Heey! So one of the last chapters! Thanks for all of your wonderfull reviews on chapter 8!

Well, without further ado (Ow, wait, I first have to say in a funny note that I ain't JK Rowling)

On with the story!

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From that day on, Remus had the Map with him at all times. Between classes, he checked the Map and his evenings were spent drinking tea, while looking constantly at the Map.

It now became clear that everybody had to study for their exams, but the weather didn't help: it was hot and the sun shone almost every day. Using the Map, Remus could see there were students who had taken the nice weather with the not-so-nice revising and sat by the Lake regularly. Others (like Hermione, who Remus could find now every evening in the library), had skin as white as parchment and dark shadows under their eyes.

With the Map by his side, Remus discovered that not only Hermione could be found in the same place at the same time every day. He learned that the seventh-year Gryffindor Wood was flying on the Quidditch field every day, although the Cup was already in his possession. He probably felt nostalgic.

George and Fred were mostly found in the common room, ostensibly studying, but Remus saw that they wandered the corridors at night, and he suspected that they were planning a prank for at the end of the year.

Snape usually sat in his dungeon office and Remus saw that Professors Vector and Sinistra went to each others' offices nearly every evening, probably for a bit of tea and a chat.

As the exam week came closer, Remus took his plans for each year's exams and made the precautions.

For the first-years, the exam was based on some simple spells and an essay about what they had learned this year. The second years would have only a practical exam that was based especially on defending themselves with counter spells.

Then, for the third years, he had made an obstacle course, which combined almost all the dark creatures they had gotten this year. The fourth years would have a written test, with questions about Dementors and Unforgivable Curses. For the fifth- and seventh-years, Remus didn't have to create an exam, as they were given by the official committee of OWLs and NEWTs. (Horrible things, those, as Remus remembered quite clearly.) That left him with the sixth-years, who would prove themselves through duelling – the students would be divided up into pairs, with him as the referee (and of course the one who awarded them points afterward) they had to duel. To make the duels a bit more fair, Remus had paired each student with a person they didn't seem to know, but who had the same level of expertise.

His last class that week would be the third years. They all did fairly well, except for one Hufflepuff, who had managed to lose his nerve with every obstacle. Best in their year by far was Harry, who came out unharmed, without making a single mistake. Hermione had difficulty with the Boggart, but Remus couldn't blame her: she looked exhausted, and that was not the best state to be in when facing a Boggart.

"P-p-professor McGonagall! Sh-she said I'd failed everything!" she said when he asked what had happened. She was shaken beyond belief. If Remus had needed more proof to know that Hermione was overworked, this would have been excellent. It didn't matter much, however; Remus had heard from Seamus that besides divination, this was their last exam.

However, this was also the day that Buckbeak would almost certainly be sentenced to death, Remus heard from Malfoy, who apparently had a knack for acting. Instead of playing a Dementor, he was, while waiting in line for his obstacle exam, acting the part of both Buckbeak and the hippogriff's executioner. Remus felt sorry for Hagrid and even more sorry that he couldn't help the poor bloke, but the fact remained that the Ministry just wasn't his best friend, and he was afraid that they would try to get him sacked if he drew attention to the fact that a werewolf was a part of the staff at Hogwarts.

That night, Remus settled himself in front of his desk again, with a glass of water in his hand (it was far too warm outside to drink hot chocolate) and his eyes on the Map. As he had expected, he saw that Harry, Hermione and Ron were leaving the castle and began to walk towards Hagrid's hut. Remus didn't feel it was appropriate to stop them. He was their teacher, but Hagrid was their friend, and they were needed there. The trio indeed disappeared from the edge of the Map, where the outlines of Hagrid's hut were drawn. Remus knew that inside the hut, you couldn't be seen on the Map: neither James, Sirius, Peter nor himself had never been inside. It was still on their to-do list when they left Hogwarts, but they hadn't minded that much. Hagrid was one of the few they'd had respect for, and he was allowed to have a bit of privacy on the Map.

