CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
↳ stop with the dramatics

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If Elara had a word to describe her dad, she'd use dramatic. There were many reasons why. He had dragged a child in and now looked beyond suspicious as he looked at the whole entire group, his yellow teeth exposed in an inauspicious smirk.

Elara stood up right, her face blank and her eyes rolling slightly. She couldn't believe him. He was absolutely mental, something else. She wondered if Azkaban does that to you, makes you a bit loopy in the head. Then again, they take all your happiness from you, she'd absolutely lose her mind there. "You can't be serious right now," he grinned like the Cheshire cat at the pun he was about to make, only shutting his mouth when she put her finger out. "Don't you dare," she mumbled out, rubbing her eyes as she looked at him. Harry, Ron and Hermione weren't paying much attention to them though. They were more occupied by the fact he had their wands and were beyond petrified. Thankfully, Elara still had her wand, but she put it away as, unlike them, she just knew her dad was being his dramatic self and wasn't even guilty. She was also smarter and knew that, even if she didn't know he was innocent, she wouldn't be stupid to hold her wand in front of her. She had a bad feeling though and tried shaking it away, hoping she was assuming all the wrong things.

Finally, after a moment of ear ringing silence, Sirius' sunken voice rang out, almost causing chills to run down their spines collectively. "I thought you'd come and help your friend," he rasped out hoarsely, looking at Harry in particular. "Your father would have done the same for me. Brave of you not to run for a teacher. I'm grateful... it will make everything much easier..." he sounded sinister, he would've been sinister, if she didn't know the truth.

She shook her head at him, audibly sighing. "What's with the dramatics?" She bit on her lip slightly, shaking her head with a smile on her face. Harry and Hermione both turned to her, almost questioning her actions. "I do this when I'm nervous," she tried to play it off.

"No you don't,"

"No one asked for your input, Harold," she clapped her hands sarcastically. However, this moment of lightness suddenly faded when Harry tried moving forward. "Are you serious right now?" She tried pulling him back, along with Hermione and Ron.

"No, Harry!" Hermione breathed out petrified for his idiotic behaviour. Elara's grip fastened as the boy who lived tried to free himself and jump at Sirius.

It was Ron who spoke up, "If you want to kill Harry, you'll have to kill us too!" He stood up, swaying slightly as he tried defending his best mate. His face turned increasingly paler as the seconds passed. He was wheezing slightly, nearly losing his foot a few times but nevertheless he stood bravely in front of Harry.

Something changed in Sirius demeanour. "Lie down," he said, almost calmingly as his expression softened slightly. His eyes were wide with a shadow of concern for the ginger. "You will damage that leg even more."

Ron looked ta him incredulously. "Did you hear me?" He retorted out. Ron's pale hand clung onto Harry to stay upright, if he didn't, he would've collapsed onto the floor. "You'll have to kill all four of us!"

"Only one will die tonight," a sinister grin coated his face as he looked at all four of them, more specifically at the rat Ron held, although it looked more like he was smiling directly at Harry. Elara was beyond done with him now, her hand covering her mouth as she shook her head. She didn't dare speak up.

"Why's that?" Harry snapped out, still trying to pull all their grips off him. "Didn't care last time, did you? Didn't mind slaughtering all those Muggles to get at Pettigrew... What's the matter, gone soft in Azkaban?"

"Harry!" Hermione whimpered out, trying to pull him back. "Be quiet!

"HE KILLED MY MUM AND DAD!" Harry yelled out in rage, his voice whole with emotions Elara could not pinpoint, he lunged forward at Sirius, anger glinting in his emerald eyes. As soon as he managed to break off their grip, Elara was knocked onto the floor and looked up in shock at the scene. Hermione had come to help her off the floor, but nevertheless she watched as a grown man and a skinny thirteen year old fought. It was something else, Hermione screaming and Ron yelling out, Elara wiped her nose as blood dripped down, sneezing out slightly due to the dust. Her nose wrinkled at the blood covered snot on her palm and wiped it on her jeans.

Sirius' vacant hand had found Harry's throat, bony fingers rumbling around his neck. Slowly, Elara caught on by what everyone meant when they assumed him as bad. He really wasn't helping himself here. "No," he hissed, "I've waited too long -" Harry choked out when they fastened around his neck. In a split second, Hermione swung her foot out, hitting him somewhere not very pleasant, he grunted out letting him go and Ron threw himself onto his wand's hand.

