➣ 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝟏𝟎 “𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘽𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙇𝙞𝙤𝙣”
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The last vestiges of the crepuscular light had taken over Scotland by the time they stepped out of the castle. Looking down at the map in his hands, Nicolás started to run towards the Whomping Willow, Caelum high on his heels.
With his shoes crashing in quick succession against the muddy ground, he was able to see a conglomerate of name tags right in front of the magical tree. Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew. But it looked like Uncle Sirius was dragging Ron and Peter, or something like that, because they moved behind the Whomping Willow, while Harry and Hermione stayed behind, probably trying to fight their way past the violent tree.
“Your father really doesn’t know how to make our lives any easier, does he?” Nicolás asked sardonically.
“He spent twelve years in Azkaban! Give him a break! He’s obviously not lucid,” Caelum retorted with an eye roll, just as sardonically.
Speeding ahead, Nicolás and Caelum arrived to see Harry and Hermione struggling with the tree, trying to get out of the way of its swishing branches.
“We need to find the knot!” said Caelum. “Nico, can you—”
Nicolás pointed his wand at the tree, and cried, “Immobulus!” and the movement from the tree came to a halt in a second.
Harry beamed back at him before a desperate Hermione dragged him under the tree and down the passage to the Shrieking Shack.
“Harry!” Nicolás called out, but the kids kept running, screaming they needed to help Ron.
“Those kids don’t make anything easier, do they?” Caelum sighed, trying to recover his breathing.
“They most definitely don’t,” Nicolás said, before running after them, Caelum following.
In silence, they walked the dark passage taking them from the school grounds to Hogsmeade. And in silence, they entered the Shrieking Shack.
By the time they arrived at the first destroyed space of the old pretense of a house, they heard voices.
“I thought you’d come and help your friend. 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...” said Uncle Sirius.
Nicolás groaned. “Why does he make it sound like he’s the bad guy.” Caelum rolled his eyes, not really having any defense on his father's behalf.
“No, Harry!” cried Hermione.
“If you want to kill Harry, you’ll have to kill us too!” said Ron fiercely.
Nicolás and Caelum were unsure about how to interrupt the scene that took place in the other room.
“Lie down. You will damage that leg even more,” chastised Uncle Sirius.
“Did you hear me?” Ron said weakly. “You’ll have to kill all three of us!”
“There’ll be only one murder here tonight,” said Uncle Sirius with a big grin as Nicolás stepped into the room. And he could see how well his mother had done with the Teeth-Healing Spell on the man.
“Sirius, you’re scaring the children,” Nicolás groaned.
“Nico!” said Harry, feeling a bit relieved. He didn’t know how he was supposed to navigate this situation without help.
But Hermione and Ron looked at Nicolás and Caelum looking hopeless and betrayed in equal measures.
“You know him?!” Hermione cried. “So, it’s truth… you…” she looked at Caelum. “You are his son!”
“Hermione—”
“No! How could you?!” the girl yelled. “After what he did to Harry!”
“You don’t understand, Hermione. Harry knows the truth,” Nicolás tried to exclaim, but Hermione was sobbing.
Muffled footsteps were echoing up through the floor — someone was moving downstairs.
“WE’RE UP HERE!” Hermione screamed suddenly. “WE’RE UP HERE — SIRIUS BLACK — QUICK!”
The door of the room burst open in a shower of red sparks and Nicolás saw his father enter, looking at everyone, before his eyes fell on Sirius.
“Sirius,” Remus breathed.
“Remus,” Uncle Sirius said, in just the same tone.
“Where is he, Sirius?” Remus said in a tense voice, before nodding in Nicolás and Caelum's direction. Sirius pointed in Ron’s direction, where the boy was holding Scabbers for dear life.
“But then...,” Remus muttered, staring at Sirius so intently it seemed he was trying to read his mind, “... why hasn’t he shown himself before now? Unless—” Remus’ eyes suddenly widened, “—unless he was the one... unless the boys were right... unless your letters told the truth…. unless you switched... without telling anyone. Not even María?” with each word Nicolás saw his father grow breathless.
A pained expression crossed Uncle Sirius’ face. “I was going to tell her, but I didn’t have the time,” he said quietly.
Nicolás had already turned his attention to grab Scabbers when Hermione screamed.
“I DON’T BELIEVE IT!” Hermione cried.
All eyes fell on her as she raised herself from the floor and pointed at Remus, wild-eyed. “You — you —”
“Hermione —”
“— you and him!” she pointed at Sirius.
“Hermione, calm down —”
“And you're his son!” she screamed, looking at Caelum with a crestfallen and furious expression.
“Hermione, you don't understand—” Nicolás tried to move towards her, but she jumped away.
“And you're with them! You’re Professor Lupin’s son!” she pointed at Nicolás.
“Hermione, calm down—”
“I didn’t tell anyone!” Hermione shrieked. “I’ve been covering up for you — Harry, don’t trust him, he’s — he’s a Werewolf!”
Nicolás sighed, frowning at her, he wasn't about to stand anyone weaponizing his father's illness. “That's very low, Hermione, even for you.”
“Not at all up to your usual standard, Hermione,” Remus said calmly. “How long have you known?”
“Ages,” Hermione whispered. “Since I did Professor Snape’s essay...”
