Didn't get any response to the prologue. If folks aren't interested in this story I'll probably put it on the back burner for a while. Shame; I'm having fun with it.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Arthur hadn't gotten any sleep at all. After hearing Percy's description of his erstwhile pet rat, he had immediately contacted the auror office, which only had two people on duty so late at night, and Albus Dumbledore. He then spent the better part of an hour searching his home – starting with his children's rooms – for any sign of a rat. He was about to move on to the outside of the house when the renowned auror Alastor Moody arrived.

'Have you found anything, Arthur?' the grizzled old auror asked without preamble.

'Nothing, Alastor,' he replied, a little bit out of breath. 'Thanks for coming. Did the aurors send you, or Dumbledore?'

'Both, actually,' said Moody with a grunt that might have been a chuckle. 'Dumbledore's message arrived just before the urgent call from the office. They say you may have found Pettigrew?'

'My son,' Arthur clarified. 'He had a pet rat he found in our garden last week. He came to us in tears earlier tonight saying it had disappeared.'

'Did it fit Pettigrew's description?'

'The way Percy described it certainly sounded like the description we were given,' said Arthur. 'I never saw it myself, nor did Molly. Alastor, Percy's bedroom door was open, and I had just been telling Molly about the announcement.'

'You think he heard you, then, and scarpered,' said Moody.

'That's what I'm afraid of, yes,' Arthur said.

'It definitely sounds suspicious,' said Moody. 'Mind if I have a look around?'

'No, please do,' said Arthur. 'If at the very least you can tell me there isn't a rat that may be a murderer in disguise hiding somewhere in my house, I might get some peace of mind.'

'Right, then,' said the auror, crossing the threshold into the house. 'Your wife knows what's going on, you said?'

'Yes. She was the one who told me about Percy's new pet rat after I finished telling her about Pettigrew.'

'She's sharp, to immediately make the connection,' said Moody. 'Even if its just baseless suspicion, better safe than sorry.' The auror began slowing walking through the house, his wand working silently, his eyes looking every which way. The two of them cased the whole house together, then went out back into the garden, where Percy had originally found the rat. There were no traces of anyone anywhere.

'If he was here, he's long gone,' said Moody, scowling in the pre-dawn dim. They'd been searching nearly all night. 'I'd like to bring some people in, see if we can't pick up the trail. Would that be all right with you?'

'Of course!' said Arthur. 'It's my duty to help, after all, and besides, I don't want someone like that anywhere near my family.'

'Good man. Get some rest if you can; I'll be back in a few hours and we'll see what we can find.'

Arthur walked the old auror out and watched him disapparate, then went back into his house. Whatever Moody said, rest was not something his adrenaline fueled brain would be capable of any time soon.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

It was moving day. James was in as good a mood as he'd been capable of since he'd learned of Peter Pettigrew's betrayal. Not that he didn't love Frank and Alice. The two of them were great and it had definitely been wonderful to have someone other than batty old Bathilda Bagshot for company. But he was excited to finally be able to take his family back home.

Home for him, anyway. Neither Lily nor Harry had ever actually lived in Ivy Hall. He would have liked to return to the townhouse in Bath where they'd lived together after leaving school and up through the first year of their marriage until necessity had forced them to move to Godric's Hollow to hide. For the time being, however, the house he'd grown up in was the only safe option. Even with Voldemort and the Lestranges out of the way, there was no shortage of people still out there who might want to do them harm, and they needed the best protection they could manage.

He had gotten up early that morning to prepare breakfast. Part of it was just restless anticipation, but he also wanted to do something for Frank and Alice before leaving to thank them for all they had done.

'James, you didn't have to do that,' Frank told him after coming into the kitchen when James explained his reasoning. 'Of course we'd do anything to help you two out, no questions asked. And besides, I should be doing something to thank the two of you after what happened that first night when you got here.'

He was speaking of course of the Death Eater attack that James and Lily had stumbled into. Four high profile Death Eaters had come after the Longbottoms for as-yet unknown reasons, and if he and Lily hadn't arrived right when they did, something horrible might have happened.

'I know, but I couldn't sleep anyway,' he said, putting the finishing touches on a plate of eggs and sausage. 'Might as well do something useful.'

