Disclaimer – I do not own Harry Potter


"Wormtail." Remus blinks at his Nephew, his mind running a million miles per hour, unable to comprehend what's being said.

"B-But Peter's dead, Sirius killed him."

"Revenge, maybe? He at least had to know who really betrayed us, right?" Remus sits back, feeling dizzy as he absentmindedly hands Harry some chocolate which the boy begins eating.

"Then he's still a murderer," Remus points out, unsure why he's trying to prove Sirius' guilt.

"But he's not a traitor, at the very least one murder isn't worth twelve years in Azkaban, surely he could be released now?" Harry says, almost pleading.

"It wasn't just one murder, Harry!" Harry looks confused, Remus sighs, dropping his head into his hands, "Thirteen Muggles. He killed thirteen muggles as well. Even if he didn't betray us to Voldemort, he still earnt his place in Azkaban and he's still dangerous."

"But if he's not here to kill me then why's he here? Surely he must know being anywhere near Albus Dumbledore is a sure-fire way to get caught, not to mention this was the first place everyone thought he'd go to." Remus frowns.

"Perhaps he wanted to check up on you, insane or not, he cared about James, he cared about you."

"He's not insane!"

"Harry –"

"No! Don't you see? If they were wrong about one thing then they could be wrong about this. Besides, even if he did kill Uncle Peter –"

"I don't care about him killing Peter! If you are right and he was the traitor then he deserved everything he got, but those Muggles didn't!" Harry falls quiet.

"I don't believe it." Remus sighs.

"There were witnesses Ha…" Remus frowns as he trails off, everything finally sinking in and allowing him to think clearly, "The witnesses, they saw Peter shouting about Sirius being the one to betray Lily and James…if he didn't…then Peter set the whole thing up which means…"

"He killed the muggles," Harry says hesitantly, Remus scoffs slightly though not derisively.

"More than that Prongslet, he may be alive! That's got to be why Sirius escaped now even though he's always had the capability to, he's here, Peter is here! But…how could he know that?"

"Hold on, if a dead man were walking around the school, wouldn't someone have noticed?" Remus hesitates.

"Not if he isn't a man."

"What?"

"Come with me," He directs before walking out of the classroom, Harry jogs to keep up.

"Where are we going?"

"To find the twins."

"The Weasley twins? Why?"

"They have something I need to find Sirius."

"We should tell Ron and Hermione, they may be able to help."

"Harry, I'm not involving school students in the hunt for a man who may or may not be a murderer, I'm also not brining you to find a man who may or may not want you dead."

"But he doesn't! We know that now!"

"I'm not risking anyone's life based on a memory from when you were a year old brought on by repeated exposure to a dementor-boggart."

"But you'll do it yourself?"

"I can handle myself, besides, it's long past time I track him down and turn him over anyway, should have done so months ago."

"I've slain a Basilisk with a sword, I think I can handle one man who isn't trying to kill me." Remus stops short just outside the entrance to the Gryffindor common room.

"Where'd you get a sword?" Harry blinks at him in surprise.

"Most people tend to question the Basilisk," He tells him, looking amused, Remus gets a strange look on his face.

"Yes, well, this school has a habit of harbouring dangerous animals," Remus replies before opening the portrait and walking inside, Harry at his heels.

"Uncle Moony –"

"I said no, Harry." Remus looks around the room, spotting the twins easily enough, "Fred, George, mind if I have a word with you both?" They look at each other and shrug before walking over to him, "I need the map."

"All due respect Professor Moony, you are a Professor now…"

"…Handing it over would be sacrilege."

"And not handing it over could very well mean being an accomplice to a murder. I need it to find Black, hand it over, I promise to return it." The two's eyes widen, it only just occurring to them that it could do that. Fred rushes off to get it.

"We've never seen him on it," George assures him, "We'd have told you that." Remus opens his mouth to respond, then hesitates.

"Ever seen Peter Pettigrew on it?" George hesitates, then nods slowly.

"Spends most of his time with Ron but…well we've never actually met him." Remus nods.

"Thank you." Fred returns, handing the map over, "I'll give it back as soon as we've got him."

"Professor, can't we help?" Remus frowns.

"Does Ron have a rat?" The twins exchange looks before looking to Harry who shrugs, just as confused.

"Yes," They reply.

"Scabbers," Harry adds.

"All right, this is going to sound very odd, but I need you to trust me. Get the rat. Don't mention my name or the rat will panic and run." The two shrug again and walk up to the boys' dormitory.

