The Servant of Lord Voldemort

Hermione screamed. Black leapt to his feet. Harry jumped, and Sherlock felt a sudden movement from John. He gasped loudly and clutched at the front of Sherlock's robes, eyes wide open. The robes pulled on Sherlock's shoulder and he winced at the pain.

'Sh-Sherlock,' he gasped. 'Where am I?'

'You're in the Shrieking Shack,' Sherlock said calmly.

'I was- I was gone for so long,' John stammered. 'So long…'

'It's okay John, it was only about twenty minutes.'

'Twenty minutes?' John sat up. 'What year is it?'

'Nineteen ninety-four.'

'Ninety-four?' He looked around the room.

Snape had tied Professor Lupin up and was now pointing his wand at Black.

Hermione was attempting to reason with Snape. 'But if – if there was a mistake-'

'BE QUIET, YOU STUPID GIRL!' Snape shouted. 'DON'T TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!' A few sparks shot out of his wand.

John scrambled to his feet. 'Stop!' he yelled, pushing himself between Snape and Black. 'Stop, he's innocent!'

'Get out of the way, Watson,' Snape snarled. 'You don't know what you're talking about.'

'But he didn't do it, you have to listen to me!'

'Why would I listen to the ramblings of a thirteen year-old, who was unconscious until a moment ago?'

'Because it wasn't him, it was-'

'Silencio!'

John grabbed his throat, no sound coming out of his mouth.

'There'll be no more nonsense from you.'

'You have to listen to him!' Hermione shouted. 'He's a Seer!'

'Ridiculous.' Snape stepped closer to Black and John pulled on his robes in an attempt to slow him down.

'Get out of it, Watson!' Snape growled. There was a bang and John felt himself flying through the air, then hit the ground. There was screaming all around him until-

'Expelliarmus!'

Snape was blasted across the room, where he crumpled against the wall, knocked out.

Sherlock was on his feet, wand out. 'That's quite enough of that,' he said calmly.

It seemed he hadn't been the only one to try and Disarm Snape. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Dean all had their wands aimed at him.

'We attacked a teacher,' Hermione whimpered.

'Dude had it coming,' Dean said savagely.

The cords binding Lupin loosened enough for him to free himself and help John up.

'You're hurt,' John said, going over to Sherlock.

'Not badly,' said Sherlock, putting on a brave face.

'Cas?'

Now that John wasn't in the way, Cas was free to examine Sherlock properly. He poked Sherlock's shoulder with his wand and frowned. 'It's dislocated. And broken. I'm sorry, I don't know how to fix it.'

'I'm sure I'll survive,' he said grimly.

'John?' said Professor Lupin.

They all turned to him.

'You're a Seer?'

John blushed, but nodded hesitantly.

'Of course, I heard about what happened at Christmas but…'

'It's Trelawney,' John finished.

'Precisely.'

'So, you know what happened?' Sirius said eagerly, a light shining in his eyes that had not been there before.

'I saw- I saw Lily and James,' he said, avoiding Harry's eyes. 'And I saw… Where's Scabbers?' His gaze landed on Ron. 'Peter Pettigrew.'

'Come off it,' Ron said weakly. 'There are millions of rats. How are you supposed to know which one's Pettigrew?'

John didn't say anything. It was difficult to explain exactly how he knew and telling them that Scabbers shimmered in the same way Black and Lupin did wouldn't prove it to them.

'That's a very good question, Sirius,' Lupin frowned. 'How did you know he was here?'

Sirius took a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket and smoothed it out to show them.

It was the photograph of Ron and his family that had appeared in the Daily Prophet the previous summer, and there, on Ron's shoulder, was Scabbers.

'Fudge,' said Sirius. 'When he came to inspect Azkaban last year, he gave me this paper. And there was Peter on the front page. I knew him at once… How many times had I seen him transform? The caption said that the boy would be going back to Hogwarts… To where Harry was.'

'My God,' Lupin said softly. 'His front paw…'

'What about it?' said Ron defiantly.

'He's got a toe missing,' said Sirius.

'Of course,' Lupin breathed, 'so simple… so brilliant… he cut it off himself?'

'Just before he transformed,' said Sirius. '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…'

'Didn't you ever hear, Ron?' said Lupin. 'The biggest part 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,' said Lupin. 'Didn't you ever wonder why he was living so long?'