“I bet he’ll be delighted with you, probably for the first time,” said Nicolás coolly. “He assigned that essay hoping someone would realize what those 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.
Remus forced a humorless laugh.
“You’re the cleverest witch of your age I’ve ever met, Hermione.”
“I’m not,” Hermione whispered. “If I’d been a bit cleverer, I’d have told everyone what you are!”
“They already know, genius,” hissed Nicolás with an eye roll.
“At least, the staff does,” Remus added.
“Dumbledore hired you when he knew you were a Werewolf?” Ron gasped. “Is he —”
“If you want to keep your mouth where it is, I'd suggest you to shut your ignorant ass up, Ron. I will not tolerate another word from you,” Nicolás said, his wand straight to Ron's forehead. The boy gulped and slumped back but kept quiet. "From either of you," he added, looking at Hermione.
Remus chuckled. “Thank you, Love, but I don't need my son to defend my honor.” He moved towards Sirius, taking the wands from his hands; Sirius let him. “I have not been helping Sirius,” said Remus. “If you’ll give me a chance, I’ll explain. Look—”
He separated Harry’s, Ron’s, and Hermione’s wands and threw each back to its owner; Harry caught his. “There,” said Remus, sticking his own wand back into his belt. “You’re armed, we’re not. Now will you listen?”
Nicolás also put down his wand back into his robes. And Remus started to explain why and how he was there right now.
“I watched you cross the grounds and enter Hagrid’s hut. Twenty minutes later, you left Hagrid's and set off back toward the castle. But you were now accompanied by somebody else.”
“What?” interrupted Harry. “No, we weren’t!”
“Let him speak, Harry,” Nicolás scolded.
“I couldn’t believe my eyes,” said Remus, still pacing, and ignoring Harry. “I thought the map must be malfunctioning. How could he be with you? And then I saw another dot, moving fast toward you, labeled Sirius Black... I saw him collide with you; I watched as he pulled two of you into the Whomping Willow—”
“One of us!” Ron said angrily.
“No, Ron,” said Remus. “Two of you.”
“Ron, I need you to hand me Scabbers,” Nicolás said, standing in front of Ron.
“What?” said Ron. “What’s Scabbers got to do with it?”
“Everything,” said Remus, Sirius, Nicolás, and Caelum in unison.
“What?” Ron said again, holding Scabbers close to his chest, looking scared. “What’s my rat got to do with anything?”
“That’s not a rat,” croaked Sirius.
“What d’you mean — of course he’s a rat —”
“No, he’s not,” said Remus quietly. “He’s a wizard.”
“An Animagus,” growled Caelum, “by the name of Peter Pettigrew.”
Between Hermione calling them ridiculous, and Ron calling them mental, Sirius lunged at Scabbers.
“Sirius, NO!” Remus yelled, launching himself forward and dragging Sirius 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 afterward!” snarled Sirius, trying to throw him off. One hand was still clawing the air as it tried to reach Scabbers, who was squealing like a piglet, scratching Ron’s face and neck as he tried to escape.
It would've been kind of hilarious to see Uncle Sirius making reaching motions in the air like a toddler asking for a toy, had they not been in such a precarious situation.
“They’ve — got — a — right — to — know — everything!” Remus panted, still trying to restrain Sirius. “Ron’s kept him as a pet! There are parts of it even I don’t understand! And Harry — you owe Harry the truth, Sirius! And your son, for God's sake!” that final comment made Sirius come to a halt in place.
“Dad, you know I adore listening to you going down memory lane, but I think I agree with Uncle Siri here, we don't have the luxury of time,” Nicolás said, turning back to Ron.
When he tried to move to grab the rat once more, Caelum grabbed his arm. And it was such a funny thing, how even in tense moments like this, their bond was so straightforward and simple, and it was like their mere eyes sang to one another’s. Only one look and he knew exactly what his cousin meant.
With a resigned grunt, Nicolás stilled, his eyes glued on Pettigrew; because to him, that rat deserved no better than what was coming for him. After tense seconds, Nicolás saw how Sirius finally budged and allowed Remus to explain what he knew.
“But Professor Lupin... Scabbers can’t be Pettigrew... it just can’t be true; you know it can’t...”
“Why can’t it be true?” Remus said calmly.
“Because... because people would know if Peter Pettigrew had been an Animagus. We did Animagi in class with Professor McGonagall. And I looked them up when I did my homework — the Ministry of Magic keeps tabs on witches and wizards who can become animals; there’s a register showing what animal they become, and their markings and things... and I went and looked Professor McGonagall up on the register, and there have been only seven Animagi this century, and Pettigrew’s name wasn’t on the list —”
And after that, Remus, Sirius, Nicolás, and Caelum laughed. “Oh, please, Hermione. Not even you can be dull enough to believe everyone follows the law,” Nicolás snickered.
His father sent him a scolding glare, before looking back at Hermione.
“You’re right, but the Ministry never knew that there used to be five unregistered Animagi running around Hogwarts.”
“Uncle Remus, if you’re going to tell them the story, please make it quick,” Caelum pressed.
