Christmas Break Part V: The Rat

The Weasley family had never, in their family's entire history, been accused of arriving to a scheduled meeting even a moment early. Case in point, the entire family sans the two oldest sons who had moved out were preparing for their respective vacations, even though the timed portkey that most of them were taking would be leaving in fifteen minutes.

"Ron! Have you finished packing?" Molly Weasley yelled up the stairs, "We're all leaving soon!"

Up in his room Ron Weasley sighed in frustration. Yes he had already packed! There was no way he was missing the chance to hang out with, and maybe even learn wandless magic from, Harry and Dudley!

"Yes mum!" He yelled back down past his closed door, "I'm getting Scabbers ready!"

The rat in question had been contemplating how he was going to escape from the Weasleys while they were on holiday in Romania for three days now. One close call with Remus was enough for him. At first Scabbers thought that Ronald was being sent to Muriel's as a form of punishment, and he would have to escape from there, but the boy was packing far too much for that. Apparently he had been invited to Potter's home, but his family was making him go to Romania with them. That was the only explanation for the lack of enthusiasm the boy had shown earlier in the week. Perfect.

Of course, it never occured to the rat that Ronald could be depressed because he had not been permitted to get a new wand for Christmas.

Scabbers remained quiet as Ron closed his trunk and picked up the pet carrier the rat occupied. The boy didn't know how to magically seal the cage, so Scabbers intended to facilitate his escape as soon as he saw an opening in Romania. If he managed to grab Ronald's wand on the way, then he would even be able to apparate!

"Finally, Ron." Arthur Weasley rushed to help his son get his trunk to the hearth. "We need to floo quickly so I can get back to make the portkey with the others."

"Don't forget this Ron!" Ginny called out from behind him, where she was holding one of the family's old broomsticks.

"I thought mum said no?" He asked. In fact, his mother had been adamant that he wouldn't take a broom, or fly on someone else's, because it was possible that there wouldn't be a wizard chaperone. His father had been angry about it, but hadn't seemed to press the issue when it came up after he was allowed to go again following that special interview Harry did.

"I decided it wouldn't be right for you to be the only one not on a broom." Arthur explained, "I wrote Mister Lupin about it Christmas day, and apparently Dudley Dursley received a broom from his parents."

In the middle of this discussion, Scabbers the rat began acting up. He ran all over his carrier, throwing it off balance and almost causing Ron to drop it. Before that could happen, much to the rodent's horror, Arthur tagged the carrier with an unbreakable charm and a locking charm in quick succession.

"You can get Scabbers settled down when we're there," he said, "we need to leave. Remember son, the address is 'Potter Isle' and there is apparently a password on the location. So after you say the address you also need to say 'Najash,' whatever that means."

"It's Harry's pet's name." Ron supplied as he spared a glance at his own pet, no longer trying to escape but simply shivering in obvious fear. Maybe they could go by Diagon Alley while he was with Harry and visit the pet store? Scabbers wasn't looking so well.

"I see, I'll go on ahead. Don't tarry." Arthur said before tossing the Floo Powder into the hearth and disappearing in a flash of green fire.

When Ron passed through the floo thirty seconds later he saw his father talking to Mister Lupin and Harry several feet away. He didn't get to take in much else before a girl that looked about the same age as Ginny literally jumped into his field of view with Dudley walking up beside her.

"Hi!" She said in that sing-song voice that only younger sisters know how to make, "I'm Tina!"

Across the room, Remus and Harry were trying to explain why they wanted to check on Ron's rat without mentioning parseltongue, "I'm sure you've heard, but Harry here is an aspiring healer. He also likes animals though. He er… noticed at the end of term that Ron's seemed off. He asked me if I could take a look? I have some experience with simple veterinary care."

"The thing's nerves were shot this morning, almost panicked his way right out of the cage." Arthur replied, "I'm sure it's nothing, the poor thing's just old. But if you like, I guess it might save us a trip to the pet care store in Diagon Alley."

Remus nodded and drew his wand as he walked over to the redhead talking to Tina and Dudley. Harry had begged him to check on Ron's rat when he got here because Najash apparently insisted that there was something wrong with the thing. The snake was sure that whatever it was was dangerous somehow, but that just didn't make any sense. It was confident that if it had seen the rat more than the one time, when it was already preoccupied, it would have figured out the issue, but Remus had his doubts. If Harry hadn't turned his child-begging eyes to full power then he would have probably told him it was nothing, but that pleading gaze was absolutely cheating!

