8Disclaimer: I don't own it. No Profit in it for me. *hums on random song*.
Previously on This is the way…
I chugged down the rest of the vodka and threw the bottle into the wall. That's when my eyes spotted it. The old wanted poster of him. And I remembered the day that he had escaped...
Chapter Three.
Twelve years. Twelve years had past since Sirius had been put into Azkaban. I had since then tried to convince Moony of his innocence, he did not believe me. But my kids…our kids believed that their dad was innocent. And Chris…Christopher Regulus Black, our son had been born in December…about two months after Sirius imprisonment…hadn't even met his dad…only one time when I visited Azkaban…the last time they let me in there.
Em was supposed to begin her third year at Hogwarts…she looked a lot like me when I was younger except for her eyes…they were grey, the same colour that Sirius eyes were. She was friends with Harry and the rest of the trio. I had only met Harry once…at the platform, at the end of last year. I had only seen him briefly and barely said hello to him. It was hurtful…to see that spitting image of James, Lily's son…my best friends' son…my godson to look at me…and not know me at all.
Chris was about to start his second year at Hogwarts…he was friends with Timmy Lupin and Leo Black…his cousin, Regulus and Isabel's son. Chris was the spitting image of his father only he had my brown eyes. I sometimes found it hard to look at him. To think of it some days I found it hard to look at Em too…because of her eyes. It was weird having Sirius' eyes looking at me.
This year Remus was supposed to teach at Hogwarts. This year would be different.
It was a sunny day in June. I was doing the dishes and Em and Chris were fighting about something. I was just about to yell at them when the doorbell rang. I told Em to go and open the door and soon I heard her confused voice call for me. I walked into the living area and came face to face with Cornelius Fudge, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Albus Dumbledore. I told Em and Chris to go to their rooms and then I addressed the men.
"Minister, Kingsley…headmaster Dumbledore…what can I do for you?" they shared looks that I couldn't place and before they could say anything I told them to sit down.
"Mrs Black…there has been an incident at Azkaban" Fudge said looking sombre. My breath hitched in my throat and my heart started to beat faster. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Em and Chris eavesdropping but I didn't do anything about it.
"An…an incident sir?" I stammered.
"Yes…Char…I mean Mrs Black…I'm afraid your husband has…escaped" Kingsley said. I could feel hope and happiness…but also worry.
"Escaped? But…but how? No one has escaped from Azkaban ever…"
"Yes we are well aware of that. But we have reasons to believe that he would come here. To see you. You are his wife after all" Fudge said staring at me as if looking for some sort of sign. I laughed a humourless laugh and said;
"Here? You think that Sirius would come here? I'm sorry minister…but Sirius is not stupid. He knows that this is the first place your people will look for him…this is the last place he would come to…" I said staring at all the three men.
"Even how much he might want to…" I added quietly, I cleared my throat and continued;
"I assure you minister…this is the last place you will find Sirius at. He will not come here. I assure you that"
"You sound very sure of yourself Mrs Black. Have you had any contact at all with your husband?" he said suspiciously and I laughed a bitter laugh.
"Contact? You must be joking….the last time I saw…let alone talked to Sirius was January 1982…when I went to Azkaban to show him our son…that is the last time your people let me into Azkaban…and since the ministry have forbidden us to write to each other…then how on earth would I have contacted him…hmm?" he looked annoyed that I had made a point.
"I don't think the minister meant to be disrespectful Mrs Black…he was only pointing out that you seem awfully sure of yourself…for someone that hasn't seen their husband in years" Dumbledore stated and I shot him a look.
"Of course…no harm done. I just simply know my husband very well. You as well as I know that Sirius isn't that stupid. No one with a brain would come to the most obvious place…" I left it at that, intentionally insulting the minister without him knowing.
The weeks went by and I heard nothing new about Sirius. I had told the truth to the minister and Co…Sirius would not come here, he wasn't that stupid. But that didn't stop me from hoping.
Weeks turned into months and I got the most disturbing news that Sirius apparently had been spotted at Hogwarts.
I still remember that letter I got from Emily. Word for word. The letter was about them overhearing a conversation between some professors at Hogwarts and the minister. Harry apparently hated both her and Chris and Leo, and she was devastated. Before he hadn't minded…apparently they couldn't do anything about who their father or uncle was. But when she defended Sirius after that eavesdropping session…that was it. I started crying again. I still remember my response trying to comfort her, the best I could through a letter.
And then came that fateful night that I was at Hogwarts.
