Monsters by Nightfall

The rat-man, also known as Peter Pettigrew, whimpered as Draco called out his name. He couldn't even make eye contact with the werwolf before him. Shame written all over his face.

"I thought...Peter Pettigrew's dead! Sirius Black killed him twelve years ago!"

"That's what I thought too."

The werwolf bore his wand into the rat's neck. Draco couldn't read his eyes with all the emotions swimming in them.
Suddenly a lightbulb went off over Lupin's head.

"They transferred it, didn't they?"

"Transferred what?"

Potter piped in.

"There were witnesses who saw Pettigrew die, a whole street of them."
Drago was just as confused, but he was sure Lupin was about to explain the entire masterplan to them. When they suddenly heard footsteps approaching. Draco knew that scent. Had known it ever since he'd turned. He couldn't speak though, so Potter did it for him.

"Snape!"

---

They were all sitting in Severus' office. Potter had sat himself down onto the loveseat Draco was sitting on, which was barely big enough for one fully grown person. Or in their case, two 13 year old's. There was not much else room to sit down on though, seeing as the other chairs and sofa's were occupied by the other three grown men occupying the space.

Now Draco was even more glad that he had dampened his senses on his way here.

Pettigrew was unceremoniously chained to a chair near the fireplace, watching with big eyes while Snape and Lupin were going at each other, arguing as if it was about life and death.

Though seeing as Pettigrew seemed to be alive, and Black seemed to be forced to throw his live away because of that, it was rather fitting.

"What are they saying?"
Potter asked Draco quietly.
"Ever since Lupin had told him that Pettigrew was most likely the one who had betrayed his parents instead of Black, Potter hadn't lifted his eyes of the Animagus.

Somewhere deep down Draco felt sympathy for the boy. Being confronted wity the person who destroyed your life. Draco most certainly wouldn't stay this calm once he finally found his own homewrecker.

So without thinking, Draco grabbed the other's hand reassuringly, like he would with Theo - Potter was a lot like Theo sometimes. So innocent, even though Draco knew there was nothing innocent about Harry "Basilisk slayer" Potter.

Potter didn't draw his hand back though. Instead he squeezed it gently, almost to reassure himself he wasn't alone, and threw Draco a smile when the white haired boy met his eye.

"I think Lupin is trying to tell Severus that Sirius Black could very well be innocent. That does also colleborate with the little tale Pettigrew spun."
Draco threw the rat-man a disgusted look. In the fore light the man was even more ugly.

"Severus hates Black though. The person not the colour. Obviously he loves dressing himself in black."
Draco explained at Potter's confused facial expression. That didn't seem to lift the confusion though.

"Why does he hate Black. The person."
Potter clarified sending Draco another gentle smile, that did something to Draco. Something scary.

"Your father and his friend's, you know the Mauraders? They-"
"Wait. My father was part of the Mauraders. The ones who made the Mauraders Map?"

Draco looked at the other quizzically. He had no clue, what the Mauraders map was, but something told Draco that the answer was right infront of him. Placed on the coffee table before them, while the asults were arguing.

"Probably. They were real bullies back then. Tormented Severus all seven years of his school life, just because he was a Slytherin and they couldn't cope with how much more talented he was."
Potter drew his brows together, almost ready to protest. He didn't say anything though. Just urged Draco to go on with a squeeze to his hand.

"Black especially hated Severus. His aversion for Slytherins as well as dark magic probably came from his home life."
At Potters returned confusion, Draco went on.

"The Black family, is a pureblood family that reaches back to the early days of the wizarding world. Being a pureblood family that old and a very strict one at that, comes with rules and expectations for their spawn. Especially the heir. My mother is part of the Black family as well. Sirius Black is her cousin."

Subconsciously Draco started playing with Potters fingers while he talked.

"In a family like that there is not much room for expression of your own opinion. And well, Sirius Black loved expressing his. He was already a troublemaker at home, a nightmare to his mother. And when he was sorted into Gryffindor instead of Slytherin, like every other person in the Black family, Sirius became even more of a scapegoat. So of course he wanted to distance himself from his family. And His family basically was Slytherin."

Draco let out a breath, staring at his godfather.

"So that's why he hates Sirius Black? Because he used to bully him in school?"

Draco nodded, remembering the story Severus had told him only a few hours ago. And Draco couldn't help himself from going on.

"Not entirely. There was this other prank. Not much of a prank really. Severus became a bit obsessed with the Mauraders you see. Wanted to find out something that could finally get rid of them. And..."

Draco couldn't just out Lupin. He had yo find another way.
"Sirius kind of lost it. He told Severus how to get into the whomping willow. In there, there is a tunnel towards the shrieking shack. And in the shrieking shack there was a werwolf."

Potter gasped.
"Werwolves exist?"
Draco barked out laughter of surprise. He looked at the boy, but there was no humor there. Draco envied Potter. Not knowing about Werwolves. Before draco had been bitten he'd always been afraid of a werwolf sitting in his closet, waiting for him to fall asleep so it could bite him.

He had slept in his parents room more often then not. The one night he hadn't though, there hadn't been a werwolf waiting for him, though,  but a vampire. And that vampire really had bitten him. A cruel thing, life.

"They do. Sadly. And they are very dangerous."
Draco eyed Lupin from the side.
"But only on a full moon do they transform. And without the right medication they are feral. If your father hadn't been there that night to stop Severus from entering the shack...well, he wouldn't be alive today."

Potter had latched onto Draco's hand at the mention of his father. Suddenly he looked up at Lupin, then at Pettigrew. Hate filling his eyes at the last one.

"So my godfather isn't a murderer trying to murder me?"
"No."
'But that doesn't mean he's a good person.' Draco added in his head. He had a feeling though that Potter had already enough to worry about without Draco riling him up.

"He's your godfather?"
Potter nodded. There was something unreadable on Potters face.

"Do you think I could live with him?"
Draco's eyebrows lifted higher then his hairline.
"You wanna live with a criminal?"

"Well he's not really a criminal, he never did kill anyone. And he can't be worse than the Dursley's if he was best friends with my parents."

"The Dursley's?"
Potter nodded absently.
"My aunt and uncle and their kid. I live with them. But they're not really my family. They're cruel. And they hate me."

Draco hadn't known that, and hearing it kind of stung. Turns out the Chosen One didn't have the perfect life Draco had always envisioned.

"And they're Muggles."
Draco added in disgust, earning him an annoyed look from Potter.
"Sorry."

Potter looked down at his hands, which were still laced with Draco's.
"The used to call me freak. Whenever I accidentally hexed something or did something unusual, something better then my cousin Dudley, they punished me. Shoved me into the cubbord under the stairs. 'Forgot' to let me out for dinner."

Hearing this tore at Draco's heart.

"Maybe, after all this is over, Black can be your family."