notice: we r not switching povs this week since this is a part 2 of chapter 9

There was a moment of silence in the room as we all tried to process what the two men were saying. It wasn't possible.

"You're both mental," Ron breathed.

"This is absolutely ridiculous! We should just turn them into Professor Dumbledore," Hermione pitched.

"Peter Pettigrew is dead," I said, confused, "you told me yourself, Papa." I turned to face my birth father, "and you killed him."

"No, but I should have," Sirius Black growled, his teeth barred. "That little wart got the best of me, but not this time," Sirius lunged at Ron, or well, I think he was aiming for the rat, but he fell directly onto Ron who cried out in pain.

"Sirius, no!" Papa shouted, trying to pull him back. I could see Papa was struggling. He seemed weak. He panted, exhausted, "You can't just do it like that, there's no validation in that, you'd go right to Azkaban, you have to think rationally, we have to explain," Papa poised.

"You haven't changed a bit Moony, you know that."

Papa shifted uncomfortably, avoiding his gaze.

"We can explain after," Sirius argued, still clawing at Ron trying to get to Scabbers.

"They've - got - a - right - to - the - story," Papa panted again, sweat beads rolling down his forehead. Sirius was a bigger man than he was, not in an unhealthy way or anything. Both of the men were lean, but Papa was just smaller. "Harry, and Zenith have a right to the whole story, there's even parts I don't understand."

"Alright, I suppose you're right," Sirius said, backing slowly away from Ron, but his deathly gaze never left Scabbers who was fighting against Ron's tight hold. Ron's poor hands were bleeding from the way Scabbers was clawing and biting at him. "But tell them quickly Remus, I would like to commit the murder I was imprisoned for."

It had been a long time since I had heard someone use Papa's first name. Black said it like it was the finest of royalty, it rolled right off his tongue. I guess I didn't realize until now, but he had an accent. Almost proper, very posh.

"You're absolutely nutters, the both of you," Ron said, his voice breaking. He looked at me and Harry for help, "I want to get out of here," he tried to stand up on his own, but Papa quickly pulled his wand from his belt, "No, you and Pettigrew need to stay right here."

"He's not Peter, he's Scabbers," Ron protested, but he might as well have given up, he wasn't getting out of here, not unless they let him. Black blocked off the doorway.

Ron nearly fell again, but I quickly caught him, "Papa, you know as well as I do that people saw Pettigrew die, how can he possibly be this rat if many can attest to his death?"

"People think they saw him die," Sirius spat. He was pacing back and forth, anxiously chewing on his thumbnail.

Hey.

I did that.

"Everyone thought that Sirius killed him," Papa said, nodding in agreement with what I had said, "but that's not the full story, I mean I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the map. The map never lies, and it showed Peter Pettigrew here, and with the lot of you. And then it clicked, I can't believe I never thought of it before."

Hermione was quiet, her finger was crooked and lying against her mouth. It was her thinking face, I had seen it enough times to know it by heart. "It can't possibly be true, Professor, the Ministry would know he's an animagus. The Ministry keeps tags on all registered animagus, I've done my research."

"Yes, that's true, but the Ministry doesn't know about a lot of things, for instance, the fact I'm a werewolf, or the fact that there were three unregistered animagi during my years at Hogwarts."

"Remus, if you're going to tell them a bedtime story, we don't have time for it, just skip to the end," Sirius said anxiously.

"You'll have to help me, because I only know the start," Papa said, but he stopped when he heard the creak of the door, and he turned. The door seemed to open of its own accord.

"I knew it!" Ron cried, "This place is haunted."

"No," Papa said softly, "It's anything but."

"The screams!" Ron tried to argue.

Papa shook his head, and hung it in defeat, "This place was never haunted," he spoke with a different tone of voice, "The cries, screams, and howls the villagers used to hear were me. That's where the story begins, with me becoming a werewolf. None of this would have happened if I had not been bitten, and if I had been more smart. I should have never come to Hogwarts in the first place."

I wanted to step forward and comfort him, but Sirius beat me to it, gently placing a hand on his shoulder, giving him the support he needed to go on.

He cleared his throat before continuing, "I was very young when I was cursed with the bite, my parents did everything they could for me, but back when I was a child, there was no cure for lycanthropy. The potion that Professor Snape has been making is no cure by any means, but it helps, it keeps me safe."

