#and that xf is getting dragged into it by lx. but he's getting dragged into it bc of his relationship with vein

[omnipotent-omnicube]

ok ok so vein and liu xiao are working together behind the scenes and xia fei works for vein for modeling and xia fei is working for liu xiao behind the scenes but there is no known group effort (as far as we know). which means that it's possible that either vein knows entirely abt xf spying on cxs and lg per lx's request (but xf DOESN'T know he knows) OR vein doesn't know anything abt lx using xf. interesting

[twoidiotwriters1]

Written In The Stars LX (Harry Potter xF!Oc)

A/N: We are almost over with book three which is amazing but also a bit scary like wow this is really going by so fast h e l p -Danny

Words: 4,552

Warnings: Yelling at kids and a tad of violence

Series’ Masterlist

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Chapter Nineteen: A Window to the Past.

"I found this at the base of the Whomping Willow. Very useful, Potter, I thank you..." Snape threw the cloak aside. "You're wondering, perhaps, how I knew you were here?  I've just been to your office, Lupin. You forgot to take your potion tonight, so I took a gobletful along. And very lucky I did... lucky for me, I mean. Lying on your desk was a certain map. One glance at it told me all I needed to know. I saw you running along this passageway and out of sight."

"Severus —"

"I've told the headmaster again and again that you're helping your old friend Black into the castle, Lupin, and here's the proof. Not even I dreamed you would have the nerve to use this old place as your hideout —"

"Severus, you're making a mistake, you haven't heard everything — I can explain — Sirius is not here to kill Harry —"

"Two more for Azkaban tonight," The man didn't care to listen. "I shall be interested to see how Dumbledore takes this... He was quite convinced you were harmless, you know, Lupin... a tame werewolf —"

"You fool– Is a schoolboy grudge worth putting an innocent man back inside Azkaban?"

Thin, snakelike cords jumped from the end of Snape's wand and twisted around Lupin's mouth, wrists, and ankles; he fell to the floor.

"NO!" Mel ran towards him at the same time Black started toward Snape, but Snape pointed his wand straight between Black's eyes and Harry grabbed her wrist before she could move further.

"Give me a reason," Snape threatened. "Give me a reason to do it, and I swear I will."

"Professor Snape — it — it wouldn't hurt to hear what they've got to say, w — would it?" Hermione asked beside her.

"Miss Granger, you are already facing suspension from this school," Snape said harshly. "You, Potter, Dumbledore, and Weasley are out-of-bounds, in the company of a convicted murderer and a werewolf. For once in your life, hold your tongue."

"But if — if there was a mistake —"

"KEEP QUIET, YOU STUPID GIRL!" Snape shouted. "DON'T TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!"

"DON'T TALK TO HER LIKE THAT!" Mel yelled back, snatching her wrist from Harry's grip and raising her wand before she could think it through. "DON'T YOU EVER CALL HER STUPID AGAIN OR I'LL–"

"WHAT?" He roared. "You'll knock me unconscious and then what, Miss Dumbledore?! The Headmaster will feel beyond proud once he finds out he brought up a scoundrel!"

"Better a scoundrel than a petty, feeble man!" Harry pulled down her arm harshly.

"What are you doing?" He hissed. "You believe them?"

"If Black were a dark wizard he would've tried to kill us already," She turned to the boy and tried to pull her arm away. "Let go."

"No."

"Harry, I'll hex you if I have to–"

A short chuckle let out Black's mouth, he was looking at her from the corner of his eye, without completely turning away from Snape.

"You are your mother's daughter, Mel. But this isn't worth an expulsion– lower the wand."

Mel wanted to hiss at him something like 'You really think I'll listen to you?' but Snape was faster.

"Vengeance is very sweet. How I hoped I would be the one to catch you..."

"The joke's on you again, Severus. As long as this boy brings his rat up to the castle, I'll come quietly..."

