I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER OR DRACULA! PLEASE REVIEW!

LADY OF THE NIGHT: YEAR THREE:

CHAPTER FOURTEEN:

Hermione screamed, and Ron, Harry, and I jumped. "I found this at the base of the Whomping Willow," Snape said, tossing the Cloak aside while still keeping his wand pointed at Lupin. "Very useful, Potter, I thank you. You're wondering, perhaps, how I knew you were here? I've just been to your office, Lupin. You forgot to take your potion tonight, so I took a gobletful along. And it's very lucky I did...lucky for me, I mean. Lying on your desk was a certain map. One look told me all I needed to know. I saw you running along this passageway and out of sight."

"Severus-"

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

"Severus, you're making a mistake. You haven't heard everything. I can explain. Sirius isn't here to kill Harry."

"Two more for Azkaban tonight. 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. Is a schoolboy grudge worth putting an innocent man back in Azkaban?" Thin cords burst from Snape's wand and secured themselves around Lupin's mouth, wrists, and ankles, and he fell to the floor, unable to move. Black started towards Snape, but Snape pointed his wand right between Black's eyes. "Give me a reason. Give me a reason to do it, and I swear I will." Black stopped, glaring daggers at Snape.

I stood there, glancing from one face to the other. Hermione stepped forward, and spoke carefully, as though weighing her words, "Professor Snape-it-it wouldn't hurt to hear what they've got to say, would it?"

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

"But if-if there was a mistake-"

"KEEP QUIET, YOU STUPID GIRL! DON'T TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" I pulled out my wand, my eyes flashing with anger as I pointed it at him. "I'd advise you not to speak to my friends in that manner, Buzzard-Beak." Before I realized what had happened, I was thrown backwards by a spell, and smashed into the wall. I bit back a scream of pain as I felt a couple of my ribs crack. "Don't you dare speak to me like that!"

He turned to Sirius, ignoring the yells of Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "Vengeance is sweet. How I hoped I'd be the one to catch you..."

"The joke's on you again, Severus," Black growled. "As long as that boy brings his rat up to the castle-" I dimly saw him pointing at Ron, "-I'll come quietly."

"Up to the castle?" Snape laughed, and a foreboding chill went down my spine. "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 happy to see you, Black...happy enough to give you a little Kiss, I daresay..."

"You-you've got to hear me out. The rat-look at the rat-" Snape ignored him. "Come on, all of you." Snape snapped his fingers, and the ends of the ropes binding Lupin flew into his hand. "I'll drag the werewolf. Perhaps the dementors might have a Kiss for him, too-"

Harry suddenly stood in front of Snape, blocking the door. "Get out of the way, Potter. You're in enough trouble already. If I hadn't been here to save your skin-"

"Professor Lupin could've killed me about a hundred time this year. 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. Get out of the way, Potter."

"YOU'RE PATHETIC! JUST BECAUSE THEY MADE A FOOL OUT OF YOU AT SCHOOL, YOU WON'T EVEN LISTEN-"

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

"EXPELLIARMUS!" Four voices, including my own, had uttered the spell, and Snape was knocked out. Black looked over at us. "You shouldn't have done that. You should've left him to me..."

Hermione stared at Snape's limp form. "We attacked a teacher...we attacked a teacher...ohhh, we're going to be in so much trouble..." I clutched my ribs, watching Black untie Lupin. "Thank you."

"I'm still not saying I believe you," Harry said.

"Then it's time we gave you some proof," Black said. "You, boy-give me Peter. Now." Ron looked around at us. "Come off it. Are you trying to say that he broke out of Azkaban just to get his hands on Scabbers? I mean...okay, say Pettigrew could turn into a rat. There are millions of rats. How's he supposed to know which one he's after when he's been locked up in Azkaban?"

"You know, Sirius, that's a good question. How did you find out where he was?" Black took out a crumpled piece of paper, and smoothed it out for us to see. It was the photo of Ron and his family in Egypt the previous summer, and there, perched on Ron's shoulder, was Scabbers. "Sirius, how did you get this?"

"The Minister of Magic. 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. His front paw..."

"What about it?" Ron asked.

"He's got a toe missing."

Lupin nodded, still studying the photo. "Of course. So simple...so brilliant...he cut it off himself?"

