|ALEXANDRIA WEASLEY'S P.O.V|
Getting back into the tunnel was rather difficult, for us humans anyway. Crookshanks managed to prance on far ahead, but our entire group was brought to a halt behind him as Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron were forced to turn sideways to edge themselves through slowly.
The unconscious figure of Snape floated on after them, continuously bumping his lolling head on the low ceiling, followed by Black then Harry and finally Hermione and I.
"You know what this means?" said Black abruptly as we made progress through the damp tunnel. His voice echoed through the eery silence. I could just see the profile of his face as he turned to Harry in the dim lighting that emitted from Hermione's wand, which she held closely in front of herself and me. "Turning Pettigrew in?"
"You're free," came Harry's voice. I could only see the back of his body, but his shoulders were relaxed and his posture less stiff than it had been all evening.
"Yes. . ." said Black carefully, nodding his knotted head of hair. He paused for a moment, hesitating, as he looked ahead again. "But I'm also — I don't know if anyone ever told you — I'm your godfather."
"Yeah, I knew that," said Harry now, and I could practically hear his cheeky smile.
"Well. . . your parents appointed me your guardian," said Black stiffly. He turned his chin upon approaching the lowest part of the tunnel, as to avoid slamming his temple painfully. "If anything happened to them. . ."
There was a brief, achingly silent pause. I felt myself pressing my lips together as I waited for Black to suggest what I knew was to come – or as I waited for the ignorant Potter to catch a hint for once.
"I'll understand, of course, if you want to stay with your aunt and uncle. But . . . well . . . think about it. Once my name's cleared. . . if you wanted a. . . a different home. . ."
Another silence. Then, suddenly, Harry jolted upward so quickly that the top of his head smacked into the ceiling. The crack echoed through the tunnel and I cringed, watching as he gripped at the bump with his fingertips.
"What — live with you?" even now, the only emotion in his voice was surprise. "Leave the Dursleys?"
"Of course, I thought you wouldn't want to," said Black quickly, his grey eyes glancing at where Harry's hand cradled his hair. Harry's emerald eyes, however, gleamed in the blue wand light. "I understand, I just thought I'd —"
"Are you insane?" said Harry rhetorically, the words croaky and dull in his throat. "Of course I want to leave the Dursleys! Have you got a house? When can I move in?"
Black fully turned to look at Harry now, paying no mind to how Snape's forehead collided violently with the tunnel wall. I felt my nose scrunch in distaste at the sight. Harry, too, hadn't seemed to notice.
"You want to?" said Black with the innocence of a child meeting a new friend. "You mean it?"
"Yeah, I mean it!" said Harry, grinning a beaming grin that stretched across his cheeks and bared his white teeth.
I felt myself begin to smile, as well.
And now, astonishingly, Black smiled. Harry and him grinned at one another as we walked, both at loss for words or perhaps not wanting to ruin a moment so perfect.
That was, however, what Potter was best at — ruining things.
"Ria, did you hear that?" said Harry suddenly. He turned over his shoulder to look at me and, almost immediately, my smile dropped as though it had never been there at all. "I know you must be upset thinking that I won't be around the Burrow this summer, but I'm gonna have you over. I'll get the bed nice and warmed up for you."
"Over my dead body."
Harry frowned, but even then he still looked incredibly happy. "Oh come off it, love. My parents are dead."
I scoffed so hard that I felt it in my chest. "What can that possibly have to do with this?"
"Well, I'm depressed," he said, but the smirk on his lips revealed his lies. "I need to be comforted."
I closed my eyes together tightly for a moment. When I opened them, I saw that Harry was grinning that stupid bloody grin at me now. Behind him, Black was trying very carefully to juggle watching our exchange while also flying Snape through the tunnel ahead of us.
"You're beautiful, my darling Ria," he said now. He turned to fully face me, so that he was walking backwards with no sight of what was to come.
"And you're absolutely infuriating," I said, ruthlessly. His grin was eating away at my patience, nipping small pieces off until I was left bare. "No, you know what, you are insufferable." My right hand rose from my side to point at him, which only made my wand shake about violently between the pads of my fingers. "An insufferable, arrogant —"
"Toerag."
I paused. Harry paused. Both of us looked toward Black. He had stopped in his tracks now; Snape was left floating unattended behind him, his limp arms smacking against the walls and ceiling uncontrollably.
Black spoke again to me and me alone, ignoring Harry's expression of blatant disapproval. "He's an arrogant toerag, wouldn't you say?"
I looked back at Harry, just as he looked back at me. The amusement was gone from his face. I said, gratefully, "That's perfect. That's what you are, Potter. You are an insufferable, arrogant toerag and I wouldn't sleep in the same bed as you if it meant that the world was going to come to an end."
I turned to Black again. "When you get tired of him, send him anywhere but my doorstep."
