It was the end of the last day of exams, and Harry was about to leave to see Hagrid.
"It's not fair" Ginny muttered pacing up and down the boys room
"I know" Harry said darkly
"Buckbeak is completely innocent! Personally I think they should behead Malfoy"
The corners of Harry's lips twitched
"As much as I like that image, it's against the law"
Harry and Ginny turned to see Hermione standing at the door.
"Yeah…. Well I can still dream" Ginny said crossing her arms and looking down at her feet.
"Harry it's time to go" Hermione said looking out of the window. "We don't want to bump into the minister on our way back. Are you sure you don't want to come Gin?"
"No thanks Mione, I need to speak to professor Lupin about my exam." Ginny said putting on Harry's old jumper on.
"Hey that's mine"
"I know"
"So why are you wearing it?"
"Because it smells like you, now be good, cheer Hagrid up, kick Malfoy" Ginny bent over Harry and placed a quick kiss on his cheek and then ran off.
Hermione smirked
"What?"
"Nothing"
"Hermione"
"Do you know that you have gone as red as a strawberry"
"Oh"
Hermione began to laugh.
Ginny stood outside of professor Lupin's office. Taking in deep breaths, she's been planning to talk to him since February but it never really happened. With full moons, homework, dates, Qudditch and exams, Ginny never really found the right time to talk to professor Lupin. She knocked gently on the door.
"Come in"
She opened the door carefully and peeked in to see professor Lupin sitting behind his desk leaning over the MAURDERS MAP!
"Professor" she whispered
He looked up and quickly stuffed the map under a book.
"Ginny what a pleasant surprise" he said "would you like a cup of tea?"
"Didn't you see me coming on the map?" she asked ignoring the offer of tea.
"How did you – Harry told you didn't he? Just like his father. How can I help you Ginny?"
Ginny noted how fast he was talking – meaning he wanted her out of the office soon. She also noted how pale he was looking.
"Oh, is it a full moon? God I'm sorry sir" she said
"How did you know?" he asked his eyes widen in fear.
"Padfoot told me" she whispered
Professor Lupin grabbed hold off her shoulders "what did he do to you? Where is he? Please Ginny don't let last years experiences get in the way"
Ginny pushed him off "he didn't do anything to me – well he saved me from freezing to death last Christmas and he saved me from boredom last October" she said as an afterthought. She turned to look at the teacher "Wormtail is still alive" she whispered
Professor Lupin shook his head "impossible! Ginny he was blown up! Thirteen witnesses-
"He's a rat animagus missing a finger" Ginny snapped "my brother's rat had a missing toe! And it disappeared – probably faking it's death once again. Peter betrayed the Potter's not Sirius"
Professor Lupin sat down
"Watch the map professor keep an eye out for peter – please I'll help, when the moon rises and there's no sign of Peter I'll leave" she whispered
Professor Lupin sighed "very well, but tomorrow we no longer speak of this crazy story and you'll show me where Sirius is hiding"
Ginny nodded, she could only hope that Peter will show up on the map, Sirius needs to be free; Harry needs someone that's not the Dursleys.
It must have been roughly an hour, when Ginny found Peter.
"Shit" she whispered "shit, shit, shit, professor he's with them – they found him"
She stabbed at the map, pointing at the four figures saying Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione granger and Peter Pettigrew.
Professor Lupin leaned back groaning "god, Peter why?"
"Professor, Sirius is heading towards them!"
"Shit, come on Ginny" professor Lupin said grabbing Ginny by the wrist racing towards the door.
They ran to the whomping willow, Ginny was starting to get out of breath, but professor Lupin still dragged her concentrating on hitting that branch.
"Wait!" she shouted she stopped quickly and grabbed hold of a piece of silvery material.
"James's invisibility cloak" professor Lupin gasped
"You know about the cloak?"
"Many times have I been under it"
"For old times sake"
"Yes please"
Ginny draped the cloak over her and the teacher and they began their journey down the tunnel.
8
They crept along the hallway edging closer and closer to the door; they could hear Harry, Ron and Hermione yelling. Then there was a creak.
Sirius walked out and his eyes wandered across the hall missing the pair.
"No ones there"
"This place is haunted!" said Ron
Professor Lupin snorted
"It's not" said Sirius still looking at the door in a puzzled way. The shrieking shack was never haunted…. But that's not my story"
Sirius walked back in to the room and professor Lupin and Ginny followed.
