Ethereal ✭Fred Weasley✭

13.

"No.... not dead" Remus answered with a small shake of his head. He looked exhausted in his chair, as well as troubled by his constant running mind. "Everything's different now."

"What.... What's going on Dad?"

Remus's eyes wondered over the map in front of him that he had confiscated off Harry, before returning to his daughter. She looked positively confused and worried, and he didn't blame her. It was only up until recently that Remus had finally discovered the truth about Sirius Black's murders and Peter Pettigrew's supposed death. It was confusing, but it had somehow added up. And he almost didn't want to burden Sophia with this information, as it would involve her more than he liked. Just like how his wife had been too informed, which eventually led to her own death.

"Sirius didn't kill Peter... he didn't betray the Potters," the man said in a quiet voice, as if he was trying to convince himself for the first time. Sophia's lips parted but she made no sound, now even more confused and yearned for more information. Fighting his fatherly instincts, Remus continued to explain briefly of his new-found information. "Peter became a Death Eater. It was him all along, Sirius was framed. Peter made it seem that it was Sirius that killed all those muggles as well as himself. Soph, do you remember me telling you about my friends learning to be Animagus's in order to accompany me during my transformations?"

Sophia nodded wordlessly, astonished to hear about Sirius Black being innocent all along. Peter, the seemingly clingy addition to her Father's group of friends, was a follower of You Know Who? Was he the one who sold Harry's parents out to He Who Must Not Be Named?

"And what animal is quite frequently around Harry? More specifically, Ron?" Remus asked. Sophia went to answer with the word Scabbers, Ron's sick looking rat, when all the puzzle pieces suddenly fell into place. Peter Pettigrew's Animagus form was a rat! She remembered Ron saying that he was originally one of his brother's pets and had been in his family for thirteen years. And the supposed murder of Peter was thirteen years ago. This meant that Scabbers, is really Peter Pettigrew!

"S-so Sirius... spent all that time in Azkaban..." Sophia didn't need to finish. Remus looked back at his daughter, hiding his disgust that he felt towards his former friend.

The two sat in silence for a while, deliberating over all this new information and complete game-changer. Sophia found herself feeling immense pity for Sirius Black, as being falsely accused of murder and spending more time in Azkaban than he did with his friends from Hogwarts must have been awful for him. She frequently looked up at her father's face, noticing his deep scars and deathly pale skin. She suddenly thought about what day it was and went to ask him about his cycle, until something caught her eye outside of the window behind her father's shoulder.

"Dad look, the Whomping Willow..." she called as she stood from her seat with her eyes glued to the large tree outside. Her father stood from his seat also and looked outside, seeing that the Whomping Willow was flailing it's branches furiously. The father and dauughter caught sight of a figure being dragged towards the tree by what looked to be raggedy dog.

"Stay here," Remus stated firmly as he tore his eyes from the scene and began to walk towards the door of his office. He pulled his wand out from his suit jacket and started to descend the stairs that led to the floor of his classroom.

"Like hell I will," Sophia argued before following her father, pulling out her own wand from her jean pocket.

The two ran through the halls and made it past the Entrance Hall, finding themselves running away from the castle and its occupants. The sky was now beginning to darken quickly, signifying the impending nightfall. Remus made sure to send a charm up to the Whomping Willow, causing it to freeze momentarily to allow him and Sophia to enter through the base entry of the huge tree. Sophia was amazed to see her father's familiarity with the passage that suddenly lead towards the inside of the Shrieking Shack, where Remus would undergo his transformations during his time at Hogwarts. People had always thought that the screams and cries that came from the abandoned house were ghosts and spirits that warned off anyone who dared to enter the building. But it was really Remus in his youth, undergoing his painful processes every month.