AN: I don't own anything.

Harry dreaded the coming of the Christmas holidays. After tolerating his moody silence for a day, Arianna explained to him that they did behave like brats. They were rude, and James was right in punishing him. Arianna was also grounded till Christmas. So, was Neville.

Harry had received several letters from home and things looked like they were fine on paper but he still dreaded facing his father. He had apologised and was forgiven but this was the first time that his last conversation with his father was a fight. He also didn't want to leave Ron alone in the castle for Christmas. It strangely felt like he was betraying Ron. Neville was as nervous about returning home. So, it was with a heavy heart that Neville and Harry bid goodbye to Ron and boarded the train with Hermione, promising Ron that they would look into who Nicolas Flamel is once they reach home.

The train ride was uneventful. Malfoy tried to get a rise out of them but ran away as soon as he saw Anna approaching the coach in which the first years sat.

After the fight with James, she had maintained her distance from the entire matter, reminding both Harry and Neville that they shouldn't get involved either and leave everything to the adults.

"I am coming to the manor with you." Anna said from the door of the compartment.

Harry nodded, not really meeting her eye. He still didn't know how he would face his dad once they got to the station.

"Hey," Anna said, kindly. "Don't worry squirt. A fight between uncle James and you was bound to happen. You are growing up, getting independent, you wouldn't be his shadow forever. Mum and I have loads of fights. It's part of the process."

"Are you sure?" Harry asked. "I can't help feel dreadful. I really disappointed dad."

"I am sure. Give him a hug when you see him. And here have a chocolate frog. It will make you feel better." Anna said tossing an chocolate frog to all the three people in the compartment.

Harry looked at his card, which was Dumbledore and he already had a Dumbledore card.

"Hey, Hermione," Harry said. "If you want to start a Chocolate Frog card collection, you can have mine. It's Dumbledore and I have one of him."

He passed the card to Hermione, who started reading it with interest. There was a lull in the conversation as Neville and Harry focused on their frogs, and that comfortable silence was broken by an audible gasp from Hermione.

"I found Nicolas Flamel!", she exclaimed excitedly. "Here, read!"

Harry and Neville and took a look. The card said

ALBUS DUMBLEDORE,

currently Headmaster of Hogwarts. Considered by many the greatest wizarding of modern times, Professor Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the Dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelves uses of dragon's blood and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicholas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.

"I told you," Harry exclaimed triumphantly. "I knew I had read the name somewhere."

"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed nearly bouncing on her seat. "I wish I had that book!"

"What book?" Neville asked.

"The book on famous wizards of all time." Hermione replied, looking positively stressed with not having the book. "I had checked it out of the library months ago. It's in my dorm."

"Do you think if we send Ron the instructions, he will be able to get it out of your dorm?" Neville asked.

"No. Haven't you ever bothered to read Hogwarts: A History?" Hermione asked looking annoyed.

Both the boys shrugged. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"The founders trusted the girls more. So, girls can enter the boys' dorms but boys cannot enter the girls' dorms. If they try, the staircase turns into a slippery slide to prevent their climb there are also magical barriers placed to prevent the determined ones from going further."

"How is that fair?" Neville asked indignantly.

Harry shrugged, deep in thought.

"Hermione, I think I have a solution." Harry said with building excitement. "The library at our home is huge. It has tomes and tomes of books. I am sure there must be something about Alchemy and Flamel there. We know that he is the only known Alchemist in the last century. I can try and find something, while I am at home."

Neville nodded, "I think I will be able to convince dad to let me off the hook in one week. I can come help you."

"Are you sure, you will be able to manage?" She asked. "I wish I could come over to help."

"No.No." Neville said lightly, patting her knee. "Go enjoy your skiing trip with your parents. We will send you a letter as soon as we find something."

Hermione beamed at them. Harry immediately penned a letter to Ron and attached the Chocolate Frog card with it for reference. The letter also had instructions for Ron, asking him to look for similar book in the library. Hermione had ingeniously suggested that Ron could ask for help from the librarian without making her or anyone else suspicious.

With this piece of the puzzle falling into place, the three friends spent the rest of their journey in exchanging their views about muggle and wizarding chocolates and treats.

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Harry had expected his father to be at the station to pick him up. However, he was pleasantly surprised when he saw Remus Lupin chatting amicably with Alice Longbottom. Remus waved at Harry and Harry waved back before Neville and he were dragged by Hermione to meet her parents. After quick pleasantries Neville and Harry made their way back to their guardians.

