The Quidditch Cup was not a joyous affair for you but in fact a rather tortuous one. Since February, all of Hogwarts had been on edge when your father broke into the Gryffindor common room. Ron insisted that he was trying to kill him— standing over him with a knife. You didn't believe it but it wasn't the best look for your father. At the same time, if he was in a room with Ron then he was in a room with Harry. And clearly, Harry was still very much alive. The Quidditch Cup was supposed to be a time for everyone to try and forget the madness, the excitement of the final match of a season. You supposed it would have been exciting if it wasn't for the fact that the two houses that made it to the finals were Gryffindor and Slytherin.
No matter who won, you would have people you cared for that would be deeply disappointed. Draco frowned when he saw you in a red sweater— you borrowed Ron's— but was pleased to see you in the jewelry set he and his mother got you as your Slytherin representation. You chose to sit next to Cedric, in a throng of other Hufflepuffs in order to seem less biased. It was working until Neville found you in the second half and quickly, Ron, Hermione, Dean, Ginny, and Seamus followed. It became a Gryffindor meeting once again. You gave up and cheered for Gryffindor. Although, you still applauded now and then whenever Slytherin managed to get the Quaffle into a goalpost. The game was only made more stressful by the fact that both teams seemed not to care about the fouls they were accumulating as long as they were beating the others. It was becoming more dangerous by the minute.
You were torn as Harry suddenly caught the snitch. This was the first time that Gryffindor had won the Quidditch Cup since Ron's oldest brother went to Hogwarts. You wanted to celebrate with them. But your cousin also just lost arguably the most important game of his life. You decided to give Harry a thumbs up— that he returned— and ran to your cousin. You linked your arm in the crook of your cousin's elbow.
"Come on, let's sneak out to Hogsmeade while the teachers will be too distracted to notice I'm leaving."
You still hadn't got your permission slip signed. With your father somewhat around, you didn't want it signed unless it was from him. You'd even settle for Professor Lupin as your godfather before Mr. Stapius. But really, you just wanted your dad to sign something. Draco gave you a smile and the two of you practically ran from the quidditch field.
"How are you paying for this?" Draco asked when you pulled out your purse before he could hand the waitress his money.
She took it and set down your food in front of you.
"Dad," you said, simply.
"Uncle Sirius is rich?"
"Uncle?"
Draco shrugged. "He's your father isn't he, that's what you said. I should try to treat him like family... why are you looking at me like that?"
"Because, Draco, somewhere deep down in there you do actually have a heart."
He rolled his eyes. Lunch with you made him forget entirely about losing the Quidditch Cup. Because you paid for lunch, Draco insisted on paying for the sweets at Honeydukes. Like the two of you always seemed to do with sweets, you split a cauldron cake. You ate and laughed as you walked back into campus. Draco suddenly stopped and you turned from him to see Professor Lupin in front of you.
"Others would consider this aiding and abetting, Mr. Malfoy."
Your cousin scrambled away from you. You held up the rest of your cauldron cake which only earned you a look from Lupin.
"Leaving campus when you don't have a permission slip signed is punishable. I should give you detention and take points from your house."
"Oh, come on Uncle Remus, it's only Hogsmeade."
"I'll forget the detention. If you trade me those licorice wands."
You easily coughed them up. You began to run off, not even caring that Remus took forty points from Hufflepuff. After the Hogsmeade debacle, you stayed out of trouble for the rest of the year. You only made a few more illegal trips to Hogsmeade with your cousin before deciding to stop all together. Not that there were many trips to Hogsmeade anyway. End of the year exams left everyone stressed. Fifth years were prepping for O.W.L.s— you knew it was bad when even Fred and George began to study. Seventh years were constantly carrying around their books to study for N.E.W.T.s. Every other grade had regular Hogwarts' exams but students were still freaking out.
