✓ | Constellations; Fred Weasley [Book One]

Chapter 22

The Werewolf

"No!" Pettigrew cried. The man fell down on his knees, crawling towards Sirius and begging him.

"Sirius - it's me, it's Peter, your friend... you wouldn't..."

"There's enough filth on my robes without you touching them," Sirius said. Pettigrew then turned towards Remus.

"Remus! You don't believe this. Wouldn't Sirius have told you if they'd change their plan?"

"Not if he thought I was the spy Peter," Remus replied, then looked over to Sirius, "I assume that's why you didn't tell me, Sirius?"

"Forgive me, Remus." Sirius did look guilty.

"Not at all, Padfoot, old friend and now will you, in turn, forgive me for believing you were the spy?"

"Of course. Shall we kill him together?"

"Yes, I think so."

Venus knew that it was wrong. She needed to stop the both of them before they really do murder the true traitor.

"You wouldn't, you won't..." Pettigrew seemed to be at a loss for words. Desperately trying to save his life, he went up to Ron.

"Ron, haven't I been a good friend, a good pet? You won't let them kill me, Ron, will you? You're on my side, aren't you?"

"I let you sleep in my bed!" Ron spat out, clearly repulsed by the man.

"Kind boy, kind master, you won't let them do it... I was your rat. I was a good pet."

"If you made a better rat than human, it's not much to boast about, Peter," Sirius told him.

Pettigrew then turned to Hermione and clutched the hem of her robes.

"Sweet girl, clever girl, you - you won't let them... help me... "

Hermione was horrified and backed away from the man. Pettigrew slowly turned towards the only other girl in the room. He fell onto his knees in front of Venus.

"Venus," he breathed out, "you look just like your mother... I was her best friend... she would never have let me get killed. Please help me..."

Venus noticed Sirius stalking forwards, towards the grovelling man in front of her. However, before either Remus or Sirius could come to her rescue, she spoke out.

"I think you have your facts wrong, Pettigrew," she spat out in disgust, shocking everyone in the room. "I look like my father more than I do, my mother. With what right, do you come to talk to me about my mother, you traitor? Besides, if my mum were here, which she is not because of you, she would have killed you already!"

A silence spread over the room at her words. No one had expected the girl with a heart of gold was capable of speaking such vile words. Her tone had shocked them. Her father, however, smirked at her, clearly showing how pleased he was that she stood up for herself. Pettigrew recoiled and instead, turned to the last person who could be of his help.

"Harry... Harry, you look just like your father, just like him... "

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO HARRY? HOW DARE YOU FACE HIM? HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT JAMES IN FRONT OF HIM?" Sirius was beyond angry, but Pettigrew still tried to beg for his life.

"Harry... Harry, James wouldn't have wanted me killed... James would have understood, Harry... he would've shown me mercy..."

Sirius and Remus grabbed Pettigrew and shoved him onto the floor. The latter was terrified.

"You sold James and Lily to Voldemort. Do you deny it?" Sirius asked, hand clutching the wand so tightly that his skin was turning white.

"Sirius," Pettigrew was bawling, "Sirius, what could I have done? The Dark Lord, you have no idea... he has weapons you can't even imagine... I was scared, Sirius, I was never brave like you and Remus and James. I never meant it to happen. He Who Must Not Be Named forced me -"

"DON'T LIE! YOU'D BEEN PASSING HIM INFORMATION TO HIM FOR A YEAR BEFORE LILY AND JAMES DIED! YOU WERE HIS SPY!" Venus could feel Sirius getting more furious and impatient by the second.

"He - he was taking over everywhere! Wh-what was there to be gained by refusing him?"

"What was there to be gained by fighting the most evil wizard who has ever existed? Only innocent lives, Peter!"

"You don't understand! He would have killed me, Sirius!"

"THEN YOU SHOULD HAVR DIED! DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!"

"You should have realised," Remus said, strangely calm despite all the ruckus, "If Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. Goodbye, Peter."

For a second, Venus felt like killing Pettigrew was the right thing to do. The traitor deserved it, in her eyes. Then she realised that by doing so, both Sirius and Remus would be sentenced to Azkaban and no one would really know of their innocence or that Pettigrew was the traitor. Fortunately, Harry yelled 'no' just in time, and asked for the two marauders not to kill the man grovelling on the ground. Of course, Sirius tried to get the boy to change his mind and Pettigrew was a bit too happy to be left alive. However, finally the latter was bounded by ropes, chained to Remus and Ron, on both sides.

Getting back to Hogwarts grounds, was a challenge to the group since the tunnel was narrow, and they had to constantly watch over Pettigrew as well as Snape, who was still unconscious and floating forwards in mid air. Venus was walking in front of everyone, with Crookshanks in her arms. The cat leapt up and pressed his paw to the knot on the trunk, causing the branches of the Whomping Willow to still, and allowing everyone to go up without getting hurt by the tree. Venus made small talk with Ron and Hermione as they walked slowly up to the castle, while Harry was with Sirius, probably discussing the plans which involved the said boy moving into Sirius' house. Venus, being his daughter, was a given that she would be staying with her father onwards and Harry, being his godson could live with him too, but this depended on the boy. Venus was sure that he would not give it a second thought. He had never been treated well by the Dursleys after all.

Midway to the castle, the cloudy sky cleared up. Venus smiled at the moon. Only when she thought that it looked beautiful, did she realise that it was, in fact, a full moon. Everyone stopped in their tracks. Horrified, she turned around.

Remus' face contorted in pain as his body started twitching. Hermione and Sirius were yelling that they needed to run for it, but Venus could not look away as Remus' size doubled and his nails were turning into claws. Venus had never felt so scared in her life. She was feeling a sense of impending doom

"Leave it to me - RUN!" Her father yelled before transforming into a huge, black dog and tried to get the werewolf's attention.

It seemed as if everything was in slow motion. Venus was dazed from all the panic and pressure she was feeling. She saw Pettigrew stunning Ron with a charm and yet, when she tried to get her wand to disarm the man so that he would not get away, her hands trembled like leaves. It was as if she had forgotten how to breathe. Her throat felt clogged. She saw Pettigrew pointing at her with the wand he had stolen from Remus, and with a bang, everything turned dark.