Percy found me sitting at my desk, head in my hands. I heard him pause at the door before moving slowly towards my desk. There was a letter in front of me, slightly crumpled, the ink splattered everywhere throughout the margins.

"Are you alright, Professor?"
"...I'm not sure."

He snorted,

"How can you not be sure?"
"...It depends."

"On what?"
"Scabbers."

"Scabbers? My old rat?"

"Yeah."
"What about him?"
"Is he missing an index finger on his left forepaw?"

"Y-Yes, he is."

"And he's been with you for around 12 years now, hasn't he."

"Yes, but what-"

"The longest life span for a rat ever recorded was 6 years, and it was considered a miracle. Three-Five is more like it, but yours...but this…"

Percy tried to pry the letter I was now clutching out of my hands, but his gentle approach was making it useless. I looked back up at him, eyes wide and slightly vacant, channeling Luna as best as possible.

"If this letter is correct…"

Percy finally managed to get the letter away from me, reading it through. He went slowly through it, going pale the further down he got. He sank into the closest chair, putting the letter on his desk, taking his glasses off to massage the bridge of his nose.

"This...it can't be true...it must be a lie."
"It's simple enough to check."

"But it just can't be true!"

"Whether you like the truth or not you have no choice but to accept it! Never refuse to even entertain the possibility of something. I know you hate the thought of this, frankly it scares me a little, Percy. But all we have to do is check. If Pettigrew is indeed an animagus then it would be simple to reveal it with a spell. I confiscated an experimental something or another from your brothers that would do the trick to get him here. Fainting Fancies or something other. Don't tell the twins, but it's brilliant. Are you with me Percy?"

"To do what?!"

"To either catch a killer, or prove him innocent."

After a minute of silence had passed I thought I miscalculated. He was going to run to someone with authority and this would be over before it began. Then he visibly steeled himself.

"What do you need me to do?"

I paced around my office for thirty minutes before Percy was back, clutching what looked like a rumpled cloak in his hands.

"Did he eat it?"
Percy rolled his eyes,

"Of course he ate it, he was my rat for ten years, if I offer him a treat he's going to snap it up. Took a while to get him to come out, he was hiding for some reason."
I shrugged, eyeing the bundle as Percy set it down on a desk.

"Hermione and Ron have been having issues with him and Crookshanks lately, he's probably fleeing from the cat."

Percy paused in his unwrapping of the rat, turning to look at me.

"Do all Professors know as much about us as you do?"

I shrugged once again,

"I pay attention. Students are more willing to talk in front of me for some reason."
"Probably because you tend to turn a blind eye to everything but murder."

He sounded disapproving so I elbowed him slightly.

"That thrill of fear and dread that they get when they realize that they're caught is usually enough punishment for me. And the more amusing their expressions are the less likely I am to punish."
He sighed,

"That's not the way you're supposed to go about it, Professor."
"Oi, you trying to tell me how to do my job?"
"No, I'm telling you how not to do your job."

I sighed,

"Even the model of good behavior has no respect for me anymore…Come on, we should get this over with before he wakes up or Ronald realizes that he's missing."

I plucked him from the top of the desk, setting him down on the chair I had moved to the middle of the room. I pointed my wand, blue light shooting out and hitting the rat. Which didn't stay a rat. He morphed, unfolding and growing, finally coming to rest as a man in ragged black clothes. Percy made a strangled noise before falling into a chair. I let my breath out slowly,

"Well. It would appear as if the letter was correct. Percy?"

"Hm?"

"Please fetch the Headmaster. I would also suggest that someone procure Veritaserum, I wouldn't put it past the Ministry to try to cover this up, it must be done correctly."

By the time Percy came stumbling back in, followed by Dumbledore and Snape, Pettigrew was tied thoroughly to the chair, still snoring away. When they entered I stood from my seat,

"Can either of you identify this wizard?"

Dumbledore nodded gravely,

"This is indeed, Peter Pettigrew. Mr. Weasley has already informed me of how this came about, would you care to revive him, Marissa? Severus, be ready with the truth potion."

I pointed my wand at the man in the chair,

"Rennervate."

I wasn't involved in the process once they got the Ministry involved. Both Percy and I were sent away, fuming. Percy was furious for me at being excluded,

"How dare they?! How are we not involved!?"

I sighed, whacking him lightly on the shoulder.

"Chill, Percy. There are still things to be done."

"Such as?"

"Spread the word. Use the Hogwarts grapevine to our advantage. We want to get to public opinion before the Ministry does. It will be in the Prophet tomorrow, whatever they want everyone to believe. They could either admit they were wrong, unlikely, ignore it all together and make it go away quietly, more likely, or announce that Pettigrew was hiding afraid for his life the entire time, the most likely."

"But...we were told not to share it with anyone."
I rolled my eyes, motioning him to follow,

"Yes, but they didn't say we couldn't talk about it with each other in front of the schools chattiest gossips."

