After the last exam for Third-year students, Rebekah just wanted to relax. She had only just got back into her room before one of the older years, Sanderson had got her because there were two Gryffindors lurking outside the Slytherin corridor.

"What do you want?" Rebekah said sharply after the walls closed.

Hermione jutted her shoulders back and said, pointing a finger at Emperor at Rebebah's feet, "I think Emperor took Scabbers. Ron keeps blaming Crookshanks but he wouldn't do that, not him but Emperor would. He watched him go into our common room and walk around."

Rebekah raised an eyebrow at Emperor and he simply lifted a paw to lick it. He meowed and purred a deeper tone that vibrated within his chest. Rebekah sucked her teeth and sighed.

"He didn't do it but he knows where Scabbers is," Rebekah pulled the invisibility cloak out of her black clutch.

Emperor dashed off and they followed him, staying a metre or so behind the running feline. When they came to the Entrance Hall, Rebekah hurried them under the cloak and they continued to follow Emperor. He made his way to Hagrid's hut, stopping every so often to allow them to catch up.

Rebekah pulled the cloak off and knocked at the door, watching it open.

"What're yeh doin' here?" Hagrid said, slightly confused and annoyed. "'Bekah, yeh're not supposed teh leave the castle alone."

"Well, it was needed," Rebekah said as she walked past Hagrid and strode into the hut. "Emperor, find."

"Find what?"

"Someone," Rebakh glared at the duo of Gryffindors, "accuses Emperor of killing Scabbers, Ron's rat. Emperor said that he knows where he is and led us here."

Emperor leapt into the cupboards and sniffed around, finally finding the rat. He pushed the milk jug off of the shelf and Scabbers scurried out, trying to go for the door but Ron grasped him with a gasp.

"It's okay, Scabbers!" Ron gasped, clutching the disgusting rat. "There's nothing here to hurt you!"

"You've your rat, now stop accusing people without reason," Rebekah said and Hermione frowned. "I'm sorry for the intrusion, Hagrid. We'll be heading back to the castle now. Good Evening."

"Be safe,"

Scabbers wouldn't stop trying to scurry out of Ron's grip, he had even bit Ron's finger but that didn't work. Emperor acted strangely, keeping a firm eye on the rat. When Scabbers jumped and found a way to be released, Emperor bounded after him and barely caught him before he completely ran away.

"Go away you mangy cat!" Ron said and lifted Scabbers from Emperor's mouth, Emperor hissed sharply but left the rat alone.

Rebekah watched as a large black dog came running at Ron and Scabbers. She pushed Hermione back, not to protect her but to allow the dog to do whatever he wanted. It leapt and took Ron by his outstretched arm in his jaws.

Hermione began running after the dog as he dragged Ron. they weren't far from the Whomping Willow as the dog finally dragged Ron into the hole when the tree broke one of Ron's legs. The tree began to fling its branches at them, nicking Hermione across the shoulder but Rebekah dodged each violent attack.

She grasped Hermione by the scruff of her top, pulling her back sharply before she could be hit. Rebekah tried to make a plan. What could she do? She needed to touch the knot of the trunk but Emperor had allowed the Wizard and dog in already. Rebekah sighed, there was only one way she could get both of them through.

"Listen to me," Rebekah quickly said. "What I'm about to do, you can't tell anyone, got it?"

"What are you going to do if I tell?" Hermione snapped, completely not trusting Rebekah as the look in the Slytherin Witch's eyes darkened with each word.

"You might be the brightest Witch of our age," Rebekah's lip curled up into a sneer as she grabbed Hermione by the shoulder. She dug her nails in as she spoke. "But I am the most ambitious and most resourceful Witch of our age and the next. You cross me, you're finished. The Aurors won't be able to find a single trace. Got it?" Hermione nodded, trembling as the dark look disappeared and was replaced by determination. "Good, now follow me."

Rebekah shifted into her Animagus form, hearing Hermione gasp. She was able to stop the Whomping Willow from thrashing and watched as Hermione quickly decided to follow her in. The passage was low but Rebekah's form was small enough to walk comfortably and Hermione had to crouch. It took several minutes to walk all the way to the dusty room at the very end.

She shifted back when they arrived.

"How—How did you become an Animagus?" Hermione said, almost raising her voice.

Rebekah sent her a dirty look and walked through a door to find Ron beside a four-poster bed with Emperor on it.

"Ron, are you okay?" Hermione said as she kneeled down by him.

"Where's the dog?" Rebekah asked but refused to get on her knees. Hermione would see to it that he was fine, Rebekah had other people to be concerned about.

"Not a dog," Ron gritted his teeth and pointed across the room. "He's the dog . . . he's an Animagus. . . ."