'We- we've been taking good care of him.'

'Not looking too good at the moment, though, is he? I'd guess he's been losing weight since he heard Sirius was on the loose again…'

'He's been scared of that mad cat!' said Ron, nodding towards Crookshanks, who was purring on the bed.

'This cat isn't mad,' Sirius said hoarsely, reaching out to stroke Crookshanks's fluffy head. 'He's the most intelligent of his kind that I've ever met. He recognised Peter for what he was straight 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 what I was after, and he's been helping me…'

John smiled to himself. He had always liked Crookshanks.

'He tried to bring Peter to me, but couldn't, so he stole passwords into Gryffindor Tower for me. As I understand it, he stole them from a boy's bedside table.'

Harry didn't know what to think, but Dean's raised wand continued to reassure him. Though Dean was listening carefully and calmly, he had not moved his wand from Sirius once.

'But Peter got wind of what was going on and ran for it,' Sirius continued. 'This cat – Crookshanks, did you call him? – told me Peter had left blood on the sheets. I suppose he bit himself… well, faking his own death had worked before…'

'And why did he fake his death?' Harry suddenly burst out furiously. 'Because he knew you were about to kill him like you killed my parents!'

'No,' said Lupin. 'Harry-'

'And now you're here to finish him off!'

'Yes, I am,' said Sirius, with an evil look at Scabbers.

'The I should have let Snape take you!' Harry shouted.

'Harry,' said Lupin, '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. Peter betrayed your mother and father – Sirius tracked Peter down – '

Harry opened his mouth, but Dean cut across him before he could say anything. 'I think we need some proof here,' he said. 'There are ways to make Animagi reveal themselves.'

'Right you are, Dean,' said Lupin. 'Give me that rat, Ron. If he really is a rat, this won't hurt him.'

Ron hesitated, but finally handed Scabbers to Lupin.

'Ready, Sirius?' said Lupin.

Sirius retrieved Snape's wand and approached Lupin and the struggling rat. 'Together?' he said quietly.

'I think so,' said Lupin. 'On the count of three. One – two – THREE!'

A flash of blue-white light erupted from both wands and Scabbers hit the floor. All of a sudden, where Scabbers had been, stood a very short, twitchy man. His eyes darted towards the door, but Dean had already positioned himself between the man and the exit. He smiled and waved.

'Well, hello, Peter,' Lupin said pleasantly, as though rats frequently turned into old school friends around him. 'Long time, no see.'

John regarded Pettigrew with absolute disgust. He'd felt something similar before when looking at Scabbers, but not nearly so strong. An image of a red-headed woman flashed before his eyes. He gasped and squeezed them shut when he realised she was dead. Sherlock put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

'It was definitely him, Harry,' John said, voice slightly higher than usual. 'It was him.'

'Must be useful having a Seer around,' Sirius commented.

'We'll see,' John said grimly.

'Professor Lupin?' Hermione said timidly. 'Can I say something?'

'Certainly, Hermione,' Lupin said courteously.

'Well – Scabbers – I mean this, this man – he's been sleeping in Harry's dormitory for years. If he's working for You-Know-Who, how come he never tried to hurt Harry before?'

'There!' Pettigrew said shrilly, pointing at Hermione with his maimed hand. 'Thank you! You see, Remus? I have never hurt a hair of Harry's head! Why should I?'

'I'll tell you why,' said Sirius. 'Because you never did anything for anyone unless you can see what's in it for you. You weren't about to commit murder under Albus Dumbledore's nose, for a wreck of a wizard who'd lost all his power, were you?' Keeping an ear out for news, weren't you, Peter? Just in case your old protector regained strength, and it was safe to re-join him…'

'Er – Mr Black – Sirius?' Hermione said. 'If you don't mind me asking, how did you get out of Azkaban, if you didn't use Dark Magic?'

'Dementors are blind,' said Sherlock. They all turned to look at him. 'They wouldn't have been able to tell when he transformed.'

'Animals have less complex emotions than humans,' said Sirius, nodding at Sherlock. 'I was skinny enough to fit through the bars as a dog and when I saw that Peter was at Hogwarts…'

'You tricked the Dementors,' Sherlock finished.

