MAGIANIMA // Hermione Granger

Lupin's Lycanthropy

An Animagus. It took a few seconds for the nonsense of the claim to set in but when it did, Atlas stumbled backwards, dislodging herself from Hermione and testily pacing across the room, hands rubbing at the back of her neck, itching nervously at her scars, until, a firm hand stopped her. She looked up, seeing the nervous eyes of her father staring back at her and when - and only when - he had confirmed she'd stopped her nervous itching, he let go.

"You're both mental!" Ron yelled and Atlas snapped her gaze over to him.

"Peter Pettigrew's dead!" Harry exclaimed, face going an odd shade of red. "He killed him twelve years ago!" He pointed at Sirius whose face twitched up into a scowl.

"I meant to," he growled, "but little Peter got the better of me...not this time, though!"

Atlas was knocked out of the way and Crookshanks was thrown to the floor as Sirius lunged at Scabbers. Ron yelled with pain as Sirius's weight fell on his broken leg and Atlas scrambled to help her friend, grabbing her dad and pulling him off of the boy.

"Sirius, NO!" Lupin yelled, launching himself forwards and helping Atlas in her mission, "WAIT! You can't do it just like that -- they need to understand -- we've got to explain --"

"We can explain afterwards!" Sirius snarled, clawing his way forward as he tried to reach for the squealing rat still held firmly in Ron's grasp. Atlas grit her teeth and shifted her arms beneath her long-sleeved shirt and jacket, offering her more strength as she pulled.

"They've -- got -- a -- right -- to -- know -- everything!" Lupin panted. "Ron's kept him as a pet! There are parts of it even I don't understand, and Harry, Atlas -- you owe them the truth, Sirius!"

With a final tug, Atlas pulled him back and, at once, he stopped struggling, his hollowed eyes still fixed on Scabbers the Mangy Rat, who was clamped between Ron's bitten, scratched and bleeding hands. "Calm down, dad...please."

"...All right, then," He said after a moment, tapping Atlas's hand on his shoulder, without taking his eyes off the rat. "Tell them whatever you like. But make it quick, Remus. I want to commit the murder I was imprisoned for..."

"You're nutters, both of you," Ron said shakily, looking around him for support. "I've had enough of this. I'm off."

Getting to his feet, Ron made for the door but Atlas quickly stood up and blocked his way, gaze stern and daring him to test her at that moment. "You're going to hear them out, Ron...you might be holding the rat that snitched to Voldemort and I'm not about to let you just slink away."

"What is wrong with you!? Your dad's the one that done it all!" Ron roared and Atlas glanced to the side of her, not knowing how to explain the feeling in her heart telling her Sirius was trust-worthy. It wasn't even out of denial, it was genuine and even if she tried to stop herself from protecting her father, she didn't think she would really be able to. As if her body had a mind of its own. 

"Just keep a tight hold on Peter while you listen," Remus tried, moving forward but Ron quickly retreated, far from him as best as his broken leg could take him.

"HE'S NOT PETER, HE'S SCABBERS!" He yelled, trying to force the rat back into his front pocket, but Scabbers was fighting too hard, wriggling under Atlas's glare. 

"There were witnesses who saw Pettigrew die," Harry said as he pushed Ron back to sitting on the four-poster. "A whole street full of them..."

"They didn't see what they thought they saw!" Sirius bit savagely, still watching Scabbers struggling in Ron's hands.

"Everyone thought Sirius killed Peter," Remus said, nodding. "I believed it myself -- until I saw the map tonight. Because the Marauder's map never lies, Amaya Magianima enchanted it that way herself..." Atlas looked to him, slightly startled by the news but when she saw the smile on his face, she knew it must be true, "--Peter's alive. Ron's holding him, Harry."