"I found this by your secret entrance." Snape spat, flinging the invisbility cloak aside and entering the crowded room.

He pointed his wand directly at my Father. Almost by instinct, Sasha and I leapt up and stood in front of him, our wands raised.

"I suppose you're all surprised I'm here." Snape smirked, knowing he had all the power in the room. "I was trying to find him—" he nodded at Remus. "I was taking him his potion—and lying open on Cara's desk was a certain map..."

Shit shit shit, I was internally cursing myself. I'd forgotten to pick the map up in our haste to find everybody, too caught up in the moment...

"Severus." Remus said quietly, taking a step forward.

"I told Dumbledore time and time again that it was you, Lupin—letting him into the castle, trying to appease Cara I assume as a stupid act of friendship... and I was right!" Snape sounded triumphant.

"Severus you're making a mistake." Mum said calmly, lightly pushing Dad, Sasha and I away from her. She held up her hands, and took a step towards him. "You don't know the full story—my husband isn't here to hurt anybody—"

Snape scoffed. "Not to hurt anybody—I've never heard anything so ridiculous! Cara, if you go quietly I'll allow you to leave with your children and dignity... Meanwhile..." he smirked at Dad and Remus. "There shall be two more for Azkaban tonight."

Mum whipped her wand out, her eyes burning with rage. Now I could see how she'd been part of a secret rebellion against Voldemort—gone was the History teacher and Mother who baked, now all I could see was a fierce lynx cat, teeth bared.

"Severus—don't you dare." Her teeth were bared. "Just because you're bitter at how our friendship ended, doesn't mean you should punish people I care about!"

Snape raised an eyebrow. "Is that what you think?" he shook his head. "No matter, you can have your own assumptions."

With a flick of his wrist, rope shot from the end of his wand, tangling themselves around Remus' wrists and mouth. He fell to the floor in pain, and Sasha rushed to his side, struggling to untie him.

Snape turned onto Dad, his wand pointed directly at his forehead. "Give me a reason." He was breathing heavily. "I'll do it. I swear I'll do it—I don't care how much affection Cara has for you—"

"Lyra." Mum hissed, and she lightly shoved me out of the way. Elijah's arms found me, and he held me back as Mum stood directly in front of Dad. She turned to Snape. "I love him. Don't you dare. I'd die for him."

"Cara—" Dad sounded shocked.

Even Snape seemed shocked, and he lowered his wand a fraction. The tension in the room was as thick as smog, the only noise from Sasha as she cut through Remus' binds with her pen knife.

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. "You are all out-of-bounds, in the company of a convicted murderer and a werewolf. For once in your life, hold your tongue."

Hermione's voice was stronger. "But I really think Professor Rees is telling the truth—"

"KEEP QUIET, YOU STUPID GIRL!" Snape shouted, looking suddenly quite deranged, spit dripping down his chin. "DON'T TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!"

The floorboards creaked as Dad stood around Mum, gently pushing her behind him. "Once again, you're wrong, Snape." He said quietly. He nodded at Ron. "So long as he brings the rat to the castle—I have no problem here."

Snape smirked, which worried me. "The castle—oh no, no, no—I'm sure they'll come to you. Give you a little kiss, hmm?"

"You bastard." I spat, surprising everybody. "He's innocent."

But there was a mad glint in Snape's eyes that I had never seen before. He seemed beyond reason. He took a couple of steps towards me, his hands shaking.

"I've tolerated you and your freaky ways Black—for your mother's sake as much as your own—but I've never heard such preposterous lies in all my life!" he raised his wand, and a spike of fear went through me.

"Don't you touch her." Harry had crossed the room as quick as a flash, and was standing between Snape and I. "Both Sirius and Remus could have killed me a hundred times this school year, and they didn't. Explain that."

Snape snarled. "I don't know how a mad-man's mind works! Now—get out of my way, Potter!" Harry didn't move. "GET OUT OF MY WAY!"

