Chapter 23
"Remus? Sirius? My old friends?" The rat-like man had his hands up, a phony smile growing. In an instant, he tried to dart forward out of the room but Remus and Sirius threw him back. Peter's attention was pushed elsewhere, noticing at last the differences of the Potter twins in human form than in rat form. "Harry? Rebecca? Look at you! You look so much like your father, James! We were the best of friends-"
Sirius charged forward, the most alive he had looked in all the time they had been in the Shrieking Shack. "How dare you speak to them!" Peter ran backwards, afraid at how animalistic Sirius looked. "How dare you talk about James in front of them!"
Remus took the other side of the old piano Peter had put himself behind, Sirius on the other. Peter was trapped. "You sold Lily and James to Voldemort, didn't you?" Remus demanded, holding his wand higher in case Peter thought he could get away with anything.
"I didn't mean to!" Peter cried, the name contorting his face in fear. "The Dark Lord-" He grew serious, somber. "You have no ideas the weapons he possesses. Ask yourself, Sirius! What would you have done?"
Sirius' hand was shaking in anger, though he didn't lower Snape's wand in the slightest. "I would have died!" He shouted. "I would have died rather than betray my friends!"
Peter dropped to the floor and scrambled out from under the middle of the piano, seeing an open path to escape through the door.
Rebecca saw this and moved without thinking, putting herself in the doorway. Peter grabbed her by the shoulders roughly, putting his mouth near her ear to whisper more lies. "Rebecca, your father wouldn't have wanted me killed. Your mother wouldn't have, either! Your mother...she would have spared me!"
Harry tore Peter's jacket at the shoulder with how ferociously he pulled him off her. "Are you alright?"
"You should have realised Peter, that if Voldemort didn't kill you, that we would have together!" Sirius' shouting wasn't reaching Rebecca's ears right, Harry repeating himself and asking if she was alright.
"No!" Rebecca shrugged Harry's hand off her shoulder.
"Rebecca," Remus started slowly. "This man is-"
"I know what he is." Rebecca said, stepping forward.
"Reb-"
"No, Harry." Rebecca stared at Peter. "We'll take him to the castle."
Peter dropped to his knees, crawling forward so that he was at Rebecca's feet. "Bless you, bless you girl!"
"Get off!" Rebecca pulled her foot away and stared down at him. "I said we'd take you back to the castle." Her hand tightened on her wand. "After that, the dementors can have you."
Harry didn't know if he'd ever loved his sister more.
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The walk back to the castle, back through the dark tunnel, was a long one. Peter alternated between crying and pleading for mercy until Sirius threatened to charm away his tongue. Then, they were in silence for only a minute before Sirius realised an apology was in order.
"I'm sorry about the bite, by the way." Sirius glanced down at the makeshift bandage on Ron's leg as he was supported on one side by Harry and the other by Rebecca. "I reckon that twinges a bit."
"A bit?" Ron asked in shock.
"He's got my bloody belt on to stop the bleeding!" Rebecca snipped. As soon as she'd been able to ignore the throb from where the Whomping Willow had clipped her, they had been moving again and Ron needed to be helped--only exacerbating her ache. Harry was just as miserable, his body hurt from being stuck in an awkward semi-crouch to keep Ron's shoulders even with Rebecca's.
Sirius gave them a sheepish shrug with the barest hint of a smile. "At least you've kept your trousers up? I normally have quite a sweet disposition as a dog. In fact, James recommended more than once I make the change permanent."
Climbing out of the tunnel brought about a rest, thankfully. Rebecca crouched down in front of Ron and fussed over him, trying to make him as comfortable as she could. Sirius had walked a ways ahead, staring up at the castle. "You two go on, I'll stay with the invalid." Hermione said softly but firmly.
"Are you sure?" Harry checked while Ron gasped.
"I am not an invalid!"
"I'm sure." Hermione smiled.
Sirius only took his focus away from the castle for another jolt of pleasant-pain at the green eyes of the remnants of his friends. "It's beautiful, isn't it? I'll never forget the first time I walked through those doors."
"You'll do it again." Harry said surely. "As a free man."