'Fair enough,' said Frank, grabbing himself a slice of toast. 'What time were you planning on heading out today?'

'As soon as Remus and Sirius show up,' he replied, pouring himself some coffee. Before his time in the Order, he would have considered this sacrilege; he'd been brought up in a tea drinking household, after all. Late night stake outs and early mornings – not to mention living in confined quarters with an infant – had changed his opinion of the bitter beverage somewhat. 'Can't even take floo travel for granted anymore.'

He and Frank sat and talked while they waited for their wives to awaken and join them. Frank mentioned that he and Alice were planning on returning to work in a few days. 'Death Eaters aren't going to catch themselves,' he said.

'Is it going to be strange having your own colleagues guarding your house?' James asked.

'I think it would be stranger still to draw the assignment myself,' Frank joked.

Lily and Alice eventually came down, and the four of them had a nice breakfast while waiting for Sirius and Remus. Just as they were clearing the table, the doorbell rang. All four of them pulled out their wands, just in case.

'I wonder how long it's going to be before we no longer feel the need to do that,' Alice mused sadly. They remained on guard, despite knowing who was at the door. Remus and Sirius greeted them jovially, saying they were ready for a day of manual labor.

'We're not doing it the way we did when we came here,' James reminded them. 'Moody thinks bringing the wards up and down for the floo so many times may have enticed them to attack. Me, I think they were probably going to attack anyway – they were obviously watching the house for something – but why take the risk?'

'Why have Moody harp on you for lack of vigilance, more like,' Sirius said knowingly.

'We're doing it all in one go, then?' asked Remus, getting the conversation back on track.

'Yeah,' said James. 'Lily's got all of our things packed into a case and shrunken down. Should be fairly easy. You two are just along for extra security."

'Hired wands,' said Sirius, his fingers flexing. 'I like it.'

'Should we be off, then?' asked Remus. 'Give us some time to unpack when we get there?'

'We'll have all day, Moony,' said James, rolling his eyes.

'I think Remus has the right idea,' said Lily. 'That old house hasn't had anyone living in it for a long time. It might take a while to get everything how we want it to feel like a home.'

James didn't see how this would be an issue, even without his parents' house elf helping them, but he wisely didn't argue the point.

'Let me just go get Harry and we can be on our way,' Lily continued. 'Would you get the case please, James?'

He was opening his mouth to agree when the doorbell rang again. The six of them, still in the entrance hall, spun in unison to face the door, wands out.

'Were we expecting anyone else?' Frank asked his wife sidelong, not taking his eyes off the front door.

'No,' said Alice, narrowing her eyes and tightening her grip on her wand.

'Come on, you lot,' said Sirius, lowering his wand. 'I know we're all on edge, but I seriously doubt Death Eaters would go to the trouble of ringing the bell. I'll get it. You all cover me.'

Despite his dismissive tone, he kept his wand in his hand as he moved to the door. He stood aside as he pulled it open, giving the rest of them a clean shot if they needed it.

'Good to see you're all practicing constant vigilance,' said the gruff voice of Alastor Moody from the other side. They all breathed a sigh of relief and lowered their wands (but didn't put them away – Moody grinned). 'May I come in?'

'Of course, Alastor,' said Alice warmly. 'Please do. We're a little surprised to see you. Did you come to help Lily and James move?'

'Would that we could spare the manpower for that,' said Moody. 'I might have assigned someone to it regardless, but I reasoned Black and Lupin were up to it. No, this is another matter entirely.'

'Something else?' Frank said. 'Merlin, what now?'

'Nothing new,' Moody assured them. 'Merely a lead on Pettigrew's whereabouts.'

'You've found him?' Sirius exclaimed excitedly. James and Remus perked up at once as well.

'Possibly,' said Moody. 'At the moment our only eyewitness description is a five year old boy who believes it was merely a rat and has no reason to think otherwise. His parents would prefer to keep it that way unless it becomes unfeasible to do so. What I need at this time is for someone to confirm whether or not it was him so we know how to proceed.'

'But you think it was?' asked James, his blood pumping hard.

