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At dusk, Death came to me in the form of a man.
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Betelgeuse was running onto the grounds; her right hand tightly closed around her eleven inches ebony wand.
The three students were in danger, and she was sure they did not even comprehend from whom the peril would come. If Remus Lupin was there, perhaps not all was lost yet. Betelgeuse had not had the opportunity to reveal to the scarred man everything she knew. He could have already attacked her uncle.
The Black stopped abruptly upon seeing Professor Snape striding towards the Whomping Willow. She observed how he kneeled in front of it and picked something off from the ground.
Potter's Invisibility Cloak.
The Potion Master seized a branch, prodded a knot that made the whipping tree freeze and vanished from her view.
So, he is familiar with the Whomping Willow.
Peculiar.
Betelgeuse waited for a couple of minutes before running up to the tree. She took the branch and prodded the knot before slipping into the darkness of the hole under the Willow.
"Lumos," she whispered. The wand light showed her the earthy walls of a low dark tunnel. She marched swiftly towards a patch of dim light at the end of the tunnel, where a disordered, dusty room opened. Paper was peeling from the walls; there were stains all over the floor. Every piece of furniture was broken as though somebody had smashed it. The windows were all boarded up.
What an unfortunate soul.
Betelgeuse pulled herself out of the hole, looking around. The room was deserted, but a door to her right stood open, leading to a shadowy hallway. At that moment, there was a creak overhead. Something had moved upstairs. Betelgeuse glanced up at the ceiling.
She moved with soundless grace, edged out into the hall and up the crumbling staircase. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust except the floor, where a wide shiny stripe had been made.
Someone or something had been dragged here.
She reached the dark landing.
"Nox," She susurrated, and the lights at the end of her wand went out. Only one door was open, and several voices could be heard. Betelgeuse inaudibly walked up to the room whose rotten door had been slammed so hard that it had come out of a hinge. None of the occupants of the undusted room noticed her presence. Since she was half obscured by the black figure of Professor Snape, she took advantage of it to listen.
"I've told the Headmaster again and again that you're helping your old friend Black into the castle, Lupin, and here's the proof. Not even I dreamed you would have the nerve to use this old place as your hideout —" came Professor Snape's voice.
"Severus, you're making a mistake," Remus Lupin urgently said. "You haven't heard everything — I can explain — Sirius is not here to kill Harry —"
He knows.
"Two more for Azkaban tonight," Snape snarled. Betelgeuse could imagine his eyes gleaming fanatically. "I shall be interested to see how Dumbledore takes this — He was quite convinced you were harmless, you know, Lupin — a tame werewolf —"
"You fool," Lupin said softly. "Is a schoolboy grudge worth putting an innocent man back inside Azkaban?"
Betelgeuse heard a thud as something heavy fell on the floor.
"Give me a reason," Snape whispered. "Give me a reason to do it, and I swear I will."
"Professor Snape — it wouldn't hurt to hear what they've got to say, w-would it?" Betelgeuse caught the soft voice of Hermione Granger.
"Miss Granger, you are already facing suspension from this school," Snape spat. "You, Potter, and Weasley are out-of-bounds, in the company of a convicted murderer and a werewolf. For once in your life, hold your tongue."
"But if — if there was a mistake —"
"KEEP QUIET, YOU STUPID GIRL!" Snape shouted; Betelgeuse tightened her grip on her wand. "DON'T TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!"
Silent fell.
"Vengeance is very sweet," Snape breathed. "How I hoped I would be the one to catch you —"
"The joke's on you again, Severus," Betelgeuse heard a new voice snarl. Her uncle. It sounded as though he had long since lost the habit of using it. "As long as this boy brings his rat up to the castle. I'll come quietly —"
"Up to the castle?" Snape asked silkily. "I don't think we need to go that far. All I have to do is call the Dementors once we get out of the Willow. They'll be very pleased to see you, Black — pleased enough to give you a little kiss, I daresay."
Betelgeuse's knuckles had turned white from how strongly she held her wand; her barely contained wrath was about to explode.