Elara, despite knowing his innocence, decided to take the rocks that were laying in her pocket to good use. They clattered against his face, dropping onto the floor and Sirius looked at her for a moment, his face blank. "Dumb bitch," she reached up and wiped her bloody nose again, more blood dripping down now. If it wasn't for the pile of bodies on top of him, Sirius would've lectured her right then and there about her choice of words.

"Argh!" Luckily Laurie had decided to remain on the bed, purring softly and licking his paws virtuously. He looked peaceful and Elara almost deadpanned at the white cat. However, Crookshanks had decided to sink his claws deep into Harry's arm. The cat darted towards Harry's wand, the boy exclaiming out: "NO YOU DON'T!" He aimed a kick at the cat, immediately knocking it away.

"HARRY!" Elara snapped, her eyes wide with panic as she looked at the boy. "Think about this reasonably!"

The girl tried to get him to just stop, but he wasn't listening. Not when the claimed murderer of his parents was standing right in front of them. "Don't have a go at me about thinking reasonably!" He retorted back. His face was full of fury. "You've been helping him, haven't you?"

Even Hermione looked taken aback, looking up at Elara for answers. She paused for a moment. "Not in the way you're assuming right now," she said, almost quietly. She remained vague and deep in thought as she looked down at her feet. Sirius looked up at her for a split second, Elara thought he'd complete the look by crossing his arms, but he didn't.

"Then what way?" Harry spat. Elara felt sick.

"IF YOU JUST LET ME EXPLAIN!" She huffed out. She would've spoken, had it not been for Harry turning away from her and looking at Hermione and Ron, dismissing her entirely. She counted her heartbeat as it started elevating. One. Two. Three. Four. Five-

"Get out of the way!" Harry shouted at Ron and Hermione, not paying attention to Elara anymore- Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten- Elara watched as they scrambled aside, snatching their Wanda and as Ron collapsed onto the bed, Laurie purring at him. The ginger clutched his leg, face contorting in pain as the white cat nudged his side. Her hand shook slightly as she shook. -Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen.

Elara watched hesitantly, biting her lips nervously. Her lip trembled as she watched on. Hermione immediately went to go pull her aside, interlacing their hands. - Fourteen. Fifteen. Six- "Lara, please," Hermione begged quietly, trying to get the girl to snap out of her deep thought. Elara looked at her, down at their interlocked hands, nodding slightly. She was still shaking, Hermione could feel her trembles and could only look helplessly as she tried to comfort the panic stricken girl.

Rising up and down rapidly, Sirius watched from the bottom of the wall as Harry neared him. Elara's counting was almost in sync with his frantic breathing. She had lost count now. Harry's wand pointed straight at his heart and he couldn't help but laugh, lowly. "Going to kill me, Harry?" he whispered out. Elara watched silently, clenching Hermione's hand as the scene played out in front of them. She was trying to calm herself as she watched on.

"You killed my parents," his wand hand was steady, giving the illusion that he was composed, but the shakiness of his voice portrayed how broken he was.

The dark sullen eyes looked up at Harry, helpless. "I don't deny it," his voice was low, regretful, the group barely hearing it. "But if you knew the whole story-"

"The whole story?" Harry repeated, almost as though Sirius was joking. Elara's hand tightened as she watched on. He was going to regret everything he was about to do unless he listened to him. "You sold them to Voldemort. That's all I need to know."

"Harry you don't realise-" Elara started only for Sirius to interrupt her.

"You've got to listen to me," a flash of urgency was laced in his tone as his sullen eyes darted up at Harry. "You'll regret it if you don't... You don't understand..."

"I understand a lot better than you think," the more they conversed, the more Harry's voice shook. "You never heard her, did you? My mum... trying to stop Voldemort killing me... and you did that... you did it..." Sirius was looked pain stricken as Harry spewed accusations at him unforgivingly. Harry, however, couldn't even continue when a ginger ball leaped onto Sirius' chest, sprawled out over his heart. Elara's eyes widened even more when Laurie also sat besides his face, paws outstretched and licking his dirt ridden face. She couldn't help but think about how extra this all was. They could easily get the whole confrontation over with if he just said 'the rat's Peter Pettigrew' and did a spell which would then expose him. Harry looked at Elara. "El, how could you? I thought you were my friend," his voice was heavy and solemn as he looked at her, teary eyes and all.

"Harry I am your-"

"Then why are you helping him!"

