Hello! Sorry it took so long. My puppy, Padfoot, true to his name, made some mischief and ate my laptop charger. But I got a new one in the mail today and can now write again! ANYWAYS!

Thank you for your continued support, and guess what!? We've reached the end of PoA! (But NOT the story!)

Review what you liked, what you want to see happen, and tell me your favorite parts thus far!
Thanks for reading! And Happy Reading!
~Duchess


Ivy smiled down at own of her two nieces, which was laying in her arms. April had the other, both bundled in matching pink blankets. The twins, as it turned out, while both girls, were not identical, but fraternal. One sister, who April and Thomas had named Kirsten, had blonde hair like her aunt Ivy. The other twin was named Jenna, and had hair that was nearly black, like their fathers. There had been many tears of joy shed in the past few hours, but things were quiet now. Thomas had fallen asleep in a chair in the corner of the room, leaving the sisters to hold and care for the twins while he rested up.

"They're perfect." Ivy said, kissing the tops of both heads. April nodded in agreement.

"No bad, even if they're mine." she aid with a smile. Ivy slid Jenna back into April's arms and helped her lower her gown, so that she could feed the babies. "Good thing I have two boobs." she joked as Ivy helped her move Kirsten into feeding position.

"I believe that was the whole point." Ivy joked, settling down at the foot of her sister's bed. Ivy sighed and smiled, watching her sister look lovingly down at her newborn daughters. She felt overwhelming joy, but also a tad bit of jealously over the moment.

"We're going to spoil them, you realize." She heard Remus' voice call from the doorway. April nodded for him to enter as he seemed hesitant, because the twins were nursing. He entered the room and planted a kiss on Ivy's cheek, then produced two matching teddy bears from behind his back and sat them on one of the bedside tables. Remus then took a seat beside the bed in a chair, leaning back and watching his wife carefully, hoping that the birth of their nieces wouldn't deepen her depression.

"I believe it. You seem like the wort of uncle that sends children home with pockets of candy and a kitten." April laughed. Remus nodded.

"Oh, absolutely." he agreed with a grin. Olivia felt happy; happy that her tiny family had grown, that her sister got on well with Remus, happy things were looking up. When the twins were done eating, April handed Kirsten off to be burped by Ivy, and she lifted Jenna to her own shoulder to burp her.

"Want to hold someone?" April offered, sitting up in the bed. Remus seemed hesitant, but Ivy brought Kirsten over and laid her gently into Remus' arms. Remus held her carefully, rubbing her wisps of golden blonde hair that mirrored Ivy's. He smiled down at the baby, then looked over to where Ivy was holding Jenna.

"They're beautiful, April. Congratulations." Remus said, watching the tiny bundle in his arms stretch and wiggle. "It's big out here, eh?" he said to his niece. "I believe it's a bit less crowded as well." April and Ivy both laughed. They all visited for quite a while, but when it started to get late Ivy knew she would have to get back to school, as the moon was due to be full that night. Remus needed to get back in time to take his potion and change in their rooms.

"I'll come see you next break for the shop I get." Ivy told her sister as she left, leaving her with a kiss on the head before doing the same to both babies. She and Remus apperated back to Hogsmade check point and began walking back up to the castle, neither of them speaking. Remus sent Ivy ahead, so that they didn't come back together. To pass the time, he sat down on a rock and pulled the Marauder's Map from his pocket, which he'd had to take from Harry not only to keep it from going to Snape, but if Sirius found it, he'd be able to find Harry where ever he was on the grounds. Remus thought back to the night when he took it from Harry, how he'd lost his temper with the boy. Yet he couldn't help but feel that Harry having the map was only right. He'd had to bite his tongue to suppress a smile when Harry ask if he knew the makers of the map. He unfolded the map out before him, muttering the old and familiar 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good', watching as his own penmanship appeared before him, detailing the school and its grounds. He found Ivy fairly quickly, smiling as he saw her footprints moving toward the kitchens. It had been plenty of time, and Remus himself started to rise and head toward the school when something caught his eye.

