— "NICOLE, DEAR. LET THEM EXPLA—"
"For Merlin's sake, dad!" It was Aurora who screamed. "What are you doing here?"
"Have you been helping him too?" Nicole asked, her eyes darting between Sirus and her father. She couldn't comprehend the absurdity of the situation, why was her father, who knew very well she was friends with Harry, trying to help a murderer kill him?
"I have not been helping Sirius," said her father. "And frankly, I've only been here since this morning. If you'll give Remus a chance, he'll explain."
"Look—" Lupin started, separating Harry's, Nicole's, Ron's and Hermione's wands and threw each back to its owner.
"There," said Lupin, sticking his own wand back into his belt "You're armed, we're not. Now will you listen?"
"If you haven't been helping him," he said, with a furious glance at Black, "how did you know he was here?"
"The map," said Lupin. "The Marauder's Map. I was in my office examining it —"
"You know how to work it?" Nicole said suspiciously.
"Of course I know how to work it," said Lupin, waving his hand impatiently. "I helped write it. I'm Moony — that was my friends' nickname for me at school. Your dad is Crowsfeet."
Nicole looked at her dad in shock, while Aurora had no idea what they were talking about.
The younger twin rose a hand and pointed it at her father. "You wrote —?"
"The important thing is, I was watching it carefully this evening, because I had an idea that you, Ron, Nicole and Hermione might try and sneak out of the castle to visit Hagrid before his Hippogriff was executed. To my surprise, Aurora was there too. And I was right, wasn't I?"
They nodded furiously.
"But here's the thing, you were accompanied by someone else."
"Yeah!" Nicole exclaimed, pointing at Sirus. "Him!"
"Sirus came after, it wasn't him." Lupin stated. "But it was somebody who, until quite recently, I believed to be dead!"
"Who was it, then?"
They were only met with silence. Aurora was still staring at her father in disbelief.
"Do you think I could have a look at the rat?" he said evenly.
"What?" said Ron. "What's Scabbers got to do with it?"
"Everything," said Lupin. "Could I see him, please?"
Ron hesitated, then put a hand inside his robes. Scabbers emerged, thrashing desperately; Ron had to seize his long bald tail to stop him escaping.
"What?" Ron said again, holding Scabbers close to him, looking scared. "What's my rat got to do with anything?"
"That's not a rat," croaked Sirius Black suddenly.
"What d'you mean — of course he's a rat —"
"No, he's not," said Lupin quietly. "He's a wizard."
"An Animagus," said Black, "by the name of Peter Pettigrew."
"You're mental!" Nicole exclaimed, placing an arm around Ron and Scabbers once again.
"Ridiculous!" said Hermione faintly.
"Peter Pettigrew's dead!" said Harry, pointing at Sirus. "He killed him twelve years ago!"
"I meant to!" Sirus growled. "but little Peter got the better of me... not this time, though—" the man lunged forward and tried to grab Scabbers from Ron, but Nicole kicked his face away before he could do anything.
"She's just like you, Atlas." Sirus giggled, but Nicole just held her wand threateningly at him.
"Nicole put the wand down—"
"NO!"
Sirus was about to reach for Scabbers again, and as Nicole was about to kick him one more time Lupin pulled him away.
"Sirius, NO!" Lupin yelled, launching himself forwards and dragging Black away from Ron again, "WAIT! You can't do it just like that — they need to understand — we've got to explain. They've got a right to know everything!" Lupin panted, still trying to restrain Black.
"Ron's kept him as a pet! There are parts of it even I don't understand, and Harry — you owe Harry the truth, Sirius! And so does Nicole and Aurora, they don't know anything about their father!"
"Fine!" Sirus yelled. "But make it quick, Remus!"
"I will." Lupin hissed, before looking at Harry.
"I as a very small boy when I received the bite. My parents tried everything, but in those days there was no cure. The potion that Professor Snape has been making for me is a very recent discovery. It makes me safe, you see. As long as I take it in the week, preceding the full moon, I keep my mind when I transform... I'm able to curl up in my office, a harmless wolf, and wait for the moon to wane again."
"No other schools were willing to accept me as a kid. But then Dumbledore became Headmaster, and he was sympathetic. He said that as long as we took certain precautions, there was no reason I shouldn't come to school..." Lupin sighed, and looked directly at Harry. "I told you, months ago, that the Whomping Willow was planted the year I came to Hogwarts. The truth is that it was planted because I came to Hogwarts. This house" — Lupin looked miserably around the room, — "the tunnel that leads to it — they were built for my use. Once a month, I was smuggled out of the castle, into this place, to transform. The tree was placed at the tunnel mouth to stop anyone coming across me while I was dangerous."
