Author's note. Since people complain about the slow pace of the story, I've jumped straight into Sirius's trial. I actually do feel a little sorry for Wormtail, because when Sirius insisted that Wormtail should be Secret Keeper, he truly believed that he was loyal. But at the same time, he also considered him as so pathetic that Voldemort would never even consider him and that Wormtail was too cowardly to run anyway. That shows that their friendship was a bad one. I think in the beginning, Peter was a good guy but as the years went on and Sirius and James became more powerful, Peter became little more than a flunky. It would probably have been best if they'd split up but because they'd all worked to become Animagi to accompany Remus, it didn't happen. I also suspect James wouldn't allow that, to him, friends where everything, even if he viewed Peter as being worth less than the others, he'd still make sure they stayed as a group. In the end, Peter made his own choices, if he truly couldn't face Voldemort, he should have just run, he'd have been leaving his friends but that would have been way better than betraying them.

Another thing that occurred to me, isn't it funny that Snape never did reveal what Remus is? I mean, he could have easily when he left school and especially when he became a Death Eater but people like Lucius Malfoy appear to have been totally oblivious to the fact a werewolf was teaching their kids. So it seems that either Snape didn't hate Remus as much as he probably hated Sirius and James or possibly still respected Dumbledore enough that he kept his word. I dunno, just something that occurred to me.

Enjoy and please review.

"If we could begin," Amelia Bones, Head of Magical Law Enforcement and overseer of this trial.

"Name?" asked the clerk, quill posed.

"Sirius Orion Black," Sirius answered softly but clearly as he sat in a chair, bound by chains

"Witness for the defence?"

"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore," Dumbledore stated.

She nodded and turned to the second man wrapped in chairs in front of the court.

"Name?"

"Peter Pettigrew," was the tremulous reply.

"Thank you," she said as the clerk wrote it down. "We are gathered here today to try Sirius Black for the murder of twelve Muggles after the wizard he was supposed to have killed turned up alive and bearing He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's mark. How do you both plead?"

"Not guilty," they answered automatically.

"We will began by questioning Mr Black," she told the court and Sirius sat up a bit straighter as best he could.

"You are an Animagus?" she said flatly and he nodded.

"Yes, I became an Animagus in my fifth year of school along with James and Peter," he explained.

"For what reason?" she inquired, her tone lacking the curiosity on the faces of most here.

"Remus Lupin," Sirius said quietly, wondering where his friend was. "He...is a werewolf."

There were gasps and mutters around the courtroom, Sirius felt himself rolling his eyes. Yes, some people were werewolves, get over it.

"What did your friend being a werewolf have to do with you becoming an Animagus?" she inquired.

"Simple," Sirius replied. ""When we found out about him being a werewolf, that didn't matter to us at all, we were just a little annoyed he hadn't told us."

He smiled sadly, of course Remus hadn't told them.

"It...it basically wasn't a problem for us him being a werewolf," he carried on. "Things just continued as they had been only now Remus didn't have to pretend he was visiting his sick mother. But what was a problem was the aftermath of his transformations."

He paused to compose how he was going to explain this.

"Being a werewolf is a terrible thing," he said quietly. "Never mind the fact you become a blood thirsty monster for a single night every, the days leading up to it are terrible. You know you're going to turn into this creature, you know going it's going to hurt like blazes, you know if any human comes near you, you will tear them to pieces...and you can't do a single damn thing about it. That was one of the worst things for Remus I think, the anticipation."

"The transformations themselves are hell," he continued. "It's not like becoming an animagus, that happens in about a second and doesn't hurt at all. Becoming a werewolf does, you can literally feel your bones shattering, your skin ripping as you grow bigger, your sprout fur..."

A few members of the audience were beginning to look a little ill as he carried on.

"Only when Remus loses his mind to the werewolf does the pain stop but that's not the end of it. If a werewolf is locked up, if he'd denied the opportunity to go out and hunt, then he goes crazy. He ends up biting and scratching himself just to satisfy his own bloodlust."

He sighed heavily, relieving those memories.

"When it was all over, he was a mess," he stated seriously, looking up at them all. "Covered in half healed injuries and shaking, he'd end needing to spend some time in the hospital wing depending how bad the night had been. Everyone thought Remus was a sickly child and when you're just a First year, no one notices if you disappear."

