. . .
Tilly had never been part of a stranger group. Crookshanks led the way down the stairs; Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron went next, looking like entrants in a six-legged race. Next came Professor Snape, drifting creepily along, his toes hitting each stair as they descended, held up by his own wand, which was being pointed at him by Sirius. Harry, Matilda, and Hermione brought up the rear.
Getting back into the tunnel was difficult. Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron had to turn sideways to manage it; Lupin still had Pettigrew covered with his wand. Tilly could see them edging awkwardly along the tunnel in single file. Crookshanks was still in the lead. Harry went right after Black, who was still making Snape drift along ahead of them; he kept bumping his lolling head on the low ceiling. Matilda had the impression Black was making no effort to prevent this.
"You know what this means?" Black said abruptly to Harry as they made their slow progress along the tunnel. "Turning Pettigrew in?"
Matilda knew that the question was not meant for her, but she still took the liberty in answering Sirius' question he directed toward Harry.
"Of course, we know," said Tilly, her tone had a hint of annoyance. "It means you'll be exonerated from the crimes you've been accused of."
"You'll be free," said Harry.
"Yes. . . " said Black. "But I'm also – I don't know if anyone ever told you – I'm your godfather."
Lupin, from up ahead, scoffed as Sirius spoke the word 'father'.
"Yeah, we knew that already," said Matilda, interrupting, yet again.
"Well. . . your parents appointed me your guardian," said Black stiffly. "If anything happened to them. . . "
"Yes," said Lupin, looking over his shoulder to Sirius. "Guardian."
Tilly's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she watched Sirius send a glare in Lupin's direction, but he seemed unaffected by the potential threat. It was as if they were having a conversation of their own, a secret conversation.
Sirius cleared his throat and went on talking with Harry.
"I'll understand, of course, if you want to stay with your aunt and uncle," said Black. "But. . . well. . . think about it. Once my name's cleared. . . if you wanted a. . . a different home. . . "
Tilly scoffed at the thought of Harry wanting to go back home to his dreaded aunt and uncle.
"What – live with you?" he said, accidentally cracking his head on a bit of rock protruding from the ceiling. "Leave the Dursleys?"
The tone that Harry spoke with made it sound as if he believed Sirius to be a mad man for suggesting such an idea. Annoyed, Matilda pushed on Harry's shoulder, and when he turned to her, she gave him a look that told him to watch his tone of voice.
"Of course, I thought you wouldn't want to," said Black quickly. "I understand, I just thought I'd –"
"Actually, Mr. Black, – Sirius, Harry would love to come and live with you," said Matilda, interrupting Sirius before any more damage could be done and Harry would go back to living in the muggle world with his aunt and uncle.
Harry nodded, agreeing with Matilda. He was thankful that he had her to speak for him when he could not seem to speak for himself.
"She's right!" said Harry, his voice easily as croaky as Black's. "Of course I want to leave the Dursleys! Have you got a house? When can I move in?"
Matilda had never been an emotional person, it was no secret, and she didn't consider herself to be one to enjoy sappy situations, but, in this instance, there was a part of her that was extremely happy for Harry. She was happy for him. Happy that he would finally be getting a part of a life he should of always had.
"You want to?" he said. "You mean it?"
"Yeah, I mean it!" said Harry.
Black's gaunt face broke into the first true smile Tilly had seen upon it. The difference it made was startling, as though a person ten years younger were shining through the starved mask; for a moment, he was recognizable as the man who had laughed at Harry's parents' wedding.
"Is there any other revelations you'd like to make, Sirius?" asked Lupin, a pointed look directed at Sirius. "Perhaps you'd like to tell –"
"Remus," growled Sirius, a stern look on his face.
"Think about it Sirius," said Lupin, stopping abruptly, he seemed a lot more annoyed than he ever had before. "Think about the lie you're living and the lie you're making someone else live!"
"Okay," Matilda finally said aloud. "What the bloody hell are the two of you on about, hm?"
"Nothing," said Sirius, but by the way he tensed at her voice, Matilda knew he was lying to her. "It's something that happened long ago, it doesn't concern you, children."
Instead of continuing to argue with Sirius, Lupin only shook his head disappointedly at Sirius and turned back ahead. Tilly was confused but mostly curious, she wanted to get to the bottom of what the two of them were talking about.
They did not speak again until they had reached the end of the tunnel. Crookshanks darted up first; he had evidently pressed his paw to the knot on the trunk, because Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron clambered upward without any sound of savaging branches.
Black saw Snape up through the hole, then stood back for Harry, Tilly, and Hermione to pass. At last, all of them were out.
The grounds were very dark now; the only light came from the distant windows of the castle. Without a word, they set off. Pettigrew was still wheezing and occasionally whimpering. Tilly couldn't wait to get back to the castle. She was dying for a shower, to relieve herself off all the dirt and dust that had collected onto her clothing, skin, and hair. She felt tired and she hoped more than anything that her father would not be informed of her nighttime adventures with a convicted murderer. She was in no mood for another family meeting, and neither was Harper.