"Expelliarmus!" several voices cried, and as several streaks of red stunning spells shot through the air, a small bundle of flames followed.

Snape crumbled against the wall, instantly falling unconscious. His hands were red and raw from fresh burns. I turned to Elijah.

"What did you do that for?"

"Only minor burns—he'll get over it." He shrugged, flickering his flames out. "It'll slow him down if he wakes up—I'm no psychopath."

Turning my attention back to the room, I saw it was Harry, Ron, Hermione and Sasha who had all stunned Snape at once. Sasha had finally freed Remus from his ropes and was helping him to his feet with a triumphant smile.

"You shouldn't have done that." Remus said.

"Don't tell them that—it was perfect execution of Explliarmus!" Mum said, and she sounded excited. "Speaking as your friend's mother of course, not as a teacher."

At this, Hermione let out a groan. "We attacked a teacher—oh no—we'll be in so much trouble! Oh no—oh no—"

"He deserved it." Sasha said, putting her arm around Hermione. She gave Snape a cold look. "What a bell end."

Dad smiled, and it was the first genuine one I'd seen from him, ever. "That's my daughter." Sasha gave him a nervous smile back.

"Enough of that." Remus said, rubbing at his wrists where the rope had been. He nodded at Ron. "Let's stop stalling—Ron, the rat—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..."

Elijah sat on the floor cross-legged, looking like he was at story time. He idly played with another ball of fire—I had a feeling he liked showing off. "Yes—that's one thing that really puzzled me with this amazing conspiracy. In London alone, you're likely to be one-hundred-and-sixty-four feet from a rat all the time. So—how did you know this one was him?"

Dad smiled. He reached into his tattered jacket and pulled out a very crumpled copy of the Daily Prophet. Everybody took a step closer, only to see a photo of the Weasley's in Egypt, the rat perched on Ron's shoulder.

I gasped. "I—I gave that paper to you, the day I visited!"

Dad beamed at me. "Indeed, you did Lyra. I was browsing, and I saw Peter on the covers... I know I'd told you to investigate things, but when I saw him... I was so worried about my girl's safety, I was determined to find him myself."

Sasha gasped, and clasped her hand to her mouth. "That's why—that's why you were saying he's at Hogwarts! You weren't on about Harry at all!"

Dad reached out to Sasha, and grabbed onto her hand, which she happily squeezed. "I was thinking about you all. I was so worried he would hurt you all... My sanity came back fully—I was determined to get my family back."

"His front paw..." Remus trailed off, looking up from the newspaper clipping he and Mum were studying.

"What about it?" said Ron shortly.

Mum looked as if she was about to be sick. "He has a toe missing... I can't believe it... the bastard cut it off himself..."

Dad sighed, dropping Sasha's hand. He began pacing the room, lost in thought. "I began screaming at Peter, and he blew the street apart—wand behind his back—and I watched as he transformed into a rat, and sped into a sewer, leaving me to bear the brunt of his actions."

Elijah tugged at Ron's leg, which was dangling off the bed. His eyes were bright with excitement—to him I suppose this was like watching a crime drama.

"All they found of Pettigrew is his toe! He might be a horrible guy—but that—that is clever."

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

Sasha stomped her foot loudly. She was getting impatient. "For twelve years! You always bleat on about it to Fred and George—didn't you wonder why he lived for so long?"

Ron held the struggling rat to his chest. "He's fine—he's just been scared! Scared of that weird cat!" he pointed a finger at Crookshanks, who I only just noticed was curled up on the floor, asleep.

Dad chuckled and crossing the room he tickled behind Crookshank's ears. "As I hid out here, Crookshanks and an odd cat called Sooty found me—" Sasha and I exchanged a grin at the mention of our dopey cat. "I communicated with Lyra through Sooty, but Crookshanks was of value... He tried to bring me the rat but failed."

