Yo! I really don't understand why people deliberately click/tap on a fic with a clearly labelled pairing that they don't like or approve of, and then complain about not liking or approving of the pairing. I'm not really sure what they expect to happen. Do they think the author will change the pairing for them? Do they think the author will delete the story because of an ignorant twat? Do they just get a kick out of thinking they're going to make the author feel bad, when in reality the author is far too busy playing through the Kingdom Hearts series (Don't have three yet though-too expensive. Anyone play it yet? Without spoiling anything, is it any good? I loved two-it's one of my favourite games ever, so I'm terrified, especially since FFXV was kind of disappointing.) (Editing note from future me. KH3 ended up being as disappointing as a feared. At least Axel didn't die this time, lol.) yet again to give them a second thought?

Now, I've been getting a lot of questions about this, likely by new readers, so I thought I'd bring this up here. Update speed for this fic (and really, every ongoing fic from me) is about two chapters a year-one every six months. That's an average, I'd say. Sometimes I get lucky and can update more, sometimes I get unlucky and have to update less, but that's the average. It's not on purpose. I don't have a schedule of any kind. My mental and physical health is shit, and I also have a lot of other fics (and personal works), so I write whatever my brain decides to focus on. I update as soon as I finish a chapter (time permitted), so update speed is something that's honestly out of my hands unless you somehow know how to cure my crippling health issues.

They didn't even have the time to think about what just happened, let alone mourn the sudden loss of Buckbeak. Ron's pet rat Scabbers suddenly began to struggle to free himself intensely, surprising all of them as they watched Ron fight to keep a grip on him. Unsurprisingly, he didn't succeed. Biting Ron, Scabbers was released and he scurried away, and Ron ran after him, the girls chasing after Ron in turn, because really, none of them were in the mood to get in trouble right now, and that was exactly what was going to happen if any of them were caught out here right now.

They ended up by the Whomping Willow. That...probably wasn't good. It was made even worse when the dog showed up. A dog one of them recognized instantly.

"Hey, it's that dog again!" Rose exclaimed.

"What?"

"I've been seeing it everywhere on the castle grounds. It's almost always with Granger's ugly cat!"

Hermione opened her mouth to argue that Crookshanks wasn't ugly, thank you very much you irritatingly judgemental girl, but she didn't actually get the chance to say anything because she was interrupted inadvertently by the dog running forward, latching onto Ron's leg, and beginning to drag both Ron and, by default, Scabbers who Ron was holding, into the depths of the Whomping Willow.

Great. Just great.

"Ron! Ron, grab my hand!" Rose leapt forward, trying to reach, but was quickly pulled back by Violet. She whipped around. "What the hell're you doing!? Let me go!"

Violet pulled her back even further, and then released her. "If you stand that close to it, you're going to end up getting killed by the tree."

"But-"

"She's right," said Hermione quickly. "There-there must be some way we can get inside there. If the dog and your friend can, then we can too." She looked around frantically, searching, but she couldn't see anything around that could actually help them.

"What about a spell?" asked Rose.

Violet nodded. "Right, we can try to-to maybe immobilize the tree? Do you think that would work, Hermione?"

"Immobulus? It might, I'm not really sure how it'll-"

"Just cast the spell, Granger!"

"R-right!" Pulling out her wand, Hermione quickly cast the spell, but it took only a second for the girls to realize that it didn't actually work. The tree was still moving, the branches swaying and weaving around.

Violet frowned, growing concerned, and tried thinking back to all the spells she learned-either in class or by the older students. Was there something that could help? Something that could stop the tree without actually harming it? Something touched her ankle and she jumped in surprise, looking down. "Crookshanks?"

Having heard her, the other two looked over too, surprise crossing Hermione's face, and confusion crossing Rose's. Hermione called out her cat's name as Violet had done, but Crookshanks didn't react to any of them. In fact, he seemed to be ignoring them deliberately, and skilfully weaved around the branches skimming the ground, approaching the massive tree's trunk. Then he reached up with a paw and touched a knot. Instantly the tree froze. Seemingly satisfied, Crookshanks turned to face them, sat back, and meowed.

