The Shrieking Shack
The trio sat in Hagrid's hut, waiting. Hermione was nursing her hand from the impact of her fist contacting Seamus' face as he made fun of the fact Buckbeak would be killed. Draco sat back stunned looking at Hermione's hand, which Dragon was now licking thoughtfully.
"Was I really that important?" Draco asked. Harry looked over at the blonde.
"For the fifteenth time, yes." Harry responded. Hagrid walked over to make some tea. He made a noise and turned to Harry.
"Oi, Harry, isn't this Ron's missing rat, Scabbers?" Hagrid asked as he held up a squirming rodent.
Draco jumped up and walked towards Hagrid. "There he is!" He said as he went to grab for the rat. Hagrid stared at him. "You know, Ron's been…very worried about him. Yeah, that's it. He's kept us up at all hours of the night crying over him. I should take it back to him so I can get some beauty sleep." Draco lied flawlessly.
Harry continued. "Yeah, we should, uh, go give it to Ron." Dragon growled. Hermione grabbed onto the scruff of his neck and held him back. Pettigrew squeaked and bit Hagrid's hand. Hagrid let go of the rat and he quickly scampered off. Dragon escaped from Hermione's grip and ran after him.
"Hagrid, I'm so sorry to be rude, but we really need to go." Draco apologized. He, Harry, and Hermione jumped and ran toward the back door, creating a small traffic jam. Once they all filed out, they ran toward the Shrieking Shack.
They then saw Dragon disappear underneath the tree. Harry grabbed a stick he knew would be long enough and touched the secret knot that would make the Whomping Willow freeze. All three filed in underneath the hole in the tree and made their way to the Shrieking Shack.
When they got there, they saw Sirius holding Pettigrew at wand point.
"You traitor! Lily and James trusted you. You betrayed them!" Sirius cried.
"Sirius, you don't understand. The dark lord, he Imperiused me." Pettigrew claimed, shaking in terror.
"Dragon…Sirius!" Draco yelled. Sirius pushed his wand into Pettigrew's throat, still holding onto the man's collar.
"You should have died for them." Sirius argued. Hermione stepped forward.
"Sirius Orion Black, put your wand down!" Hermione demanded. Sirius looked over at Hermione.
"He betrayed them. They're dead because of him." Sirius looked over at Harry. "Your parents, Harry."
Harry stepped up to where Hermione and Draco stood. "Padfoot, they're right. Killing him will not bring them back. It also won't help you. We need Pettigrew alive." Harry reasoned. Sirius looked like he was about to put down his wand when Remus came storming into the shack.
"Sirius, put the wand down." Remus commanded, his own wand ready for a fight.
"Moony, it wasn't me, I swear!" Sirius pleaded. Remus took a moment to rid himself of the shock of seeing his best friend and noted the color of his hair.
"Why the heck is your hair blond?" Remus asked Sirius. Sirius smiled cheekily and changed into Dragon. Remus looked flummoxed. "Wait, you were Dragon? You've been here all this time and you haven't tried to kill Harry?" Remus looked over at Pettigrew, and he turned pensive. He looked over at Dragon. "You were innocent. You never betrayed James and Lily, did you? What happened that night, Padfoot? Weren't you their Secret Keeper?" He looked back at Pettigrew. "You weren't, were you? You idiots!" He screamed at the room.
At that moment, Snape walked into the room. "You're the idiot, Lupin." He shoved the flask he was holding into Remus' hands. "Drink, now." He commanded. Remus looked at him gratefully and took the flask, drinking it down in one gulp.
At this point, Harry took his opportunity and yelled, "Expelliarmus," at Snape. Snape's wand flew out of his hand into the air.
"What? Why did you disarm me?" Snape snapped.
"So you don't kill Sirius." Harry said.
"Although I'd love to, I'm not here to kill Black. I'm here for answers and to make sure Lupin doesn't kill you all." Snape explained. "On the way to give him his potion, I overheard his little spiel about Pettigrew being alive…and how that was impossible. Then he ran out of his office, so I followed him. Then, I heard his little rant just now about Black being Dragon." Snape then mumbled to himself. "That explains so much."
"So, you don't think I'm guilty?" Sirius asked, hopefully. Snape rolled his eyes.
"Oh, you're guilty of many things. But turning in Lily and Potter? No, I do not think even you would stoop that low." Snape confessed. He glared over at Pettigrew.