"Except if you're called Snape," Sirius thought mulishly to himself.

"But we couldn't stand seeing him like that," he told them. "We felt we had to do something, anything to help him. So we started researching and hit upon the idea of becoming Animagi."

"And why would becoming Animagi help?" he was asked and he elaborated.

"Werewolves are only a danger to humans," he said slowly and clearly, wanting his point to be made. "Not to animals so we figured if we became Animagi...then we could be with him when he transformed."

Now the gasps were ones of horror and a few of outrage. Wizards willingly trying to find ways to hang out with a werewolf while he was transformed, it was utter madness. Mad Eye grimaced; he still couldn't believe that three kids that had barely started school had hit upon that idea. And what was even crazier was that it appeared to have worked.

"That appears to have been a very foolish idea," Amelia Bones said slowly as Sirius shrugged.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," he said simply. "I know how that sounds but we were eleven and we wanted to help our friend. It took us a long time, over four years of hard study before we finally managed to transform. By then there was no going back, at least that's what it felt like. The first full moon after we could transform, we snuck outside and entered the Whomping Willow."

Shooting Pettigrew a nasty look, he said. "Peter transformed into a rat so he could easily dodge the branches and press a secret nob that would freeze the tree. It was then a simple matter of heading into the tunnel and joining Mo...Remus in the Shrieking Shack."

"Were you not nervous of joining a werewolf?" Amelia Bones asked wryly.

"Of course we were," Sirius laughed in remembrance. "We could barely concentrate in class; we all almost landed in detention for it. But we were determined to go through with it, we'd practised changing and we'd reassured ourselves over and over that werewolves don't attack non humans."

He took a deep breath, swallowing to moisten his throat so he could carry on.

"We waited until we were sure Remus had transformed before we actually joined him," he told the silent audience. "Being animals helped calm us down a bit but it was still a nerve wracking experience entering that old shack. He was there, growling and pacing around, hackles raised and stuff. And then he saw us."

To everyone's astonishment, Sirius suddenly smiled.

"It was amazing," he said in an almost dreamy tone. "He changed from a ferocious caged beast into...well, just a normal wolf. He stopped snarling and growling and just sniffed at us. Since I was a dog, I went over to him and greeted him, I suppose I let me instincts take over."

"James was a stag but Remus had no interest in hunting him so it was no issue for him to come closer as well, same for the rat."

Pettigrew just bared his slightly sharp little teeth.

"With our presence there, Remus spent the best night he'd ever had as a wolf," Sirius sighed. "The next day, he didn't have any injuries and his mind was more at peace that it had ever been before. He only needed to rest the morning before he could join us again."

With the clerk still scribbling furiously, Amelia Bones said.

"So with the first meeting a success, you continued going into the willow every full moon?"

"Yes," he agreed firmly. "And by doing so, Remus was able to concentrate better on his studies and completed not only his Owls but his Newts. And despite being a werewolf, he graduated Hogwarts and no one was ever the wiser."

He said this last part defiantly, wanting them to understand that a little furry problem had not prevented Remus from becoming a fully qualified wizard. Even though he'd told a little white lie about no one ever finding out, but they didn't need to know about Snape. About how stupid he'd been.

"Well," the Head of Magical Law Enforcement stated. "Now we know how and why you became an Animagus but now we come to the question of Lily and James Potter ended up being betrayed."

"Yes," Sirius agreed heavily.

"You along with your friends were fighting against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, correct?" she asked.

"Yeah, we were all fighting against him," Sirius said with a nod. "We were just a few among the many that were fighting. Things didn't really change until Harry, my Godson was born. Voldemort somehow got it into his head...to kill the whole Potter family."

"That is when things changed?" was the questioned he was asked and he nodded.

"Yes, they could no longer fight and had to focus on keeping hidden. But while they managed it, they were in constant danger and it was a hopeless situation for raising a newborn," Sirius said. "And so the Fidalius Charm was eventually suggested, to provide a way for them to hide completely and safely. Until such time as Voldemort was defeated essentially."

He took a deep breath, now they came to the difficult part of the story.

