Alexandra Dursley {Golden Trio}

Chapter 31 - Out in the Open

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 Al put out her wandlight and remained concealed in the passageway. After about fifteen minutes, Snape revealed himself and entered the room that the voices had come from, so Al crept up the stairs behind him, careful not to be spotted. She knew Snape when he was like this - interfering and the like. If he caught her it would be game over, no matter of her intentions or house.

 There was a series of shouts and thuds before Al reached the entrance to the room and hid behind the door. She almost gasped at the sight - Lupin was bound with ropes on the floor and Snape had his wand to Sirius's throat. She would've intervened then and there, had Snape not said he planned to take Sirius alive. To be fair, she could see why he'd tied Lupin up. He too understood Lupin to be a werewolf and while his method of restraint was unorthodox, it would be efficient. Lucky for Lupin, Al had remembered the potion.

 Harry, who Al noted was stood with Hermione next to the bed Ron was sat on, was now shouting at Snape, who had grabbed the cords binding Lupin and had made his way to the entrance. Then, in seconds, the trio had each cast an expelliarmus, launching Snape to the other side of the room. The suddenness of it made Al jump, "Oh Lord!" and she revealed her hiding spot. Harry raised his wand at her, then lowered it after seeing who it was.

 Her attention wasn't on Harry though - it was on Lupin. She shot a cutting charm at the cords and he stood up wearily, "Thank you, Al," he said with a weak smile.

 But Al still kept her wand trained on him. "Go and stand by that wall. Now," she ordered. Lupin looked confused at first, but obeyed purely because she was armed. Keeping her wand on him she crossed the room to collect a blanket from the bed.

 "Al-" Hermione began, but Al shushed her.

 "Shut up for once, Granger," she warned, "Or I'll have to kill him. Would you rather I did that?" Hermione shook her head, looking confused and scared - the same as everyone else. To be fair to them, she probably looked worse than Snape at the minute, threatening to kill Lupin and all. Ah well, it had shut her up.

 Quickly Al hung the blanket over one of the windows in the room, which had a faint crack in the boards. If any moonlight had got through there - well, she dreaded to think. Keeping her wand up at all times, she tossed Lupin the bottle of potion, "Drink it," she ordered. He didn't need telling twice. He gulped down the bottle and Al finally lowered her wand. "Who knows?" she asked Sirius, before pulling up a chair next to him and surveying the scene.

 "We've explained it between us," Sirius said, indicating himself and Lupin.

 "You know?" Lupin asked, surprised and amused, as he was by most things.

 Al only nodded, when Harry spoke up, "Al what's going on? Have you been in on this the whole time?" He sounded hurt and upset. Bless. "What was all that about?"

 "Professor Lupin is a werewolf. And Snape's been brewing Wolfsbane potion for him, but he forgot to take it today - that's what was in the flask. And as for the window, there was a gap. A single shaft of moonlight would have resulted in one very nasty transformation. And I've known since just before Christmas," she said. Three blank faces stared at her, "Would you like me to explain?" Harry swallowed, thinking, and then nodded.

 "It was back when I borrowed your cloak that I found out Sirius here was an animagus," she started, "I found this book in the restricted section on becoming one, and inside was a picture of your Dad with Black, Lupin and Pettigrew. I didn't know that at the time of course," she added.

 "You've got a picture of my Dad?" Harry asked, looking more upset, "Can I see it?"

 "Well, I don't have it on me," she said, "But yes, you can have it if you want."

 "Oh get on with it!" Sirius moaned next to her.

 "You can be quiet! I've spent the last six months trying to help you, you can wait a bit longer," she scolded him.

 "Thirteen years-" he began.

 "And six months I've had to hear about it! Harry's the one with no parents and I don't see him complaining!" The room fell silent, "Right," Al said, "So I figured out that Professor Lupin was in the picture about the same time I figured out he was a werewolf-"

 "When Snape set the essay," Hermione interrupted.

 "Yes. Then," Al continued, "So I asked him about it and he confirmed my suspicions. Then, when I overheard that conversation with the Minister, something didn't add up. If Black had blown up Pettigrew, why were there blood-stained robes for everyone to see? They should've been blown up too. So I did some more research, and being an animagus is just advanced transfiguration, you see? If you don't concentrate or you aren't very good, you won't do it right. You might, for example, leave your robes behind."

 Hermione gasped, "So Pettigrew is an animagus!"

 Al rolled her eyes at being interrupted. "I bumped into Sirius on one of my morning runs and gave him the chance to prove he was innocent. Which he is." She finally finished triumphantly. Four faces looked at her, stunned that she'd figured it out, and Sirius proudly clapped her on the shoulder.

 "Now," he said, "Shall we get on with it?" He approached Ron and Pettigrew on the bed.

 Ron clutched the rat close to his chest, "Come off it! How did you even know this was Scabbers!" Black produced the newspaper clipping he'd showed her when they'd set up the tent. They began talking about how Pettigrew faked his own death and was the one who gave up the Potters. Al stayed quiet, having heard it all before.

 "Now you've come to finish him off!" Harry said, snapping Al out her trance, "And you two are helping him!"

 "Harry, think logically," Al said calmly, "We grew up together - when have I had the time to become a death eater while we were growing up?"

 "I don't know - maybe it's just while you've been in Slytherin!" he spat.

 "You're in Slytherin?" Sirius asked, mild surprise on his face, "I always assumed you were a Gryffindor."

 "People always say that," she replied automatically.

 "Don't you see Harry?" Lupin said, getting back on track, "We all thought Sirius was the Secret Keeper, when really it was Peter all along!"

 "THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Harry shouted, "HE CONFESSED BEFORE YOU ALL CAME ALONG!"

 "I said they were as good as dead," Sirius explained, "I persuaded them to switch to Peter. I blame myself." Al let out a long sigh and she noticed Lupin had the same look on his face. Why did Sirius have to be such a drama queen?

 "Enough of this," Lupin announced, stepping forward, "We can see for sure. Ron, give me that rat." Reluctantly, Ron handed the rat over. Lupin and Sirius cast a spell and sure enough, there stood Peter Pettigrew. Living and breathing. Al felt very smug.

 Lupin and Black started explaining what was going on to Pettigrew, who stood there cowering in fear. Al had half a mind to finish him off there and then. But no, she decided Sirius could have this one. The pair were about to kill him when Harry jumped in front. Al rolled her eyes. "My Dad wouldn't have wanted his best friends to become murderers," Harry argued. How would he know that? "The dementors can have him."