Chapter Six: The Prisoner of Azkaban

Ron looked across at Sirius Black who was still chuckling at him. He could not help but wonder if the man had indeed lost his marbles. Also, it would not do to show fear.

However, Black spoke, 'Merlin's beard, Kiddo! You can swear with the best of 'em!' Black was grinning. 'I remember one time when James turned the air blue after a ... never mind,' he said with an air of sadness.

Ron swallowed and whilst trying to stand said, 'If you want to kill Harry, you'll have to kill me first!'

'Whoa there, Kiddo, take it easy, you'll damage that leg even more, sorry about that by the way. Not to mention, I'm not here to kill Harry, far from it, mate,' Black said soothingly.

To say Ron was shocked at Black's words would be an understatement, however, he remembered some of Hermione's advice, or pearls of wisdom as he called them, "We have two ears, but only one mouth, so we should listen twice as much as we speak". Little things like that had helped him a lot in their relationship. Besides, he sensed that Black had something to say.

'You're not?' Ron said curiously.

'No,' said Black defiantly, then said, 'Say, do you have a name, I can't keep calling you "Kiddo", can I?'

'Ron Weasley.'

'Hmm, Weasley … Weasley, as in Arthur Weasley?'

'Yeah, do you know him?'

'Not personally. I knew of him by reputation and I bumped into him once at the Ministry. Nice bloke. I think it was in … August 'eighty-one, he had the biggest shit-eating grin on his face and he was shaking hands with practically everyone he met that day …'

Ron took a moment to think and he remembered, 'August 'eighty-one? That's when my baby sister was born! She was the first Weasley girl in at least seven generations.'

'Yeah, that would be why then,' said Black smiling. Then he changed tack by asking, 'You wouldn't happen to have your rat, would you? May I see him?'

Ron could not help being surprised at this question. Here was Sirius Black, the mass murderer, asking him, Ron Weasley, Harry Potter's best mate and the boyfriend of Hermione Granger, the brightest witch of the age, about a rat!

'Um, why?' asked Ron.

'I used to have one myself,' Black lied smoothly, 'Yours is missing a toe, isn't he?'

Ron found himself nodding at Black and he unzipped his jacket and pulled the struggling and squeaking rat from his pocket and held him out for Black to see. However, Black snatched the rat from him and then, using Ron's wand, he stunned the rat before waving the wand again as Ron sat dumbfounded as Scabbers transformed into a short, plump, balding man.

'Who the bloody hell is that?' Ron shouted, 'What the fuck did you do to Scabbers?'

Black chuckled again and said, 'Your rat was no rat, he's an Animagus by the name of Peter Pettigrew.'

'What? No bloody way!'

'Look at him, Ron. You must have heard if you grew up in a Wizarding family that the biggest piece of him they could find was his finger. As you can see, it's missing. He's been alive all this time.'

Ron looked at the man who was laying there stunned and noticed the missing finger and said, 'What happened?'

'The little shit got away from me. I went after him because he was the one who betrayed James and Lily to Voldemort. He was the Secret Keeper, not me. I suggested to James that we switch. I thought it was a perfect plan – a bluff. I never was much of a chess player … I was the decoy, nobody would guess that James would choose Peter to be the Secret Keeper, because I was James' best friend, I felt that they would surely come after me to get James and Lily's location ...'

Ron sat there thinking it over. It all made sense. After all, Pettigrew was lying right there, not to mention the strategist inside him thought it might've been a good idea too. Surely Black could not have known that Pettigrew would betray them. Ron met Black's eyes and nodded.

'I believe you, but convincing Harry won't be easy, though, but I'll help you.'

'Thanks.'

It was then that Ron heard them; Hermione and Harry, he whispered to Black, 'You'd better turn back into the dog again, because if Harry sees you right away, he'll go ape-shit and not listen to you.'

Sirius nodded and complied as he went and sat in the corner, just as they burst into the room.

'Ron!' cried Hermione, who threw her arms around his neck and kissed him in relief at finding him unharmed.

Harry gripped his shoulder and said, 'Okay, mate?'

'Yeah, just a broken leg, Pomfrey'll be able to fix it in no time,' Ron replied with bravado, as the dog in the corner watched the scene with a doggy grin on its face.

Harry then noticed the unconscious man on the floor and said, 'Who's that?'

Ron pulled Harry down to sit on the bed and said, 'Do you trust me?'

'Yes, of course I do,' was Harry's instant reply.

Ron looked over to the dog in the corner and nodded. Both Hermione and Harry followed Ron's gaze and watched as the dog transformed into the man who had haunted their dreams.

'To answer your question, Harry, his name is Peter Pettigrew.'

