Whatever happened to the young, young lovers?
One got shot and the other got lost in,
Drugs and punks and blood on the street,
Blood, blood on her knees,
Bloody history (yeah).
-Mother Mother
Previously...
Lynn consults her grandmother on the curse placed on her bloodline.
Harry chances an excursion to Hogsmeade, getting spotted by Draco and questioned by Snape. The Marauder's Map is returned to its owners.
Harry, during his Divinations exam, witnesses a prophecy.
Hogwarts, Lynn's Office.
Lynn felt like someone had shoved a hot poker into her brain.
Shortly after Hermione had left her office, a headache began to creep into her skull. The worrying thing was that she had finished a cup of belladonna only ten minutes ago.
"No, no, no," Lynn muttered to herself, clumsily making another pot of the purple tea, accidentally spilling the dried purple leaves over her desk. "No, why aren't you working?"
"Lynn."
"Shut up," she told the voices as they whispered to her mockingly. She downed the entire cup, scalding her throat. It did not provide relief for her headache. In fact, pressure began to build in her head; it felt like she was trying to patch holes in a dam about to break.
She crumpled to the floor, hands twisted into her hair pulling hard enough she was in danger of ripping it all out.
"Lynn."
Then her vision went black.
...
"This was a complete disaster! Lestrange got away! We almost had him!"
Lynn wildly looked around her. She was sitting on a dusty old sofa in a dimly lit kitchen. The familiar location wasn't what startled her, however, but Marlene McKinnon, sitting right next to her alive and well, made her cry out in sheer shock.
"They had to have known we were coming," Frank Longbottom chipped in. He had bruises along his cheek, but was otherwise unharmed. "Eight high ranking Death Eaters attacking a muggle church?"
They all looked a bit banged up. She vaguely remembered this mission. It had to be about two years into her involvement in the war. She was only 19 at the time, just finishing the first round of her curse breaking exams.
Marlene had dark circles under her eyes, her hair unkempt and her clothes crumpled.
Lily was standing a bit behind her, leaning against the wall and fiddling with her wand. The Prewett twins, Gideon and Fabian, occupied chairs at the kitchen table, their clothes ripped but no sign of injury.
Frank and Alice stood beside Caradoc Dearborn, holding onto each other's hand tightly.
Remus was leaning against the counter, looking significantly younger. There was a small cut on his forehead; whether it was from the mission or a recent full moon she couldn't remember. He kept glancing at her with worried eyes.
Peter was slightly curled in on himself, sitting on a battered armchair. His mousy hair hung over his face. Lynn's heart twisted at the sight of him. She had forgotten just how traumatising the war was for all of them. All her friends were a wreck.
Marlene, Lily, Alice, Frank, Remus, Peter, the Prewett twins... did they all really look that young during the war?
"Maybe they all got bored and wanted some fun," Gideon answered Frank.
"Nothing says fun like blowing up a muggle place of worship," Fabian agreed.
"Or maybe, someone is feeding information to the enemy," Marlene scowled. Everyone tensed at the suggestion. "This isn't the first time this has happened. Does no one else feel like we've been walking into traps all month?"
"We foiled their plans, that's all that matters," Caradoc Dearborn grabbed the attention of the room, his voice as clear and commanding as she remembered it. "Thirty muggles are alive because of us. Yes, arresting Rudolphus Lestrange would have been ideal, but this mission could have gone worse. Much worse."
"Aye, like last time," Moody muttered. Lynn shuddered at the memory of Benjy Fenwick's body falling to the floor. Or at least, what was left of him.
"McLaughlin!" barked Mad eye Moody, looking at her with both eyes still intact. She jumped at the sudden shout. "You get that leg looked at."
"Lily already fixed it," she found herself saying. She looked down at the bandage on her leg. She remembered injuring it during a mission, narrowly avoiding a slicing hex taking off her whole leg.
"Fixed is an exaggeration," Lily rolled her eyes. "Ideally it needs a few rounds of dittany treatment, as a minimum. It's infected with dark magic."