Ron looked as if he was going to say something, but Hermione quickly turned his way, "Shh," she said, her focus then returned to Papa. She seemed very interested in what he had to say.

"With the Wolfsbane potion, I'm able to simply curl up somewhere as a wolf, but before the invention of the potion, it was completely different. Once a month, I would become a monster, an uncontrollable one at that. The chances of me ever attending school were slim, but then Professor Dumbledore became the headmaster, and he was sympathetic to a cursed child like me."
    I felt a twinge of sadness in the depths of my soul, Papa had never told me any of this, that was just a testament to how difficult it was for him to open up. He'd never really been an open person, but me and Cressida understood that, we never pushed him to tell us anything he wasn't comfortable sharing.

"He told me as long as we were careful and took precautions, there was no reason I couldn't receive an education like other children. The Whomping Willow was planted the year I started attending Hogwarts, and well, this whole place was built entirely for me. That's why the tree is so violent you see, It was designed to keep anyone from entering the tunnel. Once a month, I was snuck out of the castle, and I would transform and spend the night in this house."

I joined the rest of my friends who had begun to sit down on the bed as if we were receiving a bedtime story. Although Ron still looked heavily uncomfortable, his leg had finally stopped bleeding. That was good I think.

"In my school years, my transformations were violent, for me and anyone who was near me. Werewolves are pack creatures, driven to hunt and protect. While being locked away in this house, the only thing I had to bite was myself, so I would scratch and mutilate myself. The villagers would hear the screaming, and howls, and assumed the shack to be haunted. Professor Dumbledore even helped to spread the rumor himself."

"Despite the transformations once a month, I was relatively happy. For the first time in my life, I felt like I belonged somewhere. I had friends, three friends who I trusted my life with. Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and of course, James Potter. Now, as any good friend would, they started to pick up on the fact that I couldn't possibly be ill every single month, and the need to visit my mother was slightly obsessive. I was afraid of what they would think if they found out, so I didn't tell them, but surely enough Sirius figured it out, and it wasn't long after that the rest followed."

"So they did something I could never imagine. They made my transformations, which were easily the worst part of my life enjoyable. They became Animagi."

"My father too?" Harry asked, confused.

"Yes, of course," Papa smiled, "Sirius and James were the brightest students of our year, besides me of course, but they spent all of three years working hard to master the transformation. It's a dangerous ordeal, and that's part of the reason the ministry wishes to watch those desiring to learn so intently. By our fifth year, they had mastered it, they could each turn to a different animal at will."

"I don't understand, how was that of any help to you?" I asked.

"A werewolf is only dangerous to humans. During my transformations, I was so utterly lonely, and since they couldn't be there for me as humans, they were there with me as animals. Every full moon, the three of them would sneak out using James' Invisibility Cloak. They'd all three transform, and since Peter was the smallest, he'd hit the knob on the tree, allowing the other two safe passage inside. Under their influence, I became less dangerous. I was still a werewolf, yes, but my mind was more human than it had ever been."

"Remus," Sirius whined impatiently, "get along with it." He still hadn't taken his eyes off Scabbers.

"Patience Sirius, I'm getting there," Papa soothed, Sirius seemed to be slightly more at ease when Papa was talking. "You see with the three of them as animagus, we started to leave the Shrieking Shack, we'd run through the woods, hunt together. Sirius and James were such large animals that they were able to keep me in line, and from hurting anyone or anything. A few rabbits did lose their lives though. Since we were always out, we discovered secret passageways, and tunnels that had been created by the founders. I'm sure no other students knew as much as we did about Hogsmeade and Hogwarts, so we employed our knowledge to good use. We created the Marauders Map, and signed it with all of our nicknames. Sirius is Padfoot, James is Prongs, Peter is Wormtail, and I am Moony."

"What animal was my father?" Harry pitched in again.

"A stag, the biggest one I'd ever seen. If I ever dared step out of line, he'd body-block me right back in. I was grateful for him," Papa said with a soft smile.

"I can't believe it. You willingly put innocent people in danger for what? A little fun?" Hermione questioned, she was furious.

