Hermione screamed, Black leaped to his feet, Jade immediately straightened her posture and tried to keep her eyes down, foolishly hoping he wouldn't see her.
"I found this at the base of the Whomping Willow," Snape said before throwing the cloak to the side, his wand still pointed at Professor Lupin. "Very useful, Potter, I thank you." Professor Snape must have been running because he was slightly out of breath but he looked triumphant. "You're wondering, perhaps, how I knew you were here?" He baited, hoping someone would ask so he could explain himself. "I've just been to your office, Lupin. You forgot to take your potion tonight, so I took a gobletful along. And very lucky I did… lucky for me, I mean. Lying on your desk was a certain map. One glance at it told me all I needed to know. I saw you running along this passageway and out of sight."
"Severus-" Lupin began, but Snape went on like he hadn't even spoken.
"I've told the headmaster again and again that you're helping your old friend Black into the castle, Lupin, and here's the proof. Not even I dreamed you would have the nerve to use this old place as your hideout."
"Severus, you're making a mistake," Lupin tried again urgently. "You haven't heard everything, I can explain, Sirius is not here to kill Harry-"
"Two more for Azkaban tonight." Snape's eyes gleamed, it was the most alive Jade had ever seen him. "I shall be interested to see how Dumbledore takes this… He was quite convinced you were harmless, you know, Lupin… a tame werewolf."
"You fool," Lupin scoffed quietly. "Is a schoolboy grudge worth putting an innocent man back inside Azkaban?" A bang shot out from the end of Snape's wand and thin, snakelike cords twisted themselves around Professor Lupin's mouth, wrists, and ankles. Lupin fell to the floor and with a roar of rage, Black ran at Snape but Snape had expected it and pointed his wand right between Black's eyes.
"Give me a reason." He whispered. "Give me a reason to do it, and I swear I will." Black stopped dead but the malice look on his face didn't shift. Jade didn't know if she was being naive or if all of Lupin's rambling on had convinced her, but she didn't believe Professor Lupin and Sirius Black were going to harm them or that they ever intended to.
"Professor…" Jade called uncertainly, she took a small step forward and Snape's eyes glanced over her before returning to Black.
"Maddex, why am I not surprised? I knew Potter would drag you into trouble eventually."
"Professor Snape, it wouldn't hurt to hear what they've got to say, w-would it?" Hermione asked.
"Miss Granger, you are already facing suspension from this school." Snape spat, the small civil tone leaving his voice when he addressed her. "You, Potter, Weasley, and Maddex are out-of-bounds and in the company of a convicted murderer and a werewolf. For once in your life, hold your tongue." Suspension? Jade couldn't be suspended. She couldn't have her parents find out about this at all.
"But if, if there was a mistake-"
"Keep quiet, you stupid girl!" Snape shouted, making them jump, Jade had never seen him so livid. "Don't talk about what you don't understand!" A few sparks shot out of the end of his wand, his emotions starting to affect the magic humming inside the wood, which was still pointed at Black's face. Hermione didn't try to speak again. "Vengeance is very sweet," Snape spoke at Black again. "How I hoped I would be the one to catch you."
"The joke's on you again, Severus." Black snarled. "As long as this boy brings his rat up to the castle, I'll come quietly." Right, the whole point of Lupin's story was how to prove that Scabbers was Peter Pettigrew and therefore alive so Black had not killed him and was innocent.
"Up to the castle?" Snape asked in a rare velvet tone. "I don't think we need to go that far. All I have to do is call the Dementors once we get out of the Willow. They'll be very pleased to see you, Black… pleased enough to give you a little kiss, I daresay." Black's face fell and Jade knew what Professor Snape was talking about, not a kiss, but a soul-sucking latch onto Black's mouth.
"You, you've got to hear me out." His voice was hoarse. "The rat, look at the rat." Jade looked back at Ron who was still holding onto Scabbers who was still trying to get away from them. The more time Jade spent with Lupin and Black the more she believed them, if this really was just a plain rat, why the hell was it desperately trying to escape for so long? A normal rat would just give up after a while, wouldn't it?