“You need to wait —”
“I DID MY WAITING! TWELVE YEARS OF IT! IN AZKABAN!” Uncle Sirius cried at the top of his lungs, his voice breaking in desperation. And if Nicolás felt a tight knot in his throat, he couldn’t imagine how Caelum, being the man’s son, felt.
Suddenly, the door behind them opened on its own, and everyone’s eyes went there.
“This place is haunted!” said Ron.
“It’s not,” said Remus, still looking at the door in a puzzled way.
“The Shrieking Shack was never haunted... The screams and howls the villagers used to hear were made by me. That’s where all of this starts — with my becoming a werewolf. None of this could have happened if I hadn’t been bitten... and if I hadn’t been so foolhardy... I was a very small boy when I received the bite. My parents tried everything, but in those days there was no cure. The potion that Professor Snape has been making for me is a recent discovery. It makes me safe, you see. As long as I take it in the week preceding the full moon, I keep my mind when I transform... These days I come here and play with Nicolás and Ember, a harmless wolf, and wait for the moon to wane again.
Before my father-in-law — Nicolás and Caelum's grandfather — helped create the Wolfsbane Potion, however, I became a fully-fledged monster once a month. It seemed impossible that I would be able to come to Hogwarts. Other parents weren’t likely to want their children exposed to me. But then Dumbledore became Headmaster, and he was sympathetic. He said that as long as we took certain precautions, there was no reason I shouldn’t come to school... The Whomping Willow was planted because I came to Hogwarts. This house, the tunnel that leads to it — they were built for my use. Once a month, I was smuggled out of the castle, into this place, to transform. The tree was placed at the tunnel mouth to stop anyone coming across me while I was dangerous. My transformations in those days were terrible. It is very painful to turn into a werewolf. I was separated from humans to bite, so I bit and scratched myself instead. The villagers heard the noise and thought it was spirits. Dumbledore encouraged the rumors.”
Remus went on to explain how Carolina, María, James, Sirius, and Peter became Animagi to help him during his transformations; most of this, Harry already knew from Nicolás and Caelum, but he still listened while Hermione and Ron gaped.
He continued to explain very superficially how his relationship with Carolina helped him grow from pure self-hatred, until he mentioned Snape, making Nicolás and Caelum groan and Sirius interrupt.
“Snape?” said Sirius harshly, taking his eyes off Scabbers for the first time in minutes and looking up at Remus. “What’s Snape got to do with it?”
“He’s here, Sirius,” said Remus heavily. “He’s teaching here as well.” He looked up at Harry, Ron, and Hermione. “Professor Snape was at school with us. As you can imagine, he fought very hard against my appointment to the Defense Against the Dark Arts job. He has been telling Dumbledore all year that I am not to be trusted. He has his reasons... you see, Sirius here played a trick on him which nearly killed him, a trick which involved me —”
Sirius, Nicolás, and Caelum made a derisive noise.
“It served him right,” Sirius sneered. “Sneaking around, trying to find out what we were up to... hoping he could get us expelled...”
Then, Remus explained how the prank went, and how Uncle James saved Snivellus from being killed by a wolfed-up Remus.
“So that’s why Snape doesn’t like you,” said Harry slowly, “because he thought you were in on the joke?”
“That’s right,” sneered a cold voice from the wall behind Remus. Severus Snape was pulling off the Invisibility Cloak, his wand pointing directly at Remus' chest.
“I found this at the base of the Whomping Willow,” he said, throwing the cloak aside, careful to keep this wand pointing directly at Remus' chest. “Very useful, Potter, I thank you...” Snape was slightly breathless, but his face was full of a badly suppressed triumph. “You’re wondering, perhaps, how I knew you were here?” he said, his eyes glittering. “I’ve just been to your office, Lupin. You forgot to take your potion tonight, so I took a gobletful along. And very lucky I did... lucky for me, I mean. Lying on your desk was a certain map. One glance at it told me all I needed to know. I saw you running along this passageway and out of sight.”
“Severus —”
“I’ve told the headmaster again and again that you’re helping your old friend Black into the castle, Lupin, and here’s the proof. Not even I dreamed you would have the nerve to use this old place as your hideout —”
“Brilliant, Snape,” mocked Sirius, rolling his eyes. “Once again, you’ve put your keen and penetrating mind to the task… and as usual, come to the wrong conclusion,” he finished, condescendingly. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, Remus and I have business to attend to,” and as he moved, Snape’s wand pointed at him, making him come to a halt.
“Severus don’t be a fool,” Remus tried to reason.
“He can’t help it, it’s a habit, by now,” Sirius sneered.
“Sirius, be quiet.”
“Be quiet yourself, Remus!”
“Look at the two of you, quarreling like an old married couple, shame neither of your wives are here to witness it,” Snape hissed.
"Keep my wife out of your filthy mouth you—!"
“Severus, you’re making a mistake,” said Remus urgently, and just seeing that was making Nicolás’ rage increase. The lion inside of him clawed in the back of his mind, reminding him that no one messed with his pride. “You haven’t heard everything — I can explain — Sirius is not here to kill Harry —”
“Two more for Azkaban tonight,” declared Snape, his eyes now gleaming fanatically, and Nicolás took out his own wand slowly. “I shall be interested to see how Dumbledore takes this... He was quite convinced you were harmless, you know, Lupin... a tame werewolf —”
“You fool,” said Remus softly. “Is a schoolboy grudge worth putting an innocent man back inside Azkaban?”
