Sirius wasn't sure what to think about his current situation. A few weeks ago Charles had given him an address to a place somewhere in Rumania and told him to go there. Presumably it was a save place for him to stay. Rumania wouldn't hand him over to the Britain government. Most of the staff of the dragon resort the manor was located had been criminals themselves at some point and Charles claimed to know the owner of it.

The Raven was a mysterious figure. First of all he resembled James Potter a great deal. It was almost frightening. All you had to do was ruffle through his hair and put some glasses on his nose and you'd have his twin. When Sirius first mentioned it the Raven waved it of and said he believed there had been a John Potter somewhere down his line but since he wasn't even considered English he had never really looked into that part of his family until he had received a call from a distant relative some time ago asking him to take in the fugitive. Sirius had been dumbfounded. Of course he knew that all pureblood families were somehow connected these days but this man was practically a doppelganger. However he could imagine Charles searching for extended wizarding family and the knowledge that the Raven might be related to Charles at least provided him with a somewhat reassuring reason to trust him.

The Raven (no first name known) showed up on random days, at least four days out of the week. Sometimes he would lock himself in his study for hours. Sometimes he would go through the resort, talk to the dragons in a strange mix of gurgling and hissing sounds that the creatures miraculously seemed to understand and even answer to. He would talk with the werewolves working there, help them to brew the wolfsbane or take care of the dragons. And sometimes he would call for an assembly.

During the assembly the werewolves were invited to talk about their past lives, about their hopes for the future and their problems. It was like some kind of therapy session only that the Raven seemed to write down every idea they had about their dreams or ideas to make the world a better place. He would often ask them to explain it in more detail. They would talk about which laws they would like to be gone or altered, which people influenced those laws in the respective countries and the like.

Then there was the training. There was no reason why people working with dragons had to be in perfect physical shape and train how fast they could run or how much weight they could lift. There was no reason for them to learn hand-to-hand-combat. And most certainly there wasn't a sane reason for them to have a match each full moon where two werewolves under wolfsbane would fight each other. Never to kill, not even to seriously hurt. It was said to give them a way to let off some steam. But still it was suspicious that those who refused to take part in the fights found themselves fired within a few weeks. However Sirius couldn't but notice that the fight seemed to be the one element that forged the staff to a close group. Once he took part himself as a dog and found the experience exhilarating.

When Sirius had first appeared in his animagus form he had been suspicions of course. But the Raven had known who he was immediately. All he said was that he had been told he would come and which room he could use. Later they would talk. Not so much about political stuff but the Raven wanted to know everything about his education. How he grew up, which classes did he have, what his job had been and the like. Sirius' best subjects were Charms and Defense. In the end the Raven had offered that in return for food and lodging he could teach the werewolves who had never been able to finish their education as well as teach them some English so they wouldn't have to rely on translation charms all the time.

Sirius had pondered over the offer and even wrote to Charles (who thought it was a wonderful idea). In the end he had agreed, if only because he had nothing better to do. Occasionally he would take off to go visit some places where Peter might show up but he had absolutely no traces so there wasn't much he could do. This at least gave him something to kill time with. Still he wasn't so stupid to think the Raven was just a nice guy helping a persecuted minority. He talked about it with the werewolves and most agreed that they thought the Raven was building an army. Most thought it was to fight the vampires' hold over Rumania, the old arch enemies of their race. Some thought he aimed for a situation similar to the one in Russia where the magical races had their strongest hold over the government. But the Raven wasn't a werewolf. He didn't belong to any magical race as far as they could tell. It might be possible that he was raising more of a terrorist group to attack a richer country. But whatever the aim was, Sirius found that none of the wolves truly cared. The Raven had picked them up from the streets. He had given them food, clothing, a place to sleep and a well-paid job. He was their savior. One of them once jokingly said that even if the Raven was secretly a demon from hell seeking to wipe out humanity for no reason but sick enjoyment, he would still follow him. Because he owned him.

The most frightening thing was that if Sirius didn't have his strong bond to Charles, he would've probably felt the same way.

The exams were finally over. I was sure that I'd pass with flying colors because each morning I found a slip of paper under my pillow that had all the questions of the theoretical exams for that day on it. Later during the test I would copy down the questions after I was finished answering them and go back in time to place said slip of paper there.