"You — you've got to hear me out," Sirius Black croaked. "The rat — look at the rat —"
"Come on, all of you," Snape said. "I'll drag the werewolf. Perhaps the Dementors will have a kiss for him too —" He paused. "Get out of the way, Potter, you're in enough trouble already," Snape snarled. "If I hadn't been here to save your skin —"
"Professor Lupin could have killed me about a hundred times this year," Harry stated. "I've been alone with him loads of times, having defence lessons against the Dementors. If he was helping Black, why didn't he just finish me off then?"
"Don't ask me to fathom the way a werewolf's mind works," Snape hissed. "Get out of the way, Potter."
Betelgeuse was stunned by what Potter said next.
"YOU'RE PATHETIC!" Harry yelled. "JUST BECAUSE THEY MADE A FOOL OF YOU AT SCHOOL, YOU WON'T EVEN LISTEN —"
"SILENCE! I WILL NOT BE SPOKEN TO LIKE THAT!" Snape shrieked. "Like father, like son, Potter! I have just saved your neck; you should be thanking me on bended knee! You would have been well-served if he'd killed you! You'd have died like your father, too arrogant to believe you might be mistaken in Black — now get out of the way, or I will make you. GET OUT OF THE WAY, POTTER!"
Before Betelgeuse could do anything, Harry had raised his wand.
"Expelliarmus!" he yelled — except that he was not the only voice that shouted. Snape was lifted off his feet and slammed into the wall, then slid down it to the floor, a trickle of blood oozing from under his hair. He had been knocked out.
Betelgeuse advanced slowly towards the room, pausing under the threshold. Her eyes swept the entire room. She saw Harry look around. Ron and Hermione had their wands raised; they too had tried to disarm Snape. Betelgeuse remained in the shadows observing the man she would have called uncle all this time if the past had been fair.
A mass of filthy, matted black hair hung to his elbows. If grey eyes had not been shining out of the deep, dark sockets, he might have been a corpse. His waxy skin was stretched so tightly over the bones of his face, it looked like a skull. Nothing of his old noble beauty remained. Betelgeuse felt for the first time in her life a surge of raging protectiveness for the emaciated man.
"You shouldn't have done that," she heard Sirius Black admonish, looking at Harry. "You should have left him to me —" He abruptly stopped; his restless gaze full of pain had halted on a pair of eyes he had not seen in more than fifteen years. The darkness of the hallway obscured his view of the newcomer. Betelgeuse saw the older Black take a step in her direction, raising a trembling hand towards her.
"Reg?"
Betelgeuse registered the profound pain in the miserable tone with which he pronounced the nickname of her father.
Reg. He thinks I am my father.
She could hear Hermione whisper in the background, but Betelgeuse could not divert her attention from the man who was once the epitome of the Black beauty. She coolly moved into the room, stepping in the dim light.
Betelgeuse turned her attention to Lupin; he was struggling against some bonds. With a silent flick of her wand, the ropes around Lupin disappeared. Betelgeuse caught Sirius take a sharp intake of breath. She stared at him with unblinking keen eyes; he gawked at her.
Two pairs of eyes so similar but so different met in momentary stillness.
Steadfast to hesitant.
Composed to tearful.
Grey to grey.
A flicker of recognition touched the sunken eyes of Sirius. The girl before his eyes — no, Reg, no. His fogged mind was already sure of the impossibility of meeting his brother once again. No, she was —
"Betelgeuse!" Harry and Lupin simultaneously said.
"Now, Potter, explain." She ordered in an even tone.
And so, Harry told her what had occurred before. Betelgeuse listened intently, but her stormy grey eyes remained on Sirius. He was looking at her with wide eyes and with his chapped lips slightly parted.
"The rat." That was all she could say. She saw Sirius give an imperceptible nod.
"I'm still not saying I believe you," Harry suddenly announced.
"Then it's time we offered you some proof," Remus Lupin replied. "Ron — give me Peter, please. Now."