Remus looked up and saw that the sun would be setting soon. He was expecting Snape to come any minute now, not talking and with a deadly glare on his face. Tonight would be a full moon and he needed his Wolfsbane potion. He didn't mind though, to take the potion a bit later. He wasn't really attached to the bitter taste the potion left in his mouth, not to mention the horrible breath he got from it, or the gruesome after-taste: like he had been chewing on some old socks, dipped in bad eggs. He saw the trio come back into sight, leaving Hagrid's hut, probably because the dots Albus Dumbledore, Cornelius Fudge and Walden McNair were arriving at the hut. The trio went out on the back door and started back to the school. Remus noticed that the light in his room was getting a bit darker (his room faced east, so he sat on the side of the castle that got dark first,) and he wondered where Snape was. He was just about to tear his eyes away from the map, to look worriedly on his watch, when he saw something totally, completely unbelievable.

It wasn't Sirius Black that was written on the Map. It was Peter Pettigrew, in the presence of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.

He had, after he had heard Malfoy talking about it, expected Harry, Hermione and Ron out in the grounds, to support Hagrid. But what were they doing in the presence of Peter Pettigrew? Peter, whom everybody thought that James, Sirius and himself had only befriended him because they felt sorry for him. A boy so clumsy he had tripped over his own feet ……multiple times a day. Wormtail, who had been murdered by Sirius - No, Black, - . . And how did Ron, Hermione and Harry fit into this picture?

It couldn't be. It simply couldn't. Remus blinked several times, and ran his fingers over the Map, as if to see if it was just some dirt on the Map, coincidentally spelling out his friend's name. But the map never lied . . .

Just as Remus thought it couldn't get any weirder, it did. He had seen the four of them were walking towards the castle, apparently returning from Hagrid's, when suddenly a dot labelled Crookshanks (Wasn't that Hermione's cat? The one she and Ron had bickered about?) neared them. Peter's name suddenly departed from them at top-speed. Ron ran after Peter, followed by Harry and Hermione. Remus could barely tell what was going on, as the dots were so small and the action so fast. His face was now so close to the Map that his nose was almost touching the parchment. He saw that the dot labelled Ron Weasley was standing still, on the same spot as Peter Pettigrew. Crookshanks was coming near Ron and Peter, while Hermione and Harry were running towards the cat, Ron, and the still inexplicable dot reading Peter Pettigrew. It made no sense at all . . .

And then, without warning, Remus' heart nearly stopped. He had watched Peter's dot so intensely that he hadn't paid attention to their surroundings. Another dot was coming towards them unbelievably fast, and this time, Remus was genuinely scared. The dot was labelled Sirius Black. More than ever did Remus wish that they had made a zoom mode on the Map, as James had proposed so many years ago. He saw that Sirius was moving, stepping over or just walking very closely to Harry, and then going for Ron and Peter, who both were walking with him, (voluntarily or forced?) towards the passage in the Whomping Willow . . .

Hermione and Harry were left behind. Although Remus couldn't see what was actually going on, he assumed that they had tried to follow, but were repulsed by the branches of the Willow.

He could waste no more time. Why Sirius had taken Ron instead of Harry was a riddle – there was no way Sirius, even as an Amimagus, could have mistaken one for the other – but he could not let Harry get close to Sirius. He stood up and nearly ran out of his room, putting his cloak on as he went.

With every step he took, he became more and more anxious and more and more astounded at what he had seen. He felt rather as though he was dreaming; since when was Peter alive? And how could Black, as an Amimagus, have forced both Peter and Ron into the tunnel at the same time? Did he have a wand? Or was one of them walking voluntarily? But Ron would never walk with an unknown dog into an unknown passageway. And Peter knew who the dog was and wouldn't go along either . . . unless of course he was in on the plot as well. Would Peter work together with Black? And how did Harry fit into this story? Why had Sirius taken Ron, rather than James' son? It made no sense to Remus. With every step he took, it seemed as if a new question popped into his head. He was now running at top speed. When he opened the oak doors out of the castle and looked toward the Whomping Willow, he now saw to his utter horror that Harry, Hermione and the cat had disappeared. He walked very quickly to the tree, took an old branch that was lying on the ground, and tapped the knot with it, as he had seen Madame Pomfrey do many times before. Immediately, the tree stood still. He saw a vague silver shimmer lying next to the hole, but he paid no attention to it. Trying not to think about the times he had walked in here, he jumped in, lit his wand and walked through the tunnel, which seemed smaller than he had remembered.

