Author's Declaration: I. Never. Abandon. Anything.

Chapter 21

The dog wouldn't budge. He didn't do anything while Harry tried to tug his jaws apart, but growled the instant his prey began to wriggle. Scabbers froze, letting out one lone, pitiful squeak.

And then he started to change.

Ginny screamed, Ron and the twins shouted, and everyone else gasped as the rat turned into a rather pale and pudgy man, one who trembled in fear as he crouched on the floor, his neck still held by gleaming fangs.

"P-please, P-P-Pad-f-foot," he wept. "D-don't- I-I-I n-nev-ver m-meant t-to-" Scruffy growled again, his jaws twitching.

"Dear Merlin and Morgana," Arthur breathed. "Peter Pettigrew!"

The man who had been Scabbers twisted as much as he were able to stare imploringly at the gathered Weasleys. "Arthur, Molly, please, do something, don't let him kill me!"

"You're supposed to be dead!" Molly cried, knuckles growing white from how tightly she gripped her wand. "What were you doing being my- pretending to be my children's pet?!"

"I had to!" Pettigrew wailed. "I had to be a rat, it was the only way to make sure he didn't find out! But now he has so will you please kill him before he kills me!"

"Stupefy!"

Everyone else jumped at Percy's unexpected shoot, his spell causing Pettigrew to go limp. Scruffy dropped the man without preamble, before he trotted over to Harry, tail wagging.

"...I'm going to call for the Aurors," Arthur finally said. "Good job, Perce."

"Thanks, Dad."

-TEW-

"That's Peter Pettigrew alright," Moody said as he got back to his feet, scowling down at the unconscious man. "Missing a finger and everything."

"Alastor, I swear we didn't know-"

"You don't need to bother trying to convince me, Arthur, I believe you. And at this point, I'm more concerned with how we move forward."

The other man looked at him anxiously. "You can't just take him in? Surely there's some law against unregistered Animagi secretly living in someone else's household-"

"Oh, there is, especially if it's a grown adult spending all their time in the company of underage kids. But this is also a man who was given the Order of Merlin - I need to look into exactly what happened the night he supposedly earned it before taking him back to the Ministry, otherwise Fudge is liable to just turn him loose again with a pat on the back." Moody's scowl deepened. "You just had to drop this in my lap the month before I planned to retire, eh?"

That got a slight smile out of Arthur. "Retirement? You?"

"Yes, me, thank you very much. I've had it with paperwork and politicians, I just want to be left to my paranoia in peace. TONKS!"

There was a crash from the kitchen, followed by a pink-haired woman hurrying out to join them. "Yes, boss?"

"Secure the prisoner! We're heading back to my place, and then I want you to start researching."

Tonks sighed, but didn't argue. "Are you going to handle the paperwork, then? Usually that's my job..."

"Not going to be any paperwork just yet - not until we get some proper answers." Pausing where she was about to bind Pettigrew in some conjured ropes, Tonks looked at her mentor with a frown. "Does that mean we're not telling anyone at the office about this?"

"Yep."

"So I don't need to write up my notes from interviewing the Weasleys just yet, then?"

"Mm-hm."

"...And we're going to blatantly ignore the overall strangeness with that dog?"

Moody didn't bother responding to her last question, though he did level a pointed glare at Arthur, who took the hint.

"Constant vigilance, I know," the man said quietly.

"Good. We'll get back to you with what we find. TONKS!"

"I'm coming, you don't need to yell when I'm three feet away-"

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE, TONKS!"

She huffed, rolling her eyes. "Have a good night, Mr. Weasley."

"You as well." Arthur stood in place as the Auror pair left out the front door, a bound and hovering Pettigrew trailing after them. Once alone, he sighed, rubbing a hand across his face. "Right then."

In the kitchen, Molly had gathered all the children together at the table, everybody staring down Scruffy where he sat against the far wall. Despite sitting with his head down and ears drooped, the dog's tail continued to slowly sweep back and forth across the floor.

"Has he done anything else out of the ordinary?" Arthur asked mildly as he entered.

"Not yet, but we're just waiting," Ginny informed him.

"Mm, alright then. Did we get the letter about underage magic?"

"It came in while we were talking to Tonks." Molly held up the piece of parchment with a disgruntled expression. "We can't let it stay on Percy's record, Arthur, not with his birthday less than a week out-"

"Mum, it's alright, I don't mind accepting the consequences for my actions-"

"You were protecting your family, sweetheart, I won't let that stand as a black mark against you-!"

