The three walked through the narrow passageway, hunched over with dread building in their stomachs. For all they knew, Ron was gone for good. But never the less, the continued on, not knowing where they were being led or where they would end up.

y/n's mind continued to linger in the cold grey eyes of the dog that took Ron. There was no doubt in her mind that it was the same dog that had attacked her in the forest she was sure of it. And it must have been the same dog from the Quidditch match, and from that night in Little Whinging. It was becoming too pattern-like to be ignored, no matter how much y/n wish she could.

Soon, a light source came into view ahead of them. A very old rotting step ladder was perched against the side of the passage wall leading up to a trap door. There was only one way to go. Hermione was the first one to lead them out. Then Harry and y/n after him. y/n pulled herself up out of the ground and onto very old and dusty floorboards of an abandoned home.

The wallpaper looked ancient and outdated. It was peeling off the walls and had violent slashes strewn across it. Any furniture they saw had been ripped to shreds and the floor y/n was on was stained with something too familiar to blood for her comfort.

"We're in the Shrieking Shack," Hermione said, "Aren't we?"

y/n nodded, "Definitely seems like it," she said examining the torn up walls.

"Look," Harry said pointing to drag marks on the floor leading up the stairs. He and y/n exchanged worried glances, "C'mon." He led them upstairs, holding onto Hermione's hand to keep her clam whilst y/n took the flank.

As they ascended, more of Ron's cries came from further up the stairs. His wails made the three rush up as fast they could, desperate to find their friend.

They looked in every room as they went, but each only held ruined couches and smashed mirrors. Until they found one on the very top floor. Ron was sitting on an ancient looking couch clutching onto Scabbers who wouldn't stop wriggling around. His leg was bleeding profusely.

"Ron!" they all exclaimed as they rushed over to him.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked.

"The dog, where is it?" Harry asked in a hurry.

"Harry! y/n! It's a trap! He's the dog! He's an animagus!" Ron shouted like a madman, pointing behind them.

Slowly, the three of them turned around. They followed the footprints the dog left until they stopped at a pair of feet.

Human feet.

Standing hidden behind the door was a man. Or at least what looked like one. He was wearing torn up old rags as clothes which were grey and white striped with a thin looking coat over them. His skin was pale as a ghost and clung to his bones. His ribs were visible at his chest which adorned runic and intricate tattoos. In fact, he was covered in them. His face looked like a skeleton. With hollow cheeks and sunken eyes with a dark cast around them. His beard was rough and his hair was matted, but his dead grey eyes with a glint of madness were what told y/n who he was.

Sirius Black.

y/n's breath hitched and she held onto her wand so hard that her nails dug into her palm. Hermione jumped in front of Harry in an effort to shield him.

"If you want to kill Harry you'll have to kill us too!"

Black didn't even flinch, "No, only one will die tonight," he said in a husky and damaged voice.

"Then it'll be you!" Harry jumped out from behind Hermione and leapt at Black, tackling him to the ground. He pulled out his wand and pointed it straight at Black's neck.

"Are you going to kill me Harry?" he said, almost sadly.

But before Harry could cast any spell, the doors to the room burst open.

"Expelliarmus!" Professor Lupin cried, aiming his wand at Harry. His wand flew out of his hands and looked up at Lupin in surprise. He gestured for Harry to move and he did so quickly, leaving Black on the ground defenceless and at the receiving end of Lupin's wand.

"Well, well, Sirius," he began, keeping his wand trained on the man, "looking rather ragged aren't we? Finally, the flesh reflects the madness within."

y/n couldn't help but think he was unusually calm. Lupin did have a calm disposition but something wasn't quite right. He used his first name like they were known to each other...

"Well you'd know all about the madness within, wouldn't you Remus?" Sirius replied, also very calmly.

Lupin stared down at him. "You two switched, and you didn't tell me," Lupin said and Black nodded, "It was him then, wasn't it? It's his fault." Sirius nodded again, but slower and with more anger growing in his expression.

"Professor Lupin," y/n interrupted, "What's-" But she couldn't finish her words. He let his wand arm fall and reached out a hand for Sirius to help him up. The pair embraced like brothers in a hearty and warm hug. y/n's stomach dropped as she watched in shock and horror.

"I found him! I found him!" Black mumbled over and over to Remus in excitement who nodded and agreed along with him.

