A Woman Of Ice

LXXXVII- The Godfather

This is quite the spectacle, Diana thought.
  "You sold James and Lily out to Voldemort, didn't you?!" Lupin shouted, pointing a wand at him.
  "I didn't mean to!" Peter Pettigrew sobbed, losing control at the mention of the name. "The Dark Lord.... you have no idea the weapons he possesses.... Sirius! What would you have done? What would you have done?!"
  "I would have died!" Sirius cried. "I would have died rather than betray my friends!"

Diana stared in disbelief, frozen by her surprise and awe. Did Sirius Black, her hated, sadist and convicted murderer of a father just say something good? Moral?

  "Should we interfere now?" Luke asked in a soft tone.
  Diana shook her head. "I don't think so. Let's just see where this goes, I guess."

Harry was now just outside the door, and Pettigrew reached out for him. Diana was now almost certain that Pettigrew was the one who truly deserved to be condemned before the entire wizarding world. Sirius Black was only a man hardened and twisted by betrayal, loss, humiliation, prison, and vengeance. Or so he had seemed to be.
  "Harry! James wouldn't have wanted me killed! Your dad.... your dad would have spared me," Peter whispered into Harry's ear as Remus Lupin and Sirius Black literally pried him off of the boy. "He would have shown me mercy!"
  "You should've realized, Peter, that if Voldemort didn't kill you, then we would! Together!" Sirius yelled.
  "No!" Harry protested, as everyone in the room turned to him.
  "Harry.... This man...." Lupin started.
  "I know what he is," Harry said calmly.

Diana glanced over at him with a nod of approval, walking toward him and pulling him aside for a quick moment.
  "Harry, I know exactly what you're going to say, alright? Now.... my job was always to protect you, and it still is. I play hardball so that you don't have to. Just let me take this one, little brother. Alright?" Diana asked calmly, hand on his shoulder.
  Harry nodded silently. "Yeah. Yeah, Diana. I think that'd be best."

Diana nodded, turning to Peter Pettigrew with a completely different facial expression and demeanor. She was stone cold.

  "We know exactly who you are, Peter, so stop trying to hide it. We all agree on one thing, I'm guessing; you don't deserve to die."

Pettigrew ignored the other men's disbelief as he fell in front of Diana Black's feet as if he were a dog or a slave. It was absolutely disgusting.
  "Oh, thank you! Thank you, girl. Bless you, child!" he cried in relief.
  "Uh-uh. Not so fast," Diana murmured, shaking her head, and then leaning in closely.

"You don't deserve to die at all; you, my friend, deserve worse. Far worse. The worst that there is. That's why we'll be taking you back to the castle, where we'll be turning you over to the Dementors of Azkaban, and you'll be awaiting one of those famous Dementors' Kisses," Diana grinned softly.

  "My friend and colleague, Severus Snape, was definitely right about one thing; revenge is sweet. In fact, I'd say it's kind of a dish best served cold."

"Now let's go."
  "Merlin's beard, I already know that that is definitely my daughter," Sirius chuckled pridefully.
  Diana glanced over. "Like father, like daughter."

****

They all headed out of the Shrieking Shack and through the tunnels, quite an odd-looking group.
  "Sorry about that bite. I reckon that twinges a bit," Sirius Black apologized to Ron as he helped him walk with both of their limps.
  "'A bit.' 'A bit'?!" Ron cried angrily. "You almost tore my leg off!"
  "I was going for the rat," Sirius explained. "Normally, I have a very sweet disposition as a dog. In fact, once, James suggested that I make the change permanent. The tail, I could live with. But the fleas.... they're murder!"

Diana and Luke were both baffled by this incredibly strange and ironic little scene.
  "Anything you want to talk about?" Luke asked caringly.
  Diana shook her head. "No, I'm fine."

****

As the night went on, they had all headed out of the Shrieking Shack and had stopped to rest for a moment by a large tree, where the entrance of the Hogwarts castle could be seen. In the meantime, Luke Castellan sent a signal and message to Hagrid, in order for him to let everyone know what had just happened. Diana Black was currently checking on her brother Harry.
"I'm alright for now. Really," he assured Diana softly.
She nodded. "Let me know if you need something. I'll help Hermione out with Ron."

Sirius Black had separated himself from the group, probably for the best, heading out over to the edge of the hill.
"Go talk to him, he's.... well, I don't actually f**king know, godfather, I guess, and he knew your parents," Diana told him as she sat with the injured Ron as he complained.
"But he's your father, you should be able to clear things up," Harry argued.
Diana smiled. "Harry.... it's a little too late for me to have a parent, but not for you. Go on, go and talk to him."
Harry nodded with a sad yet grateful smile, placing a hand on his sister's shoulder. "Thank you. But Diana.... it's never too late."

With that, Harry Potter walked toward his redeemed godfather, and as far as Diana could see, they had a nice and fairly lengthy conversation. It seemed to end well, and Harry and his new godfather patted each other on the shoulder and shared an embrace, just like the one that Sirius and Lupin had shared. An embrace only shared with family.