'Based on the circumstances, I do,' said Moody.

'You keep saying "was",' said Remus. 'Has he run off again?'

'Sharp as ever, Lupin,' said Moody. 'He did a bunk last night. We're hoping the trail's still hot enough to follow him. Given that Black was able to do it once before, we were hoping he might be willing to help us out.'

Sirius practically jumped at the offer, but stopped himself.

'I can't,' he said. 'We were just talking about how I'm supposed to be helping Lily and James move today, remember?'

'I thought you might say that,' said Moody, 'so it's a good thing I can spare someone after all. One of our young aurors is willing to take your place watching over the Potters while you come with us. And before you say you can't entrust your friends to just anyone, I assure you it's someone you know.' He turned behind him and called to someone out on the street whom those in the house couldn't see. 'Come up here, Shacklebolt!'

A tall young black man with a golden earring and a bald head stepped up to the door.

'Kingsley!' James and Sirius exclaimed simultaneously.

'We haven't seen you in ages!' Sirius said, at the same time James said, 'How've you been?'

'There'll be enough time for catching up later,' said Moody gruffly. 'If this substitution is acceptable to all of you, then we're on a time sensitive operation here, Black. Every second we waste is another second for Pettigrew to slip through our fingers again.'

'It's all right with me,' said Sirius. 'Prongs? Lily?'

'Of course it's all right!' said James.

'Yes, Kingsley will keep us perfectly safe,' said Lily. 'Go on, Sirius. Go and find Peter.'

'Wish I could go with you,' said James. 'If you're still on the trail once we're finished moving in send word and I'll come to help.'

'Roger that,' said Sirius. 'Moony?'

'I'm not sure how much help I would be,' he said. 'But keep me updated if you can, regardless.'

'Will do,' said Sirius. 'Lead the way, Moody. Let's go catch us a fat, stinking rat.'

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

After Sirius left with Moody, there were a few seconds of everyone awkwardly standing around. James was the one to finally break the silence.

'So you're a fully fledged auror now, eh Shacklebolt? When did this happen?'

'I only just qualified a few months ago,' said Kingsley. 'But from the sound of it you've been seeing a lot more action than I have.'

'Are you kidding?' said James. 'We've been practically locked away for months.'

'I think he means fighting Voldemort and the Lestranges, Prongs,' said Remus, an amused glint in his eye.

'Oh, right,' said James, for all the world as if he'd forgotten all about it.

'There is that,' said Kingsley, 'but I was also referring to the work you've supposedly been doing with Dumbledore.'

'What? What are you talking about?' said James, acting rather convincingly bewildered. Kingsley laughed.

'Fine, keep it a secret,' he said. 'There've been rumors for years, of course, and I know these two are in on it too.' He gestured to Frank and Alice. 'I'm not going to lie, I was sort of hoping I could join up once I qualified.'

'Moody would have brought you in eventually, Kingsley,' said Frank bracingly, destroying any vestiges of James's pretense that they had no idea what he was talking about. James threw up his hands and sighed dramatically, rolling his eyes, causing Lily and Alice to laugh at his theatrics.

'Fortunately, now there's no need,' said Remus, himself fighting not to laugh at James too. 'We can all go back to our lives and leave the fighting of dark wizards to you, the professionals.'

'Speaking of being professional,' said Frank, 'Alice and I have appointments today for a mental fitness evaluation if we're going to return to work, so we'll leave you lot to it.'

'Mental fitness?' asked James. 'What, they think you've gone barmy or something?'

'Standard procedure after a traumatic incident,' said Alice. 'It's not the first time and it won't be the last.'

'Well good luck with that, then,' said James. 'Hope you pass. Thanks again for everything.'

'Good luck to you two as well,' said Frank. 'Save travels. Kingsley, see you in a few days.' He and Alice waved goodbye and retreated into the house. James and Lily left Remus and Kingsley in the entryway as they headed upstairs to retrieve their belongings and their son. Ten minutes later, the four of them were walking down the drive, preparing to disapparate. James carried the case with all of their shrunken things, and Lily carried Harry, who was awake but uncharacteristically quiet.

