I stand, mouth wide open, feeling as though I've been electrocuted, staring at the Professor in the doorway. As soon as Black sees Professor Snape, he leaps to his feet.

"I found this at the base of the Whomping Willow," Snape says, throwing the cloak aside, careful to keep this wand pointing directly at Dad's chest. If he does anything to his, I swear to God I will not hesitate to stun him. "Very useful, Potter's, I thank you...I guess you're all wondering why I am here?"

"Because you can't get over a petty grudge against my father?" Bonnie spits at him. I stare, bewildered at her. She has never spoken to anyone like that, let alone a teacher.

Snape just stares at Bonnie for a few moments, before turning to Dad. "I've just been to your office, Lupin. You forgot to take your potion tonight, so I took a gobletful along. And very lucky I did...lucky for me, I mean. Lying on your desk was a certain map. One glance at it told me all I needed to know."

"Severus-" Dad begins, but Snape overrides him.

"I've told the headmaster again and again that you're helping your old friend Black into the castle, Lupin, and here's the proof. Not even I dreamed you would have the nerve to use this old place as your hideout-"

"Severus, you're making a mistake," Dad says urgently. "You haven't heard everything - I can explain - Sirius is not here to kill Harry and Sarah-"

"Two more for Azkaban tonight," Snape says, his eyes now gleaming fanatically.

"No!" I scream at him. He can't take Dad and get him sent to Azkaban. He just can't!

Snape ignores me and continues, "Dumbledore was quite convinced you were harmless, you know, Lupin...a tame werewolf...how does it feel? Leaving your two girls alone-"

Bonnie lunges herself at Snape, but I quickly stop her, muttering to her that she'll be expelled.

"I don't care," she mutters back through gritted teeth.

"You fool," Dad says softly as I hold back a struggling Bonnie. "Is a schoolboy grudge worth putting an innocent man back inside Azkaban?"

BANG! Bonnie and I scream as thin, snakelike cords burst from Snape's wand and wrap themselves around Dad's mouth, wrists and ankles. The cords make him overbalance and fall to the floor, unable to move.

I want to go at Snape, just like Bonnie, but I stop myself. I can't do that, I don't want to be expelled. Dad will be fine, I tell myself, he will be fine.

With a roar of rage, Black starts toward Snape, but Snape points his wand straight between Black's eyes.

"Give me a reason," he whispers. "Give me a reason to do it, and I swear I will."

Black stops dead.

The six of us stand there, paralysed. Hermione, Ron and Amy look afraid, whereas Bonnie, Harry and I look as though we're ready to kill.  

Hermione breaks the sudden stillness, by taking an uncertain step toward Snape. "Professor Snape," she says, breathless. "It wouldn't hurt to hear what they've got to say, w-would it?

"Miss Granger, you and your friends already facing suspension from this school," Snape spits at her, not taking his eyes of Black. "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 shouts, spinning around to look at her. He suddenly looks deranged. "DON'T TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" A few sparks shoot out of the end of his wand, which is still pointed at Black's face. Hermione falls silent.

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

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

"Up to the castle?" Snape says silkily. "I don't think we need to go that far. All I have to do is call the Dementors once we get out of the Willow. They'll be very pleased to see you, Black...pleased enough to give you a little kiss, I daresay..."

The colour in Black's face suddenly drains away. "You - you've got to hear me out," he croaks, afraid. "The rat - look at the rat-"

But there is now a mad glint in Snape's eyes that I have never seen before. He seems beyond reason.

"Come on, all of you," he says. He clicks his fingers, and the ends of the cords that bound Dad fly to his hands. "I'll drag the werewolf. Perhaps the Dementors will have a kiss for him too-"

In a burst of anger, I fly toward the door, blocking it from Snape.

"Get out of the way, Potter, you're in enough trouble already," Snape snarls. "If I hadn't been here to save your skin-"

"My Dad could have killed me any time within my life, and Harry however many times he wished this year," I say defiantly. "Harry and I have been alone with him loads of times, having defence lessons against the Dementors. Hell, I even live in his house. If he was helping Black, why didn't he just finish us off then?"