They turned sharply with their wands in their hands, Sirius Black disarmed them easily and caught them. He took a step forward and kept his cold gaze on Rebekah.

"I thought you'd come and help your friend," His voice was hoarse with no use in the last year. "Your father would have done the same for me. Brave of you, not to run for a teacher. I'm grateful, it will make everything much easier. . . ."

Hermione's hand shot out when Rebekah stepped forward. With a glare from the Witch, Hermione let her walk forward.

"Wand," Rebekah tilted her head and held her hand out. She scoffed when he didn't pass it, crossing her arms over her chest. "You already know where I stand. Now, come on, pass my wand. I don't like people touching it."

"Hm," He said and placed a hand onto her shoulder when he handed it over.

"Thank you,"

Hermione was furious. "You're in a league with—with him?! He killed your parents, Rebekah!"

"Do shut up," Rebekah sighed, shrugging her shoulders to relieve tension. "I know what happened that night, and that isn't it."

"How? He's been in Azkaban for the last twelve years. They caught him and sentenced him!"

"Without a trial, Hermione. They did all of that without ever using any evidence, save the evidence they had at the scene which was staged,"

There was the sound of footsteps up the stairs and Hermione screamed, "WE'RE HERE WITH SIRIUS BLACK! HELP!"

"You idiot!" Rebekah muttered and the door busted open with Lupin appearing and disarming everyone in the room again. Rebekah made a big sound of displeasure.

"What is it with the Marauders and taking my wand?" Rebekah stomped her foot lightly. "First him and now you!"

Lupin laughed dryly and gave Rebekah her wand back with a pat on the back.

"No, Rebekah! He's been helping Black get into the castle! He wants you dead like Black does!" Hermione shouted again, then said as a last resort, "He's a Werewolf!"

"For goodness sake, Hermione. I KNOW!" Rebekah screamed at her, finally having enough of the Gryffindor Witch's words. "And you don't know zilch, so just stay quiet while we sort this out."

"Sort what out, Rebekah? They're criminals and all we have to do is inform the Dementors,"

"Okay, now you've pissed me off. SILENCIO!" Rebekah swished her wand and made Hermione mute. She opened her mouth but no sound came out. Huffing, she sat by Ron.

"Do you know?" Sirius asked Lupin.

"Rebekah informed me of her theories and your visit,"

"How did you know we were here?" Rebekah asked.

"The Marauders' Map, the Invisibility Cloak doesn't hide you," Lupin said. "I had it open on my desk and I watched you go to Hagrid's, then you left with another person in your group."

Rebekah looked to Ron, making him say, "What?"

"Pass me Scabbers," Rebekah said and took him easily. The rat squirmed but her grip was tight. She pulled at its feet, trying to find the paw with the missing finger. Rebekah shoved the rat at Sirius and grimaced, completely disgusted.

"That's not a rat," Sirius said hoarsely.

"What d'you mean? He's a rat!"

"No, he's not," Lupin scoffed, "He's a wizard."

"An Animagus," Sirius said, "by the name of Peter Pettigrew."

"He's the one who betrayed my parents, not Sirius Black,"

After a moment of conversation, Lupin began to explain, "I was a very small boy when I received the bite. My parents tried everything, but in those days there was no cure. The potion that Professor Snape has been making for me is a very recent discovery. It makes me safe, you see. As long as I take it in the week preceding the full moon, I keep my mind when I transform. . . . I am able to curl up in my office, a harmless wolf, and wait for the moon to wane again

"Before the Wolfsbane Potion was discovered, however, I became a fully-fledged monster once a month. It seemed impossible that I would be able to come to Hogwarts. Other parents weren't likely to want their children exposed to me.

"But then Dumbledore became Headmaster, and he was sympathetic. He said that as long as we took certain precautions, there was no reason I shouldn't come to school. . . ." Lupin sighed, looking at Rebekah. "I told you, months ago, that the Whomping Willow was planted the year I came to Hogwarts. The truth is that it was planted because I came to Hogwarts. This house, the tunnel that leads to it, they were built for my use. Once a month, I was smuggled out of the castle, into this place, to transform. The tree was placed at the tunnel mouth to stop anyone coming across me while I was dangerous.

"My transformations in those days were — were terrible. It is very painful to turn into a werewolf. I was separated from humans to bite, so I bit and scratched myself instead. The villagers heard the noise and the screaming and thought they were hearing particularly violent spirits. Dumbledore encouraged the rumour. . . . Even now, when the house has been silent for years, the villagers don't dare approach it. . . .

"But apart from my transformations, I was happier than I had ever been in my life. For the first time ever, I had friends, three great friends. Sirius Black . . . Peter Pettigrew . . . and, of course, your father, Rebekah — James Potter…"

He continued for several more minutes

"Hurry up, Remus," Sirius snarled, bloodlust evident on his thin face.

