The Lost Potter

We're going to be in so much trouble

"Severus— you've got to hear me out— look at the rat!" Sirius croaked, feeling extremely panicked at the sight of the knocked out Olivia. But Snape looked beyond reason, with a malicious glinting his eyes.

Harry, in a split second, walked over and planted himself in front of the door, staring at the battered Snape defiantly.

"Get out of the way, Potter, you're in enough trouble anyway," snarled Snape, "If I hadn't been here to save your skin—"

"Professor Lupin could have killed me around a thousand times this year." Harry deadpanned, "I've been alone with him loads of times, having defence lessons against the dementors. If he was working with Black, why would he have finished me off then? And if Sirius Black is the murderer everyone says he is, why has Olivia only been harmed by you?"

Snape seemed unprepared but didn't back down, "Don't ask me to fathom the way a werewolf's mind works. And undoubtedly Black was planning on keeping her as a ransom, if not for other reasons. Now get out of the way, Potter."

"YOU'RE PATHETIC! JUST BECAUSE THEY MADE A FOOL OF YOU AT SCHOOL YOU WON'T EVEN LISTEN—" Harry yelled, but an angrier Snape cut him off.

"SILENCE! I WILL NOT BE SPOKEN TO LIKE THAT!" Snape shrieked, "Like father, like son, Potter! I have jut saved your neck; you should be thanking me on bended knee! You would have been well served if he killed you! You and your sister would have died just like your parents, too arrogant to believe you might be mistaken in Black— now get out of the way, or I will end you. GET OUT OF THE WAY POTTER!"

Harry had no time to process what he was saying. In a split second dash, Harry had snatched and raised his wand at Snape. And in another snap decision he, Hermione, and Ron, all cast Expelliarmus towards Snape. The potions Professor was slammed against the wall once again, this last impact just enough to know him out. His wand arced towards the bed and landed peacefully next to Crookshanks.

"You shouldn't have done that." Sirius told the trio, barely louder than a whisper, "You should have left him to me."

The trio looked at the innocent murderer in shock. Hermione muttered, "We attacked a teacher...we attacked a teacher... Oh, we're going to be in so much trouble—"

On the ground, Lupin was struggling against the ropes that bound him. Sirius dashed to him and quickly untied him before dashing over to Olivia. He ignored the stares from the trio as he checked to make sure she was breathing and untied her.

"Thank you," Lupin said the the students as he tuned his sore arms.

"I still don't know if I can believe you." Harry revealed, looking downwards as to try not to show disrespect. His thoughts were in a battle to see who would win out with confusion covering them all.

"Then it's time we offered you some proof," Remus extended his hand towards Ron, "Now, Ron, give me Peter please. Now."

Ron clutched Scabbers closer, "Oh come off it. You're saying that he escaped Azkaban to just go after Scabbers? And there are plenty of rats, how's he's supposed to know which one after being locked up so long?"

"You know, Sirius, that is a fair question," Remus turned towards him, "How did you find out where he was?"

Sirius had slipped off his jacket to create a pillow for Olivia's head, but stopped the folding for a moment to pull out a very crumpled newspaper clipping, which he straightened out and held out to show the others. It was, of course, the pictures of the Weasleys in Egypt, which featured Scabbers perched on Ron's shoulder.

Lupin was thunderstruck, "Where did you get this?"

"Fudge. He visited and gave me the paper. I knew right when I saw him—I'd seen him transform so many times—and then it said the boy was returning to Hogwarts—to where Harry was— and where Liv had been—"

"My God," Lupin had snatched the picture from Sirius and looked from it to Scabbers, "His front paw..."

"What about it?" Ron said defiantly, studying the paw himself as Scabbers squirmed.

"He's got a toe missing," Black pointed out.

"Of course," Lupin breathed out, "So simple—so brilliant— he just cut it off himself?"

"Just before he transformed," explained Black, "He yelled how I had betrayed Lily and James for the whole street to hear, set off the explosion, and then scurried away."

"Didn't you ever hear, Ron?" Lupin asked, growing more and more excited, "The biggest part they ever found of Peter was his finger."

"He probably just fought another rat or something. He's been in the family for ages—"

"Twelve years, right?" Lupin butted in, "Ever wondered why he lived so Ron? And why he's been losing weight ever since Sirius escaped?"

"We take good care of him! He's just been scared of that mad cat!" Ron defended, blaming Crookshanks.

"That cat is not mad," Sirius replied, "He has been duty-bound to retrieve Scabbers because Olivia asked him to. He's extremely intelligent and knew instantly what Liv and I were." Sirius expanded a bit, looking towards the now propped-up Olivia again, "But Peter caught wind of this, and Crookshanks reported to me that he had faked his own death, I guess if it had worked once..."

The wording seemed to jolt Harry awake as a vengeful thought overthrew his questioning of what Sirius meant, "He only faked it because he knew you were there to kill him just like my parents! And now you've come to finish him off!"

"Yes, I have," Sirius looked gravely at Scabbers, and even spooked Lupin with how gaunt he looked.

"Then I should've let Snape take you!" Harry shouted.

"Harry," Lupin said hurriedly, "don't you see? All this time we thought Sirius betrayed your parents, and Peter tracked him down, but we've had it backwards! Peter betrayed your mother and father, and Sirius tracked down Peter."

"THAT'S NOT TRUE. HE SAID HE WAS THEIR SECRET KEEPER JUST BEFORE YOU SHOWED UP. HE SAID HE KILLED THEM!" Harry yelled, pointing an accusatory finger at Sirius once again.

Sirius shook his head slowly and croaked out, "Harry...I as good as killed them. I persuaded them to use Peter as a secret-keeper instead of me... I'm to blame, I know it.... the night they died I was going to check on Peter, make sure he was safe...but when I arrived he'd gone with no sign of a struggle. I set out for your parents' home straight away. And when I saw their house, destroyed, and their bodies... I realised what Peter must've done... what I'd done..." His voice shattered as he hung his head, feeling frustrated at how easily the sorrow still overtook him.

"Enough of this! There's only one way to prove what really happened. Now Ron, give me that rat!" Lupin snapped, a steely tone in his voice.

Ron replied tensely, "What are you going to do with him if I give him to you?"

"Force him to show himself," said Lupin, "If he's really a rat, this won't hurt him."

Ever so slowly, Ron held out Scabbers. The rat twisted and squirmed, its eyes bulging out of its head, squeaking bloody murder.

"Ready, Sirius?" said Lupin.

Sirius had grabbed his wand back from the floorboards and stood next to his childhood friend. His glistening eyes burned with rage, but his voice still held the brokenness.

"Together?" He whispered.

"I think so," Lupin held Scabbers tightly in his right hand, his wand firmly in the other, "One...Two...THREE!"

~~
I have so much respect for Rowling rn. How did she manage all of this????

Anyway, please leave feedback and I hope you enjoyed!