You on the other hand were taking it mildly better. You turned in your essay to McGonagall, feeling rather good about it. Muggle Studies, Ancient Runes, Astronomy, and History of Magic were all essays as well. They were just timed and in class. Of course, you finished those without a worry in the world either. Herbology's essay and practical exam of growing a successful puffapod was a walk in the park. You and Neville walked out of the Herbology room with your heads held high. You only began to shake at the thought of Defense Against the Dark Arts and Charms. You began to walk to the dungeons with all the other third years. Then, all of a sudden, the panic set in. Everyone took their seats— you sat with Draco. Snape strolled to the back of the classroom and pulled the lid off of a copper cauldron. He peered inside before abruptly turning to face you. He stuck out a hand.
"Your essay, Ms. Black."
You handed it in.
"Topic?"
"I wrote about Draught of Living Death, Professor, and the potential potency increase if combined with the Potion for Dreamless Sleep."
"Very well, Ms. Black. You are dismissed."
"Wait, what?" The other third years protested.
Snape silenced the entire class. He didn't offer them any explanation. Instead, he told them to get out their cauldron and begin working on the first spell for exams. As everyone got to work, Snape poured out the tiniest vial of your felix felicis and gave it to you. The rest he bottled up and locked in the separate Potions supply cupboard. The vial was enough to get through Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts. You ran to find Cedric who just finished his final exam in Transfiguration. He laughed when you pulled him from his friends.
"Oh, good. You're still here."
"I was just about to head to Hogsmeade with the others. Do you want me to get you something?"
"I need your help."
"For what?"
You held up the vial and Cedric tried to snatch it from you. He inquired nonstop about where you possibly got some liquid luck as you dragged him to the Charms room. You chugged down the vial and knocked on Professor Flitwick's door. Not even moments later, you felt the potion start to work.
"I'd like to take my exam now, Professor Flitwick. If that's alright with you?"
"Of course, Ms. Black. You just have to get five out of the seven charms from this year and three from a previous year to be considered passable. Your essay extra credit means you only need, we'll say two charms from this year and two from a previous."
Cedric blinked in amazement. The felix felicis really did work. You knew that even with extra credit you probably should have still done four charms from this year and two from last. You started with the charms from the previous year. Reparo was perfectly mastered, and the natural opener to your act. Cedric did as you asked and cast a simple spell towards you that you were able to block with the general counter spell— albeit the block was very messy and bounced off of the chalkboard. When it was time to move on, you pointed your wand at Cedric and casted the Cheering Charm. The boy smiled wide as if it was picture day for school before the smile dropped. It wasn't long but it was good enough. The same thing happened when you casted the Body Binding Spell— Cedric went stiff for a moment. That moment was all you needed to earn the passable level.
"Well done, Ms. Black. Hard work seems to be all that you need."
You nodded enthusiastically and raced to find your godfather. You watched the fourth years pile out of Lupin's room and slipped past them.
"Uncle Remus!" you yelled, not caring that Cedric was still there. "Show me that boggart!"
You gripped your wand with fury. Hesitantly, Remus opened the cabinet. You prepared for the boggart to shift into your Uncle Lucius, bracing for the flash of platinum blonde hair. You paused along with Remus and Cedric. The long blonde hair never appeared. Your biggest fear changed. It was less about you and more about the person that you cared about the most. Instead, you were face to face with Sirius Black. But a Sirius Black with no life behind his eyes, holding a sign with his Azkaban numbers and Dementor's Kiss written down on it. It felt like the luck was punched out right out of you. Your wand lowered slightly before you raised it again with a shakier hand.
"Riddikulus."
Sirius gave you the slightest of smiles. "Hi, Poppet."
Lupin ushered the boggart back into the cabinet. Cedric gave you a hug that you didn't really return and left to go Hogsmeade. Lupin pulled you to sit on the floor with him. He grabbed two butterbeers and chocolate.
"I was expecting Lucius Malfoy," he said.
"So was I," you sheepishly admitted.
"I also wasn't expecting that well of a performance."
You held up the vial of felix felicis, a little bit of the golden potion was still there. Lupin grabbed it from you.
"(Y/N)!"
