"Daughter!?" Harry could not believe the words of the prisoner of Azkaban.
To be completely honest, Malak herself was a bit taken aback when he uttered those words with such ferocity. She had put the pieces together, but his confidence was almighty.
Malak's soul was swollen, overwhelmed by intense feelings.
He was just so sure — no doubts; no hesitation. He was ready to do everything imaginable to protect her — his voice showed his relentless resolve, no reluctance or reservations.
Sirius Black moved to stand in between Malak and Peter Pettigrew, taking a protective stance. Like a lion ready devour its prey in order to protect its cub.
Suddenly, Charlie's words made a lot of sense — a sense of security. A blessing.
Malak, do you have a wand? he spoke telepathically, taken her by surprise.
He must have learned it to speak to my mom.
Malak turned her hand, bringing Snape's wand to her and expertly reassembling it to hand it to her father, who never took his eyes off the ratman.
Her father. The sole thought was so foreign, yet so natural.
"Malak, are you insane!?" Ron protested. "He is a mass murderer!"
"Have you not been listening, Ronald!?" The Egyptian glared at him exasperated.
Meanwhile, Lupin had also approached his old school friend, and both him and Sirius were circling around the man. Ready to hunt him.
"Well, hello, Peter," said Lupin in a rather scary tone. "Long time, no see."
"S—Sirius... R—Remus..." Pettigrew's voice was squeaky. "My friends... my old friends..."
Sirius' arm rose, but Lupin seized him around the wrist, and gave him a warning took, then turned again to Pettigrew.
"We've been having a little chat, Peter, about what happened the night Lily and James died. You might have missed the finer points while you were squeaking —"
"Remus," gasped Pettigrew, "you don't believe him, do you...? He tried to kill me, Remus..."
"So we've heard," said Lupin, more coldly. "I'd like to clear up one or two little matters with you, Peter, if you'll be so —"
"He's come to try and kill me again!" Pettigrew squeaked, pointing at Sirius. "He killed Lily and James and now he's going to kill me too... You've got to help me, Remus..."
Sirius' face looked more skull-like than ever as he stared at Pettigrew with his fathomless eyes.
"I knew he'd come after me! I knew he'd be back for me! I've been waiting for this for twelve years!" Pettigrew squealed again.
"You knew Sirius was going to break out of Azkaban?" said Lupin.
"He's got dark powers the rest of us can only dream of!" Pettigrew shouted shrilly. "How else did he get out of there? I suppose He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named taught him a few tricks!"
Sirius laughed maniacally, a horrible, mirthless laugh that filled the whole room.
"Voldemort, teach me tricks?" he said, making Pettigrew flinch.
"This is enough, Mr. Pettigrew" Malak spoke. "You really have some nerve denying it, when I've looked into your memories..."
The man's eyes widened and he let out a rather loud squeal. His whole face was shining with sweat now.
"What now, Malak?" Harry exasperated.
"Legirimency" she explained calmly. "It is the act of magically navigating through the many layers of a person's mind. Simple muggle mind-reading."
"How can you be sure he didn't alter his memories!?" Hermione pointed at Sirius, accusing him of the deed.
Malak snickered. "It's a good question, Hermione, but the memories are untouched" she declared. "He definitely lacks the magical ability to alter memories to such degree of finesse."
"Voldemort doesn't" Harry snarled.
"Well, unless he is a natural legirimens, he lacks it as well" Malak spoke. "That ability cannot be learned. It's gifted by the stars — trust me, those memories are unaltered."
"You'd say anything!" Harry. "Apparently he is your father!! And then you give me all the bullshit of your sorry life as an orphan!"
Malak's jaw clenched. Hurt at his words.
"You are absolutely right, boy! She'd say anything" Pettigrew agreed in yet again another squeak. "You don't believe this-this madness, Remus —"
"I must admit, Peter," the professor spoke. "I have difficulty in understanding why an innocent man would want to spend twelve years as a rat. And I trust Malak's magical abilities, she is the best student I've ever seen. Better than Rania herself."
Malak visibly relaxed at his words. Not all hope was lost.
"Innocent, but scared!" squealed Pettigrew. "If Voldemort's supporters were after me, it was because I put one of their best men in Azkaban — the spy, Sirius Black!"
"How dare you," he growled Sirius, "I, a spy for Voldemort? When did I ever sneak around people who were stronger and more powerful than myself? But you, Peter... I'll never understand why I didn't see you were the spy from the start. You always liked big friends who'd look after you, didn't you? It used to be us... me and Remus... and James..."
Sirius' head shook uncontrollably.
"Lily and James only made you Secret-Keeper because I suggested it," he hissed, so venomously that Pettigrew took a step backward. "I thought it was the perfect plan... a bluff... Voldemort would be sure to come after me... It must have been the finest moment of your miserable life, telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters."
"Well, Scabbers... I mean, this — this man... he's been sleeping in Harry's dormitory for three years" Hermione spoke, trying to use logic. "If he's working for You-Know-Who, how come he never tried to hurt Harry before now?"