'Remember, we're aiming for the very edge of the grounds,' said James. 'We want to be able to take just one step and be inside the wards. Kingsley, Lily or I are going to have to bring you in; you haven't been keyed.'

'Understood,' said Kingsley. 'I should be the last one in anyway; I'm supposed to be watching your backs, after all.

'Hopefully there won't be anything to watch our backs for,' said Lily. 'I can't see the Death Eaters trying something again after they failed so badly the last time. Then again, I didn't see them trying that, either.'

'We're coming up on the edge of the wards,' Remus reminded them. They were nearly at the boundary of the Longbottoms' property, approaching the muggle street.

'On three?' prompted Kingsley. Everyone nodded. The young auror counted down from three, whereupon all four of them stepped over the boundary and onto the pavement. The very next second, they all turned on their heels and vanished, reappearing hundreds of miles away at the Potter family's manor house in Herefordshire, Ivy Hall. It had been so named because it supposedly once had vines of Ivy covering almost the entire exterior, though if true, no sign of them remained for as long as James could remember. Even his father claimed never to have seen the house that way.

The four of them immediately had their wands at the ready, looking every direction for a sneak attack that did not come. A collective sigh of relief rang out, but they were still out in the open, so to speak.

James tapped the gate – a recent addition that he was planning to be rid of the moment it was no longer deemed necessary – and it swung open, allowing them entrance to the property. He let Lily go first with Harry and sent Remus in next, handing him the case full of all their belongings. He then took Kingsley by the arm and personally led him over the threshold.

'Nice place,' said Kingsley appreciatively.

'It's been in my family a long time,' said James. 'Not sure how long, to be honest, but it must be a while, since my dad didn't know either. The only deed we have is from the eighteenth century, and it's apparently a replacement for an older one that was destroyed; we'd already owned the place long enough for the owner at that time to not remember how long either. Must be really a long time, though. No one in our family that I know of would have been able to afford it until Dad.'

'I remember when you first brought me here,' said Lily fondly. 'I couldn't believe it. I nearly panicked and started wondering if all the things Severus had said about you when we were kids were true.'

'If it's that I was a rich, spoiled, entitled little shit, they were,' joked James. 'However anything beyond that is pure slander.'

'I know,' said Lily, smiling. 'I knew then, too. It was just a momentary shock. I'd never seen a place like this except in pictures.'

'I know what you mean,' said Remus. 'It was a shock for me the first time too.'

The four of them walked up the considerably long path to the front door. It opened as they approached. A house elf greeted them, dressed in a fluffy white towel wrapped around its torso as though it had just gotten out of a shower.

'Young master has returned,' the elf said in a voice that resembled what a cat might sound like if it could talk.

'I said I would,' said James, who had last seen the elf nearly two weeks ago when he and Sirius and Remus came by to collect some of the very things they were now bringing back. Before that, it had been several years, and the elf was very touchy about that.

'Young master says so before as well, but he goes away for many years and does not come and visit Tori,' the elf said.

'We were in hiding, Tori, you know that,' said James. 'Anyway, we're back to stay now, for a little while at least. You remember Lily?'

'Hello,' Lily greeted with a warm smile.

'Young master's miss, yes, Tori remembers,' said the elf politely.

'She's my wife now, Tory,' said James. The elf's eyes went wide.

'Tori has a new mistress?' she asked in wonderment. She took another look at Lily, then bowed deeply. 'Tori humbly apologizes for greeting you so informally, Mistress,' she said. 'Tori is truly happy to have you here. Tori is at Mistress's service for anything she needs!' She stood up again and was grinning toothily.

'Thank you, Tori,' said Lily. 'And you don't have to worry about being informal with me. If I'm honest, I prefer it.'

'As Mistress wishes,' said Tori. Then her eyes widened again when she finally noticed what Lily held in her arms. 'Is that...' she began.

'This is our son, Harry,' Lily said, allowing the elf to get a good look at him. The little elf was brought to tears.

'A new young master has come to Ivy Hall!' she wailed. 'Oh, what a joyous day it is! Come, come, Tori will fix you all something good to eat!'

'We've already eaten, Tori, but could you help Lily get Harry upstairs and settled?' said James. 'The rest of this stuff can wait a little longer.'

