***
PERTTIGREW HAD FALLEN TO his knees as though Grace's and Harry's nod had been his own death sentence. He shuffled forward on his knees, groveling, his hands clasped in front of him as though praying.
"Sirius — it's me. . .it's Peter. . .your friend. . .you wouldn't —"
Black kicked out and Pettigrew recoiled.
"There's enough filth on my robes without you touching them," said Black.
"Remus!" Pettigrew squeaked, turning to Lupin instead, writhing imploringly in front of him. "You don't believe this — wouldn't Sirius have told you they'd changed the plan?"
"Not if he thought I was the spy, Peter," said Lupin. "I assume that's why you didn't tell me, Sirius?" he said casually over Pettigrew's head.
"Forgive me, Remus," said Black.
"Not at all, Padfoot, old friend," said Lupin, who was now rolling up his sleeves. "And will you, in turn, forgive me for believing you were the spy?"
"Of course," said Black, and the ghost of a grin flitted across his gaunt face. He, too, began rolling up his sleeves. "Shall we kill him together?"
"Yes, I think so," said Lupin grimly.
"You wouldn't. . .you won't. . ." gasped Pettigrew. And he scrambled around to Ron. "Ron. . . haven't I been a good friend. . .a good pet? You won't let them kill me, Ron, will you. . .you're on my side, aren't you?"
But Ron was staring at Pettigrew with the utmost revulsion.
"I let you sleep in my bed!" he said.
"Kind boy. . . kind master. . ." Pettigrew crawled toward Ron "You won't let them do it. . . I was your rat. . . I was a good pet..."
"If you made a better rat than a human, it's not much to boast about, Peter," said Black harshly.
Ron, going still paler with pain, wrenched his broken leg out of Pettigrew's reach. Pettigrew turned on his knees, staggered forward, and seized the hem of Hermione's robes.
"Sweet girl. . .clever girl. . . you — you won't let them. . . help me. . ."
Hermione pulled her robes out of Pettigrew's clutching hands and backed away against the wall, looking horrified.
Pettigrew knelt, trembling uncontrollably, and turned his head slowly toward Harry and Grace.
"Grace. . .dear girl. . .help me. . .you're mother surely have helped me." He turned to Harry. "Harry. . . Harry. . . you look just like your father. . . just like him. . ."
"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO GRACE AND HARRY?" roared Black. "HOW DARE YOU FACE THEM? HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT JAMES AND TATIANA IN FRONT OF THEM?"
"Harry, Grace," whispered Pettigrew, shuffling toward him, hands outstretched. "James wouldn't have wanted me killed. . .and Tatiana would have understood, Grace. . . she would have shown me mercy. . ."
"My mother is Molly Weasley," shouted Grace. "not someone named Tatiana!"
For a moment both Lupin and Black froze and stared at her. And Grace could've sworn there was pain in Sirius's eyes.
Then both Black and Lupin strode forward, seized Pettigrew's shoulders, and threw him backward onto the floor. He sat there, twitching with terror, staring up at them.
"You sold Lily and James to Voldemort," said Black, who was shaking too. "Do you deny it?"
Pettigrew burst into tears. It was horrible to watch, like an oversized, balding baby, cowering on the floor.
"Sirius, Sirius, what could I have done? The Dark Lord. . . you have no idea. . . he has weapons you can't imagine. . . I was scared, Sirius, I was never brave like you and Remus and James. I never meant it to happen. . . He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named forced me —"
"DON'T LIE!" bellowed Black. "YOU'D BEEN PASSING INFORMATION TO HIM FOR A YEAR BEFORE LILY AND JAMES DIED! YOU WERE HIS SPY!"
"He — he was taking over everywhere!" gasped Pettigrew. "Wh-what was there to be gained by refusing him?"
"What was there to be gained by fighting the most evil wizard who has ever existed?" said Black, with a terrible fury in his face. "Only innocent lives, Peter!"
"You don't understand!" whined Pettigrew. "He would have killed me, Sirius!"
"THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED!" roared Black. "DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!"
Black and Lupin stood shoulder to shoulder, wands raised.
"You should have realized," said Lupin quietly, "if Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. Goodbye, Peter."
Hermione covered her face with her hands and turned to the wall.
"NO!" Harry yelled. He ran forward, placing himself in front Pettigrew, facing the wands. "You can't kill him," he said breathlessly. "You can't."
