No Body No Crime □■ Hermione Granger

Chapter 39

Disarming Snape wasn't the only decision Harry made though, with another flick of his wand Snape was pushed into the wall behind him and didn't get up.

Arlene couldn't resist a smile at that sight, she was most likely to get suspended –if not expelled- after this, but it would be worth it.

Not everyone was enjoying themselves, though.

"We attacked a teacher...We attacked a teacher..." Hermione whimpered, staring at Snape with frightened eyes. "Oh, we're going to be in so much trouble.."

"Thank you." Lupin told them.

"I'm still not saying I believe you," Harrry told Lupin.

"Then it's time we offered you some proof," said Lupin. "Ron, give me Peter, please."

Ron clutched Scabbers closer to his chest.

"Come off it," he said weakly. "Are you trying to say he broke out of Azkaban just to get his hands on Scabbers? I mean.." He looked up at the rest of them for support, "Okay, say Pettigrew could turn into a rat, there are millions of rats, how's he supposed to know which one he is after if he was locked up in Azkaban?"

"You know, Sirius, that's a fair question," said Lupin, turning to Black and frowning slightly "How did you find out where he was?"

Black put one of his hands inside his robes and took out a crumpled piece of paper, which he smoothed flat and held out to show the others.

It was the photograph of Ron and his family that had appeared in the Daily Prophet the previous summer, and there, on Ron's shoulder, was Scabbers.

"How did you get this?" Lupin asked Black, thunderstruck.

"Fudge," answered Arlene before Sirius could "When he came to inspect Azkaban last year, he said Sirius wasn't as mad as the rest of them -didn't he, Harry?" She turned to Harry for confirmation "as a matter of fact, he was so sane and calm that he asked for the newspaper to do the crossword!"

Ron gave her a look of betrayal.

"My God," said Lupin softly, he looked at Scabbers to the picture in the paper and then back again. "His front paw..."

"What about it?" said Ron defiantly.

"He's got a toe missing," declared Black.

"Of course," Lupin breathed. "So simple...so brilliant...he cut it off himself?"

"Just before he transformed, when I cornered him, 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 into the sewer with the other rats."

"Didn't you ever hear, Ron?" said Lupin, turning back to the rest of them "The biggest bit of Peter they found was his finger."

"Look, Scabbers probably had a fight with another rat or something! He's been in my family for ages, right-" argued Ron.

"Twelve years, in fact," said Lupin. "Didn't you ever wonder why he was living so long?"

"We've been taking good care of him!" Exclaimed Ron.

"Not looking too good at the moment, though, is he?" said Lupin. "I'd guess he's been losing weight ever since he heard Sirius was on the loose again."

"He's been scared of that mad cat!" said Ron, nodding toward Crookshanks, who had taken a place on the bed and was looking at them with a bored expression.

"This cat isn't mad," said Black hoarsely, he reached out a bony hand and stroked Crookshanks's fluffy head. "As a matter of fact, he's been a great help."