"There!" said Pettigrew shrilly. "Thank you! You see, Remus? I have never hurt a hair of Harry's head! Why should I?"
"I'll tell you why," said Black. "Because you never did anything for anyone unless you could see what was in it for you. Voldemort's been in hiding, they say he's half dead. You weren't about to commit murder right under Albus Dumbledore's nose, for a wreck of a wizard who'd lost his power. You'd want to be quite sure he was the biggest bully in the playground before you went back to him, wouldn't you? Why else did you find a wizard family to take you in? Keeping an ear out for news, weren't you? Just in case your old protector regained strength, and it was safe to rejoin him..."
Pettigrew opened his mouth and closed it several times, out of words.
"You told my uncle about Beit-l-Gheit" Malak spoke, "hoping that he would take you in, didn't you? When you were in Egypt last summer."
All heads turned towards her.
"But you couldn't deliver his entrance. Yet all of the cords were gnawed, eaten away by a rodent of sorts."
Sirius face glowed in fury. The sight made the ratman sweat profusely, knowing his life was on the line.
"Never before had that happened... only when a rat animagus happened to visit my house. Coincidence?"
Malak had not connected the dots until that very moment, but as she spoke those words out loud, something else came to her mind. The scorpion. Also an animagus.
"I saw you in that picture, Peter, in Egypt walking around the Pyramids" Sirius growled. "And the thought of you near Rania... near Harry here at Hogwarts... perfectly positioned to act, if one hint reached that the Dark Side was gathering strength again..."
Pettigrew was shaking his head, mouthing noiselessly, but staring all the while at Sirius Black as though hypnotized.
"So you see, I had to do something. I was the only one who knew Peter was still alive..." Sirius started to explain. "It was as if someone had lit a fire in my head, and the Dementors couldn't destroy it... It wasn't a happy feeling... it was an obsession... but it gave me strength, it cleared my mind. So, one night when they opened my door to bring food, I slipped past them as a dog... It's so much harder for them to sense animal emotions... I was thin, very thin... thin enough to slip through the bars... I swam as a dog back to the mainland... I journeyed north and slipped into the Hogwarts grounds. I've been living in the forest ever since."
He looked at Harry, who did not look away.
"Believe me," he pleaded. "Believe me, Harry. I never betrayed James and Lily. I would have died before I betrayed them."
And at long last, something clicked inside Harry, and he believed him. Throat too tight to speak, he nodded.
"No!" Pettigrew had fallen to his knees as though Harry's nod had been his death sentence. He shuffled forward on his knees, groveling, his hands clasped in front of him as though praying and started muttering all their names, begging for his own life.
Pettigrew knelt, trembling uncontrollably, and turned his head slowly toward Harry.
"Harry... Harry... you look just like your father... just like him..."
"How dare you speak to Harry!?" Sirius roared. "How dare you face him and talk about James in front of him!?"
"Harry," whispered Pettigrew, shuffling toward him, hands outstretched. "Harry, James wouldn't have wanted me killed..."
"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,, what could I have done? The Dark Lord... you have no idea... he has weapons you can't imagine... I never meant it to happen... He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named forced me —"
"DON'T LIE!" bellowed Black. "You had been passim information for a year! You were his spy!!"
"He-he was taking over everywhere!" gasped Pettigrew. "Wh-what was there to be gained by refusing him? You don't understand!" whined Pettigrew. "He would have killed me, Sirius!"
"The you should have died! Died rather than betray your friends!!"
Sirius and Remus stood shoulder to shoulder, wands raised.
"You should have realized," said Lupin quietly, "if Voldemort didn't kill you, we would."
Just as they were going to strike, the wands flew to Malak's hand.
Everybody around her looked staggered.
"Malak, he is the reason I have no parents!!" Harry cried in despair.
"He would see you die too, without turning a hair" Sirius whispered.
Malak looked at him intensely.
"If you kill him, you would be guilty of what you've been accused of all these years" the Egyptian witch spoke. "If he lives, you get to be free. To clean your name."
"Dear girl! You... thank you... it's more than I deserve...it's what Rania would have wanted" he crawled to her.
"I've warned you Peter, do not touch her!" Sirius.
"Don't be mistaken, rat. This is not mercy. We will hand you to the dementors."
She turned to the boy who lived. "Harry? What do you want to do? You're the only person who has the right to decide."
"He can go to Azkaban," Harry repeated. "If anyone deserves that place, he does..."
Malak nodded, giving Lupin his wand back.
Pettigrew was still wheezing behind him.
"Very well," said Lupin, motioning for Malak to return his wand, which she did.
"Stand aside. I'm going to tie him up, that's all, I swear."
Thin cords shot from Lupin's wand this time, and next moment, Pettigrew was wriggling on the floor, bound and gagged.
"But if you transform, Peter," growled Sirius, "we will kill you."
And just like that, the group headed back to the castle. Sirius Black headed towards his dream — to freedom.
Thank you so much for reading!
A bit of a filler chapter, but I have some interesting things on draft.