I want to thank everyone for their input. I'm very grateful that you took the time to tell me what you thought and I've definitely taken it into consideration.

chapter 18 - Half Truths or Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs

Hermione couldn't help but shiver as Akabane was still smiling at them. That was when Nakamura spoke up. "There's an easy way to find out if he'd stay a rat or not. There are a ton of studies on Animgus'."

She didn't know what she said but she did hear the word 'animagus' so there was a chance that she was going to try and talk him out of whatever he was going to try to do. If anyone could it would be another transfer student.

Karma rolled his eyes. "Duh, but i don't think that he knew that." The other team E members seemed to agree to whatever point he made. "Besides, " he continued, "we can use this to our advantage as long as no one says anything stupid. Remember, no knowledge can be more dangerous than wrong knowledge." he looked over at Terasaka.

Terasaka glared at him, "Who says that?" He took a menacing step forward. It looked to Hermione like they were going to start fighting. At least he was trying to do the right thing. Something needed to be done.

It was then that something strange occurred to her. "Hold on, Pettigrew couldn't have disappeared like that. An Animagus has to be registered. The ministry keeps tabs on all of them." She turned to the boys, "We did a class with Professor McGonagall. I looked her up afterword and Pettigrew wasn't on the list. There have only been seven this century."

Masayoshi crossed his arm and tilted his head slightly to the left, "But we all know Black is one. If he was on the list they should have guarded him better, right?"

Hermione didn't even think about this. "wait," she said, still thinking about this. "he wasn't either though." She looked at Professor Lupin for an answer. "What does this mean?"

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While Remus explained his time in the shack and his friends becoming Animgus' for his sake, Okuda was having a great time on her own.

Currently, she was in the middle of a very intricate potion with Professor Snape. It was similar enough to one that she had used on Koro-sensei but different enough that she was learning something new.

Professor Snape even offered to give the Ravenclaw house points because he was so impressed with her. She told him that she didn't care about house points but it was really nice of him. The truth was there really was no one that she knew that she could talk to about potions. It was really exciting.

However, tonight he looked a little agitated. "Is everything alright Professor?"

"You haven't seem Lupin this afternoon?" he asked back. Okada shook her head. "He was to retrieve something from me. Its a very important medicine that i make for him."

Although she already knew that Professor Lupin was a werewolf, it was best to play dumb. Karma wanted to use that somehow. She couldn't imagine what he was thinking though.

Professor Snape stood up and went to his desk. "Please go back to your dormitory. I'll take this to him." He picked up a potion that he had prepared earlier. "I'll clean this up later."

Okuda bit her lip and said, "If it's all right, I would like to go with you." He looked back at her. It looked to her like he was considering taking her with him. Karma said that Professor Snape wanted people to figure out that Professor Lupin was a werewolf. She wondered, if he did take her and she 'found out', if she should act surprised.

He smiled in a way that made it seem like he was up to something, "Of course you can come. We can clean up later." She nodded happily. She wasn't as athletic as some of the other members of Team E but if they got into a dangerous situation she hoped that she would be able to help somehow. If they were too late she probably wouldn't be able to fight a full grown werewolf by herself but she could get him out of the way.

They walked through the halls quickly and made it to his office within minutes. Strangely, the door was slightly ajar. Professor Snape tapped on the door a couple of times but no one answered. "Lupin." He said clearly. The door gently swung open.

Professor Snape walked into the empty room and looked around. "Do you think that we are too late to give him his medicine?" Okuda looked around, "Maybe he went somewhere to help his symptoms." she suggested.

While she was talking, he was leaning over Professor Lupin's desk, reading something. "Go back to your dormitory now." he said quietly. She didn't know how he knew but it must be that Professor Lupin had already turned.

"Please allow me to help you." she pleaded with him. He gave her a very angry look but she continued. "I can help. If something bad is happening I can get help for you or something." He was suspicious about how she phrased that but she felt the need to be with him. He didn't say anything, he just turned around and walked away.

Under normal circumstances, she would have just gone back to her dormitory but this time she didn't. Normally she wouldn't have even talked back to him but he didn't know what she could do. She was going to help him, whether he knew what she was doing or not.

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Nagisa was just about halfway to the Shack when he was stopped by Selcor. He felt, more than saw, Chiba and Hayami getting ready for a fight.

"Greetings" Nagisa said, bowing his head gently. Selcor nodded back at him.

"I have met with the elders of the tribe and it is decided that we shall assist you. You will bring me with you to assist you." He informed them. The tone of his voice suggested that this was not a request. He brought out his bow and stood tall. Nagisa nodded at him.

"Of course," he said, standing as tall as he could, "Pettigrew is disguised as a pet rat of a student and is hiding somewhere in the school, waiting for an opportunity to go into hiding again."

Hayami stepped up beside him, "Actually, we had caught him at one point but he was able to get away from us. We believe that he is to frightened of the forest to try and leave through it."

Selcor looked like he was getting a little impatient. "What do you want me to do then?" He asked with a little edge to his voice. The three assassins looked between each other, trying to figure out what they should say at that point.