"Just before he transformed. When I cornered him, he yelled for the whole street to hear that I'd betrayed Lilly 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 took off into the sewer with the other rats."

"Didn't you ever hear, Ron?" Lupin asked. "The biggest part 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!"

"Twelve years, Ron," Lupin said quietly. "Now, didn't you ever wonder why he's been living so long?"

"W-We've been taking good care of him!"

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

"He's been scared of that mad cat!" Ron said, pointing at Crookshanks. Black shook his head. "This cat isn't mad. He's the most intelligent of his kind that 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..."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"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. 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 worked once..."

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

"Harry-" Lupin started to say, but Harry cut him off. "And now you've come to finish him off!"

"Yes, I have."

"Then I should've let Snape take you!"

"Harry," Lupin cut in, "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. Peter betrayed your mother and father-Sirius tracked Peter down-"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE! HE WAS THEIR SECRET-KEEPER! HE SAID SO BEFORE YOU TURNED UP! HE SAID HE KILLED THEM!" Black looked up at Harry, his eyes haunted. "Harry...I as good as killed them. I persuaded Lily and James to change to Peter at the last moment, persuaded them to use Peter as Secret-Keeper instead...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 was gone. Yet there was no sign of a struggle. It didn't feel right. I was scared. I set out for your parents' house right away. And when I saw their house, destroyed, and their bodies...I realized what Peter must have done...what I'd done..."

"Enough of this," Lupin said, a steely tone in his voice. "There's one certain way to prove what really happened. Ron, give me that rat."

"What are you going to do to him?"

"Force him to show himself. If he's really a rat, it won't hurt him." Ron hesitated for a few minutes, and then held out Scabbers. Immediately, Scabbers began trying to free himself. "Ready, Sirius?" Black had taken Snape's wand from the bed, and was pointing it at Scabbers, his face set. "Together?"

"I think so. On the count of three. One-two-THREE!" Ron yelled as Scabbers fell to the floor. Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and we watched as a man appeared in the spot where Scabbers had previously been. "Well, hello, Peter," Lupin said casually. "Long time no see."

"S-Sirius...R-Remus...My friends...my old friends..." I couldn't help but notice that his beady little eyes kept darting around the room, more often than not landing on the door. "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, you don't believe him, do you? He tried to kill me, Remus..."

"So we've heard. I'd like to clear up one or two little matters, Peter, if you'd be so-"'

"He's come to try and kill me again!" Peter squealed, pointing at Black. He used his middle finger, because his index finger was missing. "He killed Lily and James, and now he's going to kill me...you've got to help me, Remus..."

"Nobody's going to try and kill you until we've sorted a few things out," Lupin said calmly.

"Sorted things out?! I knew he'd come after me! I knew he'd be back for me! I've been waiting for this for twelve years!" Lupin frowned. "You knew that Sirius was going to break out of Azkaban? When nobody has ever done it before?"

"He's got Dark powers the rest of us can only dream of! How else did he get out of there? I suppose He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named taught him a few tricks!" Black snorted at this. "Voldemort, teach me tricks?" Pettigrew flinched. "What, scared to hear your old master's name?" Black chuckled. "I don't blame you. His crowd aren't overly pleased with you, now, are they?"

"Don't know what you mean, Sirius-"

"You haven't been hiding from me for twelve years. You've been hiding from Voldemort's old supporters. I heard things in Azkaban, Peter...They all think you're dead, or you'd have to answer to them...I've heard them screaming all sorts of things in their sleep. Sounds like they think the double-crosser double-crossed them. Voldemort went to the Potters' on your information...and Voldemort met his downfall there. And not all of Voldemort's supporters ended up in Azkaban, did they? There are still plenty out here, biding their time, pretending they've seen the error of their ways. If they ever got wind you were still alive, Peter-"

"Don't know...what you're talking about..." Pettigrew looked over at Lupin. "You don't believe this-this madness, do you, Remus?"

"I must admit, Peter, I have difficulty in understanding why an innocent man would want to spend twelve years as a rat."

"Innocent, but scared! If Voldemort's supporters were after me, it was because I put one of their best men in Azkaban-the spy, Sirius Black!" Black glared at him. "How dare you. I, a spy for Voldemort? When did I ever sneak around people who were stronger and more powerful than myself? But you, Peter-I'll never understand why I didn't see you were the spy from the start. You always liked big friends who'd look after you, didn't you? It used to be us...me and Remus...and James..."

