Author's Note:

And the changes have begun… (evil laugh) Haha!

This is something that I have been planning from almost the beginning. I am very curious to hear your thoughts on it.

Reviews and Comments: To alix33: They were having a celebratory party in the Gryffindor common room so I'm sure Colin got the grapes from there. Thank you! I think McGonagall enjoyed her taste in literature as well. To ninaz08: Remus definitely rocks, doesn't he? Thank you. To Guest: I'm sure JKR doesn't read fanfiction. To Guest: McGonagall definitely love it and yes, Sirius should get her out on his bike at least once. She is pretty stubborn though.

Thank you very much for reading and please, please review!

Your reviews give me life! They give me inspiration! And they make me want to keep writing for more than just myself! Thank you!

CHAPTER EIGHTY-SIX:

The One With the Great Shoebox Capture

Sirius woke up the next morning wrapped around Zee. She was lying on her side on the edge of the large bed and he was spooning her, his leg twined between hers and his morning erection pressed against that warm round bum. The sight of her in his bed, in his arms again, made him smile as he nuzzled her neck. After spending the night in the cellar with Remus, he's snuck into her cottage early and climbed into bed with her. They'd made soft love before falling asleep in each other's arms. The sun was up now, shining through her bedroom window. He kissed her neck, her earlobe, her cheek as his hand slid up to cup a breast.

She moaned sleepily, turning her head and tilting it back to kiss him.

"It's not morning."

"It is," he said with a smile.

"My clock is all off," she pouted, stretching in the bed and teasing Sirius as her taut body brushed against his. "New Zealand is eleven hours ahead of us, you know, and Africa is only an hour ahead of us so bouncing back and forth between the two was rather exhausting."

Sirius kissed her. "I know."

They had made love a second time on the couch in the living room the night before. Then Sirius had given her his tee shirt to wear as he put his jeans on and they had made egg sandwiches for dinner as he filled her in on what she had missed with Harry, on Remus and Tonks finally dating, and on the whole mystery of the Chamber of Secrets. Zee had told him all about the Erumpents and about working with them and the other Magizoologists in New Zealand.

Then Sirius had kissed her goodnight and promised to come over as soon as he returned from Remus'. It had been harder than he wanted to admit to not follow her home. Despite only sleeping two hours, he was feeling pretty good and wondered if he could entice her into an encore.

"I'm glad that your home," he told her, nuzzling her neck.

Zee smiled. "Me too. I really did miss you. I spent way too much time with Tripp Forester this time and I wanted to hit him."

Sirius frowned slightly. Zee had mentioned this Tripp fellow a few times before. He was a Magizoologist for the ministry as well and was often partnered with her on her trips. From what he had gathered, he believed himself to be a bit of a know-it-all and obviously had the hots for his partner and made every effort to let her know it.

"What did he do this time?"

She rolled her eyes. "The usual, tried to claim last minute that the Erumpents needed to be moved to a different location, not to mention that he hit on me again."

"Oh?" Sirius asked carefully, his mouth trailing along her throat. "Is he still alive?"

She chuckled. "Yes, he is."

"Hmm, that might change," he told her with a grin. "I don't share, Zee."

Zee slid her hand between them, her grip tight enough to make him gasp. "I don't share either, lover."

He grinned. "If he hits on you again, I think you should punch him."

"I'd like to, that's for sure. I found him in my tent pawing through my knickers. The pervert."

Sirius frowned. "Can I punch him?"

She smiled. "Hmm, depends, are you both going to be all naked and oiled first?"

He laughed as she let him go and trailed her hand up his bicep. "I just don't like the idea of some bloke giving you trouble is all."

"And I appreciate that, but I don't need you to fight my battles, Sirius."

"I know that, too," he said. "You still want to go shopping today in Muggle London?" he asked her, kissing her neck.

"Mmm," she murmured. "Yes. I need some new clothes and I need to get my Christmas shopping done. Are you sure that you want to come with me?"

"Yes, I'm sure," he said kissing her neck. "I've missed you. I want to spend some time with you."

