chapter twenty; the secret is out

"I DON'T SUPPOSE I COULD SEE HIM?" REMUS TWIDDLED HIS THUMBS AS HE SAT OPPOSITE TEMPEST IN HIS CHAMBERS. She was scribbling in one of her many notebooks, whatever nonsense that was being written unreadable to anyone but her. Her shoulders appeared to tense even more following her friend's question, and she glanced over her shoulder. 

"I'm sure you could," she forced an awkward smile. She placed her pen down and got up from where she sat at his desk, wandering over to his bed and lowering herself beside him. He had been hunched over the Marauder's Map all night, the glimpse into his past apparently necessary to keep him sane. He knew that Harry, Hermione and Ron would want to visit Hargid's Hut to say their farewells to Buckbeak, so he was keeping an eye out for them. "What would you say?"

"I don't know," Remus shook his head, running his hands through his thinning hair. His eyes met hers, and she noticed how sad he was. She understood why. The last thirteen years of his life, like hers, had been plagued with lies and false hope. It was a lot to intake over the course of a few hours, but she thought he was doing pretty well. "I just...I want to tell him that I'm sorry. For everything. I was a terrible friend for not believing in him."

"He'll forgive you, Remus," Tempest assured him, placing her hand atop his. He leaned forward and rested his head on her shoulder, and she sighed softly into his hair. "He would do anything to have you back in his life."

Remus sighed through his nose, creating a warm spot on Tempest's arm. She smiled a little and kissed his head, before reaching behind him and picking up the map. She placed it across their laps and stared at it for a few moments. 

"I still can't believe you pulled this off," she chuckled softly, her eyes catching familiar names across the campus of Hogwarts. Remus cracked a small grin and touched the enchanted parchment, reminiscing times when life had been a little bit easier. "It's brilliant."

"Thank you," Remus responded politely, his finger tracing the page, as if he were looking for someone. He then stopped his finger and made a hum. "Harry."

Tempest squinted a little, looking at the paper to see her godson's name, alongside Ron and Hermione's. Wait, no. There was one more. "What is-?"

"I don't believe it," Remus gasped, leaning so far forward his nose tickled the map. "It's him."

"Who?" Tempest's eyebrows furrowed. Remus shoved the map in her face and she blinked a few times before regaining a solid vision. 

"Him," Remus repeated as if he were at loss for breath. "Peter. Peter Pettigrew."

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"You said they were in the Shrieking Shack?" Tempest gripped Remus' hand as they quickly walked through the grounds. They couldn't exactly run, otherwise that would have been suspicious, yet the strange woman tugging on the DADA professor wasn't a normal sight anyway. "That means they would have found him, Remus-"

"I know, Onyx," he rushed out, trying to maintain his balance as they rushed down the grassy hill. It was a familiar route for both of them, having used in it their youth. It felt strange to be going down together, however, as had been over a decade. "We can only hope we can get there before anything happens."

Tempest nodded quickly as the Whomping Willow came into view. She let go of Remus' hand and shrunk down into her animagus form, pouncing knowledgeably through the swinging branches of the gigantic tree. She made it through with little trouble, pressing the knob with her front left paw. The aggressive plant slowed to a peaceful stop, creating a calm silence that allowed Tempest to breathe a sigh of relief. She didn't wait for Remus, instead crawling through the hole in the roots and running down the passageway. 

"Tempest, hurry!" Remus called after her. "I'm right behind you!"

Tempest sprinted, her smaller body giving her the ability to move faster through the dark tunnel. Only mere moments passed until she saw the dim light of the shack entrance. She leapt through, as Harry must have left it open, landing gracefully on all four feet. Her ears twitched as she heard thudding from upstairs, and she ran up the rickety wooden planks, slight squeaks sounding from the old, rotten floorboards. 

She poked her head through the doorway to see Harry, Ron and Hermione on one side of the room, her Godson with his wand raised at her lover on the other end. Her eyes widened as internal conflict flooding her being, and she leapt onto the bed where Sirius lay, settling herself on his lap beside Crookshanks, who clearly had the same idea in protecting the innocent man. 

"How many bloody cats are you friends with?" Ron exclaimed, watching as Sirius looked down at Tempest, immediately recognising her. He then dropped his head back on the mattress and shut his eyes, knowing that if he was going to die that night, she'd at least be there with him. 

"Wait, I've seen that cat before," Harry muttered, gripping his wand tighter. "It's the one that's been stalking the castle -- it's been here since the rumours about Sirius started."

