I do not own Harry Potter. All rights go to J. K. Rowling as well as Warner brothers (For the movie rights).

Daughter of Darkness

Chapter Twenty-Six

The walk out of the tower was silent, as was the entrance into the courtyard. The silence was broken easily however when Izzy heard the sound of stone on steel.

Hermione saw him first. The executioner. Izzy thought if there was ever a fair justice system in the world, the wizarding world certainly didn't have it. The executioner was here at the appeal for Buckbeak.

The committee had already made up their minds. Or more accurately, Lucius Malfoy had made up their minds for them.

"I can't believe it," Ron whispered angrily as the man with the giant axe simply smiled at them. Izzy shook her head while Hermione looked like she was torn between wanting to cry or zapping the executioner in the ass with the darkest spell she could think of.

"Come on," Harry muttered, nudging the three in the back to keep them moving. Behind them, the grinding of stone on metal stopped as a woman came stomping out of the castle and began shouting at the executioner about the injustice. They crossed the bridge in silence, none of them willing to break the mournful silence. Buckbeak was going to be killed and nothing they said or did would matter. Finally, Hermione put to words what they were all thinking.

"I can't believe they're going to kill Buckbeak. It's just too horrible," she said. Up ahead, Izzy heard the echoes of a shouting voice as they came to the end of the bridge.

Malfoy. Izzy saw him as she walked out of the tunnel and couldn't help the low growl the started in her chest.

"Just got worse," Ron said. Izzy couldn't help but agree. Draco heard the comment and stood up from where he was standing. He had been hiding behind a large carved rock to try and catch sight of the moment that Buckbeak was executed. He even had binoculars to see better.

What a little creep.

"Ah! Come to enjoy the show!" he crowed triumphantly, holding his arms out wide. He somehow saw the murder of an innocent creature as a victory. Izzy decided that Draco was a little psychopath in the making if he was pushed right.

"You!" Hermione growled, stomping over to him. "You fowl, loathsome, evil little cockroach!" she snarled, leveling her wand in his face. Draco whimpered pathetically. Hermione was definitely scary when she was mad.

"Hermione, no! He's not worth it," Ron said.

"No no," Izzy countered with a grin. "Our Hermione is a right terror right now. I'd say Draco's even soiling himself. I think he knows our Hermione has him beat and that she could truly do some damage if she wanted."

Izzy's smile at her own words, as her hair eyes turned red no less, could only be described as crocodile in nature. Ron and Harry both gave Izzy a strange look but ultimately turned back to their bushy haired friend.

Hermione slowly lowered her wand, Draco thinking he'd be in the clear as relief showed on his face. It was at that moment that Hermione struck. She punched him square in the nose. Not enough to break it, but enough to bounce the back of his head off the stone behind him. He fell to his knees before his little lackeys were able to pick him up. They ran off as quickly as they could, back to the castle, as the four friends walked down the stone stairs to Hagrid's hut.

When they arrived, they could hear barking inside as Harry banged on the door. It took a moment for Hagrid to answer, and Izzy could see how surprised he was to see them, before he quickly ushered them inside.

"What're ye four doin' here? Yer not suppose' ter be out of the castle 'arry," Hagrid said.

"We came to support you. We didn't want you to be alone when they…you know," Harry said sheepishly. Hagrid's face softened as he looked down at the four of them.

"Very sweet o' ya, that is," he said kindly, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes. "But I won' be alone. Dumbledore's comin' down ter be with me."

"We'll stay with you as well, Hagrid," Hermione declared. The fire returned to Hagrid's eyes.

"Ya'll do no such thing," he said firmly. "Think I wan' ye seeing somethin' like that?" He shook his head. "Absolutely not. In fact, I think ya best be headin' off. Before ya do though, I have somethin' for ya Ron," he said. Hagrid moved about his hut, picking up a tin and lifting the lid to reveal-

"Scabbers! You're alive!" Ron exclaimed. He took hold of the scrawny rat and cradled him to his chest. He looked over at Hermione and nodded. "I'm sorry I yelled at you when I assumed Crookshanks killed him," he said. Hermione nodded.

"It wasn't entirely your fault. Besides, we've both already apologized to each other…no need to do it again," she said with a small smile. Ron smiled gratefully. Apologies were not his specialty.

The moment was short lived when the pot on the table cracked, spilling milk everywhere.

"What the!" Hagrid shouted in surprise. Izzy saw Hermione pick something up and look at it curiously before something hit Harry, causing him to grunt in pain. He looked for whatever it was that had hit him, only to see the minister, the executioner, and the headmaster walking down the stone stairs.

