Chapter eleven- justice and jealously
Hermione screamed, while Sirius jumped to his feet and Harry jumped out of his skin.
"I found this at the base of the Whomping willow" said snape throwing the cloak aside but keeping his wand pointed at Remus's chest "very useful, potter, I thank you…"
Remus carefully pulled Athena away from him so they stood apart from each other; she however wanted to stand in front of him.
Snape was breathless but wore a very happy smile "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 you're potion tonight so I took a goblet along. And very lucky I did…lucky for me, I mean. Lying on your desk was a certain map, once glance at it told me all I needed to know. I saw you running along this passageway with her-" he nodded at Athena "and then vanishing out of site"
"Severus-" began Remus but snape spoke above him
"I've told the headmaster again and again that you've been helping your old friend Black into the castle, Lupin and here's the proof. You even brought your little girlfriend into it shame real shame you got mixed up with him Athena but you must be more like your father than I expected-"
Athena went to run at him anger flowing through her body "I'm nothing like him!" she spat at Snape. Remus caught her arm and held her back
Snape's lip curled up "not even I dreamed you two would use this as your old hideout"
"Severus you're making a mistake" said Remus urgently now "you haven't heard everything-I can explain- Sirius is not here to kill Harry-"
"Three more for Azkaban tonight" said snape almost taunting them "I shall be interested to see how Dumbledore takes this…he was quite convinced you were both harmless, you know Lupin…tame werewolves…"
"You fool" said Remus softly "Is a schoolboy grudge worth putting an innocent man back inside Azkaban?"
BANG!
Thin snake like cords burst from Snape's wand and wrapped themselves around Remus's mouth wrist and ankles overbalancing him. He toppled backwards to the floor hard not able to move.
"Remus!" screamed Athena she bent down to tug at the cords, with a failed attempt she went for Snape
Who waved his wand she should've moved quicker as the spell hit her and sent her flying across the room her head hit the wall and her vision seemed to turn blurry with black spots as she landed on the floor.
Remus wriggled on the floor shouting for Athena who was lying on the floor unmoving, but no sound came out.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY POTTER!" roared Snape
"Expelliarmus!" yelled Harry, Hermione and Ron all at the same time. There was a huge blast and snape like Athena was propelled across the room hitting the wall, a trickle of blood oozed from his hair line.
Remus struggled against the ropes as he saw Athena move very slowly. Sirius reached down and quickly untied them, he had experience with robes likes these unlike Athena.
Remus dashed over to Athena
"Athena…" he whispered "Athena my love can you hear me?"
Athena could hear him she was just waiting for the nausea to go away "I can hear you" she said quietly "just give me a minute…"
"Thank goodness" and she felt Remus's lips kissing her fore head "you're bleeding"
"oh great" said Athena and she opened her eyes the room wasn't moving and Remus's face was inches form hers she ran her hand up to her head and felt the soft trickle of blood there.
Remus helped her to her feet and steadied her when she wobbled
"You boy give me peter now" said Sirius across the room
Ron clung to scabbers
"Come off it" he said weakly "are you still trying to say you broke out of Azkaban for scabbers? I mean…" he looked at Hermione and Ron "ok say Peter Pettigrew could change into a rat there are millions of rats how's he suppose to know which one he's after if he's been locked up in Azkaban."
"You know that a very fair question" said Remus turning to black "how did you find out where peter was?"
Sirius reached into his robes and pulled out a picture, it was of Ron's family from the daily prophet when they'd won the prize money and had gone to Egypt to see Bill.
"How did you get this?" Remus asked thunderstruck
"Fudge" said Sirius "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 Remus softly "his front paw…"
Athena looked at the picture "he's got a toe missing" she said "the only thing they found of Pettigrew was his finger…"
Sirius nodded his head like a dog "he cut it off himself" he said "just before he shouted to the street that I'd betrayed Lily and James he cut of his finger and blew up the street with the wand behind his back killing everyone within twenty meters of him he then sped down to the sewers with the other rats…"
"Did you ever hear they only found Pettigrew's finger?" asked Remus to the trio of friends
"of course they heard" said Athena "they were all there-even if I couldn't have seen Harry- in the three broomsticks that day I went to Hogsemead with Hagrid and fudge, who told us all about what happened to Pettigrew"
Hermione looked extremely guilty
"Look scabbers has been in my family for ages!" said Ron sharply
"Twelve years!" said Athena "rats don't live twelve years Ron!"
