Chapter 11: End of the Prisoner of Azkaban
Lily went out to make sandwiches. Hermione and Remus were playing peek-a-boo with Harry. Both Professors were watching in amusement. James was talking to Sirius about ideas for getting back at Snape, making sure Lily and the Professors couldn't hear them. They were interrupted by a loud growl from Sirius' stomach.
"I'm coming Black." LIly called in amusement.
"How'd you know it was me?" He asked.
"Only your stomach could make that kind of noise even though it hasn't been that long since we last ate." Lily told him, coming in with a plate full of all kinds of sandwiches. Sirius grinned while everyone laughed. She offered the plate to Hermione first and then the professors.
"Why do we always go last?" James grumbled.
"Because the other guests want food too James. If I gave it to you and Sirius first, nobody else would get any."
"We aren't 'at 'ad 'ily." Sirius said through a mouthful of food. She just shook her head at him.
"You are that bad and you know it Padfoot." Remus said with a grin. Sirius pouted.
"Ron used to, no, will do the same thing. Time travel messes with you head." Hermione said. "He might be even worse to be honest."
"Worse than Padfoot? No way." James said. Hermione just nodded with a smile in Sirius' direction. Soon everyone had finished eating and they resumed their seats, waiting for Hermione to continue the story. She took her seat next to Sirius again because she knew this next bit would be difficult.
"Before we begin, all of you are putting your wands on the table. Nobody is allowed to touch them until I say so. No cursing anyone involved in the story either." Everyone looked at her with a mixture of worry and confusion. Remus had further proof that it was Peter acting as Scabbers. He was involved in Lily and James' deaths somehow. It must be why he wasn't here listening to the story. He was saddened for the loss of his friend, but decided against saying anything, in the faint hope that he could still be wrong.
They all got up and put their wands on the table in front of Hermione. She smiled and nodded.
"Right, well, after the Quidditch final exams season started. We also found out that Buckbeak's appeal would be the day we finished our exams. Remus' exam was really interesting. He put together a kind of obstacle course with all the dark creatures we had studied that year. Harry aced it. No trouble at all."
"What about you?" Sirius asked. Hermione blushed.
"I failed at the last thing which was a Boggart. It turned into Professor McGonagall,"
"Well that is pretty scary." James stage whispered. McGonagall looked slightly offended but glared at James all the same.
"...Telling me I had failed everything." Hermione continued.
"Oh. Like you would fail everything 'Mione. You are super smart." Sirius told her. She smiled at him.
"As we were walking back to the castle after the DADA exam, we met the Minister for Magic who was coming to the appeal and to check on castle security." Sirius winced. "We saw that an executioner was being brought to the appeal."
"But that makes it seem like they have already decided." Lily frowned.
"They had. The executioner was on the Committee and an old friend on Malfoy Sr." Hermione scowled. "In Harry's divination exam Professor Trelawney ended with a real prediction. She said that that night one of the Dark Lord's servants would break free and join him, helping him to rise again."
There were collective gasps of horror and worried looks exchanged around the room.
"Straight away we found out that Buckbeak had lost the appeal so we decided to go down and visit Hagrid. While we were there we found Scabbers in one of Hagrid's milk jugs. Scabbers kept fighting Ron so we couldn't get away quickly enough and we heard the execution. Finally he bit Ron and ran away."
"So you three go chasing him across the grounds at night?" Lily groaned. Hermione smiled sheepishly and nodded.
"Great." Sighed James. "I wish my son hadn't inherited so much of my adventurous spirit. He seems to have enough trouble anyway."
"We chased Scabbers to the Whomping Willow where we were attacked by a giant dog. It dragged Ron and Scabbers down a secret tunnel."
Sirius buried his face in his hands. Hermione put an arm around him. She remembered this night as clearly as if it were yesterday. She didn't need notes for this one.
"This is where Harry finally meets me isn't it?" He mumbled into his hands.
"Yes." Hermione told him. "Harry and I chased after them."
"How did you get in? You can't have known about the knot on the trunk." Remus said.
"Crookshanks. He knew Sirius. He pressed the knot for us." Hermione explained. "So we found ourselves in the Shrieking Shack. When we got upstairs, Ron had a broken leg and Sirius was there in human form. And I'm very sorry to say, Sirius you looked terrible. Your hair was really long and filthy."
Sirius looked up in horror. "My poor hair!" He gasped, running his hands through it, as if to check it was still normal.