Silence fell over the group, and Tempest stiffened a little, though she didn't move an inch. Footsteps were then heard downstairs, and Hermione lifted her head with frightened eyes. "We're up here! We're up here! Sirius Black -- quick!"

Sirius made a sudden movement, but Tempest sunk her claws into his sleeve, knowing that it was Remus, and that he'd be able to put a stop to it all. Harry seemed to be trying to convince himself to utter the words that killed his mother and father, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. By the time Remus burst into the room, he still hadn't gone through with it. "Expelliarmus!"

Harry and Hermione's wands flew through the air and landed in the professor's grip. Tempest watched carefully as he stared over at her and Sirius, an unreadable expression on his face. 

He took a step forward, and spoke in an odd voice, a voice that shook with some suppressed emotion. "Where is he, Sirius?"

Sirius' face was almost expressionless. Tempest knew him better than that, though. Water rose at the rims of his eyes and his body went cold. Then, very slowly, he raised his empty hand and pointed in Ron's direction. Everyone in the room looked over to see the red-head completely bewildered. 

"But then..." Remus glanced back at his old friend, before down at Tempest and then at Sirius again. "...why hasn't he shown himself before now? Unless...unless he was the one...unless you switched...without telling me?"

Tempest slowly got off of Sirius and sat beside him on the bed as the ragged man nodded once, confirming everything Remus had said. She settled on the mattress, staring up at her friend, watching as he finally came to terms with the truth she had been preaching on behalf of Sirius. 

"Professor Lupin, what's going-" Harry interrupted loudly, though he never finished the question, for what he saw made his voice cease in his throat. 

Remus lowered his wand and stepped towards Sirius, reaching for his hand. He pulled the convict to his feet, causing Crookshanks to fall to the floor, before embracing him like a lost brother. And that's what they were; lost brothers who had finally found each other again. Tempest smiled softly, thankful that the truth had finally been accepted. By Remus, at least. It would take a little longer to convince the kids. 

"I don't believe it!" Hermione screamed from where she had been cowering in the corner of the room. Remus released Sirius, who took a step back so that Tempest could be beside him. Hermione got to her feet and pointed accusingly at the teacher. "You...you..."

"Hermione-"

"You and him!" 

"Hermione, calm down-"

"I didn't tell anyone!" Hermione shrieked, a frustrated tear rolling down her cheek. "I've been covering up for you!"

"Hermione, listen to me, please!" Remus shouted in response, trying to match her volume so that he could actually get a word in. He glanced back at Tempest for a moment, his eyebrows raised. "I could explain if I had some help."

Tempest's eyes flickered nervously to Harry, and she inhaled sharply, before transforming back into her human form. She rushed forward with her arms outstretched towards the thirteen year old boy, whose jaw dropped. His body was shaking, not with fear but with absolute fury. He pushed her away from him so that she fell back into Sirius' arms, and she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to contain her hurt. "I trusted you! You lied to me! All this time you've been his friend!"

"You're wrong," Remus assured him, trying his best to remain calm. "I haven't been Sirius' friend for twelve years, neither has Tempest. But we are now...let me explain..."

"No!" Hermione snapped. "Harry, don't trust him. He's been helping Black get into the castle, he wants you dead too -- he's a werewolf!"

There was a ringing silence. Tempest pushed herself from Sirius and stood protectively in front of Remus. Her friend didn't appear to be shocked at the younger girl's outburst, if anything he just looked quite pale. She knew why -- he'd gotten assumptions such as that all his life, but it must have hurt even more to have the child of his dead best friend staring at him like he was a monster. "Not at all up to your usual instinct, Hermione. Only one out of three, I'm afraid. I have not been helping Sirius get into the castle and I certainly don't want Harry dead. But, I won't deny that I am a werewolf."

Ron tried to get up, but he had sustained an injury earlier in the night, so he yelped and fell back to the ground. Remus tried to step forward in concern, but the boy hissed at him. "Get away from me, werewolf!"

Remus then directed his attention back to Hermione. "How long have you known?"

"Ages," the girl whispered. "Since I did Professor Snape's essay."

"He'll be delighted," Remus replied coolly. "He set that essay hoping someone would realise what my symptoms meant. Did you check the lunar chart and realise that I was always ill at the full moon? Or did you realise that the Boggart changed into the moon when it saw me?"

"Both."

Remus forced a laugh. It was pained. "You're the cleverest witch of your age I've ever met, Hermione."