Ron clutched Scabbers closer to his chest. "Come off it," he said weakly. "Are you trying to say he broke out of Azkaban just to get his hands on Scabbers? I mean —" He looked up at Harry and Hermione for support, then to Betelgeuse. "Okay, say Pettigrew could turn into a rat — there are millions of rats — how's he supposed to know which one he is after if he was locked up in Azkaban?"
"You know, Sirius, that's a fair question," Remus said, turning to Sirius and frowning slightly. "How did you find out where he was?"
Betelgeuse saw her uncle put one of his claw-like hands inside his robes and took out a crumpled piece of paper, which he smoothed flat and held out to show the others. It was the photograph of Ron and his family that had appeared in the Daily Prophet the previous summer, and there, on Ron's shoulder, was Scabbers.
"How did you get this?" Remus asked Sirius, thunderstruck.
"Fudge," Sirius replied. "When he came to inspect Azkaban last year, he gave me his paper. And there was Peter, on the front page on this boy's shoulder — I knew him at once — how many times had I seen him transform? And the caption said the boy would be going back to Hogwarts — to where Harry was —"
"My God," Lupin asserted softly, staring from Scabbers to the picture in the paper and back again. "His front paw —"
"What about it?" said Ron defiantly.
"He is missing a toe," Betelgeuse declared, gaining multiple gazes open herself. Sirius nodded.
"Of course," Lupin breathed. "So simple — so brilliant — he cut it off himself?"
"Just before he transformed," Sirius responded. "When I cornered him, he yelled for the whole street to hear that I'd betrayed Lily and James. Then, before I could curse him, he blew apart the street with the wand behind his back, killed everyone within twenty feet of himself — and sped down into the sewer with the other rats —"
"Didn't you ever hear, Ron?" Remus asked. "The biggest bit of Peter they found was his finger."
"Look, Scabbers probably had a fight with another rat or something! He's been in my family for ages, right —"
"Twelve years, in fact," Remus stated. "Didn't you ever wonder why he was living so long?"
"We — we've been taking good care of him!" Ron protested.
"Not looking too good at the moment, though, is he?" Lupin said. "I'd guess he's been losing weight ever since he heard Sirius was on the loose again —"
"He's been scared of that mad cat!" Ron spoke, nodding toward Crookshanks, who was still purring on the bed.
Betelgeuse scowled; she was beginning to lose her patience.
"This cat isn't mad," Sirius replied hoarsely. He reached out a bony hand and stroked Crookshanks's fluffy head. "He's the most intelligent of his kind I've ever met. He recognised Peter for what he was right away. And when he met me, he knew I was no dog. It was a while before he trusted me — Finally, I managed to communicate to him what I was after, and he's been helping me —"
"What do you mean?" Hermione breathed.
"He tried to bring Peter to me, but couldn't — so he stole the passwords into Gryffindor Tower for me — As I understand it, he took them from a boy's bedside table —"
Betelgeuse remembered the strange behaviour of the rat when she had approached him. "He is scared of me."
Sirius looked at her; his eyes started watering again. "He realised who you were, Betelgeuse. Peter got wind of what was going on and ran for it." he croaked. "This cat — Crookshanks, did you call him? — told me Peter had left blood on the sheets — I supposed he bit himself — Well, faking his own death had worked once."
These words jolted Harry. "And why did he fake his death?" he said furiously. "Because he knew you were about to kill him like you killed my parents!"
Betelgeuse scoffed loudly. "No," Remus Lupin said, "Harry—"
"And now you've come to finish him off!"
"Yes, I have," Sirius stated, with an evil look at Scabbers.
"Then I should've let Snape take you!" Harry shouted.
Betelgeuse advanced on the spectacled boy; her eyes lit with wrath. "I already warn you, Potter. My family comes first. If you attempt to endanger my flesh and blood, I will tear you apart." She finished in a deadly calm tone.
At that precise moment, Sirius saw again his long-lost brother. The same raw rage of Regulus was brewing in the depth of Betelgeuse's steel-grey eyes. He did not reprimand her even if he could; he was lost in a storm of untouched memories.
