When Aurora saw the obstacle course Professor Lupin had set up for her Defense Against the Dark Arts class, she felt nerves knot tightly in the pit of her stomach.
He explained quite cheerfully that they would take it in turns to go through the course, tackling the creatures they had encountered over the course of the year. Pansy eyed the mud at the start with disdain, and Aurora mourned the hem of her robes for the state it would surely get into. At least she only had one exam this afternoon — Arithmancy — and then the assessments were over for the year. Then, she thought, she could turn her mind to other things, matters more important than grades and teachers' opinions.
She hung back with the rest of her housemates, watching the Gryffindors go first, so as to gather some idea of what to expect. Predictably, Potter was one of the first to go in, and came out looking far too pleased with himself.
"Aurora," Lupin called, seeing her gaze and the large cluster of green and black robes, "you're up next."
She cast a superior sort of glance over to Potter and then tilted her chin up, striding to the beginning of the course. "You should be fine," Lupin told her, "got your wand?" She nodded, waving it slightly in the air. "Good, good. On you go then, good luck."
She didn't dare look at anyone else as she went in. First she had to make her way through a paddling pool with a vengeful grindylow, then a stretch of field from which red caps kept popping up to snatch her around the ankles, marshland full of hinkypunks, and at the end, a trunk which was bigger on the inside, and which she had to crawl into. She got a great feeling of unease as she crept inside, feeling it shudder around her.
Something flew at her from the darkness and she stumbled back, seeing it change shape and twist in the air, before taking on, as before, the shape of her father.
But it was different. His eyes were softer, less deranged, and he said with a lift of his lips, "My little girl, all grown up. And just like me." Those words made her heart tremble. "Isn't that right? You're going the same path now, I can tell." Fear gripped her heart. She couldn't — she wouldn't. She would never turn on her family. Her legs shook. What if she already had? "I'm proud of you. Little blood traitor, just like—"
"Riddikulus!" she snapped, coming to her senses, but she couldn't get his words out of her head.
The Boggart changed but this time it became her grandmother, fury etched in the lines of her face.
"You stupid little girl!" she shouted, and Aurora jumped back, heart stuttering. "Don't cry, don't make a scene! Blood of a blood traitor, I should have known, there is no place for you in this family! You are an embarrassment, a disgrace!"
Her heart got stuck in her throat and Aurora wasn't quite sure how to breathe. Her grandmother's words rang in her ears. "You have failed us! You have failed the Noble House of Black! You do not deserve to wear that ring!"
"R-Riddikulus," she managed to say in a short breath, hating the feeling of terror that coiled in her gut. It wasn't real, she knew that, but the words sickened her anyway.
"YOU ARE FILTH, BORN OF FILTH! YOU ARE NOT WORTHY OF YOUR NAME, YOU ARE NOT A BLACK AND NEVER WILL BE! YOU ARE THE SHAME OF THIS FAMILY!"
"Riddikulus!" she cried again, feeling her eyes pool with hot tears.
"DON'T CRY!" her grandmother shrieked. "DON'T YOU DARE CRY, YOU FOOLISH, WEAK LITTLE GIRL!"
Not real, she reminded herself, throat clogged by fear. Her grandmother would never say such things, not to her. She tried to imagine her in a wig, curly and blonde. "Riddikulus!"
There was a loud crack and the Boggart changed, replacing Walburga Black with someone more akin to Celestine Warbeck. Aurora ran, tumbling out of the chest, her heart pounding. Her breathing still came shortly, as those words rang in her ears. Lupin caught her by the arm as she stumbled on the grass, concern etched on his face.
"It's alright, Aurora," he told her quickly, but it didn't help. Her cheeks and eyes both were burning. Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry. Weak, foolish little girl. "It wasn't real, you managed to fight it. You did well. Your father isn't here."
"It wasn't him," she choked out, and immediately regretted it. She wrenched herself out of Lupin's grip, seeing his shocked face. "It was but then it wasn't — it was my grandmother." Failure, blood of a blood traitor. She felt like she was going to be sick. She wasn't a blood traitor — she wasn't.