"Up to the castle? I don't think we need to go that far. All I have to do is call the dementors once we get out of the Willow. They'll be very pleased to see you, Black, pleased enough to give you a little kiss, I daresay..."

Black looked afraid for the first time that night.

"You — you've got to hear me out. The rat — look at the rat —"

"Come on, all of you," Snape ignored him. He clicked his fingers, and the ends of the cords that bound Lupin flew to his hands. "I'll drag the werewolf. Perhaps the dementors will have a kiss for him too —"

"The werewolf is my family and you won't drag him around like that," Mel growled, stepping forward between Lupin's body and the men in front of her.

Harry moved as well, but he crossed the room and blocked the door. He was a few feet away from her.

"Get out of the way, you're in enough trouble already," Snape spat. "If I hadn't been here to save your skin —"

"Professor Lupin could have killed me about a hundred times this year," Harry said. "And Mel about a thousand times more throughout her entire childhood. We've been alone with him loads of times, having defense lessons against the dementors. If he was helping Black, why didn't he just finish me off then?"

"Don't ask me to fathom the way a werewolf's mind works," hissed Snape. "Get out of the way, Potter."

"Stop calling him a werewolf, that's not all he is!" Mel's fist clenched. "He's as human as you are, and perhaps even better at it!"

"Perhaps," Snape said through gritted teeth, "they're right when they say women in your family go mental before coming of age."

She could've raised her wand and attack right at that instant... If it wasn't because Harry lost his temper at the same time.

"YOU'RE PATHETIC!" He yelled. "JUST BECAUSE THEY MADE A FOOL OF YOU AT SCHOOL YOU WON'T EVEN LISTEN —"

"SILENCE! I WILL NOT BE SPOKEN TO LIKE THAT!"

"YOU REFUSE TO SPEAK AT ALL!" Mel argued back.

"Like father, like son! The both of you– have just saved your neck; you should be thanking me on bended knee! You would have been well served if he'd killed you! You'd have died like your fathers, too arrogant to believe you might be mistaken in Black — now get out of the way, or I will make you. GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

"Stupefy!"

"Expelliarmus!"

The children had raised their wands at the same time, all of them pointing at Snape. The man's body flew and crashed against a wall, blood starting to drip from his forehead. Mel's spell had come out stronger than expected, and if felt as if part of her energy had gone out with it as well.

"You shouldn't have done that," Black said. "You should have left him to me..."

"No offense, but you didn't have that under control," Mel stated, walking over to the bed and retrieving Snape's wand. "And he's right– I'm like my dad, I don't kneel for anybody."

"We attacked a teacher... We attacked a teacher..." Hermione panicked. "Oh, we're going to be in so much trouble —"

"You better take in the fact that we're expelled 'Mione," Mel shook her head, tiredly reaching for her uncle at the same time as Black.

They froze for a moment, then Mel nodded silently once and the man reached to untie her uncle.

"Thank you," He said to the children.

"I'm still not saying I believe you," Harry told Lupin. He looked at Mel, waiting for her opinion.

It was hard to wrap her head around it, but the way Snape had reacted was still fresh on her mind, he'd insulted her father's memory and if she was honest, if there was any chance that Lupin and Black could prove that what they did was right– if she could save Hermione from getting expelled (and to convince herself that her uncle was a good man) she had to take it.

"If he is who you say he is, then turn him back," Mel said in sort of child-like demand.

"All right, it's time we offered you some proof," said Lupin. "You, boy — give me Peter, please. Now."

"Come off it," Ron said weakly. "Are you trying to say he broke out of Azkaban just to get his hands on Scabbers? I mean... Okay, say Pettigrew could turn into a rat — there are millions of rats — how's he supposed to know which one he's after if he was locked up in Azkaban?"

"You know, Sirius, that's a fair question– How did you find out where he was?"

Black took out an old paper and showed it to them.

It was the photograph of Ron and his family that had appeared in the Daily Prophet the previous summer, and there, on Ron's shoulder, was Scabbers.