"Harry," Lupin said hurriedly, "Don't you see? All this time we've thought Sirius betrayed your parents, and Peter tracked him down — but it was the other way around, don't you see? Peter betrayed your mother and father — Sirius tracked Peter down —"
"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Harry yelled. "HE WAS THEIR SECRET-KEEPER! HE SAID SO BEFORE YOU TURNED UP. HE SAID HE KILLED THEM!" He was pointing at Sirius, who shook his head slowly; the sunken eyes were suddenly over bright.
"Harry — I as good as killed them," he croaked. "I persuaded Lily and James to change to Peter at the last moment, persuaded them to use him as Secret-Keeper instead of me — I'm to blame, I know it — The night they died, I'd arranged to check on Peter, make sure he was still safe, but when I arrived at his hiding place, he'd gone. Yet there was no sign of a struggle. It didn't feel right. I was scared. I set out for your parents' house straight away. And when I saw their house, destroyed, and their bodies — I realized what Peter must've done — what I'd done —" His voice broke. He turned away.
"Enough of this," Lupin stated, and there was a steely note in his voice Harry had never heard before. "There's one certain way to prove what really happened. Ron, give me that rat."
"Actually," Betelgeuse interrupted her professor with a steady voice, "I can guarantee Sirius is telling the truth." She saw the startled expression on her uncle's face at being called by his name so softly for the first time in years.
"How?" Lupin asked.
"I do not deem safe for me to disclose this information at the moment, but I will tell you in a more private setting, Moony." She replied, earning a disbelieving chuckle from Sirius.
"What are you going to do with him if I give him to you?" Ron asked Lupin tensely.
"Force him to show himself," Remus replied honestly. "If he really is a rat, it won't hurt him."
Ron hesitated. Then at long last, he held out Scabbers, and Lupin took him. Scabbers began to squeak without stopping, twisting, and turning, his tiny black eyes bulging in his head.
"Ready, Sirius?" Remus Lupin asked. Betelgeuse saw Sirius approach Lupin and the struggling rat, and his wet eyes suddenly seemed to be burning in his face. "Together?" he remarked quietly.
"I think so", Lupin said, holding Scabbers tightly in one hand and his wand in the other. "On the count of three. One — two — THREE!"
A flash of blue-white light erupted from both wands; for a moment, Scabbers was frozen in mid-air, his small form twisting madly — Ron yelled — the rat fell and hit the floor. There was another blinding flash of light and then —
A head was shooting upward from the ground; limbs were sprouting; a moment later, a man was standing where Scabbers had been, cringing and wringing his hands. Crookshanks was spitting and snarling on the bed; the hair on his back was standing up.
Peter Pettigrew was a very short man. His thin, colourless hair was unkempt, and there was a large bald patch on top. He had the shrunken appearance of a plump man who has lost a lot of weight in a short time. His skin looked grubby, almost like Scabbers' fur, and something of the rat lingered around his pointed nose and his small, watery eyes. He looked around at them all, his breathing fast and shallow.
Betelgeuse remembered the warnings and pleadings of him to not engage with Pettigrew.
Alas, too late.
"Well, hello, Peter," Remus Lupin said pleasantly. "Long time, no see."
"S-Sirius, R-Remus —" Even Pettigrew's voice was squeaky. His eyes darted toward the door. "My friends — my old friends —"
Sirius' wand arm rose, but Remus seized him around the wrist, gave him a warning took, then turned again to Pettigrew, his voice light and casual. "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 around down there on the bed —"
"Remus," Pettigrew gasped, and Betelgeuse could see beads of sweat breaking out over his pasty face, "you don't believe him, do you? He tried to kill me, Remus —"
"So we've heard," Lupin replied, 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 suddenly, pointing at her uncle. Betelgeuse noticed he used his middle finger because his index was missing. "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.
"No one's going to try and kill you until we've sorted a few things out," Remus assured.
"Sorted things out?" Pettigrew squealed, looking wildly about him once more, eyes taking in the boarded windows and, again, the only door. "I knew he'd come after me! I knew he'd be back for me! I've been waiting for this for twelve years!"
"You knew Sirius was going to break out of Azkaban?" Remus asked, his brow furrowed. "When nobody has ever done it before?"