BANG!
Thin, snakelike cords burst from the end of Snape’s wand and twisted themselves around Remus' mouth, wrists, and ankles; he lost his balance and fell to the floor with a loud thud, unable to move.
“HOW DARE YOU?! YOU, SLIMY SON OF A BITCH!” Nicolás snarled, his wand straight at Snape, but Caelum grabbed his arm harshly before the first curse could be fired.
With a roar of rage, Sirius started toward Snape, but Snape pointed his wand straight between his eyes.
“Give me a reason,” he whispered. “Give me a reason to do it, and I swear I will.”
Sirius stopped dead. It would have been impossible to say which of their faces showed more hatred.
Hermione tried to speak to him, but Snape, being the asshole he is, wasn’t having any of it.
“KEEP QUIET, YOU STUPID GIRL!” Snape shouted, looking suddenly quite deranged. “DON’T TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!” A few sparks shot out of the end of his wand, which was still pointed at Sirius’ face. Hermione fell silent.
“DON’T YOU DARE SPEAK TO HER LIKE THAT, SNIVELLUS!” yelled Nicolás, still fighting against Caelum’s damned Quidditch strength. Sirius turned to him with a wide grin, and his father’s eyes widened from the floor.
“Vengeance is very sweet,” Snape breathed at Sirius. “How I hoped I would be the one to catch you...”
“The joke’s on you again, Severus,” Sirius snarled. “As long as this boy brings his rat up to the castle—” he jerked his head at Ron “—I’ll come quietly...”
“Up to the castle?” said Snape 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... pleased enough to give you a little kiss, I daresay...”
And the moment those last words left Snape's mouth, Caelum's grip on Nicolas' arm died.
“YOU’RE PATHETIC!” Harry 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!”
“Don't you dare mention Uncle James, Snivellus!” yelled Caelum.
And without stopping to think about it, Nicolás flicked his wand in Snape’s direction and cried, “Depulso Maxima!”
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.
“Serves him right,” Nicolás muttered, waving his wand towards his father, and the cords around his body vanished. He moved to help him up, as Caelum moved to hug his father.
“We attacked a teacher... We attacked a teacher...,” Hermione whimpered, staring at the lifeless Snape with frightened eyes. “Oh, we’re going to be in so much trouble —”
Then, Sirius went to large lengths to explain how he found that Scabbers was Peter when Fudge left a copy of the Daily Prophet in Azkaban. Because the front page was a photo of the Weasleys’ Egypt vacation — just like Nicolás saw in the pre-cognitive vision that Milo showed him of a rat and a child —, the rat on Ron’s shoulder was missing a toe, and one finger was all the Aurors found of Pettigrew when he faked his death.
Sirius questioned if the rat hadn’t been sick ever since news of his escape from Azkaban broke out, and Ron accused Hermione’s cat of being at fault for the rat’s bad condition.
“This cat isn’t mad. He’s the most intelligent of his kind I’ve ever met. He recognized Peter for what he was right away. And when he met me, he knew I was no dog. It was a while before he trusted me... Finally, I managed to communicate to him what I was after, and he’s been helping me...”
“What do you mean?” breathed Hermione.
“He tried to bring Peter to me, but couldn’t... so he stole the passwords into Gryffindor Tower for me... As I understand it, he took them from a boy’s bedside table. But Peter got wind of what was going on and ran for it. That cat — Crookshanks, did you call him? — told me Peter had left blood on the sheets... I supposed he bit himself... Well, faking his own death had worked once...”
But before anyone else could say anything more, Nicolás felt fed up. It was a long night, and his patience had reached its limit. He turned to face Ron.
“Ron, give me that rat, now,” he demanded. “You all know more than anyone I would never, under any condition, intentionally hurt an animal. The spell won’t hurt him if he really is a rat, but I need it, now.”
Ron hesitated. Then at long last, he held out Scabbers and Nicolás took him. The rat began to squeak without stopping, twisting and turning, his tiny black eyes bulging in his head.
“Do it,” Nicolás ordered, looking at his father and his uncle.
“Ready, Sirius?” said Remus.
“Together?” Sirius asked, now holding Snape's wand.
“I think so,” said Remus, pointing his wand at the place where Nicolás was holding the rat. “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 —
It was like watching a speeded-up film of a growing tree. 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, hardly taller than Harry and Hermione. 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 had lost a lot of weight in a short time. His skin looked grubby, almost like Scabbers’ fur, and something of the rat lingered around his pointed nose and his very small, watery eyes.
And looking at him, all Nicolás could feel was rage, hate, and the desire to kill. He felt his bile moving up from his stomach at the memory of calling that disgusting excuse of a human being Uncle Wormy.
He looked around at them all, his breathing fast and shallow.
“Well, hello, Peter,” said Remus pleasantly, as though rats frequently erupted into old school friends around him. “Long time, no see.”
“S — Sirius... R — Remus...” Even Pettigrew’s voice was squeaky. His eyes darted toward the door. “My friends... my old friends...”
“Pathetic,” Nicolás growled under his breath.