"You four gotta go. Anyone see's ya after dark you'll be in big trouble. 'Specially you 'arry," Hagrid said as he ushered them to the door.

"It'll be alright, Hagrid," Harry assured as someone knocked on the door. Hagrid nodded as the four crept out the back door of his hut and hid in the pumpkin patch. They were briefly able to hear the conversation and conviction, which got Ron's blood boiling, before they heard a snap behind them. All four whipped around to find nothing there. With a shrug, they all ran out of the pumpkin patch as quickly as they could without being heard, before they hightailed it up the stone steps.

The four made it back to the boulders, Izzy being the only one not huffing and puffing thanks to the endurance training she'd had in the dueling club, before they looked back down the hill. Hermione began sniffling as the executioner came out of the hut with his overly large axe. All four of them watched dutifully as he hefted it over his head and brought it down a moment later. The sound echoed up the hill where Hermione let out a choked sob before she buried her head in the crook of Ron's neck. Harry awkwardly side hugged Hermione, but Izzy stood alone, looking down the hill in anger at the injustice that had just passed. If ever she got a chance, she swore, she'd take let the older Malfoy have it.

The moment was again ruined, this time by Scabbers biting Ron's finger, causing the red head to drop the rat. It scampered away as fast as it could.

"Scabbers! He bit me!" Ron said in indignation. He chased after the little creature, always just missing it when he went to grab it. It seemed Scabbers wanted to be free. Desperately.

The three chased after Ron and Scabbers before they realized where they were, and what Tree Ron was dangerously near.

"Ron! Run!" Harry shouted after Hermione pointed out where they were. The Whomping Willow began to move, as if waking up from a long nap that the poor boy had just disturbed.

Ron looked up, his face morphing in fear as he pointed.

"Guys! Run!" He shouted, pointing a shaking finger behind them. "It's the grim!" Harry and Hermione whipped around. Izzy recognized the dog a moment later. Or she thought she did. It had been so sweet the last time she'd seen it. Now it seemed to be practically foaming at the mouth as it barked at them before taking off in their direction. Izzy had her wand in her hand, but it jumped over the trio and landed, bounding towards Ron. It grabbed him by the leg as Ron cried out for someone, anyone, to help him. Izzy shot off a spell that nearly hit Ron. By the time she was able to get off another one, the dog was pulling Ron down into the tree.

The three stood in shock as they looked down the dark hole.

"Come on!" Harry said as he took one step towards the hole. The three weren't prepared as a braided branch hit them, and Izzy certainly wasn't prepared to feel the sharp pain in her side when she hit the ground. She groaned as she tried to right herself, clutching at her side as the pain flared up. She rolled to avoid a huge tree branch. Dimly, she could hear Hermione screaming.

"Move, Harry!" Izzy shouted as she stood. She jumped over a brunch that would've broken her legs if she hadn't seen it coming. She then stumbled as one whipped past her face, nearly blinding her with the smaller branches. She gathered her wits about her and fired off the only spell she thought might work against the murderous tree.

"Immobulus!"

The white spell hit the tree, and everything became quite as the tree fell still. Hermione slipped off the branch she had managed to hang onto. Izzy fell to one knee as it seemed like with every breath she took, she was inhaling fire.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked in concern.

"I'm fine," Izzy grunted as she stood. "Come on. Spell won't last forever," she said. Harry and Hermione looked at their friend in worry before nodding as Ron's shouts of panic echoed out of the tree.

Izzy did not like sliding into the hole, not one bit as she felt like she was going to explode. She bit her lip to stop the scream that threatened to tear from her chest as she got to the bottom of the bumpy tunnel. Thankfully she was last and wasn't kicked in the back like Harry had been when Hermione went down immediately after he'd gone in.

"Where do you suppose this goes?" Hermione asked.

"No idea. I never saw this on the map when I still had it," Harry explained.

"Well it was your own bloody fault for getting it confiscated in the first place. You should've asked the twins what the hell it did if anyone tried to use it without the pass phrase," Izzy grumbled. While she had laughed when he told the story of the insults the map had given Snape, she wasn't laughing now.

"It was a gift from the twins so yeah, I probably should've thought of that," Harry admitted.

"It is what it is, Harry," Izzy sighed, groaning as she cradled her side delicately. Harry noticed that her eyes and hair had turned purple with odd streaks of yellow scattered here and there. It was very odd. They heard Ron scream again, the sound echoing down the tunnel. The three raced down it, all ignoring their injuries to get to their friend. There was a door at the end of it, which Harry pushed through, only to come out somewhere they hadn't expected.

