"Every murderer is somebody's old friend."

-Agatha Christie

A/N: Happy Holidays and enjoy!

36

A Rat Exposed

The small, tawny-gray animal stared back at him through the thin, metal bars of the cage, and Harry wondered whether it truly was Peter Pettigrew, wondered whether he knew the boy's intentions, and wondered what the man was thinking if it all was true; if everything Black said was true. One thought was probably how to get out, but Harry speculated if Pettigrew was thinking of ways to kill him.

After first capturing Scabbers, he hadn't believed Sirius Black's story. However, as the week dragged on, the idea slowly began to sink into his mind that Scabbers could be Peter Pettigrew, a murderer.

Though there was no one event that had actually turned the switch in his mind, throughout the week, Harry had come back from classes and meals to ensure that the rat was still imprisoned in the cage. Not that he was afraid Scabbers would find a way to escape, but it was as if Harry was waiting for the moment when the rat would show himself for what he really was.

Harry poked in some small morsels for the animal on late Saturday afternoon, as he sat on the floor by his bed, under which he kept Scabbers' cage during the day. Only three more hours and he will be under the Invisibility Cloak, carrying the metal cage, and bringing the rat to Black and Lupin to obtain the undeniable truth, what ever that may be.

The dormitory door opened with a creak and Harry stood up like a gun had been fired, turning toward the person. Draco was standing in the doorway, a curious look on his face.

"What're you doing?" the blond boy asked, taking a few steps forward.

"Nothing," Harry replied, gradually pushing the cage back under his bed with his foot.

"It doesn't seem like nothing. You've been coming down here all week," Draco responded, suspicious. "And we haven't been practicing our transformations. I mean, I know we got caught, but you usually don't care about that."

"It's not that. It has nothing to do with that," Harry said, putting his hands in his pockets. He hated when he was going to lie, especially to his best mate. "It's just…I thought we could take a break from all the practice. You know, like a small holiday. We'll start practicing tomorrow. I promise."

"Okay, good. Just wondering." He paused for a moment, looking around the room. "Anyway, you've been down here quite a long time—"

"Stomach ache," Harry said, nodding slightly. "Crabbe gave me one of those fairycakes. Must've eaten it too fast."

Draco nodded, but his eyes were still narrowed. "Well, I'll be upstairs. Let me know if you want to go into Hogsmeade or transform." He looked at Harry one last time, and then turned out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Harry exhaled deeply, looking at the floor. He didn't like lying to Draco, but there was no way he could tell him about having seen Black, about the fact that Pettigrew could still be alive, or about what he was going to do later that night. Draco would probably think he was completely out of his mind and never believe him. But what he really didn't like was the fact that he was getting better at lying every time, even when he was put on the spot, and even when it was to people he cared about. If he didn't know better, he would say that he was loosing his morals, but Harry just laughed at the idea. Lying couldn't make him less of an honorable person…could it?

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Harry glanced at his watch – only twenty minutes to eight o'clock. Though he was sitting on a couch near the unlit fireplace with Draco, Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle, he pretended he had to use the toilet and went downstairs. Not a minute later, he was back in the crowded common room under his Invisibility Cloak, holding the cage in his left hand, his wand in his pocket.

"Where'd Harry go?" Harry overhead Blaise ask, looking around the room.

"Went to the loo, I think," Draco responded, a smirk on his face as he slumped on a couch. He was flicking his wand at a first year girl's inkbottle, which was hovering just above her reach.

Harry made sure the Cloak was covering his feet, and then pressed his hand to the wall, which slide away to let him leave. He made his way outside, seeing only Colin Creevey, who, as he constantly glanced over his shoulder, took numerous photographs of the suits of armor. As Harry opened one of the front doors, knowing he would be passing the Dementors, he concentrated on the bright, white flashes of light and the noisy shutter of the camera.

Ten minutes later, Harry was standing outside the Womping Willow, glancing quickly back at the castle to make sure no one was watching. He took off the Cloak and stuffed it in his pocket, feeling the warm breeze on his skin as he looked around for the long stick to prod the knot.