"It's grand," Lynn shrugged. "It's not going to fall off."
There was a beat of silence.
"It's not going to fall off, right?"
The kitchen door swung open, revealing James and Sirius. Mad eye jumped at the sudden entrance, hand diving in his robes for his wand. "Oi! Security questions!"
Sirius ignored him, beelining straight for Lynn. She stood up to greet him, momentarily forgetting the pain in her leg. She yelped as her leg gave out beneath her, falling straight into Sirius's arms.
"You were meant to be back two hours ago," he stressed, running a hand over her hair. "Before I got home from work."
"I didn't know duelling with Death Eaters had a time limit," she grinned cheekily. He tutted at her, pressing gentle kisses to her face. Her eyes fluttered shut. She shouldn't be enjoying this. This was her past self, not her.
"What happened to your leg?" He guided her back towards the sofa, settling into the cushions and pulling her into his lap.
"Think it was Rowle. Sounded like him. Some kind of slicing hex. Nothing to worry about."
"Security questions!" Moody scolded them, letting James join Lily once his identity was proven. "Constant vigilance!"
"Alright, alright. What did you get me for Christmas, fifth year?"
Sirius rolled his eyes. "A snowglobe. What did you get me?"
"Fuck all," Lynn laughed.
"Lynn failed her security question, Moody," Sirius grinned. Mad Eye stiffened, eyes trained on Lynn like she was about to blow up the room.
"She gave me the gift of love."
She rolled her eyes at him. "More like I stopped avoiding you like the plague."
"Same thing. I knew then you were the woman for me."
She smiled fondly at him, pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek.
"Oi, Peter. Are you not boiling in that jumper mate?" James questioned the quiet man. Peter tugged his sleeves down his wrists.
"It's the middle of July, Wormy! You alright?"
"Fine, fine. Just cold."
When she woke up, she could still feel the ghost of Sirius's kisses brushing her cheeks, along with her tears.
...
It was the full moon tonight, so her plan was to spend the night watching over Remus. She knocked on his office door, before gently opening it. "Remus?"
He wasn't in the room, so she shut the door behind her, going to sit at the desk. There was an untouched goblet of a smoking potion she assumed was wolfsbane and strangely, the Marauder's Map laying open.
She took out her wand, her intention being to close the map, when movement at the Whomping Willow caught her eye.
Snape was currently making his way through the passage to the Shrieking shack. Curiosity peaked, she folded the map out even further to investigate. What she saw made her entire body go cold.
Harry, Ron and Hermione were all in the Shrieking Shack.
Not only that, but Remus, Sirius and-
She hastily tucked the map into her pocket as she exited the office, sprinting through the halls of the castle as she tried to make sense of what she had just seen.
Peter was alive!
Peter was alive?
But that would mean Sirius had not killed him. Perhaps he had managed to escape the encounter, but it didn't explain why he would stay hidden all these years.
No, there was a reason he had faked his own death.
Lynn's head was still aching from the incident from earlier, but she was determined to work out the mystery.
If Sirius was innocent of killing Peter, then perhaps he was innocent of his other crimes. She was missing an essential piece of the story, she knew. One she desperately needed to figure out.
She was running on four legs now, her animagus carrying her much faster towards the Whomping Willow. She didn't even bother pressing the knot on the trunk of the tree to immobilise it, just deftly dodging the violent branches and straight into the tunnel.
She needed to get to Harry.
...
Professor Lupin and the escaped convict from Azkaban trying to convince him that Ron's rat was, in fact, a man, was not how Harry expected his night to go.
"But Professor... Scabbers can't be Peter Pettigrew... it just can't be true... you know it can't," Hermione spoke in a trembling voice.
"Why can't it be true?" Lupin said calmly.
"Because... because people would know if Peter Pettigrew had been an Animagus," Hermione began her explanation. "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 eight Animagi this century, and Pettigrew's name wasn't on the list."
