A/N Probably the only chapter for a few weeks, considering I'm going on holiday ... but we'll see. I hope you like it! R&R thanks for the reviews from last time!

Chapter Sixteen

Cat, Rat and Dog

Amara felt sick in her stomach, all blood drained from her face. They stared at each other under the Cloak, all looking just as horrified. Suddenly, just as the sun went completely down, there came a wild howling.

"Hagrid," muttered Harry and tried to turn back. Amara, Ron and Hermione all grabbed him.

"We can't," said Ron, who was paper-white. "He'll be in worse trouble if they know we've been to see him..."

"We've got to go…" Amara sniffed.

Hermione's breathing was shallow and uneven.

"How-could-they?" she choked. "How could they?"

"Come on," said Ron, whose teeth seemed to be chattering.

They set off back toward the castle, walking slowly to keep themselves hidden under the cloak. The light was fading fast now.

By the time they reached open ground, darkness was settling like a spell around them.

"Scabbers, keep still," Ron hissed, clamping his hand over his chest. The rat was wriggling madly. Ron came to a sudden halt, trying to force Scabbers deeper into his pocket. "What's the matter with you, you stupid rat? Stay still-OUCH! He bit me!"

"Ron, be quiet!" Hermione whispered urgently. "Fudge'll be out here in a minute -"

"He won't-stay-put -"

But Scabbers was trying to get out of Ron's grip with all his might.

"What's the matter with him?"

Amara looked around and saw, with a jolt, Crookshanks low on the ground, slinking towards them, his yellow eyes glinting.

"Crookshanks!" Hermione moaned. "No, go away, Crookshanks! Go away!"

"Shove off Crookshanks!" Amara whispered.

Crookshanks did not listen.

"Scabbers-NO!"

But it was too late – Scabbers hit the floor and scampered away, Crookshanks running after him. Before they had a chance to do anything else, Ron had disappeared as well.

"Ron!" Hermione moaned.

Amara sprinted out of the cloak too, spontaneously, and ran as fast as she could (with her short height) as possible. She followed Ron's shouts and yells, and Scabbers' annoying squeaks.

Amara stopped as Harry and Hermione caught up.

"Get away from him-get away-Scabbers, come here -"

There was a loud thud.

"Gotcha! Get off, you stinking cat -"

They ran again but nearly fell over the figure of Ron holding a squirming bulge on the floor.

"Come on, Ron," Amara gasped. "We've got to get out of here!"

But then there was the noise of moving paws, and they saw a ginormous jet-black dog, with inch long teeth, pounding its way towards them. Amara stifled a shriek as it jumped; hit Harry in the chest, making him fall to the floor. The girls gasped as the dog rolled off him, sprinting around again, ready to pounce.

But then Ron got to his feet and pushed Harry aside – the dog pounced on his arm and sunk his teeth into it.

Amara and Harry reacted quickly – they grabbed the dog's hair and tried to pull back, but it was much stronger than both of them. And then, suddenly and out of nowhere, Amara was lifted off her feet and thumped back down on the floor, her breath leaving her.

Breathing hard and tasting blood, Amara lit her wand. She blinked slightly. It was just their luck that they were next to the Whomping Willow. The branches were whipping around furiously, which had been the reason Amara had flown through the air. At the base of the tree, the dog was dragging Ron down a gap in the roots. Ron was fighting, but his head and torso were disappearing.

"Ron!" Harry shouted, but a branch whipped him backwards. Amara winced at his pain.

All they could see now was one of Ron's legs, which he had hooked around a root in an effort to stop the dog from pulling him farther underground-but a horrible crack cut the air like a gunshot; Ron's leg had broken, and a moment later, his foot vanished from sight.

"Harry, what do we do?" Amara cried, slightly hysterical.

"We need to get help!" Hermione gasped.

"No! That thing's big enough to eat him; we haven't got time -"

"Harry-we're never going to get through without help -"

Another branch whipped down at them, twigs clenched like knuckles.

