Chapter 13 The Rat Squad

"All right Arthur?" Kingsley Shacklebolt asked. Arthur looked pale and when the redhead was nervous he sweated. Profusely.

Arthur wiped his brow and said, "You'd never suspect I was a Gryffindor would you?" Feeling embarrassed. They were all in the War Room preparing to invade the burrow to capture a rat. A bloody Death Eater Rat! Arthur ground his teeth together causing Kingsley to look at him in alarm. It was an unpleasant sound. Catching the man's look he forced himself to stop. He took a deep breath and continued. "I just can't believe he's been living in my son's bedroom! I'm an idiot! I should be locked up for pure stupidity!"

Kingsley gave him a look, "We've locked up people for less."

Moody cleared his throat. "Alright listen up!" The old Auror looked around at the assembled team. The Rat Squad he thought and chuckled darkly at his own bad pun then his crazy eye swiveled around giving each person a sobering and terrifying glare. "Let's go over the plan one more time. I don't want any cock ups! Understood?"

Everyone nodded and he turned to the board behind him and with a swish of his wand the burrow's floor plan appeared. "First Arthur will go home as usual. We will be placing a listening charm on him. We will be able to hear everything that is said. He will immediately ascertain where the rat is. Our Aurors will be in positions around the burrow." Positions A, B and C, and D lit up. " I'll take position A, Beacon will be B, Cambers will be C and Dawlish will be D. Kingsley and Parker will be under invisibility cloaks coming through the floo network the moment Arthur gives the word."

Arthur nodded and asked, "What's the word?"

Moody shrugged, "Just say something like 'All Clear.' "

Arthur looked disappointed. "Rather boring, but okay."

Moody then slammed his walking stick against the blackboard making half the room jump. He pointed to where the Floo was located in the Burrow. "Kingsley and Dawlish will come through the floo and according to Arthur the rat spends most of his time in his youngest son's bedroom which is located here." Moody pointed to Ron Weasley's bedroom. Every one of us will be disillusioned, just in case the Rat is outside with the son or happens to look out a window. Arthur has already fire-called Molly, letting her know that he'd be a little late and not to hold up dinner for him. We hope this will keep the rat from being in the middle of dinner with the family and it's a big family so chaos can happen quickly. Also, Molly didn't let the kids listen to the trial. Hopefully, this means that Pettigrew isn't aware that Black was exonerated. Arthur says the rat sleeps most of the time and is incredibly lazy, so let's hope that works to our advantage."

Moody again gave the team stern looks. "Arthur I know you say that Molly doesn't let the rat eat at the kitchen table but kids are notorious liars. So, Arthur, make sure the rat isn't on Ron's person. That's very important. But you gotta do it subtly."

Everyone gave Arthur a skeptical look that left him squirming. Subtle wasn't really Weasley's thing. Moody sighed, "Just try to act normal." Giving Arthur a reassuring smile that made the redhead gulp loudly.

"Kingsley will stun the rat and Parker will get him in this cage. Moody pointed at a charmed cage that would trap Wormtail until he could be put in a Ministry holding cell and forced out of his Animagus shape.

"Any questions?" Moody scanned the room and everyone shook their heads in the negative. Even Arthur at this point felt pretty confident that he could recite the plan forwards and backward standing on his head. Arthur just wanted the SOB out of his home and away from his family!

"Alright then. And remember CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Only Arthur jumped as the others were quite used to him by now. He had to take a moment to get his heart rate back to normal.

Arthur stepped through the floo and took a moment to just stand there. Breath Arthur. He suddenly had no idea what he normally did when he came home. He was conscious of being listened to. He was ultra-aware of his own heartbeat. Gathering himself he turned as his wife greeted him as she always did and that is what grounded him. Settled him. "Arthur! I can't believe how hard they are making you work. You'd think they would show some consideration and let you come home to eat a decent meal on time." She gave him a hug and smile, "You look knackered. Come sit down and eat. I have your dinner in stasis."

Arthur looked around not seeing any of the kids. "Where are the kids?" He asked, taking a seat at the table.

Just then there was a sound of a small explosion coming from the living room. "Playing exploding snap. I swear I'd like to strangle the wizard that came up with that game."