"Come on, all of you," Snape said, he snapped his fingers, and the ends of the cords that bound Lupin flew to his hands. "I'll drag the werewolf. Perhaps the Dementors will have a kiss for him too-" Snape took a step to turn around and Harry moved quickly, crossed the room in a few short strides, and blocked his way. "Get out of the way, Potter, you're in enough trouble already." Snape snarled. "If I hadn't been here to save your skin-"
"Professor Lupin could have killed me about a hundred times this year." Harry cut him off. "I've been alone with him loads of times, having defense lessons against the Dementors. If he was helping Black, why didn't he just finish me off then?" He had a point. Forget about the whole year, what about right now? They could've killed them ten times over by now.
"Don't ask me to fathom the way a werewolf's mind works." Snape wasn't having any of it. "Get out of the way, Potter."
"You're pathetic!" Harry spat. "Just because they made a fool of you at school you won't even listen-"
"Silence!" Snape's voice boomed. "I will not be spoken to like that!" Jade watched anxiously as the two of them went at each other. "Like father, like son, Potter! I have just saved your neck! You should be thanking me on bended knee! You would have been well-served if he'd killed you! You'd have died like your father, too arrogant to believe you might be mistaken in Black."
"Aye, that's enough!" Jade yelled, surprising herself. Professor Snape was way past the line with a comment like that.
"Ten points from Slytherin!" He called over to her.
"For what?" Jade objected.
"Ten more. Keep talking Maddex and I'll take them all." Jade wanted to argue, he was taking points from his own house but he was past the point of seeing reason. "Now get out of the way, or I will make you. Get out of the way, Potter!" Instead of moving out of the way, Harry raised his wand and in a second he cast a spell.
"Expelliarmus!" He yelled, but there was some weird echo when he did, Jade watched as three large bursts of red magic hit Snape at once. Jade turned to her left to see Hermione and Ron had also raised their wands and they all had tried to disarm Snape at the same time.
"Merlin! You attacked a teacher!" Jade gasped, they were definitely going to get in trouble for that. Professor Snape didn't get back up, he had been knocked out. Snape's wand landed on the floor with a quiet thud.
"You shouldn't have done that," Black said, turning around and looking at Harry. "You should have left him to me."
"We attacked a teacher… We attacked a teacher…" Hermione whimpered, staring at Snape with wide eyes.
"Yeah, you did! You three are mental! It was awesome… but still." Jade looked around the room at all of them.
"Oh, we're going to be in so much trouble." Jade then noticed Professor Lupin struggling against his bonds. Black bent down quickly and untied him. It took Lupin a few seconds to get back on his feet and he rubbed his arms where the ropes had twisted tightly around him.
"Thank you, Harry," he said.
"I'm still not saying I believe you," Harry told Lupin.
"Then it's time we offered you some proof," Lupin gestured to Ron.
"Yes, please, finally." Jade sighed.
"You, boy. Give me Peter, please. Now." Ron clutched Scabbers closer to his chest.
"Come off it," Ron argued weakly. "Are you trying to say he broke out of Azkaban just to get his hands on Scabbers? I mean…" He looked up at his friends for support, "Okay, say Pettigrew could turn into a rat, there are millions of rats, how's he supposed to know which one he is after if he was locked up in Azkaban?"
"You know, Sirius, that's a fair question." Lupin turned to Black and frowned slightly. "How did you find out where he was?" Black reached inside his robes and took out a crumpled piece of paper, he then tried to smoothen it out on his chest before holding it out to show the others. It was the photograph of Ron and his family when they visited Egypt. Jade had never seen the picture before but it was a good one, they all looked happy. She noticed two older boys in the background. They must've been Charlie and Bill, she couldn't tell which one was the oldest from the small photograph. "How did you get this?" Lupin asked Black.
"Fudge," Black said simply. "When he came to inspect Azkaban last year, he gave me his paper. And there was Peter, on the front page on this boy's shoulder. I knew him at once… how many times had I seen him transform? And the caption said the boy would be going back to Hogwarts, to where Harry was."
"My God," Lupin whispered, staring from Scabbers to the picture in the paper and back again. "His front paw…"
"What about it?" Ron said defiantly.