"Don't ask me to fathom the way a werewolf's mind works," Snape hisses. "Get out of the way, Potter."

"YOU'RE SO PATHETIC!" I yell. "JUST BECAUSE THEY MADE FUN OF YOU AT SCHOOL YOU WON'T EVEN LISTEN TO AN INNOCENT MAN-"

"SILENCE! I WILL NOT BE SPOKEN TO LIKE THAT!" Snape shrieks, looking madder than ever. "Like father, like daughter, Potter! I have just saved your neck; you should be thanking me! You'd have died like your parents, too foolish to see the truth - now get out of the way, or I will make you. GET OUT OF THE WAY, POTTER!"

I stand, petrified, as Snape makes threatening moves toward me. Before he can take one step further, I stake my wand out and point it at him, "Expelliarmus!" I shout. The only thing is, I'm not the only one who has cast the spell.

With a strong force, Snape is lifted off his feet and slams into the wall. He slides down to the floor, his head trickling with blood. He's knocked out.

I look around to see five wands still pointing at the spot Snape was just standing; Harry, Ron, Hermione, Bonnie, Amy and I had all cast the same spell at the same time.

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

I look down. Even I know now that wasn't the right thing to do. But he was coming toward me, leaving me with no choice. It's not my fault my friends cast it at the same time to protect me.

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

Dad begins to struggle against the ropes. I hurry over to him, followed by Bonnie, and untie him. He straightens up, rubbing his arms where the ropes had cut into them."

"Thank you, girls," he says. "But Sirius is right, you shouldn't have done that."

"You'd have done the same for us, Dad," Bonnie says.

"I'm still not saying I believe you," Harry says.

"Then it's time we offered you some proof," Dad says. "Ronald - give me Peter, please. Now."

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

I look to Ron. "Okay, say Pettigrew could turn into a rat - there are millions of rats - how's he supposed to know which one he is after if he was locked up in Azkaban?" I say.

"You know, Sirius, that's a fair question," Dad says, turning to Black and frowning slightly. "How did you find out where he was?"

Black puts one of his hands inside his robes and takes out a crumpled piece of paper, which he smoothes flat and holds out to show us.
It's the photograph of Ron and his family that had appeared in the Daily Prophet from when they went to Egypt after winning  draw. Sitting on Ron's shoulder is Scabbers.

"How did you get this?" Dad asks Black, thunderstruck.

"Fudge," Black says. "He gave me his paper last year when he came to inspect Azkaban. And there was Peter, on the front page on this boy's shoulder...I knew him at once...how many times had I seen him transform? And the caption said the boy would be going back to Hogwarts...to where Harry and Sarah were..."

"His front paw..." Dad says softly, staring at the picture.

"What about it?" Ron says defiantly.

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

"Of course," Dad breathes. "So simple...so brilliant...he cut it off himself?"

"Just before he transformed," Black says. "When I cornered him, he yelled for the whole street to hear that I'd betrayed Lily and James. 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?" Dad says. "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," Dad says. "Didn't you ever wonder why he was living so long?"

"We - we've been taking good care of him!" Ron says.

"Ron, it all makes sense," I say to him, but he doesn't listen. Git.

"Not looking too good at the moment, though, is he?" Dad continues. "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!" Ron says, nodding toward Crookshanks, who is still purring on the bed.

I stare at Dad. Of course! Scabbers had been looking quite ill before we even went to Diagon Alley and Hermione got Crookshanks. And that was when Black escaped!

"This cat isn't mad," Black says hoarsely. He reaches out a bony hand and strokes Crookshanks's fluffy head. "He's the most intelligent of his kind I've ever met. He recognised Peter for what he was right away. After he realised what I was, he started helping me..."

"What do you mean?" Hermione breathes.