Nicole didn't know what point he was getting to.
"But apart from my transformations, I was happier than I had ever been in my life. For the first time ever, I had friends, four great friends. Sirius Black... Peter Pettigrew... and, of course, your father, Harry — James Potter. And your father, Nicole and Aurora— Atlas Hwang."
Their father smiled cheekily.
"When they found out.. I thought they would dessert me. Instead, they did something for me that would make my transformations not only bearable, but the best times of my life. They became Animagi."
"That's why you became a crow?" Nicole asked her father.
"Yes, Nic." he paused. "But I'm not a crow, I'm a raven."
"Every month my friends would come into the shack with me and watch me transform—"
"But that's dangerous!" Aurora exclaimed. "You weren't of age!"
"A thought that still haunts me," said Lupin heavily. "And there were near misses, many of them. We laughed about them afterwards. We were young, thoughtless — carried away with our own cleverness. That's why we created the Marauders map, that's until Snape found out about us."
"Snape?" said Black harshly, taking his eyes off Scabbers; for the first time in minutes and looking up at Lupin. "What's Snape got to do with it?"
"He's here, Sirius," said Lupin heavily. "He's teaching here as well." He looked up at the students, who all looked equally horrified.
"Your mother, she was friends with Snape." Sirus pointed to Nicole and Aurora. "Always beside him.. plotting.."
"Hey, that's my wife your talking about!" Atlas exclaimed, while the twins only looked at their father in surprise. Their mother... and Professor Snape? Friends? How?
"You see," Lupin interrupted Sirus and Atlas' bickering, and continued to talk about what went on to the students.
"Atlas and Sirius here played a trick on him which nearly killed him, a trick which involved me —"
Atlas snorted.
"It served him right," Sirus sneered. "Sneaking around, trying to find out what we were up to... hoping he could get us expelled..."
"Severus was very interested in where I went every month." Lupin told them. "We were in the same year, you know, and we — er — didn't like each other very much."
Nicole wanted to laugh, but stopped.
"He especially disliked James and Atlas." Lupin explained. "Jealous, I think, of their talent on the Quidditch field... anyway Snape had seen me crossing the grounds with Madam Pomfrey one evening as she led me toward the Whomping Willow to transform. Sirius and Atlas thought it would be — er — amusing, to tell Snape all he had to do was prod the knot on the tree trunk with a long stick, and he'd be able to get in after me."
Nicole looked at her father in amusement while Aurora glared at him.
"Well, of course, Snape tried it — if he'd got as far as this house, he'd have met a fully grown werewolf — but your father, who'd heard what Sirius and Atlas had done, went after Snape and pulled him back, at great risk to his life... Snape glimpsed me, though, at the end of the tunnel. He was forbidden by Dumbledore to tell anybody, but from that time on he knew what I was..."
"Expelliarmus!" Snape stood in the doorway, his wand pointed at Black. "Vengeance is sweet. How I hoped I'd be the one to catch you."
Lupin stepped forward infront of Sirus protectively. "Severus—"
Snape pointed his wand at him. "I told Dumbledore you were helping a friend into the castle. Here's the proof."
He then looked at Atlas, and a smirk started to grow on his face. "Look, you're here too."
"Brilliant, Snape, once again, you've put your keen mind to the task and, as usual, come to the wrong conclusion. If you'll excuse us, Remus and I have some unfinished business to attend to."
As he said this, Snape pointed his wand at Black's neck.
"Give me a reason." he threatened. "I beg you."
"Severus don't be a fool." Atlas said in a calm voice.
"He can't help it. It's habit." Sirus said quickly with a laugh.
"Sirius be quiet." Lupin said frantically, wanting to avoid any more misunderstandings between them all.
"Be quiet yourself Remus!" Sirus yelled at Remus, which made the man shrug and walk away.
"Oh listen to you two, quarreling like an old married couple." Snape sneered.
"Severus, just shut up for once and listen." Atlas snapped, pointing his wand at the teacher. Severus wasn't fazed, which made Black annoyed. "Why don't you run along and play with your chemistry set!"
Snape dug his wand further into his neck. "I could do it, you know. But why deny the dementors? They're so longing to see you. Do I detect a flicker of fear? Oh, yes. A Dementor's Kiss. One can only imagine what that must be like." Snape stepped towards Black, and the man took a few steps back. "It's said to be nearly unbearable to witness, but I'll do my best."
