~AN I HAVE REDONE THIS CHAPTER! There will be some revisions to this story! The first couple chapters will heavily barrow at points from the book, which is intentional. So don't freak out if you notice when the writing style changes a bit or if characters will become somewhat OC. Some characters will be OC because they don't show up much in cannon. I will try and keep major characters as close to thier personalities as I can while changing some past events. Also this is not betad. All mistakes are my own. Also I own nothing because Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. The only thing I own is some plot bunnies and any original characters that may pop up. It is likely there will be minor original characters. Also I will not tell you the parings in advance because it will ruin some plot twists. Enjoy!
Harry Potter found himself in the Shrieking Shack with his two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, his Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Remus Lupin, and an escaped convict who also happened to be his godfather, Sirius Black.
Remus Lupin and Sirius Black had just explained what had happened one full moon night in their sixth year. The story caused Harry to be lost in thought for a moment.
"So that's why he hates you so much." said Harry understanding his potions professor a little more than he had that morning.
"Yes." came a deep Baritone in the back of the room before yelling "Expelliarmus!". Everyone's wands rushed to where the voice had been.
Hermione screamed. Black leapt to his feet. Harry's mouth fell open as he watched Severus Snape, the Potions professor appear holding everyone's wands.
"I say I am not very surprised by all of this." The potions professor smirked as he looked around.
"I can imaged all of you are wondering how I found you" he said. "I went to your office, Lupin because you forgot to take your potion tonight. I found your office empty of any person, however, lying on your desk was a certain map. One look and I knew exactly where you were off to."
"Severus, you're making a mistake," replied Lupin. " Sirius is not here to kill Harry!"
"I wonder how Dumbledore will take the news. He was quite convinced you were wouldn't do anything rash." replied Snape almost as if he hadn't heard Lupin.
"Severus" said Lupin softly. "Please listen!"
BANG! Thin, snake like cords burst from the end of Snape's wand and twisted themselves around Lupin's mouth, wrists, and ankles. The sudden action caused the man to fall to the floor, unable to move. Black started toward Snape, but Snape pointed his wand straight between Black's eyes.
"Give me a reason," he whispered. "Give me an explanation."
Black was holding his breath while looking Snape in the eye. "The rat is Pettigrew."
"What rat?" demanded Snape narrowing his eyes.
"The one over there with the boy on the bed." Replied Black.
Snape's eyes moved toward Ron, to Scappers, and back to Sirius Black. "You are sure?" he asked without hiding his uncertainty. Black nodded.
"You're saying out of the billions of rats in Britain alone, you are sure this particular one is Peter Pettigrew? That there is not the slightest change it may just be a normal rat?" scoffed Professor Snape.
Sirius Black glared at the man in front of him. "I know this rat is Pettigrew!"
Snape glared back at Black "After all the havoc and terror you've caused this past year you had better do more than hope that this rat is indeed whom you say it is."
Severus Snape lowered his wand and turned to Lupin. "And you Lupin, I am going to unbind you on the condition that you don't do anything particularly stupid."
Lupin nodded and Snape unbound him. Snape's wand was kept pointed at the werewolf as he got to his feet.
At this point the Harry, Ron, and Hermione were greatly confused.
"WAIT A MINUTE!" yelled Harry.
Everyone in the room turned to look at Harry. "What is going on? How am I to believe that Scabbers is Peter Pettigrew?"
"Potter has a point." said Snape looked expectantly at Lupin.
Lupin looked at Ron. "Ron, give me Peter, please. Now."
Ron clutched Scabbers closer to his chest.
"You can't be trying to say he broke out of Azkaban just to get his hands on Scabbers? You do know how mental that sounds right?" Ron said determined.
Ron looked between all of the adults. Not finding what he was looking for he turned to Harry and Hermione.
Ron gave up and said "Okay, say Pettigrew could turn into a rat, there are millions of rats, like Snape said, how's he supposed to know which one he's after if he was locked up in Azkaban?"