"Moony…is that…is that the map?" I said when I entered his office. After the little fiasco when Snape had to take over his class he had asked me to do so this time. I was nervous…since many of the children would know that I was the supposed crazed murderers' wife.
"Yes…yes it is…and Harry and the others are sneaking out…what the…no…no it can not be" I looked at him and then at the map. And there clear as mud was the name Peter Pettigrew.
"The rat! How dare he come to Hogwarts….near Harry! Near my kids!" I snarled I was on my way to the door in a minute. I didn't even see the tag labelled Sirius Black enter the map…
Moony passed me in the corridor running so fast that I didn't even have the chance to keep up with him. How the bloody hell was he able to run so fast? He had already entered the Womping Willow and half way through the tunnel before I had even climbed down it. I entered the shack and got stuck in a rotten plank.
"Oh bloody hell…you have to be kidding me" I mumbled angrily. I heard some kind of commotion upstairs and a raspy voice saying;
"Are you going to kill me Harry?" then I heard Moony's voice screaming;
"Expelliarmus" I then heard talking…and something about werewolves…damn. I finally was able to get my foot loose and rushed up the stairs. I ran into the room without looking and said;
"Bloody hell Moony! How can you run so fast and still look so damn tired all the time…what's the rush anyway…" I stopped in mid-sentence and stared at the scene before me. Well not so much the scene…my eyes where drawn to the rugged man in the middle. His far too skinny body, dirty and ripped clothes, his dirty hair, face but most of all his eyes. His grey eyes, Sirius' eyes. I could actually hear my heart start to beat faster and my eyes widened.
"Sirius?" I managed to get out and he stared back at me.
"Char?" he said his voice raspy and not the voice I was used to. I walked slowly towards him, no one in the room existed, no one but him. I slowly touched his face and looked into his eyes.
"Sirius is that…is that really you?" he stared and his lips formed a small smile.
"The one and only, love" I burst into tears and threw my arms around him. He hugged me back tightly and I mumbled;
"Oh god…I missed you so much…so much…" he started to rub my shoulder comfortingly but soon broke the embrace and told me that we had some important matters to attend to.
"You…you're Emily and Chris' mum…you…you" Harry suddenly stuttered.
"Hello Harry…its nice to meet you…even if it isn't the best of times…" I smiled hesitantly; Sirius looked confused about Harry not knowing me. Next thing I know we're telling the whole story… how Remus became a werewolf, the fact that the marauders became animagus. Who the marauders were…are…but we left out Peter…better leave him for last…
"But that was a very dangerous game! Running around like that…someone might have gotten bitten!" Hermione said aghast.
"A thought that haunts me even to this day…" Remus said sadly.
"Mrs Black…how could you allow it!" I smiled guiltily and said;
"Well I didn't meet the marauders before sixth year…and I was young. And these charming young guys told me about being animagus and how they got away with it all. I found it very interesting and cool…" she looked at me like I was crazy.
"Sometimes it was very close, and it could have gone very wrong. But afterwards we laughed about it…"Remus continued sadly.
"They were young and intoxicated by how clever they were…I was not much better really… I mean we were the definition of cool…all of us thought we pretty much ruled the school…" I said shrugging; it was all in the past. Remus told them about his guilt, towards Dumbledore and his kindness.
"I've been battling myself all year. Thinking about whether or not I should tell him about Sirius being an animagus" he looked at me and my eyes widened.
"I know that Char never thought of it…because she's been thinking that Sirius was innocent all this time" Sirius gave me a thankful glance and I just smiled.
"So in a way…Snape's been right about me all this time…"he muttered. This caught Sirius attention, who had been staring at the rat the whole time.
"Snape? What's he got to do with anything?"
"He's here, Sirius. He's teaching at Hogwarts" Remus said, giving a huge sigh. Then he turned to the kids again and explained;
"Professor Snape went to school with us. He fought very hard against me becoming a teacher. And the whole year he's been telling Dumbledore that I can't be trusted…he has his reasons…Sirius played a prank on him once, a prank that almost killed him and it involved me…" Remus looked sad and I winched sympathetically at that small event.
"He deserved it…always sneaking around, trying to figure out what we were doing, hoping to get us expelled" Sirius muttered and I just rolled my eyes. Even if James and Remus didn't talk to him for months after that prank, he still never thought that he did anything wrong. I wasn't there at the time but he told me that's how he felt…
"He was very interested in where I went every month. And well…we…well…" he cut himself off trying to figure out what to say.
"We didn't really like each other…He especially held a grudge towards James, he was jealous you see…" I said smiling grimly thinking of Lily.