For a moment, they were silent. Elara still had a hand over her mouth as she watched the entire scene play out. Sirius looked up at Laurie and down at Crookshanks. "Get off," he murmured, trying to swat Crookshanks off him and somehow get Laurie to stop licking his face and move away. Both cats remained firmly by him and Hermione gave a sob at the sight of Crookshanks. Elara was no longer quivering now, so she pulled Hermione close as the girl looked hopelessly at the cat she grew to love.

"Harry James Potter I swear if you kill Laurie Theodore Lupin and Crookshanks I will personally murder you myself," she mumbled under her breathe. No one seemed to be paying attention to her though, remaining quiet as a mouse.

For a few moments, everyone was quiet. The only sound echoed in Elara's ear as her heartbeat shuttered. She clenched her eyes shut, her hand gripping more onto Hermione as Harry raised the wand, ready to kill her dad right there in front of her. She tried to form words again, but her throat closed up and words failed her. Was she really about to witness a death that was undeserving? For a moment, everywhere was eerie and the world seemed faded with no other noises, that was until they heard something creaking.

Foot steps.

Elara's eyes filled with realisation. It had to be him. He's the only person who knows how to use it, how to see them and realise where they were. No one else could've seen them, not physically. "WE'RE UP HERE!" Hermione bellowed suddenly. "WE'RE UP HERE - SIRIUS BLACK - QUICK!" Crookshanks' firmness almost dropped when Sirius moved, startled. Harry still held his wand in his grasp, still ready to kill Sirius right there. But he didn't. He couldn't.

Elara's head turned to where the door opened in a shower of crimson. Her papa had come hurtling into the room, face unscathed unlike the rest of them, wand out and steady minded. He looked over and see Elara ( giving a slight sigh at the sight of her ), Hermione, Harry and finally Ron who by far looked the worst out of them all. He looked at where Sirius was, laying bloody and beaten, breathed out at the sight of him and finally casted: "Expelliarmus!" Remus shouted. He caught their wands, staring at Sirius who still was on the floor. For a moment, Elara thought her papa was as oblivious as the rest of them. But an ounce of sadness wavered in his expression and Remus spoke up, his voice tense. "Where is he, Sirius?" She smiled slightly, one eye closed and her hand still rubbing her nose. He knew. Thank fuck for papa being the smart one. For a moment, everyone, excluding Elara, was baffled. The three sorcerers had one collective question: where was who? Who? That's the only question they could ask themselves.

The three became even more perplexed when Sirius' empty hand pointed at Ron, exactly where Pettigrew was. Remus went up to scratch his chin for a moment and thought. "But then..." he mumbled out, staring at Sirius closely. His eyes were wide, suddenly baffled. Elara couldn't help but feel awful for him. Her papa spent years convincing himself that the love of his life was a murderer who was lying all along and now... and now that supposed mass murderer was right in front of you with the actual culprit. It must have been awful to even fathom. "... why hasn't he shown himself before now? Unless" Elara watched as he slowly worked it out."- unless he was the one... unless you switched... without telling me?" Sirius nodded, his eyes filled with guilt as he looked at his partner.

"Professor," Harry interrupted loudly, "what's going on -?" Harry never managed to finish that But he never finished the question, because what he saw made his voice die in his throat. Lupin was lowering his wand, gazing fixed at Black. The Professor walked to Black's side, seized his hand, pulled him to his feet so that Crookshanks fell to the floor and Laurie scurried away, and embraced Sirius warmly. Guilt, pain, but nevertheless they embraced closely, a well awaited embrace, twelve years too late.

Elara would have joined them too, had it not been for Hermione's sudden shrieks. "I DON'T BELIEVE IT!" Hermione yelled out, accusingly. The two turned to her suddenly, Remus' eyes slowly working out what Hermione had worked out months ago. "You - you -"

"Hermione -"

"- you and him and-and El!"

"Hermione, calm down -"

"Hermione -"

"I didn't tell anyone!" Hermione shrieked out, breathing heavily. "I've been covering up for you -"

"Hermione, listen to me, please" Remus yelled out, trying to calm her down. "I can explain -"

"I trusted you," Harry shouted at Remus, his voice wavering, out of control as he breathed in and out in anger. "and all the time you've been with him!" He turned to look at Elara. "And I thought you weren't like him! But turns out you've been helping him all along!"