"This is indeed a fair question," said Snape, turning to Black and frowning slightly. "How did you manage to find out where he was? If he is indeed Pettigrew."
Black looked around the room. He reached inside his robes and took out a crumpled piece of paper. He handed it to Lupin who smoothed it out and held it up.
Harry looked at it. It was the photograph of Ron and his family that had appeared in the Daily Prophet the previous summer, and there, on Ron's shoulder, was Scabbers.
"How did you get that?" asked Ron.
"Fudge," said Black. "When he came to inspect Azkaban last year, he gave me his paper. And there was Peter, on the front page on the boy's shoulder. I knew who it was the moment I looked at him. I have seen him transform countless times. When I read the caption I learned the boy went to Hogwarts. To where Harry was..."
Harry was staring at the man. Was he hearing things or did he sound protective? Harry was broke out of his thoughts by Lupin.
"His front paw..." whispered Lupin.
"What about it?" said Ron defiantly.
"He's got a toe missing," pointed out Black.
"It all fits" Lupin breathed. "he must have cut it off himself."
"Just before he transformed," confirmed Black.
"When I cornered him, he yelled for the whole street to hear that I'd betrayed Lily and James. Then, before I could curse him, he blew apart the street with the wand behind his back, killed everyone within twenty feet of himself before taking off down into the sewer with the other rats." Black was snarling by the end of the story.
"But, how does that prove anything?" Ron demanded.
"The biggest bit of Pettigrew they found was his finger." Snape said solemnly.
All three children looked at the two men like they were crazy.
"Just because Scabbers' toe is missing doesn't mean he is Pettigrew even if he was missing the same finger. For all you know he could have gotten in a fight with another rat or something! He's been in my family for ages!" declared Ron.
"Let me guess, for twelve years? Didn't you ever wonder why he was living so long? And tell me, when did he start looking so ill?" countered Lupin.
Ron sputtered. "He's been scared of that mad cat!" Ron defended again, nodding toward Crookshanks, who was still purring on the bed.
"No..." everyone turned to look at Hermione who had spoke. "He was ill before that. Remember having the tonic at the Leaky Cauldron?"
Ron paled and Harry took in a breath. Could it really be true?
"The cat isn't mad either. He's smart. He recognizes animagi. He's been helping me. He tried to get peter for me. When he couldn't he helped me get into the Gryffindor Tower by stealing the passwords for me. He told me he got it from a boy's bedside table. Peter must have figured it out and ran for it. According to the cat, Crookshanks I think you said his name was, there was blood and fur on the sheets. Probably faking his death again. Well you know, why stop doing something when it works so well. " Black mused.
"And now you've come to finish him off!" interjected Harry.
"Yes, I have," said Black, with an evil look at Scabbers.
"Then I should turn you in!" Harry shouted.
"Harry," Lupin tried to intervene, "don't you see? All this time we've thought Sirius betrayed your parents, and Peter tracked him down. We were all wrong, everyone. Peter betrayed your mother and father. Sirius tracked Peter down! Peter had everyone fooled!"
"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 confessed. "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 was so sure... I'm to blame, I know it...The night they died I had a bad feeling and decided to go check up on your parents' house. And when I saw their house, destroyed, and their bodies . . . I realized what Peter must've done . . . what I'd done. . . ."
His voice broke. He turned away.
"Enough of this," said Snape, "This all sounds so absurd but if it is true, then there's one certain way to prove what really happened." Snape looked at Lupin and Black.
"Ron, give me that rat." Said Lupin.
Ron looked at the rat unsure. "What if he isn't Pettigrew?""
Lupin looked Ron in the eyes. "If he really is a rat, it won't hurt him."
Ron hesitated. He looked from Scabbers to Lupin and back to Scabbers. He held the rat out for Lupin to grab.
Lupin took the rat and looked at Sirius.
"Ready?" asked Lupin.
"Oh you have no idea." replied Black who had ahold of one of the children's wands.
