Chapter 26 - Shrieking Shack

'You killed my parents!' said Harry, his voice shaking but his wand arm was steady.

Sirius stared back, looking over Emma at him with his sunken eyes. He did as Emma had told him and dropped Ron's wand, which Emma deftly slid backward to Hermione with her foot.

'I don't deny it.' replied Sirius, quietly, his expression still softened slightly. 'But if you knew the whole story...'

'The whole story?' repeated Harry, the fury evident as he stepped forward. 'You sold them out to Voldemort, that's all I need to know!'

'You've got to listen to me.' said Sirius, urgently. 'You'll regret it if you don't... you don't understand.'

Harry was about to bluster, but Emma beat him to it. She even moved to her right a little to get in between them.

'Then talk!' she hissed. 'One of my best friends was executed today, and you just tried to kill another. Make it good or you're dead. I might even let Harry do it. Poetic justice, don't you think?'

And with that, she minutely pushed her claws further into Sirius' neck for effect. None of them had pierced his skin yet, but if he tried anything, they definitely would. Not that she wanted that. Emma was terrified, but she was letting her subconscious dull her emotions so that she didn't show it, even if she knew she'd regret it later. That's if there was a later. If he noticed and got loose, he could kill them all, but for now, he seemed to be cooperating.

'I didn't try to kill the Weasley boy!' he said, quickly. 'I was going for his rat!'

'Why? You said you were after Peter Pettigrew.'

'I am! The rat is Peter. He's an Animagus, like me!'

'It doesn't matter! You betrayed my mum and dad!' yelled Harry.

'No, I didn't! Peter did!'

'But you just admitted it.' said Hermione, uncomfortable with this whole situation.

'They died because of me, but I didn't betray them.' said Sirius, his voice cracking.

'What does that even mean?' hissed Harry.

'You made Peter the Secret Keeper, didn't you?' asked Hermione, thoughtfully.

'Yes.' replied Sirius, eyes wide on Hermione. 'I persuaded Lilly and James to use Peter, because everyone would assume it was me. They'd never suspect we'd use a weakling like him.'

He shot an angry look over toward Ron.

'But he betrayed them.' added Sirius.

'What a stupid idea.' said Emma, bluntly. 'If they were going to go for you anyway, you had nothing to lose. The knowledge a Secret Keeper holds cannot be extracted by force. It has to be given willingly. Why change it if you weren't going to betray them? That's just asking to be stabbed in the back.'

Sirius slumped where he was standing and nodded forlornly. In that minute he looked broken, as if that was something he'd been failing to come to terms with for years.

'You're mental!' exclaimed Ron, from the back corner.

'I don't believe you!' yelled Harry.

Emma on the other hand, was beginning to believe him. It made a whole lot of sense, or at least, Sirius himself seemed to believe it, and it explained all of his behaviour throughout the year.

'Back up a bit.' said Emma, turning her head to Hermione and Harry. 'And keep your wands on him. As for you, doggy. Stay!'

Emma pulled back, away from him, still between Hermione and him, and bent to her knees. She knew a quick way to prove whether Sirius was right or not. She glanced around the room, guessing it's dimensions and began drawing a small copy of it on the floor in the dust. She drew a large rectangle, clearing away the dust with the tips of her fingers, revealing the very old wooden floor beneath. After that, she began performing the Homonculus Charm, which was easy enough considering how many times she'd done it before, and then tapped the corner of the makeshift map.

It was a curious sight, given the room was symbolised by dust and the walls were clean floor. Every time she'd done it before it was on parchment, with the ink forming the walls and dots for the people. This time the dots that formed used the absence of dust.

The first dot to appear, in the place where she had tapped the wand, in the corner of the room, was Sirius Black. The dust moved away, forming a spot of pristine wood flooring beneath it. The name tag that accompanied it did the same. More dots followed. Second was Emma, as she was nearest him, then Hermione and Harry came next, almost simultaneously. After them was Ron, and Emma truly expected that to be the last one, but it wasn't. A final dot appeared, right next to him, and it was labelled Peter Pettigrew.

Emma stood up and stepped back, looking to Scabbers, then to Sirius, and finally to Harry.

'He's right. Scabbers is Peter...' she said, bewildered.

Sirius was smiling at Emma, but still keeping to his corner.

'That's rubbish!' yelled Ron. 'Scabbers is just a rat.'

'Ron, the Homonculus Charm doesn't lie. It can't.'

'Even if Scabbers is Pettigrew, why should we believe you when you say he betrayed the Potters? Witnesses saw you attack him, killing twelve muggles.' said Hermione, sternly.

'I went to kill him, for betraying them, but before I could, he made that explosion, cut off his finger and turned into a rat. I never thought he would be capable of that.'

'You did say you heard all they found of him was a finger.' said Emma, to Hermione.

'And Scabbers is missing one.' added Hermione, nodding. 'But wouldn't the Ministry know if Pettigrew was an Animagus? We did Animagi in class with Professor McGonagall. And I looked them up when I did my homework... The Ministry keeps tabs on witches and wizards who can become animals. There's a register showing what animal they become, their marks and things... and I went and looked Professor McGonagall up on the register, and there have only been seven Animagi this century, and Pettigrew's name wasn't on the list.'