"Um, Uncle…" Remus looks to Harry questioningly, "Well, what you said before, about Uncle Padfoot always having had the capability to escape…does that mean you know how he did it?" Remus looks away guiltily, "And you have all along?" Remus nods slightly, "You said nothing. Does that mean that you thought there was a chance he was innocent?"

"No Harry, it means I was a coward and you could have died because of it," He replies honestly, Harry looks to his feet awkwardly, "I am sorry. I've done a piss poor job of being your Uncle." Harry shakes his head.

"You care about me, that's more than can be said for my Uncle Vernon. We make stupid decisions when we're afraid and when people we care about are involved. Trust me, I know. I forgive you." Remus smiles at him, privately thinking that this kid is way too precious for this world.

"Here you go," George says, Fred handing the rat to him. The rat immediately begins trying to get away. Remus looks closely at the animal, frowning as recognition fills his mind.

"Son of a bitch," Remus mutters, "Harry, I'm going to Dumbledore to deal with this. Would you like to come along and tell him everything?" Harry nods, "Thank you both for your help." The two leave, the twins watching them go with confusion.

"They're a weird bunch."

"Right you are Freddie."


"Headmaster, there's something I need to tell you," Remus begins as he and Harry walk in, only to see him speaking with McGonagall.

"I am rather busy at the moment Remus, can we discuss this later?"

"I know how Sirius escaped from Azkaban." The rat starts squirming harder in his grip, Remus doesn't let go. Dumbledore looks at him in surprise and gestures him to a seat, Harry awkwardly walks in behind him.

"How?" Albus asks, Minerva looking at Remus questioningly as well, Remus cringes.

"When they were sixteen, James, Peter, and Sirius became animagi." Albus, Harry, and Minerva look at Remus, completely nonplussed. Then Harry's eyes widen.

"He's a big Black Dog, isn't he?" Remus looks at him in surprise, Harry groans, "I saw him in little whinging, nearly gave me a bloody heart attack, coming out of the bushes as he did."

"He was that close to you?" McGonagall asks in concern.

"It's okay, he's not going to hurt me."

"Mr Potter –"

"He's innocent!" Harry insists, Remus sighs.

"Harry's right." The other two look at him in shock again, he holds up the rat in his hands, "This is Peter Pettigrew, he's the one who betrayed Lily and James, he's the one who killed the muggles, he faked his death and pinned it all on Sirius." Albus takes the rat from him, walking around the desk and putting it on the floor before casting a spell on him to return him to his original form, and sure enough, there stands Peter Pettigrew.

"Remus! My old friend!" Remus pulls his wand on him when he makes a break for the door.

"Don't. Even. Think about it." Peter cowers away, hands in the air in surrender, Harry feels his blood boiling with rage and can only imagine what it must be like for his Uncle. His non-traitorous Uncle that is.

"Whatever Sirius told you, Remus, it's a lie. I swear it!"

"Sirius hasn't told me anything, Peter, I don't even know where he is. I must say though, I have a hard time understanding why an innocent man would spend twelve years hiding as a rat."

"As do I," Albus says, his voice thundering in a way that Harry can feel reverberating through his soul. It's not a sound he ever wants to hear again, but it doesn't seem to phase Remus at all. Honestly though, what Harry finds even worse, is the look of utter disappointment and contempt on McGonagall's face. He sincerely hopes he never earns that look. Peter whimpers and whines as Dumbledore contacts the Ministry, Remus keeping his wand and his eyes trained on Peter for the entire time, being sure to make Harry stay behind him with Minerva. Soon after, two Aurors turn up. Remus recognises Mad-Eye instantly from his voice, but the young woman with him, he doesn't know. Her scent seems mildly familiar and, after Moody has Wormtail firmly restrained, Remus finds himself almost unable to take his eyes off of her.

"Uncle Moony?" Harry asks, Remus blinks and looks down at the boy who has a very obvious smirk on his face, Remus ignores him.

"Where's Black?" Moody asks Remus.

"I haven't the faintest idea Mad-Eye." The Auror doesn't look convinced, "Moody, if I knew where he was, I'd have told someone."

"Your word on that isn't meaning too much at the moment." Remus scowls.

"I handed Pettigrew over as soon as I found him."

"You also withheld information on Black's escape. What if he had been guilty?" The woman asks.

"He wasn't."

"Did you know that at the time?" Remus grimaces.

"No."

"None of this matters, where is he?"

"I really don't know, but I may be able to find him." Remus pulls the parchment from the twins out, opens it, and puts it on Dumbledore's desk. Everyone crowds around it.

"Never thought I'd see that again," Peter murmurs, Remus glares at him.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," Remus declares while tapping the parchment with his wand. After it's been opened and they realise what it is, Dumbledore looks up, unimpressed.