"I'm getting there, Sirius, I'm getting there . . . well, highly exciting possibilities were open to us now that we could all transform. Soon we were leaving the Shrieking Shack and roaming the school grounds and the village by night. Sirius and James transformed into such large animals, they were able to keep a werewolf in check. I doubt whether any Hogwarts students ever found out more about the Hogwarts grounds and Hogsmeade than we did. . . . And that's how we came to write the Marauder's Map, and sign it with our nicknames. Sirius is Padfoot. Peter is Wormtail. James was Prongs."

"That was still really dangerous! Running around in the dark with a werewolf! What if you'd given the others the slip, and bitten somebody?"

"A thought that still haunts me," Lupin sighed heavily. "And there were near misses, many of them. We laughed about them afterwards. We were young, thoughtless, carried away with our own cleverness…."

He continued again.

"Snape hates you both, though Lupin less," Rebekah said. "He still believes that you were in on the joke."

There was a shimmer of something behind them, it was too familiar to ignore. Rebekah stepped forward and grasped at the air, getting a hold on the Cloak and pulling. There was a flash of burgundy hair in the corner of her eye, though Rebekah ignored it for the moment.

"Hi, sir. IMMOBULUS!" Snape froze with his wand pointed at Lupin's chest. "I seriously don't care if you give me a thousand detentions but, now, you're gonna listen, professor, and not assume. Sirius Black didn't betray my parents, that rat did and we'll prove it."

Scabbers was held up and a spell was cast. For a moment, he froze before he began to rapidly grow human limbs. He grew and grew until he became a snivelling human with long front teeth and an oily demeanour.

"S — Sirius . . . R — Remus . . ." His eyes went to the door and then to their eyes. "My friends, my old friends . . ."

Rebekah allowed the two Wizards to speak to the man. She walked over to Ron and shuffled through her bottomless clutch, trying to find the Skele-Gro she brought over the summer. She made Ron drink it, watching his leg mend itself after a few minutes.

"It was as if someone had lit a fire in my head, and the dementors couldn't destroy it. . . . It wasn't a happy feeling . . . it was an obsession . . . but it gave me strength, it cleared my mind. So, one night when they opened my door to bring food, I slipped past them as a dog. . . . It's so much harder for them to sense animal emotions that they were confused. . . . I was thin, very thin . . . thin enough to slip through the bars. . . . I swam as a dog back to the mainland. . . . I journeyed north and slipped into the Hogwarts grounds as a dog. I've been living in the forest ever since, except when I came to watch the Quidditch, of course. You fly as well as your father did, Rebekah. . . .

"Believe me," Sirius choked slightly in his memory "Rebekah, I never betrayed James and Lily. I would have died before I betrayed them."

Rebekah smiled fondly as she stood up, nodding her head sparsely.

"No!"

Lupin and Sirius began to threaten him with death, making Pettigrew kneel and beg at the three young teens.

"Rebekah, dear. You look just like your mother and father, just like them. . . ."

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO REBEKAH?" Black roared. "HOW DARE YOU FACE HER? HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT LILY AND JAMES IN FRONT OF HER?"

The rat Wizard shuffled forward, getting closer to Rebekah. "Lily and James wouldn't want me, their close friend, killed. They'd've understood. They would have shown mercy, Rebekah."

Rebekah crouched down to his level, tilting her head.

"Mercy?"

She faked thinking about it and smiled pleasantly, grabbing a bunch of hair at the scruff of his neck and pulling it taunt. He whimpered and tried to make her let go. She grinned as she released Snape from the spell, tilting Pettigrew's face to look at Snape.

"Now, sir, this is the man who got my parents killed, not Sirius," Rebekah said and grinned maliciously at the trembling man in her hands. "You see, you need all the facts before you assume something. I know you and my mother were close at one point.

"I'd absolutely love it if people—" Rebekah tugged his head painfully, "—would—" she did it again, "—tell—" and again,"—me—" and harder this time,"—the—" and did it a final time,"—truth!"

She let him go, getting up and using her foot to shove him onto his back. She staggered with emotional exhaustion but she kept herself upright.

Snape came to stand by her side after he checked Ron's leg and deemed it healed. He curled his hand on her shoulder and kept her steady as the three Marauders exchanged serious words.

"Though I don't agree with what you did," Snape said, tightening his grip painfully but loosened it after. "I do have to commend your use of Magic and intuition. I would have preferred you didn't interfere, however."

"We both know that wouldn't have happened, sir," Rebekah said as she sneered at the rat man. "You needed to know the truth, and I needed answers."

When she caught the bit of the conversation about killing him, Snape smiled grimly but Rebekah stopped them.

