AUTHORS NOTE!

Hello! Sorry for the wait on the chapter, but I've been really busy with stuff, and homework, and helping my friend with his girlfriend problems...

Anyway, we're nearly at 250 reviews! Can we get 250 before next week?

Annie Bell: I appreciate the review. Also, I know blood doesn't sing, it's just a figure of speech. They even use it in the Maximum Ride books. Well, in the first one anyway. And Black was looking at Max the whole time because she's his daughter that he's never even spoken to before. Also, I know that I put too much attention on Max, but it's not as bad as before, right? And Max is going to get a lot of attention in the other books, but the others will get more too. And I'll try and fix the grammar mistakes. But, my friend got a Beta reader, and told me not to get one, because they take forever to get back to you!

Anyway, sorry for the rant, just answering the review. Thanks, and I appreciate it.

Bethzilla: I know! My laptop is messing up my sentences! Sorry!

jdr Ride: yeah Remus always knew. From when he first saw Max on the train, remember? He knew that she was his goddaughter, and Grace and Sirius' daughter.

teenbooks4eva:...why?

Quail Sandwich: Really? Damn, I was trying to avoid that... oh well :p

And thanks to everyone that reviewed! Love you guys!

And without further ado, here is the chapter!

Enjoy!

-Rach ;)

Previously...

"Max...Do you know anything about your family?" Black asked, hesitant.

"I know Voldemort killed my mom. That's it," I said, a slight edge to my voice. I haven't told the others this, so they were staring at me with wide eyes.

"Nothing of your father?" he asked. I shook my head. "Why?" I said hotly.

"Because... he's right here," Black said, looking strangely uncomfortable and frightened.

"What?" I whispered.

"Max. Your my daughter."

Max's POV

I felt like I couldn't breathe. I felt lightheaded, my chest tight. I was conscious of everyone in the room looking at me. I took a deep, shuddering breath, and managed to chock out, "Why would you say something like that?" Because it couldn't be true. There is no way that I was his... I couldn't even say it!

Black gave me a strange look. "What?" he asked.

"Why would you make up something like that?" I asked. Finding parents was always a big dream of the flocks, and something of a sensitive issue.

"Why do you think I made it up?" Black asked.

I put a finger on my chin, faking thought and said, "Oh, well let me think. Your a murderer, after breaking out of prison, and trying to kill one of my best friends, and you nearly killed another ten minutes ago. Why would I ever believe anything you say?" I snapped. Lupin stepped forward and said, "Max, Sirius is telling the truth. He really is your father. And-" he looked back at Black, then back to all of us. "I'm your godfather. Just like Sirius is Harry's godfather."

I closed my eyes, and started taking deep breaths. This was all some sick, twisted joke... It had to be! I opened my eyes again, and looked at Black. Well, it had to be a joke! I don't even slightly look like Black! I voiced this aloud. "I can't be related to you! I don't look like you at all!" A sad look crossed Black's face, but he grinned anyway. "You got all your looks from your mother," Black said.

I could practically feel my heart breaking in half. None of this could be true... But could it? I thought back to Fudge, and all the Professors, had said, back in the Three Broomsticks before Christmas. They said she was taken shortly after she was born, and presumed dead...

"Do you have any proof?" Fang asked, coming up to stand close to me. His presence beside me make me feel more relaxed, and comfortable.

"Would I really need much?" Black snarled. "If she just thought about it, she'd know I was right!"

"And what if we don't want her to know? What if you really are making this up, and you want her dead as well as Harry?" Iggy growled.

"I don't want her dead!" Black yelled. "I've spent the last thirteen years thinking she was, I'm not going to kill her!"

"When's my birthday?" I whispered so quietly that I doubt anyone heard me. You see, none of the flock knew their real birthdays. Except for me. When I was eight years old, still stuck in the hell-hole known as the School, I managed to see my files. There was no names under parents, nothing about where I was born, but the one thing that was there was my birthday. I remembered it, but never told the flock that I knew. We tell each other everything, and this was one thing I wanted to keep to myself. So when we were all choosing our birthdays, I picked my real one. No one suspected anything. Although, I'm not sure if Jeb knew.

Without hesitation, Black said, "July fifteenth. Half five in the afternoon to be exact." I was taken aback. He was right. That was my birthday. "Then what happened?" I asked.

