A few weeks after Easter, Uncle Remus started getting sick. At first he just seemed more tired than usual. Then he started sitting in his room wrapped in a blanket with the lights off. That evening, Uncle Remus didn't seem like he was up for making dinner so Harry looked through the kitchen for something he could make on his own. Eventually, he managed to carry two decent looking sandwiches and two bowls of tinned chicken noodle soup up the stairs to Uncle Remus's room.

"You didn't have to do that Harry," Uncle Remus said.

"But, you don't feel good and you didn't have any breakfast either."

Uncle Remus gave a weak smile and sat up enough to take a bite of the sandwich. "Thank you."

After a few bites, Uncle Remus leaned back in his chair and said, "Go ahead, Harry, ask anything you like."

"Do you need anything to make you feel better? I know how to get to the chemists. The number 4 bus that goes down Magnolia Rd stops right in front of it."

"Thank you Harry but no," Uncle Remus said. "Professor Snape made a potion for me that helps."

"Professor Snape? That bat looking bloke who doesn't like you?"

Uncle Remus chuckled. "Yes, that Professor Snape."

"Are you sure he made it right?" Harry asked in a concerned tone.

"Yes, Harry, he made it right," Uncle Remus said. "He's very good at making potions and he'd do anything Professor Dumbledore asks of him. He'd even help someone that he detests."

Uncle Remus ate a bit more and then leaned back and closed his eyes for a few moments.

"Harry," he said after a while, "when I was a very small boy, I developed a kind of magic illness. It makes me get sick for a few days about once a month."

"They can't fix it?"

"Unfortunately, no. However, the potion makes a world of difference."

"That's good." Harry said.

"Yes. In fact, I have to go up to the castle tomorrow evening to get another dose. Would you like to spend the night with the Weasleys?"

Harry's eyes brightened. He'd enjoyed the Weasleys' company, especially Ron and Ginny. But then he thought about it. "I could come with you," he said.

"I appreciate the offer Harry, but I think you'd have more fun with the Weasleys instead of worrying over me."

"Yeah," Harry said, "but you don't leave me alone with the Dursleys. Maybe I shouldn't leave you alone with Professor Snape, especially since you're sick."

"I won't be alone. Madame Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore will be there too."

"Okay," Harry said, still worried.

The next day Mrs. Weasley met Harry after school and apperated him to the Burrow. In the morning she dropped him off at school and Uncle Remus met him after looking a lot better than Harry had last seen him. Harry supposed that the potion must really work.

Mrs. Figg turned up to the house that evening. Harry had often stayed with her whenever the Dursley's didn't want him around for something fun and he assumed that she was there to discuss the next time he'd be forced to look at pictures of her cats. To Harry's surprise, she completely ignored Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia and asked to speak to the Lupin boy.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Harry asked, incredulous.

"Oh yes, we go way back," Mrs. Figg said. "What a little club they had. Remus, Peter, James, Lilly, and...Sirius of course. Such a sad end."

"You-you knew my mum and dad!" Harry said, nearly loud enough to be shouting. "Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"Dumbledore's orders. He thought you were too young to know." Mrs. Figg sighed. "And, I was afraid that if I told you anything or if I was too nice to you," she pointed at Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, "this lot might have stopped sending you over."

"You're damned right we would have," Aunt Petunia said, angrily. "If we'd known you were one of those freaks we'd have never let you anywhere near us."

Uncle Vernon puffed himself up as he did when he was angry. "Leave my house this instant."

"Mrs. Figg is my guest Dursley," Uncle Remus said with a mischievous glint in his eye. "You cannot dismiss her."

Uncle Vernon's face turned red and Harry noted that he looked a lot like Dudley when he was about to have a tantrum. Instead of shouting though, he stomped his way up the stairs to his bedroom with Aunt Petunia close behind him. Harry couldn't help but laugh and Uncle Remus and Mrs. Figg joined him.

