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

54. Truth

"Well," Remus resumed. "Highly exciting possibilities were open to us now that we could all transform. Soon we were leaving the Shrieking Shack and roaming the school grounds and the village by night. Sirius and James transformed into such large animals they were able to keep a werewolf in check. I doubt whether any Hogwarts students ever found out more about the Hogwarts grounds and Hogsmeade than we did...And that's how we came to write the Marauder's Map, and sign it with our nicknames. Sirius is Padfoot, Peter is Wormtail, James was Prongs."

"What sort of animal-" Harry began.

"That was still really dangerous!" Hermione cried. "Running around in the dark with a werewolf! What if you'd given the others the slip, and bitten somebody?"

"Believe me, Hermione, we asked ourselves the same question when they told us," Amara said, giving Remus a reproachful look. "After I transformed, I followed them to make sure they didn't do anything stupid."

"It's a thought that still haunts me," Remus assured. "And there were near misses, many of them. We laughed about them afterwards. We were young, thoughtless, carried away with our own cleverness. I sometimes felt guilty about betraying Dumbledore's trust, of course...he had admitted me to Hogwarts when no other headmaster would have done so, and he had no idea I was breaking the rules he had set down for my own and others' safety. He never knew I had led three fellow students into becoming Animagi illegally. But I always managed to forget my guilty feelings every time we sat down to plan our next month's adventure. And I haven't changed..."

A look of such self-loathing came over his face that Eliana raised a hand to his shoulder comfortingly as he said, "All year, I have been battling with myself, wondering whether I should tell Dumbledore that Sirius was an Animagus. But I didn't do it. Why? Because I was too cowardly. It would have meant admitting that I'd betrayed his trust while I was at school, admitting that I'd led others along with me...and Dumbledore's trust has meant everything to me. He let me into Hogwarts as a boy, and he gave me a job when I have been shunned all my adult life, unable to find paid work because of what I am. And so I convinced myself that Sirius was getting into the school using dark arts he learned from Voldemort, that being an Animagus had nothing to do with it...so, in a way, Snape's been right about me all along."

"Snape?" Amara and Sirius snapped.

It was the first time Sirius had taken his eyes away from the rat.

"What's Snape got to do with it?" Sirius asked harshly.

"He's here, Sirius," Remus said heavily. "He's teaching here as well." Looking at Harry, Ron, and Hermione, he explained, "Professor Snape was at school with us. He fought very hard against my appointment to the Defense Against the Dark Arts job. He had been telling Dumbledore all year that I am not to be trusted. He had his reasons...you see, Sirius here played a trick on him which nearly killed him, a trick which involved me-"

"I'll meet you back in the Common Room!" Amara insisted with a laugh, brushing off Eliana's offers to walk with her to purchase a new quill at the shop a few down from their own. "I'll see you later, Lily."

A rhythmic dripping reached Amara's ears as she began to leave the Three Broomsticks. Drip. Drip. Drip. On and on the drops went, never growing in volume or growing in intensity. She focused on the sound, curious as to where it could possibly be coming from. The more she focused, the more she heard. What began as a simple drip of water soon melded into a light drizzle as she stepped from the building into the rain. Then, came the downpour. Rain pounded around her in a relentless downfall of drops that hit as hard and as fast as bullets.

"It served him right," Sirius snarled, his voice far darker and angrier than any of them had heard it.

Covering her head with her coat, Amara rushed toward the shop before a flash of white-blond hair caught her attention. Slowing to a stop, she slowly approached the corner of the closest store, peering over the edge to see the three figures beyond.