"How did you get this?" Lupin asked Black, thunderstruck.

"Fudge," said Black. "When he came to inspect Azkaban last year, he gave me his paper. And there was Peter, on the front page... on this boy's shoulder... I knew him at once... how many times had I seen him transform? And the caption said the boy would be going back to Hogwarts... to where Harry was..."

"My God," said Lupin softly, staring from Scabbers to the picture in the paper and back again. "His front paw..."

"What about it?" said Ron defiantly.

"He's got a toe missing," said Black.

"Of course," Lupin breathed. "So simple... so brilliant... he cut it off himself?"

"Just before he transformed," said Black. "When I cornered him, he yelled for the whole street to hear that I'd betrayed Lily and James. Then, before I could curse him, he blew apart the street with the wand behind his back, killed everyone within twenty feet of himself — and sped down into the sewer with the other rats..."

"Didn't you ever hear, Ron?" said Lupin. "The biggest bit of Peter they found was his finger."

"We've heard," Mel said bitterly.

"Look, Scabbers probably had a fight with another rat or something! He's been in my family for ages, right —"

"Twelve years, in fact– Didn't you ever wonder why he was living so long?"

"We — we've been taking good care of him!" said Ron.

"Not looking too good at the moment, though, is he?" Lupin insisted. "I'd guess he's been losing weight ever since he heard Sirius was on the loose again..."

"He's been scared of that mad cat!" said Ron.

"But Scabbers had been ill long before," Mel replied, knowing Harry and Hermione were thinking the same. "Remember? You bought the tonic for rats and that's how Hermione got Crookshanks..."

"This cat isn't mad," said Black. "He's the most intelligent of his kind I've ever met. He recognized Peter for what he was right away. And when he met me, he knew I was no dog. It was a while before he trusted me... Finally, I managed to communicate to him what I was after, and he's been helping me..."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"He tried to bring Peter to me, but couldn't... so he stole the passwords into Gryffindor Tower for me... As I understand it, he took them from a boy's bedside table..."

"Oh, Neville..." Mel sat down on the bed, feeling really, really drained.

"But Peter got wind of what was going on and ran for it...  This cat — Crookshanks, did you call him? — told me Peter had left blood on the sheets... I supposed he bit himself... Well, faking his own death had worked once..."

"And why did he fake his death?" Harry demanded. "Because he knew you were about to kill him like you killed my parents!"

"No, Harry —"

"And now you've come to finish him off!"

"Yes, I have," said Black.

"Then I should've let Snape take you!"  

"Snape's a nasty man," Mel frowned. "They deserve to explain themselves– And that's all they've been doing since we got here, do you honestly think we're in danger?"

"Harry," Lupin urged, "don't you see? All this time we've thought Sirius betrayed your parents, and Peter tracked him down — but it was the other way around, don't you see? Peter betrayed your mother and father and killed Matthew in the process— Sirius tracked Peter down —"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE! HE WAS THEIR SECRET-KEEPER! HE SAID SO BEFORE YOU TURNED UP. HE SAID HE KILLED THEM!"

That one bit was true, but Black shook his head in what Mel could only think of as grief.

"Harry... I as good as killed them. I persuaded Lily and James to change to Peter at the last moment, persuaded them to use him as Secret-Keeper instead of me... I'm to blame, I know it. The night they died, I'd arranged to check on Peter, make sure he was still safe, but when I arrived at his hiding place, he'd gone. Yet there was no sign of a struggle. It didn't feel right. I was scared. I set out for your parents' house straight away. And when I saw their house, destroyed, and their bodies... I realized what Peter must've done... what I'd done..."

Friends dead, children abandoned. All because he'd trusted the wrong man.

Mel understood, more yet, she felt it the same way she could feel whether if an artifact had dark magic in it or not. She could sense his innocence, he lacked the darkness needed to cause that chaos.

"Enough of this," said Lupin. "There's one certain way to prove what really happened. Ron, give me that rat."