Nagisa was at a loss of what to say so Chiba took the spotlight, "Do you know of any places a rat might be able to hide relatively safely?" Selcor thought about this for a moment. "There are a few places that he might be."

Nagisa was excited at the fact that he might be able to finally find Pettigrew. "Please," he clenched his fist in front of him, "take us there."

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Severus couldn't say that he didn't regret his choice to bring miss Okada, just a bit, but letting her see the terror of a true werewolf would be beneficial. Besides, he was going to be there in case anything happened. And she would get to witness him catching a criminal in action.

She followed close behind him and for the first time he saw how tiny she really was. Every step made him seem to doubt himself a bit more. She wasn't ready for this.

They were already on the school grounds by the time he turned to her to tell her to go back. When he did he saw that she was looking at something. "What is that?" she asked quietly.

In front of them was Potter's discarded invisibility cloak. The same cloak that Potter, the elder, had used to trick him time and time again. He picked it up and wrapped it around himself. He couldn't help but smile at seeing himself disappear. Okada walked up to him and reached up to touch the material. "What is this?" she asked.

"Potter's invisibility cloak." Severus answered simply. She was looking at it thoughtfully. She seemed to always be trying to figure out everything she came across. It was something that he liked about her. She grabbed a fistful of the cloak and rubbed it between her fingers.

"Okuda," Severus said gently. She clearly didn't want to leave him but things were going to get nasty and he didn't want her to see him like that. She didn't think like a Slytherin but she didn't see him in a bad light either. He really didn't want that to change. "Go back to your dormitory now."

She surprised him slightly by her determined look. "I won't leave you now. I promise that I can help."

He gave her a sad look but nodded his head. She then opened the cloak and huddled up next to him. He was more than a little uncomfortable with having a student so close to him but they continued to the Shrieking Shack together.

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While Lupin was talking, Karma heard a creak from the next room. Instantly his guard was up.

"No one there..." Lupin mumbled. Ron was shaking, "This place is haunted!" he stated.

"It's not. The Shrieking Shack was never haunted..." Lupin was still looking curiously at the door. "The screams and howls the villagers used to hear were made by me."

As he was talking Karma figured something out, they weren't alone.

"Scatter!" he ordered sharply. The others looked slightly confused but followed the order. Nakamura and Karma took hold of Hermione and started in one direction while Tersaka picked up Ron and headed down the hall, despite his protests, followed by Muramatsu.

Kaede and Megu nodded at each other in a silent agreement. She was closer to Lupin so she would stay with him while Kaede took Black to safety. He didn't want to come and she thought that she was going to have to force him but with an encouragement from Lupin he agreed.

Nakumara held Hermione's hand while Karma pushed her from behind. "What's happening?" she asked frantically.

Karma leaned in close and growled, "Just move, will you."

The three of them went far enough into the forest that they thought no one would catch them. "I don't know who that was but things aren't looking good for our pal Black." Karma said, as they rested at the base of a large tree.

Hermione looked up at him. "What's going on?" she demanded.

It looked like Nakumura was going to explain but Karma cut her off. "Someone was in the Shack with us, someone we couldn't see. No one goes around hiding themselves like that for no reason... Hermione," he said thoughtfully. He waited until he had her full attention to continue. "I know you don't trust me at all but if i tell you a big secret, will you consider what i have said?"

"What are you doing Karma?" Nakamura said. He had stressed they kept their true identities hidden but they might actually need her now. "I've got this, head back without me."

She obviously didn't want to but did as he asked. Karma sat down in front of Hermione so that he was eye level with her. "Last year," he paused, trying to think of the best way to phrase things so that he wasn't a bad guy. "there was a dark wizard in my school. Because of him, I learned a ton about beating dark wizards. I enrolled here so that I could help in some way but I'm at a loss as to what to do from here."

"I am actually really good at magic." he continued. "I'm not alone either. Those others that you saw, those in the Shack with me, are my allies. Normally I would tell them anything that would help with this but when I said I wouldn't tell anyone about your secret I planned to keep that promise. They would be helpful but we don't have to tell them anything."

Hermione was listening to everything he said critically. "What about Nagisa?" she asked. He raised an eyebrow at her. "What about Nagisa?" he asked back. She shook her head, "If Black was innocent, where is he in all this?"

Karma wondered whether he should tell her the truth about him but decided against it. "Who knows, maybe Black had nothing to do with his disappearing. Maybe he just ran away. Anything could have happened." If she figured out the truth later he would just play it off. After all, anything could have happened.

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Severus had made it into the Shrieking Shack when he heard a male's voice say something in another language and then a bunch of people leaving. In one of the bedrooms he found Lupin talking to one of the other transfer students, one of the girls. Okuda was behind him, with her hands on his back. He wished that she would step back but then she would be visible.

"We were in the same year, you know," he was talking about him. "and we er- didn't like each other very much." Severus decided to step up before he could tell her anymore about the past. It didn't matter now anyway.

"Good evening, Lupin" they were both startled when he appeared from behind the cloak. "I think that you have forgotten something." He held up the potion that he had brought with him.