𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐬 | 𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐨 𝐞𝐫𝐚

Chapter 37. The Shrieking Shack ☾

A/N: Sorry for the long wait. Thanks for your patience, and as always, what is not original belongs to JK.

The trio sat in Hagrid's hut, waiting. Hermione was nursing her hand from the impact of her fist contacting Seamus' face as he made fun of the fact Buckbeak would be killed. Draco sat back stunned looking at Hermione's hand, which Dragon was now licking thoughtfully.

"Was I really that important?" Draco asked. Harry looked over at the blonde.

"For the fifteenth time, yes." Harry responded. Hagrid walked over to make some tea. He made a noise and turned to Harry.

"Oi, Harry, isn't this Ron's missing rat, Scabbers?" Hagrid asked as he held up a squirming rodent.

Draco jumped up and walked towards Hagrid. "There he is!" He said as he went to grab for the rat. Hagrid stared at him. "You know, Ron's been...very worried about him. Yeah, that's it. He's kept us up at all hours of the night crying over him. I should take it back to him so I can get some beauty sleep." Draco lied flawlessly.

Harry continued. "Yeah, we should, uh, go give it to Ron." Dragon growled. Hermione grabbed onto the scruff of his neck and held him back. Pettigrew squeaked and bit Hagrid's hand. Hagrid let go of the rat and he quickly scampered off. Dragon escaped from Hermione's grip and ran after him.

"Hagrid, I'm so sorry to be rude, but we really need to go." Draco apologized. He, Harry, and Hermione jumped and ran toward the back door, creating a small traffic jam. Once they all filed out, they ran toward the Shrieking Shack.

They then saw Dragon disappear underneath the tree. Harry grabbed a stick he knew would be long enough and touched the secret knot that would make the Whomping Willow freeze. All three filed in underneath the hole in the tree and made their way to the Shrieking Shack.

When they got there, they saw Sirius holding Pettigrew at wand point.

"You traitor! Lily and James trusted you. You betrayed them!" Sirius cried.

"Sirius, you don't understand. The dark lord, he Imperiused me." Pettigrew claimed, shaking in terror.

"Dragon...Sirius!" Draco yelled. Sirius pushed his wand into Pettigrew's throat, still holding onto the man's collar.

"You should have died for them." Sirius argued. Hermione stepped forward.

"Sirius Orion Black, put your wand down!" Hermione demanded. Sirius looked over at Hermione.

"He betrayed them. They're dead because of him." Sirius looked over at Harry. "Your parents, Harry."

Harry stepped up to where Hermione and Draco stood. "Padfoot, they're right. Killing him will not bring them back. It also won't help you. We need Pettigrew alive." Harry reasoned. Sirius looked like he was about to put down his wand when Remus came storming into the shack.

"Sirius, put the wand down." Remus commanded, his own wand ready for a fight.

"Moony, it wasn't me, I swear!" Sirius pleaded. Remus took a moment to rid himself of the shock of seeing his best friend and noted the color of his hair.

"Why the heck is your hair blond?" Remus asked Sirius. Sirius smiled cheekily and changed into Dragon. Remus looked flummoxed. "Wait, you were Dragon? You've been here all this time and you haven't tried to kill Harry?" Remus looked over at Pettigrew, and he turned pensive. He looked over at Dragon. "You were innocent. You never betrayed James and Lily, did you? What happened that night, Padfoot? Weren't you their Secret Keeper?" He looked back at Pettigrew. "You weren't, were you? You idiots!" He screamed at the room.