Fear of a Name

Chapter Seventy-One: The Dementor's Kiss

"Sirius?" I said, trying to mentally prepare myself for all of the different answers he might give me.
"Yes, Ivory?"
"I've got a question about the necklace..." I started chewing anxiously on my bottom lip.
"Go on..." he said, sounding a little confused.
Harry and Hermione slowed down a bit to give us some privacy.

I sighed.
"I've been getting these nightmares," I started to explain. "Every time I have one, the necklace goes ice cold. They feel like they've happened before in real life... I was just wondering whether they're real or false memories..."
He turned to face me, worry etched into his gaunt face.
"What have these nightmares been about?"
"A girl," I said quietly. "The same girl every time, being tortured by my mother and father. E-except for the first one... in that one, she—" I stopped suddenly, not able to bring myself to say it. I could tell that Sirius knew what I meant.

There was a silence, in which Sirius seemed to be trying to think of the best way to answer. I didn't need him to, though. His silence had told me everything I needed to know.
"They — they're real, aren't they?" I muttered.
He nodded slowly.
"If they were false memories, the necklace would've got warmer," he said, as Snape's head hit a large bit of rock on the ceiling. Sirius and I both ducked under it.
"I guess now I've just got to figure out who it is, then," I said quietly. "I'm assuming either my father or my mother removed the memories in the first place, so they must be important..."

None of us spoke again until we'd reached the end of the tunnel. Lupin pulled a sort of lever type thing, which I guessed was to freeze the Willow from the inside, as he, Pettigrew, and Ron clambered upward without any sound of savaging branches. Sirius saw Snape up through the hole, then stood back for Harry, Hermione, and me to pass. At last, all of us were out.

The grounds were very dark now; the only light came from the distant windows of the castle. Without a word, we set off. Pettigrew was still wheezing and occasionally whimpering. My mind was spinning. The nightmares were real... they were real memories... memories that someone, most likely my father, didn't want me to see... and the girl in them was real...
"One wrong move, Peter," said Lupin threateningly, ahead. His wand was still pointed sideways at Pettigrew's chest.

Silently, we tramped through the grounds, the castle lights growing slowly larger. Snape was still drifting weirdly ahead of Sirius, his chin bumping on his chest. And then—
A cloud shifted. There were suddenly dim shadows on the ground. Our party was bathed in moonlight.
Snape collided with Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron, who had stopped abruptly. Sirius froze. He flung out one arm to make Harry, Hermione, and me stop. I could see Lupin's silhouette. He had gone rigid. Then his limbs began to shake.

"Oh, my—" Hermione gasped. "He didn't take his potion tonight! He's not safe!"
"Run," Sirius whispered. "Run. Now. "
But I couldn't run. Ron was chained to Pettigrew and Lupin. I hastily tried to find my wand, but it was lost in one of my many pockets. Harry leapt forward, but Sirius caught him around the chest and threw him back.
"Leave it to me — RUN!"

There was a terrible snarling noise. Lupin's head was lengthening. So was his body. His shoulders were hunching. Hair was sprouting visibly on his face and hands, which were curling into clawed paws.
As the werewolf reared, snapping its long jaws, Sirius disappeared from beside us. He had transformed. The enormous, bearlike dog bounded forward. As the werewolf wrenched itself free of the manacle binding it, the dog seized it about the neck and pulled it backward, away from Ron and Pettigrew. They were locked, jaw to jaw, claws ripping at each other.

I stood, transfixed by the sight, too intent upon the battle to notice anything else. It was Hermione's scream that alerted me — Pettigrew had dived for Lupin's dropped wand. Ron, unsteady on his bandaged leg, fell. There was a bang, a burst of light — and Ron lay motionless on the ground.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry yelled, pointing his own wand at Pettigrew; Lupin's wand flew high into the air and out of sight. "Stay where you are!" Harry shouted, running forward.
Too late. Pettigrew had transformed. I saw his bald tail whip through the manacle on Ron's outstretched arm, and heard a scurrying through the grass.