He heard his steps echo and bumped his head a few times. The fear that he felt for the danger Harry, Hermione and Ron were in made him more sick with every second and he wished that he could run again. However, he had to watch where he went because he would bump his head, and he had a sharp pain in the side of his stomach. He should have told Dumbledore . . .he should have told Dumbledore the whole history since the beginning of the schoolyear…. but it was too late for second thoughts now.

The tunnel began to rise slowly after a few minutes, and after the tunnel made a turn, Remus entered the Shrieking Shack. Again.

He stood still and looked around quickly. There was no one there. Remus knew that there was a basement and a first floor in the Shrieking Shack. But which level were Sirius and Peter on? He walked quickly to the door that led to the basement, but then he heard a loud scream from upstairs.

"WE'RE UP HERE! WE'RE UP HERE – SIRIUS BLACK –QUICK!" It was Hermione's voice, and it sounded very scared. Taking the stairs two at a time, Remus ran up the steps and followed the footprints in the dust to a door on his left. He burst through the door and looked around.

It took him a moment to comprehend the whole scene. Ron was lying on the floor, his leg twisted at a strange angle. Sirius, looking more dirty and ragged than Remus had ever seen him, was sitting against the wall, looking intently at Harry, who was pointing his wand at the older man's chest, on which sat Hermione's ugly yellow cat. It was staring at Harry. Hermione herself sat in the middle of the room, looking relieved that someone had come to rescue them. But where was Peter?

"Expelliarmus!" Remus saw Harry looking at him in astonishment. He now had three wands – Harry's and the two Hermione had been holding. Remus looked around again, to find Peter. There was no point in arresting Black for his crimes if his possible helper would attack him after that.

"Where is he, Sirius?" Looking at his old friend seemed to take more willpower than he thought he had. Sirius looked as if he had rolled in dirt and hadn't eaten in weeks. Remus wondered if Black was as mad as they said in the Prophet. For a moment, he thought they were right; Black hadn't reacted at all to his question. Then, still looking at Remus, he pointed towards the four poster bed where Ron lay, looking bewildered. It became too much for Remus' mind to comprehend. Deep inside him, a dark suspicion crawled up. Why would Peter still be in Animagus form if he could easily have helped Black keep three children hostage?

"But then . . . " He looked back at Sirius, who still had his gaze fixed on him. It was as if he wanted to tell, with a single look, everything that had happened all those years ago. Best friends as them didn't need Legilimency to understand each other with one gaze. However, this was a rather complicated case, so it took Remus a bit longer. "Why hasn't he shown himself before now? Unless –" The truth hit him like a ton of bricks. His eyes widened out of shock as the questions began to answer themselves. His eyes weren't focused on Sirius anaymore: they were looking at the wall behind him as everything unfolded in his head. Sirius hadn't been the Secret Keeper of James and Lily….. Peter had! But why hadn't they told him? Immediately, he answered his own question: There had been a spy in the Order. They had probably thought that it had been him! Remus needed confirmation: "— unless he was the one . . . Unless you switched . . . without telling me?" He looked back at Sirius again, who now slowly nodded, his eyes still glued to Remus'.

"Professor Lupin, what's going on –?"

Suddenly, he understood what Sirius had been though. All the years in Azkaban, this year on the loose, all those attempts to break into Hogwarts, all the hate he'd weathered (and if there was anything Remus understood it was being hated for no good reason!) . . .

Not knowing what else to do, he lowered his wand and offered a hand to help Sirius up. The cat jumped to the floor, but Remus still looked at Sirius, who now had a tiny glint in his eyes that reminded him at the younger version of Black and told him the truth. When Sirius stood, he hugged him, feeling that he finally had his Marauder and best friend back.

