Chapter 4: Betrayed
The summer at Juliette's was the worst summer yet. Alan Granger decided to harass Hermione whenever his wife wasn't home so he wouldn't get cursed and it finally got so bad that Hermione had to corner Alan and threaten to kill him on the next full moon just to get him to leave her alone. Needless to say, Alan didn't come near Hermione again, unless need be. So Hermione spent the rest of her summer stuck in her room reading her new books for the upcoming year at Hogwarts.
On September 1st, Juliette drove Hermione to King's Cross station from the Leaky Cauldron, where she could once again board the Hogwarts express. Once Hermione was through the barrier, she found Harry and Ron, who were hanging out a window already on the train. Not long after the train left the platform, Draco and his bodyguards opened their compartment door.
"Hey Potter, I heard that you're dating Skylar Snape?!" Draco said, walking up next to Harry, who was now standing. "I wonder, are you only dating her so you can get a good grade in potions?"Draco sneered at him, just itching for a fight. "Leave off Malfoy." Ron said standing and pulling his wand out. Draco turned and eyed Ron's wand wearily. "Ron don't…" Hermione whispered, grabbing his arm and pulling it down. "He's not worth it."
Draco now was glaring at Ron and Hermione. "Listen to your girlfriend Weasley." He said before turning back to Harry and leaned in close to him. "If you know what's good for you, you'll leave my cousin alone Potter." He whispered into Harry's ear before standing straight and walking out of the compartment.
Shortly after this, their compartment door was opened again, but this time it was Professor Lupin that stood on the other side. "Ahhh… Harry, Hermione, Ron would you mind if I joined you? The other compartments are full and I…" "Of course Professor" Harry said, moving over so Remus could sit down next to him. Remus smiled before he walked inside and slid the door shut behind him.
"Professor, is there a reason why you chose to sit with us?" Hermione asked him, trying to hide her smile at being so close to her father. "Actually Hermione, there is." Remus said as he pulled out a letter from his pocket. "I received this letter a few days ago and have yet decided what to do with it… and I was wondering if you three would be as kind as to assist me."
"Professor, why do you need us to help you? I mean we're just third years… what can we do?" Ron asked, a little uncertain. "I'm getting to that Ron; just promise me you will hear me out first." After they nodded, Remus turned to Harry before continuing.
"Harry, do you remember when I called you into my office, during your first year, so I could tell you about your parents?" A little taken back Harry nodded. "Well, remember when I told you the story of Sirius Black, and how he supposedly told Voldemort where your parents were hidden?" Once again, Harry nodded though this time with a hard jerk. "It appears that I was wrong. You see, this letter is from Sirius and in it he wrote about what really happened that night, well what he claims what happened. And I was wondering if you three can tell me if it seems truthful or not." At their stunned faces, Remus opened the letter and began to read.
"Dear Remus,
Hello my dear old friend. I know that by now you have recognized my handwriting, and most certainly my scent that surrounds this letter. So I must ask you now Moony, please do not destroy this letter until you have finished reading it, if you still desire to.
Now that that is out of the way, there is something you desperately need to understand. I never betrayed Lily and James, I never killed Peter, I was unjustly sentenced to a life at Azkaban, without so much as a trial.
Let me explain what happened. First off I wasn't Lily and James' secret keeper. I convinced them to change keepers at the last minute; I told them to change to Peter, since I would be an easier target for Voldemort. Two days after they changed keepers, I arrived at Godric's Hollow around seven thirty so I could get some books Alexea had asked Lily for a few days earlier concerning babies. So, once I arrived there, instead of not being able to see their house I saw it plain as day, completely ruined.
I ran inside trying to convince myself that Peter hadn't betrayed them, but my instincts were sadly correct. James lay in the middle of the hallway, his wand snapped beside him with a vacant expression in his lifeless eyes. I wanted nothing more than to die once I saw him lying there…. He was like my brother Remus; I dropped to the floor next to him and started to cry. I don't know how long I knelt beside him, but once I could no longer cry, I thought I heard something. And slowly it became louder until I realized it was Harry crying up in his room.