"Rebekah, this piece of vermin is the reason you have no parents," Sirius snarled. "This cringing bit of filth would have seen you die too, without turning a hair."

"You think I don't know?" Rebekah snarled back. "He'll make a wonderful meal for the Dementors, don't you think? Since you were supposed to get the Kiss, it's only right if the true culprit does too."

She shoved him back when he tried to hug her knees. "It's more than what I deserve!"

"Yeah. My parents wouldn't want their friends to actually become murderers. We'll take him up to the castle and have it sorted."

They used a spell to bind and gag Pettigrew. He laid on the ground because he didn't have use of his limbs.

"But if you transform, Peter, we will kill you. You agree, Rebekah?"

Rebekah smiled. She flashed her teeth, saying, "If he shifts, I'll eat him instead."

Everyone began to walk out of the passage. Pettigrew was shackled to Sirius, while Snape and Hermione stayed by Ron who still limped, and Lupin walked in the front with Rebekah. It was mostly silent with a few words here and there.

They had all forgotten one critical detail, tonight was the full moon.

They had only gotten a few minutes into the ground, nowhere near the castle, and the clouds decided to shift. Lupin went rigid but continued to walk a bit faster, making enough room between himself and the rest.

"He didn't take his potion tonight! He's not safe!" Hermione gasped.

Snape pulled Hermione and Ron to the side, away from Lupin. He grasped for Rebekah's arm and did the same for her as Sirius unshackled himself and passed it to Rebekah to hold Pettigrew's chains.

"Leave Remus to me," Sirius said. "Look out for them, Severus!"

Snape, who wouldn't have agreed an hour ago, nodded and started to usher them down the path. They still watched as Lupin's human form became a humanoid wolf. His nose, mouth and chin extended to become a snout while his joints clicked and grey fur sprouted out of his skin.

He howled and began to attack Sirius who had shifted into his dog form. Without them noticing, Pettigrew had Lupin's wand and began to transform into a rat. Ron screamed at him but Rebekah was too focused on Sirius who became injured. Pettigrew scurried off into the forest and Sirius followed him.

Rebekah jumped forward to follow them.

Several metres away from where they entered, Rebekah's Animagus form stood proudly before jumping after the duo with a beckoning motion.

"Potter, where do you think you're going?" Snape shouted as she ran.

"I'm going to help Sirius," Rebekah shouted back.

"Granger, get Weasley to Madam Pomfrey and inform Dumbledore that Potter and I are looking for Black and Pettigrew, and that Lupin hasn't had his potion. I don't think he'll be a problem though," Snape said, watching the Werewolf dash off to a corner where a large rustle came from.

Snape quickly followed after Rebekah, shifting into his eagle form. Rebekah had shifted too, now she was running like her life depended on it. They both made it quickly to the lakeshore where Sirius kneeled by it.

Over a hundred Dementors surrounded them as the lake began to frost over and suddenly froze. Rebekah ran to kneel by his side, shifting back and clutching her wand. She glanced around for Snape but he wasn't there, he was across the lake and he tried to keep the Werewolf away.

Rebekah was cold, so cold that her breath frosted in the air. An icy hand grasped her neck but released it as the Dementors took turns in trying to suck their souls out. They swooped down before they were forced back by another's attempt.

Her mother screamed in her ears, and Rebekah could just make out her father's body dropping to the ground.

She kept stuttering over the two words that would save them both. Expecto Patronum… Come on! Expecto Patronum! The words left her mouth which barely could open without having another Dementor come closer.

"Leave us alone!" Rebekah screamed, pushing her will into the Magic that refused to flow to her wand. "Expecto Patronum!"

Nothing.

Barely a wisp of silvery registered.

Her wand hand dropped with exhaustion. She was so cold and yet, when the Dementors came close, her skin blazed with heat. Her throat hurt from screaming the words out, trying her hardest to make the Patronus appear. Anything would have done but nothing came.

Pathetic.

Tears dripped down her cheeks but she didn't make a sound as her vision blurred as millions of tiny black dots crowded together. Something was stuck in her throat and made her suffocate. Her hands clutched her throat as the Dementor got closer.

Thin fabric covered the empty eye sockets of the Dementor as it swooped close. It forced her face upwards, looking into the eyes as it opened its mouth which acted as a black hole. Her scar burned as her breath was taken away.

Something drew the Dementor back, making it swing its head back and glare across the lake. Rebekah's eyes barely registered the large white form as it circled Sirius and Rebekah. It drove them back with a silent roar, and silvery steam, before coming back to its owner.

The last thing Rebekah could remember was that all so familiar smile, lips curling up in pride and vanity. Her head dropped and her eyes closed out of exhaustion.