As always thanks for the reviews! Just a few notes: I did knowingly change some things from Canon to better fit the purposes of the story. I didn't change anything huge, so I hope that doesn't offend anyone! This one turned out looong! Hope you enjoy!

~Elle

As February wore on, the Blacks got accustomed to their new life as a family. Sirius moved out of his small flat and into Alice's house. He loved his new status as husband and "Papa," though he was certainly still getting used to it! He loved hearing the word Papa come out of that little boy's mouth, and have it aimed at him! As much time he spent with Alice and Neville before the marriage, it took some getting used to, having a child around 24/7; especially when said child enjoyed waking them up in the early hours of the morning by jumping on the bed they were sleeping in. It also took some adjustment to get out of the "friend" or "mums boyfriend" fun Uncle Sirius role, and into the role of parental figure in Neville's life, and everything that came along with that.

The only argument Alice and Sirius really had was the one of Sirius' job. Alice wanted desperately for him to quit being an Auror and do something safer. Sirius felt a duty to his job, and to help keep the wizarding world a little bit safer. He understood Alice's fear, but he couldn't just abandon the department, he had a duty! But now, he had a duty to his family as well, and a duty to be there for them. He was more cautious now, he never went into a situation blind if he could help it. He had learned from that night; the entire department had learned from that night and set up safety precautions and rules that the Auror department as a whole had to follow; and Sirius truly felt no harm would come. Alice accepted this, but let him know her strong feelings on the matter.

XX

February turned into March, and with that they found themselves at the Burrow, celebrating the birthday of one red headed five year old, Ron Weasley. Sirius felt himself stare in awe at the Weasley's fantastic home, additions added here and there where needed, it looked like the only thing keeping it standing was magic! Which, he reasoned, it probably was. It was a pleasant day, though cold as it was the beginning of March. The Weasley's set up an enormous tent in the yard, nicely heated to accommodate the party.

Neville found himself suddenly shy, and attached himself to Sirius' side. It was not odd behavior for the boy. Neville was an active and energetic boy when playing with Harry, and was perfectly comfortable and active in the presence of any of the marauders or his grandmother. Upon spending more time with Ron on playdates at his or Harry's house, he'd come to be good friends with him too and be himself; but he was extremely shy in most other situations. He had spent time with Ron's brothers and sister before, but that had been at his house, in his territory, at his birthday party; even then he was pretty timid around them and it had been easy to play by himself once he'd opened his new gifts. They'd all been on their best behavior at the memorial service, and Neville stuck to his mother that day. And at the wedding, well, he didn't need an excuse to stick to his parents that day! But today was another story, 5 of the Weasley children were present, as well as several other children ranging in age from 2-10, both Weasley cousins and friends. And Neville had no interest in playing with that many children he didn't know!

The 7 year old Weasley twins seemed to be particularly rambunctious today; Molly mentioned that they were overly excited at having company over. The kids played outside the tent, bundled up of course, in the yard, while the adults stayed under the warmth of the tent. Neville sat on Sirius' knee, refusing Sirius' suggestion that he go and play with the other children. Rambunctious as he and Harry could be at times, Neville was used to a much quieter environment, and was a little overwhelmed with the amount of kids at the party. He felt much safer in his Papa's lap.

Finally, Harry came running through the tent, looked around, spotted Neville and ran to stand in front of him and Sirius. "Whatcha doin in here, Neville?" he asked his friend.

Neville shrugged, "I like it in here," he responded.

"Come on! We're playing tag, and then hide and go seek! It won't be much fun without you!" he told his friend, grabbing his hand and attempting to pull him along. Neville shook his head, trying to pull away from Harry; he much preferred it under the tent.

Sirius put Neville down. "You go play with your friends," he encouraged he boy, pushing him along with Harry. "You've been sitting in here far too long and your missing all the fun." Reluctantly, Neville followed along, giving his Papa a sad look over his shoulder.

During Tag, Neville had to be "it" for a long period of time. He couldn't keep up with the other children and was reluctant to get too close to fastly running children for fear of being knocked over; finally Harry took pity on him and allowed himself to be tagged. Neville stayed on the outskirts of the game after that.