A bark made Harry turn to his left, toward the Forbidden Forest, where he saw a dark shadow with yellow eyes. Scabbers squeaked piercingly at the sound. Gradually, the short, wide form changed into a thin, taller figure, and made its way toward Harry, who could only gaze back, somewhat hesitantly knowing who it was.

"Good evening, Harry," Black uttered casually.

"Er…good evening," Harry replied. He held up the cage with Scabbers, who had crammed himself into a corner. "I have him."

"Good, good. We'd better inside before any sees me." Black looked toward the darkened castle, then picked up a long, crooked stick and prodded the knot.

When the two of them were inside the dusty room from the prior week, Harry set down the cage on the broken bed as Black leaned against the wall, watching Harry. "I'm going to prove it to you, Harry, that I'm not a murderer, that I'm on your side."

Harry turned toward the man with the dark, sunken eyes. Though he didn't trust him, something in his words made Harry want to believe him, and he nodded. They waited a for minutes for Lupin with awkward glances in an awkward silence, and were relieved when he finally arrived.

"Good evening, Harry…Sirius," Lupin said, nodding to each of them.

"Thank you for the food, Remus. It was much appreciated," Black remarked. Lupin shrugged casually, as if to say it was nothing. Black started toward the cage, saying that he didn't want to wait anymore. "Twelve years is long enough."

Black grabbed the cage brusquely, looking intently at the rat inside, as he took out his wand; Lupin followed suit, taking his wand from his shabby robe. Seeing as the adults had their wands out, despite the fact that he wasn't performing the spell, he decided it was best he did the same.

"What are you going to do to him?" Harry inquired, standing off to the side.

"There's a spell that will force him to show himself," Lupin answered, his gaze still on the metal cage in his old friend's hands.

"You mean if it's Pettigrew."

"Oh, it's Pettigrew. There's no doubt about that," Black assured, a malicious, terrifying smirk disfiguring his face.

Black placed the cage on the dusty floor, took a step back, and glanced at Lupin, who said, "The honor's all yours." The emaciated man, his black eyes focused, flicked his wand at the cage, whose small door opened with a cold snap as metal hit metal. The pink-eared rat ran out of the enclosure; Black pointed his wand again at the small animal, but the white-blue light of the spell missed by a mere inch. The rat squeaked as it scurried across the floor, heading toward the boarded up window.

Lupin aimed his wand with precision and hit his mark. The rat changed into a man before Harry's very eyes. A head swelled in size, limbs shot out, also growing, and then a torso followed to match. A squat, chubby man with light brown hair flaked with gray was now standing in front of them.

Harry, astonished, glanced at Sirius Black, who met his eyes for a moment and then turned back, his posture rigid, his wand at the ready.

Lupin, standing slightly more casual and nonchalant, though his wand was raised, kept his eyes on Peter Pettigrew. "Hello, Peter. It's been such a long time."

Pettigrew's small eyes darted toward Lupin, then Black, then Harry, and back to Lupin. "Remus…Sirius…my f–friends…how–how have you b–been?"

Black stepped forward, his pale complexion reddening. "How have I been? How have I been? I've been in Azkaban, Peter! Only just got out, but, of course, you knew that."

"I–I didn't know anything! I've been a rat the whole time, all these years!" Pettigrew squeaked.

"And why would you do that? Why would you pretend to be a rat, something you're obviously not?" Black paused to let a sarcastic laugh escape his lips. "Well, then again, you were always good at it, weren't you? Fooled us, anyway."

Harry stood off to the side, simply staring, knowing that this part of the conversation was bigger than him; these tense words went way back, and were raising up powerful, deep-rooted emotions that had never really gone away.

Pettigrew backed away from Black and looked, pleadingly, at Lupin. "Remus, you don't believe a word he's saying, do you? He's a murderer! He killed Lily and James! He was working for You-Know-Who! I–I was hiding to get away from him!"