"C-Crookshanks?" said Hermione hesitantly, her eyes wide. "H-how did you...?"

"Your cat can't answer you, Granger." Saying nothing else, Rose stepped forward and entered the passage the dog had dragged Ron into.

Exchanging a cautious glance and pulling out their wands like Rose hadn't bothered doing, Violet and Hermione followed suit, Crookshanks slipping in alongside them, before he began leading the way, the girls following after him. It seemed all too obvious that he knew exactly where he was going. He'd done this before. He'd been in here before. Was that why he knew how to get in the tunnel? Was that why Rose had seen him with the dog?

"Where are we?"

"Probably heading towards Hogsmeade," said Violet, remembering what the Weasley twins had told her, and what she'd seen on the Marauders' Map. "I don't know where exactly in Hogsmeade, but I'm sure it's probably there."

"How do you even know that?" asked Rose. Then she glared when all Violet did was shrug in answer. Maybe Violet knew about Rose's Invisibility Cloak, but Violet wasn't going to let Rose find out about the Marauders' Map unless strictly necessary.

They walked in cautious silence, following the dirt path, and it wasn't long before that dirt path turned into worn wooden floorboards. Hermione gasped and grabbed Violet's arm.

"I'm pretty sure we're in the Shrieking Shack," she said in a quick but quiet whisper. "I don't know how much Theodore told you about it, but it's this secluded shack in Hogsmeade, blocked off by fences."

"Oh, yeah, I think Theo mentioned it's supposedly haunted?"

"The town people used to hear screaming and howling from here," said Rose. "That's why they think it's haunted. No one ever comes in here, and they don't think it's safe, so they put all those fences up. ...I didn't know there was a secret passageway leading into here though."

Violet said nothing and they continued following Crookshanks through the small shack (That had quite a few claw marks gouged into its walls and floors-could ghosts even do something like that?) as he led them upstairs and into some kind of room. It was as dilapidated as the rest of the shack, but they didn't really pay much attention to that.

"Ron!"

Rose bolted across the shack's room to her friend, who was slumped on the floor, clutching his pet rat close with one hand, and gripping his bleeding leg with the other. Exchanging a worried glance, Violet and Hermione hurried over as well, all three of the girls kneeling down and trying to figure out what they could do to help him.

"W-wait, b-behind-behind!" Ron exclaimed, his face twisted with pain and fear. "That dog-it's Sirius Black!"

The girls didn't even have time to react. There was a laugh, a call of the disarming charm, and their wands flew out of their hands and into the outstretched hand of-they whipped around, getting their first look at Sirius Black.

The first thing Violet noticed was that he was incredibly filthy. The Matron would have refused to let him even step foot into the orphanage. He was very thin-clearly malnourished, his hair long and lank, and he was dressed in his prison rags, the look in his eyes not exactly insane, but not quite sane either.

"I'm surprised none of you went to fetch a teacher," he said with a grin, displaying his yellowed teeth. "I'm glad you didn't though. This'll be much easier now. You're as brave as your father was."

Furious, Rose made to move towards Black, when Violet grabbed her by the arm, pulling her back. But Violet ignored her sister's angry insults towards her, and instead kept her eyes on Black. Something...wasn't right about this. If Black wanted to kill Rose, or even her, why hadn't he already done so? It couldn't be because Ron and Hermione were here-Black hadn't had any problem killing a bunch of Muggles at once, so there was no reason he couldn't do the same to four teenagers.

He could have killed Ron when he'd had him alone after dragging him here into the shack, and now that he had disarmed the girls, he could have easily killed them all as well. They would be no match for him without their magic. So why hadn't he? Why hadn't he done anything yet? Why was he just standing there? Why was he just looking at them? Why had he just brought up their father instead of acting?

Struggling, Ron stood up, trying to move in front of Rose. "If you want to kill Rose, you'll have to kill me too!"

