Chapter Text
She stared hard at the gaunt figure standing before her, his wraith-like visage a far cry from the vibrant young man she recalled seeing in her photo album. Was this man really and truly the infamous Sirius Black? The man who had betrayed her parents to Voldemort?
Reason and rationality fleeing her mind almost instantly, she lunged toward him with a shrill cry of rage and anguish. Pinning him easily against the dusty shack floor, she ignored Ron's startled expletive and Hermione's sharp cry as she clasped her hands around his neck.
Black didn't resist, didn't so much as flinch or lift the stolen wand held in his limp grasp. Instead he merely lay there, gazing back up at her with mad, feverish eyes. "Are you going to kill me… Harri..?" he choked out, a raspy chuckle escaping his lips.
"You're damn right I am!" she snarled. "You betrayed my parents!" Freeing one hand, she withdrew her wand from her pocket, leveling it in his face. "It's your fault that they're dead!"
Something flickered behind the older wizard's hazy eyes, but she paid it no heed. She opened her mouth in invoke a spell, any spell, but was halted as the door to the shack suddenly burst open. A quick utterance of 'Expelliarmus' had her wand hurtling out of her grasp and into the air. Harri turned to snarl at her assailant, her eyes widening at the sight of their pale, worn Defense against the Dark Arts instructor.
"Professor Lupin?"
The older wizard regarded them with tired eyes, keeping his wand leveled on the young brunette. "Let him up, Harri," he ordered quietly.
She stared at him mutely, feeling as though she'd been punched in the gut. When he didn't lower his wand, she slowly relinquished her hold on Black, shakily rising to her feet. She was vaguely aware of Hermione grasping her arm, pulling her back towards Ron.
Lupin turned his attention to the prone wizard, his wand still held aloft. "Well," he said softly. "It's been a long time, hasn't it, Sirius?" He studied the bedraggled figure lying on the dusty shack floor, his face blank. "The years have not been kind."
Black let out a snort. "Don't know if you've noticed, Remus old boy, but the years haven't been so kind to you either."
The professor let out a short, bitter laugh. "No, I suppose they haven't." he agreed. Then, to the three youths' shock and horror, he lowered his wand, extending his free hand to Black to help him up.
Harri stared at the two of them as they suddenly embraced each other, clapping each other on the back like old reunited school chums. Was this real, she wondered, or some sort of sick joke…?
"I've done it, Remus," Black was muttering, gripping frantically at the worn sleeve of Lupin's robes. "I've finally done it!"
"Yes, I know, Sirius…"
The convict let out a shrill laugh, eyeing briefly Harri before raising his wand once again. "Come, let's put an end to it!"
"No!" Hermione shrieked, gripping Harri's arm again. She tried pushing her back behind her, but the brunette refused to budge. "How could you, Professor Lupin!" she cried shrilly. "How could you help him?!" Her brown eyes sparked with betrayal and disbelief toward their Defense teacher. "And to think after all this time I actually trusted you…!"
The two adults remained silent.
Ron stared at Hermione as he struggled to keep his grip on Scabbers, who seemed to be increasingly agitated at the mounting tension in the room. "Hermione," he gasped out, his face pale – no doubt from the nasty gash on his leg. "What are you talking about?!"
The bookworm glanced at him briefly before snapping her head back to their professor, jabbing an accusing finger towards him. "He's a werewolf!" she exclaimed. "That's why he's missed so many of our classes…" Lupin's eyes narrowed, but she held her ground. "And yet he's been in league with Black this whole time…"
Harri glared at Lupin in disbelief, the feeling of betrayal like a sharp dagger in her chest. The truth that he was a werewolf barely registered in her ears; it Hermione's second statement that shook her to the core. How many times had she gone to this man, confided in this man, and trusted this man…? To think that all the while he'd been in cahoots with her would-be killer!
"Very clever deduction, Miss Granger," he was saying coolly, as if they were in the midst of a lesson. His gaze alternated between Black – who was pacing like a caged tiger – and Harri. Refusing to show any weakness, the brunette kept her expression carefully blank, the only sign of her anger her white, trembling hands clenched into fists at her sides. He turned his attention back to Hermione. "How long have you known?"
She eyed him warily. "Since Professor Snape assigned us the essay."
Both Harri and Ron rolled their eyes; off course she'd done it, even though he'd said they didn't have to…
Lupin let out another dark laugh. "Well, you really are a remarkably bright witch, Miss Granger – brightest of your age in fac—"
"Enough of this!" Black interrupted with a snarl, his eyes flashing furiously. "No more talk, Remus! We do it now!"
Harri tensed, barely aware of her friends' hands grasping her arms as if to pull her out harm's way. Didn't they know by now? There was no way she was running away from this. Not now.
"Wait, Sirius," Lupin pleaded quietly. "Just wait a little while longer."
