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"What sort of animal --?" Harry began, but Hermione cut him off.
"That was still really dangerous! Running around in the dark with a werewolf! What if you'd given the others the slip, and bitten somebody?"
"A thought that still haunts me," said Lupin heavily. "And there were near misses, many of them. We laughed about them afterwards. We were young, thoughtless -- carried away with our own cleverness."
“I sometimes felt guilty about betraying Dumbledore's trust, of course... he had admitted me to Hogwarts when no other headmaster would have done so, and he had no idea I was breaking the rules he had set down for my own and others' safety. He never knew I had led three fellow students into becoming Animagi illegally. But I always managed to forget my guilty feelings every time we sat down to plan our next month's adventure. And I haven't changed..."
Lupin's face had hardened, and there was self-disgust in his voice. "All this year, I have been battling with myself, wondering whether I should tell Dumbledore that Sirius was an Animagus. But I didn't do it. Why? Because I was too cowardly. It would have meant admitting that I'd betrayed his trust while I was at school, admitting that I'd led others along with me... and Dumbledore's trust has meant everything to me. He let me into Hogwarts as a boy, and he gave me a job when I have been shunned all my adult life, unable to find paid work because of what I am. And so I convinced myself that Sirius was getting into the school using dark arts he learned from Voldemort, that being an Animagus had nothing to do with it... so, in a way, Snape's been right about me all along."
"Snape?" said Black harshly, taking his eyes off Scabbers for the first time in minutes and looking up at Lupin. "What's Snape got to do with it?"
"He's here, Sirius," said Lupin heavily. "He's teaching here as well." He looked up at Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
"Professor Snape was at school with us. He fought very hard against my appointment to the Defense Against the Dark Arts job. He has been telling Dumbledore all year that I am not to be trusted. He has his reasons... you see, Sirius here played a trick on him which nearly killed him, a trick which involved me --"
Black made a derisive noise.
"It served him right," he sneered. "Sneaking around, trying to find out what we were up to... hoping he could get us expelled...."
"Severus was very interested in where I went every month." Lupin told Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "We were in the same year, you know, and we -- er -- didn't like each other very much. He especially disliked James. Jealous, I think, of James's talent on the Quidditch field... anyway Snape had seen me crossing the grounds with Madam Pomfrey one evening as she led me toward the Whomping Willow to transform. Sirius thought it would be -- er -- amusing, to tell Snape all he had to do was prod the knot on the tree trunk with a long stick, and he'd be able to get in after me. Well, of course, Snape tried it -- if he'd got as far as this house, he'd have met a fully grown werewolf -- but your father, who'd heard what Sirius had done, went after Snape and pulled him back, at great risk to his life... Snape glimpsed me, though, at the end of the tunnel. He was forbidden by Dumbledore to tell anybody, but from that time on he knew what I was...."
"So that's why Snape doesn't like you," said Harry slowly, "because he thought you were in on the joke? Presumably, he thought my father was in on the joke also - I would, in his situation."
A floorboard creaked behind Lupin, and Harry swore he saw the flash of a black sock. He blinked, and it was gone. He assumed it was his imagination but paled and felt his eyes widen as he came to a horrible realisation.
""You look just like your father". That's the first thing anyone says to me who knew them; that's all I hear about them. That's what he sees when he looks at me - the miniature version of the man he thinks tried to kill him. That day, when he dropped off the potion at your office when I was there, he might have had a flashback - like how I instinctively shiver whenever someone stomps on stairs above me in Hogwarts; it brings me back to my cupboard. I don't know how I'd react if I became a Professor and had to teach a boy that looked like my cousin. Probably a lot worse than he did," Harry muttered.
He was beginning to empathise with Snape. Harry still disliked the man, but he was currently higher in his estimates than Black and Lupin by a long shot. He noticed that Ron, usually never one to let an opportunity to criticise the Professor go by, was silent: Hermione's wand was covering both men, face set in a determined expression.
"You've just admitted you attempted to kill someone while you were still in Hogwarts. However, you expect us to believe you didn't kill twelve muggles and one of your friends less than ten years later and that you haven't returned to attempt to kill someone younger than your first attempted victim a further twelve years later?" Ron demanded, eyes narrowed. "You also expect us to believe that I'm somehow… what? The reincarnation of the friend you killed?"
Hermione scoffed and raised an eyebrow.