"I was chosen to become their Secret Keeper, as I'm sure your aware."

There were murmurs of agreement.

"Why did you not use Albus Dumbledore?" Amelia Bones questioned. "He offered to become Secret Keeper, did he not?"

"We were young and so stupid," Sirius said bitterly. "We were carried away by our own arrogance; we felt we were invincible, that nothing could touch us. I have no excuse for why I didn't convince them to use Albus, I suppose we all thought he had enough on his plate and that I could easily handle it."

He chuckled even more bitterly to himself.

"Of course we should have used Albus," he said aloud. "He might have been busy with the school and fighting Voldemort..."

There were yet again flinches at this.

"...but he would have been perfect. Voldemort and his Death Eaters didn't dare to attack the school and even when Dumbledore was outside it, there was no one that would have even attempted to strike. Even if there were some suicidal to try it, he would have dealt with them and Voldemort wouldn't have been stupid enough to try himself. I don't know, perhaps eventually he would have gotten desperate enough to fight Dumbledore face to face but the chances of him succeeding were still low. And Lily and James would have been safe in the meantime along with Harry..."

He broke off, his voice cracking with emotion. No one spoke; they waited for him to continue.

"Lily...Lily had reservations about not using Dumbledore," he finally said. "It wasn't that she didn't trust me, she did but she felt it might be too much of a burden on me. As much as she didn't want to burden the headmaster, she understood the advantages to using him. But James was determined to use me, he reasoned that I could easily go into hiding and he knew I'd never reveal where they were. And I was confident, at the time that I could do this."

He paused, clearing his throat because it tended to get very dry if he talked too much. With a cough, he carried on.

"James managed to convince Lily about using me instead of Dumbledore but...something about her doubts started to get to me. I'm not blaming her," he said quickly, gesturing as best he could with his hands. "She had valid reasons for being unsure, this was a risky thing they were doing, it could go so easily wrong and she was worried for her son. But one of the points she was worried about was if I were captured and forced to talk."

His eyes darkened as he said.

"I always knew that was a possibility but when we first talked about it, I was sure I could hide well enough and even if I were caught, would never give them away. But I saw victims of Voldemort and his Death Eater, those who had been tortured for information...I...I can't even describe it," he said, shaking his head as images rose up within his mind. "That started to play on my mind, I knew that Voldemort would go after me and the plan seemed less sound the more I thought about it."

He abruptly stopped as a coughing fit overtook him, it felt like his throat was being sandpapered.

"Are you alright, Mr Black?" Amelia Bones asked.

"F-fine," he coughed, wishing he could cover his mouth but unable to. A glass of water suddenly appeared in front of his face and he gratefully leaned forward to take a gulp.

"Thank you," he said his voice considerably less hoarse now. "Well anyway, I started to think of alternatives, Lily and James needed a Secret Keeper that nobody would suspect. So I suggested Peter."

He flashed Pettigrew a glare but received a cold look in return.

"I knew Voldemort was sure to go after me but he'd never for a moment dream they'd use a weak, talentless wizard."

"Listen to you," sneered Pettigrew suddenly before mockingly quoting. "The Dark Lord was sure to go after me, he never would have dreamed of going after a weak, talentless wizard. I was your friend, you bastard, your friend and that's how you thought of me?"

"It was true," Sirius defended as Pettigrew let out a harsh laugh.

"Really Sirius, are you saying that in retrospect or because you always believed it? Face it, you might have thought I was weak and talentless but you still thought I was a loyal friend. That was how you treated anyone who wasn't James, as a dogsbody. If it was up to you, Remus would have transformed every weekend so you'd have a good excuse to run around the school grounds with him," he yelled furiously.

"That's a lie," Sirius roared back as Amelia Bones banged her gavel.

"Order," she barked out as members of the court murmured among each other.

Pettigrew grinned maliciously as he said loudly.

"You missed that little titbit from your heart warming story, the fact that we released Remus from the Shrieking Shack every single full moon."

Amelia Bones had to bang her gavel much harder to restore order after this revelation.

"Is this true?" she asked Sirius in a cool tone.

"Yes," he said quietly before saying quickly. "But it wasn't Remus's fault; he had no control or sense of himself once he was transformed. We would lead him out of the willow and we'd all run through the forest, that's all."

