"What are you going to do with him if I give him to you?" Ron asked.
"Force him to show himself. If he really is a rat, it won't hurt him."
Ron hesitated before holding Scabbers out to Lupin. Scabbers began to squeak erratically.
Sirius approached with Snape's wand in his hand. After a glance, the two men both pointed at the rat. A flash of blue and white light appeared and suddenly the rat began shifting and stretching into a man in midair.
He was a plump man, with skin hanging loosely on parts of his body. His eyes were beady and watery. there was a large bald patch visible in his unkempt hair.
"Why, hello, Peter," said Lupin. "Long time, no see."
"S - Sirius ... R - Remus ... My friends ... my old friends ..." his voice squeaked.
Black raised his wand at the man, but Lupin shook his head.
"We've been having a little chat, Peter, about what happened the night Lily and James died. You might have missed the finer points while you were squeaking around down there -"
"Remus, you don't believe him, do you ...? He tired to kill me, Remus ..."
"So we've heard," said Lupin, more coldly. "I'd like to clear up one or two little matters with you, Peter, if you'd be so -"
"He's come to try and kill me again! He killed Lily and James and now he's going to kill me too... . You've got to help me, Remus... ."
Black's face darkened as he stared at Peter.
"Oh, shut up or I'll kill you!" Lalia shouted.
Black stifled a laugh at the girl's words when he saw Remus's reprimanding face. She shrugged at him, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms.
"No one's going to try and kill you until we've sorted a few things out," said Lupin.
"Sorted things out?" squealed Pettigrew. "I knew he's come after me! I knew he'd be back for me! I've been waiting for this for twelve years!"
"Aye Dios mío," muttered Lalia, running her face with her hand.
"You knew Sirius was going to break out of Azkaban? When nobody had ever done it before?" Lupin asked, incredulously.
"He's got dark powers the rest of us can only dream of! How else did he get out of there? I suppose He- Who- Must- Not- Be- Named taught him a few tricks!"
Black laughed a horrible laugh that filled the room with the anger he was feeling.
"Voldemort, teach me tricks?"
Peter flinched at the name.
"What, scared to hear your old master's name?" said Black. "I don't blame you, Peter. His lot aren't very happy with you, are they?"
"Don't know what you mean, Sirius -" muttered Pettigrew, who appeared to be hyperventilating.
"You haven't been hiding from me for twelve years. You've been hiding from Voldemort's old supporters. I heard things in Azkaban, Peter. ... They all think you're dead, or you'd have to answer to them. ... I've heard them screaming all sorts of things in their sleep. Sounds like they think the double-crosser double-crossed them. Voldemort went to the Potters' on your information ... and Voldemort met his downfall there. And not all Voldemort's supporters ended up in Azkaban, did they? There are still plenty out here, biding their time, pretending they've seen the error of their ways. ... If they ever got wind that you were still alive, Peter -"
"Don't know ... what you're talking about ...," Peter shouted, shrilly. "You don't believe this - this madness, Remus -"
"I must admit, Peter, I have difficulty in understanding why an innocent man would want to spend twelve years as a rat."
"Innocent, but scared! If Voldemort's supporters were after me, it was because I put one of their best men in Akaban - the spy, Sirius Black!"
Black's face contorted.
"How dare you. I, a spy for Voldemort? When did I ever sneak around people who were stronger and more powerful than myself? But you, Peter - I'll never understand why I didn't see you were the spy from the start. You always liked big friends who'd look after you, didn't you? It used to be us... me and Remus... and James. ..."
Peter began babbling about how it was impossible for him to be the spy.
"Lily and James only made you Secret-Keeper because I suggested it. I thought it was the perfect plan ... a bluff ... It must have been the finest moment of your miserable life, telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters."
The words became impossible to make as Peter attempted to deny Sirius's words.
"Professor Lupin? Can - can I say something?" asked Hermione.
"Certainly, Hermione."