"Together?" Black asked looking at Lupin and Snape.
Both men nodded. The children watched as Lupin held Scabbers up tightly. All three men had their wands pointed straight at the rat.
"On the count of three. One — two —THREE!"
All at once a flash of blue-white light burst from the wands and hit the rat. A few seconds later the rat had become a short, tattered looking man, standing where Scabbers had been.
Harry blinked. He couldn't believe it.
"Well, hello, Peter," said Lupin pleasantly "Long time, no see."
Pettigrew looked at all three men nervously. "My...my friends." he stuttered.
Black's wand arm rose, but Snape seized him around the wrist, gave him a warning look. Lupin turned again to Pettigrew, his voice light and casual.
"We've been talking about you Peter and some other things. I'm not sure if you heard us or not and wanted your point of view on the events." said Lupin implying a great deal to the rat like man.
"Remus," gasped Pettigrew, "you can't believe him! He tried to kill me! He's been driven crazy from Azkaban! He's lying!"
"Really." Lupin replied more coldly. "Then you wouldn't mind telling us your side of the st..."
"He's come to try and kill me again! Just like Lily and James!" Pettigrew squeaked suddenly, pointing at Black, and Harry saw that he used his middle finger, because his index was missing.
"No one is killing anyone until we've sorted a few things out." stated Lupin.
Pettigrew blinked. "There is nothing to sort out! He's a murderer and can't be trusted! I knew he'd come after me! I knew he'd be back for me! I've been waiting for this for twelve years!"
Snape sneered at the man. "You mean to tell me that you knew Black was going to break out of Azkaban?"
Peter nodded enthusiastically. "So what you are telling us Pettigrew is that you have been waiting for twelve years for a man to break out of Azkaban, when nobody has ever done it before, and you never once told anyone? Not to mention the faking your own death. How exactly do you justify that stint?"
"I have to say Peter, I also would like to know why an innocent man would want to spend twelve years as a rat." said Lupin evenly.
"Innocent, but scared!" insisted Pettigrew. "I knew that when everyone heard what happened then Voldemort's supporters would come after me! I put one of their best men in Azkaban, the spy, Sirius Black!"
Black's growled at the smaller man, sounding suddenly like the bear sized dog he could turn into. "How dare you, I know who you are working for, I know what really happened that night."
"W...what are you talking about?" stuttered Peter.
"I'm talking about Dumbledore, Peter. He's not who he lets people think he is." ground out Black. He looked about ready to rip Pettigrew to shreds.
"Don't know what you mean, Sirius." muttered Pettigrew, his breathing faster than ever. He looked to be close to a panic attack.
"You haven't been hiding from me for twelve years," said Black. "You've been hiding from Dumbledore. You messed up his plans when you got me arrested. Why do you think I went to Azkaban without a trial? He had to throw away what he thought was a powerful pawn. I heard things in Azkaban, Peter. He thinks you're dead, or you'd have to answer to him."
"Don't know what you're talking about!," said Pettigrew again, more shrilly than ever. "You don't believe this...this madness"
"You must be mad!" exclaimed Harry, "Dumbledore couldn't be like that! He has never done anything to hurt me or anyone else!"
"He's right Sirius, what kind of proof do you have about Dumbledore?" Lupin questioned looking at the escaped convict, now with concern and uncertainty in his eyes.
Sirius was looking down at the ground. He took a deep breath and looked up and into Harry's eyes.
"I cannot give you any physical proof right now..." started Black.
"How do you expect anyone here to believe you if you do not have any proof!" exclaimed Harry.
"Harry listen!" begged Black.
"NO! JUST BECAUSE YOU WERE RIGHT ABOUT SCABBERS BEING PETER PETTIGREW DOESN'T MEAN YOU ARE RIGHT ABOUT DUMBLEDORE!" Roared Harry.
"There! See! Even Harry sees the madness in this!" said Pettigrew frantically who then turned and reached toward Harry.