Aside from my school life I spend more and more turner time at the HQ. Slowly it began to show on me and I had to start taking a dose of elixir of life to keep my thirteen-year-old-appearance when I lived each day twice. The Raven had begun to sort through the werewolf staff and find those that would be willing to go to all lengths to be of equal rights with the other wizards and witches. I wanted to offer a summer camp for the most promising Outtakes members, especially for those from the upper years. Therefore I had to have them all under control. Part of the vast countryside of the resort was now being used to grow the ingredients of the wolfsbane potion. But they were still a loose group. What they really needed was a pack leader. Preferably one that owned me big time. That was where Remus Lupin entered the game.

It was the 23. July when I called the Weasley twins to me.

"Excuse me, could you repeat that?", the one I decided was George asked incredulously.

"I said: I'm terribly sorry, but I need you to give up the Marauders Map."

The twins exchanged looks.

"You're kidding, right?"
"Leave aside that you shouldn't even know about the map-"

"-it belongs to us!"

"We stole it from Filch ourselves!"

"All the things we did for you, half of them we couldn't have done without it!"

"Oh come on guys", I mocked them. "Nobody knows Hogwarts better then you two. You know every secret passage, trick to open every door, probably even which stair points to which direction under which conditions at all times." I gave them a wry smile. "But that's not all the map shows, is it?"

"How do you know?!", Fred finally burst out.
"The Marauders Map", I began to rant, "was invented by the four Marauders, Moony, Padfoot, Wormtail and Prongs. Nicknames of great men who were once traveling these corridors as students just like we are today. Have you ever wondered what their identities are?"

"You mentioned you know them before", George remembered.

"I most certainly do. One of them was my father."
The twins gaped at him. "Are you serious?"

I rolled my eyes. "I'll refrain from making a bad joke about that considering another member was Sirius Black. You may have heard that he was my fathers best friend. The nicknames are a reference to the shape of their patronuses." Can't give up all their secrets now can I? Besides it was probably a kind of truth too. "My father's was a stag."

"Alright", George conceded, "if this is about your father I guess it's different... But Harry-"

"Oh no", I hurried to say, "I didn't ask you to give it to me because it's a family heirloom or something like that. Although I would like to have something that belonged to my father... But more importantly, the other two members are Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin. They-"
"Professor Lupin is a Marauder!?"

"No way! He's a teacher!"

"He gave us detention for flying in the corridor that other day!"
"Guys, concentrate", I chastised them. "Yes, Professor Lupin was a Marauder. He knows how the map works and he also knows that it never lies. You two have been a great help to me over the last years. You have followed the Code at all times and I promised you that if I was involved in anything big again I would let you help me. I could just order you to give me the map but I won't do so. I want to tell you what I need it for to show you that my motives have been honest. Tell me, do you know who Peter Pettigrew is?"

The twins scowled but shook their heads.

"Not at all?"

"The name sounds kinda familiar", Fred admitted, "but I can't put my finger on it."
"Peter Pettigrew slept in the same dorm as your brother Ron, I would've thought you stumbled over him now and then."
"So he's a classmate of him then?"
"Wait, that's not right", George interrupted. "How can he be a classmate of Ron's if he was a Marauder when your father went to school?"

"Because", I said slowly, "Peter Pettigrew is an unregistered animagus. He takes the form of a rat."

The twins exchanged a look of startled realization. "Scabbers!"

"Exactly."
"That's why you wanted to have him so badly."

I nodded. "That mission was far more then just getting revenge on Ron."
"Wait, does that mean there was an old man sleeping in Rons bed for – for twelve years!?"

"As far as I know he slept in Percys before but basically, yes."

"What the hell!?"

"Why would he hide in that form for so long?"
"Where is he now?"
"Stop it, there's more to it." I began to explain: "Peter Pettigrew also happened to be the name of the only magical victim Sirius Black was imprisoned for murdering. When I realized who Scabbers was I began to question the story I was told about Black's betrayal. Are you familiar with it?"

As it tuned out, they weren't so I had to explain the whole Fidelus charm to them and why Black was considered not only a Death Eater but a spy.

"Now why would a Death Eater, even a mad one, just go and blow up a street full of muggles? It would be a sure way to get caught and he had spent years successfully avoiding that. No, he had to be there especially for Peter. The media said Peter probably hunted him down. But can you imagine a man who's so afraid of his past that he has to hide as a rat for over a decade to chase down a Death Eater in vengeance? Why would he hide at all? He was declared a hero. They gave him the Order of Merlin. He couldn't possibly know that Black would escape to hunt him down."
"Wait, hunt him down?"

"I thought Black was after you and Harry?"