"Aurora," Lupin said quietly, and she tried to get her breathing under control. She could hear whispers, feel people staring at her. Could feel Potter staring at her, damn him. "It's alright. What the Boggart shows you isn't real. You can fight it — you did fight it." A small smile graced his features, but it did little to comfort Aurora. She felt like she was burning.
"I — I know," she said, schooling her features into cold neutrality. She was making a scene. That was exactly what not to do. She curled her hands into fists in her robes. "I'm fine, Professor."
He didn't believe her. She could tell. But he still had an exam to run. "Remember," he said, "you can speak to me. My door will be open all afternoon."
She didn't dare reply to that, and instead hurried off towards her friends, as Lupin called, "Frida! You're next!"
Aurora lurked with the group that had already completed the exam. Draco, Pansy and Gwen kept glancing over their shoulders at her worriedly, but she ignored them, shaking her head. She was fine, she told herself. She knew she wasn't a blood traitor — it was just fear. A fear she couldn't let become reality.
Potter's eyes remained on her. But they weren't angry, as they usually were. He looked like he was trying to figure something out, a puzzle he didn't have all the pieces to. She remembered the Boggart's words — stupid little girl, embarrassment, disgrace — and shivered, staring instead at the wide expanse of blue sky beyond the grounds and lake.
"Stop looking at me like that," she said to Potter a moment later, when his gaze was still fixed upon her. "Your face will get stuck."
He glared back at her in response, and she looked determinedly away, trying to give off an impression of disinterest. Today of all days, she had to be careful with her emotions. And she would not have Harry Potter think her weak, or frightened. So Aurora waited, trying to avoid the subject of the Boggart, until her friends joined her one by one.
Gwen was the first, seemingly unbothered by her own Boggart, but she bounced over to Aurora and made to hug her. "You look upset," she whispered in her ear, so that no one else could overhear. "Did the Boggart turn into him? Your dad?"
She shrugged. "It did. Then... It became my grandmother."
"Oh." Gwen pulled back, frowning. "Why?"
She didn't want to say. Her stomach twisted unsettling. "I suppose my fear of my father, comes out in the fear of what my family might think of me. Maybe the spell wasn't strong enough the first time." It was an embarrassing admission.
"What d'you mean?" Gwen held her shoulder, concern etched in her face.
"My father was a traitor, remember?" She tried very hard to get the words out, the explanation that would be best believed. She couldn't betray a hint of sympathy for him, daren't give anyone cause to think she might have changed her view. "I was scared of him, and of being like him, initially. But I suppose there is more than one aspect of him that scares me."
That seemed to confused Gwen, but Aurora daren't elaborate further. Soon, she promised herself. Soon, everyone would be able to know the truth, and she wouldn't have to fear slipping up.
Draco was next to arrive after Blaise, and latched onto Aurora's arm with the same concern as Gwen had shown. "Are you alright?" he asked in a low voice.
She nodded, pursed her lips. "Fine. I managed to pull of the spell alright, I just had a minor blip, but Lupin assured me it's nothing to worry about. I just got slightly overwhelmed."
"It was him," Draco said quietly, "again, wasn't it?"
She glanced to where Potter had been joined and thoroughly distracted by Weasley and said in a whisper, "It turned into my grandmother." Draco blinked in surprise. "She was disappointed in me. It's stupid. I know it isn't real. It called me blood of a blood traitor, said that I was a disgrace to the family..." She inhaled sharply, as Draco moved to hug her tightly around the shoulders.
"It's not real," Draco told her. "And you managed to do the spell! You'll be fine, Lupin's not going to mark you down! And besides," he added, patting her shoulder, "you're not a disgrace."
Her lip wobbled. "Thank you, Draco." Aurora coughed, shaking out her hair, and asked, "Are you ready for Arithmancy this afternoon? At least it's the last one."
He didn't appear pleased at the sudden change of subject but he at least didn't question it, instead asking of the Chaldean, Pythagorean and Agrippan methods they would have to use for calculations, before Pansy ran over to them, looking flushed after her own exam. "That was rough, wasn't it?" she said, shaking her head. "I can't believe we had to wade through that pool, my stockings are completely soaked through."