"Anyways…Severus had seen me walking over the grounds one night with madam Pomfrey…he saw me climb into the womping willow…and Sirius though that it might be funny if he…eeh…told Severus how to get inside the tunnel. Of course he tried it, and if he would have made it to this very shack he would have met a full grown werewolf. But your dad, who found out what Sirius had done, went after Severus and saved his life, but he caught a sight of me. Dumbledore made him promise not to tell anyone but…after that he knew what I am…" Remus looked tired and sad, and I saw that Sirius looked very regretful for causing his friend pain.
"That's why Snape can't stand you professor Lupin…he thinks you were in on Sirius prank" Harry stated slowly.
"Exactly" a cold, draping voice said…Severus Snape had arrived…
"Vengeance is sweet…How I hoped I'd be the one to catch you." Snape said smirking. Moony stepped up and said;
"Severus," trying, in vain, to reason with him. But Snape, being the complete idiot he can be sometimes, pointed his wand at him and said;
"I told Dumbledore you were helping an old friend into the castle. Here's the proof." I snorted and said;
"Oh shove off Snape." He turned his wand to me and I heard Sirius growl.
"Ah…of course the criminals little wife is here as well…" I sneered at the man that I sometime counted as a friend…this was not one of those times, and Sirius said;
"Brilliant, Snape. You put your keen mind to the task and come to the wrong conclusion". Here Sirius offered him a mocking smile, malice dripping from every word. I smirked and Moony rolled his eyes.
"If you'll excuse us, Remus, Char and I have business...to attend to." He stepped closer to Snape, it all started to remind me of when he used to threaten him in school. Only this time, Snape was the one with the wand.
"Give me a reason. I beg you!"
"Don't be a fool." Moony said once again trying to reason with them.
"He can't help it." Sirius said smirking and I said;
"It's habit by now" smirking just as much, I swear I heard Moony sigh and he said;
"Be quiet."
"Be quiet yourself!" Sirius and I exclaimed at once, ah now it really felt like we were back at school.
"You three, quarrelling like an old married couple." Snape sneered and Sirius said;
"Run along and play with your chemistry set!" followed by my;
"And wash that greasy hair while you're at it!" Okay so I had been friendly and nice to Snape over the years, and we had pretty much forgotten the school stuff and buried the war axe…but right now he was getting on my nerves…
"I could do it, you know." He sneered and showed his wand almost into Sirius nose.
"But why deny the Dementors? They're so longing to see you," he sneered maliciously. And I felt my blood freeze when he mentioned them.
"Do I detect a flicker of fear?" He continued smirking at Sirius who indeed lost his confident stand.
"Oh, yes. A Dementor's Kiss. One can only imagine what that must be like. It's said to be nearly unbearable to witness, but I'll do my best." I couldn't help it, I just had to turn around and throw up in the corner. It was just too much, the mental pictures of that happening to Sirius. I couldn't stand it. Sirius shot me a worried look and reached for me but Snape jabbed him with his wand. But I saw a flicker of pity in his eyes when he watched me heave another time.
"Severus, please." Remus said looking pointedly at me, who had finally recovered and was now glowering at Snape for giving me that mental picture. Then he tied Remus up and was just about to do something similar to Sirius and I, but then two very familiar voices mixed with the shouts from Harry and Hermione screamed;
"Expelliarmus" and Snape flew into the wall…unconscious.
"Damn…" I said looking at the unconscious professor.
"We knocked out a teacher!" the terrified gasp came from Hermione. But then an all too familiar voice snorted and said;
"So what Mione…it's just fucking Snape…" My sons' voice said and I spotted him and his sister grinning in the doorway.
"Christopher Regulus watch your language…have I not told you not to use that kind of language! Even if it is stupid Snivellus…" I scolded but ended the lecture with a grin.
"Sni-what?" Em said grinning, her eyes lighting up. I snickered and answered;
"An old nickname…" but then both Em and Chris lost their grins when they spotted Sirius next to me, who was staring open mouthed at them.
"D-Dad?" Em said stuttering peering at Sirius through her bangs.
"Em? Emily Rose is that…is that you? You've…grown" Sirius said staring at her. Suddenly a grin lit up Em's face and she screamed;
"Dad!" and threw herself at him hugging him, Sirius looked shocked but happy.
"Yeah…it's me princess" I smiled at the old nickname…but then Sirius looked over at Chris who was still staring in shock.
