Monday February 25th, 1991

Like most Monday afternoons this term, Melissa was spending her time alone in the library. It was a study habit that should have broken after two months of 'mourning', but the habit had become something of a welcome routine, so she wasn't fussed to change it. It had its advantages, it was a public enough time to not warrant detention with Snape, but private enough to avoid others since most students had class at this time.

"'Ello Bennett!" two voices chorused.

At least she thought so.

Melissa peered up from her book to look at the intruders. "Ah, the beater and the prankster. How's it going?"

The boys looked at each other, then to her. "We're both." They argued.

"Maybe. Maybe not. But you'll never know for sure." She closed her book and made a sly smile. The boys seemed a tad miffed at her odd declaration. "Don't you two have class?"

"Not anymore." One replied.

"Didn't you hear the bell?" The other added on.

"Oh." She blinked and looked around, noticing a fairly large number of students walking into the library. "I guess not."

From one end, the one she guessed was Fred pranced off to her side and plucked the book from her hand. "How to Prevent Magical and Mundane Vermin: A Herbologist's Guide. You making a garden, Bennett?"

"Aye, got to keep the weasels and bunnies out somehow." She teased and plucked the book back from his hand.

"Sounds awfully cruel, Bennett." Likely-George stressed. "I'm sure they can't be all that bad."

"Right. All cute and fluffy. What's not to love?"

"I suppose." She shrugged. "Only problem is that they keep finding holes and burrowing into the garden. They're a tricky lot, you know."

Likely-George grinned at the wording. "In more ways than one."

"You know, speaking of burrowing," Melissa eased in, "I've been meaning to ask you two something."

"Oh?" At this, the two boys grabbed a chair and officially joined her table.

"Last week, when you had those biting teacups laid out outside of Filch's office, that was some sneaky work." The boys beamed at the praise. "Especially since no one saw you come in or out of the hallway to lay them out."

"You want to know how we did it?" Likely-Fred queried, with enough slyness to show there wasn't a willingness to share the information.

"No, no, not at all." She rebuffed. "What I want is to borrow what you used to do it."

"Sounds like you're asking how we did it." Likely-George pointed out.

"Except I'm not. I know how you did it, I just want to use it."

The boys looked at each other, unsure. The corner of Likely-Fred's mouth twitched into a tight line. "Alright, prove it. How did we do it?"

Melissa leaned in close. The twins followed suit, and she whispered to them. "You used the map."

The boys pulled back. "Map?"

"What map?"

It was a nice try, but there was enough surprise on their faces to give the game away.

"Oh, don't be modest, boys. I know your little trick. It's quite clever how you figured it out, you know."

"Can't say we know what you mean, Bennett. Right, Fred?"

"Right." Said Fred. "Just our own wits and well-placed teacups."

Melissa rolled her eyes, but still kept a smile on her face. "Look, I'm not asking for much, boys. I just want to borrow it for a little while. I'll even pay you 5 sickles a day for it. So how about it?" She stuck her hand out to strike the bargain, but the twins looked unsure. "Come on, boys. What if I were to solemnly swear that I'm up to no good?"

Their eyes went wide at that. Fred whispered something in George's ear, who then whispered back in his brother's ear. Another exchange had them sitting up with a look of seriousness.

"10 sickles, and you pay us off the bat, and every morning after."

Melissa tapped a finger onto the table, as if considering the option to haggle. "You boys drive a hard bargain. I'll need proof that the one you give me is the real thing."

"We can do that." They said, each bringing out their own hands.

Melissa nodded, and brought out both of her hands, twisting one arm so that she could shake them both equally. "It's a deal, then."

The Next Day

"I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."

In a flare of magic, the blank piece of parchment came to life. Hallways, footsteps, and names blossomed on the page, animating the map in real-time. Her eyes danced across the page, bringing it up to Gryffindor Tower. A myriad of names layered over each other, so small and compact that it was nearly impossible to read any of them. Melissa frowned at the overlay. There were too many people asleep at Gryffindor and her lumos could only light up so much.

This was going to be harder than she thought.

The Day After That

"I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."

Once again, the map came to life. This time there were significantly less people at the tower, though still a decent amount of people who had slept in or didn't have morning classes.

"Come on, come on." She looked through each name carefully. There wasn't much time and she didn't want to risk missing anythi-

JasPoenteArdaPmesttigrew

There it was! It was half-obscured by Adams' sleeping form on another floor of the tower, but it was there! Peter Pettigrew. Should worse come to worse, it was all the proof she needed.

Now comes the tricky part.

"It is lunch hour, Miss Bennett." Professor Salvatore informed the eager student. "My office hours are not until 7 o'clock tonight."

"I know, but music club is at that time and I really can't risk you missing this." She explained hurriedly. "It's about my plans, it's important!"