"That's not all," Pettigrew cut in. "What about all the close calls we had, when Remus caught the scent of humans. You and James had to fight to keep him away until he could calm down. I remember...you both used to laugh afterwards, joking over our narrow escapes."

Sirius burned with anger but he also knew that it was true. They had used Remus, taken advantage of the fact that once he was transformed, they could do literally anything with him.

"And that's not even the best part," Pettigrew added with a hateful grin. "He once told a student how to get into the willow, on the full moon."

Sirius closed his eyes, blocking the furious cries and exclamations that followed this pronouncement. He knew he'd betrayed his friend that night and even though Remus had forgiven him, it should never have come to that. James had been right to punch him right in the jaw.

"Is that true?" Amelia Bones asked in a cold tone.

"Yes, it's true," he agreed heavily.

"Did you know about this, Dumbledore?" she questioned, turning to the old headmaster.

"I did," Dumbledore said, standing up. "The student in question came straight to tell me along with James Potter. From what they told me, Sirius had thought it would be funny to tell the student about the willow because he thought they would be terrified by the sounds of Remus transforming and run away screaming. The prank as Sirius thought of it, was not very well thought through and was a moment of madness you could say."

"What did James Potter have to do with it?" was the first question he was asked.

"He discovered Sirius's trick and rushed to save the student before he could reach the Shrieking Shack. He did glimpse Remus transforming and I had to ask him to give his word that he would not reveal what he had seen."

"And why did you do that?"

"Remus Lupin was innocent," Dumbledore said firmly. "He had no idea what Sirius had done but if the truth was revealed, then it would be him receiving the punishment, expulsion once the parents found out about him. I did not want to see a young wizard's future destroyed when it was already so precarious."

"There was also the issue of Voldemort gaining strength," Dumbledore added. "He had not fully revealed his true colours and I worried that he would target Remus if he was expelled. Remus Lupin is fully against the Dark Arts but an innocent teenager who had been expelled for something he did not do could have broken him. I'm sure many of us remember what it was like to be fifteen."

He said this last bit with a slight twinkle, it had been a very long time since he was that age.

"The student in question was Severus Snape who as most of you know is a teacher at Hogwarts," Dumbledore continued. "For Remus's sake, he has never revealed what happened even when it would have been so easy to do so once they'd both left school."

"Are you suggesting," Amelia Bones said slowly. "That we put it to Severus Snape whether or not Sirius Black should be punished for his actions back then?"

"It is a possible option for the court," Dumbledore said with a nod. "Sirius was punished for his trick but for Remus's sake he was not expelled. But he was warned that if he did such a thing ever again, then he would be expelled. Sirius was extremely fortunate, if Severus had been bitten or even clawed, then I would have been forced to take more drastic action."

Sirius remembered being scared of that fact but because his rival hadn't actually been injured, he'd gradually forgotten what could have happened and ended up thinking of it as a good prank that had just gone a little wrong. The fact that Snape had not been able to get his revenge had just made him feel smug, not grateful. He really was a bastard.

Replacing her monocle which had almost fallen out, Amelia Bones leaned over to talk to other members of the Wizengamot. Sirius dully wondered if Snape would take the opportunity to publically out Remus as a werewolf although chances were the game was already up.

"We will take your suggestion into account Dumbledore," Amelia Bones finally stated. "For now, we will put aside this and continue with the events leading to the betrayal of the Potters."

Looking straight at Sirius, she said.

"You decided that Peter Pettigrew would make a better Secret Keeper?"

"Yes," Sirius said with a nod, pulling himself together. "Remus was out of the question and I thought...that he might be the traitor."

He looked down again, feeling shame wash over him. But it only lasted a moment and he continued.

"In order to keep it a complete secret, we resolved to tell no one. We would act as though I was still going to be Secret Keeper and once the spell was cast, I would go into hiding. So would Peter and it was unlikely anyone would really question this and I would be able to check up on him weekly. That was the plan and Lily cast the spell, she was always good at Charms."

He paused before continuing.

