A Snake in the Nest, Chapter Ten
A.N. Wow, double digits already!
For the next three weeks, very little happened. The four children made sure the homework was finished, helped clean up a bit, packed everything up and were finally off to Hogwarts.
Remus promised, as they drove, that he would send them the photo as soon as Sirius was at the house. That way, it would serve as both a gift and a message. It would be easier that way; they were all still wary of the mail.
They'd told Remus of Harry's meeting with Dobby, and he seemed rather worried, though he reminded them it could all be an elaborate prank. He agreed that if it was, the Malfoys were perfectly likely.
"I know they have a house elf, though I couldn't tell you if it is this Dobby or not. I'll ask Dumbledore, but I doubt he knows…" They got a letter from him later saying that no, he didn't, and why would Remus want to know?
It had taken a few days before they decided to keep it to themselves for now.
"No need to bother him right now, we have other issues to worry about." And Remus had sent off a letter baring a fake explanation. Husky asked what he'd said, but Remus simply smiled and said it was nothing.
They were early to the train, and found a compartment to themselves.
"Good thing, too. With all the people we need to talk to, this is going to be packed." Nana noted as she let Senri take her trunk. He stowed it, then the others, and they sat down.
"So, we're telling the others? Everything?" Nana asked, half to herself.
"Yeah. Does that include how we got-" Husky cut Cooro off quickly.
"Not yet. Remus and Dumbledore want to be sure they caught the guy before we tell anyone." Nana gasped, holding a hand to her mouth.
"I forgot to tell you! Before I stopped listening, Remus told Dumbledore that the guy who set up the portal works at the Ministry." Husky stared at her.
"You couldn't tell us this before…" The door slid open, and he cut himself off. Neville stood there, with his trunk. He grinned.
"Hi guys! Have a good summer?" Murmurs of greetings came from each as they shifted so that he could stow his luggage and sit down next to Cooro. He looked at them in contemplation.
"I didn't say anything before, but you all know something about Sirius Black. What is it?" Cooro twitched a bit at the name, and Husky blinked at his forwardness. Nana answered.
"We're going to tell you. We would now, honest, but Hermione needs to hear it as well. And I think the twins and Ginny should, too. Sorry," she added at his disappointed look.
"It's fine. So… Ron and Harry already know?" Cooro nodded.
"They were at our house when it happened. We didn't mean for it to be a secret, but…" he trailed off, looking apologetic. Neville waved it off.
"Like I said, it's fine. So, what'd you lot do over break?" Now on a safe topic, they began to talk of it, and listening as he told them of his trip.
"It was boring, mostly. Gran kept stopping to talk to people even older than she is, so we didn't really see much." Hermione appeared eventually, and Nana gave her the same explanation as Neville. She looked disappointed as well, but moved on, talking about Lockhart and his books while the boys rolled their eyes.
The twins arrived, only to say hello until they dragged them in. Ginny trailed after them.
"Where're Ron and Harry?" Hermione asked, looking worriedly at her watch. The train gave a lurch as she spoke, and began to move. From the window, they could see Arthur and Molly racing to the portal, worry etched on their faces.
"They missed the train. How could they miss it? They were right behind us!" Anxiety over the two won over curiosity for a few minutes, while they discussed the problem, before Fred groaned and leaned back.
"Enough! We'll find out soon enough; Mum and Dad'll get them to school if need be. Now, what did you need to tell us?" This seemed the moment for dramatic glances and secretive phrases, but Cooro got bored of it halfway through.
"Sirius Black is innocent. He's hiding on a tropical island I've never heard of, not surprising, and we can talk to him through a photo that I spilled potion all over that Remus gave to him a few days before he escaped." The five that weren't involved in the plot blinked, before George leaned forward.
"So… Remus helped him escape?" Nods. Fred leaned forward as well.
"And is in communication with him as well?" Another nod. The twins glanced at each other.
"Excellent." Hermione finally made her mouth work.