Aurora laughed, feeling only a little bit empty, and waved her wand to cast a warming charm over Pansy. "There," she said, "it should help them dry off."
Her friend shot her a grateful smile and then sidled up to her, leaning her head on her shoulder. "Did it go alright for you both?" she asked, the question light but laden with implicit meaning.
Aurora nodded. "The Boggart was difficult to face, but we both managed. I suppose that's all we can do."
And Pansy smiled uncertainly at her, with only the barest flicker of unease in her eyes.
When they made their way up to the castle, Aurora was surprised to see Cornelius Fudge with someone she recognised vaguely as being of the MacNair family. Draco beamed as they passed, and whispered loudly to Aurora and Pansy, "That's the executioner. They're doing it at seven o'clock — there's to be an appeal, but Hagrid won't win."
There was a sudden sick swoop in her stomach. Of course, she should have realised that tonight was the date set for the hippogriff's execution. She tried not to dwell on Draco's glee too much. Tonight, Fudge himself would be in the grounds. Hagrid would be distracted, and she would bet that Potter and his friends would try and see him, or stop the execution, something ridiculous like that. If she could find a moment, just a short one, when everyone was out of the hut, but it wasn't locked...
She swallowed tightly, thinking of the map buried in her bedroom drawer. She had to warn her father.
"You two go on ahead," Aurora told Draco and Pansy, just before they got to the entrance path. "I need to clear my head."
Pansy sent her a sympathetic look. "Do you want us to come with you?"
She shook her head. "No, I'll be fine. I'll be up for the end of lunch and the exam — just need a moment."
They both looked wary, but let her go. She swore to herself that she would tell them everything, eventually, when she could. She tried not to dwell on the implications of her father's innocence, what that meant for her own standing. It shouldn't adversely affect her, not really. But it was still an uncertainty, however small.
She got down to the forest, around the other end from Hagrid's hut, and walked along the treeline. It was relaxing to be out there in the quiet, especially on such a lovely day. Only one exam to go, and then...
She turned towards the thick trees, glimpsing her father's dog form. She nodded slowly, and, seeing that there was no one near her, ducked into the darkness.
"Don't transform," she told him quietly. "I can't stay long. But I have it, the map. The rat is in Hagrid's hut, and his hippogriff is being executed. But Cornelius Fudge is here, you have to careful. Meet me by the Willow at around seven o'clock."
The dog gave a small nod, and Aurora dipped back into the light, stomach squirming. Tonight, she thought.
Tonight.
-*
All through lunch, Aurora thought of her father and Peter Pettigrew, and what she might have to do tonight. Her father had given her his assurances that he would spare Pettigrew's life to gain his freedom, but she wasn't sure if, in the heat of the moment, he would be able to keep to that promise. There would be Potter to contend with too — he had such a frustrating habit of appearing right when she least wanted him around. She would have to make sure he couldn't get in her way, that he didn't know what was happening until they had Pettigrew secured. He was a loose cannon too — most Gryffindors were, it seemed — and she couldn't afford for him to misfire.
Arithmancy was a struggle to get through, but it was important, so Aurora managed. Sitting at dinner, though, with her friends around her all chattering with hardly a care in the world except their excitement at being done with their exams, Aurora felt nauseous. She excused herself earlier than she would normally — "I'm so sorry, Draco, I'm just not feeling well after the exams, we can have a proper celebration tomorrow anyway" — and fetched the map from her room. Everyone was in the places she had expected them to be, and Pettigrew was still in the hut, unmoving. That was good.
She drew in a shaky breath as she changed into less distinctive robes with deeper pockets, pulled her hair into a tight plait down her back, and fastened a snake necklace around her throat. Her thumb brushed over the family ring and she remembered the Boggart, shouting at her, that she had brought disgrace to the family. Her eyes burned, and she clenched her fists. She was no disgrace. Her family had been wronged when her father was wrongfully convicted, their name diminished by his associations. It was all people thought of her — murderer's daughter or blood traitor's daughter, whichever took their fancy or suited their agenda.
