After finishing off my tea, I set about cleaning up Remus' office because, honestly, it was an absolute mess. Papers were strewn all over his desk in no apparent order, and books sat in haphazard stacks on chairs situated along the walls. As I straightened the books into neat stacks, so that they at least wouldn't topple over at the slightest breeze in the wrong direction, I thought about how crazy things had gotten in this brief time that I had been in Hogwarts. I had made friends and gained feelings for two people, but there was also the fact that I was some sort of creature hybrid, there were dementors everywhere outside - the thought alone sent chills down my spine from the memory of my attack, and then I suddenly remembered all the mess about Sirius Black.

I can understand why all of this is so taxing for my adoptive father. Being at Hogwarts alone would bring back so many memories that were nothing but painful for him now. Then there was the fact that the remaining member of his friend group – the supposed murderer – is said to have been spotted in Hogsmeade and even in the Gryffindor, third-year boy's dormitory. It was all just too much.

Heaving a deep sigh, I finished with the books, moving to sit in Remus' desk chair so that I could organize his papers. I put the ones that hadn't been graded to the top left corner, the graded ones to the top right, studies on different dark creatures, spells, and charms were put to the bottom left, while leaving the bottom right corner open for a bit of arm room. As I did this, I couldn't help but think over the Sirius Black situation. The whole thing didn't make sense to me, really. How could one go from nearly brothers with someone to being a traitor that gets one of his friends killed before killing another himself? From what little Remus spoke of about their school years, Sirius had seemed to be cocky, sure, but murderous like the others in the Black family? I couldn't see it.

I suddenly noticed that I had been staring at one paper for a while as I was lost in thought, so I shook my head before placing that paper down with the studies papers. I happened to glance out the window that Remus had been looking out of earlier, as I wondered how I would feel if I was in Remus' place. I desperately wanted to believe that none of my friends I had met here could ever possibly turn dark.

Sighing yet again, I pushed away from the desk tiredly. 'It really is getting late,' I thought as I looked out into the night again, but I stopped instantly when I noticed something moving outside. Not able to see very well from this distance, I hurriedly moved to the window, pressing my hands against the cool, stone sill as I searched the grounds for whatever it was that I had seen. There shouldn't be any students out there this late, so what could possibly have been out there?

"It couldn't be…Sirius Black," I whispered to myself, fogging the window a bit. Shaking my head, I swiped my hand across the fogged spot only to see something that seriously confused me. Professor Snape was ducking into a hollow area beneath the roots of a strangely still Whomping Willow. "What on earth?"

My curiosity got the best of me, as I rushed away from the window, grabbed a jacket from Remus' coat rack, and bolted out the door of the office. Doing my best to stay quiet so that I wouldn't draw the attention of a professor or prefect that might be patrolling, I snuck along into the Entrance Hall while pulling the jacket on, then slid out onto the dark grounds. The Whomping Willow wasn't too far away from the main entrance, but it was still a decent trek.

By the time that I got about halfway, I noticed the willow still again, which lead me to pause glancing around to see if there was anywhere I could hide to avoid possible trouble. Off a few feet to my right was a stump with a few bigger rocks around the base of it, and it seemed large enough that if I were to crouch, I might fit behind it. I made it behind the stump at just the right moment, thankfully, because just as my head vanished behind the top edge, I was able to hear familiar voices. Later in life, I may finally decide that giving in to my curiosity was mostly a bad idea. I turned, slowly shifting upward to peer over the edge of the wood, only to gasp at what I saw.

There, a few feet from the willow, was Remus who was shackled to some disgusting, small, almost violently shaking man. The small man's other arm was shackled to Ron Weasley, who was limping badly and looked almost like he wanted to throttle the man he was shackled to. Behind them was Hermoine Granger, who only looked shaken up, and Harry Potter walking alongside another strange man. This man looked almost like a skeleton, and his clothes hung off of him as if they were three sizes too large. He looked so ill, and yet, as he wrapped an arm around Harry, his smile shone brighter than it seemed it should have. Then, I suddenly noticed the tied-up body of my potions professor floating along behind the last two of the group.

