Chapter 20: Pettigrew Escapes and Dementors Again

Harry had never been part of a stranger group. Crookshanks led the way down the stairs; Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron went next, looking like entrants in a six-legged race. Next came Professor Snape, drifting creepily along, his toes hitting each stair as they descended, held up by his own wand, which was being pointed at him by Sirius. Harry, Claire, and Hermione brought up the rear.

Getting back to the tunnel was difficult. Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron had to turn sideways to manage it; Lupin still had Pettigrew covered with his wand. Harry could see them edging awkwardly along the tunnel in single file. Crookshanks was still in the lead. Hermione had gone up ahead to help with Pettigrew while Harry and Claire stayed with Black. Black went in the tunnel first, followed by Harry and Claire. Black was still making Snape drift along ahead of them; he kept bumping his lolling head on the low ceiling. Claire and Harry had the impression Black was making no eftort to prevent this.

"You know what this means?" Black said abruptly to Claire and Harry as they made their slow progress along the tunnel. "Turning Pettigrew in?"

"You're free," Harry said.

"Yes….," Black said. "But I'm also—I don't know if anyone ever told you—I'm your godfather."

"Yeah, I knew that," Harry said.

"Well…..your parents appointed me your guardian," Black said stiffly. "If anything happened to them…."

Harry waited. Did Black mean what he thought he meant?

Black then turned to Claire. "And of course you can come to Claire. After all, you are my niece. I mean I'd understand if you didn't want to leave the Weasley's. They're good people. And Harry I understand if you want to stay with your aunt and uncle….But….well….think about it. The both of you. Once my name's cleared….if you wanted a….a different home….or a place to visit…."

Some sort of explosion took place in the pit of Harry's stomach.

"What—live with you?" he said, accidentally cracking his head on a bit of rock protruding from the ceiling. "Leave the Dursleys?"

"Of course, I thought you wouldn't want to," Black said quickly. "I understand, I just thought I'd—"

"Are you insane?" Harry said, his voice easily as croaky as Black's.

"Of course I want to leave the Dursleys! Have you got a house? When can I move in?"

Black turned right around to look at him; Snape's head was scraping the ceiling but Black didn't seem to care.

"You want to?" he said. "You mean it?"

"Yeah, I mean it!" Harry said.

Black's gaunt face broke into the first true smile Harry had seen upon it. The difference it made was startling, as though a person ten years younger were shining through the starved mask; for a moment, he was recognizable as the man who had laughed at Harry's parents' wedding.

"And you Claire?" Black turned to Claire waiting for an answer.

Claire smiled brightly and Harry could tell that Claire had inherited her smile from the Black side of the family. "Of course! You have thirteen years to make up for, Uncle."

The three of them did not speak again until they had reached the end of the tunnel. Crookshanks darted up first; he had evidently pressed his paw to the knot of the trunk, because Lupin, Pettigrew, Ron, and Hermione clambered upward without any sound of savaging branches.

Black saw Snape up through the hole, then stood back for Harry and Claire to pass. At last, all of them were out.

The grounds were very dark now; the only light came from the distant windows of the castle. Without a word, they set off. Pettigrew was still wheezing and occasionally whimpering. Harry's mind was buzzing. He was going to leave the Dursleys. He was going to live with Sirius Black, his parents' best friend and with his best friend Claire….He felt dazed….What would happen when he told the Dursleys he was going to live with the convict they'd seen on television….!

"One wrong move, Peter," Lupin said threateningly ahead. His wand was still pointed sideways at Pettigrew's chest.

Silently they tramped through the grounds, the castle lights growing slowly larger. Snape was still drifting weirdly ahead of Black, his chin bumping on his chest. And then—

A cloud shifted. There were suddenly dim shadows on the ground. Their party was bathed in moonlight.

Snape collided with Lupin, Pettigrew, Ron, and Hermione who had stopped abruptly. Black froze. He flung out one arm to make Claire and Harry stop.

Harry could see Lupin's silhouette. He had gone rigid. Then his limbs began to shake.

"Oh, my—" Hermione gasped, backing away from Lupin to where Claire and Harry were. "He didn't take his potion tonight! He's not safe!"

"Run," Black whispered. "Run. Now."

But Harry and Claire couldn't run. Ron was chained to Pettigrew and Lupin. They leapt forward but Black stood in front of them and kept them at bay.