During hide and seek, Fred decided to hide in a tree. As soon as Neville was underneath the tree, Fred dropped to the ground in an attempt to frighten the boy. His intentions were playful, not cruel, and Neville was not his target; he just happened to be the first person under the tree. But he misjudged Neville's placement and landed on top of the boy instead of in front of him.

Upon hearing the cry, the adults rushed to the scene, where Molly dragged her son inside, scolding him along the way, while Alice and Sirius checked Neville over and determined that he was just fine, just a little shaken. Neville wanted to remain with Alice or Sirius after that, and Alice allowed him to sit on her lap back in the tent while the other children continued to play. Fred came out of the house with Molly, red eyed, and apologized to Neville, asking him to come and play again. Neville accepted the apology, but refused to go play. Harry came twice to ask Neville to join them, but Neville had no interest. Sirius encouraged him several times to go back, to which Neville got annoyed and snapped "no! I don't wanna!"

Sirius was a very outgoing, personable man. He had been even as a boy, he was perfectly comfortable in pretty much any situation, so it bothered him to some extent at how shy and timid Neville was. He understood that the boy had been shaken by the fall, but he wasn't injured and Sirius saw no reason for Alice to coddle him as if he had been. He wanted the boy to feel more comfortable around other children, and he didn't think that would happen if they didn't make him step outside of his comfort zone once in a while. Besides, Harry was here and would make sure Neville was included, and he knew the Weasleys, so he saw no reason for Neville to be so clingy, especially a good hour after the incident! He felt strongly that Neville needed to get over the fall and go back and play. But, in a parenting situation he'd never been in before, he had no idea how to get Neville out of Alice's arms when Alice was perfectly fine with where he was and continued to baby him as if he'd been hurt by the incident.

At present opening time, Neville refused to sit with the children on the floor to watch Ron open his gifts, preferring to sit on Alice's lap. Then the birthday games started: pin the tail on the hippogriff, musical statues, piñata, and other games, that Neville was perfectly content to sit out of. Finally Sirius couldn't take it anymore; he'd tried encouragement, now he was going to try a different tactic.

"Neville," he said, and the boy turned to him in his mother's lap. "Come here please," he instructed, holding out his arm to the boy. Neville climbed down from the lap, and went to his Papa, attempting to climb into his lap. Sirius didn't allow it, instead holding the boy by his shoulders in front of him.

"I would like you to go play with the other kids, now. You're not hurt, and you've been ignoring them for too long," he told the boy. Neville shook his head, his eyes starting to well up. "I don't wanna, Papa!" he cried.

"It's Ron's birthday," Sirius continued, "and it's not good manners to come to a party and ignore the birthday boy. You're missing out on a lot of fun and a chance to meet new kids. You need to go join them now," he told the boy sternly, turning him in the direction of the other children. Neville instead turned back toward Alice, but Sirius blocked him and again, told him to go join the kids.

Neville was saved at that moment, because Molly announced it was time to eat, and Neville turned toward the food table, dragging Sirius with him. Sirius sighed, deciding that Neville would be joining the children after the early dinner, regardless. He helped fix the boys plate at the food table, but found another opportunity to include Neville with the children when Neville headed for an empty chair where his mother was sitting. All of the children were sitting together at one table, and Sirius grabbed Neville's hand and led him to that table, much to the boy's dismay.

"This is the children's table," he told the boy, "all of the kids need to eat here." If he made it sound like a rule, he hoped Neville would be more open to it. It didn't work, Neville strained hard against Sirius' hand. Sirius sighed, what on earth was the boy's issue? It wasn't as if he was asking him to sit with a bunch of people he'd never met without his parents there! He bent down and looked Neville in the eye.

"You need to stop it right now; you're being rude, this is your friend's birthday party! You are going to sit with Harry, Ron and the rest of the kids, and you are going to play games with them after dinner," he told the boy sternly before standing up and firmly leading him to the table. He put his plate in front of an empty seat between Harry and Ron (who eagerly and happily accepted Neville's presence and included him in the conversation), and helped the unhappy boy into it, before going back to get his own plate of food and settling himself next to Alice.