When we reached the end of the tunnel, Crookshanks darted out first. He pressed his paw atop the knot near the trunk of the tree so that Lupin, Ron, and Pettigrew were able to step out into the night without thrashing branches attacking them. Black saw Snape out of the hole and then stepped back, giving Harry, Hermione, and I a playful but courteous bow as he meant for us to go before him.
I had smiled at him, grabbing at the hem of my black school skirt and then sinking into a grateful curtesy. His laughter came out in a bark.
I was already beginning to care for him, that much is obvious to me today.
The night air hit my face in a damp, chill breeze. I felt it travel past where my loose hair rested on my shoulders and along the nape of my neck: which was welcomed after being in the stuffy Shrieking Shack for so long. The night sky was riddled with dark clouds; their original white colour tampered by the darkness behind them. Still, some stars managed to push themselves through and shine a grey light over where we were all collecting together on the grass.
Without a word, we set off. Pettigrew was still wheezing, occasionally whimpering. The grounds almost felt haunted this evening, so quiet and absent of life as we all held our breath in anticipation for what might happen once we arrived at the castle.
Would they let us explain? Would they seize Black before we had the chance? Would they not believe us, even with Pettigrew present?
Lupin snapped me from my thoughts when he said, very threateningly, "One wrong move, Peter."
I turned to glance over my shoulder at the three of them, tied altogether. Lupin still had his wand pointed at Pettigrew's chest, his tired face contorted into a grimace. Ron was pale, but still looking better than he had since being dragged past the Whomping Willow. Hermione stood beside me, her bushy hair blowing in my perhephrial vision as I eyed Harry:
Harry was smiling. It was little, perhaps too small to even be considered a smile — just the corners of his lips quirked up. Whatever it was, it showed his happiness clearly. He was trailing behind Peter, Lupin, and Ron with just a little distance between himself and Black. He seemed to be lost in thought, for his emerald eyes told a story yet they only stared ahead at nothing important.
Then, he caught me. Our eyes met and his smile only grew. But it wasn't his usual cheeky grin. No, it was genuine — it was happy.
And I couldn't help but smile back.
But that all ended just as quickly as it had begun.
Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron suddenly came to an abrupt stop. Black was sent crashing into Lupin's back, which sent Snape wobbling violently through the air — his chin smacking into his chest over and over again. Moonlight had cascaded over us all now, making it easier for Hermione and I to see when we both turned 'round fully. Harry stopped, too, looking very confused.
"What's happened?" asked Ron, trying to peer over Pettigrew's plump figure to see Lupin.
I looked to Lupin as well, and what I saw made all of the air leave my body in a gasp.
He was rigid as a log of wood. His jaw was clenched, locked so tightly that veins protruded up to his forehead. They pressed against his ghostly skin — green, thick, and angry. His limbs were shaking on either side of him. His wand fell between his fingers and into the long grass by his feet, disappearing from sight.
I tilted my chin upward, but I already knew what I was going to find high in the sky, shining same as his boggart had during our Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson:
The full moon.
"Oh my —" gasped Hermione. She suddenly latched herself onto my forearm, sending my frozen body forward slightly and back into reality as though I had been woken from some kind of deep slumber. She screamed at Black, who was studying the situation carefully with his arm held out protectively in front of Harry, "He didn't take his potion tonight! He's not safe!"
Black's chin turned and he whispered something to Harry, something that we could not hear over the distance. And then, suddenly, Harry threw himself forward toward Ron's back but Black caught him around the chest and pulled him back.
"Leave it to me — RUN!"
There was a terrible snarling noise that redirected my attention. Lupin's head and body were lengthening, his shoulders hunching. Hair visibly began to sprout from his face, neck and hands, which were curling into clawed paws. Crookshanks hissed at him from the grass, backing away slowly.
The werewolf reared, snapping its jaws violently, still attached to Pettigrew and to my brother. My heart began to pound erratically in my chest, but all I saw next was as Black transformed into that big black dog before Harry was in front of me.
His lenses glinted in the moonlight. His face was rather close to mine, so much so that I could feel his warm breath, but that didn't matter at the moment.
"Ria, come with me."
"Ron, Ron!" I yelled into the echoing night, pulling my arm from Hermione's grasp to instead shove at Harry until he stepped out of my line of sight. "Ron!"
The werewolf had wrenched itself free from the manacle binding it. However, before it could act, the dog seized it around the neck and pulled it backward away from Pettigrew and Ron. The two animals were locked, clawing and snapping at one another.
Ron was breathing very heavily, watching the scene unfold hopelessly. No one noticed until Hermione let out a loud, incredible scream.
Pettigrew had dived for Lupin's wand. Ron, unable to hold himself up on his broken leg, fell into the grass beside him. There was a bang, then a burst of light, and suddenly Ron laid motionless. Another bang — Crookshanks was sent flying through the air.
