The Disgraced of the House of Black - A Multi-Character Fanfiction - Part One

51. Impenetrable Fog

"Thea, give me my wand!" Harry ordered angrily. "Thea!"

She didn't even seem to hear him.

"Going to kill me, Harry?" Black asked with a manic smile.

"You killed my parents," Harry snarled. "Give me my wand! Thea!"

"I don't deny it," Sirius said in a hoarse voice. "But if you knew the whole story."

"The whole story!" Harry exploded. "You sold them to Voldemort! That's all I need to know!"

"You've got to listen to me," Sirius said urgently. "You'll regret it if you don't...You don't understand."

"I understand a lot better than you think," Harry shouted. "You never heard her, did you? My mum...trying to stop Voldemort killing me...and you did that...you did it. Dammit, Thea, GIVE ME MY WAND!"

"N-no," Althea stuttered, finally looking away from Sirius.

She was trembling so badly that she sank to the floor. Tears had sprung up in her eyes.

"I-I w-won't," she sobbed, holding all four wands so tightly sparks flew out of them. "I-I won't."

"Thea!" Harry shouted angrily before they all stopped.

Althea stopped sobbing, but tears continued streaming down her cheeks as the sound of muffled footsteps reached their ears.

"WE'RE UP HERE!" Hermione shouted. "WE'RE UP HERE - SIRIUS BLACK - QUICK!"

With a shower of red sparks, the door burst open, just missing where Althea was crumbled on the floor. Remus Lupin stood, looking pale and tenser than any of them had ever seen him. He quickly glanced around, taking stock of the situation. Lastly, his eyes flickered from Althea to Sirius.

Tensely, he asked, "Where is he, Sirius?"

Sirius was silent so long Althea thought he wasn't going to respond, but after a moment, he raised one thin, trembling arm and pointed toward Ron.

"But then..." Lupin said slowly. "Why hasn't he shown himself before now? Unless...unless he was the one...unless you switched...without telling me?"

Sirius nodded slowly.

"Professor," Harry said suddenly. "What's going-"

The words died in his mouth. Before his very eyes, he watched as Lupin helped up Sirius and embraced him like a brother.

"I DON'T BELIEVE IT!" Hermione cried, instantly drawing all attention to her. "YOU - YOU-"

"Hermione-" Lupin began cautiously.

"You and him-" she began before her eyes fixed on Althea. "And you!"

"Hermione, calm down," Lupin began as Althea whispered, "Hermione, no, I-"

"I didn't tell anyone!" she cried. "I've been covering up for you!" Rounding on Althea, she shouted, "And YOU! We've- I've- How could you?"

"Hermione!" Althea sobbed desperately.

"Hermione, listen to me, please!" Lupin cried. "Althea's not- I can explain!"

"I trusted you!" Harry shouted. "And all this time you've been his friend!"

Althea covered her mouth with one hand to try and stifle a wail of anguish.

"You're wrong," Lupin said quickly. "I haven't been Sirius' friend, but I am now - Let me explain!"

"NO!" Hermione screamed. "Harry, don't trust him, he's been helping Black get into the castle, he wants you dead to - he's a werewolf!"

"Hermione!" Althea tried again.

"And YOU!" Hermione shouted, her eyes blazing. "This is why you've acting odd all year. At Christmas when we found out about Black! Today when Fudge saw you! When your mother appeared! He's your father, isn't he!"

Althea was so overcome she couldn't speak, even to deny it. There was a ringing silence broken only by a disgusted noise from Sirius.

"Not at all up to your usual standard, Hermione," Lupin said finally. "Only one out of four, I'm afraid. I have not been helping Sirius into the castle and I certainly don't want Harry dead. Not to mention, Sirius is certainly not the father of his cousin's child."

Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Cousin," Hermione repeated, shifting her eyes to Althea.

"I will, however, not deny that I am a werewolf," Lupin said.

Althea had gone silent. Her face was turned away from them, obstructed from view by her hair as she cried silently. Ron tried to stand before he fell back, wincing with pain.

Lupin attempted to step forward, but before he could reach him, Ron shouted, "Get away from me, werewolf!"

Lupin froze, staring at him for a moment before turning to look at Hermione as he asked, "How long have you known? Did Althea tell you?"

"Thea?" Hermione repeated in shock.

"She's known since she was a child," Remus explained. "Her mother told her stories from our time at Hogwarts. Several of those included me being a werewolf. She even helped me through one of my transformations this year."

All three students shared shocked looks.

"I've known for ages," Hermione said, still staring in shock at Althea. She hadn't moved. "Since I did Professor Snape's essay."

"He'll be delighted," Lupin said dryly. "He assigned that essay hoping someone would realize what my symptoms meant. You're the cleavest witch of your age I've ever met, Hermione."

"I'm not," she snapped. "If I'd been cleverer I'd have told everyone what you are!"

"But they already know," Lupin replied. "At least, the staff do. Some of the staff thought he was mad. He had to work very hard to convince certain teachers that I'm trustworthy-"

"AND HE WAS WRONG!" Harry exploded again. "YOU'VE BEEN HELPING HIM ALL THE TIME!"

Sirius rose to his feet, crossing over to sink on the bed Ron was sitting on. Ron edged away from him.

"Remi, what's going-" a startled voice said.

Everyone looked up. Sirius' head shot up.

"Ellie," he whispered hoarsely. "Ellie!" he shouted, jumping to his feet and rushing to her.

"Oh my god," she gasped, wrapping her arms around him tightly. "Sirius, what're you-"

She broke off, finally realizing what was going on.

"Althea," she whispered, crossing over to her.

"Mum," she whispered, hugging her tightly and beginning to sob again. "Mum, they know. They know, and it's all over. It's over. I'll never- I'll never-"

She gasped, unable to speak anymore.

"Sh," Eliana whispered. "It's okay, Althea. It's okay."

"It was you too!" Harry shouted, rounding on her. "You've been helping him too!"

"Harry," Remus sighed. "Neither Eliana nor I have been helping Sirius enter the castle."

"Harry, I swear on my daughter's life this is the first time I've seen Sirius since before he was locked up," Eliana said as calmly as she could.

"Give me a chance to explain," Remus said gently. "Here, Althea, give me those wands."

Shakily, she handed them over, clutching her mother tightly. Before anyone could say another word, however, muffled footsteps reached their ears.