Sirius smiled, looking over his shoulder where Remus had Peter restrained. "That was a noble move back there. He doesn't deserve it."
Rebecca found something like relief in Sirius' eyes, though there was also regret. "I don't think our dad would have wanted his two best mates to become killers. Besides, dead, the truth dies with him. Alive, you're free."
Harry's attention turned towards Peter as his voice rose again. "Turn me into a maggot. Dung beetle. Flobberworm! Anything but the-"
"SHHH!" Remus silenced him, shaking his head in disgust.
Sirius sighed, focusing on the castle in the distance again. "I don't know if you knew, either of you, but when you were born...James and Lily made me your godfather."
"We know." Harry answered for them, finding that Rebecca had joined Sirius in looking far.
"Well, I understand if you want to continue living with your aunt and uncle, but if you ever wanted a different home-"
"What?" Harry asked quickly. "Come and live with you?"
"W-well, it was just a thought." Sirius said hurriedly, thinking Harry was offended by the offer and not utterly and entirely thrilled by it. "I can understand if you don't want to. But, if you did, I do have a house. It's dark and dusty, but nothing that can't be fixed."
Rebecca found herself wrapped in a tight hug from Harry. "We can live together, Rebecca!"
Sirius glanced between the two of them when they stood on their own. "You two don't both live with your aunt and uncle?"
"It's a long story." Rebecca shrugged. "A very long story. My choice was ward of the Ministry or ward of the Weasleys so I was...adopted, in a sort. They're my guardians, Mr and Mrs Weasley."
"Molly and Arthur?" Sirius remembered them from a few years above himself. "This is definitely a conversation to be continued another time, but I would never take you away from a home where you are happy and safe." Sirius caught Rebecca's eyes before he continued, sensing the unease at the thought of leaving her home where Harry had nothing but excitement. "Never, ever would I do that. I know what it's like to live in a loveless home." He did well and was forced through the dark memories of his own toxic, violent childhood until he found himself holding onto memories of summers at the Potters as he always did to soothe the pain.
Hermione and Ron chatted quietly, mainly she continuously reminding Ron that his leg would, in fact, not need to be chopped. Their conversation turned the backs of the three ahead, Ron's voice rising nervously. Remus had seized and frozen, his wand falling to the grass in front of Peter. "LOOK!"
Hermione got to her feet, realising what was happening. "The moon!" Above the ridge of the mountain, the full moon was growing more and more visible with every passing second.
Remus' body was filled with the agony he never could fully forget; The burning, the stretching, the heat of it all. Sirius ran to him, holding his hands to the man's cheeks gently. "Remus! Remus, did you take your potion tonight?" Remus grunted, his body beginning to jerk. "You know the man you are inside! It's in here, in here!" Sirius moved a hand to Remus' chest, feeling the erratic heartbeat inside growing faster.
Harry had taken one half of Ron with Rebecca again, though he abandoned Rebecca to support him on her own when he saw Peter pick up Remus' dropped wand and raise it at Sirius' back. "Expelliarmus!"
Peter only gave the children a horrible grin before waving childishly and transforming back into a rat, scurrying off into the Forbidden Forest. Sirius was still shouting Remus' name, holding him as tightly as he could. Remus' body was growing taller, leaner. His fingers were growing longer and dark hair was sprouting on all visible skin.
"RUN!" Sirius screamed over his shoulder. "RUN!" Remus was entering his final stages of transformation.
Harry kept his wand in his hand and motioned for the three behind him to do as Sirius had said. Just as Harry turned back to the finishing-transformation, Remus through Sirius off of him and Sirius landed in a pile that didn't move.
Hermione abandoned Ron's side, leaving Rebecca to support him alone once more. This had to work, it had to. "Professor?" Hermione asked gently, holding her hands up to show that she meant no harm as she walked closer to the werewolf. "Professor Lupin? It's Hermione, we-"
Remus turned his head to the moon and let out a gut-wrenching howl, a howl that sent every hair on the back of Harry's neck prickling. Remus was gone. Hermione fell back to where Ron, Rebecca, and Harry were watching in horror.