Zee rolled, straddling him in his bed and running her hands over his chest. "That sounds wonderful to me. But Sirius?"

"Hmm?" he asked, grinning up at her.

"I really like to shop so I don't want to hear any complaints from the peanut gallery when I make you carry all my stuff."

He simply smirked at her. "Deal."

His breath hitched when her lips began to kiss their way down his chest and when her mouth wrapped around him, he sighed in contentment. Yeah, he had really missed her.

~ ASC ~

It had been three hours since it had happened and Sirius still couldn't explain how he had known. All he knew was that he had been shopping in Muggle London with Zee. Zee had dragged him through store after store, bought gifts, modelled some clothing, and hinted at the naughty lingerie she had purchased. He'd snogged her senseless in one of the dressing rooms until one of the dressmakers had ordered them out. They stopped for lunch and shopped some more. It was when they had been walking, holding hands, and talking absently about the day and their plans when he had suddenly felt a familiar tingling on the back of his neck, like someone was watching them. When he had looked behind him, no one was there.

But then he saw him.

And he knew.

He was sitting on the ground, scrounging for garbage from the nearby bin and without even thinking or giving an explanation, Sirius reached down and picked up the scraggly looking rat in triumph.

Zee stared at him in bafflement. "Sirius, what are you doing?"

Sirius ignored her. The rat was attempting to escape and bit into his hand hard enough to make him wince, but he didn't let go as the blood dripped down between his fingers.

He couldn't let go.

"Bite me again, you bastard, and I'll skin you. Hand me that shoe box you have, Zee. Hurry." The rat was squealing now and Sirius glared down at him. "Did you think I wouldn't notice you, Wormtail?"

Zee carefully pulled out her new Jimmy Choos and put them in the bag, opening the box for Sirius. Sirius tossed the rat inside and closed the lid. Using his wand to seal the box shut and he poked three small holes in the top.

"Care to explain what that was about?" Zee asked him, her eyes wide.

"This is the rat who betrayed James and Lily Potter. The rat who sent me to Azkaban. He's an Animagus."

Zee's mouth dropped open and then she nodded. "Let's get him to the DMLE then."

Sirius only nodded, grateful that she trusted him enough not to demand an explanation right this moment as he clutched the box tightly in his arms as they hurried down the street towards the phone booth that was the London visitor entrance to the Ministry of Magic. He didn't say a word as they took the lift down and it was only when he saw Tonks sitting at her desk in bullpen of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement that he felt slightly calmer.

"Tonks," Zee said, hurrying towards her with a smile. "We need you to get the Head Auror immediately."

Tonks looked from Sirius' pale face to Zee and back before she nodded. A minute later she came back with Kingsley Shacklebot, newly appointed Head Auror of the department.

"We need an interrogation room," Sirius said quietly.

Tonks only nodded. She led them down past the cubicles and the offices to a stone circular room with a table, two chairs, and shackles on the wall. "What is going on, Sirius? You look like you've seen a ghost?"

Sirius put the box on the table carefully, his hands still holding it in place. "Close the door."

Kingsley closed the door, leaning his tall, dark frame against it. "Answer Auror Tonks, Sirius."

Sirius finally let go of the box, using his wand to pop it open and the rat jumped out, squealing in fright. Sirius petrified him and then murmured 'revelio' and watched in horrid fascination as the rat's body transformed into that of a man. A man who had greatly changed in the last decade.

He was still small, only one hundred and seventy-one centimetres, but his thick straw coloured hair no longer stood up, but instead was now thin and colourless. He had a bald patch at the back of his head. His small watery blue eyes were staring at Sirius in horror. His face almost looked rat-like and he was hunched over a bit as if living as a rat had changed his actual form.

"Hello, Peter," Sirius said pleasantly, his grey eyes staring menacingly at his old friend as he twirled his wand between his fingers.

Peter, if possible, paled even more. "S-S-Sirius!"

Kingsley crossed his arms in front of his chest, his own eyes wide. "Peter Pettigrew, as I live and breathe. We've been searching for you for years now. And here you are, handed over to us by Sirius Black. How incredibly poetic!"

