AN: Thanks so much for the reviews! I hope you enjoy! This is the last chapter! It's been a great ride! I love you all! -E

She didn't wait to see whether or not he listened to her, her only thoughts being about preventing Sirius from doing something he will regret. Luckily, most of the students were closer to the castle, so she didn't have to worry about either being overheard or followed, and she made it to the Whomping Willow fairly quickly. She only paused for a moment before raising her wand and shouting "Immobulus!" at the tree, and praying that it worked. Luckily, it did, and the tree's large limbs froze in place. Ginny dashed forward and into the tunnel beneath the roots.

She ran as fast as she could while crouched over through the dark tunnel. She had seen the tunnel on the map before and knew it led to the Shrieking Shack, but had never actually tried it out before. She could see a mist-like light growing larger as she neared the end of the passageway, and was glad the tunnel wasn't too long.

As she stepped out of the tunnel and into the Shrieking Shack, she followed the muffled sounds of Sirius's voice up a flight of stairs. The Shack was named well; with every step she took the floorboards creaked loudly, as if protesting her weight, and she could feel the house swaying every time there was a gust of wind. Once she made it to the top of the landing, Ginny sprinted into the nearest room.

Sirius stood there, wand raised, his whole body shaking with absolute rage. "You killed them you-!"

"Sirius! No!" Ginny screamed, throwing herself between Sirius and the unseen Peter Pettigrew. She held up her arms, trying to get in his way, and looked over her shoulder. She froze at what she saw. Scabbers sat against the far wall, quivering in fear of the man who stood before him. "Sirius, it's just my brother's rat. You're—," idelusiona/il, her mind finished, "wrong," she said.

Sirius laughed manically. "No, I'm not!" he said. "This-," he was interrupted by a commotion coming from the doorway.

"Ginny!" Harry shouted, running toward her and taking her into his arms and away from Sirius. Ginny sighed in relief that he had followed her instructions and let him hug her tightly as Professor Lupin entered the room.

Lupin looked shocked as he saw the scene before him. Sirius still had his wand trained on Scabbers, and Lupin moved towards his old friend. "Sirius, lower your wand," Lupin spoke quietly.

"No!" Sirius shouted, his eyes never leaving Scabbers. "It's him, Remus! He betrayed them, and now their dead!"

"I understand, Sirius, just stay calm," Professor Lupin spoke softly, holding up his hands.

"You're the one who betrayed them!" Harry shouted at Sirius without letting go of Ginny. "You were their secret keeper, and you told Voldemort where to find them! They trusted you!" Harry's voice broke as he stared at the man who he believed to have ruined his life.

Ginny pulled free of Harry's embrace and stepped toward Sirius. "Harry, he didn't do it," she said softly, facing Harry. "He told your father to make Pettigrew the secret keeper because he was the obvious choice. Pettigrew is a Death Eater, Harry, one of Tom's followers. He betrayed your father, Harry, not Sirius."

Harry searched Ginny's face, not fully understanding what she was saying. For the first time, Sirius took his eyes off of Scabbers and met Harry's gaze. "I never would have betrayed James and Lily," he said softly, his voice cracking as tears formed in his pale eyes.

"But-," Harry's response was interrupted by Professor Lupin.

"Oh, no you don't, Peter!" Lupin shouted, with one swift wand motion closing and locking the door through which they all had entered, preventing Scabber's attempted escape. He pointed his wand at the rat and mumbled something under his breath that Ginny couldn't understand. She heard a popping noise and looked over at where Scabbers had been. She was shocked to see that a short, very rat-like man stood in his place.

"Scabbers?" Ginny asked, shocked.

"That's what he wanted you to think, isn't it Peter?" Sirius asked, the tone of slight hysteria returning to his deep voice. "You just thought that you could cut off a finger and live the rest of your life as a common garden rat while your best friend was put in prison for murdering you and twelve other muggles without so much as a trial?"

Ginny met Harry's gaze, both of them absolutely shocked.

"What would you have done?" Pettigrew spoke for the first time in a soft, quivering voice. "The Dark Lord… the powers he possesses. What would you have done?"

"I would have died!" both Sirius and Professor Lupin shouted, lunging toward the man as he tried unsuccessfully once again to escape.

"I would have died rather than betray James and Lily," Sirius shouted, grabbing Pettigrew and tying his hands behind his back with a quick spell. "You should've known that if Voldemort didn't kill you, Peter, we would!"

"Stop!" both Harry and Ginny yelled.

"Sirius, please!" Ginny begged. "Don't do it! You've been innocent for twelve years! Don't incriminate yourself now!"

"Take him back to the castle," Harry said, though the look on his face told Ginny that he would rather the man be killed on the spot. "You can let the dementors have him. Ginny's right… My dad wouldn't want his best friends to become murderers, even to avenge him and Mum."

Harry's words seemed to make Sirius snap out of his blind rage. "You're right," he sighed. He flicked his wand at Pettigrew and the man froze, instantly falling to the floor.