"What are you doing?" Alice asked, a look of disapproval on her face. She wasn't going to undermine Sirius in front of Neville, but she felt her husband was being harsh on the little boy who was feeling pretty overwhelmed right now. If he didn't want to play with the kids, why make him?

"He could be having a lot of fun today if he would just try," Sirius responded. "He's never going to get more comfortable playing with others if we allow him to sit with the adults all the time.

"But he's overwhelmed, Sirius, he's shy around new people, you know that; and the kids can be awful rough; he's already been jumped on once today!" Alice argued.

"Yes, but he wasn't hurt and Fred apologized; he won't do it again. He's milking that incident for all it's worth, he needs to get over it. If he gives it a chance, I think he'll have a lot of fun," Sirius countered. "Besides, he's being rude to Ron. Ron is his friend and Neville's completely ignoring him at his own birthday party."

Alice sighed, she didn't completely agree with Sirius but she could see his point; they had decided that Sirius would have equal say in the raising of Neville, and she had to respect that. Even if Neville wasn't biologically his, Neville had to know that both parents were equally in charge. Sirius had made a decision and she wouldn't be accomplishing anything by forcing it, so she let Sirius' decision go, deciding to see how it worked. If it upset Neville too much, she'd put her foot down and let him sit by her.

After dinner, Neville once again tried to sit by his parents, but Sirius pointed to area the other kids were heading for games without a word. Neville joined in, very sulkily at first, but after 10 minutes Sirius swore the kid smiled. He could tell now that Neville was trying to keep up the sulky act, but was having a good time. He pointed that out to Alice, who sighed; admitting that Sirius was right this time. Neville happily joined in the rest of the games, forgetting that he was supposed to be upset, and when it was time for cake joined the other kids at the front without hesitation.

Shortly after cake the guests began to leave, and the remaining children were re-playing pin the tail on the hippogriff. Neville, who had missed it the first time, laughed out loud when it was his turn to play.

Sirius noticed as the oldest present Weasley child, Percy, the quiet and serious one, disappeared inside the house, and thought nothing of it. Percy was the only child besides Neville who decided he wasn't going to join the other children; calling their behavior childish and silly; though he couldn't resist joining in some of the games. 15 minutes later he emerged, carrying with him his pet rat. Percy sat in a seat near Sirius, staring disapprovingly at the rowdy children playing, absentmindedly petting the rat, who was nestled on his lap, fast asleep. Sirius couldn't help but stare at the animal; it looked startlingly familiar. Suddenly, something clicked.

"Where'd you get your rat, Percy?" he asked the boy trying to sound nonchalant and mildly curious.

"My brother Bill found him, in my dad's shed," Percy replied.

"How old is he?" Sirius asked, trying his hardest to keep his voice even and quiet. If it really was Peter, he didn't want to wake him. He was sure the rat would try to take off at the sound of Sirius' voice.

"I don't know, but Bill found him about 3 years ago. They tried to let him go, but he just kept hanging around so I decided to keep him," Percy informed him. 3 years ago, shortly after Lily died and Peter disappeared," Sirius thought.

He remembered the night he'd heard Peter vanished vividly, as if it were yesterday. It was close to Christmas that year, in the paper; Peter Pettigrew dead at last! Some aurors had caught up with him; attempted to take him into custody. Somehow, Peter had gotten hold of a wand and set off an explosion. He'd killed three of the Aurors on the scene and a half a dozen bystanders; all they found of Peter was a finger. Sirius, James and Remus never bought into the story. Peter was a coward; he never would have shown himself if he didn't have a plan, and probably a pretty foolproof plan. He was afraid word would get out that he could disguise himself as a rat; people would start looking for him as a rat and he would somehow be found. The remaining Marauders could only guess that he had stolen the wand from some unsuspecting which or wizard before putting himself out in the view of the public; then cast the explosion curse, cutting off his own finger, and transforming into a rat; thereby feigning his own death.

Sirius looked carefully at the sleeping rat on the boy's lap, at it's front paws visible from beneath the sleeping rat's head. Sure enough, a finger was missing. Sirius felt the bile build up in his stomach as he sat back quickly. Percy was eyeing him very oddly by this point, and Sirius was afraid he would wake the rat. He got up to find James, and interrupted his conversation with Mr. Weasley, pulling him out of earshot of anyone else.

