23 June 1994

Hermione let out a shriek. Behind Remus, Sirius leapt to his feet.

"I found this at the base of the Whomping Willow," Snape said silkily, flinging the cloak aside, advancing toward Remus with his wand still pointed directly at him. "Very useful, Potter, I thank you…" Snape's eyes glittered malevolently. "You're wondering, perhaps, how I knew you were here?" he asked in a mocking voice. "I've just been to your office, Lupin. You forgot to take your potion tonight, so I took a gobletful along. And very lucky I did…lucky for me, I mean. Lying on your desk was a certain map. One glance at it told me all I needed to know. I saw you running along this passageway and out of sight."

"Severus—" Remus said breathlessly.

But Snape cut him off sharply. "I've told the headmaster again and again that you're helping your old friend Black into the castle, Lupin, and here's the proof. Not even I dreamed you would have the nerve to use this old place as your hideout—"

"Severus, you're making a mistake," Remus said urgently, willing, begging the foolish old potions master to—for once—see sense. "You haven't heard everything—I can explain—Sirius is not here to kill Harry—"

"Two more for Azkaban tonight," Snape said, his expression alight with glee. "I shall be interested to see how Dumbledore takes this. He was quite convinced you were harmless, you know, Lupin—a tame werewolf…"

Remus blinked. "You fool," he said quietly, gazing at Snape. "Is a schoolboy grudge worth putting an innocent man back inside Azkaban?"

Snape's expression turned nasty. In an instant, he had slashed his wand through the air—the very next second, Remus was knocked to the floor as snakelike cords began twisting and tightening themselves around his wrists, ankles, and mouth. Remus lay on the ground, paralyzed—one wrong move, and the cord around his mouth would slip down to his throat…

Sirius let out a roar of fury, starting toward Snape—but out of the corner of his eye, Remus saw Snape point his wand directly between Sirius's eyes.

"Give me a reason," Snape whispered with loathing. "Give me a reason to do it, and I swear I will."

Sirius said nothing, and Remus knew he was too angry, too deliriously maddened to speak.

For a moment, silence filled the room. Then, to Remus's shock, Hermione took a step forward.

"P-Professor Snape…" she began meekly. "It—it wouldn't hurt to hear what they've got to say, w-would it?"

"Miss Granger, you are already facing suspension from this school," Snape spat, without taking his eyes off Sirius. "You, Potter, and Weasley are out-of-bounds, in the company of a convicted murderer and a werewolf. For once in your life, hold your tongue."

"But if—if there was a mistake—"

"KEEP QUIET, YOU STUPID GIRL!" Snape shrieked. "DON'T TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" A few green sparks shot out of the end of his wand, which was still pointed at Sirius's face. Hermione fell silent.

"Vengeance is very sweet," Snape hissed. "How I hoped I would be the one to catch you…"

"The joke's on you again, Severus," Sirius said through gritted teeth. "As long as this boy brings his rat up to the castle, I'll come quietly."

"Up to the castle?" Snape asked derisively—and Remus felt his stomach swoop dizzyingly as, for the first time, he felt a pang of real fear at the potions master's tone. "I don't think we need to go that far. All I have to do is call the dementors once we get out of the Willow. They'll be very pleased to see you, Black…pleased enough to give you a little kiss, I daresay…"

Sirius inhaled sharply. "You—you've got to hear me out," he croaked, pleading. Remus was floored; never, ever in his life had he ever seen Sirius plead with anyone this way, least of all Snape. "The rat—look at the rat—"

But Snape ignored him. "Come on, all of you," he said to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. He snapped his fingers, and the ends of the cords that bound Remus flew into his outstretched hands, forcing Remus to his feet. "I'll drag the werewolf. Perhaps the dementors will have a kiss for him too…"

The cords dug into Remus's skin, propelling him forward like a horse. His mind was working on overdrive—there had to be a way out of this, there had to be…

Then, to Remus's utter shock, Harry crossed the room and placed himself between Remus and Snape and the door.

