⚡︎
┄┄ .•* 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏𝟔 *•. ┄

𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒔, 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒔, 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒔

────── *•. ⚡︎ .•*──────

With a snap, the man in the shadows closed the door behind them.

A mass of filthy, matted hair hung to his elbows. If eyes hadn't been shining out of the deep, dark sockets, he might have been a corpse. The waxy skin was stretched so tightly over the bones of his face, it looked like a skull. His yellow teeth were bared in a grin. It was Sirius Black. And Hermione couldn't roll her eyes anymore or they'd get stuck.

"Expelliarmus!" Sirius croaked, pointing Ron's wand at them.

Harry's and Hermione's wands shot out of their hands, high in the air, and Black caught them. Then he took a step closer. His eyes were fixed on Harry.

"I thought you'd come and help your friend," he said hoarsely.

His voice sounded as though he had long since lost the habit of using it. "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. . . ."

Harry tried to line at him but Ron and Hermione caught him before he'd make a fool of himself; Ron, however, spoke to Black.

"If you want to kill Harry, you'll have to kill us too!" he said fiercely, though the effort of standing upright was draining him of still more color, and he swayed slightly as he spoke.

Something flickered in Black's shadowed eyes.

"Lie down," he said quietly to Ron. "You will damage that leg even more."

"Did you hear me?" Ron said weakly, though he was clinging painfully to Harry to stay upright. "You'll have to kill all three of us!"

"There'll be only one murder here tonight," said Black, and his grin widened.

"Why's that?" Harry spat, trying to wrench himself free of Ron, and Hermione. "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?"

"Come on," Hermione groaned. "Quit the dramatics!"

"HE KILLED MY MUM AND DAD!" Harry roared, and with a huge effort, he broke free of Hermione's and Ron's restraint and lunged forward—

Perhaps it was the shock of Harry doing something so stupid, but Black didn't raise the wands in time—one of Harry's hands fastened over his wasted wrist, forcing the wand tips away; the knuckles of Harry's other hand collided with the side of Black's head and they fell, backward, into the wall—

"OK! LET'S CALM DOWN PEOPLE!" Hermione said through the sonorous charm and they immediately looked at her—Harry still pinning Sirius to the wall.

"Now," Hermione began. "Harry, please let go of your godfather. Sirius, please stop with the dramatics, you're making yourself look guilty. Ron stop yelling and moving. Your leg."

As she finished her little speech Harry and Ron were looking at her like she grew a disgusting head.

But Black's free hand had found Harry's throat "No," he hissed, "I've waited too long —"

The fingers tightened, Harry choked, his glasses askew.

Hermione rolled her eyes and wandlessly levitated Black from Harry and put him on the four-poster. She then levitated Harry next to Ron.

But Harry had enough. He went to grab his wand from the floor and walked to Sirius. His thin chest rose and fell rapidly as he watched Harry walking slowly nearer, his wand pointing straight at Black's heart—Click! Hermione took a picture causing Harry to frown at her and go back to the task in his hands.

"Going to kill me, Harry?" he whispered.

"You killed my parents," said Harry, his voice shaking slightly, but his wand hand quite steady.

Black stared up at him out of those sunken eyes.

"I don't deny it," he said very quietly. "But if you knew the whole story."

"The whole story?" Harry repeated. "You sold them to Voldemort. That's all I need to know."

"You've got to listen to me," Black said, and there was a note of urgency in his voice now. "You'll regret it if you don't. . . . You don't understand. . . ."

"I understand a lot better than you think," said Harry, and his voice shook more than ever. "You never heard her, did you? My mum. . . . trying to stop Voldemort killing me. . . . and you did that. . . . you did it. . . ."

Before either of them could say another word, something ginger streaked past Harry; Crookshanks leaped onto Black's chest and settled himself there, right over Black's heart.

Hermione was gaping at all their dramatics.

Black blinked and looked down at the cat. "Get off," he murmured, trying to push Crookshanks off him.

"Crooks! Get out!" Hermione sighed but Crookshanks sank his claws into Black's robes and wouldn't shift. He turned his ugly, squashed face to Harry and looked up at him with those great yellow eyes.

Harry stared down at Black and Crookshanks, his grip tightening on the wand.

Harry raised the wand.

"Oh no, you don't," Hermione snapped and disarmed Harry wandlessly. "Now let's not kill my cat. Nor Padfoot, please."