"However that particular story grows into the one I'm going to tell you so I might as well"
"Padfoot why don't I tell this part"
Ginny laughed when she saw Ron, Hermione, Harry and Sirius jump. She pulled off the cloak.
"Professor?"
"Ginny?"
"Moony! Ginny! Great to see you lot again" Sirius said practically jumping
"WHAT THE FUCK!" Harry, Ron and Hermione exploded
"Guys calm down and let me explain" Ginny said calmly
"Gin, you got to get away from those two one's a psycho killer and the other is a werewolf" Hermione hissed
Both Harry and Ron stepped back – well Harry did Ron was slouching against the wall
"How dare you!" Ginny snapped "professor Lupin is not only the best teacher but a wonderful person. And Sirius is innocent. And you should know by now Hermione that I don't let anyone insult my friends."
"Ginny" Harry whispered "Black, betrayed my parents, he admitted it"
"No he blames himself" Ginny corrected "Peter Pettigrew betrayed your parents and then faked his death"
Everyone stood there silent.
"Now, maybe professor Lupin should start the story, then Sirius and then me – got it" Ginny eyed the trio. They all gulped and nodded.
"As Sirius said the shrieking shack was never haunted." Professor Lupin said looking depressed "the screams and howls the villagers used to hear were made by me. That's were it starts – with my becoming a werewolf. None of this could happen if I hadn't been bitten….and if I hadn't been so foolhardy…"
Ginny placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and Sirius did the same on the other.
"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 and looked directly at Harry. "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 had come to Hogwarts. This house -" Lupin looked miserably around the room "– 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."
Harry couldn't see where this story was going, but he was listening raptly all the same. The only sound apart from Lupin's voice was scabbers's frightened squeaking.
"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…
"Apart from the occasional couple that fancies the snog" Ginny added
"But apart from my transformations, I was happier than I had ever been in my life." Professor Lupin said ignoring Ginny's comment and the snickers coming from Sirius. "For the first time ever, I had friends, three great friends. Sirius Black… peter Pettigrew… and of course, your father, Harry – James Potter. Now my three friends could hardly fail to notice that I disappeared once a month. I made all sorts of stories. I told them that my mother was ill, and I had to go home and see her… I was terrified they would desert me the moment they found out what I was. But of course they, like you Hermione, worked out the truth… and they didn't desert me at all. Instead they did something for me that would make my transformations not only bearable, but the best times of my life. They became animagi."
"My dad too?" said Harry, astounded
"yes, indeed" said Lupin "it took them the best part of three years to work out how to do it. Your father and Sirius here were the cleverest students in the school, and lucky they were, because the animagus transformation can go horribly wrong – one reason the ministry keeps a close watch on those attempting to do it. Peter needed all the help he could get from James and Sirius. Finally in our fifth year, they managed it. They could each turn into a different animal at will."
"But how did that help you?" said Hermione, sounding puzzled
"They couldn't keep me company as humans, so they kept me company as animals" said Lupin "a werewolf is only a danger to people. They sneaked out of the castle every month under James's invisibility cloak. They transformed…. Peter, as the smallest could slip beneath the willow's attacking branches and touch the knot that freezes it. They would then slip down the tunnel and join me. Under their influence, I became less dangerous. My body was still wolfish, but my mind seemed to become less with them."
"Hurry up, Remus" snarled Black, who was still watching scabbers with a horrible sort of hunger in his face.
"I'm getting there Sirius, I'm getting there…. Well, highly exciting possibilities were open to us now we could transform. Soon we were leaving the shrieking shack and roaming the school grounds and the village at 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 hogsmead than we ever did…. And that's how we came to write the marauders map, and sign it with our nickname. Sirius is Padfoot. Peter is Wormtail. James was prongs."
"What sort of animal - ?" Harry began but Hermione cut across him.
"That was really dangerous! Running around –
"HERMIONE SHUT THE HELL UP" Ginny shouted. Hermione took a step back looking terrified "all that matters is that three good friends were helping him" Ginny snarled "and I bet if you lot were in that position you'd do the exact same thing"
Remus sighed "she's right though Ginny. Sometimes it hurts me, just thinking about it I feel like I'm betraying Dumbledore not telling him this…. Maybe Snape was right about me"
"Snape?" said Black harshly, taking his eyes off scabbers for the first time in minutes and looking up at Lupin. "What's Snape got to do with it?"
