The Boy Who Fought: OC X Hermione

The Truth About Pettigrew

"After you." Snape said, as Carson took his wand out. "Stupefy!" He shouted as Snape flung and hit the wall, passing out.

"Carson Marshall! You attacked a teacher!" Hermione shouted at him, horrified.

"How do you know Pettigrew?" Carson asked, not paying attention to Hermione's lecture right now.

"He was at school with us. We thought he was a friend." Lupin explained to the four.

"No. Pettigrew's dead. He killed him." Harry said, pointing to Black.

"I thought so, too. Until you mentioned seeing Pettigrew on the Map. Carson is right, he is that rat."

"The Map was lying then" Harry defended.

"The Map never lies. Pettigrew's alive. And he's right there. Ron give us the rat." Black said, getting to business.

"Scabbers? Scabbers has been in my family for.."

"Thirteen years. A curiously long life for a common garden rat. He's missing a toe, isn't he?" Black said, looking at the picture from the daily prophet over the summer of the Weasley's in Egypt.

"So what? That doesn't make him a rat!" Ron yelled, hiding the rat.

"All they could find of Pettigrew was his..." Harry started, Black cutting him off.

"Finger. Dirty coward cut it off so everyone would think he was dead. Then he transformed into a rat."

"Show me. Ron give them the rat." Harry said, as Carson and Hermione watched the whole exchange, Carson holding onto her protectively.

Lupin and Black turned to Ron, him being wary of the whole situation.

"What are you going to do to him?"

"Make him show himself. If he isn't a person, the spell won't harm him." Black explained, Ron giving them the rat.

"Together." Lupin said, muttering the spell.

Soon, instead of a rat, there was Peter Pettigrew. Carson was right. Pettigrew was scabbers.

"S-Sirius... R-Remus. My old friends." Pettigrew said in a horrid voice.

"Harry! Look at you! Y-you look just like your father. Like James. We were the best of friends, he, and I..." Pettigrew started, clinging onto Harry's leg.

"Shut up!" Black yelled.

"I didn't mean to! The Dark Lord, you have no idea the weapons he possesses! Ask yourself what you would have done, Sirius. What would you have done!" Pettigrew yelled out, Black and Lupin glaring at him.

"Died! Died rather than betray my friends! And you should have realized, Peter, if Voldemort didn't kill you..." Black started, Lupin finishing, "We would."

"No... please... you can't..." Pettigrew begged, finding Ron.

"Ron! Haven't I been a good friend? A good pet? You won't let them kill me, will you? I was your rat..." Pettigrew cried out, as Ron looked disgusted.

"Sweet girl. Clever girl. Surely you won't let them..." Pettigrew started, but being cut off by Carson slamming his foot into him.

"Don't you dare go near her!" Carson shouted, bringing Hermione closer to him.

Both men brought their wands up to Pettigrew, ready to kill him. As they started the incantation for the killing curse, Harry intervened.

"No!" he shouted, gaining the attention of everyone in the room.

Lupin and Black looked at him in shock. "Harry, this man..." Lupin started.

"I know. But if we take him to the castle we can clear your name Sirius! You can be free!"

"Bless you boy! Bless you!" Pettigrew cheered, Harry stopping him.

"Get off of him! He said we'd take you to the castle. After that, the Dementors can have you." Carson said, Pettigrew cowering in fear.

"Turn me into a maggot. A dung beetle. A Flobberworm! Anything but the Dementors..."

Ron emerged from the whomping willow and back into the Hogwarts grounds.

"Ron! Haven't I been a good friend? A good pet? You won't let them kill me, will you? I was your rat..."

Ron drew back in disgust, ashamed he had this rat for so long. Next, Hermione emerged with a sleepwalking Snape bumping into tree branches. Hermione turns to Carson and pecks his cheek.

"Don't worry. He's under the Somnambulist Charm. It's primarily used to transport the seriously deranged."

"You really are the brightest with of our age." Carson praised, Hermione blushing at the compliment given to her.

Pettigrew leaped over to Hermione and grabbed onto her. "Sweet girl. Clever girl. Surely you won't let them..." He started, Carson ripping him off of her and kicking him away.

"I said don't touch her! She's one thousand times better than a traitor like you!" Carson defended Hermione as she took his hand in hers.

The group starts to make their way back to Hogwarts, admiring the view on the way. "Beautiful, isn't it? I'll never forget the first time I walked through those doors. It'll be nice to do it again. Freely."

"That was a noble thing you boys did back there. He doesn't deserve it." Lupin said, as Pettigrew looked away from his old friends.

"I don't reckon my father'd want his best friends to become killers for a worthless piece of vermin like Pettigrew. Besides: Dead, the truth dies with him. Alive... you're free." Harry explained to the men.

"I don't know if you know, Harry, but when you were born, James and Lily made me your guardian... and Carson, I'm your godfather as well." Sirius explained. Carson looked utterly confused, his parents had never told him.

"I know." Harry told Sirius.

"Remus...did you know?" Carson asked, considering his family saw Remus a lot. But Carson had to be professional all year, so personal things like these never happened.

"Yes...but Steven and Mary forbade me to tell you." The professor answered, Carson definitely needed to talk with his parents when he came home.

"And, well, I'll understand if you choose to stay with your aunt and uncle, but, so you know, you could" Sirius was interrupted by Harry eagerly agreeing.

"Come live with you? When!" Harry asked, overjoyed at the news.

"As soon as my name's cleared."