"He's got a toe missing," Black noted.
"Of course," Lupin breathed. "So simple… so brilliant… he cut it off himself?"
"Just before he transformed." Black nodded. "When I cornered him, he yelled for the whole street to hear that I'd betrayed Lily and James. Then, before I could curse him, he blew apart the street with the wand behind his back, killed everyone within twenty feet of himself, and sped down into the sewer with the other rats."
"Oh my gods, she was right." Jade looked at Black, mystified. "You were never going to hurt Harry." There were numerous times when she doubted her mother's belief in her old friend/lover but she had proved her wrong.
"No." Black smiled at her, a small chuckle escaping his throat, happy that he had finally gotten through to one of them.
"Didn't you ever hear, Ron?" Lupin was still focused. "The biggest bit of Peter they found was his finger."
"Look, Scabbers probably had a fight with another rat or something! He's been in my family for ages-"
"Twelve years, in fact." Lupin nodded. "Didn't you ever wonder why he was living so long?"
"We... we've been taking good care of him!" said Ron.
"Not looking too good at the moment, though, is he? I'd guess he's been losing weight ever since he heard Sirius was on the loose again."
"He's been scared of that mad cat!" Ron argued, nodding toward Crookshanks, who was still purring on the bed. But Jade was looking at the rat herself now and with every passing second, she grew more alert to the fact that Ron was holding on to an Animagus and that Peter had been listening to everything they ever said and he was aware of everything they did. She wished to grab the rat herself, just to give him to Professor Lupin and get him away from her and her friends.
"This cat isn't mad," Black chuckled again. He reached out a bony hand and gave Crookshanks a loving stroke. "He's the most intelligent of his kind I've ever met. He recognized Peter for what he was right away. And when he met me, he knew I was no dog. It was a while before he trusted me. Finally, I managed to communicate to him what I was after, and he's been helping me."
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.
"He tried to bring Peter to me, but couldn't, so he stole the passwords into Gryffindor Tower for me. As I understand it, he took them from a boy's bedside table… But Peter got wind of what was going on and ran for it." Black explained. "This cat, Crookshanks, did you call him?" He asked and Hermione nodded quickly. "He told me Peter had left blood on the sheets… I supposed he bit himself. Well, faking his own death had worked once."
"And why did he fake his death?" Harry asked, anger sharpening his tone. "Because he knew you were about to kill him like you killed my parents!"
"No," Lupin's head hung for a second. He still didn't believe them, how could he not? How could he believe one thing but not the other? "Harry-"
"And now you've come to finish him off!"
"Yes, I have," Black glared at the rat who gave another high-pitched shriek.
"Then I should've let Snape take you!" Harry shouted.
"Harry," Lupin tried again, "don't you see? All this time we've thought Sirius betrayed your parents, and Peter tracked him down, but it was the other way around. Don't you see? Peter betrayed your mother and father, Sirius tracked Peter down-"
"No, that's not true!" Harry yelled. "He was their secret-keeper! He said so before you turned up! He said he killed them."
"No." Jade paused. "No, he wasn't."
"What? How do you know?" Harry looked back at her.
"My mother." Recognition clicked in Black's eyes and he smiled at her.
"I knew you looked familiar. Amelia…"
"What the hell is going on?" Harry asked, looking between Jade and Black.
"Harry… I as good as killed them," Black explained. "I persuaded Lily and James to change to Peter at the last moment, persuaded them to use him as Secret-Keeper instead of me… I'm to blame, I know it. The night they died, I'd arranged to check on Peter, make sure he was still safe, but when I arrived at his hiding place, he'd gone. Yet there was no sign of a struggle. It didn't feel right. I was worried. I set out for your parents' house straight away. And when I saw their house, destroyed, and their bodies…" Black paused for a moment, exchanging a glance with Lupin. "I realized what Peter must've done… what I'd done…" His voice cracked and he turned back to Harry.
"Enough of this." Lupin sounded unnecessarily hard, maybe it was the memory of Harry's parents passing that made him that way. "There's one certain way to prove what really happened. Ron, give me that rat."