Black and Lupin both looked staggered.
"Harry, this piece of vermin is the reason you have no parents," Black snarled. "This cringing bit of filth would have seen you die too, without turning a hair. You heard him. His own stinking skin meant more to him than your whole family."
"I know," Harry panted. "We'll take him up to the castle. We'll hand him over to the Dementors. . . He can go to Azkaban. . .but don't kill him."
"Harry!" gasped Pettigrew, and he flung his arms around Harry's knees. "You — thank you — it's more than I deserve — thank you —"
"Get off me," Harry spat, throwing Pettigrew's hands off him in disgust. "I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it because — I don't reckon my dad would've wanted his two best friends to become killers — just for you."
No one moved or made a sound except Pettigrew, whose breath was coming in wheezes as he clutched his chest. Black and Lupin were looking at each other. Then, with one movement, they lowered their wands.
"You're the only person who has the right to decide, Harry," said Black. "But think. . .think what he did. . ."
"He can go to Azkaban," Harry repeated. "If anyone deserves that place, he does..."
Pettigrew was still wheezing behind him.
"Yeah," said Grace looking at Black. "And we need him to prove your innocence."
"Very well," said Lupin. "Stand aside, Harry."
"Wait," said Grace.
Everyone looked at her, but she was only staring at Lupin and Black. "You both told me you'd give me answers. What connections do I have with Sirius Black?"
Both Lupin and Sirius stared at her.
"Listen, Grace, I don't think —"
"And don't lie to me." said Grace sharply. "Don't say that it's not the right time, or whatever. Because nobody ever give me answers, everyone says you'll know when the time comes. But I want answers. Now."
"You won't be able to handle the truth." said Lupin.
"That's my problem." said Grace. "Not yours. Last year Voldemort said Dumbledore had kept me ignorant all these time. When I asked Dumbledore, he said when right time comes, I'll know. This year, my parents were suspiciously over protective of me just because Sirius Black had escaped from Azkaban, which had absolutely nothing to do with me, or I thought so. When you, Professor Lupin, first saw me, for a moment you were shocked, like you couldn't believe your eyes. So tell me, what do I not know?"
Grace was breathing heavily by the end of it. She could feel Hermione, Ron and Harry's gaze on her, but continued staring at Lupin and Black. They both looked at each other, before turning to her.
"You remember when Sirius said, that — that his daughter is alive?" said Lupin slowly.
"Yes." Grace nodded not sure where this was going.
"Everyone thought that she died along with James and Lily," Lupin continued. "But the truth was that she wasn't there with them. She was somewhere safe."
"What has this do with me?" said Grace irritated.
"This had everything to do with you, Grace." said Black breathing heavily. "you are my daughter. Your name isn't Graciana Weasley, it's Freya Black."
Grace heard Hermione's sharp intake of breath, but she just stared at Sirius. It took her a few seconds for the absurdity of this statement to sink in. Then Ron voiced what Grace was thinking.
"She is not your daughter!" said Ron. "She is my twin sister! Graciana Weasley!"
"It's what you think." said Sirius. "And everyone. But that's not the truth."
"That's not possible." Grace cut him off. "How can I be your daughter? My parents are Molly and Arthur Weasley, not you. I even have red hair. I think you got the wrong person."
"I didn't got the wrong person." said Sirius softly. "You are my daughter. And Arthur and Molly Weasley know that too. After Lily and James died, I begged Dumbledore to protect you. Even though he thought I was a murderer, he did help me in protecting you. He asked Molly and Arthur Weasley to take you in their family seeing you too had got red hair, so you would fit among them perfectly. Dumbledore encouraged the rumors about your death and the Weasley family introduced you to the world as Ron's twin sister."
"And am I — am I supposed to believe this?" Her voice was calm as she spoke, even though she was in turmoil from inside.
"I'm telling the truth, Grace." there was desperation in Sirius's voice. "Haven't you noticed that your hair is of darker shade of red than the rest of Weasleys? You inherited your red hair from your mother, Tatiana. You don't even look anything like them. You think Ron's your twin, but except your red hair, there's nothing similar between you."
"You look very much like Sirius, Grace." said Lupin quietly. "If you don't believe us, just ask your parents, they'll tell you."