"What's wrong?" James asked, startled by the urgent expression on Sirius' face.

"Percy has a rat," Sirius told him, "he brought it out, it's sleeping on his lap…" James looked at him blankly.

"And?"

"James, I know that rat! I've seen him transform a million times, I'd know him anywhere!"

James gasped in surprise. "You're saying it's Peter?" he asked his best mate. "You're sure? Lots of rats look alike, Sirius," James pointed out.

"I'd know him anywhere," Sirius insisted, "Percy said his brother Bill found him in the shed…three years ago! And that they tried to let him go but the rat stuck around, it wouldn't leave, so Percy kept him. James…the rat is missing a front toe!"

"Well lets go get him!" James said, turning to head toward Percy and Peter, but Sirius grabbed his arm. "James the rats sleeping now, I don't want to wake him. If he recognizes us he'll flee," Sirius said, reasonably. "We need to get him away from the boy, and force him to show himself."

"Well, how do we do that? I'm not leaving this house if I know Peter's in it, and sleeping in a 9 year old's bedroom!"

Sirius nodded in agreement. "Lets talk to Arthur, he'll be easier to persuade than Molly. He can get the rat away from Percy and we'll figure it out from there." James nodded, and went to grab Arthur from the party, who followed him back to where Sirius was waiting.

"What's going on?" the man asked, "did something happen, you two look upset."

James started, well aware that they couldn't just ask Arthur to take the rat away from his son without an explanation. He explained quickly, but told the whole story.

"You know about Remus' lycanthropy?" Arthur nodded; as a ministry official he would know Remus Lupin was registered as a warewolf. James continued,

"When we found out in school, Peter, Sirius and I learned how to become animagi, so we could keep him company on the full moon," Arther interrupted with a gasp, but asked "why does this matter now?"

"It matters, Arthur, because Peter Pettigrew's animagi form was a rat," Sirius took over. "The night of Voldemort's downfall he got scared and fled; he hid as a rat until that day in December that the papers reported he was dead and took 3 Aurors and a bunch of civilians with him. Remember that all that remained of him was a finger?" Arthur nodded, he remembered all right.

"We doubted he was dead despite the paper," James continued. "We know Peter well enough to know he wouldn't kill himself like that; he was just afraid of word getting out that he was a rat and being found out, so he decided to feign his own death."

Arthur looked at them with wide eyes. "Are you saying Peter Pettigrew is alive?" he asked them. "Why on earth didn't you say something three years ago?"

"Dumbledore knows his disguise, as does the Minister. They didn't release that information because of the mass panic it would cause, and there was no chance of finding Peter underground as he was. After that day, well, everyone believed he was dead. There had been witnesses, and the Minister and Dumbledore agreed that if he had transformed, the witnesses would have seen. We disagreed, we didn't know for sure, but there was only so much we could do," Sirius told the man.

"So why are we talking about this now?" Arthur inquired.

Sirius pointed to Percy. "I was just talking to Percy. I noticed his rat; very familiar looking. I swear I could pick out Peter in a group of a thousand rats, the number of times I've seen him transform. Percy described the odd behavior of the rat 3 years ago when Bill found him; shortly after Voldemort's downfall. I looked closely at the rat's front paws, Arthur, and he has a finger missing," Sirius finished, watching as the color drained from Arthur's face.

"Y-y-your…your sure?" he asked the two men.

"Almost positive. The rat was sleeping, I didn't want to wake him and alert him that I was there, I was afraid he'd flee," Sirius explained, "but I'm sure it's him."

"What now?" Arthur asked, trying but failing to keep the panic from his voice. His 9 year old son had a murderer asleep in his lap! His 9 year old son had slept with a murderer in his bed for the past three years!

Sirius conjured a cage, and placed a shatter-proof charm on it. Peter wouldn't be able to get out or transform out of his rat form. "Now," he told Arthur, "we need you to get Peter away from Percy and put him in here. Directly in here, mind you; the minute Peter realizes something's going on, he will panic and do something. I don't wish to find out what."

