Oh, Merlin

10.0

Morgan's hand shook as she pointed her wand at him. He stood defenseless, her having yelled 'Expelliarmus' as she entered the building, as he stared at her. Both knew who the other was but neither knew what the other was to them.

"Morgan put your wand down." Hermione's voice shook as she spoke, hands held up in surrender.

Lupin lowered his head, refusing to make eye contact with her.

"W-Why should I put my wand down?" Morgan muttered, "he k-killed Harry's parents."

Harry spoke this time, his voice was still but laced with panic. "No, he didn't-"

"How can you defend him?" Morgan's voice cracked, as she looked over her shoulder to the brown haired boy. "He told Voldemort where your parents were hiding. He was your fathers best friend."

"Morgan, please just l-"

"I'd never tell anyone where you guys were hiding..." Her voice trailed off, eye's starting to water. "I'd rather die."

Harry nodded to show his agreement before he slowly but surely made his way over to her. She blinked a few times, causing tears to trail down her face and leave a track of salty water on her cheeks, her unoccupied hand reached up to wipe them away. When he finally stood in front of her, her wand lowered beside her, giving him the chance to reach out and gently take her hand in his, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"Just let us explain."

So she sat in the shrieking shack, asked questions and absorbed the story. It took twenty minutes, but by the end of it, everything was clear. Morgan was overrun with emotions, everything from relieve to immense sorrow and heartbreak. Sirius Black had been wrongly imprisoned all this time, slowly rotting away in Azkaban, while Peter lived with the Weasleys. How must he have felt?

"Also, I must own up to something else," Sirius said, breaking Morgan from her trance. "I'm Max."

"What do you mean, you're Max?" Morgan asked, eyebrow arched and head tilted.

"Well, as you know, I'm an animagus." Sirius explained, "and I happened to stumble across you one day and became your pet." He shrugged.

"So, that's why Max is always so dirty!" Morgan exclaimed, pointing a finger at him.

"Yes, because I'm dirty."

A thought crossed Morgan's mind, causing her to look down at her wrist. "So... the bracelet is from you?"

Black nodded, approaching to look at the bracelet. "I snuck it in when I gave Harry his Firebolt."

Morgan hummed as she examined the small silver charm, rolling it between her fingers. "Well, thank you."

Harry felt it was now appropriate to step in, looking from the dog to the two people in front of him. "She never takes it off, the bracelet I mean."

Morgan looked up at him, a small blush on her cheeks. "Well, it's important to me."

They conversed for a while more, Sirius asking about the golden snitch hanging around her neck, before deciding to head out.

"Y'know, the first person I want to see is Professor Potter. I m-"

Sirius was abruptly cut off by Harry, who had turned as white as a sheet, "professor who?"

"Potter, Professor Potter." Sirius replied, looking between the four pale third years.

"Uh, Mr. Black there is no Professor Potter..." Hermione muttered, eyes flicking between him and Harry.

Meanwhile, Morgan tried to catch Lupin's eyes. He was avoiding her gaze once again, head bowed and hands fiddling with each other.