This was the man responsible for Aunt Lily and Uncle James’ deaths. This fucking rat was the reason Harry had to endure endless years of abuse from muggles. This pathetic excuse of a human being was the reason Uncle Sirius spent twelve unfair years tormented in Azkaban.
“Remus,” gasped Pettigrew, “you don’t believe him, do you...? He tried to kill me, Remus...”
“We'll make sure he doesn't fail this time,” Caelum growled.
“So we’ve heard,” said Remus, more coldly than Nicolás had ever heard his father, not even Snape could employ that deadly frosty tone. “I’d like to clear up one or two little matters with you, Peter, if you’d be so —”
“He’s come to try and kill me again!” Pettigrew squeaked suddenly, pointing at Sirius, and he used his middle finger, because his index was missing. “He killed Lily and James and now he’s going to kill me too... You’ve got to help me, Remus...”
“No one’s going to try and kill you until we’ve sorted a few things out,” prompted Remus.
“Sorted things out?” squealed Pettigrew, looking wildly about him once more, eyes taking in the boarded windows and, again, the only door. “I knew he’d come after me! I knew he’d be back for me! I’ve been waiting for this for twelve years!”
Now was time for Nicolás to seize Caelum's arm before the boy pounced over Peter.
“You knew Sirius was going to break out of Azkaban?” asked Remus, his brow furrowed. “When nobody has ever done it before?”
“He’s got dark powers the rest of us can only dream of!” Pettigrew shouted shrilly. “How else did he get out of there? I suppose He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named taught him a few tricks!”
Sirius started to laugh, a horrible, mirthless laugh that filled the whole room.
“Voldemort, teach me tricks?” he said.
“Oh, please, what could Voldemort possibly want to teach Sirius?” Nicolás rolled his eyes.
Pettigrew flinched as though he had been brandished by a whip.
“What, scared to hear your old master’s name?” taunted Sirius. “I don’t blame you, Peter. His lot aren’t very happy with you, are they?”
“Don’t know what you mean, Sirius —” muttered Pettigrew.
“Oh, please,” groaned Caelum against Nicolás' restrain. “No one's buying your act, you stupid scumbag!”
“You haven’t been hiding from me for twelve years,” said Sirius. “You’ve been hiding from Voldemort’s old supporters. I heard things in Azkaban, Peter... They all think you’re dead, or you’d have to answer to them... I’ve heard them screaming all sorts of things in their sleep. Sounds like they think the double-crosser double-crossed them. Voldemort went to the Potters on your information... and Voldemort met his downfall there. And not all Voldemort’s supporters ended up in Azkaban, did they? There are still plenty out here, biding their time, pretending they’ve seen the error of their ways... If they ever got wind that you were still alive, Peter —”
And still, the pathetic man-rat still had the audacity to play dumb. And maybe he was too much of a good actor, because even Nicolás believed the dumb act-play. That was until Pettigrew accused Uncle Sirius of being a spy for Voldemort.
“How dare you,” Sirius growled, probably about to bring Padfoot out and pounce at him, wishing to sink his fangs on the rat's neck. “I, a spy for Voldemort? When did I ever sneak around people who were stronger and more powerful than myself? But you, Peter — I’ll never understand why I didn’t see you were the spy from the start. You always liked big friends who’d look after you, didn’t you? It used to be us... me and Remus... and James...”
Pettigrew wiped his face again; he was almost panting for breath.
“I was foolish not to listen to María or Carolina every time they mentioned how weird you acted — but of course, every time they pointed it out you had a most convenient alibi,” Sirius lamented.
“Me, a spy... must be out of your mind.... never... don’t know how you can say such a —”
“Lily and James only made you Secret-Keeper because I suggested it,” Uncle Sirius hissed, so venomously that Pettigrew, wincing, took a step backward. “I thought it was the perfect plan... a bluff... Voldemort would be sure to come after me, he would never dream they’d use a weak, talentless thing like you... It was perfect! We were supposed to leave for Colombia the next day! But no... It must have been the finest moment of your miserable life, telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters on a silver platter.”
Then, Hermione thought it was a good moment to pledge for mercy, questioning why Pettigrew hadn't hurt Harry in Ron's Hogwarts years.
“I’ll tell you why,” growled Sirius. “Because you never did anything for anyone unless you could see what was in it for you. Voldemort’s been in hiding for twelve years, they say he’s half dead. You weren’t about to commit murder right under Albus Dumbledore’s nose, for a wreck of a wizard who’d lost all of his power, were you? You’d want to be quite sure he was the biggest bully in the playground before you went back to him, wouldn’t you? Why else did you find a wizard family to take you in? Keeping an ear out for news, weren’t you, Peter? Just in case your old protector regained strength, and it was safe to rejoin him...”
After that, Hermione asked how had Sirius escaped from Azkaban, if he hadn't used dark magic.
Sirius explained that the fact of knowing he was innocent became a mantra for him, a beacon. It wasn't a happy thought, so the Dementors couldn't feed on it. He explained how turning into Padfoot helped, as the Dementors couldn't take much from an animal's simpler emotions. He explained how he'd been exchanging letters with Nicolás and Caelum for the last four years, evoking dumbfounded eyes from everyone. And at last, he explained how seeing the Daily Prophet, and knowing Peter was at Hogwarts, he needed to move before he hurt anyone.