Black frowned. "Sit down. You're going to hurt that leg even more. And besides, there's only going to be one murder here tonight."

Violet didn't realize her grip on Rose's arm had loosened until Rose charged at Black, knocking them both down as she began to attack him physically. Or tried to, at least. Half of those punches she was throwing were missing. More annoyed than anything else, Violet stepped forward, trying to pull her sister off the man who was scratching and trying to get away (without actually hurting Rose, Violet noted).

It took Violet a lot of harsh tugging, but eventually she managed to yank Rose off of Black. Rose turned on her sister instantly, cheeks flushed, eyes wide and almost as mad as Black looked.

"What do you think you're doing!? Let go of me! He deserves this!"

"Ro-"

"HE KILLED MY PARENTS!"

"They were my parents too!" For the first time, Violet raised her voice as well, and when she did, silence descended in the room, everyone staring at her. She calmed slightly, and lowered her voice back to normal. "They were my parents too, Rose, and being in Slytherin doesn't change that fact. Can't you see that there's something clearly wrong with this whole situation?"

"You're delusional!" Rose spat. "The only thing wrong here is that you're not letting me kill the arsehole who-" she tried wrenching out of her twin's grasp.

Violet scowled. "Will you just calm down and listen for one goddamn-"

"Professor Lupin!"

Surprised, Violet and Rose both looked over at the door, only to see that Hermione was indeed correct. Professor Lupin was standing in the doorway, calmly assessing the situation in the room. He stepped in and shut the door behind him. His eyes passed over Rose, Hermione, Violet, Ron, and Black, and then landed on Scabbers. After a beat of silence, he turned to Black.

"Is it him, Sirius?" he asked tensely.

Slowly, Black nodded, even as the teens all stared, confused and surprised. "We switched," said Black hoarsely.

Lupin didn't seem to know what to say. He stared at Black for a long while before he said, "Why?"

"They would have expected it to be me. They would never have expected him."

"Why didn't any of you tell me? You doubted me?"

"Yes. We shouldn't have, I know that, but you were stronger than him, and-"

"I understand." Lupin closed his eyes, sighed softly, and inclined his head. When he opened his eyes again, he lowered his wand and helped Black to his feet, where the two embraced briefly.

The students were all shocked, to say the least, but Violet's mind was whirling as she tried to piece together what the adults were talking about. They hadn't said anything detailed, so it was difficult to be sure, but she was starting to get the picture, she thought. She was starting to get the feeling she knew where this was heading.

"We're going to have to explain, Sirius," said Lupin quietly.

"But-"

"They deserve to know. Violet and Rose especially."

"Won't he-?"

"He can't. I sealed it."

"Fine." Shakily, Black sank down on the half destroyed bed in the room's corner. "Make it quick, Moony. I've waited a long time for my revenge, and I'm not leaving until I get it."

Violet frowned. Moony? She recognized that name. It was one of the four names listed on the Marauders' Map. Unless there were multiple people going around calling themselves or being called that...was Lupin that same Moony? Perhaps she was jumping to conclusions. But it was Rose, her voice filled with venom, that pulled Violet out of her thoughts.

"I don't want to hear anything you have to say, werewolf!"

Lupin froze. "I...I will not deny that," he admitted slowly. "How did you find out?"

"I overheard those two and Nott talking about it one day," said Rose, nodding her head towards Violet and Hermione.

Oops. It looked as if they'd fallen for the exact same thing they always accused Rose and Ron of. Violet frowned slightly. This was something she was going to have to be more careful about. Maybe some of the older Slytherins knew about spells that could prevent eavesdropping.

"We were noticing all the little things," said Violet after a moment. "I thought maybe you had some kind of chronic illness, but Theodore and Hermione quickly started having suspicions that you were a werewolf, though none of us were actually sure about it-Hermione was the one doing the research."

Hermione nodded here, but seemed too hesitant to actually say anything. Violet couldn't blame her. This entire situation was very strange and difficult to wrap their minds around.