Tonight she would change that. Tonight, she would see that justice was done for all her family. She was not a disgrace, and she told herself she never would be, as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. A furious girl stared out at her, someone Aurora was determined to reconcile with herself.
She was a Black through and through and she would defend the family name.
It was with this thought that she made her way out of the Slytherin common room, following all the secret passages she could — and there were a great many — so as to avoid being seen on her way out of the castle. There was one passage which took her out at the east wing, so that she could avoid the main doors, and Aurora crept down through the grounds slowly, keeping to the bushes and trees and keeping an eye on the map for anyone coming near enough that they might see her.
It wasn't long before she got to the Whomping Willow, and ducked down to hide in the circle of bushes just by it, waiting for her father. From here, she could just see Hagrid's hut, but from the lights inside it was clear that he was still there. There was no sign of Potter or his friends but that meant little considering he had that annoying habit of becoming invisible.
After some time, when Aurora's knees started to get stiff, she felt a warm presence behind her, and her father's ragged fur brushed against her robes as he joined her. His eyes were full of questions, and she shook her head, nodding to the hut. He had the usual large ginger cat with him. She patted its head gently, and it curled up against her with a low purr. It trusted her. That was a good sign. Worst came to worst, no one would be too surprised at a cat snatching up a rat. Especially this one.
They waited nervously and silently in the bushes, Aurora watching the map for Potter and his friends' names. But when they crossed in front of her, they were nowhere to be seen. She glanced carefully at her father, but he just shook his head knowingly, and grinned in that dog-like way. Something like annoyance bit at her chest, but she couldn't dwell on it.
The three Gryffindors were making their way down towards the hut, where Peter Pettigrew was still marked along with Rubeus Hagrid. She saw the door open, and then close behind them, and they were in.
Aurora bit her lip, wondering if she should start moving now, or wait until she knew the Ministry officials were in a position where she could hide from them — but then Peter Pettigrew started moving. He was only running around the hut, but it was movement nonetheless, and then he stilled, basically on top of Weasley.
"He's got the rat," she whispered, and then, catching sight of Cornelius Fudge's name, pressed lower to the ground. Up in the castle, she could see Professor Lupin pacing his office and a pang of guilt went through her. So long as he didn't notice before she had time to get Pettigrew...
The Minister and MacNair went past on the other end of the grounds, taking an alternate path. She breathed out, trying to keep calm even though her heart was pounding in her chest.
Then Potter, Weasley and Granger started moving out of the hut — taking Pettigrew with them.
"Shit," she murmured, and her father let out a small growl which might have been an attempt at a laugh. "They're coming this way."
The four of them passed just by the Minister and his entourage, coming closer to Aurora. Her heart thumped so loudly she was sure it could be heard all the way down by the hut, but she couldn't focus on that place now. Her eyes were fixed on Potter, Weasley, Granger and Pettigrew, and she held her breath tightly as they came to a stop.
Aurora tried her hardest to block out the sounds of the ax swinging through the air down below them, and Professor Hagrid's muffled sobs — she tried, too, to forget the reason for them.
She couldn't react. It was growing dark enough now that Potter and his friends wouldn't be able to see her in the long shadows of the trees and bushes, but she didn't want to take any risks until she was ready. Until she could control the situation.
As Granger murmured and sobbed softly, the three Gryffindor's made their way up the hill, coming closer. Close enough that if she coughed or sneezed, or even just breathed too loudly, then they would know. The ginger cat got a furious look on its face, yellow eyes fixed beadily on the empty space before them. Aurora dug her hands into the ground, trying not to rustle anything, as she heard faint whispers from the air in front of her.
"It's Scabbers — he won't stay put."
The air seemed to move, revealing the bottom of a pair of shoes. Aurora's heart stuck in her throat and she snuck a glance at her father. She wished she hadn't. The hatred shone from his eyes.
"... it's me you idiot, it's Ron."
The ginger cat snuck around the edge of the bushes and Aurora dug her hands into her father's fur, hearing the voices from Hagrid's hut. She could hardly look at the map, too distracted by the scene unfolding before her, of feet moving on the ground, stumbling. "He's going berserk."