Arthur nodded and started eating his meal as quickly as he could. Molly stared at him worriedly. "Darling, didn't you eat today?" Arthur shook his head as he stuffed a massive bite of casserole into his mouth. His mouth was so dry he couldn't swallow it and just kept chewing and chewing and finally swallowing. "That was delicious Molly. Thank you." Standing up.

"But... " She blinked. "Arthur, are you okay?" She put her hand on his forehead and yep he was sweating. So she shook her head, "You are working yourself too hard. I have half a mind to send a howler to that slave driver of a boss of yours."

"I'm fine Molly." He walked over to the doorway of the living room and looked inside. The twins, Ginny, and Ronald were all gathered around a deck of cards trying to build a tower. He looked for Scabbers but didn't see the rat. "Ronald. Come here for a moment please." Arthur called his son over.

Ronald glanced up and smiled at his dad, "Hey Dad." He jumped up and followed his father into the kitchen. It wasn't unusual for Arthur to pull his kids aside for occasional talks alone. Though Molly was watching Arthur like a hawk. She knew her husband well. He was acting strangely. "Ron. Remember that spell your brothers tried to teach you that would change Scabbers yellow?" Arthur asked.

Ron nodded, "Yeah."

"Well, I think I know what went wrong with the charm." Molly looked scandalized but Arthur gave her a quelling glance and she shook her head and went to clear the table. "Why don't you go get Scabbers and I'll try and see if I can figure it out."

Ron smiled, "OK." Turning and rushing to get his pet.

"Don't worry Molly. It will be made ALL CLEAR soon." Arthur pulled his wife towards the sink and whispered in her ear. "It's going to be ok. Trust me." Molly's eyes went to her special clock as if by instinct and she gasped. The hands of the clock for every member of the family in the house had just moved to point at Mortal Peril.

"Arthur?" Molly whispered fearfully.

"Shh. Act normal Molly. Please." Molly turned and started doing the dishes. It was the most normal thing she could think of.

The floo flared to life twice and Arthur assumed the Aurors were in the house. Ronald came down the stairs with Scabbers cradled in his hands. He walked over to his dad and handed Scabbers over. It took everything in him not to squeeze the life out of it. Arthur looked at the rat in its evil little beady eyes and smiled benignly at the creature and said, "OK Ron. So what I think the twins were trying to show you was a color-changing charm." He had the rat at wand point and didn't hesitate. "STUPIFY!"

SIRIUS BLACK INNOCENT! PETER PETTIGREW CAPTURED!

Remus read the article out loud to Harry over breakfast. "So Mr. Weasley listened to the trial and realized that Pettigrew was their son's pet rat?"

Remus nodded and shook his head, "Poor kid. Must be traumatized."

Harry shuddered. "How did you not know that Peter was the spy? He was a rat."

Remus sighed, "Do you know what hubris means Harry?" Harry shook his head.

"It's like pride. Or a fatal flaw. I suppose no one really thought very highly of Peter. He was a slacker. I guess we all just assumed he was a mediocre wizard. I don't know Harry. Looking at it now, it seems so obvious." He sighed, "It's a lot to process."

"So when can I meet Sirius?" Harry wondered. "Did you give him my letter?"

Remus smiled and said, "Yes he got your letter. You'll meet him soon. He's stuck in St. Mungos for a while I'm afraid. And you know why I can't take you to visit him. But as soon as they spring him, I'm bringing him to our house."

There it was again. Our house. Our home. Harry grinned and said, "Cool. Are you going to visit him?"

Remus nodded, "Of course. We have a lot of catching up to do. And I have a lot of apologizing to do." Remus looked pained as his eyes scanned the Prophet article.

Smiling at Harry he handed him the wizarding paper. "Maybe the Marauders would like to see this." Moony glanced at the calendar on the wall and saw that tomorrow was the full moon. He ached terribly and he felt sick. "Oh, and I've arranged for you to stay the night at Neville's tomorrow night. Maybe even for two days. I'm going to be a bit busy and want to make sure you're safe." All true. Never going to lie to Harry if I can help it.