"Padfoot?" Harry choked and Hermione rolled her eyes. That's when muffled footsteps echoed through the floor downstairs.

"UP HERE!" Ron shouted looking with hatred at Hermione, "WE'RE HERE!"

Black made a startled movement that almost dislodged Crookshanks; but the door of the room burst open in a shower of red sparks and they wheeled around as Professor Lupin came hurtling into the room, his face bloodless, his wand raised and ready.

His eyes flickered over Ron, lying on the floor, over Hermione, arms crossed in front of herm looking at the scene bored—her camera around her neck—, to Harry, standing there with his wand hand pointed at Black—still—with no wand.

"Expelliarmus!" Lupin shouted. All the wands in the room shot out as Lupin pointed at them and Lupin caught them all deftly, then moved into the room, staring at Black, who still had Crookshanks lying protectively across his chest.

Then Lupin spoke, in a very tense voice. "Where is he, Sirius?"

Black's face was quite expressionless. For a few seconds, he didn't move at all. Then, very slowly, he raised his empty hand and pointed straight at Ron.

"But then. . . ." Lupin muttered, staring at Black so intently it seemed he was trying to read his mind, ". . . . why hasn't he shown himself before now? Unless" — Lupin's eyes suddenly widened, as though he was seeing something beyond Black, something none of the rest could see—and Hermione took a picture, "— unless he was the one. . . . unless you switched. . . . without telling me?"

Very slowly, his sunken gaze never leaving Lupin's face, Black nodded.

"Professor," Harry interrupted loudly, "what's going on—?"

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 embraced Black like a brother—Click! another picture.

"Are we done with the dramatics now?" Hermione asked and they all looked at her.

"Perfect!" She clapped, "Now calm down, Harold, Sirius is innocent. I know, I know, don't look at me like that. Let them tell the story," Hermione said with a pointed look at Lupin, "Including your furry little problem."

Lupin let go of Black and turned to her. "How long have you known?"

"Since forever." Hermione shrugged.

"Did you check the lunar chart and realize that I was always ill at the full moon? Or did you realize that the Boggart changed into the moon when it saw me?"

"Neither. Too lazy for the chart and too distracted to notice." Hermione grinned.

"Then how?"

"The scratches and your name for a start. Lupin means wolf. And Remus comes from Roman Mythology. Romulus and Remus. Raised by wolves. It's pretty self-explanatory," Hermione said with a deadpan look. "Your name is basically Wolfy McWerewolf."

Lupin gaped at her, looking at Sirius with a look Hermione couldn't recognize, and Sirius, the same look on his face, was laughing.

"Don't go laughing Pads. Sirius is the Dog star. Dog Black. Seriously?" she asked and that shut him up.

Ron and Harry, we're gaping at her.

"You're the cleverest witch of your age I've ever met, Hermione."

"I'm not," Hermione snorted. "I just know stuff."

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

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

"AND HE WAS WRONG!" Harry yelled. "YOU'VE BEEN HELPING HIM ALL THE TIME!"

"I have not been helping Sirius," said Lupin. "If you'll give me a chance, I'll explain. Look—"

He separated Harry's, Ron's, and Hermione's wands and threw each back to its owner "There," said Lupin, sticking his own wand back into his belt "You're armed, we're not. Now, will you listen?"

"If you haven't been helping him," he said, with a furious glance at Black, "how did you know he was here?"

"The map," said Lupin. "The Marauder's Map. I was in my office examining it—"

"You know how to work it?" Harry said suspiciously.

"He created it," Hermione deadpanned and Lupin and Sirius nodded.

"So, of course, I know how to work it," said Lupin, waving his hand impatiently. "I helped write it. I'm Moony—that was my friends' nickname for me at school."

"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 Hagrid before his Hippogriff was executed. And I was right, wasn't I?"

He had started to pace up and down, looking at them. Little patches of dust rose at his feet. "You might have been wearing your father's old cloak, Harry—"

"How d'you know about the cloak?"

"The number of times I saw James disappearing under it..." said Lupin, waving an impatient hand again. "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?" said Harry. "No, we weren't!"

"Yes, we were," Hermione said mind glaring at the rat.

"I couldn't believe my eyes," said Lupin, still pacing, and ignoring Harry's interruption. "I thought the map must be malfunctioning. How could he be with you?"

"No one was with us!" said Harry and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"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, Ron," said Lupin. "Two of you."