"He tried to bring Peter to me, but couldn't...so he stole the passwords into Gryffindor Tower for me...As I understand it, he took them from a boy's bedside table..."
My mouth goes try as I try to comprehend all this information. It's so absurd, yet still believable.

"But Peter got wind of what was going on and ran for it..." Black croaks. "This cat - Crookshanks, did you call him? - told me Peter had left blood on the sheets...I supposed he bit himself...Well, faking his own death had worked once..."

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

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

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

"Harry," Dad says hurriedly. "Don't you see? All this time we thought Sirius betrayed your parents, but really it was Peter-"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Harry yells, causing me to jump. "HE WAS THEIR SECRET-KEEPER! HE SAID SO BEFORE YOU TURNED UP. HE SAID HE KILLED THEM!"

He points to Black, who shakes his head slowly; the sunken eyes are suddenly overbright.

"Harry, Sarah, I as good as killed them," he croaks. "I persuaded Lily and James to change to Peter at the last moment, persuaded them to use him as Secret-Keeper instead of me...I'm to blame, I know it...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. I set out for your parents' house straight away. And when I saw their house, destroyed, and their bodies...realised what Peter must've done...what I'd done..."

His voice brakes and he looks away. I swear for a moment I saw a tear.

"Enough of this," Dad says, with a steely note in his voice I have never heard before. "There's one certain way to prove what really happened. Ron, give me that rat."

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

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

Ron hesitates before holding out the rat to Dad. Dad takes the rat, who is now struggling harder than before; he begins to violently squeak and twist and turn in Dad's hand, his tiny black eyes bulging in his head.

"Ready, Sirius?" Dad says, pulling out his wand.

Black, who had already retrieved Snape's wand from the bed, approaches Dad and the struggling rat, and his wet eyes suddenly seem to be burning in his face.

"Together?" he says quietly.

"I think so," Dad says, 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 erupt from both wands; for a moment, Scabbers is frozen in midair, his small grey form twisting madly - Ron yelled before the rat falls and hits the floor. There's another blinding flash of light.

Then, unbelievably, a head begins to shoot upwards like a deformed tree, followed by limbs stretching from the rat's furry arms - and suddenly, a full-grown man is standing before us, looking terrified.

He's very short - hardly taller than any of us. His thin, colourless hair is messy with a large bald patch on top. He's grubby and looks like the rat he was for twelve years with his pointed nose and small, watery eyes.

I stare at him, lost for words. If what Dad and Black have said - which I believe one-hundred percent - then this is the man that had betrayed my parents and got them killed. If he didn't betray them, I could have been happy, living with Harry, my real parents, and probably even a younger sibling.

The man looks around at all of us, his breathing fast and shallow.

"Well, hello, Peter," Dad says pleasantly, as though rats frequently erupt into old school friends around him every other day. "Long time, no see."

"S - Sirius...R -Remus..." Even Pettigrew's voice sounds squeaky, like a rat. "...My old friends!"

Black raises his wand, but Dad seizes him around the wrist, gives him a look of warning, then turns again to Pettigrew, his voice light and casual.

"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," Pettigrew gasps, and I can 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," Dad says, turning cold. "I'd like to clear up one or two little matters with you, Peter, if you'd be so-"

"He's come to try and kill me again!" Pettigrew squeaks suddenly, pointing at Black, and I notice that he's using his middle finger, because his index is 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," Dad says.

"Sorted things out?" Pettigrew says, looking around wildly at the rest of us. For a split second, I see his eyes dart toward the door. Subtly, I begins to move closer toward it, blocking Pettigrew from leaving.

"I knew he'd come after me! I knew he'd be back for me! I've been waiting for this for twelve years!" Pettigrew continues.

"You knew Sirius was going to break out of Azkaban?" Dad says, furrowing his brows. "When nobody has ever done it before?"

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

Black begins to laugh, a horrible, mirthless laugh that fills the entire room. "Voldemort, teach me tricks?" He says.

Pettigrew flinches as though Black had brandished a whip at him.