"...please, Ron, let's move, we have to get back to the castle."
"I can't — he won't stay put — Scabbers, don't bite me!"
"Come on, we have to go..."
"No," Granger said in a low voice, "Crookshanks, go away. You're scaring him, go."
But the cat — Crookshanks — didn't go. Aurora held her breath, waiting for the moment to sieze.
"Scabbers — no!"
Weasley yelled, and then in a flourish, the air rippled and the three of them were revealed. Weasley went off running, snatching his rat from the ground. Aurora's heart hammered, watching the thing writhe in his grasp, and then, knowing she could not wait any longer, seeing the fury and hatred in her father, she put the map in her pocket and moved round the edge of the bushes, getting to her feet.
"Weasley," she said in a low voice, seeing him go pale at the sight of her. "What is wrong with your rat?"
Potter's hand darted to his wand, which stuck out of his pocket. "What are you doing, Black?" he asked, looking sharply over his shoulder towards Hagrid's hut. "Come to enjoy the show?"
If he heard the low growl from behind her, he did not make a note. "Not in the slightest," Aurora told him, heart pounding with the enormity of this situation. "As a matter of fact, I would much rather be up in the castle right now. I'm sure you all would rathe rthat, too."
"I'd rather you got out our way," Weasley said, still struggling with the rat, who had started to squeal.
Aurora smiled coldly at him. "Your rat seems rather distressed." It squealed loudly, beady eyes darting around the shadows. There was no way to get around the issue at hand, and Aurora doubted she had much time, both from the intensity of the rat's struggle and the fact that the Minister was still only a few hundred yards away, and could leave Professor Hagrid's hut at any moment.
"Give him to me, and I won't tell anyone about your Invisibility Cloak, or you breaking the school rules. Again."
He stared at her, as did Potter and Granger, all of them shocked into rare silence. Scabbers — Pettigrew — squealed within his grasp. Aurora took a step closer and Weasley took one back, finding his voice to stammer, "What?"
"I said," she repeated, voice as even as she could keep it, "give the rat to me."
"Ron," Potter said, voice high and warning, "get away from her."
"I'm not going to hurt anyone," Aurora told him, knowing this was not the time for her usual sneers and insults. The rat was writhing in Weasley's grasp. "I just need the rat."
"For what?" Weasley bit out. "You're not getting Scabbers! You're mental!"
"I am not mental, Weasley," she said in a clipped voice, holding her hands out. "I can't explain now, but I will, eventually, once — once you give him to me." Her eyes darted nervously between the three of them. "I can't explain why right now, because you'll think I've lost it—"
"I already think you've lost it!"
"—But if you give him to me and come with me to Professor Dumbledore's office, I promise I'll explain everything."
"Absolutely not!" Hermione Granger cried. Aurora stared at her. "What do you want with Scabbers anyway?"
"As I just said, I'll explain when we get to Professor Dumbledore's office." She sighed. "Listen, I know none of you trust me, or like me. That's fine. But I swear on my own life I am not trying to hurt any of you, I have a very valid reason for needing that rat, and if you hand him over, then everything will start to make sense. Including," she added with a nod to Granger, "why your cat hates the rat."
"Because it's a cat!" Granger said, flabbergasted. "That's why he doesn't like Scabbers, and don't bring him up!"
"You've lost it, Black," Potter told her with a disdainful look. She was sure that if she tried to explain her reasoning then he'd think she'd lost it even more. Why couldn't the rat have belonged to someone she could actually persuade to hand it over, rather than Weasley? She didn't know if she could take on all three of them, but she needed that rat.
"Potter," she tried desperately. "Harry."
"Don't call me—"
"You had the Marauder's Map, didn't you?"
His mouth fell open. "How did you know—"
"Never you mind, like I said, I'll explain everything. But did you ever see the name Peter Pettigrew?"
The rat stilled. The three Gryffindors stared at her as if she had gone mad. Potter looked like he was going to explode. "Are you trying to threaten us or something?"