"What are you going to do with him if I give him to you?"

"Ron, come on..." Mel pleaded, rubbing her forehead to try and disappear the weariness.

"Force him to show himself," Lupin assured him. "If he really is a rat, it won't hurt him."

Ron handed it over.

"Thank you."

"Ready, Sirius?" Lupin inquired.

Black silently asked Mel for Snape's wand. She gave it up.

"Together?" He asked quietly.

"I think so... On the count of three. One — two — THREE!"

A flash of blue blinded her momentarily as she heard Ron shouts and the rat's squeals, she heard them until they stopped sounded like squeals, and more like human yells.

He was a very short man, hardly taller than Harry and Hermione. His thin, colorless hair was unkempt and there was a large bald patch on top. He had the shrunken appearance of a plump man who has lost a lot of weight in a short time. His skin looked grubby, almost like Scabbers's fur, and something of the rat lingered around his pointed nose and his very small, watery eyes. He looked around at them all, his breathing fast and shallow. Harry saw his eyes dart to the door and back again.

"Well, hello, Peter," said Lupin pleasantly, as though rats frequently erupted into old school friends around him. "Long time, no see."

"S — Sirius... R — Remus..." Even Pettigrew's voice was squeaky. Again, his eyes darted toward the door. "My friends... my old friends..."

Black's wand arm rose, but Lupin seized him around the wrist, gave him a warning look, then turned again to Pettigrew, his voice light and casual.

"We've been having a little chat, Peter, about what happened the night Lily, James, and Matt died. You might have missed the finer points while you were squeaking around down there on the bed —"

"Remus, you don't believe him, do you..? He tried to kill me, Remus..."

"So we've heard. I'd like to clear up one or two little matters with you, Peter, if you'd be so —"

"He's come to try and kill me again! He killed them and now he's going to kill me too... You've got to help me, Remus..."

"No one's going to try and kill you until we've sorted a few things out," said Lupin.

"Sorted things out? I knew he'd come after me! I knew he'd be back for me! I've been waiting for this for twelve years!"

"You knew Sirius was going to break out of Azkaban?" Lupin frowned. "When nobody has ever done it before?"

"He's got dark powers the rest of us can only dream of! How else did he get out of there? I suppose He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named taught him a few tricks!"

Black laughed again, he sounded so animal-like that she shrunk in her place fearfully.

"Voldemort, teach me tricks? What, scared to hear your old master's name?" said Black when he noticed the way Peter had flinched. "I don't blame you, Peter. His lot aren't very happy with you, are they?"

"Don't know what you mean, Sirius —"

"You haven't been hiding from me for twelve years. You've been hiding from Voldemort's old supporters. I heard things in Azkaban, Peter... They all think you're dead, or you'd have to answer to them... I've heard them screaming all sorts of things in their sleep. Sounds like they think the double-crosser double-crossed them. Voldemort went to the Potters' on your information and Voldemort met his downfall there. And not all Voldemort's supporters ended up in Azkaban, did they? There are still plenty out here, biding their time, pretending they've seen the error of their ways... If they ever got wind that you were still alive, Peter —"

"Don't know... what you're talking about... You don't believe this — this madness, Remus —"

"I must admit, Peter, I have difficulty in understanding why an innocent man would want to spend twelve years as a rat."

"Innocent, but scared! If Voldemort's supporters were after me, it was because I put one of their best men in Azkaban — the spy, Sirius Black!"

"How dare you," Black growled. "I, a spy for Voldemort? When did I ever sneak around people who were stronger and more powerful than myself? But you, Peter — I'll never understand why I didn't see you were the spy from the start. You always liked big friends who'd look after you, didn't you? It used to be us... me and Remus... James and Matt– Hell, even Emily had your back!"

