I wasn't sure what to call this, so that's why it's just called Chapter 81.

I want to start this off by addressing some comments that I will likely get in response to my last chapter. I am aware that people will likely accuse me of being an irresponsible mother by allowing my kids to go out unsupervised. To that, I say, first of all, if you read the last chapter, you'd know that I went with them anyway the vast majority of the time because they liked me so much. They were able to fully establish to me that they were capable of handling themselves alone, so when they asked me to leave them, I was always happy to oblige. Plus, they were always in groups, and most of the time, their friends parents were present too, so it's not like there were many occasions where no adults were around them. There were a few though, and there was never any trouble whatsoever in any of them.

Also, some will probably say that my lack of strict discipline at home would mean that the kids would be confused when it came to strict rules in school and at work, but they weren't. A couple months before each of them started at Hogwarts, I sat them down and gave them a serious conversation, where I told them that the fun environment that I had made for them growing up was not the case in the majority of other places, and that they would need to be prepared to follow a lot of rules. I told them that I didn't necessarily agree with it, but that it's just how it was. I also told them that the environment they were used to at home would still continue whenever they were back.

Snape's wand soared in a high arc and landed on the bed next to Crookshanks.

'You shouldn't have done that,' said Black, looking at me. 'You should have left him to me"

'We attacked a teacher … we attacked a teacher …' Hermione whimpered, staring at the lifeless Snape with frightened eyes. 'Oh, we're going to be in so much trouble –'

Lupin was struggling against his bonds. Black bent down quickly and untied him. Lupin straightened up, rubbing his arms where the ropes had cut into them.

'Thank you, Ginny,' he said.

'I'm still not saying I believe you,' I retorted

'Then it's time we offered you some proof,' said Black. 'You, boy – give me Peter. Now.'

Ron clutched Scabbers closer to his chest.

'Come off it,' he said weakly. 'Are you trying to say you broke out of Azkaban just to get your hands on Scabbers? I mean …' he looked up at Harry and Hermione for support. 'OK, say Pettigrew could turn into a rat – there are millions of rats – how's he supposed to know which one he's after if he was locked up in Azkaban?'

'You know, Sirius, that's a fair question,' said Lupin, turning to Black and frowning slightly. 'How did you find out where he was?'

Black put one of his claw-like hands inside his robes and took out a crumpled piece of paper, which he smoothed flat, and held out to show the others. It was the photograph of our family that had appeared in the Daily Prophet the previous summer, and there, on Ron's shoulder, was Scabbers.

I couldn't see how this proved Scabbers was Pettigrew though.

'How did you get this?' Lupin asked Black, thunderstruck.

'Fudge,' said Black. 'When he came to inspect Azkaban last year, he gave me his paper. And there was Peter, on the front page … on this boy's shoulder … I knew him at once … how many times had I seen him transform? And the caption said the boy would be going back to Hogwarts … to where Harry was …'

'My God,' said Lupin softly, staring from Scabbers to the picture in the paper and back again. 'His front paw …'

'What about it?' said Ron defiantly.

'He's got a toe missing,' said Black.

'Of course,' Lupin breathed, 'so simple … so brilliant … He cut it off himself?'

'Just before he transformed,' said Black. 'When I cornered him, he yelled for the whole street to hear that I'd betrayed Lily and James. Then, before I could curse him, he blew apart the street with the wand behind his back, killed everyone within twenty feet of himself – and sped down into the sewer with the other rats …'

'Didn't you ever hear, Ron?' said Lupin. 'The biggest bit of Peter they found was his finger.' '

"Look, Scabbers probably had a fight with another rat or something! He's been in my family for ages!"

"Yeah, I reckon loads of rats have a toe missing" I added.

'Twelve years, in fact,' said Lupin. 'Didn't you ever wonder why he was living so long?'

'We – we've been taking good care of him!' said Ron.

"Yeah, we always made sure we treated him very well" I said

'Not looking too good at the moment, though, is he?' said Lupin. 'I'd guess he's been losing weight ever since he heard Sirius was on the loose again …'

'He's been scared of that mad cat!' said Ron, nodding towards Crookshanks, who was still purring on the bed.

'This cat isn't mad,' said Black hoarsely. He reached out a bony hand and stroked Crookshanks's fluffy head. 'He's the most intelligent of his kind I've ever met. He recognised Peter for what he was straight away. And when he met me, he knew I was no dog. It was a while before he trusted me. Finally, I managed to communicate to him what I was after, and he's been helping me …'

'What do you mean?' breathed Hermione.

'He tried to bring Peter to me, but couldn't … so he stole the passwords into Gryffindor Tower for me … As I understand it, he took them from a boy's bedside table. But Peter got wind of what was going on and ran for it … this cat – Crookshanks, did you call him? – told me Peter had left blood on the sheets … I suppose he bit himself … well, faking his own death had worked once"

'And why did he fake his death?' he said furiously. 'Because he knew you were about to kill him like you killed my parents!'

'No,' said Lupin 'Harry –'

'And now you've come to finish him off!'

'Yes, I have,' said Black, with an evil look at Scabbers.

'Then I should've let Snape take you!' I shouted.

'Harry, Ginny' said Lupin hurriedly, 'don't you see? All this time we've thought Sirius betrayed Harry's parents, and Peter tracked him down – but it was the other way around, don't you see? Peter betrayed Lily and James – Sirius tracked Peter down –'

'THAT'S NOT TRUE!' Harry yelled. 'HE WAS THEIR SECRET-KEEPER! HE SAID SO BEFORE YOU TURNED UP, HE SAID HE KILLED THEM!'

He was pointing at Black, who shook his head slowly; the sunken eyes were suddenly over-bright.

'Harry … I as good as killed them,' he croaked. 'I persuaded them to change to Peter at the last moment, persuaded them to use him as Secret-Keeper instead of me … I'm to blame, I know it … the night they died, I'd arranged to check on Peter, make sure he was still safe, but when I arrived at his hiding place, he'd gone. Yet there was no sign of a struggle. It didn't feel right. I was scared. I set out for your parents' house straight away. And when I saw their house, destroyed, and their bodies – I realised what Peter must have done. What I'd done.'

I didn't know why, but I was beginning to feel like this story, as ridiculous as it sounded, might just be true.

Black turned away.

'Enough of this,' said Lupin, and there was a steely note in his voice Harry had never heard before. 'There's one certain way to prove what really happened. Ron, give me that rat.'

'What are you going to do with him if I give him to you?' Ron asked Lupin tensely.

'Force him to show himself,'said Lupin. 'If he really is a rat, it won't hurt him.'

Ron hesitated, then at long last held out Scabbers and Lupin took him. Scabbers began to squeak without stopping, twisting and turning, his tiny black eyes bulging in his head.

'Ready, Sirius?' said Lupin.

Black had already retrieved Snape's wand from the bed. He approached Lupin and the struggling rat, and his wet eyes suddenly seemed to be burning in his face.

'Together?' he said quietly.

'I think so,' said Lupin, holding Scabbers tightly in one hand and his wand in the other. 'On the count of three. One – two – THREE!'

A flash of blue-white light erupted from both wands; for a moment, Scabbers was frozen in midair, his small black form twisting madly – Ron yelled – the rat fell and hit the floor. There was another blinding flash of light and then – It was like watching a speeded-up film of a growing tree. A head was shooting upwards from the ground; limbs were sprouting; next moment, a man was standing where Scabbers had been, cringing and wringing his hands.