"Before you start, Professor Snape let me brew it and keep it. It's only for final exams, I swear, just this class and charms," you rushed out.
"Pro-p-prof— Severus authorized this?"
"It's just for my exams, Uncle Remus."
"I'm still not sure how you found out but I very much enjoy you calling me that."
"I do too, it feels like I've got real family."
Lupin finished his chocolate and you watched the itching begin. He coughed into his elbow twice before taking a long swig of butterbeer to try and balance out the reaction a bit. Lupin looked at the bottle.
"(Y/N), I wasn't in a position to take care of a baby because of the werewolf thing and I'm still not sure how much better I am now but... if you want to spend summers with me, you don't have to go back to Mr. Stapius— I'll say it's a very run down cottage, though."
"Uncle Remus, you could live in a shack and I would still stay the entire summer."
"That's g—"
Ron came bursting into the room, finding out where you were from Cedric.
"Cornelius Fudge is here! They're executing Buckbeak at sunset, Hagrid lost the appeal."
You jumped up to your feet. "They can't do that! We have to stop them."
"One step ahead of you, (Y/N)."
As Ron said that, Harry and Hermione emerged from the Invisibility Cloak. Hermione was holding Crookshanks who meowed twice in greeting. Lupin stood up as well.
"Children—"
"Hi, Professor," the other three said at the same time.
"An execution at sunset is well past a curfew that you still have until the school year is officially over."
"Uncle Remus, a hippogriff is being falsely accused. This is serious."
"I— okay," Remus said exasperated.
He just put his hands on his hips and watched the four of you squeeze together underneath the cloak and shuffle out. The door seemed to close on its own. You all raced through the halls of Hogwarts in attempts to get to Hagrid's hut as fast as possible. You knocked on Hagrid's door until the half-giant opened up. Hagrid ushered you all inside quickly, before you were seen. He poured out tea for all of you, sniffling the entire time.
"Are you sure there is nothing we can do?" Harry asked.
"It's alright, you kids shouldn't be here. Don't want you watchin' an execution."
"We want to be here to support you, Hagrid," Hermione said as she grabbed the cream. "It's n— Ron! It's Scabbers!"
Crookshanks immediately reacted but Hermione was faster than her cat. She scooped Scabbers up and handed the rat to her friend. Both Ron and Hermione apologized to each other once more for ever arguing about a stupid rat. Hagrid stood up quickly, his jovial expression disappearing immediately.
"They're comin'. You kids go on an' hide, now, get out 'fer they see you."
You all exited the hut through the back door. Hagrid slammed the door and greeted Dumbledore along with Cornelius Fudge and the executioner just as the four of you hid in the pumpkin patch. You watched with sad eyes as you stared at Buckbeak. Hermione pulled at your arm. The two of you snapped out of it quicker. You both helped throw the Invisibility Cloak all over the four of you. The four of you began to run back towards the castle, stopping when you felt that you were safe enough to watch. You all squeezed each other's hands as you watched the executioner's axe come down— closing your eyes before it actually reached the hippogriff.
"Scabbers!" Ron whisper-screamed.
The rat had been going crazy the entire time you guys were watching Buckbeak. He jumped from Ron's pocket, leading to Ron leaving the security of the Invisibility Cloak to chase after him. Naturally, you, Harry, and Hermione had to follow. You finally found Ron who was now on the ground clutching his rat. Hermione was the first to notice where you all stopped. She frantically patted you and Harry's arm. You both looked up where she was looking. Ron was right underneath the Whomping Willow.
"Ron! Get up!" Harry yelled.
"Behind you." Ron pointed.
The three of you turned to look at what he was pointing at. The black dog that you only saw once before was back. Although, it was a lot less friendly looking than before. The dog was growling and started to run. You, Hermione, and Harry ducked but the dog leaped over you as if you weren't even a factor to it.
"Ron!"