"I DON'T BELIEVE IT!" he heard Hermione yell.

He let go of Sirius and saw that the trio didn't understand a word of what had just happened.

"You — you –"

"Hermione –"

"— you and him!"

The girl was almost hyperventilating.

"Hermione, calm down –"

"I didn't tell anyone! I've been covering up for you –"

"Hermione, listen to me, please! I can explain –" But as soon as he had shouted the words he got a feeling that Hermione was talking about something else also.

"I trusted you and all the time you've been his friend!" Harry now started yelling, literally shaking with fury.

"You're wrong. I haven't been Sirius' friend, but I am now – let me explain . . ."

But the trio (Hermione and Harry especially) were too upset to actually listen to him.

"NO!" Hermione screamed and looking at Harry, she added, "Harry, don't trust him, he's been helping Black get into the castle, he wants you dead too – he's a werewolf!"

Suddenly, all the yelling stopped. The room was silent, as if someone- no, something, - had just died. Harry and Ron were both looking at him with surprise and fear, and Remus knew that he now had to explain even more. He didn't care that Hermione had found out (although it did explain why she had been acting so weird around him). It was time for the truth. He started calmly:

"Not at all up to your usual standard, Hermione. Only one out of three, I'm afraid. I have not been helping Sirius get into the castle and I certainly don't want Harry dead . . ." It was still a bit hard to say it out loud and he shivered. "But I won't deny that I'm a werewolf."

No one moved except for Ron, who was now trying to get up and run away. However, his leg was unable to support his weight and he fell back on the bed, looking even paler than he had been. His leg looked extremely painful. Without thinking, Remus walked towards the bed to help Ron, but Ron gasped: "Get away from me, werewolf!"

It still hurt as much as the first time that Remus had heard those words. They had come from the girl who lived next door, in the time before he went to Hogwarts. She had been a half-blood too, and their families had a lot of contact with each other. That is, they did, until he got bitten and her parents had forbidden Susan to play with Remus.

Without looking too upset, he turned around again, to face Hermione, and asked: "How long have you known?"

"Ages," she whispered, looking shocked and still confused. "Since I did Professor Snape's essay…."

So Snape had gotten what he wanted to happen all the time. "He'll be delighted. He set that essay hoping someone would realise what my symptoms meant. Did you check the lunar chart and realise that I was always ill at the full moon?" he asked, knowing that that had been one of the ways Sirius and the others had gotten confirmation of their suspicions. "Or did you realise the Boggart changed into the moon when it saw me?"

"Both," Hermione said, quietly. She looked a bit ashamed of her shouting that he had been a werewolf, but Remus knew that she did not fully realise how much she had hurt him. He forced a bit of a laugh; what else could he do? He wasn't in a position to be angry: there were too many things that needed to be explained.

"You're the cleverest witch of your age I've ever met, Hermione," he said, when he still saw that she was looking at the ground and saw again that she regretted her outburst.

"I'm not," she whispered as a reply. "If I'd been a bit cleverer, I'd have told everyone what you are!" Remus felt a sudden wave of compassion for her: Hermione now said that she should have told everyone, but fact remained that she hadn't, which meant that she still trusted him at least a little bit. Her outburst only had been because of Sirius.

"But they already know. At least, the staff do." The trio looked surprised, and it was hard for Remus not to laugh.

"Dumbledore hired you when he knew you were a werewolf? Is he mad?" Ron now asked. His logic made Remus smile even more. It reminded him of the first time he had heard Ron speak, with the same logic and honesty. ("He looks like one good hex would finish him off, doesn't he?")

"Some of the staff thought so. He had to work very hard to convince certain teachers that I'm trustworthy –" he said, thinking of Snape in particular, but he was cut off by Harry, who was still looking furious and suddenly had an outburst.

"AND HE WAS WRONG! YOU'VE BEEN HELPING HIM ALL THE TIME!" He yelled, pointing at Sirius, who let himself fell on the bed, while Ron made an effort to get as far away from him as possible.