"I see." Lupin looked uncomfortable and unsure of what else he could say on the matter. "Well, regardless of how you feel about me, Rose, you're going to listen to what I have to say." And before Rose could protest again, Lupin shot Black a glance, and then began to speak, explaining it all.

He explained what a Secret Keeper was, and explained how when the Potters had gone into hiding, they'd made Sirius Black their Secret Keeper because of how much they'd trusted him.

"Though I wasn't informed of it, it seems like after some time, Sirius suggested that James and Lily change Secret Keepers, and thought they should make Peter theirs. It made sense at the time, I assume. Everyone knew James and Sirius were as close as brothers-it was obvious that Sirius would be the first person anyone looked at for information on James or his family. But in the same vein, Peter, the weakest from our little group, was the last one anyone would go to. And that's exactly why they switched. Isn't that right, Sirius?"

Black, still seated on the edge of the bed, face buried in his hands, nodded once. "Yes. I thought they would be safer. Voldemort and his Death Eaters wouldn't ever bother going after Peter-no one would. But they'd come after me. We all knew that. That's why I suggested the change."

"But it seems like we all underestimated Peter," said Lupin, his voice betraying his frustration. "I don't know when he did it, but he turned traitor. He either became a Death Eater after being tasked as Secret Keeper, or already was one beforehand. I don't know which one it is, but he was a traitor and he sold the Potters out-sold out James and Lily, and you two. As I explained, only the Secret Keeper can divulge the location they're Keeping, and as their Secret Keeper, Peter was able to tell anyone he wanted-including Voldemort. And that's clearly what he did, because the-the attack happened just a few days later."

"I tracked him down after that," said Black hoarsely. "The next day, I found him, and cornered him. I didn't give a damn that there were Muggles around. I probably should have, but that damned traitorous rat accused me of selling out James and Lily. And then he cut off his finger, blew up the fucking street and ran off to live in the sewers like the rat he is. The Ministry found me there minutes later and arrested me. I was chucked into Azkaban an hour later-without even the mention of any sort of trial."

"Wait," Violet interrupted. "Lack of a trial aside, you keep calling Pettigrew a rat, which, yes, he is, but what do you mean he went off to live in the sewers? And why cut off his finger? He faked his death?"

"Yes," said Lupin, "that's exactly it." He hesitated, then said, "The four of us became friends during our first year, but I hid the truth of what I-I was for a while. Werewolves are...not exactly welcome in normal society, and it was only because of the Headmaster's insistence that I was even allowed to attend Hogwarts at all, so long as certain precautions were taken."

"Precautions?"

"The passageway leading from the Whomping Willow to this shack here was created at that time, and the Willow was planted over it to guard it. Every full moon the Medi-witch would escort me here, and then leave me here alone until morning. I would transform in here, and with no other-other prey, I would scratch and bite myself. My howls are why the people of Hogsmeade think this shack is haunted, and the Headmaster never did anything to get rid of the rumours. It was safer to have people be afraid to come here."

Rose frowned. "What exactly does this have to do with Pettigrew?"

"He found out what I was, along with James and Sirius. And they accepted me. Even more, they decided they wanted to join me during full moons. But since they couldn't do so as humans, they decided they would become Animagi and join me that way. Werewolves aren't quite as harmful to other animals as they are to humans, though any animal would be in danger. Still, they accomplished it in our fifth year. Sirius became a large black dog, James a large stag, and Peter a rat."

"Dad was an Animagus?" said Rose, eyes wide.

"Yes, we called him Prongs. I was Moony, Sirius was Padfoot, and Peter was Wormtail. That was what we called ourselves. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs-the Marauders." Lupin shook his head. "We were...fools, all of us."

Violet swallowed hard, but said nothing. She recognized all of those names. Had they been the ones to create the Marauders' Map? Why had they done that? Why hadn't any of them kept it? How had Filch gotten his hands on it? Had-had her dad really been one of the four to create the map the Weasley twins had so graciously given her? "So," she said after a pause, "when Pettigrew did what he did, you said he cut off his finger and then-"

"Transformed into a rat and escaped into the sewers," said Black.