'Of course, of course,' said the elf. 'Follow Tori, Mistress Lily. We will make young Master Harry feel right at home!'

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Moody took Sirius to a very crooked looking house on the outskirts of a small village. It wasn't quite ramshackle, but it definitely looked like it had been put together one section at a time over many years by different people with very different ideas on what constituted architecture. He loved it immediately.

'Where are we?' he asked the auror.

'Devon,' said Moody. 'The village there is Ottery St. Catchpole. Handful of wizarding families live around here. The family we're visiting are the Weasleys.'

'I recognize the name, but I don't think I've ever met them,' said Sirius.

'Well, their family and yours don't exactly run in the same circles,' Moody said sardonically.

Sirius grinned. 'I like them already.'

As they approached the house, a tall, thin, redheaded man came out to meet them.

'Good morning, Alastor!' he called.

'Morning, Arthur,' Moody replied. 'This is Sirius Black,' he said by way of introduction. 'He was a friend of Pettigrew in school and has already managed to track him down once. We're hoping he can do it again.'

'Thank you for coming, Mr Black,' said Arthur, putting out his hand. Sirius shook it.

'It's no trouble, sir,' said Sirius. 'I want to catch the little rat probably more than anyone. Can you describe the rat that was here?'

'My son, Percy, was the only one who ever actually saw him. It. I don't know. In any case, he described it as almost white, with a long tail, pink ears, and with only four toes on its front paw.'

Sirius felt the blood rush to his head.

'That's him, all right,' he said. 'Hiding as a pet, just like James said he would. Uncanny.'

'We'd like to take a look in your son's room, Arthur,' said Moody. 'It's possible Black might be able to pick up his trail from there. We're just waiting on some reinforcements.'

The reinforcements turned out to be a pair of aurors who showed up a few minutes later. One was a dark-haired woman named Sage who looked perhaps ten or so years older than Sirius, and the other was a blonde man named Pilkington, whom Sirius thought might have been a sixth or seventh year during his own first year at Hogwarts. Moody grumbled about them taking their time in getting there, but they seemed unperturbed, even used to this attitude.

'Lovely to see you too, you old grump,' said Sage in a cheerful Irish lilt. 'This is your special consultant, then?' she asked, indicating Sirius.

'That's right,' said Moody. 'Black is going to confirm it was Pettigrew and find out where he went.'

'How's he going to do that?' asked Pilkington.

'You'll see,' said Sirius, not bothering to hide his grin.

Arthur Weasley took them inside the house, where most of his family was eating breakfast. After a brief round of introductions, he called one of his children – a young boy of maybe five or six – over to him.

'Percy, I need you to show Mr Black the house you made for Scabbers,' he said. 'And then the place out back in the garden where you met him, okay?'

'Okay,' said the boy, nodding. 'Are you going to help find Scabbers, Mr Black?' he asked earnestly, looking up at Sirius. He remembered that this child didn't know anything about what was going on, which was probably for the best.

'I'll do what I can,' said Sirius, careful not to actually promise anything. After all, there was zero chance of this boy getting his pet rat back.

Percy Weasley seemed to accept his words at face value, and led the lot of them up the stairs to his room. It was exceptionally orderly for the bedroom of a five year old, Sirius noted.

'This is the box I made for him,' said Percy, showing them the little rat house he had constructed. It, too, looked very impressive for someone of his age.

'Now show us this mystery trick of yours,' Pilkington said to Sirius.

'Sure thing,' Sirius replied. 'I'm surprised you haven't heard already, actually. It was big news not too long ago.' With that, he transformed into a dog. Percy gasped, his father almost did, and the two younger aurors appeared mildly shocked. Moody, of course, exhibited no reaction whatsoever.

None of that was at the forefront of Sirius's thoughts at the moment, however. The moment he had transformed, he recognized it. The smell of Wormtail. The smell of a filthy, traitorous rat.

He transformed back, a scowl already etched on his face.

'That was brilliant!' Percy cheered excitedly. Sirius barely even heard him.

'He was here,' he said darkly. 'No question about it. And recently.'

