𓏲 . THE BOY WHO LIVED . .៹♡
                                                   CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
                        ─── REVELATIONS & CONFRONTATIONS

Charlus' mind had gone blank with shock. The five of them stood transfixed with horror at the top of the hill. The very last rays of the setting sun were casting a bloody light over the long-shadowed grounds. Then they heard a wild howling.

"Hagrid," Charlus muttered, his eyes widened. He wanted to be there for the half-giant because he knew Hagrid would be there for him if the roles were reversed.

Without thinking about what he was doing, he made to start down the hill once again, but Harry and Alistair seized his arms. "We can't," Alistair said, a pained look on his face. "He'll be in worse trouble if they know we've been to see him..."

"Alistair's right," Harry added. "We can't be seen. Charlus, if you go down there -" "I don't care about what Fudge is going to say!" Charlus yelled, angrily. "Hagrid's our friend, we should've -"

The boy trailed off as he noticed Hermione's breathing was shallow and uneven. "How - could - they?" she choked. "How could they?"

Charlus' face instantly fell and he suddenly forgot about his anger. He moved to comfort the girl once again. Seeing Hermione cry made his heart sink and his voice get caught in his throat.

The boy didn't know what to say, so instead he held her tight as Hermione cried into his chest. Little did he know that this simple action meant the world to the world to her because in that moment she knew - he would stop everything to be there for her in her time of need.

"Come on," Ron said, whose teeth seemed to be chatter​ing.

They set off back toward the castle, walking slowly as they were still trying to process what they had just witnessed. Light was fading fast now. By the time they reached open ground, darkness was settling like a spell around them.

"Scabbers, keep still," Ron hissed, clamping his hand over his chest. The rat was wriggling madly. Ron came to a sudden halt, trying to force Scabbers deeper into his pocket. "What's the matter with you, You stupid rat? Stay still - OUCH! He bit me!"

"Ron, be quiet!" Hermione whispered urgently. "Fudge'll be out here in a minute -" "He won't - stay - put -" Ron grunted. "What's the matter with him?" Harry muttered and glanced over at Charlus and Alistair. They shrugged their shoulders in response.

"Scabbers - NO!"

Too late - the rat had slipped between Ron's clutching fingers, hit the ground, and scampered away. Before Charlus,Harry,Alistair or Hermione could stop him, Ron had ran off himself and pelted away into the darkness, chasing after Scabbers.

"Ron!" Hermione yelled before she shared a glance with Charlus , Harry and Alistair. Then the four of them followed after Ron at a sprint. They could hear his feet thundering along ahead, and his shouts at his rat. "Scabbers, come here -"

There was a loud thud. "Gotcha!"

Charlus, Harry, Alistair and Hermione almost fell over Ron; they skidded to a stop right in front of him. He was sprawled on the ground, but Scabbers was back in his pocket; he had both hands held tight over the quivering lump.

"Ron - we have to head back to castle -" Alistair panted. "Dumbledore - the Minister - they'll be coming back out in a minute -"

But before they could even catch their breath, they heard the soft pounding of gigantic paws...Something was bounding toward them, quiet as a shadow - two enormous, pale-eyed, jet-black dogs.

Charlus reached for his wand, but was too late - the dogs had made an enormous leap and the front paws hit him hard on the chest; he kneeled over backward, the wind completely knocked out of him, as one of their claws managed to cut him.

"Charlus!" Hermione yelled in a panic tone. She tried to move towards him, but Alistair seized her by the arm, preventing her from putting herself in harms way.

The force of the dogs' leap had carried them too far; they rolled off of the light brown-haired boy. Dazed, feeling as though his ribs were broken with blood running down his cheek, Charlus tried to stand up; he could hear the dogs growling as they skidded around for a new attack.

Ron was on his feet. As the dogs sprang back toward them, he pushed Charlus aside; the dogs' jaws fastened instead around Ron's outstretched arm. Harry lunged forward to stop them, but it was no use, as the dogs were dragging Ron as easily as though he were a rag doll -

Then, out of nowhere, something hit Harry so hard across the face that he was knocked off his feet. Charlus had just stood up when he heard Hermione shriek with pain and fall too. Alistair also hitting the floor with a thud a little ways away.

Charlus' eyes widened as he turned around. The light from the moon showed him the trunk of a thick tree; they had chased Scabbers into the shadow of the Whomping Willow and its branches were creaking as though in a high wind, whipping backward and forward to stop them going nearer.

There, at the base of the trunk, were the dogs, dragging Ron backward into a large gap in the roots - the ginger was fighting furiously, but his head and torso were slipping out of sight -

"Ron!" Charlus shouted, trying to follow, but a heavy branch whipped lethally through the air and he was forced backwards, falling next to Hermione.

The two of them shared a glance as they rose to their feet, almost relieved that the other was alright. They held the gaze for awhile before they walked over to Harry and Alistair and helped them to their feet.

When they looked towards the tree, all they could see now was one of Ron's legs, which he had hooked around a root in an effort to stop the dogs from pulling him farther underground - but a horrible crack cut the air like a gunshot; Ron's leg had broken, and a moment later, his foot vanished from sight.

"We've - we've got to go for help -" Hermione gasped; she was bleeding too; the Willow had cut her across the shoulder.

"No! Those things are big enough to eat him," Charlus argued, "we haven't got time -" "Charlus, we're never going to get through without help -" Alistair said, trying to reason with him.

Another branch came down like a whip towards them, its twigs curved like finger joints.

