It seemed to take a moment for this to sink in. Remus' silence told Calla he believed it too, and her stomach churned as her mind raced. It had to be impossible, but... Maybe.

"You're mental," Ron said, staring at Sirius Black. Peter Pettigrew's dead. He - he killed him!" But he was looking less and less sure of this. Harry stayed quiet, hovering at Calla's shoulder.

"I meant to," Black growled, face twitching, brain his yellowed teeth, "but little Peter got the better of me... not this time, though!"

Before Calla could move, Crookshanks was thrown to the floor with a yowl as Black lunged for Scabbers; Ron yelled with pain as Black landed on his bad leg, and Remus lunged forwards, scrabbling to try and pull him back. "No, Sirius!" he yelled, wrestling Black off of Ron's leg. Calla stared, heart in her throat, as Black struggled against him. "Wait! You can't do it now, just like that - we need to explain, now, they have to understand - we have to explain, Sirius!"

"We can explain after!" Black snarled, trying to through Remus off. Calla darted forward but her godfather held her back with his arm. Black's other hand was still scrabbling against the air as it tried to reach for Scabbers, who was still squealing and crawling all over Ron, scratching his face and neck as he tried to make a break for it.

"They've - got - a - right to - know - everything!" Remus panted, still trying to contain him. Calla shuddered as she watched him, with no idea what she could or should do except watch and try to understand. "Ron's kept him as a pet!" Remus was shouting at Black. "There are parts of it even I don't understand. And Harry and Calla - you owe it to them that they know the truth, Sirius!"

At that, Black stopped struggling, though his eyes were still fixed intently on the writhing Scabbers, who was clamped between Ron's scratched, bleeding hands. "All right, then," Black said, with his intense, downright murderous gaze still fixed on Scabbers and Ron. "Tell them whatever you like, then, Remus. But make it quick. I want to commit the murder I was imprisoned for..."

Calla shuddered, and looked worriedly at Remus. He trusted Black, but she still wasn't certain he was entirely safe. "You're a nutter," Ron said, shaking, looking around at them for support. "I've had enough of this now. I'm off."

He tried to get up on his good leg, wincing, but Remus held up a hand to him, halting him, and then raised his wand. He pointed it at Scabbers. "Remus," Harry whispered. "What are you doing?"

"Hear me out, Ron," Remus said slowly. "And mind you keep a strong hold on Peter while you listen."

"He's not Peter!" Ron yelled. "He's Scabbers! He's my rat!" He tried hastily to shove the rat back into his front pocket, but Scabbers - Peter - was fighting too hard; Ron swayed on the spot and then tipped over, stumbling, and Calla and Harry both rushed to catch him and help him back into the bed.

"Just," Harry said in a whisper, "just listen to him, alright. I've no idea what's going on, but..." He met Calla's eyes and they both nodded. "He definitely believes that Scabbers is Peter Pettigrew. They were all best friends, Remus - Remus knows more than almost anyone else." He glanced back at Remus.

"And don't hurt your leg," Calla told him gently, stretching back up to stand.

"But - but there were witnesses-" Ron said shakily. "A whole street saw him die! They saw him-" he jabbed his pointed finger towards Black "kill him!"

"They didn't see what they thought they saw!" Black said in a savage, furious voice. Scabbers squirmed even more in Ron's hands, and Calla eyed Black nervously. He looked ready to kill the rat the moment Remus allowed him to.

"Everyone though Sirius killed Peter," Remus said quietly, nodding. "I believed it myself, until tonight, when I saw his name on the map. Because the Marauder's Map never lies, we made certain of that. And Peter is very much alive. You're holding him, Ron."

Calla and Harry's eyes met nervously, and they both nodded an agreement. Because the rat was now squirming out of control, desperate to run away, to escape, and he only got more agitated the more Remus and Black spoke. The story made very little sense, but it was beginning to come together. Calla knew it had to be true. She could feel it. Everything she'd seen of the rat and the dog and the wolf, it was all coming together, just starting to make sense. If Peter Pettigrew was Scabbers, he was an animagus. He could have faked his death, blown up so there was no trace of him... And then what? Just scampered away and found a Wizarding family to take him in? The Weasleys seemed an awfully convenient family for Peter Pettigrew to have found, especially considering he was Ron's rat. The odds of that were so slim...