"NO!" Hermione shouted stepping forward in a rage, "I trusted you! And all this time you've been his friend. You've been helping him into the castle. He's a werewolf! And he wants you both dead too!" She shouted at Harry and y/n.

y/n locked eyes with Professor Lupin, the man she had grown to trust with her life, enough to share her deepest and darkest fears with. She felt sick to the stomach realizing that she had been sharing her life with a man who wanted her dead.

Lupin's face "How long have you known?" Lupin asked slowly.

"Since Professor Snape set the essay," Hermione said, backing away from him slightly.

"Oh he'll be delighted to hear that," Lupin said with sarcasm, "He set that paper hoping someone would find out.

"Wait," y/n began, "The wolfsbane I made, that was for you! Wasn't it!" y/n shouted.

"Yes y/n, and I do thank you for that," Lupin said.

"Don't bother," y/n spat back, "I can't believe I was helping someone who was helping a mass murderer! Had I known what you were I would have never trusted you!"

"Oh please," Black butted in, "You weren't even helping him in the first place! You were just doing whatever your dear Professor Snivellus told you to, like the dumb little Slytherin you are." An evil smirk grew on his face, "Must run in the family."

"Don't say a word against my family!" y/n hissed back.

"Well there's not much left to offend is there?"

y/n lunged forwards in a rage, attempting to punch the living daylights out of Black, but even in his post-Azkaban shape, he was far stronger than her. He got a hold of her hands and pushed her around so he had a firm grip on her middle. He had taken her wand and was pointing it at her neck.

Oh shit.

"Enough of this, let's just kill 'em," Sirius said angrily.

Oh shit.

"Sirius just wait-" Remus said

"I did my waiting! Twelve years of it! In Azkaban!" Sirius yelled making y/n even more scared.

The room was quiet for a moment. Remus looked between Harry and Sirius. He made eye-contact with y/n who only glared back with pure loathing at the man she once trusted with her life.

"Fine, kill him," Remus said and y/n struggled in Sirius' arm but to no avail, "But wait one more moment Harry deserves to know why."

"I know why," Harry spoke up, "You killed my parents. You're the reason they're dead!"

"And mine are probably gone because of you too, you fucking bast-" but y/n couldn't finish when her wand in Black's hands was pushed hard against her neck.

"No Harry it wasn't him who betrayed your parents but someone did. And it was someone whom until quite recently I thought to be dead," Remus said.

"Who was it then?"

"Peter Pettigrew!" Sirius yelled.

Then out of the corner of her eye, y/n saw a flash of black robes on the stairs outside. She looked again to see Professor Snape approaching the room they were all in. The pair made eye contact and Snape saw the conundrum y/n was in. He moved his head slightly to the side and y/n nodded ever so slightly in understanding.

"Come out Peter! Come out, come out and play!"

Snape then came bursting onto the scene aiming his wand at Black. y/n moved her head to the side to give Snape a clear shot at the escapee and Snape disarmed him "Expelliarmus!"

y/n's wand went flying into the air. In the shock of the moment, Sirius let go of y/n giving her a chance to break free. She caught her wand as it fell and immediately aimed it at Black by Snape's side.

"Ah, vengeance is sweet," Snape said, his wand trained on Black's face, "How I hoped I'd been the one to catch you."

"Severus-" Remus tried to intervene but Snape only turned his wand on him.

"I told Dumbledore you were helping an old friend into the castle and now look. Here's the proof."

Black was not fazed in the slightest by the pair of wands pointed at him, "Brilliant Snape. Once again you put your keen penetrating mind to the task and as usual, come to the wrong conclusion. Now, if you excuse us Remus and I have some unfinished business to attend to." Sirus tried to approach Snape but ended up with a wand at his neck.

Snape started in a low and deadly tone, "Give me a reason, I beg you."

"Severus don't be a fool," Remus said.

"He can't help it its habit by now,"

"Sirius be quiet!"

"Be quiet yourself Remus!"

"Oh listen to you two, quarrelling like an old married couple!" Snape mocked.

"Why don't you run along and play with your chemistry set!" Sirius spat but Snape's wand only dug further into his neck.

"I could do it you know. But why deny the dementors they're so longing to see you." Snape said. y/n saw Sirius's expressions darken as he backed away.

"Do I detect a flicker of fear?" y/n said stepping forward, her arm extended and her wand out, "The murderer is cowering at the mere idea of a dementor, it's almost laughable," y/n said through gritted teeth.