"If those dogs can get in, we can," Charlus panted, darting here and there, trying to find a way through the vicious, swishing branches, but he couldn't get an inch nearer to the tree roots without being in range of the tree's blows.

So, the four of them tried to run towards it together.

Dodging out of the way of the Willow's branches, Harry reached the trunk first; he crawled forward, headfirst, and slid down an earthy slope to the bottom of a very low tunnel. Charlus went next; he landed on his back next to Harry with a hard thud - if his ribs weren't broke before, they definitely were now. Seconds later, Hermione slithered down behind them, landing directly on top of Charlus, face down.

With a small groan of pain, the light brown-haired boy looked up at the same time she had. Their faces were now merely centimetres apart.

They could feel the hot, panted breath of one another on their faces. Hermione was trying to fight the urge to look towards his  lips that she desperately desired to taste.  Charlus, on the other hand, couldn't help himself - he was transfixed.

Sorry, Ron, be with you in a second -

Charlie was lost in the moment. His heart was beating out of his chest, but he didn't dare to move. If he did, their lips would touch, and it would ruin their friendship.

Hermione hadn't moved to get off of him. She was too busy trying to fight a blush from appearing on her face due to the proximity of their faces. God, if they were under any other circumstances, she would've leaned down without a second thought and -

"Damn..." Alistair groaned as he landed next to his three friends.

Charlus and Hermione reluctantly shifted their gaze towards their best friend. Like a sudden flash of lightning, the realization of what was happening had hit them, and they both scrambled to their feet, caught by embarrassment.

They didn't look at one another. They were scared of what it would mean had they did; it would be like admitting what almost happened.

Instead, Charlus ran his hand through his hair. "Are you guys okay?" he asked the others. Harry and Alistair hummed in response. "Where's Ron?" Hermione whispered in a terrified voice.

Charlus pointed down a long, dark pathway that was in front of them. "This way," he said as he led his his brother and his two friends down the path. "Where does this tun​nel come out?" Alistair asked breath​less​ly from be​hind them.

"I don't know..." Harry said as he looked around curiously, "It's marked on the Marauder's Map but Fred and George said no one's ever gotten into it... It goes off the edge of the map, but it looked like it was heading for Hogsmeade..."

They moved as fast as they could. On and on went the passage; it felt at least as long as the one to Honeydukes...

Charlus was breathing heavily, trying to ignore the obvious pain from his rib cage. Then, the tunnel began to rise; moments later it twisted. Ahead he, Harry, Alistair and Hermione could see a patch of dim light through a small opening.

When they walked through, they entered a room, a very disordered, dusty room. Paper was peeling from the walls; there were stains all over the floor; every piece of furniture was broken as though somebody had smashed it. The windows were all boarded up.

The room was deserted, but a door to their right stood open, leading to a shadowy hallway. Hermione suddenly grabbed Charlus' arm. Her wide eyes were traveling around the boarded windows. "Guys," she whispered, "I think we're in the Shrieking Shack."

Alistair looked around. His eyes settled on a wooden chair nearby. There were large pieces broken off; one of the legs had been torn off entirely. "Ghosts don't do that," he said quietly.

At that moment, there was a creak overhead. Something had moved upstairs. The four of them looked up at the ceiling. Hermione's grip on Charlus' arm was so tight that he was losing feeling in his fingers. He raised his eyebrows at her; she nodded and let go hesitantly.

Quietly as they could, they crept out into the hall and up the crumbling staircase. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust except the floor, where a wide shiny stripe had been made by something being dragged upstairs.

They reached the dark landing. Only one door was open. As they crept toward it, they heard movement from behind it; a low moan, and then a deep, loud purring. Charlus, Harry, Alistair and Hermione exchanged a last look, a last nod.

Wand held tightly before him, Charlus kicked the door wide open. Upon entry, the boy surveyed the room. On the floor, clutching his leg, which stuck out at a strange angle, was Ron.

Charlus, Harry, Alistair and Hermione dashed across to their friend. "Ron - are you okay?" "Can you walk?""Christ, that rat better be worth it." "Where are the dogs?"

"Not dogs," Ron moaned. His teeth were gritted with pain. "Charlus, Harry, it's a trap -" "What -" " They are the dogs... they are Animagus's."

Ron was staring over Charlus' shoulder. His four friends had wheeled around. With a snap, two men in the shadows closed the door behind them.

A mass of filthy, matted hair hung to their elbows. If eyes hadn't been shining out of the deep, dark sockets, they might have been two corpses. The waxy skin was stretched so tightly over the bones of their faces that they looked like two skulls. Their yellow teeth were bared in a grin. It was Sirius Black and Daniel White-Riddle.

Alistair raised his wand. "Expelliarmus!" Black croaked, pointing Ron's wand at him. The wand shot out of his hands, high in the air, and White-Riddle caught it. Then they took a step closer. Their eyes were fixed on Charlus and Harry.

" We thought you'd come and help your friend," White-Riddle said hoarsely. His voice sounded as though he had long since lost the habit of using it. "Your father would have done the same for us. Brave of you not to run for a teacher. We are grateful... it will make everything much easier..."

The taunt about his father rang in Charlus' ears. A boiling hate erupted in the boy's chest, leaving no place for fear. Without knowing what he was doing, he started forward, but there was a sudden movement on either side of him and four pairs of hands grabbed him and held him back...

"No, Charlus!" Hermione gasped in a petrified whisper, while Harry and Alistair held him in pace; Ron, however, spoke to Black and White-Riddle. "If you want to kill Charlus and Harry, you'll have to kill us too!" he said fiercely, though the effort of standing upright was draining him of colour, and he swayed slightly.