"Stop jumping to conclusions!" Elara yelled out, looking mainly at Hermione and Harry. "Papa hasn't been helping my dad, but I'm not going to decline my involvement," Remus gave her a quick glance, perplexed. "I will decline my involvement was with ill intentions,"

"Elara's right" Remus nodded. "I haven't been with Sirius, I'm assuming she is telling the truth about how she's been helping him and we are going to have a word about that later, but I am now - Let me explain..." but they didn't let him explain.

"NO!" Hermione screamed out, turning to Harry alarmingly. She had let go of Elara's hand, Elara moving away from her. "Harry, don't trust him, he's been helping Black get into the castle, he wants you dead too - he's a werewolf!"

Elara's eyes were wide, swimming with betrayal as Hermione went back to her unknown prejudices against werewolves. She knew it was unintentional, everyone always assumed werewolves were untrustworthy, it still stung. 'El- I'm so sorry, I wasn't thinking,' Was Hermione thinking now? Was she really thinking now? "Hermione! Why does that relate to this?" She yelled out, breathing heavily as she looked at her.

Hermione couldn't even answer Elara, refusing to even meet her bold brown eyes that pierced her curiously. Silence consumed the room as they all waited for someone to speak up. Everyone's eyes were now on Remus, remaining calm as he breathed out and in. Remus, shocked by Elara's sudden outburst at her best friend, turned to look at her with a pale face, yet his expression remained relaxed. "Not at all up to your usual standard, Hermione," he remarked. "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." He grimaced slightly at the mere thought of committing murder against Harry. "But I won't deny that I am a werewolf and I'd also like to know how Elara's involved with all this ." He gave his daughter a glance.

Elara put her hands up in surrender. "Shocker I know," she laughed out, but stopped laughing when Remus gave her a stern glance. "Okay, okay, can we maybe talk about this when Harold dearest isn't trying to kill father of the year?"

Remus nodded at her and turned his attention onto Ron, who tried getting up, only to collapse onto the ground. Right before he could help him up, Ron breathed out. "Get away from me, werewolf!"

"RONALD DON'T MAKE ME SMACK YOU-" Elara paused for a moment, composing herself slightly as Sirius gave her a glance. "Oh don't look at me like that!"

Ignoring her, Remus turned his attention onto Hermione again. "How long have you known?" He inquired, looking curiously at the bushy haired witch.

"Ages," Hermione whispered out, her voice small and yet so loud at the same time. Everyone looked at her curiously for an answer. "Since I did Professor Snape's essay..."

"He'll be delighted," Remus replied coolly, lips pressed together as he looked at Hermione. "He assigned that essay hoping someone would realize what my symptoms meant... Did you check the lunar chart and realize that I was always ill at the full moon? Or did you go to Elara for answers? She's an awful liar sometimes," Elara huffed out, the man laughed stiffly at her response to that. "Or did you realise that the Boggart changed into the moon when it saw me?"

"All of them," Hermione inaudibly admitted.

A forced laugh escaped the back of Remus' throat as he looked at the witch. "You're the cleverest witch of your age I've ever met, Hermione."

"I'm not," Hermione admitted. "If I'd been a bit cleverer, I'd have told everyone what you are!"

"Hermione!" Elara gasped out again. "Don't make me knock some sense into you! Your face is far too pretty to be smacked!" Hermione almost blushed at her words, but focused intensely on Elara's papa. Elara thought this all was ridiculous. Their only evidence of her papa actually helping Sirius was that he was a werewolf. Awful, biased, what a bunch of bullshit. As much as Elara loved Hermione, she also wished she'd rewrite all her explanations and avoid the bias and prejudice. It was not a good look.

"But they already know," said Remus. "At least, the staff do."

"Dumbledore hired you when he knew you were a werewolf," Ron gasped out. "Is he mad?"

"Very mad," Elara spoke up. "Ronald, the man's loony I tell you, absolutely bananas," she said in a hushed voice. Everyone gave her a look. "Okay maybe it's not the time- can't help it when I feel slightly anxious," she ringed her hands slightly and then sneezed out. "Bloody hell, why does this dust have to make me so sneezy?" She asked rhetorically. Everyone got her tone, considering how they didn't even reply to her.

After Elara's moment of interruption, Remus steered the conversation back to where it was and answered Ron's question. "Some of the staff thought so," he replied shortly. "He had to work very hard to convince certain teachers that I'm trustworthy -"

"AND HE WAS WRONG!" Harry yelled out. "YOU'VE BEEN HELPING HIM ALL THE TIME!" He pointed at Sirius. His attention went back to Elara. "AND SHE'S JUST LIKE HIM- A LIAR AND A BACKSTABBER!"