"Well, as much as I enjoyed watching Vernon Dursley have a fit, I did come for a reason Remus," Mrs. Figg said. "Albus told me you were having some trouble finding employment. Personally, I don't see why you don't just let the old fart pay your expenses like he wants."

Uncle Remus opened his mouth but Mrs. Figg shushed him.

"I don't need to hear your reasons boy. I've just come to tell you that I've got an offer for you."

Uncle Remus listened.

"A friend of mine has a bookshop in the high street. She needs some staff and she'd prefer someone a bit more responsible than the average teenager. I told her all about you of course and she's willing to offer you the spot."

"That's very kind of you Mrs. Figg but I—"

"Shush boy, I'm talking," Mrs. Figg interrupted. "The poor dear lost her son to this new disease that's been going around the muggle world. The worst of it was how people treated him like some kind of pariah just for being ill. She'll not abide any behavior of that sort towards anyone. If you need a few days off every month she'll let you have them and not ask any questions."

Uncle Remus sat there with his mouth open until Harry poked him. "I think this is where you're supposed to say thank you," he whispered in his uncle's ear.

"Right. Yes. Thank you, very much, Mrs. Figg."

Mrs. Figg smiled. "You're welcome dear boy. Do stop by and see an old woman once in a while, the both of you. I promise not to make you look at cat photos."

She gave Uncle Remus a paper with the name and address of the bookshop and said good night.

For the rest of the term, Uncle Remus walked Harry to school in the morning and then went on to his job at the bookshop. On days when he finished work early, Uncle Remus would still meet him after school. Other days, Harry—having demonstrated his knowledge of the bus routes—would take the number 2 bus from near his school up to a stop a couple streets away from the bookshop. Mrs. Sappington, the owner, took an immediate liking to Harry. She let him sit at a table in the shop's little cafe and have a glass of milk and a scone while he did his homework.

During the summer holidays, Harry spent two whole weeks at the Burrow. He'd enjoyed staying up late talking to Ron even if sitting in Ron's room felt like being inside of a pumpkin. Every inch of the walls was decorated with the orange of the Chudley Cannons, a professional quidditch team. Witches and wizards on brooms whizzed around the various posters as did representations of the four quidditch balls: the red leather quaffle, the black iron bludgers, and the tiny winged golden snitch.

Best of all was getting to see Bill and Charlie again. Ginny had been right about needing a hippogriff to get Charlie off of his broom, not that the rest of them were much better. They stayed in the air for as long as Mrs. Weasley allowed learning new broom skills and Quidditch plays from Charlie. In between sessions of fretting about his N.E.W.T results, Bill helped Harry learn to swim in the pond near the house. Percy could sometimes be pried away from reading to help them build mazes for his pet rat, Scabbers, to solve in exchange for treats.

The morning of his birthday Harry woke up early from the excitement. He tried to force himself to get dressed slowly as to wait for Ron and the rest of the house to wake up. Eventually, he couldn't stand it any longer so he went downstairs quietly. There he found Uncle Remus sitting at the kitchen table with a mug of tea chatting with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Both Uncle Remus and Mr. Weasley still had to go to work of course but they'd both be back for the party.

"Happy Birthday Harry" they all said when they saw him.

"Thanks."

"Do you want to open your presents now or wait until the party later?" Uncle Remus asked.

"Maybe I'll open just one now."

"Then, how about this one." Uncle Remus handed him a colorful package done up with ribbon. Harry tore it open to find two books. One was a collection of Grimm's Fairy Tales and another was the Tales of Beedle the Bard. The former he'd seen a copy of at the bookstore, but instead of the paperback copy, this one was done in a beautiful hardcover. The latter he'd never heard of.

"Oh, what's this?" Mr. Weasley said. "I've not seen this book before."

Harry held up the copy of the Tales of Beedle the Bard.

"No no, the other one."

Harry handed the copy of Grimm's fairy tales to Mr. Weasley who flipped through it excitedly. Harry looked to Uncle Remus questioning.