"And now you're saying he's here?"

"Yes."

Violet frowned. "But if that's true, then the only rat in here is-"

Everyone looked at the rat Ron was clutching to his chest, and Ron's own eyes widened, but in disbelief and denial.

"You've lost your minds! There's no way Scabbers is Pettigrew! We've had Scabbers for-"

"Twelve years, haven't you?" said Black from the bed, eyes locked on the rat. "Common rats don't live that long, you know. He's missing one of his toes too, isn't it?"

"That's how Percy gave him to me!"

"And that's no doubt how Percy found him," said Lupin calmly. "That's not a rat, Ron."

"Prove it," Rose demanded.

"Rose!"

"Rose is right," said Violet. "This is way too big of an accusation to just ignore. They're both risking way too much with this. And if they're telling the truth, then it means Black was falsely accused and imprisoned all this time. Isn't that much worse than the comfort of a rat?" She looked at Lupin. "You're not going to hurt him if it really is just a rat though, are you?" She didn't care much for Ron or his pet, but she certainly didn't want either of them harmed, especially if the rat was just an innocent, if suspicious, rat.

Lupin shook his head quickly. "The spell won't hurt animals. All it does is reverse Animagus transformations. If Scabbers is just a rat, then the spell will have no effect on him, positive or negative. It might temporarily turn him a different colour though," he added after a moment of thought.

"Wait, before you do that," said Hermione hesitantly. "How did you even find out Pettigrew is, or might be Scabbers?" she asked Black. Then she looked at Lupin. "And how did you know about this? Have you been communicating? And how did you even know to come here?"

"I saw a picture in the newspaper," said Black. "The Weasleys were in Egypt. The rat was in the picture too. I saw the missing toe, and considering the type of rat he was, it seemed obvious. Even if it wasn't him, I had to know for sure. That's why I came here."

"As for how I came here, I knew at least one of you two would want to sneak off to see Hagrid," said Lupin, looking at the twins. "I was keeping an eye on the general area when I saw the Whomping Willow stop moving. It won't do that on it's own, so I came down to check. And you were the one who helped me piece it all together, Violet."

She blinked. "I did?"

"Yes. You were wondering how Sirius could have mistaken the boy's dorm for the girl's dorm. If he was after Rose, he had no reason to go to the boy's dorm, after all. You also said Sirius was likely more sane than anyone was giving him credit for being. But you were struggling with why he wanted to attack Ron. You offered up a few sarcastic suggestions, but one of them was Sirius wanting to put Ron's sick rat out of its misery. That was what you said. Suddenly everything just seemed to fit together. I've seen Scabbers before, and even noticed how similar he looked to Wormtail-Peter's Animagus form, but I was so sure that Peter was dead that I simply didn't piece two and two together until you said what you did. He has a scent too."

"A scent?"

"He smells like a rat, yes, and also a Weasley, no doubt because of how long he's been staying with them for, but...he still smells like Peter as well. I'm-I'm a werewolf, and our sense of smell is...different."

There was a sudden gasp.

"Violet?"

"I-I just remembered something. Sauron told me something ages ago."

"Sauron?"

"My snake," Violet said dismissively. "But apparently, over the Christmas hols, I think, he went exploring the castle alone, and while he was out, he apparently smelled something strange. He called it a human rat. The smell was somehow both human, but also very rat-like. He said he followed it for a while, but the scent was older than he thought it was because he lost it after a bit. He told me this weeks ago, but I honestly didn't think anything of it. I just thought it was a weird snake thing."

Hermione's eyes widened. "Then, the scent he caught-that was Pettigrew?"

Lupin nodded. "That seems likely." He turned to Ron. "Will you let us check? I promise the spell won't hurt Scabbers."

Ron hesitated at first, clutching Scabbers close to his chest, but he relented eventually and held the desperately squirming rat out. Lupin took hold of him immediately, and then turned to face Black.

"Do you remember the spell?"