Those words stung. They stung so much. "Harry think logically, if you can that is," Elara's voice rang out. "Who is the other person your dad and my dads were friends with?" Harry, however didn't catch on. His finger was still pointed at Sirius, who staggered towards the bed and sat down, shaking slightly. Ron steered far away from him, painfully grunting as he dragged his leg. "You okay dad?"

"Peachy poppet," Sirius rasped out, stroking Crookshanks' fur in a soothing way. Laurie had now moved towards him and purred by his side along with Crookshanks.

"I have not been helping Sirius," Remus started. "If you'll give me a chance, I'll explain. Look -" tossing Harry, Hermione and Ron back their wands, he started again. "There," he said, placing his own wand back into his belt and looking at the three teens. "You're armed, we're not. Now will you listen?"

"If you haven't been helping him," he glanced angrily at Sirius for a moment and then averted his gaze onto Remus again. "how did you know he was here?"

"The map," Remus replied immediately. "The Marauder's Map. I was in my office examining it -"

"You know how to work it?" Harry blurted out again.

"Of course I know how to work it," Remus said, rolling his eyes and waving his hand impatiently at the Gryffindor. He continued casually. "I helped write it. I'm Moony - that was my friends' nickname for me at school."

"You wrote -?"

"The important thing is," Remus brought the conversation back to where it needed to me. "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 Hagrid before his Hippogriff was executed. And I was right, wasn't I?"

"Sadly," Elara shuttered at the thought of the poor Hippogriff. She looked down at her feet. Hermione had moved besides her and took her hand into hers once again, rubbing circles in her palms soothingly. Throughout this whole confrontation, Elara had been uptight and altogether hated it so so much. Hermione's touch calmed her down.

Remus had started pacing up and down, looking at them all. As he continued walking, dust rose from the old floor and Elara immediately sneezed out. "Bless you," he said in response to her sneezing and then went back on topic. "You might have been wearing your father's old cloak, Harry-"

"How do you know about the cloak?"

"The number of times I saw James disappearing under it..." he thought nostalgically about all the times James would disappear under the cloak for some fun, for a moment he remained deep in thought about those fun nights spent under the cloak. He dismissed his thoughts and went back to the explanation. "The point is, even if you're wearing an Invisibility Cloak, you still 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 toward the castle. But you were now accompanied by somebody else."

"What?" Harry looked at him with disbelief in his eyes. He counted four people, there weren't anyone else with them. "No, we weren't!"

"I couldn't believe my eyes," he ignored Harry's splutters of confusion and continued his anxious pacing. "I thought the map must be malfunctioning. How could he be with you?"

"No one was with us!" Objected Harry immediately.

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

"One of us!" Ron said angrily.

"No Ronald, deux, numbero dos," she held two fingers at the boy.

"I know what 'two' is!" Ron exclaimed at Elara.

"Oh really?"

"Yes really,"

"Elara, stop," Remus looked at her for a moment, his arms crossed at her pouting face and then turned to Ron. "Do you think I could have a look at the rat?" he asked quietly, trying to sound calmer than he felt as he should be.

"What?" Asked Ron, dumbfounded. "What's Scabbers got to do with it?"

"Everything," he said, swallowing slightly. "Could I see him, please?" Hesitant for a split second, Ron reached inside his robes, revealing the rat to Remus. Thrashing and squeaking hectically, he dangled in front of Ron from his worm like tail. Immediately at the sight of Pettigrew, Crookshanks stood and hissed at him.

Moving closer, Remus held the hope that Sirius was right. He stared intensely at the rat for a moment and then let out a breathe, a relieved sigh. "What?" Ron said again, holding Scabbers close to him, looking scared. "What's my rat got to do with anything?"

"That's not a rat," Sirius spoke up immediately.

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

"Ron by that default then my dad's a dog," She said softly. She gave him a sympathetic smile. "He's an animagus,"

"Elara's right," Sirius nodded his head, still proud, even months later, at his daughter for realising before anyone else. "by the name of Peter Pettigrew."

For a few seconds, everyone was quiet. And then voices started objecting:

"You're all mental."

"Ridiculous!" Hermione exclaimed in disbelief.

"Peter Pettigrew's dead!" Stated Harry, certain that he was correct and that they were all incorrect. "He killed him twelve years ago!" He pointed at Sirius still in anger.