Peter looked terrified. "Sirius, Sirius, what could I have done? The Dark Lord… you have no idea… he has weapons you can't imagine… I was scared, Sirius, I was never brave like you and Remus and James. I never meant it to happen… He Who Must Not Be Named forced me… He — he was taking over everywhere! Wh-what was there to be gained by refusing him? You don't understand! He would have killed me, Sirius!"

"THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED!" Sirius exploded, his hands clenching his wand angrily.

Zee wrapped an arm carefully around his waist, her hand sliding along his bicep, down to his wrist, to his wand. "Sirius, lower your wand."

Sirius kept his wand trained on Peter, not even flinching when Kingsley used his wand to bind the shackles to Peter. He placed a charm on the shackles to prevent him from transforming back into his rat form, only then did Sirius lower his wand.

"Zee, you should wait outside now," Tonks told her, taking her arm. "We need to talk to Sirius."

Zee nodded. She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek lightly and his grey eyes looked at her gratefully. Once the door was locked behind them again, Tonks gestured for Sirius to take a seat.

"Sirius, I think that we need to first recap everything that happened. We have the transcript from your trial," she said, sitting in the other chair.

Kingsley's eyes were on Peter. "How did you find him, Sirius? How did you know it was him?"

That was the question, Sirius thought.

It had first started at Flourish and Blotts back in August. When Lockhart had pulled Harry up onto the platform for the photo op, Sirius had felt like someone was watching him. He could feel that someone was nearby and that they were spying on him, but as his eyes had searched the crowd, he couldn't see any one of consequence. Then Ginny had spotted the rat sitting in the alley apart from the other rats.

"It looks like Scabbers," she'd said in surprise, pointing the rat out to Ron.

Ron had squinted at the rat in the distance. "Kind of, Gin, but Scabbers ran away eons ago. He's probably dead."

"Who is Scabbers?" Sirius had asked curiously.

Ron had grinned at him. "Percy's old rat. He lived with us forever and then just after we first met you and Harry, he disappeared. Fred always thought he'd crawled away somewhere to die."

When Sirius turned to look at the rat in question, he was gone, but he hadn't been able to shake the feeling that Scabbers was more than just an old pet rat. He'd been on his way to the Ministry for the first meeting with the Hogwarts Board of Governors in September when he had felt like he was being watched again. The sensation made him uneasy, but when he searched around, he could see nothing out of place, no one he recognized.

Then he had seen the rat, staring at him, and he knew. But the second he made his way towards him, the rat had vanished into the sewers, hiding in the throng of the millions of other rats that lived below the ground. But Sirius had continued to feel someone watching him — when he went to the hospital to visit the kids, when he went to Gringotts — but he could never prove it.

He had started to question himself on whether he was just getting paranoid.

But that day, the moment they had arrived in London, Sirius had known Peter was nearby.

He could sense him. When he'd turned and caught the missing toe on the paw of the rat, he had grabbed him without thinking. Now he was staring at the sickly and old looking man before him trying to remember what his friend had once looked like. He was only thirty-two years old and Sirius thought he looked closer to fifty

"He's been following me. I don't know how long exactly, but I first felt like someone was watching me when Harry and I were in Diagon Alley to get his school things. Today, I just… I knew it was him and I pounced the moment I saw him."

"How did you know it was him?"

Sirius snorted. "He's distinct, is he not? Bastard cut off his own finger to frame me for murder. I tend to notice a rat who has a missing toe."

Kingsley nodded, his eyes on Peter. "Where have you been for the last eleven years, Pettigrew?"

Peter was sweating, his bottom lip trembling as he looked between Sirius, Kingsley, and Tonks. "I was running for my life! Sirius tried to kill me!"

"He did," Tonks said to him, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "But you escaped before he could. You cut off your own finger and used a blasting curse so powerful it killed twelve Muggles in the vicinity. Sirius Black has killed no one."

"He — he betrayed Lily and James!"

Sirius scoffed now. "I'm not in prison anymore, Wormtail! Do you think that the truth has not come out by now? YOU were the Secret Keeper and it was YOU who sold them out to Voldemort!"