"Um…hi. You must be Christopher then…I've only met you once…sorry about that. And well you've grown too…well you were only a small infant when I met you so…I'm…I'm your dad…and its really…nice to meet you…love, help me out here I don't know what to say I sound like a complete idiot," Sirius said glancing at me. I smiled and tugged Chris towards us and said;
"Don't you always?" he scowled at me and then he looked at Chris.
"I…I like to be called Chris," he said awkwardly but still grinning and then he hugged his dad for the first time. I smiled and Emily stepped into my arms hugging me. But then we all remembered why we were here. Sirius untied Moony. Harry seemed to be the first one to recover so he blurted out;
"Tell me about Peter!" Moony was the quickest to answer;
"He was in school with us. We thought he was our friend!"
"No. Pettigrew's dead. You killed him!" Harry shouted and pointed at Sirius.
"No, he didn't." I said.
"I thought so too, until you mentioned Pettigrew on the map!" Remus exclaimed.
"The map was lying, then." Harry said matter-of-factly. Oh the poor ignorant boy.
"The map never lies!" Sirius said like it was obvious. Which to us…it was.
"Pettigrew's alive! And he's right there!" Sirius said and pointed at the rat. All the kids stared at him like he was mental, but only Ron voiced his opinion.
"Me?! He's mental!"
"Not you! Your rat!" Sirius said getting frustrated, patience never was one of his strong traits and I put a calming hand on his arm.
"Scabbers have been in my family for..." Ron started and I interrupted and said;
"Twelve years?"
"That's a curiously long life for a common garden rat…" Chris stated suddenly and everyone turned to look at him. He just shrugged and made a face that screamed "what?"
"He's missing a toe, isn't he?" Sirius said sounding slightly excited…and well crazed.
"So what?" Ron muttered looking confused and hugging the rat.
"All they could find of Pettigrew was his..." Harry said in disbelief.
"Finger!" Sirius and I exclaimed together and then shooting each other a small smile.
"Dirty coward cut it off so everyone would think he was dead! And then he transformed into a rat!" Sirius continued angrily and I felt a tear fall down my cheek at the memory.
"But…you can't mean that you broke out of Azkaban just to get Scabbers…I mean…there are thousands of rats…how did you know this was the right one…?" Ron stuttered out.
"You know…Sirius…that is a good question. How did you find out where he was?" Remus said looking mystified. Sirius looked frustrated but I gave him a look so he sighed and dug out an old newspaper clipping from his pocket. There were the Weasley's on their trip to Egypt, and on Ron's shoulder…sat Scabbers.
"How did you manage to get your hands on that?" Remus said.
"Fudge. He came and inspected Azkaban…gave me his paper taunted me some about an article with Char in it…" he looked at me sadly and I gave him a weak smile.
"I'll be damned…it all fits then…" Remus said.
"Of course it does…the dirty little rat screamed for everyone to hear how I had betrayed Lily and James…and then he…well you know…"he said grimly and I took his hand again.
"He's been losing weight…hasn't he? Ever since he learned that Sirius was free…" Remus said in triumph…happy to finally know the truth and understand it.
"He's been afraid of that mad cat!" Ron pointed at Crookshanks.
"He's not mad…smartest animal of his kind I've ever met. As soon as I met him he knew I wasn't a dog. He helped me try to get to Peter" Sirius said stroking the cat. Then he explained to Hermione what a big part her pet had played in his hunt for Peter.
"But why did he escape…because he knew that you were going to kill him like you did to my parents!" Harry screamed at Sirius.
"You're wrong Harry…" I said with tears in my eyes but he continued.
"And now you're here to finish him off!"
"Yes I am" Sirius said glaring at the rat.
"Then I should have let Snape take you" he said angrily.
"Harry…can't you see the connection…all this time we've thought…well everyone but Char and her kids…that Sirius betrayed your parents…but it was Peter…Peter betrayed them…all along it was him…"
"No! He was the secret keeper…he admitted to have killed them!" Harry screamed angrily pointing at Sirius.
"I did. I suggested that we switch secret keepers. No one would suspect that Peter was the one, the death eaters would come after me. I was going to ask Dumbledore to be Char and the kids' secret keeper so they would be safe. It was a brilliant plan I though…if I had only known that Peter was the spy…" here he shot Moony an apologizing gaze. He had after all thought that Moony was the spy.
"Show me." Harry said looking at us.
"Ron…could you give me the rat" I said kindly. He hesitated but gave it to me.
"On three" Moony said and then we did the spell. And soon instead of having a twitching rat in front of us a twitching Peter Pettigrew stood there.
