"MY STAR," THE DERANGED FELON CROAKED; FAMILIAR ORBS GLANCING ABOUT THE CHILDREN, "MY PRECIOUS GEM, WHERE IS SHE?" The persuasive questioning of Gemini's whereabouts rang in Harry's ear as though Black had bellowed, leaving a boiling rancor behind. Of all the things...how dare this man attempt to weasel out any information from them, her friends? And for the first time in his thirteen years, Harry Potter poised his wand, not with the intention to defend himself, but to attack...to harm...to kill.
"Expelliarmus!," the criminal spelled, wielding Ron's wand, at sensing Harry's acrimony. But this, if anything, only seemed to intensify the Boy-Who-Lived's protective fury. "What? Scared of a child, are you?," Harry simmered; mouth stretched back into a snarl. And, without the knowledge of what he was doing, aggravation winning over, the boy started forward. "And she is not your Star. Why, she's not your anything. So get her name out of your fucking mouth!" But there was an abrupt movement on either side of the fuming boy, two sets of hands hastily catching ahold of Gryffindor robes, preventing him from launching himself at the man. "Well," Sirius spoke; taking in Harry's incensed state, "You're an angry, little thing. Aren't you?"
Ron, who seemingly dismissed from mind what position they were in, snipped, "Don't patronize him." And Sirius Black stared thoughtfully at the red head, something flickering in the depth of his shadowed eyes; at the freckled boy who stood right by Harry's side, in contempt of pain he surely felt. "Lay back down," the convict instructed the haggard ginger, "You'll only cause more damage to that leg by standing up." But Ron merely stared back, still upright in defiance, and refused, "Oi! I am not going to do what you say, none of us are. So just shut the bloody hell up!" Hermione gasped in a petrified whisper, all too cognizant of their circumstance of defenselessness. "Ronald," she hissed; smacking at his arm. But Ron, azure eyes afire, scathingly interjected, "No, 'Mione! This...this gutless wonder managed to ruin both Harry and Gemini's life! I am not going to just stand here and let him make bold comments or demand whereabouts when he is the root of all their misery!" Sirius Black, hand over his heart, lowly whistled, "Damn. I suppose it is true then, you know, what they say about red heads."
But, just before Ron Weasley was about to "accidentally" loosen his grip on an enraged Harry Potter, the four made out muffled footsteps from below. Someone was downstairs. "WE ARE UP HERE!," Hermione suddenly cried out; yanking the two boys apart from the threat, "HELP - SIRIUS BLACK, HE'S HERE! BE QUICK!" The person, semblantly in auditory range of the plea, changed course as the tread thundered up the worn staircase. The entrance to the room burst open in a shower of sparks; Professor Lupin hurtling into the area, his wand raised and prepared. "Sir, what're you doing here? Where is -," the later question fading off as Harry espied the werewolf who was out and about, on a full moon. Don't get him wrong, Harry was unbelievably grateful for the skilled wizard, but where the fuck where Gemini and Draco? "Not now, Mr. Potter," Remus dismissed; scrutinizing not just the people, but the entire room in complete detail, "Where is he, Sirius?" ...What?
Yet the other man, the frenetic man, showed every sign of understanding what was being asked of him; as he pointed in the direction of Ron. "What the hell have I done? I am, like, the last person in this room that fingers should be pointed at," Ron queried; eyebrows drawn together in perturbation. But both chaps, who now faced each other for the first time in over a decade, disregarded the rampageous teens. In place, regarding one another with an undefinable emotion painted over their faces. "B-But if that is the case...," Lupin brokenly muttered; amber iris' blinking with unshed tears, "Why hasn't he bothered to show himself? Unless..." - Lupin's eyes augmented unexpectedly; as though he'd caught sight of something beyond the battered man before him, something none of the rest could see, - "...unless he was the one. He was the one. And you...you swapped places...without informing me?" And, very slowly, seemingly ashamed, Sirius Black gestured in head in confirmation of Lupin's assumption. "Oh," Lupin breathed; not bothering to conceal the tears that slid down his cheeks, "Oh, my darling." And the children then watched as Remus Lupin heatedly stalked towards the criminal. No, not to attack. But, instead, to pull Sirius Black into a searing, unfeigned kiss.
"Oh. For. Merlin's. Fucking. Sake," Harry denounced; drawing the men from their earnest embrace, gaining the attention of all in the room, "Are my children seriously not going to have a single set of normal grandparents? I mean, honestly! Mine are dead, and Gemini's are classified backstabbers." Sirius curiously eyed Remus Lupin; whispering, "What is the kid on about?" And Remus sighed, dragging a hand down his face, as he then revealed, "Introducing, James Potter 2.0. Female of focus, Gemini Lupin-Black." Sirius' eyes widened in realization; as he whispered in horror, "No." But Remus only shrugged his shoulders, what could the pair of them do? Once a Potter set their mind to something, that was that.
