Finally ; Harry Potter [1]

Chapter 25

"Turn me into a maggot. A dung beetle. A Flobberworm! Anything but the Dementors..." Peter begged as he exited the Whomping Willow into the harsh night, Lupin following after, his wand pointed at Pettigrew's back.

Ron then limped out, his face showing nothing but pain while clinging on to Robyn and Hermione for support. Snape hovered after, his head lolling from side to side.

Finally, Sirius and Harry emerged from the tree, trailing behind.

"Don't worry. He's under the Somnambulist Charm. It's primarily used to transport the seriously deranged." Hermione said, mainly to Robyn and Harry whose eye's kept flickering over to their unconscious Professor.

Harry and Robyn nodded.

Harry turned and saw Sirius staring in wonder at the twinkling lights of Hogwarts.

"Go!" Robyn said, noticing Harry was looking at Sirius. "We have Ron." Robyn smiled reassuringly.

Harry hesitated but walked up to Sirius after watching Robyn and Hermione lower Ron to lean against a rock.

"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." Sirius said, a ghost of a smile lighting up his face. "That was a noble thing you did back there. He doesn't deserve it."

Harry studied Pettigrew briefly, then looked away.

"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 admitted, feeling quite ashamed he had spent most of the year wanting to kill his own godfather.

Sirius was moved by Harry's words. "I don't know if you know, Harry, but when you were born, James and Lily made me your guardian..." Sirius explained.

"I know."

"And, well, I'll understand if you choose to stay with your aunt and uncle, but, so you know, you could --"

"When! Come live with you?" Harry interjected, his eye's alight with excitement. He would much rather live with Sirius then his wretched aunt and uncle.

"Soon as my name's cleared..."
Harry looked at Hogwarts, the castle looking breathtaking against the darkness of the sky. The castle seemed to glow. It was Harry's home. Harry grinned, so did Sirius.

Suddenly, Hermione's voice filled the air, quivering with fear. "Harry..."

Harry turned, seeing Hermione and Robyn looking at the glowing full moon. His eye's flickered to Professor Lupin, who stood rigid, his fingers twitching.

"Remus, old friend... did you take your potion tonight?" Sirius asked, concern leaking from his words as he took a few steps closer to Remus. Lupin, still twitching, shook his head.

Pettigrew's eyes darted, taking in the situation. He slowly shifted from noticing Lupin's wand trembling in his expanding hand.

"Run. All of you. Now." Sirius yelled but none of them moved. They stared, transfixed. Robyn felt the hair's on the back of her neck rise. She never dreamed she would be witnessing her Professor slowly and painfully turn into a Werewolf. She wanted to laugh at the situation and what she used to dwell on but her throat was dry and no sound came out.

Bristles of hair began to poke through Lupin's extremely pale skin and his eye's held nothing but excruciating pain.

Sirius stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Lupin and pressed his mouth to his ear.

"You know the man you truly are, Remus. This flesh is only flesh." Sirius said, his voice coming out like a plea. It sounded desperate and slightly afraid.