"Hello Peter. We were just discussing the night Lily and James died." Moony said glaring at him I sneered and said;
"Yeah don't know if you heard us when you were squeaking in the corner" he twitched even more and stared at our angry faces;
"R-Remus…S-Sirius…C-Char…my old friends…" I snorted and said;
"We're no friends of yours…" He tried to run but Sirius and Moony grabbed him. They pushed him towards the wall and we all stood in front of him glaring.
"You sold them to Voldemort didn't you!" Moony accused furiously. I watched as the rat flinched at the mentioning of his old master. Sirius laughed a humourless laugh and said;
"What, afraid of your old masters name?" I sneered and then he started whimpering;
"I didn't mean to! The Dark Lord, you have no idea the weapons he possesses! Ask yourself what you would have done, Sirius. What would you have done!" Sirius growled and screamed;
"I would have died! Died rather than betray my friends! Just like any of us would have done for you!" I glanced at Sirius when he said this, and I knew it was true. How much it hurt me…I knew that he would die rather than betray James…or me…how much it would hurt me to lose him…and I was surprised to realize that I too would have died rather than tell Voldemort where James and Lily where…even if that meant that I would leave Emily, Chris and Sirius behind…I was drawn out of my thoughts when Hermione turned away from Peter after his minor grovelling session with her, then he spotted Harry and threw himself at him whimpering;
"Harry! Look at you. You look so much like your father. James. We were the best of friends..." I could feel my blood start to boil…how dare he! But Sirius beat me to it and he went in front of Harry and pushed Peter away screaming;
"How dare you speak to Harry!? How dare you talk about James in front of him!" then Peter probably made one of the biggest mistakes of his life, he turned towards me and my kids.
"Char please…you were always so nice to me" I was? How come I don't remember that?
"You wont let them hurt me will you? And your kids they are so beautiful…looks just like their parents they do…" he reached for Emily and I didn't even have time to react before Sirius gripped his collar and held him in front of his face growling.
"Don't you even dare…go near my wife or children ever again. Don't you ever speak to my family again!" he dropped him on the ground still growling. Peter once again made a jump towards Harry but this time Moony and Sirius grabbed his arms and the rat screamed;
"James wouldn't have wanted me killed! Your dad would have spared me! He would have shown me mercy!" and as much as it hurt to think it…the rat was right.
"Should have realized, Peter, if Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. Together!" Moony said and they pointed their wands towards him.
"No!" Harry said suddenly and everyone turned towards him in disbelief. And in that moment I saw very much of both James and Lily in him.
"Harry, this man..." Moony started in a disbelieving voice.
"I know what he is. But we'll take him to the castle." Harry said calmly.
"Bless you, boy. Bless you!" Peter screamed and threw himself at Harry for the third time.
"Get off! I said we'd take you to the castle. After that, the dementors can have you." He said and Peter paled. And everyone nodded in understanding. We bound Peter and Sirius sadly stated that two of us should be strapped to him. Moony volunteered and so did Ron, I think he felt guilty or something because Peter had been his pet. We decided that Sirius should levitate Snivellus and then we were off. First was Hermione and after that Snape floated, occasionally bumping his head on the roof Sirius walked after him and I was next to him. After us came Chris, Em and Harry all of them walking silently. Moony and Ron strapped to Peter came up last. I took Sirius arm and made him lower Snape, he pouted at me and I said;
"Hey…I don't want to be the one that explains the bumps in his head" he grinned and slipped his arm around me looking backwards at the kids.
"Does he know?" he whispered to me and I nodded slowly. He didn't even have to specify what he meant. He smiled slightly but then he frowned again.
"How come…Harry doesn't seem to know you?" I sighed and smiled sadly.
"When you were imprisoned…when…Lily and James died…Dumbledore and the minister forbade me to contact Harry, don't ask me why because I don't know" he growled a bit and I couldn't help but smile.
"You really haven't changed much have you?" I smiled at him and winked. He let out a snort and leaned into my ear and whispered;
"Really…then how come I'm the rugged, dirty and wrinkly one and you still look like you did the day I married you?" I blushed. I actually blushed. I hadn't done that in years. But leave it to Sirius to manage that, and the man had only been back in my life for a couple of hours!
"Hey keep it PG you two…there are children present!" the voice of my own son drifted from behind us. Both of us turned and watched when Emily smacked him on the arm and Harry tried to stifle his laughter.
"Well I'm sorry that I haven't seen my husband in years! Now get over here you little monster!" I said and he ran over and wedged himself between Sirius and me pouting.