"Yes," said Black, standing up and pulling out one of the wands he'd taken from the students.

"On three, then. One...two...three!"

Black cried out the incantation, waved the wand, and suddenly Lupin was no longer gripping a rat, but the tattered robes of a small, round, rat-faced man. All four of the teens recoiled.

Just seeing Pettigrew was horrible, but hearing what he had to say only made everything worse. He was terrified, and had done what he had because he'd been terrified, but he didn't actually have any remorse for what happened. He was scared to have been found and caught. He was scared that this was going to get him killed. But that was it. He didn't care about what he'd done to the two who'd been killed because of him. And he didn't care about Rose or Violet either. He cared about himself. He cared about saving his own skin.

For once in their lives, Rose and Violet found that they could actually agree on something. Pettigrew was disgusting, and they wanted him to suffer. There was no doubt about either of those things. Unfortunately, they couldn't agree on how they wanted him to suffer.

"So, you're going to kill him?" said Violet curiously.

"Without hesitation," Black-Sirius spat out, grey eyes locked on Pettigrew.

Violet nodded, satisfied. "Good." Filth like this deserved death. Why should he be allowed to live when her parents were dead? This was...different from what Voldemort had done, she told herself. Voldemort wasn't a traitor.

"Wait-!" Rose's eyes widened, and this time she was the one to grab her sister's arm. "Are you insane!? I thought you were supposed to be smart! Are you even thinking!?"

"I'm thinking just fine. He deserves to die. He deserves to be punished."

"Yeah, he deserves to be punished," Rose agreed, "but what good is killing him going to do? Killing him won't keep Sirius out of Azkaban." Those words had everyone pausing and looking over at her, so she continued resolutely. "Sirius broke out of Azkaban, and that's obviously illegal, right? Which means he's just going to be stuck being on the run, which isn't fun or fair, unless he can prove he's innocent. I don't really know how magic court and stuff works, but wouldn't it be better to have Pettigrew alive so you have more proof you're telling the truth? Then you can be declared innocent and he can rot in prison instead."

Lupin sighed deeply, but nodded once. "She's right."

"Rem-"

Lupin shook his head now. "Rose is right, Sirius. Killing Peter will only make things worse for you. Not only will you be forced to stay on the run, you'll also become the murderer you've been falsely accused of being for all these years. What's the point in that? Wouldn't it be better for everyone to know that you're innocent? Wouldn't it be better to be free? To live the life you've deserved to live for all this time?"

"I...suppose."

"But-"

Lupin placed a hand on Violet's shoulder, stopping her before she could get more than one word of protest out. "There are more benefits in keeping Peter alive than there are in killing him," he said softly.

Maybe it was because it was phrased in a way that really linked with the more cunning part of her mind (a side she generally preferred to keep hidden), but Violet finally understood these benefits, and nodded, relenting. Lupin was right. Rose was right. Pettigrew had to live. He had to pay for what he'd done, but he could do that by being locked up in a small cell, surrounded by dementors all day and night. If anyone deserved it, it was him.

"Should-should we leave then?" Hermione asked haltingly. "Go back to the castle and alert the Headmaster?"

"Yes, that's exactly what we should do," said Remus with a nod. With a few flicks and waves of his wand, Pettigrew was bound and gagged, and a makeshift splint was made for Ron's injured leg.

"No transforming, Peter," said Sirius in warning. "Or I really will kill you."

Pettigrew looked away, nodding quickly, and his eyes squeezed shut when they started dragging him out of the room, Crookshanks leading the way, Rose supporting Ron with Violet's help behind them, while Hermione followed at the rear. No one said a word until they finally made it outside, Crookshanks pressing the knot to immobilize the Whomping Willow so the rest of them could get out without harm.

Once they were all out, Lupin summoned his patronus, which disappeared off in the direction of the castle. When he noticed Violet watching him curiously, he said, "A patronus doesn't only have to be used to ward away dementors, you know. You can also use them to send messages-although they aren't subtle messages by any means. They can form a good distraction as well. The brightness alone can stagger an opponent, or at least catch them off guard."