"This is the shrieking shack," Hermione whispered in shock.

"Oh yay, what a lovely travel destination," Izzy groaned sarcastically. She pressed a hand to her side. Hermione pulled her hand away and slowly pulled up the metamorphs shirt, where she found a deep purple bruise.

"I think you've broken a rib," Hermione said sympathetically. Izzy grunted as she shoved her shirt back down.

"It's fine. Ron's still in trouble," Izzy said. Hermione and Harry nodded before they ran up the stairs.

"Ron," Harry said when he saw his best friend. "Ron are you alright? Where's the dog?" he asked. Ron pointed behind.

"It's a trap, he's not a dog at all! He's an animagus!" Ron shouted. All three of them turned as the broken door closed, revealing one Sirius Black.

Mass murderer, traitor, and escaped convict. Izzy drew her wand in a second, as Hermione jumped in front of Harry.

"If you're going to kill Harry, you're going to have to kill us too!" she shouted. Something flickered in Black's eyes for just a moment before he spoke. Speaking might have been a bit generous, more like he roughly formed words that were at least understandable.

"No," he croaked. "Only one will die tonight," he declared. Harry shoved past Hermione and wrapped his hands around Black's throat.

"It'll be you!" he roared as the two fell to the ground. Harry pulled out his wand and put it to Black's throat, but Izzy knew Harry wouldn't do anything but stun the man, even as angry as he was. He wasn't a killer. Izzy had a stunner on the tip of her tongue as her hair shifted to a bright silver that reflected the moonlight streaming through the cracks of the rickety house.

Izzy relaxed when she saw Professor Lupin come running up the stairs, only to be shocked into stunned silence when he shot the wand out of Harry's hand. She was just about to use the stunner, but the exhausted looking Professor Lupin was faster (but only just by a slight margin) and her own wand was no longer in her hand.

"Well well, Sirius, looking rather ragged aren't we," Professor Lupin said as he kept his wand trained on Black. "Finally the flesh represents the madness within," he said. That only caused Sirius to chuckle.

"Well you'd know all about the madness within, wouldn't you Remus?" Sirius asked, chuckling as if he told a particularly amusing joke. To Izzy's growing horror, she watched Professor Lupin smile down at the escaped convict before lowering his wand and giving him a hand to help him up.

"You're his friend," Izzy whispered as the two embraced one another.

"I found him!" Sirius whispered in excitement. "Let's kill him!" he hissed a moment later. Professor Lupin seemed to be comforting the man as Hermione exploded.

"No!" she shouted. "I trusted you! And all this time, you've been his friend!" she ranted. "He's a werewolf! That's why he's been missing classes!" she said. Izzy's eyes widened. She hadn't done the assignment because Snape was an arse and she knew Professor Lupin would think he was being unreasonable, skipping so far ahead in the lesson plan.

Professor Lupin stalked forward slowly, an appraising look in his eye. Izzy moved and stood by her best friend.

"Werewolf or not," Izzy snarled dangerously. "I'll kill you myself if you lay a hand on her."

"How long have you known?" the professor asked as he took a step back from his two students.

"Since Professor Snape set the essay," Hermione said defiantly. Izzy kept her eyes trained on the man, eerily red eyes flicking between the wand in his hand and his face.

"Well well well Hermione, you really are the brightest witch of your age," Professor Lupin praised. It seemed Sirius was done with the banter however as he exploded a moment later.

"Enough talk, Remus! Let's kill him!" he shouted.

"Wait!" Professor Lupin said, throwing his hand out.

"I did my waiting!" Sirius cried, his dark eyes going wide. His lips pulled over his yellowed teeth making him seem even crazier. "Twelve years of it! In Azkaban!"

Professor Lupin made his choice, his broad shoulders falling as he turned the handle of his wand to Sirius. "Very well, kill him, but wait one more minute. Harry had the right to know why," he explained.

"I know why!" Harry shouted angrily, pushing out from behind Hermione and Izzy. "You betrayed my parents. You're the reason they're dead!"

"No, Harry, it wasn't him. Somebody did betray your parents but it was somebody until, quite recently, I believed to be dead," Professor Lupin explained calmly, not at all deterred by the angry child in front of him.

"Who was it then?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Peter Pettigrew!" Sirius said from behind Professor Lupin. "And he's in this room! Right now!" The man looked around wildly, looking every bit the insane convict he was supposed to be. "Come out, come out Peter! Come out and play!" he sang. At that moment, the last person Izzy thought would come came up the stairs.