"The brothers Grimm were muggles who collected muggle folk stories. Beedle the Bard was a wizard who collected wizarding folk stories."

"So, they're the same type of book." Harry said.

"Precisely."

Harry hugged his uncle tightly.

"Thanks Uncle Remus."

Mrs. Weasley looked at her husband and sighed. "Arthur...ARTHUR...Give Harry his book back. Remember you have to go to work."

"Oh, yes." He handed Harry the book.

"Don't worry Mr. Weasley, I'll let you borrow it." Harry said.

Mr. Weasley smiled. He and Uncle Remus grabbed their things and left for work. Harry found a comfortable chair and sat down to read while he waited for the others to wake up.

It rained for most of the day which ended all thoughts of flying. Charlie and the twins tried to argue that Quidditch was played in all weather but Mrs. Weasley didn't relent. Harry, Ron, and Ginny spent most of the day reading. They looked through both of Harry's new books and then Ron brought out his collection of Martin Miggs the Mad Muggle comics.

"I'm not sure the people who wrote this ever met a real muggle." Harry said, flipping through the comics.

"Yeah, well these Brothers Grimm probably never met a real witch." Ginny said. She was still extremely frustrated with the number of evil witches in the book, especially the one in Hansel and Gretel.

"If they did, they only met a dark witch or wizard." Harry said.

"Imagine if the only witch or wizard you ever met was You-know-who." Ron added.

Harry blinked. "You-know-who? Who's that?"

"What do you mean? I know you know who that is." Ron said. He looked fearful. "You know. The one who killed your mum and dad."

"Voldemort?"

Ron's jaw fell. "You said the name."

"Yeah, and?"

"You aren't supposed to."

"Professor Dumbledore and Uncle Remus say it."

"Well, they fought him didn't they. And everyone knows Dumbledore is the only one you-know-who was ever afraid of."

"You know, I didn't always say the name either Ron." Harry hadn't noticed Uncle Remus arrive.

"Why didn't you?" Harry asked.

"And what made you start saying it?" Asked Ron.

"To answer your question Harry, I was afraid of him. A lot of people were and still are."

"But he was really scary, it makes sense that people were afraid of him." Ron said.

"Yes, it does, but Professor Dumbledore used to tell us to always use the proper name for things. You see, fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself."

"Well, I'm not afraid of him." Ginny said, boldly. "How can he be scary if he's dead?"

"I bet you still won't say his name." Ron said.

"V-Voldemort," Ginny said. Harry smiled as she stuck her tongue out at an irritated Ron.

"I don't care, I'm not saying it."

Uncle Remus smiled. "That's alright Ron. You don't have to say the name if you don't want to. And don't tease him for not saying it."

He waved a finger at Harry and Ginny.

"It's okay to be afraid and even if he is gone, there are a lot of people who follow him that are very much alive and very scary."

"Alright you lot, wash up for supper," Mrs. Weasley said, sticking her head in from the kitchen.

As the trio climbed the stairs, Harry heard her say, "Honestly, Remus. You'll give them nightmares."

The food was, as usual, amazing. Mrs. Weasley had roasted chickens with potatoes and vegetables. Even better than the food were the decorations that left no doubt that this was Harry's birthday party. Bill and Charlie had spent the day hanging streamers and a great big banner that read Happy Birthday Harry in bold green letters. His first ever birthday party was off to an amazing start. When they'd finished stuffing themselves with food, Mrs. Weasley brought in the cake. It was done up to look like a Quidditch pitch with three rings sticking up from each end of the cake and the stands rising around. Inside there was a fluffy white cake with jam between the layers and sprinkles baked in. Then there were the rest of his presents. Bill and Charlie presented him with a box of assorted sweets from Honeyduke's. The twins gave him a screaming yo-yo and a box of stink pellets. The latter made Uncle Remus smile and mention the good old days. Ron and Ginny had drawn a huge card together and Percy had charmed it so the drawings moved.