By the time Remus began walking across the room, wand in hand, towards him, Scabbers knew the game was up. He had spent the last minute pretending to still be immobilized by fear (not that he wasn't afraid, he was terrified) while he planned out his desperate escape. Before he had a chance to do anything though, Harry Potter called out a warning, too late, to Remus.

"Wait, it's dangerous!"

The werewolf turned back to Potter as Scabbers enacted his plan. Arthur Weasley may be a crazy, muggle obsessed basket case, but his eccentricities were going to be the rat's only chance. The man had placed an unbreakable charm on the carrier, but it was one of those new muggle types where the bottom popped out. The bottom was able to be completely removed, so it's connection to the rest of the carrier would not be maintained by an unbreakable charm.

While Remus momentarily had his back turned to the hearth a man's body exploded out of the bottom of the pet carrier. The man grabbed the closest child he could, a screaming Tina Polkiss, as he leveled a wand at her. The intruder looked ridiculous with his head still stuck in a clear plastic pet carrier but his words, and Tina's screams, kept anyone from laughing.

"Stop struggling girl!" He hissed as he pointed the wand at the struggling girl with his left hand and he gestured with his encumbered head towards Dudley, "You, boy, activate the floo!"

The non magical adults were adding to the chorus of screams as the wand in the stranger's hand lit with a deadly looking purple glow that flickered unsteadily, meanwhile the adult magicals in the room save for Temperance all had their wands trained on the man and hostage.

"One of you tries to cast and I'll kill her." The man said, "Activate the floo and let me go and she'll be fine." Tina was now crying limply in the rat-turned-man's grip as the standoff went on. None of the adults were naive enough to think the man would actually abandon his hostage like that, and only her mother was desperate enough to think of taking the chance.

The time of the standoff gave Ron a chance to get his bearings and find out what was going on, he had been knocked to his knees when the man exploded out of the rat carrier. Is Scabbers alright? He thought desperately to himself as he glanced around and didn't see his companion. Looking back at the man with the carrier on his head, Ron saw something else that was his, poking into a little girl's neck even!

Ron was not stupid. It was obvious that this man had to be Scabbers, somehow, for the chain of events that just happened to be real. He also knew that the man demanding the floo connection be opened wouldn't take it to some special location because he'd have to yell it out loud and everyone would hear it; but that meant that he would floo somewhere crowded and public, like the Leaky Cauldron or the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade. If he did that, he would want to keep the girl (Tina?) in case he was followed and so he'd have a hostage until he could apparate. This girl was one of Harry and Dudley's muggle friends, if he remembered right, there was no way he could let this weird guy take her off somewhere!

But how to stop him? Ron glanced at his wand again. I know something you don't know, he thought evilly as he pretended to comply with "Scabbers'" demands.

The man formerly known as Scabbers grinned under the sweaty plastic of the rat carrier as young Ronald edged towards the mantle with the floo powder, "Good Ronald, good." He said, lowering his wand a hair as he began to turn towards the fire.

That was when Ron made his move.

The redhead surged directly at the rat shouting, "Shoot at me!" as he made to grab at the man. Predictably, he turned the wand on Ron and fired. Unfortunately for Scabbers, Ron hadn't taken him to a class since he fell in with Harry Potter, so he had no idea how poorly the spello-taped wand actually performed. Basically every spell more complex than Lumos that Ron had tried to cast since it snapped had failed or fizzled for the last month. The stronger the spell, however, the more apt it was to backfire violently.

That was exactly what happened now as the wand exploded in violet light and the rat-man screamed in pain. Ron didn't waste his chance, extending his reach to grab Tina Polkiss, who had been released when the wand backfired. The moment he had her wrist Ron pulled the girl to him and leapt backwards, landing hard on his shoulder before rolling over Tina to keep any more spellfire away from her.

His worries were unnecessary, as the intruder was out cold after the wand exploded in his hand. Instead, Ron saw that the girl had a splinter of wand stuck in her cheek and plucked it out, "Sorry." He muttered when she winced.

The two children jerked upright when Temperance Smith screamed and fainted. Ron turned to look back at the man to see what was wrong, only to grip Tina even tighter and pull both of them away and behind the line of adults.