Then Hermione spoke in a trembling voice, interrupting Calla's thoughts. Her words shook a little in her effort to bring back some sense of calm and sensibility. "But Professor Lupin..." Hermione said. "Remus. Calla... Harry... Scabbers can't be Peter Pettigrew. It just can't be true, you know it can't be."

"And why is that, Hermione?" Remus asked calmly, as though they were still in a class. He was being very calm about all of this, Calla noted. It hadn't seemed to even have come as such a great shock to him, or maybe he was just trying very hard to keep the rest of them calm.

"Because..." Hermione said. "Because people would know if Peter Pettigrew was an animagus, wouldn't they? We studied animagi in class in Transfiguration, with Professor McGonagall, and I decided to look them up while I was doing my homework, it sounded like a very interesting piece of magic. And the Ministry keeps tabs on witches and wizards who can become animals, there's a register showing what they can become and their markings and things... And I - I went and looked and Professor McGonagall's name came up on the register and there have only been seven Animagi this century, and Peter Pettigrew wasn't on the list-"

But a thought had occurred to Calla. "Was his?" she asked, jerking her head towards Sirius Black. Hermione blinked. "It wasn't, was it? Because then people would have known, someone would have seen the dog, we would have been told what he looked like in his other form! Because that's how he's been getting about, isn't it, and - and he can't have been registered either! And if - if they knew each other, did..." She looked at Remus, not totally sure what she was asking.

He laughed, smiling. "Right again, Hermione. But Calla is correct. There used to be three unregistered Animagi running around Hogwarts, completely unknown to the Ministry." The third, she knew, had to be her father. Prongs.

"If you're going to tell them the story, Remus," Black snarled, eyes still fixed intently on Scabbers and watching his every terrified move, "you'd better get on with it. I've waited twelve years for this, in Azkaban. I won't wait much longer."

"Alright," Remus said wearily. "But you'll need to help me, Sirius. I only know how it began..."

Remus broke off suddenly, and Calla whipped around. There had been a loud creak from the hallway, just behind the door, and Calla was sure the door was further ajar than it had been. "This place is haunted!" Ron said, paling even further.

"No," Remus said. "This place was never haunted. Those sounds the villagers heard were me." He crept closer to the door, taking the handle. Calla stood by nervously, watching. There was another creak and, slowly, Remus opened the door. There was no one out in the hallway, not that Calla could see, but she felt a sudden unease come over her. She stepped forward, but Black put out an arm. Calla glared at him and he lowered it.

"This door was shut when I came up here," Remus muttered from out in the hallway. Calla took in a sharp, nervous breath. There was a creaking sound of Remus opening a door and then there was a loud yell.

"Stupefy!"

A jet of red light sent him flying back against the wall and Calla and Harry both surged forwards, wands out and pointed as a dark shape whirled into the hallway, stalking towards them. She stared, heart hammering.

"Snape?"

"Out of my way, Potter," he snarled, pushing Harry aside as he stalked towards Sirius. "Black."

"Snape." Black glared at him, his eyes full of loathing.

"Professor," Calla said quickly. Snape turned his head towards her. "I - I don't quite know what's happening, but - but Sirius isn't - he didn't kill Pettigrew."

Snape stared at her. "What an amusing tale."

"Professor, He was just trying to explain! It's Scabbers, Ron's rat! He's Peter Pettigrew, he's an animagus, he faked his death and - and framed him!"

"Miss Potter," Snape drawled. "Have you quite lost your senses? Black is a murderer."

"I-" She opened and closed her mouth quite helplessly. "He-"

"Remus was explaining," Harry jumped in. "He - he knows what happened!"

"Lies," Snape hissed. "I have reason to believe that Professor Lupin is in cohorts with Black. Conspiring against you."

"He's not!" Harry said hotly, leaping in between Snape and Black. "Just listen!"

"Do you believe the word of a madman and a werewolf, over mine?"

They both stayed quiet, but that was their answer. Remus was stirring in the hallway, getting to his feet. Snape's wand was now aimed at Harry, and he was shaking with fury, fingers wrapped tightly around his wand like he was choking it. "Severus," came Remus' quiet voice, as he came through the doorway. "Please."

Snape whirled around, black robes swirling around him, and turned his wand on Remus. Calla moves swiftly, standing in front of him. "Don't hurt him," she said quickly. "He hasn't done anything, he's just explaining!" Her eyes latched on something dangling from Snape's hand, something silver, and her heart stopped for a moment. "Why do you have that?"