"What are you going to do with him if I give him to you?"
"Oh, Ron, come on it's a stupid rat! No, it's not even a rat." Jade frustratedly turned on her friend.
"I'll force him to show himself," Lupin said. "If he really is a rat, it won't hurt him." Still, Ron hesitated. But after a moment, he slowly held out Scabbers and Lupin took him carefully into his own hands. Scabbers was squealing like mad, his tiny black eyes bulging out of his head. "Ready, Sirius?" Lupin asked. Black bent down to retrieve Snape's wand without taking his eyes off of the rat in Lupin's hands.
"Together?" Black whispered.
"I think so," Lupin mumbled, holding Scabbers tightly in one hand and reaching for his wand with the other. "On the count of three. One, two, three!" A flash of bluish light erupted from both wands and Jade held her breath. Scabbers was frozen in midair, his small gray form twisting madly before it fell and hit the floor. There was another blinding flash of light and then, it was like watching one of those childish flip books where you'd flip through the pages quickly to make the pictures move. A head was shooting upward from the ground, limbs were sprouting, and a moment later, a man was standing where Scabbers had been. He was a very short man, hardly taller than Harry or Ron. His thin gray hair was unkempt and there was a large bald patch on top. He had the shrunken appearance of a plump man who has lost a lot of weight in a short amount of time. His skin looked dirty and something of the rat lingered around his pointed nose and his very small, beady eyes. He looked around at them all, his breathing fast and shallow, his movements fidgety. His eyes darted to the door and back again. All in all, he was gross. Worse than Black's first impression.
"Well, hello, Peter." Lupin addressed him calmly, he wasn't surprised at all. "Long time, no see."
"S-Sirius… R-Remus…" Even the man's voice was squeaky and unpleasant. Again, his eyes darted toward the door. "My friends… my old friends." Black's wand arm rose but Lupin seized him around the wrist and gave him a look, then turned again to Pettigrew, his voice light and casual.
"We've been having a little chat, Peter, about what happened the night Lily and James died. You might have missed the finer points while you were squeaking around down there on the bed-"
"Remus," Peter gasped, his twitchy demeanor made him appear nervous, he was practically shaking. "You don't believe him, do you? He tried to kill me, Remus."
"So we've heard," Lupin said, his tone turning less friendly. "I'd like to clear up one or two little matters with you, Peter, if you'll be so-"
"He's come to try and kill me again!" Pettigrew squeaked suddenly, pointing at Black, and Jade noticed he pointed with his middle finger, because his index was missing. Jade didn't believe a thing the nasty little man said, she didn't know why they were listening to him. "He killed Lily and James and now he's going to kill me too. You've got to help me, Remus." Black's face grew stonier by the seconds, his eyes narrowed.
"No one's going to try and kill you until we've sorted a few things out." Lupin pointed out.
"Sorted things out?" Pettigrew repeated, his head whipped around from side to side, taking in his whereabouts. "I knew he'd come after me! I knew he'd be back for me! I've been waiting for this for twelve years!"
"You knew Sirius was going to break out of Azkaban?" Lupin asked, his brows furrowed. "When nobody has ever done it before?"
"He's got dark powers the rest of us can only dream of!" Pettigrew squealed. "How else did he get out of there? I suppose He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named taught him a few tricks!" Black started to laugh then, a horrible, dry laugh that filled the whole room.
"Voldemort teach me tricks?" He clarified. Jade noticed how Black threw out the Dark Lord's name without hesitation but Pettigrew flinched at it. "What, scared to hear your old master's name? I don't blame you, Peter. His lot aren't very happy with you, are they?"
"Don't know what you mean, Sirius-" Pettigrew muttered, finally sounding less squeaky and more like a human. Jade noticed how his face was shiny now, a layer of sweat covering his forehead.
"You haven't been hiding from me for twelve years," Black said slowly. "You've been hiding from Voldemort's old supporters. I heard things in Azkaban, Peter… They all think you're dead, or you'd have to answer to them. I've heard them screaming all sorts of things in their sleep. Sounds like they think the double-crosser double-crossed them. Voldemort went to the Potters' on your information… and Voldemort met his downfall there. And not all Voldemort's supporters ended up in Azkaban, did they? There are still plenty out here, biding their time, pretending they've seen the error of their ways. If they ever got wind that you were still alive, Peter..."