"Hi, Harry," Remus said ruffling, his hair and moving to ruffle Neville's hair. "James wanted to come but he is stuck at work."

"I told you, you should have stayed home too." Alice said giving Harry a hug. "I can manage these three on my own. I would have brought them home."

"It was no trouble, Alice. Plus, I got to spend some time with you. It has been way too long since we sat down for a good chat."

"True." Alice replied as she reduced Neville's trunk. "Let's plan something soon."

Remus grinned before grabbing Harry and Arianna's hands and apparating them away to the Potter Manor.

Harry didn't expect a welcome home party but he also didn't expect that his father would be late for dinner.

"He will be here soon." Remus said for the nth time. "Eat your dinner. You must be hungry."

"I want to wait for dad." Harry said in a small voice. Dinner was the last thing on his mind. He wanted to see his father and know that everything was fine between them. Remus had assured him that James wasn't angry at him anymore but he wanted to hear the same from his father.

Harry jumped from his seat as soon as the kitchen floor turned green. James Potter stepped out of the fireplace looking exhausted. It looked like he hadn't shaved in week but he beamed as he caught a glimpse of his son before Harry had barreled into his chest for a hug.

"Hi, Monkey." James said softly, holding Harry close. "Sorry, I got late. I didn't want to miss your first day home."

"Thank Merlin." Harry said sounding relieved. "I thought you were still mad at me."

"Harry, no." James said, "You made a mistake. I yelled at you and set you some punishment and you learned from your mistake. That's all I wanted. I can never be mad at you for months on end."

"Seeing at how bratty we were as kids." Sirius said brushing off some soot. "It would be hypocritical of us to be mad at you for being a rather manageable form of menace. Your grandparents dealt with worse behaviour from us. That doesn't give you the license to be a brat, though. Now, where's my hug?"

The rest of the dinner passed by pleasantly enough.

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Within a week of being home, Neville had discovered Nicolas Flamel. It was quite by accident really. Neville was idly browsing through the books in the library as he, Harry and Anna were sitting in the library at Potter Manor. He yelped so loudly that by the time he rushed back to the table both Harry and Anna were staring at him.

"I found him!" Never explained running over and nearly ramming the heavy book under Harry's nose. "I found him."

"Who?" Anna asked

"Nicolas Flamel!" Neville said impatiently, as he slammed the book in front of them.

"Why haven't you given this up?" Arianna demanded, "Haven't you learned anything? Your parents would be pissed if they found out that you still haven't given this up yet."

"Will you keep it down?" Neville asked, "We are not planning to do anything with this. We just want to know who Flamel is."

"I don't want to be a part of this." Anna said but refused to move from her seat.

"So, can you look over there while we read this?" Harry asked smirking a little.

"I hate the two of you!" She exclaimed but pulled the book to herself and began reading aloud about Nicholas Flamel.

"So, that dog is protecting the Philosopher's stone?" Harry asked as they sat together trying to absorb this information. "Why would Snape want to steal this stone?"

"Are you kidding?" Arianna asked with noa snort. "You can make as much gold as you want, not to mention love forever. Who wouldn't want to steal it?"

Harry gave her an annoyed look. "I know that, but no other teacher at Hogwarts wants to steal it. Why him?"

"Because he is a git," Neville declared rolling his eyes. "It doesn't matter. He tried, he failed, its done."

Harry shrugged, they had promised not to meddle anymore. "I guess we could write to the others and let them know who Flamel is."

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James massaged his temple as he laid in bed with Quirrell's file in his hand. It took them some time to get his details together but James was hardly surprised to know that Quirrell was a powerful wizard with immense potential and talent. He perfect scores in nearly all of his NEWTs subjects with a special expertise in defence.

His file also said that Quirrell left England after completing his education to get some hands on experience as a defensive magic researcher and came back two years later to apply for the DADA position at Hogwarts.

James flipped through the pages to look at Quirrell's travel history and found nothing of import.

However, people who remembered Quirrell did say that there were rumours of him meeting a vampire in Albania, right before he returned to England.

Even his school records show that Quirrell was a quiet child with just one close friend, Robert Finch, who was last employed by Gringotts.

James was sure that Quirrell had found Voldemort in Albania but he had no proof of this. His only hope was to find Robert Finch who could give him some answers about Quirrell and his role in the robbery.