"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 Black started to laugh, a horrible, mirthless laugh that filled the whole room. "Voldemort, teach me tricks?" he said. Pettigrew flinched as though Black had brandished a whip at him. "What, scared to hear your old master's name?" Sirius taunted. "I don't blame you, Peter. His lot aren't very happy with you, are they?"
"Don't know what you mean, Sirius —" the rat muttered, his breathing faster than ever. His whole face was shining with sweat now.
"You haven't been hiding from me for twelve years," Sirius stated. "You've been hiding from Voldemort's old supporters. I heard things in Azkaban, Peter — They all think you're dead, or you'd have to answer to them — I've heard them screaming all sorts of things in their sleep. Sounds like they think the double-crosser double-crossed them. Voldemort went to the Potters on your information — and Voldemort met his downfall there. And not all Voldemort's supporters ended up in Azkaban, did they? There are still plenty out here, biding their time, pretending they've seen the error of their ways. If they ever got wind that you were still alive, Peter —"
"Don't know — what you're talking about —" Pettigrew insisted, more shrilly than ever. He wiped his face on his sleeve and looked up at Lupin. "You don't believe this — this madness, Remus —"
"I must admit, Peter, I have difficulty in understanding why an innocent man would want to spend twelve years as a rat," Remus said evenly.
"Innocent, but scared!" Pettigrew squealed. "If Voldemort's supporters were after me, it was because I put one of their best men in Azkaban — the spy, Sirius Black!"
Sirius' face contorted. "How dare you," he growled, sounding suddenly like the bear-sized dog Betelgeuse had seen in Diagon Alley. "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 —"
Pettigrew wiped his face again; he was almost panting for breath. "Me, a spy — must be out of your mind — never — don't know how you can say such a —"
"Lily and James only made you Secret-Keeper because I suggested it," Sirius hissed, so venomously that Pettigrew took a step backwards. "I thought it was the perfect plan — a bluff — Voldemort would be sure to come after me, would never dream they'd use a weak, talentless thing like you — It must have been the finest moment of your miserable life, telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters." Her uncle was merciless in his tirade.
Pettigrew was muttering distractedly; Betelgeuse caught words like 'far-fetched' and 'lunacy,' but she saw the ashen colour of Pettigrew's face and the way his eyes continued to dart toward the windows and door.
"Professor Lupin?" Hermione called timidly. "Can-can I say something?"
"Certainly, Hermione," Remus answered courteously.
"Well — Scabbers — I mean, this — this man — he's been sleeping in Harry's dormitory for three years. If he's working for You-Know-Who, how come he never tried to hurt Harry before now?"
"There!" Pettigrew said shrilly, pointing at Ron with his maimed hand. "Thank you! You see, Remus? I have never hurt a hair of Harry's head! Why should I?"
"I'll tell you why," Sirius replied. "Because you never did anything for anyone unless you could see what was in it for you. Voldemort's been in hiding for fifteen years; 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 all of his power, were you? 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, Peter? Just in case your old protector regained strength, and it was safe to re-join him —"
Pettigrew opened his mouth and closed it several times. He seemed to have lost the ability to talk.
"Black — uncle?" Betelgeuse spoke. Sirius jumped and stared at her as though being spoken to politely was something he had long forgotten. His grey eyes softened, gazing upon her. No one had ever called him uncle. "If you do not mind, could you enlighten us on how you got out of Azkaban without Dark Magic?"
"Thank you!" Pettigrew gasped, nodding frantically at her. "Exactly! Precisely what I —"
But Remus silenced him with a look. Sirius was frowning slightly at Betelgeuse as though he was recollecting painful buried memories.