Something flickered in Black's shadowed eyes. "Lie down," he said quietly to Ron. "You will damage that leg even more." "Did you hear me?" Ron said weakly, though he was clinging painfully to Harry to stay upright. "You'll have to kill all five of us!"

"There'll on​ly be one mur​der here tonight," White-Riddle said and his grin widened. "Why's that?" Charlus spat, trying to wrench himself free of Harry, Alistair, Ron and Hermione. "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?"

"Charlus!" Hermione whimpered. "Be quiet!" " THEY KILLED OUR MUM AND DAD!" Charlus roared, and with a huge effort he broke free of his brother and his friends restraints and lunged forward.

Charlus had tackled Black and White-Riddle to the floor. As he pinned Black and White-Riddle to the floor, he took out his wand and pointed it aggressively at them; Charlus' hand was shaking in anger.

Black simply laughed, "Are you going to kill us, Charlus?" "Yes." Charlus said with a glare, "To avenge Mum and Dad." "Charlus," Harry quietly began, hoping to talk some sense into his brother, "you're no murderer."

But it was too late. Charlus raised his wand and as soon as he was about to mutter a spell -

BLAM!

The door of the room burst open in a show​er of red sparks and Charlus wheeled around as Pro​fes​sor Lupin came hurtling in​to the room, his face bloodless, his wand raised and ready.

 Lupin's eyes flickered over Ron, lying on the floor, over Hermione, cowering next to the door, over Harry and Alistair, who were looking at him curiously, to Charlus, standing there with his wand covering Black and White-Riddle, and then to Black and White-Riddle themselves, crumpled and bleeding underneath Charlus' wand.

"Expelliarmus!" Lupin shouted.

Charlus' wand shot out of his hand and into Lupin's. The boy quickly stood up and looked at Lupin with the same curious gaze as Harry and Alistair, as Remus approached Sirius and Daniel, eyeing them intensely.

"Well, well,Sirius,Daniel?" he said, extending a hand to help the criminals to their feet, ""Looking rather ragged, aren't we? Finally the flesh reflects the madness within."

Daniel White-Riddle smiled widely as he took Remus' hand and rose to his feet, "Well, you'd know all about the madness within wouldn't you, Remus?"

The three looked at each other; the moment taut with tension. Then, Lupin stepped forward and... embraced Sirius and Daniel like a brother.

"No!" Hermione yelled as she stepped forward to face Lupin, "I trusted you! We all did! I even covered up for you! And all this time you've been his friend!"

She then turned towards her four friends and spoke, while pointing in Lupin's direction, "He's a werewolf! That's why he's been missing classes!"

Charlus, Harry, Alistair and Ron stared, completely dumbfounded, at Lupin. Black and White-Riddle laughed, bitterly amused. Lupin shifted his gaze between everyone in the room, before gulping as he looked at Hermione, "How long have you known?"

"Ages," Hermione whispered. "Since I did Professor Snape's essay..."

"He'll be delighted," Lupin said coolly. "He assigned that essay hoping someone would realize what my symptoms meant... Did you check the lunar chart and realize that I was always ill at the full moon? Or did you realize that the Boggart changed into the moon when it saw me?"

"Both," Hermione said quietly. Lupin forced a laugh, "Well, well, well, Hermione. You really are the brightest witch of your age I've ever met."

"Oh we get it," Black said, impatiently, "You glow like the sun, and howl at the moon. Enough talk! He dies! Now, if you won't do it with us, Remus, Daniel and I'll do it alone!" "Wait-"

"We have done our waiting!" White-Riddle shouted, his voice slightly cracking as he suddenly remembered the imprisonment. "Twelve years of it! In Azkaban! Trust me, you wouldn't have lasted a week!"

Lupin eyed Black and White-Riddle carefully, and then nodded slowly, "Alright fine, as you wish." "No!" Hermione shouted, shaking in fear.

Ron buried his head in his knees, scared as to what was to come next. Alistair stood his ground next to Charlus and Harry, protecting them as the oldest Potter confronted the murderers. "You betrayed our parents!" he yelled. "You betrayed them! You sold them out to Voldemort!"

"That's a lie!" Black defended, "I would never have betrayed James and Lily!" "Charlus, please," Lupin pleaded. "You've got to listen.""Did they listen?" Charlus retaliated, his voice raising slightly. "When our mother was dying! Did they listen to her screaming?!" "No!" Daniel yelled, his eyes glittering with pain. "We weren't there! And we'll regret it everyday for the rest of our lives!"

"Someone else betrayed your parents, Charlus, Harry." Lupin explained, softly. "Someone in this room, right now. Someone who, until quite recently, I believed to be dead-" "He's as good as dead." Black snapped.

Alistair raised a brow, "What the bloody hell are you talking about?" "Well, Peter Pettigrew, of course!" Black said with a twisted smile.

The three Gryffindors and the two Slytherins shared a confused glance. "You're three absolutely mental." Harry spat. "Peter Pettigrew is dead. You killed him twelve years ago!"

Lupin sighed, "I thought so too, that is, until Charlus and Alistair mentioned seeing Pettigrew on the map." "What?" Harry asked as he turned to his brother and his friend.

"We were walking in the corridors one night with the Marauder's Map, and we saw Pettigrew's name on it." Charles told him before he looked at Lupin. "But the map was lying then!" "The map never lies!" Lupin yelled. "I would know, I helped write it. I'm Moony - that was my friends' nickname for me at school."

