He stood, feet planted firmly on the dusty floor, his body shaking slightly from the effort. He hadn't been human since he had escaped, and the upright position was taking its toll on his worn-out body. He looked to his left, where the red-haired boy lay on the bed, clutching his rat.

The rat. Peter Pettigrew. Rat in both form and personality.

He heard muffled sounds, and he knew that it must be the friends of the boy next to him, the one who had gotten in the way of his capture. One of them was Harry, the son of his best friend. The other was a girl, that much he knew, but he hadn't bothered to really look at either of them; he had been too intent on his mission.

He was eager to see Harry. He let a wave of nostalgia wash over him as he thought of his best friend, the one that he loved, the one who's death he felt responsible for. If only they hadn't switched secret keepers…

Which brought him full circle to the rat. He wanted to wait for Harry, he wanted to explain it to him, and he knew if he didn't wait, he would never believe him. If he killed Peter Pettigrew, the truth would be gone, and Harry would never understand, would never be the Godson he had been wishing to meet for nearly thirteen years.

Suddenly, the door was kicked open, and he looked up from his thoughts. It was Harry standing in the doorway, his other friend just behind him, looking for their friend. It was something that James would have done for him – run to his rescue.

"Ron – are you okay?"

The red-headed boy's name was Ron. Harry and their other friend; the back of her head was the only visible part of her, rushed to his side. "Where's the dog?" Harry questioned, and Ron looked around.

"He's the dog… he's an Animagus…"

The escaped prisoner of Azkaban stepped out of the shadows, his hair hanging lank, his skin white, his eyes sunken and his teeth yellow. "Expelliarmus!" he said, his voice hoarse from lack of speaking. Harry and the witch's wands shot out of their hands. He focused his gaze on Harry, who had pushed his friend behind him, shielding her from view.

"I thought you'd come and help your friend," the hoarse voice spoke again. "Your father would have done the same for me. Brave of you, not to run for a teacher. I'm grateful…it will make everything much easier…" He could tell that Harry was angry; he believed the comment had been to snub the memory of James, but the intention had been quite the opposite. Harry moved forward, but two small hands on either of his shoulders held him back. "No, Harry!" a female voice said, and her concerned face moved into view, and her gaze locked with the decrepit man in front of her.

It had been 15 years since Sirius Black had looked into Hermione Granger's eyes.

She was younger, not the seventeen year old witch that he had fallen in love with at Hogwarts during their seventh year. He knew that she was from the future; she could never give him more details than that. He never knew that she was friends with James and Lily's son, that her best friend had possession of Wormtail, that she would be Remus' student…

"If you want to kill Harry, you'll have to kill us too!" the red-head – Ron – said with ferocity, trying to stand up on his injured leg. Something inside of Sirius had cracked. Seeing her after so long, the woman who he had forced himself to let go, the one who had kept him sane in Azkaban…she was standing in front of him. And she had no idea who he was, other than a convicted murderer.

"Lie down," Sirius said to Ron, trying to keep his voice in check. "You will damage that leg even more."

"Did you hear me?" Ron asked, holding onto Harry. "You'll have to kill all three of us!"

Sirius' gaze flickered to the rat still clinging to Ron. "There'll be only one murder here tonight," he said, his mouth stretching into a smile. Revenge, after so long.

"Why's that?" Harry questioned, and Sirius was surprised to hear the amount of sheer hatred in his voice. "Didn't care last time, did you? Didn't mind slaughtering all those Muggles to get at Pettigrew…what's the matter, gone soft in Azkaban?"

"Harry…" Hermione's voice penetrated the tension, and Sirius felt his body relax. Though she was only thirteen, she would grow up to be the woman whom he adored, and at the moment, that was enough for him. "Be quiet!" Hermione still addressed Harry.

"HE KILLED MY MUM AND DAD!" Harry shouted, and he shook Hermione and Ron off of him and ran at Sirius.

Sirius, whose body was still lax from thoughts of his final year at Hogwarts, was unprepared, and allowed himself to be knocked to the ground by Harry. His fists flew violently, and Sirius was still. His vision began to blur, and he knew he had to act if he was ever to exact his revenge on Peter Pettigrew. He reached up blindly, his hand closing around Harry's throat. "No…" he said, his voice still scratchy. "I've waited too long,"

Hermione, however, did not know that in another time, she was to marry Sirius. She did not know that he was the first love of her life, and she wouldn't know the past until she reached her future. Her first instinct in the moment was to save her best friend, and that is exactly the reason why she sent a well aimed kick at Sirius' crotch.

He grunted in pain, rolling off of Harry. It was not the first time she had ever purposely kicked him there.

There was scuffling, some of which involved the cat, Crookshanks. A flurry of wands left Sirius lying against the wall with Harry pointing his wand directly at his Godfather's chest. Sirius laughed slightly at the irony of the situation: the girl he had been in love with for 15 years looking at him with disgust, his best friend's son about to murder him, and another boy, holding the rat responsible for it all.

"Going to kill me, Harry?"

