Third Year Part 2
A/N: Hey guys, WOW thank you so much for this overwhelming support. You ROCK! Note that the pieces in bold and italics are straight from the book. R&R PLZ AND ENJOY.
Hermione felt lighter and heavier at the same time as she reopened the notes. One the hand they gotten through Sirius's supposed betrayal but on the other they still had to discuss Pettigrew's real one. Thankfully that wouldn't occur for a while but she knew the pieces were coming together for the others and wouldn't be at all surprised if they figured it out ahead of time. Lily for one seemed to realise what was coming and Sirius was probably just starting to connect the dots. If only they didn't underestimate the rat so much. "Okay, Harry was obviously extremely angry when he heard…that."
"Oh my poor boy, he must've been so upset," Lily sighed, glancing upstairs where Harry was down for a nap.
"I wish he had someone to talk to," James said wistfully, "Wait a second – did he go to Remus?"
"No," Hermione answered apologetically, "I don't why but I'm pretty sure it was cross between Harry's dislike of discussing his problems and him not wanting to admit that he had been in Hogsmeade without permission. Besides, why would he have? He didn't know Remus knew you guys."
"Good point," James conceded.
"And yes Lily, Harry was really shaken up. Ron said he had never seen Harry so withdrawn before. He stayed in dormitory for the rest of the day and most of the next morning. When he finally came out, everyone had already gone for the holidays."
"Wow…" Sirius hung his head.
"Ron and I tried to talk to him about it, mainly not trying to get revenge but he wasn't listening. He was just so hurt and angry. Ron suggested we got to see Hagrid, something to get our minds off Sirius. Harry agreed but only because he wanted to ask him about Sirius."
"I hope he doesn't attack Hagrid," Lily looked ready to cry.
"He doesn't. From the second we got there we knew something was wrong with our gamekeeper. He was crying his eyes out and gave us a letter he had received from the school governors. It seemed that while Dumbledore was able to convince them that Hagrid was not at fault for what happened to Malfoy, Buckbeak would have to face a hearing with the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Magical Creatures."
"Let me guess," Sirius said bitterly, "they're all in Lucius's pocket?"
"Most likely," Hermione nodded, "Hagrid was distraught thinking that they were going to execute Buckbeak and Harry didn't have the heart to ask about Sirius."
"No that proves he has a heart," Dumbledore commented. "A big one at that," the room smiled.
"We promised Hagrid to help with the case and we went through tons of books to help him." Hermione smiled fondly remembering all of them combing through the strangest facts about hippogriffs. "Then Christmas came."
Lily waved a hand, "I'm not even going ask about the Dursleys that will just depress me more. Just tell me Harry gets something nice."
"How about an international standard broomstick?" The marauders' jaws dropped and Lily went wide-eyed.
"You mean to tell me," she said slowly, her hands splayed out in mid-air, "someone got my thirteen year-old son an international standard broomstick?! Who would be tha-" Lily stopped, she dropped her hands on her lap and swung her head around to stare at Sirius.
"WHAT?" the animagus asked. "I'm on the run, how could I have done it?"
Lily just narrowed her eyes, "Don't play innocent – no pun intended – with me Black. That sounds EXACTLY like something you and these other two knuckleheads would do."
"Well why not ask the other knuckleheads?" Sirius demanded.
"James is dead and no offence Remus, but I don't see you affording something so pricey after only a few months of steady employment. No this has Sirius Orion Black written all over it." Sirius looked at the ground wishing he could deny it but fact of the matter was there was a top-of-the-line toy broomstick at his flat that said otherwise. At least he was guilty of something good this time.
"Actually," Hermione broke in, "there was nothing written on it. It was sent with no note or card. The boys were excited but I wasn't."
"Why not?" James asked.
"Because I thought it was from Sirius too, only I thought Sirius was a deranged murderer out to get Harry so I reported it to McGonagall."
"WHAT?!" The marauders roared.
"She did the right thing," Minerva said in Hermione's defence. "If you know someone is out to hurt your friend and they get something like that with no indication of where it came from, you should be suspicious. Better safe than sorry."
"You sound like Mad-Eye," James muttered.
"Anyway she didn't confiscate it permanently. She and some of the other teachers were going to check it for jinxes and hexes that's all. Although the boys were pretty mad at me, we didn't talk for a while."
"Over a broomstick?" Lily rolled her eyes. "Boys are so typical. Everything is fine until the minute you threaten Quidditch. One time in fourth year, James didn't talk to me for two weeks because I said I fell asleep during a game."
"It was downright disrespectful," James cried indignantly.
"I was exhausted. I had been up most of the night with my friend Mary who lost her brother in a death eater attack. But I have to admit though it was the most peaceful two weeks I ever had at Hogwarts. Then of course, as a show of his true and everlasting love, James decided to forgive my transgression and went back to badgering me for a date." Lily sighed long-sufferingly.