He sighed and shook his head. He will focus on this after the holidays. Harry was home and he wanted to spend a lot of time with his son. He grinned at the though of the Christmas surprise he had planned for Harry, this was the last thought he had before he slipped into an uneasy sleep.

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Harry was woken rather rudely on Christmas morning when someone jumped on his bed and started hitting with a pillow.

"Ron?" Harry asked groggily, "Ron!" he yelled excitedly as soon as he saw one of his best friends.

"What are you doing here?" he yelled excitedly.

"Your dad invited us for Christmas and the rest of the holidays," Ron said excitedly. "Now come on, everyone is waiting. We have got presents. Also, did I tell you, I love your house!"

Harry grinned and jumped out of bed and in no time at all they were racing down to where everyone was.

When Harry entered the room Fred and George were animatedly talking to his father and Sirius, while Percy was talking earnestly with Remus about the honour of being a prefect.

Harry raced to his father and gave him a tight hug to thank him for the best surprise possible, and without much delay all the children sat down to open their presents.

Harry was in the middle of opening a rather large box of Zonko's joke products from Sirius when Sleepy apparated into room with Scabbers' box in tow.

"Excuse me master Weasley," he said addressing Ron. "Can you please bring your rat out of the box, we wanted to feed him but he keeps on biting us."

Nearly every eye was drawn to Ron as he took the box from Sleepy and tried to pull his rat out.

"Ow!" Ron exclaimed. "He bit me too! What is wrong with this stupid rat?"

"That can be easily fixed," Remus said kindly. "Just hold your hand out."

A wave of Remus' hand and Scabbers' came floating out of the box and landed on Ron's palm. But the rat gave a loud screech and jumped out of Ron's hand as he tried to make a dash for the door.

Harry watched Scabber's run behind a table as Sirius' spell zipped past him. When Harry turned to look at Sirius he was shocked to see the thunderous expression on his face. Sirius' face was full of hatred and raw anger. His face scared Harry. But Sirius' expression was nothing compared to the look on his dad's face. James' face looked cold, he didn't look angry, he looked detached, emotionless, deadly.

"Don't let that rat escape." James all but spit those words out and it was all that Sleepy needed. He snapped his fingers and Scabbers came floating out of hiding hole. He screamed so pitifully it made Harry feel sorry for him.

"Stop it!" Percy yelled, "You are hurting him."

James and Sirius ignored Percy as they examined the rat letting hate morph their features. Percy tried to get up and snatch Scabbers from them but Remus came in the way.

"Nobody is hurting your rat," Remus said, barely managing to keep calm. "This is not even a rat."

"What are you talking about?" Ron asked, "He has been in the family for ages."

"Dad?" Harry asked to confirm what he had just heard.

"Get out, all of you," James' voice was hoarse.

"No!" Percy and Ron protested.

"He is mine!" Ron said, "Don't hurt him. He is harmless."

That somehow broke James' trance.

"Harmless?" he hissed in a low voice advancing towards Ron and Percy. "This rat is harmless, is he?"

"Dad," Harry interjected stepping between the Weasleys and his dad. Remus had pushed Percy and Ron further back. The twins were frozen on the floor not really sure about what to do.

"They don't know, Dad." Harry said placing a hand on James and for a brief moment he has afraid that James would do something to him, but then James' eyes softened and he looked at Remus to give him a soft nod.

"How long has this rat been with you?" Remus asked Percy.

"I found him in our barn a couple of years before I started Hogwarts," Percy stammered. Ron gave Harry a scared look but the latter only shook his head and pursed his lips.

"What a perfect ruse, Wormtail," Sirius said laughing bitterly at the rat.

"Wait!" George said suddenly, "You mean Scabbers is the fourth marauder?"

No one answered George's question but as if this was the cue everyone was waiting for because both Sirius and James waved their wands and Scabbers froze in mid-air. The Weasley boys yelled in shock as a blue light engulfed the rat and the head of a man started blossoming from the rat's body. Fred and George scooted several steps away from Scabbers who had now morphed into a man with watery blue eyes.

The man in question tried to run but Sirius sent a leg-locker curse his way and he toppled over.

The man let out a low chuckle, "You never cease to catch me by surprise, my old friend." He said trying to sound warm and friendly.

Sirius made a noise that was somewhere between a snarl and a growl. But Remus cast a silencing charm on the man.

