"ᴄʜᴀɴɢɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴘᴇʀꜱᴘᴇᴄᴛɪᴠᴇꜱ ᴡɪʟʟ ɴᴏᴛ ᴏɴʟʏ ᴛʀᴀɴꜱꜰᴏʀᴍ ʏᴏᴜ, ʙᴜᴛ ᴀʟꜱᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡʜᴏʟᴇ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ."

I followed their fight to get passed the deadly tree's branches, until the two of them were thrown into the passage and I trailed behind, trying to go unnoticed, but apparently, that wasn't working.

"Y/N? What are you doing here?"

"I came to warn you. That dog I think it's-" I was interrupted by Weasley's screams.

"Come on. Where do you suppose this goes?" Granger said.

"I have a hunch. I just hope I'm wrong." Harry explained as we followed him down a dingy passageway and eventually up a latch in the ground.

"We're in the Shrieking Shack, aren't we?" Granger asked and I nodded worriedly.

We checked a few rooms before finding the distressed redhead, rat in hand, sitting on a chair, in the far corner of one of the rooms. The three of us ran over to him, following a muddy, dirt track, embedded onto the creaky wooden floorboards.

"Ron. You're okay."

"The dog. Where is it?" Harry asked.

"Like I said, the dog, I think-" once again, I was stopped by a whining Ronald.

"It's a trap. He's the dog. He's an Animagus!" he frantically pointed towards a rusted, old door, that swung open to reveal a man. He was tall and scruffy looking; his prison attire, patchy and shredded. He had a dark beard and black shaggy hair. He looked different. Tired and worn out. He took a step forward.

"Uncle Sirius." I muttered under my breath.

"Y/N. It's been a long time." his voice was soft and comforting: just as I remembered. He cautiously approached me and embraced me in a hug. I wanted to hug back, but something told me not to. I simply awkwardly stood there, not moving at all.

"Please don't do this." he turned his attention to the other three.

"If you want to kill Harry, you have to kill us too!" Hermione had bravely and heroically stepped in front of Harry.

"No. Only one will die tonight."

"Then it'll be you!" Harry leapt away from Hermione's protection and grasped Sirius' neck. He pushed him to the ground, sitting over him and he drew his wand.

"Are you going to kill me, Harry?" he grinned, evilly.

"Expelliarmus!" Professor Lupin stormed threw the door and disarmed Harry, whose wand was now way out of his grasp. Harry moved away and now it was Lupin who was standing over him.

"Well, well, Sirius. Looking rather ragged, aren't we? Finally, the flesh reflects the madness within."

"Well, you'd know all about the madness within, wouldn't you, Remus?" my uncle was fidgeting on the floor. Remus smiled and hauled him up, where he pulled him into a hug. "I found him!"

"I know."

"It's him. Let's kill him!"

"No! I trusted you!" Hermione yelled, "and all this time, you've been his friend."

"Hermione, calm down. I know." I put my hand out to try and calm her nerves. I then turned to face the two men. "He's a werewolf. That's why he's been missing classes." I explained.

"How long have you known?" Remus had now stepped towards me.

"I guess Sirius told me more than you're aware of."

"Yes, but I didn't tell you that, now did I dear?" Sirius said.

"But I could work it out. You told me that you, James Potter and Peter Pettigrew all became unregistered animagi during your fourth year at Hogwarts. Not being registered is a serious offence and from what you look like right now, Sirius, I'm pretty sure none of you wanted to go to Azkaban for that long. Unless it was for a good cause." I turned to the three Gryffindors, "isn't it a bit odd that the one lesson our Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor misses is about Werewolves?" I finally turned back to Remus, "they all transformed to make your full moons, less lonely." I looked around the room, "and this place. It was built for you. So you could come here to escape the reality of what you were." I turned to Sirius, "you know for a four year old it really was hard to see you walk out, even if I didn't know the real reason, but I guess until now I didn't believe what everyone else said. But really are after Harry." his face dropped, almost with regret.

He paused for a moment, looking down, "c-come on, let's kill him." he stuttered.

"Very well. Kill him." Lupin passed Sirius his wand, "but wait one more minute. Harry has the right to know why."

"I know why. You betrayed my parents. You're the reason they're dead!"

"No, it wasn't him. Somebody did betray your parents... somebody who, until quite recently, I believed to be dead!" Lupin explained.

"Who was it, then?"

"Peter Pettigrew!" my uncle spat. "And he's in this room! Right now! Come out, come out, Peter! Come out, come out and play!" he sounded so, deranged. Azkaban had changed him and not for the better.

"Expelliarmus!" Snape had stormed in and had now disarmed my Uncle too. "Vengeance is sweet. How I hoped I'd be the one to catch you."

"Severus..." Lupin tried to talk him out of whatever he was going to do next.