"You may have fooled him ," she stated, tipping her head in Lupin's direction, "but you won't fool us."
"What? I'm not saying he's Pettigrew - I meant the rat!" Black insisted, leaning forward while pointing at Scabbers.
Harry stared, mouth gaping, at the man before concluding that Azkaban had done a number on his sanity.
"I'm done. I thought I'd want revenge because you’re the reason my parents are dead. Now, I just think you're a pathetic liar that's had a few screws come loose from the time you spent in Azkaban, and I think Lupin needs to be taught how to recognise when he's being fed a sob story. Hermione, you cover the pair of them while I help Ron get out of here, then we'll look for a Professor to call for the Dementors - he should be sent back to Azkaban. If we see Professor Snape along the way, we might accidentally let it slip that you're here and it'll take us at least half an hour to find someone to call for the Dementors," Harry mused while pinching his nose before turning around to help Ron stand up.
"Harry! You can't - Scabbers is Pettigrew! He's the one who betrayed your parents," Black insisted, taking a step towards them, backing off again when Hermione jabbed him in the stomach with her wand. He thought he heard a second footstep, but no one else had moved.
DON'T! Call me Harry!" he snarled as his fists clenched. "Scabbers could transform into Lord Whatsit right this second, and I. Wouldn't. Care! How dare you try and foist the blame onto someone you killed? I hope we bump into Professor Snape - I'll even keep watch while he does what he wants to Black."
He was pleased to see Ron and Hermione nod in agreement, their noses twisted in disgust.
"No need, Potter. I'm already here," declared Snape, taking the Cloak off his shoulders. The lack of hatred in the Professor's voice when addressing Harry was a first. Then again, the man had just heard him disagree with Snape's former bullies, which would probably be enough to improve the Professor's opinion of him.
Severus opened the door to Lupin's office, the dose of Wolfsbane in his hand. He couldn't wait to see how the curse would force the wolf to have to leave - he knew the rumour circulated among the students, but he had reason to believe it was true, as there had been unconfirmed gossip amongst the Death Eaters that the Dark Lord was the cause of the DADA post being cursed. While he didn't want him to necessarily die , it wouldn't be too distressing if Lupin suffered from silver poisoning and had to leave.
He might get a night's sleep, undisturbed from nightmares of claws , teeth , growls , amber eyes and fearIamgoingtodie .
The office was empty. Severus huffed, looking around. His gaze was drawn to a large piece of parchment on the desk, which seemed to have things moving around on the sheet. Curiosity spiked, he strode to the desk, leaning down to examine it closer.
Lines.
Words.
Names .
It didn't take him too long to realise it was a map of Hogwarts. Based on the locations of the names of his colleagues and the students, he would bet it was enchanted to be accurate. He leaned even closer, nose almost touching the map, frantically searching. Not in or near the Hospital Wing, Great Hall, dungeons, any of the common rooms, the gree-
Remus Lupin disappeared off the map along the tunnel to the Shrieking Shack.
Lupin had no reason to spend the full moon there. The whole point of Severus brewing the Wolfsbane potion was to let him curl up in his office, out of everyone's way. The wolf hadn't even taken his last dose, so he wouldn't be in a human frame of mind this evening.
Unless…
He focused on the Gryffindor common room area of the map and wasn't surprised to not see Potter and his gang's names there. Severus cursed, unwilling to take the chance that the boy's luck wouldn't place him near a transformed werewolf. In fact, Lupin was probably going to help his old mate. Black would have kidnapped Potter, and his friends would have followed. The escapee could Stun them all, bring the wolf along and lock them all in together. The boy would die, Lupin's "condition" would become public, and he'd probably be put down. Black would have killed all his old "friends", and two other children dying would be an added bonus.
He turned, cloak swirling behind him as he raced out of the office. (The smoking goblet of Wolfsbane sat, forgotten, on the desk.) Severus ran, hoping he was wrong and the children were somewhere else the map didn't show or, failing that, he arrived in time to save them.
He cast Lumos as he ran walked towards the Whomping Willow. There was nothing something shimmering on the ground in front of the moving tree. He picked it up and shook it out. He had a hunch, so he threw the shimmery cloak over his shoulders and looked down.
