Marauders' Godson Book 3: Prisoner of Azkaban

Chapter Twenty-Two

Hermione and Ruby shrieked with surprise; Draco, Onyx, and Topaz jumped in alarm; Sirius  leaped to his feet again. Edward stood calmly and walked forward, stopping right between Snape and Sirius.

Snape stared at him, and Edward met his gaze serenely.

There was a long silence. Then Snape said quietly, "Move out of the way, Edward."

"I won't," said Edward. "I can't. Sirius is innocent."

The Potions master blinked. "Do you have proof?" He sounded as if he were genuinely asking, not scoffing.

"Ronald, would you give Remus your rat?" Edward said calmly, turning to his foster brother. "I think we can give Harry and Professor Snape the proof they need."

Ron glanced fearfully at Snape, then held up the squirming Scabbers. Snape froze.

"You recognize him, Severus," said Remus, slowly striding over so as not to startle Snape. He took Scabbers from Ron's hand, and he squirmed even harder.

"Wait," said Ron, and Remus looked at him. "It doesn't make sense. Okay, say Pettigrew did turn into a rat -- there's millions of rats! How's he supposed to know which one he's after if he was locked up in Azkaban?"

"Newspaper," said Edward at once, turning to face Sirius. "Which one did the Minister give you? Was it the one that talked about Ron's family going to Egypt with the money from the Draw?"

"Clever, just like your mother," said Sirius with a faint smile. "Yes. I saw 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 we going back to Hogwarts... where Harry was...."

"Of course," Remus whispered. "So simple... he cut the toe off himself?"

"Just before he transformed," said Sirius. "I was taking Ed shopping when he pretended to corner me. 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 the sewer with the other rats..." He grinned suddenly. "Edward called him-"

"Don't even think about it," Edward warned, turning bright red.

"Woooooormy," Sirius sang. Ruby, Onyx, and Draco burst out laughing, and Snape looked faintly amused. He had finally lowered his wand.

"You called him 'Wormy?'" Draco asked dryly.

"I was six months old!" Edward exclaimed. "Stop laughing, Ruby."

Ruby grinned back innocently.

"Okay," said Ron with a sigh. "Prove he's Pettigrew and not Scabbers."

"All right," said Remus. But before he could, Harry interrupted.

"Why did he fake his death?" Harry asked quietly. "He knew you were about to kill him, like you killed my parents."

"Harry, no-" Edward began.

"He was their Secret-Keeper!" Harry snapped at him. "He said so before you turned up. He said he killed them!"

Snape turned to Sirius sharply.

"Harry, I as good as killed them," Sirius said in a very rasping voice. "I persuaded Lily and James to change to Peter at the last moment, persuaded them to use him as a 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 realized what Peter must have done... what I'd done...." He turned away.