"Well, what'd you expect them to do? Play cards?" I defended.

"I surely would expect him to be mindful of others if he was graced with being allowed to attend," Hermione said. "What if you had hurt someone?" she asked, staring directly at Papa.

"The thought still haunts me. But Zenith is right, a group of teenage boys cooped up in a house, tell me one time where that has ever ended well. We were always careful though, I promise," he said reassuringly.

"There was always one thing. I felt guilty about leading three fellow students to become animagi illegally. This whole year I've been debating whether or not to tell Dumbledore about Sirius, but in the end, I couldn't do it. I couldn't betray his trust, I was too much of a coward. So in a way, Snape's been right about me this whole time. "

"It's not cowardly. It's honorable. You're loyal Papa, you always have been," I said with a soft smile.

"What's Snivellus got to do with any of this?" Black asked, reentering the conversation.

"He teaches here too."

Papa turned back to us, "Snape has been against me the whole time, I don't blame him in the slightest though. Sirius here, played a prank on him during our fifth year involving me that nearly cost him his life."

Black snickered, and then quickly brought his hand to his face to silence himself.

"He deserved it, he was always sneaking around and following us, he was looking for any reason to get us expelled," he sneered.

Papa shook his head in a disagreeing manner, "Severus was in our year, he didn't like us very much, especially James, but I'd rather not get into that. That night, Severus had seen Madame Pomphrey and I making our way out to the Willow. Sirius thought it'd be funny to tell him that if he poked the tree with a stick, he'd be able to follow us. Of course Severus did it out of pure curiosity. Now, if he had continued into the tunnel, I'd likely have killed him, but James was always the most responsible one of the group. He pulled Severus away, he saw me though, and Dumbledore made him swear not to tell anyone what he had seen."

"So, Professor Snape doesn't like you because of a stupid joke? One that you had no control over?" I pondered.

"That's right," Professor Snape said from the corner of the room. He pulled Harry's Invisibility Cloak off, and his wand was pointed straight at Papa.

"Found this at the base of the trunk," he said, tossing the cloak onto the floor, "thank you, Potter, it's been very useful."

"How did I get here, you wonder?" Snape asked.

Nobody was wondering. He continued to rant about how Neville had brought him the map thinking it was some form of dark magic.

"Oh, and I've alerted Professor Dumbledore that you have been helping Black, but never once did I think you'd use this old place as your hideout."

"Severus you don't understand," Papa pleaded.

"Oh I understand well enough, Azkaban will welcome the two of you with open arms. The dementors will love werewolf. You know, I can't wait to see Dumbledore's reaction when you're both carted away. He'll be so disappointed in you Lupin, he was convinced you were a rather tame dog,"

"You fool! Is a schoolboy grudge worth sending innocent men to Azkaban?" Papa said softly, his tone wasn't anger, more like fear.

I didn't know what to do.

"Professor Snape, if you would just hear them out," I offered.

"Not a word, Black, how am I to know you're not just as guilty as these two?" Snape inquired.

"Leave him out of this," Papa sneered, stepping forward, but before he got very far, snakelike coils shot out of the end of Professor Snape's wand, twisting around Papa's mouth, legs, and hands, he helplessly fell to the floor. He winced in pain, unable to move as the coils continued to wrap themselves around his body.

Black stepped forward angrily. Or maybe it wasn't anger, but he placed himself between Papa and Snape. Snape instead pointed his wand right between Black's eyes, "Give me a reason," he muttered softly. "I will have no remorse."

Black stopped dead in his tracks. I couldn't tell between the two of them whose face showed more hatred at that moment. I stood paralyzed in the room, I turned to Harry, Ron, and Hermione who seemed just as confused as I was.

"Professor," Hermione started weakly. "If you could just give them a chance to explain."
    "Granger, for once in your life hold your tongue. You, Black, Potter, and Weasley are already facing expulsion for being out past curfew, not to mention being in the presence of a convicted killer and werewolf."

"But if there was a chance of mistake-"
    "WAS I MISTAKEN?" he yelled. "I believe I said to shut up. You should not be sticking your nose in places where it doesn't belong. How could you possibly trust any of their deceptive lies?"

"You know Black, I always dreamed I'd be the one to catch you. Vengeance is best served cold, don't you know," Snape taunted.

