I in no way, own or control the Harry Potter franchise. Just taking my turn in making a story that hopefully someone will enjoy.

Hope you like the story, please don't be too harsh I haven't written anything bigger than a paragraph in 9 years or so.

On the way from Hagrid's hut after "hearing" Buckbeak's execution.

The trio where under Harry's cloak when Scabbers goes crazy bites Ron's finger and struggles till Ron drops the rat on the ground. Ron runs out from under the cloak and tries to catch the runaway rat.

Harry smacks himself on the forehead. "Ron get back here before Dumbledore and the ministry stooges see us."

Harry poked his head out of the cloak just to get jumped by a huge dog who managed to bite Ron around the ankle just as he got Scabbers. Hermione runs past Harry on the ground and chases after them but gets smacked in the stomach by a huge tree branch and lands on Harry.

Both get back up and try to get past what Harry now realizes is the Whomping Willow but they keep getting thrown away when Crookshanks runs past them dodges the branches and hits the knot at the bottom of the tree and the branches freeze.

Hermione frowns. "How did Crookshanks know how to stop the tree?"

Harry looks at her. "I've seen him running around with that dog a few days ago. Maybe they are working together."

They both ran towards the hole in the tree that the dog took Ron in. They see Crookshanks in the distance and they ran bent-backed after the cat. Panting Hermione asks. "Where does this tunnel lead too?"

Panting a little bit less then Hermione but worried for his friend Harry looks at her. "Don't know, the tunnel is on the Marauder's map but the twins haven't managed to use it because of that maniac tree."

Getting to the end of the tunnel Harry almost hits his head on a trap door, he opens it slowly and crawls out of the hole in the ground, helps Hermione out of the hole. Looking around Hermione points at something on the ground. "Look the dust is gone from the floor, it looks like something big being dragged."

Crouching down Harry looks too. "Or someone, lets go quietly something doesn't seem right here." Harry grabs her hand and they creep up the stairs, being as quiet as possible and wincing every time the steps would creak. When they get to the top of the stairs Harry stops her and whispers. "It's the end of the year, how much do you want to bet that it's time for our yearly struggle to end?"

Hermione looks at him like he was nuts but after a few seconds of thinking about it she agrees that it's highly possible that Black is behind this, so she nods that it's probable.

"Better safe than sorry, I say we go in guns blazing. We kick the door open the rest of the way and we disarm anyone in the room. You take the front and I'll take the back in case someones hiding behind the door." Harry looks at her with concern and worry for her and Ron shinning in his eyes. Before he could say anything stupid like get her to turn back she nods and him and starts to count down with her fingers.

Three fingers up. Harry could she her shaking but could also see determination in her eyes.

Two fingers up, Harry takes a deep breath and puts all the resolve and his own courage at the front of his mind, resolve to help his friends out of anything and courage to jump with almost no plan and close to no back up into a possible bad situation to do what's right.

One finger up, Harry lets out his breath and hits the door with his shoulder just has Hermione lets her last finger drop.

A few things happened at the same time. If the situation wasn't so serious Harry would be laughing his ass off, Hermione shot a Expelliarmus at the person on the bed while Harry shot one at the person behind the door, Hermione missed because at the last second she saw it was Ron but could only move her aim off but not stop the spell while Harry's hit a man that was bent over clutching his nose because he got the door slammed in his face. Harry caught Ron's wand and held both of them pointing at the man. "Sirius Black I presume?" Not even giving him time to answer Harry was about to say something else when Ron interrupts him.

"What took you guys so long, dammit I though you where my friends." Foot in mouth disease is very dangerous thank god it's not contagious.

Hermione looking pretty pissed smacks him in the back of the head. "We weren't about to run here blind without a plan, you moron. Doing that would of been stupid of us and we would be the ones without wands."

She was going to continue berating him when he opens his mouth again. They couldn't believe the crap coming out. "You guys actually talked before rushing in, what kind of friends are you he could of been torturing me or killing me." Harry not taking his eyes off of Black was about to say something but was interrupted again, this time by a door being blasted in on the ground floor and muffled footsteps coming up the stairs.

With relief on her face Hermione exclaims out loud. "In here, we have Black at wand point."

The footsteps arrive at the doorway and a furious McGonagall enters with her wand out but not pointing at anybody in particular. She takes a few seconds to take in the situation, seeing Harry standing a few feet from Black with two wands pointing at him who was on the ground clutching his nose looking more dazed than anything, Hermione with her wand out but pointed at the ground and Ron on the bed with was looked like a broken leg trying to stop Scabbers from escaping again looking almost as mad as she felt.

She grabbed a piece of random debris and transfigured it into a cage, Hermione was about to ask about the wand movements after the transfiguration but a severe look from McGonagall shuts her up. "Potter keep your eye on Black. Weasley put your pet in this cage so he stops struggling." After he orders where followed she looks at Black, waves her wand at him a few times healing his nose and cleaning him up and then gives him a huge hug. "I knew you wouldn't have betrayed them, I just knew there was an explanation for that night, I just couldn't figure it out."

Harry and Hermione where confused as hell while Ron was pouting in the corner about being ignored while he was hurt. They both looked at each other then back to the Professor back to each other and when Harry was finally going to ask what the hell was going on, Black beats him to it. "Minnie, whats going on? How, do you believe me when everyone thinks I set up my brother in all but blood and his wife?"

Harry still confused looks to his Professor and ask. "What's going on, I though he was trying to kill me? All year you've been keeping a watch on me?"