"Well - Scabbers - I mean, this - this man - he's been sleeping in Harry's dormitory for three years. If he's working for You- Know- Who, how come he never tried to hurt Harry before now?"
"There! Thank you! You see, Remus? I have never hurt a hair on Harry's head! Why should I?" he shrieked, as if it was proof.
"I'll tell you why," said Sirius. "Because you never did anything for anyone unless you could see what was in it for you. Voldemort's been in hiding for thirteen years, they say he's half dead. You weren't about to commit murder right under Albus Dumbledore's nose, for a wreck of a wizard who'd lost all of his power, were you? You'd want to be quite sure he was the biggest bully in the playground before you went back to him, wouldn't you? Keeping an ear out for news, weren't you, Peter? Just in case your old protector regained strength, and it was safe to rejoin him. ..."
Peter's mouth moved like a fish's.
"Er - Mr. Black - Sirius?" said Hermione.
Sirius jumped at being addressed like that causing Lalia to giggle slightly.
"If you don't mind me asking, how - how did you get out of Azkaban, if you didn't use Dark Magic?
"Thank you! Exactly! Precisely what I -"
Lupin silenced him with a look at the same time that Lalia threw her hands in the air and shouted, "Seriously, shut up!"
"I don't know how I did it," he said slowly. "I think the only reason I never lost my mind is that I knew I was innocent. That wasn't a happy thought, so the dementors couldn't suck it out of me ... but it kept me sane and knowing who I am ... helped me keep my powers ... so when it all became ... too much ... I could transform in my cell ... become a dog. Dementors can't see, you know. ..." He swallowed. "they feel their way toward people by feeding off their emotions. ... They could tell that my feelings were less - less human, less complex when I was a dog ... but they thought, of course, that I was losing my mind like everyone else in there, so it didn't trouble them. But I was weak, very weak, and I had no hope of driving them away from me without a wand. ...
"But then I saw Peter in that picture ... I realized he was at Hogwarts with Harry, with Lalia ... perfectly positioned to act, if one hint reached his ears that the Dark Side was gathering strength again. ...
"... ready to strike at the moment he could be sure of allies ... and to deliver the last Potter to them. If he gave them Harry, who'd dare say he'd betrayed Lord Voldemort? He'd be welcomed back with honors ...
"So you see, I had to do something. I was the only one who knew Peter was still alive. ..."
He looked at the tears falling from his daughter's eyes, but continued when she offered him a small unsure smile.
"It was as if someone had lit a fire in my head, and the dementors couldn't destroy it. ... It wasn't a happy feeling ... it was an obsession ... but it gave me strength, it cleared my mind. So, one night when they opened my door to bring food, I slipped past them as a dog. ... It's so much harder for them to sense animal emotions that they were confused. ... I was very thin ... thin enough to slip through the bars. ... I swam as a dog back to the mainland. ... I journeyed north and slipped into the Hogwarts ground as a dog. I've been living in the forest ever since, except when I came to watch the Quidditch match, of course. You fly as well as your father did, Harry. ..."
He looked at Harry, who looked back at him.
"Believe me," croaked Black. "Believe me, Harry. I never betrayed James and Lily. I would have died before I betrayed them."
Lalia held her breath as she waited for his answer. When he nodded, she gasped in the air she desperately needed.
"No!" Pettigrew fell to his knees.
"Sirius - it's me ... It's Peter ... your friend ... you wouldn't ..."
Sirius kicked out and Peter pulled away.
"Remus!" Pettigrew squeaked. "You don't believe this ... wouldn't Sirius have told you they'd changed the plan?"
"Not if he thought Alissa or I the spy, Peter," said Lupin. "I assume that's why you didn't tell me, Sirius?"
"Forgive me, my love," her father said.
"Not at all, Hun," said Lupin, who was rolling up his sleeves. He rolled his eyes at this daughter's squeal at their words. "And you will, in turn, forgive me for believing you were the spy?"
"Of course. Shall we kill him together?"
"Yes, I think so," he said grimly.