So that's how Potter got gets around unseen, he mused, running the edges of the Invisibility Cloak through his fingers. Severus cast Wingardium Leviosa at a stick and directed it with his wand towards a knot in the moving tree's trunk. It froze, allowing him to slide down the tunnel revealed. Lit wand held over his head, trying to catch a glimpse sound of Potter, Black and Lupin. He crept along the tunnel, hoping he wasn't too late.
He could hear growls voices in the room at the end of the tunnel. The rickety door would inevitably make some noise when pushed open, but he'd come too fat to turn back. Severus pushed the door open and slipped inside quickly, barely avoiding Lupin as he went to check on the creaky door. It appeared that he'd interrupted the wolf's story.
There were was three one human child ren in the room, one un transformed werewolf, Black and the Weasley boy's pet rat. Potter and Granger appeared unharmed, but Weasley seemed to have a broken leg. Black was staring at him the frightened pet rat, and Lupin was telling the sob story of how he came to be a werewolf, all under Potter and Granger's wand point.
Severus had to throw up his Occlumency shields to prevent himself from panicking. (1) He was in the Shrieking Shack with Lupin a werewolf , but he was an adult now, not a terrified teenager. Three teenagers counted on him to be in the right headspace to help them. Hopefully, Black would reveal his guilt, and he could be sent back to Azkaban. If what the wolf had just stated was true, he'd be going back due to being an illegal Animagus anyways.
Severus was horrified listening to Lupin's tale of how the illegal Animagi and werewolf used to sneak around Hogwarts during the FULL MOON ! It was a miracle he'd been the only one to encounter the werewolf.
Well, the wolf felt guilty. That made everything better. For the first time ever, Severus agreed with Lupin about one thing: he was a coward. At least he'd admitted his mistakes to Dumbledore and was trying to make up for them. The wolf kept quiet and continued to make the same mistakes.
Obviously, Severus had wanted to get them expelled: if they had been, his life would have improved dramatically. He certainly wasn't petty enough to dislike Potter Senior merely because he was good at Quidditch. The constant bullying, cursing, and name-calling may have been a cause for his dislike.
Severus was one second away from removing the cloak (though judging from the way the boy's gaze flicked towards where his shoe was, his foot may have been revealed when he shifted his weight to stop the creaking floorboard), except Potter managed to use his brain to come to a semi-intelligent conclusion. He had to apply a sharp pinch to his arm before he would accept he wasn't dreaming. The comment he made about teaching a child that looked like his cousin was insightful and worrying.
The former, because it showed Potter was able to think about someone other than himself. The latter, because it evoked the feeling that the two of them may have had a more similar childhood than should have been possible. Dumbledore had insisted the boy was spoiled by a suitable family, and it was his job to ensure Potter didn't have his head too swollen from all the praise and coddling.
Admittedly, that last bit was his interpretation, not a direct quote.
Weasley also revealed that he owned a brain and (even more surprising) knew how to use it. Severus wasn't sure if his heart could withstand the not/almost/maybe panicked state, along with the sudden revelation of the student's intelligence levels being higher than anticipated. He was sure he'd have a stroke if Ms Granger revealed herself to have the intelligence of a troll.
Thankfully for his heart, she didn't.
Though he may have spoken too soon. Now the three students, whom he would have sworn hated and blamed him for everything wrong in their lives, were defending him. Severus cast a non-verbal detection charm to see if they'd been cursed or under compulsions. They weren't, and the spell got the same result from Black when it was cast on him after the mutt blurted out that Weasley's pet rat was his deceased-of-twelve-years former friend Pettigrew. He had to force himself not to laugh when the boy declared Black had had a few screws loosened during his incarceration.
It seemed like Potter the boy had a cruel streak sense of humour, he mused. Severus was especially pleased when the boy declared he'd leave Black to his (nonexistent) tender mercies. While lost in thought of what he'd do to the mutt, he lost track of the situation. His belated attempt to step forward to protect the boy from Black meant the sound of his footstep was out of sync with anyone else's. However, it seemed to pass unnoticed by the Shack's other current occupants.
He took off the Invisibility Cloak when he announced his presence. (If his tone was the kindest it had ever been while doing so, Severus was confident no one had noticed). He pointed his wand at Lupin and saw Granger's wand move to cover Black.
"Snivellus! Never could keep your nose out of other people's business, could you?" jeered Black, who'd finally removed his attention from Weasley's pet to indulge in his favourite pastime: insulting him. Potter Jr sneered grimaced.