Hermione giggled, "Too bad it wasn't like that for us, a pretty bad ending to the holidays I think. After school started, Wood came to talk to Harry. At first he wanted to discuss the dementor attack, if they came to the next match -"
"He wasn't going to kick Harry off?" Remus said in shock.
"Well yes, if it was necessary but Harry said he was going to be taking lessons with you about fighting them. Then Harry told Wood about the Firebolt, the broomstick, and Wood swore he would talk to McGonagall about it."
"Like that'll work," James remarked.
"So Harry went to Professor Lu- Moony, and they began their anti-dementor lessons. They used a boggart, which when faced with Harry turns into a dementor. The first couple of times…" Hermione grimaced.
"He heard me again?" Lily guessed.
Hermione didn't want to say it but they needed to know this for later. "You were pleading with Voldemort to spare Harry and Voldemort ordering you to get out of the way."
"He was going to spare me?" Lily's eyebrows shot up. "But I'm a muggleborn. Why kill James, a pureblood, without a glance and spare me?"
"Who knows how that monster's mind works?" James said bitterly. He couldn't bear the image of Lily defending their son in front of Voldemort. His wife's final moments, her last words, her death.
"That's not all though," Hermione continued. "He also heard you James." All the colour drained from the man's face. "You were yelling for Lily to take Harry and run, you were going to hold him off." James made a choking sound.
"That is so you," Remus whispered. Sirius stared ahead, completely lost.
"What would've I done without you?" Lily murmured brokenly. The couple stared at each other, trying to imagine a world without the other. Harry's cries echoed down the stairs and Lily moved to get him. When she returned the infant reached for his father, James smiled involuntarily and took him.
"But the third time he managed to produce incorporeal patronus."
"That is impressive," McGonagall noted.
"My son is impressive," James mussed the baby's hair.
"Well as always, all too soon the match against Ravenclaw came up. They would need to win this in order to qualify for the cup. McGonagall returned to the broom to Harry after finding nothing wrong with it. We talked about it for a bit then Ron took it upstairs to put it away. He came back dragging his bedsheet, screaming that Scabbers was gone and there was blood on his sheets."
"Oh no, poor Ron," Lily frowned.
"Something ate him?" Remus asked with his brow furrowed.
"Looked that way and Ron believed it was Crookshanks because there were some hairs on the floor." Hermione sighed.
"But they could have easily come from anywhere," James reasoned.
"That's what I said but Ron blamed me and refused to speak to me and then Harry tried to say that the evidence looked that way but I snapped on him so we weren't talking to each other again." Damn that rat, Hermione thought sourly. "The match with Ravenclaw was a piece of cake for Harry with his new broom although Wood had to yell at him to 'stop being a gentleman' against the other seeker Cho Chang, a pretty fourth year."
"Aww his first crush," Lily cooed.
"Oh come on Harry, don't let a girl distract you during a game," James complained until he noticed his best friends giving him looks. "What?"
"The time you dropped the quaffle when Lily blew you a kiss," Remus deadpanned.
"The time you nearly missed a penalty shot because you were making sure Lily was watching you," Sirius added in the same tone.
"The time you almost crashed into the stands when you saw some bloke talking to Lily," Remus continued.
"The time you got hit with a bludger because you were showing off with some flying trick for Ms. Evans," supplied surprisingly by Dumbledore.
"OKAY! I get it," James flushed to everyone's amusement.
"Naturally Malfoy and his lot tried to ruin it by showing up dressed as dementors but Harry shot a patronus at them and got away, catching the snitch at the same time."
"Good for you son," James tickled the baby.
Hermione smiled but it quickly faded when she realised what was coming up, "Anyway they won and that night while everyone was asleep something happened."
"What is with you guys?" Sirius moaned.
"Believe me Sirius, I've been asking that question for years. Ron woke everyone by screaming and claimed Sirius Black was standing over him with a knife. His curtains had been slashed and Sir Cadogen had admitted to letting in a man who had all the passwords written down on a piece of paper. Turns out the paper belonged to Neville and he'd lost it."
"Dear god Sirius, what has gotten into you?" Remus asked crossed with shock and disbelief.
"I don't know," Sirius said in anguish.
"Well the whole school was searched but once again no sign of Sirius anywhere. Ron rather enjoyed the limelight although the boys did wonder why Sirius didn't just stay given that all of the others were asleep and unarmed."
"You know," Remus said thoughtfully, "that is a good point."
"Well Harry reasoned that it was probably because it would've made it harder to escape. I thought it was because he was looking for something. Think about it, if you're looking for someone and you're not sure where they are, why would you just rip open one randomly and wake everyone up. Wouldn't it make more sense to quietly check the beds until you found the right one?"
"An astute observation Ms. Granger," Dumbledore nodded.
"But that would suggest that Sirius specifically targeted Ron's bed," Lily pointed out. "What did the boys think?"
Hermione grimaced, "Well we still weren't talking - "
"After everything?!" Lily asked.
"Yes but according to Harry and Ron, Hagrid talked to them about how they were treating me."