Someone cleared their throat loudly. He looked over and saw Moody gesturing to young Percy with his eyes. Whoops. His gaze shot to Arthur Weasley, who was pale as a sheet.

Fortunately, Percy seemed not to notice anything out of the ordinary. He was still gushing about how cool it was that Sirius could turn into a dog.

'How did you do it without a wand?' he asked.

'I'm an animagus,' Sirius said, trying to recover his friendly demeanor. 'It means I can transform into an animal whenever I want; all I have to do is think about it.'

'Whoa,' said Percy, clearly impressed. 'Can anyone be an animagus?' Sirius managed a genuine smile.

'It takes a lot of work, but yes,' he said. 'In theory, anyone can do it.'

'Dad, can I be an animagus?' he asked, looking up at his father. Arthur blinked rapidly, trying – just as Sirius had – to bring his mind back to the present.

'You heard Mr Black, son; it takes a lot of work. And you'll need to know a lot of magic. If it's still something you want to do when you're older, then I've no doubt you can manage it if you put your mind to it.'

Rather than be disappointed, as Sirius expected most children would react, Percy just nodded, as if this answer made perfect sense.

'Let's check outside now,' said Moody, interrupting. 'That's where the rat was originally found, correct?'

'That's right,' said Arthur. 'Percy, let's take these people out back and you can show Mr Black where you first found Scabbers, all right?'

'All right,' said Percy. The group trooped back down the stairs, past the rest of the Weasley family, who surely had to be curious as to what was going on (but were all firmly being held in check by the formidable Mrs Weasley), and into the back garden.

'Percy,' said Sirius kindly. 'I'm going to transform again so I can sniff around. I can follow all kinds of scents as a dog that we can't even detect as people. I won't be able to talk, but I can understand you fine, so I'll need you to walk me all around and show me all the places where you met P-er, Scabbers, and when you saw him, okay?'

'Okay,' said Percy with a nod. Sirius transformed again and sniffed the air. Peter's scent was there, but it was faint. He turned to look at Percy, waiting.

'Go ahead, son,' said Arthur. Percy started walking, and Sirius immediately followed him. Moody and his aurors hung back, but all were watching closely.

'This is where I was when I first saw him,' said Percy, showing a bench at an old picnic table. 'We would sit here together a lot. I put him up here on the table.'

Sirius put his paws up on the bench to get a good whiff, and sure enough, Peter's scent was all around the area of the table Percy was indicating. He made a short, gruff sound to indicate Percy could continue.

'I think he came from over here,' the boy said. He led Sirius over to a hedge at the edge of the property. Even without the boy's help, he could have followed the trail. It was obviously one Peter had traversed many times. Even as Percy went to point out the part of the hedge from which "Scabbers" usually emerged, he was already heading for it.

The scent was very strong here. Peter must have sheltered here for several days before Percy finally took him into the house. But where had he come from before here? He smelled around, but couldn't tell anything. He reached a paw in, but the hedge was too thick. There was no way he could fit. He transformed back into his human form.

'What is it, Black?' Moody immediately asked.

'I need to get to the other side,' he said distractedly. He pulled out his wand and apparated, appearing on the other side of the hedge. As soon as he was there, he turned back into a dog and started sniffing around. He was able to find Peter's hideout easily enough, but the trail leading to it was extremely faint. He could barely even tell it was there; it was too old. There was no way he would be able to follow it back. But knowing how Peter had gotten here was less important than knowing where he'd gone after he left. He resumed human form and apparated back to the others.

'Did you find something?' Pilkington asked, unable to mask his fervor. Sirius immediately noticed that Arthur had led his son away, no doubt so that the investigative team could speak freely amongst themselves.

'He was definitely here,' said Sirius. 'He stayed here for a long time – over a week I'd say, but we knew that already. As to where he came from to get here, the trail's too old. I couldn't say for certain.'

'So he didn't come back this way when he left, at least,' said Moody.

'He wouldn't want to retrace his steps in case we were already on to him,' said Sirius, shaking his head.

'What's our next play then, the window?' asked Sage.

Moody nodded. 'Arthur said it was open when he and Molly came to check on Percy last night, even though the boy swears up and down he closed it before going to bed.'