The man crossed his arms disapprovingly. "Surely if this is about your friend then your social activities can be skipped for the week?"

"I- right, yes, of course." She nodded bashfully. "Can I at least show you one thing before I go? I'm worried he'll be hard to find if I don't show you now."

The man sighed, but rested his arms down. "Very well."

Quick as she could, Melissa pulled out the map and gestured the professor towards the spot in Gryffindor Tower."

"A map of the school?"

"Yes. But I need you to remember this name, please? I'll explain everything tonight, but I just need you to see the proof before you think that my theory is crazy."

"Peter Pettigrew." He repeated the name as read, and frowned. "He is not a student I know… Hmm, very well. I look forward to hearing of his importance tonight.

There was a beat of silence as she announced her theory to the professor.

"An animagus, you say?"

"Exactly! For Valentine's Day we made cards for everyone at the school. Well, everyone that's alive. The point is, his name is on the map when it shouldn't be, and usually around the Weasleys' older brother. I always thought it was weird, but then it hit me while looking into things for Harry!" She brought out a history book on the last British wizarding war and opened it to a bookmarked page. "It says here that in the aftermath of Voldemort's death that a wizard named Peter Pettigrew was killed by Sirius Black after Black betrayed the Potters. But there wasn't a body, just a finger. So anything could have happened!"

Salvatore looked over the inscription, considering the possibility of the notion. "Death does not always leave remains."

"I know, but I was getting to that! Percy's rat, I remembered something else about it from when I had it hostage-"

"Hostage?" His eyes went narrow.

"Err… pretend you didn't hear that!" Salvatore had enough impatient disdain to prove he would not do such a thing. Melissa pouted at his expression. "Look, kids were getting hurt, it was the only thing I could think of to stop the fighting. Scabbers wasn't even hurt! BUT, I noticed that one of his fingers is missing. Already missing!" She stressed.

The man puffed through his nose, but allowed the admission to slide, for now. "And you believe this is enough evidence to prove that this rat is not only a Peter Pettigrew, but the same one said to have been killed by Sirius Black." He held up a finger to prevent Melissa from answering back. Instead ensuring silence so that he could think of the possibilities.

"A man disguised as a rat, living as a pet to a wizard family. To live such a life would mean he wishes to stay a rat. An odd life to pick, unless one wishes to hide." He admitted. "Even if I were to doubt that this Sirius Black is innocent, the possibility of a grown man hiding in a school for children is enough to be worthy of concern." He looked to his student, considering her findings and research.

"Let us say that this is the case, and this man is the same Peter Pettigrew, how do you plan to expose him and release Sirius Black?"

Melissa jumped excitedly at the question, bringing out another page-marked book. "I've been looking into runic wards." She explained, pointing to a particular circle on display on the page. "I was thinking of having one set up somewhere specifically designed for rats. Then I'd ask Professor McGonagall to do a reverse transfiguration spell on him. When she sees him, she can bind him. If he turns into a rat, the ward would prevent him from escaping and she will capture him anyways."

"You believe she would do a spell like that if you asked?"

Melissa frowned a little. "I figured I could bribe her. Say I thought an animal was a person, then offer up 3 weeks worth of detention if it turned out I was wrong and wasting her time." Salvatore raised his brow at her, and she realized a mistake was made. "...The idea sounded better in my head. It's the kind of thing my professors would expect from me."

"But not the sort of behaviour you should expect for yourself. Especially if you wish to be truly unknown in this plan's fruition."

She sighed, somewhat bashful of his admonition. "I suppose you're right."

"I am. Further, that is not the only thing you have missed."

The statement confused her. "It isn't?"

"What else can go wrong, besides Pettigrew's attempt to escape?"

"Um… he could… be killed? Not be able to confess his crimes? Or just lie about it."

"True, but that was not the most obvious concern I had in mind."

"Um… I'm not sure what you mean."

"If you believe that Harry's freedom depends on this, what will happen when Headmaster Dumbledore learns of Pettigrew?"

Her eyes went wide. "You don't think he'd keep the aurors from questioning him?"

"It is a possibility you should consider." He advised. "After all, the old Pettigrew was considered an enemy of your dark wizard. Why would the Headmaster treat him as an enemy? For that matter, why would Professor McGonagall?"

"Oh. I… I didn't think about that." As Melissa frowned, her throat tightened in concern. To have such a big hole in her plan was worrying, to say the least. Who knows what else she must have missed? How is she supposed to save Harry if she can't even figure this out?

"It's alright, Miss Bennett." The professor assured her. "This is exactly why I asked you to come to me, first. Your plan to use a runic ward is a good one, and allowing for a professor to seize a grown wizard to be brought to the authorities is also a wise decision. We now just have to work through the other details to ensure that everything about this plan works as it should, and account for any possible mishaps that may occur."