"I meant to," Sirius snarled out, his face customised with a scowl. "but little Peter got the better of me... not this time, though!" He got up and lunged at Scabbers, collapsing onto Ron's leg as the ginger screamed out in pain.
.
"Sirius, NO!" Remus yelled, jumping forward and dragging Sirius away from Ron again. He looked at him sternly. "WAIT! You can't do it just like that - they need to understand - we've got to explain -"

"We can explain afterwards!" He tried to throw Remus off.

Elara walked towards them, his eyes wide and her face expressionless. "How exactly do you propose we explain to the ministry about a dead man who was suppose to have died twelve years ago? Did you think of that dad or do you serious-" she glared at him when he gave a slight smile. "-seriously think they'll be on their merry way when they see a mass murderer commit an actual murder?"

"At least then I'd be imprisoned for a crime I did commit," Sirius mumbled out, slightly pouting. He still tried to break free from her papa's grasp.

"They've - got - a - right - to - know - everything!" He panted out as Sirius tried breaking free, "Ron's kept him as a pet! There are parts of it even I don't understand, and Harry - you owe Harry the truth, Sirius!"

He finally stopped struggling, hollowed eyes baring into Scabbers as he was held tightly in Ron's wounded hands. "All right, then," his eyes never left Pettigrew. "Tell them whatever you like. But make it quick, Remus. I want to commit the murder I was imprisoned for..."

"You're nutters, all of you," said Ron shakily, looking round at Harry and Hermione for support. "I've had enough of this. I'm off." He tried to heave himself up on his good leg, but Lupin raised his wand again, pointing it at Scabbers.

Elara sighed out, tapping her feet on the ground in a rhythm. "Ron we aren't nutters, we just have common sense and worked it out," Elara quipped, looking at the ginger.

"You're going to hear me out, Ron," he said quietly. "Just keep a tight hold on Peter while you listen."

"HE'S NOT PETER, HE'S SCABBERS!" Ron yelled, trying to force the rat back into his front pocket, but Scabbers was fighting too hard; Ron swayed and overbalanced, and Harry caught him am pushed him back down to the bed. Then, ignoring Black, Harry turned to Lupin.

"There were witnesses who saw Pettigrew die," he said. "A whole street full of them..."

"They didn't see what they thought they saw!" he watched with disgust as the rat continued to flounder in Ron's grasp.

"Everyone thought Sirius killed Peter," Remus nodded. "I believed it myself - until I saw the map tonight. Because the Marauder's map never lies... Peter's alive. Ron's holding him, Harry."
Elara doubted the three were believing them. Their expressions told it all. They must have thought they were insane. If they didn't listen now, she doubted they'd ever want to talk to her again.

For a moment, Elara took their silence as the answer. They didn't believe them, they never would try and listen. Elara's head hung low as she looked down at her feet. She just hoped they would listen. Then, Hermione spoke up. "But Professor Lupin... Scabbers can't be Pettigrew... it just can't be true, you know it can't..."

"Hermione, we go to magic school, anything is possible," Elara breathed out, looking at her with a smile. That smile disappeared from her face when Hermione did not return the smile.

"Why can't it be true?" He said it so casually as if they were doing something that didn't involve an accused mass murderer who had broken out of Azkaban.

"Because... because people would know if Peter Pettigrew had been an Animagus. We did Animagi in class with Professor McGonagall. And I looked them up when I did my homework - the Ministry of Magic keeps tabs on witches and wizards who can become animals; there's a register showing what animal they become, and their markings and things... and I went and looked Professor McGonagall up on the register, and there have been only seven Animagi this century, and Pettigrew's name wasn't on the list." She tried to reason, Elara had pressed her hand against her mouth to quiet her laughs as she thought about how much Hermione sounded like Morgan.

Remus seemed to also get the idea and laughed as well. "Right again, Hermione!" he started. "But the Ministry never knew that here used to be three unregistered Animagi running around Hogwarts."

"If you're going to tell them the story, get a move on, Remus, Poppet," Sirius said impatiently, watching Pettigrew's squealing and desperate clawing. "I've waited twelve years, I'm not going to wait much longer."

"Hermione, think about this carefully, my dad - Sirius - is a dog animagus," she started off slowly. "Was his name on the registration?" Hermione shook her head. A small smile crossed her face. "I thought so," Just as she finished, a large creak resonated throughout the room, almost as though it bounced off the walls, and everyone turned to the door where it had opened. Only, they saw nothing. Elara couldn't help but think how odd this was, considering how the door was firmly shut. She picked up a rock that laid on the ground and threw it towards the door, not hearing anyone groan out in pain so she shrugged.