"Once it was over, I wasn't present for the incantation, I took Peter to his hiding place and left him, sure that this bluff was going to work. Then almost a week later I went to check on him, I wanted to ensure he was definitely alright but he was gone. There was no sign of a struggle, it appeared he'd left himself and I thought there must be a good reason behind this..."

He swallowed as he said. "But it didn't feel right so I went to check Godric's Hollow, the street anyway and I found...their house completely destroyed."

He choked, remembering seeing Hagrid standing there sadly as Lily and James lay like rag dolls in the remains of their destroyed home.

"Peter had betrayed them," Sirius said hoarsely as Pettigrew exclaimed. "That's a lie."

"Your time to speak will come," Amelia Bones told him sternly. "Continue Mr Black."

"I couldn't think," Sirius said brokenly. "I couldn't comprehend what had happened. I was only just aware that Harry was still alive. I tried to take him but Hagrid had already been given orders to take Harry to his relatives. It was the safest place for him after what had happened."

"I felt so helpless, so stupid," Sirius gasped out as emotion threatened to overtake him. "All I could do was offer my bike, so Harry could get to his family safely. That was the only smart thing I managed to do that day."

He looked away with a grim expression as he growled.

"You know more or less what happened next. I went after Pettigrew, I searched for hours until I finally tracked him down in the middle of a Muggle street. I was going to just...I don't know, grab him and Apperate out of there but he started yelling that I'd betrayed Lily and James. I froze, I let him yell and take his wand out."

His voice rose slightly as he said.

"I was about to curse him...and he blew up the whole street. Bodies everyone, people screaming and he was gone, just a pile of bloody robes. I knew he'd transformed, I knew he'd gotten away and I just stood there and laughed. Because it was all my fault."

His eyes seemed to dull as he relived the moment he'd truly lost everything. But abruptly, he shrugged and said.

"I was never given an opportunity to tell my side of the story. I was simply arrested and sent off to Azkaban where I remained until a few days ago. I know I should have tried to tell someone about Peter but I was too consumed by guilt, I part of me felt I'd deserved my imprisonment. I'd failed everyone but most of all, I'd failed Harry, my godson. He'd survived that attack no thanks to me but he'd lost his parents. He was too young to ever remember how they loved him..."

A couple of loud sniffs were heard from the audience, his words were having an effect on them.

"There was also the fact if I revealed I was an Animagus, I would lose the only protection I had against the Dementors," Sirius said quietly. "I would use it whenever things became too unbearable, Dementors can't affect animals like they do humans. So make sure the little worm next to me can't transform."

"Mr Black," Amelia Bones said warningly, she did not want another argument between the two old friends.

"I would like to ask one more question before we hear Mr Pettigrew's side of the story," she added. "You have spent ten years in Azkaban in a maximum security cell and yet you sit before as a sane man. Was it because you were an Animagus you were able to resist the Dementors so thoroughly."

"No...," Sirius said with a frown. "Not entirely. It's hard to explain, I've often wondered why I've kept my mind and the only answer I can give is that...I knew I was innocent."

"It was my fault Lily and James died," he said firmly. "But I didn't betray them, I never sided with Voldemort. It wasn't a happy thought, it was a bitter one. I might not have joined Voldemort but my stupidity still led to their deaths. But the Dementors couldn't suck that fact out of me, I knew I was not a traitor and that kept me sane. My Animagus form simply confused the Dementors, they couldn't sense me properly so they simply assumed I was losing my mind like the others and stopped focusing on me so much."

He suddenly grinned in a rather feral way.

"They love newbies," he explained. "All the Dementors make sure to pass new prisoners as often as possible, to feast on the happy thoughts and feelings until those people are sucked dry. Then they use you more sparingly so you can last longer, they don't want to kill you too quickly or there wouldn't be anyone left for them to gorge on."

Many people were looking sick and one little old lady had a hankie pressed tightly to her mouth as she desperately resisted the urge to vomit. Dumbledore shook his head, another reason why those creatures should not be used. Many who went in there for minor offences and short sentences took a long time to recover from their ordeal of being the Dementor's flavour of the month.

"I see," Amelia Bones said as her scribe continued scribbling furiously, too focused on his task to feel sick. "Well, I believe that is all for now. Mr Pettigrew, it is your time to speak."