"Leave it to me—RUN!"

There was a terrible snarling noise. Lupin's head was lengthening. So was his body. His shoulders were hunching. Hair was sprouting visibly on his face and hands, which were curling into clawed paws. Crookshanks's hair was on end again; he was backing away—

As the werewolf reared, snapping its long jaws, Sirius disappeared from Claire's and Harry's side. He had transformed. The enormous, bearlike dog bounded forward. As the werewolf wrenched itself free of the manacle binding it, the dog seized it about the neck and pulled it backward, away from Ron and Pettigrew. They were locked, jaw to jaw, claws ripping at each other—

Harry stood, transfixed by the sight, too intent upon the battle to notice anything else. It was Hermione's scream that alerted him—

Pettigrew had dived for Lupin's dropped wand. Ron, unsteady on his bandaged leg, fell. There was a bang, a burst of light— and Ron lay motionless on the ground. Another bang— Crookshanks flew into the air and back to the earth in a heap. Claire took out her wand and yelled, "Stupefy!" but Pettigrew reflected and shouted, "Impediment!" which knocked Claire off her feet and onto her back. Hermione went over to Claire and helped her up.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry yelled, pointing his own wand at Pettigrew; Lupin's wand flew high into the air and out of sight. "Stay where you are!" Harry shouted, running forward.

Too late. Pettigrew had transformed. Harry saw his bald tail whip through the manacle on Ron's outstretched arm and heard a scurrying through the grass.

There was a howl and a rumbling growl; Harry turned to see the werewolf taking flight; it was galloping into the forest—

"Sirius, he's gone, Pettigrew transformed!" Harry yelled.

Black was bleeding; there were gashes across his muzzle and back, but at Harry's words he scrambled up again, and in an instant, the sound of his paws faded to silence as he pounded away across the grounds.

Harry, Claire, and Hermione dashed over to Ron.

"What did he do to him?" Hermione whispered. Ron's eyes were only half-closed, his mouth hung open; he was definitely alive, they could hear him breathing, but he didn't seem to recognize them.

"I don't know….."

Harry looked desperately around. Black and Lupin both gone….they had no one but Snape for company, still hanging, unconscious, in midair.

"We'd better get them up to the castle and tell someone," Harry said, pushing his hair out of his eyes, trying to think straight. "Come—"

"But then, from beyond the range of their vision, they heard a yelping, a whining: a dog in pain…..

"Sirius," Harry muttered, sharing a worried look with Claire then staring into the darkness.

He had a moment's indecision, but there was nothing they could do for Ron at the moment, and but the sound of it, Black was in trouble—

Harry set off at a run, Claire and Hermione right behind him. The yelping seemed to be coming from the ground near the edge of the lake. They pelted toward it, and Harry, running flat out, felt the cold without realizing what it must mean—

The yelping stopped abruptly. As they reached the lakeshore, they saw why—Sirius had turned back into a man. He was crouched on all fours, his hands over his head.

"Nooo," he moaned. "Noooo….please…."

"Harry," Claire said, looking up in the sky above the lake. "It looks like we've got some company."

And then Harry saw them. Dementors, at least a hundred of them, gliding in a black mass around the lake toward them. He spun around, the familiar, icy cold penetrating his insides, fog starting to obscure his vision; more were appearing out of the darkness on every side; they were encircling them…..

"Claire, Hermione, think of something happy!" Harry yelled, raising his wand, blinking furiously to try and clear his vision, shaking his head to rid it of the faint screaming that had started inside it—

I'm going to live with my godfather. I'm leaving the Dursleys.

He forced himself to think of Black, and only Black, and began to chant: "Expecto patronum! Expecto patronum!"

Black gave a shudder, rolled over, and lay motionless on the ground, pale as death.

He'll be all right. I'm going to go and live with him.

"Expecto patronum! Claire, Hermione, help me! Expecto patronum-"

"Expecto p-patronum," Claire said and a small light emitted from the end of her wand before it disappeared.

"Expecto—" Hermione whispered, "expecto—expecto—"

But Hermione couldn't do it. The dementors were closing in, barely ten feet from them. They formed a solid wall around Harry, Claire, and Hermione, and were getting closer…..

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Harry yelled, trying to block the screaming from his ears. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

A thin wisp of silver escaped his wand and hovered like mist before him. At the same moment, Harry felt Hermione collapse next to him.