"What, scared to hear your old master's name?" Black says. "I don't blame you, Peter. His lot aren't very happy with you, are they?"

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

"You haven't been hiding from me for twelve years," Black says. "You've been hiding from Voldemort's old supporters. I heard things in Azkaban, Peter...They all think you're dead, or you'd have to answer to them...Sounds like they think the double-crosser double-crossed them. Voldemort went to the Potters' on your information . . . and Voldemort met his downfall there. And not all Voldemort's supporters ended up in Azkaban, did they? There are still plenty out here, biding their time, pretending they've seen the error of their ways...If they ever got wind that you were still alive, Peter-"

"Don't know...what you're talking about..." Pettigrew says again, more shrilly than before. He wipes his face on his sleeve and looked up at Dad. "You don't believe this - this madness, Remus-"

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

"Innocent, but scared!" Pettigrew squeals. "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 contorts with anger. "How dare you," he growls. "I, a spy for Voldemort? When did I ever sneak around people who were stronger and more powerful than myself? But you, Peter - I'll never understand why I didn't see you were the spy from the start. You always liked big friends who'd look after you, didn't you? It used to be us... me and Remus... and James..."

Pettigrew wipes his face again; he's almost panting for breath now.

"Me, a spy...must be out of your mind...never..."

"Lily and James only made you Secret-Keeper because I suggested it," Black hisses, making Pettigrew take a step back. "I thought it was the perfect plan...a bluff...Voldemort would be sure to come after me. It must have been the finest moment of your miserable life, telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters."

Pettigrew starts to mutter under his breath, almost inaudible.

"There's one thing I'm still not understanding," I say, slightly moving toward them. "This man has been sleeping in Harry's dormitory ever since first year. If he wanted to hurt one of us, why not get Harry then?"

"There!" Pettigrew says shrilly, pointing at Ron with his maimed hand. "Thank you! You see, Remus? I have never hurt a hair of Harry's or Sarah's heads! Why should I?"

"I'll tell you why," Black says. "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? Just in case your old protector regained strength, and it was safe to rejoin him..."

Pettigrew opens his mouth and closes it several times. He seems to have lost the ability to talk.

"Er - Mr. Black - Sirius?" Amy says, stepping toward him.

Black jumps at being addressed like this and stares at Amy as though he had never seen anything quite like her.

"If you don't mind me asking, how - how did you get out of Azkaban, if you didn't use Dark Magic?"

"Thank you!" Pettigrew gasps, nodding frantically at her. "Exactly! Precisely what I-"

We all glare at Pettigrew with annoyance, making him shut up instantly, but still stare at each of us in turn.

Black frowns slightly, as if he's pondering his answer.

"I don't know how I did it," he says slowly. "I think the only reason I never lost my mind is that I knew I was innocent. That wasn't a happy thought, so the dementors couldn't suck it out of me...but it kept me sane and knowing who I am...helped me keep my powers...so when it all became...too much...I could trans- form in my cell...become a dog. Dementors can't see, you know..." He swallows. "They feel their way toward people by feeding off their emotions...They could tell that my feelings were less - less human, less complex when I was a dog...but they thought, of course, that I was losing my mind like everyone else in there, so it didn't trouble them. But I was weak, very weak, and I had no hope of driving them away from me without a wand...

"But then I saw Peter in that picture...I realised he was at Hogwarts with Harry...perfectly positioned to act, if one hint reached his ears that the Dark Side was gathering strength again..."

Pettigrew is shaking his head, mouthing noiselessly, but staring all the while at Black as though hypnotised.

"...ready to strike at the moment he could be sure of allies...and to deliver the last two Potter's to them. If he gave them Harry and Sarah, who'd dare say he'd betrayed Lord Voldemort? He'd be welcomed back with honours...

"So you see, I had to do something. I was the only one who knew Peter was still alive..."

I shudder at the thought of being captured and taken to Voldemort, at the hands of my father's friend.

