The sun sets, dropping behind the mountains in the distance. Dani turns around again, her eyes on the sky, see a frenzied spray of crows stain the bloody sky. Slowly, Hermione's hand falls onto Ron's shoulder and her eyes shift down the length of Ron's arm to his hand, where a drop of blood hangs from his finger, drops like a tear...Ron stares at his hand. At the blood running down his finger.
"He bit me..." Ron points out, his eyes shift to see Scabbers streaking away.
"Ron! No!" Dani warns trying to grab him. As Ron pelts after Scabbers, Dani, Harry and Hermione give chase. Ron reaches the summit, disappears over the top. Dani, Hermione and Harry follow.
...............
Dani, Harry and Hermione reach the top of the ridge, they stop, eyes widening when they find Ron is kneeling under the Whomping Willow.
"You do realize what tree this is..." Hermione warns them. Ron nabs Scabbers, cradles him in his bloody palm.
"Now behave yourself." Ron scolds him.
"That's not good," Harry whispers. "Ron! Run!" He yells at his friend. Ron spins and looks toward the three of them.
"Harry! Run!" Harry's eyes shift, bounding toward him in the gathering gloom is an enormous jet black dog. Harry shields himself but the dog leaps over him and runs at Ron. "Aaaahhh!" The dog's teeth snap closed on Ron's foot, dragging him towards the trunk like a rag doll. Instantly, Harry dashes forward, leaps out, and grabs Ron's hands... but he and Ron just keep skidding along the ground.
"I've got you...." Hermione pitches herself onto Harry's feet... and the three of them go scudding along. Dani sighs a little and then throws her head back into a groan.
"Harry!" Harry raises his chin. The dog vanishes into the gap at the base of the tree, begins to pull Ron through.
"Hold on, Ron!" Harry begs.
"Let go, Ron!" Dani corrects. "Let go of the rat!" But it's no use. The dog is too powerful. Harry glances around desperately, then finds himself looking directly in Ron's eyes. He can read his mind.
"No, Ron..." One by one, Ron releases his fingers from Harry's forearm. Sacrificing himself. "Nooooo!!!" But Ron closes his eyes, releases his hands fully, and...disappears. Dani, Harry, and Hermione rise, peer into the hole. Suddenly, the Whomping Willow sweeps first Hermione, then Harry, into the air and drops them on their backsides. Dani rushes forward and prods at a knot present on the bark of the tree. The willow goes back to calm and Harry and Hermione look at Dani who shrugs.
"Vision" She offers.
"You saw this?" Harry asks her.
"Yeah....sort of" She answers. "I told you...Scabbers is important" She then turns and then jumps through the gap in the tree. Harry and Hermione share a look before they follow her.
.......
Harry hits the ground hard and then Hermione falls on top of him. Dani peers down at them and then helps them both up to their feet.
"Thanks," Hermione tells her.
"Don't mention it," Dani assures her softly.
"Lumos." Harry's wand glows to reveal a long, snaking tunnel ahead of them.
"Where do you suppose this goes?" Hermione asks.
"I have a hunch. I just hope I'm wrong..." Harry whispers. Dani, Harry and Hermione make their way through the primitive passageway, ducking the roots that dangle overhead. Then, abruptly, the tunnel... ends. Confused, Dani, Harry and Hermione glance about, then....as one....peer up. A small opening. Harry reaches up, hoists himself through. Harry pulls Hermione up and then Dani. The three of them look about the room. Paper peels from the walls. Stains, suspiciously similar to dried blood, blot the floorboards. Shattered furniture lies strewn everywhere.
"We're in the Shrieking Shack, aren't we?" Hermione asks. Harry doesn't answer, Hermione and Dani share a look, Harry is staring at the dog prints in the dust on the floor. They dash to the stairs. They come out, look down. A wide, shiny stripe cuts through the dust-covered floor, as if something has been dragged, to the end of the hallway, where light seeps from a door.
"Nox." Harry's wand-light dies. Slowly, they step to the door. Exchange a look. She nods, wand ready, and Harry kicks the door aside. Ron sits upon a sagging bed, clutching his bloody foot.
"Ron! You're okay..." Hermione rushes forward.
"The dog...where's the...." Harry asks.
"It's a trap, Harry. He's the dog. He's an Animagus..." Ron warns them. Harry looks down, follows the paw prints on the floor to a pair of filthy human feet. Harry looks up slowly at the man standing in the shadows. Filthy, matted hair hangs to his shoulders. His skin like a corpse. Sirius Black. He studies Harry's face keenly. Harry draws his wand.