Harry gaped at Hermione, astonished at the effort she always put into her homework.
"Right again!" Professor Lupin said. "But the Ministry of Magic never knew that there used to be four unregistered animagi running around Hogwarts.
Remus told them the story of how he had been bitten by a werewolf. How he never imagined coming to Hogwarts, or becoming friends with any of the students once his affliction was discovered. Instead, his friends, James, Sirius, Peter and Lynn, had learned how to transform into their respective animals, as they had realised werewolves are non-violent to animagi.
"That's how we came to write the Marauder's Map, signing it with our nicknames, Moony, Wormtail, Vixen, Padfoot and Prongs."
"What kind of animal was my-"
"But that still doesn't make any sense, Professor," Hermione cut Harry off. "If Lynn had known Pettigrew was an animagus, wouldn't that mean she would've recognised Scabbers? Lynn has been teaching at Hogwarts for years, and she has been friends with the Weasley family for just as long!"
"Lynn?" The aggression that had been etched onto Sirius's face melted, dull grey eyes shining like a newly polished sickle. "What's she teaching?"
"Arithmancy- Sirius now is not the time-"
"But she hates Arithmancy. Why isn't she curse breaking?"
Remus rolled his eyes, but continued to address Hermione. "We'll tell Lynn everything once we sort out Peter, but believe me-"
"Oh Merlin I can't see her now Moony, I haven't showered... and don't get me started on my hair."
Harry was beginning to wonder just how insane this man was. One minute he was adamant on killing a rat man and now he's fussing over his hair?
"Don't." Harry was practically shaking with anger. "You're not allowed to talk to Lynn. Leave Lynn alone."
Sirius stared at Harry wide eyed, as if he had just noticed his presence in the room.
"And what if you had injured one of the students while this was happening?" Hermione scowled, ignoring Harry's outburst. "That was really irresponsible of you!"
.Lupin's face had hardened, and there was self-disgust in his voice. "All this year, I have been battling with myself, wondering whether I should tell Dumbledore that Sirius was an Animagus. But I didn't do it. Why? Because I was too cowardly. It would have meant admitting that I'd betrayed his trust while I was at school, admitting that I'd led others along with me... and Dumbledore's trust has meant everything to me. He let me into Hogwarts as a boy, and he gave me a job when I have been shunned all my adult life, unable to find paid work because of what I am. And so I convinced myself that Sirius was getting into the school using dark arts he learned from Voldemort, that being an Animagus had nothing to do with it... so, in a way, Snape's been right about me all along."
"Snape?" said Black harshly, taking his eyes off Scabbers; for the first time in minutes and looking up at Lupin. "What's Snape got to do with it?"
"He's here, Sirius," said Lupin heavily. "He's teaching here as well." He looked up at Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
"Professor Snape was at school with us. He fought very hard against my appointment to the Defense Against the Dark Arts job. He has been telling Dumbledore all year that I am not to be trusted. He has his reasons... you see, Sirius here played a trick on him which nearly killed him, a trick which involved me."
Sirius scoffed, deciding to train his glare back on the rat in Ron's grasp.
"It served him right," he sneered. "Sneaking around, trying to find out what we were up to... hoping he could get us expelled."
"Severus was very interested in where I went every month." Lupin told Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "We were in the same year, you know, and we... er... didn't like each other very much. He especially disliked James. Jealous, I think, of James's talent on the Quidditch field... anyway Snape had seen me crossing the grounds with Madam Pomfrey one evening as she led me toward the Whomping Willow to transform. Sirius thought it would be amusing, to tell Snape all he had to do was prod the knot on the tree trunk with a long stick, and he'd be able to get in after me. Well, of course, Snape tried it... if he'd got as far as this house, he'd have met a fully grown werewolf -- but your father, who'd heard what Sirius had done, went after Snape and pulled him back, at great risk to his life... Snape glimpsed me, though, at the end of the tunnel. He was forbidden by Dumbledore to tell anybody, but from that time on he knew what I was...."