"I told Dumbledore you were helping a friend into the castle. Here's the proof." Snape had turned to Lupin.

"Brilliant, Snape. You've put your keen mind to the task and come to the wrong conclusion. If you'll excuse us, Remus and I have business to attend to." Sirius said as the two of them backed behind an old, neglected piano.

"Give me a reason. I beg you!"

"Severus, don't be a fool."

"He can't help it. It's habit." Sirius said, as Snape held his wand to Sirius' neck, in a similar fashion I had done to Malfoy not long before.

"Sirius, be quiet."

"Be quiet yourself Remus!"

"You two, quarreling like an old married couple.

"Why don't you run along and play with your chemistry set!" Sirius spat. (most iconic line from the entire franchise i might add)

Snape pressed the wand deeper into his neck. "I could do it, you know. But why deny the dementors? They're so longing to see you. Do I detect a flicker of fear? Oh, yes. A Dementor's Kiss. One can only imagine what that must be like. It's said to be nearly unbearable to witness, but I'll do my best."

I noticed Harry reach for Hermione's wand and I looked at him and mouthed words, 'Harry, no.'

"Expelliarmus!" he yelled, but instead of aiming it at Sirius, he aimed it at, Snape? The potions professor was launched backwards and smashed into an ancient four-poster bed.

"Harry! What did you just do? You attacked a teacher!" Hermione said.

"Tell me about Peter." Harry began.

"He was at school with us. We thought he was our friend!"

"No. Pettigrew's dead. You killed him!" Harry held the wand up, constantly switching his aim between the two.

"No, he didn't. I thought so too, until you mentioned Pettigrew on the map!"

"The map was lying, then."

"The map never lies!" Sirius pointed out. "Pettigrew's alive! And he's right there!" he pointed directly at Ron. The whole room had their eyes on the now baffled redhead.

"Me?! He's mental!"

"Not you! Your rat!"

"Scabbers has been in my family for-" Ron began defending the animal.

"Twelve years? Curiously long life for a common garden rat! He's missing a toe, isn't he?"

"So what?"

"All they could find of Pettigrew was his..." I trailed off.

"Finger! Dirty coward cut it off so everyone would think he was dead! And then he transformed into a rat!"

"Show me." Harry demanded and Sirius attempted to grab the rat from Ron's grasp.

"Give it to him, Ron." I said.

"What are you trying to do to him? Scabbers! Leave him alone! Get off him! What are you doing?"

They threw the rat onto the piano and began firing spells at it in an attempt to return it to its human form and soon enough, it did. A ugly looking man grew from the small animal. He was short and had the same features and movements of the same pet we had seen not long before.

"Remus? Sirius? My old friends!" he darted to Harry. "Harry! Look at you! You look so much like your father! Like James! We were the best of friends..."

"How dare you speak to Harry!" Sirius yelled, intervening. "How dare you talk about James in front of him!"

"You sold James and Lily to Voldemort, didn't you?"

"I didn't mean to!" the rat man pleaded. "The Dark Lord. You have no idea the weapons he possesses! Ask yourself, Sirius! What would you have done? What would you have done?" he tried to almost escape by cowering behind the same piano.

"I would have died! I would have died, rather than betray my friends!"

"Harry, James wouldn't have wanted me killed! Your dad...your dad would have spared me! He would show me mercy!" Peter grabbed onto Harry.

"You should've realised, Peter, that if Voldemort didn't kill you, then we would! Together!" Lupin said as they aimed their wands at the scurrying man.

"No!" Harry protested.

"Harry, this man..." I tried.

"I know what he is. But we'll take him to the castle."

"Bless you, boy! Bless you!" the man got on his knees.

"I said we'd take you to the castle. After that, the dementors can have you."

•·················•·················•

The cool night air hit me like a knife. I hadn't even realised how late it had become. Harry and Sirius both aided Ron out of the shack and Hermione and I followed.

"Sorry about the bite. I reckon that twinges a bit."

"A bit? A bit? You almost tore my leg off!" Ron whined.

"I was going for the rat. Normally, I have a very sweet disposition as a dog. More than once, James suggested that I make the change permanent. The tail I could live with. But the fleas, they're murder." The two of them laid Ron down beside the bottom of the trunk and it was only now that I was beginning to see, once again, the Sirius I remembered and loved, start to return to life.

"Y/N? May I borrow you for a moment?" he softly asked. I smiled and nodded and began following him to a slightly more private area in the clearing. "I'm sorry I left."

"No Sirius, please, don't. I understand-"

"No Y/N. You should have been told the truth."

"I was four." I chuckled. "I doubt I could understand where you were going."

"Ah but you see Y/N. You were a bright four year old. Like you said earlier, you worked it all out. You will be a great witch one day, as you are right now."

I smiled up at him and pulled him in for a redemption hug from the one I had denied earlier, "I'm glad to have you back."