"Don't know… what you're talking about." The squeak was back and he was trembling fiercely. He wiped his face on his sleeve and looked up at Lupin.
"You don't believe this, this madness, Remus."
"I must admit, Peter, I have difficulty in understanding why an innocent man would want to spend twelve years as a rat," Lupin answered evenly.
"Innocent, but scared!" The man squealed again. "If Voldemort's supporters were after me, it was because I put one of their best men in Azkaban! The spy, Sirius Black!" The humor from Black's face drained and then it twisted.
"How dare you," he growled, sounding very much like the large dog he could shape into. "I, a spy for Voldemort? When did I ever sneak around people who were stronger and more powerful than myself? But you, Peter… I'll never understand why I didn't see you were the spy from the start. You always liked big friends who'd look after you, didn't you? It used to be us, me and Remus… and James…"
"Me, a spy? Must be out of your mind, never, don't know how you can say such a-"
"Lily and James only made you Secret-Keeper because I suggested it." Black hissed, so aggressively that Pettigrew took a step back to keep Black further away. "I thought it was the perfect plan, a bluff, Voldemort would be sure to come after me. Would never dream they'd use a weak, talentless thing like you… It must have been the finest moment of your miserable life, telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters." Pettigrew began mumbling but she couldn't make out what he was saying. His eyes darted for the door once again.
"Professor Lupin?" Hermione asked timidly. "Can, can I say something?"
"Certainly, Hermione," Lupin said courteously, it was so strange, it was like Hermione had raised her hand to answer a question in class.
"Well, Scabbers, I mean, this- this man, he's been sleeping in Harry's dormitory for three years. If he's working for You-Know-Who, how come he never tried to hurt Harry before now?"
"There!" Pettigrew shrieked, pointing at Hermione. "Thank you! You see, Remus? I have never hurt a hair off Harry's head! Why should I?"
"I'll tell you why." Black's answer came quick. "Because you never did anything for anyone unless you could see what was in it for you. Voldemort's been in hiding for fifteen years, they say he's half dead. You weren't about to commit murder right under Albus Dumbledore's nose, for a wreck of a wizard who'd lost all of his power, were you? You'd want to be quite sure he was the biggest bully in the playground before you went back to him, wouldn't you? Why else did you find a wizard family to take you in? Keeping an ear out for news, weren't you, Peter? Just in case your old protector regained strength, and it was safe to rejoin him…" Pettigrew gaped like a fish out of water.
"Um… Mr. Black? Sirius?" Hermione asked, uncertain of how she should address him. Black faltered at being addressed so formally. "If you don't mind me asking, how… how did you get out of Azkaban... if you didn't use Dark Magic?"
"Thank you!" Pettigrew gasped, nodding frantically at her. "Exactly! Precisely what I-" But Lupin silenced him with a look. Black frowned slightly and took a second to think over his answer.
"I don't know how I did it," He said slowly. "I think the only reason I never lost my mind is that I knew I was innocent. That wasn't a happy thought, so the Dementors couldn't suck it out of me… but it kept me sane, and knowing who I am… helped me keep my powers… so when it all became too much, I could transform in my cell, become a dog. Dementors can't see, you know…" He swallowed. "They feel their way toward people by feeding off their emotions. They could tell that my feelings were less... less human, less complex when I was a dog. They thought, of course, that I was losing my mind like everyone else in there, so it didn't trouble them. But I was weak, very weak, and I had no hope of driving them away from me without a wand." His eyes had drifted over to one of the boarded-up windows. "But then I saw Peter in that picture. I realized he was at Hogwarts with Harry, perfectly positioned to act, if one hint reached his ears that the Dark Side was gathering strength again, ready to strike at the moment he could be sure of allies, and to deliver the last Potter to them. If he gave them Harry, who'd dare say he'd betrayed Lord Voldemort? He'd be welcomed back with honors." Pettigrew began shaking his head but no one cared, they were all hooked on what Black was saying. "So you see, I had to do something. I was the only one who knew Peter was still alive. 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, they were confused. I was 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 Quidditch, of course. You fly as well as your father did, Harry…" He looked at Harry with a small smile and a warm look in his eyes. "Believe me. Believe me, Harry. I never betrayed James and Lily. I would have died before I betrayed them." Harry didn't say anything but the tension in his shoulders relaxed and he was no longer glaring at Black with a burning hatred. He nodded and Jade felt a wave of relief go over her.