I had to blink a few too many times to finally wrap my mind around what I was seeing, and at this point, I couldn't help but be absolutely at a loss. What in the bloody hell was going on here?!

"One wrong move, Peter," Remus' voice suddenly broke the strange silence of the night, his wand pointed threateningly at the short, ugly man. "and I-" Almost as soon as he started speaking, he stopped. Actually, he stopped moving altogether. He stared blankly up into the sky, and my eyes followed his line of sight. A thin, wispy cloud shifted revealing the absolute worst thing for Remus and literally everyone else that was outside. The full moon shone brightly, peaceful in the sky, while down below all hell was starting to break loose.

My mind finally seemed to catch up to me as I finally registered what I should have noticed earlier. I shot out from behind the stump, running at full speed towards the strange group. "He hasn't had his potion! Remus, he's not going to be himself!" I screamed at them as I got closer.

The conscious members of the group looked at me strangely, but the sickly-looking one was the first to react. The shock seemed to hit him like a ton of bricks. He immediately released Harry, pushing the boy and Hermione backward, then ran towards Remus. Stopping just in front of Remus, who was now starting to shift, the man put his hands on my poor adopted father's chest, shouting back to the students, "Run! Harry, Hermione, Ron, you must run back to the castle! Leave this to me!"

Of course the three of them didn't run, they barely even moved from where they were. Harry was frantically looking at Ron, then down at Ron's hand, looking extremely unsure of what to do. I connected the dots as I remembered: Ron was attached to Peter - I assumed he was the short man, who was still attached to Remus which meant they were stuck without having those shackles removed. Whipping my wand out of my pocket in one smooth movement, I shot a quick reducto towards the shackle attaching Peter to Remus, effectively disconnecting the two while leaving Ron connected, yet safe…well, partially.

"Get out of here you three!" I growled at them. "I'm not sure what is going on, but obviously this guy here," I motioned to the short, ugly man. "is bad news. Get him and yourselves into the castle. Oh, and just to be safe." I mumbled a quick charm I had learned randomly while studying for exams, and the metal bracelet around Peter's wrist seemed to turn liquid for a moment, sliding out smoothly against his skin. "That will keep him from wriggling free. It's a simple charm that tightens with every movement of the wearer."

Peter paled dramatically, his hand unintentionally twitching which led to the shackle tightening like I had said, pressing into his skin this time. As I turned and ran towards the sickly man and Remus, I heard Ron murmur, "Well, that's oddly helpful since he can turn into a rat." And I finally registered who that man was, Peter Pettigrew. He was supposed to be dead! Shaking my head, I told myself that I would ask about it later.

While I had been helping the trio, Remus had fully transformed into his wolf form, his grey-ish brown fur standing on end between his shoulder blades as he snarled down at the other man, only for him to transform into a large canine himself. His skin was replaced with a thick, tangled mess of pitch-black fur, and his body became almost as large as Remus – or Moony as I had come to call him during the full moons, pulling the name from his Hogwarts days. This massive dog looked oddly familiar to me, but I couldn't think about that now.

The two snapped at each other, then suddenly lunged forward in a clash of sharp claws and teeth like razors. My heart ached at the sight of Remus tearing into the other canine. I knew this wasn't him, and I also knew that he would have a huge lecture for me in the morning about what I was going to do. Taking a huge breath, I released a loud, inhumane howl in an attempt to draw Moony's attention to me, if only for a moment. One brief moment could be all the other canine needed to get Moony under some sort of control. I had gotten his attention alright, but what I hadn't realized was that, when I had run towards the group in the beginning, I had lost all focus on my senses. This wouldn't have been an issue if it also hadn't let loose a scent that I didn't even realize that I had.

Moony's oh-so-familiar, now amber-tinted, hazel eyes flickered instantly to me, and his nose twitched the tiniest bit before his mouth pulled back, baring his teeth while he snarled in a way that was so extremely terrifying that I froze where I stood. In the back of my mind, I randomly realized that I was reliving my dream from a while back. Moony was bounding down towards me at full speed, fully intent on killing me, while the black dog followed behind, pushing his legs as fast as he could to try to stop the situation.

