Chapter 15
The four teens and two adults left the tunnel under the Whomping Willow, the two adults floating behind them.
"Are you sure this is a good idea Eli?"
"I planned everything, we'll be fine, don't worry." She smiled reassuringly at her brother before stepping toward the castle, following the lake side.
They were halfway there when she noticed the surface of lake frosting and a sensation of cold seeping through her bones.
"Dementors!" cried out Hermione, pointing at the hundreds of hooded figures gliding through the air.
"That wasn't part of the plan!" Swore Angela, wand in hand. She lowered both adults to the ground. "Hermy, I need you to use Mobilicorpus on those two, Harry and I will cover for you and Ron! Expecto Patronum!"
Hermione followed the instruction, making the two limp bodies float once more as a bit of mist came out of Angela's wand. She saw from the corner of her eyes that it was the same for Harry.
Angela took her brother's hand in hers and whispered in his ears "Once this is over, Sirius will be free and you'll be able to live with him, he wants to adopt you so let's make it out alive and with our souls, alright?"
Something shone in Harry's eyes at the thought of the man wanting to adopt him, he felt moved like he never had before and the new patronus he cast was stronger than the first one.
Dementors were closing in on them, the two weak patronus barely enough to keep them at bay. Angela felt like she would never succeed but when she saw the dementor about to kiss her cousin, something snapped in her. Her Severus, her precious family, her beloved cousin, the man she had grown to care for and who had accepted her with her flaws and had chosen to embrace them and try to help them out. She remembered all the hugs he had given her, quiet afternoons spent brewing in companionable silence, time spent telling each other stories, sharing of past pains. Memories from the time she spent with Severus came flooding from all of her alters, not only her own memories. She focused on the bundle of memories and the warmth that flooded inside her to cast again. "Expecto Patronum!" She yelled and this time she saw a king cobra erupt from her wand and charge toward the dementors, fangs out.
"Ry', I can't do it alone!" She pleaded, holding his hand more firmly and it was Harry's turn. The boy focused on the idea of living with Sirius and his sister, away from the Dursley and finally having a family that loved him. "Expecto Patronum!" He bellowed, a magnificent stag coming out of his wand and starting to chase the dementors away, one by one. His stag was thrice the size of Angela's cobra and shining like a small sun.
The four teens used the patronus to escort them to the castle where they were greeted at the gate by a group of people that made Angela smile in delight.
"This is preposterous, Sirius Black is not here!" said Dumbledore to the ministry officials.
"We were called here by someone who claims to have witnessed him here."
"Minister! If you would be so kind as to call back your dementors! Ah, my apologies, I'm Angela Schiffer, the one who sent the note about Sirius Black."
"Where is he? This better not be a joke young lady!"
Angela shook her head and allowed her patronus to disappear. "First we should go inside I think, Headmaster? Cousin Severus needs medical attention."
"Don't worry Eli, I'll escort Severus to the Hospital wing, the Minister, the aurors and you can use my office if you so wish."
"There is no need to go that far, the Great Hall should be sufficient."
Albus nodded and left with Severus's body trailing behind him like a broken puppet. Angela and the trio led the ministry men to the Great Hall where they sat, Pettigrew still floating behind them.
"Minister, before anything else, I'd like you to take a look at our stunned friend over here."
The Minister took a good look at the man before paling drastically. A blond woman beside him was furiously taking notes when she noticed his change in demeanor. "It's not possible! That man is supposed to be dead!"
"And yet he isn't, what do you make of it Minister?"
"It means that Sirius Black is innocent…he didn't kill him that day…"
Angela nodded and smiled brightly. "Messirs Aurors, allow me to introduce you to Peter Pettigrew, the true secret keeper of the Potters."
It was Harry's turn to nod. "We discovered the whole truth tonight, it's Pettigrew who betrayed my parents, he then masqueraded as my friend's Ron's pets for twelve years."
"It would be unfortunate, Minister, if people were to know that Sirius Black was sent to Azkaban without a trial for a crime he did not commit." said Angela with a pointed look to Rita Skeeter that made the man pale even more.
"Of course, aurors, apprehend Peter Pettigrew! I hereby declare Sirius Black innocent and free, I release him of all charges. I hereby revoke the kiss on sight order!" The Minister looked scared for his reputation and he hurriedly freed Sirius. Angela cheered internally, the man was too easy to manipulate, especially when one had the press with them.
"Don't forget that Peter is an unregistered Animagus, that should be added to his charges for the trial."
"Of course Miss Schiffer, we won't forget, do not worry, the ministry will handle it from now on. Thank you for your cooperation."
Angela smiled and bowed her head. "It's my pleasure to help the ministry." She watched as the aurors tied up the unconscious Pettigrew and put cuffs on his wrists. Morte flew in the Hall and went to perch on her shoulder. "Hey pretty birb, you did great." She greeted her familiar. "Now go tell Siri that he is free and you'll be able to rest after that." The bird cawed and flew away.
The four teens were questioned by the aurors and ended up retelling the events of the evening and everything they found out about Peter, Remus and Sirius. Angela felt a twinge of guilt at talking about Remus's little furry problem but she knew she had no choice and that he would resign anyway.