"So that's why Snape doesn't like you," said Harry slowly, "because he thought you were in on the joke?"
"That's right," sneered a cold voice from the wall behind Lupin. Severus Snape was pulling off the Invisibility Cloak, his wand pointing, directly at Lupin.
...
Her breath came out in short pants as she sprinted through the narrow passageway, four black paws making very little sound as she went.
As she approached the end of the tunnel, arguing voices reached her sensitive ears. She could hear someone yelling, someone that sounded awfully like Snape.
GET OUT OF THE WAY, POTTER!"
She heard three voices shout the disarming charm, followed by a loud thud. She quickly transformed back into her human form, crouching by the door and preparing herself for whatever was in the room.
"I'm still not saying I believe you," she heard Harry tell Remus.
"Then it's time we offered you some proof," said Lupin. "You, boy — give me Peter, please. Now." Ron clutched Scabbers closer to his chest.
Lynn, spotting the terror on the children's faces, chose this moment to reveal herself, stepping into the room with her wand raised towards Remus.
"Lynn!" Harry cried with relief, immediately going to stand by her side. She guided him behind her with one arm, her wand not leaving the other side of the room where Remus and Sirius stood.
"Lynn?"
"Sirius," she greeted with a nod. She felt sick.
"You're blonde," he noted with a nervous smile. "It suits you."
"You look like bloody Dumbledore." She eyed his thick, tangled hair. "No way you're keeping that feckin' beard."
"I dunno, it's kinda growing on me." He seemed proud of himself for the pun, but in reality he was mentally congratulating himself for not stumbling over his words. She was so painfully beautiful she was burning his eyes.
Lynn's mistrustful eyes drifted from Sirius to the two children huddled up in the corner. "Are you three alright?"
"Ron's broken his leg," Hermione whimpered. Lynn stared at Ron, but not at his leg.
How Scabbers had existed right under her nose was beyond her. She tried to recall ever seeing the rat at the Burrow, but the rat must've managed to evade her attention for so many years.
"They're saying Scabbers is Peter Pettigrew, Lynn," Harry stood beside her, watching her facial expressions intently.
"It's true, Lynn. I couldn't believe it when I saw his name on the map," Remus told her in an urgent tone. "Sirius is telling the truth."
She turned her gaze back on Sirius. He stared back at her intently. "You switched? Without telling me?"
It was the only explanation she could come up with when she was sprinting to the Shrieking Shack.
He nodded, casting his eyes to the floor, ashamed.
"I've been a friend of the Weasley family for years," she said distantly, staring at Scabbers. The rat squirmed even more frantically, trying to escape Ron's tight grip. "And not once do I recall ever laying eyes on that rat. But now it all makes sense."
"Lynn you can't be serious," Harry said desperately, grabbing onto her arms. "They're mad."
"Come off it," Ron 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, "Okay, say Pettigrew could turn into a rat, there are millions of rats! How's he supposed to know which one he's after if he was locked up in Azkaban?"
"You know, Sirius, that's a fair question," said Remus, turning to Sirius and frowning slightly. "How did you find out where he was?"
He put one of his 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?" Lynn asked.
"Fudge," he said. "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," said Lupin softly, staring from Scabbers to the picture in the paper and back again. "His front paw..."
"What about it?" said Ron defiantly.
"He's got a toe missing," said Sirius.
"Of course," Remus breathed. "So simple... so brilliant... he cut it off himself?"
"Just before he transformed," he explained. "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-"
"Twelve years, in fact," Remus reminded him. "Didn't you ever wonder why he was living so long?"
"We -- we've been taking good care of him!" said Ron.
"Not looking too good at the moment, though, is he?" said Remus. "I'd guess he's been losing weight ever since he heard Sirius was on the loose again...."
Everyone grew silent, allowing the information to sink in.