"No!" Pettigrew had fallen to his knees and began to shuffle forward. "Sirius, it's me… it's Peter, your friend. You wouldn't-" Black kicked out and Pettigrew slid back, the warm look in his eyes disappearing.
"There's enough filth on my robes without you touching them." He spit.
"Remus!" Pettigrew squeaked, turning to Lupin instead since approaching Black hadn't worked for him. "You don't believe this, wouldn't Sirius have told you they'd changed the plan?"
"Not if he thought I was the spy, Peter." Lupin went on in his casual manner. "I assume that's why you didn't tell me, Sirius?" He asked over Pettigrew's head.
"Forgive me, Remus," Black said quietly.
"Not at all, Padfoot, old friend." Lupin grinned, rolling up his sleeves. "And will you forgive me for believing you were the spy?"
"Of course," The corners of Black's mouth lifted slightly, as he too began rolling up his sleeves. "Shall we kill him together?"
"Yes, I think so," Lupin answered, as if they were reading something interesting they found in the paper.
"You wouldn't, you won't." Pettigrew fumbled and he scrambled back over to Ron who leaned far away from him. "Ron, haven't I been a good friend… a good pet? You won't let them kill me, Ron, will you?"
"I let you sleep in my bed!" Ron cried in revulsion.
"Kind boy, kind master… you won't let them do it. I was your rat, I was a good pet!"
"If you made a better rat than a human, it's not much to boast about, Peter." Black bit back harshly. Ron tried to gently lift his leg out of Pettigrew's reach as he turned on his knees, shuffled forward, and grabbed onto the bottom of Hermione's robes.
"Sweet girl, clever girl-girls…" He bowed his head in Jade's direction acknowledging her now too. "You won't let them. Help me." Jade yanked Hermione's robes from his grasp and glared down at the sniveling man at their feet.
"You don't actually think anyone here believes you, do you?" Jade asked and Pettigrew trembled as he looked down at the floor and then slowly up at Harry.
"Harry... Harry, you look just like your father."
"How dare you speak to him?" Black's voice boomed and it made Pettigrew jump. "How dare you face him? How dare you talk about James in front of him!"
"Harry." Pettigrew continued on, shuffling toward him, a hand slightly outstretched cautiously. "Harry, James wouldn't have wanted me killed. James would have understood, Harry. He would have shown me mercy."
"So, you admit it then?" Jade questioned quickly after. Before he could respond, Black and Lupin strode forward, grabbed him by the shoulders, and threw him back onto the floor.
"You sold Lily and James to Voldemort," Black said, growing tired of having to repeat himself. "Do you deny it?" He asked quietly, lowering his hands onto his knees so he could be at eye level with Pettigrew. It was silent, Black and Pettigrew staring at each other, one terrified, one furious. Lupin looking down at the twitching man with cold eyes. Harry and his friends standing huddled together a little bit further away, just as invested as Black and Lupin were. Then, Peter Pettigrew burst into tears. Jade grimaced at the crackling sound of his cry and the large amount of phlegm he would sniff back up into his nose.
"Sirius, Sirius, what could I have done? The Dark Lord… you have no idea. He has weapons you can't imagine." Jade glanced over at Harry but nothing changed in his face or his stance, he still stood with his feet shoulder length apart and his hands clenched into fists. "I was scared, Sirius. I was never brave like you and Remus and James. I never meant it to happen… He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named forced me-"
"Don't lie!" Black cut in. "You'd been passing information to him for a year before Lily and James died! You were his spy!"
"He, he was taking over everywhere!" Pettigrew gasped as if he were the logical one in this argument. "What was there to be gained by refusing him?"