The exploding wand had shredded the man's sleeve on that arm. There, faded but still imminently visible, was the Dark Mark!

"Arthur Weasley, you had best have a good explanation for this!" Augusta Longbottom shouted from where she stood by the table with her wand trained on the unconscious death eater. She had stayed for a few minutes with Neville to meet Vernon and Petunia, and was still there enjoying tea, "Who is this, even?"

"I… I can answer that, ma'am." A wide eyed and emotional Remus Lupin answered, "This man is Peter Pettigrew!"

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

Amelia Bones almost fell over herself backing up when the floo connection in the auror ready room activated just moments before she was going to toss in some powder of her own. Her surprise turned to shock and disbelief when Augusta Longbottom stepped out of the floo and immediately addressed her.

"Madame Bones, excellent." She said, affected her most imperious voice, "Have I interrupted something?"

Amelia held up the briefcase that she was holding, "I was on my way to Azkaban to question one of the inmates under veritaserum, can I help you madame?"

"You can come with me, and bring that veritaserum." Augusta returned as she leaned in and lowered her voice, "A marked death eater who has apparently escaped discovery for ten years just infiltrated a warded property owned by Harry Potter and attempted to kidnap a muggleborn friend of Harry's when he was discovered. We have him stunned and bound, but we'll also need animagus suppression charms. Bloody death eater snuck in disguised as a rat."

Amelia needed only two minutes to leave and return with backup. Augusta recognized Kingsley Shacklebolt, one of Amelia's top (and longest serving) aurors, as he fell into step behind his boss and nodded. The man was well known for taking the time to properly handle cases and not letting politics get in the way. So much so that he'd gotten in trouble over it before.

If anyone else had told Amelia Bones that they had captured an unknown death eater she would have dismissed them as hysterical and sent them home with a trainee to make them feel better, but there was not a soul in the Ministry who could ever call Augusta Longbottom "hysterical" with a straight face. Nothing, however, could have prepared her for what she found waiting for her after passing through the floo to Potter Isle.

"Is that who I think it is?" She asked as she gazed at the disheveled, unconscious man bound to a chair with two wands trained on him. The Dark Mark on his arm was still exposed, and drove away any thought that this man might deserve the benefit of the doubt.

"Ma'am, this is Peter Pettigrew!" Kingsley exclaimed as he recognized who it was, "But he's dead! Black killed him!"

"Obviously not." Amelia hissed, barely able to contain her rage, "Now get those animagus suppression cuffs on him, I want to know what else Sirius Black might not have done."

"What do you mean?" Petunia asked, getting a curious look from the two aurors, "Remus told us that this is Peter Pettigrew, but what does that mean? Did you find anything out from Black's trial? We never received the transcript."

"You're Harry Potter's aunt?" She asked, "Petunia Dursley?" At the woman's nod, she explained, "I'm Amelia Bones, the Head of the DMLE, a pleasure to meet you. When I went to pull the trial transcripts I discovered that there wasn't one. As far as I can tell, there wasn't a trial at all. I was actually on my way to question Sirius about it in Azkaban when Madame Longbottom came through the floo."

"Suspect secured." Kingsley interjected as he gestured to the suppression cuffs that were glowing slightly, indicating that they were functioning correctly.

"Before I start asking him questions, are there still children here?" Amelia queried, she definitely did not want them nearby to hear this. She had a bad feeling that she wasn't going to want to hear this.

"Yes ma'am," Remus answered, "but they aren't in the building. There are two cottages on this island, we had all the children go to the other one. There are several adults over there watching them as well."

"That is perfect," she replied, "I may have questions depending on what I find out from Pettigrew."

"Go make sure Tina and the others are alright." Remus said as he put a hand on Petunia's shoulder, "I can stay and give you a report later. You are worrying yourself spare. If Madame Bones needs you she will know where you are."

After Petunia had left the cottage, Remus turned to Amelia, "I insist on being present for this. House Potter has spent the last ten years thinking this man was murdered by another who was brother in all but blood to James and I. I need to hear the truth about it."

"Alright," Amelia sighed as Kingsley pulled out and set up a Dicto-Quill for the imminent interrogation, "but refrain from speaking or interfering. If it appears that you will be a problem I will have to have you removed."

"Of course, ma'am." Remus replied as he took a spot next to Augusta and Arthur to act as witnesses to the questioning.