"Thank you," he said fawningly as Sirius slumped in his seat, not looking forward to the rat's explanation.

Pettigrew confirmed what Sirius had said about why he'd become an Animagus but denied being a Death Eater and double agent. He claimed that the plan hadn't been changed, that Sirius had still been Secret Keeper; he'd gone after his friend. And when Sirius had tried to curse him, he'd transformed and ran for his life, utterly terrified. Once he'd calmed down and Sirius was safely arrested, he decided to remain as a rat and become the pet of a friendly wizarding family.

"I knew Sirius would come after me," Pettigrew said earnestly. "I knew I had to hide, I couldn't risk anyone finding out I was alive."

"Surely you knew that Black was in prison," Amelia Bones pointed out.

"But there are other Death Eaters out there," he explained. "Ones that hadn't gone to Azkaban and who were looking for revenge against the one who'd stopped the Dark Lord's favourite servant."

"Pft," Sirius said in derision. "You were hiding because to the others, you'd sold out Voldemort. They hated you for destroying their lives and their Master. You knew the only way to save your filthy hide was to keep well informed, to stay close to a wizarding family."

"That's not true," Pettigrew snarled back at him.

"Really?" Sirius retorted. "Then why didn't you leave the country? You could have set up a new identity in another country. Why hang around if you were innocent?"

"I panicked," Pettigrew stated, although he was speaking more to the court than Sirius. "I couldn't think, I felt I was only safe in my rat form but I didn't want to just live in the sewers or something. A kind family found me and took me in as a pet; I saw no reason to leave them when my form meant I could be eaten by predators."

He shrugged, saying.

"Perhaps I was selfish but they took very good care of me. I was fed, warm and kept safe, it seemed foolish to venture out and try to forge a new life for myself. I was terrified of being found out, I was never as brilliant as my friends and I thought I would fail if I went it alone."

He spoke in a sad, almost self hating tone. Sirius scowled, tempted to agree that Pettigrew was useless but that would only help the rat's case.

"How do you explain the mark of the Death Eaters on your left arm?" Dumbledore asked quietly.

Pettigrew paused, fingers flexing nervously.

"Sirius...he must have cursed me when he blew up the street," the Animagus said finally. "That Mark was not there before I transformed and I have not been human in ten years. That's the only explanation."

"Hmm," Amelia Bones said, glancing at both Dumbledore and the assembled Aurors. "Is it possible to recreate the Dark Mark."

"I've never seen it," Mad Eye declared. "All the Dark Mark's I've seen were done by Voldemort."

The other Aurors nodded, as far as they knew; only Voldemort could cast that spell. Dumbledore now spoke.

"As far as I'm aware, Voldemort designed this mark and only he can cast it. It's not a simple tattoo; he uses it to summon his Death Eaters to meetings. This is personal and unique to him, he would not teach this to his Death Eaters, not even his top lieutenant."

"You can't know that," Pettigrew protested shrilly and Dumbledore bowed his head in acknowledgement.

"I cannot say with a hundred percent certainly I admit," Dumbledore said. "But all that I know about him tells me he would not do this. Alastor, Rufus?"

The two old Aurors nodded, they shared the headmaster's assessment.

"Black doesn't have a Mark," Mad Eye now stated. "All the Death Eaters convicted or not have that Mark. As does Pettigrew."

"It's not a true Mark," Pettigrew cried shrilly. "It's a fake!"

"That fake tests as a real Mark," Rufus now said. "It oozes dark magic and is most definitely not just a tattoo. I see no reason why Black would give you such a Mark, supposedly he could cast it, if he never tried to claim you were a Death Eater. And I do not see how he could have blown up that street, failed to kill you and yet manage to perfectly sear that Mark into your arm."

Murmurs echoed around the Chamber as Pettigrew breathed hard with agitation.

"There is also the matter of your missing finger," Dumbledore added lightly. "What is your explanation for it?"

Pettigrew glanced down at his right hand where the finger was missing.

"I...I must have splinched myself," he said finally. "I was so scared, I just had to get away from Sirius."

"That finger was used as evidence that you'd been blown to pieces," Dumbledore said lightly. "Were you aware of that?"