"Wicked! Can I bring the brooms?"

Remus smiled, "You'll need Lady Longbottom's approval." At Harry's incredulous expression, Remus said, "Good opportunity to showcase those public speaking skills I've been teaching you." Debate and The Art of Bullshit were popular subjects for the boys. Especially since the trial. Harry thought it was all very anti-climatic and that Sirius should have been allowed to at least tell them off. Remus told them there would be an opportunity for Sirius to have his compensation hearing. His victim impact statement would be made before the entire Wizengamut and would be on the Wizarding Wireless too.

Harry grinned remembering Sirius's trial and his use of vulgarity. Both Neville and he had laughed when it happened. Prongs had face palmed but had given Sirius a sad look, filled with compassion and regret. But also there was a sense of profound relief. The rat got shoved out of the picture, but that only lasted a few minutes as he'd mindlessly wandered back in.

All three of the Marauders were petitioning Harry to find the artist who painted the picture and have him remove Wormtail. They no longer wanted to share a frame with the traitor. Harry couldn't blame them. He wanted Wormtail out of the picture too. And when Sirius came home he was pretty sure he wouldn't want to see the rat either.

Remus agreed to contact the Artist, though he still hadn't really engaged with the portrait much. Maybe if Wormtail was gone he'd feel more inclined to visit. Letting Prongs help teach Harry to fly had been for Harry, but he couldn't deny as much as it hurt to see Prongs, a part of him pleased.

Oh, and before I forget, letters from Sirius. He had three days in the Ministry holding cells to write. So..." Remus handed Harry a stack of parchment.

Harry grinned, "Thanks, Remus." He looked down at the letters and soon wandered outside to read what Padfoot had to say. Remus didn't have the energy to make it up the ladder so he crawled into his recliner and soon was asleep.

AN SPOILER ALERT! Over the last month, I have written most of this story by the seat of my pants. The muse has had me on Hyperdrive lately. I'm at a good pausing spot in this story and want to edit what I have written so far, perhaps rewrite some scenes that I'm not happy with. Add some detail. I am not sure how the Beta Reader system works here at FF and my questions weren't answered in my initial scrolls through the files. However dear reader, If you find a typo, a misspelling, or an inconsistency could you please PM me?

Also, all reviews are welcome and help me continue writing. I am interested in writing about the lesser-known characters in this fic even if it's a small cameo appearance or a brief mention. I'm especially enjoying writing from Hedwig's POV lately. :) Let me know if there's someone you want to see in the fic keeping that in mind, I'm open to any suggestions!

SPOILER ALERT! Please, Please Please, keep your suggestions coming. I had reviews saying they wanted Harry to meet Hermoine early, which is why we have Neville instead. I've had suggestions for the boys to go to Hufflepuff. I do know that Neville and Harry are going to have friends in every house. Do I like Ron? I'm ambivalent and think I could go either way. How much of Harry's influence as his best friend had a positive or negative impact on Ron? How much will Neville grow from having a true friend? As for which house they will be in, I'm still going with Gryffindor. Neville does NOT want to go into Hufflepuff. He wants to honor his mother and father, and that means Gryffindor. Neville will sort first and Harry will follow him. None of the Marauders are going to convince Neville or Harry not to sort into Gryffindor. So as much as I kind of like the idea of a Hufflepuff sorting I'm 99 percent sure where the hat will sort them. I know this is a spoiler hence the alert. That being said, I also am not sure if this fic will have pairings. At least not for the kids.

Thank you for reading my story. Thank you for all your wonderful encouraging reviews. Please keep them coming. I'd love to hear your ideas about pairings people who you want to know more about, friends the boys should have, and changes to Hogwarts you would like to see. A special thank you to JK Rowling who allows us to play in her sandbox.

I want to explore a more sociable, better prepared, less awkward, better supported... yeah i could go on and on Harry. Is there a pairing that you like for Neville, Remus, Harry, and Sirius? This fic likely won't be big on the romance stuff, and I detest writing sex scenes, so if you are hoping for some of that, I likely will be a disappointment. I like to play with words and I also tend to write in a steam of conscious style. I don't have anything planned out ahead of time for this fic.