Dumbledore showed up at some point and discussed with the Minister while the aurors collected their testimonies. Once it was done, the old wizard raised his hand to catch their attention.
"You will go to the Hospital wing to get checked up, madam Pomphrey would have my head if I let you go without seeing her after fighting against dementors. I think I will give you 50 points each to Harry and Eli for producing a patronus and catching a criminal. 20 points to you Ron and Hermione for helping your friends catch Pettigrew."
"Did we just get rewarded for breaking the rules again?" whispered Harry in Angela's ear making her tighten her grip on his hand and give an amused nod.
"Yes Headmaster, thank you." said Hermione obediently.
After saluting the ministry men they left, going straight to the matron. She gave them chocolate and ordered them to spend the night in the infirmary. After she changed to PJs, Angela sat beside Severus's bed and held his hand.
"He will be fine, Miss Schiffer, Severus only had a mild concussion, I already treated it." The matron reassured her but Angela didn't move.
"I'm sorry cousin Severus…" she whispered quietly "If not for my brash decision you wouldn't be in this bed. With the dementors earlier I thought I was going to lose you… I realized how precious you are to me. I should have known with the boggart incident… I'm not used to that feeling yet but you are family, my family, just like Harry. Did you know that my patronus took its form for you? A king cobra just like how you are the head of slytherin, the king of snakes. Actually it makes sense, you are a protector to me after all. I promise to do everything I can to protect you from now on, I swear on my magic that I will not let you die."
She knew he couldn't hear her but she needed to talk to him, that evening had really shaken her. The dementors had been so close, she had felt powerless, meaningless. It was a miracle that she had succeeded in casting a patronus, she silently thanked Mist for allowing her access to the memories she had needed to cast it.
She stayed a long time watching the unconscious potion master, so long that she fell asleep sitting next to his bed, her head falling next to his motionless arm where she was still holding his hand.
The next morning she woke up to a hand gently shaking her shoulder and onyx eyes looking at her.
"Angela."
"Cousin Severus!" She threw herself at him, wrapping her arms tightly around him.
"I am fine Angela. You, however, we have to talk young lady." He told her in a stern voice.
She nodded meekly and released him. "What do you want to know?"
"Everything from the start."
Angela sighed and scratched the back of her head. "It's a long story."
"Good thing that we have time. Now talk."
"Last year I bonded with a house elf called Dobby, as you already know. During the first Hogsmeade weekend, knowing Sirius would be close by, I used Dobby to find him. I made a deal with Sirius, that I would be providing food and potions for him and that we would catch Pettigrew, in return he was to stay put and not come to Hogwarts as well as owe me a favor. Sirius agreed to my plan and so I visited him during every Hogsmead weekend." She paused.
"Nothing much happened during the year otherwise up until yesterday. Ron found his rat as I knew he would that day and so I petrified him and stole Peter. I ran to the Shrieking Shack, knowing the Trio would follow me and Remus would see us on the map. I sent Morte to get you as well as the Wolfsbane dose for Remus as I did not want to deal with a feral werewolf on top of everything. I explained that Pettigrew was the real secret keeper and that Sirius is innocent and after that you entered the Shack so you heard what Remus explained."
He nodded, waiting for her to continue.
"I didn't have the time to convince you of the truth so I decided the easiest way for you to not go against my plan would be to stupefy you, which I did and I'm sorry for that. I retrieved the Wolfsbane and gave it to Remus. We then revealed that Scabbers was in fact Pettigrew. Once Harry, Ron and Hermione were convinced, we left Sirius and Remus in the Shack and brought you back to the castle. However there was an incident… on the way we were ambushed by dementors… "
She blinked back tears. "I thought I was going to lose you but fortunately Harry and I had been practicing the Patronus and we managed to repel the dementors, I had never seen so many of them. When we reached the castle, the Minister was there with aurors and Rita Skeeter. I had sent Morte with a note saying that Sirius Black was on the castle ground. Dumbledore brought you here while the aurors questioned us and arrested Peter. Then Dumbledore sent us here and that's it."
She squirmed under Severus's unreadable gaze.
"I am both impressed and disappointed in you, Angela. I thought we were supposed to plan together what to do."
"I thought you wouldn't listen to me… because it's Sirius… I know what the Marauders did to you and your hatred of them."
He acknowledged her fear and sighed. "As much as I hate the mutt I would have helped you, do not keep me out of planning ever again, understood?"
She nodded. "I understand, I won't keep you out anymore."
"Good girl. You are grounded for two weeks and you will have detention with me every night until the Hogwarts express leaves."
"Yes cousin Severus." She replied before shifting on her seat, head lowered. Severus sighed and opened his arms to her.
"Come here, brat."
Severus was not an overly affective man but he was far from being as heartless as he let people think. Angela had realized that a while ago and the fact that she was currently hugging him was proof enough.
It was noon when madam Pomphrey finally released them, satisfied that they were in good health. Angela had a copy of today's edition of the Daily Prophet in hand on which one could read the title 'Peter Pettigrew alive? Sirius Black's innocence and a werewolf in Hogwarts.' an article written by Rita Skeeter based on their testimony from the previous day.
