"If this man has been sleeping in Harry's dorm..." Hermione says, "then why hasn't he done anything to him, since he's supposedly one of You-Know-Who's spies?".
"See it?" shrieks Pettigrew, "I never hurt Harry, never! And why is that, huh? Because I'm n-"
"Because you would never do anything for anyone without receiving something in return!" Dad interrupts, "Voldemort has been hidden for 12 years, hasn't he? Some even say he's dead! So why would you do anything for him, right under Dumbledore's nose, when he's powerless? When he can't give you anything in return? You would only go back to your 'Master' or whatever you Death Eaters call him, when he could get back all his power, but how would you know when that would happen? Living with a wizarding family! That way, you could know all the tea about Voldemort that the Ministry was aware of!" he roars.
Peter seems speechless.
"Mr Black?" Hermione says, making Dad jump in surprise, since I don't think people were that polite in Azkaban, "could you explain how escaped from Azkaban without using Dark Magic?".
"That's exactly what I was going t-" says Pettigrew, but I give him a death glare and he shuts up.
"Well," Dad says, "I... don't know, to be honest... I guess I haven't gone mad because I knew I was innocent... Because I hoped, I knew there was still someone here waiting for me" he takes a glance at me and Remus, receiving reassuring smiles in return, "those weren't exactly happy thoughts; being innocent was simply a fact and having a... family was... also a fact... but it was more of a... belief. So, since they weren't precisely happy thoughts, the Dementors couldn't sense and suck them".
He paused for a moment.
"Not going mad made me keep my powers... so, one day, I transformed into a dog, right there in my cell. Dementors are blind, they don't have eyes, so they can only sense things. When they sensed me, they probably felt that my feelings were... less human. But that was normal there, all the prisoners were wild, they didn't feel things normally anymore, so the Dementors only sensed another prisoner who was lost or broken or out of their mind...".
Another deep breath. I take his hand and squeeze it. He looks around.
"But, still, I was weak... I didn't think I could get out of there without a wand... But, when I saw that picture in The Daily Prophet... when I realised Pettigrew was in Hogwarts, next to Jupiter, next to Harry... ready to strike whenever he received news that the Dark side was reuniting forces again so he would give them the last Potter, making them forget that he betrayed them... I knew I had to do something... Please, believe me" he begs.
Harry gives a small nod, making Pettigrew scream in supposed agony.
"Sirius, please, I'm your friend Peter! Wormtail, remember? Please, Sirius, please..." Pettigrew pleads, "Remus, come on! Sirius would've told you if he wanted to change the plan!".
"No..." says Moony, seemingly calm, "no he wouldn't, if he thought I was the spy...".
"'m sorry, Moony..." Dad mutter, looking guilty.
"It's alright, Pad..." Remus replies, "I thought you were the spy..." he adds, letting a small laugh escape from his mouth.
Dad's eyes start shining and he says, "Let's kill him now... together".
Kinda cute, not gonna lie... kill someone together...
"No, no, no..." Pettigrew screeches, "No, please, you can't understand! He was everywhere! Why would we fight against him?! We would lose anyways!".
Our faces show the exact same emotion now; disgust.
"How dare you?!" I say, "Do you know how many innocent people he killed?! HE KILLED YOUR BEST FRIENDS YOU DISGUSTING VERMIN!".
"You don't understand" he keeps saying, "He would've killed me!".
Dad opens his mouth, but I speak first.
"THEN YOU SHOULD'VE DIED! BECAUSE I'M SURE YOUR FRIENDS WOULD DIE FOR YOU".
Silence. During which I keep looking at the ground, thinking of the best thing to do with Pettigrew. Then, Dad and Remus raised their wands again, ready to strike.
"You should have know (A/N: the world was wide enough, for both Hamilton and me... I know, this part is important, I shouldn't be bothering) if Voldemort wasn't going to kill you, we would" Dad says, "Bye Peter...".
"Wait!" I say, making everyone surprised.
"What is it?" Dad asks.
"Don't kill him".
"Jupiter, this man is the reason James and Lily are dead... he's the reason I spent twelve years in Azkaban, unable to be with you and Remus, unable to see you grow up..." he says, the anger in his stressed eyes softening for a moment, "It's because of people like him that your mother is dead, Jupiter! Can't you understand? He has to die, right now!" he seems to be desperate to say everything that's in his mind, "It's time to commit the crime I was imprisoned for..." he adds, the maniac look coming back again.
"Dad, please, you can't kill him... we should take him to the De-"
"Jupiter, he should've died already, you said it yourself!"
"And you said it yourself that what kept you sane was knowing that you were innocent!" I interrupt, tired of people not understanding me, "And you know what? That was the thought that kept me sane too! After all the people who were scared of me because my father was a criminal or teased me because my father was in Azkaban, the only thing that kept me from punching them straight in the face or running away and cry was knowing that they were wrong! That my father was not a criminal, even though everyone said so! So, no, you're not going to kill him! And neither is Moony! You two are my only family left, apart from my best friends, and you're not going to become murderers just like that!"
And now, just like I was expecting, everyone looks at me open-mouthed. I guess I might've yelled a bit...
Dad looks at Moony for a moment.
"I told you she sounds like you sometimes..." Remus mutters.
The awkward silence was broken by a high-pitched shriek coming from Pettigrew, who seemed to have been holding that squeak for a long time.
"Thank you, girl, thank you" he chokes out, crawling to me.
"Don't touch her, you coward!" Dad yells, "What are we doing with him, then?" he asks me.
"Taking him to the Dementors, of course" I answer, "I think Peter might like a kiss..."
A/N: hey my cutie nifflerssss! hope you're well and hope you enjoyed this chapter!!
i don't really know what to say... i watched a bit of sea of monsters today... i love percy jackson and i haven't even read the books yet (i started the lightning thief, though)
yeah, well anyways (I'M GETTING BETTER EVERY DAY, wow deh references even in an author's note...)...
luv y'all
~luna loveniffler 💙