Icy Heart #wattys2017

The Truth Always Comes Out

By breakfast the next day, the rest of the school had returned, making it harder and harder for Icy to speak to Harry in private. But around noon, she pulled him into a broom closet while Hermione, Ron and Harry were walking to their next class.

"Sh... It's just me," she whispered, pulling her hand off of his mouth, and taking a seat on a box of cleaning supplies. "I found a cage that we could use to trap Peter, in this really amazing room. I call it the Room of Requirement. Have you asked Flitwick for charms yet?"

"He told me about this one... Repugno Incantatum. It should work to stop animagi from transforming. Professor McGonagall wouldn't tell me anything, though," Harry said.

"We have a spell to trap him then. Want to cut class with me and see if it'll work? Scabbers is probably asleep in your dormitory." Icy grinned, ready to open the door to the broom closet and lead Harry to the Room of Requirement.

"Okay," he said nervously, and followed her all the way to the seventh floor. "Now what?"

"Just wait," Icy told him, and she paced the hallway. A small door appeared on the wall, making Harry gasp. He opened the door cautiously, revealing an incredibly large room, filled with alleys and roads of precariously stacked items.

"What the hell, this isn't how I remember it... It was much smaller before..." Icy looked around slowly.

"Look at all this stuff!" Harry exclaimed, perching a dusty wig atop Icy's head. "We're sure to find a cage here."

"But what is this place?" Icy asked, "Last time I was here, there was a bedroom and a little common room..."

"It's brilliant here, Icy. Look, there's a cage right there! It doesn't even matter that the old room is gone- look at all these books! Hermione would go crazy-" Harry was overexcited by the objects surrounding him. "Is that a Silver Arrow broom?"

"Calm down, Harry," chuckled Icy, grabbing the small cage that he'd pointed out.

"We have a whole hour until History of Magic ends," realized Harry, grinning widely. "Come, explore with me!"

"Fine," Icy laughed, following him. They found potions, sparkling evilly, broken chandeliers, wardrobes, shattered mirrors, invisible goblets, even a glowing tiara with blue gems in it. Harry was absolutely amazed by this room.

"I've walked by that tapestry three times before, and I never found this place," he said, as they walked through the corridors leading to the Gryffindor Common Room.

"You have to be thinking of it, I assume," Icy muttered. "When I was thinking of a place to shelter and help me prove Sirius's innocence, The room with a bedroom and supplies appeared. But when I was thinking of a place to find something that I've hidden- I hid the cage under the bed- that room showed up."

"It's amazing. We need to show Hermione and Ron," the two reached the portrait hole, and climbed in.

"Repugno Incantatum," Icy shouted, flicking her wand at the cage. It glowed gold and then shrunk a bit. "Can you fetch Peter, Harry?"

Harry smiled excitedly at the prospect of living with Sirius and Icy rather than Petunia and Vernon and Dudley. He walked into his dorm, and said, "Scabbers, Ron's sent me to get you."

Peter crawled towards him obediently, and Harry brought him down the stairs, straight to Icy.

Peter squirmed and bit Harry's hands as he was shoved into the cage. "Stop trying to transform, Peter. There's a charm on this cage." Icy latched it shut, and for extra safety, she locked it with a charm. "You're going to Azkaban, Peter. For the rest of your life."

Harry held his hand out for the cage, and Icy shook her head. "We'll take him to Dumbledore, together."

Icy looked down at her watch, "History of Magic is over, Harry. Ron will be back any minute now-"

As if it was answering Icy, the portrait hole swung open, revealing Ron and Hermione.

"There you are Harry! We were so worried! You just disappeared- What are you doing with Scabbers, Peverell?" Ron snapped at Icy.

"His name is Peter," she responded, and tugged on Harry's hand. "Come on Harry."

"We're going to see Dumbledore, Ron. I'll explain when I get back..." Hermione gave Icy a disappointed look.

"We'll come with you," Ron shot a glare at Icy. "Explain on the way."

"Fine. Just hurry up. I want to get this over with- I want Sirius back," sighed Icy impatiently, sliding out of the portrait hole. She was followed by the Golden Trio, and Harry began to explain.

"When they were in school, Sirius, my dad, and Pettigrew all decided to become animagi, for whatever reason. Sirius was a dog, that Grim I've been seeing, my dad was a stag, and Pettigrew was a rat. You know how the story is, Pettigrew cornered Black, and then Black killed him and those muggles..."

"Yeah, go on, Harry," urged Hermione.

"Well it was the opposite. Sirius cornered Peter in the street, and with his wand behind his back, Peter blew everyone up, cutting off his own finger," Icy continued for him. "He transformed, and fled into the sewer with the other rats, until he found your family, Ron. And he's stayed hidden with you in his rat form for twelve years."

"You know how Scabbers has been losing fur, and getting skinnier? It's not because of Crookshanks. It's because he heard that Sirius escaped," they reached the gargoyles guarding Dumbledore's office, just as Harry finished.

"Shit. I don't know the password," Icy cussed, when a cough came from behind them. "Oh- Er- Hello Professor Dumbledore!" her voice had gotten at least an octave higher as she noticed the old man behind her.

"Hello, Miss Peverell, Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley, Mr. Potter. You've been telling quite an interesting story," said Dumbledore. "Blood Lollipops," he said, and the wall slid open, revealing a staircase. "Follow me."

The four followed the old man into his office, where he instructed them to sit down. "May I have that cage, Miss Peverell?"

Icy passed the cage with the rat to Professor Dumbledore, who opened it, and pulled the creature out.

He murmured a spell, forcing Peter to transform. A fat, balding man in his mid-thirties materialized in the room, and Icy practically jumped for joy.

"Miss Peverell, if you would fetch Mr. Black. Miss Granger, Professor McGonagall, Mr. Potter, Professor Lupin, and Mr. Weasley, Professor Snape?"

The four nodded, leaving Dumbledore and Pettigrew alone in the office.

"The truth always comes out, Mr. Pettigrew," said Dumbledore slowly...