Harry had mentioned seeing a name he knew to be dead on the map, that which belonged to Peter Pettigrew. Remus had known good and well that the map doesn't show ghosts, and that the map cannot lie, but he wasn't ready to believe that Harry had seen the map that he had made carefully himself to help with the Marauder's mischief read with such a name after all these years. Yet he was now seeing it for himself, the names Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, along with Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley over near the Whomping Willow. Without giving his potion and the approaching moonrise a second thought, Remus broke into a hard run toward the back end of the school grounds where he knew well the Whomping Willow stood. It suddenly made sense why Sirius had sought him out, even if he didn't stay. And why he hadn't hurt Ivy. He was innocent, and Peter was alive.


Remus felt a bit out of breath as he reached the other end of the passage between the Willow and the Shrieking Shack, but his energy was quickly restored to him when the adrenaline returned upon finding Harry with his wand at Sirius' throat. He quickly drew his own, and shot an fast 'expelliermus' at Harry, sending his wand flying across the room. Remus nodded Harry away, pointing his own wand at Sirius in turn. "Well, Sirius. Looking just a tad ragged aren't we?" Remus ask, rumor sounding in his voice that shocked even him. He couldn't find a way to properly express the relief he felt, knowing that his friend wasn't guilty, as it had been so difficult to believe for so many years. "Finally your pretty face reflects the madness inside." he joked. He saw from his place where Harry had knocked him to the floor, Sirius grinned.

"You'd know all about hiding madness inside, wouldn't you?" Sirius joked back. Remus lowered his wand and held out a hand, wincing a bit when he saw his own handprints still bruised into the other man's thin flesh. Sirius threw his arms around Remus' neck, pulling him into a tight but quick hug, which Remus returned. "I've found him. It's him. After all this time. Let's kill him." Sirius rambled. Remus nodded along, trying to keep Sirius calm, knowing well how excitable he could be.

"I understand." Remus tried to reassure his friend, but then he heard Hermione Granger scream 'NO!' behind them, and they both turned to look.

"I trusted you!" she shrieked."And all this time, you've been his friend." she looked very distressed. "He's a werewolf. That's why he'd miss classes." Hermione turned back, explaining to Harry and Ron, who both looked terrified and confused. The words cut Remus, the fact that Hermione felt that simply by being a werewolf he was automatically likely to be dark, while a common assumption, it always hurt Remus' heart to hear about himself.

"How long have you known that?" Remus ask, stepping between Sirius and the group of children.

"Since Snape's essay." Hermione confessed, stepping back. Remus took a deep breath.

"Well, Hermione. You really are the brightest witch of your age I've ever met." Remus remarked. Sirius began to pace impatiently.

"Enough!" He roared stepping forward. "Let's kill him!" Remus hung his head in defeat, a bit lost on what was truly right in the situation. He felt the betrayal from so long ago sting new, but this time with another to blame.

"Wait." Remus requested patiently, holding a hand up to keep Sirius back.

"I've done enough waiting. Twelve years of waiting. In Azkaban. I will kill him now." Sirius' words were frantic.

"Very well. But Harry deserves to know why." Remus said, handing Sirius Harry's wand from the floor.

"I KNOW why." Harry said, his eyes cut angrily between the two men. "You turned over my parents. YOUR friends. And you've come to finish the job." Harry seemed so sure of this, and Remus again shook his head.

"No, Harry. Though I thought so too, for many years. But Sirius wasn't the one. It was someone else, someone the world believed to be dead." Harry seemed to believe Remus, much to his relief. The hate glowing in his eyes was beginning to be too much to bare and he was glad to see it start to fade.

"Then who?" Harry ask, looking back over to Sirius.

"Peter Pettigrew!" Sirius shouted. "That rat!" He pointed wildly to Ron Weasley, who lay on the floor clutching a squirming rat to his chest.

"Scabbers?" Ron ask, baffled. "He's mental."

"No." Remus shook his head. He turned and placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Peter is an animagus. As is Sirius and your father was, too. A stag." Remus began to explain.

"You see, girly." Sirius said, wagging a finger at Hermione. "You're right. Remus is a werewolf. Doesn't make him any less one of the best people I've ever known. James, Peter and I hated to see him hurt and alone, so we learned animagic to keep him company during the full moon." Harry stepped forward.