"I don't know how I did it," he said slowly. "I think the only reason I never lost my mind is that I knew I was innocent. That wasn't a happy thought, so the Dementors couldn't suck it out of me— but it kept me sane and knowing who I am — helped me keep my powers — so when it all became — too much — I could transform in my cell — become a dog. Dementors can't see, you know —" He swallowed. "They feel their way toward people by feeding off their emotions — They could tell that my feelings were less — less human, less complex when I was a dog — but they thought, of course, that I was losing my mind like everyone else in there, so it didn't trouble them. But I was weak, very weak, and I had no hope of driving them away from me without a wand — But then I saw Peter in that picture — I realized he was at Hogwarts with Harry — perfectly positioned to act, if one hint reached his ears that the Dark Side was gathering strength again —"
Pettigrew was shaking his head, mouthing noiselessly, but staring all the while at Black as though hypnotized.
"— ready to strike at the moment he could be sure of allies — and to deliver the last Potter to them. If he gave them Harry, who'd dare say he'd betrayed Lord Voldemort? He'd be welcomed back with honours — So you see, I had to do something. I was the only one who knew Peter was still alive —"
Betelgeuse did not correct him. She was not ready to reveal what she had known all along, not before she could talk to him face to face.
"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 that they were confused— 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 as a dog. I've been living in the forest ever since, except when I came to watch the Quidditch, of course. You two fly as well as your fathers did. Betelgeuse, your father —"
Betelgeuse tried to suppress the image of an emaciate and starved Sirius desperately clinging to an obsession to continue to live.
He looked at Betelgeuse and Harry.
"Believe me," Sirius croaked. "Believe me, Harry. I never betrayed James and Lily. I would have died before I betrayed them. Betelgeuse, I-I didn't remember you until recently. I saw you only once as a baby — Reg — Oh my God — Reg — " He took a quivering breath, trying to keep the tears at bay. "Y-your father and I — we had a strained relationship. I regret it now; if only I had known that we would have so few years ahead of us. Forgive me."
Betelgeuse noticed with astonishment that from her eyes came silent tears of dismay. Throat too tight to speak, she nodded.
"No!" Pettigrew yelled, startling the young Black. Harry must have accepted Sirius' explanation because the rat had fallen to his knees as though Harry's acceptance had been his own death sentence. He shuffled forward on his knees, grovelling, his hands clasped in front of him as though praying. "Sirius — it's me — it's Peter — your friend — you wouldn't —"
Betelgeuse witnessed her uncle kick Pettigrew out and the man recoil. "There's enough filth on my robes without you touching them."
"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," Remus said. "I assume that's why you didn't tell me, Sirius?" he spoke casually over Pettigrew's head.
"Forgive me, Remus," Sirius replied.
"Not at all, Padfoot, old friend," Remus replied, rolling up his sleeves. "And will you, in turn, forgive me for believing you were the spy?"
"Of course," Sirius declared, 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," Remus said grimly.
"You wouldn't — you won't —" Pettigrew gasped. 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!"
If the situation had not been tragic, Betelgeuse would have laughed at Ron's disgusted face.
"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," Sirius commented 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.
"Harry, Harry — you look just like your father — just like him —"
"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO HARRY?" Sirius roared. "HOW DARE YOU FACE HIM? HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT JAMES IN FRONT OF HIM?"
"Harry," Pettigrew whispered, shuffling toward him, hands outstretched. "Harry, James wouldn't have wanted me killed — James would have understood, Harry — he would have shown me mercy —"
Both Sirius and Remus strode forward, seized Pettigrew's shoulders, and threw him backwards onto the floor. He sat there, twitching with terror, staring up at them. Betelgeuse felt only disgust for the trembling man on the floor.
"You sold Lily and James to Voldemort," Sirius raged; he 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. He diverted his attention to Betelgeuse.
"DO NOT TRY TO SPEAK TO MY NIECE, YOU MANKY TOSSER!" Sirius roared, "Answer me!"
"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 —"
"He is lying," Betelgeuse spoke at last.
"DON'T LIE!" Sirius bellowed simultaneously. "YOU'D BEEN PASSING INFORMATION TO HIM FOR A YEAR BEFORE LILY AND JAMES DIED! YOU WERE HIS SPY!"
"H-he was taking over everywhere!" Pettigrew gasped. "W-what was there to be gained by refusing him?"
"What was there to be gained by fighting the evilest wizard who has ever existed?" Sirius asked mockingly, with a terrible fury on his face. "Only innocent lives, Peter!"