"Ah, you've been dreaming about me all these years, Snivellus, glad to see you had more room in that mind of yours for someone other than Lily," Black grinned. "I'll be glad to return to the castle as long as we bring the rat."

    "To the castle? There's no need to go that far, I'll just take you both outside and flag a dementor down. I'm sure there's plenty who miss you so dearly," Snape said maliciously.

Whatever color that Black had left in his face drained immediately, "Just look at the rat, you've got to hear me out."

Snape's eyes were gleaming with utter madness. It was safe to assume he was no longer listening to rationale.

"Let's go all of you," he said, his wand still pointing directly at Black, "I'll drag the werewolf, I'm sure there's a dementor willing to give him a kiss too."

Before I knew it my body had crossed the room to the door. I mean. I didn't consciously give myself permission to move, but here I was standing between Snape and the door.

"Black, move out of the way," Snape sneered.

"I can't," I said weakly.

"You can."

"No, Professor, I can't, listen I don't know very much about that man," I said pointing at Sirius Black who was intently watching me, "but Remus Lupin is by far the best man I have ever known. I will not stand by and let you run his name through the dirt, or him." I drew my wand anxiously. "He took care of me when he didn't have to, so I'd like to return the favor to him. Papa does not wish to harm Harry, nor anyone else."

"Black, move out of my way, and do not make me ask again," Snape said, grinding his teeth. He glared at me intently.

"Professor, if I may be honest, I think you're quite pathetic. A grown man hiding behind some schoolboy grudge, don't you think highly of yourself?" I taunted, one of my famous grins working its way onto my face.

"You have no right to speak to me like that!" Snape yelled, the madness in his eyes increasing, "You're just like your dreadful father, always thinking highly of yourself, thinking you're better than everyone else."

"He's Moony's kid, not mine," Sirius said, holding his hands up defensively with a ridiculous smile on his face.

Snape turned to face Sirius, Snape was becoming more and more unpredictable, but him turning away was all I needed.

"Expelliarmus!" I shouted, pointing my wand straight at him.

He flew backward and slammed into the wall. It turns out I wasn't the only one thinking about it, Harry, and Hermione had joined me in casting the spell, so it was three times more powerful than normal.

I turned to look at Harry and Hermione, they seemed just as shocked as I was.

"You kids shouldn't have done that," Sirius said, crossing the room to Papa. He started to untie the coils.

Hermione started to pace, and hyperventilate, "We attacked a teacher. We attacked a teacher. We attacked a teacher!" she chanted over and over again.

"Zenith James, what the hell were you thinking?" Papa shouted walking over to me, he grabbed me by the shoulders.

"I was defending your honor," I said with a stupid smile.

He pulled me in for a hug, "Yes, but my honor would've been shattered if you got yourself expelled because you hurt Professor Snape's ego."

"You changed his middle name," Sirius said, the tone of voice was full of sorrow. He was speaking directly to Papa.

I looked at both of them confused. "What?"

"I named you Zenith Remus," Sirius said, looking me straight in the eyes.

I turned to Papa, "Is that true?"

He looked at me for a moment, and he opened his mouth to speak, but then he closed it and turned away as if he couldn't look me in the eyes. "I only changed it to what I figured Sirius would have wanted it to be the most. I didn't want you named after me, I felt as if you would never feel like my own kid if you were named after me, it's foolish I know."

"No offense to Harry's dad or anything, but there would have been no greater honor than being named after you, Papa."

"Moony, I gave the kid your name because you were the person I wanted him to be named after, not James. Now you've given James the satisfaction of two children named after him! Now the both of us aren't even on the board. James 2, Remus, and Sirius, 0," he said with a soft smile.

I guess Papa was forgiven. Also, it was weird when your birth father referred to you as 'the kid'.

Papa cleared his throat and returned to Harry, "I think it's time we offer you some proof. Ron, may I have the rat, please?" he asked softly.

Ron still was clutching onto Scabbers for dear life, "Are you meaning to tell me, Sirius Black only broke out of Azkaban for my rat? For Scabbers I mean? How could he possibly know that my rat was Peter Pettigrew? Why me?'

Papa looked at Ron, and then at Sirius, "That is a fair question. How did you know that Ron had Peter?"