Arthur coughed, thankfully putting an end to the argument. "I'll stop in at the Improper Use of Magic Office tomorrow morning. Madam Hopkirk and I have worked together before - if I tell her Percy's on edge from the Sirius Black news, and overreacted when thought his siblings were in trouble-"

"Why not just go straight to the Prophet, say that he spotted me lurking outside your yard and went for his wand to protect Harry?"

Arthur started to nod thoughtfully, only to freeze when he realized none of his family members had spoken. Slowly, he turned his head to stare at Scruffy.

Or rather, at the bedraggled man sitting where Scruffy had been.

"...No. Nope. No thank you, I am not dealing with anymore surprise Animagi in my house tonight." And with that, Arthur sat himself down at the table, well aware of his family's incredulous stares, and simply dropped his head onto his folded arms. "Wake me up when Sirius Black isn't sitting on my kitchen floor, or when I need to get ready for work, whichever comes first."

-TEW-

"So... You're my godfather." Harry said hesitantly. Sirius gave him a nervous smile, half hidden by the long hair. The two of them sat together on the edge of the Burrow's back porch, watching as the sun came up and ignoring the strained silence of seven other people eavesdropping from inside. No one had gotten any sleep that night, hysterical threats from Molly and rambled explanations from Sirius taking precedence. Arthur, despite his attempt at checking out, kept a close eye on the escapee and a hand wrapped around his wand the entire time. Eventually, Sirius managed to convince them all of his innocence, helped in no small part by the fact that Scabbers - or rather, Pettigrew - had been brought into their home only bare days after the death of the Potters.

Once the true story was established, the request for a private talk was put forth. By Harry. The rest of the Weasleys, eventually, reluctantly, agreed.

Didn't mean they weren't all observing, though.

"That's me. I'm not entirely certain you're my godson, though." The boy blinked at Sirius, and his smile turned into a grin. "I distinctly remember you having black hair, not red."

"Oh! That. We changed it when I was little, and first came to live here. Made it easier to blend in."

"I'll say. Took me a while this afternoon to realize you were you, and not one of the other boys."

"Uh, sorry?"

"Nah, it's fine. A really good disguise, actually." After a beat of awkward silence, Sirius sighed, and lost his good cheer. "Look, Harry, it's clear you're part of a wonderful family here, and I don't want to do anything to put that in jeopardy. But... I'd still like to be part of your life. However much or little you want to see me, I'll do my best to fit your expectations."

Harry bit his lip. "...Well, it was pretty brill having a dog around..."

"Yeah?"

"And since Dad said you ought to keep a low profile until the mess with Pettigrew is sorted out..."

"Do my ears deceive me? Is Prongslet thinking of keeping his poor old godfather around as a family pet?" Sirius snickered, which caused Harry to grin at him.

"Well, you said yourself that I 'wasn't nearly as protected' as I should be, so maybe you should stick around and do a better job of it."

"I think I'd like that."

"Besides, now that she knows the truth, Mum isn't going to want to let you go anywhere else until she's put some pounds back on that skeleton frame of yours."

"Merlin forbid I try to argue with that woman..."

"See! You'll fit right in."

"Will I have to dye my hair too?"

Harry laughed. "Only if you want to. But, best be careful, because the twins are liable to sabotage the potion and give you green hair instead of red." He noted the eager glint that appeared in his godfather's eyes. "What?"

"After hearing what they wanted to 'name' me, I couldn't help but wonder - I don't suppose those two have something called The Marauder's Map in their possession, do they?"

"Yeah! How do you know about it?"

"Oh, Prongslet, have I got some stories for you..."

-TEW-

Dear Minerva,

I'm not entirely certain how to put the events of last night to parchment, but I think you ought to be made aware. Whether we inform Albus or not is... still up for debate.

If you could Floo Call as soon as possible, the explanation might be easier in person. If nothing else, we'll have a visual aide. Just, don't hex him right off the bat. We were all deceived.

-Arthur

Minerva arched an eyebrow at the man's cryptic message, but nonetheless set aside her current paperwork and went over to her office's fireplace. She didn't have a clue as to what the Weasleys needed to inform her of, but the hesitancy of telling Albus about it made clear Harry had to somehow be involved.

Merlin help them if that boy and his siblings had caused anymore trouble even before getting back to school...