"It was worth a shot." Rebecca grunted, relief flooding her at Ron's weight being split up again. "What do we-"
"There you are, Potter!" Snape practically growled the words as he climbed out of the tunnel, standing with his back to Remus unknowingly as his focus was entirely on the revenge he planned on exacting against a certain Gryffindor.
Remus let out a roar, swinging a massive paw across Snape's body that sent him sprawled across the entry of the tunnel he'd just entered. There were no more barriers between Remus and his targets--the four bodies whose heart rates were skyrocketing enticingly so.
A string of high-pitched barks sounded and a furry, dark canine flung himself into Remus' side. Sirius and Remus tussled in the brush to the side, giving the four a chance to hurry towards the castle. At the stairs, Ron let out a low groan that prompted Hermione to look down at his leg. The belt had loosened and it had begun to bleed steadily again, drops of increasing size making a trail behind them.
Rebecca took the opportunity to glance under Ron's arm at the sight that had Harry frozen. Sirius had released Remus to put himself between werewolf and them, growling as their protector and final defense.
The two dogs collided in the air once more, a whirling, thrashing tornado of teeth and growls. Sirius took a bite at Remus' hip before tearing off into the darkness, well aware that the wolf would follow as it had night after night in their boyhood on the same grounds.
"Sirius!" Harry shouted, taking a step towards where they had gone off to.
"Don't you dare, Harry." Rebecca warned.
"I have to!" Harry at least sounded guilty. "Just get Ron to the Infirmary, I'll be fine!"
Rebecca helped Hermione get Ron up the last step when she found herself being stopped. Hermione pulled Ron onto her shoulder so that the entirety of his support came from her. "Go! Before he gets himself into something he can't get out of!"
Rebecca didn't even take the time to argue, leaving a squeeze on Ron's arm and a peck on Hermione's cheek.
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Harry was still in shock that he had actually left the others to try and held Sirius. He had found the brawling dogs easily, they made far too much noise to be difficult. But, after laying eyes on the ferocity, he found himself sorely outmatched. Harry was left doing the only thing a mostly-sensible thirteen year old boy would do--He threw a rock.
Granted it wasn't a very large rock and Harry had had an extremely tiring day: The rock Harry sent through the air collided with Remus' head and provided Sirius with a layer of safety. Remus had just used a massive paw to smack Sirius' head into a rock on the ground that had left Sirius seemingly unconscious.
The werewolf left the still Sirius and bounded towards Remus, his mouth opening in a snarl to take a bite out of Harry.
"Ahoooo!"
A strange howl came out of the forest to the right and peaked Remus' attention momentarily, though he continued slightly slower on his path towards Harry.
"AHOOOOOO!"
The howl came again, even louder! Remus turned in the direction it had come from and raced off into the forest. Harry saw Sirius turn back into a man before staggering farther down the hill. Harry took off after him, fearing the worst.
Sirius managed to escape Harry's sight as the downward run down the hill turned into a zigzagged weaving through different rows of massive trees, some of the oldest in the Forbidden Forest. Footsteps crashed behind him, then beside him. Harry whirled around the nearest tree with his wand out in front of him in case he needed to stun Remus.
"Get that thing out of my face!" Rebecca hissed, smacking his hand and scowling. "What the hell's the matter with you? Running off without me--What the fuck, Harry?"
Harry rubbed the back of his hand. "What did you want me to do?"
"Tell me what you were going to do so I could tell you that it was stupid and come with you, maybe?"
"What, like you did with Ron in the passageway?" Harry retorted, stunning Rebecca with her own hypocrisy.
"That was different." Her voice dripped with tone and Harry had no response besides grabbing her arm and leading her on. The two of them descended into the deepest parts of the forest faster and faster; Rebecca quickly learned it was better to let Harry run slightly ahead of her. He ended up hitting all the loose branches so she knew when to duck farther.
Harry stopped abruptly, his feet sliding in the now-stony ground. Rebecca tried to stop herself as he did, but hit the back of him slightly. Stepping beside him, Rebecca saw what had affected Harry so deeply: In front of the lake ahead lie an unmoving Sirius at the water's edge.
"Sirius, no!" Harry cried out, dropping to his knees next to him. There were tears through his coat, slices all the way down to the flesh.