There was really only one way they would be able to prove it. "Give me the rat, Ron," Lynn sighed, reaching out her hand. Scabbers began to violently wriggle in Ron's tight grip.
"Are you mental?!" the boy gasped. "Tell me you don't believe it."
"If Scabbers is just an ordinary rat, then I won't hurt him, I promise."
She had never seen Ron so afraid. A part of her just wanted to drop everything and carry him to the castle. Treat his broken leg and get him somewhere warm and safe. But she was selfish. She needed to know.
Know if she had been living a lie. That she had wasted the past twelve years hating an innocent man.
Ron silently handed a thrashing Scabbers over to her, who she grabbed by the scruff of the neck.
Non verbally she casted the animagus reversal spell, half expecting there to be no effect. When all of a sudden Scabbers became too heavy to hold. She dropped him unceremoniously on the floor and watched in horror as an adult man began to grow from the rat. Limbs sprouted from the animal and mousy hair replaced grey fur. Within seconds, Peter Pettigrew cowered at her feet, sniffling and wringing his hands.
"L-Lynn?" He stammered, gazing up at her with fake wonder. "Remus? Sirius! My old friends!"
He bolted for the door, which was quickly blocked by the latter two, both simultaneously kicking out at him. Peter whimpered and cowered back into the beaten up table behind him.
"I don't believe it." Lynn was shaking badly, but her wand arm remained steady as she raised it towards her childhood friend. "I couldn't have imagined... you've been living under my nose as a fucking rat."
"Lynn," Peter wept. "Y-you must understand-"
"I mourned you!" she cried out. "I held your crying mother at your funeral! This is outrageous! This is unjust!"
Peter just whimpered, curling into himself.
"We've been having a little chat, Peter, about what happened the night Lily and James died," Remus said, deathly calm. "You might have missed the finer points while you were squeaking around down there on the bed."
"Remus," gasped Pettigrew, "you don't believe him, do you...? He tried to kill me, Remus...."
"So we've heard," said Lupin, more coldly. "I'd like to clear up one or two little matters with you, Peter, if you'll be so-"
"He's come to try and kill me again!" Pettigrew squeaked suddenly, pointing at Sirius with his middle finger. Lynn noted 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...."
"You were the secret keeper, weren't you?" Lynn wanted him to confess. "All this time we thought Sirius had betrayed James and Lily, and that you had tracked him down... but it was the other way around."
"No!" Peter whimpered. "He's come to kill me Lynn!"
"No one's going to try and kill you until we've sorted a few things out," Remus promised.
"Sorted things out?" squealed Pettigrew, 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?" said Lupin, 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 started to laugh, a horrible, mirthless laugh that filled the whole room. "Voldemort, teach me tricks?" he said.
Pettigrew flinched. "What, scared to hear your old master's name?" said Sirius scathingly. "I don't blame you, Peter. His lot aren't very happy with you, are they?"
"Don't know what you mean, Sirius --" muttered Pettigrew, his breathing faster than ever. His whole face was shining with sweat now.
"You haven't been hiding from me for twelve years," said Black. "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."
Lynn held onto Harry's hand tightly as they argued back and forth, whether for his comfort or hers, she did not know. Harry squeezed back just as tightly, leaning into her side.
"It was as if someone had lit a fire in my head, and the dementors couldn't destroy it," Sirius said. "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 fly as well as your father did, Harry...."
He looked at Lynn, and then Harry, who did not look away. "Believe me," croaked Sirius. "Believe me. I never betrayed James and Lily. I would have died before I betrayed them."
And at long last, Harry believed him. Throat too tight to speak, he nodded.
"No!" Pettigrew had fallen to his knees as though Harry's nod 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 --" Sirius kicked out and Pettigrew recoiled.
"There's enough filth on my robes without you touching them," said Sirius.
"Lynn!" Pettigrew squeaked, turning to the blonde instead, writhing imploringly in front of her. "You don't believe this, wouldn't Sirius have told you they'd changed the plan?"
She refused to meet Sirius's eyes. "No, he wouldn't have. He said I was..."
