Took me a bit longer too update, but here it is! :)
as always many thanks to my faithful reviewer. And everybody who read/favourited/alerted it. I do wish that more people would review (I can see how many read this story and ergo how many don't review).

anywhoo, on that note! let's continue this chapter! Hope you enjoy it. apologies for any of my grammar and spelling mistakes.

Chapter 21 Until the moon comes up

Third p.o.v.

Hidden beneath the cloak a tall man entered the tunnel beneath the Whomping Willow. How long has it been since he last set foot in this horrid place, the place where he had almost died because of that group of misfits. Tonight he would finally get his revenge, tonight will be known as the night that Severus Snape caught Sirius Black and his accomplishers, Remus Lupin and Selene Merrythought. When Severus entered Remus' office to bring him his wolfsbane potion, he had forgotten to take it, he noticed something on top of Remus' desk. Severus Snape moved to the unknown objects but once he took a closer look he recognized it as the map which Harry Potter had in his hands a while ago, before Remus had confiscated it instead of him. It was in that moment that Severus read the names of Remus Lupin and Selene Merrythought on the map, making their way into the Whomping Willow. As Remus before him, Severus had also quickly left the office in order to follow the two. Now he was finally here and Severus was very ready to capture the two in the act of helping the escaped convict Sirius Black. He was nearly halfway through the tunnel when he saw something which surprised him. There was a person in the centre of the tunnel. Severus pointed his wand and halted besides the witch on the floor.

"Selene?" Severus removed the invisibility cloak he had put on after finding it outside of the Whomping Willow.

The woman wasn't aware of his presence for she was still knocked out. Carefully Severus moved her hair back to observe her better. Cruciatus curse…Severus thought. Severus was very skilled in the Dark arts and had no trouble recognizing the spell which had been used on the woman before him. The whole situation left him baffled, what had taken place that involved the Cruciatus curse and leaving her here in the tunnel. Had Remus done this to her and if so was he still near? Honestly Severus could not imagine Remus doing something like this.

"So, he left you here all alone did he?" Severus said," and here I was thinking you had a part in all of this, helping your former lover into the castle with the help of your old friend? It was too much of a coincidence that you two joined the staff of Hogwarts at the same time Black escaped." He put his wand back in his robe and placed his arms underneath Selene's knees and back," Still, a trick or not. You do need medical treatment and lying here won't do you any good."

He lifted her up and carried her with him through the tunnel. The stairs leading to the entrance of the Shrieking Shack was only a few feet away. He stopped when he reached the top of the stairs and waited as he heard the faint whisper of voices coming from inside, voices that were talking about…him?

He could hear the voice of Remus, telling the story of how Sirius had told Severus how to get into the Whomping Willow in order to find out why he, Remus, was taken away once a month. Severus was could have been killed had it not been for James Potter and Severus blamed every single one of them for the so called 'prank'. Severus gritted his teeth as he heard the story being told. Sometimes he wished James hadn't been there. Selene started to stir in his arms.

Sometimes I really wonder what you saw in that Sirius Black. Severus thought.

XOXOXOXOX

"So that is why Snape hates you?" said the voice of Harry Potter. At that moment Severus Snape entered the room with Selene Merrythought in his arms.

"Indeed…" his cold voice said and everybody turned around with surprise. He placed Selene on the floor and aimed his wand at Remus.

Sirius had jumped up at the sight of Severus carrying Selene into the room. He was ready to attack Severus but Remus held him back.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER YOU SON OF A,-" he stopped midsentence when Severus moved his arm and pointed his wand to Selene.

"Do you honestly think I did this to her?" Severus couldn't help but utter a laugh," How typical of you Black, always blaming me when you should look at your own friend."

With a shock of disbelief Sirius looked at Remus who kept his own gaze focused on Severus," Remus?"

"I bet you are wondering how I knew you were here?" Severus continued," I went into your office, Lupin, to bring you your wolfsbane potion and that is when I noticed this peculiar map on your desk. Two dots were moving into the Whomping Willow. Then I found Selene in the tunnel and…well it seems like a pretty clear picture to me. I told Dumbledore many, many times how ignorant it was to trust you, how you would probably help your old friend into Hogwarts and now I have finally found prove."

"Severus, you're wrong. He's not here to kill Harry and I did not help him into the castle." Remus turned to his old friend," Sirius, he's wrong, I could never hurt Selene…you know this. Let me explain what happened."