It took two hours for everyone to know, and half an hour after that for Harry Potter & Co. to track me down. Percy and I were in my classroom, which the Ministry officials had left a complete mess. They entered the room when I was kicking the leg of a table viciously cursing all the while.

"THOSE ABSOLUTE CUNT WAGONS! They could have had the decency to fuckin-Oh, hello children. Eh, heh...um…"

Percy sighed, motioning them in,

"Don't mind her, she gets that way sometimes, just point her at the chocolate and wait for her mood to even out."

I glowered at him for a second before perking up,

"I do have chocolate here somewhere, don't I?"
I pulled open a drawer to my desk, pulling out chocolate frogs and tossing one to everyone in the room. The twins caught their own, Ron as well, Percy let his bounce off his chest and rest in his lap ignored, and Harry caught Hermione's for her, passing it over silently.

I hopped onto my desk to sit as I usually do,

"So, kiddos, what can I do for you?"

"Is he really innocent?"
I had worried about this part for hours. Would Harry beleive it without seeing it for himself? Without hearing the confession?

I nodded, setting the chocolate aside for a second.

"Yeah. Frame job. Turns out Pettigrew did it, and framed Sirius, who escaped this year to end him."

"But why did he attack the tower, then?"

Percy answered this one, running his hands through his hair haphazardly.

"Because Pettigrew was an unregistered animagus posing as Scabbers."
Silence. Then,

"My cat knew."

I laughed, I couldn't help it. I almost fell off the desk, and I could tell that everyone else was trying to hold it in as well. When I recovered I sighed,

"Yes, it would seem as if Crookshanks sensed he wasn't what he seems. Makes sense, thing looks half-kneazle to me, crazy intelligent those things."

Hermione was staring at me now,

"How do you know the name of my cat?"

I raised an eyebrow at her,

"You and Mr. Weasley the younger here have had many a throwdown whenever your pets' pull a Tom and Jerry."

The Weasleys looked confused and I shook my head sadly,

"Damn shame….I'll have to give my exams early so I have an excuse to make everyone watch Muggle television during my class. Give you guys a good chance to decompress and all that. And I can watch the Purebloods try to pretend they don't enjoy it."
I noticed the sun setting out the window and sighed, shooing everyone out of the classroom.

"I have somewhere to be, kiddies, please don't stay out too late."

I marched out of the school, waving a hand to push a twig against the knot at the bottom of the Whomping Willow, and slipping down the tunnel. When I reached the bedroom at the top where Sirius usually spent his time he was sitting on the bed, still in the form of a dog. I pulled a palm sized basket out of my pocket, tapping it with my wand to return it to its usual size.

"Today you eat as a human. Mostly because I would feel really bad about giving a dog Butterbeer."

He stepped off the bed, morphing back to a human as he went, opening the basket eagerly,

"Ah, Swift, how you spoil me."

I rolled my eyes,

"I'm aware, I could very well have just fed you kibble."
I watched him eagerly take the top off the bottle of Butterbeer, a thought niggling at the back of my mind.

"You don't know my name, do you?"

He paused between sips of the drink,

"Well, you didn't feel like introducing yourself to a dog, but I've seen students calling you 'Professor Swift'. I didn't really believe you were a teacher until then, honestly."

I sank back into one of the chairs, letting him eat while I caught him up on what was happening.

"In any case the Headmaster is on your side, and Severus Snape as well."

He paused, probably to insult Snape and I continued,

"He did a huge favor for me recently, so feel free to drop the childish squabble in my presence. The Ministry has Pettigrew, and we've effectively used the rumor mill to ensure that all of Hogwarts is on your side. If they write home to their parents about it then you could have quite a following indeed. We would have gone to the Prophet with it, but that's still in the cards at the moment, we want to be able to hold it over the Ministry's head."

I held silent for a second before continuing.

"If worst comes to worst, canine I have my own blackmail to use against them."

"My name is Sirius, feel free to use it."

"And mine is Marissa...feel free to call me Mara."

Sirius Black didn't even have to report to the Ministry. They did the trial in absentia. He was cleared of all charges. They were compensating for his stint in prison, some amount of money that wasn't released in the Prophet. I didn't pay much attention to that. I only danced out of the Great Hall, clutching the paper. A few minutes later I led a very excited Sirius Black to the Headmaster's office, where he visited his Godson for the first time in 12 years. Plans for the Summer were made, and Albus Dumbledore put forth no arguments involving blood wards and family. He simply beamed at the room at large, popping lemon drops every so often.

When it came time for everyone to leave Harry surprised me with a tackle sort of hug,

"Thank you Professor. You gave him a chance…"

I patted him awkwardly on the back,

"No problem, kid."

I retreated as quickly as possible, desperate to get away from all the happy feelings floating around, with only a quick reminder tossed at Sirius,

"Don't forget, you're meeting Remus at the Hogshead for dinner. If you see a witch dressed in bright green with a quill that moves on it's own, run. She is not a friendly."