"Hagrid truly is a wonderful friend to have," James nodded.
"He really is. Another Hogsmeade trip came around and Harry planned to come out again. I tried to dissuade them but they wouldn't listen to me. It took Harry a little while to get there because Snape had been hanging around but he made it. He and Ron were at the Shrieking Shack when Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle showed up. Draco couldn't see Harry because he was using the cloak so Harry decided to have a little fun with your dear cousin Sirius."
"Oh tell me it was good," Sirius leant forward.
"It was. He crept around behind the Slytherins and starting flinging mud at them. Ron made out as if they were being attacked by ghosts. It was going great until Harry tripped and the cloak slipped off his head which made Draco freak out more and run away but Harry knew he had to get back to the castle immediately."
"Did he make it?" James questioned.
"He made it back but ran straight into Snape. Harry had a bag of Zonko's stuff and the map with him so Snape took him to his office and demanded to know what Harry had been doing. He attempted to burn the map but obviously Harry stopped him so he tried to get the map to reveal itself."
"Oh no," Remus said dryly with his lips twitching.
"Is this going where I think it's going?" Sirius inquired
"Yup," James popped the 'p'.
"And where precisely is this going gentlemen?" McGonagall stared at the trio.
"The map is quite talented, almost self-aware," Remus replied smugly. "So if someone like Snape were to try and force information out of it then it would say something like -"
"Mr. Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape, and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business." Hermione filled in happily.
James guffawed, "Or perhaps… "
"Mr. Prongs agrees with Mr. Moony, and would like to add that Professor Snape is an ugly git." Hermione slapped her forehead lightly.
Sirius looked like he could barely breathe, he just managed to gasp out, "Or…"
"Mr. Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that ever became a Professor." Hermione inserted with a grin.
"Oh lord, what did Wormtail write?" James cried out in mirth.
"Mr. Wormtail bids Professor Snape good day, and advises him to wash his hair the slimeball." Only Lily noticed Mya seemed a bit strained when she said that, the guys were too busy laughing. The redhead frowned, something was up with Peter but just what was it? If she was totally honest with herself there was only one reason why Peter couldn't be trusted but it couldn't be possible could it?
"That is priceless," Sirius wiped a tear from his eye. "I bet ole Snivy wasn't pleased though, he would've recognized the names."
"Which is why he immediately called Professor Moony. He seemed to think Harry got the map from its manufacturers as he put it. Of course Harry had no idea who the Marauders were so Professor Moony was able to write the whole thing off as joke product, not completely a lie in hindsight. Then Ron came in and corroborated the story so Snape let them off. But Moony did start on Harry afterward."
"Oh boy a Lupin-lecture," James sighed. "Harry is probably going to feel pretty low after something like that. What was the sinker?"
"The what?" Hermione asked puzzled.
"That's what we called that one line in Remus's speech that really makes you look down at your shoes because that's where your stomach is." Sirius explained.
"Oh, I think it was something along the lines of 'your parents died to save your life and it's a pretty poor way to pay them back by gambling your safety for a bag of pranks'."
"Ouch that would do it," Sirius said sympathetically.
"Geez Moons, hitting below the belt don't you think?" James looked at the werewolf.
"If it's his safety on the line then nothing is off limits." Remus answered stoutly although he too internally winced just a little.
"Thank you for looking out for him anyway Remus," Lily put in gratefully.
Hermione continued, "That being said, he also confiscated the map although he didn't tell Harry about its origins only that he had met the makers and they would've found it fun to get Harry out of the school."
"Would they now?" Lily glared at the threesome who all looked in other directions.
"Harry had left the cloak in the passageway and didn't go back to get it, him and Ron just went straight to the tower. That's where I come in, I found them at the portrait hole, Hagrid had lost the hearing and they were going to execute Buckbeak." A hushed 'no' ran around the room. Hermione kept going, "That's how we made up, we worked together to come up with a strong case. We managed to talk to him during Care of Magical Creatures, he was so scared about losing Buckbeak. Naturally Malfoy was there with his snarky comments and his stupid cronies and I got so fed up that I -" Hermione blushed, she wasn't exactly proud of what she did but she wasn't about to regret it either.
"What did you do Mya?" Sirius could tell he was going to like this.
"I slapped him, straight across the face," okay maybe she was proud but only just a little.
"Nice one Mya," James gave her a high-five. Sirius, Remus and Lily cheered at someone finally doing what they wanted to since they heard about him.
"Nothing less than what he deserves," McGonagall said primly to general astonishment. "What? I wouldn't have put up with him in my own school days."
"No you wouldn't have," Dumbledore muttered out of the corner of his mouth knowing exactly what a younger Minerva would've done to young Mr. Malfoy. McGonagall merely sat up straighter with dignity.
"It didn't stop there for me either. I also lost my patience with Trelawney as well, called her a fraud and walked out of her class."
"Merlin Mya what has gotten into you?" Remus goggled.