"This is enough," he said firmly before looking at the children. "All of you go upstairs to Harry's room and stay there till we come to get you. Your presents will be sent to the room itself."

No one moved. Everyone of them was still staring at the man on the floor. Harry had always thought that he would hate the man that caused the death of his mother and had tried to kill his father on so many other occasions but right now he just felt disgust and pity.

"Harry," Remus said for the third time. He didn't blame Harry for not listening. He knew all of them were overwhelmed with emotion. He wanted to kill the rat but that was James' right. He had lost the most because of Peter.

"Harry," he said again, this time more firmly and finally Harry looked up. Remus nodded towards the door. Harry didn't need telling twice, he tugged on Ron's arm pulling him away. The rest followed reluctantly turning again and again to look at that strange man, as if to make sure that their eyes were not deceiving them.

James waited till Remus shut the door before dropping to his knees.

"Why?" he asked softly. "Why did you do it? Why did you destroy my life? What had Lily ever done to you? Why did you do this? WHY?"

He let out an anguished cry. Harry heard the cry, all of them heard it and it made Harry walk faster as he dragged Ron away. He didn't want to know anymore of what was happening in that room. He wanted to get away from it.

"I had no choice," Peter pleaded. "He was too powerful. I was scared and he was winning. What would you have done?"

"What we were doing," Sirius answered emotionlessly. "Fight with and for your friends."

"You should have known," Remus said training his wand on Peter. "We would kill you for what you did."

"No," James said from his position on the floor. "He doesn't deserve such a mercy."

"James?" Sirius asked.

"Death is easy. Death is painless. He doesn't deserve it. We will turn him in."

Sirius have one hard look at Peter and nodded but that didn't stop him from giving the other man a hard kick but before Peter could moan James' stunning curse had hit him and he lay limply at their feet. It was agreed that Remus will stay with the children, while Sirius and James took Peter into the ministry. Remus was also tasked with contacting the Longbottoms and Dumbledore to update them about the situation.

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The shocked silence in Harry's room lasted for less than five minutes. Percy sniffled softly from his perch on the window. He was throwing accusatory looks at Harry as if it was his fault that his ex-pet had turned out to be an animagus.

Fred, George, and Ron were looking expectantly at Harry who was trying to avoid eye contact with everyone.

It was Ron who broke the silence. "Harry," he said hesitantly. "Who was that man?"

Harry sighed and turned to look at the pictures in his room. He didn't want to face anyone.

"I don't know everything about him," he said softly. "But his name is Peter Pettigrew. He was a friend of my dad and he was the one who gave away our location to Voldemort. He is the reason why my mother died that night."

What followed was a long and uncomfortable silence that was finally broken when Fred days that it was good they got rid of the rat and George added that it was useless anyway.

But the incident had already dampened the holiday spirit and everyone spent Christmas dinner in silence. Harry had caught Ron looking at him and then looking away in embarrassment and he wondered if Ron would even want to stick around after this incident.

Percy was the first to excuse himself from the table and was followed by the twins who looked like they were going back to their normal selves. Harry and Ron left the table together and walked in silence.

"Ron," Harry said softly. "I am sorry that your Christmas was ruined. My dad never behaves this way normally."

Ron nodded, "I am sorry too. I just can't believe that Scabbers was..." he shuddered and Harry nodded in understanding and the two friends parted for the night.

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By the time James and Sirius reached home it was quite late. The ministry was in an uproar. The minister had been called in, urgently. He was not happy about Peter Pettigrew's capture, especially when he had insisted on declaring him dead.

Remus was waiting for them for dinner but as soon as James stepped out of his fireplace his knees gave out. He felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders and all he could feel now was raw pain. Peter was supposed to be his friend.

Remus gently hugged his friend and let him sob and that's how Sirius found them. Nobody had the stomach for food. They had hidden their pain of betrayal behind anger and hatred but they had never thought that seeing Peter would bring back the hurt to the fore. They would have died for him. If only Peter understood the loyalty they had offered.

It was much later at night when James staggered into Harry's room. He gently stroked Harry's face before kissing his hand and letting his tears flow. Harry was safe at least from the threat of Peter. If Harry was awake, he didn't let his father know. He just pretended to shift in his sleep as he gently tugged at his father's hand. James sniffled and laid down next to Harry and the latter snuggled into his father so that father and son could share their grief and loss together.

AN: Another chapter comes to a close. Hope you had fun reading it.