"It was as if someone had lit a fire in my head, and the dementors couldn't destroy it...It wasn't a happy feeling...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...It's so much harder for them to sense animal emotions that they were confused...I was thin, very thin...thin enough to slip through the bars...I swam as a dog back to the mainland...I journeyed north 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 fly as well as your father did, the both of you." He nods at Harry and I.

"Believe me," Black croaks. "Believe me, Harry, Sarah. I never betrayed James and Lily. I would have died before I betrayed them."

I think about it. Everything makes sense, and if Black was here tonight to kill us, he would have done so already. He has to be telling the truth.

"I believe you," I say, a small smile on my face. I turn to Harry who nods, also believing Black.

"No!"

Pettigrew falls to his knees as though Harry's and my belief in Sirius had been his own death sentence. He shuffles forward on his knees, toward Sirius, his hands clasped as if he's praying.

"Sirius - it's me...it's Peter...your friend...you wouldn't..." Black kicks out and Pettigrew recoils, whimpering.

"There's enough filth on my robes without you touching them," he says.

I try to hold in the giggle before it escapes my lips.

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

"Not if he thought I was the spy, Peter," Dad says. "I assume that's why you didn't tell me, Sirius?" he says casually.

"Forgive me, Remus," Sirius says.

"Not at all, Padfoot," Dad says, rolling up his sleeves. "And will you, in turn, forgive me for believing you were the spy?"

"Of course," Sirius says, with the host of a smile flittering over his gaunt face. "Shall we kill him together?"

"Yes, I think so," Dad says grimly.

My stomach twists into a huge knot. They won't? The can't! My Dad isn't a killer, even in his wolf form.

"You wouldn't...you won't..." Pettigrew gasps, and he scrambles around 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 is now staring at Pettigrew with the utmost revulsion. "I let you sleep in my bed!" he says.

"Kind boy...kind master..." Pettigrew crawls closer 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, Peter," Sirius says harshly. Ron, going still paler with pain, wrenches his broken leg out of Pettigrew's reach. Pettigrew turns on his knees, staggers forward, and seizes the hem of Hermione's robes.

"Sweet girl...clever girl...you - you won't let them...Help me..."

Hermione pulls her robes out of Pettigrew's clutching hands and backs away against the wall, looking horrified.

Pettigrew, getting more and more frantic, moves over to Bonnie, clutching at her robes. "Caring girl...lovely girl...please have mercy...don't let them do it..."

"You let my sister and best friend live without their parents," she says through gritted teeth. "You deserve this."

I stare at Bonnie. She's never been like this; condoning the death of someone.

Desperately, Pettigrew shuffles over to Harry and I, trembling uncontrollably.

"Harry...Harry...you look just like your father...just like him...And Sarah...you look so much like Lily...her hair, her eyes, her face..."

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

"Harry," Pettigrew whispers, shuffling closer toward us, hands outstretched. "Harry, sweet Sarah, James wouldn't have wanted me killed...James would have understood...he would have shown me mercy..."

I step back away from him, as Dad and Sirius stride forward, seize Pettigrew's shoulders and throw him back onto the floor.

"You sold Lily and James to Voldemort," Sirius says, shaking. "Do you deny it?"

Pettigrew bursts into tears. "Sirius, Sirius, what could I have done? The Dark Lord...you have no idea...he has weapons you can't imagine...I was scared, Sirius, I was never brave like you and Remus and James. I never meant it to happen...He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named forced me-"

"DON'T LIE!" Sirius bellows. "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!" Pettigrew gasps. "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 says, his voice filled with fury. "Only innocent lives, Peter!"

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

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

Dad and Sirius stand shoulder to shoulder, wands raised at Pettigrew.

"You should have realised," Dad says quietly. "If Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. Goodbye, Peter."

Hermione, Bonnie and Amy all cover their faces, not wanting to witness, and even Ron looks terrified. I stare at Dad and Sirius for a few moments, before stepping forward.

"NO!" I yell. I run forward, and jump in front of Pettigrew, facing the wands. "You can't kill him."