He snorted,

"What? What does that mean?"

"It means that she's a reporter with a penchant for exaggeration if not outright lies. Devil incarnate, that one."

I shivered, getting a laugh out of him, before I disappeared down the stairs.

My classroom was cleaned from it's stint as interrogation room, and I was preparing it for classes to resume after break. My plans for the Ministry weren't nearly as far along as my plans for Black, and I needed somewhere different to plan. The Room of Requirement was out, because I had to bring Percy as well, and that would be more than a bit suspicious. Percy had meant to go home for Christmas, but decided he would be best served by staying at the castle to study for his NEWTs after the time he'd lost helping with my scheming.

Things had progressed from research. Now when we found a shit law we would 'fix it', and file it away for things to do for later. By now Percy was well aware of my plans for the Ministry, and was thoroughly disenchanted with them enough that he didn't really care. Occasionally he would protest, saying that it must have been a law for a reason, but I would always whip out a piece of chalk and we would debate. He would argue against it, and I would argue for it, placing pertinent points on opposite sides of the board. He won occasionally and would smirk for days.

He was invaluable, not just for his knowledge of law, but his upbringing in a Pureblood house. He was able to explain traditions, and give background knowledge that I would have floundered when faced with. Straightening out the shitstorm of tangled gobbledygook they called regulation was taking longer than I had originally assumed. Ancient pacts were still technically legal because they hadn't been repealed. That left a stupid number of loopholes available for exploitation. A few I kept in mind for future use for myself. Others I put on the fastrack for getting rid of immediately.

Christmas day I left my room only to wish the Doctors portrait Merry Christmas, and have a quick argument with him about 'Merry' and 'Happy'. Otherwise I stayed out of sight. I got candy from various students, and a rather large chocolate bar from Percy. The Doctor always got into trouble on Christmas. I spent most of mine daydreaming about what he could possibly be up to, over in our home dimension. I didn't go to dinner that night, skipping the feast. I wasn't in the mood to deal with people.

Classes began again, and I went back into it with a vigor that surprised most people. I had plans to make, and I was running out of time to do most of it. So, the kids got a strange look at me in actual try mode. I had McGyvered together a projector, and special ordered a tape player so I could show documentaries and movies in class. If I stayed up too late the night before doing research for some project or another then that was my fallback plan. I had homework assignments prepared in advance for if I ever needed to show them. The Muggleborn students eventually realized that I was doing the same thing as their early teachers had, giving up for the day.

Even the Purebloods realized it one day. I walked into the classroom to find Neville stuck to the ceiling and two of the kids turned to birds. I had facepalmed, turned on the 1989 version of Batman, and retrieved Neville. I sent him and the two bird children down the Hospital Wing and calmly sat down at my seat, where I promptly planted my face onto the top of the desk. This class being just before the Third Years had a free period, most stayed behind to finish the movie. I counted this as a success.

The constant stream of documentaries had more than one purpose. I didn't have to speak much. After weighing the pros and cons I decided that I should at least try to become an animagus. This included keeping a Mandrake leaf in your mouth for an entire month. That meant I didn't want to talk much. I made sure to leave candy and gum wrappers in plain view, that way if I sounded funny it would be assumed that they were to blame. It was also a good excuse not to show up to dinner. Eating was an awkward affair when you had to keep a leaf attached to the roof of your mouth, our out of the way in some manner.

It was my new years resolution, and finishing it was one of the most exciting things I'd ever done. Of course the meditation was nothing new, I kept that up because of something I had read about Occlumency. Many of my plans were nearing completion, but the one that was most troubling me sat in the background, just out of reach.

Horcruxes. I had a vague idea of where all of them were, and the means to find them. I already had researched how to find two of them. Some were within reach, but I had no way to destroy them. Of course, the Basilisk carcass was within reach, but I couldn't actually get to it without Harry, and that would raise red flags. The sword was with Dumbles, who would either not beleive me or take over and let that ring kill him again. And fiendfyre wasn't something I was willing to dabble with. I figured gathering them all into one place at the moment wasn't advisable either, what with the terrible strain they put on those around them.

I kind of wanted to end Voldemort before Harry would be subjected to the tournament, or keep him out the tournament all together. Either way I wanted Cedric to live. He was a sweet kid, even if he looked like the actor who played a sparkly vampire. What I was truly worried about was Barty Crouch Junior. In the movies he bore an uncanny resemblance to one of the Doctor's previous incarnations. We had laughed about it often. Being faced with a living breathing person who looked like the Doctor…

Either way, the rest of this year was smooth sailing. I just had to wait for the summer to arrive, then the hunt would begin whether I wanted it to or not. I would have to chose an ally sometime soon, or be forced to practice dark magic or attempt to steal a relic from the Headmaster. I wasn't sure which was the most dangerous.

~TimeLordOfPie