"If that dog can get in, we can," Harry panted, darting here and there, trying to find a way through the vicious, swishing branches, but he couldn't get an inch nearer to the tree roots without being in range of the tree's blows.

"Oh, help, help," Hermione whispered frantically, dancing uncertainly on the spot, "Please..."

Crookshanks darted forward. He slithered between the battering branches like a snake and placed his front paws upon a knot on the trunk.

Abruptly, as though the tree had been turned to marble, it stopped moving. Not a leaf twitched or shook. Amara blinked.

"What?" she said.

"Crookshanks!" Hermione whispered uncertainly. She now grasped Harry's arm painfully hard. "How did he know -?"

"He's friends with that dog," said Harry grimly. "I've seen them together. Come on-and keep your wand out -"

They covered the distance to the trunk in seconds, but before they had reached the gap in the roots, Crookshanks had slid into it with a flick of his bottlebrush tail. Harry went after him, then Hermione. With one last look around, Amara joined them in the earthy tunnel.

"Where's Ron?" she asked.

"This way," said Harry, setting off, bent-backed, after Crookshanks.

"Where does this tunnel come out?" Hermione asked breathlessly from in front of Amara.

"I don't know... It's marked on the Marauder's Map but Fred and George said no one's ever gotten into it... It goes off the edge of the map, but it looked like it was heading for Hogsmeade..."

The tunnel went on for ages – but Amara could crawl through it quite easily, with her size. Her knees and hands were filthy, and the only light was from each of their wands.

Then the tunnel began to rise; moments later it twisted, and Crookshanks had gone. There was a patch of light up ahead.

With a glance at the other two, Amara went through the hole.

It was a room, a very disordered, dusty room. Paper was peeling from the walls; there were stains all over the floor; every piece of furniture was broken as though somebody had smashed it. The windows were all boarded up.

Amara gulped as she glanced at the others. Hermione and Harry both looked very pale, but were holding their wands tightly.

"I think we're in the Shrieking Shack."

Amara looked around her, noticing that Hermione was right.

"Ghosts didn't do that," Harry said slowly, pointing at a large chunk that had been ripped out of a chair leg.

"Then what –"

But there was a creak overhead. Something was moving upstairs.

The three friends gave a glance before nodding. They went out of the room and began to go up the rickety old staircase. The dust had been untouched excepts for large strips where Ron had been dragged. The landing was dark, and they extinguished their wands so they'd be undetected.

Quietly, they made their way to the only open door. There was a low moan and purring behind it. Harry kicked the door open, hard.

Ron was sat on the floor, clutching his leg, whilst Crookshanks looked at him from above, on the four poster bed.

They rushed towards Ron.

"Oh god, Ron are you alright?"

"Ron-are you okay?"

"Where's the dog?"

"Not a dog," Ron moaned. His teeth were gritted with pain. "Harry, it's a trap -"

"What -"

"He's the dog... he's an Animagus."

Amara turned around and saw, with a jolt, that a man had emerged from the shadows. Her heart was beating so much it made her feel sick.

The man was filthy – his hair matted, jet-black and nearly the same length as Amara's. His yellow teeth were bared in a grin. Sirius Black.

"Expelliarmus!" he croaked, pointing Ron's wand at them.

Amara's, Harry's and Hermione's wands shot out of their hands, high in the air, and Black caught them. Then he took a step closer. His eyes were fixed on Harry.

"I thought you'd come and help your friend," he said hoarsely.

His voice sounded as though he had long since lost the habit of using it. "Your father would have done the same for me. Brave of you, not to run for a teacher. I'm grateful... it will make everything much easier..."

Amara blinked and gulped, but then saw Harry's face. Just as he was about to move, she grabbed his arm with Ron and Hermione, pulling him back.

"Don't be stupid!" she hissed.