"Look," Lupin began; ever the mediator, "It is not what you children think - ." But Hermione Granger cut off any explanation the man attempted to give. "Harry, Ron, do not listen to him," she instructed the boys. Then, turning to face the scarred man, it was disclosed, "You! I gave you the benefit of the doubt, Professor Lupin, in consideration of what a great Father you seem to be. And how you've yet to harm anyone. But this is where I draw the line. I've known, since Snape's essay, that you are a werewolf! And my trust in you, since that revelation, has considerably thinned. But this is my limit. There is nothing else you can say to try and make yourself look better." The wan man exhaled; shakily returning, "I will not deny that I am a werewolf. But Miss. Granger, Hermione, settle down. Just...just listen to me, please. I can throw light upon the entirety of this situation." And Harry, aware of how his friends eyed Lupin now distrustfully, dominating Potter genetics ever enriched, chided, "Oi! I know our bearings here paint Lupin in a negative light, but that's got nothing to do with his furry, little problem!" Hermione, having interlaced the remaining details, gasped, "You know? You know, don't you? But...but how? I don't - Gemini. She knows too, then? But why wouldn't she inform anyone that such a perilous creature inhabited Hogwarts?!"
"Because that 'creature', as you so eloquently put it, is her father," Sirius Black snipped disdainfully at the bushy haired girl. Then, circling around to face the man under consideration, the criminal continued, "...And my husband. Or would that be ex-husband, Professor Lupin?" Harry, officially done with the whole state of affairs, entreated, "Can someone, anyone, please just tell me what is going on? I need to know if I have to continue the act of procuring my future In-Laws approval or not." Lupin, who permitted this devotion of his daughter as Harry'd successfully hindered a tantrum from Sirius, in a rush, elucidated, "As I've said, I can explain everything. - Everyone thought Sirius betrayed James and Lily, that he killed Peter. I believed it myself - until, tonight, I saw the map. The Marauders Map. Because, as Gemini's told you before, the map never lies...Peter's alive. He's in Ron's pocket, Harry."
"Bloody hell," Ron exclaimed; flinging his arms up in the air in incredulity, "That's it, Gem and Drake are going to have to move in with me! Their only sensible parent has gone mental as well!" Ignoring Sirius' hushed inquiries of a 'Drake,' Lupin revealed, "I've not lost it, Mr. Weasley. You are, and have been, unintentionally, harboring a man that I've believed dead." Hermione, who'd been reticent for quite some time, squawked, "And how, pray tell, has Ron been doing such a thing?" The Professor, whose amber orbs hadn't departed from the ginger after the divulgement, made clear, "An Animagus. You all ought to be familiar with such a thing, shouldn't you? On account of Gemini and Draco, and the demonstration Sirius just performed. Well, Peter Pettigrew is an Animagus as well! More precisely, he's an Animagus that acquires the form of a mere rat."
"Scabbers?," Ron doubtingly questioned; stuffing the rat further down his front pocket, "Are you talking about Scabbers?! No way. He's been in my family for -." Bitterly; Sirius Black, who then pulled out a clipping from The Daily Prophet; showing Ron with his family in Egypt, interjected, "Twelve years. Yeah? A curiously long time for a common garden rat. He's missing a toe, isn't he?" And the red-head, ever on the defense, snipped, "First off, quite creepy of you to be carrying around a picture of me. Second off, so what if my rat is missing a toe? Some animals have some defects!" A manic cackle left the malefactor, "So what? So what? All they could find left of Pettigrew was his blasted toe! Dirty coward cut it off so everyone would think he was dead. After, he transitioned into a bloody rat!" Then Hermione spoke, in a trembling, would-be calm sort of voice, as to not rial up the unhinged adults, "But Professor Lupin....Scabbers can't be Pettigrew...it just can't be true, you know it can't." And Lupin, as though they were in class and not the Shrieking Shack, calmly probed, "Why can't it be true, Miss. Granger?"
"Because," she began; eyes glancing about cautiously, "...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." Lupin made a noise of praise in the back of his throat; returning, "Right you are! But, tell me, was Gemini on the list? Draco? No. You see, unregistered Animagi can, and do, exist within the Wizarding World. And as the Ministry are none the wiser as to what my children are capable of, they also never knew of the three unregistered Animagi that ran around Hogwarts during my school days. - You see, truthfully, all of this starts with my becoming a werewolf. None of this could have happened if I hadn't been bitten...and if I hadn't been so foolhardy." He looked sober and tired. Ron started to interrupt, but Hermione and Harry, said, "Shh!" They were watching Lupin very intently.