"Me, a spy... must be out of your mind... never... don't know how you can say such a —"

"Lily and James only made you Secret-Keeper because I suggested it! I thought it was the perfect plan... a bluff... Voldemort would be sure to come after me, would never dream they'd use a weak, talentless thing like you... It must have been the finest moment of your miserable life, telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters– Not only that, but the youngest Dumbledores as well, father and daughter..."

Alarms were going off inside her mind but she felt too tired to fight them, she supported her head against Harry's side, still sitting on the bed, and closed her eyes for a moment.

"Professor Lupin?" said Hermione timidly. "Can — can I say something?"

"Certainly, Hermione," said Lupin courteously.

"Well — Scabbers — I mean, this — this man — he's been sleeping in Harry's dormitory for three years. If he's working for You- Know-Who, how come he never tried to hurt Harry before now?"

"There!" said Pettigrew shrilly, pointing at Ron with his maimed hand. "Thank you! You see, Remus? I have never hurt a hair of Harry's head! Why should I?"

"I'll tell you why," said Black. "Because you never did anything for anyone unless you could see what was in it for you. Voldemort's been in hiding for fifteen years, they say he's half dead. You weren't about to commit murder right under Albus Dumbledore's nose, for a wreck of a wizard who'd lost all of his power, were you? You'd want to be quite sure he was the biggest bully in the playground before you went back to him, wouldn't you? Why else did you find a wizard family to take you in? Keeping an ear out for news, weren't you, Peter? Just in case your old protector regained strength, and it was safe to rejoin him..."

Pettigrew opened his mouth and closed it several times. He seemed to have lost the ability to talk.

"Er — Mr. Black — Sirius?" said Hermione.

Black jumped at being addressed like this and stared at Hermione as though he had never seen anything quite like her.

"If you don't mind me asking, how — how did you get out of Azkaban, if you didn't use Dark Magic?"

Mel wanted to say 'Mione, always bringing up the best questions' but she could barely muster a smile. Merlin, why was she so tired?

"Thank you!" Pettigrew squeaked. "Exactly! Precisely what I —"

But Lupin silenced him with a look. Black was frowning slightly at Hermione, but not as though he were annoyed with her. He seemed to be pondering his answer.

"I don't know how I did it," he said slowly. "I think the only reason I never lost my mind is that I knew I was innocent. That wasn't a happy thought, so the dementors couldn't suck it out of me... but it kept me sane and knowing who I am... helped me keep my powers... so when it all became... too much... I could transform in my cell... become a dog. Dementors can't see, you know..." He swallowed. "They feel their way toward people by feeding off their emotions... They could tell that my feelings were less — less human, less complex when I was a dog... but they thought, of course, that I was losing my mind like everyone else in there, so it didn't trouble them. But I was weak, very weak, and I had no hope of driving them away from me without a wand...

"But then I saw Peter in that picture... I realized he was at Hogwarts with Harry... perfectly positioned to act, if one hint reached his ears that the Dark Side was gathering strength again..."

Mel decided to believe them, she believed because they were okay with telling a truth that had weighed on them for a long time meanwhile Pettigrew was eager to squirm away from it, he seemed small and helpless, ready to jump on anyone's throat if given the chance.

"...ready to strike at the moment he could be sure of allies... and to deliver the last Potter and Dumbledore to them. If he gave them Harry and Mel who'd dare say he'd betrayed Lord Voldemort? He'd be welcomed back with honors... So you see, I had to do something. I was the only one who knew Peter was still alive..."

"It was as if someone had lit a fire in my head, and the dementors couldn't destroy it... It wasn't a happy feeling... it was an obsession... but it gave me strength, it cleared my mind. So, one night when they opened my door to bring food, I slipped past them as a dog... It's so much harder for them to sense animal emotions that they were confused... I was thin, very thin... thin enough to slip through the bars... I swam as a dog back to the mainland... I journeyed north and slipped into the Hogwarts grounds as a dog. I've been living in the forest ever since, except when I came to watch the Quidditch, of course. You fly as well as your father did, Harry..."

She finally looked up at Harry, he was holding Black's stare, no hesitation in his eyes.