Alistair was taken aback, "You wrote -" "Yes, yes!" White-Riddle dismissed quickly, "We're wasting time talking about things that can be discussed later!"

Black then turned to Ron, and crooned in a cruel sing song, "Come out, come out, Peter... Come out, come out and play..."

Ron drew back from Black's demented gaze, "You're mad."

As if on cue, Scabbers emerged from Ron'a pocket, thrashing desperately; Ron had to seize his long bald tail to stop him from escaping. Lupin moved closer to Ron. He seemed to be holding his breath as he gazed intently at Scabbers.

"What?" Ron said again, holding Scabbers close to him, looking scared. "What's my rat got to do with anything?" "That's not a rat," White-Riddle croaked suddenly. "What d'you mean - of course he's a rat -" Ron scoffed.

"No, he's not," Lupin said quietly. "He's a wizard." "An Animagus," Black said with a twisted smile as he watched the rat squirm in fear, "by the name of Peter Pettigrew."

Then, Sirius and Daniel immediately lunged at Scabbers; Ron yelled with pain as Black and White-Riddle's weight fell on his broken leg.

"Sirius, Daniel, NO!" Lupin yelled, launching himself forwards and dragging Black and White-Riddle away from Ron again, "WAIT! You can't do it just like that - they need to understand - we've got to explain -"

"We can explain afterwards!" Black snarled ,trying to throw Lupin off. Two hands were still clawing the air as they tried to reach Scabbers, who was squealing like a piglet, scratching Ron's face and neck as he tried to escape.

"They've - got - a - right - to - know - everything!" Lupin panted, still trying to restrain Black and White-Riddle. "Ron's kept him as a pet! There are parts of it even I don't understand, and Charlus and Harry - you owe Charlus and Harry the truth, Sirius,Daniel!"

Black and White-Riddle stopped struggling, though their hollowed eyes were still fixed on Scabbers, who was clamped tightly under Ron's bitten, scratched, and bleeding hands.

"All right, then," White-Riddle said, without taking his eyes off the rat. "Tell them whatever you like. But make it quick, Remus. We want to commit the murder we were imprisoned for..."

The three Gryffindors and the two Slytherins shared a very curious, yet fearful glance once again before they listened to Lupin as he told them his story.

Lupin began by saying that when he came to Hogwarts, as a young werewolf, Dumbledore devised a way for him to leave Hogwarts secretly and safely through the Whomping Willow and remain, during the full moon, in the Shrieking Shack.

He also mentioned how his friends, James Potter,Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, Daniel and Aurora White-Riddle noticed his monthly absence, and figured out his true identity. And how they worked toward becoming animagi so they could assume animal form and keep him company without placing themselves in danger.

The Marauders roamed everywhere and learned every part of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, and they ultimately used this information to write the Marauder's Map and sign it with their nicknames. Remus being Moony, Peter being Wormtail,  Sirius being Padfoot, Daniel being Shade, James being Prongs and Aurora being Shadow.

Lupin then explained that Snape, who now makes the revolutionary potion Wolfsbane that allows Lupin to keep his mind, thus remaining harmless during his transformation, as a student was always curious about the monthly disappearance. Which resulted in him nearly being killed by a cruel prank that Lupin and his friends played on the young Slytherin, creating a hatred-based grudge that has lasted all of these years.

Then, as soon as Lupin finished the story -"Expelliarmus!"

Remus, Daniel, and Sirius' wands has shot out of their hands in the direction of, coincidentally, Severus Snape, who was currently standing in the doorway, with his wand raised.

"Ah vengeance is sweet." Snape said slowly, as he approached the three adults. "How I hoped I'd be the one to catch you." "Severus -" Lupin began to say, but Snape overrode him. "I told Dumbledore you were helping your old friends into the castle, and here's my proof." he spat.

The three Gryffindors and the two Slytherins stood still as they watched the encounter unfold, unaware of what to do. However, without even realizing it, Hermione had grabbed hold of Charlus' arm once again upon Snape's arrival. His touch comforted her; he was exactly what she needed in the moment.

Black spoke sarcastically, "Brilliant,Snape! Once again, you put your keen and penetrating mind to the task, and as usual, come to the wrong conclusion. Now, if you'll excuse us, Remus, Daniel and I have some unfinished business to attend to."

As Black and White-Riddle approached him, Snape pointed his wand at them, "Give me one good reason why I should." "Don't be a fool, Severus." Lupin warned. "He can't help it," Black laughed. "It's a habit by now." "Sirius, be quiet!" Lupin said louder. "Oh, quiet yourself, Remus!" Sirius snapped.

"Oh, listen to you two, quarrelling like an old married couple," Snape said. "The joke's on you again, Severus," White-Riddle snarled. "As long as this boy brings his rat up to the castle" - he jerked his head at Ron - "Sirius and I'll come quietly..."

"Up to the castle?" Snape said silkily. "I don't think we need to go that far. All I have to do is call the Dementors once we get out of the Willow. They'll be very pleased to see you, Black, White-Riddle... pleased enough to give you a little kiss, I daresay..."

What little color there was in Black and White-Riddle's face left it. "You - you've got to hear us out," Sirius croaked. "The rat - look at the rat -"

But there was a mad glint in Snape's eye that Charlus had never seen before. He seemed beyond reason. "Come on, all of you," he said, addressing the room before stopping on Lupin. "I'll even show them the werewolf. Perhaps the Dementors will have a kiss for him too -"

Before he knew what he was doing, Charlus had removed himself from Hermione's grasp, crossed the room in three strides and blocked the door. "Get our of the way, Potter, you're in enough trouble already," Snape snarled. "If I hadn't been here to save your skin-"

"Professor Lupin could've killed me, along with Harry, about a hundred times this year," Charlus said. "We've been alone with him loads of times, having defence lessons against the Dementors. If he was helping Black and White-Riddle, why didn't he just finish us off then?"