"No one there..."

"This place is haunted!" Ron pointed furiously at the door, his face white and his eyes alert.

"It's not," Remus told them, his eyes still looking at the door in confusion. "The Shrieking Shack was never haunted... The screams and howls the villagers used to hear were made by me." He thought for a moment, pushing some hair out of his eyes and then continuing, "That's where all of this starts - with my becoming a werewolf. None of this could have happened if I hadn't been bitter... and if I hadn't been so foolhardy..."

Just as Ron tried to interrupt, Elara looked towards him. "Don't. You. Dare," she said quietly as she watched her papa continue with his tale. She had heard this tale all to many times. Late night stories filled with glee and carelessness yet ending in a tragedy. However, unlike tonight, those stories always ended with the perfidies of a man who was a lover, a father, a brother, an uncle. Tonight, the story would be changed in the witness of the two original storytellers, their child and her friends.

"I as a very small boy when I received the bite. My parents tried everything, but in those days there was no cure. The potion that Professor Snape has been making for me is a very recent discovery. It makes me safe, you see. As long as I take it in the week, preceding the full moon, I keep my mind when I transform... I'm able to curl up in my office, a harmless wolf, and wait for the moon to wane again," he breathed out, collecting all his thoughts and pouring them out endlessly to the group of teens. "Before the Wolfsbane Potion was discovered, however, I became a fully fledged monster once a month. It seemed impossible that I would be able to come to Hogwarts. Other parents weren't likely to want their children exposed to me," he looked down sadly, almost looking at Elara who was picking her nails anxiously as she listened to the story. She knew it all too well, she had heard it so many times that her hands and feet couldn't hold the amount of times she had heard it.

"But then Dumbledore became Headmaster, and he was sympathetic. He said that as long as we took certain precautions, there was no reason I shouldn't come to school..." he was now watching Harry intensely. "I told you, months ago, that the Whomping Willow was planted the year I came to Hogwarts. The truth is that it was planted because I came to Hogwarts. This house," he looked around distastefully at the house he had spent so many times in pain at, "the tunnel that leads to it - they were built for my use. Once a month, I was smuggled out of the castle, into this place, to transform. The tree was placed at the tunnel mouth to stop anyone coming across me while I was dangerous." The room would have been silent, had it not been for Pettigrew's squeaks. Elara's eyes watched as Harry took the story in. She could only hope that he'd realise that they were being honest to him and everyone else. "My transformations in those days were - were terrible. It is very painful to turn into a werewolf. I was separated from humans to bite, so I bit and scratched myself instead. The villagers heard the noise and the screaming and thought they were hearing particularly violent spirits. Dumbledore encouraged the rumour ... Even now, when the house has been silent for years, the villagers don't dare approach it... But apart from my transformations, I was happier than I had ever been in my life. For the first time ever, I had friends, three great friends. Sirius Black... Peter Pettigrew... and, of course, your father, Harry - James Potter." He looked at Harry fondly at the mention of Prongs, "Now, my three friends could hardly fail to notice that I disappeared once a month. I made up all sorts of stories. I told them my mother was ill, and that I had to go home to see her... I was terrified they would desert me the moment they found out what I was. But of course, they, like you, Hermione, worked out the truth..."

As Remus continued his story, Elara couldn't help about how awful it must have been. He was hiding a life from everyone, putting a mask on and pretending to be normal. All those scars he had were dismissed. All the days he couldn't get out of bed because of his exhaustion were played off as though he had simply stayed up a bit too late. He had to lie about everything and intended on lying until the end. Elara knew the whole story all too well. How they bravely risked permanent damage to their bodies for a friend, how they used their knowledge to work out how to help his transformations.

She was still caught up In her thoughts for a while, that was until Hermione had exclaimed out. "That was still really dangerous! Running around in the dark with a werewolf! What if you'd given the others the slip, and bitten somebody?" Elara would've interrupted but Remus spoke out almost immediately.

"A thought that still haunts me," he breathed out deeply . "And there were near misses, many of them. We laughed about them afterwards. We were young, thoughtless - carried away with our own cleverness. I sometimes felt guilty about betraying Dumbledore's trust, of course... he had admitted me to Hogwarts when no other headmaster would have done so, and he had no idea I was breaking the rules he had set down for my own and others' safety. He never knew I had led three fellow students into becoming Animagi illegally. But I always managed to forget my guilty feelings every time we sat down to plan our next month's adventure. And I haven't changed..."