"This," Snape said, holding up the bracelet. "A very sentimental little thing. It was most helpful in letting me know where you had gone."

"Give that back," Calla found herself snarling, heart hammering in fire. He held it in his hand, eyebrows raised, and Calla lunged forward. "Give that back!"

"Calla," Remus said gently, grasping her arm and holding her back. "Get out of the way."

"Remus!"

"Do as I say." His voice was sterner than ever. She gulped, and turned to her godfather, eyes wide. He nodded intently and she bit her lip as she shivered, edging away so she was out of the line of spellfire between them. "Petrificus totalus!"

The spell hit Snape instantly, knocking him to the ground. Calla ran over, snatching the bracelet from between his fingers. She ran her thumb over the slim rectangular plate, the words engraved there, and held it tightly to her chest as she got to her feet. "You gave me this bracelet," she said to Black, holding it out. "Didn't you?" He nodded slowly. "Why did you have it?"

"Your mother never got to wear it," he said in a low voice. "Your father wanted to have it made for her, but he was house-bound, and couldn't make it to the jeweller's. So I did. I was meant to bring it to him on the first of November, just after it was finished." His eyes followed the silver. "I never got the chance."

Calla's heart felt awfully heavy. She looked down at the bracelet again, holding the chain between her slim fingers, running her thumb over the engraving. For Lily.

"So you... Kept it? Even in Azkaban?"

"It had been returned to my vault after I was imprisoned," Black told her, voice hoarse. "I got Crookshanks to get the goblins to take it out a few months ago..."

"And gave it to me?" Calla stared at him.

"You seemed to like my dog form." Now all she did was glare.

"I don't understand," Hermione said, looking as though her not understanding was quite an awful thing indeed.

"No," Remus said, considering. "Nor do I."

"Now you know that," Black said, eyes now uncofmortable on Calla's face, "shall we get a move on? I'd like to have him dead by the time Snape gets up."

Remus sighed, and Calla folded her hand over the bracelet, slipping it into her pocket. "I suppose," he said, "this all starts with me. I was very small when I was bitten. My parents tried everything, but there was no cure in those days. The potion that Professor Snape has been making me, as Harry and Calla know, is a very recent discovery. Without it I wouldn't have been able to return to Hogwarts to teach. It keeps me safe; so long as I take it for the week leading up to the full moon, I remain a tame wolf while I transform. I am able to curl up in my office, and bear no harm to anyone.

"Before this, however, before the Wolfsbane Potion, I became a full fledged monster once a month. It had seemed impossible that I would be able to come to Hogwarts at all. We doubted that any of the other parents would allow their children to be near someone like me.

"But then Dumbledore became headmaster." He smiled weakly. "He was sympathetic towards me and my condition. He said that, so long as certain precautions were taken, there was no reason that I shouldn't be able to come to Hogwarts." He looked at Harry and Calla. "I've told you about the Whomping Willow, how it was planted for my arrival, to guard the passage to this shack. Where I could transform, out of the way." He looked around the room, eyes tired and sorrowful.

"My transformations were not easy, in those days. They were terrible, and painful." Remus swallowed deeply and Calla frowned in sympathy. Her mind went back to that chair downstairs, with the chunk out of it, and of the ruin of the house that wasn't only caused by aging. "I was separated from humans to bite," he went on. "So I scratched and bit at myself instead, and tore these rooms apart. The villagers heard the noise and the screaming and thought it was particularly violent, angry spirits. Dumbledore encourages the rumours to hide the truth. Even now, few dare to come anywhere near the Shrieking Shack."

She tried to imagine what that must have been like. To tear at yourself so, ripping yourself apart and then waking in the morning, all alone and bleeding and exhausted. Her eyes welled.

"But even despite my transformation," Remus said, smiling wanly in Calla's direction, "those remained some of the best years of my life. For the first time, I had friends. Great friends. Sirius Black... Peter Pettigrew... And of course, James.

"But the three of them couldn't fail to notice how I disappeared each month. I made up so many stories, trying to cover it up, keep my identity a secret even from them. I said my mother was ill, that I had to go home to see her. I was terrified wat they'd do when they'd find out, what they might say, how they might turn on me. I was terrified they'd desert me, like that. But of course they, like Hermione has, worked out the truth.

"I expected them to turn on me. Desert me. But instead, they did something for me that would make my transformations not only bearable, but some of the best times of my life. They became Animagi."