"Monster! See how she treats me dad!? I'm glad that your back...now I won't have to be alone against these unreasonable women…" he said grinning up at his dad. I saw Sirius eyes twinkle when the word "dad" came out so naturally from Chris's mouth.
"Unreasonable!?" Emily said and walked up beside me.
"What do you talking about? All you have to do is pout and mum does anything for you!" she exclaimed grinning at me, Sirius gave me a look and I blushed…again!
"Really?" he said smirking.
"Yeah dad… it's totally unfair! He can weasel himself out of anything with just one look! And he's a total mummy's boy" she stuck her tongue at her brother and Chris made a face and said;
"Am not! It's not my fault that mum always gives into my charms" he smirked and Sirius let out one of his bark like laughs that I had missed. He smirked and looked down at me and said;
"So…what have you got to say for yourself love?" out of the corner of my eye I saw Chris stick out his tongue and Emily sigh dreamingly when all I could do was smile myself and sigh;
"What! It's not my fault that he looks so damn much like you and he somehow learned that patent look of yours…probably saw it in a picture or something. And you know that I can't say no to that puppy dog look!" I said to my defence. It was all true after all. The kids snickered and Chris said;
"Cool! Now we can do all kinds of stuff just using the look…right dad?" he smiled his charming grin that he inherited from his dad and I could hear Moony snort all the way from back where he was. Sirius gave him a smile and said;
"Sorry to disappoint you here son but your mum's got a much bigger hold on me that I have on her…but we'll try eh?" the last part he stage whispered and winked at me. I just smiled and then looked back at Harry, who was now walking alone and looking at us wistfully. I couldn't help but feel pity…here we were reuniting and leaving Harry outside. I looked at Sirius and caught his eye, once he stopped gazing at his kids. He raised an eyebrow and I nodded back to Harry, he looked and nodded. Then he stopped walking to fall back with his godson. Chris looked like he was about protest but I gave him a look and he kept quiet. It may be true that that boy could weasel himself out of almost anything when it came to me…he was my little baby after all…but he also knew when it was good for him to listen to me.
I heard snippets of their conversation, for example Harry's excitement when Sirius talked about him moving in with us. That and his worry that it would upset Sirius family…oh Harry, how could it possibly do that? I caught Sirius eye and he motioned for me to step back with them, I did and smiled and winked at Harry.
"I know you heard everything, and you don't mind at all, do you love?" he said smirking his trademark smirk. I smiled and said;
"No I don't…we would be happy to have you Harry…it is what Lily would have wanted." His eyes lit up at my mentioning of Lily.
"Where…you close with my mum and dad as well?" he asked shyly, blushing when I smiled kindly at him.
"Yes, I was. James was like a brother to me. I lived with Sirius and him at your grandparents for a while actually. And Lil…Lily was my best friend. My sister." He smiled and nodded. Then Sirius suddenly turned towards Ron and said;
"Sorry about that little nip by the way…I was trying to get to the rat" Ron who was stumbling forward looked shocked, I don't know if it was because Sirius, supposed crazed murderer was talking to him or the fact that he referred to the wound on his left leg as a nip.
"You almost tore my leg off!" Chris snorted and Hermione rolled her eyes. The moment was interrupted by a grovelling rat.
"Turn me into a flobberworm. Anything but the Dementors!" He turned to Ron and threw himself on the ground before him.
"Ron! Haven't I been a good pet? You won't let them give me to the dementors, will you? I was your rat!" Peter swiftly turned towards Hermione as Ron pulled away from him in disgust. I never thought that he would stop grovelling. That's when it happened, the clouds parted and the full moon shed her light over us. Remus started shaking and letting out sounds of agony. I had never seen him transform, and it wasn't exactly something I wanted to see. The danger we were in registered in my mind as Sirius ran towards his old friend and started speaking to him about potions and his heart. It was somewhere in between Sirius screaming at us to run and Chris tugging on my sleeve that Severus woke up. He, unaware of the situation started to lecture the kids but soon he urged us all to run. I grabbed Chris's and Emily's hands and started to drag them after me, Sirius would be okay, I hoped. It was in the middle of that tumult that Harry went after the full grown werewolf and Padfoot…
Even to this day it pains me that I didn't go after them right then and there. But what could I have done? I had to help Severus get Ron inside as well as the other kids. Unfortunately that led to Sirius nearly dying and being captured. But Harry saved him…I don't think I'll ever forget that conversation we had right before Sirius rode off on Buckbeak…