“Believe me,” croaked Uncle Sirius. “Believe me, Harry, Nico, Caelum. I never betrayed James and Lily. I would have died before I betrayed them.”
Next came a whole show, as Peter screamed desperate, knowing that his whole act had been exposed, and nobody believed him. He tried to plea for Sirius' mercy, getting nothing but a kick. Then, he tried with Remus, but he didn't yield, conceding that Sirius didn't trust him, as in that time, he suspected of him being the spy.
“Please, forgive me, Remus,” pleaded Uncle Sirius regretfully.
“Not at all, Padfoot, old friend,” said Remus, who was now rolling up his sleeves. “And will you, in turn, forgive me for believing you were the spy?”
“Of course,” said Sirius, and the ghost of a grin flitted across his pale face. He, too, began rolling up his sleeves. “Shall we kill him together?”
“Yes, I think so,” said Remus grimly.
And in the most despicable, wretched, and disgusting display of desperation, Pettigrew threw himself to his knees at Ron's feet, pleading him for mercy in the name of the pet he had pretended to be for so many years; because he "served him so well" and Ron was such a "good master."
“Being a better rat than a human is not the boast you think it is, Pettigrew,” hissed Nicolás.
Still, not trying to hide an ounce of his miserable existence, Pettigrew pleaded Hermione, who only met him with an aghast expression, she was just as revolted of him as Ron.
The moment Nicolás' mind turned murderous was when the pathetic man, in one last try, grabbed the hem of Harry's pants, earning him a kick on the side. But everyone lost their shit when he actually spoke to Harry.
“Harry... Harry... you look just like your father... just like him...”
“HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO HARRY?” roared Sirius. “HOW DARE YOU FACE HIM? HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT JAMES IN FRONT OF HIM?”
“HOW DARE YOU BEG HIM WHEN IT'S YOUR FAULT HE HAS NO PARENTS?” snarled Nicolás.
“Nico... please...,” Peter tried, but looking at him, Nicolás only saw red, just like Caelum.
“Don't you dare look at him, you, disgusting rat. I can't believe we called you Uncle,” growled Caelum.
“Caelum... little Caelum—”
But he shut up after Caelum punched his face, so hard, that he rolled on the floor, his nose bleeding.
“You sold Lily and James to Voldemort,” said Sirius, who was now shaking. “Do you deny it?”
Pettigrew burst into tears. It was horrible to watch, like an oversized, bald sphynx cat, cowering on the floor.
“Sirius, Sirius, what could I have done? The Dark Lord... you have no idea... he has weapons you can’t imagine... I was scared, Sirius, I was never brave like you and Remus and James. I never meant it to happen... He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named forced me —”
“DON’T LIE!” bellowed Sirius. “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!” gasped Pettigrew. “Wh — what was there to be gained by refusing him?”
"What could you have won by fighting Voldemort?" asked Caelum in a gasp, his face reddened in righteous anger and his jaw tense.
"Only the lives of innocents, damned scumbag!" yelled Nicolás, kicking the man once more.
“You don’t understand!” whined Pettigrew. “He would have killed me!”
“THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED!” roared Sirius. “DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!”
Sirius and Remus stood shoulder to shoulder; wands raised.
“You should have realized—,” said Remus quietly, and Nicolás felt a shiver run down his spine; his father had never had that kind of predatory vicious voice, “—if Voldemort didn’t kill you, we would; it’s only a shame our wives are not here to see justice be delivered. Goodbye, Peter.”
“NO!” Harry yelled.
“NO, WAIT!” Nicolás followed, walking up to them. “Don't be stupid and rush. Don't you see it? This is exactly what we need to go by my plan!
“Your plan?” Remus breathed, looking at his son.
"You have a plan?" asked Sirius.
“But of course I have a plan! We need to use him to free you!” Nicolás pointed at Sirius. “We take him to the castle, and we can demand a fair trial!”
“Yes!” Harry said. “I don’t reckon my dad would’ve wanted you guys to become killers — just for someone like him,” he looked at Pettigrew with disdain.
Sirius and Remus locked eyes, before nodding.
“Then, let's move,” Nicolás urged, before pointing his wand at Peter, and after an “Incarcerous!” multiple cords tied around the man's body.
Caelum moved towards Ron, and used, “Ferula,” to bandage his hurt leg. “I'm sorry it's tight, that way it's better.”
Nicolás heard his father moving to cast “Mobilicorpus,” on Snape, to levitate his body.
“And two of us should be chained to this,” said Uncle Sirius, nudging Pettigrew with his toe. “Just to make sure.”
“Dad and I will do it,” said Nicolás. “Caelum, you help Ron walk.”
Sirius conjured heavy manacles from thin air; soon Pettigrew was upright again, left arm chained to Remus' right, right arm to Nicolás' left.
They walked in silence, only Uncle Sirius and Harry talking. Harry got to update Sirius on all the decisions that took place in the last months, like Carolina adopting him, and Harry already living with them.
Once they came out of the tunnel, Nicolás came to a halt. The whole reason for Snape’s appearance in the Shrieking Shack was that his father forgot to take his Wolfsbane Potion, and suddenly the other part of Milo’s pre-cognitive vision came back to him: a wolf howling with Hogwarts and the full moon bright in the sky.