Unstable. A liability. A danger to myself.
"No," Lynn said shortly, squeezing Harry closer to her.
Peter's whimpers became louder. "Remus, Remus, he would've told you! He would've!"
"Not if he thought I was the spy, Peter," said Remus. "I assume that's why you didn't tell me, Sirius?" he said casually over Pettigrews head.
"Forgive me, Remus," said Sirius.
"Not at all, Padfoot, old friend," said Remus, who was now rolling up his sleeves. "And will you, in turn, forgive me for believing you were the spy?"
"Of course," Sirius replied, 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," said Remus grimly. "Lynn?"
She jumped at the mention of her name. Harry quietly gasped beside her.
"You wouldn't... you won't...," gasped Pettigrew. And he scrambled around to Ron, pleading with him pathetically. Then Hermione, who 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...."
"Don't you dare speak to Harry," Lynn whispered dangerously. Peter backed away instantly, but it was too late. Lynn had made up her mind.
Both Sirius and Remus strode forward, seized Pettigrew's shoulders, and threw him backward onto the floor. He sat there, twitching with terror, staring up at them.
"You sold Lily and James to Voldemort," Sirius said, who was shaking too. "Do you deny it?"
Peter burst into tears. "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..."
"DON'T LIE!" bellowed Sirius. "YOU'D BEEN PASSING INFORMATION TO HIM FOR A YEAR BEFORE LILY AND JAMES DIED! YOU WERE HIS SPY!"
"He -- he was taking over everywhere!" gasped Pettigrew. "Wh -- what was there to be gained by refusing him?"
"What was there to be gained by fighting the most evil wizard who has ever existed?" said Sirius, with a terrible fury in his face. "Only innocent lives, Peter!"
"You don't understand!" whined Pettigrew. "He would have killed me, Sirius!"
"THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED!" he roared, making everyone jump. "DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!"
Remus and Sirius stood shoulder to shoulder, wands raised. "You should have realised," said Lupin quietly, "if Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. Good-bye, Peter."
Hermione covered her face with her hands and turned to the wall.
"NO!" Harry yelled. Before Lynn could grab him, he ran forward, placing himself in front of Wormtail, facing the wands. "You can't kill him," he said breathlessly. "You can't."
"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."
"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!" gasped Pettigrew, and he flung his arms around Harry's knees. "You... thank you, it's more than I deserve."
"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.
"You're the only person who has the right to decide, Harry," said Sirius. "But think... think about what he did...."
"Harry had made his decision," Lynn said quietly, placing herself between Harry and the wands Remus and Sirius were pointing towards Peter.
"He can go to Azkaban," Harry repeated. "If anyone deserves that place, he does...."
Lynn wondered how everyone was going to react when she and Remus managed to get back to the castle. Three roughed up children, an unconscious Potions master, an escaped convict and a rat man that's been dead for twelve years.
...
The trip back through the secret passage was much slower due to Ron's broken leg, Snape still unconscious, and Peter, shackled to Ron and Remus. Snape's head kept 'accidentally' bumping into the rough ceiling, courtesy of Sirius.
When they emerged from underneath the Whomping Willow, Ron immediately went to sit, face white from pain.
"Have a rest Ron, I'll tighten that splint on your leg," Remus said, pushing Peter unceremoniously to the ground.
Sirius and Harry were conversing in low voices. Not wanting to disturb them, and wanting an excuse to have a moment to herself, Lynn wandered slightly away from the group.
She could distantly hear Peter pleading once more. She gritted her teeth, the sound of his weak voice angering her to no end.
Was she really going to let Remus and Sirius kill him?
The answer was yes, she admitted to herself. The truth of that night her best friends had died had angered her so much, so was willing to let Harry witness a murder.
But Harry was like his parents, standing firm on his decision. James and Lily would have been ashamed of her.
"Why are you over here?" Sirius approached her cautiously. She jumped slightly, turning towards him.
