Chapter 19

Implementation

Sirius had lost himself. 

He was conscious of his surroundings of course, but all of his carefully made plans seemed to have left him. All that mattered was that the rat was right there, and he, Sirius, was in the perfect position to eliminate him once and for all.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw orange fur slinking across the grass, and he halted. Maybe Crookshanks could chase the rat in his direction. At least they wouldn't have to get the children involved, though the Weasley boy seemed like the sort that would chase after the rat anyway. What was it with redheaded Gryffindors?

The children were pleading with the cat to stop, but Crookshanks was far too determined. Sirius had spent ages trying to explain how Peter wasn't a rat just as he wasn't truly a dog, though the cat had seemed a little skeptical. Now that was gone, as Peter squirmed his way out of his owner's hands, and Crookshanks tore after the rat, with the Weasley chasing after him. Knew it. Sirius thought, though he secretly admired the boy's determination. 

However, it seemed Peter had gotten a lucky break, as his owner dove for him, and before Sirius knew it, the rat was back in the boy's pocket, but he could still see the quivering lump. Crookshanks had been pushed away, and now it was time for Sirius to intervene.

He left the cover of the bush he'd been crouching behind and bounded out of the darkness. He must've been quite a sight, given the children's frightened gazes. Harry, or at least Sirius could make a pretty good guess that it was him, pointed his wand at him. Sirius was stunned for a heartbeat but knew what he had to do. It wasn't Harry's fight, he'd have to make sure he got out of it. With a tremendous leap, his paws left the ground momentarily, and they hit the boy on the chest, bowling him over. Sorry pup.

Unfortunately, his leap had carried him a bit too far and skidding he turned around, his sights set on the lump in the Weasley boy's pocket. With a snarl, he lunged, but suddenly the boy moved and Harry was in his path. The boy stretched out his arm, blocking Harry, and Sirius's jaws instead fastened around it. This was his only chance. 

He began dragging him and felt Harry desperately trying to seize handfuls of his fur, though Sirius was too quick for him. He continued to pull him towards the Whomping Willow. Seemed only right to do this in the shack where so many plans for Peter's death had been made. He was almost down the tunnel when a sharp jerk held him back. The boy's leg was stuck on one of the roots. He pulled, trying to dislodge it, but with a sickening crack, it did so itself, and the resistance was gone. He'd broken his leg. 

He continued dragging him, knowing that remorse at this moment wouldn't do anything. The Whomping Willow was apparently giving the kids a hard time, and he hoped Crookshanks could touch the knot on the base of the trunk in time before anything happened. He stopped momentarily, knowing that they wouldn't be able to keep up with the pace he was setting anyway, and saw the distinct but faint glow of a wand illuminating the tunnel behind him.

Eventually, after a while given that he was dragging a child with him, he got to the end, and lept through the trapdoor, then reached down and grasped the boy's collar, hauling him up. They took a short break, Sirius knowing that the other two, despite his making it through the tunnel dragging a weight, wouldn't be getting to the tunnel end anytime soon. After he'd caught his breath he grabbed the boy's collar again and hauled him upstairs, trying to do so gently given that his leg was still injured, and every time it bumped against something the boy let out a whimper of pain. 

At last, they were in the room, the boy propped up next to the bed, and soon after Crookshanks bounded upstairs, then lept onto the bed near the boy, purring, clearly pleased with himself. The boy just stared at him. "What are you..?" he trailed off.

Well, if he was going to clear his name it was going to have to start now. He moved to the corner of the room and transformed. He looked back at the boy as a human, Sirius Black, and saw a wide pair of eyes staring in shock right back at him. "Y-your an animagus!" the boy yelled. He just nodded, unsure of what to say or do, and not wanting to give anything anyway.

It was all so shocking. However, the part that Sirius found the most surprising was his surprise at the situation. He'd known that he was seen as a wanted criminal, he knew what the wizarding world thought he'd done, but he'd never thought how someone would react seeing him in his entirety. The fear glinting clearly in this boy's eyes was too real to fake. He was genuinely scared of him, which scared Sirius out of his wits more than anything else, other than dementors, of course, could.

