"You shouldn't have done that," said Black, looking at Harry. 

"You should have left him to me...."

"So you could roll over and show your tummy?" asked Amelia, a teasing tone to her voice. "I think we got this."

 Harry avoided Black's eyes. He wasn't sure, even now, that he'd done the right thing.

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

"Two years ago, you set him on fire. This is a step down for you, Mione."

 Lupin was struggling against his bonds. Black bent down quickly and untied him. Lupin straightened up, rubbing his arms where the ropes had cut into them. 

"Thank you, Harry," he said. 

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

 "Then it's time we offered you some proof," said Lupin. "You, boy -- give me Peter, please. Now."

 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 Harry and Hermione for support, "Okay, say Pettigrew could turn into a rat -- there are millions of rats -- how's he supposed to know which one he's 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 clawlike 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.