"You wouldn't ... you won't ..." gasped Pettigrew.
He crawled in front of Ron. "Ron ... haven't I been a good friend ... a good pet? You won't let them kill me, Ron, will you ... you're on my side, aren't you?"
Ron stared at him in revulsion.
"I let you sleep in my bed!"
"Kind boy ... kind master ... you won't let them do it. ... I was your rat. ... I was a good pet. ..."
"If you made a better rat than a human, it's not much to boast about, Peter," said Black.
Peter turned on Hermione.
"Sweet girl ... clever girl ... you - you won't let them. ... Help me. ..."
Hermione pulled her robes out of his hand and stepped away from him, looking horrified.
Peter moved towards Lalia.
"Lalia, pl- please, I was there when you were a baby. ... You were so small, so perfect... Don't let them ... please. ..."
Lalia pushed him away from her with her foot as Sirius yelled at the man.
"DON'T TALK TO MY DAUGHTER!"
Pettigrew turned his head to Harry.
"Harry ... Harry ... you look just like your father ... just like him. ..."
"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO HARRY? HOW DARE YOU FACE HIM? HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT JAMES IN FRONT OF HIM?" roared Sirius.
"Harry, Harry, James wouldn't have wanted me killed. ... James would have understood, Harry ... he would have shown me mercy. ..."
Remus and Sirius walked forward and grabbed Pettigrew's shoulders, throwing him away from the kids and against the opposite wall.
"You sold Lily and James to Voldemort. Do you deny it?" asked Sirius.
Peter had started to cry.
Lalia's stomach curled at the thought of seeing someone else killed. She closed her eyes tightly and covered her ears.
She attempted to block out her mother's screams as she traveled through the fireplace.
She was shaking, ignoring the adults in the room.
"NO!" Harry yelled. He ran forward, blocking Pettigrew. "You can't kill him. You can't."
Black and Lupin both were shocked.
Sirius reminded him that Peter was the reason he had grown up without parents. Harry explained that he knew and said that they would take him to the castle to be dealt with. Pettigrew flung himself at Harry thanking him.
"Get off me," Harry spat, throwing Pettigrew's hands off him in disgust. "I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it because - for Lalia," at his words, both men turned around and saw the girl cowering away. Hermione placed her hand on the girl's shoulder. She opened her eyes and seeing the men staring at her, dropped her hands. "And because I don't reckon my dad would've wanted them to become killers - just for you."
Sirius and Remus looked at each other.
"You're the only person who had the right to decide, Harry," said Sirius. "But think ... think what he did ..."
They discussed Peter's future and then Remus tied him up. The threat of death if Peter transformed was put into the air.
"Lalia?" her dad called her. She looked up into his worried eyes.
She opened her mouth, before closing her mouth. Her eyes shifted to the man beside him. They filled with tears, blocking her view of her dads before she began to run across the room, throwing her sobbing form in Sirius's unexpecting arms.
He looked at Remus with horror and confusion in his eyes.
Comfort her, Remus mouthed with a large grin.
Sirius wrapped his arms around the girl, one on her head, rubbing her hair gently.
Remus walked over and splinted Ron's leg carefully, earning himself a thanks.
Hermione asked what they would do with Snape. Remus checked the man's pulse and muttered a spell so the body was pulled into a standing position similar to that of a puppet.
Lalia pulled back from Sirius, wiping her eyes and stepping away from the man with a smile. He smile back at her before facing everyone else in the room.
"Two of us should be chained to this," said Sirius, nudging Peter with his toe. "Just to make sure."
"I'll do it," said Remus.
"And me," said Ron.
The group began walking through the passage underground. Crookshanks led the way, followed by Petttigrew chained to Remus and Ron, then the floating body of Snape. Next was Hermione and Lalia, holding hands and walking out of the building both with pale faces and red eyes. Lastly was Harry beside Sirius.
Lalia sighed, leaning her head on Hermione's shoulder, finally feeling at peace.