"If you want to kill Harry, you'll....you'll... have to kill us, too!" Hermione warns.
"No. Only one will die tonight."
"Then it'll be you!" Harry is quick, aiming his wand at Sirius.
"Harry! No!" Dani snaps and grabs his wand from him.
"Dani!" Harry scolds when she steps between him and Sirius, her own wand pointed at Harry.
"It's not what it looks like" Dani defends, Harry gives her a look back. "Just listen to me..." She pleads. Just then, footsteps sound from outside of the shack, Sirius wheels toward the door, edgy. Harry eyes Sirius, wand hand shaking violently. As Sirius turns back, he stops, regards Harry cautiously. The door crashes open and Remus walks in.
"Professor Lupin!" Ron, Hermione, and Harry all state together, Remus ignores them, eyeing Sirius intensely.
"Looking a bit ragged, aren't we, Sirius? Finally, the skin reflects the madness within.
"You'd know all about the madness within, wouldn't you, Remus?" The two regard each other, the moment taut with tension, then Lupin steps forward and... embraces Sirius like a brother.
"No!" Hermione states. "I trusted you! I covered up for you. And all this time you've been his friend!" Hermione then points at Remus. "He's a werewolf! That's why he's been missing classes!" Harry and Ron stare, dumbfounded, at Remus, Sirius howls then, bitterly amused. Remus eyes him, then turns back and gives Dani a look.
"I didn't say anything" Dani assures him. "I wouldn't, Uncle Moony"
"Uncle?!" Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Sirius state together. Sirius then moves closer to looks at Dani's face.
"Callie is your mother?" Sirius whispers. Dani nods. "You look just like your father though" He touches her white hair and lifts a few strands up to peer at it. "Not sure where this came from" He mumbles thought.
"Sirius" Remus warns and shakes his head. Now is not the time or the place to be discussing family lines. "How long have you known?" Remus asks Hermione.
"Since Professor Snape set the essay."
"You're the brightest witch of your age I've ever met, Hermione."
"Yes, you glow like the sun. And you howl at the moon. Enough talk! He dies. Now. If you won't do it with me, Remus, I'll do it alone."
"Wait, Sirius"
"I did my waiting! Twelve years of it! In Azkaban! Trust me, you wouldn't have lasted a week!" Sirius points out. Remus looks at Sirius and then nods, letting out a small sigh.
"All right then. As you wish..." Remus agrees. Furious, Harry eyes Sirius murderously.
"You betrayed my parents! You sold them to Voldemort!"
"It's a lie! I never would've betrayed James and Lily! Or..." He stops and glances at Dani and then Remus who gives him a look back, telling him to stop talking.
"Harry! You've got to listen..." Dani pleads with him.
"Did he listen! When my mother was dying! Did he hear her screaming!"
"No! I wasn't there! And I'll regret it the rest of my life!" Sirius admits. Harry's eyes flash to Sirius', glittering with pain.
"Someone else betrayed your parents, Harry." Remus states. "Someone in this room right now. Someone who, until quite recently, I believed to be dead."
"He's as good as dead." Sirius threatens.
"What're you talking about? There's nobody here." Harry argues.
"Oh yes there is..." Sirius corrects. Remus sighs and looks at Dani.
"You were right, Dani," He tells her. "I should have listened to you...." She looks at him and frowns. Sirius turns to Ron, and croons in a cruel sing.
"Come out, come out, Peter. Come out, come out and play..." Ron draws back from Black's demented gaze.
"You're mad..." Harry's eyes shift from Ron's face to his hands, where Scabbers twists violently. As a curious expression befalls Harry. Remus and Sirius, as one, raise their wands.
"Expelliarmus!" The wands fly from their hands. The others turn, find Snape standing in the doorway, smiling smugly. "Ah, vengeance is sweet. How I hoped I'd be the one to catch you"
"Severus..." Remus starts.
"I told Dumbledore you were helping your old friend into the castle. And here's the proof." Snape points out.
"Brilliant! And -- as usual...dead wrong. Now give us our wands back. Remus and I have a bit of unfinished business to tend to." As Sirius approaches, Snape puts his wand to Sirius' neck.
"Give me a reason. I beg you." Snape states, ready to snap if need be.
"Don't be a fool, Severus!" Remus pleads with him.
"He can't help it. It's habit by now."
"Quiet, Sirius!" Remus scolds.
"Listen to you two. Quarrelling like an old married couple. The creature and the criminal"
"Piss off," Sirius grumbles.
