Remus was at a loss for words as he stared at the Marauders map, so long missing and now found. How had it gotten into the hands of a student? And not just any student, but James's own son? Perhaps he should go out and find Harry, question him, find out who he got this from…

...no, now wouldn't be a good time to go out and question a boy who would no doubt with-hold any information regarding the map, both to keep himself protected from trouble and anyone else who was involved in it.

With a shake of his head, Remus went back to looking over the map, watching as the little ink footprints walked about the castle, "and there goes George and Fred, straight for Filch, wonder what they have in store today…" he mumbled, his eyes drifting to the black lake, where he could see two pairs of feet side by side under a tree, "and of Course Ms. Greengrass and Mr. potter are enjoying their time outside. " he felt a small pang of pain lance through his heart as he thought of the years he missed out on with Harry, "Never again…" he mumbled to himself as he allowed his eyes to stray away from the two, narrowing them slightly as he found a discrepancy. "This can't...this can't be right." he said, leaning forward as he looked at the name, written in his neat tidy scrawl, slowly making its way towards the borders of the map.

Peter Pettigrew.

Remus quickly jumped up, map in hand as he started to stride out of his office, stopping just shy of the door.

"It has to be a mistake…" he muttered to himself, "has to...Peter is dead…" he shook his head and looked at the map once more, finding that the name, as well as the footprints, were gone. But a quick glance at his office revealed yet another surprise.

"The Map never lies Moony, you know that." the taunting drawl made Remus stiffen.

"Magic has a tendency to weaken over time." he muttered.

"It usually takes longer than fourteen years Remus."

Lupin turned quickly, wand out and aimed at his former friend, who carefully closed the door, hands in his pockets. "And that particular magic was very strong."

"You have a lot of nerve coming here Sirius." Remus muttered.

"Your right." Sirius said with a nod, "you know, I almost didn't, I thought 'he couldn't possibly just leave his office door open, and as soon as he finds me trying to jimmie open his door he'll hex me and turn me over. But imagine my surprise when I hear that the great Remus Lupin found our old School map from a one Mr. harry Potter."

"And how did you hear that?" he asked, eyes narrowed.

"Why straight from the boy himself," he said with a smile, "he and his lovely lady were talking about it last night when they brought me my evening bacon."

"You've been visiting him as padfoot." Remus muttered, "Why? So you could tear his throat out when he lets his guard down?"

"Oh please." Sirius scoffed, "The boy had his guard down the instant he laid down next to that tree with a pretty little blonde, if I had a mind to do it I could have ripped his throat out before they even knew I was there."

"Then why didn't you?" Remus asked suspiciously.

"Oh come now Moony, use those brains you were so proud of." Sirius slowly started walking past Remus, who kept his wand trained on the man as he walked up to the map and picked it up, "huh...Dumbledore still paces in his office." he mused, before looking at Remus, "this map, doesn't lie, it's never been inaccurate, so why would it start now?"

"Maybe Harry messed with it, tried to study it and accidentally disrupted the magic."

Sirius rolled his eyes, "Come now remus, the boy may be smart but he's not the 'investigative' type unless he knows for a fact there's a danger."

Remus hesitated as he slowly lowered his wand.

Sirius smirked, "it's starting to make sense isn't it?"

"Slightly," Remus muttered, staring at him, "but then...why did you-"

"-I didn't," Sirius interrupted darkly, "Peter did it, and then cut off his finger and changed and hid-'

"-in the pipes…" Remus finished for him, shaking his head, "but how did he end up with the Weasleys?"

"That is a question I could never answer." Sirius said, shrugging, 'perhaps a luck of the draw on his part...but that doesn't matter." he shook the map, "we need to find him, and we need to do it fast."

"He's not on the map," Remus muttered, "he disappeared."

"Yes, but we know the person he's following, the person he's trying to stay close too, all we need to do is convince him-'

"-Harry would just as soon hex you then listen to you." Remus said.

"Well then, I'll talk to the next best thing." Sirius said flippantly, walking towards the door.

"Sirius, what are you-" Remus started, only to be shushed and waved away by Sirius.

"Moony, trust me," he said with a grin that looked haunting on his gaunt visage, "I have a plan." and with that, Sirius transformed and bounded away, making Remus sigh tiredly.

"I'm going to regret this…"

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Spring waned as the term slowly came to an end, few surprises came to them during this time, the biggest was Hermione's dramatic exit from Divinations.