"Excellent? He could get arrested!" Husky shook his head.
"There's no proof he did anything. In fact, he didn't do anything. He just gave Sirius the knowledge that someone believed he was innocent." Nana jumped in as Hermione began to speak again.
"Dumbledore knows, and I think he even visited Sirius. Remus wanted to, but the house is being doubly monitored right now…" Ginny and Neville both frowned, and Neville spoke.
"Double? Why?"
"Well, one is because they need to be sure we're not abusing our +Animas. Oh, I can grow gills and a tail, and Senri has a bear claw, by the way." Senri let his claw show when the twins immediately looked over.
"And the second is because Remus and Sirius were best friends. They thought he was involved the first time, he said." Fred looked up from examining the claws, and Senri used the distraction to put them away before someone looked in.
"I heard Black was friends with the Potters. Pettigrew too. Does that mean..?""Yeah. They were friends. Dorm-mates, even." Husky and Cooro take turns telling most of the story they'd heard. Pettigrew's betrayal, the charm, the switch, everything. Even the Animagaus transformations. When Ginny voiced the obvious question, Cooro hesitated.
"Come on, you said you'd tell everything! Spill!" He waited a long moment, then spoke.
"Remus is a werewolf. They did it so they could keep him company on the full moon, so he wouldn't hurt himself." There is a tense silence, so thick that Husky wonders if he raises his arm, if he would feel it.
Before he can act on the idea, Fred and George speak.
"Well, that's that."
"We have to avoid talking to him now.""Them too, they could be infected."
"And Ron, he spent so much time there."
"Come on Ginny, we must act like proper purebloods and leave them." They both laugh, and soon they all are.
"Honestly, you thought we'd care?" Fred scoffs.
"If he was dangerous, Dumbledore wouldn't trust him. And he certainly wouldn't let you lot stay there."
"Besides," Ginny adds, and they look at her in surprise, "Mum knows. Remember? It was a full moon the day after Ron came home, and she said she'd come get him that day when we met in Diagon Alley the first time." They all nodded, remembering that. She'd seemed to know that the full moon was coming up, when she'd asked if he wanted her to get Ron by Saturday.
Nana turned to Hermione, who looked dubious.
"Well, 'Mione?" She looked up, biting her lip.
"From what I've read, werewolves are dangerous… but…" she hesitated, then continued, more firmly.
"But I doubt it's all true, and if you and Dumbledore trust him, then I do too." Nana grinned widely, then turned to Neville. He met her gaze evenly.
"My parents are in a permanent wing in St. Mungo's. They're insane, tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange. I see Remus there all the time; he volunteers making potions and talking to patients, did you know that?" They all shook their heads.
"I already trust him. Who cares what he does under the full moon?" He suddenly grinned, and it was one worthy of a Marauder.
"My gran dances under the moon every solstice." The twins laughed the loudest.
"Oh! I've just remembered. Sirius was on the Muggle news as well. As a murderer, not a wizard, of course. They're trying to get the Muggles to look for him." George shook his head.
"Right stupid idea, there." Husky nods as well.
"If he was really guilty, he wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone who saw him. Surely they would've thought of that?" Nana rolls her eyes.
"They evidentially don't care about the lives of a few Muggles, as long as they have their prisoner."
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Sirius glanced around once again, before darting forward. There were wards all around this place, he knew; he'd be lucky if he got away.
But he needed to get the idea around, and if risking the wrath of Mad-Eye Moody was part of it, he'd do it.
Reaching the door, he dropped the scrap of paper, and turned to run.
He didn't get far.
From behind him, a spell is cast, and it hits his back. It is a stunner, thankfully, but he winces all the same. Sirius falls, and can only watch in slight dismay as he is hovered back inside the house, as Alastor Moody picks up the scrap of paper. He watches his expression carefully, hoping for some kind of reaction. But his body turns before he can see a thing.
