I walked between Sirius and Harry and Hermione as we walked down the passage together. "You know what this means?" Dad asked, looking back at Harry. "Turning Pettigrew in?"
"You're free," Harry replied.
"Yes," he replied with a small smile in my direction. "But I'm also...I don't know if anyone told you, either of you, but Harry, I'm your godfather."
"What?" I gasped. "Wait, you said that earlier. I...I forgot."
"Yeah, I knew that," Harry admitted.
"Well...your parents appointed me your guardian," Dad said. "If anything happened to them..." Dad paused. What was he saying? "I'll understand if you want to live with your aunt and uncle, but, well, think about it. Once my name's cleared, Raven, we would be together again, but Harry, you could live with us too, if you're both okay with that. If you wanted a-a new home."
"What - live with you two?" Harry said, looking between us. I thought it over. Did I want to live with Harry? "Leave the Dursley's?"
"Of course, I thought you wouldn't want to," Dad said quickly. "I understand, I just thought-"
"Are you insane? Of course I want to leave the Dursley's! Have you a house? When can I move in?" Harry exclaimed. Sirius' face was light with happiness, but he looked over to see my unsure face.
"Raven?"
Looking between Harry's hopeful face and Dad's thoughtful one, I replied, "I-" The truth was, I selfishly wanted my father all to myself, but at the same time...I knew what it was like to be raised by someone other than your parents and my guardian had even been a good person. Harry's isn't. Reminded of that fact, I said, "Of course. I'm fine with that."
"Are you sure?" Harry asked. "I've been kind of a jerk to you all year." His expression turning guilty, he added, "I broke your arm."
"I'll get you back," I said, smirking at him. At last, we were out out of the Whomping Willow. It was dark now and the moon was concealed by the clouds above us. We made it a decent way before the clouds parted and I spotted the worse thing I could have. "Remus," I said quietly. He stopped, looking up as he began to shake.
"Oh, my, he didn't take his potion tonight! He's not safe!" Hermione shouted.
Paling, I ordered, "Run, now. All of you, RUN!" Harry tried to lung forward to free Ron, but I hit my arm across his chest, shouting, "GO, RUN! NOW! I'll take care of it!" I trembled as I saw Remus begin to change shape.
"Go, Raven," Dad ordered before changing into his dog form. The dog and werewolf began fight just before Hermione screamed and Pettigrew lunged for Remus' wand. Harry disarmed him, but it was too late. Pettigrew transformed and disappeared.
"Sirius, he's gone!" Harry shouted as Remus disappeared into the forest. "Pettigrew transformed!" Spotting Sirius, I crouched down in front of him, brows furrowed in worry. Long gashed crossed his back and muzzle, blood oozing from each one. Before I could do anything, the dog licked my forehead and ran off after Pettigrew. A little after he had gone, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were talking together, but I was distracted by the yelp of a dog.
Without a second's thought, I ran after Sirius. A wave of dread filled me as I reached the edge of the lake. Dementors were before us. Dad changed back and I fell onto my knees beside him. Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around me as he moaned, "No, no, no please." Hundreds of them were gliding across the lake towards us.
"Hermione, Val, think about something happy!" Harry shouted. "Expecto Patronum!" I was frozen in my tracks, unable to help. Hermione joined in with him and they attempted to drive off all the dementors with little success. A dementor swooped down, right in front of me before it lowered its hood.
"No," I whimpered, clutching onto Dad. "No, please, don't hurt us." Two hands gripped my neck tightly, beginning to choke me before the dementor began to lower its mouth to my face.
"Stop," Sirius whispered shakily. "Don't hurt her. Take me." My vision blurred and began to darken from the edges inward.
"D-Dad," I whispered shakily before my vision fogged over and I collapsed against Sirius, who had just fallen. Everything faded to black.
.....................................
Faint voices broke through the darkness. The first said, "Shocking business, shocking. Miracle none of them died. Never heard the like, by thunder. It was lucky you were there, Snape."
"Thank you, Minister," the oily voice of Snape replied.
"Order of Merlin, Second Class, I'd say," Fudge said. "First Class if I can manage it."