'Let's have a look, then,' said Moody. They walked back over to Arthur and Percy, who were looking at them questioningly (and, in Percy's case, hopefully).

'Wherever he went, he didn't go that way,' Sirius told them. 'Percy, why don't you show us your window? If he did leave the house that way, maybe I can catch the scent again over there.'

Percy acquiesced and guided them around to the side of the house, where he pointed up at a second floor window. Or was it the third floor? It was impossible to tell with the way this house was laid out.

There was a drainpipe not far from it, coming all the way down the side of the house to the ground.

'That was probably his way down,' said Sage, 'assuming he came this way.'

'Time to find out,' said Sirius, and transformed again. He sniffed the bottom of the drainpipe and sure enough, Wormtail's scent was fresh. What was more, it continued in a trail along the ground. He barked and began trotting along it, hoping the others would realize he wanted them to follow. They did. He followed the trail all the way back to a pond far from the house and beyond. It continued even beyond the edge of the property out into what was essentially open country. He made sure to slow down so that the others could keep up, but continued following it. There was a slight incline, and at last they came to a grouping of trees that surrounded a large, open area. Here the scent changed. In one spot the scent of the rat was strong, and in the next step there was only the human scent of Peter Pettigrew, and then nothing.

He changed back to human form and waited for the others to join him. They weren't far behind; the Weasleys had evidently stayed back at the house and not followed beyond the edge of the property.

'What is it, Black?' Moody asked once the three aurors were standing with him at the edge of the paddock.

'He transformed here,' Sirius said. 'And the scent vanishes, which means he must have, too. Disapparated.'

'He could be anywhere!' Pilkington shouted angrily.

'Not anywhere,' said Sirius, shaking his head. 'He won't have gone anywhere with people; he'd arrive in human form and he wouldn't take the risk of anyone spotting him before he could transform. But he's also not going to want to stay outside, so he'll be at least within a day's journey of some kind of civilization. He'll be steering clear of magical homes now too, since he knows everyone's going to be on the lookout for him, so we should start looking in Muggle heavy areas. And he won't go anyplace James or Remus or I would think of, since he knows we're the ones who'll be chasing after him the most.'

'You ever give any thought to becoming an auror, Black?' Moody asked. 'You've got the right way of thinking, and Merlin knows you've got the wand for it.'

'I hadn't ever really thought about what I would do when the war was over,' Sirius answered honestly.

'You should consider it,' Moody went on. 'Potter too, if he's interested. We need some new blood; we've lost a lot of good people over the last eleven years.'

'I don't know how interested James would be,' said Sirius. 'He's always wanted to play quidditch. But I'll ask him if you want.'

'Couldn't hurt,' said Moody. He then turned to his aurors. 'As for you two, I want you back at headquarters compiling a list of the most likely places for Pettigrew to be, based on the parameters that Black described. Bring in some rookies and even some trainees if you need to.'

'You got it, boss,' said Sage. Pilkington merely nodded. The two of them turned on their heels and vanished with a pair of barely audible pops.

'If you want some more insight, we'll all be at Ivy Hall for at least the rest of the day,' said Sirius. 'Unless you still need me for something.'

'That's fine; you can go,' said Moody. 'But we will certainly be contacting you again once they've compiled that list.'

'I'm sure James and Remus will think of some things I didn't,' said Sirius. 'Lily, too. She knew Pete pretty well. Keep us updated.'

'You'll know as much as I'm allowed to tell you and no more until you decide to join the department,' barked Moody.

'Message received,' said Sirius with a grin. 'Good luck. Hope to hear from you soon.'

Moody waved him off as if to say, 'Get out of here already.' He concentrated on the newly installed front gate of Ivy Hall and disapparated.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Peter looked down from his vantage point high in a tree at the suburban setting below. He couldn't stay here very long; he had to be wary of buzzards and hawks and other birds of prey. Down in the street it would be just as dangerous. Muggles were just as fond of cats as wizards, and were much more likely to let them wander about the neighborhood unsupervised.