"l/n stay out of this," Snape said.

"He attacked my father burnt my house down and tried to kill me! I'll do whatever I damn well please!" y/n yelled back at her Professor, not bothering to stay civil at this point.

"And more jumping to conclusions! She really is your student Severus," Sirius seemed amused by y/n's accusations and it only made her madder.

"You tried to kill me in the forest and you know it!" y/n said, "I would have killed you myself then had I had the chance!"

"Likewise," Sirus sneered back.

"Witty as ever Black," Snape said, "I wonder if the dementors will partake in your humour when I hand you over to them. One can only imagine what it's like to endure the Dementor's Kiss. It's said to be unbearable to simply witness but I'll do my best." His voice was dripping with venom and hatred. He pointed to the door. "After you."

y/n saw Harry slipping Hermione's wand out of her pocket but before she could react-

"Expelliarmus!" Snape went flying through the air and into the dusty old bed in the corner of the room.

y/n whipped around and saw the enraged boy who was obviously not thinking straight.

"What the hell Harry!" y/n yelled, keeping her wand pointed at Sirius, "We've just lost our best chance of getting out of here."

But Harry wasn't listening, "I need to know, y/n!" he yelled pointing his wand at the two men, "I need to know the truth."

Lupin held up his hands "Look, we're unarmed. WIll you listen now?"

y/n stood confused. Was this a trick?

"If you hadn' been helping him," Harry pointed his wand at Black, "Then how did you know we were here?"

"The map," he said, "The Marauder's Map. I was in my office examining it-"

"You know how to use it?" Harry asked suspiciously

"Of course I know how to work it," Lupin said impatiently, "I helped write it. I'm Moony, it was my friend's nickname for me in school."

"You wrote-"

"Harry that's not important!" y/n said also growing impatient.

"The point is," Lupin began again, "I had a feeling you four would sneak out to go down to see Hagrid before Buckbeak was executed. And I turned out to be right." Lupin began to pace up and down the room, "You went down to Hagrid's and about 20 minutes later I watched you come back up towards the castle. Only this time, you brought someone back with you."

"What? No, we didn't!" Hermione said.

"I thought I was seeing things, thought the map must be malfunctioning," Lupin said, "And then I saw another person approaching you: Sirius Black. I saw him collide with you and drag two of you down under the Whomping Willow-"

"One of us!" Ron interrupted angrily.

"No, Ron. Two."

Lupin looked intently at what was writhing in Ron's hands, "Ron, could I have a look at that rat?" he asked evenly.

"What's Scabbers got to do with anything?" Ron asked, "He's been in my family for-"

"Twelve years" Balck interrupted, "Awfully long life for a common garden rat."

"Except that's no rat," Lupin said.

"What d'you mean - of course, he's a rat!"

"He's not. He's a wizard."

"An Animgaus," said Black, "By the name of Peter Pettigrew."

There was a short silence before Ron said what everyone was thinking.

"You're both mental."

"Pettigrew's dead!" Harry said, "You killed him!"

"I meant to," Black said savagely, "But little Peter got the better of me! But not this time."

Sirius made for the rat in Ron's hands, squirming to break free. Ron tried to stuff his pet back into his jumper but the rat wouldn't stop wriggling.

"Sirius wait! We have to explain!" Lupin said holding his friend back.

"We can explain after!"

"Sirius no! You must wait! Harry - Harry has a right to know!"

Sirius stopped his struggle, glaring intensely at the rat, "Fine, but make it quick. I want to commit the murder I was imprisoned for."

"You're both nutters!" Ron said. y/n saw his grip on the rat weaken. In a panic, she pointed her wand at him.

"Ron, do not let go of that rat!" she yelled and Ron's hand clamped tightly shut around Scabbers again. He looked down the length of the wand in fear. Quickly, she directed it back to Lupin and Black. "We have to hear them out," she began. y/n was desperately hoping that Lupin was telling the truth. She wanted nothing more than for him to be a good man worthy of the trust she had given him, "We need the truth."

------)OOO(------

Yet another update for you lovely bunch! 

I have a question for you all regarding the story, specifically, how it's written. 

Do you like the third person perspective (she, they, him, ect)

Or would you prefer a first-person perspective? (I, me, mine, ect)

Tell me what you think so I'll know when I begin writing the fourth book. (Which I've finished planning :) )

Have a good day loves! 🖤

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