"You have had access to this the entire time?"

"No, I borrowed it off the people who, for all intents and purposes, have inherited it. Only got it on the condition, that I return it."

"Where did it come from originally?" The female Auror asks.

"My friends and I made it when we were in Hogwarts."

"The same friend who became unregistered Animagi at sixteen?" Moody asks, Remus nods, "You made this map?" He nods again, "When?"

"Um…1973," Remus replies.

"Why couldn't you all have put this effort into school?" Minerva asks, Remus sighs, Harry snickers, Remus glares at him, he smiles innocently.

"I'm not seeing him on here," The female Auror states needlessly.

"He's going to be hiding somewhere, Tonks, it's probably not in the school."

"Tonks?!" Peter and Remus both ask at once.

"Yes, that one. Ted and Andromeda's kid," Moody answers, Remus looks at her in surprise, then tilts his head to the side.

"You do have the Black nose."

"The Black nose?" Tonks asks, self-consciously touching her nose.

"It's a feature prominent in the Black family. Both your Aunts, your Mother, your grand-parents, your cousins, all of them have the same nose."

"Huh."

"If he's not in the castle, where will he be?" Minerva asks, looking to Remus who shrugs.

"Come on Uncle Moony, you know him better than anyone. If he were hiding somewhere, where would it be? Where would he feel is safe, where no one would go?" Harry asks, everyone watching Remus as he thinks, then Remus' eyes widen.

"Oh I'm an idiot, the shack," Remus says.

"The Shrieking Shack?" Harry asks in confusion, but apparently it made sense to McGonagall and Dumbledore. Peter whimpers slightly.

"Well then, let's go catch us a fugitive."

"An innocent fugitive," Harry corrects, Moody looks to Remus who sighs, sitting Harry down in a chair and kneeling in front of him.

"Harry, innocent or not, he won't be free until after a trial. He has to be found innocent first."

"But he will be, won't he?"

"If Wormtail confesses, yes." Remus looks to Peter who curls in on himself with a distressed whine, tears falling from his eyes.

"We'll get them to use veritaserum on the both of them," Moody tells him.

"Harry there's a lot of bias against the Black family. It doesn't hold the weight it used to, and even when it did, he was disowned by his family."

"Why?"

"They weren't nice people and Sirius refused to go along with that, just like Auror Tonks' mother, Andy, did. Now, we'll do our best, but there may be some people in the Wizengamot who won't want to find him innocent regardless of the evidence put before them."

"But that's not fair!" Harry exclaims, Remus sighs.

"You know as well as we all do, Harry, that life is never fair." Harry slumps in his seat, "That doesn't mean we are giving up Harry. I did that once, I will not do so again. That, I promise you." Harry nods.

"Right then, Lupin, Tonks, would you two go and fetch Mr Black for us, Moody and I will keep watch over Mr Pettigrew," Dumbledore suggests.

"What about me, Sir?" Harry asks.

"Go back to your common room Harry. I will begin organizing a trial, it will be within a week. I will allow you to attend should you so choose." Harry looks about to protest when Remus gives him a look, Harry sighs, nodding.

Harry trudges back to his common room, escorted by McGonagall because no one trusted him to return and stay there and really, given his history, he couldn't exactly refute that.


"So, you know my mother?" Tonks asks as the two walk out of the school and towards the Whomping Willow.

"Not well but we met a few times. The last time I saw her was when she told Sirius that she was pregnant." Tonks nod.

"But you call her Andy, I've only ever heard my Dad call her that."

"Oh that's only because Sirius called her that and he introduced us so, I suppose the others and I just went with it. She never minded."

They walk in silence for a while.

"May I ask, what is your name?" She flushes.

"Dreadful. My name is dreadful," She replies, scowling at the ground.

"Nice to meet you Dreadful." She scoffs.

"That was such a Dad joke," She says.

"You laughed," He says, pointing at her still smiling mouth, she shakes her head.

"Out of pity." He laughs as they reach the tree.

"Immobulus," Remus casts before walking to the base, "After you."

"Be still, my heart, for chivalry is not all dead. First to enter the killer tree I am," She says dramatically, they both laugh as she climbs down the hole, closely followed by Remus.

"Alas, dramatics are a family trait as well and not exclusive to Sirius." Tonks snickers, "Come along Dreadful." Tonks rolls her eyes though doesn't stop smiling as she walks along beside him.

Eventually they get to the trapdoor to the shack. They sneak up, looking around before they go upstairs again, that's when Remus hears the growling and stops Tonks.

"Pads?"