Tonight was a full moon, and they were walking with a Werewolf.
When he wheeled towards his father, Remus went rigid, now bathed by the silver full moon beams.
“Dad!” Nicolás stressed. “Everyone needs to leave, now!”
“Oh, my —” Hermione gasped. “He didn’t take his potion tonight! He’s not safe!”
But Remus was unable to respond, his body was spasming and Sirius yelled at the others to back and run away. And it was as painful as always, to hear how his father’s bones broke, one by one, and his body shifted. Increasing its size, but also changing its shape.
His head lengthened, and his body grew fur in seconds. Gone were his gentle hands, replaced by clawed paws, and he howled, breaking free from the manacles bounding him to Pettigrew and Nicolás.
Nicolás saw how Sirius, now back in Padfoot, lunged at the Werewolf, taking him back, the moment it took him to break his own manacle was enough for him to miss Pettigrew getting free, and seizing his father’s wand. When he fired a spell at him, Nicolás was only able to cast a shield, and Harry disarmed Peter, but he had turned back into a rat.
But unlike Nicolás, Caelum’s rapt eyes were on the rat, and he cried, “Confundo!” and the spell was fired with such power and rage, that, upon impact, the rat flew about five meters, before getting lost again.
Nicolás had to stop for a moment. Caelum was yelling at him for directions, but Nicolás could only hear his own shallow breathing and the heavy drumming of the blood vessels in his ears having a metal concert. In the background snarls from Padfoot and Moony were heard.
“Nicolás!” Caelum stressed, he looked distraught. “He's escaped! Pettigrew escaped!”
And instead of answering, Nicolás closed his eyes, seizing the warm crest charm of the necklace against his chest. The silver glowed in the darkness of the night, as Nicolás searched for his loyal Wampus Cat’s presence.
“What are you doing?” urged Hermione. Ron was now leaning against Harry, who looked just as distraught as Caelum.
In the distance, the loud roar of Ember was heard, and it reverberated across the entire Forbidden Forest, making even the Werewolf and Animagus look up.
With sharpened eyes, Nicolás looked at Caelum. “Ember will take care of the rat for now. You help Ron and take him back to the castle, take Harry and Hermione, too.” Nicolás raised his wand, pointing at the sky, he softly muttered under his breath, and from its tip, rainbow sparks started to fire up, exploding in the sky. “Mom and Aunt María should be here at any moment. Leave. Now.”
“But Nico—”
“Harry, I can’t take care of you, of Sirius, and stop my father from becoming a murderer at the same time,” he said harshly, he would feel sorry later when they weren’t in peril; in the back, he heard Padfoot whine in pain, “Padfoot. Go, now.”
“And what are you going to do?!” asked Harry.
Nicolás smirked. “What I do each and every full moon,” and with that, he jumped on all fours in front of them, and in his place fell a lion; at last, Sunstripe had made his appearance. The last thing he heard, were the loud gasps from the teenagers as he roared and started to run towards his father.
He charged at him, after Moony sent Padfoot down a slope, to the edge of the Black Lake. With his snout, Sunstripe crashed against Moony's back.
And today Moony was furious and enraged, and Sunstripe was ready to take that head-on.
They rolled on the floor, with Moony snapping at him like the unhinged beast he was.
Claws upon skin, teeth upon flesh, and Sunstripe was able to back them into the forest, now surrounded by thick trees. In the distance, he could hear Sirius moaning in pain, but he needed to take care of Moony.
He stopped for a moment, trying to devise a plan.
In that second of distraction, Moony charged, and Nicolás forgot that despite being out of control, Werewolves were predators, and they hunted with strategy.
Moony faked going straight to his face, only to slide through the floor, getting, instead, to his side.
With his razor-like claws, the Werewolf pierced Sunstripe’s side, and with some strain, he raised the lion in the air, before throwing him away, his back hitting a tree. He could feel the warm blood gushing out and down his body.
With a pained and breathless whine, Nicolás was forced back into his human form. Moony turned back to him, pupils dilated at the smell of human blood. He was blindly growling, and his snout drooling as he bared his fangs.
As he prepared to lung, Nicolás yelled at him, “Dad!” and much to his surprise, the Werewolf came to an abrupt halt. “Stop it! It’s me!”
And in the darkness of the forest, Nicolás saw how the once crazed eyes of the beast sharpened, as if he completely understood the situation. And Moony backed away, cowering on its spot, with his hands in his head, whining loudly at the sight of Nicolás’ wounds, the wounds he put on his own cub.
Barely breathing, as all his side burnt like hell, Nicolás raised his wand, “I’m sorry, Dad,” he whispered, before pointing at a tree, and casting, “Diffindo!”
A large thick branch of the tree fell right on the Werewolf’s head, knocking him out.
Grunting, Nicolás started to walk towards where he last heard Uncle Sirius. Each step felt like a thousand needles stabbing his side to inject pure acid. The only thing that brought him comfort was knowing that those wounds were made in his animal form, therefore, they should not carry any consequence related to lycanthropy.
Softly groaning, Nicolás brought his hands to the wound, pressing the palms to stop the bleeding. Thinking for a moment, he decided to cast a quick “Ferula” on his wound. The pressure done by the magical bandages seemed to make it easier to breathe, easing some of the pain.