Pettigrew shrugged, not looking at him. Sirius spoke.

"He cut it off himself," he declared. "So that everyone would think he was dead."

"I did not," Pettigrew said shrilly as Rufus Scrimgour suddenly said.

"That finger and the bloody robes were used as proof Pettigrew had died. It's obvious that whether deliberately or by accident, that finger was left behind and Pettigrew never took the opportunity to come forward and set the record straight."

"I told you, I was scared," Pettigrew repeated. "I don't come from a Dark family like he does, his whole family has been in Slytherin. His cousin was responsible for torturing two Aurors into insanity and his brother was a Death Eater also."

"That does not prove anything," Dumbledore said lightly. "Several convicted Death Eaters came from good, respectable families."

Dumbledore turned to the audience.

"Ten years ago I believed like all of you that Sirius Black had betrayed his friends and joined Voldemort. At the time, the evidence seemed clear; he was the Potters Secret Keeper and in front of witnesses, killed a dozen Muggles and his own friend who had accused him of betrayal. But now we know he most definitely did not kill Peter Pettigrew which brings into question what we thought to be originally true. Now, the Muggles who witnessed the killings had no reason to lie and I believe they told us what they thought they saw. But they are Muggles with no knowledge of magic and all they really saw was two wizards confronting each other, an explosion and then only one wizard was left standing among bodies, the other wizards apparently destroyed."

Amelia Bones nodded and said. "Their testimony cannot be fully relied on, agreed."

"There is also two other important points," Dumbledore said. "One, Peter is the one who bares the Mark, not Sirius."

"And two," he said raising his voice as Pettigrew tried to protest. "If Sirius really was working for Voldemort and wanted to see the Potters dead...why did he not take Harry from Hagrid, by force is necessary. If he could destroy a street full of innocents, then it would be child's play to disarm a man who had no reason to suspect him and take a helpless infant. Instead, he offered his bike as a means to get Harry to safety and I can testify that there was nothing wrong with that bike. It did not fail when Hagrid was riding it, it did not explode or transport them to a place they did not wish to be. Would a man in Voldemort's employ, who'd cold-bloodedly sold out an entire family knowing well their intended fates, have missed such a golden opportunity to incite revenge."

"He must have been in shock," Pettigrew suggested frantically, seeing how people were murmuring in agreement. "His master had just fallen, he couldn't think straight."

"Then why did he not go after Hagrid when the shock had worn off?" Dumbledore questioned. "Why offer up his bike as a means of transport when he apparently decided to flee."

"Because he's insane," Pettigrew declared shrilly but it did not appear that anyone believed him.

Dumbledore sighed and turned back to Amelia Bones.

"I think you have heard all the important facts," he told her softly. "It is now up to you and the court to decide whether or not Sirius was the Secret Keeper and if he killed those Muggles."

She nodded, not put out by this suggestion.

"All those who believe Sirius Black to be guilty of all charges, raise your hand"

No one raised their hand.

"All who believe Sirius Black to be innocent raise their hand," Amelia Bones commanded and a wave of hands rose, including hers. Sirius stared mesmerised by this, they truly believed him.

It was clear that the majority were voting in favour of Sirius's acquittal so Amelia Bones now said.

"You have been cleared against all charges relenting to the betrayal of the Potters and the murder of the twelve Muggles and the supposed murder of Peter Pettigrew. The court know that you are an illegal Animagus but because of your wrongful imprisonment for ten years, we will not bring charges against you for that. But as to the so call prank in school."

She paused slightly before saying.

"If Professor Snape decides to press charges, you will be brought back for a hearing," Amelia Bones declared. "But until that time, you will be a free man and if Professor Snape does not press charges, then that fact will be absolute.

"Those who believe that Pettigrew should be found guilty of betraying the Potters to You-Know-Who and murdering twelve Muggles as well as framing Sirius Black for them raise your hand."

"NO!" Pettigrew shrieked as everyone raised their hand for a second time. "I'm innocent, I swear it was all Sirius, he betrayed them, not me!"

"Peter Pettigrew," Amelia Bones stated in a cold, carrying voice. "You have been found guilty and are sentenced to life in Azkaban for the crimes you have committed. Take him away."

