Just like Brothers

Chapter 39

Ron, Harry and Hermione all shared a look, they must be mad, there's no way Ron's rat could be a man that died twelve years prior.

Ron was the first to speak, "You're both mad."

"That's absurd," Hermione commented.

"Peter Pettigrew died twelve years ago," Harry said, "he killed him," he pointed a finger at Sirius Black who was twitching as he stared at the rat in Ron's hands.

"I meant to," he snarled, "but little Peter bested me, not today, oh no, I will kill him."

He shot off the bed, landing on Ron's broken leg. Ron cried out in pain but it didn't seem to matter to Black, he was madly trying to pry the rat from Ron's grasp.

"Sirius! No!" Lupin shouted, grabbing Black by his hair and dragging him off the young boy. "You cannot just do it, we need to explain, they need to understand."

"We'll explain after," Sirius twisted to get out of Remus Lupin's grip.

However he was unsuccessful, Lupin was much taller and stronger than him.

"We explain now," Lupin said in a tone Harry had never heard before, it was stern and dangerous. "You owe Harry the truth, Sirius."

Black stopped struggling, however his eyes were still fixated on Ron's scratched and bloody hands and the rat inside.

"Alright then," he muttered, "tell them the story, but make it quick, Remus. I want to commit the murder I was imprisoned for."
     
Ron attempted to get up but Lupin raised his wand towards the boy.
    
"If you don't want to hear me out, fine, but keep a tight grip on Peter while I speak." Lupin warned. "Sit down, you need to rest your leg."
     
Ron returned to his spot on the floor and Lupin began speaking.
    
"There were muggles who claimed to see Peter die," Harry said, "a whole street of them, are you saying they all lied?"
    
"They didn't know what they saw!" Sirius spat, his eyes still glued on Ron's rat.
    
"Everyone thought Sirius killed Peter," Lupin agreed, "even I did until I saw him on the map tonight, and the map doesn't lie. Peters' alive, Harry, Ron is holding him."
    
"But Professor, Scabbers can't be Pettigrew. It can't be true, you know it can't." Hermione tried talking sense into the weary professor.
     
"And why is thank, Hermione?" Lupin asked with a gleam in his eye.
     
"Animagi must be registered in the ministry. People would've know if Peter Pettigrew was an Animagus, he wasn't registered as one. I did a report on Animagi for Professor McGonagall, I looked up the records for my homework, there's only been seven Animagi this century! Peter Pettigrew was not one of them!" Hermione looked triumphant.
    
"Was I?" Sirius asked.
     
"What?" Hermione turned towards the worn down man, there was a glint in his eye.
    
"Was my name on the list?" The man asked gleefully.
     
"No," Hermione admitted, "no it wasn't."
     
"Exactly," Lupin smirked, "like Sirius, Peter Pettigrew and James Potter were unregistered Animagi. Werewolves are dangerous to humans but not animals, when James, Sirius and Peter were transformed, they could be with me during my transformations."
     
"Remus, if you're going to tell the whole story, get a move on.  I've already waited twelve years, I will not wait much longer." Sirius huffed.
    
Remus Lupin rolled his eyes, "fine, but you have to help me, I only know the beginning."

"Hurry on with it, old man," Sirius complained.

"Have you seen yourself lately?" Remus retorted. "Well I guess this all starts when I became a werewolf. I was a very small boy when I got bit. My parents tried everything but in those days there was no cure. Now, Professor Snape brews me a potion each month that keeps me subdued. I can just curl up in my office and wait for the moon to pass. Before the Wolfsbane potion was discovered I transformed into a full fledged monster. I didn't think I would ever be able to attend Hogwarts, but when Dumbledore became Headmaster, he said with certain precautions followed, there was no reason I couldn't come to school." Lupin sighed, "the Whomping Willow was planted because I came to Hogwarts, this house and the tunnel that leads to it were created for my use. Once a month I was smuggled out of the castle to transform."

Harry listened intently as Lupin told his story. He knew where it was going but decided to hear the man out.

"My transformations were horrible back then, but despite that I was happier than I had ever been before. For the first time I had three great friends, Sirius, Peter and, your father, Harry, James. My friends of course were suspicious of my disappearances once a month, and my excuses stopped working after awhile. Like you, Hermione, they eventually unveiled the truth. Instead of deserting me, what I feared would happen, they did something that would make my transformations not just bearable but the best times of my life, they became Animagi."

"My dad too?" Harry asked.

"Yes, indeed," Lupin smiled, "it took them nearly 3 years to figure out how to do it. Thankfully for me, James and Sirius were the brightest students in the school, they became Animagi with no issues, Peter however needed more help from them."

"Hurry up, Remus," Black snarled, jittering with impatience.

"Alright, alright, I'm getting there." Remus waved off his old friend. "Now that the boys were Animagi, so many more possibilities opened up, soon we ventured out of the shack and roamed around the grounds and the village."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Hermione looked appalled, "someone could've gotten hurt."

"And on multiple occasions they almost did," Remus sighed, "we were young and reckless, blinded by our own accomplishments. This year I've battled with telling Dumbledore that Sirius was an Animagus. I had convinced myself that he was getting into the castle on his own behalf, I guess in a way, Professor Snape was in the right mind to be wary of me."

"Snape?" Sirius spat, looking away from Scabbers for the first time, "what does he have anything to do about this?"

Harry was curious as well, he knew Snape went to school with Sirius and Remus, but why had Sirius Black reacted the way he did to the mention of the Potions Master.

"He's here," Lupin said, "he teaches Potions."