Snape squeezed the cords and pulled backwards, halting Remus in his tracks. "Get out of the way, Potter—you're in enough trouble already," Snape spat. "If I hadn't been here to save your skin—"

"Professor Lupin could have killed me about a hundred times this year," Harry said, unrelenting; Remus couldn't help but watch him in amazement. "I've been alone with him loads of times, having defense lessons against the dementors. If he was helping Black, why didn't he just finish me off then?"

"Don't ask me to fathom the way a werewolf's mind works," Snape snarled. "Get out of the way, Potter."

"YOU'RE PATHETIC!" Harry shouted, hands curling into fists. "JUST BECAUSE THEY MADE A FOOL OF YOU AT SCHOOL, YOU WON'T EVEN LISTEN—"

"SILENCE! I WILL NOT BE SPOKEN TO LIKE THAT!" Snape screamed, looking positively deranged. "Like father, like son, Potter! I have just saved your neck—you should be thanking me on bended knee! You would have been well served if he'd killed you! You'd have died like your father, too arrogant to believe you might be mistaken in Black—now get out of the way, or I will make you! GET OUT OF THE WAY, POTTER!"

Now, it was Harry who looked undone. But before Remus could begin to fathom what the boy was thinking, Harry had raised his wand. "Expelliarmus!"

To Remus's disbelief, Harry's voice was joined by two others—and with a loud BANG, Snape was blasted backwards and slammed into the rear wall of the dingy old bedroom, where he crumpled, unconscious. His wand sailed through the air and landed with a soft thump on the bed next to the cat.

Remus, still paralyzed by the cords, gaped around at Harry, Ron, and Hermione, all of whom were frozen in horror, wands raised in mid-air.

"You shouldn't have done that," Sirius said faintly, looking at Harry with a mixture of awe and regret. "You should have left him to me…"

Harry did not meet his gaze, staring down at the ground instead.

"We attacked a teacher…we attacked a teacher…" Hermione moaned, unable to tear her eyes away from Snape's limp body. "Oh, we're going to be in so much trouble…"

Sirius bent down and deftly snapped the cords that bound Remus's hands, feet, and mouth. Wincing and rubbing the shallow welts the ropes had left on his wrists, Remus turned to Harry. "Thank you, Harry."

"I'm still not saying I believe you," he told Remus sharply.

"Then it's time we offered you some proof," Remus said, stepping toward Ron. "You, boy—give me Peter, please. Now."

Ron clutched the thrashing rat ever closer to his chest. "Come off it," he said in a feeble voice. "Are you trying to say he broke out of Azkaban just to get his hands on Scabbers? I mean…" He looked around at everyone. "Okay, say Pettigrew could turn into a rat. There are millions of rats—how's he supposed to know which one he's after if he was locked up in Azkaban?"

Remus blinked. "You know, Sirius, that's a fair question," he said, frowning at his friend. "How did you find out where he was?"

Without missing a beat, Sirius slid a bony hand inside his tattered robes and retrieved a crumpled piece of parchment. Then, he smoothed it out and held it for the others to see. Remus looked at it; it was a newspaper clipping bearing a photograph of Ron and his entire family in Egypt. And squarely in the middle of the photograph was Ron, tall and freckly and unmistakable—with his pet rat perched on his shoulder.

"How did you get this?" Remus asked Sirius, flabbergasted.

"Fudge," Sirius said hollowly. "When he came to inspect Azkaban last year, he gave me his paper. And there was Peter, on the front page, on this boy's shoulder. I knew him at once—how many times had I seen him transform? And the caption said the boy would be going back to Hogwarts…to where Harry was…"

"My God," Remus breathed, looking from the Peter clutched in Ron's hands, to the Peter in the picture, back to the Peter in Ron's hands. "His front paw…"

"What about it?" Ron demanded.