"In fact, Harry confessed afterwards he compared you to a vampire with bad hair." She winked at the others as she said this. They were all laughing, but Sirius got up and dashed off to the mirror in the bathroom.
"Nice distraction for him Hermione." Remus grinned. Sirius came back in, looking slightly more relaxed.
"It's ok. I look fine." He muttered to himself. he sat back down next to Hermione.
"Sirius disarmed us with ron's wand. Then he made the mistake of mentioning James to Harry, who thought that Sirius had led to their deaths. So Harry jumped at him without his wand. Apparently he wanted to try muggle wrestling with Sirius."
Lily looked worried but Remus was trying not to laugh as he pictured a small version of James trying to beat up a fully grown Sirius. James was too busy worrying about how much this affected Harry to find anything funny.
"He did get a punch in. Finally, Harry picked up the wands. He was pointing his wand at Sirius, when Crookshanks came and sat on Sirius' chest."
"Thanks kitty." Sirius murmured.
"Yeah, that cat liked you more than me." Hermione grumbled.
"It's my natural charm." Sirius tried for a grin. He still looked anxious. It broke his heart that his godson even dreamed Sirius would betray Lily and James. He would die before that happened.
"Harry never told us why, but something stopped him cursing Sirius that night. He just stood there, frozen, until we heard more footsteps. Remus came up and disarmed everyone again. Then he just asked Sirius where somebody was. He pointed at Ron and then Remus helped him up. Obviously all of us were really confused."
"I should have explained before doing that." Remus groaned. James suddenly put the pieces together and growled.
"Thanks Remus." Sirius smiled gratefully. "For believing me."
"You're welcome. I'm just sorry it seems like it took me way too long."
"We now all thought Remus had been helping Sirius, so I told Harry and Ron that he was a werewolf." Hermione admitted, shamefaced. She refused to meet Remus' gaze. "I am sorry about that Remus."
"Nothing to apologise for." He told her.
"There is. I used that like a curse and to say you weren't trustworthy. That was very wrong of me." Remus beamed at her.
"I assure you, I very much doubt my future self would hold it against you."
"Anyway, Remus then proceeded to give us all our wands back and tell us your story."
"Yes, how are you an animagi Mr Black?" McGonagall asked, as if this had only just occurred to her. The boys all glanced at each other.
"They did it for me Professor." Remus said. Then he began to tell McGonagall and Dumbledore about their school adventures.
"Well... I must say... In my school and I didn't know." McGonagall blustered. "Unregistered, honestly boys." They all looked at her cautiously.
"It was a very dangerous thing to do, but a very worthy cause." Dumbledore put in, glancing at Remus. "As they have finished school Minerva, we shall let this bout of troublemaking go."
"Albus, this is the law, not just school rules." She said.
"Minnie, you wouldn't turn us in?" Sirius asked, with puppy eyes.
"Of course not Sirius, but I don't want you getting yourself into far worse trouble than school." Sirius just stared at her.
"Werent we just talking about Sirius being on the run, after escaping Azkaban after being falsely accused of murder. I think that counts as trouble." Lily pointed out.
"Thanks for the reminder Lils." Sirius groaned.
"And Miss Granger has come back to stop these terrible events. Not get him thrown in Azkaban for another reason."
"We won't get caught." James said, flashing a winning smile.
"On your head be it." McGonagall sighed.
"So, back to the story." Hermione interrupted. "Remus told us that Peter Pettigrew was an animagus. His form was a rat. Scabbers was that rat."
Everyone except Remus and James, gasped.
"That's why Sirius was so determined to get into Gryffindor tower?" McGonagall asked. Hermione nodded.
"None of us believed him at first. Part way through the story Professor Snape came in, hidden under the cloak we had left by the tree."
"Didn't you learn from first year, not to leave that cloak behind." James groaned. "It will take forever to get the Snivelly grease off it."
"James!" Lily said sharply. He put his hands up in mock surrender.
"Snape refused to listen to us. He tied up Remus and had his wand pointed at Sirius before we could do anything. All he wanted to do was take Remus and Sirius to the Dementors."
"No!" Lily gasped. "He wouldn't." Hermione just looked at her sympathetically.
"I'm going to murder him." James growled. "This is taking a schoolboy grudge too far. That's worse than death." Dumbledore was shaking his head sadly.
"Apparently we were too gentle with Snivelly in school." Sirius hissed. Remus looked furious as well.
"Before Snape could go anywhere, Harry blocked the doorway. He called Snape pathetic for holding onto the grudge."