Dad and Sirius stagger, lowering their wands from me.

"Sarah, this piece of vermin is the reason you have no parents," Sirius says. "The reason you had to grow up in Remus' care, not knowing your real parents-"

"Yes, I know," I say, my voice wavering. "And if you both kill him, I'll be left with none of the parents I've ever had. Snape is here, he'll get you both sent to Azkaban. Bonnie will be left parent-less, just like me. You don't want that, do you, Dad?"

Dad stares at me for a few moments, before lowering his wand so that it is no longer pin ted at Pettigrew. "I'm sorry, Sarah," he says. "I'm sorry. I won't leave you, or Bonnie, I promise."

"Sarah!" Pettigrew gasps, and he flings his arms around my knees. "You - thank you - it's more than I deserve - thank you-"

"Get off me," I spit at him, throwing Pettigrew's hands off me in disgust. "I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it because I don't want to lose my Dad. And my real father - James - wouldn't have wanted his two best friends to become killers - just for you."

No one moves or makes a sound except Pettigrew, whose breath is now coming in wheezes as he clutches his chest. Sirius looks at me for a moment, before lowering his own wand. 

"You and Harry are the only one's who have the right to decide, Sarah," Sirius says. "But think...think what he did..."

"He can go to Azkaban," Harry says. "If anyone deserves that place, he does..."

Pettigrew is still wheezing behind me.

"Very well," Dad says. "Stand aside, Sarah."

I hesitate. What's he going to do?

"I'm going to tie him up," Dad says. "That's all, I swear, honey." I step out of the way, allowing Pettigrew to be in Dad's full sight. He points his wand at Pettigrew again, and thin cords shoot out. The wrap themselves around each of Pettigrew's limbs. He wriggles around, bound and gagged by the cords.

"But if you transform, Peter," Sirius growls. "We will kill you. You agree, Harry, Sarah?"

I stand for a moment. Should I say yes?

I look to Harry as he slowly nods, his jaw tight. Taking in a breath, I look down at Pettigrew, who is looking up at me with sheer desperation. "Yes," I whisper.

"Right," Dad says, suddenly businesslike. "Ron, I can't mend bones nearly as well as Madam Pomfrey, so I think it's best if we just strap your leg up until we can get you to the hospital wing."

He hurries over to Ron, bends down, tappes Ron's leg with his wand, and mutters, "Ferula." Bandages spin up Ron's leg, strapping it tightly to a splint. Dad helps him to his feet; Ron puts his weight on the leg and doesn't wince.

"That's better," he says. "Thanks."

"What about Professor Snape?" Hermione says in a small voice, looking down at Snape.

"There's nothing seriously wrong with him," Dad says, bending over Snape and checking his pulse. "You were all just a little - overenthusiastic. Still out cold. Er - perhaps it will be best if we don't revive him until we're safely back in the castle. We can take him like this..."

He mutters, "Mobilicorpus."As though invisible strings are tied to Snape's wrists, neck, and knees, he's pulled into a standing position, head still lolling unpleasantly, like a puppet. He hangs a few inches above the ground, his limp feet dangling. Dad picks up the Invisibility Cloak and tucks it safely into his pocket.

"And two of us should be chained to this," Sirius says, nudging Pettigrew with his toe. "Just to make sure."

"I'll do it," Amy says.

"And me," Ron says savagely, limping forward.

Black conjures up heavy manacles from thin air; soon Pettigrew is upright again, left arm chained to Amy's right, right arm to Ron's left.

As soon as we're all ready to leave, Crookshanks leaps lightly off the bed and leads the way out of the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N:

Another chapter! - that is completely unoriginal...dammit.

I'm actually surprised at the amount of writing I've done in these two weeks, considering I've gone out a few times...the rest of the time I just sit in my room writing so...yeah.

I've almost finished writing this book, but when I go back  to school on Tuesday, the updates will be slower.

Peace out guys, love you!

~Elise