"Stress I suppose, with Sirius and Hagrid and I was taking more classes than anyone else." Hermione shrugged.
"Shocker you lasted as long as you did," Sirius commented impressed. "How many classes were you taking?"
"All of them," Hermione replied blithely while every person in the room stared at her.
"You mean every – single – class?" Lily enunciated in disbelief.
"Yes but more about that later," Hermione didn't really feel like getting into that particular discussion at the moment. "Or do you not want to hear about the Quidditch final?" She knew that would get their attention and unsurprisingly the Quidditch nuts perked up. "Before you ask, yes I have the commentary." James once again conjured a bowl of popcorn and settled baby Harry on his lap properly. James looked down at his child trying to imagine him at thirteen in the same scarlet robes he used to wear. Hopefully this time around he would get to see it for real.
Hermione cleared her throat and began in that announcer's voice, "Welcome everyone to the Quidditch Cup Final. The match – Gryffindor versus Slytherin!" Everyone clapped enthusiastically. "Gryffindor needs to win by more than fifty points to take the cup. The line-up is Bell, Johnson, Spinnet, Weasley, Weasley, Wood and POTTER!" A large cheer went up, especially from Lily and James. "The captains shakes hands and they're OFF! Gryffindor takes possession, Alicia Spinnet with the quaffle, intercepted by Slytherin's Warrington, Warrington heading off towards the goalposts and – STOPPED by a bludger from George Weasley." Sirius clapped hard. "Gryffindor back in possession, Johnson with the quaffle, avoids Montague another Slytherin chaser, dodges a bludger and….SCORES! Gryffindor ten to zero! Slytherin captain Marcus Flint deliberately smashes into her ("FOUL!") and Gryffindor beater Fred Weasley retaliates by throwing his bat at Flint's head, penalties awarded to both teams. Spinnet takes the Gryffindor's penalty and puts it away no problem. Marcus Flint flies forward to take his team's penalty and…" Hermione counted backwards from three in her head, "SAVED! Twenty to zero for Gryffindor!" The Marauders cheered like maniacs, Mya had to shout over them, "Gryffindor in possession, then Slytherin, then Gryffindor again, its chaser Katie Bell heading up the pitch OH NO! Montague grabbed her by the head. Penalty to Gryffindor and scored by Spinnet, thirty to zero for Gryffindor. Potter pretends to spot the snitch and tears off with Malfoy tailing him. Both Slytherin beaters are unable to hit him so they try to come at him physically from both sides but Potter manages to pull out in time, making them collide."
"HA! Take that you dirty cheats!" James declared.
"Gryffindor in possession, Johnson with the quaffle, now Slytherin's Flint takes possession, Sytherin scores, thirty to ten! Slytherin beater Boyle hits Gryffindor chaser Spinnet, attempting to say he thought she was a quaffle -"
Sirius snorted, "Does he not realise how stupid that makes him look?"
Hermione smiled but didn't comment, "Gryffindor beater George Weasley elbowed the offending beater in the face, two penalties awarded. Wood saves it, unfortunately the same couldn't be said for Slytherin so the score is forty to ten. Gryffindor scores another goal – making it fifty to ten."
"Come on, come on," James muttered under his breath, "almost there… just one more goal."
"The Slytherin beaters illegally attack the Gryffindor keeper and the Johnson puts away another penalty, followed closely by another Gryffindor goal making the score seventy – ten. And not a moment too soon because Potter has spotted the snitch!"
"GO HARRY!" the Marauders cheered.
"Potter tries to catch it but Malfoy has grabbed his broom's tail causing Potter to lose sight of it."
"That foul little…" Lily looked ready to hit him.
"Gryffindor misses their penalty and Slytherin scores again, the score is now seventy to twenty. Johnson with the quaffle, she heading to the goalposts, every Slytherin player minus the seeker is flying towards her."
"Such tactics," McGonagall admonished furiously.
"Potter races towards the group and scatters them and this leaves the goalposts are clear so it's another goal for Gryffindor, eighty to twenty. Malfoy goes after the snitch with Potter gaining on him, they are neck at neck!"
"You can do it son!" James shouted. Somehow his mind's eye took over and he could see his son, a miniature version of himself, chasing the snitch against someone in green robes. The familiar roar of the crowd filled his brain, the old clean fresh smell of the pitch came back and for all intents and purposes he was there, in the stands, watching his boy play.
"Just a little bit more Harry," Sirius said fiercely. He too could see it all, hoping against hope that it would become a reality. In the back of his mind he wondered whether he came to the match, probably to see Harry use his new broom. It was kind of heartening to have Harry fly on a broom that he most likely gave him.
