A/N: Please let me know what you think! Here's the bit everyone has been waiting for ;)

Molly cast a muffliato to disguise what they were discussing in case any of her other children decided to come back in and then sat back in her seat, placing the rat on the table between them.

"Well, how do we tell?" She asked, looking down at the stunned rat.

5th December 1981
9pm
The Burrow, Weasley residence – Ottery St. Catchpole, Devon

Remus clenched his fists and tried to stop himself from hexing or cursing anything. Sirius let out an angry breath and leaned back in his chair to get as far from the rat as possible. They exchanged a glance and both saw in the other's eyes that the stunned rat in front of them was Pettigrew. Sirius's heart leapt in his chest and hope choked his throat; he may be able to get free of the accusations laid upon him. Anger boiled in his chest, and he could see the same anger brewing behind Remus' calm façade.

"We need to perform the charm to turn an Animagus back into his human form. It won't harm the rat if it's not an Animagus. I think you need to remove your kids somewhere, so that they don't have to see this, or be in the possible line of fire." Remus explained, leaning forward in his chair sincerely.

"My husband will be home soon, I'll take the kids outside when he's back, but I'd feel more comfortable if one of us stayed with you." Molly finally responded after a few moments deliberation. Before Remus or Sirius could say anything there was a crack from outside and the hand for Arthur Weasley on the Weasley's unique clock moved to 'Home'. They waited impatiently for the Weasley patriarch to enter the house.

"Good evening Weasleys!" Arthur called as he entered the front door of the house. He hung up his heavy winter cloak and turned with a bright smile to other three adults in the room, the smile faded slightly as he took in the serious looks on the faces of his wife, and fellow Ministry workers.

"Arthur, take a seat." Molly said quietly, patting the seat beside her. Arthur did so, confusion filling his kind face. Remus and Sirius took the time, despite their deep impatience, to explain the situation to him, Molly's hand clutching onto Arthur's throughout.

He spoke up when they were done, "Molly, why don't you go look after the kids, and I'll help these two?" Molly nodded and headed upstairs to fetch the two youngest Weasleys – who were currently napping.

She came down a few minutes later to a silent kitchen, a little girl still asleep in her arms and another, tired-looking, boy holding her hand and toddling along beside her. Sirius wanted to ask her about the boy's age as he looked the same age as Alphard, and his son could use some friends, but then he remembered he wasn't in his own body, and kept his mouth shut.

"I'll be in the garden with them, Arthur." Molly said as she led her youngest son out of the room. When it was finally just the three of them in the room, Sirius suggested that Arthur maybe ward the room with the strongest wards he knew, before reaching out and forcing himself not to grab the rat too roughly. He placed it on the floor in the middle of the room, and he and Remus exchanged nervous, but excited, looks.

They pulled their wands as one and, once Arthur was finished warding the room, they cast incarcerous and silencing charms on the rat, just in case the stunner wore off during the transformation, and Pettigrew tried to get away. Arthur stood in the back of the room watching as Sirius and Remus cast the complex spells intended to turn an Animagus back into its human form.

For a moment, nothing happened and Remus and Sirius exchanged incredulous and disappointed looks, before a sudden bright red light filled the room and with a flash the rat turned back into Peter Pettigrew.

Arthur let out a yell of surprise, and backed up even further into the corner of the room. Remus managed to control his morbid glee at capturing Pettigrew and cast another, stronger, stunner on the traitor, ensuring that he wouldn't get away this time.

"Mr. Weasley, we are sorry to have brought this upon your house but we have now caught a very dangerous man, I am pleased to announce." Remus said in a grave tone.

"Nonsense, don't apologise young man! You saved us from having a man disguised as a rat hiding in our home. Dangerous, you say?"

"Yes," Sirius growled, clearing his throat and apologising when Arthur looked shocked, "Sorry. He's the man who told You-Know-Who of the Potter's secret location on the night of the 31st of October. He is guilty of the crime that Sirius Black has been accused of, and we will be taking him into the Ministry now for questioning and charging. Thank you for your help." Sirius nodded politely at Arthur, casting a levitating charm and directing Pettigrew towards the front door.