"He's here, Sirius" said Lupin heavily. "He's teaching here as well" he looked up at Harry, Ron and Hermione.
"Professor Snape was at school with us. He fought very hard against my appointment to the defence against the dark arts job. He has been telling Dumbledore all year that I am not be trusted. He has his reasons…. You see, Sirius here played a trick on him which nearly killed him, a trick that involved me –
Black made a derisive noise.
"It served him right" he sneered "sneaking around trying to find out what we up to… hoping he could get us expelled…."
"Severus was very interested in where I went every month" Lupin told Harry, Ron and Hermione. "We were in the same year, you know, and we – er – didn't like each other much. He especially disliked James. Jealous, I think, of James's talent on the Qudditch pitch… anyway, Snape had seen me crossing the grounds with Madam Pomfrey one evening as she led me towards the whomping willow to transform. Sirius thought it would be – er – amusing, to tell Snape all he had to do was prod the knot on the tree-trunk with a long stick, and he'd be able to go after me. Well of course, Snape had tried it – if he'd got as far as this house, he'd have met a fully grown werewolf – but your father, who'd heard what Sirius had done, went after Snape and pulled him back, at great risk to his life… Snape glimpsed me, though, at the end of the tunnel. He was forbidden to tell anybody by Dumbledore, but from that time on he knew what I was…"
"So that's why Snape doesn't like you" said Harry slowly, "because he thought you were in on the joke"
"That's right" sneered a cold voice coming from the doorway; they all turned to see Snape standing there with his wand on professor Lupin. "I saw that map on your desk, very careless Lupin. One glance and I knew everything I told Dumbledore over the year was right."
"Severus, you're making a mistake" said Lupin urgently "you haven't heard everything – I can explain – Sirius is not here to kill Harry –
"two more for Azkaban tonight" said Snape, his eyes now gleaming fanatically "I shall be interested to see how Dumbledore takes this… he was quite convinced you were harmless, you know, Lupin … a tame werewolf…"
"You jerk" Ginny snapped "letting a school boy grudge get in the way of truth. You are nothing but a greasy git who thinks nothing but himself"
"Shut it Weasley" Snape snarled
"Don't talk to my girlfriend like that" Harry shouted
Sirius wolf whistled and everyone looked at him. For a brief moment Snape forgot why he was there. But he then held his wand at Sirius.
"Vengeance is sweet" Snape breathed at Black "how I hoped to be the one to catch you…"
"The joke's on you again Severus. As long as that bloody rat comes, I'll come"
"Willingly? I daresay the dementors will be ecstatic. Happy enough to give you a kiss."
Sirius went pale. "You got to listen to me, the rat –
Snape turned to the door "come on, time to got"
Harry knew he wasn't listening. He wasn't sure what he was doing but he crossed the room and blocked the door.
"Out the way Potter, is this the thanks I get for saving your skin?"
Harry looked up at him "just listen" Harry muttered
"Like father, like son. I saved you! YOU SHOULD BE ON BENDED KNEES THANKING ME. NOW GET OUT THE WAY YOU ARROGANT TOERAG, BEFORE I FORCE YOU TO!"
Without thought Harry lifted his wand and shouted "expelliarmus" except he wasn't the only one. Ron, Hermione, Ginny and professor Lupin also caste the spell. Leaving Snape with a very nasty bump on his head.
"This isn't saying that I believe you" Harry said to Sirius "but I'll listen"
"Thank god" Ginny whispered "I think I should take over" Ginny sat down on the floor and gestured the others to do the same. As they did she began the story.
"Sirius was a decoy. A distraction, he thought if everyone thought he was the secret keeper, Voldemort would go after him. The real secret keeper was Peter Pettigrew –
"Why? Why him? Wasn't Sirius practically a brother to my dad?" Harry interrupted
"That's why, who'd thought that the little boy that followed James Potter would be trusted to hold such a secret. If you needed a secret keeper it would be the closet friend. Your parents and Sirius knew that and chose Peter instead"
Harry nodded
"It turned out Peter was the spy. He told Voldemort as soon as he could and then ran off. Sirius tracked him down and cornered him on the street. That's when Peter shouted all of that rubbish. Peter then blew the street up, cut his finger off and turned into a rat."
"Genius idea, really" Lupin said "what I don't understand is how, Sirius knew scabbers was Peter"
Sirius coughed and pulled out a crumpled newspaper clipping of the Weasleys in Egypt.