Arthur nodded and accepted the cage, before making his way to Percy. He knelt down next to his son, the rat still asleep on his lap, and placed the cage on the table in front of them.

"Perce," Arthur said quietly, his intent, as well, not to awake the intruder, but also not to scare Percy. "I need to take Scabbers, son."

Percy gave his father a weird look, and glanced back and forth between his father and the cage…what could he possibly want with his rat of all things? "Why?" he asked, reasonably.

"I have some concerns about him, I need to have him checked out," Arthur said simply; the young boy didn't need to know anything more.

"He seems fine to me," Percy replied, looking down at his pet. "Same as normal."

"I know he does, son, but I still need to see him," Arthur replied, reaching for the rat.

"No," Percy replied, sensing something was up. "He's fine! Why do you want him?" he asked, shifting his body so the rat out of reach of his dad. Darn! This wasn't going as well as Arthur had hoped; and the rat was waking up and starting to freak. Arthur, beginning to panic and wanting the murderer out of his son's hands, forcibly turned Percy back toward him and tried to pull his hands away from the rat, who was now awake and squealing. Sirius saw the trouble Arthur was having, and afraid that Peter was going to escape, went to lend his assistance. He held Percy's arms still from behind as Arthur pried his son's fingers from the now frantic rat. Percy yelled at his father to stop, bringing much attention to the group, as Arthur attempted to shove the squealing rat into the cage. The rat bit hard into Arthur's hand, and he dropped him in surprise. James, who was standing right next to the group, jumped on top of the rat and grabbed him before he could escape, shoved him into the cage and closed the door.

Percy at this point was having a tantrum worth of Ron; not at all like Percy, screaming at the men who had taken his rat. They couldn't blame the boy, but they also couldn't explain to a 9 year old that the rat wasn't really a rat, but a murderer.

"What is going on here?" Mrs. Weasley asked angrily. Percy rushed to her side and hugged her, which she returned. "They took Scabbers, Mum, for no reason they held me down and took him from me and put him in a cage!"

Molly looked at her husband in shock and anger. "Arthur, what is the meaning of this?" she asked.

"I'll explain it all later, Molly dear. I promise there is a very good reason but it's all very complicated," Arthur told her before addressing his son. "I'm so sorry I had to do that, Percy, and I wish I could tell you the reason I did. I wouldn't have taken him if it wasn't absolutely necessary," he said, placing his hand comfortingly on his son's back.

"Leave me alone! I hate you!" Percy shouted as he let go of his mother, shrugged away from his father, and ran into the house.

"We need to get him to Dumbledore," Sirius told James quietly. James nodded, "I'll go ask Alice to watch Harry." Alice, of course, wanted to know what the fight with Percy was about and where they were going, and James promised that she would hear all about it later, but it was important they get to Hogwarts now.

James and Sirius left the boundaries of the Burrow, and apperated to Hogsmeade, where they trekked across Hogwarts grounds and into the castle, still squealing rat in tow. As they reached the stone gargoyle, they realized they didn't have the password. James sent a patronus to the office above, and a moment later the gargoyle slid open and the two (and a half) men stepped through.

"James! Sirius! To what do I owe this pleasure?" Dumbledore asked, beaming at the two men. "Lemon drop?" he offered. Both men turned down the offer, and Sirius placed the cage he was holding with the now quiet but wide eyed rat inside.

"What's this?" Dumbledore asked, softening his jovial expression.

"We were at the Weasley's just now, for little Ron's birthday party," Sirius explained. "Percy Weasley has been keeping him as a pet. It's him, headmaster. I'm positive," Sirius told the old man, and James agreed.

"Definitely him; we'd recognize him anywhere."

Dumbledore observed the rat carefully. "His right paw," he stated quietly…

"It's missing a toe," James finished.

"Of course!" Dumbledore exclaimed. "It's so simple! So brilliant!"

"So cowardly," Sirius added. "Of course," Dumbledore agreed.

"Sirius, get Kingsley over here if you please. We'll force him to show himself when we're prepared to have him immediately arrested," Dumbledore said, addressing the younger man.