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

"I'm so sorry guys, I had no idea!" Ron had spent the last ten minutes intermittently repeating to his friends that he didn't know about Pettigrew, and would never have willingly put one of them in danger. No one doubted him, and they had already told him such, but that didn't stop him from circling back to blaming himself after every silence longer than a few seconds. Ron found his gaze repeatedly being dragged over to the couch where Tina Polkiss was still shivering and holding onto her parents and brother for dear life. Dudley, Harry, and Hermione were hovering around them, all unsure of what to do to comfort their friend.

Ron almost shrieked when a hand came down on his shoulder, but a moment to realize it was gentle and not angry got him to calm down and look up to see who it was.

"Thank you, Ronald." Petunia said as she held his shoulder, her eyes on Tina, "Your father is probably going to scold you for putting yourself in danger, but had you not reacted so quickly I don't think that would have been resolved without someone being hurt."

"But it was my fault." Ron muttered.

"Nonsense." Petunia replied, "I asked your father about that rat while we waited on law enforcement to get here, specifically when you got it. Ten years is an awfully old rat. When Remus mentioned the fact that brown rats usually only live about four or five years, he got a confused look on his face before saying he had somehow forgotten that. I believe he is going to get himself tested for magic that would keep him from noticing the oddities."

Ron was startled at that idea. That would mean that Scabbers, Pettigrew rather, had walked around the Burrow and used one of their wands on them at some point! What else could that freak have done? He thought to himself as he began to turn as green as the trim of his school robes.

"Are you okay Ron?" Dudley asked, causing the others to notice the sick expression on his face.

"He slept in my bed," Ron's voice was barely a whisper, but no one could miss what he said, "I let him do it all the time."

Petunia dropped onto the cushioned armrest of the chair the redhead was sitting in, immediately pulling the boy into a bone crushing hug, "Never again he won't."

"Thank you for saving me." Tina broke Ron out of his downward spiral as she stood in front of him with her parents right behind, "I'm sorry I didn't say it earlier."

"S'no problem." Ron answered, "Are you okay? Did you get hurt when my wand blew up?"

"I'm okay." She said, touching her cheek where a splinter of that wand had stuck her. Mrs. Smith had healed it as soon as they'd sat down so there wasn't even a mark, "I was just really scared."

"Thank you young man." Timothy said, "You risked your life for my daughter. If there's something we can do for you-"

"It's okay, I was fine sir, I promise." Ron said, "I knew my wand wouldn't work, it hasn't since it broke last month. I was just worried that he'd take Tina through the floo."

"You were still right heroic in the act, son." Vernon offered.

"Yeah," Parvati added from where she was sitting with her sister, "you were almost like a Gryffindor back there."

"Oi," Ron called back lightheartedly, "there's no reason to insult me now is there? I had a plan like any self-respecting Slytherin!"

And with that the children finally relaxed, intermittent chuckles evolving into full-blown laughter from all the first years, as well as Tina and the Smith children. The adults scattered throughout the room let out a collective breath that they hadn't realized they were holding as they realized their children were going to be okay.

With the stress of the situation dissipated though, Ron began to wonder exactly how everything had happened the way it had in the other building… You can't survive in Slytherin House un-hexed and un-jinxed if you don't keep stock of what was happening around you and learn from mistakes.

Why was Mister Lupin coming towards him with his wand out already? Did he know, and if so, how? Harry called out that it was dangerous before everything went down, how did he know?

"How did you know?" Ron asked Harry as the general laughing died down and the group had begun chatting again, "That something would happen, I mean? You called out before anything started."

"Uuh," Harry stumbled. In that moment he realized that he hadn't told the Smiths about that either, "Najash told me. He saw Scabbers once at school and thought something was wrong, didn't know what though. In the heat of the moment, earlier, my wand started hissing at me and that's how I knew something was really wrong. That's why I tried to stop Uncle Moony."

"Harry, snakes don't talk." Ron chuckled, jokingly at first, but when Harry didn't laugh with him and simply fixed him with one of his 'do better'stares like he sometimes gave in Potions his laughing turned more nervous.

"You're kidding right?" Ron asked, his eyes bugging out slightly as his gaze drifted to Harry's right arm where the snake always was.

"What do you mean about your wand hissing?" Petunia added, "I didn't know that it had made noises at you again since you got it."