"And Dad?" Calla said, in a whisper. Remus had never mentioned that before, not ever. She stared at him, waiting for an answer.

"Yes," he said. "James, too. It took them the best part of three years to work out how to do it. Your father and Sirius were the cleverest students in the school, which was very lucky. The Animagus transformation is one of the trickiest to complete and it can often go horribly, horribly wrong. It's part of why the Ministry keeps such a close eye on those who attempt the magic. Peter needed all the help he could get from James and Sirius." Scabbers wriggled almost indignantly in Ron's hands. "Finally, in our fifth year, they managed to pull it off. They could, each of them, turn into a different animal, at will."

"To keep you company?" Calla asked, pieces fitting together. And her father, she thought. He had to be prongs, she was sure, but what animal had he been? "As animals?"

Remus nodded. "But what help would that be?" Hermione asked, frowning.

"Werewolves attack humans," Remus explained. "Not animals. In their Animagi forms, my friends were quite safe. Every full moon they snuck out of the castle under James' Invisibility Cloak." He nodded to where it still lay on the floor. "They transformed... Peter's rat form was the smallest, so he was able to sneak beneath the willow's branches instead of getting hurt and could touch the knotthat freezes it. Then the others would slip in through the tunnel to join me. Under their influence, I became a less dangerous wolf. I was still a wolf, of course, but my mind seemed to become less wolfish when I was with them."

"Hurry up, Remus," Black snarled unexpectedly, and Calla jumped. It seemed his gaze had returned to Scabbers and never left. He looked hungry.

"I'm getting there, Sirius, I'm getting there." Remus shook his head. "There were some very exciting possibilities open to us now that we were all able to transform. We started leaving the Shack and exploring the Hogwarts grounds and Hogsmeade by night. Sirius and James both transformed into large animals, large enough that they could keep a fully grown werewolf like me in check. I doubt anyone ever found out more about the grounds and Hogsmeade than we did." He nodded to Calla. "That's how the map came about. We all signed it with our nicknames."

"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs," Harry recited, and Remus nodded.

"I was Moony, as you know. Peter was Wormtail, Sirius Padfoot, and James was Prongs."

"What sort of animal-"

"That was still really dangerous!" Hermione said, cutting Harry off. Calla shot her a look. "Running around in the dark, and with a werewolf on the loose! What if you'd give the others the slip? What if you'd bitten someone?"

"He didn't," Calla muttered to Hermione.

"The thought," Remus said heavily, "still haunts me. There were many near misses, far too many. We laughed about them afterwards. We were young and thoughtless, and carried away with ourselves and our own cleverness."

"Of course I often felt guilty about betraying Dumbledore's trust. He was the first headmaster who would have allowed me to attend Hogwarts in the first place, and if he'd known I was breaking all of his rules - the rules that had been set down for other people's safety - and that I had led my friends astray too, three other students becoming unregistered Animagi... And yet, I managed to forget. When we sat down, to plan our next adventure for the month. And I'm afraid I haven't changed..."

Remus' face hardened and at the look of self disgust in his eyes Calla wanted nothing more than to run back over to him, to do something. But she felt rooted to the spot. "All this year, I have been battling with myself over whether I should tell Dumbledore that Sirius is an Animagus. But I didn't do it. Why? Because I was too cowardly. It would have meant admitting everything, that I had betrayed his trust when I was at school, even after everything he did for me. Dumbledore's trust has always meant everything to me. He gave me an education when I was a boy, and later he has given me a job, when I have been shunned all my adult life, barely managing to keep work and a roof over my head, because of what I am. He gave me a fresh start, the ability to help myself and to help you." He looked at Harry and Calla then, eyes wide. "So that I might be able to care for you as I have been trying to be able to for many years.

"And so I convinced myself Sirius was using dark magic to get into the school, learned from Voldemort, rather than his Animagus form... Or the old passages. I hoped Dumbledore already knew about those, so that I needn't admit to all we had done."

"Remus," Calla whispered, feeling a jolting sickness. She'd spoken to him about those passages, had asked if he thought it was safe, if Sirius Black was using them. He said he'd thought Dumbledore might still believe Black innocent, that he already knew and hadn't done anything, that there was no evidence of him having used the passage. The floor suddenly felt a little less solid.

"Perhaps I was a coward," he said quietly. "Perhaps I should have admitted to my betrayal of Dumbledore's trust. Perhaps the castle would have been safer."