"No! No, why would I — Okay, no! Not right now!" Oh, this was all going horribly wrong in all the worst ways. She cursed Pettigrew's choice of owners. "Do you know who Pettigrew is?"
The rat squealed. "Yeah. Yeah, your dad killed him!"
She winced. "No, Potter. This is why I wanted to wait until I was able to show you the proof, but never mind... Pettigrew is alive. And he's Weasley's rat."
Potter's face was going an interesting shade of red, and his green eyes seemed all the more prominent for it. "You're absolutely mental!"
"Well, I did think that was what you were going to say — but, Potter, please, you have to listen to me. I'm sorry for everything that's happened between us and I know I've given you no reason to even like me, but I do not say sorry very often at all so you had better know this is important... You have to trust me. My father did not betray your parents. I thought he did too, I thought he murdered my mother, but he didn't. There is so much we weren't told, and that we couldn't be told, but it isn't his fault. They changed secret keepers at the last minute, because a spy let slip that my father was secret keeper, and the Death Eaters took me as a hostage. My mother was killed in the attempt to get me back, and they had to change secret keepers, and my father and I went into hiding too. Because the spy was Pettigrew. He's an Animagus."
"You're insane!" Potter shouted. "You're insane just like him!"
"Potter, please—" She moved forward and it was a mistake.
In an instant, Granger had her wand out, but Potter had lunged forward to shove her away at the same time Weasley did. His fist appeared in Aurora's vision, cracking against her cheek, and then there was a loud bark, a growl, and a great black dog leapt from the shadow. "No!" Aurora cried, but her father's dog form had already sank his teeth into Ron Weasley's leg and was dragging him to the Whomping Willow.
She staggered on her feet, vision blurring. "Come back!" she screamed, already trying to run after her father. Potter was just after her, yelling Weasley's name in terror. None of them were quick enough to stop her father dragging Weasley and his rat down the tunnel towards the Shrieking Shack. A most undignified stream of swear words left her lips. She would have blamed Dora if she had the presence of mind to think in anything other than expletives.
"Get back, Harry," Granger was calling as Aurora watched any chance she had of clearing her father's name disappear down a hole in the ground. Innocent men weren't meant to violently kidnap children. This was not helping her case at all.
She turned around, feeling rather numb, but Potter was pressing forward. Aurora brought her wand out, pointing it sharply at him. Her cheek still throbbed.
"Where did he go?" Potter demanded. "Where's that dog taken Ron?"
She debated on how much to say, but at this point, she didn't have much to lose. "The Shrieking Shack. There's a tunnel that runs from the Whomping Willow to there."
Potter stared, gobsmacked. "How do you know—"
But he was cut off by a groaning from the tree behind them. Aurora ran forward just in time, pushing Potter out of the way before a tree branch slammed into the ground beside them. "Harry!" Granger screamed, rushing forward.
"Stay back!" Aurora yelled at her. "The tree'll hit you!"
In typical Gryffindor fashion, Granger didn't heed her warning, and ran forward, helping Potter to his feet. "We have to help Ron!" she cried, and then they were both running straight for the tree.
Swearing under her breath, Aurora ran forward too, scouring the ground for any sign of Granger's cat. There, a streak of ginger. She clicked her tongue and the thing turned around with his bright eyes fixed on her. She nodded to the tree, daring to hope, and the cat darted towards the roots, pressing the knob that stilled the branches. Potter and Granger, who seemed to have been preparing for a fight, stood confused for a moment, looking at Aurora.
"How did Crookshanks—"
"Just follow me," she told them, slipping down the hole into the tunnel. "I promise I won't hurt you — and I promise Weasley will be alright."
She hadn't really expected them to follow her, if she was honest. But for all their talk of how she was insane, it seemed they were more concerned with rescuing their friend. It was commendable, though she'd never tell them so.
They whispered behind her in the darkness, as Aurora held her lit wand out in front of her, allowing Ginger to lead the way. Granger and Potter were nearly running, pressing at her back, both holding their wands. She hated having her back to them, had put up a shifty shield, but she couldn't let them get in first without her being able to impede their path to her father. She didn't trust that Potter and Granger wouldn't attack her once she'd shown them the way; no one yet knew the true story about Lockhart, but he certainly wasn't in a good way even a year on. But they didn't try, or at least not yet. She was pleasantly surprised.