Elara's eyes softened as she looked closely at him. "All this year, I have been battling with myself, wondering whether I should tell Dumbledore that Sirius was an Animagus. But I didn't do it. Why? Because I was too cowardly. It would have meant admitting that I'd betrayed his trust while I was at school, admitting that I'd led others along with me... and Dumbledore's trust has meant everything to me. He let me into Hogwarts as a boy, and he gave me a job when I have been shunned all my adult life, unable to find paid work or even help my daughter have a proper childhood, all because of what I am. And so I convinced myself that Sirius was getting into the school using dark arts he learned from Voldemort," Elara shuttered at the hearing of his name, she hated the name so much. So much pain and anguish came from that name and it still haunted them to this day. "-that being an Animagus had nothing to do with it... so, in a way, Snape's been right about me all along."

"Snape?" Sirius spoke up, his eyes fixing off Scabbers and looked up at Remus for an answer. "What's Snape got to do with it?"

"He's here, Sirius," Remus explained. "He's teaching here as well." He looked over at Elara, Harry, Hermione and Ron and elaborated. "Professor Snape was at school with us. He fought very hard against my appointment to the Defence Against the Dark Arts job,"

Elara interrupted. "Of course he did," she snorted out. She acknowledged just how much he hated her papa, that glint of envy and hatred shone so brightly in his inky, resentful gaze. "The greasy bat's been wanting the job for years, you know that don't you Papa?"

Remus nodded and then continued, explaining more and more to Sirius in particular. "He has been telling Dumbledore all year that I am not to be trusted. He has his reasons... you see, Sirius here played a trick on him which nearly killed him, a trick which involved me -"

Sirius gave his own input. "It served him right," he sneered out, thinking about Snape distastefully. "Sneaking around, trying to find out what we were up to... hoping he could get us expelled..." he thought more and more about those days, about the prank specifically and felt regretful at his past actions. He couldn't care less though, he focused more on what Remus was saying.

Remus massaged his temples for a moment and finally provided an explanation to somewhat justify the professor's previous actions. "Severus was very interested in where I went every month. We were in the same year, you know, and we - er - didn't like each other very much. He especially disliked James. Jealous, I think, of James's talent on the Quidditch field... anyway Snape had seen me crossing the grounds with Madam Pomfrey one evening as she led me toward the Whomping Willow to transform. Sirius thought it would be - er - " he struggled to find a word to accurately describe her dad's previous foolishness. "- amusing, to tell Snape all he had to do was prod the knot on the tree trunk with a long stick, and he'd be able to get in after me. Well, of course, Snape tried it - if he'd got as far as this house, he'd have met a fully grown werewolf - but your father, who'd heard what Sirius had done, went after Snape and pulled him back, at great risk to his life... Snape glimpsed me, though, at the end of the tunnel. He was forbidden by Dumbledore to tell anybody, but from that time on he knew what I was..."

"So that's why Snape doesn't like you," Harry slowly said, trying to correctly comprehend it all. "because he thought you were in on the joke?"

Now, Elara always knew there was so something suspicious when that door opened. She overthought a lot, especially when she heard a hiss. Although, she just assumed she was being dramatic like she always was. She had many unheard theories, she just prayed they were all incorrect. But when she turned and saw her potions teacher with his wand pointed at her papa, she knew she was correct and stared eyes wide at Snape who sneered their way.

They, in the kindest way possible, were fucked.

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OKAY SO MANY THIS CHAPTER WAS INCREASINGLY LONG - MAYBE I MADE HARRY A BIT OF AN ASS WITH HIM ASSUMING ELARA WASN'T GOOD BUT LIKE WHAT DID WE EXPECT?

I also reached 9k yesterday and I am so so grateful. Like I never expected this story to even get over 2k, but here I am with nearly 10k- I love each and every one of you and the comments and votes you all give me mean the world to me.

If you see any errors, please don't point them out. In the rewriting process, I will edit them out so like it's okay.

AND WE ARE ALSO NEARING THE END OF ACT ONE- The next act will be like a summer segment that will be pretty short but some of the chapters there will be increasingly important to Elara's plot line-

IM READING GOF AND I ONLY JUST REALISED THAT IM GETTING CLOSER AND CLOSER TO CEDRIC'S DEATH AND JAMES AND LILY'S GHOSTY THINGIES- SO ILL CRY-

I LOVE YOU ALL xx