"If you want to kill Harry, you'll have to kill us too!" Ron said fiercely, though the effort of standing upright was draining him of still more colour, and he swayed slightly as he spoke.

"Lie down," Black said quietly to Ron. "You will damage that leg even more."

"Did you hear me?" Ron said weakly, though he was clinging to Harry and Amara just to stay upright. "You'll have to kill all three of us!"

"There'll be only one murder here tonight," said Black, and his grin widened.

"Why's that?" Harry spat, and Amara had tighten her grip on his arm. She squeezed it hard, to make him shut up. He ignored it. "Didn't care last time, did you? Didn't mind slaughtering all those Muggles to get at Pettigrew... What's the matter, gone soft in Azkaban?"

"Harry!" Hermione whimpered. "Be quiet!"

"HE KILLED MY MUM AND DAD!" Harry roared, and suddenly, he wrenched from their grasps – Amara lunged forwards but missed. Harry launched himself at Black, who was caught so unaware at the attack that he fell back in the wall.

Amara screamed. "STOP!" she shouted in vain – Hermione joined her and Ron started yelling too. There was a flash of sparks that managed to hit the floor and suddenly Black's hand was on Harry's throat.

"No," he hissed, "I've waited too long -"

Amara and Hermione glanced at each other, nodded once, then brought their feet back and swung them either side of Black's face. He let go of Harry immediately and Ron launched himself onto the wands. Amara saw her wand under Ron as Harry ran to get his. Crookshanks had other ideas and lunged at Harry's arm.

"NO YOU DON'T!" roared Harry, and he aimed a kick at Crookshanks that made the cat leap aside, spitting.

"Get out of the way!" he shouted at Amara, Ron and Hermione.

Amara hurried to the side, helping Ron drag himself over. She felt a bruise forming on her head and it was throbbing like mad.

Black was sprawled at the bottom of the wall. His thin chest rose and fell rapidly as he watched Harry walking slowly nearer, his wand pointing straight at Black's heart.

"Going to kill me, Harry?" he whispered.

Harry had stopped right above him, his wand still pointing at Black's chest, looking down at him.

"You killed my parents," said Harry, his voice shaking slightly, but his wand hand quite steady. Amara was shaking slightly. She knew it was possible for Harry to get so angry and do something unexpected. Don't do it Harry. She thought and squeezed her eyes shut.

"I don't deny it," she heard Black say very quietly. "But if you knew the whole story."

"The whole story?" Harry's voice repeated.. "You sold them to Voldemort. That's all I need to know."

"You've got to listen to me," Black said, and Amara noted that there was a note of urgency in his voice now. "You'll regret it if you don't... You don't understand..."

"I understand a lot better than you think," said Harry, and his voice shook more than ever. "You never heard her, did you? My mum... trying to stop Voldemort killing me... and you did that... you did it..."

Amara gulped and opened her eyes to see what was going on. She saw that Crookshanks had placed himself on Black's chest, on his heart and where the wand was pointing.

"Get off," Black murmured, trying to push Crookshanks off him.

But Crookshanks sank his claws into Black's robes and wouldn't shift. He turned his ugly, squashed face to Harry and looked up at him with those great yellow eyes. Hermione gave a dry sob from next to Amara, and she squeezed her arm in comfort.

Amara saw the conflict on Harry's face as he raised the wand again. Amara wished she was anywhere else. Harry couldn't kill Black. He'd be just as bad … killing another person. How could Amara live with knowing he did it?

"Harry," Amara pleaded, her voice cracking. "Please don't." She broke off as another sound echoed through the house.

Someone was downstairs.

"WE'RE UP HERE!" Hermione screamed suddenly, making Amara jump out of her skin. "WE'RE UP HERE - SIRIUS BLACK - QUICK!"

Black made a startled movement that almost dislodged Crookshanks. Amara's breathing was coming out in gasps. Please let it be Dumbledore. Please let it be someone good. Please. Please. Please.

