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. . .
It took a few seconds for the absurdity of this statement to sink in with the others. Then Ron's voice broke the silence.
"You're mental."
"Ridiculous!" said Hermione faintly.
"Peter Pettigrew's dead!" said Harry. "He killed him twelve years ago!" He pointed at Black, whose face twitched convulsively.
"He never killed Peter," whispered Tilly, looking to Black with her eyes wide.
"I meant to," he growled, his yellow teeth bared, "but little Peter got the better of me... not this time, though!"
And Crookshanks was thrown to the floor as Black lunged at Scabbers; Ron yelled with pain as Black's weight fell on his broken leg.
Lupin launched himself at Black, meanwhile, Tilly and Harry ran to Ron's side to make sure he'd be alright.
"Sirius, NO!" Lupin yelled, launching himself forwards and dragging Black away from Ron again, "WAIT! You can't do it just like that – they need to understand – we've got to explain –"
"We can explain afterward!" snarled Black, trying to throw Lupin off. One hand was still clawing the air as it tried to reach Scabbers, who was squealing like a piglet, scratching Ron's face and neck as he tried to escape.
"They've – got – a – right – to – know – everything!" Lupin panted, still trying to restrain Black. "Ron's kept him as a pet! There are parts of it even I don't understand, you owe Harry and – you owe them the truth, Sirius!"
Black stopped struggling, though his hollowed eyes were still fixed on Scabbers, who was clamped tightly under Ron's bitten, scratched, and bleeding hands.
"All right, then," Black said, without taking his eyes off the rat.
"Unfortunate," said Matilda, shaking her head. "Things were just starting to get interesting."
Her arms were crossed over her chest and knee was popped as she waited impatiently for the story to start.
"Tell them whatever you like. But make it quick, Remus. I want to commit the murder I was imprisoned for..." Sirius finished.
"You're nutters, both of you," said Ron shakily, looking round at his friends for support. "I've had enough of this. I'm off."
He tried to heave himself up on his good leg, but Lupin raised his wand again, pointing it at Scabbers.
"You're going to hear me out, Ron," he said quietly. "Just keep a tight hold on Peter while you listen."
"Hey now," said Tilly, looking over at Lupin, her face hard. "No need to point the wand, it's not like he's going to get very far."
Tilly glanced down at Ron's very broken leg.
"HE'S NOT PETER, HE'S SCABBERS!" Ron yelled, trying to force the rat back into his front pocket, but Scabbers was fighting to hard; Ron swayed and overbalanced, and Tilly caught him and pushed him back down to the bed. Then, ignoring Black, Harry turned to Lupin.