"What was there to be gained by fighting the most evil wizard who has ever existed?" Black spit. "Only innocent lives, Peter!"
"You don't understand!" He wined very much so like a teenage girl would. "He would have killed me, Sirius!"
"Then you should've died!" Black yelled over him. "Died rather than betray your friends, as we would have done for you!" Black rose and stood close next to Professor Lupin and they raised their wands in sync.
"You should have realized," Lupin added quietly, "if Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. Goodbye, Peter." Hermione covered her eyes and turned into Jade's shoulder. Jade couldn't decide if she would look away or not. Would she be upset to see this man die? No. But she'd never seen a dead body before…
"No!" Harry yelled. He ran forward, placing himself in front of Pettigrew. "You can't kill him. You can't."
"Harry, this piece of vermin is the reason you have no parents," Black said harshly after a moment. "This cringing bit of filth would have seen you die too, without turning a hair. You heard him. His own stinking skin meant more to him than your whole family."
"I know," Harry sighed. "We'll take him up to the castle. We'll hand him over to the Dementors. He can go to Azkaban, but don't kill him."
"Harry!" Pettigrew flung his arms around Harry's knees. "You, thank you! It's more than I deserve, thank you."
"Get off me," Harry spat, kicking his leg out and throwing Pettigrew's hands off him in disgust. "I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it because I don't reckon my dad would've wanted them to become killers... just for you." Harry looked up at Sirius Black and Professor Lupin and Black's anger faded. He exchanged a glance with Lupin, who nodded, and then they lowered their wands.
"You're the only person who has the right to decide, Harry," Black spoke for the first time in a while, at a normal volume. "But think… think what he did." Jade didn't know if she would've made the same decision as Harry just had. If she knew that this person was responsible for killing her parents and destroying her chance of growing up with a loving family… She didn't know if she would do it herself or if she would've let Sirius Black do it, but she didn't think she'd let that person live, Azkaban or no.
"He can go to Azkaban," Harry repeated. "If anyone deserves that place, he does."
"Very well," Lupin agreed after a second of thought. "Stand aside, Harry." Harry began to move but then apparently thought better of it and stopped. "I'm going to tie him up," Lupin explained. "That's all, I swear." Harry stepped out of the way and Professor Lupin used the same spell Professor Snape had used on him.
"But if you transform, Peter, we will kill you. You agree, Harry?" Black raised his eyebrows at Harry and Harry looked at Pettigrew for a moment before nodding.
"Right," Lupin cleared his throat. "Ron, I can't mend bones nearly as well as Madam Pomfrey, so I think it's best if we just strap your leg up until we can get you to the hospital wing." He hurried over to Ron, who didn't object this time, bent down, tapped his leg with his wand, and muttered. "Ferula." White bandages spun up Ron's leg autonomously, strapping it tightly to a splint. Lupin helped him to his feet. Ron put his weight gingerly on the leg and didn't wince.
"That's better," Ron nodded and from the released sigh in his tone, Jade could tell the splint had helped. "Thanks."
"What about Professor Snape?" Hermione asked quietly.
"There's nothing seriously wrong with him," Lupin assured Hermione but bent down to check his pulse anyway. "You were just a little… overenthusiastic. Still out cold...perhaps it will be best if we don't revive him until we're safely back in the castle. We can take him like this."Professor Lupin waved his wand, "Mobilicorpus." Snape levitated off the floor and straightened up into a standing position but his head fell to the side and his hair brushed past his closed eyes. Next, Lupin picked up the Invisibility Cloak and tucked it safely under his arm.
"And two of us should be chained to this," Black spoke up and gestured towards Pettigrew. "Just to make sure." Before Jade could ask why they had to be chained to the man Professor Lupin nodded.
"I'll do it,"
"And me," Ron spoke up, limping forward. Jade watched as Black conjured manacles from thin air. He didn't say anything, just flicked his wand once. They then chained themselves to Pettigrew, Lupin on the left, Ron on the right. Picking up on the fact that they were heading out, Crookshanks leaped lightly off the bed and passed them all to lead them back to the castle.