You screamed his name at the same time that Ron was simply screaming. It became a scream fest. Ron was yelling as the dog pulled him down the hole in the tree— Crookshanks following behind. You were yelling for your friend. Harry and Hermione had made the mistake of getting too close to the tree and were now holding onto the Whomping Willow's branches while screaming for dear life as it tried to shake them off. With the tree distracted, you ran towards it and practically punched the knot at the base of it— remembering where the dog had hit it last time. You ducked momentarily in case it didn't work but soon Harry and Hermione's screaming stopped and the tree launched them into the hollow in the trunk. You quickly followed.
The hollow was in fact a tunnel. The tunnel seemed to lead farther and farther down and you realized that you were no longer underneath the Whomping Willow and probably not even on the Hogwarts campus anymore. You tumbled down and crashed into the pile that was Harry and Hermione at the base of the tunnel. The tree of you jumped up and ran to your friend. Ron was clutching his rat in one hand and his leg in the other. Crookshanks huddled in the corner, never taking his eyes off of Scabbers.
"Ron, are you okay?"
"Harry, it's a trap. The dog— n-n— he's an Animagus!"
Ron pointed again and you three looked. Your mouth dropped in shock. Sirius Black was standing in front of you. In an instant, Harry and Hermione pulled out their wands.
"If you want to kill Harry, you'll have to go through us."
Your head snapped back and forth between your friend and your father. Your father looked like hell. His hair was kind of matted and hung down limply. His clothes were absolutely tattered. The most prominent thing to you was that he was skinny. But skinny as if the very life was sucked out of him— you came to the unfortunate realization that it must have been from the dementors. Sirius ignored everyone else to look at you for a moment. His face was somewhat unreadable.
"I told you not to come looking for your old man, Poppet."
You couldn't tell if he was joking or serious. You couldn't tell anything really, his emotions weren't very strong. The three of you looked up as you heard footsteps. Hermione began shouting for whoever was above to help. A door you hadn't noticed before bursted open— the damaged wood splintering everywhere— and Professor Lupin stepped out. He kept his wand arm raised, eyes flitting between Sirius and you all.
"Where is he, Sirius?" Lupin asked.
"Professor? You're his friend?" Harry practically shouted.
Hermione gave the man a wicked glare. "Harry, don't trust him! He must've been helping Black sneak into the castle to find you— he's a werewolf!"
Remus and Sirius both chuckled. "You really are the brightest witch of your age, not entirely correct but close enough."
"I'll tell the entire school," Hermione spoke up.
"Go ahead," Remus said. "The staff already knows."
"Dumbledore knows?"
"Yes, now where is he, Sirius?"
The man pointed to Ron. The redhead protested with little real words and lots of spluttering.
"No, not you!" Sirius yelled. "The rat!"
"Scabbers? But Scabbers is ju—"
"Peter Pettigrew!"
"You're lying," Harry defended. "You killed him twelve years ago."
Your dad began to chuckle like a madman. "Oh, I meant to kill little Peter. He got through twelve muggles before I got to him and I thought I did a good job. But he bested me, not tonight though."
"No! Everyone saw you."
"Everyone thought they saw him, Harry," Remus spoke up. "I did too until you showed me the map. That map never lies. If you saw Peter Pettigrew it is because he is very much alive."
Sirius took a step forward. "You still think that's just a common house rat? He's been in your family for how long now, twelve years? Unusual for a life expectancy of only two. He's missing a toe, isn't he? Came to you like that. Strange when all they could find of Pettigrew was—"
"A finger," you whispered.
Hermione shook her head. "All Animagus must register."
"Wrong again!" Sirius said with what you could mistake as delight. "You really shouldn't have registered yourself, Poppet. The Ministry let three unregistered Animagi slip by them for their entire education at Hogwarts. Say hello to Mr. Padfoot, one fourth of the creators of the Marauders Map."
Harry pointed his wand towards Remus. "Moony? Was my dad—"
"Mr. Prongs," Sirius said before turning angry. "And I'm going to murder Wormtail, the traitor who doesn't deserve to share our title!"
Lupin stopped Sirius from taking another step. He could see that Hermione and Harry were still hesitant. One wrong move and they lost Peter Pettigrew or got themselves hurt.