"Like father like son." James smiled proudly.
"Then, before Snape could raise his wand, Harry tried to disarm him. Unfortunately, Ron and I tried at the same time so we knocked him out."
"Well done!" Sirius smiled.
"Thank you." Remus said gently.
"Attacking a teacher." McGonagall frowned in disapproval. "But in this situation, I think it was warranted." Everyone stared at her as if she had grown a third head.
"Sirius then told us that he knew Scabbers was Pettigrew because of a picture of Ron's family that had been in the Daily Prophet Fudge had given him in Azkaban. When Sirius and Peter were in the street, Peter faked his own death, by cutting off a finger and transforming. So Sirius recognised the missing finger on the rat."
"Wow Sirius. I didn't know you could work things like that out." Lily grinned at him.
"Hey!" He pouted.
"Sirius then explained how he had convinced Lily and James to use Peter as secret keeper, instead of him. Nobody would suspect that."
"So the little runt officially did betray us?" James growled. Fury colouring his face red. Sirius's hand twitched, as if going for his wand before remembering it wasn't there.
"How could he?" Lily said in a small voice. McGonagall looked shocked and horrified. Remus was also looking furious. It was one thing for him to suspect it, quite another to hear it stated in cold, hard fact. Sirius was just sat in stunned bewilderment. Not only had Peter betrayed Lily and James, he had bested Sirius. Managing to escape when Sirius cornered him, and get Sirius blamed for blowing up the street. He killed one marauder, blamed another for it, therefore leaving the third completely alone. The watery little baby Peter, had completely destroyed the marauders. Who knew he had it in him. He rose, his whole body shaking with anger.
"Sirius. Sit."
"He completely destroyed all of our lives 'Mione. I'm not just going to sit here knowing the little scum is alive." Sirius' breathing had become ragged, his face red. Suddenly Remus was standing as well.
"You have to. You got into this mess because you did something rash. Don't do it this time around. I want to change things. Not watch history repeat itself." Hermione begged, nearly in tears. This, more than anything, brought Sirius back to himself. He sat down again and held her tightly.
"Don't worry 'Mione. We won't let things repeat themselves. Not after how much you sacrificed to come here. We will make it work and we will make it better." He assured her.
"We will. Don't worry." James echoed. Lily and Remus said the same, pulling together in a group hug with Hermione buried in the middle. When they finally broke apart, Sirius gently brushed a single tear from Hermione's cheek with his thumb.
"Everything will work out." He told her quietly. She nodded and cleared her throat.
"Sirius and Remus then used a spell to make Peter reveal his true form. He still tried to claim that Sirius was the spy and he was the one who betrayed the Potters. Sirius told us how he escaped Azkaban by becoming a dog and slipping through the bars. His determination to get to Peter giving him a burning obsession. He knew Peter was with Ron, who would be returning to Hogwarts, where Harry was."
"Thank you Sirius. For protecting my son. And you Remus." James said fervently. They both nodded and smiled. Remus picked up the baby Harry.
"When Sirius told Harry that he flew as well as James had done, Harry finally believed him."
Sirius let out a sigh of relief. Maybe he could have a relationship with his godson after all. He could be there for him as well as there for Remus.
"They were both about to kill him, when Harry stopped them."
"What?" Sirius asked in shock. "He just found out the scum was responsible for his parents deaths?"
"He said he reckoned his dad wouldn't want his two best friends to become killers." Remus and Sirius looked at James.
"On the surface, right now, I would totally say go for it and kill the bastard. But deep down, Harry is right. I don't want you two to become killers for that piece of filth. He isn't worth it." James said slowly. Hermione beamed at him and Lily kissed his cheek.
"Wow. You almost sounded mature James." Lily smiled.
"I grew up. I grew up for you Lily." He said.
"I know. And I love you for that." She told him.
"Harry also argued that if they killed Peter, the truth would die with him. They needed him alive to clear Sirius' name."
"True. That is a good enough reason to keep it alive I suppose." Sirius said.
"So, Remus and Ron chained themselves on either side of Peter. Sirius levitated Snape and we left. On the way down the passage, Sirius asked Harry if he wanted to come and live with him once his name was clear."
"Brilliant. Thanks Padfoot." James beamed. Sirius just smiled at him.
"It would be my pleasure."
"Harry agreed instantly."