"Everybody thought that. But the truth is far more complicated. I was in Azkaban myself and I happened to be able to talk to Black. He had gotten his hands on a newspaper when the minister visited and there was a picture of Scabbers in there. You remember your holiday in Egypt? He recognized him at once. He didn't flee in order to hunt me down, he escaped to protect me from him. Pettigrew is the real spy. They switched secret keepers to make it less obvious and then he hid because he still had the dark mark, because he was feeling guilty, because he was afraid of Remus finding out or whatever... Then he found himself a nice place to stay, close to one of the boys who lived, ready to kill him in his sleep should his master ever return. Black old me all of that in Azkaban but only when I had Scabbers, the living proof, I believed him."

The twins were looking absolutely horrified by now.

"That means... Black is innocent?"

"He still killed those muggles though, didn't he? Even if he did it while chasing down Pettigrew."
"According to him that was Peter too. He blew up the street and cut off his own finger in order to fake his death. I suppose we'll never really know that part for sure since Sirius certainly has enough temper for such an act too. But I don't think he'd to it intentionally."

"Why haven't you told this to the aurors yet?", the twins wanted to know.

"Until I got my hands on Peter there was no poof. Afterward I had to convince Black not to kill him on sight. I need the rat to get his name cleared so that Harry and I can live with him, as was our parents wish. But since he was constantly on the run, communication was rather slow-going. Also I needed to get the lawyers ready. But there's another reason." My expression darkened. "That is the man who betrayed my parents. Not a week after being told the secrets he went to sell them out. Black is not the only one who wants revenge. I've been keeping him for a couple of months now and let's just say that he was not comfortable. Not for a single second. If the authorities find out that I knew all along that he was a human I might be in trouble. Therefore I need to make sure he is found by the right people in the right place, none of which can be traced back to me. The most likely case would be if Lupin stumbled over him. In order to set that up I need to convince him of this story first and for that I need the map where he can read Peters name for himself. I will then erase Pettigrews memory of the last months."

The twins nodded solemnly. "Alright, we understand where you're going."

"We can give you the map to convince Lupin."
"In fact, I think it really belongs to you anyway and you're right, we know everything it can tell us about Hogwarts."

Fred handed over the map. It might not be as good as a minimap but would make my life far easier.

"Thank you, Fred, George. I knew I could count on you."
"You always can, boss", George said and saluted. His twin followed suit and somehow it wasn't as mocking a gesture as it used to be.

"Thank you for trusting us by letting us in on your evil master plan."
"Yeah, if we had found out you were torturing pet rats in your closet we might've gotten the wrong idea otherwise."
"But now that we know the rat is really a human it's different."

"We're totally okay with you torturing a human."
"Yes, well... There seems to be something wrong with that statement..."

"Oh, you think so, dear brother of mine?"
I let out a short laugh. "I knew I would corrupt you eventually."
"You?"
"Corrupting us?"
"That's so our line!"

"The tables have turned, my friends", I purred. "You're dealing with the Marauder's heir."

The twins exchanged a wide-eyed look. "Forget the boss. We're totally gonna call you the Marauder's Heir from now on!"

I laughed and sent the twins on their way. As soon as they were gone I grabbed the map and headed to Lupins office. The Professor was still awake and invited me in when I knocked.

"Hello Professor Lupin. Do you have a minute for me?"
"Of course, Mr Potter. What is it?"
"You see, a few weeks ago I received a gift from another student. It's a really useful tool but there was always something that bothered me about it. I don't think it's cursed but either it's not working correctly or he played a prank at me. Since Professor Flitwick and the other head of houses are so busy right now I thought maybe you could look over the object for me."

"Of course. I'll do what I can."
I showed him the Marauder's Map. For a moment I thought Lupin stopped breathing before he caressed the parchment carefully. He looked at it with a strange glint in his eyes, almost as if he was seeing an old lover again.

"This... is a remarkable map. It's been so long since I last saw it..."
"You know about it, Sir?"

"Yes, it... it was already in circulation when I was a student. But why would you think it doesn't work correctly?"
I shrugged. "It shows someone I know for certain is dead."
Lupin scowled. "Who?"

I stepped forward and pointed towards the Slytherin dorms. "Over here, it's – huh? That's strange, he's not there anymore..."

"Who did you see?", Lupin asked, more urgently this time.

"Peter Pettigrew. His name showed in the Slytherin dorms. It never moved from there. It was actually pretty close to my bed and I thought someone had pranked it..."

Lupins fingers gripping the parchment went white. "He's not there."
"I know what I saw!", I replied impatiently. "He was still there this morning." But the spot of the Slytherin dorms was empty. There was no name there. Pettigrew was gone.