"Two customers for Azkaban," Severus said with a slight twinkle in his eye," I wonder what Dumbledore will say about this. He thought you could do no harm to anything or anyone."

"You stupid idiot," Remus whispered.

With a loud bang, thin snakelike ropes erupted from the tip of Snape's wand and wrapped themselves around Remus' ankles, wrists and mouth. Remus fell on the floor and had by no means the possibility to move a muscle. Sirius uttered a cry of rage and jumped at Severus who immediately aimed his wand between the eyes of Sirius.

"Give me one good reason," he said.

Sirius' eyes quickly shifted to Selene who was lying on the cold hard ground behind Severus.

"I should take you to Azkaban and have you locked up again and this time with Lupin by your side." Then his thin lips turned into a wicked grin," perhaps I should lead the Dementors to you, I bet they wouldn't mind giving you a…kiss. Perhaps they can take time to give the same treatment for the werewolf…"

Out of nowhere three voices cried," Expelliarmus!" and for the second time that evening another loud bang echoed through the room and Severus was hurled backwards against the wall. The blow knocked him unconscious. The three young students had, at the same time, yelled the same spell and aimed for the same object causing their casting to be extra powerful. Severus did not move. Hermione trembled as she lowered her wand," we hit a teacher…we our professor…" she repeated under her breath and her face turned pale. Sirius in the meantime helped Remus out of his bonds before heading over to Selene.

"Sel? SEL! Wake up." Sirius yelled at the woman. He hugged her closely and gently stroked her hair. He looked up at Remus," what happened to her Remus?"

Remus lowered himself his level," my guess is - Peter…"

The look on Sirius' face changed. Calmly he placed Selene against the wall for support, after that he turned towards Ron and charged at him.

"Give me the rat!" he yelled.

"Sirius, NO!" Remus exclaimed grabbing hold of his friend to stop him from attacking Peter.

"LET GO REMUS!" Sirius thrashed and tossed Remus off his back," I'LL KILL YOU PETER! YOU HEAR ME!"

"Stop calling Scabbers, Peter! He's simply an old rat." Ron yelled holding the rat tightly.

"And how old is he exactly Ron? 12 years? That's awfully old for a rat, wouldn't you agree?" Remus said to him. Ron looked at the rat and then at the two grown men who stood before him. Sirius was panting heavily," Remus, enough is enough! Let's get him first then we will explain the rest."

Remus thought for a moment and then decided that his friend was right. He released Sirius and aimed his wand at Ron.

"I'm sorry Ron, but he is right. Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way, but I will show you that we are telling the truth."

He could see the look of worry Ron had on his face," don't worry, if he really is a rat he won't be harmed by this spell."

With a little hesitation Ron handed his DADA professor the rat. Remus aimed his wand, as did Sirius who had picked up Severus' wand from the floor. They made a swift movement and blue lights shot from the tips of their wands. Ron screamed when he saw his rat fall to the floor, had he done the wrong thing in handing these two obvious crazy old men his pet rat? The Weasley boy was certain, that was until he saw Scabbers changing shape. The limps expended and the fur slowly vanished. The snout shortened and where there was a rat a minute ago there now stood a full grown man. He was a short man with colourless hair and a balding spot on the back of his head.

"Well, look who it is." Remus said," If it isn't Peter Pettigrew."

"Remus…Sirius…" Peter Pettigrew squeaked to his two friends," my old comrades."

Sirius raised his arm and aimed Severus' wand at the man," what did you do to Selene you worthless piece of vermin!"

Peter jumped back at the accusation and shook his head," Me? I did nothing of the sorts Sirius. Do you honestly think I can harm Selene? I wouldn't in a million years touch a hair on her,-"

Remus' fist came out of nowhere and collided with Peter's face. Peter fell backwards and landed on his bum. Remus shook his hand. That punch had hurt him more then he thought it would. Sirius looked at his friend with great disbelief," Did you just… "He barked out a laugh.

"We're not going to discuss that, right now we are going to talk about that night, the night from 12 years ago when Lily and James Potter were betrayed by their old friend."

Selene p.o.v.

Ouch my head…feels like it's been hit by a thousand tiny hammers. I remember I was in the forest…looking for Peter. PETER! No, no, no! I've got to get to Sirius! Peter's is going to kill him! I've got the warn him.

"Miss Merrythought?"

Whose voice is that?

"Miss Merrythought? Everything is fine."