"And then there were two…." Claire said.

Harry looked over at Claire and saw she was struggling as much as he was to not pass out. They were both thinking the same thing; they were alone…..completely alone…..

"Expecto—expecto patronum—"

Harry felt his knees hit the cold grass. Fog was clouding his eyes. With a huge effort, he fought to remember—Sirius was innocent—innocent—We'll be okay—I'm going to live with him—

"Expecto patronum!" he gasped.

By the feeble light of his formless Patronus, he saw a dementor halt, very close to him. It couldn't walk through the cloud of silver mist Harry had conjured. A dead, slimy hand slid out from under the cloak. It made a gesture as though to sweep the Patronus aside.

"No—no—" Harry gasped. "He's innocent…..expecto—expecto patronum—"

He heard Claire fall to the ground. He could feel them watching him, hear their rattling breath like an evil wind around him. The nearest dementor seemed to be considering him. Then it raised both its rotting hands—and lowered its hood.

Where there should have been eyes, there was only thin, gray scabbed skin, stretched blankly over empty sockets. But there was a mouth….a gaping, shapeless hole, sucking the air with the sound of a death rattle.

A paralyzing terror filled Harry so that he couldn't move or speak. His Patronus flickered and died.

White fog was blinding him. He had to fight…expect patronum….he couldn't see…and in the distance, he heard the familiar screaming….expecto patronum….he groped in the mist for Sirius, and found his arm…they weren't going to take him….

But a pair of strong, clammy hands suddenly attached themselves around Harry's neck. They were forcing his face upward….He could feel its breath…It was going to get rid of him first…He could feel its putrid breath…His mother was screaming in his ears….She was going to be the last thing he ever heard—

And then, through the fog that was drowning him, he thought he saw a silvery light growing brighter and brighter….He felt himself fall forward onto the grass….Facedown, too weak to move, sick and shaking, Harry opened his eyes. The dementor must have released him. The blinding light was illuminating the grass around him…The screaming had stopped, the cold was ebbing way…

Something was driving the dementors back….It was circling around him and Black and Claire and Hermione….They were leaving….The air was warm again…..

With every ounce of strength he could muster, Harry raised his head a few inches and saw an animal amid the light, galloping away across the lake….Eyes blurred with sweat, Harry tried to make out what it was….It was as bright as a unicorn….Fighting to stay conscious, Harry watched it canter to a halt as it reached the opposite shore. For a moment, Harry saw, by its brightness, somebody welcoming it back….raising his hand to pat it….someone who looked strangely familiar…..but it couldn't be…..

Harry didn't understand. He couldn't think anymore. He felt the last of his strength leave him, and his head hit the ground as he fainted.

Only a few more chapters until the surprise. What do you think it will be? I'm in the process of writing the last chapters and I can't wait for you all to read them.

Reply to Reviews:

auknowntimelord: Possibly...

Natekleh: Yea, but remember I'm changing up the ending to this book a bit so it might not be completely sad.

NicoleR85: Thanks and here's the new chapter!

Ghostwriter71: Me neither. I know how you feel about Snape. I definitely agree with you and I still don't understand why James and Sirius were so harsh to him. And I totally agree that he would've ended up with Lily had he not called her a mudblood. I think Snape's character is one of my favorites because his character is the most humane-like one. He made mistakes and he sort of punishes himself for those mistakes which is a human tendency. When we mess up we feel the need to dwell on it and punish ourselves for it and making ourselves miserable. I'll admit I watched the movies first but once I started the books I fell in love with the books. There is soooooooo much missing from the movies that, at least in my opinion, are important to the story.

Timewalker: Good guess. And yes I knew that in the original Pettigrew escapes and Sirius lives life as a fugitive. I'll say that I'm strongly considering letting Sirius be free. You'll have to wait and see I guess...

Rukia-Chappy: Glad you enjoyed the last chapter.

Teckie De Cool: I'm glad you see that Claire isn't just a add in character (at least she's not suppose to be). I try to make her a part of the plot and not some meaningless character. Good guess about who opened Black's cell.

Pendant: Thank you.

Rainpelt the Doctor: Thank you and I'll post the link on my profile page.

HELLO-A: Thank you! Good guess about who opened Black's cell.

Timewalker: It's alright and you'll find out later on who opened Black's cell.