Violet nodded, soaking the new information in. The books she'd read hadn't mentioned this, and she hadn't thought of it herself, but that was actually really good to know. ...Now if only she could actually summon her patronus in the first place. "Did you send the message to Dumbledore, then?"

"Yes. Better to let him know what's happening immediately, instead of us risking going all the way to him. There are dementors stationed everywhere, and it's unlikely that we'll be able to get past them like this, especially if we have Sirius with us. It'll be easier to have the Headmaster come to us instead."

That seemed to make sense, so they waited. Lupin remained close to Ron, checking his leg over, Pettigrew close by, and Hermione keeping watch for the Headmaster. While they did this, Sirius gestured for the twins to follow him, and he led them out of earshot of the others, though they all remained within view of each other.

"I guess you've heard by now that I'm your godfather?"

Rose nodded. "Yeah. I heard."

Sirius looked away, up at the sky. "I-I know you're happy living with the Dursleys, and it won't be immediately or anything, but...I'd be happy if you paid me a visit or two once I've had the chance to settle down. You can even come stay, if you want."

Rose grinned. "That'd be great! I'd love to come stay with you sometimes!"

Smiling slightly at the enthusiasm, Sirius looked over at Violet. "You aren't my goddaughter, but you're still family, and I'd guess you'd prefer to get out of that horrible orphanage, huh? I'd be glad to have you come stay with me instead, if you want to."

Violet felt a strange tightness in her throat. "I'd-I'd like that," she admitted quietly, a little surprised when Rose didn't protest.

"What is this?"

Everyone turned, and multiple pairs of eyes widened when they saw Snape approaching, his dark eyes locked on Sirius, a smoking goblet in one hand and his wand in the other. A wand that was already aimed at the escaped convict.

"Severus, please wait a minute," said Lupin, straightening up from where he'd been kneeling beside Ron.

"I don't see any reason why I should, Lupin. It seems quite clear that-"

"Wait, Professor, please!" Violet rushed forward, grabbing Snape's arm. "Sirius is innocent," she told him quickly. "He never did anything wrong. Pettigrew's alive-he's right there. He was disguised as Ron's rat this entire time. The Headmaster's already been alerted and should be here any second."

Snape looked at her closely. The girl's eyes, such a familiar shade of green, though filled with urgency, were clear. There were no signs of outside manipulation. No confundus. No imperius. The rest looked the same. Rose. Weasley. Granger. Lupin. Black. Pettigrew, bound and gagged, was clearly terrified, but his eyes were also clear of mental fogs.

He didn't immediately believe that that was Pettigrew, of course, but if the Headmaster had been notified, then everything would be cleared up in a few moments. That was fine. He would wait to ensure Black and Lupin didn't try anything. Besides, there was another pressing matter at hand.

"You missed your dose of Wolfsbane today, Lupin," he said curtly. He held out the smoking goblet. "You'll want to take it before-"

The clouds in the dark sky shifted away. The light of the full moon streamed down onto the field. Lupin froze, and a low, guttural growl rumbled in his throat.

"Too late." Sirius was the first to understand what was happening, and he bolted over towards Lupin grabbing him by the shoulders. "Get back!" he called to the others. "Get away!"

Watching Lupin transform into a werewolf was probably the most horrifyingly painful thing Violet had ever seen. The agony on his face, the sickening way his bones cracked and shifted-it was horrible. Snape took Violet by the arm and shoved her behind him. Then, keeping her behind him, he cautiously moved around the edge of the field towards Ron and Hermione and Rose.

"Don't move," he said quietly.

They didn't think they could even if they wanted to. They kept still and silent, watching as Sirius changed into his animagus form of a large, black dog. He was barking and yipping loudly, and it seemed like he was trying to lead the werewolf away from them. Padfoot was trying to be playful and coaxing. Moony just wanted to hunt and cause pain.