"I still can't believe you did that." Daphne said to Hermione as the two walked through the halls, heading to the Library to study.

"I was tired of Trelawny 'predicting' Harry's death! That class is nothing but a hoax."

"At least the teacher is," Daphne retorted as they turned the corner, "at least the terms almost over, hopefully no more surprises will come our way."

"Hopefully." Hermione agreed, "i'm just glad Quidditch is over."

"As am I.' Daphne said, 'Though I won't deny that the aftermath of the wins will be missed."

Hermione gave her a knowing smirk, "oh i'm sure it was very enjoyable for you and Harry."

"Ms. Granger." Daphne admonished, "I will have you know that I am a Lady, and a Lady does NOT do what you are Implying." she looked around then leaned in with an impish smile, "and then tell of it afterwards."

The two started giggling, "so," Hermione started as they calmed down, 'have you figured out what your father was saying?"

Daphne's smile disappeared, "No, I haven't…" she pulled the ring from her pocket and looked at it, "I've researched it, and it's true that Sirius Black never had a trial...but who would be influential enough to ensure that he didn't get a trial? I mean...any of the older families could have paid off a judge to ensure that he didn't get off, but to make sure he didn't even get a chance?" she shook her head, "that's a lot of power, and i'm not sure who would be able to pull it off except the Minister and a few others…" she stopped as she looked up and found herself looking at her dog, it was sitting down in front of the library right at the two.

"How...how did that dog get in here?" Hermione asked nervously, "wild animals aren't allowed in here...

"And yet here he is." Daphne quipped, slowly advancing on the dog, "come here," she said gently, holding her hand, "Come here Padfoot.'

"Padfoot?" Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Harry's idea, named him after one of the writers of the Marauders map." Daphne said as she got closer to the dog, only for it to stand and bound away, "hey! Come back here!"

"Daphne! Just ignore it!" Hermione pleaded.

"Why are you so nervous?" Daphne asked, still walking after the dog, who stopped at the corner for her, Hermione was following slowly behind her, wand out, "you've seen the dog before."

"I know that, but…" she hesitated.

"Well?" Daphne asked as Padfoot stood, ready to bound away once more when they got too close.

"It looks too much like the Grimm alright?"

Daphne stopped walking and looked back at her friend, even the dog seemed to peer at her, "really?" she asked dryly.

"Yes really!" hermione whispered fiercely. "The Grimm is a signal of bad luck! And that dog resembles one much too closely for my comfort!"

"I thought you said all of that was a hoax?" she asked.

"I did...but…"

Daphne rolled her eyes, "It'll be fine Hermione, now come on," she turned back around and went for the dog again, and again Padfoot jumped up and bounded away, the two girls hot on his heels, both slowed down as the dog darted into one of the empty rooms, Hermione looked slightly apprehensive.

"Don't worry, he's just a dog." Daphne reassured, though she too felt a twinge of doubt at her own words as she strode into the room, it was completely empty save for an old rickety desk, "huh...where did he go?"

"I don't know." Hermione muttered, following in, "there's no other way out.

Daphne turned to speak to her friend, the words died in her throat as she watched the door slowly close with a soft click, revealing a familiar man with crazed eyes, "Hermione-!" she started to warn, pulling her wand out, before she could even utter a curse, Sirius Black darted forward and put the blade of his knife to Hermione's neck, his stolen wand aimed right at her.

"Not so fast," he tutted at Daphne, pointing with his wand to the floor, "drop your wand."

Daphne's eyes darted from Sirius to hermione, who looked completely terrified, "I could scream right now," she said defiantly, "i could scream and people will come running! Professors and students-"

"Who will all get caught in the crossfires of my very messy escape." Black retorted, before pressing the knife into Hermione's neck, drawing a small bit of blood and making the poor girl let out a whimper. "And with all that excitement, my hand might just accidentally twitch and…"

"-do it Daphne!" Hermione said suddenly, "he can't take everyone!"

"quiet there bookworm." Sirius hissed, tightening his hold on her, "wouldn't want to get blood on that pretty white shirt you have on." he looked back to Daphne, "it's your choice."

Daphne narrowed her eyes, then dropped her wand, it clattered loudly on the stone floors.

"Now kick it over." Sirius ordered as he put his own wand away and carefully extracted Hermione's wand from her robes.