"It does sometimes, usually little chirps, and I figured out that it was mostly warning me about danger or something." Harry dutifully answered, "It did that in the halls sometimes and when I looked around there was usually a Slytherin or two that looked like they were waiting to prank me hiding a little ways up. Today was the first day I've ever heard it actually hiss like a snake though."

"Are you saying you're a parselmouth?" Temperance asked quietly as Petunia nodded at her nephew's answer. A danger warning alarm was pretty useful for a wand, why did Dudders have to get the one that short circuits nearby electronics when he's excited?

~Would you like to check on Tina, er… Little-Witch now?~ Harry Spoke in answer to Mrs. Smith's question, causing both her and Ron to gasp. Najash still had trouble remembering names except for Harry's, he generally assigned ones of his own, ~I am explaining that I can Speak. They might be scared.~

~I want to know she is unharmed Harry. The Rat-Man wanted to hurt her. Then I want to rest on Nest-Of-Hair's head. You should let your hair grow like hers, you are not as comfortable~

Having just laughed quite a bit, Harry couldn't suppress his snort at Najash's pet-name for Hermione as the snake poked out of the end of Harry's sleeve. Harry held his arm out towards Tina, who took the snake from him with a questioning look on her face as Harry explained what had been said between them, though he left out the serpent's nickname for her.

"I'm not sure how many people will be willing to let you bring a serpent around while treating them Harry, no offense." Temperance said once Harry had finished explaining about how Najash wanted to help him with healing and his parseltongue abilities were facilitating that. Padma and Parvati explaining to the group how that is actually a common career for them in India helped a little as well.

"We'll see." Harry responded. All in all, Mrs. Smith hadn't reacted too negatively to him being a Speaker. Either she really didn't care that much, or she was simply grateful enough not to say anything about it, and for the moment whichever it was was fine with Harry.

Ron was a different story. After the shock of learning that Harry had hidden this from him, Ron had burst into hysterical giggles and taken quite a while to be able to explain what had set him off.

"Mate, if Malfoy found out he'd freak, Nott too. Definitely save it for when you can get one of them with it." Ron said with a final chuckle as he thought for a moment before continuing, "If I'd been put in Gryffindor I think would probably be just like my family and assume you were dark or something if I ever heard about it. But I've been in the dungeons since September, the Slytherins that actually have snakes are mostly the ones that talk to us first years and offer help. It kinda messes up some of what I was raised to believe, you know?"

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

Remus had been placed under a silencing charm by Arthur Weasley shortly after the interrogation of Peter Pettigrew had begun to prevent him from being thrown out, and a throwaway comment from the rat about the Longbottoms being the intended "next target" after the Potters had forced him to do the same to Augusta only moments later. By the end of the half-hour questioning Remus had ultimately requested he be magically stuck to his seat as well, lest he leap out of it and strangle the damnable traitor in front of him.

Amelia Bones was using every bit of her professional control, as well as Occlumency, to keep herself under control as well. Sirius Black was innocent! The truth rang through her head as she fought to keep her cool and plan out how to make sure that justice was served. Not only in getting Sirius out of the hell he was being subjected to, but also to make sure that the ones who put him there paid.

"Kingsley, get him to a holding cell and make sure no one knows who he is until I'm ready." Amelia ordered once she'd deactivated the Dicto-Quill, "Choose as few aurors as possible, that you trust implicitly, to keep a watch on him."

"Yes ma'am." Kingsley said, creating and activating a portkey directly to said holding cell.

As she stared at the empty space they had occupied, Amelia finalized her plan for getting Sirius out as soon as possible, "Remus, can you meet me at the Ministry building in an hour? Take that time to explain to Mister Potter and his family what we have learned. I'm going to have authorization from Fudge to take Sirius to St. Mungos by that time or I'll have him in one of those cells for obstruction of justice. I think seeing such a familiar face will be good for Sirius when he gets out. Also, please make sure that Mister Potter and the others involved are available for comment if need be."

After she left through the floo, Remus, freshly unsilenced, looked back at Arthur and Augusta with an expression not unlike a fish out of water, "How do I tell Harry?"

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

"What is the meaning of this Amelia!" Minister Fudge shouted as the woman bullied her way past his secretary and let herself into his office.