The four teens were walking in the park when Harry turned to Angela. "Where do you think Sirius and Professor Lupin are?"
"Sirius is free so I don't know where he went, probably to his house to get it sorted for you I suppose. Remus must be in his office packing as we talk."
"Packing? But why?"
"Remus resigned, people know he is a werewolf so…" Angela shrugged helplessly.
"I must go see him! I have to talk to him." said Harry, determined.
"Harry, there is nothing we can do…" Hermione tried to argue pointlessly.
"I know, but still. I'll see you guys later!"
"Wait Ry', I'm coming with you!" Angela gave the newspaper to Hermione before running after her brother toward the castle.
Lupin's office door was already open when they reached it. Harry knocked on the door and Lupin turned toward them.
"I saw you coming." He told them, pointing toward the Map open on his desk.
"Eli told me you resigned, is it true?"
"I'm afraid it is…" answered the werewolf, emptying his desk's drawers.
"But why? You never hurt anyone!"
The professor sighed. "Yesterday was a close call, I had forgotten my potion and if not for young miss Schiffer here I would have been a danger to you and your friends. Plus there is the article in today's newspaper."
"You're not going to leave just for that!" argued Harry.
Lupin smiled sadly "Tomorrow morning Dumbledore will be inundated by owls from furious parents. They won't want a werewolf teaching their childrens."
"But you are the best DADA teacher we ever had! You can't leave like that!"
"Ry'... professor Lupin is right…" started Angela, taking his hand in hers. "Wix are very racist against creatures, they are scared of werewolves, one way or another professor Lupin won't be able to come back next year so he just chose the way he wanted to go, on his own terms."
"It's not fair!" exclaimed the green-eyed teen.
"Life is hardly fair Ry'..."
"The Headmaster told me you saved several people yesterday. If there is one thing I'm proud of, it's your progress. Now tell me about your Patronuses."
"How do you know we produced one?" asked Harry.
"How else could we have gotten rid of dementors Ry'?" chuckled Angela, making the other teen blush.
Both recounted how they had finally succeeded in casting a corporeal patronus and Lupin smiled.
"Your father could turn into a stag, your patronus was indeed Prongs…" He threw a few books in his suitcase before turning to Harry.
"I'm no longer a professor so I can give you this back without feeling guilty. It's no use to me now but I'm sure you'll make good use of it." he said as he handed the Map to Harry.
"Thank you professor."
"As I said I'm no longer a professor, you can call me Remus, Harry."
"Thank you Remus." Both smiled until they heard a knock on the door and Harry put the map in his pocket.
"Remus, your carriage is waiting for you at the gate," said Dumbledore.
"Well, goodbye Harry, Angela, I hope we will see each other again. It was a pleasure to have you both as students. No need to accompany me, Headmaster, I will find the way on my own."
"Goodbye Remus." chorused the two teens, exchanging a smile at their sync.
"Yes goodbye Remus," the Headmaster added solemnly.
Angela took it as they cue to leave, she dragged Harry with her. "Come on Ry', Hermy and Ron must be waiting for us.
The remaining week went by in a flash even if Angela was in detention every evening, scrubbing cauldrons or writing lines. They received their exam result with Hermione acing everything, Angela was second behind her, having failed History once again.
Once in the Hogwarts express, Hermione announced that she had dropped Muggle studies on top of divination and that gave Angela a smirk. "Told you so." She teased her.
As they were chatting, Hermione noticed a bird outside their window. Harry opened the window and caught the tiny owl that seemed overexcited.
"There is a letter, look!"
Harry took it. "It's Sirius!"
"What does he say?"
Dear Harry,
I hope this finds you before you reach your aunt and uncle. I don't know whether they're used to owl post. I'm at my parent's old townhouse, I won't tell you where, in case this owl falls into the wrong hands. I have some doubt about his reliability, but he is the best I could find, and he did seem eager for the job.
Tell Angela I said Hi and that she's welcome to visit as much as you are. I owe her a life debt after all.
There is something I never got around to telling you during our brief meeting. It was I who sent you the Firebolt. Angela bought it and pretended it was from her so that you could have it without any issues but I will reimburse her as soon as I see her. Please consider it as thirteen birthdays' worth of presents from your godfather.
I would also like to apologize for the fright I think I gave you that night last year when you left your uncle's house. I had only hoped to get a glimpse of you before starting my journey north, but I think the sight of me alarmed you.
I am enclosing something else for you, which I think will make your next year at Hogwarts more enjoyable.
If ever you need me, send word. Your owl will find me.
I'll write again soon. Sirius
P.S. I thought your friend Ron might like to keep this owl, as it's my fault he no longer has a rat.
"So that's why you gifted me so much this christmas, the firebolt wasn't from you!"
Angela smiled sheepishly "Sorry about that, we decided it was for the best if you believed it was from me."
Harry looked in the envelope and cheered when he saw the permission slip for Hogsmeade. Meanwhile Ron was introducing the owl to Crookshanks, making the large cat purr in approbation.