Peter flinched.

"Oh? Don't like the name of your old master, Pete? Afraid to hear his name spoken aloud?" Sirius demanded, his eyes flashing in anger.

"I-I-I didn't mean too!" he whined, tears pouring down his cheeks. "I was tricked!"

Sirius slammed his hands on the table. "You were fucking tricked? We trusted you, Pete! We trusted you with our fucking lives and that's all you can say is that you were bloody tricked! Are you even fucking sorry that they're dead?"

Tonks stood up, her hands moving to Sirius' chest, pushing him back a little. "Sirius, you can't stay in here if you're not going to be calm."

Kingsley moved towards them. "We know what he's been accused of and we know from the memories that you provided that he was the keeper of the charm for the Potters. He is the one guilty of murdering those twelve Muggles. Not to mention that he's an unregistered Animagus. That alone warrants him time in Azkaban."

Peter whined in horror. "Sirius is an unregistered Animagus!"

Tonks and Kinglsey both turned to look at him.

Sirius swallowed. "Tonks, I'd like to speak with King alone for a minute."

Tonks' eyebrow rose. "Sir?"

Kingsley nodded. "Get the paperwork started for Pettigrew's trial and extraction to Azkaban."

When Tonks left the room, closing the door behind her, Sirius turned to Kingsley. "Are we alone in here? Is anyone else watching?"

Kingsley shook his head. "No. Only I have the override to open the two-way mirror on the other side. We're alone." He cast a quick privacy charm around he and Sirius so that Pettigrew couldn't hear them speaking. "Explain."

Sirius dragged his fingers through his hair. "Wormtail is telling the truth about me."

"You know that's punishable by up to six months in prison, Sirius."

"I know," Sirius said dryly, his eyes meeting Kingsley's. "I was going to mention it at my trial but… I just wanted to be free. I wanted to find Harry and to be the best godfather that I could be to him." At Kingsley's nod, he continued. "James, Pete, and I… we all did it — succeeded in fifth year. We did it for Remus."

"For Remus?" Kingsley asked and then his eyes focused. "Because he's a werewolf."

Sirius nodded. "We wanted to help him. Once a month he went through this horrific transformation and as animals we could be there to support him, to help keep him calm, and he couldn't harm us. We did it for him."

Kingsley was quiet for a moment, his eyes on Peter. "Is that why I always found black dog hair on my bed at school?"

Sirius grinned sheepishly. "Possibly."

Kingsley's hand glided over his chin for a moment while he contemplated what Sirius had told him. "You've kept it a secret to protect Remus Lupin, which I admire. I'm well aware that he is not registered as a werewolf in the Ministry of Magic."

"He's not and we appreciate you having kept that a secret as well. Snape has been brewing the Wolfsbane Potion for him for years now; he takes it faithfully every month. He's never been a danger, King. You went to school with us for seven years, shared a dorm with us. Have you ever been afraid of Remus? I know that you found out he was a werewolf in seventh year and you… you said that you were okay with it?" Sirius asked him, trying to gauge where his old friend's mind was at.

"I have no issue with Remus. You four were always off on your own adventures in school, which was fine with me as my best friends were in Ravenclaw, but no, I know that Remus is not a danger to society — and no, I have no plans of revealing his secret. I said as much when Dumbledore inducted him into the Order years ago," he explained. "I take it Auror Tonks does not know his secret?"

Sirius shook his head. "No. She is completely unaware."

Kingsley nodded. "I will draw up the paperwork immediately concerning you as an unregistered Animagus, Sirius. You will register today: Name, markings, and everything followed by the year and date in which you succeeded in becoming an Animagus. In return, I will let your sentence to Azkaban pass for your help in finding the wanted murderer and Death Eater, Peter Pettigrew. As Head Auror, I can choose to make a deal like this, but I will have to speak with the prosecutor first and with the head of my department. You will be fined."

"And Remus?"

"No one has to know about him."

Sirius breathed a sigh of relief. "Deal."

Kingsley removed the privacy charm from around them.

Peter was hanging limply against the shackles as they both turned to look at him. "And what about me?"

