Alex Weasley: Book 3

55

"And look what we have here." A cold voice called from behind Lupin. Alex watched as her uncle appeared from under Harry's invisibility cloak.

"Oh, great, I'm definitely dead." She said. Snape looked at the children.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Ron's broken his leg."

"Keep your wand on Lupin, and remember your lessons. One wrong move-"

"I'll bind him up like Black." She agreed and Snape moved over to Ron who flinched.

"I haven't any bone mending potion on me, so you'll have to wait to get to the hospital wing. Until then, I can make you a temporary splint." He straightened Ron's leg first, ignoring the boy's painful moan before tapping his wand softly on Ron's leg. A brace appeared, wrapping around the lower part of his leg, from his knee to his ankle. Ron let out a sigh of relief when Snape moved away and stood next to Alex, raising his wand to Lupin. "You did well with him." He gestured to Black. "You can relax."

"Okay, but I'm going to say something you're going to hate." Snape nodded at her to continue. "They might not be totally lying. There's a chance he's innocent. Kind of. Innocent of betraying Harry's parents, at least."

"Alex-"

"He didn't work for Voldemort. Peter Pettigrew did. They say Peter's an animagus. If that's true and he didn't kill all those muggles either, he doesn't deserve to spend any longer in Azkaban."

"How certain are you?"

"Pettigrew was definitely a Voldeminion. Black wasn't. The rest I can't prove. It's their word, but there is a spell to force an animagus out of its animal form. And if Ron's been sleeping with a forty year old-."

"Mid thirties." All three men said at the same time and Alex snorted.

"If Ron's been sleeping with a thirty five year old disguised as a rat- one, that's creepy, two he's been in my home and three, it means we've had a rat spying in our house literally." Snape nodded.

"We'll check. Mr Weasley?" Ron looked at Scabbers.

"Ron, if he's an ordinary rat, it won't hurt him. I promise." He reluctantly handed over Scabbers. Alex raised her wand back to Lupin so Snape could cast the spell on Scabbers. He dropped the rat onto the ground and before Scabbers could run away, he pointed his wand at him.

"Homenum revelio!" A red light came out from his wand, and the rat turned into a disgusting, patchy, tiny man.

"Huh, I see why he was a rat." She said. "He looks very much like one." Harry scrambled away from Peter, his eyes wide.

"Now that you've verified my story, will you let me out?" Black asked, his tone hardly polite.

"Well, technically, you're still a fugitive."

"Wait a second." Harry said, staring at Pettigrew. "If he's been sleeping in my dormitory for three years, and working for Voldemort, how come he never tried to hurt me before now?"

"There!" said Pettigrew shrilly, pointing at Harry with his maimed hand. "Thank you! You see, Remus? I have never hurt a hair of Harry's head! Why should I?"

"I'll tell you why," said Black. "Because you never did anything for anyone unless you could see what was in it for you. Voldemort's been in hiding for fifteen 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."

"Er, Mr Black? Sirius? Sir?" Hermione tried, unsure of of what to call him. "If you don't mind me asking, how... how did you get out of Azkaban, if you didn't use Dark Magic?"

"Thank you!" gasped Pettigrew, nodding frantically at her. "Exactly! Precisely what I-" Lupin glared at him and he shut up.

"I don't know how I did it," Black said slowly. "I think the only reason I never lost my mind is that I knew I was innocent. That wasn't a happy thought, so the Dementors couldn't suck it out of me... but it kept me sane and knowing who I am- it helped me keep my powers so when it all became... too much, I could transform in my cell, become a dog. Dementors can't see, you know..." He swallowed. "They feel their way toward people by feeding off their emotions. They could tell that my feelings were less. Less human, less complex when I was a dog, but they thought, of course, that I was losing my mind like everyone else in there, so it didn't trouble them. But I was weak, very weak, and I had no hope of driving them away from me without a wand.... And then I saw Peter in that picture... I realized he was at Hogwarts with Harry... perfectly positioned to act, if one hint reached his ears that the Dark Side was gathering strength again..."

"What picture?"

"In my robes- When Fudge came to inspect Azkaban last year, he gave me his paper. And there was Peter, on the front page on this boy's shoulder. I knew him at once- how many times had I seen him transform? And the caption said the boy would be going back to Hogwarts... to where Harry was..."

"Ah, yes. How heartwarming."

"Remus!" Pettigrew squeaked, turning to Lupin instead, writhing imploringly in front of him. "You don't believe this- wouldn't Sirius have told you they'd changed the plan?"

"Not if he thought I was the spy, Peter," said Lupin. "I assume that's why you didn't tell me, Sirius?" he said casually over Pettigrew's head.

"Forgive me, Remus," said Black.

"Not at all, Padfoot, old friend," said Lupin, who was now rolling up his sleeves. "And will you, in turn, forgive me for believing you were the spy?"

"Of course," said Black, and the ghost of a grin flitted across his gaunt face. Alex rolled her eyes. They called that friendship? Suspecting each other of betrayal? She reached out to Hermione who looked back at her reassuringly.

"I- oh, Alexandra. You know people can change their ways. Better than-" Pettigrew turned to her.

"Silencio!" Snape snapped his wand at Pettigrew, effectively shutting him up.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"He's been a rat for twelve years, who knows?" Alex shrugged as Hermione tightened her grip slightly. "Can we hurry up and get back to school now?"

"You can loosen his binds to let him walk." Snape said and she nodded. She pointed her wand at Black and removed some of the ropes that bound his legs, leaving the one on his hands and body.

"Hang on a minute." Black had a bloodthirsty glare on his face. "There's still the matter of Pettigrew. Lily and James deserve justice."

"You can't kill him," Harry glanced around the hideous rat. "You can't."

"Harry, this piece of vermin is the reason you have no parents," Black snarled. "This cringing bit of filth would have seen you die too, without turning a hair."

"I know, we'll take him up to the castle. We'll hand him over to the Dementors. He can go to Azkaban, but don't kill him. I'm not doing this for him. I'm doing it because- I don't reckon my dad would've wanted you to become killers just for him."

"A Potter with brains, that's a first." Snape said. "There will be no murder in front of the children."