Rebecca knelt beside Sirius and held two fingers to the side of his neck, finding a weak but present pulse. "He's still alive, Harry." Rebecca took off her jumper and folded it in half, holding it against the worst of Sirius' injuries. Harry stared down as Sirius let out a cough.
A frozen breeze blew over them and the water on the lake crackled as it began to ice over. Sirius opened his eyes, his body recognising the chill despite his wounds. A horrible, blood-curdling scream escaped him: The dementors had found him, hundreds circled in the sky above.
One veiled ghoul broke away from the mass, diving down directly over Sirius' face. A blur formed between the monster and the man as the dementor drank from him. Harry stood up, holding his wand tightly. Rebecca stayed over Sirius middle, trying to slow the bleeding as her jumper grew more and more wet.
"Expecto Patronum!" Harry tried to cast the spell himself, his attention torn between what would happen if he failed and Rebecca's closeness to the dementors that continued to dive down onto Sirius. "Expecto patronum!" Harry was closer this time, a weak flash of light coming from the end of his wand.
Rebecca put her knee onto Sirius' stomach, freeing her hands to join in Harry's attempts. Another dementor dove, another drink from Sirius' already-weakened lifeforce. "Ready Harry?" Rebecca asked as she took a breath and centered herself. She filled her mind with happiness as a being instead of one particular memory. Everything in her life that brought her happiness, she held closer.
Rebecca was thinking of Harry, Ron, and Hermione when they had started a sit down by studying but only ended up playing around. She thought of the hours she'd spent with Fred and George as they brainstormed on pranks and worked on prototype recipes for what would hopefully become an adventure of the three of theirs. Rebecca thought of how Fred had picked her up after Buckbeak's first sentencing, how he'd let her be as devastated as she was and how devastated she couldn't be in front of the others before Fred had pieced her back together.
"Ready, Rebecca." Harry said before another dementor could come.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Their voices sounded out across the frozen water in unison. The effect was immediate and blinding, a shield spreading out from their wands that joined above them. Each and every dementor that tried to attack Sirius was pushed back as long as their strength lasted.
But they could only hold the spell so long. As the spell faded, a dementor rushed at Harry instead of Sirius with a force that made Harry drop to his knees. Like on the train, Harry could hear the sound of a woman--of his mother--screaming in terror.
"No!" Rebecca cried out, reaching for Harry while still trying to keep pressure on Sirius. She was able to grab a handful of his shirt and pull him closer to Sirius before she knew what had to be done. Rebecca gathered every last bit of the remaining magic inside of her, piling it together in what was going to be their last defense.
Fred filled her every thought, trying to bring the happiest thoughts she could to give the three of them in the clearing the best chance. "The rendering from Christmas, the afternoon it came from. Wizard's mistletoe. The party after we won the cup."
Rebecca raised her wand into the air and cast the spell again, alone. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Rebecca gave everything she had left into the shield, ensuring that it covered the unconscious Harry and Sirius. A shield that lasted far longer than it should have. When the spell cut itself off, Rebecca fell forward.
Unconscious before she hit the ground, Harry managed to open his eyes at the thud of her body. His eyes could hardly focus on the dementors alternating between Rebecca and Sirius, his body too weakened to intervene.
One of the dementors didn't drink and leave as the others. Instead, it held itself over Sirius' mouth until a light rose out of his mouth. A small, iridescent light.
"That's his soul." Harry was able to put together through the fog that coated his mind. "The dementor's kiss."
Harry's head fell to the rocky ground once more, a blue light across the lake catching his fading attention. A stag was there, a glowing stag. The patronus cocked its head at Harry before lowering its snout to the ground and sending wave after wave of light out of itself: The same quality of light that was created by a full-fledged patronus charm.
The dementors over Rebecca and Sirius were forced away, the light of Sirius' soul receding back into his mouth. Harry's vision began to dim, the stag growing more and more distant. He heard Sirius' gasping breath as the darkness overtook him, Harry's hand reaching for Rebecca though he was gone before he felt the comfort of her.
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Shorter than usual? Yes. But more action packed than usual? Also yes.
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