Astra

XXXIV - The Explanation

Lupin caught them all deftly, then moved into the room, staring at Sirius. Astra wanted to make a move, but then only smiled broadly when Lupin asked, in a very tense voice, "Where is he, Sirius?"

"Hey, you figured it out! Well, Professor Lupin, we were just doing introductions, so if you don't mind it would make things a lot easier if we just continued... Moony," she added with a smirk. 

Lupin turned around and looked at Astra as if she had just grown two heads. "H-how did you -?"

Astra waved him off, "I know a lot of things, don't worry about it. Do you know any healing spells, though, Dad accidentally," she shot a quick glare at her father, "broke Ron's leg."

Lupin nodded, taking a look at Ron, and moved, but not before he embraced Sirius like a lost brother.

This bewildered both Harry and Ron even more. Why were Hermione, Luna, and Astra acting so nicely around Sirius? Why was Lupin hugging the murderer? Who were they trying to kill?

"I  CAN'T BELIEVE IT!" yelled Ron. Harry couldn't move.

"As I was saying, introductions?" Astra said in a sweet tone.

"Ok, so now, Dad, this is Hermione Granger, who I also told you about." She nodded towards Hermione, who to Harry and Ron's greatest shock, stepped forward and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Sirius. I-um am sorry about how you were falsely accused and -uh- hope that you'll be cleared soon."

"Hermione," Ron gasped.

Hermione turned to Ron and said, "Ron, Astra explained everything to me a while back, and Sirius is innocent. Their story makes sense, so you should listen to what they say."

Ron and Harry both gaped at her, clearly thinking she had gone insane. However, Astra continued on. "And then, of course, you have Harry and Ron, who you obviously know. Now, maybe we can start to explain what brought us all here and why we want to capture Ron's rat."

"Wait, this is all because of my-my rat?" Ron asked, glancing between everyone in the room.

"Yes," said both Sirius and Astra at the same time.

Harry, at first, was filled with anger at Sirius, but looking at Astra, backed up by Hermione and Luna, and Professor Lupin by Sirius's side, all going for Ron's rat instead of him, he could only think there must have been something he was missing.

"So, how about we begin. Dad has been staying here in the Shrieking Shack since Halloween, where I've been visiting him on Hogsmeade weekends, you know making sure he doesn't starve and so on -"

"The dog," Ron said breathlessly, shocked that he was that close to a so-called mass-murderer.

Astra chuckled. "Yeah, that was my dad. Anyway, he broke into Gryffindor tower twice while being very careless," she glared at her father once again, "trying to get to Peter."

"Who's Peter?" asked Ron sharply. Harry was thinking the same thing, but couldn't take his eyes off Astra, still wondering what in Merlin's name was going on.

"Scabbers, also known as Peter, also known as Pettigrew, also known as Wormtail."

At this, Harry seemed to return to reality, asking, "Wormtail? As in the Marauder's Map?"

"Yes, perhaps the Marauders would like to explain it," she held out her hand to where Lupin and Sirius were standing.

"The Marauders? You're the Marauders?"

"Yes, I was Padfoot. Remus was Moony and Pettigrew was Wormtail," he said shooting a glare at the rat. "Your father, James Potter, was Prongs."

"You knew?" Harry faced Astra.