"Don't touch me! I don't trust you either!" Harry sneered at the rat-like man who flinched away. "And you! I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO PU_"
"HARRY!" shouted Lupin, "I know you are upset but I would like to hear what he has to say." The werewolf looked over to the excepted convict.
"Black! I believe you said you had some sort of evidence!" Snape said sharply.
"There is a book. It was a diary of shorts. Had all kinds of wild things in it. There were things about getting laws passed, magical creature blood, Grindelwald, Tom Riddle, something about his sister… the point is he is not as forgiving, open minded or kind as he seems." rattled Black.
"You have the book?" asked Lupin.
"No. It's in a Vault in Gringotts." replied Black.
"So when we get out of here you can show us this book?" asked Harry.
"No, it is actually not in a Vault I can get into." the man replied ruefully.
"So we are just supposed to believe you cannot prove that it exists?" Hermione interjected.
"Listen, I didn't want to believe it either. I thought that maybe it had been a mistake. A joke! When I found it, I showed it to James to get his opinion. He seemed to think it was a possibility. I warned him not to get in over his head. Then one thing lead to another…Dumbledore came to see me shortly after my imprisonment in Azkaban. He started saying how he was trying to get me a trial that he believed I didn't have anything to do with it. Said something about how cruel Voldemort was. I called him out on it. See Voldemort couldn't have done it because he was with me and several other people before I left to check on Peter..."
"YOU WERE WITH VOLDEMORT!" screamed Harry in outrage.
"Harry, listen!" Black was pleading at this point.
"NO! I..."
"POTTER!" shouted Snape, "I would like to hear the rest of this if you don't mind."
Harry stopped yelling but was glaring at the Potions Master.
"Well," continued Sirius Black, "from there he got this strange look in his eyes I had never seen. Said that I knew too much, then something about tainted blood, and said I belonged where I ended up. It was hard for me to wrap my head around what he was saying. He shook his head, said it was a shame to lose such a powerful pawn. He then turned on his heel and walked away. I haven't seen the man since."
"But…that doesn't make any sense. He wouldn't do that!" Harry just couldn't believe any of this. It couldn't be true!
"Then think about this. If he was what you think he is then why would he leave you with your aunt and uncle, Harry?"
"They are my only living relatives!" Harry defended.
"Harry, everyone who knew Lilly well knew that her sister and her sister's husband hated magic and anything to do with magic." explained Sirius.
"But…that wouldn't override that his relative would get custody." Hermione put in.
"No, but his parent's will would. Harry, I can guarantee you that if you were to go to Gringotts and get to look at your parent's will, you would find that it was specifically stated that you were not to go them if anything were to happen to you." Black promised.
"How do you know that?" Harry asked. Could it be true? Harry was not sure.
"I was one of the people who signed it as a witness." Harry looked down at his feet and was quite.
"Harry, he is doing to you what he was doing to Tom Riddle when he was in school." Black told him quietly.
Harry looked up quickly into Sirius's eyes. "How do you know his real name?"
"I told you I was with him the night everything went down. He's a friend of sorts. I can promise you that everything I have told you is so." Black desperately reasoned with the boy.
Harry took in a breath. There seemed to be a possibility that it was true but there just wasn't any solid proof. "I'm sorry but I'm going to need more proof than your word."
Sirius Black looked down, took a deep breath and looked at Harry. "I will offer up my memory."
"How?" asked Harry.
"You will find, Mr. Potter that a pensive will work, that is unless you are skilled at legitimacy." Suggested Snape.
Harry looked into Sirius Black's eyes. Something in them told him he wasn't lying, or at least didn't think he was. If all he said was true then….
"Fine, I believe you for now but I insist on physical proof when we get back to the castle."
Will Sirius get cleared or will Peter run away? Is Sirius telling the truth? What effects does Snape being awake while in the shack have? R and R! Input welcome! Feel free to make suggestions or say what you would like to happen in the story. Pairing suggestions are also welcome.