"Witty as ever I see. Tell me, will you be so irreverent when I turn you over to the Dementors?" Snape asks, Sirius flinches slightly. "Do I detect a flicker of fear? One can only imagine what it must be like to endure the Dementor's Kiss. It's said to be unbearable to witness. But I'll do my best" Snape's eyes harden. He gestures to the door. "After you," Snape tells them. As the others start to go, Dani glances to the wand in her hand, her fingers tightening around her own. In a flash, she has it pointed at Snape.
"Expelliarmus!" Dani casts. Snape soars into the air, hits the wall with a thud, and slides down. Ron and Hermione stare in shock.
"Dani. You attacked a teacher." Hermione tells her. Dani looks a bit shocked herself. Harry then turns to Black.
"You said Peter before. Peter who?" Harry asks.
"Pettigrew. He was at school with us. We thought he was a friend"
"No. Pettigrew's dead. He killed him." As Harry points at Sirius, Sirius laughs mirthlessly.
"I thought so, too. Until you mentioned seeing Pettigrew on the Map" Remus admits.
"The Map was lying then..." Harry argues.
"Even if I thought it was...Dani came to me" Remus looks back at her. "She explained her dream...she figured it out after Sirius was in your dorm..." Dani offers Harry a small smile. "I...didn't believe her at first" Remus admits. "I'm sorry" He whispers to Dani who glances at him.
"Pettigrew's alive. And he's right there." Sirius continues, he points at... Ron. Ron goes white with fear.
"M-me? It's lunatic..."
"Your rat" Dani offers softer. "Ron, your rat" He looks at her.
"Scabbers?" He asks her, she nods. "Scabbers has been in my family for..."
"Twelve years." Sirius finishes for him. "A curiously long life for a common garden rat. He's missing a toe, isn't he?" Sirius unfolds a dog-eared clipping from The Daily Prophet: it shows Ron in Egypt with his family, Scabbers on his shoulder.
"So what?"
"All they could find of Pettigrew was his...." Harry starts when he starts to believe this.
"Finger" Sirius agrees "Dirty coward cut it off so everyone would think he was dead. Then he transformed into a rat." Harry stares into Sirius' sunken eyes. Wanting to believe. Desperate to believe. Glances at Ron, his agonized face. Scabbers squirm violently.
"Show me" Harry demands. Remus and Sirius turn to Ron. He holds Scabbers protectively.
"What are you going to do to him?" Sirius and Remus exchange a glance.
"Together." With that, Remus takes out his wand and, as one, he and Sirius cast a stream of blue-white light. Scabbers twists madly in midair, then transforms into... a very short man with thinning hair and grubby hands. Peter Pettigrew.
"S-Sirius... R-Remus. My old friends." Neither speaks. Pettigrew's small, watery eyes dart toward the windows and door. Suddenly, he makes a break for it, but Sirius merely shoves him back. Pettigrew's nose twitches, his gaze finding Harry. His hands flutter nervously, reveal a missing finger. "Harry! Look at you! Y-you look just like your father." Peter then looks at Dani. "And you...Daenerys and your brother....you both look just like your father too" Remus appears panicked. "Like James and Edward" Remus' face crumples. Dani moves forward, her wand held out at Peter. She knows that James was Harry's father, that makes sense, because she knows that to be true. But Edward is not her father. He is wrong. He is mistaken.
"My father is Apollo" She corrects him. "Apollo Scamander....You are wrong"
"No" Peter whispers "No...Edward...Potter is your father" Dani takes a sharp breath as Harry does. "We were the best of friends, them and I..."
"Shut up!" Sirius snaps.
"I didn't mean to! The Dark Lord, you have no idea the weapons he possesses! Ask yourself what you would have done, Sirius. What would you have done!"
"Died! Died rather than betray my friends! And you should have realized, Peter, if Voldemort didn't kill you..."
"We would," Remus adds as he places a hand on Dani's shoulder, she shakes it off though.
"No... please... you can't..." Peter pleads, his eyes darting to Ron. "Ron! Haven't I been a good friend? A good pet? You won't let them kill me, will you? I was your rat..." Ron draws back in disgust. Peter turns to Hermione. "Sweet girl. Clever girl. Surely you won't let them..." As one, Remus and Black raise their wands, point them directly into Pettigrew's face. He shrinks back trembling, closing his eyes in fear, when.
"No." Harry stops them. Peter's eyes open. Remus and Sirius turn to Harry.
"Harry, this man..."
"I know what he is. But we'll take him to the castle." Harry interrupts.
"Bless you, boy! Bless you..."
"Get off!" Harry shoves at him when Peter paws at him. "I said we'd take you to the castle. After that, the Dementors can have you."