"Simple," Sirius said, pulling out a copy of The Daily Prophet from inside of his robe pocket. He unfolded it slowly, drawing the anticipation of the room to the sound of each crinkle. It was a picture of Ron and his family from the previous summer, and sure enough, there was Scabbers, sitting atop of Ron's shoulder.

"How on Earth did you manage to get news while in the heaviest guarded prison in the world?" Papa asked, shocked.

"Fudge," Sirius said, "When he came to inspect Azkaban he taunted me about Harry being alive and whatnot. But he dropped this on his way out. I had no reason to read it, but I had nothing to lose, so I did. I recognized the rat immediately, hell I'd taught him how to be that rat."

"What's that got to do with anything?" Ron again asked, but he still refused to buy anything either of them were saying.

"He's got a toe missing on his front paw."

"How brilliant, and nobody would ever suspect a thing," Papa said, putting two and two together, his grin quickly changed to a frown. "He's been free while you've been doing the time for his crime."
    "I remember the night it happened too. I had finally chased him into a corner of the street, and he stopped, stared me straight in the eyes, and then screamed as loudly as he could that I had betrayed Lily and James. He blew the street up with his wand which was carefully concealed, then transformed into a rat running into the sewers with all the other vermin," Sirius said with his eyes closed, he spoke slowly as if the memory was painful.

"Haven't you heard, Ron?" I asked. "They said the biggest part of Pettigrew they found was his finger."

"Oddly enough, your rat is missing just that same finger," Sirius said, finishing my statement.

"Don't you see Harry, all this time we've thought Sirius was the bad guy, but he was just as much of a victim as your parents were!" Papa said passionately.

"HE KILLED THEM!" Harry said, not being swayed in the slightest, "He was their Secret Keeper, his only job was to keep them safe."

"I might as well have killed them, you're right. It was my job to keep them safe, but at the last second, I switched with Peter, and made him their Secret Keeper. I wanted to return home, to my wife, to my kids," he said, looking at me guiltily. "That night, Callidora and I were going to visit James and Lily, and to check on Peter."

    "Callidora?" I interrupted. The name sounded familiar, but I couldn't remember where I had heard it before.

    Sirius looked at me with surprise and then he turned to Papa, he looked hurt, but Papa quickly answered, "Your mother, Zenith."

Sirius cleared his throat before starting again, "Callidora stayed with James and Lily while I went to see Peter. When I arrived at Peter's, he wasn't there, and something didn't seem right, but I couldn't put my finger on what it was. I returned to James' house immediately, but I was too late. It was utterly destroyed. I found all three of their bodies, James, Lily, and Callidora. I didn't want to believe it at first. I was only gone for half an hour, there was no way it could have happened... My best friend, and my wife, were both dead because of me... I still haven't forgiven myself.. "

Sirius' voice broke, he turned away from us and walked towards where Snape was lying on the floor.

    "Enough," Papa said, waving his hand at Sirius. "There's one way to prove what actually happened. Sirius, do you want to do it?"

    "Together?" Sirius asked, turning back towards Papa.

    Papa nodded, and pointed his wand at Scabbers, Sirius was wielding Snape's which he had pirated from the floor.

    They counted to three and a flash of blue light escaped from both wands, the rat began to twist madly, its body moving in an unnatural way. Ron dropped him, and scooted away slowly. It was like watching a roach react to being stepped on. Slowly the rat began to turn more and more human. The man looked disturbed. He was short, and plump, puffs of blond hair loitered his head. He had two pointy teeth in the front of his mouth resembling that of a rat, and his eyes were beady. He scanned the room constantly, taking everything in.

    "Sirius... Remus.." he croaked, his voice failing him, "My old friends!" He walked towards Papa with his arms wide out. Sirius stepped in front of him, raising his wand, but Papa grabbed his wrist, and shook his head no.

    "Peter," Papa said softly, "We've been having a little chat about James and Lily and what happened twelve years ago."

    "Remus! You don't believe him do you?" Pettigrew asked, pointing his claw-like hands towards Sirius, "He killed them! He killed James and Lily! He tried to kill me, and now he's come to finish the job!" Peter cried, he covered his eyes with his face. "Protect me dear friend!" he whined.