"You don't understand!" Pettigrew whined. "He would have killed me, Sirius!"
"THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED!" Sirius roared. "DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!"
Sirius and Remus stood shoulder to shoulder; wands raised. "You should have realized," Lupin said quietly, "if Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. Goodbye, Peter."
Betelgeuse took a step forward, morbidly fascinated by the whole situation. He deserved death.
"NO!" Harry yelled. He ran forward, placing himself in front of Pettigrew, facing the wands. "You can't kill him," he said breathlessly. "You can't."
"What are you doing, Potter?" Betelgeuse demanded in an angered voice.
Sirius and Remus both looked staggered.
"Harry, this piece of vermin is the reason you have no parents," Sirius 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."
Betelgeuse stepped between the two taller men; her eyes set on Harry. "He is the reason my uncle has been imprisoned in the blasted black void that is Azkaban for twelve years. If you do not let them kill the vermin, I will. You know I can, Potter, even if you disarm me." Betelgeuse threatened.
"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!" Pettigrew gasped, 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 them 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. Sirius and Remus were looking at each other over Betelgeuse head. Then, with one movement, they lowered their wands. Betelgeuse mulled on the proposal. "If we do not kill this," she began, glaring down at the man at Harry's feet, "we can prove Sirius' innocence." She looked up at her uncle, meeting his silent stare. "You will be a free man."
"Becoming a free man does sound tempting," Sirius said, smiling softly at his niece.
"Very well," Remus declared. "Stand aside, Harry." Harry hesitated. "I'm going to tie him up," their professor explained. "That's all, I swear." Harry stepped out of the way. Thin cords shot from Remus' wand this time, and the next moment, Pettigrew was wriggling on the floor, bound, and gagged.
"But if you transform, Peter," Sirius growled, his own wand pointing at Pettigrew too, "we will kill you. You agree, Harry?"
Harry looked down at the pitiful figure on the floor and nodded so that Pettigrew could see him.
"Right," Remus said, suddenly resolute. "Ron, I can't mend bones nearly as well as Madam Pomfrey, so I guess it's best if we just strap your leg up until we can get you to the Hospital Wing." He hurried over to Ron, bent down, tapped Ron's leg with his wand, and murmured, "Ferula." Bandages spun up Ron's leg, strapping it tightly to a splint. Remus helped him to his feet; Ron put his weight gingerly on the leg and did not wince.
"That's better," he said. "Thanks."
"What about Professor Snape?" Hermione asked in a small voice, looking down at Snape's prone figure.
"Leave Snivellus there, where he belongs," Betelgeuse suggested in a detached, cold voice. Remus and Sirius turned their surprised eyes on her.
"How?" Sirius asked, grinning at the nickname.
"I will narrate at home," Betelgeuse replied, smirking. Her uncle let out a barking laugh. Remus shook his head, smiling softly.
"There's nothing seriously wrong with him," Remus replied, bending over Snape, and checking his pulse. "You were just a little — overenthusiastic. Still out cold. Er — perhaps it will be best if we don't revive him until we're safely back in the castle. We can take him like this."
He muttered, "Mobilicorpus." As though invisible strings were tied to Snape's wrists, neck, and knees, he was pulled into a standing position, head still lolling unpleasantly, like a grotesque puppet. He hung a few inches above the ground, his limp feet dangling. Remus picked up the Invisibility Cloak and tucked it safely into his pocket.
"And two of us should be chained to this," Sirius proposed, nudging Pettigrew with his toe. "Just to make sure."
"I'll do it," Remus stated.
"And me," Ron asserted savagely, limping forward.
Sirius conjured heavy manacles from thin air; soon, Pettigrew was upright again, left arm chained to Remus' right, right arm to Ron's left. Ron's face was set. He seemed to have taken Scabbers' true identity as a personal insult. Crookshanks leapt lightly off the bed and led the way out of the room, his bottlebrush tail held jauntily high.
They were by far the most peculiar assembly of characters.
Betelgeuse hoped that by the end of the night one more man could be counted among the free people.
If only.
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