"Come on Har," Remus urged. He was also wondering whether he attended the match. He imagined that it would be much like when he watched James about to score a goal only with a lot more nostalgia. Even in his thoughts, the mix of excitement and sadness welled up. Lily didn't say anything, she was focused on the images in her own head. If she never got to see her son play, this would be her only chance to experience it. She thought about her and the marauders in Gryffindor side of the stadium – of course her boys wouldn't sit with the adults – they would be screaming their heads off as Harry pulled all those moves. James would chatter about wishing he could play with them, Sirius would be on about how the other team was stupid, Remus would analyze the plays, and Peter would chime in to each of them forcing her to get mad and tell them to shut up so she could hear what was going on. All the while, her eyes would be glued to her son as he zoomed around looking incredibly like his father, half expecting him to give her a cheeky wave like James used to.
Hermione kept commentating, hamming up the last bit of excitement, "Both of the seekers' arms are out, they are so close, oh they're struggling, neither one can seem to get ahead, and finally… HE GETS IT! POTTER HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS THE QUIDDITCH CUP!" The noise was like an explosion in the living room. Everyone, including the professors, got to their feet and were clapping and yelling. Sirius and James stood together to hold up little Harry, bouncing him slightly to the chant 'POTTER POTTER POTTER'. Hermione beamed happily, a piece of her really wanted to draw this out but they were coming to the most important part. "Okay everyone, we have to get back to the story."
"Just one butterbeer?" Sirius whined.
"Okay just one," Lily shook her head indulgently and raised her wand summoning drinks for them all.
Remus raised his in a toast, "To Gryffindor and to Harry Potter, the finest seeker Hogwarts will ever have."
"Cheers," chorused the room.
After everyone had finished their drinks, Mya wiped her bottom lip, "Now we really have to get back to the story, Remus I think a Dicto-charm is in order because this is the really important part and probably the most confusing." They all nodded and resumed their seats.
Hermione picked up her notes, "So with the Quidditch final behind us it was time for exams to begin. Hagrid sent us a message Buckbeak's appeal was set for the sixth, the day we finished. They were bringing the executioner to it."
"But that sounds like they have already made up their minds," Lily protested.
"At any rate, the appeal had been set and Harry still hadn't gone to get the cloak back so we couldn't see Hagrid at all beforehand. The best exam by far was Professor Moony's, he gave us a great obstacle course with dark creatures, although I lost my head when I had to battle the boggart at the end of it. It took the form of Professor McGonagall and told me I had failed everything." She turned a bit pink hoping the others would just take it as embarrassment.
"Exam stress must've been getting to you," Remus said wisely but there was knowing look in his eye. Hermione nodded, not wanting to admit she had actually seen the basilisk telling her it was going to kill her this time. Professor Lupin had seen through her lie from the first during the exam too, and spoke to her afterward and told her that sometimes there is nothing funny about a situation.
"Then on the last day, it came time for the boys to take their Divination exam with Trelawney," everyone noticed Hermione became very grim and started listening closely. "She was seeing people individually about crystal gazing. When it was Harry's turn he just made something up about a hippogriff flying away and -" Hermione stopped she hadn't thought about it, he had been right, no wonder Trelawney had given him a good mark. "Sorry got distracted by something else, as Harry was about to leave Trelawney started acting strange."
"She was making a prophecy," James said wonderingly.
"She really is a seer," Remus's jaw dropped.
"Correct, the prophecy went: The Dark Lord lies alone and friendless, abandoned by his followers. His servant has been chained these twelve years. Tonight, before midnight, the servant will break free and set out to rejoin his master. The Dark Lord will rise again with his servant's aid, greater and more terrible than ever before. Tonight … before midnight … the servant … will set out … to rejoin … his master …"
Silence. Dead, heavy, silence greeted this pronouncement. They knew the second war was coming but to hear it like that made it all the more real.
"Does she mean me?" Sirius asked brokenly. "A servant that has been chained for twelve years? Recently broken free? Sounds like me at this point." He looked down on his left arms imaging the dark mark branded on his skin. Neither James nor Remus wanted to say it but it did sound awfully like it. Yet it couldn't be Sirius, if he was a death eater then why would Harry trust him? Again that creeping feeling they were missing something came in, what was the missing piece to this puzzle?
"Oh dear god," Lily whispered into her hand. Suddenly she sat up straight, "Wait a second, it can't be Sirius."
"What do you mean?" Sirius looked at her imploringly.
"I can hear that second line again," Lily requested and Hermione nodded reading it back. "It may just be a technicality but Trelawney said the servant would break free THAT night, Sirius has been out for a whole year."
A light went off for Remus too, "If Padfoot really wanted to rejoin Voldemort he would've gone searching for him already unless he thought Voldemort was dead which makes sense since everyone thinks he's out to get Harry for revenge. Yet the prophecy suggests the servant thinks he is alive. But who…" Remus and Lily stared at each other and their eyes widened, both thinking of the same person and the same word, impossible…
Hermione could tell things were starting to click for Remus and Lily but they didn't know how to reconcile all of it yet. To be fair, not a lot of people would think about it, she reasoned ruefully. That was probably the reason the rat got away for as long as he did. "Well Trelawney didn't even know she made the prediction."
"Why couldn't she?" James inquired.