The party gradually wound down and people spread out through the house. Ron was teaching Harry how to play chess which would be going better except that Percy kept trying to help. He only stopped when they noticed something grey streak across the floor.

"Scabbers," Percy shouted, "what are you doing?" He leapt out to grab the fat grey rat. He managed to catch it and when he stood up, Remus had stopped talking. Scabbers was squeaking loudly as he desperately tried to get out of Percy's hands, much to the boy's confusion. He watched in horror as Remus leapt across the table towards Percy.

"Remus, what are you doing." Mr. Weasley yelled while at the same time Mrs. Weasley screamed, "Remus, stop."

But Remus didn't stop. He reached Percy and snatched the rat out of his hands.

"Hey, give Scabbers back." Percy yelled. He punched and kicked at Remus but Remus held the rat high out of Percy's reach.

"Uncle Remus," Harry said. "You're scaring me."

"I'm sorry Harry but this isn't an ordinary rat." Uncle Remus had drawn his wand and aimed it at Scabbers who was squeaking and twisting furiously trying to get away.

"What do you mean, of course he's an ordinary Rat." Bill said. The 18-year-old had drawn his wand and aimed it at the older wizard. "Give him back to Percy."

"Bill, you can hex or curse me to your heart's content after you let me cast the animagus revealing charm." Uncle Remus said.

"Remus, there aren't any rat animagi." Mr. Weasley said. "It's just a rat."

"There aren't any registered rat animagi." Uncle Remus sighed, "Percy, if he really is an ordinary rat, it won't hurt him."

Mr. Weasley nodded and Uncle Remus cast the charm. There was a flash of blue-white light and Scabbers hung in midair, his body twisting. Then the grey rat fell to the floor. There was another blinding flash of light and a man, for lack of a better word, grew out of the rat. He was short and unkempt. His thin pale hair was a mess and he had a large bald patch on the top of his head. Looking at him, Harry thought he could still see traces of the rat in his pointed nose and small, watery eyes.

Mrs. Weasley screamed. Percy fainted dead away. Charlie and the twins went to work trying to revive him.

"Well, hello, Peter," said Uncle Remus. His pleasant tone did not match the hate in his eyes. "It's been a while."

"R-Remus," Peter said in a squeaky voice. His eyes darted to the door. "Old friend..."

"Am I?"

"What?" Peter squeaked.

"Am I your old friend?"

"Of course, you are Remus..."

"Then perhaps you could explain why you're still alive."

"Children, upstairs." Mrs. Weasley said. "Now."

Charlie and Fred picked up Percy. They led the way up the stairs. Ron stopped on the first step and looked at Bill and Harry who hadn't moved.

"What about Bill?"

Mr. Weasley glanced at his wife and then put his eyes firmly on Peter. "Bill is of age. He can stay if he wants."

"That's not fair." Ron said as he went up the stairs.

"Hello, Harry. You look just like James, you know," the rat man, Peter, said.

Without looking, Remus said, "Harry, upstairs now."

Harry went. He reached the first-floor landing and heard, "psst." He looked and saw Ron, Ginny, and the twins in Ginny's room. They waved him over. Harry went. He started to ask what they were doing but they shushed him. Then he heard the adults talking below.

"What happened that day? The day Sirius supposedly killed you and 12 muggles."

"He attacked me. I barely escaped."

"Why didn't you come forward after they arrested him?"

"I was frightened, Remus. Surely you understand that."

"Who exactly were you frightened of? It's not like you were the one that betrayed James and Lily." Uncle Remus paused. "Unless..."

"Remus," Mr. Weasley said, hesitantly. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that James and Sirius were always closer to one another than either of them were to the two of us. I wouldn't put it past them to think up a plan and not tell me, especially since we knew there was a spy."

"I never blamed you for what happened that night." Mrs. Weasley said. "Not once."

"I know Molly but you aren't most people," Uncle Remus said, sharply. "Most people have no trouble assuming a monster would betray his allies."