"He's got a toe missing," Sirius said.

"Of course," Remus said softly. "So simple…so brilliant…he cut it off himself?"

"Just before he transformed," Sirius said acidly. "When I cornered him, he yelled for the whole street to hear that I'd betrayed Lily and James. Then, before I could curse him, he blew apart the street with the wand behind his back, killed everyone within twenty feet of himself—and sped down into the sewer with the other rats…"

"Didn't you ever hear, Ron?" Remus asked. "The biggest bit of Peter they found was his finger."

"Look, Scabbers probably had a fight with another rat or something!" Ron insisted. "He's been in my family for ages, right—?"

"Twelve years, in fact," Remus interrupted wryly. "Didn't you ever wonder why he was living so long?"

"We—we've been taking good care of him," Ron said—but for the first time, Remus was sure he heard a note of hesitation in the boy's voice.

"Not looking too good at the moment, though, is he?" Remus observed. "I'd guess he's been losing weight ever since he heard Sirius was on the loose again."

"He's been scared of that mad cat!" Ron burst out. He flung an angry look at Hermione's cat, which was still meowing on the bed.

"This cat isn't mad," Sirius said hoarsely, the ghost of a smile crossing his face as he reached out and stroked the cat's furry orange head. "He's the most intelligent of his kind I've ever met. He recognized Peter for what he was right away. And when he met me, he knew I was no dog. It was a while before he trusted me. Finally, I managed to communicate to him what I was after, and he's been helping me."

"What do you mean?" Hermione whispered, eyes wide.

"He tried to bring Peter to me, but couldn't, so he stole the passwords into Gryffindor Tower for me. As I understand it, he took them from a boy's bedside table," Sirius said, a contemplative look on his face. "But Peter got wind of what was going on and ran for it. This cat—Crookshanks, did you call him?—told me Peter had left blood on the sheets. I suppose he bit himself. Well, faking his own death had worked once…"

There was a beat of silence. Then, Harry stepped forward, looking suddenly angry again. "And why did he fake his death?" he demanded. "Because he knew you were about to kill him like you killed my parents!"

"No," Remus said quickly. "Harry—"

"And now you've come to finish him off!" Harry said furiously.

"Yes, I have," Sirius sneered, with a vicious look at Peter.

"Then I should've let Snape take you!" Harry yelled, his voice breaking.

"Harry," Remus said urgently. "Don't you see? All this time, we've thought Sirius betrayed your parents, and Peter tracked him down—but it was the other way around, don't you see? Peter betrayed your mother and father—Sirius tracked Peter down—"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Harry shouted hoarsely, pointing at Sirius. "HE WAS THEIR SECRET KEEPER! HE SAID SO BEFORE YOU TURNED UP. HE SAID HE KILLED THEM!"

"Harry," Sirius's voice was thick, full of raw emotion, his eyes overbright. Seeing his best friend this way went through Remus like physical pain; a lump swelled in his throat. "I as good as killed them. I persuaded Lily and James to change to Peter at the last moment, persuaded them to use him as Secret Keeper instead of me…I'm to blame, I know it. The night they died, I'd arranged to check on Peter, make sure he was still safe, but when I arrived at his hiding place, he'd gone. Yet there was no sign of a struggle. It didn't feel right. I was scared. I set out for your parents' house straight away. And when I saw their house, destroyed, and their b-bodies…I realized what Peter must've done…what I'd done…" His voice cracked. He looked away.

Remus stepped forward, impatience bubbling inside him. "Enough of this," he said stonily. "There's one certain way to prove what really happened. Ron, give me that rat."

"What are you going to do with him if I give him to you?" Ron asked, sounding apprehensive.

"Force him to show himself," Remus said. "If he really is a rat, it won't hurt him."

Ron bit his lip, looking uncertain. But then, at long last, he held the rat out toward Remus; Remus took him, his heart pounding with a bizarre mixture of fury and excitement.