"Seers do not typically remember their true predictions, for them a blessing more than a curse" Dumbledore explained. "This way they do not feel the urge to take the future into their hands nor do they feel guilt for what they see but cannot change."
Hermione spoke again, "So Harry came to tell us but before he could we told him that Hagrid had lost the appeal and they were going to kill Buckbeak. Harry was still nervous about going to get the cloak in case Snape caught him again so I went instead. After dinner, we waited in the Entrance Hall until the coast was clear and snuck down to Hagrid's. He was a mess, like he was at a complete loss for what to say or do."
"Poor Hagrid," Remus lowered his head.
"He had Buckbeak tied up outside in the pumpkin patch, and the officials were coming there to do…it. He shaking so much that he broke his milk jug and I went to get another. We wanted to stay with Hagrid but he wouldn't let us and then I found something in Hagrid's other milk jug – Scabbers."
"He was alive?" the room looked at each other. That was when it hit Remus like a ton of bricks, alive but in hiding, chained, but why? He must've had something to do with…so Sirius took the fall for… Remus felt like he was going to be sick. He glanced at Lily who remained puzzled, she hadn't picked it up. James wouldn't think that of his friend and Sirius would probably doubt he was even capable of something like that. He himself didn't want to believe it, there had been evidence, there had to be another way, any – other – way. Hermione broke through,
"Yes and at the same time, the Ministry officials and Dumbledore showed up. We left out the back door and made it to the top of the hill but we couldn't get away fast enough. Scabbers was struggling in Ron's hands and we had to stop and we heard it." Everyone lowered their heads for moment. "Harry wanted to go back but we couldn't. Scabbers was still fighting Ron and Crookshanks showed up just as the rat got free then Ron had to chase after him. Ron caught Scabbers in time for a giant black dog to make an appearance."
"Why does that not sound to promising?" Sirius leant away from her, waiting for a bomb to drop.
"The short version is the dog bowled over Harry and went after Ron, none of us had realised we were under the willow until Harry got hit again, the dog dragged Ron to a hole at the base, breaking his leg in the process." Those who knew the infamous secret shot Sirius looks but otherwise didn't comment on that. "Crookshanks pressed the knot on the tree so Harry and I went in too. There was this long tunnel that came out to the Shrieking Shack." This wasn't a surprise to anyone there. "We found Ron in the bedroom with Sirius, Sirius was the dog."
"Really?" McGonagall raised her eyebrows a fraction. The marauders ducked their heads and snuck glances at each other. It was easy to imagine them as schoolboys like this, Hermione shook her head fondly.
"Yes but the full story we'll get to, for now we have Sirius who is making vague comments that look slights on Harry's dad and that he is planning on killing and Harry who, apart from having his best friend attacked by Sirius, also hates and blames the man in front of him for the death of his parents."
"Oh dear, this can't go well," Lily braced herself.
"Harry gave Sirius a hard right hook first and they fought, Ron and I joined in a little," Hermione didn't think she needed to tell them about the chokehold. "In the end Harry had Sirius on the ground with a wand but he couldn't kill him. Harry accused Sirius of killing his parents and Sirius didn't deny it but he said Harry should know the whole story."
"I don't get it," Sirius said abruptly. "How can I be innocent and still claim I – I – did that to Lily and James? What did I do?"
"Sirius please, you have been so patient -" Hermione tried to console him.
"Damn right I've been patient," Sirius snapped. "I've put up with listening to you tell me about all these awful things I'm going to do or be accused of doing with nothing to support my cause, just your and Harry's word that I can be trusted and that there is another side to it." Sirius had figured out that he wasn't the secret keeper, so what had he done to make himself feel so guilty?
"Sirius, it's not her fault," Remus said quietly. And it's not yours either I think, he added mentally.
"Then whose is it Remus?" Sirius asked harshly. "You heard her just now, I didn't deny that I killed my best friends so I did it but didn't do it." The werewolf had to bite his tongue, there was still a huge problem with his theory, the answer to which he didn't even want to contemplate.
"We're getting there Sirius, just keep it together a little while longer and you'll know everything," Hermione promised. Inside she was shaking, he had sounded a lot like how he did that night in the shack, she knew she was going have to confiscate wands again. "Just then we heard footsteps and Professor Moony came in. He disarmed Harry and asked Sirius 'where was he?' and Sirius pointed to Ron. Remus made his own set of vague comments, as if he was realising something then hugged Sirius." Sirius's head lifted, hope flickered in his chest, there really was a way out of this mess.
James however winced a little, "That might not have been the wisest move guys, at least not before you clue the kids in."
Lily gasped, "Harry is not going to like that!"
"Actually I was the one who cracked," Hermione admitted. "I was just so stressed so I got really angry and I yelled at him, revealing to everyone that he's a werewolf."
"The essay I suppose?" Remus asked wearily.