"He's the reason the Potters are dead? I knew them from The Order, they were lovely people, and I can't believe anyone would want them dead." Arthur looked horror-struck, "Is that why Sirius Black is in hiding? Because he didn't do it, but no one will believe him?" Sirius nodded curtly and Remus thanked Arthur for his help again. Arthur waved them both off before taking down the wards around the room. They both nodded quickly at him before striding out of the front door, Pettigrew floating between them, and off the property. Arthur watched as they disappeared with a crack.

Molly came back through the door leading to their back garden, still carrying Ginny. "Have they gone?" she asked, looking around the kitchen futilely for a sign of the rat.

"Yes. It was an Animagus." Arthur turned to Molly with shock and sadness in his eyes and wrapped his wife in a large hug. They sat at the table as he explained what had happened to her.

6th December 1981
6:10am
Remus Lupin's cottage – Hempnall, Norfolk

Remus sat at the kitchen table, his head resting exhaustedly in his hands as he waited for Maroculus to arrive. Last night he had apparated home with Peter in tow and tied his former friend up in the basement where he had his monthly transformations, casting the same spells that kept him in as werewolf under the full moon every month.

Sirius had apparated quickly to Andromeda's to inform her that they had found Pettigrew, and ask her to look after Alphard until they had given Pettigrew over to the Ministry for questioning and charging. She had agreed and Sirius had arrived back home half an hour after Remus. They had both taken up a silent vigil for the night in the kitchen.

Morning found them both sitting at the kitchen table, lukewarm mugs of coffee clutched in their cold hands as they waited for Maroculus to respond to the note that Remus had sent out half an hour ago with Micro. There was a crack outside their front door that startled them both out of their stupor, and then a sharp rap on the door that made Sirius jump out of his seat to answer it. He peered through the peep-hole to make sure it was Maroculus before swinging the door open and hurriedly ushering their friend, and ally, in.

"Thanks for coming, Fawley." He said, smiling grimly at the Auror.

Maroculus nodded his head quickly, following Sirius through into the kitchen where Remus was still sitting, staring into space, at the table. "Have you found him already?" He asked incredulously, amazement lacing his words.

"Yes." Remus responded, looking up from the now cold coffee in his mug, "We found him last night. He's in my basement, chained up."

Maroculus' eyebrows raised up his forehead in shocked amusement, "You have a basement with chains in?" He asked Remus, turning to Sirius when the latter started cackling. Remus rolled his eyes, exasperated with his best friend and finally deigned to answer Maroculus.

"I'm a werewolf, so I use the basement for my transformations. I chain myself up if it's a particularly bad month." Remus' voice was dry and Sirius could feel his hesitation to tell their only Ministry ally this piece of information. Sirius knew that Remus had only revealed it because Maroculus was in the Order and most of the Order had known anyway.

Maroculus nodded in understanding, saying nothing else for a moment as he took a seat beside Remus at the table. Remus looked incredibly shocked at Maroculus' easy acceptance and casual manner, and sent a surprised look at Sirius, who rolled his eyes and sat down opposite Remus.

"What's going to happen now?" Remus asked after a beat of awkward silence.

"Well, I'll need to take Pettigrew in and charge him with revealing the information regarding the Potters whereabouts with intent for them to die. It will get him a minimum of 15 years in Azkaban if the Wizengamot find him guilty." Maroculus rocked back in his chair and let that information sink in for a moment.

"Where are you going to get proof that you have reason to arrest him?" Sirius asked, leaning back too and resting one leg on top of the other casually; the position looked much more relaxed than he currently felt.

"Don't need it," Maroculus stated, his disgust at the system clear, "For once the twisted legal system we have to work with is going to work in our favour. Under veritaserum and using Peter's memories we should be able to get the proof we need, especially with the fact that he's an illegal Animagus. Your testimonies would be useful to convicting him, but they're not essential. Does he have a dark mark?"