Harry cleared his throat and spoke for the first time in a while. His voice was ragged and he said: "No matter what Pettigrew did or didn't do, it doesn't change the fact you betrayed my parents. You're the reason they died."

Dad took a sharp intake of breath and sat down on the floor. He tugged at his unkempt hair, and when he looked up his eyes were full of tears. Mum knelt next to him, and put a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"What happened that night, Sirius?"

Dad took a deep breath and looked Harry straight in the eye with unwavering strength. "I loved your parents very much, Harry. I was their secret keeper yes, but I became concerned that my role in the resistance would make my family a target... I wanted to protect them. I suspected Remus of betraying us already: so I turned to Peter. He promised me everything would be fine... he lied."

Mum let out a sharp breath. "That's where you were on Sasha's fourth birthday."

Dad nodded solemnly. "I was putting up balloons in our flat that morning, and suddenly it hit me. I didn't want anything bad to happen to my family. Peter and I switched the roles that morning." He turned his gaze back to Harry's. "I went to see Peter that night, he hadn't been returning my calls--I'd wanted to see if he was alright. His house was abandoned, and then I knew..."

Mum's knees crashed to the floor behind Dad. Her dark hair shielded her face from us. "That's why you came back in such a fluster... I always thought you said you were trying to kill Voldemort---I understand now..."

Remus lightly placed a hand on my mother's shoulder. "Enough." He said gently. "Ron—the rat."

Once again, Ron held the rat to his chest. "Ron—if it's a rat, it won't hurt him." Sasha said quietly.

Ron hesitated. Then at long last, he held out Scabbers. Dad leapt to his feet with new energy. Mum and Remus joined him, as Remus picked the rat up by the tail.

"I'll do it." Dad said darkly, as Mum handed him her wand. "Three—two—one—"

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

Then as we'd suspected, the rodent nose shrunk back, ears moved down to their appropriate place, black beady eyes turned into watery blue... Then limbs stretched out, and Remus dropped the strange creature, as it sat on the floor, transformed at last.

Peter Pettigrew was different from his pictures. He had been relatively attractive, but now a skinny man with a shining bald head cowered before us. His watery blue eyes darted between the people in the room, his nose pointed at the end like the rat he'd pretended to be.

I thought maybe I would cry, but instead I was speechless, the world spinning. Our research had been working towards this, and yet, I still was unprepared for this, for the reality of this traitor.

"Hello, Peter." Mum said brightly, and though she was smiling, I detected steel in her tone. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Pettigrew stumbled backwards, scrambling on the floorboards. "Cara—Remus—Sirius—my friends, my friends—"

Dad pointed his wand directly at Pettigrew's heart. "We've all been having a lovely chat about the night Lily and James died, thirteen years ago. You might have missed the finer points—since you were squeaking on the bed."

Pettigrew's eyes darted to the door, and he made a fumbled run—he obviously wasn't used to standing upright—but Elijah was in the doorway, quick as a flash, his entire fist aflame.

"Don't even think about it." Elijah's voice had a dangerous edge to it. "I'll burn you into dust if you even think of moving another step."

He pressed a finger against Pettigrew's rags he wore, and with a squeak he flopped onto the floor, cowering from Elijah.

"He's trying to kill me!" Pettigrew squeaked, pointing a finger at Dad. As he pointed, I noticed one finger was missing. "He's a killer—a liar—"

"LIES!" Dad bellowed. "You sold out Lily and James—less than twelve hours of you becoming the secret keeper! You told Voldemort where they were!"

Pettigrew visibly flinched at Voldemort's name. "I'm sure Lily and James don't matter to you much." Mum said quietly. "Considering you bedded a traumatised muggle woman mere months after."

To my disgust, a creepy smile came onto Pettigrew's face. "Oh, my Katherine—I did miss her—oh, I missed her in my exile, hiding from Sirius---I've had to watch poor Evelyn grow up in the shadows."

"You don't even try to deny it." Mum said quietly, though her voice shook. "How could you turn your back on your daughter? Your flesh and blood?"