'Yes. I came to Hogwarts and I've been living in the Forest ever since… Except when I came to watch Quidditch… you fly as well as your father did, Harry…'

'Who're you gonna believe, Harry?' said Dean. 'The guy who turns into a dog, the symbol of loyalty and trust, or the one that turns into a rat, the symbol of deceit.'

They looked at him incredulously.

'We're in the wizarding world, fellas,' he shrugged. 'Symbolism is everything.'

Sirius burst into raspy laughter. 'I like this kid.' He turned back to Harry, his laughter dying down. 'You have to believe me, Harry. I would never have betrayed James and Lily. I would sooner have died.'

Harry nodded, finally believing him.

'No!' Pettigrew had fallen to his knees and shuffled towards Sirius.

Sirius kicked out. 'There's enough filth on my robes without you touching them,' he said savagely. He rolled up his sleeves. 'Shall we kill him together?' he asked Lupin.

'Yes, I think so,' said Lupin, also rolling up his sleeves.

Pettigrew scrambled around to Ron. 'Ron, haven't I been a good friend, a good pet? You won't let them kill me, Ron, will you?'

But Ron was staring at Pettigrew with the utmost revulsion. 'I let you sleep in my bed,' he said.

'Kind boy… kind master… You won't let them do it… I was your rat… I was a good pet.'

'If you make a better rat than human, it's not much to boast about, Peter,' Sirius spat.

Pettigrew then turned to Hermione. 'Sweet girl… clever girl… You won't let them…'

Hermione backed away against the wall, horrified.

Pettigrew turned his head slowly towards Harry. 'Harry… you look just like your father… just like him…'

'HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO HARRY?' roared Sirius. 'HOW DARE YOU FACE HIM? HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT JAMES IN FRONT OF HIM?' He seized Pettigrew and threw him to the ground. 'You sold Lily and James to Voldemort, do you deny it?'

'He- he was taking over everywhere!' gasped Pettigrew. 'Wh-what was there to be gained by refusing him?'

'What was there to be gained by fighting the most evil wizard who ever existed?' said Sirius, a terrible fury on his face. 'Only innocent lives, Peter!'

'You don't understand!' whined Pettigrew. 'He would have killed me, Sirius!'

'THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED! DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!'

Sirius and Lupin stood shoulder to shoulder, wands raised.

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

'No!' Harry shouted, running in front of their wands. 'You can't kill him!'

'Harry, this piece of vermin is the reason you have no parents,' Sirius snarled. 'This cringing bit of filth would have seen you die. You heard him. His own stinking skin meant more to him than your whole family.'

'I know, but he should go to Azkaban. If you kill him, then there's no proof that you're innocent – and if anyone deserves that place, it's him.'

'Sounds good to me,' said Dean.

'Fine,' said Lupin. 'I'll tie him up.'

'But if you transform, we will kill you. You agree, Harry?'

Harry nodded so that Pettigrew could see him, then Lupin tied him up with the same cords that Snape had used on him.

Castiel checked on Snape and determined that there would be no lasting effects.

'Mobilicorpus,' Lupin muttered.

Snape was lifted up by what seemed like invisible strings attached to his neck, wrists and knees, and floated a few inches off the ground.

'Two of us should be chained to this,' said Sirius, nudging Pettigrew with his toe.

'I'll do it,' said Lupin.

'And me,' said Ron, limping forwards.

Sirius conjured heavy manacles from thin air and chained the three of them together.

They made to leave, but Sirius stopped them and turned to John. 'You said you saw James and Lily,' he said.

John felt a sudden surge of emotion. A lump formed in his throat and tears pricked at his already bloodshot eyes. 'Yes,' he said. 'I saw them. I saw you begging them to switch Secret Keepers, and I saw them – I saw them the night they died.' He sucked in a deep breath. 'I could tell that – they loved you all very much.' He trembled and cut himself off. 'I- I can't. I'm so tired and it hurts. I'm sorry.'

Sirius shook his head. 'Don't be. That's more than enough.' He cleared his throat and moved forward.

Crookshanks led the way, bottle-brush tail held high. As they left, John couldn't help but feel that something was horribly, awfully wrong.'

Welcome back guys. Thanks to Sherlock Harry Winchester, CSIRide-Kirk, Tacosaurus and Lyra Euphoria for the reviews :)

These next couple of chapters might take me a tiny bit longer to type up. Totally my fault, I spilled tea on my notepad so I have to decipher some smudges. See you all soon!