When the past catches up to you

Remus fought back the tremors in his knees that threatened to force him to the floor. Harry had cast the spell the moment the wand had shifted from himself and Sirius to Snape. He knew he should not be scared of an untrained thirteen year old, but it had been so long since he had been on the receiving end of a curse, just over thirteen years in fact.

A malicious giggle causes the younger werewolf to spin around, almost tripping over the tattered bottom of his robe. He is faced with a heavily polished wand, held by manicured hands belonging to a tall, slender blond dressed in dark robes, a death eater mask hanging from his other hand.

"I've been waiting a long time for this Lupin," he gloats, smirking cruelly.

Remus flicks his wand out of his sleeve.

"The Dark Lord believes that your kind would be an asset to his arsenal. After all, you are a dark creature. Do you ever wonder if you are fighting on the wrong side of this war?"

"Are you going to duel me, or just taunt me!" He demands.

The attacker's icy grey eyes flash with sadistic pleasure as he meticulously aims the tip of his wand. "I don't believe I am going to do either."

Remus's eyes widen as he realises the death eater's intention. He raises his own wand, but before the disarming spell leaves his lips, the blond cuts him off.

"Crucio!"

Remus's back arches as pain laces through his body. Pulling in a shallow, shuddering breath, he tries to shake off the agony. Frowning, his torturer increases the pressure until the werewolf lies writhing on the damp, muddy ground. Even as it feels as if his tongue is being torn out of his throat, his screams echo across the moor. Silver spikes tear through his flesh, sliding like barbed wire through his vital organs. He swallows hard, but his own saliva feels like boiling water and the tears sliding from his eyes feel the same.

There is a strange light in the torturer's eye as he raises the wand and cuts off the spell.

Remus spits out blood, forcing himself to his knees. "You are a disgusting bastard Malfoy." He rasps, pulling all of his remaining energy into staying on his knees. He still has not let go of his wand but it is useless for he does not have the energy to cast.

"Call me whatever you want Lupin. Just know that your screams will lull me to sleep every night." Lucius Malfoy turns and strides away in a flurry of black robes, replacing his mask as he walks.

A shudder rippled through Remus's body as the memory clawed its way to the surface

Hermione tugged on Harry's sleeve, muttering her distress over the attack upon a Hogwarts teacher. Sirius was all but twitching in his haste to destroy the rat. Remus brought his mind back to the matter in hand.

"I want to know what's going on." Harry demanded.

"Its true Sirius was Lily and James's secret keeper, but at the last minute they changed Secret Keepers. Peter betrayed them and staged his own death."

Sirius pushed Remus's arm away to step forward, unsteady on his feet. "He cut off his own finger, turned into a rat and escaped down the sewers."

"All they could find of Pettigrew was his finger," Hermione whispered.

Sirius ignored her and continued. "Twelve years I rotted in that prison, then I saw that picture in the Prophet of the Weaslys in Egypt and saw that rat on his shoulder. I knew I had to escape."

"Scabbers? No way! He's been in my family for-"

"Twelve years. Awfully long for a common garden rat, wouldn't you say?"

"Give me the rat. I'll prove it," Remus assured.

"W-What are you going to do?" Ron asked, a tremor in his voice.

"I'm going to force him to retake human form. If he really is a rat, nothing will happen."

Hesitantly, Ron handed his pet rat to the werewolf. Sirius retrieved Snape's wand and pointed it at the rat. Remus placed the scrambling animal on to a splintered table. The moment all four feet touched the solid wood he began to run, claws scrabbling for purchase. Remus flicked his wand and the flash of blue light barely missed the tip of the rat's tail. Just as it prepared to jump out of a boarded up window when another flash hit the rat in the gut and it enlarged, becoming portly, balding and human.

Ron almost fainted as Peter Pettigrew was hauled out of the crack in the boards and forced to the ground at wand point.

Remus and Sirius shared a glance and looked back at the betrayer.

"Together?" Sirius suggested.

Remus nodded shortly.

They raised their wands.

"No! No! Don't let them kill me. Master! Wasn't I a good pet?" He scrambled over to Ron, who shifted away in disgust. "Good, kind Harry." He pawed at the boy's robes. Harry flicked them away, repulsed.

Remus and Sirius aimed their wands again.

"No!" Harry exclaimed.

"B-But Harry!" Sirius spluttered. "He doesn't deserve your mercy."

"I just don't think my dad would have wanted his two best friends to become murderers. We'll take him back to the castle. The Dementors can have him."

The colour drained from Pettigrew's features. A flick of Remus's wand and he was chained up. He levitated Snape and the group made their way back down the passage to the grounds.

It was dark and clouds veiled the moon. A strange sense of calm flooded the werewolf as he stood, inhaling deep breaths of fresh air, reunited with his childhood friend and within hours of James and Lily's souls being avenged. His eyes followed the dark criminal as he went to talk to his godson and Remus smiled. It was not right that Harry had been taken from Sirius's care.

He flicked his eyes to Peter, feeling anger well up in him. His wand hand quivered. Peter looked up and met his eyes triumphantly.

A wash of soft tingling flooded his veins. Silence reigned. He realised that Harry and Sirius had stopped talking. Hermione was supporting Ron, staring at the sky, eyes wide with horror. Snape was shivering, apparently awoken.

Pain lanced through his side, causing him to double over.

"Remus!" Sirius all but screamed.

Dread settled into a deep ache in his bones. The image of the gruesome steaming goblet on his desk filled his mind's eye and the fear began to set in. Slowly he turned. The moon hung as a full, glowing orb in the velvet sky.

Harry, Ron and Hermione huddled close, trembling.

Remus's wand hand twitched violently and the wand fell from his fingertips. Cackling with glee, Peter picked up the wand, pointed it at himself and sank down into rat form. He disappeared into the Forbidden Forest before anyone could react.

Remus screamed in agony as his bones reshaped themselves and his skin was torn to shreds and replaced. Stabbing pain signalled the change from colour vision to monochrome. His nose felt as though it were being stabbed with a thousand needles, before the wolf's beautiful vision in scent was revealed.

Sirius threw himself on to the werewolf, begging him to remember who he was. Remus struggled to reign in the wolf's power, but after his dependence on Wolfsbane, he found himself horribly out of practice. Sirius saw the last little bit of Remus fall apologetically into the wolf's intense amber stare before he was flung back into a tree trunk.

Severus Snape lurched to his feet and stepped purposefully in front of the students, wand drawn.

The tawny wolf threw back his head and let out a mournful, powerful howl. He crouched, ready to leap. Snape braced himself for the hit.

Just as the wolf leapt, a huge black dog met it mid-leap, and a vicious fight was soon in action.

Snape snapped at the students to run, before taking off towards the castle himself.

A/N: . . . . Not much to say. Except I've decided to take the song lyrics out of the beginning of the chapters. When I get around to it. Heh. BYE!