Emma smiled at Hermione, and Harry looked on in wonder.

'But neither was yours.' she finished, looking to Sirius.

'Nor James.' said Sirius, turning to Harry. 'Your father. We were all unregistered. The Ministry never knew there were three of us running around Hogwarts.'

Emma and Hermione nodded. They really believed him, especially now he wasn't acting like a crazy person, but Harry was having difficulty. He seemed to have too much anger to think straight, while Ron was having none of it, fighting to keep Scabbers in his pocket.

'Let me kill him now!' hissed Sirius. 'Let me avenge your parents.'

Harry went to reply, but Emma shushed him. She heard footsteps rapidly approaching them from the tunnel below.

'Get back.' she whispered, making a pushing motion with her hands.

A few seconds later, the door slammed open and there in the doorway was Professor Lupin, his wand out. He threw a spell to Emma, who was standing directly in front of him, but it seemed to have no effect.

'Really?' she asked, raising an eyebrow, disappointed, following it up with a disarming charm, and catching his wand easily.

Lupin just shook his head, turning to Sirius. 'Where is he?'

'You mean Peter?' asked Emma. 'Ron's got him, but he's being pig headed. Again.'

'How did you know he was here?' added Hermione.

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

'You know how to work it?' asked Harry, suspicious.

'Of course I know how to work it.' replied Lupin. 'I helped make it. I'm Moony, that was their nickname for me at school.'

He nodded over to Sirius as he said that.

'The important thing is, I was watching it carefully this evening, because I had an idea that the four of you might try and sneak out of the castle to visit Hagrid before his Hippogriff was executed-'

'Buckbeak.' snapped Emma, unhappy at the reminder.

'Buckbeak.' repeated Lupin, respectfully. 'And I was right, wasn't I?'

He began pacing up and down the room, kicking up patches of dust as he went before he stopped, chuckling when he saw the floor.

'I had a feeling we weren't the only ones to have a map any more.' he smiled, pointing at the makeshift map. 'You handiwork, Emma, I presume?'

She just nodded at him and smiled. Lupin shook his head, amused, before continuing with what he saw of the events leading up to them all in the Shrieking Shack, including seeing Peter. Again, Ron was flatly refusing to believe Scabbers was Peter, but now two maps were agreeing against him.

There was a short argument, where Sirius lunged at the rat, but Emma intercepted him, claws out again. He was really looking mad again now, desperately trying to kill Peter, but Lupin said a few more minutes wouldn't hurt.

Lupin tried to explain the story, about their time in school and how Peter behaved, but by this point both Hermione and Emma had guessed most of it and he found himself grinning at them. He was particularly impressed when they'd worked out that the Shrieking Shack was considered haunted because of him.

'You two really are the cleverest witches of your age I've ever met.' he said, to the embarrassment of both the girls. 'And I must admit, I'm glad to see the four of you are able to look passed me being a werewolf.'

'We'd be hypocrites if we didn't.' said Harry, looking much more amenable to the situation as he stood closer beside Emma, earning a curious look from Sirius.

Hermione nodded in agreement, nudging Emma playfully and Lupin smiled. Before he could finish his story, however, Emma heard more footsteps coming toward them from the tunnel, this time quieter and slower.

'Shh.' she whispered. 'Someone's coming.'

Hermione and Harry moved back towards Ron, while Lupin and Sirius took positions in the middle of the room at either side of the door. Emma threw Lupin his wand and projected an image of Ron's to Hermione, who still had it. She nodded and threw it to Emma, who passed it on to Sirius. She included a memory of her claws against his throat for good measure, in case he got any ideas. They all waited nervously as Emma counted down on her hand as the footsteps got closer. She was stood in between Lupin and Sirius, a little in front of them, by the door.

The door opened with a sudden creak, but nobody was there, or rather, nobody visible.

'Accio Invisibility Cloak.' incanted Emma, quickly and quietly.

They all watched as the air by the door ruffled and shimmered before it was pulled off in Emma's direction, revealing Professor Snape looking somewhat surprised and very angry. He went to cast a spell at Sirius, but Emma was able to put her hand out to intercept it, giving both Lupin and Sirius an opportunity to hit him back, and that they did. With a flash and a loud clap, two stunning charms slammed right into Snape's chest, knocking him out cold.

'Nice job, Jinx.' smirked Sirius, to Emma.

'Jinx?' asked Emma, confused.

'Sorry, I don't know your name, and you kept turning up, getting in my way. I thought you'd jinxed me.'

Emma just rolled her eyes and shook her head before introducing herself, but Harry was quick to interrupt.

'How did Snape know we were here?' asked Harry, confused.

'How is he even here at all?' asked Sirius, looking down at Snape, disgusted.

'I may have forgotten to close the map.' said Lupin, hesitantly.

'And this is why passphrases are rubbish!' said Emma, triumphantly.

'Severus is a teacher here, Sirius.' added Lupin.