Fortunately, Moony seemed to decide Padfoot was good enough prey for him at the moment, and followed after him, away from everyone else, down the hill, into trees and bushes, and out of sight. Unfortunately, Rose decided that her concern over Sirius made it a good idea to follow the two very dangerous creatures. And because her twin's idiocy was rubbing off on her, Violet ran after her sister.

"Potter!" Snape turned to Ron and Hermione. "Get in there," he ordered, pushing them into the Whomping Willow's tunnel. "Stay in there and do not leave until I return or you see the Headmaster." He barely waited for them to nod before he headed off after the Potter twins. "Damned bloody Potters!" he hissed viciously.

Snape didn't have to go very far before he once again had his wand in hand. It was getting colder. He found them at the bank of the Black Lake. The werewolf was nowhere to be seen. Black, in his human form again, was unconscious. Rose seemed close to unconsciousness herself, only on her feet because Violet was holding her up. They were surrounded by dementors. Dozens upon dozens of them. They were already feeding.

Violet felt like she was frozen from the inside. She was cold, and clammy, and trembling. She was trying to support Rose, but she couldn't hold her sister's weight anymore and Rose collapsed. Violet only tightened her grip on her wand. There was a lump in her throat and she couldn't swallow around it. She felt breathless, and was panting. She had to cast the spell. She had to summon her patronus. She had to do it or Sirius and Rose would lose their souls. She had to do it or she would lose her soul.

But how could she? She'd never been able to conjure more than just a vague mist. She was supposed to focus on a happy memory, but how could she when all she could feel was this deep, intense cold? A doe shot past her-a bright doe that sprang out over the lake. Violet stared, mesmerised.

"Focus, Potter!"

Violet gasped, partially because of the sharp voice, partially because of the vice-like grip on her shoulder, and partially because she was finally actually able to take in a breath. She nodded, wiped her sweaty palms, adjusted her hold on her wand, and tried to cast the spell. She produced vapour on her second try, and an indistinct shape on her fourth. The doe began to fade.

Just as they should have been left in darkness, a light appeared on the opposite bank. It grew brighter and brighter, until Violet was forced to shield her eyes. She saw an animal-a patronus, something big and cat-like, and a strange warmth spread through her. Bounding around and over the lake gracefully, the patronus easily warded away the dementors.

The dementors started to disappear, flying off, away from the threat, and the patronus started to recede. And across the bank, in the fading light, Violet saw something she couldn't explain. She blinked, her strength left her, and then she couldn't see anything at all. The last thing she heard before her consciousness left her completely was the Headmaster calling Snape's name, and for the first time, she felt relieved to hear that voice.

That's it for now. You'll find out what Violet's patronus is in the next chapter. I took a lot of patronus quizzes a year or two ago, both on Pottermore and other random sites, answering the questions the way I figured Violet would. Most results were stag, phoenix, thestral, and wolf, but I didn't want any of those. I do generally prefer to keep stag for femHarry, but I wanted that to be Rose's in this fic. Wolf didn't fit well in my opinion, and the other two seemed too obvious and typical. One site that seems to have been taken down because I can no longer find it, gave me one I really liked and I copied and pasted the result in a draft in my email back in the middle of writing second year. I'll add that description in the end AN in the next chapter so you can see it too. Looking forward to reviews! Laterz!

*Another health update that you're totally free to skip. So in the update in the previous chapter I mentioned things were looking pretty good. Yeah, forget about that. A week after I posted that my right eye had a flare up and everything came back. The inflammation's finally started going back down, but hasn't gone away completely again like before. I'm still on eye drops multiple times a day, but the dose is slowly being lowered again. I'm also going to start to take oral medication to help keep the inflammation down and prevent more flare ups. I've been told my issues are an auto-immune thing that I probably inherited from my mum (I inherited all the crap genetics), so yeah, great. I also found out the actual term for what I have is Anterior Uveitis, among a couple of other things. I think I mentioned that I have a cataract thanks to all this in my left eye, but my vision under the cataract is pretty good, and improving all the time, so apparently that's a good thing. My mental health is getting crappier by the day, so no positive updates on that part.*