At once, Peter began to squeak hysterically, wriggling in vain, his beady black eyes bulging. Ron was beginning to look rattled again, so Remus turned quickly to Sirius.

"Ready, Sirius?"

Sirius had already fetched Snape's wand from the bed. He approached Remus and Peter, eyes blazing, and Remus knew he was thinking the same thing he was. In the early days of transforming into his Animagus form, Peter had often been unable to turn back into his human form. Because of this, Remus, Sirius, and James had all learned the Animagus Reversal Spell back in their fifth year to help him out.

Not once had Remus ever imagined he might use the spell to prove to James's son that Peter was a traitorous degenerate.

"Together?" Sirius asked quietly.

"I think so," Remus said, tightening his hold on Peter and raising his wand. "On the count of three. One—two—THREE!"

A familiar flash of blinding blue-white light shot out of both their wands, and Peter was momentarily frozen in midair, twisting madly. Then, with a resounding thump, the rat fell and hit the floor—Ron bellowed in alarm—there was another blazing flash of blue—and—

Peter stood before them, cowering and clasping his shaking hands. He was thinner than Remus had last seen him, his once-blond hair balding and limp. He watery eyes flitted around, refusing to meet either Remus's or Sirius's, and his breathing was sharp and shallow.

His eyes kept darting to the door.

"Well, hello, Peter," Remus said airily. "Long time, no see."

"S-S-Sirius…R-Remus…" Peter's gaze remained stubbornly downcast; he would not look Remus in the eye. "My friends…my old friends…"

Sirius let out a low growl, raising his wand, but Remus seized his wrist, restraining him.

"We've been having a little chat, Peter," Remus began, keeping his tone as breezy and casual as he could muster, "about what happened the night Lily and James died. You might have missed the finer points while you were squeaking around down there on the bed—"

"Remus," Peter gasped, tears springing to his eyes. "Remus, you don't believe him, do you? He tried to kill me, Remus—"

"So we've heard," Remus said coldly, unable to mask his anger anymore. "I'd like to clear up one or two little matters with you, Peter, if you'd be so—"

"He's come to try and kill me again!" Peter squeaked shrilly, pointing at Sirius with his crippled hand. "He killed Lily and James, and now he's going to kill me too! You've got to help me, Remus…"

Remus shook his head in disgust. Next to him, Sirius was gazing at Peter with an expression that appeared to be beyond hatred.

"No one's going to try and kill you until we've sorted a few things out," Remus said.

"Sorted things out?" shrieked Peter, his eyes darting more wildly than ever, from the shuttered windows, back to the door. "I knew he'd come after me! I knew he'd be back for me! I've been waiting for this for twelve years!"

"You knew Sirius was going to break out of Azkaban?" Remus asked dubiously. "When nobody has ever done it before?"

"He's got dark powers the rest of us can only dream of!" Peter squawked, wiping his sweaty forehead with his shabby sleeve. "How else did he get out of there? I suppose He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named taught him a few tricks!"

Sirius laughed, a mocking, mirthless laugh that echoed horribly.

"Voldemort, teach me tricks?" he spat, and Peter flinched, whimpering piteously. "What, scared to hear your old master's name? I don't blame you, Peter. His lot aren't very happy with you, are they?"

"Don't know what you mean, Sirius—" Peter muttered, eyes darting around so frenziedly now that Remus began to feel dizzy just looking at them.

"You haven't been hiding from me for twelve years," Sirius said coldly. "You've been hiding from Voldemort's old supporters. I heard things in Azkaban, Peter. They all think you're dead, or you'd have to answer to them. I've heard them screaming all sorts of things in their sleep—it sounds like they think the double-crosser double-crossed them. Voldemort went to the Potters' on your information, and Voldemort met his downfall there. And not all Voldemort's supporters ended up in Azkaban, did they? There are still plenty out here…biding their time…pretending they've seen the error of their ways…if they ever got wind that you were still alive, Peter—"

"Don't know…what you're talking about…" Peter wheezed again, his breathing so sharp now that his face began to turn blue. And then, at long last, Peter looked up and met Remus's gaze, his expression pathetically beseeching—his first real plea. "You don't believe this—this madness, Remus—"

"I must admit, Peter, I have difficulty in understanding why an innocent man would want to spend twelve years as a rat," Remus said steadily.

