Chapter 8
Remus unlocked the classroom and was faced with a version of Severus Snape he never thought he’d see. Severus is able to portray this air of arrogance and indifference and keeps his emotions on such a tight leash, you can never tell what he’s feeling outside of that.
This Severus Snape is angry.
Peter Pettigrew was cowering behind a desk, pleading for his life.
”It’s why you never showed yourself to me back then, isn’t it! Because you knew what you were going to do! You were going to betray them! Betray Lily! You knew that if I saw you, I’d tare you apart limb by limb!” Severus shouted, his wand trained firmly on the cowering man.
”Severus, you have to understand! He was going to kill me!” Peter shouted.
”You lie!” Remus growled, Moony emerging just enough to make a point. “I can smell it.”
”R-Remus!”
”You sold James, Lily, and Harry to Voldemort. You framed Sirius for your actions! How could you!?” Remus howled, his own wand drawn. “And to top all of that off, you attacked my daughter!”
Peter froze for a moment. A single moment. Then the facade fell away. It was like the wool had finally been removed from Remus’s eyes. As Peter slowly grinned. “She’s very lovely, Remus.”
Two spells fired at the same time. One a slicing hex, the other a binding spell. Peter was flown backwards, blood dripping from the slice on his arm, as ropes bound him together.
”I already called Amelia. She’s on her way. Then he will be locked up and your mut can go free. How is Miss. Lupin?” Severus asked, trying to regain his composure.
”Poppy doesn’t know if she’ll ever speak again, because of the damage that was already there. But we won’t know until she wakes up.” Remus growled.
”And Mr. Lupin-Potter?”
”He doesn’t know yet. I wanted to make sure Wormtail was dealt with first.”
As he finished speaking, the door to the classroom opened again, and in walked Amelia.
”Remus, Severus, it’s good to see you. What can I do for you?” Amelia asked, surveying the two and the classroom.
”This,” Severus gestured towards the prone man, “is Peter Pettigrew. He’s supposed to be dead. He’s not. He framed Sirius Black that night. And was the actual secret keeper to James and Lily Potters home in 1981, not Sirius Black. Get him out of my sight.” Severus hissed.
Amelia wasted no time in stunning the bound man and directing two aurors to take him back to the ministry. She sat Remus and Severus down and asked for details of what happened and how they came across Pettigrew. It was hours before they were able to leave the classroom. The moment Remus was free, he raced to find Harry. He found him, sitting in the common room with the twins and Ron.
“Dad? What’s going on?” Harry jumped up, seeing the worry in Remus’s eyes.
”You need to come with me. I’ll explain when we get to the Hospital wing.” Remus said, and waited for Harry to get to his side before hurrying back towards the Hospital wing. As they walked, Remus explained everything that’s been going on. And Harry was devastated. The guilt resurfaced, and he explained why the only reason Hermione wasted out in the forest, was because of him.
when they reached the Hospital Wing Harry and Remus froze at the sight of Hermione’s prone figure. Even though Remus had already seen the extent of the damage earlier, it only seemed to get worse.
”Poppy?”
”Shes alright. We won’t know anything else until she wakes up. Because her old injury was already acting up, I don’t know if she speak again. It could be months before she’s able to utter a noise, let alone speak properly.” Poppy explained gently, as the two men took seats at Hermione’s bedside.
“It’s my fault.” Harry whispered.
Remus shook his head. “No it’s not. He could have attacked at any time.”
”I should have been there for her.” Tears gathered in Harry’s eyes. “But I let my stupid pride get in the way.”
”Did you try talking to her?” Remus asked, putting together that Harry still hadn’t spoke to Hermione after they talked about the firebolt earlier.
”Today.” Harry reluctantly admitted.
Remus sucked in a sharp breath, only just now putting the pieces together that his children had not been speaking for the better part of two months. He wanted to scream, and rip Harry a new one. One glance at his still daughter had him reigning it in. Realizing that she had kept it from him on purpose. Old habits, he had to guess. Even now, those bloody people still had a grip on his daughter.