Nicole looked at Harry who pulled out his wand. Nicole nodded; It was as if she knew what he was about to do.
"Severus, please." Lupin tried again.
Snape pointed towards the door. "After you."
"Expelliarmus!" Harry exclaimed. Snape went flying backwards to the other side of the room. Nicole shot him a grin, while Aurora looked at her teacher in shock.
"Harry! What did you just do?"
"You attacked a teacher!"
"Tell me about Peter." Harry said, ignoring them.
"He was at school with us. We thought he was our friend!" Atlas exclaimed.
"No. Pettigrew's dead. You killed him!" Harry pointed at Sirus once again.
"No, he didn't!" Lupin exclaimed, now annoyed. "I thought so too, until you mentioned seeing Pettigrew on the map! That's why I called Atlas over to see if there was any mistakes in the map!"
"The map was lying, then." Harry was stubborn.
"The map never lies! Pettigrew's alive! And he's right there!"
Everyone looked towards where Ron was.
"Scabbers has been in my family for..."
"Twelve years?" Sirus questioned. "Curiously long life for a common garden rat! He's missing a toe, isn't he?"
"So what?" Ron screamed back.
Aurora, who had been so silent the whole time that they almost forgot about her being in there spoke up. "All they could find of Pettigrew was his..."
"Finger!" Sirus hissed. "That dirty coward cut it off so everyone would think he was dead! And then he transformed into a rat!"
The rat started to squeak in Ron's hands.
"Show me." Harry said firmly, before looking at his friend. "Give it to him, Ron."
Atlas grabbed the rat from Ron's hands, but Ron, who was still not believing anything, tried to stop him. "What are you trying to do to him?" he exclaimed. "Scabbers!"
"Ron, just let them do it!" Nicole exclaimed, pushing him back. "And stop standing up, you'll hurt your leg more!"
"Leave him alone! Get off him! What are you doing?"
Atlas placed him on the piano, and the rat immediately took of running. Then three shots came towards the rat, but the rat was faster. Then, Lupin shot one that finally hit it.
Suddenly, Scabbers wasn't Scabbers anymore.
A man was halfway through the wall trying to escape.
The three men pulled him out and forced him on his feet. Aurora stared at the sight in awe, and had to admit that Peter's plan was really something else. However, she was still confused about this whole situation and the fact that her father was punching the small man wasn't helping her already frantic brain.
"Remus?" Peter asked once he recovered from Atlas punching him. "Sirius. Atlas! My old friends!"
Atlas punched him again, this time so strong that he fell down to his feet.
Peter looked around frantically and landed infront of Nicole. His eyes brightened, as if he thought that she was going to do something about him. "Nicole! You're such a brilliant witch, yes. Just like you moth—"
Nicole didn't let him finish, as she kicked him in the face. Atlas pushed over Sirus and stood infront of Nicole, dragging Aurora behind him too in fear that Peter would try to do something to them.
Peter's nose was now bleeding. He then went towards and looked at Harry frantically. "Harry! Look at you!" he exclaimed. "You look so much like your father! Like James! We were the best of friends..."
"How dare you speak to Harry!" Sirus Demanded. "How dare you talk about James in front of him!"
Just like the coward he was, Peter ran away. Atlas then blocked him, punching him on the face once again which made him fall to the ground.
"You sold James and Lily to Voldemort, didn't you?" Lupin demanded, pointing his wand at him.
"I didn't mean to! The Dark Lord. You have no idea the weapons he possesses!" Peter exclaimed. "Ask yourself, Sirius! What would you have done? What would you have done?"
"I would have died!" Sirus exclaimed while Peter started to hide and run towards the door, which Harry blocked over. "I would have died, rather than betray my friends!"
Peter then held Harry's shoulders. "Harry, James wouldn't have wanted me killed!
Your dad... Your dad would have spared me! He would show me mercy!"
"Get off him, you freak!" Nicole exclaimed, shoving the man (who was very much bigger than her) away. Atlas and Lupin grabbed him, and pointed their wands at his face. "You should've realized, Peter, that if Voldemort didn't kill you, then we would! Together!"
"No!" Harry exclaimed, making the three men stop in their tracks.
"Harry, this man—" Atlas started, now annoyed. He wanted to do at the moment was to kill Peter.
"I know what he is." Harry cut him off. "But we'll take him to the castle."
"Bless you, boy! Bless you!" Peter exclaimed, now on his knees. He was about to touch Harry's feet but the boy kicked him away.
"Get off! I said we'd take you to the castle. After that, the dementors can have you."