The Lost Potter

The Rat be a Rat

"One...Two...THREE!"

The blue-white flash lit up the room as the spells hit their target. Scabbers was hoisted into the air and squirmed even harder. He twisted madly seconds before Ron yelled, and then the rat fell to the floor.

The next moment seemed to happen in slow and fast motion simultaneously. The tiny form grew full feet in seconds, yet you could see every vertebrae extending. The pointed face squished in and grew round, the limbs stretched but remained stout, and his beady black eyes gave way to wild blue ones. He was still a smaller figure looking worse for wear, but now human instead of rat.

"Well, hello, Peter," Lupin said pleasantly, as though rats regularly erupted into old school friends around him. "Long time, no see,"

"S—Sirius... R—Remus," Peter squeaked out, "Friends... my old friends..."

Sirius raised his wand but Remus quickly grasped his wrist and forced it downwards again. Remus instead spoke in a light, pleasant manner.

"We've been having a little chat, Peter, about what happened the night James and Lily died. You might have missed the finer points when you were squirming around—"

"Remus," Peter's eyes shifted rapidly," you don't believe him, do you...? He tried to kill me, Remus..."

"So we've heard," Lupin said more coldly, "I'd like to clear up one or two manners with you, Peter, if you'd be so—"

"He's come to try and kill me again!" Peter squeaked suddenly, pointing at Sirius with his middle finger as his pointer was missing, "He killed Lily and James and now he's come to kill me too....You've got to help me, Remus..."

Sirius's deathly eyes bore into Peter with hatred that could only be imagined.

"No one's going to try and kill you until we figure things out." said Lupin.

"Er— may I ask you something, Mr. Black— Sirius?" Hermione piped up once again as the tension grew exponentially.

Sirius jumped at hearing "Mr. Black", being vaguely reminded of his treacherous father and many disappointed teachers.

Hermione took this as acknowledgement and continued, "If you don't mind me asking, how did you get out of Azkaban, if you didn't you dark magic?"

"Thank you!" Peter nodded frantically at her, "Exactly! Precisely what I—"

Lupin silence him with a look as all attention turned towards Sirius.

"I had given up. I had just passed the decade mark, and while my innocence slowed down the insanity, that—that place, it breaks down everyone...I was ready to give in to it all when they locked her away." Sirius glanced briefly towards the unconscious Olivia, "Her words, they woke me up. She—she never deserved that hell. And so I decided I was going to get her out of there. The dementors can't see, you know... they feel their way towards emotions... But when I transformed, they couldn't see me. Like my emotions were less—less human, less complex, when I was a dog... So I did all I could to turn Liv into an animagus, too, so she could escape..." Lupin gave Sirius an amazed look, and Sirius chuckled with no emotion, "I did my best. I never knew if it would work... And then Fudge showed up and gave me the paper. I recognised the scoundrel instantly," Sirius bared his teeth at the smaller man, "And told Liv all about his crimes. The next morning, she could transform... We slipped out as soon as we could, and came here to keep Harry safe from Voldemort's true spy, Pettigrew... He was too close to Harry. One move, and he could deliver him to the death eaters... you wouldn't have to be scared then, would you?" Sirius turned his attention towards Peter, "After all, no one could say you betrayed Voldemort if you brought him Harry."