"Don't ask me to fathom the way a werewolf's mind works," Snape hissed. "Get out of the way, Potter!" "YOU'RE PATHETIC!" Charlus yelled. "JUST BECAUSE THEY MADE A FOOL OF YOU AT SCHOOL YOU WON'T EVEN LISTEN - "

"SILENCE! I WILL NOT BE SPOKEN TO LIKE THAT!" Snape shrieked, looking madder than ever. "Like father, like son, Potter! I have just saved your neck; you should be thanking me on bended knee! You would have been well served if he'd killed you! You'd have died like your father, too arrogant to believe you might be mistaken in Black - now get out of the way, or I will make you. GET OUT OF THE WAY, POTTER!"

"AS IF ANYONE WOULD WILLINGLY GET ON THEIR KNEES FOR YOU, SNIVELLUS!" Charlus said, clenching his jaw in anger. Before Snape could take another step towards Charlus in the doorway, Harry had raised his wand.

"Expelliarmus!" he yelled - except disarming wasn't all that happened. There was a blast that made the door rattle on its hinges; Snape was lifted off his feet and slammed into the wall, then slid down it to the floor, a trickle of blood oozing from under his hair - he had been knocked out.

Alistair's eyes had widened as he turned to his friend, "Harry! What did you just do?!" "You attacked a teacher...You attacked a teacher..." Hermione whimpered, staring at the lifeless Snape with frightened eyes. "Oh, you're going to be in so much trouble -"

"He was going to attack Charlus!" Harry said, looking at the Potion teacher's body. "Oh, bloody hell..." Ron muttered from the ground, even more fearful than ever before.

 Lupin had glanced from Snape's unconscious body to Charlie, who stood stunned in the doorway. "Thank you, Charlus," he said. "I'm still not saying I believe you," he told Lupin. "Then it's time we offered you some proof," Lupin said. "You, boy - give me Peter, please. Now."

Ron clutched Scabbers closer to his chest. "Come off it," he said weakly. "Are you trying to say they broke out of Azkaban just to get their hands on Scabbers? I mean..." He looked up at Charlus, Harry, Alistair and Hermione for support, "Okay, say Pettigrew could turn into a rat - there are millions of rats - how are they supposed to know which one they are after if they were locked up in Azkaban?"

"You know, Sirius, Daniel, that's a fair question," Lupin said, turning to Black and White-Riddle and frowning slightly. "How did you find out where he was?"

Black put one of his claw-like hands inside his robes and took out a crumpled piece of paper, which he smoothed flat, and held out to show the others. It was the photograph of Ron and his family that had appeared in the Daily Prophet the previous summer, and there, on Ron's shoulder, was Scabbers.

"How did you get this?" Lupin asked Black and White-Riddle, thunderstruck.

"Fudge," White-Riddle said. "When he came to inspect Azkaban last year, he gave us his paper. And there was Peter, on the front page...on this boy's shoulder...We knew him at once...how many times had we seen him transform? And the caption said the boy would be going back to Hogwarts...to where Charlus and Harry were . . ."

Black and White-Riddle's eyes had filled with rage once again as they looked to Scabbers. Ron shook his head as they approached him once again, "No - no way! Not Scabbers! He's been in my family for -" "Twelve years!" Sirius said bitterly. "A curiously long life for a garden rat! He's missing a toe, isn't he?"

"So what?" The ginger retaliated. Suddenly, Charlus put the pieces together,"All that was left of Pettigrew was a-" "Finger, yes." White-Riddle snarled. "Dirty coward cut it off so everyone would think he was dead! Then, he transformed into a rat!"

Charlus stared into Black and White-Riddle's sunken eyes. He wanted to believe them, but he needed to see it for himself. - they all did.

"Enough of this," Remus said, and there was a steely note in his voice Charlus had never heard before. "There's one certain way to prove what really happened. Ron, give me that rat."

"What are you going to do with him if I give him to you?" Ron asked Lupin tensely. "Force him to show himself," Lupin said. "If he really is a rat, it won't hurt him."

Ron hesitated. "It's okay, Ron." Alistair reassured, as he suddenly understood as well. "Give it to him."

Out of Alistair's request, Ron held out Scabbers and Lupin took him. Scabbers began to squeak without stopping, twisting and turning, his tiny black eyes bulging in his head. "Ready, Sirius,Daniel?"Lupin said.

Black had already retrieved two wands and handed one of them to White-Riddle. They approached Lupin and the struggling rat, and his wet eyes suddenly seemed to be burning in his face.

"Together?" Sirius asked quietly. "I think so", Lupin said, holding Scabbers tightly in one hand and his wand in the other. "On the count of three. One - two - THREE!"

A flash of blue-white light erupted from both wands; for a moment, Scabbers was frozen in midair, his small gray form twisting madly - Ron yelled - the rat fell and hit the floor. There was another blinding flash of light and then -

A head was shooting upward from the ground; limbs were sprouting; a moment later, a man was standing where Scabbers had been, cringing and wringing his hands.

He was a very short man. His thin, colorless hair was unkempt and there was a large bald patch on top. He had the shrunken appearance of a plump man who has lost a lot of weight in a short time. His skin looked grubby, almost like Scabbers's fur, and something of the rat lingered around his pointed nose and his very small, watery eyes.