"Why now?" Remus asked instead.
"Fred confronted me last night, set me straight. It was during that interaction that I realized Ron had helped keep me from saying anything to Hermione."
"What do you mean?"
Harry took a deep breath, running his hands through his hair nervously. "Fred asked why I hadn't been talking to Hermione, let along notice that her voice was acting up. When I went to say something, Ron jumped in and explained to Fred about the firebolt. Only when Fred shut Ron down and asked me again, I couldn't come up with a reason. I was just being cruel and letting Ron talk me into staying mad at her since he doesn't really like her."
"Harry what's the one thing I've told you since you came to live with me?"
"Family above all." Harry muttered.
"You and I will be having a conversation about your friendship with Ron. I know Fred and George have talked to you about Hermione before." Remus sighed, leaning forward and clutching his daughters hand gently.
As the hours ticked by, Harry and Remus waited anxiously for Hermione to wake.
Poppy checked on them multiple times. A house elf brought them food. Fred and George stumbled in the next morning. Fred grabbed ahold of Hermione's free hand, while George moved to sit next to Harry. In the late afternoon, Hermione's eyes fluttered open, before she was sitting up and frantically trying to get away.
"Hermione, it's alright. It's alright. It's Dad, and Harry, Fred, and George. You're safe. It's ok, cub. You're alright." Remus whispered soothingly, holding his hand out to show her he meant no harm. Something he hasn't had to do since the first couple years she moved in with him.
She mouthed something frantically, as her eyes swung towards him.
"Shh, Cub. It's just us. You're safe. It's alright."
Her mouth moved again, as if she were trying to talk, but nothing came out. Tears fell from her eyes, as she opened her mouth in what can only be a scream. It was silent in the hospital wing. She leaned forward, hands moved to clutch at her head. Remus moved slowly. "Mia, I'm gonna sit beside you. It's alright, cub. I'm right here." He said soothingly, reaching his hand out and tugging gently on her hands to pull them away from her head. Knowing that when things like this happened, she tended to pull her hair out in her frustrations. He gently pulled her into his arms and held her gently as she cried into his chest. It was then, looking back towards Harry, that something seemed to click for the young boy.
"I'm an idiot." Harry breathed.
Remus spotted Fred soothingly rubbing his hand on her shins comfortingly. He made a mental note to keep an eye on him in the future. It's what Sirius used to do after a bad full moon.
As Hermione slowly began to calm down she made a writing motion with her hand and Fred summoned a quill and parchment and handed it to her. It was clear, that she was trying to get herself under control, but was still visibly upset.
Did you get him? She wrote.
"Yeah, we got him. It was Peter, cub. It wasn't Sirius that betrayed Lily and James, but Peter." Remus explained gently.
She scribbled something else down. My voice?
"We won't know anything until the swelling goes down."
More tears gathered in her eyes. Is it gonna be like last time?
Remus sucked in a sharp breath. "I don't know, cub. Last time we didn't have magic working on you immediately. Madame Pomfery has already started the healing process, and documented your injuries. Just like last time."
"What do you mean last time?" Fred, George, and Harry asked.
"That's up for Hermione to explain." Remus said, squeezing Hermione reassuringly as she buried her face into his chest.
Madame Pomfery came out to do her hourly checks on them, only to see Hermione awake. "Good, you're awake." Poppy moved to get closer, only for Hermione to throw herself further into Remus. Poppy paused, watching her closely and slowly approaching her. "Hermione it's alright. I just want to check your throat."
Hermione violently shook her head. Her mouth moved frantically, as if she were yelling something. Nothing came of it.
Remus clutched onto Hermione, wrapping his arms around her tightly and whispering soothingly against her head. Hopeless, and sad. It felt like he was back at square one with her. And Square one was hard enough last time. Especially when Hermione can't talk.