    He gave me the creeps. Beads of sweat started to work their way down his abnormally pale face.

    "You knew Sirius was going to break out of Azkaban?" Papa asked skeptically.

    "Of course! He's learned tons of dark arts, he's a traitor, a monster!"

    "Me? Learn from Voldermort?" Sirius said, practically spitting the name out. "I'd rather die than become one of his brainless followers, but you see, all those followers of his think you're dead, so they'll be thrilled to find out your traitorous ass is alive. They'll tear you to shreds."

    Harry watched intently as the two men accused each other back and forth, as did I, they continued for quite some time until Sirius looked at Harry.

    "Don't you see? I would have died for James and Lily, and this pathetic wretch gave them up immediately. Do you believe me now?"

    Harry didn't say anything, but he nodded. And as soon as he did, Pettigrew dropped to his knees, it was as if Harry's nod alone had been a death sentence.

    Pettigrew began to plead and beg every individual in the room to spare him, he didn't approach Sirius, and he didn't approach me, he tried, but the second he got close, Papa raised his wand which happened to scare him off.

    "Stop nagging, and get up," Sirius said, he was tired of Pettigrew's pathetic antics. "It's time to do what I should have done twelve years ago," he raised his wand, and pointed it directly at Pettigrew's head.

    "No!" Harry cried, stepping forward, "You can't!"

    Pettigrew smiled mischievously, and ran to Harry, dropping at his feet. He bowed a few times before mumbling sweet praises, "Thank you, oh thank you," he cried.

    Harry kicked his foot, pushing Pettigrew back, "I'm not doing this for you," Harry said, his face full of anger. "I'm doing it because my dad wouldn't have wanted them to become killers for filth like you. I say take him outside, and let the dementors haul him off to Azkaban."

    Sirius and Papa looked at each other, and both lowered their wands, respecting Harry's decision. It was both his parents that Pettigrew killed after all.

    Sirius looked Peter straight in the eyes once more, "If you so much as even think about transforming, I'll kill you."

    Peter nodded, gulping.

    Papa looked at Ron, who was still struggling to stand, "Ron, I'm not half as good as Madame Pomphrey, but I know something that might help, if you'll let me," he said, approaching Ron slowly.

    "Please," he nodded.

    "Ferula," Papa whispered, and bandages started wrapping themselves around Ron's leg, a splint tightly secured underneath.

    Ron placed pressure on his leg, this time he didn't wince, he smiled. "Thanks," he said softly.

    "What about Professor Snape?" I asked, I didn't like the many in any shape, form, or fashion, but I didn't want to just leave him, that was cruel.

    "He'll be fine," Papa said looking him over, "no injuries, he's just out cold."

    I walked over to where he laid, and tucked one of my arms underneath his to hold him up. If they were going to leave him here, then I was going to carry him, even if I had to do it by myself.

    "Zenith, there's an easier way to do that," Sirius smirked. He walked over to me, and pointed his wand at Snape. "Mobilcorpus."

    Suddenly Snape was standing on his own, yet he was still fast asleep, I didn't understand it at all.

    "I would be an irresponsible father to teach you that spell, forget you heard it," Sirius whispered to me.

    I didn't exactly know if I was okay with him referring to himself as my father, but I nodded nonetheless.

    "Moony, I think that you should chain yourself to Pettigrew, we wouldn't want to take any chances. Zenith, can you join him? I would, but I'm hauling Snivellus here," Sirius said, moving his wand up and down which Snape's limp body mocked.

    "I'll do it," Ron said, hobbling towards Papa. I think he was taking this whole Scabbers-Pettigrew thing personally.
    Soon enough a heavy set of chains was placed on Pettigrew, his right arm was connected to Ron's left, and Papa's right arm was connected to Pettigrew's left. They both seemed uncomfortable from the weight of the chains, yet neither complained.

    As we were walking out the door, I suddenly remembered something. I ran back into the room using Lumos to help me scan the floor for a glimpse of something out of place.

    "Zenith, have you gone mad?" Hermione said, watching me search the floor.

    "We can't forget the cloak," I said with a grin. For once, I had remembered something Hermione had forgotten, this was a day for the textbooks.