"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 raise 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. 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 directly looked at the children, "Gemini, months ago, mentioned 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's mouth to stop anyone coming across me while I was dangerous. My transformations during those days were ...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. But apart from my transformations, I was happier then I had ever been in my life. For the first time ever, I had friends, three great friends. Sirius Black...Peter Pettigrew...and, of course, your father, Harry - James Potter. Now, my three friends could hardly fail to notice that I disappeared once a month. I made up all sorts of stories. I told them my mother was ill, and that I had to go home and see her...I was terrified they would desert me the moment they found out what I was. But of course, they, like you, Hermione, worked out the truth...And 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?," Harry questioned; astounded. "Yes, indeed," Lupin confirmed, "It took them the best part of three years to work out how to do it. Your father and Sirius here were the cleverest students in the school, and lucky they were, because the Animagus transformation can go horribly wrong - one reason the Ministry keeps a close watch on those attempting to do it. Peter needed all the help he could get from James and Sirius. Finally, in our fifth year, they managed it. They could each turn into a different animal at will."
"But how did that benefit you?," Hermione inquired; audibly puzzled. "They couldn't keep me company as humans, so they kept me company as animals. A werewolf is only a danger to people," Lupin explained, "So, my friends, they snuck out of the castle every month under James' Invisibility Cloak. Under their influence, I became less dangerous. My body was still wolfish, but my mind seemed to become less so while I was with them." And Hermione's fawn eyes brightened in comprehension, as she indicated, "So, Gemini? Draco? That's where they disappear off to...to be with you? But, where are they now?" Yet, aforetime to Lupin offering a response, a gaudy voice, from the opening, startlingly spelled, "EXPELLIARMUS!" Compelling the adults' wands, coupled with the children's, to aviate from their hands, and into the awaiting palm of Severus Snape. Fuck. "You're wondering, perhaps, how I knew of your location?," the Potions Master protracted; face full of suppressed triumph, "Well, you see, I've just been to your office, Lupin. As you'd forgotten to take your potion tonight. So, out of the kindness of my heart, and my concern for the wellbeing of Hogwarts' students, I went out of my way to carry a gobletful along to you. And very lucky I did...lucky for me, I mean. Because set out on your lecturn, for all to see, was a certain map. One glance at it told me all I needed to know...I watched as you dashed along this passageway and out of sight. Expected. As I've frequently explained to the Headmaster you've been, so obviously, 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 obsolete place as your hideout - ."
"Brilliant," Sirius derided; waltzing closer and inspecting the latest person with great repugnance, "And, as usual, dead wrong! - Now, hand over the wands. Remus and I have a bit of unfinished business to tend to." But Snape was having none of it, as his wand met the jugular of Black's throat. "Give me a reason to do it, and I swear I will," he hissed; obsidian eyes gleaming fanatically. Black stopped dead, a stare off ensued; it would be impossible to say which face exhibited more antipathy. "Don't be a fool, Severus," Professor Lupin apprehensively quipped; witnessing his lover at wand point, "You haven't heard everything! Is a schoolboy grudge worth putting an innocent man back inside Azkaban?" BANG! Thin, snakelike cords burst from the end of Snape's wand and twisted themselves not around Sirius, but Lupin's mouth, wrists, and ankles; he overbalanced and fell to the floor, unable to move. "Oh, Moonshine," Sirius chuckled; a precarious glint to his eye, "Don't you know by now? Snivellous can't help it. Being a fool is a habit by now."
"Witty as ever I see," Snape snarled; eyes burning into Sirius, "Tell me, will you be so irreverent when I turn you over to the Dementors? Ah, do I detect a flicker of fear? No judgement. One can only imagine what it must be like to endure the Dementor's kiss. It's said to even be unbearable to witness, let alone experience. But I'll do my best. - Yes, vengeance is is quite sweet. How I hoped I would be the one to catch you." Sirius Black let out a deranged giggle, the children privy as to which genetic pool Gemini'd inherited the inability to shut up, as he retaliated, "The joke is on you again, Snivvy. As long as Weasley brings his rat up to the castle, I'll come quietly." Though, silkily, Snape replied, "Up to the castle? 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. Why, dare I say, pleased enough to give you a little kiss." And what little color that had clung to Black's face had drained. "You - you've got to hear me out," the criminal croaked, "The rat - look at the rat!" But there was a mad glint in Severus Snape's eye that none had ever seen before, one that seemed beyond reason. "Come on, all of you," the Potions Master directed; clicking his fingers, the ends of the cords that bound Lupin then flew into his hands. "I'll schlepp the werewolf. Perhaps the Dementors will have a kiss for him too - ."
"Perhaps not. You foul, greasy git," Gemini Lupin-Black hissed from the doorway; Draco to her right, "STUPEFY!" Then, a blast, so stalwart that it made the door rattle on its hinges, emitted from the tip of her wand. Propelling Snape into the wall, barbarically, where he glissaded down to the floor, a trickle of blood having now discharged out from under his hairline. He had been knocked out, incontestably, but Gemini was far from satisfied. That much was clear as she waltzed over to the unconscious man, gall all-consuming, undiscerning to those perceiving her detonation, and set to furiously kick at his ribcage. "How dare you," the maniacal lass seethed; eyes incandescent to a dangerous auric, "I ought to slaughter you for even speaking to my Da' in such a manner, let alone touching him! You. Absolute. Piece. Of. Shite!"