When they at last reached the shack, it was in its usual disarray. Potter and Granger halted just behind her, but Aurora continued on with the impression that it didn't faze her. She ran towards the staircase, hurried up as fast as she could without putting it in danger of collapse, ears listening for movement. There seemed to be none, only the sounds of Potter and Granger following her.
She didn't dare call out for her father as she crept along the landing, towards a dilapidated door which had partly fallen off its hinges. Aurora pushed the door open tentatively, her heart thundering in her chest. The back of her neck prickled; she could feel Potter and Granger's stares, and tightened her grip on her own wand, knowing that at any moment she might have to turn around and duel.
The first thing she saw was Weasley, on the bed, clutching his leg, which stuck out at an odd angle and was bleeding heavily.
"Shit." Her eyes combed the shadows. "Weasley."
At the sight of her, he whimpered. "Black," he said, even his freckles pale. "Harry — Hermione — it's Black!"
Aurora forced herself to hold the boy's gaze, mentally cursing her father. She had to try to minimise the damage here, somehow. "I'm not going to hurt any of you," she said in a low voice. "The dog hurt you?"
"He's not a dog," Weasley spat as she tried to move closer.
"Let me take a look at your injury," she told him, words coming out slightly breathless. "My uncle made sure I had some practice in healing magic of my own. And that looks rather bad."
But Weasley recoiled as she knew he would. "It's him! He did this to me — your dad!"
"Ron," Granger said from behind Aurora. She tried to keep her breathing even, tried not to panic. The rat was still clutched in Weasley's hands. Good. Possible. "What are you talking about? What do you mean — Sirius Black did that to you? How?"
"Because," said her father's voice from the darkness, "I need that rat. And your little friend..." She could hear the sneer in his voice. "Attacked my daughter."
She heard a gasp from Potter as her father appeared from the shadows, face pale and gaunt. There was a cold smile curving his features but his eyes shone when they saw Potter. "Hello, Harry," he said softly, and she tried not to cringe, "at last." His eyes flicked to Aurora and she scowled.
"You idiot," she muttered, "what were you — Potter, no! Expelliarmus!"
With the fury crackling in his eyes, the raise of his wand, she knew Potter was about to curse, but his wand raced through the air, towards her, and she caught it. The room erupted.
Weasley lunged for her, but swayed on his feet. She pushed him down, moving just out of the way as Potter's foot swung to catch her. Granger yelled over the din, and Aurora had just the time to enact a shield before the stunner hit against it, red light ricocheting around the room. Her father was racing forwards now, light in his eyes, and she got between him and Potter. The latter's elbow collided with her shoulder and she shoved him back, as her father yelled his own disarming spell, taking Granger's wand.
"Get back!" Aurora commanded them fiercely. "Now!" She pointed both wands towards them. "Fa — Sirius, put the wands down."
"Aurora—"
"I told you to stick to the plan and not fuck this up and look where we are. Put the wands down or they'll never listen."
Though she didn't dare to look away from Potter and Granger, she could sense her father laying the wands he held — Granger's and presumably Weasley's — down on the dusty floor of the shack.
"You," Potter snarled, staring over her shoulder with pure hatred. "Black, you said — I knew I should never have believed you."
"This is not what it appears to be," Aurora said as evenly as she could manage. Control the situation, she told herself. She had to be in control. "My father made a mistake—"
"He killed my parents! He's the reason they're dead!"
"No, Potter," she said lowly. "He is not. I believed it too. I believed him to be my mother's murderer. But listen to me now. We have been lied to and deceived — the whole world has."
"You've gone nuts!"
"You tell me so often." Her voice was hushed and she smiled, knowing it to disconcert him. "Weasley, how is the rat?"
"Sc-Scabbers?" Weasley's voice hitched. "He's bloody terrified!"
"Hm." She raised her eyebrows. "Why do you think that is?"
"Because your dad's about to do us all in!"