"Me, a spy...must be out of your mind...never...don't know how you can say such a-"

"Lily and James made you Secret-Keeper only because I suggested it," Black hissed, his eyes fixed on Pettigrew. "I thought it was the perfect plan...a bluff...Voldemort would be sure to come after me, would never dream they'd use a weak, talentless thing like you...It must have been the finest moment of your miserable life, telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters." Pettigrew started muttering words like "far-fetched" and "lunacy", but I noticed that his eyes kept flicking towards the boarded-up windows and the door.

"Professor Lupin?" Hermione asked suddenly. "May I ask a question?"

"Certainly."

"Well, this man...he's been living in Harry's dormitory for three years now. If he's working for You-Know-Who, how come he hasn't tried to hurt Harry before now?"

"There! Thank you! You see, Remus? I have never hurt a hair on Harry's head! Why should I?"

"I'll tell you why," Black said. "Because you never did anything for anybody unless you could see what was in it for you. Voldemort's been in hiding for twelve years, they say he's half-dead. You weren't about to commit murder right under Albus Dumbledore's nose, for a wreak of a wizard who had lost all his power, were you? You'd want to be quite sure he was the biggest bully in the playground before you went back to him, wouldn't you? Why else did you find a wizard family to take you in? Keeping an ear out for news, weren't you, Peter? Just in case your old protector regained strength, and it was safe to rejoin him..." Pettigrew seemed to have lost the ability to speak.

"Er-Mr. Black-Sirius?" Black looked over at Hermione, surprise written on his face. Apparently, been spoken to in a polite manner was something that had not happened to him in a long time. "If you don't mind my asking, how-how did you get out of Azkaban, if you didn't use Dark magic?"

"Thank you!" Pettigrew gasped. "Exactly what I-" Lupin glared over at him, and he shut his mouth immediately.

Black frowned, apparently thinking hard. "I don't know how I did it. I think the only reason I never lost my mind is that I knew I was innocent. It wasn't a happy thought, so the dementors couldn't suck it out of me...but it kept me sane and knowing who I am...helped me keep my powers...so when it all became...too much...I could transform in my cell...become a dog. Dementors can't see, you know. They feel their way toward people by sensing their emotions...They could tell that my emotions were less-less human, less complex when I was a dog...but they thought, of course, that I was losing my mind like everyone else in there, so it didn't trouble them. But I was weak, very weak, and I had no hope of driving them away from me without a wand..."

Black took a deep breath and continued. "But then I saw Peter in that picture...I realized he was at Hogwarts with Harry...perfectly positioned to act, if one hint reached his ears that the Dark Side was gathering strength again...ready to strike at the moment he could be sure of allies...and to deliver the last Potter to them. If he gave them Harry, who would dare say he'd betrayed Voldemort? He'd be welcomed back with honors. So you see, I had to do something. I was the only one who knew Peter was still alive. It was as if someone had lit a fire in my head, and the dementors couldn't destroy it...It wasn't a happy feeling...it was an obsession...but it gave me strength, it cleared my mind. So, one night when they opened my door to bring food, I slipped past them as a dog...It's so much harder for them to sense animal emotions that they were confused...I was thin, very thin...thin enough to slip through the bars...I swam as a dog back to the mainland...I journeyed north and slipped into the Hogwarts grounds as a dog. I've been living in the forest ever since, except when I came to watch the Quidditch match, of course. You fly as well as your father did, Harry..."

He looked over at Harry. "Believe me, Harry, I never betrayed James and Lily. I would've died before I betrayed them." Finally, Harry nodded.

"No!" Pettigrew had fallen to his knees, and began moving towards Black. "Sirius-it's me...it's Peter...your friend...you wouldn't..." Black kicked out at him. "There's enough filth on my robes without you touching them."

"Remus! You don't believe this...Wouldn't Sirius have told you they'd changed the plan?"

"Not if he thought I was the spy. I assume that's why you didn't tell me, Sirius?" Lupin said.

"Forgive me, Remus." Lupin nodded, rolling up his sleeves. "Not at all, Padfoot, old friend. And will you, in turn, forgive me for believing you were the spy?" Sirius nodded, also rolling up his sleeves. "Of course. Shall we kill him together, Remus?"