"Innocent, but scared!" Peter squeaked. "If Voldemort's supporters were after me, it was because I put one of their best men in Azkaban—the spy, Sirius Black!"

Sirius let out a bark of rage, his face twisting. "How dare you," he growled. "I, a spy for Voldemort? When did I ever sneak around people who were stronger and more powerful than myself? But you, Peter—I'll never understand why I didn't see you were the spy from the start. You always liked big friends who'd look after you, didn't you? It used to be us…me and Remus…and James…"

Peter wailed, mopping his sweaty forehead again. "Me, a spy…must be out of your mind…never…don't know how you can say such a—"

"Lily and James only made you Secret Keeper because I suggested it," Sirius snarled, and there was such venom in his tone that Peter stumbled backwards. "I thought it was the perfect plan…a bluff…Voldemort would be sure to come after me, would never dream they'd use a weak, talentless thing like you. It must have been the finest moment of your miserable life, telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters."

"Out of your mind…far-fetched accusations…Azkaban meddled with your head…complete lunacy…" Peter muttered into silence.

For a moment, no one spoke. Then—

"Professor Lupin?" Hermione asked gingerly. "Can—can I say something?"

"Certainly, Hermione," Remus told her warmly, surprised.

"Well—Scabbers—I mean, this—this man—he's been sleeping in Harry's dormitory for three years. If he's working for You-Know-Who, how come he never tried to hurt Harry before now?"

"There!" Peter screeched indignantly. "Thank you! You see, Remus? I have never hurt a hair of Harry's head! Why should I?"

"I'll tell you why," Sirius said darkly. "Because you never did anything for anyone unless you could see what was in it for you. Voldemort's been in hiding for fifteen years—they say he's half-dead. You weren't about to commit murder right under Albus Dumbledore's nose, for a wreck of a wizard who'd lost all of his power, were you? You'd want to be quite sure he was the biggest bully in the playground before you went back to him, wouldn't you? Why else did you find a wizard family to take you in? Keeping an ear out for news, weren't you, Peter? Just in case your old protector regained strength, and it was safe to rejoin him."

Peter spluttered incoherently, seemingly unable to speak. There was another small pause, as the five in the room stared at him, broken only when Hermione cleared her throat for a second time.

"Er—Mr. Black—Sirius?" Hermione asked, and Sirius looked around at her in amazement. Remus almost smiled at the look on his face. "If you don't mind me asking, how—how did you get out of Azkaban, if you didn't use Dark Magic?"

"Thank you!" Peter howled, nodding emphatically. "Exactly! Precisely what I—"

But he stopped short when Remus threw him a dangerous look. Remus looked at Sirius; he was frowning thoughtfully, as though trying to remember, for himself, exactly how he'd done it. Remus felt his insides clench as, suddenly, the reality of Sirius's plight—twelve excruciating years of unlawful imprisonment—hit him squarely in the stomach.

