"{P} rofessor Snape? Where are we going?" I asked. Yes, we had been caught in our futile attempt to rescue Gilda. We were so close, too, until Snape suddenly appeared behind us scaring the hell out of both of us. I swear my heart is still running across a hill somewhere.
He did not answer and strode to the Whomping Willow, towards a crumpled piece of fabric left on the floor.
"You two, go back to the common room." He said distractedly, his eyes deadly focused on the cloak.
I looked at him quizzically, then retreated. Draco was actually about to head back. What a good student.
I grabbed his hand and raised a finger to my lips to signal him to shush. We hid behind a tree until Snape was almost out of sight, heading for the Whomping Willow. When we were sure he wouldn't see us, we quietly traced his steps until we were in front of the tunnel under the great tree.
In the back of my mind, I was considering the possibilities of my expulsion if I got caught and weighing them with the satisfaction of knowing why my potions professor was crawling through a secret tunnel in the middle of the night.
"What do you think the chances are that we get blasted into the moon by this thing?" I whispered, staring at the thick branches whirling through the air.
"I would have said a hundred and one, but I saw Snape do this-" Draco rushed forward to press a knot on the trunk of the tree, and automatically the branches halted in the air. We jumped into the tunnel before it began its aerial attacks once more.
The tunnel was only wide enough for one person, so Draco was in front of me as we shuffled through the tunnel. We crawled through the dirt until we were by the edge of the exit and saw Snape brushing himself off.
"Nice ass," I whispered jokingly to Draco.
"Why, thank you." Draco sashayed his invisible long hair.
Snape started to move, and I tapped Draco's back with my hand, signaling him to lay down. "Move over, I want to see, too!"
He laid flat on his stomach, propping himself on his elbows, and I climbed on top of his back, wrapping my arms around his neck. We looked kind of like a turtle. Resting my chin on his shoulder, I whispered in his ear, "Can you even breathe?"
"I'm close to hyperventilation." he joked, earning himself a hair ruffle. "Hey!" He whined, "My hair took a long time today!"
While we were waiting for Snape to do something, I carefully put his hair back into place.
"Thanks, Potter."
Snape finally put on the cloak, making himself invisible. I blinked, making sure I wasn't hallucinating. We stayed in the dirt, not moving an inch. There was no way to tell where Snape was to risk going out in the open.
I could hear overlapping voices coming from the direction of the shack. Was this place really haunted?
"Oooh," I whispered into Draco's ear. "I'm the ghost from the Shrieking Shack."
His back moved from his soft laughter, "Shhh. I'm trying to hear."
Listening intently, I could hear... Harry? What was he doing here? I heard Remus admitting he was a werewolf, and my heart dropped into my stomach after Hermione called him a monster. I frowned, ready to charge into the shack and defend Remus.
"Did Harry just say, Sirius Black?" I gasped. Draco looked confused but nodded in confirmation. What was going on in there?
I forced myself to stay calm, putting my trust in Remus and hoping that he would have a plausible answer to the mess. In the middle of explaining, the door burst open, revealing a writhing Snape.
"Oh, for the love of Merlin," I cursed under my breath, kicking a nearby pile of dirt. We were so close to hearing the truth.
I got off of Draco so he could get up. We snuck closer to the shack, our feet sinking in the soft mud.
"Should we intervene?" Draco asked, his face muddled with confusion.
"I guess," I sighed, opening the door at the same time three people chanted, "Expelliarmus!"
Draco and I both jumped as we saw Snape's body go sailing through the air like a ragdoll. "What the hell is going on here?" I exclaimed, surprising everyone.
"Lexi?" Remus and Harry asked at the same time. "What are you-"
"No, before that, can somebody explain?" I asked, taking in the room. Snape was unconscious in the corner, Hermione looked like she was about to go to war, Weasley was clutching a rat like it was his dying first love, and Harry... well, Harry looked ready to kill something.
"He's Sirius Black! He killed Mum and Dad after they trusted him to be their secret keeper! And Lupin is protecting him... they must have been working together-" Harry started.
"Remus wouldn't do that. Can we just please hear what he has to say before we decide to drive Sirius Black off a cliff?" That said, I was fully ready to drive Sirius off a cliff, with a pitchfork if necessary, but I was just trying to trust Remus. Draco's presence also helped calm me down.
Remus began to explain, all while holding Sirius down from killing Weasley's pet rat.
"Wait, but isn't Peter Pettigrew... like dead?" I asked at the end of Remus' story.
"So... he faked it?" Draco asked, equally confused.
Remus sighed, "It's better to just show you." He headed for Weasley's rat, but Weasley wouldn't give it up, clutching it closer to his chest.
"Oh, for the love of Merlin, just hand over the goddamn rat!" I blurted out, ready for this day to be over.
Remus cast a spell on the rat, and in just a few seconds its limbs fluctuated and grew to become a rather stubby human being. He had wildly overgrown teeth and had a nervous tick in his left eye. Peter Pettigrew.
Sirius lunged forward, while Peter flailed his arms to try to protect himself. "Remus! Sirius Black tried to kill me! You know that!"
Remus' icy glare looked like it could kill. And at that moment, I wished it actually could.
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𝐀 𝐏𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐍 𝐒𝐋𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍 ↬ 𝔡.𝔪𝔞𝔩𝔣𝔬𝔶
Fanfiction「 She is scared, but rises above it. He is scared, and hides behind it. She is a cunning mastermind. He finds that out sooner than later. She calls him Jerk. He calls her Moss. She is Alexandra Potter. And he is Draco Malfoy. 」 Both are drow...