"My father will do no such thing," she said sternly, as much as a reminder to Sirius as anything else.
"Oh, yeah?" Weasley challenged, getting up shakily, trying to stand in front of Potter and Granger. "Are you going to do it? Because if you are, you'll have to go through us too!"
Her lips quirked but before she could speak, her father said hoarsely, "I am only interested in one here tonight."
She sighed, "Will you stop with the dramatics—"
"So you are!" Potter shouted. "You're a murderer!"
Before she could stop him or try to contain the chaos, Potter was lunging forward, shoving straight past her and grabbing for her father. It all happened too quick; Aurora made to pull him off, but her father had his hand inching towards Potter's throat and Granger had managed to get ahold of Aurora. "Get the—"
"You're not getting Harry!" Granger cried, and Aurora swung her leg out to sweep her ankles. Granger went stumbling back, but dragged Aurora with her, and they crashed onto the floor.
"I have no interest in 'getting' Potter, if you'll let us—"
"He's killing him!"
"Father, stop!" Aurora bit out, seeing the fury in her father's eyes, the part of him that was being unleashed. "Stop it — this isn't what you came for! That's Harry! That's your bloody godson!"
The words seemed to snap something in him. He went stumbling back, releasing Potter, who in an instant had caught him across the cheek with his fist. "For Merlin's sake, stop — Weasley, your rat!"
The grey thing stopped squirming. Aurora wriggled our of Granger's grip. "Weasley, this — this isn't about Potter. This is about your rat."
"Scabbers?"
"No," her father said. "That rat — well, it's not a rat. Its name certainly isn't Scabbers. No, that... That, is Peter Pettigrew."
The three of them seemed stunned into silence for a moment, and Aurora took the opportunity to push her father back behind her. "But that's..." Granger started. "Ridiculous."
"Pettigrew's dead," Potter said, voice hoarse. A light leapt back into his ears and he yelled, "He killed him!"
"I meant to," her father said, voice low and menacing. "But little Peter got the better of me. He tricked all of us. This time, though... I have him."
He lunged forward and Aurora dragged him back, seeing the madness in his eyes and the desperation. It tore at her heart.
"Stop it!" she told him sharply. "Stop it, we — we have to explain first, you're scaring them enough as is, is that what you want?"
Her father's face fell, but he stepped back too. The rat let out a feeble whimper. "Fine," he snarled, eyes still fixed on Weasley's rat.
"We're not going to kill anyone," she said as evenly as she could manage. "My father is innocent and I am going to prove it."
"You're barking," Potter spat.
"No," she said stiffly. "Potter, please trust that, while we have our differences, I mean you no harm. I am telling the truth. The rat is an Animagus. If Weasley gives him to me, then we can prove it."
"I'm not giving Scabbers to you!" Weasley said desperately, voice rising high.
"But he can't be an Animagus," protested Granger. "He just can't — I checked the list when we had to do that essay for McGonagall, and he isn't on it! All Animagi have to register with the Ministry, remember?"
"But he didn't," Aurora said.
"Likely, that is—"
"What you need to know," she went on, louder now, "is that Peter Pettigrew was made Secret Keeper for the Potters."
"You're lying!" Potter shouted. "She's lying!"
"My father needed to switch, because the Death Eaters were knocking at our door! He thought Pettigrew was loyal, but he wasn't! He sold your parents out, and when my father went to confront him, he faked his own death!"
"Didn't you ever hear?" her father said quietly, from behind her. "All they ever found of Pettigrew was his finger. Check your rat. Does it have all its toes?"
Weasley stared at him blankly, and then there came the sound of footsteps on the stairs, someone running towards them. There was a moment of silence in the room and then Granger yelled, "We're up here! It's Sirius Black!"
Aurora braced herself, wand out and pointed at the door for whoever came in. She already put a flimsy shield barrier up before her and her father when the door slammed open, and Lupin stumbled forward into the room.
A sharp gasp came from her father behind her. Lupin's eyes bulged. "Aurora." His voice was low. His wand was pointed not at her but at her father, and one hand was in the air as though to stall her.
"Step away from him. Now."