Daphne gave her wand a kick, making it roll across the floor, just in front of Hermione, quickly Sirius pushed Hermione towards Daphne and scooped it up, putting the wand in his pocket, "Just so you know," he started conversationally, "the doors charmed, no one would have heard your screaming, and no ones coming into this room." he sauntered towards the girls, making them take a step back, he stopped for a moment, looking at the two in confusion, then he outright laughed.

"I'm not going to do anything to either of you!" he guffawed, walking past them to the desk, sitting on it's dusty surface as he looked at the two of them, "much too young for my taste, plus, the blonde one is already spoken for."

"Then what do you want Black." Daphne spat.

"I want quite a lot, actually," he drawled, leaning back, looking completely at ease despite the fuming heiress in front of him, "I wanted front row tickets to the Beatles at one time, oh and I would love to get my motorcycle back, ooh! And a puppy." he looked at the two with a smile, making both girls shift nervously as his smile turned into an angry scowl, "but right now, i'm more interested with knowing the location of a certain rat."

"We won't give up Harry." Daphne growled, Hermione standing right at her side.

"You'd have to kill us before we even thought about giving you Harry!"

Sirius looked at the two, "I don't want Harry." he said, making the two look at him in confusion.

"But...you're Sirius Black!" Hermione started, "Notorious Mass Murder-" she stopped as Sirius flicked his wand at her, not casting a spell, but clearly threatening her.

"Do you know how tiring it is to hear that spiel every single fucking time your name comes up?" he asked, his tone dangerously low, " every bloody day it's 'notorious mass murderer' this and 'notorious mass murderer' that, I'm not a mass murderer!" he paused for a second then waved his hand begrudgingly, "Notorious maybe, but not a mass murderer." he stepped towards Hermione, eyes alight with a wild fire, "No, I don't want Harry, hell after this I'll slink away into the forbidden forest and live a peaceful life of a wild dog, but not before I kill the damn rat!"

"What rat are you talking about?"Daphne asked.

Sirius turned his attention to her, "the rat." he said, "the one that Weasley boy is always moaning about!"

Daphne and Hermione looked at each other in confusion, "why...do you want Scabbers?" Hermione asked carefully.

"We have a score to settle." he said, as if it were obvious.

"Does this have anything to do with you being a dog for too long?" Daphne asked.

Sirius growled slightly, making the girls take a step back, "perhaps, I should clarify." he grumbled, twirling the wand in his hands, "see, that rat, isn't actually a rat, it's a certain sniveling little coward who has ruined the lives of about...i'm going to say four to five people, directly." he turned back to them, "I am going to expose him, kill him, throw his body on Dumbledores door step, and then walk away laughing." he gave a crooked grin, "savvy?"

"um...Mr. Black..:" Hermione started nervously, "Scabbers...has been dead for a while...we're pretty sure Crookshanks ate him…"

Sirius snorted, "he didn't kill him." he said, "no, he knew he was too important."

"Have...have you been talking to my cat!?"

"He's a very smart little kitten, we had a very fetching conversation the other day about this dick of a bird living in this oak tree-'

"Okay enough!" Daphne said, stopping Sirius from going on a tangent, "Say we believe you that Scabbers isn't really a rat, why should we help you?"

"Because the closer that damn rat is to harry, the more danger he is in." Sirius said.

"And why would you care about his safety!?" Daphne shouted, "you're the one who sold his parents out!"

Hurt flashed in Sirius's eyes, he took a step back, leaning against the desk, "I didn't betray them…" he mumbled, the crazed glint in his eyes gone, his eyes clearing ever so slightly. "they say I was their secret keeper, but I wasn't," he looked down, " I was the obvious choice, wasn't I? James's best friend and best man, practically brothers, we would never have sold each other out...not to McGonagall, not to the Prefects, not to any shit nosed death eater...perhaps if I truly had been his secret keeper, then they wouldn't have died...perhaps I would have died and the secret would die with me...that would have been better…" he looked at them, Pain and regret shining in his eyes,"but I convinced James that Peter was the better choice, no one would suspect it, i said, no one would think that anyone would choose Peter…" he put his hands into his pocket and pulled their wands out, "Peter Pettigrew is the Rat," he siad quietly, "he betrayed them, and he's placed himself close to Harry...maybe unintentional at first...but now…" he shook his head and tossed them their wands, both girls caught them easily as he set his own on the desk and stood up, "take me in," he said, "the charm on the door isn't very powerful, you both could easily shut it down, call Dumbledore, call the dementors, have my soul sucked out…" he looked Daphne in the eyes, fire burning deep within them, "but for the love of Merlin, kill that fucking Rat when it returns, or I swear I will haunt both of you till the end of your days."