"Madame Undersecretary," Amelia said, ignoring Fudge and first addressing the toadlike woman in pink. Delores Umbridge always rubbed her the wrong way, "I must ask you to leave the room so that I can discuss matters of national security with the Minister."

"How dare you!" the fat woman shouted indignantly, "Do you not know who I am?"

"Get OUT Delores!" Fudge shouted over her, he had been forced to endure Amelia Bones for some time now. The woman was simply too righteous for her own good, and didn't understand how politics worked or how the game was played. But one thing she had never done was claim that something pertained to national security. She was simply too honest to overplay a situation's gravity, which meant he was beginning to sweat as he tried to figure out what she could mean.

"But minister?"

"I said OUT, tell Felicity that no one else is allowed in here until I say." He glared at Amelia as he finished, "No matter how persistent they might be."

Once Delores had closed the door behind her, Amelia swished her wand at it, activating the stronger security and privacy wards on the minister's office, "What is this about Amelia?"

"Bear with me minister," She said as she took a seat in front of him, "earlier this week I was asked some interesting questions about Sirius Black from the Potter family. These questions were brought on by information they took from the wills of James and Lily Potter." When Fudge made to protest that the wills were sealed she sidetracked, "There were copies in Gringotts, and we can't legally stop Heir Potter from opening those. That is not the point."

"Very well, continue."

"Well, when they went over them they discovered that Sirius was named as Harry Potter's godfather. Not only that, but the will said that he had sworn the oath and everything."

She had to raise a hand to stop the minister from interrupting her again, "They wanted me to look up his trial transcript and see if it came up. Instead, I found that there was no trial. There was no transcript anywhere, and no one who was involved in the case can remember it happening. When I questioned Crouch about when the trial had taken place his response was that it simply didn't matter because Black was 'unquestionably guilty'."

"Well we can't just drag Black out of Azkaban because the Boy-Who-Lived wants to dot some i's and cross some t's." Fudge answered, "He's guilty, we all know it. There's no way that he swore a godfather oath."

"That was what I thought until today." Amelia pressed on, "I was still planning to verify it by questioning Black, but was interrupted on my way to Azkaban when Augusta Longbottom used her Wizengamot emergency clearance to floo directly into the auror ready room and drag me back to Potter's home to arrest a death eater."

"Preposterous." Fudge clearly didn't believe his assertion even as he said it, denying bad news was simply in his nature.

"The death eater in question was discovered by Heir Potter and his steward, he took a child hostage to try and escape when he realized he'd been made." Fudge's already paling face turned ghost white, "She is fine, and the death eater was already incapacitated when Auror Shacklebolt and I arrived on the scene but… Minister, the death eater was Peter Pettigrew."

"Amelia you and I both know that that is patently ridiculous."

"That is what I thought at first too, but I saw him with my own eyes. Dark Mark and all." At the minister's incredulous expression, she pulled out a copy of the interrogation transcript, "I interrogated Pettigrew on the scene, I already had veritaserum because Madame Longbottom stopped me while I was on my way to perform a questioning anyways. One that this transcript renders irrelevant."

"Amelia what kind of joke are you pulling here?"

"Minister, read the damn transcript!"

"Fine! If you insist!" He retorted as he took the transcript and began reading… probably the source material for every nightmare he would ever have ever again.

The interrogation started with simple questions that quickly evolved into a first hand account of the fall of You-Know-Who!

What is your name? Peter Ignatious Pettigrew.

Are you a death eater? Yes.

Were you the secret keeper for the Potters? Yes.

Why did everyone think that it was Sirius Black? That was Sirius' idea. He would be a decoy because the Dark Lord's forces would assume him to be the keeper.

As specifically as possible, when did your role as the Potter's secret keeper end? Around nine o'clock p.m. on the thirty-first of October, nineteen eighty-one.

"I confess to not knowing all auror protocols," Fudge said as he looked up momentarily, "but was that question worded to confirm without doubt that he was the keeper when they were attacked?"

At the DMLE Head's nod he continued.

Did you willingly lead the wizard known as Voldemort to the Potter's home? Yes.

Why? I serve the dark lord, I was afraid he would kill me if I refused, and I was to have part of the Potter fortune.

What happened when Sirius Black confronted you after the incident at Godric's Hollow on the previously mentioned Halloween? How did the incident start, and how did you react? He confronted me in the street, he knew I was the traitor. He shouted at me that I had betrayed James and Lily, and I cast a blasting hex at the road. I killed most of the muggle witnesses and cut off my finger, then transformed and escaped into a sewer.

