As exams rolled around, I found myself worrying about literally everything but exams.
"When was the last time you slept?" Neville asked worriedly.
"Honestly? I don't think I'm even conscious of when I actually go to sleep and wake up."
Between having to deal with Snape ignoring Draco whispering to his friends during the Potions exam but snapping when Neville breathed to loudly and Buckbeak's execution coming up in a few days, my mind was boggled.
"Which one's today again?" I asked Hermione groggily.
"Defence Against the Dark Arts."
"Oh, I'll be fine." I rubbed my eyes, half wishing that I hadn't given my coffee to Sirius instead of having it myself. Who was going to believe that I was having coffee with four spoons of sugar?
They should've realized that he wasn't a mass murderer when they looked at the sugar in his kitchen.
Professor Lupin had set up an obstacle course for the students, ending in a Boggart.
Everything was generally mundane if you paid attention in class, but what I was worried for was the Boggart. I hadn't gotten the chance to face it, and nothing came to mind when I tried to think of something I was afraid of.
When I arrived at the obstacle, however, all I saw was myself in a suit and tie as I sat behind a desk. I stared for a long while and held out my wand. "Riddikulus." The clothes fell and three ferrets standing on each other's shoulders were revealed beneath.
"Good job, Y/N," Professor Lupin said as I emerged.
I glanced back at the obstacle course for a bit and smiled. "Thanks."
•••
On the day of Buckbeak's execution, I stayed in the Great Hall for a lot longer than usual.
I wanted to sneak some food to Sirius and there were way too many people around for me to do so.
When I was literally the only one left, I took the platter of chicken and poured it into a container before running off.
I came to a pause near a closet, smelling a familiar perfume. "Don't tell me I've been using cleaning detergent this whole time," I muttered before continuing down the hall.
I went to the Ravenclaw dorms and emptied my bag of its contents (except for the food, of course) before making my way to the Whomping Willow.
To my surprise, it was already frozen in place.
Professor Lupin appeared, looking frazzled, and noticed me. "What are you doing here?"
"I-"
"No matter. You're going inside?"
"Yes, I am."
"I will join you."
We entered the opening and ran through the passage, hearing screaming and crying from within the Shrieking Shack.
I opened the door to the abandoned bedroom and found Harry on top of Sirius, anger tensing his face.
I aimed my wand at Harry, who had his wand aimed at Sirius' chest. "Expelliarmus!"
His wand flew out of his hand and I grabbed it in midair.
Harry stepped back, his eyes wide, and joined Hermione and Ron in their terrified state.
Professor Lupin held out his wand, pointing it at Sirius. "Well, well, Sirius, looking rather ragged, aren't we? Finally the flesh reflects the madness within."
"You'd know all about that, wouldn't you, Remus?"
I trembled, afraid that Professor Lupin would do something to hurt Sirius, but instead, he dropped his wand and pulled Sirius to his feet. Then, into a hug.
Not one of those loose ones that you do in a casual greeting, but one that only two who were stuck together like glue would share.
"No!" Hermione screamed, destroying the heartfelt moment (good job, Hermione). "I trusted you, and all this time you've been his friend!"
"Hermione." I stood between her and Sirius and Remus. "Please, it's really important that some - well, not some, but a lot of backstory is needed her."
"No, Y/N, you don't understand! He's-"
"A werewolf, yes, I know!"
Professor Lupin took my shoulder and gently pulled me back. "How long have you known?"
Seeing that I was no longer a shield in front of her, Hermione stepped back, her face now unsure. "Since Professor Snape sent the essay."
"Well, you're quite a bright witch, aren't you, Hermione? It's a shame that someone finally beat you to it this time." He glanced at me.
"You've known," she whispered to me, betrayed. "All this time and you never told us?"
"Well, seeing as this is the resulting reaction, I'd say that was a pretty good call."
"Enough talk!" Sirius exclaimed. "Come on, let's kill him!"
"Wait!"
"I've done my waiting!" Sirius' voice broke as he recalled all the things he had to experience. "Twelve years of it! In Azkaban!"
I pursed my lips then shoved Harry's wand into his grasp so I had a free hand and stepped up to Ron, who was seated on the bed with a mangled leg. "Ron. Your rat."
"What?"
"Your bloody rat, Ron, it's like you forget how to speak English every time he's mentioned! He needs to see it."
"I'm not giving that maniac Scabbers! What's he got to do with it?"
"Everything," Professor Lupin said, rather dramatically.
I watched how Scabbers began thrashing more than the Whomping Willow, only staying put because of Ron's firm grip.
Professor Lupin handed his wand to Sirius. "Alright, you can kill him. But wait one more minute. Harry has the right to know why."
"I know why!" Harry insisted. "You betrayed my parents!"
"No, Harry, somebody did betray your parents but it was somebody who, until quite recently, I believed to be dead."
"Peter Pettigrew!" Sirius interjected.
From the standpoint of someone that knew the context of basically everything that was happening in front of them, the claim certainly sounded outlandish.
"You're both mental," Ron voiced.
"Peter Pettigrew is dead!" Harry pointed his wand at Sirius. "You killed him twelve years ago!"
"I meant to," Sirius snarled. "He got the best of me then... but not this time!"
He launched himself towards Ron but Professor Lupin grabbed him. "He has the right to know, Sirius!"
"We can tell him after!"
"Ron's been keeping him as a pet! Even I don't have all the pieces of the puzzle, right Y/N?"
"Well..."
"Just how often are you down here?!"
"Listen, the point is that the situation is a lot more complicated than Sirius became the Potters' Secret-Keeper, told You-Know-Who where they were hiding, then killed Peter. Firstly," I turned to Hermione, who still held a defiant look, "Peter was an unregistered Animagus. All three of them were."
"Three?" repeated Harry.
"Yes, three. Your father, Peter," Professor Lupin paused for a moment to turn to his friend, "and Sirius."
Ron spoke, his eyes still wide. "Y-yeah... he's the black dog that dragged me in here."
"If you're going to tell the story, get a move on, Remus," Sirius said.
I placed my hand on his shoulder and sent a small smile his way. Sirius snagged a glance at Professor Lupin before allowing him to tell the 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 Wolfsbane 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."
"When 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."
Professor Lupin looked miserably around the room with a deep frown. "This house, 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."
"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. Dumbledore encouraged the rumor. Even now, when the house has been silent for years, the villagers don't dare approach it."
Then he smiled, fondly. "But apart from my transformations, I was happier than I had ever been in my life. For the first time ever, I had friends. Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and, of course, your father, Harry, James Potter."
The naming of his father made Harry's hardened gaze soften.
"And they didn't desert me at all when they found out. Instead, they did something for me that would make my transformations not only bearable, but the best times of my life. They became Animagi."
I smiled softly as I glanced at Sirius, who suddenly seemed just as keen on listening as the rest of us.
"Severus was very interested in where I went every month," Lupin continued. "We were in the same year, you know, and we didn't like each other very much. He especially disliked James. Jealous, I think, of James's talent on the Quidditch field."
I heard a creak in the floor and I raised a brow. My hand slowly went to my wand.
"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."
My head then snapped to Sirius, who looked like a four year old getting outed by his teacher to his mom.
"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, and was forbidden by Dumbledore to tell anybody."
"That's why Snape hates you," Harry realized. "He thought that you were in one the joke."
"That's right." A voice came from the very place I heard a creak in the floor and I moved in front of Sirius, watching Snape remove the Invisibility Cloak as dramatically as he walks down the hall.
He held up the cloak for a moment. "I found this at the base of the Whomping Willow. Very useful, Potter, thank you."