"You will be tried for your crimes as soon as possible. You are accused of the following: The betrayal of the Potters and an accessory to their deaths, accessory for the attempted murder of Harry Potter, twelve counts of murder against the Muggles you killed with your curse, for being an unregistered Animagus, for framing Sirius Black for your crimes, and for running from the law. That's a hundred years per life, Pettigrew, and we haven't even gotten to your other crimes. You will die in Azkaban unless the court decides a Kiss is in your future." Kingsley explained to him.

Peter whimpered. "Sirius! Sirius, please! Help me!"

"I did help you, Wormtail. I would have protected you with my life once upon a time and you threw it all away." Peter trembled in fear as Sirius turned to open the door. "King, I want to be at his trial."

Kingsley nodded. "I'll keep you fully informed."

The last thing that Sirius heard as he closed the door behind him was Peter's whimpering and the sound of it reminded him so strongly of his friend when they had been kids that his fists clenched at his sides. He still couldn't see how someone he had trusted so much could have betrayed them all.

And that's what hurt him the most.

He still didn't see it.

~ ASC ~

Zee was waiting for him at Tonks' cubicle, her eyes full of concern when he came out of the interrogation room. "Sirius?"

Sirius simply pulled her into his arms, his chin resting on the top of her head as he bent to hold her close. His heart was pounding in his chest and as he held her. He felt it steady out the longer she was in his arms and he felt calmer. He pulled back a little to kiss her forehead.

"You stayed."

Zee smiled up at him. "Of course, I stayed. Are you okay?"

He dragged his fingers through his hair and shrugged. "I'm not sure. I need… Rem needs to know."

"Of course," she said, taking his hand in hers.

Sirius kissed their joined hands. "You don't even question, I kind of love that about you."

Zee smiled. "I know you'll tell me when you are ready to."

He leaned down to kiss her. "I have some paperwork to fill out here. I don't know how long it's going to take. But we're going to have dinner tonight, Remus too, and… I'll explain everything."

Zee nodded. "Why don't I head home then? You and Remus can come to my place. I'll throw something together for dinner. Bring some wine."

Sirius kissed her again. "That sounds perfect. Thank you."

She smiled. "If you need me —"

" — I know," he said with a smile, squeezing her hand gently before he let go. He watched her leave the office before he took a seat in the visitor's chair in Tonks' cramped cubicle. "All right; let's get this paperwork underway and then you can come for dinner as well. I think that it's time you learn the whole story about why I was imprisoned."

"Sirius, are you really an Animagus?" she asked, her eyes wide.

Sirius winked at her. "Remember how much you love that stray Padfoot?"

Tonks' eyes widened. "That was you the whole time!" When he nodded she blanched. "I let you lick my face."

He laughed. "Pass me the paperwork, Tonks."

~ ASC ~

It was a little before five when Sirius arrived at Zee's house. He let himself into the cottage, absently stroking Lady Godiva's head as he took his shoes off. She was in the small kitchen, light jazz music playing from the wireless.

He slipped his arms around her waist and nuzzled her neck. "It smells amazing in here."

Zee turned to smile at him. "Just an old family recipe; fried chicken and cornbread just like my grandmother makes. Then we have a spinach, tomato, and cucumber salad and some extra cheesy baked macaroni."

Sirius tilted her chin up and kissed her deeply, sighing when her hands fluttered up to his shoulders. "Thank you for today," he said, resting his forehead against hers.

"I didn't do anything," Zee told him.

"You did everything," he kissed her again. "I invited Tonks to come over, too. She should know the whole story as well."

She nodded, turning back to the chicken. "Sure. Would you mind putting another setting out for her?"

Sirius headed to the cupboard to find the dishes as the knock sounded on the door. "I'll get it." He smiled gratefully at Remus when he greeted him at the front door, tugging his friend into a hug. "Thanks for coming."

Remus nodded, looking at Sirius in surprise. "Of course. You said that it was important. Are you okay?"

Sirius took a deep breath before he spoke. "I'm fine, but — Peter's in custody at the Ministry of Magic."

Remus' eyes widened in shock. "What?"