Sirius agreed and floo-called his boss at home. Kingsley agreed and came right through, no questions asked, when he was told he was needed urgently in Dumbledore's office.

"What's going on?" he asked of the three men in the room.

"It seems as though we've found Peter Pettigrew, alive after all," Dumbledore told him. "James, will you do the honor?" he asked as James opened the door to the cage, and the rat tried to run for all he was worth. James was faster though, and in a moment a fat little man with a face like a rat was lying on the floor in front of them. Sirius gave in to the urge to spit on the man, and kicked him hard in the gut. James stared at him, pure fury on his face.

Peter cowered at the kick he received from Sirius, but turned to James. "James," he said, fear evident in his voice, "my old friend! You don't understand, I had to! He would have killed me!"

"Then you should have DIED!" Sirius shouted with fury, "As we would have done for you! Died before you betrayed your friends!"

But James just stared at him, unable to move for a moment, as Kingsley bound the man in magic proof ropes so he couldn't transform. "I didn't have a choice, James! You have to believe me!" Peter repeated.

"I trusted you, Peter," James finally was able to speak, quietly. "I trusted you with the life of my family. And you tried to have us killed. You sold us to Voldemort, so he could murder a tiny baby! You killed my wife as surely as if you held the wand and spoke the words, Peter, and you very nearly killed my son!" James was screaming in rage at the end of it, and had his wand inches from Peter's face.

"Give me one reason not to do it, Peter," he spit out.

"Because you have a son that needs you, James," Kingsley stepped in. "You need to be there for him, not in a cell."

"Tell them he was resisting arrest," James spat. "Tell them he was killed trying to flee. Tell them it was self defense. Tell them anything! I don't care what! I doubt anyone will care about the justified murder of the man who murdered ten innocent people, faked his death, and spent the next 3 years sharing a bed with a 9 year old kid!" He spoke to Kingsley, but he never took his eyes off Peter.

"I certainly couldn't blame you, but you're not a murderer, James," Kingsley told his former colleage, putting a hand on his wand arm and pushing it down. James didn't resist. "Don't sink to his level; don't throw your life away for the likes of him. Back away for Harry's sake." Thinking purely of Harry, the only thought that could make him back off, James nodded and turned his back on Peter, wiping the tears that had formed in his eyes before anyone could see.

"Rot in hell, Wormtail," he told the man he once considered a friend. "I hope the dementors have a nice kiss waiting for you!" Peter turned pail at the thought, and Kingsley forced him to his feet and through the floo back to the ministry.

James and Sirius slowly made their way back outside the grounds of Hogwarts, before apparating back to the Burrow. The whole ordeal at Hogwarts had taken about 90 minutes, and Alice was still at the Burrow with the boys, along with a few lingering guests.

"Your back!" she said, wandering over to them. "What was that all about?" Sirius promised to tell her later, and set off to find Arthur and update him.

James, meanwhile, walked straight to Harry and scooped him up in his arms, hugging him tightly to his chest as if he never wanted to let him go. Finally...finally the man had once considered a trusted friend; the man who betrayed his family; torn his family apart; murdered is wife, was caught. And he had been a part of the capture. And the little boy he was currently possibly suffocating in his tight embrace was the one that stopped him from becoming a murderer tonight.

"Hey! Daddy!" Harry yelled, as James scooped him into his arms. Harry squirmed a little, but settled into the hug before complaining loudly, "daddy! I can't breathe!" he shouted. "Sorry kid," James said, loosening his hold. Harry turned his face to look into his fathers, and wiped a tear from his face.

"Daddy, your crying," he informed the man he didn't think could ever cry. He wrapped his little arms back around his father's neck. "It's OK to cry, daddy, I'm here," the little boy repeated the words his father told him every time he got hurt, or was sad or upset.

"I love you," James said as he hugged the boy closer. "Lets go home."

Harry agreed. It was evident that the little boy was worried about his father. James put Harry down, and Harry ran over to Ron, Neville, and the other remaining children. "Happy Birthday Ron," he told his friend before running back to his father, who lifted him and made his way toward the floo, to go back home.