"One wrong move, Peter," said Lupin threateningly ahead. His wand was still pointed sideways at Pettigrew's chest.
Silently they tramped through the grounds, the castle lights growing slowly larger. Snape was still drifting weirdly ahead of Black, his chin bumping on his chest. And then -
A cloud shifted. There were suddenly dim shadows on the ground. Their party was bathed in moonlight. Snape collided with Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron, who had stopped abruptly. Black froze. He flung out one arm to make Harry, Tilly, and Hermione stopped.
Tilly could see Lupin's silhouette. He had gone rigid. Then his limbs began to shake.
"He forgot to take his potion, hasn't he?" asked Matilda, though she already knew the answer to her question. It was quite obvious he hadn't had any potion to help him through the full moon.
"Oh, my –" Hermione gasped. "He didn't take his potion tonight! He's not safe!"
"Run," Black whispered. "Run. Now. "
Usually, Matilda would have run, she would have never of risked her life fighting a werewolf. But Matilda couldn't find herself able to run away. She wasn't just thinking of herself anymore. Ron was still chained to Pettigrew and Lupin, and she was scared for him. Tilly leaped forward but Black caught her around the waist and tossed her back behind him.
"Get your grimy hands off of me," demanded Matilda, smacking at Black's arms angrily.
"Leave it to me – RUN!"
"Ron is chained to Lupin," argued Matilda, standing her ground. "I can't just leave him!"
There was a terrible snarling noise. Lupin's head was lengthening. So was his body. His shoulders were hunching. Hair was sprouting visibly on his face and hands, which were curling into clawed paws. Crookshanks's hair was on end again; he was backing away –
As the werewolf reared, snapping its long jaws, Sirius disappeared from Tilly's side. He had transformed. The enormous, bearlike dog bounded forward. As the werewolf wrenched itself free of the manacle binding it, the dog seized it about the neck and pulled it backward, away from Ron and Pettigrew. They were locked, jaw to jaw, claws ripping at each other.
Harry and Matilda were the same, they stood transfixed by the sight, too intent upon the battle to notice anything else. It was Hermione's scream that alerted Harry, but Tilly still refused to move.
Pettigrew had dived for Lupin's dropped wand. Ron, unsteady on his bandaged leg, fell. There was a bang, a burst of light – and Ron lay motionless on the ground. Another bang – Crookshanks flew into the air and back to the earth in a heap.
"NO!"
Matilda quickly made her way over to Ron and dropped onto her knees beside of him.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry yelled, pointing his own wand at Pettigrew; Lupin's wand flew high into the air and out of sight. "Stay where you are!" Harry shouted, running forward.
Too late. Pettigrew had transformed. Harry saw his bald tail whip through the manacle on Ron's outstretched arm and heard a scurrying through the grass.
There was a howl and a rumbling growl; Tilly turned to see the werewolf taking flight; it was galloping into the forest –
"Sirius, he's gone, Pettigrew transformed!" Harry yelled.
Black was bleeding; there were gashes across his muzzle and back, but at Harry's words he scrambled up again, and in an instant, the sound of his paws faded to silence as he pounded away across the grounds.
Harry and Hermione ran over to Matilda's side, checking on Ron.
"What did he do to him?" Hermione whispered. Ron's eyes were only half-closed, his mouth hung open; he was definitely alive, they could hear him breathing, but he didn't seem to recognize them.
"I'm not sure," said Matilda, allowing Ron's head to rest on her lap.
Harry looked desperately around. Black and Lupin both gone. . . they had no one but Snape for company, still hanging, unconscious, in midair.
"We'd better get them up to the castle and tell someone," said Harry, pushing his hair out of his eyes, trying to think straight. "Come –"
But then, from beyond the range of their vision, they heard a yelping, a whining: a dog in pain...
"Sirius," Harry muttered, staring into the darkness.
He had a moment's indecision, looking to Ron then back to the forest.
Harry set off at a run, Hermione right behind him.
"HARRY!"
Matilda yelled after Harry, but could not bring herself to follow him, she couldn't leave Ron. It was in the dead of night, with only Snape there with him. Ron was injured and unconsciousness and Matilda didn't want him to wake up alone if he did wake up.
"Alright — It's going to be alright," Matilda whispered to herself, trying her best to comfort herself. "I'm fine – I'm Matilda Winters and I'm afraid of nothing!"
Matilda sat up straighter, squaring her shoulder as she allowed for hand to run through Ron's shaggy, red hair that was much thicker than she assumed it would be.
"We're going to be alright, Ron," Matilda promised him. "I'm going to make sure of it."
If Matilda were being honest, this was the first time she was unsure if she was right or not. But she had to try because she made a promise.
. . .
So sorry that the chapter is so short, but in the books, this is one of the shortest chapters.
Hopefully, the next chapter will prove to be more entertaining!
xoxo