Once he got to the slope, he felt a coldness gripping the area, and looking up, he discovered why. What seemed to be, at the very least, a hundred Dementors, were flying around. But not only that, they were trying to perform the kiss on Sirius, just that he wasn’t alone. With him, desperately failing to cast Patronuses were Harry and Hermione.
“Expecto — expecto patronum — Expecto patronum!” Harry gasped.
Harry was only able to cast his usual mist that stopped some of the Dementors from closing in, but nothing else. Hermione and Sirius were both passed out.
“No — no —” Harry gasped. “He’s innocent... expecto — expecto patronum —”
Each second, as he tried to recover enough happiness to cast his own Patronus, Nicolás’ heart broke as he heard Harry’s little brittle voice trying to save them.
He and Caelum made a promise when Harry was born. They swore to protect him, even if at that time, and to their young minds, it meant preventing Aunt Lily from eating him again — they were three, okay? It was only natural for them to think that Aunt Lily had eaten him when she was pregnant —, but right now his life was at stake, and nothing was going to stop Nicolás from doing something.
“Expecto Patronum!” Nicolás cried, and from the tip of his wand came his silvery wolf, his own Moony protector. “I need you to take care of them,” he told his Patronus, and as if the magic itself understood, the silvery wolf nodded, before charging with all its force, making the whole mob of Dementors part in its wake.
The silvery wolf kept running around, growling and snapping at any Dementor that as much as dared to approach.
And as he silently retreated, Nicolás saw how another silvery wolf appeared, charging at the Dementors — his mom —, and then, a dog, one just like Padfoot, but made of silver light too — Aunt María —, and he knew that the other three were safe now, his mom and Aunt María were running towards them.
Only one thing to solve, Wormtail. With purposeful and painful steps, Nicolás walked away, Ember softly humming in his head the direction.
•─────⋅☾☽⋅─────•
It took him almost twenty minutes before he could see Ember’s orange fur under the soft light he had summoned. The Wampus Cat was holding something with its big paw, growling at it. A rat.
The worthless coward really thought he could outrun a Wampus Cat, creatures known for outrunning arrows fired. Not to mention that, as Ember told him, Caelum’s Confundus Charm did its work, as the rat had started to run in circles.
The rat was squealing and shrieking on the floor, and by the looks of it, Ember, with his heavy paw, had broken its legs.
The teenager pointed his wand at the rat, and after a blinding blue-white light, the rat morphed once more out of its animal form to expose Peter Pettigrew, gasping and moaning in pain.
“Nico… please, my legs—”
“Stupefy!” Nicolás said, and after the spell hit the man straight in the chest, he fell unconscious.
Kneeling at his side, Nicolás brought his wand to the man’s head. First, he needed to get rid of any information that could be used as leverage in the future. The only thing Pettigrew could use in front of the Ministry, was exposing his mother, his aunt, and his uncle being unregistered Animagi, so, the first spell he used was “Obliviate!”
The joke’s on you Cedric, so many weeks reading Obliviating: A Guide on Memory Charms, was being more than useful right now. Because, thanks to that book, Nicolás had discovered how being skilled in Legilimency made the work of erasing memories so much easier; and more importantly, it taught him how to destroy specific parts of the person’s mind, protecting the rest so their entire psyche wouldn’t collapse.
He only needed to walk through Pettigrew’s mind for a long while, erasing everything related to the process they all went through to become Animagi. That was not all, he also had to reshape and reform those memories, and on top of that, he had to create new fake memories of Pettigrew doing everything on his own.
He then went on, erasing, one by one, Prongs, Padfoot, Hunter — his mother —, and Howler’s — Aunt María — participation in each and every single full moon.
The hardest part was probably erasing carefully picked parts of the long conversation back in the Shrieking Shack, as it required the most precision. The last thing he did, was create even more memories, the most accurately he could, of Uncle James and Aunt Lily's ghosts, both screaming at Peter and demanding why he betrayed them, why he caused their deaths.
The whole process of erasing and crafting new memories in Pettigrew’s memory took him probably around an hour, and it left him very worn out.
He used “Rennervate,” to wake Pettigrew up, to let all the new memories sink in. Looking around but not really seeing anything, the rat-man seemed in a haze, having so much of his memory broken and rearranged. Nicolás induced a magical sleep on him, before levitating his body, and he started to walk back to the castle.
He staggered across the forest for what felt like an eternity, with Ember faithfully at his side, and Pettigrew’s levitating body crashing — albeit purposefully — against each and every branch possible.
⋆｡°✩°｡⋆
Author's note
okay, I completely forgot to update on either Saturday or Sunday, sorry for that, but anyway! Here it is!! This was such an exciting chapter to write!!
yes, it pained you, and it pained me, writing the fight scene, but trust me, it's going to hurt you so SO much more in the next chapter :)) (spoiler: it has Remus' POV...)
anyway, thank you guys for being here and I hope you liked today's update! Comments, votes, and follows, as always, are most appreciated!
Also, what is your favorite depiction of and how do you guys picture the werewolves from Harry Potter? Personally, I like to imagine like the ones from Val Helsing
- 𝐣.𝐟. 𝐜. 🐼💜