He looked around at them all, his breathing fast and shallow. Charlus saw his eyes dart to the door and back again. "Well, hello, Peter," Lupin said unpleasantly, as though rats frequently erupted into old school friends around him. "Long time, no see."

"S-Sirius... D-Daniel...R-Remus..." Even Pettigrew's voice was squeaky and shaky, as though he was nervous. Again, his eyes darted toward the door. "My friends... my old friends..."

Black and White-Riddle raised their wand arms, but Lupin seized them by the wrists, gave them a warning look, then turned again to Pettigrew, his voice light and casual."We've been having a little chat, Peter, about what happened the night Lily and James died. You might have missed the finer points while you were squeaking around down there on the bed -"

"Remus," Pettigrew gasped, and Charlus could see beads of sweat breaking out over his pasty face, "you don't believe them, do you...? They tried to kill me, Remus...""So we've heard," Lupin said, more coldly. "I'd like to clear up one or two little matters with you, Peter, if you'd be so -"

"They have come to try and kill me again!" Pettigrew squeaked suddenly, pointing at Black and White-Riddle, and Charlus saw that he used his middle finger, because his index was missing. "They killed Lily and James and now they're going to kill me too...You've got to help me, Remus..."

Lupin didn't answer. Instead, he stood still, watching Pettigrew's actions intently. Peter's small, watery eyes darted towards door once again. Suddenly, he made a break for it, but Alistair was quick to move in front of him to block the path.

Pettigrew's nose twitched, his gaze looking directly into Alistair's eyes before he grabbed the boy by the shoulders, "Oh Alistair. You have your mother's eyes - She was the kindest woman alive....she would never let anyone hurt me!"

"Get your hands off my nephew." Sirius said, his voice loud with anger. Alistair gave Pettigrew a harsh shove. The man fell to the floor, avoiding Remus, Sirius and Daniel's gaze at all costs. He was looking around the room, trying to find help. "Ron..." he pleaded, "haven't I been a good friend... a good pet? You won't let them kill me, Ron, will you... you're on my side, aren't you?"

But Ron was staring at Pettigrew with the utmost revulsion as he drew back closer to the wall to get further away from him. "I let you sleep in my bed!" he said. "Kind boy... kind master..." Pettigrew crawled toward Ron, begging at his broken leg. "You won't let them do it... I was your rat... I was a good pet...."

"Are you really boasting about how much of a better rat you were than a human? You're a joke," White-Riddle said harshly. Ron, going still paler with pain, wrenched his broken leg out of Pettigrew's reach.

Pettigrew turned on his knees, staggered forward, and seized the hem of Hermione's sweater to which Charlus immediately became protective, and moved towards her. "Sweet girl... clever girl... you - you won't let them... Help me..."

 Hermione pulled her sweater out of Pettigrew's clutching hands and backed away behind Charlus, looking horrified.

Pettigrew knelt, trembling uncontrollably, and turned his head slowly towards Charlus and Harry. "Charlus.. Harry... you look just like your father... just like James...we were the best of friends, he and I..."

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO CHARLUS AND HARRY?" Black roared. "HOW DARE YOU FACE THEM? HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT JAMES IN FRONT OF THEM?"

"Charlus," Pettigrew whispered , shuffling toward the twins, hands outstretched. "Harry, James wouldn't have wanted me killed... James would have understood, Charlus,Harry... your dad would have spared me...he would have shown me mercy..." 

"Mercy?" Charlus spat out in question. "What the fuck do you know about mercy? You killed our parents! And you're asking us to spare you?! You fucking hypocrite! I'll bloody kill you myself if Lupin., White-Riddle and Black don't!"

 But Black,White-Riddle and Lupin strode forward, seized Pettigrew's shoulders, and threw him backward onto the floor. He sat there, twitching with terror, staring up at them. "You solt Lily and James to Voldemort," White-Riddle said, who was shaking too. "Do you deny it?"

Pettigrew burst into tears. It was horrible to watch, like an oversized, balding baby, cowering on the floor. "Daniel, what could I have done? The Dark Lord... you have no idea... he has weapons you can't imagine... I was scared, Daniel, I was never brave like you, Sirius, Remus, Aurora and James. I never meant for it to happen... You-Know-Who forced me -"

"DON'T LIE!" Black bellowed. "YOU'D BEEN PASSING INFORMATION TO HIM FOR A YEAR BEFORE LILY AND JAMES DIED! YOU WERE HIS SPY!" "He - he was taking over everywhere!" Pettigrew gasped . "Wh-what was there to be gained by refusing him?"

"What was there to be gained by fighting the most evil wizard who has ever existed?" White-Riddle said, with a terrible fury in his face. "Only innocent lives, Peter!" "You don't understand!" Pettigrew whined. "He would have killed me, Daniel!"

"THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED!" Black roared. "DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!"

Black, White-Riddle and Lupin stood shoulder to shoulder, wands raised. "You should have realized," Lupin said quietly, "if Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. Good-bye, Peter."

Hermione squealed in horror as she buried her face into Charlus' shoulder. He immediately wrapped a comforting arm around her. "NO!" Harry yelled, much to everyone's surprise. He ran forward, placing himself in front Pettigrew, facing the wands. "You can't kill him," he said breathlessly. "You can't."

Black, White-Riddle and Lupin looked staggered as  his three friends gazed at him in disbelief. "Are you bloody mental?" Charlus exclaimed and looked at his brother in utter shock.