Sirius nodded. "Like I said, important." He gestured for Remus to follow him into the kitchen just as there was a second knock on the front door. "That's probably Tonks. She was there today so I wanted her to hear the story and to understand everything as well."

Five minutes later, they were all sitting at Zee's kitchen table as she finished frying up the chicken. Tonks was playing footsies with Remus under the table and he was doing his best to tell her to stop with his eyes, but she was having none of it.

"Tonks, why don't you pour us all some wine, and Sirius, you can serve up the food," Zee suggested as she finished up the chicken.

Soon they were all eating the fabulous meal and Remus was watching his friend's face. "How long are you going to make me squirm over here? How the hell did Peter get into custody?"

"Sirius caught him spying on him and captured him in a shoe box," Tonks said quickly earning a short laugh from Remus.

"You're joking?"

"I'm not," Zee said, seriously. "I let him use my shoebox for my brand new Jimmy Choos."

Tonks smirked as Remus still looked flummoxed.

Sirius cleared his throat. "Rem, the last few months or so I've been getting this feeling like someone was watching me. When we were in Diagon Alley at the end of August, Ginny mentioned something about the Weasleys having an old rat who had run away years ago. She was rather convinced that she had spotted him that day. I thought it was kind of strange, but nothing to be concerned about until I started feeling like I was being watched again. Never here. Never anywhere around my house or Zee's, but whenever I went out to London, I could feel it. I started looking at the rats. Maybe I knew on some level that it was… I honestly don't know… but then I saw him. Sitting there, bold as day. He was a rat, watching me. He escaped into the sewer before I could do anything, but today, Zee and I were shopping and I saw him again — and I just grabbed him."

"He asked me for my shoebox and he's holding this rat who is struggling desperately in his hands. It bit him and he has blood dripping down his hand, but he wouldn't let go. I handed over the shoebox and he sealed it in there, poking a few holes in the top," Zee explained, taking a sip of her wine.

"Zee just stared at me like she was a little concerned that I had gone insane and I told her that the rat was the reason I had gone to Azkaban. All she said was, 'let's go to the Ministry then,' and we did," Sirius told them. "I found Tonks at her cubicle and I demanded to see the Head Auror, which by the way is King, I had no idea he had been promoted as such. Anyway, we got to the interrogation room and I made him reveal himself. It was Pete, Rem."

Remus stared at his friend, his eyes wide. "I was starting to wonder if he was dead."

Sirius swore. "Bastard deserves to be. He looks fucking awful. I think he's been living as a rat all these years. His hair is practically gone, colourless, and he's balding. He looks closer to fifty to be honest."

Remus tilted his head. "I imagine the stress of living in hiding all of these years wouldn't exactly be suitable to a healthy lifestyle. What did he have to say for himself?"

Sirius tossed back his wine, his hands clenching into fists as the anger coursed through him again. "He said that he was tricked. That it was obvious Voldemort was going to win the war and that, oh yeah, what was his line — he didn't mean too."

Remus glared at that. "He didn't mean to fucking betray his friends? Is that what his excuse was?"

Tonks was looking between the two of them, her brow furrowed. "Will you two explain everything from the beginning please? I'm completely lost."

Zee nodded, smiling gratefully at Tonks. "Thank you, I feel very much the same."

Sirius sighed, leaning back in his chair as Tonks poured more wine into his glass. "Zee, you went to school in Russia, I don't know how much of the war you were aware of?"

"I was aware. My great uncle was killed by Death Eaters for saving the life of a Muggle family. I knew exactly what was going on and nothing made me angrier than being so far away from the family I did have in Scotland," she said, bitterly.

Sirius nodded. "When we left Hogwarts, James, Remus, Peter, and I got our own little flat, the one that my uncle Alphard had left me. We had decided we wanted to continue living together for a while. Not for long mind you, as James had proposed to Lily before we left school, but the war had already escalated at this point. We became involved in the war effort, doing what we could to try to find out Voldemort's plans and to try to discover who his Death Eaters were. You couldn't trust anyone. People were under the Imperius Curse and being used and we didn't know until it was too late; others we never even discovered. James came from a strong pureblood family known for being blood traitors. Jamie was even approached about joining his cause when we were sevens by Evan Rosier. Rosier ended up in the hospital wing. When James proposed to Lily and the article about their engagement became public knowledge, James and Lily unknowingly became targets."