"Hiding for twelve years, Peter? That's an awfully long time, don't you think?" Black interjected.

"Not long enough apparently!"

"Why didn't you show yourself, Peter, if you knew you were innocent? Once you found out Sirius was in prison?" Lupin asked, calmly.

"I knew he'd come after me! I knew he'd try to find me! He nearly succeeded in killing me; he couldn't just let it go!" Peter said shrilly, backing away further.

"You knew he'd come after you? When no one has broken out of Azkaban before?" Lupin inquired, curious and bewildered.

"Look at him! He's mad, completely out of his mind! I knew he'd figure out a way to escape! He's got dark, terrible powers!"

"Me? 'Dark, terrible powers'?" Black laughed, scornfully. "I don't have many dark and terrible powers if I couldn't even kill you, filth-of-the-earth. But don't worry, I'll kill you now."

"See what I mean, Remus! He's going to kill me! He's been planning it all along!"

"Of course I've been planning it, you piece of shit!" Black yelled. "I've been locked up in Azkaban and you didn't think I'd be planning to kill the man who murdered my best friend, whose jail time I've done, and who got me there in the bloody first place!" He took a few steps forward with eyes wide from rage, his hand tightly clutching his wand. "I'm going to kill you RIGHT NOW!"

Lupin grabbed Black's arm and pulled him back, forcibly. "Sirius, not yet." Quieter, he added, "Not in front of Harry." Black let his right hand fall to his side, as he looked at Harry, and Lupin released his grip.

Taking a back, Harry glanced at the floor for a moment, hearing what Lupin had said. Though his palms felt unusually warm and sweaty, he disliked that Black would restrain himself from giving Peter Pettigrew what he rightfully deserves because he was in the room. Harry had as much a right to see Pettigrew die as Black and Lupin, because what Pettigrew had done affected them all, him even more so. However, this did not seem the time to voice his opinion on the matter.

Peter, now backed against the wall, mumbled, "This is why I stayed in hiding from him."

"No, not from me, you coward. You were hiding from your old Death Eater pals," Black retorted. Pettigrew opened his mouth to speak, but the dark-haired man continued, "Don't deny it. No one here believes your lies, Peter. We all know what you really did. Remus and Harry know we switched as Secret Keeper; they know it was you who gave James and Lily to Voldemort; they also know that I went after you that night, the night you blew up the street killing all those people.

"You cut off your own finger to fake your death, but it wasn't to get away from me. I was in prison – and you can claim to know I would escape, even though I had no idea – but you were really hiding from Voldemort's other followers."

Pettigrew cringed at the name, trying to sink as much as he could into the wall. "No, you're lying! You're one of You-Know-Who's followers, not me!"

"How dare you consider me be one of Voldemort's followers! How dare you think that I would ever betray my friends!" Black bellowed. He gathered his breath and said more calmly, "If it was a choice between Voldemort and death, I would choose death, Peter. I would die for my friends."

Pettigrew just stared, his face pale and sweaty, and Harry could see that the man's eyes kept glancing at the door on the opposite side of the room and the window to his left.

"It was a bluff, wasn't it?" Lupin asked of Black. "You made Peter Secret Keeper because—"

"Because I thought Voldemort would be sure to overlook someone as feeble and pathetic as him. Little did I know he had been working for Voldemort all along." Sirius Black stared at Pettigrew, seemingly without blinking. "You must have loved it – being able to trick us and we never had a clue. I should have known though, there were so many signs, but I just disregarded them: You never went to anything social, you became much more aggressive, and I remember you telling me you stayed up all hours of the night. But who would think that the small, shy boy I had known growing up was working for the most evil man alive?" He paused, and Harry knew even Black had to take in the words he was saying. "When you told Voldemort you knew where the Potters were, it must have been the greatest day of your life. You were probably immediately promoted to his inner circle. C'mon, Peter, what else did he offer you? What's the price for giving up one of your best friends?"

"You're mad!" cried Pettigrew.

"Stop evading the issue, Peter, we're all tired of it!"