"You said you thought Dumbledore thought he might still be innocent," Harry said, voice shaking in confusion.

"A part of me, perhaps... Hoped." He shook his head. "In a way, Snape has been right about me all along. He's teaching here, Sirius."

"I'd gathered," Black croaked, staring at where Snape's body lay stiffly on the floorboards. "I can't imagine Snivellus... Teaching."

"I already told you Professor Snape attended school with us, Harry, Calla. He didn't like us then, and he still hates me even now." He shook his head heavily, eyes tired. "He has voiced his opinion many a time against my appointment to the Defense Against the Dark Arts Post. He believed, as he has just demonstrated, that I have been helping Sirius into the castle, to hurt you. But he has his reasons not to trust us... You see, when we were younger, Sirius played a trick on him. A trick that involved me. It nearly got him killed." Pain at the memory flashed across his face and Calla turned a glare on Black. What had he done, that had almost killed Snape, that had involved Remus?

"Served him right," Black said, with a disgusted look at Snape's body. "Always sneaking around after us, as he was, always trying to find a way to get us expelled. He was jealous of James, of his success on the Quidditch field. He was always jealous of the four of us."

"Yes," Remus said quietly. "But one night, Snape had seen Madam Pomfrey leading me across the grounds to the Whomping Willow, to transform. Sirius thought it would be - er - amusing to tell Snape all he had to do was to prod the knot at the base of the tree with a long stick and he'd be able to get in after me." Calla gasped shallowly. Black has done that? She shouldn't be surprised, if she believed he was a murderer but - but Remus still trusted him. But she could see where the story was going. "Well, of course, Snape tried it. If he'd gotten as far as this house, he would have met with me as a full transformed werewolf." Calla shivered at the thought of that. What age must they have been? Only a few years older than she was. "Fortunately, you father found out what Sirius had done, and ran down to stop it. He pulled Snape back, at a great risk to his own life. But the damage was done. Snape had already seen me, and he knew what I was."

"He could have died," Calla said hollowly. She stared at Sirius Black, who was looking gaunt. "You expect us to trust you, you could have killed him! If my father hadn't stopped it!"

"It was a long time ago," Remus said heavily. But she could see it wasn't long enough ago that he could let it go.

"And that's why Snape doesn't like you?" Harry asked. "Because he thought you were in on the joke."

There was a creaking sound. Calla shivered, as Snape sat up slowly, and she stepped back sharply from him. "That's right," he said, getting creakily to his feet. Everyone stared at him, too transfixed to move. Ron, Hermione, Calla and Harry were all still reeling, and Sirius Black's eyes had returned furiously to Scabbers.

Before anyone could do anything, Snape had grabbed his wand and with a bang, vines shot out from the end of it, wrapping around Remus' mouth and hands. Calla screamed, stumbling back. "What are you doing?" she shouted. "You just heard-"

"I've heard all I need to hear," Snape said softly, eyes turned viciously on her. She shuddered, feeling cold, gripped by something icy. "That Lupin has been keeping things from Dumbledore. Secrets that allowed Black to infiltrate the castle-"

"Weren't you listening? That's not-"

Black had ran at Snape suddenly, and Harry and Hermione both yelled as they tried to stop him, or stop Snape, she wasn't sure on that. "Wait!" she yelled, as Snape whirled around on them, his wand pointed right between Harry's eyes. "Don't hurt him!"

"Get out of the way, Potter," Snape said slowly.

"Let Remus go!" Calla shouted at him, eyes stinging with fury. "He'll explain, weren't you listening?"

"We've already told you!" Harry was yelling. "Pettigrew - Pettigrew's alive!" He looked at Calla nervously, neither of them entirely certain of the truth but still determined to believe Remus.

"A clever lie," Snape said, shoving Harry out of the way. He advanced towards Black, who was glaring at him furiously, unarmed. "Designed to fool young and gullible wizards."

"Professor Snape," Hermione said nervously. "It - it wouldn't hurt to hear what they have to say, would it?"

"Miss Granger, you are all already facing suspension from the school," Snape spat. "You are out of bounds, late at night, in the company of a convicted murderer and a werewolf. For once in your life, hold your tongue."