"I don't know how I did it," Sirius said finally. "I think the only reason I never lost my mind is that I knew I was innocent. That wasn't a happy thought, so the dementors couldn't suck it out of me…but it kept me sane and knowing who I am…helped me keep my powers…so when it all became—too much, I could transform in my cell…become a dog. Dementors can't see, you know—" he paused, swallowing, "—They feel their way toward people by feeding off their emotions. They could tell that my feelings were less—less human, less complex when I was a dog…but they thought, of course, that I was losing my mind like everyone else in there, so it didn't trouble them. I was weak, very weak, and I had no hope of driving them away from me without a wand…" Sirius trailed off, his expression hardening. "But then I saw Peter in that picture—I realized he was at Hogwarts with Harry, perfectly positioned to act, if one hint reached his ears that the Dark Side was gathering strength again—" Peter shook his head vigorously, opening and closing his mouth without speaking, "—ready to strike at the moment he could be sure of allies, and to deliver the last Potter to them. If he gave them Harry, who'd dare say he'd betrayed Lord Voldemort? He'd be welcomed back with honors. So you see, I had to do something. I was the only one who knew Peter was still alive…

"It was as if someone had lit a fire in my head, and the dementors couldn't destroy it," Sirius continued hollowly. "It wasn't a happy feeling—it was an obsession…but it gave me strength, it cleared my mind. So, one night when they opened my door to bring food, I slipped past them as a dog. It's so much harder for them to sense animal emotions that they were confused. I was thin, very thin—thin enough to slip through the bars. I swam as a dog back to the mainland. I journeyed north and slipped into the Hogwarts grounds as a dog. I've been living in the forest ever since, except when I came to watch the Quidditch, of course…you fly as well as your father did, Harry…" Sirius looked at Harry, who gazed back at him, his expression unreadable.

"Believe me," Sirius said hoarsely, his eyes bright with tears again; Remus had to press his lips together against the lump in his own throat. "Believe me, Harry. I never betrayed James and Lily. I would have died before I betrayed them."

Remus watched Harry with bated breath. The thirteen-year-old swallowed heavily, jaw clenched. Then, looking at Sirius, he nodded.

"No!" Peter screamed, dropping to his knees and crawling forward, imploring, hands clasped together. "Sirius—it's me…it's Peter…your friend…you wouldn't…"

Sirius kicked out and Peter squeaked, jerking away. "There's enough filth on my robes without you touching them," Sirius spat.

"Remus!" Peter squeaked, turning to him instead, seizing the hem of his robes, tears streaming down his cheeks. Bizarrely, Remus was reminded of all the times in their childhood that Peter had immediately come blubbering to Remus when Sirius had become impatient with him and snapped. "You don't believe this…wouldn't Sirius have told you they'd changed the plan?"

"Not if he thought I was the spy, Peter," Remus said lightly. "I assume that's why you didn't tell me, Sirius?"

"Forgive me, Remus," Sirius said humbly, bowing his head.

"Not at all, Padfoot, old friend," Remus replied at once, rolling up the sleeves of his robes. "And will you, in turn, forgive me for believing you were the spy?"

"Of course," Sirius quipped, grinning at him as he too rolled up his sleeves. "Shall we kill him together?"

"Yes, I think so," Remus said firmly, gripping his wand tightly and looking down at Peter with every ounce of hatred and revulsion in his heart.

"You wouldn't…you won't.…" Peter sobbed. And before Remus could say another word, Peter had scrambled across the room to Ron. "Ron…haven't I been a good friend…a good pet? You won't let them kill me, Ron, will you? You're on my side, aren't you?"

But Ron's face looked green under his freckles. "I let you sleep in my bed!" he exclaimed.

"Kind boy…kind master…" Peter groveled, clutching at Ron's broken leg with his scruffy hands. "You won't let them do it…I was your rat…I was a good pet…"

"If you made a better rat than a human, it's not much to boast about, Peter," Sirius snapped, as Ron dragged his leg out of Peter's reach.

Peter swiveled on his knees, staggering toward Hermione. "Sweet girl…clever girl…you—you won't let them. Help me…help me…"

Hermione shook her head and backed away, looking aghast. And Peter, trembling uncontrollably, finally turned his head slowly toward Harry. Remus clutched his wand so tightly that his hand shook.

"Harry…Harry…you look just like your father…just like him—"

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO HARRY?" Sirius roared, his gaunt face turning purple with anger. "HOW DARE YOU FACE HIM? HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT JAMES IN FRONT OF HIM?"