Hermione nodded, "Yes. At first we thought Remus was helping Sirius but Remus said he didn't, in fact he didn't believe Sirius was innocent until he saw us on the map coming from the Hagrid's hut. According to the map, we went in just the three of us and came out as four, and that fourth person was the last man Remus expected ever to see."
"Who?" James asked oblivious to Remus and Lily's uncomfortable expressions.
Hermione pursed her lips, this was it, she said the name that would turn their world upside down, "Peter Pettigrew."
All three marauders paled, Lily's eyes drifted shut, McGonagall touched her fingers to her mouth, and Dumbledore dropped his head a fraction, shaking it ever so slightly. James swallowed nosily, his hands folded as if in prayer. "Please Mya," he looked at her desperately, "please tell me there is a somewhat reasonable explanation for this, he's my best friend..." Hermione bit her lip and turned to the side, unable to give him the comfort he wanted.
Remus cleared his throat, "So Scabbers was him? All this time?" Hermione moved her head slowly. Remus's face crumpled, he refused to think of the implications but his heart still cracked. He glanced over at Sirius, he was certain when the full impact of what this meant hit his friend, his anger would take over. Until then he did what no one else would dare do at that moment, "What happened?"
"Well at first we didn't believe it, after all Pettigrew was supposed to be dead. Sirius was so angry though, he wanted to kill him first and then explain."
"Not to make light of the situation, but that is so you mate," James half-smiled and the corners of Sirius's lips twitched.
"Remus managed to convince him not to and told us about how he became a werewolf, the measures Dumbledore put in for him and how the others became Animagi to keep him company during the full moon."
"I must say boys I am amazed against my better judgement," McGonagall said crisply. "Although you were some of the cleverest students to pass through Hogwarts."
"Remus also told us about the prank with Snape," at this some severe looks were cast at Sirius who dropped his eyes to the floor.
"And that was when Snape showed up, he used Harry's cloak that we left at the base of the willow. We tried to get him to listen to us but he was beyond reason. He bound and gagged Remus and was forcing Sirius out when Harry stepped in. All three of us tried to disarm him at the same time so we may have knocked him out by accident." Hermione smirked guiltily.
Sirius barked a laugh for the first time in a while, "Yeah, may have. Good one you lot."
"Thanks, so Harry untied Remus and he tried to take Scabbers from Ron but Ron pointed out that there were a lot rats in the world, how was Sirius so sure that Scabbers was Peter."
"Fair question," McGonagall commented absently.
"Turns out Sirius saw the clipping of Ron's family winning the lottery and the article had mentioned that the Weasley children were all studying at Hogwarts."
"He's at Hogwarts, he's at Hogwarts," James murmured comprehendingly.
"One also had to take into account the rat's curious longevity, twelve years for a rat is uncommon. Finally the one identifying mark, Scabbers had a missing toe."
"All they could find of Peter was a fin-" Sirius couldn't finish.
"He had cut it off that day in the street. He screamed for everyone to hear that Sirius had betrayed Lily and James and then caused the explosion with his wand behind his back. He sliced his finger to make everyone think he was dead and ran off to the sewer as a rat. After seeing the article, Sirius had broken out to come after Peter, thinking Harry was in danger. Crookshanks knew that Scabbers wasn't a rat either, that's why he was always after him. Crookshanks stole the passwords from Neville to get him into the tower and that's what prompted him to fake his death again."
"But why did he fake his death the first time?" Lily asked the million dollar question. Every face turned to Hermione who had to stand up and pace a little.
"Well we all assumed that Sirius betrayed the Potters and Peter tracked him down but what if it was the other way around?" She didn't wait for them to respond, "Harry pointed out that Sirius had said he didn't deny having killed his parents and Sirius rephrased it to 'as good as killed them'." Hermione looked at the group who had gone stock still, "I know this seems pointless but I can give you minute before I tell the true story of what happened on Halloween night."
"Just get it over with Mya," Remus waved a hand.
"Fine but wands on the table," they complied without a word and Hermione snatched them up. "You already know that Dumbledore knew that the Potters were going to be targeted and he advised them to go into hiding. James's initial inclination was to use Sirius as his secret keeper however Sirius had come up with a scheme. Sirius explained that they planned to actually use Peter instead as a bluff, he had been sure the death eaters would come after him. Except Peter was – is – the spy. Sirius realised something wasn't right from the moment he went to check on Peter at his hiding place on Halloween. The rat was gone without any sign of a fight so Sirius came straight here and found…you." No one made a sound and Hermione just kept going, "by this point Remus had had enough and after assuring Ron that no harm would come to Scabbers if he was indeed a rat, forced him to show himself. It was him." She added unnecessarily. "At first he tried to deny it, claimed he didn't know what they were talking about. He pointed that Sirius had broken out of Azkaban as if that was proof of his dark powers. Really it wasn't, Sirius had slipped past the dementors as a dog and swam back to the mainland."
"Simple yet effective," Sirius muttered hollowly.
"It was a crazy story but Harry believed him and that triggered the rat to go into panic mode. He started to beg -"
"God Peter," James raked his hair with both hands.