"After you were born, you were so tiny, we weren't even allowed to touch you. They took you away. But, they brought you back late at night, just before me and your mother feel asleep. We still weren't allowed to touch you, though. When we woke up, you were gone. No one saw a thing. And we never saw you again," Black explained.

That's when I saw it. Me and Black had the same shape lips, the same curve in our noses. The same cheekbones. It's true, I thought. Sirius Black is my father.

"You believe him?" Harry yelled. "Maybe. But just because he's my father doesn't change what he did to your parents, or the other innocent people. He's still a murderer!" I barked. That also meant that I was English, not American like I always thought.

Some identity crisis I was having today.

"If you'll all just listen!" Lupin roared. We stared at him. Hermione was visibly shaking, and staring between me and Black. Fang was still beside me, looking furious, Iggy looked confused and angry, Ron looked surprised and in pain, and Harry was looking confused, angry, and betrayed all in one. Me? I just felt completely numb. All my life, I imagined loving parents that would love me, and care for me, even with the fact that I was a mutant freak. Now, I find out my mother is dead and my father is a murderer, and my godfather was a werewolf!What a lovely family! NOT!

Lupin stepped the room, giving everyone back their wands.

"There," he said, after giving Iggy his wand. He calmly walked back to where he was standing beside Black, putting his wand into his pocket. I refuse to call him dad. That will never happen. "Now your all armed, and we're not. Will you listen to us now?"

I couldn't tell whether or not this was meant to be a trick.

"If you weren't helping him," Harry said, pointing to Black, "Then how did you know where he was?"

"The Marauder's Map," Lupin said simply. "I was in my office examining it, and-"

"Wait," Iggy said, "You know how to work the map?"

"Well of course I know how to work it! I helped write it! I'm Moony- that was my nickname back at school," Lupin said impatiently.

"You helped write it-?" Ron chocked, but was cut off from Lupin.

"The important thing is," Lupin snapped, getting quite irritated, "I was watching it in my office, because I just knew the six of you-" he waved lazily towards me, Fang, Iggy, Ron, Hermione and Harry, "Would try and sneak away to Hagrid's. And I was right, wasn't I?"

"Well, no one likes a smart pants," I said. Sadly, I was ignored. People these days, there so rude!

Lupin started pacing up and down the room. Little puffs of dust rose up around his feet with every step. "I thought you might be wearing your father's Cloak, Harry-"

"How'd you know about the Cloak?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"The number of times I watched James going under that Cloak," Lupin said, looking distant. He waved his hand again, looking even more agitated. "The point is, even though you were wearing the Invisibility Cloak, you appeared on the map. I watched you walk through the grounds, and enter Hagrid's hut. Around twenty minutes later, you left Hagrid's hut and headed back towards the castle. But, the six of you were accompanied by someone else."

"No we weren't," Fang snarled defensively.

"I didn't believe it myself, Fang," Lupin said. "I thought the map was malfunctioning. I just couldn't understand how he could be with you."

"Yeah, but no one was with us!" Harry said.

"Then I watched as another dot, labeled Sirius Black, came running towards you. Saw him reach you, collide with you and take the two of you into the Whomping Willow..."Lupin said, ignoring everything around him completely.

"One of us!" Ron yelled from the corner.

"Can you count?" Iggy asked, "Black only took Ron. That's one person. One!"

"Oh, no," Lupin said. "Two of you."

Finally, Lupin stopped pacing, his eyes on Ron. "Do you think I could have a look at that rat?" he asked, moving towards Ron.

"What?" Ron asked. "What does Scabbers have to do with anything?" Lupin sighed deeply, then said, "Everything, Ron. He has everything to do with it."

Ron hesitated, but then pulled Scabbers out of his pocket. Scabbers was squealing, thrashing, desperately trying to escape. Ron held him by the end of his tail, and Lupin stood there, staring at him. He seemed to be holding his breath, as if waiting for something to happen.

"What?" Ron asked, looking both confused and frightened. He held Scabbers closer to him. "What does my rat have to do with all of this?"

"That's not a rat," Black croaked. I couldn't look him in the eyes. Not now. Probably not ever.

"Of course he's a rat! What else would he be?" Ron asked.

"He's not a rat, Ron," Lupin said quietly. "He's a wizard."

"An Animagus," Black continued. "Called Peter Pettigrew."

