Harry Potter: Raised by Wolves.

"Going to kill me?" Black asked with hollow eyes. Crookshanks hopped up onto the man's chest, planting himself firmly and staring Harry dead in the eye.

What the hell was wrong with Hermione's cat??

Suddenly, they could hear muffled footsteps from somewhere else in the shack. Harry's heart leapt into his throat, and Ron called out. Black jumped up, but it was too late; the footsteps were thundering towards them, and the door burst open to reveal Professor Lupin, wide-eyed and wand raised.

"Expelliarmus!" The wand Black held flew out of his grasp — but so did the wand in Harry's hand. Lupin caught both of them, staring across the room at Black. "Where is he?"

Harry narrowed his eyes in confusion. Who? Black pointed across the room at Hermione, who stared back incredulously, still on the bed. "Me? What?"

"But then, why… unless—" Lupin's eyes were darting from Hermione to Black like he was watching a tennis match. "Unless you switched without telling me? To him?"

"I'm sorry, Moony," Black wailed. "We should've trusted you. We should've told you! Peter convinced us you were the traitor!"

"Professor Lupin," Harry asked hesitantly. "Remus. What's going on?"

"Harry," Lupin's voice was calm. "Cub. I think we've made a very big mistake."

And then he lowered his wand and crossed the room, and embraced Black like a long-lost brother.

Harry felt his pulse echo in his ears. Professor Lupin, the man he'd trusted more than anything, was holding the man who wanted to murder him like he never wanted to let go. "Padfoot, old friend," he breathed, choking on a sob.

Hermione let out a wordless screech at the sight, her face ashen with pain and shock. "WE TRUSTED YOU!" she spat, glaring at the tawny-haired professor. "I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt — I thought, if Dumbledore knows, you must be on our side — but you were working with him all along!"

"Not all this time, let me explain—"

"He's a werewolf!" Hermione declared, turning to look Harry in the eye. "That's why he's always sick. Don't trust him, Harry!"

Harry thought back over the school year; the regular absences, the silvery orb his boggart became, the strange potion Snape made for him regularly. Even the nickname, Moony. Calling Harry 'Cub'. "Oh," he said faintly. "That makes sense."

Lupin snorted. "I haven't been helping him, Harry, but I won't deny I'm a werewolf." He looked Harry in the eye, his expression earnest. "Please, cub. Will you trust me? Just for a few minutes?"

Harry folded his arms over his chest. Professor Lupin had been good to him this year. He hadn't seemed like he was plotting to kill Harry — he'd certainly had plenty of opportunities to try. "Talk," he said eventually.

"Harry, what are you doing? He's a werewolf!" Ron exclaimed, grabbing Harry by the shoulder. Harry ignored him, shaking off the hand and stepping closer to Lupin and Black. He needed answers.

"I was watching the map tonight," Lupin started, "I thought you three might go down to support Hagrid, and I wanted to keep an eye out. I watched you head across the grounds to Hagrid's hut. And twenty minutes later, I saw you leave. And get joined by a fourth name, moving very quickly."

"Yeah, his," Harry said with a dark look at Black. "He was following us."

"Not Sirius," Lupin Pettigrew."

corrected. "Peter

"What?" Harry gaped. Pettigrew? Their other friend, the one who Sirius had killed?

Lupin turned back to Harry with imploring eyes. "Think, Harry. Wormtail." Harry sucked in a sharp breath, looking at the rat currently playing dead in Hermione's lap. At Black, who had taken the shape of a dog. Padfoot. "Animagi," he realised. "You're all animagi. Which means… Scabbers."

Black barked out a laugh. "That's the name he's been going by, is it? How cute." He lunged towards Hermione on the bed, but Lupin held him back.

"Sirius, no! They won't understand, you need to explain."

"We're running out of time, Moony!" Black argued. "I can explain after he's dead, now give me that rat!" "Harry deserves an explanation," Lupin insisted firmly. "After everything, he deserves that."

"What the bloody hell are you saying about my rat?" Ron cut in loudly, glaring at the pair. Through lack of a wand, his fists were raised defensively. He edged closer to Hermione, and Black snarled.

"Don't touch him!" His eyes were wild, Lupin's hand on his shoulder holding him back. "You can't take him, not now I finally have him in reach!

"Pettigrew's dead," Harry said, confused. "You killed him. Everyone knows that."

"Everyone thinks they know," Black breathed, grinning madly. He lunged forward again, and Ron yelped — then the redhead grabbed Scabbers and held him close to his chest, turning to the door.

"This is ridiculous," he declared. "You're all nutters. I'm getting Dumbledore, or the aurors, or—"

"No!" The cry came unbidden from Harry's lips, but he wasn't the only one Black and Lupin both shouted too, Lupin raising his wand to send ropes at Ron's ankles to stop him from leaving. But at the same time, Harry flung an arm out, a burst of magic slipping instinctively from his fingers. He wasn't even sure what he'd been trying to do, but whatever it was interfered poorly with Lupin's spell Ron stumbled as the magic hit him, then there was a truly disturbing popping noise, and all of a sudden the redhead blanched, falling unconscious, his right leg splaying out at a horrifying angle. Harry's stomach lurched.

"Oh, shit," he murmured, eyes wide.

"The rat!" Black cried, as Scabbers tried to make a run for it. With a wave of Lupin's wand, a metal cage appeared around the creature, which squeaked and thrashed violently in the new confines. "Just kill him, Remus!" Black wailed, but Lupin shook his head.

"Harry needs proof, Sirius," he replied calmly. He turned to Harry, his amber eyes imploring. "Everyone thought Sirius killed him. Even I believed it until tonight. But the map doesn't lie. I would know." "He's just a rat!" Hermione sobbed. "He's been in Ron's family for ages!"

"Yes, quite a few years, I'd imagine," Black agreed grimly. "Far longer than a regular rat could be expected to live." Harry sucked in a sharp breath.

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