The door of the room burst open in a shower of red sparks and they all wheeled around as Professor Lupin came hurtling into the room, his face bloodless, his wand raised and ready. His eyes flickered over Ron, lying on the floor, over Hermione, cowering next to

the door, down Amara, who was shaking next to Hermione, to Harry, standing there with his wand covering Black, and then to Black himself, crumpled and bleeding at Harry's feet.

"Expelliarmus!" Lupin shouted.

Amara gasped in surprise as Harry's wand flew once more out of his hand; so did the three Hermione was holding. Lupin caught them all deftly, then moved into the room, staring at Black, who still had Crookshanks lying protectively across his chest.

Amara was staring at Lupin with mistrust. What was going on? Why did Lupin disarm them?

Then Lupin spoke, in a very tense voice. "Where is he, Sirius?"

Amara frowned, and glanced at Hermione, who looked back, looking bewildered.

Black's face was quite expressionless. For a few seconds, he didn't move at all. Then, very slowly, he raised his empty hand and pointed straight at Ron. Amara scrunched up her face. What?

"But then..." Lupin muttered, staring at Black so intently it seemed he was trying to read his mind, "...why hasn't he shown himself before now? Unless"-Lupin's eyes suddenly widened, as though he was seeing something beyond Black, something none of the rest could see, "- unless he was the one... unless you switched... without telling me?"

Very slowly, his sunken gaze never leaving Lupin's face, Black nodded.

"Professor," Harry interrupted loudly, "what's going on -?"

He cut off short. Lupin was lowering his wand, gazing fixed at Black. The Professor walked to Black's side, seized his hand, pulled him to his feet so that Crookshanks fell to the floor, and embraced Black like a brother. Amara's stomach started bubbling with anger.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!" she suddenly shrieked, just as Hermione screamed:

"I DON'T BELIEVE IT!"

Lupin let go of black and turned to face them.

"You're – you!" growled Amara, unable to finish her sentence.

"Amara! Hermione -"

"- you and him!" Hermione said hysterically.

"Hermione, calm down -"

"WE DIDN'T TELL ANYONE!" Amara yelled. "WE DECIDED NOT TO LET IT SLIP!"

"Amara, listen to me, please'" Lupin shouted. "I can explain -"

But now Harry had decided to speak, leaving Amara furiously glaring at Lupin.

"I trusted you," he shouted at Lupin, his voice wavering, out of control, "and all the time you've been his friend!"

"You're wrong," said Lupin. "I haven't been Sirius's friend for twelve years, but I am now...let me explain..."

"NO!" Amara and Hermione screamed.

"Harry, don't trust him!" Amara shouted.

"He's been helping Black get into the castle, he wants you dead too!" Hermione carried on.

"He's a werewolf!" Amara shrieked.

There was a ringing silence. Everyone's eyes were now on Lupin, who looked remarkably calm, though rather pale.

"Not at all up to your usual standards, you two," he said. "Only one out of three, I'm afraid. I have not been helping Sirius get into the castle and I certainly don't want Harry dead." An odd shiver passed over his face. "But I won't deny that I am a werewolf."

Ron made a valiant effort to get up again but fell back with a whimper of pain. Lupin made toward him, looking concerned, but Ron gasped, "Get away from me, werewolf!"

Lupin stopped dead. Then, with an obvious effort, he turned to Amara and Hermione and said, "How long have you known?"

"Ages," Hermione whispered. "Since we did Professor Snape's essay..."

"He'll be delighted," said Lupin coolly. "He assigned that essay hoping someone would realise what my symptoms meant... Did you check the lunar chart and realize that I was always ill at the full moon? Or did you realize that the boggart changed into the moon when it saw me?"

"Both," Hermione said quietly.

"We checked the textbook and matched your symptoms," Amara said. "And you weren't in the Hospital Wing the day you were off, so it couldn't have been a normal illness."