"So that's why you were muttering he's in Hogwarts in your sleep!" Harry exclaimed
Sirius nodded
"So scabbers is Pettigrew and Black is innocent" Ron muttered "but how does Ginny know?"
"Er last Halloween, I was a bit delusional and thought I saw Lily lying by the lake and ran up to her in dog form. After that we formed a sort of friendship, she told me all about the stuff you three did in your first and second year. Last Christmas I found her sleeping in the snow and kept her warm, and last February, she learnt who I was and listened to my story."
The trio blinked taking all the information in.
"By the way Harry good shot on that Malfoy brat"
"You saw that?" Harry asked his face shining with pride. Sirius nodded and Harry grinned looking up at him.
"Err no offence but I need more proof" Ron said "could you show me that Peter really is scabbers?"
Professor Lupin and Sirius looked at him for a moment and then nodded. Professor Lupin took scabbers off of Ron and gently placed him on the floor.
Scabbers immediately ran off towards the door, Ginny leaped across and slammed the door. Scabbers took off to a hole in the corner only to have Harry blocking it. Sirius and Remus held their wands towards scabbers and muttered the incantation.
In place of scabbers was a small, balding man shaking. He looked up to reveal watery blue eyes.
"R-r-Remus, s-s-Sirius, my friends, s-s-so good to see you"
"Cut the crap Peter" Sirius said
Peter threw himself at Remus "Remus, you got to believe me, Sirius is lying, he was the spy, he's you know who's right hand man, please Remus he betrayed James"
"LIAR!" Ginny shouted
"See Remus, he's got the girl under the curse, did you know she was possessed by you know who? She's probably working for him"
Harry curled he's hand into a fist. Ron looked like he was going to hit the nearest thing, Hermione clutched onto her wand, Remus looked disgusted and Sirius laughed.
"Blaming a little girl? How low can you go Peter? The day I join Voldemort will be a very cold day in hell"
Peter flinched
"What can't stand hearing your master's name?" Sirius sneered
"Why did you do it Wormtail? Weren't we your brothers? Your family? Wasn't Lily your sister? Wasn't Harry your nephew? We Maurders were family and you tore it apart" Remus whispered
Tears fell from everyone's eyes. Ginny pulled Harry into an embrace and Ron began to rub Hermione's arm.
"I-I-I didn't mean too. H-h-he was taking over, I would have died!" Peter wailed
"You should have died!" Sirius snapped "I would have! Remus would have! Hell James would if it was one of us."
"Together Sirius" Remus whispered holding his wand up.
"NO!" Harry shouted
Remus and Sirius looked at him.
"Harry, you heard him, he admitted it" Sirius said pleadingly
Harry looked directly into Sirius's cool grey eyes. "We hand him to the dementors. Clear your name. Dad wouldn't want you to become a murderer"
Sirius nodded and Remus spelled ropes to tie peter up.
Ginny has never seen such a bizarre parade. Up ahead were Sirius and Harry in a deep conversation, next was Ron, Peter and Hermione in what looked like a six legged race or something similar. Then it was her and professor Lupin, with Snape hovering behind them, bashing against the wall/ceiling.
"Do you think" Ginny started "that Harry will be able to live with Sirius. I mean those muggles… they were horrible"
"I don't know Ginny. The ministry is…. Uptight about these kinds of things. They don't like to admit they're wrong"
"It's not fair"
Professor Lupin nodded "life can be very unfair. But you find small moments that make it worth while"
They managed to get out of the tunnel. Peter was still whimpering.
"Oh shut up you sniffling rat" Sirius, Ginny and Ron snapped, they then paused and looked at each other.
Harry and Hermione laughed and Remus paled at the idea of two more Sirius's. Ginny looked up at the sky, watching the dark grey clouds move to show a beautiful silver moon…..
A full moon.
"Shit!"
"Everyone move!"
It blurred, everyone ran trying to hide, to get out of the way. One moment Ginny was next to professor Lupin, the next she was with Sirius and Harry near the lake.
It was cold, so cold.
Peter escaped and it was cold.
Something's not right.
"Hello Ginny, sooooooooo nice to see you again"
Ginny turned to see tom standing behind her. She wasn't by the lake anymore. She was in the chamber of secrets.
She screamed.
Tom laughed.
That high pitched laugh that Harry hears every time a dementor was near him……
Authors note: happy New Year! This is the longest chapter I have ever written. 11 pages! Check out my profile for some challenges and review!