My heart stopped as I saw Moony hunch down before pushing himself into the air, leaping directly at me. All I could do was tremble violently in fear as I stared into his eyes. The eyes that had always promised me no harm, eyes that had always gazed so warmly at me, hazel eyes that now showed nothing but blind rage. It was exactly like my nightmare.

"Petrificus Maxima!"

My body flinched to the right out of instinct, as a light blue bolt of magic shot past my left side, hitting the lunging Moony square in the right shoulder, and effectively freezing his whole body before it dropped to the earth with a solid thud. My lungs suddenly decided to start working again as I gasped for air frantically while I stared in front of me at the frozen werewolf. The other canine slid to a stop a few steps away from me, eyeing me carefully. My eyes shot over to stare at him as he gently whimpered, his ears flattened slightly, and stepped slowly towards me. When he finally brushed his muzzle against my hand, my legs gave out, forcing me to the grass.

I vaguely registered voices coming closer behind me as I stared at Moony's frozen form. The dog – despite the fact he was much larger than a normal dog, I had no doubt now that was what he was – by my side shifted around, effectively crawling his upper half partially into my lap, then licked my face. Oddly enough, that brought me back to myself, and I sputtered before weakly glaring down at him, and wiped the drool from my cheek.

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SIRIUS POV

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Dumbledore had been the one to stop Moony, knowing that it would kill Remus if he had ever so much as scratched Deliah. As it was, Remus was bound to beat himself up terribly in the morning.

I sighed deeply as I trudged along beside Dumbledore and McGonagall, still in my animagus form so as to not raise any more suspicion. It was already odd enough to see a dog roaming the halls with the headmaster and the head of Gryffindor who was all but carrying a still shaking Deliah towards Dumbledore's office.

This night had gone terribly. Everything that could have gone wrong, did, and now…well now I'm likely to face the dementors. A quiet whine escaped me since I knew that as soon as everyone was distracted with Moony, that vermin Peter would take advantage, likely changing into the rat that he is and run away. I was resigned to my fate, at least, until we finally entered Dumbledore's office, where Harry and his friends sat. The part that had me stunned was that the Weasley boy was still shackled to a now hideously bawling Pettigrew, whose hand was steadily turning ugly colors due to how tight the strange-looking band was on his wrist.

Dumbledore must have noticed my stare. "Miss Lupin, here, had placed a very effective charm on his shackles before Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger, and Mr. Weasley returned to the castle. Lucky for us, the minister is currently still here filling out his paperwork regarding Hagrid's appeal." His blue eyes sparkled as they turned to me. "It seems, Mr. Black, that there may have been a mistake regarding your arrest and imprisonment. If you would kindly return to normal, I will send for the minister to witness a veritaserum confession from Mr. Pettigrew." The headmaster looked to one of the many portraits in the room, and the occupant nodded before walking off past the frame.

For a moment it was impossible to return to normal, but when I finally did, I frantically glanced around the room, looking to Harry, then McGonagall, and finally Dumbledore – who was just grinning his knowing grin, his eyes sparkling like they always did behind his half-moon glasses.

"Is this…" I croaked roughly, then cleared my throat which was still raw from the scuffle with Moony. "Is this real? I'm going to…to be free?"

The headmaster nodded gently, then motioned to a chair McGonagall had summoned between Deliah and Harry. "It should only be a few moments before the minister is here with us, and then we will set this whole ordeal straight."

"Sir, I wonder," I cleared my throat again, rubbing at the jagged scratches now adorning the edge of my neck down over my collar bone to my shoulder. "What have you done with Remus?"

At the mention of Remus, Deliah snapped back into reality again, looking up at me like a wounded pup. It hurt to know that I wasn't able to stop Moony's rampage, but at least Deliah was physically alright.

Dumbledore's grin turned down just slightly, his eyes drifting to Deliah sadly. "I had Hagrid take him to a secluded, empty classroom, where Minerva," His attention turned to the head of Gryffindor. "will set up barriers to keep him in and to silence the room until morning. She is going to be holding on to Remus' wand until then, as well."

