Till The End | h.p

full moon

Remus picks him up and ties his hands together pushing him ahead. Sam and Hermione follow closely behind and Sirius and Harry stand on either side of Ron standing him up as they all walk out of the tunnel.

"Sorry about the bite. I reckon that twinges a bit."

"A bit? A bit? You almost tore my leg off!"

"Well, I was going for the rat. Normally, I have a very sweet disposition as a dog."

Sirius looks ahead at Sam who is having a conversation with Hermione and she laughs at what the other is saying.

"How is she? Is she happy?"

Ron looks up at her, "She's been living with me and my family since she was six. We have lots of fun, me, her and my twin brothers."

He nods and Harry speaks, "She's really smart, incredibly brave. Can't tell you how many times she's saved my life."

Sirius looks to him and smiles brightly, "She's grown so much. Her mother used to send me pictures whenever she could. She's beautiful."

Without realizing what he was doing, Harry nods in agreement as he watches her smile. She has Sirius' smile. They make it out of the tunnel and it seems the Whomping Willow is docile. They set Ron down against the tree and Sirius walks away to look at the castle, Sam and Harry follow.

"It's beautiful, isn't it? I'll never forget the first time I walked through those doors. It'll be nice to do it again as a free man. That was a noble thing you did back there, Harry. He doesn't deserve it."

"Well, I just didn't think my dad would have wanted his best friends to become killers," Harry remarks.

"Besides, dead, the truth dies with him. Alive, you're free," Sam adds.

"I can understand if you choose to stay with the Weasley's and you, Harry, with your aunt and uncle, but if you ever wanted a different home-"

"What? Come and live with you?" Harry asks.

"Well, it's just a thought. I can understand if you don't want to."

Before either of them can answer Hermione calls for them. They turn quickly to see her pointing at the moon, which is now full and quite visible. Lupin looks at and he begins to painfully morph. Sirius runs up to him and holds him.

"Remus, my old friend. Have you taken your potion tonight? You know the man you truly are, Remus! This heart is where you truly live! Here!"

He puts his hand over his heart and Harry grabs Sam and pulls her down next to Hermione and Ron. Somehow Peter manages to undo his bindings and lifts Remus' wand. Sam pulls out hers quickly, "Expelliarmus!"

The wand flies out of his hand and he gives a creepy smile and wave before changing back into a rat and scurrying off. Harry tries to run after him, but Sam pulls him back as Remus yells and cries out in pain.

Sirius, still gripping onto Remus, yells, "Run! Run!"

Professor Lupin fully changes into his werewolf form and throws Sirius to the side. He begins to whimper and then releases a howl. He looks at the four of them and begins to charge towards Sam. Sirius jumps onto the professor in his dog form and bites at him.

Without hesitation or thinking, Sam yells, "Dad!"

Sirius turns to her quickly in surprise, but this leaves him vulnerable and Lupin throws him against a rock. Before he can charge at them again, a howl is heard from deep within the forest. Lupin takes off and runs after it. Sirius, clearly quite injured, begins to walk off. Sam and Harry run after him. They follow him down to the lake where he collapses. They crouch down beside him, as he lay unconscious.

Sam breaths out and sees her own breath, she looks across the lake to find it's freezing over. From above them a hundred dementors descend. They begin to inhale and suck out Sirius' soul before more descend and do the same to Sam and Harry. She watches as a small ball of light emerges from Sirius' mouth, Sam feels an overwhelming urge to scream.

"Harry! It's happening," she says urgently.

Another dementor swoops down and inhales from Harry who screams. Before she can stop it she faces the lake and slams her hands on the ground and lets out a heart crushing scream. The ice over the lake cracks and the ground begins to shake. Harry covers his ears and drops of blood pour out. They both look up and see a bright white stag from across the lake and an equally bright phoenix fly from behind the stag and straight towards the dementors. The stag produces a pulsing light that travels across the lake and together they push back each and every dementor. The ball of white light reenters Sirius. As the lights fade, Sam and Harry's vision grows darker and they fall to the ground.