"Harry, this piece of vermin is the reason you and Charlus have no parents," White-Riddle snarled. "This cringing bit of filth would have seen the two of you die, too, without turning a hair. You heard him. His own stinking skin meant more to him than your whole family."

"I know what he is," Harry panted. "But we'll take him up to the castle. We'll hand him over to the Dementors... He can go to Azkaban... but don't kill him." "Harry!" Pettigrew gasped gratefully, and he flung his arms around Harry's knees. "You - thank you - it's more than I deserve - thank you -"

"Get off me," Harry spat, throwing Pettigrew's hands off him in disgust. "I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it because I don't reckon our dad or Alistair's mum would've wanted  their best friends to become killers - just for you." "Very well then," Lupin said softly, as he lowered his wand. He, Black and White-Riddle shared a glance before Lupin spoke again, "It's what Harry wants..."

                                       ────────⊹⊱🐍⊰⊹────────

Charlus and Harry helped carry Ron out of the Shrieking Shack, and back up through the roots of the Whomping Willow, which had ceased to move. All the while,Hermione and Alistair led Snape through. Remus, Daniel and Sirius guided Pettigrew to the top, with their wands placed aggressively into his back - one wrong move, Peter was dead.

Hermione and Alistair had settled Snape's unconscious body to the floor beside the Whomping Willow while Harry and Charlus helped Ron elevate his leg, to take the pressure off.

Within a few moments, Hermione and Alistair had joined Charlus and Harry next to Ron, while Sirius and Daniel had moved away from them. Lupin took control of Pettigrew in the near distance without any sign of resistance.

Charlus rolled up the bottom of Ron's pants so they could see the wound. "Ow. That looks really painful."  he said. The ginger groaned in pain, "So painful...they, uh...they might chop it off."

The light brown-haired boy couldn't help but chuckle lightly, "Yeah, I'm sure Madam Pomfrey will fix it in a heartbeat."

Hermione watched the two boy's interact intently before she shifted her gaze to Charlus specifically. She took in the sight of his side profile; his cheeks were covered in blood and dirt from his run in with the Whomping Willow.

Without realizing what she was doing, she reached up and caressed the boy's cheek, wiping the blood off of his face. Charlus immediately turned, startled slightly at the interaction. "Are you okay?" Hermione whispered.

 Charlus' eyes melted at her touch  before he quickly nodded his head. "All good," he said with a small smile to which she reciprocated, almost relieved to hear that he was in fact, okay.

A little way away from them, Daniel and Sirius were gazing up at the castle. The light brown-haired boy looked at them and Hermione nudged him slightly. He turned to look at the girl before glancing towards Ron who nodded for him to go. Charlus swallowed before he nodded his head again. Hesitantly, he made his way towards them with Harry and Alistair.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Sirius asked before one of them could say anything. "I'll never forget the first time I walked through those doors. It'll be nice to do it again as a free man."

They were all silent for a moment, though it wasn't necessarily awkward, the air around them just felt weird. Then finally Daniel spoke,  "That was a noble thing you did back there. He doesn't deserve it."

"Well, dead, the truth dies with him. Alive,you're both free." Harry replied. "Yes. . ." Sirius said, "We are also — I don't know if anyone ever told you, Charlus, Harry — we are your godfathers."

"Yeah, we knew that," Charlus and Harry replied at the same time. "Well ... your parents appointed us as your guardians," Daniel said stiffly. "If anything happened to them ..."

"We know you have your live with Selene and Aurelius ,Alistair, and you with your aunt and uncle, Charlus,Harry. And you might want to stay with them. " Sirius added. Daniel nodded in agreement and put an arm around his best friend's shoulder, "But...well... think about it. Once our names are cleared...if you three wanted a...a different home... "

"What-live with you two?" Harry said. "Leave the Dursleys?" "Well, well, it was...It's - It's just a thought," Sirius said quickly. "We can understand if either of you don't want to."

 "Are you mad?" Charlus said, his voice easily as croaky as Sirius' and Daniel's. "Of course Harry and I want to leave the Dursleys! Have you got a house? When can we move in?"

"As long as the place is walking distance from the Hawthorne Manor," Alistair said hesitantly, " Selene and Aurelius...they're my  parents after all, I wouldn't want to leave them but. . . I'd also like to get to know you two. I'm sure they'd understand. Daily visits are also a requirement, though."

Sirius and Daniel turned right around to look at them. "Really?" they said excitedly. "You three mean it?"

Before either of them could respond - a cloud shifted. There were suddenly dim shadows on the ground. Their party was bathed in moonlight. The five turned around at Hermione calling them, all eyes landing on Lupin.

Charlus could see Lupin's silhouette. He had gone rigid. Then his limbs began to shake. "Oh, my -" Hermione gasped. "He didn't take his potion tonight! He's not safe!"

"Run!"Sirius yelled. "Run. Now."

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.

As the werewolf reared, snapping its long jaws, Sirius and Daniel disappeared from Charlus,Harry and Alistair's side. They had transformed. The enormous, bearlike dogs bounded forward. As the werewolf wrenched itself free, one dog seized it about the neck and the other seized it about the arm. They pulled it backward, away from the kids and Pettigrew. The three of them were locked, jaw to jaw, claws ripping at each other.

Charlus stood, transfixed by the sight, too intent upon the battle to notice anything else. It was Hermione's scream that alerted him and caused him to focus -

Pettigrew had dived for Lupin's dropped wand. "Expelliarmus." Charlus 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 forwards.