"Expelliarmus!" Snape shouted. He seemed to be reveling in this little victory as he stalked forward and trained his wand on Sirius. "Oh, vengeance is sweet," he drawled. "I hoped I'd be the one to catch you-"

"Severus-"

"I hoped I'd be the one to catch you! I told Dumbledore you were helping your old friend into the castle," Snape said as he pointed his wand at Professor Lupin. "Now here's the proof!"

"Amazing!" Izzy interrupted. The three adult's hell bent on confusing everyone in the room looked to her. "Remarkable, Professor Snape, you caught the bad guy, now can we please revel in your victory inside the castle? Maybe in the hospital wing where Madame Pomfrey can fix the stabbing pain in my lungs?" she asked. Professor Lupin looked at her in concern. Snape looked at the two men angrily until he was suddenly flung across the room. Izzy looked back and saw Harry holding Hermione's wand in his hand.

"Oh for god's sake!" Izzy growled before she went and picked up her own wand along with Harry's.

"Tell me about Peter Pettigrew," Harry ordered.

"He went to school with us; your father, me, and Sirius. We thought he was our friend," Professor Lupin said. Harry shook his head as Izzy handed him his own wand.

"No. Pettigrew's dead, you killed him!" Harry said.

"No he didn't!" Professor Lupin said as he got between Harry and Sirius. "I thought so too until you pointed out seeing him on the map!"

"The map was lying!" Harry denied.

"The map never lies! It was your mother's idea to tie the map into the school wards. The school knows everyone within its walls. The map cannot be deceived!" Sirius explained. "He's alive, and he's right there!" Sirius said, pointing at-

Everything clicked for Izzy right then.

"He was an animagus too," she said, looking right at the rat.

"Yes!" Sirius exclaimed. He was looking at her proudly, a weird smile on his face before he turned to the rat.

"Scabbers has been in my family for-" Ron tried to say, only for Sirius to cut him off.

"Twelve years!" he exclaimed. "Curiously long life for a common garden rat! He's missing a toe, isn't he?" he asked. Ron looked helplessly at the family rat as it squeaked and squealed.

"So what?" Ron replied.

"All they could find of the Pettigrew was his-"

"Finger!" Sirius exclaimed, finishing for Harry. "The cowardly bastard cut it off so everyone would think he was dead! And then he transformed! Into a rat!"

"Prove it," Harry challenged. Ron didn't like that as he pulled Scabbers close to his chest.

"It's alright Ron. If Scabbers is an ordinary rat, the spell to force him back into a human won't hurt him," Izzy said. Ron reluctantly handed the rat over. Professor Lupin took hold of the rat as it squeaked in protest before he set it down on the dilapidated piano. The Scabbers immediately began running as Professor Lupin and Sirius lurched around, trying to hit it with the spell to force the transformation. It looked like Scabbers was going to escape until he lunged for a hole in the wall right as one of the spells hit him in the backside.

Izzy's eyes widened, and she could hear Ron's sharp intake of breath, as the rat transformed into a fat, short man. Professor Lupin and Sirius pulled the man out of the wall, and she could see what kind of man Pettigrew really was. He was overweight and balding, with front teeth larger than Hermione's, and nails that seemed to be pointed more than a human should naturally have them. He was snuffling like a rat until he realized he wasn't one anymore.

"Remus!" He said excitedly. "Sirius! My old friends!" he tried to run for it, but Professor Lupin and Sirius caught him, pushing him back. He looked desperately to Harry and tried to appeal to his sense of morality, something he only knew because the rat had lived with him as Ron's rat for nearly three years now. "H-Harry! Look at you! You look so much like your father"

"How dare you speak to Harry about James!" Sirius shouted.

Pettigrew ran around the room, only for Professor Lupin and Sirius to corner him behind the old piano.

"You sold the Potter family to Voldemort!" Professor Lupin accused. Izzy noticed that Pettigrew didn't look as fearful as other witches or wizards when someone said Voldemort's name, though there was a grimace at the mention of the dark lords name.

"I didn't mean too!" he cried.

"Liar," Izzy said loudly but calmly. Pettigrew looked at her and actually paled for some reason; he was afraid of her for some reason. "Ignoring the fact that you've been in hiding for twelve years when Sirius was in prison and no danger to you, you're not as afraid of Voldemort as everyone else is. You are afraid, but right now, you're more afraid of Sirius and Professor Lupin than anyone else. Now that could also be because Sirius Black is a murderer…or…you really did sell out the Potters and you're afraid that Sirius Black, Harry's godfather, will kill you for what you did," Izzy said.