"Albus. We can't leave the boy there. We have already heard they are horrible, but the fact that he would rather live with a man he just met, that an hour before he thought was a killer, over his own family. That isn't healthy." McGonagall said. Dumbledore sighed.
"I know Minerva, but I think I must have put an enchantment on Harry. As long as he calls Privet Drive home he won't be found by Voldemort."
"Then we had a problem." Everyone groaned. "It was a full moon, and Remus hadn't taken his potion."
"Oh god no." Remus breathed, his face turned deathly pale.
"In the confusion while Remus was transforming, Peter transformed and escaped. Sirius also transformed and held Remus off, chasing him away into the forest. Then he went to try and find Peter, leaving me and Harry there. ron was unconscious, knocked out by Peter, who used Remus' wand and Snape was still knocked out as well."
"Thanks Sirius." Remus said, turning to his friend gratefully.
"Yes, we would have been in trouble without Sirius with us." Hermione smiled at him.
"Naturally." Sirius grinned, puffing his chest out.
"We then heard a dog whining so Harry raced off to help. I went with him but there were at least a hundred Dementors. I passed out and Harry was trying to hold them off. In the end he saw a figure across the lake who got rid of the Dementors."
"Must be a very powerful wizard." Remus whistled.
"He was." Hermione smiled. "Next thing we knew, Harry and I woke up in the Hospital wing. Snape had found us and brought us all back. Sirius was locked up to await Fudge and Dementors. Fudge came in, trying to sooth Harry by telling him they had caught Sirius, which then made him mad. He tried to tell them the story, but without Peter, it was pretty unbelievable. Remus was still in the forest."
"My word would count for next to nothing." Remus sighed. "Me being a friend of Sirius and a werewolf. No chance there."
"Professor Dumbledore believed Sirius and sent everyone away so he could talk to Harry and I. He pointed out that we had no evidence and our word wouldn't count for much. He told me to use my time-turner, maybe more than one life could be spared."
"Buckbeak!" Gasped Lily. Hermione nodded.
"Harry went back with me, so I had to explain what it was and why I had a time-turner. Harry decided we should rescue Buckbeak then fly him up to where Sirius was being kept and let them escape together."
"Wow. That could go seriously wrong." Lily breathed, looking worried.
"We didn't have a lot of choice if we wanted to stop Sirius being kissed. There was no other way to get him out of the room."
"You would risk all that, for me, someone you only just met?" Sirius asked, his face a mask of shock.
"In a heartbeat." Hermione told him. Sirius couldn't even reply, but his face showed his gratitude. "Well, we got Buckbeak away easily enough. I did have to stop Harry charging into Hagrid's cabin to get Peter."
"No, he needed to be there to prove us right in the Shack." Sirius said.
"And he couldn't be seen by anyone." Remus pointed out.
"Then we just waited for us all to come back out of the Willow. Of course we then had to move, because Remus would be running right at us when Sirius chased him away. We hid in Hagrid's hut after he left and waited some more. We couldn't see so Harry went outside to keep watch. Early, Harry had thought it was his father casting the Patronus."
"Impossible." James said sadly.
"Yes. He had actually seen himself."
"What? Harry, a thirteen year old wizard, made about a hundred Dementors go away on his own?" Remus asked, looking awed. Hermione nodded.
"Bloody hell Prongs. Your son is seriously powerful." Sirius said.
"I know." James smiled proudly.
"His Patronus is a stag." Hermione said softly.
"Really?" James asked. Hermione nodded and he teared up a little.
"When we saw someone coming out to get a Dementor for Sirius, we flew Buckbeak up to the window and got Sirius out."
"Thanks a lot." Sirius said warmly. Hermione squeezed his hand.
"We landed on one of the towers, and got off so Sirius could fly away on Buckbeak. He was so busy being grateful Harry and I had to chase him away so he wouldn't get caught." Hermione laughed.
"Typical Padfoot." Remus chuckled.
"We made it back to hospital wing just in time and waited. Pretty soon Fudge and Snape came towards us yelling about how Sirius got away again. Snape was trying to blame Harry. However as the door had been locked once Dumbledore left, there was apparently no way we could have done it." Hermione grinned impishly.
"Nice!" James and Sirius beamed.
"Snape was besides himself. He accidentally let slip to the Slytherins what Remus is so he resigned before the parents could write in."
"That little scumbag!" Sirius roared.
"How dare he!" James yelled. Remus looked horrified but resigned. Lily just looked shellshocked. She knew that Severus had told just her, but she was his best friend. She never dreamed he would tell an entire house to get Remus out of a job. It was as if the man she knew didn't exist. Dumbledore looked sad.