Remus nodded, remembering the horrible nauseous feeling that had washed over him when he'd felt the dark magic emanating from the mark.

"Good!" Maroculus exclaimed, jumping up from his chair, which fell to the floor with a crash and jolted both Remus and Sirius out of their sleepy reveries, "Where is he? We need to get this sorted out as quickly as possible, so you can be free, Black."

Remus rose from his seat, pulling out his wand to dismantle the wards keeping Pettigrew in the basement. Maroculus followed the werewolf down the stairs into the basement where Pettigrew was unconscious and still tied up.

"Are you alright taking him?" Remus asked wearily, "I don't think me or Sirius can deal with seeing him anymore than we have to. He…" Remus swallowed harshly, "He's the reason James, Lily, and Harry aren't alive anymore."

"Of course, mate." Maroculus briefly rested a kind hand on Remus' shoulder and the two made awkward eye contact, both trying not to think of their lost friends, "I'll floo you when I have news about a possible trial. I don't imagine it will be long, the Ministry wants someone to blame." Maroculus scoffed, anger lacing his words and Remus nodded his agreement to the disgust.

"Thanks, Fawley." Remus preceded Maroculus up the stairs as the Auror unchained Pettigrew, and cast an incarcerous and an Auror level stunning spell to ensure that he wouldn't make a problem for him, before levitating the traitor up the stairs in front of him.

Sirius sneered at his ex-friend as he appeared in the hall of Remus' cottage, his manner suddenly reminding Remus of Sirius' Slytherin cousins. They both watched as Maroculus led Pettigrew out of the door onto the doorstep – where the wards on the cottage prevented any muggles from seeing him levitating Pettigrew.

"I'll floo you later." Maroculus said turning to face them. Receiving a nod from the two best friends he smiled grimly and apparated away, taking Pettigrew with him.

Remus let out a sigh of relief and looked to Sirius beside him, who had collapsed against the still open doorway, relief and pain warring in his eyes as he took in deep breaths of the crisp winter air. Remus turned away again, letting him have his privacy whilst he quietly hyperventilated. Remus walked back into the kitchen to exhaustedly tidy away the dirty mugs, and splash some cold water onto his face to try to wake himself up. He only accomplished the first part before Sirius was coming back inside and insisting they both get some sleep before picking Alphard up from Andromeda's.

"Come on, Moony. My eyes are fucking itchy. Let's go to sleep, then we need to go visit Alice and Frank in St. Mungo's, and then pick up Alphard." Sirius' voice was rough from the lack of sleep, and he blinked his eyes a few times, trying to stay awake long enough to make it to his bedroom. Remus absent-mindedly scratched at his stomach, his t-shirt rising up and showing Sirius an enticing strip of pale, muscled flesh and the thin trail of golden hair leading temptingly into Remus' low slung pyjama bottoms. Sirius swallowed a desperate groan, and followed Remus up the stairs, pressing the heel of his hand against the erection suddenly straining his trousers as he watched the muscles in Remus arse roll tantalisingly with each step.

They separated at the top of the stairs, Sirius hurrying to his room to deal with the sudden problem in his trousers, and Remus heading the opposite direction to his bedroom. Just as Remus had pulled off his robes, and was ready to get into bed in just his muggle boxers, there was an insistent tapping at his window, and he spun to see a non-descript brown owl hovering impatiently outside.

He sighed, and shuffled over to the window, yanking it open quickly and letting the owl in. Said owl dropped the letter on the closest surface – Remus' desk – nipped Remus' held out fingers and flew back out of the window haughtily. Remus rolled his eyes and stared between his bed and the scroll, wishing he could just go to sleep.

He grabbed the scroll reluctantly and unravelled it quickly to read the missive. He scowled when he saw the name at the bottom and settled into bed to read the letter, braced to be annoyed by whatever it said.

Dear Remus,

It has come to my attention…