Maybe this boy would listen. The Weasleys were known to be generally kind people, and if this was Molly and Arthur's boy, he had Gideon and Fabian Prewett's blood somewhere in him. Gid and Fab would believe him no matter what, he knew. Maybe this one would too. He advanced, wincing as a board creaked underneath his foot. "What's your name?"

He looked surprised but answered nonetheless. "R-Ron. Ron Weasley." 

"Well Ron, I-"

He was cut off as the boy whimpered in pain once more, and Crookshanks looked towards the door, a purr rumbling in his throat. Sirius instantly stepped back into the shadows. A few moments later, two sets of footsteps accompanied by wand lights came up the stairs, and there they were. His godson, Harry, and who he assumed to be a friend of his. They converged on the boy, Ron, as soon as they saw him. He could hear them talking in low voices, though his enhanced hearing did pick up the words 'trap', 'dog', and 'animagus'. 

Knowing that he was exposed as is, he figured he'd at least be able to take care of Peter and get his revenge. At this point, he didn't care what happened to himself anymore. Swiftly walking towards the door, he shut it with a loud snap. Harry wheeled around, his eyes going wide as saucers upon seeing him. Sirius tried not to flinch. There was fear in his gaze as well, and it hurt ten times more than when Ron shared a similar look because this was Harry. Harry was his godson. This was the same boy who had stared with him with pure adoration as a baby. Who'd referred to him as 'Padfoo'.

He'd make things right between them, but for now, there were other matters. His eyes fell upon Peter in Ron's arms, the rat squirming, trying desperately to get free. "Expelliarmus!" Sirius croaked out, disarming the other children, and catching their wands in midair as they flew out of their owner's hands. Fixing his eyes upon Harry, he started. "I thought you'd come and help your friend." His voice sounded hoarse, and he tried clearing his throat, which was bone dry at the moment. 

"Your father would have done the same for me. Brave of you, not to run for a teacher. I'm grateful... it will make everything much easier..." He went on. He knew that he was simply aggravating them, but he wanted to explain things. More than that, however, he just wanted Peter gone. 

He took his eyes off the rat and looked at Harry. He was startled to find the glimmer of fear replaced by one of pure hatred. Harry started towards him but was promptly halted as his friends held him back. He struggled in vain, the girl saying in a petrified whisper, "No, Harry!"

All Sirius could do was just stand there and stare, still in shock from the sheer rage and hatred directed at him, and from of all people, Harry. Ron stepped forward, speaking to him. "If you want to kill Harry, you'll have to kill us, too!" The ferocity with which he said this was also startling, but he noticed the boy go further paler and sway slightly.

He spoke quietly.  "Lie down. You will damage that leg even more."

Ron looked at though he didn't know how to respond. "Did you hear me?" he replied weakly, clinging onto Harry for support. "You'll have to kill all three of us!" No doubt how he'd gotten into Gryffindor.

But Sirius didn't have the time to admire that. Peter squeaked, bringing Sirius's attention to him once more. Involuntarily his mouth stretched upwards in a grin. "There'll be only one murder here tonight."

At this Harry tried to wrench himself free of his friend's grip. "Why's that?" he spat. "Didn't care last time, did you? Didn't mind slaughtering all those muggles to get at Pettigrew... what's the matter, gone soft in Azkaban?"

"Harry! Be quiet!" The girl whimpered, clutching his arm. 

It seemed that everything had gotten to be too much for the boy. "HE KILLED MY MUM AND DAD!" Harry roared, lunging at Sirius once more and breaking free of his friends. 

Sirius couldn't react, he was frozen in place, shocked to his core by the events and how his careful planning had gone so awry. Things couldn't go wrong now, he had to kill him, even if he got killed himself in the process, but Peter had to die first. He bowled him over, sending both, crashing into the wall, and Sirius felt Harry's hand around his wrist, forcing the wands away, and the painful collision of his fist against his skull.