McGonagall nodded briefly before swiftly leaving to do said task.

Suddenly, from the strained silence, came Deliah's soft voice. "Professor, may I ask…I know it may seem to be a strange question at the moment, but did Hagrid win the appeal?"

Dumbledore chuckled, glancing briefly at Hermione for some reason. "It seemed that Buckbeak was bright enough to break free of his restraints before the appeal was settled between the minister and Hagrid, while the executioner and I witnessed the proceedings in Hagrid's hut."

Though still thoroughly confused, Deliah nodded quickly.

"Now, I believe it is well past the time that you four students should be resting," Dumbledore started as he stood from his chair. Once he reached the other side of his desk, a light-blue spell fizzled from his wand to the shackle on Ron's wrist. The metal separated itself, freeing the redhead, and Dumbledore quickly secured it to the arm of the chair that Pettigrew was sitting in. "Miss Granger and Mister Potter, would you two be so kind as to escort Mister Weasley and Miss Lupin to the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey has been awaiting their arrival."

After the four students left, it felt so very empty in the circular room. Normally, people feel suffocated with large groups of people, but that is significantly different on my behalf. I suddenly felt the cold creep into my bones, reminding me drastically of that awful feeling from the cells in Azkaban. Taking a calming breath, I reminded myself that in a few moments, I wouldn't feel as bad, that I was mere minutes away from becoming a free man again. My gaze drifted over to the sobbing mass that had once been one of my closest friends, and all I could feel for him now was pure loathing.

Suddenly, a sharp knocking broke the relative silence. Sitting up straighter in my chair, I tried my best to not glare at the minister as he entered, looking utterly bewildered, followed by an older Auror.

As the minister shuffled into the office with the three of us, Dumbledore cleared his throat to draw attention to himself. "Minister, I do hope you have brought along a trustworthy, well-trained Auror, and the veritaserum."

"Well yes, but you did not inform me as to what I was being called for," The minister huffed, making me mentally roll my eyes. "Why did you not have me bring Macnair and a dementor if you have Black here in your custody?!"

"I believe we have a misunderstanding to clear up. Please have a seat, I do think we may be here a while." Dumbledore stated as he motioned to two of the empty chairs, his eyes twinkling knowingly and a bit mischievously as well, I must say.

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Deliah POV

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The walk to the Hospital Wing was rather quiet. Hermione was fiddling with something at the edge of her neckline, while Harry was acting as a crutch to poor Ron, though he still hobbled along painfully. I, on the other hand, was lagging behind as I walked steadily slower. I really didn't want to go see Poppy. I'm sure she would just fill me with potions I didn't really need, and I just felt like curling up in my own bed. Another thought weighed heavily on my mind as we shuffled along; how was tonight going to affect Remus and me? I wanted to say that it would never affect me, that I would still live calmly with him as before, but…there is no possible way to forget what I saw glaring at me. Not to mention that Remus would never let himself live this down. He would likely either be on eggshells around me or just avoid me plain and simple as his way of 'protecting me'. We would likely drift apart, even if just a bit, it would still be different.

Before I knew it, we had reached the Hospital Wing, Poppy bustling around to treat Ron's leg and look over the other two. Since I had lagged behind, I had apparently also made myself less noticeable, at least at first. As I shifted to sneak back out the door, though, Madame Pomfrey suddenly noticed my presence.

"And where do you think you're going?" She huffed before pulling me over to an empty bed. "Honestly, you children, believing that nothing may be wrong while you have an injury that will catch up to you in a few days' time. Think you know everything there is to know at this age." She laughed humorlessly, "Not likely."

While she scanned her wand over me, I couldn't help but feel a fondness for the mediwitch. "Madame Pomfrey, I'm actually alright. I wasn't as involved in the mess those three were."