"Harry," breathed Peter, crawling toward him, his round face stained with tears. "Harry, James wouldn't have wanted me killed…James would have understood, Harry…he would have shown me mercy…"

Remus couldn't hear anymore. Shaking with rage, he and Sirius simultaneously stepped forward and roughly seized Peter's arms, throwing him away from Harry. Writhing pitifully, he gazed up at them in terror.

"You sold Lily and James to Voldemort," Sirius stormed, eyes flashing. "Do you deny it?"

Peter burst into fresh tears, sobbing loudly and unabashedly. Remus wanted to strangle him. "Sirius, Sirius, what could I have done? The Dark Lord…you have no idea…he has weapons you can't imagine. I was scared, Sirius—I was never brave like you, and Remus, and James. I never meant it to happen—He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named forced me—"

"DON'T LIE!" Sirius hollered, kicking out at Peter again, who wailed shrilly. "YOU'D BEEN PASSING INFORMATION TO HIM FOR A YEAR BEFORE LILY AND JAMES DIED! YOU WERE HIS SPY!"

"He—he was taking over everywhere!" Peter cried. "Wh-wh-what was there to be gained by refusing him?"

"What was there to be gained by fighting the most evil wizard who has ever existed?" Sirius hissed, looking at Peter with a hatred that made his face looked so gaunt, it was almost skull-like. "Only innocent lives, Peter!"

"You don't understand!" Peter bawled. "He would have killed me, Sirius!"

"THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED!" Sirius thundered, raising Snape's wand and leveling it with Peter's forehead. "DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!"

"You should have realized," Remus said quietly, raising his wand as well, "if Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. Goodbye, Peter."

Peter squeezed his eyes shut, rocking back and forth, sobbing fiercely. On the other side of the room, Hermione covered her face with her hands and turned away; Remus felt a pang, but he gritted his teeth, moving to stand shoulder to shoulder with Sirius.

Suddenly— "NO!" Harry shouted. He ran forward, placing himself in front of Peter, arms outstretched. "You can't kill him," he gasped. "You can't!"

Remus gaped at him, thunderstruck. Next to him, Sirius twitched his wand.

"Harry, this piece of vermin is the reason you have no parents," Sirius said harshly. "This cringing bit of filth would have seen you die too, without turning a hair. You heard him! His own stinking skin meant more to him than your whole family."

"I know," Harry said breathlessly. "We'll take him up to the castle. We'll hand him over to the dementors. He can go to Azkaban—but don't kill him."

"Harry!" Peter gasped, throwing himself forward and grasping Harry's legs. "You—thank you—it's more than I deserve—thank you—"

"Get off me," Harry said savagely, flinging Peter's hands away from him. "I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it because—I don't reckon my dad would've wanted them to become killers—just for you."

Silence fell over the room. No one made a sound except Peter, who wheezed in a crumpled mess on the floor. Remus looked at Sirius, swallowing. From Sirius's pained expression, he knew they were thinking the same thing: Like his father, Harry had an unflinching belief in the moral high road. And it had the potential to cost them everything.

Finally, in one movement, Remus and Sirius lowered their wands.

"You're the only person who has the right to decide, Harry," Sirius said slowly. "But think…think what he did…"

"He can go to Azkaban," Harry said again. "If anyone deserves that place, he does."

"Very well," Remus agreed. "Stand aside, Harry." Harry looked at him. "I'm going to tie him up," Remus clarified with a wry smile. "That's all, I swear."

Harry moved aside. With a flick of his wand, Remus conjured thin ropes that bound Peter's ankles and sealed his mouth.

"But if you transform, Peter," Sirius rumbled, pointing Snape's wand at Peter again, "we will kill you. You agree, Harry?"

Harry glared down at the pitiful figure on the floor and nodded firmly.