Grace didn't say anything as many thoughts were running in her brain at the same time. It was true she didn't look anything like her family, she didn't fail to notice that as she grew up, but never pondered on that. But even then how can she be Sirius Black's daughter? That would be ridiculous. How can the people she thought were her parents, not be her parents? How can in just one moment, everything she ever knew or believed, turned into a lie?
How can her whole life be a lie?
"Azkaban's unhinged you," said Ron faintly. "You're speaking absolute nonsense."
"You want to believe or not, doesn't matter, but it is the truth Ron." said Lupin.
There was a stunned silence.
"Did you know?" Her voice was barely above a whisper as she stared at Lupin. "When you met me?"
Lupin understood her. "No," He shook his head. "I didn't knew until a month ago. I, like everyone, though you were dead. But when I first saw you, I recognized you immediately. You have Siruis' grey eyes and his smile and almost every feature, except your hair of course, they're like your mothers, Tatiana. But I thought it was only my mind playing tricks. But the more I talked with you, the more my suspicions grew. You are the perfect blend of Sirius and Tatiana's personality. So I asked Dumbledore and he told me the truth."
A heavy silence stretched between them.
"I think we shouldn't waste any time to take to Pettigrew to the castle." said Grace finally in a hollow voice.
And without waiting for answer, she turned around and left the room. She didn't even notice when they all too followed behind her, or when the path from shrieking shack to Hogwarts ground came to an end.
All that was going in her mind was the conversation they just had. She couldn't be Sirius Black and Tatiana Abildgaard' daughter, she just couldn't be. She was Molly and Arthur Weasley's daughter, Grace Weasley. She wasn't Freya Black. But then she couldn't help but think what Lupin said. It was true that she didn't resemble anyone in her family even in the slightest, and that her eyes were grey, the same colour as Sirius', and she did have hair of darker shade of red than the other weasleys', but even then she just couldn't be Sirius's daughter. She was Grace Weasley, twin sister of Ron Weasley and daughter of Molly and Arthur Weasley.
They must have gotten the wrong person, Grace thought, because there's no way that her whole life was a lie, that even her identity was a lie. Yes, they must have got the wrong person.
They did not speak again until they had reached the end of the tunnel. Crookshanks darted up first; he had evidently pressed his paw to the knot on the trunk, because Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron clambered upward without any sound of savaging branches.
Sirius saw Snape up through the hole, then stood back for Grace, Harry and Hermione to pass. At last, all of them were out.
"One wrong move, Peter," said Lupin threateningly ahead. His wand was still pointed sideways at Pettigrew's chest.
Silently they tramped through the grounds, the castle lights growing slowly larger. Snape was still drifting weirdly ahead of Sirius, his chin bumping on his chest. And then —
A cloud shifted. There were suddenly dim shadows on the ground. Their party was bathed in moonlight.
Snape collided with Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron, who had stopped abruptly. Sirius froze. He flung out one arm to make Grace, Harry and Hermione stop.
Grace could see Lupin's silhouette. He had gone rigid. Then his limbs began to shake.
"Oh, my —" Hermione gasped. "He didn't take his potion tonight! He's not safe!"
"Run," Sirius whispered. "Run. Now."
But Grace couldn't run. Ron was chained to Pettigrew and Lupin. She leapt forward but Sirius caught her by her hand and pushed her back.
"Leave it to me — RUN!"
There was a terrible snarling noise. Lupin's head was lengthening. So was his body. His shoulders were hunching. Hair was sprouting visibly on his face and hands, which were curling into clawed paws. Crookshanks' hair was on end again; he was backing away —
As the werewolf reared, snapping its long jaws, Sirius disappeared from Grace's side. He had transformed. The enormous, bearlike dog bounded forward. As the werewolf wrenched itself free of the manacle binding it, the dog seized it about the neck and pulled it backward, away from Ron and Pettigrew. They were locked, jaw to jaw, claws ripping at each other.
Grace stood, transfixed by the sight, too intent upon the battle to notice anything else. It was Hermione's scream that alerted her —
Pettigrew had dived for Lupin's dropped wand. Ron, unsteady on his bandaged leg, fell. There was a bang, a burst of light — and Ron lay motionless on the ground. Another bang — Crookshanks flew into the air and back to the earth in a heap.
"Expelliarmus." Harry yelled, pointing his own wand at Pettigrew; Lupin's wand flew high into the air and out of sight. "Stay where you are!" Harry shouted, running forward.
Too late. Pettigrew had transformed. Grace saw his bald tail whip through the manacle on Ron's outstretched arm and heard a scurrying through the grass.