"No, it was Pettigrew. Then, he set me up! You see, he's a rat…literally. We all became animagi our fifth year. Pettigrew can turn into a rat. He yelled out so that everyone would see us, then he made the street explode, cut off his finger, and turned into a rat. He was the spy for Voldemort." Sirius explained to everyone in the room.
Snape looked thoughtful for a moment. "So that was why the Dark Lord was always muttering to his lap at meetings." He mumbled. Draco laughed. Snape looked back at him and stared, confused.
"Nothing. Just imagining the Dark Lord talking into his lap." Draco lied flawlessly. Snape was still confused, but let it go.
"I don't understand how he could have come up with that. Pettigrew, not You-Know-Who." Remus clarified. Sirius shrugged.
"He never was very smart. The Dark Lord must have come up with the plan and had the rat carry it out." Snape added. He turned to Black. "How in the world did you, Potter, and Pettigrew become animagi?"
"A conversation for another time, Snape." Sirius sighed.
"That suggests there will be another time." Snape sneered. Remus just held his head in his hands.
"Would you really hand me over to the dementors knowing I'm innocent of this crime?" Sirius pleaded.
"Not for this crime, but there still is the fact you are guilty of attempted murder." Snape reminded him.
"Can we just move on? Sirius still needs to explain exactly what happened. They claimed he made a confession on scene." Remus halted further conversation down this road. They still had a rat hanging from his collar, looking like he was about to escape. Remus also focused his wand on Pettigrew.
"I convinced James and Lily to switch secret keepers. I thought it was the perfect bluff." Sirius then continued to explain exactly what happened. Hermione and Harry sat there bored. They had now heard this for a second time, not to mention reliving this night for a third. Draco sat on the edge of the bed enthralled. Why hadn't Black been in Slytherin?
When Sirius had finished his tale, Remus went and slapped him over the ear. "Idiots! Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell Dumbledore?"
"We did tell Dumbledore. Who do you think cast the charm?" Sirius asked. Everyone in the room gasped. Hermione and Harry perked up a bit. "I was the witness. Pettigrew nor the Potters could. They were the Secret Keeper and the Secret. Therefore, we had to have Dumbledore cast the spell."
"Why didn't you ask me?" Remus asked. Sirius looked down sheepishly.
"Voldemort was promising perks to werewolves. You have to admit, you were away so often and you couldn't tell us where you were. We thought-well I thought-that you could have been the spy." Sirius admitted. Snape scoffed.
"Lupin? A spy? He can barely his own secrets, let alone someone else's." Snape laughed. Remus and Sirius glared at him.
"Not everyone here knows my secrets." Remus hissed. Harry raised his hand slowly.
"Actually…" Harry started. Remus looked at him dejectedly.
"How?" Remus asked. Harry shrugged.
"Hermione found out when Professor Snape gave us that paper to write. Then, she asked Sirius and he told us." Harry explained. Sirius looked confusedly over at Harry and caught his eye. He nodded understandingly and agreed.
"Yeah, I-I thought they had the right to know. Harry being Prongs' son and all." Sirius lied.
"But Draco and Hermione?" Remus countered. Sirius looked sheepishly again.
"Hermione would have told Draco anyway." Sirius defended. Snape and Remus nodded in agreement to that one. Hermione looked offended. Draco and Harry stared at her a moment.
"Fine." She whispered honestly.
"Well, we should get out of here." Sirius suggested. Snape and Remus agreed. They forced Pettigrew to return to rat form. Sirius had Remus hold the rat in his hand. They began to walk out.
Halfway toward the entrance, Remus stopped.
"Oh, wait!" Remus remembered. Snape facepalmed.
"Really, Lupin? Twenty-eight years of transforming into a beast and you still forget?" Snape questioned. Remus ran back into the Shrieking Shack. Harry stopped and thought for a moment.
"Wait!" He cried out. "He has Pettigrew!" The whole group stopped and turned around. Right as they began their way back to the shack, they heard a howl and a shriek. Sirius changed into Dragon and darted toward the werewolf. The group stopped and Snape told them that they all should wait outside the tunnel. They all turned back around and walked out of the tunnel.
Sirius came out half an hour later, panting.
"He's gone!" Sirius howled. "When I got there, Remus had transformed. He looked so much better than the last time I had seen him transform." He begrudgingly looked at Snape. "Thank you."