"Thought I would give you and Harry time to get acquainted," Lynn smiled reassuringly. "And I suppose I just needed a moment to breathe."
He nodded, both of them looking towards the castle as they tried to become accustomed to each other's presence after being apart for so long.
"Lynn-"
"Sirius, I-"
They both laughed awkwardly, avoiding each other's eyes. She could feel her cheeks becoming warm just from how flustered she was.
"You go first," Sirius urged her.
"Sirius... I'm so sorry."
"...What?"
"I should have realised you and Peter had switched. I let you rot in Azkaban without even a trial." She took in his appearance, the once handsome man who radiated confidence and joy was a shell of the man he once was. His hair was long and matted and his eyes were sunken and dead.
He shook his head. "You're apologising to me? Are you forgetting how I treated you the last time we spoke?" he stressed.
She didn't say anything. The breakdown of their relationship towards the end of the war was too painful to think of.
"I shouldn't have said those things. I've spent every day for the last twelve years wishing I could take them back."
Unstable, he had called her. He wasn't wrong.
"It doesn't really matter anymore," Lynn smiled sadly. "What's done is done. Let's just focus on clearing your name and throwing that rat into Azkaban."
They both stared at one another. She had known this man for years but now he felt like a stranger. But he was looking at her with the same intensity he had always looked at her.
"You're still living in our flat?" Sirius asked her. "I went to visit you know, after I escaped."
"You did?" she said breathlessly. "Yeah, I do. Only during the holidays really, since I have a room here at Hogwarts. It doesn't really look the same either. I stress decorate."
"I saw Harry outside," he smiled fondly. "Just for a moment. I didn't expect him to look so much like James. I'm glad he had you to raise him after... what happened."
She let out a disgruntled huff. "I technically kidnapped him from Petunia Evans. Trapped her husband's head in a pumpkin."
Sirius let out a bark of laughter, making her jump at the sound. She fought the smile that was spreading across her face. His laugh was always contagious.
"You'll have to tell me the full story, once this is over," he grinned at her.
"It's not exactly a happy one," she told him. "But it has a happy ending at least."
Sirius opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by sudden alarmed shouts behind them.
Remus let out a pained groan, falling to his knees near the Whomping Willow. Lynn remembered far too late the untouched wolfsbane potion she had found on his desk.
"Remus!" she cried out, rushing towards the group, Sirius hot on her heels. It was all happening too fast. "HARRY! HARRY RUN!"
Harry scrambled back from Remus, a look of terror passing over his face. She didn't stop to think, she knew there was no reasoning with a werewolf on the full moon, so just as her old friend finished transforming, she shifted into her fox form and leapt straight for him.
The wolf snarled at her, trying to swipe her away with his claws but, without missing a beat, she ran up his body, hopped onto his shoulder and latched her jaw to his ear.
Remus howled in pain, trying to shake her off, but she bit down tighter, tugging the wolf away from the children and towards the forbidden forest.
Remus's paw managed to connect with her head, throwing her against a tree with a pained yelp. He advanced quickly on her, his jaws snapping angrily.
Before he could reach her, however, Sirius jumped on him, biting and snarling. He nipped at Moony's heels encouraging the maddened werewolf to pursue him into the Forbidden Forest.
"Lynn!" she could hear Harry rushing towards her. She shifted back to her human form, head spinning from connecting with the ground as she shakily got to her feet.
"Pettigrew got away!" Harry seethed. "I tried to stop him, I tried!"
"I know, it's alright," Lynn huffed out, lungs burning from exertion. "Harry, take Hermione and Ron and get back to the castle. I need to make sure Sirius-"
An ear splitting howl interrupted her, and she whipped her head towards the forest. "Go Harry! Go!"
He did as she asked, hurrying back to where Hermione and Ron were sitting. She hoped just once, he would listen to her. She glanced back once more before disappearing into the forbidden forest.
...
Long time no see.
I hope you enjoyed.
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15/4/23