he could see the revulsion and hatred in my eyes, I whispered, "Yes."

"What about Professor Snape?" said Hermione in a small voice, looking down at Snape's still figure.

"There's nothing seriously wrong with him," said Remus, bending over Snape and checking his pulse. "You were all just a little — overenthusiastic."

Waving his wand, Snape was pulled into a standing position like a puppet; before Remus, Sirius and Ron chained themselves to Pettigrew. And once they were all joined like some twisted game of a three-legged race, Crookshanks leapt up from the bed and led the way out of the room.

- - - - - -

A/N So somebody has betrayed Rory, and it is somebody we've met before. Who do you think it is? The choice is: Mark, Jenna, Lacey, Adeline, Kayley and Laurence.

This person will be causing more trouble as the sequel happens....