"I'm not," Hermione responded quietly, her glare set on the man who was now standing beside Tempest, a woman who she had only heard of through Harry. She was far more intimidating than her best friend had let on, particularly with the large, pinkish scar that traced the outside of her face like a crescent moon. "If I'd been a bit cleverer, I'd have told everyone what you are!"

"But they already knew," Remus shrugged. "At least, the staff do."

"Dumbledore hired you when he knew you were a werewolf?" Ron exclaimed. "Is he mad?"

Tempest took a step forward, anger radiating off of her, but Remus and Sirius grabbed her arms and pulled her back. 

"Some of the staff thought so," he continued. "He had to work very hard to convince certain teachers that I'm trustworthy."

"And he was wrong!" Harry yelled, before pointing at Sirius, who lifted his free hand and ran it down his face. This clearly wasn't the reunion he wanted with his godson. "You've been helping him all the time!"

"I have not been helping Sirius," Remus insisted. "If you give me a chance, I'll explain. Look-"

"And you?" Harry sneered in Tempest's direction, not bothering to allow Remus finish. She held her ground, however, no matter how much she wanted to embrace the boy and assure him that everything was going to be alright. "What's your excuse? You're an animagus, just like him. You're a traitor too, the traitor's fiancée."

Tempest ignored how much the name stung. Remus and Sirius stared at her, neither knowing what she was about to do. She stayed completely still however, holding her head up high. "Call me what you want, Harry. I hated him for over a decade, before I learned that he was telling the truth. I came here to stop him, but now I know he wasn't the one at fault."

Remus handed back the children each of their wands, leaving them stunned. "There. You're armed, we're not. Now will you listen?"

The children remained silent. 

"If you haven't been helping him," Harry noted, glaring at Remus and Tempest. "How did you know he was here."

"Remus didn't know," Tempest muttered. "I did. I was hunting for him, that's why I was sent for by Dumbledore. I found him here and I tried to stop him, but he told me everything. Tonight, we had no idea you three would end up in the Shrieking Shack, but we knew that it would end in chaos."

"We saw you on the map," Lupin explained. "The Marauder's Map. I was in my chambers examining it-"

"You know how to work it?" Harry inquired, suspicion lacing his tone. 

"Of course I know how to work it," Remus responded impatiently. "I helped write it. I'm Moony, that was my friends' nickname for me at school. Tempest here was Onyx. She didn't want to be a part of our little group, but we included her anyway."

"You wrote-?"

"The important thing is, I was watching it carefully this evening, because I had an idea that you, Ron and Hermione might try and sneak out of the castle to visit Hargrid before his Hiffogriff was executed. And I was right, wasn't I?"

No response. 

"You might have been wearing your father's old cloak, Harry-"

"How'd you know about the cloak?" Harry stepped forward, but Remus waved him off. 

"The number of times I saw James disappearing under it," the man shrugged, and Tempest nodded in agreement, the smallest of smiles appearing on her lips. "The point is, even if you're wearing an invisibility cloak, you show up on the Marauder's Map. I watched you cross the grounds and enter Hagrid's hut. Twenty minutes later, you left Hagrid and set off back towards the castle. But you were now accompanied by somebody else."

"What?" Harry's thick eyebrows furrowed. "No, we weren't."

"I couldn't believe my eyes," Remus shook his head, looking back at Tempest for confirmation. She nodded once. "I thought the map might be malfunctioning. How could he be with you?"

"No one was with us!" Harry insisted. 

"And then I saw another dot, moving fast towards you, labelled Sirius Black. I saw him collide with you. I watched as he pulled two of you into the Whomping Willow-"

"One of us!" Ron piped up angrily. 

"No, Ron," Remus denied. "Two of you. Do you think I could have a look at that rat?"

"What?" Ron spat. "What's Scabbers got to do with it?"

"Everything. Could I see him, please?"

Ron hesitated, then put a hand inside his robes. The rat emerged, thrashing desperately. At the sight of it, Crookshanks sat up and hissed. Remus moved a little closer, and Tempest felt her insides boiling. Sirius' grip on her arm tightened, as both of them needed an anchor of some kind in that moment. "What? What's my rat got to do with anything?"

"That's not a rat," Sirius finally spoke from beside Tempest. 

"What do you mean - of course he's a rat-"

"No, he's not," Tempest muttered quietly. "He's a wizard."

"An animagus," Remus hummed. "By the name of Peter Pettigrew."

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a thicc update for you guys!! sorry I've been away so long!!1