Together (A Harry Potter love story) 3

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Dad grinned. "Always been a legend, Minnie-"

"Jake," Lupin hissed, gesturing to me.

"Oh, right - please continue, Millie."

"-I told the dog how you hate Snape-" I nodded at Dad, who snorted, "-I told him how I hate Sirius Black...oh, and I told him my name was Millie Donovan."

Dad let out a strange sound which sounded like a mix between a sigh and a groan. He and Lupin were looking each other, communicating through facial expressions - both looked equally worried.

-I scoffed, shaking my head disbelievingly.

"What?" Harry said desperately, glancing between Ron and I. "What is it!"

"He's a dog," I said slowly, beginning to turn around. "He's an Animagus..."

"Who?"

An electric feeling of anger surged through me as I whispered, "Sirius Black."

With a snap, the man in the shadows closed the door behind us.

A mass of filthy, matted hair hung to his elbows. If eyes hadn't been shining out of the deep, dark sockets, he might have been a corpse. The waxy skin was stretched so tightly over the bones of his face, it looked like a skull. His yellow teeth were bared in a grin.

Oh, Snuffles.

"Expelliarmus!" he croaked, pointing Ron's wand at us.

All three of our wands shot out of our hands, high in the air, and Black caught them. Then he took a step closer. His eyes were fixed on Harry.

"I thought you'd come and help your friend," he said hoarsely. His voice sounded as though he had long ago lost the habit of using it. "Your father would have done the same for me. Brave of you, not to run for a teacher. I'm grateful...it will make everything much easier..."

Next moment, Harry had started forwards but Ron lept forward and grabbed him, holding him back. But Harry continued struggling, his jaw clenched in pure anger. Despite the boiling hate for Black erupting in my chest, I, too, grasped the back of Harry's school shirt and pulled him back.

"Don't, Harry," I whispered, trying to keep my voice steady. "Please..."

His gaze softened and he allowed his body to relax as he stared at me. I nodded awkwardly, tightening my grip on his shirt but stepping away from him. Ron, however, spoke to Black.

"If you want to kill Harry, you'll have to kill me, too!" he said fiercely, though the effort of standing up had drained him of still more colour, and he swayed slightly as he spoke.

Without a moment of hesitation, I stepped forward, saying, "Me too."

Black's shadowed eyes flicked to me, and I forced myself to stare right back into them. Something flickered on his face as he watched me, before he looked back at Ron and said quietly, "Lie down. You will damage that leg even more."

"Did you hear us?" said Ron weakly, though he was clinging painfully to Harry to stay upright. "You'll have to kill us!"

But Black's grin only widened. "There'll only be one murder here tonight."

"Why's that?" Harry spat, grabbing my wrist and freeing himself from my grip. "Didn't care last time, did you? Didn't mind killing all those Muggles to get at Pettigrew. What's the matter, Black? Gone soft in Azkaban?"