"Right, then," Remus said crisply, clapping his hands together. "Ron, I can't mend bones nearly as well as Madam Pomfrey, so I think it's best if we just strap your leg up until we can get you to the Hospital Wing." Striding over to Ron, he knelt down and gently tapped Ron's leg with his wand. "Ferula." With a whoosh of bandages intertwining, Ron's leg was strapped tightly to a split.

Remus reached out and pulled Ron up to his feet. Carefully, Ron put his weight on his broken leg. Then, he looked at Remus in relief. "That's better," he said gratefully. "Thanks."

"What about Professor Snape?" Hermione asked timidly, looking down at Snape's feeble form.

"There's nothing seriously wrong with him," Remus said, frowning as he touched two fingers to Snape's neck; he felt a faint pulse. "You were just a little—overenthusiastic. Still out cold. Er—perhaps it will be best if we don't revive him until we're safely back in the castle." Sirius snorted softly from behind him, and Remus threw him a look. "We can take him like this. Mobilicorpus."

Invisible strings pulled Snape into a standing position, making him look eerily puppet-like. Remus picked up James's old Invisibility Cloak from where Snape had flung it aside and tucked it into his pocket.

"And two of us should be chained to this," Sirius said, prodding Peter with his toe. "Just to make sure."

"I'll do it," said Remus, shrugging.

"And me," Ron said harshly. He limped forward, his face set and pale.

Sirius conjured heavy fetters, which wrapped themselves around Peter, forcing him upright with his left arm chained to Remus's right and right arm to Ron's left. And with a final purr that sounded almost triumphant, Crookshanks leapt lightly off the bed and led the way out of the room.

Remus, with Peter and Ron in tow, followed the fluffy cat out of the room and down the stairs. Behind them, Remus saw with a glance over his shoulder, drifted Snape—prodded along by Sirius's wand. And Harry and Hermione padded down the stairs behind them.

Finally, they reached the tunnel. It took several attempts, but by some miracle, Remus managed to maneuver both Ron and Peter through the narrow entrance with his wand still pointed at Peter's chest. Carefully, they edged along the tunnel in a straight line, following the bright orange brush in front of them that was Crookshanks's tail. For a while, they walked in complete silence, except for the soft thump-thump-thump of Snape's head bumping against the tunnel's low ceiling. A wary glance over his shoulder at Sirius, who flung him a careless smirk in return, told Remus that Sirius wasn't doing this by accident.

When at last they clambered out of the tunnel and onto the grounds, Remus heaved a sigh of relief. As one bizarre procession, the seven of them traipsed toward the castle. With each step, the lights grew nearer, and Remus felt his heart grow increasingly lighter in his chest. Suddenly, Peter let out a particularly pathetic whimper, and Remus looked at him sharply.

"One wrong move, Peter," Remus threatened, jabbing Peter's chest with his wand.

Glancing behind him, Remus saw that Sirius was so engrossed in conversation with Harry that he hadn't noticed Snape was drifting oddly ahead of him, head lolling more than ever.

Remus opened his mouth to chastise Sirius, but he was suddenly distracted by something else—a cloud shifted in the sky, and Remus looked around to see the large, full moon rising up over the shadow of the Forbidden Forest behind them, bathing the grounds in moonlight. The next instant, Remus felt his stomach falling, falling away from him—one final lucid moment of pure, unadulterated horror…

There was a thump behind him, as Snape's unconscious form collided with his back. Next to Remus, Peter and Ron froze abruptly as well.

Remus gazed up at the moon in revulsion, unable to force his eyes away if his life depended on it. He felt the horribly familiar throbbing of his limbs beginning to vibrate, pain jolting through every muscle, every joint in his body, overtaking his every nerve…

The last thing he heard, before he felt his mind slip away completely, was Sirius's strained, urgent yell, sounding oddly faraway…

"Leave it to me—RUN!"

Author's Note:

Longest. Chapter. Ever. PHEW.

Ari