What do you mean 'Transformed'? I am an animagus, I turn into a brown rat.

Alright, now I want specifics. Beginning with the moment you and the wizard known as Voldemort appeared on the sidewalk at Godric's Hollow that night, walk me through what happened until you escaped from Black as a rat. The Dark Lord did not speak as we proceeded to the house after apparating…

When the minister began turning as green as his favorite bowler hat, Amelia interrupted him, "Minister, Pettigrew has confessed to committing every crime Sirius is illegally in prison for, as well as framing him for those crimes."

"Yes, we need to get trials lined up, one for Pettigrew and a retrial for Sirius.'"

"No sir," Amelia interrupted, "there would be no retrial as Black has clearly never had one at all."

"Er, right. Two trials then…"

"Wrong again, Sirius needs to simply be released and his innocence announced." Amelia stood up and leaned over the desk to close the distance with the minister, "The law only lets us detain someone without charges for seven days, and detainment in Azkaban without trial can be for no more than ninety, in the low-security wing only, and that is assuming we are following the more lenient emergency laws from ten years ago. Every day Sirius Black has been in Azkaban after that was illegal kidnapping perpetrated by the Ministry."

"I… what do we do? He'll have all our jobs over this!"

"Now you understand why I felt this needed to stay between us to start. Handled wrong this could end the Ministry. But it won't hit you like that if we do everything in our power to get Sirius settled and back on his feet." Amelia hated having to placate the man's cowardly nature, but at least it wasn't hard this time, "The only major officials that are still in office from that time that had a hand in this travesty are Crouch and Dumbledore, if he goes after anyone it should be them. You can start that goodwill by signing me authorization to relocate him to St. Mungos immediately after we are done talking. Though I don't think it will be necessary, if he is needed at Pettigrew's trial we can't have him looking like he's been in Azkaban for a decade. Let Sirius Black recover for a week and we hold the trial first thing next Saturday."

Fudge was already drafting the legal waivers needed to get the man moved before she had even finished the suggestion.

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Sirius Black heard footsteps echoing through the corridor of the prison and resumed his human form. He had been harassed by the guards relatively recently, so he didn't think they were coming for him again. But it never hurt to be careful with the only thing keeping him even remotely sane.

In his mind, that caution was rewarded when he saw a pair of eyes look into his cell before unlocking and opening the door. Who walked in almost caused the last bit of his resolve to break. It wasn't often that they did this, but it was always painful. Even then, the guards had never been that cruel, they'd never taken his form with polyjuice before.

"You know he's sick, don't you Langley?" Sirius did his best not to laugh, "Better hope the polyjuice kills it." Don't laugh, "I know Ami doesn't care Tripp, ten years in here told me that, so that's just a waste of contraband. I got you right, ya? Who's who?" Don't laugh, don't laugh. You won't be able to stop!

Amelia Bones was dumbfounded, "Why do you think that we are Aurors Langley and Tripp?"

"Yeah right," the insane looking man released a little chuckle, as he wheezed out his next taunt, "next you'll tell me it's finally time for my trial or something? Not falling for it."

So he really didn't get one then, Amelia thought as she answered, "It's really us."

"Padfoot, we found him." Remus stopped in the middle of the room, waiting for his friend to react, "We found Wormtail, we know the truth."

Padfoot? There was no way he would tell the aurors his Marauder name, no way.

"Moony?" Sirius' voice was weak, barely above a whisper.

"It's me Padfoot. It's Moony. Wormtail is in custody, it's over." Remus knelt down so that Sirius could see his face more clearly, but the other man grabbed him into a hug as he began laughing and sobbing at the same time.

"We're getting you out of here Padfoot. To St. Mungos"

"H-Harry?" Sirius choked out.

"He's fine Padfoot. If you listen to the healers you should be able to see him before he goes back to Hogwarts. It's Christmas break right now."

"Harry…" Sirius sighed once more before he passed out from shock.

"I will be opening an investigation into Langley and Tripp as soon as this all is taken care of." Amelia promised as she cast a spell to levitate the unconscious Sirius out of the prison, "If you can cast a patronus, take your wand back and do so. Not having to deal with the dementors on the way out will be a good start."