    It took us forever to make our way out of the Shack, the tunnel seemed longer the second time, I guess the fear that had been drowning my nervous system had retired for the night. My body dragged through the tunnel, but my mind raced. There were a lot of things to think about after all. Papa. My father. Peter Pettigrew. Man, I was longing for the comfort of my bed in the tower.

    As we walked back, Sirius and Papa talked softly, I think Ron pretended he didn't hear.

    "Do you know what this means?" Sirius asked, his voice sounded lighter, happier.

    "You're free?"

    "Exactly. Free to go wherever I want, with whoever I want."

    "Where do you want to go?"

    "Home."

    "Grimmauld?"

"Eventually, maybe. But would you mind if I stayed with you for a while, just long enough for me to sort everything out? Your place has always been more of a home than my own."

"No, I wouldn't mind that at all," Papa said, he sounded happy.

Harry walked behind Sirius, and I watched as Sirius turned to him. "Harry, I'm not sure if anyone's ever told you this, but I'm your godfather." 

Harry nodded, "I know."

"Yes, but that means I'm your legal guardian, and once all this gets cleared up, if you needed a place to stay away from your muggle aunt and uncle, you'd always be welcome at my place."

Harry smiled, "Thanks."

I rubbed my eyes as I climbed out of the tunnel, it was far darker outside than I suspected, but a soft glow from the moon lit the grounds.

A soft glow from the moon.

I looked up at the sky as the clouds blanketed the full moon.

The full moon.

I turned to Sirius with wide eyes, but it seemed he'd already realized as well. Papa was frozen, staring directly up at the ball of light. Ron stood horrified, he was clawing at the chain on his arm, but Sirius had cast it there to be unbreakable.

Harry made an attempt to advance on Ron, but Sirius threw him back, "Run, now, all three of you, I'll handle this!"

Hermione started backing away slowly, tugging Harry's arm, taking him with her, but I stood locked in place. I couldn't leave Ron, I couldn't leave Papa. I raised my wand defensively, but I quickly forced my eyes shut when I heard Papa start screaming.

I watched in horror as I saw, and heard his bones breaking. Cracking that sounded like a whip tearing through the silence of the night. His bones were rearranging. His wand dropped to the ground. Where his hands were a second ago, large paws replaced them, sharp claws digging into the ground. His skin slowly darkened, and fur appeared across his body.

I looked around anxiously for Sirius but he was nowhere to be seen. A large dog bolted past me, jumping onto Papa, and forcing him onto the ground. It was a canine brawl. Snarls and growls echoed through the empty field. Sirius had jumped for Papa's neck, turning him away from Ron, the chain holding Papa to Pettigrew had snapped once the transformation started.

Ron was pulling, and tugging against Pettigrew who was scouring the ground for something, and then I saw it. Papa's wand.

"Expelliarmus!" I shouted, pointing mine at Pettigrew.

I was too late, I watched as the flash of light dissipated and a small rat took off down the hillside.

"Sirius, he's getting away!" I cried, but he couldn't pay any attention to me.

Papa was doing a number on him. He was bleeding from multiple spots. He was heavily limping on one of his front legs which a patch of fur was missing from. His muzzle was dripping blood, at the sound of my voice he turned to me.

"Pettigrew transformed and took off," the dog looked at me and nodded before bolting down the hillside.

Papa turned to face me, but at this point, I knew I wasn't looking at him, I was looking at a beast. I held my wand up prepared to do anything, but suddenly the hairs on the back of my neck raised as a howl came from the forest behind me. Papa stopped, his ears perking up, and then he rushed past me into the forest, following the cry of his kind.

As soon as he was out of sight, I rushed to Ron, Harry and Hermione were standing on the edge of the forest, but Harry was quickly making his way back to where we were standing.

Ron was shaking, and he looked a little pale.
    "You okay?" Harry asked.

Ron gulped, nodding. "I've been better," he said with that classic Weasley grin.

Hermione helped him up, and she turned towards the castle.

"Where are you going?" Harry asked dumbfounded.

"To get help, what do you expect me to do? We've waited long enough, this is bad, and  you know it is. We have to tell Professor Dumbledore!" she said, struggling to pull Ron's weight.

"What about Papa?" I interjected. "You have to think of what will happen to him."
    "And Black too," Harry added.