There was a howl and a rumbling growl; Grace turned to see the werewolf taking flight; it was galloping into the forest —
"Sirius, he's gone, Pettigrew transformed!" Harry yelled.
Sirius was bleeding; there were gashes across his muzzle and back, but at Harry's words he scrambled up again, and in an instant, the sound of his paws faded to silence as he pounded away across the grounds.
Grace, Harry and Hermione dashed over to Ron.
"What did he do to him?" Grace whispered. Ron's eyes were only half-closed, his mouth hung open; he was definitely alive, they could hear him breathing, but he didn't seem to recognize them.
"I don't know. . ."
Grace looked desperately around. Sirius and Lupin both gone. . . they had no one but Snape for company, still hanging, unconscious, in midair.
"We'd better get them up to the castle and tell someone," said Harry, pushing his hair out of his eyes, trying to think straight. "Come —"
But then, from beyond the range of their vision, they heard a yelping, a whining: a dog in pain. . . "Sirius," Grace muttered, staring into the darkness.
She had a moment's indecision, but there was nothing they could do for Ron at the moment, and by the sound of it, Sirius was in trouble —
And then she set off at a run. Harry and Hermione right behind her. The yelping seemed to be coming from the ground near the edge of the lake. They pelted toward it, and Grace, running flat out, felt the cold without realizing what it must mean —
The yelping stopped abruptly. As they reached the lakeshore, they saw why — Sirius had turned back into a man. He was crouched on all fours, his hands over his head.
"Nooo," he moaned. "Nooo. . . please. . ."
And then Grace saw them. Dementors, at least a hundred of them, gliding in a black mass around the lake toward them. She spun around, the familiar, icy cold penetrating his insides, fog starting to obscure her vision; more were appearing out of the darkness on every side; they were encircling them. . .
"Harry, Hermione, think of something happy!" Grace yelled, raising her wand, blinking furiously to try and clear her vision, shaking her head to rid it of the faint screaming that had started inside it —
She forced himself to think of her family and friends, and began to chant: "Expecto patronum! Expecto patronum!"
Harry and Hermione did the same.
Sirius gave a shudder, rolled over, and lay motionless on the ground, pale as death.
A fear, a panic seized her heart, like never ever before. If Sirius was really her father, then she couldn't lose him. If he was really her father and he was innocent, then she can't lose him, not right after when she had just met him. She couldn't lose him like she lost her mother.
But thinking of happy thought became more difficult.
"Expecto patronum! Harry, help me! Expecto patronum!"
She could hear Harry trying the same thing as her, trying to produce a patronus, but with no avail.
"Expecto —" Hermione whispered, "expecto — expecto —"
But she couldn't do it. The Dementors were closing in, barely ten feet from them. They formed a solid wall around Grace, Harry and Hermione, and were getting closer...
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Harry and Grace yelled. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
A thin wisp of silver escaped their wands and hovered like mist before them. At the same moment, Grace felt Hermione collapse next to her. She and Harry were alone. . . completely alone. . .
They glanced at each other, before yelling again, "Expecto — expecto patronum —"
"Expecto patronum!" They gasped.
By the feeble light of their formless Patronus, Grace saw a Dementor halt, very close to them. It couldn't walk through the cloud of silver mist Grace and Harry had conjured. A dead, slimy hand slid out from under the cloak. It made a gesture as though to sweep the Patronus aside.
"No — no —" Harry gasped from beside her. "He's innocent... expecto expecto patronum —"
And then, through the fog that was drowning them, Grace thought she saw two silvery light growing brighter and brighter. . . she felt herself fall forward onto the grass. . . Facedown, too weak to move, sick and shaking, Grace opened her eyes. The blinding light was illuminating the grass around her. . . the cold was ebbing away. . .
With every ounce of strength she could muster, Grace raised her head a few inches and saw two animals amid the light, galloping away across the lake. . . eyes blurred with sweat, Grace tried to make out what it was. . . It was as bright as a unicorn. . . fighting to stay conscious, Grace watched it canter to a halt as it reached the opposite shore. For a moment, Grace saw, by its brightness, somebody welcoming it back. . . raising their hand to pat it.. . someone who looked strangely familiar. . . but it couldn't be. . .
Grace didn't understand. She couldn't think anymore. She felt the last of her strength leave her, and her head hit the ground as she fainted.