SABAISM | H. POTTER

EIGHTEEN. | THE INDISPUTABLE TRUTH

"You shouldn't be acting such a way," Black unsure reprimanded his daughter; perching to unfasten his struggling husband, "You should have left him to me."

    But Gemini Lupin-Black, assiduously pushed too far in her emotional upheaval, persisted to be deaf to the first words her mother had directed at her in over a decade. Culling, instead, to keep at pulverizing the benumbed Severus Snape, who lay vanquished and vulnerable on the cold, stone floor.

    "Gemini Lily," Remus admonished, standing tall; now unfettered by former bonds and fears, "I understand your overwhelming chagrin, but you must listen to Sirius. And stop this aggressive attack on a Professor, at once!"

She, respiring laboriously, halted the onslaught, alright. Stopped only to curlicue around with defiance, pointing her wand threateningly at her parents, her emerald eyes aflame with indignation.

"Cub -," the battered werewolf startled, only to be instantaneously interjected by his incensed offspring.

"Understand my chagrin, do you? Do you?," she hissed; scowling at the man who had once been her guiding light, "No, actually, I don't quite believe you do. Picture this. Draco and I, after indulging in our weight of shepherd's pie, dispatch to your office to...to spend the night with you. Just as we had joyfully planned. Only to discover the door left ajar, with an untouched potion and the Marauders Map adorning your escritoire like a mocking ghost. If it hadn't been for Draco's level-headed choice to inspect the map, in an act of desperation that saved me from my fury, I'd have burnt the castle down in my relentless search for you. But you see, that alternative is still very much on the table. Because while you haven't been slain, you've so obviously had a sinister curse placed upon you."

    "Gemini," Remus brokenly whispered, a deep sadness clouding his eyes as he beheld the lass' distrustful figure, as she visibly tightened her hold on her wand as if it were a lifeline. "I am terribly sorry that I worried the two of you. But please, hear and pay attention...because you couldn't be any more wrong."

And Draco, who'd antecedently been meticulously checking in on their friend's well-being, stealthily stalked to Gemini's side, wand stationed, once more, an unyielding ally. Inquiring, "Pray tell then, Father. Exactly how are we amiss?"

The atmosphere grew suddenly intense, as they all neglected Sirius Black's incredulous hiss of "Father?"

    "Firstly, Cub," Remus sighed deeply, watchful of his cut-to-the-quick son, "As I've explained an exorbitant amount of times, it is Dad. You call me Dad, not Father. Secondly, your friends are, at this time, well aware of my, uh, condition. Though, apparently, Mr. Potter heretofore knew. Thirdly, I assure you I've not been kidnapped, nor have I been placed under any spells, I swear on my honor."

    "Then what the actual fuck are you doing? This isn't logical, this isn't you! You wouldn't do something like this of your own free will. Not to us, not to me," Gemini hissed; glowering as best she could with such watery eyes brimming with torment.

"You're correct, Gem," Remus assured softly, "The only acceptable reasoning behind me being in cahoots with your Mother, the only logical reasoning, is if he was innocent. Which he is."

But his backing had yet to crack the cold, obstinate exterior of his daughter. "Stop lying to me," she unevenly requited; making a valiant effort to crush the burgeoning hope in her chest. "I'm not being untruthful with any of you," Lupin stressed, "Because I, too, until just a moment ago, believed my mate to be a disreputable, heinous slayer." The lioness, hastily sparing an expeditive glance at her Mother, probed deeply, "Well then, what changed?"

    "Peter Pettigrew did, Gem," Harry Potter spoke up, his voice laced with worry as he stared at the girl, wishing for nothing more than to comfort her from her growing turmoil, "Your dad says that you were right...that the map isn't ever wrong. And the ratiocination as to why we detected him on the parchment and not before us? Because he's an Animagus. More specifically...a rat."