"Believe me," Black was looking intently to the both of them. "Believe me. I never betrayed James and Lily. I would have died before I betrayed any of them."

Harry looked down at her and she immediately knew what he was thinking. That ache on Black's voice... it resembled so much the one they felt whenever one of them was in danger– the anguish she drowned in when Harry was about to die in Salazar's chamber,  or Harry's when he thought Quirrel had killed her.

"We believe you," Mel said. Harry nodded as a reply.

"No!" Pettigrew fell to his knees and crawled over to Black.

"Sirius — it's me... it's Peter... your friend... you wouldn't..."

"There's enough filth on my robes without you touching them," Black spat.

"Remus!" Pettigrew squeaked. "You don't believe this... wouldn't Sirius have told you they'd changed the plan?"

"Not if he thought I was the spy, Peter. I assume that's why you didn't tell me, Sirius?"

"Forgive me, Remus," Black pleaded.

"Not at all, Padfoot, old friend," said Lupin. "And will you, in turn, forgive me for believing you were the spy?"

"Of course," said Black, smiling weakly. "Shall we kill him together?"

Mel looked up. That wasn't what she was expecting to hear them say.

"Yes, I think so," Lupin replied lowly.

"You wouldn't... you won't..." gasped Pettigrew. And he turned to Ron. "Ron... haven't I been a good friend... a good pet? You won't let them kill me, Ron, will you... you're on my side, aren't you?"

"I let you sleep in my bed !" He exclaimed in disgust.

"Kind boy... kind master...you won't let them do it... I was your rat... I was a good pet..."

"If you made a better rat than a human, it's not much to boast about, Peter," said Black.

It was Hermione's turn.

"Sweet girl... clever girl... you — you won't let them... Help me..."

"Don't touch her!" Mel stood up but immediately regretted her decision as the world started to turn upside down.

Harry put an arm around her waist and called her name with worry. She didn't respond.

Pettigrew crawled over to them.

"Harry... Harry... you look just like your father... just like him... Mel..."

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO HARRY? HOW DARE YOU FACE THEM? HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT JAMES AND MATT IN FRONT OF THEM?"

"Harry," Pettigrew, insisted. She felt her body being pulled away from the man, Harry's arms around her waist to keep her steady. "Harry, James wouldn't have wanted me killed... James would have understood, Harry... he would have shown me mercy..."

Harry ignored him, his attention still on her.

"Mel," He continued. "Talk to me..."

"I'm all right," She mumbled, fighting against her dizziness.

"You sold Lily and James to Voldemort," said Black to Pettigrew. "Do you deny it?"

"Sirius, Sirius, what could I have done?" Pettigrew finally burst into tears. "The Dark Lord– you have no idea... he has weapons you can't imagine... I was scared, Sirius, I was never brave like you, Remus, Matt, and James. I never meant it to happen... He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named forced me —"

"DON'T LIE! YOU'D BEEN PASSING INFORMATION TO HIM FOR A YEAR BEFORE LILY, JAMES AND MATT DIED! YOU WERE HIS SPY!"

"He — he was taking over everywhere!" gasped Pettigrew. "Wh — what was there to be gained by refusing him?"

"What was there to be gained by fighting the most evil wizard who has ever existed?" said Black, with a terribly fury in his face. "Only innocent lives, Peter!"

"You don't understand!" whined Pettigrew. "He would have killed me, Sirius!"

"THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED!" roared Black. "DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!"

Black and Lupin stood shoulder to shoulder, wands raised.

"You should have realized," said Lupin quietly, "if Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. Good-bye, Peter."

Only then Harry returned his attention to the scene unfolding in front of him.

"NO!" Harry yelled.

Mel stepped away and sat back on the bed, Hermione immediately sitting beside her to see if there was anything she could do. At the same time, Harry had taken a few large steps to stand between the three men.

"You can't kill him... You can't."

Next Chapter —>

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