I stood up shakily and climbed the stairs to where I knew Harry's room to be. As I grew closer, the crying became louder and when I opened the door, I nearly dropped there on the spot. Lily was lying on the floor, dead, with Harry holding onto her hand crying. After I tucked Harry into his crib, I sent a message to Dumbledore telling him what I had found. I then sent another message to Alexea, telling her to contact the Ministry. I then left the house in search for Peter. I don't know how I found him, but I did. He was walking down a muggle street, which now that I think about it seems odd.
I pulled out my wand, no longer caring about the muggle secrecy laws, and was about to confront him about his betrayal, when he yelled for the whole street to hear that it was I that had betrayed Lily and James, and that I was going to be locked away forever, so I could never again join my master.
I've never felt such fury and hatred inside of me before that moment. I lunged at him, and the next thing I know the street was blown apart and Aurors were holding onto me. As I was being lead away, I saw wormtail staring up at me from the sewers. Peter, it seems had had a wand hidden behind his back, which he used to destroy the street and cut off a finger before he transformed.
Once I realized I was going to Azkaban, I tried to fight, but in the end I wanted nothing more than to stay there. But when I realized no one would be there for Alexea and my child, I did my best to retain my sanity. When the Dementors would come anywhere near my cell, I would change into Padfoot so they wouldn't affect me as badly as the other prisoners. I knew that Alexea would be doing anything she could to get me out of Azkaban. And, until I received a letter a month ago, I had lost all hope of getting out of Azkaban.
Alexea wrote me a long letter, telling me the reasons why she hadn't been able to get me out of Azkaban, and all the reasons centered on Peter. She just couldn't find the stupid rat, until one day she was looking through the Daily Prophet. And there Peter was, sitting on a red-haired boy's shoulder, apparently the family had won some prize money, so they took a trip to Egypt.
So, Remus, I come to a close in my tale, but I still have some things to address. Firstly, will you do an old friend a ghastly favor? If you said yes, which I believe you did, then I need you to talk to Dumbledore. Tell him that Peter Pettigrew is still alive and living inside Hogwarts in his animagus form. I believe a young boy, a Weasley, is keeping him as his pet rat. If you do this Remus and Dumbledore takes Peter to the ministry, then I am as good as free.
If you do not want to do this favor, then just send a letter to Alexea with a simple 'no', and she will go to Dumbledore instead and I will know that we are no longer friends. I cannot write anymore, the Dementors will be making their rounds soon and Alexea has to leave when they do…
Please Remus consider everything I've said.
Your old friend and fellow Marauder,
Sirius Black"
As Remus finished reading the letter, Harry along with Hermione had tears in their eyes. "So, what do you think? Is he telling the truth?" Remus asked them, his voice anxious. Harry and Ron looked at each other, but it was Hermione that answered, "I believe you should go to Dumbledore, and tell him Pettigrew is still alive." Remus smiled at her, he then looked at Harry and Ron who had their heads together discussing something.
"Professor Lupin… Remus, I do believe that Sirius is telling the truth, but if he's been innocent the entire time, why is he just now writing to you? Why didn't he write a letter to Dumbledore when he was first sent to Azkaban?" Harry asked, turning his upper body towards Remus. "I honestly don't know Harry, but he did say that his wife Alexea has been trying everything she could to get him free… I guess Dumbledore couldn't do anything to help him before now." Remus said as he folded the letter back up and placed it back inside his cloak.
The conversation came to a stop after this. Remus pulled his cloak around him and fell asleep; Hermione pulled out a book and began to read, while Harry and Ron played a game of exploding snap. All the while they wondered why Skylar hadn't come to visit them.
Once the train arrived at Hogwarts, Remus followed them into the same carriage that would take them up to the castle. "So, I should speak with the Headmaster?" He asked them quietly. He received three nods in return. "Alright then, Ron where's your rat?" Remus asked him when he realized that Peter wasn't with him. "I think I left Scabbers at home… I'm sure mum will send him sometime soon though." Ron said trying to hide his embarrassment.
"That's alright Ron; as long as you know where he is everything will be fine." Remus said noticing the young boy's rapidly reddening face. Ron looked up and smiled at Remus. The carriage came to a stop, signaling that they were at the gates. The golden trio and the Defense Professor made their way across the grounds and into the Great Hall together.