Minerva conjures a few chairs and tells them to sit. "I guess it all starts a few days after your parents where killed. The Headmaster informs the staff that James and Lily had been betrayed and that Sirius had just been arrested for the betrayal of his friends and the murder of Pettigrew plus 12 muggles, I had of course jumped to Sirius' defense because there was no way he could of betrayed his brother James nor could he put Harry to harm since he took the Godfather bond and if he would of did anything to harm Harry he would have lost his magic."

Here she takes out an tissue and dabs some tears away. "The Headmaster told me that Sirius was the secret keeper and that they weren't even going to bother with a trial. I refused to accept it and kept fighting with the Headmaster, a few days later I got an owl saying that if I didn't stop supporting Sirius they would arrange an "accident" so I had to betray one of my own so he would live."

She took a few deep breaths to calm down. "When I saw that Sirius managed to escape I knew that he would come to Hogwarts, not to kill Harry but to see him, I was trying to catch Sirius first so I could help him, but I didn't know what to do till this evening when Professor Lupin comes shooting out of my floo waving a piece of old parchment around saying that Sirius was innocent and that Pettigrew was still alive. I took just enough time to find out how he knew and then I used my floo access to floo to the Three Broomsticks and then apparated as close as I could to the shack blew the door down and here I am."

Harry and Hermione where still confused, Hermione was about to ask a question but Harry beat her to it. "But Professor Pettigrew isn't here? It's just us five."

Hermione gasp, everyone looks at her where she kept looking from Sirius to Scabbers. "If Sirius was a dog animagus I don't think he was after Ron, I think he was after Scabbers wit..."

Harry interrupts her. "Witch would make Pettigrew a rat animagus."

Hermione interrupts him. "And if Pettigrew was still alive that would mean Sirius wasn't guilty of killing him or those muggles."

Harry takes over again. "If Pettigrew killed the muggles and was hiding it would reason he was the secret keeper and hiding from Black."

Hermione again. "Who in his grief in loosing your parents went after Pettigrew instead of taking you."

Harry nods at her. "It also explains why he tried to break into our tower during the feast hoping to catch the rat while everyone was having diner."

Hermione smiles at him. "Also explains why he went to Ron's bed in your dorm room and not yours.

Harry stops for a second and looks at Black. "The only clue missing is how you knew about where Pettigrew was hiding in the first place and"

Hermione interrupts him once again. "how you got out of Azkaban prison"

Sirius and McGonagall where looking at the both of them in amazement while Ron was looking furious that he wasn't involved. Sirius reaches into his pocket and pulls out what looked like a very wrinkled news paper article. That idiot minister came to inspect the prison at the beginning of the summer and he handed me his paper after I scared him with how sane I was, when I saw that picture I knew straight away where Peter was and after reading the article I knew I had to get out and protect my godson so I changed into my dog form and slipped threw when the dementors came to feed me, they don't see like we do they sense emotions so when I was a dog they just assumed I was insane like everyone else in that prison. After slipping past the guards I swam to the nearest shore and made my way North after finding Harry to make sure he was alright."

"I was going to step out that night to try to convince Harry of my innocence but I kinda spooked him enough that he summoned the Knight Bus by mistake" He finished with a grin.

Harry and Hermione remembered that news article, it's the same one Ron was showing off at the end of the summer in the Leaky Cauldron to try to make Harry jealous. They could both plainly see Scabbers with his missing toe on Ron's shoulder and the article saying that Ron was a roommate of Harry's, they could both understand his motivation.

Hermione looks at McGonagall and asks. "That still doesn't really explain how you knew Pettigrew was the rat."

Harry smiles. "Yes it does, remember her saying that Professor Lupin flooed into her office waving an old parchment." He stops giving her time to continue.

"Of course the Marauder's map, I forgot that you got that taken by the Professor."

Laughing now Harry replies. "It also explains why she transfigured that debris into a cage for him when she got here."

Hermione looks at the still in awe duo of Sirius and McGonagall and ask her. "I'm guessing that other spell you put on the cage was an unbreakable charm or something?"

McGonagall nods with a proud smile on her face and was about to say something when foot in mouth Mo-Ron... I mean Ron opens his mouth again. "This is all bullshit, I can't believe you buy this stupid story, not only do you guys not care enough for me to rush here you want to let them take my rat away."

Both Harry and Hermione looked like they wanted to punch him while Sirius and McGonagall where both frowning at the red head. Neither of them wanted to say anything in answer to his stupidity so they ignored him. McGonagall sends a Patronus to Amelia Bones giving a quick rundown of what happened and they settle down and wait for the Aurors.

Half an hour later Amelia shows up with a few Aurors she trust, immediately after spotting Sirius she slugs him in the face grabs his front and snogs the shit out of him. You are an idiot to rush off half-cocked like that and get yourself thrown into Azkaban, I needed you, Susan needed you, Harry needed you but no you felt that Pettigrew was more important than all of us."

Sirius looks down in shame. "I can never take back the mistakes I made that night, nor can I really justify except saying that I was in a bad place. Grief stricken I just made bad decision after bad decision and we all paid a heavy price that night. I really hope you can someday forgive me."

Harry and Amelia both look at each other, gave him a few seconds to suffer and then both hugged the idiot. Amelia telling him that they where continuing where they left off and that once the rat was questioned and booked and he was free they where getting married, while Harry told him that he needed to get his ass in gear and get him out of Durskaban.

The Auros in the mean time, let them have that over due reunion and questioned the rat under truth serum and took him away in anti-animagus-magic cuffs. Peter was ranting but the only thing they could catch was. "and I would have gotten away with it, too, if it hadn't been for you meddling kids and that damn dog."

Amelia hit Sirius with a quick spell. "Scooby dooby doooo"