Pettigrew smiled. "Evelyn and I have met. Oh she's much like her mother—oh yes, she is. She was going to help me escape—escape from him." He pointed a finger again at Dad.

Dad rolled his eyes. "Drop the act, Peter, nobody believes you. You're a bad liar—you always were. There is no young girl here to rescue you—I checked, there is no Pettigrew child enrolled in Hogwarts."

Pettigrew smiled again, and it was a triumphant one, to know something Dad didn't. "She was hidden—enrolled under a different name. Daphne Greengrass."

Daphne Greengrass. I couldn't believe this. Cassie had made friends with this girl, trusted her for years—and all along she was an illusion. I thought of how cruel Daphne—or Evelyn I suppose—turned towards Cassie this year. Was it because she knew her acting role was almost up?

"Well no stupid Slytherin could find this place. "Sasha spat. She'd gotten to her feet and was twirling her wand around her finger threateningly. "Nobody can help you now."

Pettigrew seemed to snap. "You don't know what it's like—to face the Dark Lord! He threatened my life—you would have done the same! What was to be gained by refusing him?"

"Your honour." Mum said quietly. "Peter there was a spy passing information about the Order for over a year--now we know that is you. You were biding your time before you gave your master Lily and James. You sacrificed their lives for yours."

Dad snarled and pointed the wand into Pettigrew's chest. "Let's get him to Dumbledore—I can't stand looking at him for a second longer—let the dementors have him."

Pettigrew let out a howl. "No—no, please—I have a daughter, please—"

"I'm sure she'll be better off without you." Sasha said sharply. "Especially if she's blinded with your lies."

Pettigrew moaned, and reached out towards Hermione, "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.

He turned to Ron instead. "Kind master, sweet master---you won't let them hurt your pet, would you?"

Ron looked sick. "I let you sleep in my bed!"

Pettigrew howled again, before his beady eyes found Harry. "Oh, Harry—please," he was on his knees, hands outstretched. "James would have shown me mercy—don't let the dementors take me—"

Without thinking, I walked up to Pettigrew. His eyes widened, thinking I was showing mercy. "You would have let my Dad have the dementor's kiss. You made sure Harry grew up an orphan. And I bet you probably screwed up Evelyn's life considering you were a rat for all of it. Some people don't deserve mercy."

Pettigrew whimpered. A soft hand went on my shoulder, and I jumped when I realised it was Dad. His hands were as soft as I imagined. Reaching up, I wrapped my fingers around his.

"My daughter is very smart." Dad said quietly. He smiled at Sasha across the room. "Both of them are. And now, maybe I can finally get to know them."

Remus and Dad began the task of tying Pettigrew up for transportation. It was agreed we would bind Pettigrew to Elijah—he was our quickest weapon of offence.

"Happy to help." Elijah puffed out his chest to look macho as Sasha tied his wrist. "You know me—selfless hero and all that."

Sasha smirked at him. "Funny that—Cho told me the other week you wouldn't let anybody eat the Coco Pops cereal."

Elijah turned bright red. "The top of the box is the best..."

Our odd group convened at the end of the bedroom. Hermione and I shared a hug, relieved that this crazy ordeal was almost over.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "You didn't see him—I really thought—"

"It's okay." I said quietly. "We're all allowed to be scared."

Hermione nodded meekly. "What about Professor Snape?" she asked the adults.

Mum kicked at his still foot. "He'll live. In honesty I forgot about him... guess we'll have to take him along."

And so, with Remus leading the way, Pettigrew and Elijah traipsed out first, followed by my friends. Then at the rear: were my parents, sister and me.

I couldn't help breath a sigh of relief. Having my family together was all that I wanted. Now it seemed that dream was becoming a reality. 

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A/N Ahhhhhhh! We only have four chapters (including epilouge) left, and then we'll have a Q&A before the sequel begins :)

I hope you're enjoying the story, because it's been a pleasure writing it so far.