the comments are acting v weird on this just ignore it
May 29 1994
9:16 pm
Shrieking Shack
Hollis, Regulus, James, and Lily had never wished to be with Harry more than they did now.
"If your son kills Pads I am going to kill him," Hollis hissed under her breath at James.
"He doesn't know it was Peter," Regulus reminded them. "He still thinks my brother is the one who sold all of you out."
"Expelliarmus!" Remus shouted, storming into the Shack with his wand raised at Harry.
Harry's wand flew once more out of his hand; so did the two Hermione was holding. Lupin caught them all deftly, then moved into the room, staring at Black, who was still lying with his back flat on the dusty floor.
"Smooth," Regulus muttered, genuinely impressed.
Then Lupin spoke, in a very tense voice.
"Where is he, Sirius?"
Harry looked quickly at Lupin. He didn't understand what Lupin meant. Who was Lupin talking about? He turned to look at Black again.
Black's face was quite expressionless. For a few seconds, he didn't move at all. Then, very slowly, he raised his empty hand and pointed straight at Ron. Mystified, Harry glanced around at Ron, who looked bewildered.
"I'm sorry it's just really funny how confused they all look," James giggled, and Hollis gave him an amused snort.
"But then..." Lupin muttered, staring at Black so intently it seemed he was trying to read his mind, "...why hasn't he shown himself before now? Unless" Lupin's eyes suddenly widened, as though he was seeing something beyond Black, something none of the rest could see, "-- unless he was the one...unless you switched... without telling me?"
Very slowly, his sunken gaze never leaving Lupin's face, Black nodded.
"Professor," Harry interrupted loudly, "what's going on-?"
"Connect the damn dots, my boy," Lily sighed, running a hand through her dark red hair.
But he never finished the question, because what he saw made his voice die in his throat. Lupin was lowering his wand, gazing fixed at Black. The Professor walked to Black's side, seized his hand, pulled him to his feet so that Crookshanks fell to the floor, and embraced Black like a brother.
Hollis started to cry and Remus and Sirius were finally reunited.
"I DON'T BELIEVE IT!" Hermione screamed.
"WILL SHE LITERALLY SHUT UP?" James shouted. "THEY WERE HAVING A MOMENT!"
Lupin let go of Black and turned to her. She had raised herself off the floor and was pointing at Lupin, wild-eyed. "You, you-"
"Hermione-"
"You and him!"
"Hermione, calm down-"
"I didn't tell anyone!" Hermione shrieked. "I've been covering up for you-"
"Hermione, listen to me, please" Lupin shouted. "I can explain-"
Harry could feel himself shaking, not with fear, but with a fresh wave of fury.
"I trusted you," he shouted at Lupin, his voice wavering, out of control, "and all the time you've been his friend!"
"HE'S YOUR FUCKING GODFATHER!" Regulus screamed, ready to tear his hair out. "THIS IS THE BOY EVERYONE'S DYING FOR?"
"You're wrong," said Lupin. "I haven't been Sirius's friend, but I am now -- Let me explain...."
"OH MY GOD CAN THEY NOT SEE THAT MOONY AND PADS ARE AMAZING PEOPLE CAUGHT IN A SHIITY SITUATION?" Lilu shrieked, bouncing up and down with fury.
"NO!" Hermione screamed. "Harry, don't trust him, he's been helping Black get into the castle, he wants you dead too, he's a werewolf!"
"Alright, time to kill a frizzy haired bitch," Hollis declared simply. "I never liked her that much anyway."
There was a ringing silence. Everyone's eyes were now on Lupin, who looked remarkably calm, though rather pale.
"Not at all up to your usual standard, Hermione," he said. "Only one out of three, I'm afraid. I have not been helping Sirius get into the castle and I certainly don't want Harry dead." An odd shiver passed over his face. "But I won't deny that I am a werewolf."
"GO REMUS!" Hollis shouted with a wide grin. "TELL HER!"
Ron made a valiant effort to get up again but fell back with a whimper of pain. Lupin made toward him, looking concerned, but Ron gasped, "Get away from me, werewolf!"
There was nothing more he needed than a fox right then.
"All descendants of Gideon are officially fucking IDIOTS!" Hollis shouted. "I was beginning to like you, Ron!"
Lupin stopped dead. Then, with an obvious effort, he turned to Hermione and said, "How long have you known?"
"Ages," Hermione whispered. "Since I did Professor Snape's essay..."
"He'll be delighted," said Lupin coolly. "He assigned that essay hoping someone would realize what my symptoms meant... Did you check the lunar chart and realize that I was always ill at the full moon?"
Hermione nodded, and Remus forced a laugh that made Hollis cringe.
"You're the cleverest witch of your age I've ever met, Hermione."
"I'm not," Hermione whispered. "If I'd been a bit cleverer, I'd have told everyone what you are!"
"She may be book clever, but that girl has to emotional perception," Regulus spat. "What a prick."
Hollis smiled softly at him, realizing he had just defended Remus even if he hadn't meant to.
"But they already know," said Lupin. "At least, the staff do."