The look she gave me shut me up quickly, though it did seem less harsh and more…empathetic. "Dumbledore informed me as to what each of you students were involved in. He wanted me to be sure that you were treated as well, Miss Lupin, despite the fact that you have no external injuries." At that, she looked at the charts that the wand scan had produced for her. "Looks like you will, in fact, be needing a few things. I will be right back with your potions as well as some for the others."

I sighed tiredly. That tone means that I will at least be getting a dreamless sleep potion for tonight, maybe even for the next few days. I didn't feel it would be necessary, but I'm no mediwitch. The golden trio quietly talked amongst themselves a few beds down from me, seeming to be slightly arguing over something, yet all I could think of was the blood-thirsty look in Moony's eyes. Merlin knows how badly I didn't want to remember these things, and yet here they were plaguing my mind, making me feel absolutely awful.

After a minute or two, Madame Pomfrey exited her office holding a few potions while a few others were floating along behind her. "Now," She pulled a large, off-white potion from her other hand. "This would be the Skele-Gro for you Mister Weasley, along with calming droughts for the three of you to take before you fall asleep." She produced three light-green potions as well, setting them on the bedside table beside Ron. Moving to me, the floating potions drifted down from about a foot behind her shoulder to settle on the table beside my assigned bed. "A calming drought along with an easy dose of dreamless sleep."

Eying the last potion that she hadn't mentioned the name of, I noticed that it looked familiar. This looked like the deep-red one I had after the dementor attack. "Madame Pomfrey, by any chance, would you be willing to let me know what this one is?"

Her lips tightened into a hardly visible line for a moment. "It helps you to recover, take it first, followed quickly by the calming drought." She then spun around and walked off to her office, leaving me no time to ask anything else.

I couldn't help but let out a frustrated sigh. It seemed like everyone had something to keep secret from me these days, not that I didn't have a giant secret of my own that I was keeping from the majority of the school. Looking back to the potions, I followed the mediwitch's orders, grabbing the red one and popping the top off. Again, I noticed the strangely enjoyable taste of the potion, metallic yet warm-ish and…something else I just couldn't place. This time, though, it seemed stronger than before, and I found myself lowering the small bottle a bit to savor the experience that it was bringing my senses. At about two-thirds into the liquid, it was almost as if my taste buds were on fire yet not painfully so. Then suddenly, the experience was dwindling, and my eyes snapped open. The small bottle was empty, and all I could think about for a moment was how badly I wanted more. As my hands began to shake with anticipation, I heard an obvious cough from Pomfrey's office. My gaze flickered over in that direction only to see her in the doorway lifting one of her brows at me, then looking down to the other potion. I got the not-so-subtle hint, setting the now empty bottle down before uncorking the other. The calming drought seemed unusually strong to my taste buds, the mint bringing back a burning sensation just not so pleasant one this time. Choking out a cough, I looked around for a glass of water to kill the flavor, realizing way too late that I had been so caught up in the commotion of everything and lost control of my senses.

Just as I was feeling the effects of the potion and finishing up with reeling my senses back in, the doors to the Hospital Wing burst open to reveal…Harry and Hermione? My head whipped around towards Ron only to see him looking absolutely flabbergasted.

"How did-? You were just here, but now you're there!" Poor Ron's mouth was gaping like a fish as he tried to figure out what had just happened. When I looked back to the heavily breathing duo, however, I noticed something just below Hermione's neckline catch the light in the room.

"Dumbledore gave you a Time-Turner?" The calm from the potion kept me in a state of relative curiosity instead of full-blown confusion, and I think that helped me to not offend Hermione by the way I worded that question.

She quickly tucked the necklace away under her shirt again, breathing more calmly. "He thought of it since I had wanted to take so many classes, and my scores showed that I would put in the initiative. It's how I've made it to every single class, but I've come to realize how unrealistic I was being with that. It's going back to McGonagall the first chance I get."

"Sounds like a plan," I sighed, laying back onto my pillows as I grabbed up my last potion, dreamless sleep. Tilting it back quickly – since it tasted rather gross in my opinion – I settled myself down for the night. All of this was just too much for one day, much less just a few hours. I decided I was more than ready to embrace the world of dreams if only to forget tonight ever happened for a while.

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**Edited**