Before the feast began, the students had to sit through another first year sorting. But unlike the year before, Hermione paid close attention to the names being called. When Professor McGonagall called out 'Tawny Lupin' the whole hall quieted down so they could hear what house their Defense professor's daughter went to. Tawny walked up to the sorting hat slowly and took a seat on the three-legged stool while Professor McGonagall places the hat on her head.
"Well, Miss Lupin it seems that since you've fooled the entire room that you would do well in Slytherin… but, Ahhh yes that does make more sense, see as you are the one that placed the charm on yourself, at such an early age, that you belong in RAVENCLAW!" The hall clapped respectfully as Tawny walked over to the cheering house. The rest of the sorting finished soon after that, and the feast began and ended without much trouble.
The next day, the trio had their first new class, Divination with Professor Trelawney. Hermione instantly hated the class, since she knew from her younger years that the Headmaster had hired Trelawney, who was a fraud, to halt the development of the sight in young witches and wizards by teaching them irrelevant information.
After Divination, the trio had a break then they headed to transfiguration. They sat in their normal seats in the middle of the class and were surprised when Skylar didn't sit next to them, but in the front row with Draco. Once transfiguration was over, Hermione waited for Skylar outside the classroom, but when she walked out with Draco, he steered her away from Hermione and towards the Great Hall for lunch.
"Skylar, what are you doing?" Hermione called out after her sister, but Draco kept leading her away. "Skylar!" Hermione yelled out one last time, but it was no use, her sister wouldn't turn around to look at her. Hermione felt like she would die. Draco turned back to look at Hermione one last time, and smiled when he saw tears falling down her face.
After that Hermione spent the entire lunch period in her Uncle's chambers, talking to Severus and Ambrosial. Remus couldn't attend, for he was trying to get the Headmaster to see him. "Mum, what do you think Draco is trying to accomplish by keeping Skylar from me?" Hermione asked her, taking a sip of tea that she clutched tightly in her hands.
"Well Hera, I believe young Malfoy is trying to stop her from associating with muggleborns which would be yourself, and half-bloods like Mr. Potter. It seems that he's trying to turn her into a 'proper' pureblood." Ambrosial said, as she set down the plate of sandwiches onto the granite tabletop.
"Your mother is right Hera, Mr. Malfoy came to see me earlier this morning requesting me to reassign potions partners, and he told me that he wanted to be paired up with his cousin, Skylar Snape. And seeing as how he knows I'm her uncle and not her father like we're pretending, I couldn't refuse him…" Severus said with an air of regret.
"But uncle, you can't do that! She's been my partner since first year… you just can't change that now!" Hermione cried in shock, her cup now showing cracks running along it. "Hera… Hera calm down." Ambrosial whispered to her daughter as Hermione's bushy brown hair slowly became paler and paler, until it could be considered light blonde like Malfoy's.
But Hermione couldn't hear her mother, instead the voices of her twin and Draco rang in her ears. "I don't understand why you're doing this Drake… if you only got to know Hermione…" Hermione heard Skylar saying, she was obviously upset. "I will not get to know that mudblood Sky, and if you continue to talk to her or Potter, then I'm afraid I'll have to write to Hera and tell her to publicly denounce you as her twin."
Deep inside herself, Hermione knew the reason why Skylar had agreed to stop talking to her. It was their demon cousin threatening to contact Hera that had finally gotten Skylar to agree. She had done it for her sister's safety, and no other reason. That in itself was what finally got Hermione to calm down.
"Hera?" Ambrosial asked as Hermione's hair returned to normal. "Everything's fine mother. Just a little upset is all." Hermione said before she set her cup back onto the table. "I think I'm going to head to class now…" she continued once she noticed her mother and uncle staring at her.
As Hermione was walking out of Severus' chambers, the cup that she had placed onto the table shattered into tiny pieces, which fell to the floor. Severus sucked in a shocked gasp as he looked at the shards of glass that now covered the floor. There, staring up at them from the shattered cup pieces, were the unmistakable amber eyes of Hera.