Remus tapped his fingers on the table. "James, a sought after pureblood who was a bloody Transfiguration genius and a champion dueller, was planning to marry a Muggleborn — it got serious attention. The Potters became more of a blood traitor family than ever before. And Lily, Merlin, she was bloody amazing. That woman could charm anything and her wand moved as if it was part of her, you couldn't defeat her in a fight. The two of them were like the ultimate power couple. They were in the paper constantly, Potter Heir Marries Muggleborn Niffler and other rubbish claiming that Lily was marrying him for money, that she'd charmed him with magic, or that she used a love potion. But they were madly in love and anyone could see that. Watching them fight together was incredible. While we worked undercover against Voldemort and his Death Eaters, there were plenty of attacks on those who had defied him. Lily and James themselves escaped death three times. When Lily found out that she was pregnant, she was terrified just as much as she was thrilled. She and James decided that the only way that they could get through the war safely was to go into hiding."

"Jamie was going stir crazy. He's the last person to sit on his hands and let others do the work, but his wife was pregnant and she needed him and he loved her more than anything in the world," Sirius explained with a smile. "We visited them as often as we could and when James' parents contracted dragon pox and died only weeks apart, we grieved with them. They never even got to meet their grandson."

Remus nodded sadly. "After Harry was born, Dumbledore told James that he believed his family was in more danger because he was convinced that among the group of us who were trying to figure out what Voldemort was up too, there was a spy. He didn't know who it was, but he knew that Voldemort had a spy amongst us and that James, Lily, and Harry were not safe. They agreed to really go into hiding — deep underground. This was where they made the decision to use the Fidelius Charm."

Sirius' eyes narrowed. "Jamie asked me to be the Secret Keeper. I agreed. He was my best mate, my blood brother, and I would have done anything for him. But I made a stupid mistake. I convinced him to make Peter the Secret Keeper instead."

"Why?" Tonks asked, fascinated by the story that she was being told.

"Because everyone knew of my relationship with the Potters. I was the plague on the Black family: The heir who had been disowned and disinherited, the White Sheep who had chosen blood traitors over his own blood — I was a disgrace," Sirius spat, bitterly. "And anyone who knew anything about James Potter knew that I was the most loyal friend he had ever had. It was obvious that I would be the one to know where they were hiding. So, I thought I was clever. If they chose Peter, no one would ever suspect. He was our best friend, but he was rather shy sometimes and not the best at duelling, but he was our friend and he would die before betraying such a secret. Or at least he should have. It was my job to protect Pete."

"Sirius, you can't blame yourself —" Remus said, quietly.

" — I do," Sirius interrupted. "Even after all of these years, it's still my fucking fault. I made them change secret keepers, Rem; it was me! If I had been secret keeper like they wanted me to be, James and Lily would still be fucking alive."

Zee reached over and took her hand in his, placing it over his heart. "You couldn't have known. You can't blame yourself for a choice you made."

Sirius watched as she gently massaged his hand where it sat as he spoke. "Remus was on a mission for the Order. He was deep undercover going by the name of Romulus. We had no way of contacting him. James and Lily had invited Pete and I over for Halloween. Lily had found Harry a pumpkin outfit and was so excited for us to see it on him. I spoke to Jamie on my mirror, told him that I was picking up Pete and we were on our way, but when I got to Pete's flat, it was empty. I thought it was weird, but I waited around a bit. I just had this feeling that something wasn't right and I hopped on my bike and I flew to Godric's Hollow, but I was too late."

Zee's fingers squeezed his and he looked down at where she was still holding his hand against her heart, gratefully.