There was just silence. A few minutes of silence for the statement to sink in. Ron was the first to get his voice back.

"Your both mental," he said, straight faced.

"That's absurd!" Hermione said faintly.

"Peter Pettigrew is dead," I said. "He killed him years ago!" I pointed at Black, disgust and hatred plain on my face.

"I meant to," he said, his teeth bared. "But Peter got the better of me! Not this time though!"

Black lunged forward at Scabbers. Ron screamed in pain as Black put his weight on his broken leg.

"Sirius! NO!" Lupin yelled, leaping forward and grabbing Black by the arms. He dragged his back away from Ron. "WAIT! You need to wait! You can't just do it like that. They have the right to understand. We've got to explain."

"There's plenty time to explain afterwards!" Black roared, trying to throw Lupin off him. "They-have-a-right-to-know-everything!" Lupin gasped, trying to restrain Black. "Listen to me, Sirius, listen! Ron's kept him as a pet! There are even some parts of this I don't understand! And think of Harry, Sirius. And Max. They should know the truth. I think Harry needs to know what really happened to his parents, and Max needs to know why she grew up without a father!"

Black stopped struggling, looking at me and Harry. "Where were you taken?" he asked me. "To hell," I spat. He looked like he was going to question me, but Lupin snapped, "There isn't time, Sirius!"

Black fixed his eyes on Scabbers, then turned to Lupin. "Fine," he said. "Tell them whatever you want. But be quick about it, Remus. I want to commit the murder I was imprisoned for."

"The both of you are nutters. First, your trying to get us to believe that Black is Max's father, now your telling us that a rat is a real person!" Iggy said, his eyebrows raised. Ron was looking panicky, and he said, "That's it. I've had enough. I'm off." He tried standing up on his good leg. But Lupin pulled out his wand and pointed it at Ron. I pulled out my own and pointed it at Lupin.

"Your going to hear me out, Ron," Lupin said very quietly, oblivious to the fact I was pointing my wand at him. "You just keep a good hold on Peter while your listening."

"HIS NAME IS SCABBERS, NOT PETER!" Ron shouted. He tried to force Scabbers back into his pocket, but he was fighting too hard. Ron swayed, then was about to fall over. Iggy rushed over to him and caught him just in time. He pulled Ron to the bed, and forced him to sit down. I nodded at Iggy, silently telling him to stay beside Ron. He nodded back to me.

Harry looked at Lupin and said, "There were people that saw Black kill Pettigrew. An entire street of people."

"They didn't see what they thought they saw," Black said meanly. "Everyone thought that Sirius killed Pettigrew. I thought so as well, until I saw him on the map," Lupin said, nodding. "And the Marauders Map never lies. Peter is alive, and Ron is holding him."

The six of us shared a look, and as our eyes met, we all agreed silently. These two were completely crazy. This story made absolutely no sense. Maybe, hopefully, Black wasn't even my father.

Hermione spoke in a trembling, frightened voice. "But, Professor Lupin... There's no way that Scabbers could be Pettigrew. It just can't be true. You know that."

"And why can't it be true?" Lupin asked calmly, as if we were in class. "Because people would of known if Pettigrew was an Animagus. We had a class about Animagi with McGonagall. I looked them up for my homework. The Ministry keeps tabs on the wizards and witches who came become animals; there's a register that shows what animal they can become, and their markings and things. I went and looked up Professor McGonagall on the register, and there are only seven Animagi in this country and Pettigrew's name wasn't on the list-"

I couldn't even start thinking about the amount of effort Hermione put into her homework before Lupin laughed, "Right again Hermione!" he said. "But the Ministry of Magic never knew that there was once three unregistered Animagi running around Hogwarts."

"Remus, if your telling them the story, get on with it!" Black snapped from the corner in the room. "I've waited twelve years, I'm not waiting any longer!"

"Alright Sirius," Lupin said, "But you'll have to help me. I don't know the whole story. I just know how it began..." He trailed off, looking at the open door. There was a loud creak from behind him. The eight of us stared at it. Lupin walked slowly towards the door, then looked out into the landing. "No one there..." he muttered, walking back in.

"This place is haunted!" Ron said.

"No it's not," Lupin said, taking his place back in the center of the room, but still staring at the door in a puzzled way. "The Shrieking Shack was never haunted. The screams, howls and bangs the villagers used to hear was me." He stopped for a minute, staring each of us in the face.