Harry's chest rose and fell quickly, and he glared at Sirius. When he spoke, his voice shook "You killed my parents."

The gravity of the statement hit Sirius like a train. He hadn't sold his best friends to Voldemort. But he was still part of the reason why they were dead.

"I don't deny it. But if you knew the whole story."

"The whole story?" Harry asked, his voice full of disgust. "You sold them to Voldemort. That's all I need to know."

"You've got to listen to me." Sirius said. He knew his voice was full of pleading, but he didn't care. Harry had to know. He had to listen. And then he had to allow Sirius to kill the rat. "You'll regret it if you don't… you don't understand…" There was so much that Harry didn't understand, so much that Sirius had to tell him…

"I understand a lot better than you think. You never heard her, did you? My mum…trying to stop Voldemort killing me…and you did that…you did it…"

Sirius closed his eyes. Lily, sweet Lily Evans, who James had fallen in love with in first year, when he saw her on the train. Lily Potter, screaming for the life of her husband, her son, and herself…

There was a weight on Sirius, and he wondered vaguely if Harry had hit him again, but when he opened his eyes, he saw Crookshanks, the fluffy orange cat with whom he had made friends, sitting on his chest. "Get off." He said quietly, trying to push the cat off him, but it refused to budge.

There was a small sound from under them, and all four of the people in the room knew that must mean that someone was coming upstairs. "WE'RE UP HERE! WE'RE UP HERE – SIRIUS BLACK – QUICK!" Hermione shouted, and though it was against him, Sirius couldn't help but be a little pleased at hearing her say his name after so long.

The door opened, and there was another ghost of the past, Remus Lupin. He looked a little worse for wear, older, and certainly more worn down since the last time Sirius had seen him. Remus disarmed Harry, and turned to Sirius. "Where is he, Sirius?"

Sirius wasted no time and pointed at the rat in Ron's hands. Remus stared at Wormtail, the rat he had seen countless times during their years at Hogwarts, the man whom he had assumed to be dead for years. "But then… why hasn't he shown himself before now? Unless…unless he was the one…unless you switched, without telling me?"

Sirius nodded slightly, and it was as if time slowed down. Remus knew. He knew the truth. He knew Sirius – one of his best friends for seven years – was innocent. There was the muffled sound of Harry questioning Remus in the background, but Remus walked towards Black and helped him to his feet, and grabbed him in a hug.

Sirius was never one for much sentimentality, but this was different. His only remaining friend from Hogwarts – seeing as Peter didn't count – finally knew that he was not responsible for the death of two others, and that was worth everything.

The moment was broken by Hermione. "I DON'T BELIEVE IT." She shouted, staring at Remus. "You – you – "

"Hermione – " Lupin said, his gaze shifting from her to Sirius, who searched Remus. Remus saw the pain there, and he understood. He had gone the entire school year being only a professor to Hermione, a girl who had been one of his best friends his final year at Hogwarts, a relationship she would not remember for many years to come.

"I trusted you!" Harry shouted at Remus, turning all of his anger from Sirius to his professor. "All this time you've been his friend."

"You're wrong." Lupin said calmly. "I haven't been Sirius's friend, but I am now – let me explain…"

Sirius's heart soared at his words, but shouts from Hermione stopped his quick flash of happiness. "NO! Harry don't trust him, he's been helping Black get into the castle, he wants you dead too – he's a werewolf."

Silence. How had she known? The question ran through both Sirius and Remus's minds, and it took several seconds for Remus to pull together the thoughts to respond. "Not at all up to your usual standard, Hermione." He said, and Sirius repressed a laugh; even in a foreign time, with new people, Hermione had been top of the class. "Only one out of three I'm afraid. I have no been helping Sirius get into the castle and I certainly don't want Harry dead…I won't deny that I am a werewolf."

"How long have you known?" Lupin asked Hermione, though in his mind, the answer was 15 years.

"Ages. Since I did Professor Snape's essay."

Sirius wandered away from the group, sitting on the bed in the shack with defeat, putting his hand in his head. He heard questions and responses from others: Lupin explaining the Marauder's Map, James's invisibility cloak…

Seeing both Hermione and Remus in a few moments time had been too much for Sirius. In Azkaban, he had tried to do either one of two things: suppress memories, or live in them. When he was feeling strong, or disconnected, he would suppress them, and put his friends out of his head. When he needed to get away, he would put himself back in memories. The first time he had met Hermione, when they all graduated Hogwarts, James and Lily's wedding… Sometimes it was too much. Lately, the thought of finding Peter had consumed him. Now, however, there was no running from the past; it was everywhere.

Sirius looked up to see Remus talking to Ron about the rat. "What's my rat got to do with anything?" Ron questioned, holding the murderer close to him.

"That's not a rat." Sirius said suddenly, causing all eyes to land on him.

"What do you mean, of course he's a rat – "

"No, he's not." Remus said, looking towards Sirius. "He's a wizard."

"An Animagus." Sirius said calmly. "By the name of Peter Pettigrew."