'Whatever.' replied Sirius. 'Let's get on with it.'

Lupin nodded morosely, and then all of them spent a little while trying to get Ron to hand over Scabbers. All except Emma that is, because she began trying to heal his wounds, or those she felt able to anyway. His broken leg was too much for her to heal there.

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

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

Ron hesitated, with everyone else looking at him, then finally handed the rat over. Lupin and Sirius then moved over to the back of the room, with the rat, and cast a spell together, resulting in a large blue-white flash that momentarily froze Scabbers in mid-air. Ron yelled, but a moment later, Scabbers fell to the floor and another flash happened. The last one caused Peter to revert to his human form and it happened exactly like Emma's transformations did, and it was curious for her to experience as an observer.

If there was ever a human that looked like a rat, this one was it. He was pitiful, short and shrunken in appearance with a bloated belly that had recently lost a lot of weight. His nose was pointy too with very small and beady eyes, and he was very skittish, constantly looking around the room and to the door. In response, Emma closed it and stood in front, blocking the exit.

'Well, hello, Peter.' said Lupin, pleasantly. 'Long time, no see.'

'S-Sirius... R-Remus...' squeaked Peter, his eyes darting around the room, looking for a way out. 'My friends... my old friends...'

What followed was a long argument that didn't last nearly as long as it felt, where Peter blustered, lied, made excuses and put the blame on others, until it was clear to everyone that he really was the one who betrayed the Potters.

'Shall we kill him together?' asked Sirius.

'Yes, I think so.' said Lupin, grimly, pulling up his tattered sleeves.

'You wouldn't... you won't...' gasped Peter, turning and crawling to Ron.

Since he'd exhausted all other options, now came the begging and grovelling. He went first to Ron, saying he'd been a good pet, but Ron was almost too disgusted to speak. Then he turned and moved toward Hermione.

'Sweet girl... clever girl...' he stuttered.

Emma got between them and hissed, right in his face, claws out. Immediately he shrank away from the threat and instead turned to Harry.

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

'HOW DARE YOU SPEAK-' roared Sirius, appalled at Peter, but he was cut off by Emma.

She felt a level of fury that had only ever been reserved for anyone harming Hermione, and as that thought went through her mind, she flashed her left arm forward, to Peter, like a lightning strike. Before anyone knew what had happened, four bleeding red marks streaked across his face as he recoiled. Emma hissed at him again for good measure. As she was half-crouched, she felt Hermione's hand on her back and a slight tug as it pulled on her dress. Emma quickly calmed down and stood up, stepping backwards.

Sirius, however, now had a wicked grin on his face, looking to Emma with approval, before both he and Lupin took Peter by the shoulders and threw him to the back wall and raised their wands.

'You should have realised,' said Lupin, quietly. 'if Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. Goodbye, Peter.'

Hermione covered her face with her hands and Emma turned her away, hugging her tightly.

'No!' yelled Harry, running forward in front of Peter, blocking Sirius and Lupin. 'You can't kill him... you can't.'

Both Sirius and Lupin looked staggered and surprised.

'Harry, this piece of vermin is the reason you have no parents.' snapped Sirius. 'This cringing bit of filth would have seen you die too, without turning a hair. His own stinking skin means more to him than your entire family.'

'I know.' said Harry, defiantly. 'We'll take him up to the castle. We'll hand him over to the Dementors and he can go to Azkaban... just don't kill him.'

There was a bit more back and forth between Harry, Sirius and Lupin, but Harry stood his ground, and the two adults agreed he probably had more say in the matter than them, so they tied Peter up instead.

Emma, meanwhile, stayed close to Hermione, keeping her calm. She thought that sparing Peter was for the best anyway. They could more easily clear Sirius' name that way, though she was worried about him telling the Ministry she was a vampire, but it was Harry's choice, not hers.

While Lupin tied up Peter, and chained himself to him, Emma helped Ron again. His leg was still in bad shape and he wouldn't be able to walk on it as is, so she got a broken table leg, cleaned it with a spell and put it beside Ron. She then whispered Ferula and bandages appeared out of thin air and wrapped themselves tightly around his leg and the splint.

'That's the best I can do 'til we get to the hospital wing,' said Emma, frowning. 'but you should be able to walk on it at least.'

'Thanks.' replied Ron, wincing as he was pulled to his feet by Emma and Harry. 'That's much better, thank you.'

'What about Professor Snape?' asked Hermione, quietly.

'There's nothing wrong with him.' said Lupin. 'The stunning charms will wear off after a while. Best to wait until we're safely back in the castle before we revive him.'

'We can take him like this... Mobilicorpus.' added Sirius.

Suddenly, Snape rose from the ground as if he'd just become a string puppet being moved by an unseen puppeteer and floated ahead of them. After that, Ron volunteered to be chained to Peter, clearly still disgusted with Scabbers being a person all this time.

Watching Lupin, Peter and Ron walk ahead of her, Emma frowned at the whimpering Peter and decided keeping him awake was too much of a liability.

'Stupefy.' incanted Emma, hitting him in the back.