Calla crept around the back of Snape, where Remus was still tied and bound on the floor. She hoped her friends would stall until she could come up with something, until Remus could convince him. "But if - if there has been a m-mistake-"

"KEEP QUIET, YOU STUPID GIRL!" Snape shouted, and anger flared in Calla. She gritted her teeth as she pulled at the ropes around Remus' wrists. The wouldn't untie; she'd need to slice them. "DON'T TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!"

There was a broken shard of what might been glass on the edge of the wall. As quietly as she could, Calla crept over to it, taking it.

"Vengeance is sweet," Snape said softly to Black. When Calla looked up she saw his wand sparking in his face. "How I hoped I would be the one to catch you."

"The joke's on you again, Severus," said Black coldly. "As long as this boy takes his rat up to the castle...

"To the castle? Where you will tell your ridiculous tale? The Minister won't believe it," Snape told Black softly, and Calla saw him shudder. She crawled over to Remus, using the edge of the glass to try and cut through the ropes. It was entirely innefectual. "The Dementors will not care." Snape's lips curved into a sinister smile. "I expect they will be very pleased to see you, Black. They might even give you a little... Kiss."

"The rat-" Black croaked desperately, as Calla tried sawing at the ropes. It was doing nothing of use. "The rat - if you'd only look at the rat-"

"Come on all of you," Snape said, voice harsh. He didn't seem like he was willing to listen to reason at all. He clicked his fingers and the ends of the ropes that held Remus flew to his hands, shooting past Calla. She swung around, and he stared at her. "Miss Potter, cease what you are doing. I'll take the werewolf. Perhaps the Dementors will see him, too."

Before Calla knew what she was doing, her anger had overtaken her. She flung herself at Snape, snatching the ropes away. "HOW DARE YOU!" she shouted, and he glared at her with a mad glint in his eye. "HOW DARE YOU! YOU'VE BEEN TRYING ALL YEAR TO GET HIM FIRED, ALL BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T LIKE HIM WHEN YOU WERE YOUNGER, BCAUSE OF SOMETHING THAT WAS NEVER HIS FAULT!" She was still holding the bit of glass, and she flung it to the side where it sounded like it shattered. "LET HIM GO AND LISTEN FOR ONCE!"

"Step aside, Miss Potter," Snape said lowly. She stayed right where she was. "I said, step aside." When she didn't, he raised his wand towards her and she tried to steady her breathing, to not let on that she was terrified. "I have just saved your neck, Miss Potter. Step aside now, before you come to any more harm."

She wouldn't let him use a spell. Calla grabbed his wrist, shoving him backwards. He was stronger than she was, but she'd surprised him; his wand fell from his grasp and his eyes opened wide in shock. "How dare you," he spat. "You should be thanking me for saving your life." She bent down, grabbing his wand and backed away. "Black would have killed you, and you would have died with your brother, as arrogant as your father, too arrogant to think you may be wrong about the company you keep."

"DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT OUR FATHER!" Harry bellowed.

Everyone was staring at her, and she pointed her wand at Remus. There was one of few spells she knew she could perform correctly. "Finite!" she shouted, and the ropes snapped away from Remus. He struggled to his feet, and Snape seemed to be spitting as he ran at Calla, taking his wand back. Her nails scrabbled at his arm, but he was too strong, and she was flung against the wall, head slamming hard against it. The world spun and went quiet and then roared back into life again as the room blazed with red light and Snape was flung on his back. His wand landed next to Crookshanks, and Harry was panting as both he and Remus ran over to Calla.

She'd slumped down on the floor, and caught her breath hastily. Her head felt numb, and her vision wasn't where it ought to be. Black appeared in her vision, forehead creased at her and then at Harry. "You shouldn't have done that," he told Harry. "You should have left him to me."

"You'd have killed him," Calla croaked, squeezing her eyes shut.

"I'm surprised that didn't kill you," Black croaked back, and a shiver went down Calla's spine.

"That's enough, Sirius," said Remus, as Harry took Calla's hand. She stumbled awkwardly to her feet, and the world began falling back into place.

"We attacked a teacher," Hermione was saying breathlessly. "We attacked a teacher. We're going to be in so much trouble."

"You disarmed him," Calla said, a little shakily as Harry guided her to the bed. Both Matilda and Crookshanks mewed loudly, clambering into her lap. "I think... Ow."

Remus gave her a worried look. "I'll be alright. Give me a minute for my head to stop hurting."

"It's about time we showed you the truth," Black said, standing back and looking around at them. "You. Give me the rat."