"Now, wait a moment, pal."
Sirius grasped at his friend's shoulders. "Let's kill him! Let's kill him, Remus. You know what he's done, what he did to Lily and James. Le—"
"Wait just a moment."
"I've done my waiting. Twelve years of it IN AZKABAN!"
Your dad, for the first time ever, was beginning to scare you. You dropped to the floor, clutching your head in your hands. Not many things made you shut down. You wouldn't have made it very far in life if they did. Not the orphanage, not bullies at Hogwarts when they got bold enough to confront you, not the taunting at being a squib. But you froze in fear because your dad looked so much like Heron Black when he yelled.
He looked so much like your Aunt Bellatrix— he even looked like Lucius who wasn't technically related to your family at all. That side of the Black family you didn't like at all. When they got angry, it was like they could destroy the entire world. Sirius looked over. It's like the world didn't matter in that moment. He didn't care that wands were still pointed at him. He broke from Remus' grasp and moved to crouch down in front of you.
"Poppet, Poppet, I'm sorry. Dad didn't mean to yell like that. I didn't mean—"
Snape came bursting in. His wand was pointed, the sneer on his face growing larger at what he thought was his victory.
"Step away from the children, Black."
"Severus, wait—"
Lupin was cut off as Snape pointed the wand at him instead. In a split second decision, Harry raised his wand at Snape and shouted out 'Expelliarmus'. The wand and the man attached to it went crashing into a dusty bedpost in the corner of the room.
"How do we know to believe you?" Harry didn't lower his wand. "How do we this is all real and not convenient coincidence?"
"Ask the cat."
"Crookshanks?" Hermione asked in frustration. "How can we possibly?"
"You have an Animagus amongst your friends. Isn't that in McGonagall's lessons still? Animagus have the basic ability to understand animals."
You lifted your head. "I don't need the Animagus to speak to a cat."
Sirius blinked. "You don't?"
"I've been speaking cat since I was nine... Crookshanks!"
You beckoned the fluffy orange creature over while your father looked up at Lupin who seemed just as surprised to find that out. It wasn't exactly something you needed to advertise. And after Professor McGonagall's surprise when you first met at that exact same fact, you quickly realized that not everyone in the world could speak to animals. It was in fact not a normal magical skill to learn. Crookshanks, who had told you once before that you were the only other member he actually liked in the Golden Quartet, rested in your lap as he meowed and purred up a storm.
"Hermione, unless your cat is a liar. Crookshanks has had it out for Pettigrew ever since meeting my dad. He knows a human in an animal body from a real animal."
With a shaky hand, Ron reached out to hand Scabbers to Sirius. He dropped the rat with a gasp when Scabbers bit him. Lupin began shouting spells with his wand, finally hitting the rat as he tried to squeeze through a hole in the wall. The little house rat turned into a full grown man who was now trapped in the place with the rest of you.
While not many people looked like their Animagus form, Peter Pettigrew was exactly what you would expect if you said human version of a rat. Peter immediately scrambled towards Remus. He clutched onto his friend's cardigan as he begged the man to save him from Sirius. Your father's face dropped as anger washed over it. He got up from where he was crouched in front of you to make his way to Peter Pettigrew who was failing at convincing Remus of his lies.
"How dare you, Wormtail. How dare you. I told them last minute to make you the keeper of the Potters' whereabouts because I knew Voldemort would look for me. You betrayed us all. You intended to from the beginning. You got Lily and James killed, you got Alicia killed, you got me taken away from my daughter. You're going to pay for that, Wormtail."
Peter turned to you and Harry.
"You two look just like your parents. Harry, just like your dad. (Y/N), aren't you—"
Sirius grabbed Peter by the shoulder. "Don't ever think of speaking to either one of those children. Say another word to my kid and I'll kill you in my dog form, rip you limb from limb with my teeth. Give me your wand, Remus."
"Wait!"
Harry yelled and you looked at him. He couldn't possibly believe Pettigrew?