Harry could not believe it. Had Ron betrayed him? The idea was laughable but before he could speak, Hermione found her courage as well as her voice.

'Peter Pettigrew is dead! You killed him!'

'No, like I just told Ron here, he got away from me. He cut off his own finger, blew that street apart with his wand behind his back, transformed into a rat and bolted it into the sewers – where he belongs.'

'He's an Animagus?' said Hermione. 'He can't be; he isn't registered.'

'He's not the only one. I'm not registered and neither was James.'

The mention of his father's name jerked Harry into asking, 'What sort –'

He was cut off by Hermione who said, 'Why did you all become Animagi in the first place?'

'Perhaps I can answer that,' said a new voice from the door. It was Lupin.

'Professor?' said Hermione.

Lupin stepped into the room and saw Pettigrew lying stunned on the floor.

'So, have you killed him, Sirius?' said Lupin coolly.

'Oh, come on, Moony, you know me better than that!' said Black.

'Moony?' said Harry, 'Moony, as in Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs – The Marauder's Map?'

'You have our Map, Mini-Prongs?' said Black with amusement. 'Excellent!'

'That's right, Harry, we are Moony and Padfoot. Your Dad was Prongs, and Peter was Wormtail,' said Lupin.

'Don't call him that, Remus! He doesn't deserve his Marauder Name any longer, after he betrayed James and Lily!' said Black harshly. Then he began to retell the story he had told Ron and slowly it all made sense to Harry, Hermione and Lupin. Lupin then told them why they all became Animagi and that he was a Werewolf.

Ron stayed quiet in disbelief that a nice bloke like Lupin could be a werewolf; he had always been told they were savage, dark creatures.

Hermione, however, spoke, 'I knew it!'

'Since when?' asked Lupin curiously.

'Since Professor Snape set the essay,' she said.

'Did you check the Lunar chart and realise I was ill at the full moon? Or did you realise that the Boggart changed into the moon when it saw me?'

'Both,' said Hermione.

'Bloody hell, you would've given Lily a run for her money! She was the brightest witch in our year!' said Sirius. Then he spoke to Harry, 'I would never hurt you, Pup. The moment your Dad put you in my arms and asked me to be your godfather, I loved you as though you were my own son and I'll never stop.'

He opened his arms to Harry who had gone through almost every emotion possible, he stood up and hugged his godfather. Harry and Sirius both had tears in their eyes.

'Well, well, well, isn't this touching?' said a silky voice.

It was Snape. 'You three are out of bounds,' he said to Harry, Ron and Hermione. 'As for the two of you –'

'No! You're not going to make him go away or try and take him away!' said Harry standing between Sirius and Snape.

Snape was about to scold him but Lupin spoke instead, 'Severus: two things. One; why don't you cast your eyes over the man on the floor? Do you recognise him? And secondly; why did you come here?'

Snape cautiously moved into the room, keeping his wand and an eye on Sirius, he looked down in shock as he recognised him.

'It … can't be … Pettigrew, but how?' murmured Snape.

'It is him, Severus. He's been alive all this time, living as a rat. He betrayed Lily and James. Look at his left forearm,' said Lupin.

Snape did as Lupin suggested and said, 'The Dark Mark.'

Lupin turned to the trio and said, 'Every Death Eater had the Dark Mark burned permanently into their flesh so Voldemort could summon them to his side.'

'Death Eaters?' said Harry confused.

'It's what Voldemort's followers called themselves,' said Lupin.

Sirius then rolled up his sleeves to reveal dirty but unblemished forearms.

Snape's face was a mask, so Ron said, 'What do we do now?'

'Kill him,' said Sirius and Lupin.

'NO! You can't. If you kill him, the truth dies with him,' said Harry.

'You're the only one who has the right to decide,' said Sirius.

'We'll take him up to the castle, or, better yet, get Dumbledore down here,' said Harry thoughtfully.

Snape looked at Harry for a moment, grudgingly impressed at the boy's quick thinking. Then he turned to speak to Lupin, 'I came here because I saw you on that Map as I was delivering your potion.'

'Potion?' asked Sirius.

Hermione spoke again, 'Of course, you take the Wolfsbane Potion! It's a recent discovery that enables a werewolf to keep his mind when he transforms. But only if it's taken –'

She was cut off by Sirius who shouted, 'Remus! You have to leave now! Go, straight into the forest, you don't have time to make it back to your office, GO, NOW!'

Remus immediately ran out of the Shrieking Shack as Snape waved his wand and something silvery appeared and glided out of the door.

'Was that a Patronus, Professor?' asked Harry.

'Yes, Potter,' replied Snape without his usual sneer, 'The Headmaster will join us shortly.'