"Dumbledore hired you when he knew you were a werewolf," Ron gasped. "Is he mad?"
"Were we this stupid in our third year?" James asked Lily questioningly. "I don't remember being this stupid."
"Some of the staff thought so," said Lupin. "He had to work very hard to convince certain teachers that I'm trustworthy-"
"AND HE WAS WRONG!" Harry yelled. "YOU'VE BEEN HELPING HIM ALL THE TIME!" He was pointing at Black, who suddenly crossed to the four-poster bed and sank onto it, his face hidden in one shaking hand. Ron edged away from both of them, dragging his leg.
"HARRY!" Lily cried in exasperation, repetitively hitting her head on James's shoulder.
"I have not been helping Sirius," said Lupin. "If you'll give me a chance, I'll explain. Look --"
He separated Harry's, Ron's and Hermione's wands and threw each back to its owner; Harry caught his, stunned.
"There," said Lupin, sticking his own wand back into his belt "You're armed, we're not. Now, will you listen?"
"I swear to Merlin if they still don't trust him," Hollis groaned.
"If you haven't been helping him," Harry 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?" Harry said suspiciously.
James snorted.
"Of course I know how to work it, I was there when she made it," said Lupin, waving his hand impatiently. "I helped write it, too. I'm Moony, that was her, their nickname for me at school."
"Who is she?" Hermione asked with warily raised eyebrows.
Sirius and Remus exchanged a heavy glance before ignoring her question.
"The important thing is, I was watching it carefully this evening because I had an idea that you, Ron, and Hermione might try and sneak out of the castle to visit Hagrid before his Hippogriff was executed. And I was right, wasn't I?"
He had started to pace up and down, looking at them. Little patches of dust rose at his feet.
"You might have been wearing your father's old cloak, Harry," he said, memories playing in his green eyes.
"How d'you know about the cloak?" Harry interrupted.
"He gets that from you," Lily said, elbowing James. "Never could get a full sentence out."
"The number of times I saw James and her disappearing under it..." said Lupin, waving an impatient hand again.
Hermione was still mentally focused on the tossed around shes and hers.
"The point is, even if you're wearing an Invisibility Cloak, you still show up on the Marauder's Map. I watched you cross the grounds and enter Hagrid's hut. Twenty minutes later, you left Hagrid and set off back toward the castle. But you were now accompanied by somebody else."
"What?" said Harry. "No, we weren't!"
"He figured it out," Hollis whispered, her brown eyes wide and one hand over her mouth. "Oh Merlin, he's so smart."
"I couldn't believe my eyes,' said Lupin, still pacing, and ignoring Harry's interruption. "I thought the map must be malfunctioning. How could he be with you?"
"No one was with us!" said Harry.
"And then I saw another dot, moving fast toward you, labelled Sirius Black...I saw him collide with you; I watched as he pulled two of you into the Whomping Willow-"
"One of us!" Ron said angrily.
"No, Ron," said Lupin. "Two of you."
He had stopped his pacing, his eyes moving over Ron.
"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?"
"Scabbers my ass," Hollis and Regulus said in unplanned unison.
"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.
If Hollis had been in the room, that rat would have been crushed on the floor and then thrown into the Willow without a shred of mercy. She truly had no idea how Remus was able to stay so composed in the face of the rat who had been the indirect murderer of three of his best friends, she simply couldn't have done it.
Lupin moved closer to Ron. He seemed to be holding his breath as he gazed intently at Scabbers.
"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.
"He sounds dehydrated," Regulus muttered, and Hollis, Lily, and James all turned to him with amused expressions. "Sorry."
"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."
It took a few seconds for the absurdity of this statement to sink in. Then Ron voiced what Harry was thinking.
"You're both mental."
"I HATE THE WEASLEYS!" Regulus shouted. "DAMMIT!"
"Ridiculous!" said Hermione faintly.
"Peter Pettigrew's dead!" said Harry. "He killed him twelve years ago!" He pointed at Black, whose face twitched convulsively.
Hollis's stomach twisted at the lie the boy who was supposed to be her godson had believed for so long. It was sickening.
"I meant to," he growled, his yellow teeth bared, "but little Peter got the better of me...not this time, though!"
It made Hollis want to sob to see how much Azkaban had changed Sirius from the mischevious, bright boy she had always known him to be that was thoroughly obsessed with his hair to this mournful, full of rage, person.
Crookshanks was thrown to the floor as Black lunged at Scabbers; Ron yelled with pain as Black's weight fell on his broken leg.
"Sirius, NO!" Lupin yelled, launching himself forwards and dragging Black away from Ron again, who was looking at Sirius with terror, "WAIT! You can't do it just like that, they need to understand, we've got to explain-"
The jokes made by the young men and women above fell silent as they simply watched the scene unfold before them.
"We can explain afterwards!" snarled Black, trying to throw Lupin off.
One hand was still clawing the air as it tried to reach Scabbers, who was squealing like a piglet, scratching Ron's face and neck as he tried to escape. Sirius was being fueled by cold, hard, revenge, and didn't seem to care who her hurt in his trail.