"When James and Lily were killed, I went over, we both did." Remus said, nodding back toward Sirius. "Hagrid took you from Sirius. It was all such a blur I didn't understand, which is why when he left in such a rage I found it easy to blame him." Remus hung his head.

"It's alright, Moony." Sirius mumbled.

"Moony?" Harry ask sharply, obviously fixed on every word the older wizards said. "As in?"

"Moony" Sirius pointed to Remus, "Wormtail" and pointed over to the rat Ron held so tightly. "Padfoot," he gestured back to himself, "And Prongs was your dad." Sirius sighed sadly. "All they found of Pettigrew to say I killed him was a finger, that was their proof. He cut it off and transformed, ran away."

"But Scabbers has been in my family for-" Ron started to say.

"Twelve years?" Remus ventured. Harry smiled and took Scabbers from Ron, handing him to Remus.

"Show me." Harry said.


Ivy was beginning to worry. Remus should've been ten minutes behind her at the most, and yet it had been nearly an hour. Only about forty minutes until moonrise and his potion sat in his office, untouched. Ivy paced back and forth a bit, then moved over to the balcony and looked out, seeing if she could spot her husband out for a walk before coming in, thinking that perhaps he felt restless. She watched carefully, looking over the landscape. She felt dread deep inside, knowing something was wrong. Minutes ticked by, the sky darkened. Ivy sat on the balcony, hoping Remus would join her soon. About five minutes before the moon was due to rise above the mountain ridge, she spotted movement down near the Whomping Willow. A group of people emerged from the trunk, including Remus. Ivy swallowed hard, knowing that they were all very much in danger of being too close when Remus turned, because he never made it back for his dose of wolfsbane. It was too late to get the potion to him, but Ivy took out running, hoping desperately that she could keep someone from getting hurt.

She had just made it to the front entrance of the castle when the pained howls of Remus' transformation caught her ears. Ivy's heart raced, panic overtook her. She knew she'd move faster as Whippit, so she lunged forward, hitting the ground on four paws and running hard toward the sound. When she made it to the scene, she saw that Snape was all the stood in between students and Moony, and Ivy knew that if Remus even scratched any of them he'd probably kill himself. She barked out to gain his attention, which worked for the moment. He continued to hold his defensive stance before the group, but his head was facing Whippit. She walked slowly forward, putting herself between Snape and her mate.

"Back away." Sirius instructed, holding an arm out toward the children.

"Careful, Ivy." Snape mumbled down, as Whippit held Moony's eyes with her own. He seemed confused as to why she was protecting them, and would occasionally look up and growl toward the people, but made no aggressive move forward. Just when Ivy hoped that the group would get away, sudden movement caught both hers and Moony's eye. Pettigrew had escaped, and Harry was running after him. Ivy tried to catch Moony's attention, but he ran off, also following Harry. In a flash, Sirius ran past her, his dog moving much faster than her wolf. She watched thankfully when the dog lunged forward and caught Moony up in a fight, pulling his full attention away from the children and allowing Harry to get away. An idea took her and Ivy broke out in a run as hard as Whippit's legs could go, letting out a long, sorrowful howl when she was far enough away that she felt everyone would be safe. She listened carefully, and felt relief run over her when Moony joined her, the only blood she smelled on him his own.


As soon as Remus' eyes opened, he sat straight up in a blind panic. He felt his wife's gentle hands push him back into a lay position. "It's six am, Remus. Rest." Ivy sounded exhausted from his side. He was in a private room in the infirmary, rather than their quarters.

"Ivy did I-"

"Only hurt yourself. Promise." she said, her smile weak from her place in a stiff wooden chair to his side. Remus sighed and sat back, feeling every bone in his bone ache from the pain he'd gone through. "You got in a fight with a hippogriff, though." Ivy admitted with a slight giggle. Remus looked troubled, and Ivy smiled again. "He's not free, but Sirius did get away. Peter's still loose too, I'm sorry. Dumbledore came this morning and told me everything. Inclusing that Snape let your secret slip..." Ivy reached over and gently stroked Remus hair, attempting to sooth him.

"I can't work here anymore." Remus said quietly, sadly.

"It's okay." Ivy whispered, bending down and placing a gentle kiss on Remus' forehead. "Promise."


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