"Expelliarmus!" yelled Harry, pointing his wand at Pettigrew. Lupin's wand was out of sight once again. "Stay where you are!"
But it was too late. Pettigrew gave a mousy, sheepish smile and then he was shrunk into the grass — a rat among the earth.
The noises of Lupin and Black's brawl, Hermione's screams — it all went deaf in my ears.
"Of course I want to leave the Dursleys! Have you got a house? When can I move in?"
"Ria, did you hear that?"
"Harry," I said, quickly. His pained, emerald eyes were dark as they met my blue ones. "Protect my brother and sister."
I turned on my heel sharply, my red hair smacking into my cheek so quickly that it stung the skin. I ran in the direction I had just seen Pettigrew go off in, my wand slipping from under the sleeve of my cloak — which was billowing behind me violently.
"RIA! RIA! ALEXANDRIA!"
"ALEX, NO, PLEASE COME BACK!"
The bottoms of my flats were slipping along the dew of the grass. I could hear the stomping of my heavy footsteps: thump, thump, thump. The sound was prevalent in my eardrums, along with a slight ringing and the pounding of my quickly beating heart: thump, thump, thump.
It was hard to see as we scaled one of the large hills, toward Hagrid's hut. It lived on in the distance, smoke running from the chimney and a light bright in the window. I flicked my wand and called out, breathlessly, "Lumos Maxima!"
A bright, blue light erupted from the tip of my wand. It shined as a beacon would in the darkness as I pointed it at the ground in front of me, panting.
And then I spotted him — the end of his long, bald tail was peeking up toward the sky as he scurried along.
However, just as quickly as my excitement came, it was gone. For the moonlight above our heads went out entirely. Trees sprung up on either side of us, enclosing us in. The grass turned to gravel beneath our feet.
I was in the Forbidden Forest.
Bushes sprung up on either side of me, on either side of the path I ran on. Their branches reached out as though the claws of an animal, thorns scraping against the material of my thick cloak. I could hear it tearing and ripping, and I had to tug at my arms multiple times to release them when the fabric had become caught.
The rat took a sharp right, so I followed. A sharp left, and I followed.
We were off the path now. We jumped over big rocks and trampled over small ones. We hopped off of the ledges of where one clearing met its end, and where another began just beneath it.
I was panting, endlessly and heavy. The air sounded hoarse in my throat as it came and as it went. I felt myself cough, but what bothered me most was how my hair was beginning to stick to the sides of my face as sweat seeped from my pores.
Pettigrew took another turn and — WHAM!
I had slammed my shoulder into a thick, solid tree trunk. I was forced to a stop and, unable to stop myself, I let out a loud shriek.
It wasn't of fear. It wasn't of defeat. It wasn't of anger. It was of sheer frustration.
I stepped around the tree, my wand beginning to flick between the left and the right violently as I continued on again:
"Confundus! Immobulus! Engorgio! Flipendo!"
All different colored lights shot at the grass, one after another. Red, blue, white. There was an aching in my wrist from the constant movement. I'm sure my face must've been as red as my hair by now, for I could feel the heat collecting in my cheeks and along my nose.
The night air was sweltering, now. It was as the hottest of days in summertime, when the sun beat down so strongly that even the coolest lake would turn to boiling vapor.
"Tarantallegra!"
Suddenly, all movement ceased. He had stopped running.
No, he had begun to dance.
His little body was up on his two hind legs, his thin arms held out before him. His long tail pointed up at me, stiff as a board as he swayed from one side to another.
I came to a halt so sudden that my body rocked on the heels of my feet. My shoulders slumped in relaxation. My wand arm dropped to my side. I sucked in a deep breath and then, I laughed.
And, when I did, it came out in a white, misty cloud before my eyes.
Chills ran down my spine, from the nape of my neck down to my tailbone. The hairs on my arms stood tall beneath my sleeves. The laughter drained from my body, the amusement drained from my body.
My heart felt empty, yet heavy as rocks. It sank down low to my stomach, which had begun to ache violently as though I was about to be sick. There was a churning along my ribcage, which burned hotter than candle wax against flesh. My wand felt so heavy between my fingers that I wanted to drop it — to leave it in the woods.
The sound of breathing came from behind me, yet I couldn't get myself to turn around. My body wouldn't move, as though roots had sprung up from the earth and tethered themselves to my ankles. There was a whooshing noise; from far away, then closer, closer, until finally —
I was no longer there. Pettigrew was no longer dancing in front of me, disguised in his Animagus form as the rat he was.
Finally, I was in the grass. I was sprawled out on my back, my arms outstretched. My hair fallen all around my head. The tops of the trees spun along the skyline high above me, turning in a circle:
Round and around and round.
Until I no longer saw anything at all.