"I guess I should start there," he continued, starting to pace again. "None of this would of happened if I hadn't been bitten. And if I wasn't so foolhardy." He suddenly looked very grave and tired. Iggy was about to interrupt, but Hermione hissed, "Shh!" She was staring at Lupin intently. "I was a very small boy when I was bitten. My parents tried everything they could, but there was no cure. The potion that Professor Snape has been making me is a very recent discovery. As long as I take it the week preceding the full moon, I am completely safe when I transform. I keep my mind. I am just able to curl up in my office, a harmless wolf, then wait for the sun to rise again.

"Before the Wolfsbane Potion was created, I became a monster every month. My parents feared that I wouldn't be able to go to Hogwarts. Other parents wouldn't like their children being exposed to someone like me. But then, Dumbledore became Headmaster and he was sympathetic. He said that if I followed certain precautions, I would be able to go to Hogwarts..." Lupin sighed heavily, then looked at Harry, Fang, Iggy and me.

"I told you, months ago, that the Whomping Willow was planted the year I came to Hogwarts. The truth is, it was planted because I had to come to Hogwarts. This house-" Lupin waved miserably around the room, looking bitter- "and the tunnel, was built for my use. Once a month, I was smuggled out of the castle and brought here to transform. The tree was made to prevent anyone from entering while I was dangerous."

I had no idea where this story was going, but I was listening intensely. The only sound apart from Lupin's voice was Scabbers squeaking and Ron's occasional groan of pain.

"My transformations back then were... well, they were terrible. It is very painful to transform into a werewolf. I was separated from humans to bite so I bit and scratched myself instead. When the villagers heard the screams, they thought they were hearing violent ghosts. Dumbledore encouraged the rumour- even now, although the house has been silent for years, they don't dare approach it.

"But apart from my transformations, I was happier then I ever was before in my life. For the first time in my life, I had real friends. Three, great friends. Sirius Black... Peter Pettigrew... and, of course, Harry's father, James Potter. Now, my friends could hardly fail to notice that I was disappearing once a month. I had to tell them all sorts of stories. I told them that my mother was ill and I had to go home and visit her... I was terrified that if they found out what I was, they would desert me. But of course, like Hermione and Max, they found it out eventually.

"And they didn't desert me at all. Instead, the three of them did something for me that not only made my transformations more bearable and comfortable, but some of the best time of my life. They became Animagi."

"My dad too?" Harry asked, looking astounded.

"Of course," Lupin nodded. "It took them around three years to work out how to do it. Your father, and Sirius were the cleverest students in the school. And a lucky thing they were because the Animagus transformation could go horribly wrong- one reason the Ministry keeps a close watch on the people trying to do it. Peter needed all the help James and Sirius could give him. Finally, in fifth year, they managed it. They could each turn into a different animal at will."

"How did that help you?" I asked, slightly confused.

"They weren't able to go with me while they were human, so they kept me company as animals. Werewolves are only threats to humans. Once a month, they'd sneak out of the castle under James's Invisibility Cloak, and transform. Peter, being the smallest, was able to slip under the attacking branches, press the knot that freezes the tree, then the three of them would run through the tunnel to join me. With them, I was more myself then even before. My body was still wolfish. but I was able to keep most of my own mind."

"Hurry up, Remus," Black snapped. I glared at him, feeling disgusted, but he never noticed. He was staring at Scabbers with a hungry expression. Wow, I thought, Rejected for a rat. Don't I feel important.

"I'm getting there, Sirius, I'm getting there... With all four of us able to transform, we were open to new, exciting possibilities. We started leaving the Shrieking Shack, and started roaming around the Forbidden Forest, or the ground of the school, or go around the village at night. Probably no other Hogwarts student ever found out more about the grounds, or the castle, then we did. And that's how we came to make the Marauders Map, and sign it with our nicknames. Sirius is Padfoot, Peter is Wormtail, and James was Prongs."

"What kind of animal-?" Harry started, but Hermione cut him off.

"Did you not realize how dangerous that was? Running around with a werewolf! In the dark! What would of happened if you had given the others the slip, run off and bitten someone?"