"Harry heard about it from Hagrid. He immediately went up to try and convince Remus to stay, saying he was the best defense teacher we had. He was right."
"Awww. I love your son James." Remus beamed.
"Not up against much competition were you? I mean Lockhart, and a guy with Voldemort sticking out the back of his head?" Sirius grinned over at him.
"Oh shut up Padfoot." Remus said, throwing a cushion at him which hit Hermione.
"Hey!" She complained.
"Oops. Sorry 'Mione." Remus grinned sheepishly.
"Remus told Harry that James could turn into a stag, which is why Harry's Patronus was one. He gave Harry back the map and the cloak which we had left in the Shack."
"Thanks a lot Remus. You're leaving so give him back the things that allow the boy to cause trouble." McGonagall groaned. Remus just grinned. James and Sirius high-fived him.
"Gryffindor won the house cup for the third year in a row."
Everybody cheered. Baby Harry clapped wildly, making everyone laugh.
"On the train home we got an owl. Sirius admitted he had got Harry the Firebolt. He had used Crookshanks to place the order."
"A smart idea, from Padfoot?" Lily gasped.
"I can be smart." Sirius said, looking put out.
"Suuuure." James said sarcastically. Sirius pouted.
"He also gave Harry permission to visit Hogsmeade as well as letting Ron keep the owl because he lost Scabbers. He wasn't quite so upset about that this time, knowing what, or rather who, Scabbers really was."
"I wouldn't be upset at losing that either. Not that I would have a rat anyway." Sirius agreed with a shudder.
"When we got to king's Cross, Harry decided to tell the Dursleys that his godfather was an escaped convict. He forgot to mention Sirius was innocent."
"Genius!" James beamed. "My son is the very best."
"I have to agree." Remus nodded.
"And so concludes our third year." Hermione said.
"Crikey. Nothing like a peaceful year with you lot is there?" Sirius said.
"Nope."
"At least that year, the threat wasn't important. Sirius wouldn't actually hurt Harry. I doubt he will run into anyone else like that." James sighed.
"Don't think like that. Plenty of people will want to help Harry." Lily said. "Speaking of which, Harry is going to go to bed." She stood up and James went with her to say goodnight to Harry. Remus began talking to Dumbledore about the possibility of him teaching one day. McGonagall joined in occasionally, throwing in a helpful comment. Sirius stood up and dragged Hermione out to the kitchen.
"Lily is less likely to get mad if you are in here too." He explained with a mischievous grin. He made himself a sandwich and then offered one to Hermione. She took it gratefully.
"On to fourth year then." Sirius said.
"Yeah. This year you and Harry get along so no need to worry about that." She smiled.
"That's a relief." Sirius sighed. "That was horrible." Hermione nodded in sympathy. She watched out of the window as the sun began to set, casting a red light across the sky. When she turned back around Sirius was standing right next to her and it suddenly struck her how tall he was. She had to look up to see his face. He looked suddenly very nervous.
"'Mione…" He began, but his voice tailed off. Hermione stood frozen to the spot. Heart and head warring inside her. Her heart just wanted to close the gap between them. But her head was stilling stuck in the future, where he was too old for her. A very different person from the one stood beside her. She suddenly felt his warm hands on her waist and as she looked back up at him, his lips met her halfway. Sirius held her close as he kissed her. He felt a warmth spreading through his body from every point of contact. It might have been seconds later, or it might have been hours, Sirius couldn't tell. But all too soon Hermione pulled away.
"I...I'm sorry." Sirius muttered. She looked at him for a second, then pressed her lips to his again briefly.
"Don't be." She smiled. "I'm certainly not." Sirius suddenly grinned. He pulled her tightly against him for a hug, resting his head on the top of hers. Her arms snaked around his waist and they stood there until they heard footsteps. They sprung apart just as Lily walked in.
"Black, get out of my kitchen." She said, glaring at him. Sirius left with a backwards smirk at Hermione.
"Do you need any help Lily?" Hermione asked, slightly flustered by the kiss. Lily shook her head with a sly grin.
"Something you want to share?" Lily asked.
"Nope." Hermione grinned.
"Suit yourself." Lily replied with a wink. The girls made their way back into the room. Hermione sat beside Sirius, who wrapped an arm around her shoulders. James and Remus exchanged some gold when they saw the pair, who just rolled their eyes.