Lupin forced a laugh.

"You two really are two of the cleverest witches, aren't you?"

"We're not," Amara said suddenly. "If we'd've thought about it, we would have told everyone about what you are and we wouldn't be here right now!"

"But they already know," said Lupin. "At least, the staff do."

"Dumbledore hired you when he knew you were a werewolf." Ron gasped. "Is he mad?"

"Some of the staff thought so," said Lupin. "He had to work very hard to convince certain teachers that I'm trustworthy -"

"AND HE WAS WRONG!" Harry yelled. "YOUVE BEEN HELPING HIM ALL THE TIME!" He was pointing at Black, who suddenly crossed to the four-poster bed and sank onto it, his face hidden in one shaking hand. Crookshanks leapt up beside him and stepped onto his lap, purring. Ron edged away from both of them, dragging his leg.

"I have not been helping Sirius," said Lupin. "If you'll give me a chance, I'll explain. Look -"

He separated Amara's, Harry's, Ron's and Hermione's wands and threw each back to its owner.

Amara caught hers easily, looking at it in wonder and squeezing it as warmth wrapped around her hand.

"There," Lupin said, nodding. "You're armed, we're not. Now will you listen?"

Amara shifted slightly. She looked around and saw Ron staring stonily back and Hermione looking torn.

"If you haven't been helping him," he said, with a furious glance at Black, "how did you know he was here?"

"The map," said Lupin. "The Marauder's Map. I was in my office examining it -"

"You know how to work it?" Harry said suspiciously.

"Of course I know how to work it," said Lupin, waving his hand impatiently. "I helped write it. I'm Moony - that was my friends' nickname for me at school."

"You wrote -?"

"The important thing is, I was watching it carefully this evening, because I had an idea that you, Amara, Ron, and Hermione might try and sneak out of the castle to visit Hagrid before his hippogriff was executed. And I was right, wasn't I"

He had started to pace up and down, looking at them. Little patches of dust rose at his feet.

"You might have been wearing your father's old cloak, Harry-"

"How d'you know about the cloak?"

"The number of times I saw James disappearing under it...," said Lupin, waving an impatient hand again. "The point is, even if you're wearing an Invisibility Cloak, you still show up on the Marauder's Map. I watched you cross the grounds and enter Hagrid's hut. Twenty minutes later, you left Hagrid, and set off back toward the castle. But you were now accompanied by somebody else."

"What?" said Harry. "No, we weren't!" Amara had to agree. No one extra was with them … except Scabbers. Amara glanced at the rat, who seemed to have stopped breathing in shock.

"I couldn't believe my eyes," said Lupin, still pacing, and ignoring Harry's interruption. "I thought the map must be malfunctioning. How could he be with you?"

"No one was with us!" said Harry.

"And then I saw another dot, moving fast toward you, labelled Sirius Black... I saw him collide with you; I watched as he pulled two of you into the Whomping Willow -"

"One of us!" Ron said angrily.

"No, Ron," said Lupin. "Two of you."

He had stopped his pacing, his eyes moving over Ron.

"Do you think I could have a look at the rat?" he said evenly. Amara felt a funny little jolt in her stomach as she put her

"What?" said Ron. "What's Scabbers got to do with it?"

"Everything," said Lupin. "Could I see him, please?"

Amara watched as Ron took out Scabbers the rat from his shirt. He was thrashing around widely, looking utterly terrified. Crookshanks hissed at him.

Lupin moved closer to Ron. He seemed to be holding his breath as he gazed intently at Scabbers.

"What?" Ron said again, holding Scabbers close to him, looking scared. "What's my rat got to do with anything?"

"That's not a rat," croaked Sirius Black suddenly.

"What d'you mean-of course he's a rat -"

"No, he's not," said Lupin quietly. "He's a wizard."

"An Animagus," said Black, "by the name of Peter Pettigrew.