He had stopped his pacing, his eyes moving over Ron.

"Do you think I could have a look at the rat?" he said evenly.

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

"Everything," said Lupin. "Could I see him, please?"

Ron hesitated, then put a hand inside his robes. Scabbers emerged, thrashing desperately; Ron had to seize his long bald tail to stop him from escaping. Crookshanks stood up on Black's leg and made a soft hissing noise along with Hermione who was glaring at it.

Lupin moved closer to Ron. He seemed to be holding his breath as he gazed intently at Scabbers.

"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," croaked Sirius Black suddenly.

"Debatable," Hermione muttered and Sirius cracked a genuine grin maybe for the first time in that night.

"What d'you mean—of course he's a rat—"

"No, he's not," said Lupin quietly. "He's a wizard."

"An Animagus," said Black, "by the name of Peter Pettigrew."

It took a few seconds for the absurdity of this statement to sink in. Then Ron voiced what Harry was thinking."You're both mental."

"Peter Pettigrew's dead!" said Harry. "He killed him twelve years ago!"

He pointed at Black, whose face twitched convulsively.

"I meant to," he growled, his yellow teeth bared, "but little Peter got the better of me. . . . not this time, though!"

And Crookshanks was thrown to the floor as Black lunged at Scabbers; Ron yelled with pain as Black's weight fell on his broken leg.

"MY CaAat!" Hermione whined.

"Sirius, NO!" Lupin yelled, launching himself forwards and dragging Black away from Ron again, "WAIT! You can't do it just like that—they need to understand—we've got to explain—"

"We can explain afterwards!" snarled Black, trying to throw Lupin off.

One hand was still clawing the air as it tried to reach Scabbers, who was squealing like a piglet, scratching Ron's face and neck as he tried to escape.

"They've—got—a—right—to—know—everything!" Lupin panted, still trying to restrain Black. "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!"

Black stopped struggling, though his hollowed eyes were still fixed on Scabbers, who was clamped tightly under Ron's bitten, scratched, and bleeding hands.

"All right, then," Black said, without taking his eyes off the rat. "Tell them whatever you like. But make it quick, Remus. I want to commit the murder I was imprisoned for. . . ."

"You're nutters, all three of you," said Ron shakily, looking round at Harry 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.

"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 his arm and 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!" said Black savagely, still watching Scabbers struggling in Ron's hands.

"Everyone thought Sirius killed Peter," said Lupin, nodding. "I believed it myself—I started doubting it after Hermione's speech—"

"What speech?" Sirius asked.

"I told him he was dafter than he looked," Hermione told him and he nodded in understanding.

Lupin glared at them and continued "—And then, I saw the map tonight. Because the Marauder's map never lies. . . . Peter's alive. Ron's holding him, Harry."

Hermione saw as Harry and Ron exchanged a glance that said, they're out of their minds. She rolled her eyes and said, "Look, they're telling the truth, Harry. Your dad, Sirius, and the rat decided to turn into Animagi to be with Remy on the full moon."

"Right again, Hermione!" Lupin smiled proudly at her, while Sirius' eyes flickered with an emotion Hermione couldn't really understand. "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," said Black, who was still watching Scabbers's every desperate move. "I've waited twelve years, I'm not going to wait much longer."

"All right. . . . but you'll need to help me, Sirius," said Lupin, "I only know how it began. . . ." Lupin broke off.

There had been a loud creak behind him. The bedroom door had opened of its own accord. All five of them stared at it, Hermione stared right at Snivellous face—probably. Then Lupin strode toward it and looked out into the landing.

"No one there. . . ."

"This place is haunted!" said Ron and Hermione started laughing which made the boys look at her weirdly, while Lupin looked puzzled at the door and Sirius smiled slightly.

"It's not," said Lupin. "The Shrieking Shack was never haunted. . . . The screams and howls the villagers used to hear were made by me."

He pushed his graying hair out of his eyes, thought for a moment then said, "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. . . ."

He looked sober and tired. Ron started to interrupt, but Hermione kicked him in the shin making him yelp but shut up.

"I was a very small boy when I received the bite. My parents tried everything, but in those days there was no cure. The potion that I have been taking, 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.

"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.

"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. . . ." Lupin sighed and looked directly at Harry. "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" — Lupin looked miserably around the room, — "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."

"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 rumor. . . . 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.

"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. . . ."