"Thank you very much indeed, Minister," Snape replied.
"Nasty cut you got there," Fudge remarked. "Black's work, I suppose?"
"As a matter of fact, it was Potter, Weasley, and Granger, Minister," Snape admitted.
"No!" Fudge exclaimed.
"Black had bewitched them," Snape lied. "I saw it immediately. A Confundus Charm, to judge their behavior. They seemed to think there was a possibility he was innocent. There weren't responsible for their actions. On the other hand, their interference might have permitted Black to escape. They obviously thought they were going to catch Black single-handed. They've got away with a great deal before now. I'm afraid it's given them a rather high opinion of themselves.
"And of course Potter has always been allowed an extraordinary amount of license by the headmaster. It is my opinion they were all bewitched aside from Miss Black. She was fully aware the entire time."
"Nasty business," Fudge said again. "Roping his own daughter into it." I groaned, attempting to open my eyes and sit up. I moved my wrist, trying to use it to move, but I couldn't. Cold metal bound my wrist to the bed.
"The hell?" I groaned, opening my eyes. Looking around, I saw I was in the far corner of the hospital wing. I had been chained tightly to the bed by my wrist and my ankles. My other arm was bound and a bottle of skele-grow was on the table beside me.
The voice of Madame Pomfrey reached me as she was speaking to Harry. "Potter, it's all right. They've got Black. He's locked away upstairs. The dementors will be performing the Kiss any moment now."
"What?!" I cried, shooting up. I fought against the chains with tears running down my cheeks as I screamed, "NO, DON'T HURT HIM! PLEASE!" Fudge and Snape both entered, glaring at me as I thrashed around wildly, fighting harder than I had every fought in my life. "No, SIRIUS!" I screamed. "SIRIUS! NO! REMUS! SOMEBODY! DAD!" I broke down into sobs as I kept fighting. Fudge flinched as a loud crack left my wrist.
"Calm down, Valerie!" Madame Pomfrey cried, rushing over to me and attempting to do something about my broken wrist.
"NO, DAD!" I screamed. I sobbed, falling down on the bed and beginning to sob into my pillow.
"She'll be taken to Azkaban in the morning," Fudge said, turning to Snape.
"What? She didn't do anything," Harry retorted. I gasped for breath, trying to control myself as I sobbed. The door opened and Professor Dumbledore entered the hospital wing. Harry got to his feet, crying, "Professor Dumbledore, Valerie's innocent! She shouldn't go to Azkaban and Sirius Black-"
"For heaven's sake," Madame Pomfrey cried hysterically. "Is this a hospital wing or not? Headmaster, I must insist-"
"My apologize, Poppy," Dumbledore replied as I curled into myself, crying for my father as I knew our time was up. I would never see him again. "But I need a word with Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, and Miss Black. I have just been talking to Sirius Black-"
"I suppose he's told you the same fairytale he's planted in Potter's mind?" Snape said dryly. "Something about a rat, and Pettigrew being alive-"
"That, indeed is his tale," Dumbledore replied.
"It's not a fairytale," I sobbed. "Dad didn't do it. He didn't do it."
"And does my evidence count for nothing?!" Snape snarled. "Petter Pettigrew was not in the shack, nor did I see any sign of him on the grounds!"
"That's because you were knocked out, Professor!" Hermione retorted. "You didn't arrive in time to hear-"
"Miss Granger, HOLD YOUR TONGUE!" Snape snarled.
"He didn't do it!" I sobbed.
"SILENCE YOURSELF!" Snape roared.
"Severus!" Dumbledore snapped. Turning to Fudge, he said, "I wish to speak to Harry, Hermione, and Valerie alone." Once Snape and Fudge finally left and Madame Pomfrey followed, Dumbledore instantly walked over to my crumpled form. He pulled out his wand and pointed it in turn at the chains, releasing me. He also healed my broken wrist and helped me up and over to Harry and Hermione as he muttered something along the lines of, "Utter stupidity, locking up a child."
Harry wrapped an arm around me and I leaned my head against his shoulder as my sobs became silent. I listened with little interest until Dumbledore said, "What we need is more time."