"Remus, you're not..."

"Molly, I appreciate your kindness but it's simply not true. I am what I am."

Harry looked at Ron and Ginny questioning. Both shrugged. Beyond them, Harry could see Charlie standing on the landing looking increasingly furious.

"Remus," Bill said softly, "were you there the night my uncles died?"

"Both of us were, weren't we Peter?"

"W-We got separated," Peter said. Harry could hear the fear and trembling in the man's voice. "Don't you remember Remus, you fell and when you got up you led us down the wrong path."

"That's the thing Peter. I don't remember falling. What I remember is stopping to check on you because you kept falling behind."

"You tripped, Remus. You must have hit your head. That's why you don't remember."

"I wasn't supposed to check on you, was I. You thought I'd leave you." Uncle Remus's voice grew louder. "Dolohov and the others were meant to kill me too weren't they?"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"What about the night James and Lily died? Where were you?"

"I-I was at home." Peter said.

"No, you weren't. I went to tell you what happened but you were gone. Is it because you betrayed them?"

"I wasn't their secret keeper."

"They switched at the last minute didn't they. And they didn't tell me because you'd done a bang up job convincing them I was the bloody spy."

Harry gasped at his uncle's words. Had he spent half the summer playing with the man who'd given his parents up to Voldemort? He felt Ginny's hand in his and realized that he'd been trembling.

"No. It wasn't me. It was Sirius."

Uncle Remus laughed derisively. "I can't believe I bought that nonsense that Sirius was the spy. It made no sense, him leaving his family because of their beliefs and then joining Voldemort 5 years later. Absolute nonsense."

"B-But Remus, have you considered that it was all a deception." Peter said.

"I have. But then we have proof of your duplicitousness Peter."

"I think it's time we called the aurors." Mr. Weasley said.

"Yes, I think so too." Uncle Remus said.

"Remus, my friend, you can't possibly think that I would..."

"Peter, if you want to continue breathing, you'll shut up now." Uncle Remus's voice had a coldness that Harry had never heard before. It almost sounded like he was growling.

"Dear lady, please, I wasn't the spy. It was Sirius."

"How dare you talk to my mother after what you did?" Bill shouted.

"Brave boy, surely you are clever enough to see through this nonsense."

"I am, actually." Bill said. Stupefy. There was a thud and then silence.

"We'll need to take him to- what happened."

"Stunning spell." Bill said. "He wouldn't shut up. Dad...this whole time he's been here...and..."

"I know Bill. Help your mother, will you? Remus and I will be back soon."

There was the loud crack of disapparition and then silence.

Harry felt his heart pounding in his chest like a drum. Thoughts assaulted him from all directions so that he couldn't focus on any one thing. He closed his eyes and went to cover his ears to shut out the world but his hand wouldn't move. Ginny was still holding on to it tightly. Then Harry remembered that Peter hadn't just betrayed his parents.

"Who were the other people they were talking about?"

"Mum had two brothers," Ron said. "They were in the order like your parents and Remus."

A memory came back to Harry. "Gideon and Fabian?"

"Yeah, that's them," George said.

"I don't remember much." Fred added.

"Mostly just Mum being sad," said George.

"And Dad being angry," said Fred.

"That's more than I remember," Ron said. "Bill and Charlie remember though. Percy too I think."

"I don't think I even got to meet them," Ginny added, still holding onto Harry's hand. "They died the same year I was born."

So, then whoever this spy was, they had hurt more than just him.

"I just can't believe it might not be Sirius Black." George said.

"And the real spy might have been living here for our whole lives." Fred added.

"Why do that? Why pretend to be Percy's pet?" Ginny asked.

"So that he could hear any news from the wizarding world in case any of you-know-who's followers gain power." Harry looked up to see Bill standing in the doorway. "You lot might as well come back down now. Have some tea. You're going to have a rough time sleeping tonight as it is."