Peter Pettigrew's eyes darted to Harry, who was still standing somewhat off to the side near the broken bed. "I–I'm not evading anything! I've been in Hogwarts for three years and I never even hurt Harry! I have no reason to hurt him!"

"Of course there's no reason to hurt him – at least not at the moment. You never hurt Harry because there was nothing in it for you."

Black exhaled, possibly in an attempt to compose himself somewhat. "Now I understand why you became a nice addition to a Wizarding family – it would enable you to hear all the circulating news on Voldemort should he come back to power. If he did regain power, you would be the first to go back to him, landing in his good graces, and you would also be able to give him Harry, the last Potter, ensuring you were one of his favorites. Am I correct, Peter?"

Pettigrew only mumbled under his breath, his ashen face losing more color.

"You were the only one who knew," Harry interjected. He was slowly coming to terms with all of Black's angry clarifications of Pettigrew. Black and Lupin turned to him, intrigued by his remark. "You saw Pettigrew in the picture and it merely confirmed that he was still alive – twelve years is a long time and anything could've happened – and then you must have realized why he was with the Weasley family. You knew he was biding his time as he kept an eye one me, waiting for Voldemort to show himself again. That's why you had to get out of Azkaban. You were the only one who knew he was still alive. You got out, not to pursue me, but to help me."

"I told you, Harry, I would never hurt you. I'm on your side," Sirius Black replied, earnestly.

Harry nodded slowly. "I know."

"No, Harry!" cried Pettigrew, taking a few steps forward. "It's a lie! He's deceitful! He's switched it all around!" He fell to his knees on the grimy floor, shuffling towards the boy, hands clasped together. "I'm your friend, Harry. You won't let him kill me, will you?"

Harry was startled to see a full-grown man drawing nearer to him on his knees, begging to keep his life. To Pettigrew, it seemed to be his decision. Did Sirius and Lupin feel the same?

However, Pettigrew didn't wait for a response from Harry, instead he turned to Lupin, who was to Harry's left. "Remus, help me. We're friends. Don't let him kill me." He was literally squirming in front of them, though Harry couldn't tell whether it was out of fear or for show. "W–wouldn't he have told you, Remus, that he had switched with me, if he was good?"

"How good he was or is isn't the question, Peter. He would've told me, I'm sure, if he didn't already think I might be the spy, and I must admit that I, too, thought he was a traitor," replied Lupin, looking down upon Pettigrew. He glanced at Sirius to say, "Forgive me, my friend."

"Only if you forgive me for letting you believe that I was a murderer for twelve years," Sirius remarked with a tiny smile, which Lupin returned.

"He will be a murderer if you let him kill me!" Pettigrew squealed from on his knees. "You need me, Sirius, you need me alive! If you want to shed your regard as a criminal, then you need me alive to attest it."

"I think your dead body would suffice," Sirius remarked, pointing his wand at the mousy-looking man, "especially since it should be bones by now. But what I can't understand is what's in it for you, Peter?"

"My life."

Sirius gave a derisive laugh. "I've waited twelve years for this. If you're going to beg for your life, you have to do better than that."

A/N: First off, HAPPY HOLIDAYS! I hope you're all enjoying your small break from work or school! I know I certainly am!

Secondly, I've been writing an original story titled Somnambulism, so I was wondering if you guys would be interested in reading the first chapter. You don't have to, of course; I would just really appreciate it. The chapter still has changes that need to be made and additional little things that have to be written in, but as it is now I was wondering if you would read it? If you want to (Thanks in advance!), then you can go to www. freewebs .com /black_ink_drips/apps/blog. If you have any criticisms or comments or questions just leave a comment (you have to click comment towards the top).

Happy Hanukkah or Merry Christmas or Happy Kwanza!

Preview of Chapter 37—The Trap of Entanglement:

Unfortunately, an unexpected visitor appears at the Shrieking Shack and ruins Harry, Lupin, and Black's plans to amend Sirius Black's name as a murderer, and things are further ruined when the group emerges in the moonlight…