"Regardless of what happens to them, do you want to be out here in the dark, bleeding, with a werewolf and serial killer on the loose?"

Neither Harry, nor me answered, she had a point.

"Exactly, let's get going," she said, once again turning to the castle.

Hermione offered her arm out to Ron who took it eagerly, she helped him as they started walking back towards the castle. Harry followed behind them at a distance, and then I brought up the rear.

We walked quietly, and quickly, our footsteps against the ground being the only sound to register, but then something caught us off guard. Out of nowhere, a dog's whine, a whine of pain, a cry for help.

It was Sirius Black, and it sounded like he was in trouble.

Harry took off towards the hill, and right before I did the same, I looked to Ron and Hermione to make sure they were okay. She nodded, and waved her hand at me, telling me to go. I caught up with Harry as fast as I could.

The yelping seemed to be coming from the lake. The closer and closer I got, the more it felt as if I was tired, and my body wanted to drift into sleep. I felt a chill run down my back as I shivered due to the cold. Wait. It wasn't cold, at least not a few minutes ago.

I ran into Harry's back, he had stopped, and his mouth was agape.

Holy.

The yelping stopped and we could both see why. Sirius was on his hands and knees clutching his head, and hundreds if not thousands of dementors circled above. Even standing away from him, I felt as if all the happiness was slowly being drained out of my body.

Harry raised his wand, and started off towards the bottom of the hill. He was acting brave, and unbreakable, but I could see his hand shaking.

"What are you doing?" I whispered, but he turned to me with a blank expression.

"We've got to fight them off, Zenith, he's going to die," his voice was starting to break. "He's my only chance, Zenith. Don't you want to know him too?"

I did, but I couldn't risk my own death for him. I barely knew him. I didn't know where and if Papa was okay, and I couldn't leave Cressida. She didn't deserve to be all alone. In fact, she deserved quite the opposite, to be surrounded by a family. A strong, and dependent family.

And then I stepped forward, following Harry.

"Do you have a plan?" I whispered.

He didn't say anything, but nodded his head. I'm glad we were a team here.

"Zenith, do you know the Patronus Charm?"

"The what?"

"Okay, shut up and listen then," Harry instructed, he gave me a run-down of the spell. Think happy thoughts, channel happy memories, and say Expecto Patronum.

"Are you good at this spell?" I asked, the tips of my fingers began to lose feeling from the frost on the lake.

"Never done it correctly."

Great. We were going to die, and I still hadn't kissed a girl.

I closed my eyes, and thought about my earliest memories. Papa, Cressida, and I, then I thought about walks I used to take with Papa in London, we'd go shopping in the muggle stores. I thought of my friendship with Ron, and the time he told me that I was his best mate. The thoughts raced through my mind, providing an artificial warmth, but it wasn't enough. I couldn't cast the spell. It seemed as if Harry couldn't either.

My legs were starting to give out, the dementors were forcing their way into my mind. Shadowy hands reached out for my legs, and arms, but I couldn't move to fight them off. I could no longer see Harry, I was assuming he'd fallen too. I could no longer hear the soft hums of the wind as the cries of both Harry and Sirius were so loud I could barely breathe. I'm sure mine was mixed in as well, but I couldn't even feel my tongue anymore. My mouth was dry, and my throat felt like it was burning.

I could barely move, nor could I see anything except the darkness the dementors brought, but there was something happening across the lake. It was a light, the dementors were being pushed back, the light began to grow. A blue glow working its way across the entire lake. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen before, was this the full potential of the Patronus Charm?

My vision was blurry, I couldn't even tell why. Was it blood again, possibly sweat? I couldn't trust anything I was seeing because I'm sure I had a concussion from earlier, thanks to the Whomping Willow. It was odd, the shape I saw. It kind of looked like an animal. Like a dog, but that was impossible.

I closed my eyes. I was going to rest for a moment, but just one moment...

hehe. thanks for hanging around for another weekly update, hope everyone's had a fantastic week! the next update is gonna have some huge things in it. it's gonna be very emotional, we're sorry in advance, we love you though. as always, k.rae and agc, we love yall! <3

fun question time, who's everyone's character in this fic (meaning our version of the character)?