"I've done enough waiting!" the other wizard growled. "Twelve years I waited in Azkaban for this day…" His eyes found Harri's again, taking on a glassy quality. "Twelve long years…"
"I know, Sirius, I know…" said Lupin, his hand on Black's shoulder. Whether it was to reassure him or restrain him, Harri neither knew nor cared. "But Harriett at least deserves to know why…"
"I know why!" she spat hatefully, held in check only by her friends' vice-like grips on her arms. "Sirius Black betrayed my parents… thirteen people are dead thanks to him!"
Black stiffened, but before he could speak, Lupin beat him to the punch. "I thought so too at first… but that's not what happened… Someone else betrayed your parents that night and killed those muggles… someone who, up until now, I believed to be dead."
Green eyes darkened in confusion. "Who?"
"Peter Pettigrew!" Black spat, as if the mere utterance of the name left a foul taste in his mouth.
"Pettigrew?" Harri frowned. "But he's dead! He killed him along with the muggles."
"Oh noo…. He's very much alive…" Black insisted. "And he's here right now. In this very room. Aren't you, Peter?!"
"He's insane!" Ron whispered harshly. "Absolutely insane!"
"Think, Harri," Lupin said sharply. "That night in the corridor... You said you saw his name on the map."
Harri blinked in confusion, "Yes, but the map was wrong--"
"The map is never wrong!" Sirius barked sharply. "Never! We designed it!"
"You?" The brunette shook her head. "N-no... it was Messrs Moony--"
Sirius' hazy eyes focused on her once again, pinning her in place. "Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs... The four mischievous Marauders of Hogwarts! Prongs is gone, Padfoot locked away, Moony was left all alone, whilst Wormtail hides awaaayy.." He turned away with a manic laugh. "But now the jig is up, isn't it? Come on out, Peter! Come out, come out, wherever you are--!"
"Well, well, well," a silky voice intoned, cutting off Black's mad ranting. "What have we here?" All heads turned, zeroing in on the dark form of Severus Snape as he appeared out of the inky blackness of the hall. With a sharp flick of his wrist, Lupin's wand flew from his hand, skittering across the floor.
"Severus," he began.
"Save it," the Potions master snarled. "I warned the Headmaster that you were in cahoots with your old friend Black, helping him sneak into the castle. And now I've caught you both together; I'm sure the Aurors are going to be thrilled."
Lupin paled. "Wait a moment, Severus, you're making a mistake—!"
Black scoffed loudly. "How like ol' Snivellus," he sneered. "Once again he sticks his abnormally large nose into other people's business and *still* manages to come to the wrong conclusion!"
An expression of dark loathing so strong passed over Snape's face, and before Lupin could interject, he thrust his wand towards Black's throat. "Give me a reason," he hissed. "Don't think I won't do it…"
Black glared back at him, but remained silent.
"Nothing to say now, eh Black?" he said jeeringly. "You know… perhaps I should just give you over to the Dementors." A flash of fear flickered in the other wizard's eyes and the Potion master's smirk turned positively sinister. "Afraid are we? You should be – rumor has it they're waiting to give you a little… kiss."
Black swallowed deeply, his sallow face paling even further.
Snape seemed to be enjoying himself, as he continued on. "Yes… I do believe that's what I'll do. I've heard that the Kiss is unbearable to watch, but for you I'm sure I'll do my best!" He turned towards Harri, Ron, and Hermione, his eyes narrowing as he assessed them. "You three – outside! Now!"
Hermione immediately moved to help Ron to his feet, but Harri stood rooted in place. She watched as the three adult wizards began arguing amongst themselves, as if she and the others were no longer important. Her eyes narrowed; there was more to this, she knew… more than what was being said. Despite the conflicting emotions running through her, there was one thing of which she was absolutely certain – she was not about to let it end here, not like this! She was going to get answers, no matter what it took!
Lupin was still trying to reason with Snape, his hands raised in a pacifying gesture. Of course, it didn't help that Black kept throwing out sharp insults at Snape – despite the fact that he still had him at wand-point. "Severus," he said quietly. "Please, let us all just go back up to castle. I'm sure once we get there we'll be able to straighten everything out—"
"Yes, we'll all go… the two of you in chains!" Dark eyes darted back towards the young brunette gazing hard at him. "Potter! Help Granger with Weasley!"
Harri took a step back, edging slowly over to Hermione. Eyes still on the three wizards, she surreptitiously slid the 10 ¾" vine wood wand from the other girl's pocket. Before Hermione could make any sort of objection, Harri already had a firm grip, leveling it on the dark haired wizard in front of her.
At her sudden movement, Snape turned towards her again. "Potter, didn't I tell you—" His eyes widened at the sight of the wand pointed towards him. "Wha—?"
Although she knew what she was about to do was absolute insane - as well as illegal - Harri did not hesitate. "EXPELLIARMUS!!"