Retrouvailles

"You might have been wearing your father's old cloak, Harry—"

"How d'you know about the cloak?"

Harry should have grown up knowing why he knew about the cloak, not find out in a disgusting shack full of horrible memories.

"The number of times I saw James disappearing under it..." He waved a hand again. "The point is, even if you're wearing an Invisibility Cloak, you still show up on the Marauder's Map. I watched you cross the grounds and enter Hagrid's Hut. Twenty minutes later, you left Hagrid, and set off back towards the castle. But you were now accompanied by someone else."

"What?" said Harry. "No, we weren't!"

"I couldn't believe my eyes," he said, still pacing, and ignoring Harry's interruption with an ease born from living with James for seven years. "I thought the map must be malfunctioning. How could he be with you?"

Remus hadn't thought the map was malfunctioning, they had charmed it with enough preservation spells to last fifty years. It was just easier to explain it to the teenagers this way, rather than try to explain that one of his main driving forces was his love for Sirius and need for an explanation.

"No one was with us!"

"And then I saw another dot, moving fast toward you, labeled Sirius Black. I saw him collide with you; I watched as he pulled two of you into the Whomping Willow—"

"One of us!" Ron said angrily.

"No, Ron," Remus said. "Two of you."

He stopped facing and looked at Ron.

"Do you think I could have a look at the rat?"

In another world, Lily and Sirius would have laughed at how quickly he changed the subject without actually changing the subject.

"What?" said Ron. "What's Scabbers got to do with it?"

"Everything," Remus said evenly. "Could I see him, please?"

The boy hesitated, then put a hand inside his robes. Scabbers emerged, thrashing desperately. Ron had to seize his long bald tail to stop him escaping. The cat, who Remus couldn't help but compare to Lily's old cat, stood up on Sirius's leg and made a soft hissing noise.

Remus moved closer to Ron, watching the rat intently.

"What?" Ron said again, cradling the rat to his chest. "What's my rat got to do with anything?"

"That's not a rat," Sirius croaked suddenly. Remus hid a wince at how bad Sirius's voice sounded. He wasn't supposed to sound like that. He was supposed to talk smoothly, croon, and whisper with a velvety voice in Remus's ear. He wasn't supposed to sound like a ninety year old chain smoker.

"What d'you mean—of course he's a rat—"

"No, he's not," Remus said quietly. "He's a wizard."

"An Animagus," Sirius said, "by the name of Peter Pettigrew."

It was silent for a second, like it had been when Sirius, James, and Peter had told him they had become Animagi for him.

"You're both mental," Ron said.

"Ridiculous!" Hermione said faintly.

"Peter Pettigrew's dead!" said Harry. "He killed him twelve years ago!" He pointed at Sirius, whose face twitched. Remus couldn't tell if it was because Sirius was holding back a grin or sneer.

"I meant to," Sirius growled, "but little Peter got the best of me. Not this time though!"

The cat was thrown to the floor once more as Sirius lunged at the rat. Ron yelled with pain as the man landed on his leg.