He twisted, trying to break free, trying to get to Peter before it was too late. Everyone was screaming and yelling and Sirius was writhing, trying to get at the rat still firmly clamped in Ron's hands. Harry punched every inch of him that he could, and Sirius's free hand found his way to his godson's throat, holding him away. Harry began to choke, and Sirius was about to let him go, the whole thing simply to get the boy off him, when the girl kicked him in the side. 

He gave a grunt of pain, releasing his grip on Harry. It was chaotic, he didn't know where his wand was, though a faint clatter somewhere nearby told him that was probably it. More screaming and yelling ensued, and if that wasn't enough, Crookshanks threw himself in the fray. He darted towards Harry's wand, and Sirius made a move to stop him, though before he could even get up Harry roared once more. "NO YOU DON'T!"

He aimed a kick at the cat which Crookshanks sprang away from, hissing, and wheeled around, scooping up his wand, yelling at his friends as he did so, "Get out of the way!" They instantly obliged, the girl taking their wands up off the floor and the boy, Ron, collapsing onto the bed, his pale face now slightly tinged with green, cradling his broken leg. 

Sirius was sprawled near the wall, his chest rising and falling rapidly as panic swamped over him, though he attempted to keep his composure. He looked up at Harry. "Going to kill me Harry?" he whispered. 

The boy above him replied, his voice shaking slightly. "You killed my parents," all the while keeping his wand firmly trained on Sirius's own heart. 

To Sirius the worst part of the whole ordeal wasn't that he was potentially words away from dying, it was the fact that those words were absolutely true. "I don't deny it," his voice barely above a whisper. "But if you knew the whole story-" he continued, before being cut off once more. 

"The whole story?" Harry repeated, with an incredulous tone in his voice. "You sold them to Voldemort, that's all I need to know!" 

Panic crashed over Sirius once more. Even if he was to die, even if Peter wasn't going to be slain by his hand, he had to make sure Harry knew everything. He had a right to know. "You've got to listen to me," he said, not being able to hide the urgency in his voice. "You'll regret it if you don't... you don't understand..."

But his words didn't seem to have the effect he'd hoped for. "I understand a lot better than you think," Harry shot back, his voice shaking. "You never heard her, did you? My mum... trying to stop Voldemort killing me... and you did that... you did it..."

Sirius's breath hitched in his throat. It was true, he was responsible... he'd killed his own best friends, and very nearly been responsible for the death of their son, and furthermore, his godson. It was too much to bear, the truth was suffocating him, and now he was going to die. At least he'd be put out of this misery.

Before he could say anything, however, Crookshanks leaped onto him, and settled down on his chest, right over his pounding heart. He blinked. This cat would die for him. But he couldn't let that happen. Sirius gently tried to push Crookshanks off, in addition, murmuring, "Get off." Crookshanks apparently wouldn't have that though, as he dug his claws into his tattered robes, then turned his head towards Harry, looking at him as though he expected the boy to object. 

Harry's face was a storm of emotions, it seemed the boy didn't know what to do. Sirius continued trying to push Crookshanks off subtly, all the while looking up at Harry. It seemed like an eternity as man and boy faced off, Harry's want still trained on Sirius's heart, where Crookshanks still stubbornly lay. 

And suddenly a sound cut through the silence, someone or something moving around downstairs. "WE'RE UP HERE!" the girl screamed suddenly. "WE'RE UP HERE- SIRIUS BLACK- QUICK!"

Sirius started, nearly dislodging Crookshanks off. He couldn't be caught. They wouldn't kill him he knew. He'd be sent off to the dementors, and suffer the Dementors Kiss, his soul getting sucked out of him, and Sirius Black would be no more. All that would be left essentially would be his body, still alive, yet not truly existing. It was a horrible fate, he couldn't- he wouldn't let it happen.

And then footsteps came thundering up the stairs, the door flew open, and Remus Lupin exploded into the room. Maybe his plan could be implemented and possibly work after all.

Things were about to get interesting.