𝒄𝒐𝒐𝒍 𝒌𝒊𝒅𝒔 - pjo x hp

xviii. scars

"𝐎𝐅 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐄," Lupin breathed. "So simple... so brilliant... he cut it off himself?"

"Just before he transformed," said Black. "When I cornered him, he yelled for the whole street to hear that I'd betrayed Lily and James. Then, before I could curse him, he blew apart the street with the wand behind his back, killed everyone within twenty feet of himself — and sped down into the sewer with the other rats..."

"Didn't you ever hear, Ron?" said Lupin. "The biggest bit of Peter they found was his finger."

"Look, Scabbers probably had a fight with another rat or something! He's been in my family for ages, right—"

"Twelve years, in fact," said Lupin. "Didn't you ever wonder why he was living so long?"

"We — we've been taking good care of him!" said Ron.

"Not looking too good at the moment, though, is he?" said Lupin. "I'd guess he's been losing weight ever since he heard Sirius was on the loose again..."

"He's been scared of that mad cat!" said Ron, nodding toward Crookshanks, who was still purring on the bed.

"This cat isn't mad," said Black hoarsely. He reached out a bony hand and stroked Crookshanks's fluffy head. "He's the most intelligent of his kind I've ever met—"

"—Fuck off. Loki's better," Raya mumbled, somewhat swaying and delirious.

"Are you all right?" Black looked concerned.

"I'll be fine," Raya stretched. "This is nothing. I was clawed by a dragon once. Just last summer."

There was a moment of silence, before Hermione spoke, "Raya. I think we need to take you to the hospital wing. Quickly. Whatever spell you did, it drained you. You're becoming delirious."

"You don't believe me? Want to the see the scar?" she asked. Without waiting for an answer, Raya turned around slightly in Harry's hold, pushing her hair aside and dragging the back of her shirt down a bit, exposing her scar.

Everyone in the room gasped at the same time.

Raya managed a faint laugh, as she turned back around. "That's not even half of the scar. It curves all the way down to... here," she pointed at where it ended. She turned back to Sirius, "So this is nothing. I just need to wait it out, or eat some ambrosia. Second option isn't possible right now, so we're waiting it out. Anyways, the cat. He's the second best cat ever. Continue."

Black looked terrified for Raya, but he continued in a weak voice, "He recognized Peter for what he was right away. And when he met me, he knew I was no dog. It was a while before he trusted me.... Finally, I managed to communicate to him what I was after, and he's been helping me."

"What do you mean?" breathed Hermione.

"He tried to bring Peter to me, but couldn't... so he stole the passwords into Gryffindor Tower for me.... As I understand it, he took them from a boy's bedside table...."

Harry's arm on Raya tightened slightly, causing Raya to suppress a whimper.

"But Peter got wind of what was going on and ran for it." croaked Black. "This cat — Crookshanks, did you call him? — told me Peter had left blood on the sheets.... I supposed he bit himself... Well, faking his own death had worked once."

"And why did he fake his death?" he said furiously. "Because he knew you were about to kill him like you killed my parents!"

"No," said Raya, fighting to keep her head up, "Harry—"

"And now you've come to finish him off!"

"Yes, I have," said Black, with an evil look at Scabbers.

"Then I should've let Snape take you!" Harry shouted.