"I have not been helping Sirius," he repeated. "If you give me a change, I'll explain. Look –" He didn't know where to start with the story, but it was crucial that the trio would at least listen. Giving them back their weapons, now they had raged and were a bit more calm seemed okay, so he threw the wand at them. "There. You're armed, we're not. Now will you listen?"

The surprise in Harry's eyes couldn't be greater at this unexpected move; however, he was still suspicious. "If you haven't been helping him, how did you know he was here?" Harry was still looking angrily at Sirius. Though Remus could understand why, at the same time he knew that Harry was glaring at the wrong person.

"The map. The Marauder's Map. I was in my office examining it –"

"You know how to work it?" Harry interrupted. Remus was getting frustrated; at this rate, they would never get anywhere, and there was so much to tell . . .

"Of course I know how to work it. I helped write it. I'm Moony –" he got an odd, happy feeling when he repeated the long-unused nickname, "That was my friends' nickname for me at school."

"You wrote –?"

"The important thing is," he cut Harry off, "I was watching it carefully this evening, because I had an idea that you, Ron and Hermione might try and sneak out of the castle to visit Hagrid before his hippogriff was executed. And I was right, wasn't I?" He started to pace up and down as he repeated the events of that night, hoping not to confuse them further.

"You might have been wearing your father's Cloak, Harry –" he said, now suddenly reminded of the weird silver mass that had been lying by the tree.

"How d'you know about the Cloak?" Harry interrupted him, surprised.

"The number of times I saw James disappearing under it . . ." He waved his hand . . . Harry was taking him off topic every time he tried to say something. "The point is, even if you're wearing an Invisibility Cloak you show up on the Marauder's Map. I watched you cross the grounds and enter Hagrid's hut. Twenty minutes later, you left Hagrid, and set off back towards the castle. But you were now accompanied by somebody else."

"What? No, we weren't!"

"I couldn't believe my eyes," Remus said, pacing and speaking more to Sirius and himself than the trio. "I thought the map must be malfunctioning. How could he be with you?"

"No one was with us," he heard Harry say impatiently, as if he thought that Remus was losing his mind.

"And then I saw another dot, moving fast towards you, labelled Sirius Black . . . I saw him collide with you, I watched as he pulled two of you into the Whomping Willow –"

"One of us!" Ron now interrupted him. Remus looked up at Ron, who was staring angrily at Sirius.

"No, Ron. Two of you." Remus stopped pacing, looking at the rat, who was at that moment still trying to get away, out of Ron's pocket, as the bump in it was moving furiously.

"Do you think I could have a look at the rat?"

"What? What's Scabbers got to do with it?"

"Everything. Could I see him, please?"

Remus tried to force Ron with his eyes to give him the rat. Ron hesitated for one more moment, and then pulled out the rat and held him in his hands. The cat near Sirius started to hiss and Remus walked closer to Ron, examining the pet closely. This was him, there was no doubt about it. Wormtail looked older, and more devastated than Remus had ever seen him, but he would recognize that particular colour of fur everywhere, especially after what he found out tonight . . . Besides, it was not normal for a rat to be suddenly so afraid and eager to escape. Peter, however, had a very good reason. He was standing in the same room with two of his former best friends, one who he had tricked in twelve years in Azkaban and the son of his other best friend, who's father he had helped murdering….

The rat was avoiding his eyes, but the moment that 'Scabbers' looked into his eyes, Remus got a feeling that there was no doubt possible; This was Peter Pettigrew.

"What? What's my rat got to do with anything?"

Before Remus could answer, Sirius spoke, for the first time since he had seen Remus.

"That's not a rat," his voice croaked. Remus glanced at him and saw that Sirius was getting impatient.

"What d'you mean – of course he's a rat –"

"No, he's not. He's a wizard."

"An Animagus," Sirius now said, trying to make it more clear for them, "by the name of Peter Pettigrew."

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Please don't get dissapointed: This chapter and the next one are both a bit hard to write by myself: there has to be a lot of talking straight out of the books... I'll try to give my own spinn to it as much as possible...

O, now I still talk to you guys...Who can find the sentence in this chapter where I have said something about Remus that makes him look like Snape?

Review please!