"He went to Sirius, then Remus, that's how we found out both of you thought the other was the spy. We had another infamous marauder make-up scene." This was met with a few huffs. "Then the rat went to Ron and me, it was awful to watch. Then he tried Harry -"
"You mean that pitiful piece of crap had to guts to beg Harry for his help?" Sirius growled inhumanly.
"Remus and you pulled him away and asked him outright whether or not he betrayed Lily and James. He started to cry that he didn't mean to but that was a lie, he had been passing information for a year before they died. He actually asked what was there to be gained by refusing Voldemort. Remus and Sirius were just about to kill him when Harry stepped in." Thank you son, James thought heavily. "Harry thought they should hand the rat over to the dementors, he only did it because he didn't think James would want his other friends to become killers. So Lupin and Ron chained themselves to Pettigrew and Sirius floated Snape up the tunnel with me and Harry following. On the way, Sirius wanted to know if Harry would've liked to come and live with him after his name was cleared. Obviously Harry said yes immediately. Then as we got out of the tunnel something awful happened, the full moon and Remus hadn't taken his potion that night."
Remus went wide-eyed, "But I'm chained to the others!"
"Yes and you transformed, Sirius told Harry and I to run but Ron was still in danger. Remus in wolf form got free of the chains and he and Sirius fought, to make matters worse the rat attacked Ron and used all the chaos to make his escape. Padfoot tried to go after him but ran into the dementors by the lake instead, hundreds of them. Harry tried to show me how to do a patronus but I couldn't and passed out. His were still feeble so Harry was inches away from being Kissed. Suddenly there was something driving the creatures away, it was a very powerful patronus but Harry passed out before he could see who cast it. When he woke up in hospital wing, Fudge and Snape were discussing Sirius, they were going to perform the kiss and Snape was to be awarded the Order of Merlin. On top of that, Snape told Fudge that Sirius had Confunded us so he wouldn't believe our story. Dumbledore came and in not so many words allowed me to do something that was potentially dangerous and most likely illegal. I had been using a Time Turner all year to get to my classes so Harry and I went back in time about three hours, to the time of Buckbeak's execution. We realised that we could save Buckbeak and help Sirius escape on him although the timing had to be absolutely perfect and we could not be seen. Getting Buckbeak was the hardest, because we only had a few minutes to get out there while the Ministry officials were talking to Hagrid. We managed all right by a hair of a second. We found a spot to watch what happened at the Willow and waited what felt like ages for us to come up again. When we did come back we realised that we were now in the path of a werewolf so the three of us headed to Hagrid's. Dumbledore had told us that Sirius was going to be locked in Flitwick's office so Harry went to the lake to keep watch, what he really wanted to do was see who cast the patronus because he believed it was James."
"I wish it was," the man breathed, Lily placed a comforting hand on his back.
"It turns out that Harry had actually seen himself. He conjured the patronus and drove the off the dementors."
"That must've been some patronus," McGonagall commented dryly.
"Yes it was, and it was stag," James looked at Mya as tears welled up his eyes.
"Between that and Lily's charm, leave it up to you two to find a way to protect him in death," Sirius wiped his face.
"What happened next Mya?" Lily pushed.
"It took a little while but eventually we saw Macnair the executioner from Buckbeak's trial running to get the dementors so we knew it was time to act. We flew Buckbeak up to the tower and Sirius climbed out of his window to get on. You should've seen your face Sirius, it would have been so funny if not for the situation."
"My godson and his best friend show up on a hippogriff right before I'm about to be killed," Sirius scratched his head while shaking it.
"So you took off with Buckbeak and Harry and I dashed back to the hospital wing just in time. Snape was furious that Sirius had got away again, he knew it had something to do with us but we have been in the hospital wing the whole time so he couldn't prove anything. He didn't get his Order of Merlin so he might've accidently told the Slytherins about Remus's condition at breakfast the next day."
"Son of a -" Lily griped James's shoulder warningly with a pointed look at their son.
"Remus resigned and Harry went to see him before he left. He gave Harry the map back and confirmed that James's animagus form was a stag hence the name Prongs. Then Dumbledore came in just as Remus was leaving. They spoke and Harry told him about Trelawney prophecy, Dumbledore joked about giving her pay raise because that brought the total number of predictions up to two. Harry felt guilty because he had stopped the others from killing Pettigrew which meant Voldemort would return but Dumbledore assured that him that one day he would be grateful for sparing his life. On the train back, Harry got a letter from Sirius. He was safely in hiding but he planned on letting some people see him so the dementors would be lifted, unnecessary really Fudge removed them after they tried to Kiss Harry, he admitted that he had bought Harry the broomstick and gave him permission to attend Hogsmeade trips. He also gave Ron the owl that had delivered the letter as a replacement pet. Hyper, twittery thing. Crookshanks confirmed it was indeed an owl and that was the end of our third year." Hermione picked up her notes and finally shut them.