"Just doing what the headmaster forces me to." Snape replied. Sirius rolled his eyes.
"Well, I looked around, and that rat was nowhere. I couldn't even catch his scent." Sirius confessed, agitatedly. Harry sighed. He looked around.
"Well, quick, transform. No one can know you're here if he's not caught." Harry reminded him. Sirius grudgingly turned back into Dragon. They all began walking up to the castle. They all saw ministry official standing guard at the front of the castle. Snape winced and turned to the quartet.
"I may have sent a patronus to the headmaster saying that ministry help might be needed because there might be a werewolf on the loose." Snape confessed apologetically.
"You did what?" Harry, Draco, and Hermione yelled in unison.
"There was a werewolf on the loose without wolfsbane. He could have killed you all. I was doing my job." Snape defended. Draco sighed.
"I understand, but seriously…" Draco started. He was interrupted by Dragon who barked happily. Snape glared at the dog.
"This is not the time, Bla…Dragon." Snape corrected. Harry looked frantically.
"You have to explain this to them!" Harry pleaded. Snape nodded his head and agreed.
They finished their trek to the headmaster's office. Snape stayed his hand and motioned for Harry and Dragon to come with him.
They went up to the headmaster's office. There they found the minister and the headmaster, talking. The headmaster rose when he saw his potions master, student, and dog.
"Severus," Dumbledore sighed in relief. "You found them."
Severus replied, "Yes, all is well. There is no real need to fret. However, there is something that you should know." He glared at Dragon, sending the message not to turn back yet.
"What could we possibly need to know other than that Harry Potter, the Savior of the Wizarding World, is safe?" Fudge questioned. Snape looked over at Harry right as Harry winced. He had no idea why the child had done that. Shouldn't he have beamed with pride at that mention? He filed that away for later.
"You need to know that Sirius Black is innocent." Harry blurted out. "Pettigrew set him up." Snape sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Yes, a thirteen-year-old child and a death eater, who would they believe more? Snape thought sarcastically. Dumbledore scoffed.
"What? You must be joking!" Dumbledore looked at Snape, begging him to say it wasn't true. Snape laid a hand on Harry's shoulder to stay any further Gryffindor tendencies.
"It's the truth, Headmaster," Snape confessed. "Pettigrew is alive and was disguised as a pet rat for the past twelve years."
"Nonsense," The minister claimed. "We found Pettigrew's wand exploded and only a finger left of him."
"He set up his own death and turned into a rat." Snape continued, annoyed that no one believed him. However, he thought to himself how much of this seemed like a story that a death eater and a confused child would come up with.
"Peter Pettigrew, a rat? Are you saying he's an animagus?" Dumbledore asked. Snape inclined his head.
"This is preposterous." Fudge countered. "All the animagi are registered. We do not have Pettigrew in the registry. Hence, Pettigrew was not an animagus."
"Do you really think everyone registers themselves? Do you know how many wizards and witches out there are running about unregistered? You wouldn't even be able to count." Snape drawled, beginning to get really flustered. Dragon whined. Snape glared again.
"Maybe I should let him outside." Harry suggested.
"That would be best." Snape agreed. Harry dragged Dragon out of the headmaster's office and closed the door on him.
"Sorry about that, sirs. He gets very claustrophobic sometimes." Harry lied. Snape glared at Harry. The boy shrugged.
Fudge intervened. "I'll hear no more about this." He mumbled to himself. "I don't know why Dumbledore trusts you." He raised his voice. "Headmaster, since there is no more trouble about, I will be leaving."
"But wait…" Harry yelled. Snape grabbed Harry's shoulder and squeezed firmly. The boy shut up. As Fudge left the Headmaster's office, Dragon ran and attacked the minister. Snape let go of Harry to allow the boy to get his dog under control. Harry grabbed Dragon by the collar and pulled him back. "Sorry, Minister. He gets a little aggravated sometimes."
"It's alright, Harry. Good day." The minister bid Harry as he left.
The three conspirators left the headmaster's office and found Draco and Hermione looking defeated. As soon as they got out of earshot of the office, Snape began berating Harry.
"Why didn't you let me handle it? If you had just let me deal with things, we would have been able to get your beloved dog-father out of trouble. Now, they will never believe us when we claim he is innocent." Snape snapped.
Harry nodded silently. Draco bid goodnight to the professor, and they all headed up to the Gryffindor common room.