No, nothing is fine! Peter is here, I've seen him! I've got to get to Sirius!

"Miss Merrythought, calm down!"

The voice annoyed me, telling me to do things when there was so little time.

"Sel, calm down, my darling. I'm alright."

Was that Sirius? Sirius!

"Open your eyes love."

I opened my eyes and two blurry circles hovered with my line of sight. One of the circles had a brown hue around it, the other one black. I blinked a few times, which increased the pain in my head. The images sharpened slowly and I recognized them as Hermione Granger and Sirius Black.

"Sirius…" I moaned as I moved my hand to his face. His hand grabbed mine and I knew it wasn't a dream.

"You gave me a real fright, you know that?" He smirked. I glanced around the room and it didn't take me long to realize where I was. I saw Remus standing next to Harry and Ron was on the mattress at the wall. On the floor were lay two people, one man dressed in black and the other man I recognized as," PETER!" I moved back at the sight of him.

"It's okay Miss Merrythought, he's tied up." Hermione said to me.

"Tied up?" I repeated.

She nodded," Professor Lupin did that…after they told us the story."

"The story?" I quickly looked at Sirius," they know?"

"Everything that happened that night…and what happened since I've escaped." He replied. I looked from him back to Hermione who confirmed Sirius' answer.

"Do they…know about me?" I asked.

"They know you helped me while I was here hiding. They know about us..." he nodded at Remus for a moment," they know about Remus' furry problem."

My eyes widened. I couldn't bring myself to look at Hermione or at the others for that matter. They didn't tell them one thing. They basically told these kids everything.

"It's alright, Miss Merrythought. We understand and…we don't mind at all, about Professor Lupin I mean. Basically I've known it for a long time already."

"Smart witch, this one is," Sirius grinned," Kind of reminds me of you, love."

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but it's best if we leave and get back to Hogwarts as quickly as possible. Can you stand, Sel?" Remus said as he hoisted Peter off the ground. Sirius and Hermione both grabbed one of my arms and helped me on my feet.

"Yeah, I think I can manage just fine." My legs were shaking lightly and Hermione wrapped my arm around her shoulder.

"I'll help you, Miss Merrythought." She said rather politely.

"Thank you Hermione." I smiled back.

XOXOXOXOX

We were a real sight to behold. The cat Crookshanks, whose name finally was revealed to me by Hermione, was leading our group through the tunnel. Behind Crookshanks were Remus and Ron with Peter in between them. Sirius followed with Severus dangling in front of him like a puppet. The group ended with me, Harry and Hermione, though Harry walked directly behind Sirius while Hermione kept supporting me. I eavesdropped on the conversation Harry and Sirius were having.

"I don't know if anyone has told you this, Harry… but I am you godfather." I heard Sirius say to the boy.

"Yeah, I knew that." Harry replied.

"I was thinking. If all of this is over and my name has been cleared, that perhaps you could…" He glanced back over his shoulder," it is a silly thing to ask, I'd understand if you'd rather stay with your aunt and uncle."

Harry stopped walking and Hermione and I nearly crashed into him.

"Are you asking me to come live…with you?"

"I know it's stupid. I understand completely. I simply thought,-"

"Are you mad? Of course I want to live with you! Do you own a house? When can I move in?" Harry said eagerly.

I looked at Hermione who looked back at me. Both of us unsure if this was a right move, let alone discuss this right now. I shook my head and Hermione sighed.

We reached the end of the tunnel. Before stepping out Remus pulled Peter close," make the wrong move and you're finished. Am I clear, Peter?" Peter simply nodded at the sight of Remus' wand pointed against his chest. One by one we headed outside. It was dark and very cloudy outside. The Whomping Willow had been stunned by Remus, when he went outside he pressed the knot at the base of the tree, causing the tree to immobilize.

The fresh air felt good and I took a deep breath as I stood up straight. The struggle was almost over. Soon we would be back in Hogwarts and Peter would be send to Azkaban, Sirius will have his name cleared and this can finally calm down. I glanced up at the moon which appeared from behind the clouds. The moon was full, a complete round circle. My eyes widened and I turned my head to Remus who was amongst us. Oh no…

A full moon! what does it meeeaaannnn? Shall I spoil it? you can all figure it out. Poor Remus...
Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Don't forget to leave me a review ^^ Cause you're nice and supportive :)

Like/alert if you enjoy, and I'll see you next Chapter! :)