"Not like me. Believe me," Hermione muttered.

"And they didn't desert me at all. Instead, they did something for me that would make my transformations not only bearable but the best times of my life. They became Animagi."

"My dad too?" said Harry, astounded.

"What did I just tell you?" Hermione asked in exasperation.

"Yes, indeed," said Lupin. "It took them the best part of three years to work out how to do it. Your father and Sirius here were the cleverest students in the school, and lucky they were because the Animagus transformation can go horribly wrong—one reason the Ministry keeps a close watch on those attempting to do it. Peter needed all the help he could get from James and Sirius. Finally, in our fifth year, they managed it. They could each turn into a different animal at will."

"They couldn't keep me company as humans, so they kept me company as animals," said Lupin. "A werewolf is only a danger to people. They sneaked out of the castle every month under James's Invisibility Cloak. They transformed. . . . Peter, as the smallest, could slip beneath the Willow's attacking branches and touch the knot that freezes it. They would then slip down the tunnel and join me. Under their influence, I became less dangerous. My body was still wolfish, but my mind seemed to become less so while I was with them."

"Hurry up, Remus," snarled Black, who was still watching Scabbers with a horrible sort of hunger on his face.

"I'm getting there, Sirius, I'm getting there. . . . well, highly exciting possibilities were open to us now that we could all transform. Soon we were leaving the Shrieking Shack and roaming the school grounds and the village by night. Sirius and James transformed into such large animals, they were able to keep a werewolf in check. I doubt whether any Hogwarts students ever found out more about the Hogwarts grounds and Hogsmeade than we did—"

"I think the year below had a group—" Sirius started but Remus cut him off.

"—And that's how we came to write the Marauder's Map, and sign it with our nicknames. Sirius is Padfoot. Peter is Wormtail. James was Prongs."

"What sort of animal—?" Harry began, but Hermione cut him off.

"A stag. Now shut it, Prongslet," Hermione said sternly and Harry shut up.

"But it was still dangerous. A thought that still haunts me," said Lupin heavily. "And there were near misses, many of them. We laughed about them afterward. 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. . . ."

Lupin's face had hardened, and there was self-disgust in his voice. "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 because of what I am. And so I convinced myself that Sirius was getting into the school using dark arts he learned from Voldemort, that being an Animagus had nothing to do with it. . . . so, in a way, Snape's been right about me all along."

"Snape?" said Black harshly, taking his eyes off Scabbers; for the first time in minutes and looking up at Lupin. "Snape, is the one brewing you the Wolfsbane?"

"He's here, Sirius," said Lupin heavily. "He's teaching here as well."

"I know that," Sirius said waving him off—Hermione had already told him.

Lupin looked up at Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "Professor Snape was at school with us. He fought very hard against my appointment to the Defense Against the Dark Arts job. 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—"

Black made a derisive noise. "It served him right," he sneered. "Sneaking around, trying to find out what we were up to. . . . hoping he could get us expelled. . . ."

"Severus was very interested in where I went every month," Lupin told Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "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—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," said Harry slowly, "because he thought you were in on the joke?"

"That's right," sneered a cold voice from the wall behind Lupin.

Severus Snape was pulling off the Invisibility Cloak, his wand pointing directly at Lupin—Hermione rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time that night.

Sirius leaped to his feet.

"I found this at the base of the Whomping Willow," said Snape, throwing the cloak aside, careful to keep this wand pointing directly at Lupin's chest. "Very useful, Potter, I thank you. . . ."

Snape was slightly breathless, but his face was full of suppressed triumph.

"You're wondering, perhaps, how I knew you were here?" he said, his eyes glittering. "I've just been to your office, Lupin. You forgot to take your potion tonight, so I took a gobletful along. And very lucky I did. . . . lucky for me, I mean. Lying on your desk was a certain map. One glance at it told me all I needed to know. I saw you running along this passageway and out of sight."

"Severus—" Lupin began, but Snape overrode him.

"I've told the headmaster again and again that you're helping your old friend Black into the castle, Lupin, and here's the proof. Not even I dreamed you would have the nerve to use this old place as your hideout—"

"Severus, you're making a mistake," said Lupin urgently. "You haven't heard everything—I can explain—Sirius is not here to kill Harry—"

"Two more for Azkaban tonight," said Snape, his eyes now gleaming fanatically. "I shall be interested to see how Dumbledore takes this. . . .. He was quite convinced you were harmless, you know, Lupin. . . . a tame werewolf —"

"You fool," said Lupin softly. "Is a schoolboy grudge worth putting an innocent man back inside Azkaban?"