"I was too late," he repeated. "The house was blown to all hell on one side and the Dark Mark was floating overtop. I ran inside and I found James dead first and by the time I got up to the nursery and found Lily… Harry was crying for me and I should have just taken him right then and there. But I was so fucking angry… I knew at that moment that the only reason my friends were dead was because Peter had told someone. I gave Harry to Hagrid and I took off after him. It took me almost twenty-four hours, but I tracked him down at his mother's house and found him there and then followed him when he Disapparated, which is why we ended up in that Muggle street. I wanted to know why he had broke, who had gotten to him — I was thinking that I hadn't done enough to protect him, but, I was wrong. When I got to him, he panicked. I had every intention of killing him and he knew it, but that fucker surprised me. We were in a crowded Muggle street and he yelled out that I had betrayed my friends, cut off his own finger, and used a blasting curse before transforming into a rat and disappearing. I was left standing in the street surrounded by dead bodies and Peter was gone as Aurors appeared around me."

"It didn't look good. With the death of James and Lily and the world claiming that Harry was The Boy Who Lived, as Voldemort seemed to have disappeared as well, Sirius was sent to Azkaban without a trial," Remus said, sadly. "The world thought Peter was dead; that Sirius had killed him with a curse so powerful it had only left a finger. I was in shock. I couldn't believe it. My friends were all dead and Sirius was guilty and… I didn't want to believe it, but the evidence just seemed overwhelmingly against him and when he was sent to Azkaban… I broke and… I had lost the last person in my life who was important to me."

"Only Minerva believed me to be innocent," Sirius said with a small smile. "That woman… she is amazing and the best mum a bloke could ask for."

Remus smirked. "Until you call her mum."

Sirius laughed. "She believed in me and she worked tirelessly for years to get me a trial."

"I should have worked with her. I should have known that you never could have betrayed them. I'm ashamed of myself for that."

"I don't blame you, Moony," Sirius told him. "With everything that had happened and the loss you experienced, I did look guilty, and I get why you thought I could have been. You thought I was the Secret Keeper."

"I still should have known, Sirius. Minerva did."

Sirius smiled. "She worked hard to get me a trial. And she succeeded. I was finally released and declared innocent in April of 1986. The Ministry of Magic apologized for keeping an innocent man locked up. But Peter… he's been missing this whole damn time."

"Why do you think that he was following you?" Remus asked, his eyes on his friend. "After all these years, no one had any idea where he was or if he was even still alive. Why was he following you now?"

Sirius shrugged. "I have no idea."

"So, let's get back to the whole you being an Animagus thing?" Tonks asked, grinning at him. "And how come you never told me?"

Sirius smirked at her. "Because I was unregistered, Tonks."

"But you're registered now."

Remus' eyebrow rose. "You've registered yourself?"

Sirius nodded. "Peter let it slip that I am also an unregistered Animagus. King made a deal with me after I explained, I register, and in return for bringing Peter in, I only get fined rather than imprisoned."

Zee stared at him, her eyes wide. "What animal are you?"

Sirius smiled at her and moved away from the table and transformed into his dog, jumping into her lap to lick her face.

Zee stared at him awe for a moment before she said, "Padfoot?"

Padfoot barked once and nuzzled her hand, whining in happiness when she rubbed his belly.

Remus grinned and shook his head. "He always was the most needy dog."

Tonks ran her hand along Remus' thigh under the table. "He's not the only one who's needy," she murmured, smirking at him.

Sirius changed back into himself and kissed Zee softly. "So, I'm a dog."

Zee simply smirked. "I knew that already."

Sirius rolled his eyes, taking his seat again. "Anyway, now I'm registered. King knows everything," he added, his eyes meeting Remus. "We made a deal, I registered, and Peter's trial is going to be set up soon. King promised to let me know. I want to be there."

Remus nodded. He knew what his friend was saying. Kingsley knew that he was a werewolf and was keeping it quiet as part of the deal. He was grateful for that. "As do I."

Sirius nodded at his friend. "Maybe then we'll find out why he was following me in the first place."

The reason behind that was something that Sirius hadn't even given himself a chance to think about and he wasn't sure that knowing the answer would make him feel any better.

He sighed. "Now we have to find a way to tell Harry."

Remus nodded, eyes wide. "Yes, yes, we do."