Sirius and Professor Lupin exchanged a long look before they each nodded. "I will stay here," Professor Lupin said, looking at Harry and Ginny. "You two and Sirius take Peter back to the castle."

"But, why-?"

"I'll explain later, Mr. Potter," Lupin said, smiling kindly. "Take Pettigrew straight to Dumbledore, and if you run into any dementors, remember what we practiced."

"Yes, Sir," Harry said, nodding.

Ginny nodded also and the three slowly made their way down the stairs and into the tunnel, levitating Pettigrew who was in a full body-bind and under a silencing charm. By now, the sun had set and the grounds were empty of any students. Ginny could have sworn she saw Hermione and Ron dashing out of Hagrid's hut, but they were gone so quickly, she must have imagined it. They made their way slowly up to Dumbledore's office, and by some insane amount of luck, ran into no one on the way.

"What is this?" Dumbledore asked, calm as ever when they finally made it into his office.

Harry, Ginny, and Sirius quickly explained the situation to the headmaster, and when they were finished, he shocked them all by chuckling.

"Mr. Potter, Ms. Weasley, you never cease to amaze me," he said. He turned his attention to Pettigrew and removed the silencing charm. "Peter," he said, "If you tell me the truth, you will not be kissed by the dementors as soon as you leave my presence. Is Sirius innocent?"

"Yes," the man whispered, the threat of death preventing him from putting up any kind of fight.

"Did you commit the crimes in which he was accused?"

"Yes."

"Very well," Dumbledore spoke softly. He walked to his fireplace and threw in a handful of flu powder. Kneeling down, he leaned his head into the flames. Ginny was unable to make out the conversation, which frustrated her to no end until the Headmaster ended the conversation. Without a word, he levitated Pettigrew toward him and into the fireplace. He added more flu powder and spoke softly, "Ministry of Magic Prisoner Ward." The next thing Ginny knew, Pettigrew disappeared in a burst of green flames.

"He shall be held there," Dumbledore spoke, "Until he is given a fair trial and sent to Azkaban. Sirius Black," Dumbledore turned to Sirius, "By the power vested in me as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, you are cleared of all charges."

….

"Merlin, Harry, you should've been there!" Ron exclaimed hours later in the common room. "It was bloody fantastic! I was an amazing time-traveler! And Hermione's punch…I'm never going to get her angry again."

Ginny looked over to see Harry's reaction and wasn't surprised to see that he didn't have one. He was brooding about Sirius having to go into hiding despite being cleared of all his charges. Honestly, she didn't blame him. It wasn't fair to Sirius or to him. Harry had finally had some kind of a loving relative in his life and he didn't even get to spend much time with him before he had to leave.

Ginny looked over at Ron. He had stopped talking and given up on trying to get his friend into a better mood. "Fat chance," she said. "Twenty sickles you get into another fight before Monday."

"You're on," Ron said, shaking his sister's outstretched hand. He got up from the couch and looked around. "Where is Hermione anyway?"

"In the library," Ginny answered. Ron shrugged and left to go 'physically remove her hands from her textbooks', and Ginny sighed, glad he was gone. "Harry?" she asked tentatively, moving to sit by him in front of the fire.

"Yeah, Gin?" He asked, removing his eyes from the fire for the first time in an hour to look at her.

"It'll only be a while. Dumbledore swore that as soon as things were worked out in the Ministry, he will truly be free," She said softly, looking into his emerald green eyes.

"Yeah, I know," He said, only breaking her gaze for a moment before looking at her again. "It's just hard."

"Yeah, I know," She whispered, repeating his words.

"He asked me to come and live with him," Harry said softly. "When he's officially free, that is."

"That's great! You'll never have to go to those dreadful muggles again," She said, a hint of anger in her voice.

Harry chuckled. "Protective, are we?" He asked, admiring the way she blushed when she got angry.

Ginny looked down at her hands. "Well," she said, "can you blame me?"

He sat up a little straighter and reached out his hand to tilt her chin up so she was looking at him. "Not really. You were great today. I'm so glad you figured it out," he grinned. "And you made quite an impression on Sirius."

Ginny laughed, "He's not that hard to impress. Anyway, it was an amazing feeling; being the hero. Now I know why you get such a kick out of it."

"What?" He asked sarcastically. "Don't like being the 'Damsel in Distress'?"

"Nah," Ginny replied. "I've played that part too many times."

Harry chuckled softly, only hesitating for a moment before slowly pressing his lips to hers.

Ginny was shocked at his bold move, but kissed back slowly, enjoying every second. She always said her first kiss would be from Harry Potter.

Harry pulled back and looked at her shyly. He cleared his throat, looking nervous. "Um, Ginny? I really like you," he said, stuttering slightly. Ginny giggled; the great Harry Potter, nervous because of little Ginny Weasley. "I guess… um… Will you be my girlfriend?"

"Yes," Ginny said, smiling nervously to cover both her absolute shock and bone-jilting joy.

She was definitely no longer the Damsel in Distress.

AN: Comments? Let me know what you think about making this into a series! :)