"Believe me, Hermione that was something I thought about all the time, and still haunts me. There were a few close calls, but we laughed about them. We were young and foolish- carried away with everything we had accomplished," Lupin said. He frowned, then said, "And if I remember, there were a few times where my violent and vicious manner was useful. Sometimes, when we went into the forest, we would come across other werewolves- although, not like any I've seen. They seemed more human, and walked on their hind legs..." Lupin's frown deepened.

I shared a look with Fang and Iggy. Did Lupin really just describe the Erasers? It's impossible- were they even created back then? Now that I thought about it, I never knew when they started making Erasers. But, the School was all the way over in California! How could they get over here?

"Have you heard of werewolves like that?" Lupin asked, noticing our uncomfortable expressions. "Maybe," I said. "Did they ever... talk?" I asked, feeling stupid. Lupin frowned again, but it was Black that answered.

"Yes," he said. "They always talked. They thought we were just animals, nothing important. We'd fight them whenever we had to, and thankfully none of us got too seriously hurt."

"What did they say?" Iggy asked.

"Rubbish mostly." Black answered. "Taunted us. Treated us like we were stupid animals. Boy were they surprised when we attacked them back."

I looked at Fang and Iggy again, and the three of us nodded. Definitely sounded like Erasers. But what were they doing at Hogwarts? What were they doing in England?

"Do you three know what they were?" Lupin asked, giving us a knowing look, as if he knew they had something to do with our past in the School. Fang and Iggy looked at me, and after hesitating, I nodded.

"They're called Erasers. They're not real werewolves. Just human-lupine hybrids," I said.

"How do you know that?" Black asked.

"Is it any of you business?" I retorted icily. He looked insulted, but didn't say anything.

After a moments silence, Lupin said, "Anyway, I did feel guilty about betraying Dumbledore's trust. He let me come to Hogwarts when no other headmaster would of done so, and I was breaking the rules and putting people in danger. He never knew that Sirius, James and Peter had become illegal Animagi. But, every time we would sit and discuss our next full moon adventures, I managed to forget my guilty feelings."

Lupin's face hardened, and when he spoke he sounded disgusted with himself. "This year, I've been battling with myself on whether or not I should tell Dumbledore that Sirius was an Animagus. But I never did it. I was too cowardly. It would of meant that I had to admit what I did with his trust while I was a school, admitting that I was putting others in harms way for ym own selfish reasons. And Dumbledore's trust means everything to me. He was the one that accepted me to school as a boy, and the one that gave me a job when I was shunted away from everything in my adult life. And so I convinced myself that Sirius was getting into the school using Dark magic that Voldemort taught him, and being an Animagus had nothing to do with it.

"So, in a way, Snape's been right about me the whole time," Lupin finished, looking absolutely disgusted with himself.

"Snape?" Black asked, sounding completely off-guard. "What does he have to do with it?"

"He works here, Sirius. He's here," Lupin said. He lifted his head to look at the six of us. "Professor Snape was at school with us, in our year. He fought very hard against my appointment to the Defense Against the Dark Arts post. He's been telling Dumbledore all year that I shouldn't be trusted. Of course, he had his reasons. Sirius here played a trick on his years ago, which nearly killed him. I was involved."

Black made a noise that almost sounded like a laugh.

"Served him right," he said. "Sneaking around, trying to find our what we were doing. Hoping to get us expelled."

"You just love trying to kill people, don't you?" I sneered nastily. Black look hurt, but before he could say anything, Lupin butted in, "Severus was very curious as to where we went every month. We didn't- we didn't like each other very much. He especially disliked James. Jealous of him, I think. Jealous of James's talent on the Quidditch field. Anyway, Severus saw me crossing the lawn towards the Whomping Willow with Madam Pomfrey one evening. Sirius thought it would of been- er, amusing, to tell Snape that if he prodded the knot on the tree, he would be able to follow me.

"And, of course he tried it. And if he had gone down, he would of met a fully grown werewolf- but, James, who heard what Sirius did, went after Snape and pulled him back, a great risk to his own life. Snape had seen me, though, at the end of the tunnel. He was forbidden to tell anyone, and from then on, he knew what I was..." Lupin finished.

"So Snape doesn't like you, because he thinks you were part of the joke?" Harry asked.

"That's right," sneered a voice from behind Lupin.

Severus Snape was standing there, pulling off the Invisibility Cloak, pointing his wand at Lupin.

I am sooooo sorry it took me so long to finish this! But here it is! Hope it's good!

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