BANG!

Thin, snakelike cords burst from the end of Snape's wand and twisted themselves around Lupin's mouth, wrists, and ankles; he overbalanced and fell to the floor, unable to move. With a roar of rage, Black started toward Snape, but Snape pointed his wand straight between Black's eyes.

"Give me a reason," he whispered. "Give me a reason to do it, and I swear I will."

Black stopped dead. It would have been impossible to say which face showed more hatred.

"Come on Snivellous, just quit the dramatics and fucking hear them out!" Hermione sighed and Sirius's eyes gleamed through the hatred, as were Lupin's.

"Miss Granger, you are already facing suspension from this school," Snape spat. "You, Potter, and Weasley are out-of-bounds, in the company of a convicted murderer and a werewolf. For once in your life, hold your tongue."

"Who the fuck do you think you are, you slimy git?" Hermione spat at him.

"KEEP QUIET, YOU STUPID GIRL!" Snape shouted, looking suddenly quite deranged. "DON'T TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" A few sparks shot out of the end of his wand, which was still pointed at Black's face. Hermione sneered at him.

"Don't talk to her like that," Black said narrowing his eyes at Snape in hatred.

"Vengeance is very sweet," Snape breathed at Black. "How I hoped I would be the one to catch you. . . ."

"The joke's on you again, Snivellous," Black snarled. "As long as this boy brings his rat up to the castle"—he jerked his head at Ron—"I'll come quietly. . . ."

"Up to the castle?" said Snape silkily. "I don't think we need to go that far. All I have to do is call the Dementors once we get out of the Willow. They'll be very pleased to see you, Black. . . . pleased enough to give you a little kiss, I daresay. . . . I—"

What little color there was in Black's face left it.

"You—you've got to hear me out," he croaked. "The rat—look at the rat—"

But there was a mad glint in Snape's eyes. He seemed beyond reason.

"Come on, all of you," he said. He clicked his fingers, and the ends of the cords that bound Lupin flew to his hands. "I'll drag the werewolf. Perhaps the Dementors will have a kiss for him too— "

Before he knew what he was doing, Harry had crossed the room in three strides and blocked the door.

"Get out of the way, Potter, you're in enough trouble already," snarled Snape. "If I hadn't been here to save your skin—"

"Professor Lupin could have killed me about a hundred times this year," Harry said. "I've been alone with him loads of times, having defense lessons against the Dementors. If he was helping Black, why didn't he just finish me off then?"

"Don't ask me to fathom the way a werewolf's mind works," hissed Snape. "Get out of the way, Potter."

"YOU'RE PATHETIC!" Harry yelled. "JUST BECAUSE THEY MADE A FOOL OF YOU AT SCHOOL YOU WON'T EVEN LISTEN —"

"SILENCE! I WILL NOT BE SPOKEN TO LIKE THAT!" Snape shrieked, looking madder than ever. "Like father, like son, Potter! I have just saved your neck; you should be thanking me on bended knee! You would have been well-served if he'd killed you! You'd have died like your father, too arrogant to believe you might be mistaken in Black—now get out of the way, or I will make you. GET OUT OF THE WAY, POTTER!"

In a split second Hermione, Ron and Harry had lifted their wands at Snape and while Harry and Ron sent an "Expelliarmus" his way, Hermione sent a "Stupefy". Snape was lifted off his feet and slammed into the wall unconscious.

"You shouldn't have done that," said Black, looking at Harry. "You should have left him to me..."

"Shush, Pads. I've waited all year to do that," Hermione grinned.

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

"Thank you, Harry," he said.

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

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

Ron clutched Scabbers closer to his chest.

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

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

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

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

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

"Fudge," said Black. "When he came to inspect Azkaban last year, he gave me his paper. And there was Peter, on the front page on this boy's shoulder. . . . I knew him at once. . . . how many times had I seen him transform? And the caption said the boy would be going back to Hogwarts. . . . to where Harry was. . . ."

"My God," said Lupin softly, staring from Scabbers to the picture in the paper and back again.

"His front paw. . . ."

"What about it?" said Ron defiantly.