"Somehow, any pride I may have felt at knowing my father helped create that map (no matter how useful it is) is overwhelmed by the shame of knowing the type of person he was and who he hung out with. It seems like the dearly departed Mister Pettigrew may have been the best out of your group," the boy declared, sighing, "Come on, Hermione. Let's leave Professor Snape to it while we bring Ron to the Hospital Wing. He can handle one half-starved convict and one… werewolf". The boy's voice trailed off, and horror swept through Severus.
The office - the map - seeing Lupin's name - running out of the office - leaving the Wolfsbane potion BEHIND .
"You dunderhead! I didn't think you had it in you to run out here without taking your last dose of Wolfsbane after what happened the last time a non-Animagus was with you during the full moon, but I was mistaken! Potter, Granger, get out! Help Weasley! I'll follow you along," Severus declared, moving to keep Black and Lupin within the aim of his wand while giving the children a clear run to the exit.
"What about you, Snape? Why haven't you got the potion with you?" Lupin growled, eyes momentarily flashing amber. He suppressed the shudder his body wanted to show, flashes of clawsteethgrowlseyes making it past his Occlumency shields.
" I was the one who brought it to your office. You were the one who decided to go gallivanting down here to reunite with your old mate before potentially engaging in a spot of child murder or two. You haven't got a leg to stand on," he snarled, hearing two pairs of footsteps walk (and one limp) out the door.
When he noticed their eyes follow the children, he cast a non-verbal Immobulus on the biggest threat in the room. That done, Severus ducked under the brown curse Black shot at him, sending a Stupefy as a reply, which hit its target.
"Stay," he sneered at an amber-eyed Lupin. He thought for a moment before hitting the wolf with a Stupefy to buy them more time. Mobilicorpus lifted Black off the ground as he turned to follow the Marauders children.
He exited the tunnel in time to watch as the rat bit Weasley ("Bloody he-Scabbers! Come back!") and made a break for freedom. The boy and Granger attempted to comfort him. Still, Severus had more important things to worry about than an escaped pet: the ground was frosting over as the air grew unnaturally cold. He cursed and ignored their startled jump.
"Get to the castle!" he bellowed, his attention turned towards the sky.
Dementors.
A hundred, at least.
Severus was never so glad of his ability to instil instinctive obedience in the students than he was when he heard three pairs of footsteps growing quieter by the second.
Black chose that moment to jolt into consciousness, taking him out of range of the Mobilicorpus and sending him crashing to the ground. Severus would have had a biting insult about clumsiness any other day when there weren't a hundred Dementors getting closer by the second. He was glad he was between the children and any potential pursuit. The mutt got up, looked around and spotted the Dementors. With a - whine? whimper? - Black turned into a dog and sprinted away at top speed.
Thankfully for Severus and the children, most Dementors seemed to have noticed Black assuming his Animagus form. At least eighty turned to follow the mutt, leaving twenty Dementors undeterred from their original course. His hopes had gone from "delay them for a few seconds" to "buy the children every second possible to reach the castle".
He focused on the happiest memory he could - Of course, I'll be your friend Severus .
"Expecto Patronum," he shouted; the doe erupted from his wand and felt a tiny bolt of hope as she engaged one - five - ten Dementors.
Unfortunately, that still left ten Dementors free.
"Look at Professor Snape," Hermione moaned when they reached the castle door. Harry stopped - she had decided they were far enough away to be safe for the minute, and he trusted her judgement - dragging Ron, turning so they had a view back the way they'd come.
They could see most of the Dementors had broken away to chase… a dog? ("That's Black," murmured Ron when he noticed the direction of his gaze), but there were still some that glided towards the Professor. He yelled something, and a silvery doe charged towards the creatures. Harry glanced at his friends, dropped Ron's arm and bolted back towards Professor Snape.
"Harry!?!" yelled Ron.
"Get inside! I'm going to help him!" he yelled back. He had to reach him in time; he could help.
He was at least three minutes away from the Professor when his Patronus blocked ten Dementors; he had only knocked twenty seconds off that when the remaining Dementors floated around the doe. Harry begged his legs to go faster and his lungs to breathe deeper, but they didn't.
He was two minutes away when Professor Snape collapsed to the ground (the man's wand fell from his grasp, and the doe winked out of existence), and the Dementors swooped over the Professor's prone form.
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