"NO!" Pettigrew yelled again as the Aurors stepped forward, grabbing him once the chains and slipped off. "No, I didn't do this, I didn't."

As he struggled, his wild eyes lit upon Sirius and pure malice twisted his scared features.

"I hope Harry hates you!" he screamed as he was dragged away. "I hope he sees you for the fraud you are...he probably will with Snape as his friend!"

Sirius stared after him, feeling his chest tighten uncontrollably as Pettigrew was taken out of the room. He barely noticed the chains falling off his arms and a hand placing its self on his shoulder.

"Sirius," Dumbledore said gently as people started to stand and prepare to exit from the courtroom.

"Hmm," Sirius mumbled back, he had no energy to say anything else.

"Molly and Arthur Weasley are going to take you home," Dumbledore told him and as Sirius shrugged, added. "Even though Harry gets on with Severus that does not mean he will not like you. He appears to be a very friendly boy who gets on with most people. He is friends with Hagrid, he doesn't dislike his fellow year students that are in Slytherin and he even appears to like Severus."

Dumbledore was smiling at this and Sirius wondered how much Snape liked that fact. He had no idea what Harry looked like but he was sure he took after James a lot.

"I'd deserve it if Harry did hate me," Sirius said quietly as Mad Eye approached.

"He won't," Dumbledore said firmly. "When he heard he had a godfather, he was very interested even with Peter trying to convince him that you were bad. He didn't believe him."

"Sounds like a smart kid," Sirius said with a slight smile as Mad Eye stopped and said.

"You alright?"

"Yeah," Sirius said before asking. "You won't let him get away, he is a rat."

"Don't worry," Mad Eye said with a grim smile. "We've been preparing a cell for him, he's not going to be able to escape."

Sirius nodded, musing. "If he did escape...could a rat swim to the mainland?"

"I bet he could," Mad Eye said grimly. "You heard of rats escaping a sinking ship? They can swim alright but we'll make sure it doesn't get to that."

"Good," Sirius said quietly as the door opened and Arthur Weasley entered.

"Ah, Arthur," Dumbledore greeted warmly as the red headed man came over. "I take it you've heard the result?"

"Yes, congratulations," he said earnestly. "We uh, haven't been introduced but I'm Arthur."

"Sirius," Sirius greeted with a nod. The older man before him appeared to be friendly enough; he didn't have the cold eyes of some of his relatives. "I...thank you for taking me in, I know...uh..."

"It's no problem," Arthur cut in soothingly. "After well, taking care of Peter Pettigrew for ten years, it's the least we can do."

"That's not your fault," Sirius told him. "There's no way you could have known what he was. I don't want to be a burden on anyone..."

"You won't be," Arthur replied. "We've raised six rowdy boys including twin pranksters, I think we'll manage."

Sirius couldn't help it; he smiled his first real smile.

"And at Christmas, you'll be able to meet Harry," Arthur added and Sirius thought his face would split from the grin that appeared at this.

"That sounds," he began, throat feeling a little like sand paper. "Wonderful."

With Arthur's help, he hobbled through the room; they were going to use the Floo to reach the Burrow. Dumbledore watched the young man aged by guilt and imprisonment leave as Amelia Bones and Rufus Scrimgour now walked over.

"Albus," she greeted. "The trial went well."

"Indeed," he agreed as Rufus asked. "Hard to believe one of the most infamous Death Eaters was innocent."

Mad Eye grunted his agreement as Amelia Bones looked grim.

"I believe," Dumbledore said to the small group gathered. "That the reasons why Sirius never received a trial should be investigated as soon as possible."

"I'm already organising a committee to take care of this matter," she assured the headmaster. "I'm sure Barty will cooperate fully."

"He'd better," Mad Eye snorted. "Last thing we need is more innocent men in that hellhole while the real scum is out there."

"I'll get our Aurors onto this," Scrimgour said as they began their discussions. The thought that others like Pettigrew could be out there was a disconcerting one but at least they had Pettigrew in custody. Assuming that their precautions did not fail.

Because rats might be small but when cornered, they'll fight...to the death.

Author's note. What will Snape's decision be? How is Sirius getting on at the Burrow? How do the trio take the news? Find out next time, until then.