He is set down, none too gently, on the carpet of a simple living room. Moody walks in, using his cane, and closes all the curtains, casting spells so no-one could see or hear what happened inside. He reads the scrap of paper again, out loud.
"Pettigrew is alive. Secret-keeper." He folds the paper and tucks it into his pocket.
"Written in blood, no less. He must really hope I believe that; he should know by now there are ways to track blood." Moody looks at Sirius now, and he has to remind himself several times that Moody cannot tell that he is anything but a dog.
"I suppose he sent you to drop this on my door. Wonder if Dumbledore got anything similar…" he goes to the fire, tossing the counter-curse behind him.
"You'll wish you were dead if you pull anything…" he glances back, and freezes. Sirius stands there, human now, looking better than he had in Azkaban but still unhealthily thin.
"Black!" Moody roars, drawing his wand. Sirius has his out as well, and holds it up.
"Is a color and a very insane house of Purebloods. Honestly, I go out of my way to tell you about an escaped criminal and all you can yell is my surname?" He shook his head, frowning.
"Constant vigilance, Moody." He glares at him.
"What is stopping me from giving you back to the dementors right now?" Sirius sits down on the couch, not letting his want waver a moment.
"My innocence?" At his skeptical look, Sirius sets his wand down on the table in front of him, hoping he was right, and Moody would be curious enough not to kill him.
"Innocent? Ha! There was damning evidence against you, and…" he stopped, frowning. There really had been very little evidence in the explosion, and that had merely been that he was the only wizard still there. Sirius saw his conflicted expression, and gestured at his wand.
"I'm entirely unarmed. Would an actual criminal do that?" Not waiting for an answer, he pressed on, wanting someone to believe him without using the photo. Not that he wouldn't use it, if he had to.
"Pettigrew was the traitor. He was the Secret-Keeper. I told James to switch, because everyone thought it would be me. Less suspicious, Peter was. And not a week later…" he looked down at the table, tracing patterns while pushing his wand closer to Moody, so he wouldn't be hexed. He was surprised Alastor hadn't picked it up.
Instead, he sat on a chair, watching his every move with both eyes.
"What happened on the street? The Muggles swear he was the one yelling that you were the traitor." Sirius smiled grimly.
"He was. I dunno why, but he was. I had my wand on him, but he was never a good wizard, and between that and in the confusion of the yelling, I let my guard down. He blew the entire street, cut off his finger and…" he paused, wondering if every secret the Marauders had would be laid bare here.
"And? Haven't I taught you to give a full report? Finish!" Sirius smiled, more real this time. It sounded like Moody was beginning to believe him.
"He was an unregistered Animagaus. He changed into his form, a common rat, and scurried off. I just stood there until the Aurors, yourself included, I believe, appeared and carted me off." Moody is silent for a very long time, and Sirius sat absolutely still, watching his face carefully. Finally, he speaks.
"Why did you come to tell me this?" Sirius relaxes, just slightly.
"Because I'm going to need the best of the Aurors, retired or no, on my side. They'll hunt me as loudly as they can, but not very hard. I need them in an uproar, jumping at shadows." Moody eyed him warily. Sirius would bet his entire fortune he's wondering whether he'd gone insane in Azkaban.
"Why? Surely it would be easier to go to Dumbledore…"
"He knows already. He wants me to lay low while he works. But I was never the kind to wait. That's why I'm in this mess. If I'd waited, maybe Pettigrew would be dead. Maybe the Potters would still be alive…" he shakes his head.
"I need them in an uproar because that will make Pettigrew jumpy. It will make him make mistakes. I want him caught, by either me or the Ministry."
"Dumbledore is in on all of this, huh? Should've guessed." Moody considers something.
"Have you told Remus yet? Bloke was in a right state after you were convicted." Sirius grins broadly.
"My dear Alastor, who do you think helped me break out?"
And that was the first time he ever saw Moody laugh. Not in a slightly evil way, as he did whenever they caught a Death Eater, but a real, honest-to-God laugh.