He should have known it was too good to be true. He thought he'd found a nice, safe, comfortable place where he could lie low and still be able to keep an ear out. Well, that second part turned out to have come in very useful, as now he knew practically the entire magical population of Britain was on the lookout for him. It would be years before he could safely approach another magical dwelling. He would have gritted his teeth at the injustice of it all, if his rat form were capable of such a thing.

His vision wasn't great in this form – though it was thankfully better than an actual rat's, thanks to magic he did not fully understand – but he did eventually think he spotted what he was looking for: a house near the edge of the development, in case he needed to make another quick escape, that didn't have any pets.

This time he wasn't going to let himself be seen by the residents of the house. He was going to live in the walls like an actual rat, and come out at night if he needed to. It was certainly less than ideal, but he could tolerate it for a few months until the heat died down a little, and then find some place better. At least his so-called friends wouldn't ever think to look for him here. Even he had no idea where he was. He'd merely apparated away to the farthest Muggle village he could think of – Appletreewick in North Yorkshire, just a few dozen miles from Leeds – and hitched a ride on the first lorry he spotted. He hadn't bothered to check where it was going. After all, if his destination were completely random, then there was no way they'd be able to track him, right?

He scurried down the tree, keeping all his senses on high alert for any incoming predators. His animagus form certainly had its advantages – stealth and inconspicuousness chief among them – but there was no question that its disadvantages were far more apparent now he no longer had three larger, more powerful animals to protect him. Again he cursed his rotten luck. He was supposed to have made the smart choice. The safe choice! How could everything have gone so catastrophically wrong?

There was a small garden wall that he scaled quickly, and he was now sheltered – in a manner of speaking – in the back yard of the house he'd scouted from above. He made his way over to the structure and found a drainpipe. It was just big enough for him to squeeze inside; he'd lost a little weight in the past couple of weeks, even despite the snacks the little Weasley boy had kept bringing him.

He would wait in here until after dark, then make his way into the house. From there it would be a simple matter of staking out a place to make a nest of sorts. It wouldn't matter if it was already occupied; he could usually make wild rats do what he wanted. It was the only time in his life he ever felt the least bit powerful or in control.

He dozed off for a bit and woke up well after dark. Here his rat senses were much more beneficial than during the day. He crawled out of his drainpipe and began making his way along the foundation, looking for a crack or a hole he could squeeze his way through. It was an old house; it didn't take long.

Several of the wooden beams supporting the inner structure of the home looked as though they may have been cut during the Anglo-Saxon period, and there was a musty scent common in the innards of old buildings like these, but here it was stronger than almost anywhere he'd ever been before.

In the crawl space between the first and second floors he found his nest. It looked as though he was not the first to occupy it, though the previous resident was long gone. Bits of cloth and other things had been made into a typical rat bed. He gagged at the thought of using another rat's old nest from however long ago. He set about clearing the space. He would build his own nest, thank you very much. This was degrading enough as it was without sleeping on a decades old packrat cache.

It was almost morning when he was finally satisfied, and he was exhausted. Just as well. It would serve his purposes to keep a nocturnal schedule; best to reduce the possibility of any interactions with the muggles who lived here as much as possible.

Lying there in his little hidey hole, Peter smoldered and fumed. He was done feeling sad and sorry for himself. He was angry. He didn't deserve this. Nobody deserved this. He was going to find a way out of this situation; he just didn't know how yet. One thing was certain, though. If the Dark Lord really was still out there, Peter's only hope was to find him. Terrifying as that sounded, there was simply no other choice for him at this point. The Death Eaters would kill him, his "friends" would kill him, and the ministry would have him sent to Azkaban for the rest of his life, which was if possible even worse than the other two options. No, the Dark Lord really was his only path forward now – other than living in squalor as a rat until the end of his days. He just wished he knew where to start looking.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

One thing this series of stories has done has been to get me to explore Peter's perspective much more than I ever thought I would.

I believe I already mentioned this somewhere, but I'm in the midst of writing 50,000 words in 30 days for NaNoWriMo. I'm powering through everything with minimal revision, so if this is riddled with typos and the like (I really have tried to purge them, I promise), please forgive me.

Please leave a review if you're enjoying this or are at least finding it interesting. I'd like to know what folks are thinking.