"We've been taking really good care of him" said Ron stupidly
"But he's not looking so good right now is he?" Athena noticed how skinny the rat was "I bet he's been losing weight ever since Sirius escaped"
"He's been scared of that mad cat!" said Ron point at crookshanks who was at on the bed purring
"This cat isn't mad" said Sirius he reached out and stroked crookshanks "he's the most intelligent of his kind I've ever met. He recognised Peter for what he was straight 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've been communicating with a cat?" said Athena astonished "how does that work? Tell me about-"
"Athena" said Remus his voice a little harsh but amused too
"Sorry" said Athena she pulled a curl out her face
"What do you mean? How has crookshanks been helping you?" asked Hermione
"He tried to bring Peter to me but couldn't…so he stole the passwords to Gryffindor tower for me…as I understood it he took them from a boy's bedside table…"
"Neville's" muttered Athena of course
"but peter got wind of what was going on and ran for it….this cat-crookshanks did you call him?- told me peter had left blood on the sheets…I suppose he bit himself…well faking his own death had worked once…"
"And why did he fake his death?" said Harry furiously "because he knew you were about to kill him like you killed my parents!"
"No" said Remus "Harry-"
"And now you've come to finish him off!" shouted Harry
"Yes I have" said Sirius with an evil look at scabbers
"Then I should've let snape take you!" Harry yelled
"Harry" said Remus hurriedly "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 NOT TRUE!" Harry roared "HE WAS THEIR SECRET KEEPER! HE SAID SO BEFORE YOU TURNED UP, HE SAID HE KILLED THEM!"
He was pointing at Sirius who was shaking his head slowly
"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 their secret keeper instead of me…I'm to blame, I know it…that night they died I'd arranged to check on peter make sure he was safe, 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 parent's house straight away. And when I saw their house destroyed and their bodies- I realised what Peter must have done. What I'd done" his voice broke
"Enough of this" said Remus and there was a steel tone to his voice, Athena had never heard from him but knew why it was there as her brain worked over the events that had passed… "There's one certain way to prove what really happened. Ron give, me that rat"
Ron hesitating held scabbers out to Remus who took him. Scabbers began to squeak and twist turning in Remus's hands.
"Ready, Sirius? Athena?" Remus asked they both nodded, as Sirius took Snape's wand off the bed
"Together?" said Sirius quietly
"I think so" said Remus holding up scabbers in one hand and his wand in the other "on the count of three. One-two-THREE!"
A flash of blue light erupted from all their wands and hit the rat who froze in mid hair before Remus dropped him and the rat hit the floor. Time seemed to speed up as the rat transformed from rat to human.
The man standing before them all was very short, shorter than Harry and Hermione. He had thin colourless hair with a bald patch right on top of his head. He had a shrunken appearance from where he'd lost too much weight in a little amount of time. He face was watery and his eyes small. He was breathing fast and shallow. His eyes moving towards the open door.
"Well hello Peter" said Remus talking to him like nothing had happened at all "long time, no see"
"S-Sirius…R-Remus…" Pettigrew's voice was squeaky like a rat "my friends…my old friends…"
Sirius raised his wand arm but Remus's wrapped his fingers around Sirius's wrist and gave him a sharp look.