"Fortunately," she continued. "There's one…teensy…simple…solution," she said with a grin.

"And what is it?" Professor Lupin asked. Izzy flicked her wand and muttered 'Diffindo.' Since the severing charm required a lot of focus, it could easily harm a person, but Izzy was decent enough at it that she cut the left sleeve of Pettigrew's tattered suit off. It slid to the floor, revealing the pail, marked flesh of Pettigrew's arm…along with the dark mark. It was barely visible, but it was still there.

"How'd that get there?" Izzy said with a smile, biting her tongue between her teeth. Sirius and Professor Lupin both snarled.

"Let's kill him," Sirius hissed. Professor Lupin nodded and leveled his wand at the traitor.

"No," Harry said. Izzy wanted to scream. This was more exciting than the last two years combined, but at the same time, she wanted to get this over with so she could go to Madame Pomfrey and breath properly again. Pettigrew's eyes shined with hope before it was stolen when Harry declared Pettigrew would be given to the dementors.

As Professor Lupin bound Pettigrew, Sirius looked at both Harry and Izzy.

"I would like to have a word with you when this is over," he said. Harry and Izzy both looked at each other and shrugged, wondering what he could want to talk about.

The group of three adults and four students worked their way out of the shrieking shack and through the tunnel leading under the Whomping willow and onto the Hogwarts grounds.

They exited the hole in the Whomping Willow to the cool night. Izzy tried to breath the clean air but a sharp pain in her side reminded her of her possibly broken rib. She groaned and simply tried to push past the pain. Izzy and Hermione stayed with Ron, Professor Lupin kept his wand on Pettigrew, and Harry went off to talk with Sirius.

"What a night," Izzy whispered jokingly to Ron. The redhead laughed and looked over at Pettigrew.

"Yeah, absolutely mental," Ron muttered a moment later. "I reckon mum and dad'll have a fit when they find out."

"What? That you've been sleeping with a bloke all these years or that he turned out to be a death eater," Izzy jabbed good naturedly, throwing in a laugh to show Ron she meant nothing serious by it. Ron stared at her in shock, as did Hermione, before the two busted out laughing.

"Yeah, both I guess," Ron chuckled, punching Izzy in the arm. Izzy giggled until she noticed how Hermione looking at Professor Lupin and then the mountain off in the distance. Izzy took note of how bright the moon was tonight before it hit her like a ton of bricks.

Right…werewolf.

"Harry!" Hermione shouted. Harry turned and saw the moon peaking out from behind the mountain. Almost immediately, Professor Lupin looked noticeably paler even in the moonlight. His eyes darkened and he began panting.

"Shite," Izzy heard Sirius mutter before he was running and wrapping his thin arms around Professor Lupin who was now looking considerably different. "Run!" Sirius shouted "Run!"

Pettigrew used the distraction to grab Professor Lupin's wand, but Harry disarmed him. Izzy was too late to recognize when the man began to transform before he was a rat and scampering away. Izzy sent a stunner, but it missed him by a hair before he was in the bushes.

Snape came out of the hole as Sirius was tossed away like an old rag.

"There you are, Potter," Snape spat. The werewolf, now fully transformed, growled. Snape whirled around and held his arms out, shielding the four students with his body. The werewolf swiped, knocking all five of them to the ground before a black dog came running over the hill. It jumped on the werewolf's back, knocking it over before they both jumped up and lunged at each other. It seemed both were intent on killing one another. It was pitiful to listen helplessly to the two animals go at it until the black dog bit deep into the werewolf's thigh. The werewolf, finally deciding it had enough of the annoying dog, picked it up and threw it before it gave chase.

"Sirius!" Harry exclaimed as ran after the pair. Snape tried to stop him, but Harry was already gone, out of sight in the dark forest. Snape turned angrily back to the remaining three of the 'golden quartet' before he paused.

"Miss Verona, I need you to lie back, and remain calm," he said in a sharp voice. Izzy looked around and saw that both Ron and Hermione looked at her with fearful eyes.

"Why what's wr-" her right arm was covered in blood. When she looked to find the source, she saw four long gashes wrapping around the back of her shoulder down the front of her arm. "Oh," was all Izzy said.

Then she fainted.

Yup…this year was definitely cursed.

Red=angry

Gray=nervous/anxious/irritated

Orange=happy/excited

Blue=sad/overwhelmed

Purple=worried/concerned/frustrated

Green=jealous/suspicious

Brown=content/relaxed

Yellow=afraid/shocked

Pink=amusement

Silver=determination

Light blue=embarrassment