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

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

"Just before he transformed," said Black. "When I cornered him, he yelled for the whole street to hear that I'd betrayed Lily and James. Then, before I could curse him, he blew apart the street with the wand behind his back, killed everyone within twenty feet of himself—and sped down into the sewer with the other rats. . . ."

"Didn't you ever hear, Ron?" said Lupin. "The biggest bit of Peter they found was his finger."

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

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

"We—we've been taking good care of him!" said Ron.

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

"He's been scared of that mad cat!" said Ron, nodding toward Crookshanks, who was still purring on the bed.

"This cat isn't mad," said Black hoarsely. He reached out a bony hand and stroked Crookshanks's fluffy head. "He's the most intelligent of his kind I've ever met. He recognized Peter for what he was right away. And when he met me, he knew I was no dog. It was a while before he trusted me. . . . Finally, I managed to communicate to him what I was after, and he's been helping me. . . ."

"You could have just asked, you know," Hermione whispered to Sirius, and he facepalmed.

"He tried to bring Peter to me, but couldn't. . . . so he stole the passwords into Gryffindor Tower for me. . . . As I understand it, he took them from a boy's bedside table. . . ." Sirius said ignoring Hermione's comment.

"But Peter got wind of what was going on and ran for it." croaked Black. "Crooks—told me Peter had left blood on the sheets. . . . I supposed he bit himself. . . . Well, faking his own death had worked once."

"And why did he fake his death?" Harry said furiously. "Because he knew you were about to kill him like you killed my parents!"

"No," said Lupin, "Harry—"

"And now you've come to finish him off!"

"Yes, I have," said Black, with an evil look at Scabbers.

"Then I should've let Snape take you!" Harry shouted.

"OH. MY. GOD!" Hermione groaned and they all shut up, "For fucks sake, Harold, stop being daft. The fucking cowardly bastard was the one who betrayed your parents. Voldemort killed them. Sirius didn't do shit, except being fucking loyal to your dad, " Hermione said sternly and then gaped as she saw a Harry look alike smiling at her only to then disappear.

"Harry," said Lupin hurriedly—significantly more calmly than Hermione, "don't you see? All this time we've thought Sirius betrayed your parents, and Peter tracked him down—but it was the other way around, don't you see? Peter betrayed your mother and father—Sirius tracked Peter down—"

"THAT'S CAN'T BE TRUE!" Harry yelled. "HE WAS THEIR SECRET-KEEPER! HE SAID SO BEFORE YOU TURNED UP. HE SAID HE KILLED THEM!"

"Harry. . . . I as good as killed them," he croaked. "I persuaded Lily and James to change to Peter at the last moment, persuaded them to use him as Secret-Keeper instead of me. . . . I'm to blame, I know it. . . . The night they died, I'd arranged to check on Peter, make sure he was still safe, but when I arrived at his hiding place, he'd gone. Yet there was no sign of a struggle. It didn't feel right. I was scared. I set out for your parents' house straight away. And when I saw their house, destroyed, and their bodies. . . . I realized what Peter must've done. . . . what I'd done. . . ."

His voice broke. He turned away.

"Enough of this," said Lupin, and there was a steely note in his voice Harry had never heard before. "There's one certain way to prove what really happened. Ron, give me that rat."

"What are you going to do with him if I give him to you?" Ron asked Lupin tensely.

"Force him to show himself," said Lupin. "If he really is a rat, it won't hurt him."

Ron hesitated. Then at long last, he held out Scabbers and Lupin took him. Scabbers began to squeak without stopping, twisting and turning, his tiny black eyes bulging in his head.

"Ready, Sirius?" said Lupin.

Black had already retrieved Snape's wand from the bed. He approached Lupin and the struggling rat, and his wet eyes suddenly seemed to be burning in his face.

"Together?" he said quietly.

"I think so", said Lupin, holding Scabbers tightly in one hand and his wand in the other. "On the count of three. One—two—THREE!"

A flash of blue-white light erupted from both wands; for a moment, Scabbers was frozen in midair, his small gray form twisting madly—Ron yelled—the rat fell and hit the floor. There was another blinding flash of light and then—

It was like watching a speeded-up film of a growing tree. A head was shooting upward from the ground; limbs were sprouting; a moment later, a man was standing where Scabbers had been, cringing and wringing his hands. Crookshanks was spitting and snarling on the bed; the hair on his back was standing up. Hermione was glowering at the mouse and imagining his neck being twisted in five hundred different ways.

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