Too late - Pettigrew had transformed. They saw his bald tail whip through the trees and heard a scurrying through the grass. There was a howl and a rumbling growl; the three boys turned to see the werewolf taking flight; it was galloping into the forest. "Sir​ius, Daniel, he's gone, Pet​ti​grew trans​formed!" Alistair yelled.

Sirius was bleeding; there were gashes across his muzzle and back; Daniel was bleeding from his side, but at Alistair's words they scrambled up again, and in an instant, the sound of their paws faded to silence as they pounded away across the grounds. Then, from beyond the range of their vision, they heard a yelping, a whining: a dog in pain...terrible pain...

"Uncle Daniel?" Alistair muttered, staring into the darknes

Alistair set off at a run, Charlus,Harry and Hermione right behind him, leaving Ron and the unconscious Snape behind. The yelping seemed to be coming from the ground near the edge of the lake. They pelted toward it, running flat out, feeling the cold without realizing what it must mean -

Charlus, being the fastest, had taken the lead towards the whimpers of the dog, but came to an abrupt halt as he came face to face with Professor Lupin in his werewolf form. Harry,Alistair and Hermione had caught up with the light brown-haired boy, but he quickly signalled for them to stop - any sudden movements and Lupin would attack.

The werewolf drew closer to the boy. Harry and Alistair were desperately tried to hold Hermione back as she whimpered in panic at the sight before her. Charlus drew his wand once again, terrified, but tormented as well, knowing that Lupin dwelled somewhere inside the beast.

"Please, Professor," he tried to reason. "Stop... It's me...

That didn't work, however, as Lupin remained unphased in his werewolf form, and had moved even closer to the boy; his growls growing hungrier. 

Suddenly... a howl pierced the night. It almost sounded... human?

The werewolf faltered, cocking it's head towards the forest. Charlus waited, petrified. Lupin's eyes shifted back to him, snarling as he moved closer, ready to kill - the boy didn't dare move.

With that, a second howl echoed in the distance.

This time, the werewolf bounded towards the forest, and vanished. Hermione wasted no time whatsoever before barrelling towards the boy and engulfing him in a hug - Charlus' confrontation with a werewolf was probably the scariest thing Hermione had ever seen.

They pulled away as the yelping of the dog had continued in the distance, before stopping abruptly. Charlus, Harry, Alistair and Hermione headed towards it once again.

As they reached the lake's shore, they saw why it had stopped - Sirius had turned back into a man. He was crouched on all fours, his hands on either side of Daniel's face, who was lying on his back, holding a hand to his side. He seemed to be barely conscious. 

"Nooo," he moaned. "Nooo... please...."

And then Charlus saw them. Dementors, at least a hundred of them, gliding in a black mass around the lake towards us. He spun around as the familiar, icy cold penetrating his insides, fog starting to obscure his vision; more were appearing out of the darkness on every side; they were encircling them...

"Quick! Think of something happy!" Harry yelled, raising his wand, blinking furiously to try and clear his vision. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

Charlus nodded towards Hermione and Alistair, as the three of them raised their wands for Harry. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

But there too many of them, and the two Gryffindors and the two Slytherins spells weren't powerful enough...

Hermione has collapsed next to them, and Alistair could feel himself growing weaker by the minute. Charlus and Harry were on their knees, willing to fight until their last breath, but they too, were failing to fight the Dementors off; their Patronuses kept flickering and dying.

Charlus watched in, what felt like, slow motion as the nearest Dementor seemed to be considering them. Then it raised both its rotting hands - and lowered its hood.

Where there should have been eyes, there was only thin, gray scabbed skin, stretched blankly over empty sockets. But there was a mouth... a gaping, shapeless hole, sucking the air with the sound of a death rattle.

A paralyzing terror filled Charlus so that he couldn't move or speak. White fog was blinding him. He couldn't see....and in the distance, he heard the familiar screaming.... he groped in the mist for Sirius and Daniel, and found their arms...the Dementors weren't going to take them...

But a pair of strong, clammy hands suddenly attached themselves around Charlus' neck. They were forcing his face upward...He could feel its breath...It was going to get rid of him first...He could feel its putrid breath...His mother was screaming in his ears...She was going to be the last thing he ever heard -

Then, all of a sudden, through the fog that was drowning him, he saw a silvery light, growing brighter and brighter...he felt himself fall forward onto the grass-

Facedown, too weak to move, sick and shaking, Charlus opened his eyes. The Dementor must have released him. The blinding light was illuminating the grass around him...the screaming had stopped, the cold was ebbing away.

Some​thing was driv​ing the De​men​tors back ...it was cir​cling around him, Harry, Alistair, Hermione, Sir​ius, and Daniel... the rat​tling, suck​ing sounds of the Demen​tors were fad​ing. They were leav​ing ... the air was warm again ...

With every ounce of strength he could muster, Charlus raised his head a few inches and saw three animals amidst the light, walking away across the lake. Eyes blurred with sweat, he tried to make out what it was... They were as bright as a unicorn.

Fighting to stay conscious, Charlus watched them come to a halt as they reached the opposite shore. For a moment, he saw, by its brightness, three people welcoming them back...people who looked strangely familiar...but it couldn't be...

Charlus couldn't understand. He couldn't think any more. He felt the last of his strength leave him, and his head hit the ground. He could hear Alistair screaming his name before he fainted.

━━ AUTHORS NOTE

Only two chapters left of Prisoners of Azkaban! I'm so excited for Goblet of Fire 🏆🔥

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. Please, don't forget to vote and share If you did, and if you want, comment too ! I'd really appreciate it <3

Thank you for reading this far.

Until next time, much love to you all!