"We've been having a little chat Peter about what happened the night Lily and James died. You might have missed the finer points while you were squeaking around down there on the bed-"
"Remus" gasped Pettigrew sweating "you don't believe him do you…he tried to kill me Remus…"
"So we've heard" said Remus coldly, and Athena couldn't help but watch the way he acted her brain still hadn't worked out what she was trying to remember, maybe that knock on the head hadn't done her any good "I'd like to clear up one or two little matters with you Peter if you'd be so-"
"He's come to try and kill me again!" Pettigrew shirked suddenly pointing at Sirius "he killed Lily and James and now he's going to kill me too…you've got to help me Remus…"
Sirius glared at Pettigrew his face skull like
"No one's going to try and kill you until we've sorted a few things out" Athena noticed he said 'until' so they were planning to kill him, she looked at Remus worriedly this was not the man she fell in love with. Why was he acting like this? Why was he talking about killing this man when there was such a simple option?
Athena didn't know what was happening suddenly the room had turned sideways and Remus was standing her back up
"Why don't you sit down?" he was watching Pettigrew who was on his knees talking to Ron
"I'm fine" she gently moved his hands off her arms trying not to show how scared she was and how the room was still moving a little "just hurry up and get on with it"
"If you made a better rat than human it's not much to boast about Peter" said black harshly Ron pulled his broken leg away from Pettigrew's reach he turned pale with the pain
Pettigrew crawled on his knees towards Hermione and took hold of her robes
"Sweet girl…clever girl…you- you won't let them…help me…" Hermione pulled her robes away from Pettigrew and backed against the wall horrified
Pettigrew turned to Harry now "Harry…Harry…you look like your father…just like him…"
"HOW DARE YOU SEPAK TO HARRY?" roared Sirius "HOW DARE YOU FACE HIM? HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT JAMES IN FRONT OF HIM?"
"Harry" whispered Pettigrew shuffling forward hands out stretched "Harry, James wouldn't have wanted me killed…James would have understood Harry…he would have shown me mercy…"
Both Remus and Sirius strode forward and seized Pettigrew's shoulders and threw him backwards onto the floor. He sat there twitching with terror staring at them
"You sold James and Lily to Voldemort" said Sirius shaking "do you deny it?"
Pettigrew burst into tears, and Athena stared at him horrified this man was a killer and begging for mercy. But if Remus and Sirius killed him then they would be killers too and then she would lose Remus forever.
"We'll take him up to the castle. We'll hand him over to the dementors. He can go to Azkaban…just don't kill him"
Harry had come to the answer Athena had why kill him when he can suffer what he did in a prison cell in Azkaban? Well they'd have to make sure it was safe prison cell so that he didn't transform and sneak out but then wouldn't they kiss him instead?
"What about professor snape?" asked Hermione Athena turned her head around to look at Snape lying on the floor
"There's nothing seriously wrong with him" said Remus bending over snape and checking for a pulse "you were just a little-over enthusiastic. Still out cold. Er-perhaps it will be best if we don't revive him until we're safely back in the castle. We can take him like this…" he muttered "moblilcorpus" as though invisible strings were holding him up snape's wrists, neck and knees were pulled into a standing position. He hung a few inches above the ground looking like an overgrown ugly puppet.
"It's more Athena I'm worried about" said Remus, Athena turned to look at him and asked "why?"
"You seem to be losing concentration, love" he said sweetly examining the cut of her head "possible concussion…"
She took his hands and held them still "I can live through that" she assured him but she felt a nervous feeling swirl in her gut she was worried about the effect of Pettigrew and Sirius on Remus "now two of us should be chained to him just encase, you know he turns wild…" she smirked at the cowering man
"I'll do it" said Remus
"And me" said Ron who walking on his splinted leg
Sirius conjured shackles from the air; Pettigrew now had Remus chained to his left arm and Ron to his right.
Crookshanks jumped from the bed and led the way from the room.
Athena followed the others up the tunnel following last with Hermione in front. Remus, Pettigrew and Ron had turned sideways to make it down the tunnel, while Sirius drifted along Snape followed by Harry.
"Athena I'm so sorry" whispered Hermione looking at Athena "I shouldn't have told them about you and Professor Lupin"
"No Hermione you shouldn't have" said Athena but as she looked at Hermione she understood why she had done it "but you had to, you're friends were in danger and well please don't tell anyone else"
She nodded her head her busy brown hair bouncy on her shoulders "I promise I won't…not again"