"Yes, I think so."

"You wouldn't...you won't..." Pettigrew turned to Ron. "Ron...haven't I been a good friend...a good pet? You won't let them kill me, Ron, will you? You're on my side, aren't you?" Ron was staring at him with the utmost revulsion on his face. "I let you sleep in my bed!"

"Kind boy...kind master...you won't let them do it...I was your rat...I was a good pet..."

"If you made a better rat than a human, it's not much to boast about, Peter," Black snapped. Ron pulled his leg out of Pettigrew's reach, his eyes screwed up in pain. Pettigrew then turned to Hermione. "Sweet girl...clever girl...you won't let them...help me..." Hermione pulled her robes out of Pettigrew's reach, looking disgusted. Then he turned to me. "Wonderful girl...beautiful girl...please...help me..." I simply glared at him.

"Harry...Harry...you look just like your father...just like him..."

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO HARRY?! HOW DARE YOU FACE HIM!? HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT JAMES IN FRONT OF HIM!?"

"Harry...Harry, James wouldn't have wanted me killed...James would've understood, Harry...he would've shown me mercy..." Black and Lupin grabbed Pettigrew by the shoulders and threw him down on the floor. "You sold Lily and James to Voldemort. Do you deny it?" Pettigrew burst into tears. "Sirius, what could I have done? The Dark Lord...you have no idea...he has weapons you can't imagine...I was scared, Sirius, I was never brave like you and Remus and James. I never meant for it to happen...He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named forced me..."

"DON'T LIE! YOU'D BEEN PASSING INFORMATION TO VOLDEMORT FOR A YEAR BEFORE LILY AND JAMES DIED! YOU WERE HIS SPY!"

"He-he was taking over everywhere! What was there to be gained by refusing him?"

"What was there to be gained by fighting the most evil wizard who has ever existed?! Only innocent lives, Peter!"

"You don't understand! He would have killed me, Sirius!"

Black now had a look of pure, unadulterated fury on his face. "THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED! DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!" Black and Lupin pointed their wands at him. "You should've realized that if Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. Goodbye Peter."

"NO!" Harry ran over, and stood in front of Pettigrew. "You can't kill him. You can't." Black and Lupin stared at him. "Harry, this piece of filth is the reason you have no parents. You heard him. His own stinking skin meant more to him than your whole family."

"I know. We'll take him up to the castle. We'll hand him over to the dementors. He can go to Azkaban...but don't kill him."

"Harry!" Pettigrew threw his arms around Harry's knees. "Thank you-it's more than I deserve-thank you-"

"Get off!" Harry shook him off. "I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it because I don't reckon my dad would've wanted his best friends to become killers-just because of you." Black and Lupin looked at each other, then looked at Harry. "It's your decision, Harry," Black said. "But think...think what he did..."

"He can go to Azkaban. If anyone deserves that place, he does." Lupin nodded. "Very well. Stand aside, Harry." Harry hesitated. "I'm only going to tie him up. That's all, I swear." A few seconds later, Pettigrew lay on the floor, bound and gagged. "But if you transform, Peter," Black snarled, "we will kill you. You agree, Harry?" Harry nodded.

"Right," Lupin said, looking over at me and Ron. "I can't mend bones as well as Madame Pomfrey, so I think it's best if we just strap your leg up until we can get you up to the hospital wing, Ron. Evangeline, you'll just have to wait, all right?" I laughed dryly, clutching my ribs. "I made it this long without passing out, didn't I?" Lupin nodded at this while he summoned a splint for Ron's leg. Lupin helped him up, and Ron put his weight on his leg without wincing. "That's better. Thanks."

"What about Professor Snape?" Hermione asked, looking over at him. "There's nothing seriously wrong with him," Lupin said. "You were just a little-overenthusiastic. Still out cold. 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 pointed his wand at Snape, and muttered, "Mobilicorpus."

Lupin picked up the Invisibility Cloak and tucked it into his pocket. "And two of us should be chained to this," Black said, nudging Pettigrew with his boot. "Just to make sure."

"I'll do it," Lupin said.

"And me," Ron said, limping forward. Black summoned manacles from thin air, binding the three together. Crookshanks leapt off the bed and led the way out of the room.