Daphne looked at Hermione, neither knowing what to say or do, until Daphne sighed, "does anyone else know the truth?" she asked.

"Moony…" Sirius said quietly, "known to you as Remus Lupin, I didn't tell him I was going to confront you two about it, so odds are he's pacing his office wondering what the fuck i'm doing in a classroom with two underage witches…" he shook his head, giving a chuckle, "he was always a mother hen…"

Daphne looked to Hermione, "go retrieve Professor Lupin please." she said, "i'm sure he'd be very appreciative of us working together towards a plan then having this idiot go out and wing it."

Hermione nodded, walking towards the door, Sirius started to move, but Daphne raised her wand.

"You will stay right there." Daphne said icily, "until Hermione comes back with Professor Lupin, if he backs your claim, then maybe, just maybe I'll believe you."

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Daphne stayed tense and alert, waiting for Hermione to return, her wand was no longer pointed at Sirius, but was still clutched in her hand, ready to hit the wildman across from her at the moment she saw him make a move.

But for now Sirius was content to scratch absentmindedly at the desk. The wand and knife he had once possessed sitting beside her on the floor.

"Where's the dragon?" he asked suddenly, making Daphne move her wand towards him.

"What?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Where's the dragon? You know the one that's always on your shoulder or pocket...what was his name…"

"Gryf?" she asked.

"Yes! That's it." he said triumphantly, "where is Gryf?"

"He's in his cage." Daphne said stiffly, "he stole another pair of Tracey's earrings."

"He is a dragon." he pointed out, 'they like shiny things."

Daphne grunted, looking away from him.

"...so...How is Harry?"

Daphne ignored him, half tempted to cast a full body bind so she wouldn't have to listen to him.

He rolled his eyes, "Come now, can't we be civil."

"Me being civil means that I don't petrify you and send you to the Dementors," she said coldly, "so be quiet, and wait."

Sirius looked away from her, "Ice Queen…" he muttered quietly.

"What was that?"Daphne asked sharply, making him jump.

"Nothing, nothing at all." he said with a cheeky grin, making her roll her eyes as the door opened and Hermione came back in, Professor Lupin at her side.

"Padfoot," Lupin said in exasperation, "next time you come up with a plan, please tell me."

"When have I ever?" Sirius asked, making Daphne roll her eyes once more.

"So i take it he explained everything to you?" Daphne asked.

Remus nodded gravely, "he showed himself to me when I saw Peter's footprints on the map." he said.

Daphne sighed, summoning Sirius' wand, before tossing it to Sirius, who easily caught it, "whats the plan?" she asked.

"We find Peter," Sirius said, "and then I slit the little rats throat."

"Okay...how about a plan that doesn't end with Pettigrew dead while still a rat?"

"Our best bet is to check the map regularly." Remus said, "Sirius can patrol the grounds, and you two can keep an eye on Harry and Ron, if something happens you alert one of us as soon as you can."

Daphne nodded as Remus put the map on the table, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." he muttered, making the map blossom into existence, looking over the grounds, "he's not on here at the moment…" Remus muttered, "I'll check the Map as much as I can while we-" he stopped as his eyes flitted over Hagrids hut, "No wait, here he is." Remus said, putting his finger on the spot, "Hagrids hut, he's in there right now!"

"What?" sirius asked, looking at the map, "yeah, there he is…" he muttered, "and...oh no…"

"What is it?" Hermione asked worriedly, leaning in to the map at the same time as Daphne.

"Harry and Ron are heading there right now." Remus said as Sirius turned and started walking to the door, "Padfoot wait!" Remus shouted.

"I can't, he's down there and Harry's going to be there right now!"

"Please Padfoot wait-"

"I DID MY WAITING!" Sirius roared, turning back around, "TWELVE YEARS OF IT! IN AZKABAN!" and with that, Sirius transformed and bounded out, snarling the entire way.

"We have to follow." Remus said hurriedly, stuffing the map in his pocket as he took off running, "if he reveals himself in front of Harry and doesn't explain properly-"

"What are the odds of him explaining things right?" Daphne asked as they all ran out.

"Sirius is the biggest Drama Queen I know, it won't end with him calmly explaining things!"