"They've got a right to know everything!" Lupin panted, still trying to restrain Black. "Just hold Peter still while we talk, Ron!"
"HE'S NOT PETER, HE'S SCABBERS!" Ron yelled, trying to force the rat back into his front pocket, but Scabbers was fighting too hard, making him fall onto the bed.
Then, ignoring Black, who had resigned to waiting impatiently with a furious gaze on the rat, Harry turned to Lupin.
"There were witnesses who saw Pettigrew die," he said, trying to convince himself. "A whole street full of them..."
"They didn't see what they thought they saw!" said Black savagely, still watching Scabbers struggling in Ron's hands.
"Everyone thought Sirius killed Peter," said Lupin, nodding. "I believed it myself until I saw the Map tonight. Because the Marauder's Map never lies...Peter's alive. Ron's holding him, Harry."
Harry looked down at Ron, and as their eyes met, they agreed, silently: Black and Lupin were both out of their minds. Their story made no sense whatsoever. How could Scabbers be Peter Pettigrew? Azkaban must have unhinged Black after all -- but why was Lupin playing along with him? Then Hermione spoke, in a trembling, would-be calm sort of voice, as though trying to will Professor Lupin to talk sensibly.
"But Professor Lupin...Scabbers can't be Pettigrew...it just can't be true, you know it can't..."
"Why can't it be true?" Lupin said calmly, as though they were in class, and Hermione had simply spotted a problem in an experiment with Grindylows.
"Because... because people would know if Peter Pettigrew had been an Animagus. We did Animagi in class with Professor McGonagall. And I looked them up when I did my homework the Ministry of Magic keeps tabs on witches and wizards who can become animals; there's a register showing what animal they become, and their markings and things...and I went and looked Professor McGonagall up on the register, and there have been only seven Animagi this century, and Pettigrew's name wasn't on the list."
"I guess they haven't met us then," James whispered under his breath, wrapping an arm around Hollis as they watched.
Harry had barely had time to marvel inwardly at the effort Hermione put into her homework when Lupin started to laugh.
"Right again, Hermione!" he said. "But the Ministry never knew that here used to be four unregistered Animagi running around Hogwarts."
"Hell yea there were," Hollis said, a tear running down her cheek.
"If you're going to tell them the story, get a move on, Remus," said Black, who was still watching Scabbers's every desperate move. "I've waited twelve years, I'm not going to wait much longer."
"All right, but you'll need to help me, Sirius," said Lupin, "I only know how it began..."
Lupin broke off. There had been a loud creak behind him. The bedroom door had opened of its own accord. All five of them stared at it. Then Lupin strode toward it and looked out into the landing.
"No one there..."
"This place is haunted!" said Ron.
Hollis was happy that the rumour she had worked so hard to create to protect Remus had stuck.
"It's not,' said Lupin, still looking at the door in a puzzled way. "The Shrieking Shack was never haunted. The screams and howls the villagers used to hear were made by me."
The room and the Above watched as Remus Lupin began to tell his story.
"I was 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.
"Before the Wolfsbane Potion was discovered, however, I became a fully fledged monster once a month. It seemed impossible that I would be able to come to Hogwarts. Other parents weren't likely to want their children exposed to me."
"He wasn't a monster," Hollis whispered, burying her head in Regulus's chest for a moment, who gently rubbed her back.
"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."
Remus could practically see her again.
"My transformations in those days were terrible. It is very painful to turn into a werewolf. I was separated from humans to bite, so I bit and scratched myself instead. The villagers heard the noise and the screaming and thought they were hearing particularly violent spirits. She encouraged the rumours, and it must have worked."
"But the second my transformations ended, 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."
"The fourth?" Hermione asked, interrupting. "Who was the fourth?"
"Hollis Rosier," Sirius said, seeing the pained expression on Remus's face. "You're named after her, Harry."
Harry blinked a few times in confusion, and Remus quickly carried on before things became too emotional.
"When my friends figure out, they didn't desert me at all. Instead, they did something for me that would make my transformations not only bearable but the best times of my life. They became animagi."
"My dad too?" said Harry, astounded.
"Yes, indeed," said Lupin. "It took them the best part of three years to work out how to do it."
"And we would have never worked it out fully if it weren't for Hollis," Sirius interjected. "Or it would have taken us double the time."
"How did she know?" Hermione asked, starting to become more intrigued by Hollis than the rest of the story.
"She was already an animagus, she had become one at some point before our fifth year," Remus explained. "Cleverest witch or wizard I've ever known."
"But how did that help you?" said Hermione, sounding puzzled.
"They couldn't keep me company as humans, so they kept me company as animals," said Lupin. "A werewolf is only a danger to people. They sneaked out of the castle every month under James's cloak. She, they kept me sane."
Lily started to cry.
"All of the sudden, the opportunities to cause mischief were at our fingertips with this new ability to sneak around. And that's how we came to write the Marauder's Map, and sign it with our nicknames. Sirius is Padfoot. Peter is Wormtail. James was Prongs. Hollis was Nighteye."
"The Marauders?"
"The Marauders."
3k words
yes there is going to be a part three i was not anticipating this but oh well