:) My mom would always say: If you don't know what to say, just smile. I have found this often works...I have also found that not all questions should be answered with a smile. Here are a few examples:

'Who broke the side mirror on my car?' *smile* = guilty

'Who threw away my Twilight books?' *smile* = guilty (Sorry to those who enjoy the Twilight books, I mean no real offense.)

'Did you eat my cookies?' *smile* = guilty

'Has anyone seen my wallet?' *smile* = you took it

And the most important one:

'So, kill anyone lately?' (meant as a joke) *smile*

Onwards to the story! :)

How Harry had landed himself in this position was well beyond him. He, Hermione, and Ronald had all gone down to visit Hagrid. That was all they had intended to do and then they were going to go back up to the castle and to their dormitories and get some well-earned rest. It had been a decent visit considering that Ron and Harry were no longer friends, but he knew it was because there was no connection between them anymore therefore no feelings. Harry hadn't expected to find Scabbers at Hagrid's. He hadn't expected to see an axe come down presumably upon the neck of the hippogriff. He definitely hadn't expected to be attacked by a giant black dog, end up in a tunnel that led to the Shrieking Shack, and come face-to-face with Sirius Black again.

He was in trouble.

Ronald was quiet and Hermione was shaking and Harry was trying not to beg outright for Theodore to find him.

"Shut up!" Black picked up a chair and nearly tossed it at Harry, nearly hitting him. "Don't you go calling for help! You'll ruin it!"

Harry jumped at the man, trying to pin him and get back his wand, but he was tossed aside.

"Stop!" Black screamed. "You don't understand! You don't understand! How could you understand?"

"I understand!" Harry shouted back, picking himself up. "I was told all about how you betrayed my parents and killed Pettigrew!"

"No!" Black roared, gripping at his face and Harry blanched, astounded by the agony in the man's face and eyes. "No! No! No! It was Pettigrew! It was Pettigrew!"

"What?" Harry was staring at the man with complete dislike. "Yes, you killed Pettigrew."

"NO!" Black yanked away his hands from his features and the nails clawed away skin in thin red lines. "It wasn't as it seemed! Pettigrew was the Secret-Keeper! He was the one! But he betrayed them to Voldemort!"

Harry hesitated at a retort, knowing that no true follower of the Dark Lord would call him by name. "You killed Pettigrew."

"I didn't though." Black insisted. "I didn't! He...he was an Animagus! Unregistered, like me, and so was your father! We three and Lupin would run together...it's hard to explain..."

"Because Lupin is a werewolf." Harry stated. "And werewolves only attack people, so you were safe as animals to be around him."

"H-Harry?" Hermione stared at her friend with both awe and respect as well as uncertainty.

"So what has that got to do with it?" Harry snapped. "You still killed him."

"I didn't!" Black repeated, more frantically. "I went after him...hunted him down...but he...he made me look like the Secret-Keeper! He made me look guilty! Then he blew up the streeth, changed, and ran away, leaving behind his finger so that I looked guilty all the more!"

"But why come here then?" Harry asked, trying to work out how to get his wand back. In the meantime, he was buying time in case Black was lying and planned to kill him. "Why come after me?"

"I wasn't coming after you!" Black thundered, fury lighting into his eyes. "I was coming after that rat!" He pointed at Ronald, who was trying to hold a frantic Scabbers.

"The rat?" All three Gryffindors said together and Ron added, "Why?"

"He's Pettigrew!" Black seemed exasperated at their inability to understand. "He's an Animagus!"

"No!" Ron yelped, holding Scabbers to him desperately. "No! Scabbers has been in the family for years!"

"Twelve, right?" Black barked. "Right?"

"He..." Ron gaped at the man. "No...no...he can't be..."

"Give him to me!" Black threw himself at Ron, apparently tired of waiting, but the redhead managed to fling himself away.

A mass of scrambling suddenly happened as Ron dropped the rat, who sailed out of his hands and landed on the bed. Crookshanks dove for him along with Harry and Ron and Hermione made a grab for her cat while Sirius, still picking himself up from the floor, screamed, "He's mine! He's mine! He's mine!" Ron and Harry hit heads hard, falling away from each other dizzily and Hermione gave out a squeal when Ron bumped into her and dragged her off the bed unintentionally. As soon as Harry's head stopped pulsing, he sat up and found to his horror another man in the room and Harry already knew who it was: Pettigrew.

It took a lot more conversation to learn a bit more of the story of how Sirius had felt they should change the Secret-Keeper to Pettigrew because he figured it'd be safest with him. He hadn't realized then that Pettigrew was the traitor. Then Sirius had decided it was time to kill Pettigrew, but Harry wouldn't let him. He didn't want his father's friend, Harry's godfather, to be turned into a real murderer. They strapped Pettigrew to Ron and Sirius and then the five of them exited the tunnel to start towards the castle where they would show the truth to Dumbledore and Sirius Black could finally be free.

"You know," Sirius was telling Harry. "I think we might have misunderstood one another that night in the dormitory. I thought...well...I don't know..."

"You're a bit mad." Harry said and watched Sirius smirk. "You're Cherished, arn't you?"

Black's eyes filled with remorse and stared down at the ground. "I don't think I am anymore...too much has broken our bond. I can't...feel...him anymore."

Harry instantly wondered if Theodore had sensed the danger Harry had been in...maybe, he'd already alerted the teachers and they'd be awaiting them at the doors.

"Stop wiggling!" Ron hissed from the other side and Harry glanced over to see Pettigrew whimpering and shifting about. Sirius reached over to hit him.

Harry wasn't sure he saw it, but the evidence was proof enough. Pettigrew had taken the wand the man was holding and there had been a loud bang and then Harry was staring at the grass, not sure how he'd ended up on the ground.

"Get up!" He could hear someone screaming, but their words weren't making any sense. "Get up! Please, oh, please! Don't be...don't be...no...no...no..."

Harry's head lifted as he realized it was Hermione screaming and he straightened his glasses before rushing towards her and the heap upon the ground. She was crying, tears leaving silver lines on her face that reflected the moonlight. Her eyes and cheeks and lips were all puffy red. He looked down at what lay before her and he stopped breathing, stopped thinking, stopped feeling.

"No..." He whispered. "No...no..."

Hermione started to sob harder, unable to contain her grief as she leaned down over the body.

Ronald was dead.

Cutting it short tonight because I'm tired and completely unable to focus. :P Sorry.