him...." 


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"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO HARRY?" roared Black. "HOW DARE YOU 
FACE HIM? HOW 
DARE YOU TALK ABOUT JAMES IN FRONT OF HIM?" 

"Harry," whispered Pettigrew, shuffling toward him, hands outstretched. 
"Harry, James wouldn't have wanted me killed.... James would have 
understood, Harry... he would have shown me mercy..." 

Both Black and Lupin strode forward, seized Pettigrew's shoulders, and 
threw him backward onto the floor. He sat there, twitching with terror, 
staring up at them. 

"You sold Lily and James to Voldemort," said Black, who was shaking too. 
"Do you deny it?" 

Pettigrew burst into tears. It was horrible to watch, like an oversized, 
balding baby, cowering on the floor. 

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

"DON'T LIE!" bellowed Black. "YOU'D BEEN PASSING INFORMATION TO 
HIM FOR 
A YEAR BEFORE LILY AND JAMES 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 terrible 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!" 

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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." 

Hermione covered her face with her hands and turned to the wall. 

"NO!" Harry yelled. He ran forward, placing himself in front Pettigrew, 
facing the wands. "You can't kill him," he said breathlessly. "You 
can't." 

Black and Lupin both looked staggered. 

"Harry, this piece of vermin is the reason you have no parents," Black 
snarled. "This cringing bit of filth would have seen you die too, 
without turning a hair. You heard him. His own stinking skin meant more 
to him than your whole family." 

"I know," Harry panted. "We'll take him up to the castle. We'll hand him 
over to the dementors.... He can go to Azkaban... but don't kill him." 

"Harry!" gasped Pettigrew, and he flung his arms around Harry's knees. 
"You -- thank you -- it's more than I deserve -- thank you --" 

"Get off me," Harry spat, throwing Pettigrew's hands off him in disgust. 
"I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it because -- I don't reckon my 
dad would've wanted them to become killers -- just for you." 

No one moved or made a sound except Pettigrew, whose breath was coming 
in wheezes as he clutched his chest. Black and Lupin were looking at 
each other. Then, with one movement, they lowered their wands. 

"You're the only person who has the right to decide, Harry," said Black. 
"But think... think what he did...." 

"He can go to Azkaban," Harry repeated. "If anyone deserves that place, 
he does...." 

Pettigrew was still wheezing behind him. 

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"Very well," said Lupin. "Stand aside, Harry." 

Harry hesitated. 

"I'm going to tie him up," said Lupin. "That's all, I swear." 

Harry stepped out of the way. Thin cords shot from Lupin's wand this 
time, and next moment, Pettigrew was wriggling on the floor, bound and 
gagged. 

"But if you transform, Peter," growled Black, his own wand pointing at 
Pettigrew too, "we will kill you. You agree, Harry?" 

Harry looked down at the pitiful figure on the floor and nodded so that 
Pettigrew could see him. 

"Right," said Lupin, suddenly businesslike. "Ron, I can't mend bones 
nearly as well as Madam Pomfrey, so I think it's best if we just strap 
your leg up until we can get you to the hospital wing." 

He hurried over to Ron, bent down, tapped Ron's leg with his wand, and 
muttered, "Ferula." Bandages spun up Ron's leg, strapping it tightly to 
a splint. Lupin helped him to his feet; Ron put his weight gingerly on 
the leg and didn't wince. 

"That's better," he said. "Thanks." 

"What about Professor Snape?" said Hermione in a small voice, looking 
down at Snape's prone figure. 

"There's nothing seriously wrong with him," said Lupin, bending over 
Snape and checking his pulse. "You were just a little -overenthusiastic. 
Still out cold. Er -- perhaps it will be best if we 
don't revive him until we're safety back in the castle. We can take him 
like this...." 

He muttered, "Mobilicorpus." As though invisible strings were tied to 
Snape's wrists, neck, and knees, he was pulled into a standing position, 
head still lolling unpleasantly, like a grotesque puppet. He hung a few 

316 



inches above the ground, his limp feet dangling. Lupin picked up the 
Invisibility Cloak and tucked it safely into his pocket. 

"And two of us should be chained to this," said Black, nudging Pettigrew 
with his toe. "Just to make sure." 

"I'll do it," said Lupin. 

"And me," said Ron savagely, limping forward. 

Black conjured heavy manacles from thin air; soon Pettigrew was upright 
again, left arm chained to Lupin's right, right arm to Ron's left. Ron's 
face was set. He seemed to have taken Scabbers's true identity as a 
personal insult. Crookshanks leapt lightly off the bed and led the way 
out of the room, his bottlebrush tail held jauntily high. 

CHAPTER TWENTY 

THE DEMENTOR'S KISS 

Harry had never been part of a stranger group. Crookshanks led the way 
down the stairs; Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron went next, looking like 
entrants in a six-legged race. Next came Professor Snape, drifting 
creepily along, his toes hitting each stair as they descended, held up 
by his own wand, which was being pointed at him by Sirius. Harry and 
Hermione brought up the rear. 

Getting back into the tunnel was difficult. Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron 
had to turn sideways to manage it; Lupin still had Pettigrew covered 
with his wand. Harry could see them edging awkwardly along the tunnel in 
single file. Crookshanks was still in the lead. Harry went right after 
Black, who was still making Snape drift along ahead of them; he kept 
bumping his lolling head on the low ceiling. Harry had the impression 
Black was making no effort to prevent this. 

"You know what this means?" Black said abruptly to Harry as they made 
their slow progress along the tunnel. "Turning Pettigrew in?" 

"You' re free," said Harry. 

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"Yes...," said Black. "But I'm also -- I don't know if anyone ever told 
you -- I'm your godfather." 

"Yeah, I knew that," said Harry. 
"Well... your parents appointed me your guardian," said Black stiffly. 
"If anything happened to them..." 


Harry waited. Did Black mean what he thought he meant? 
"I'll understand, of course, if you want to stay with your aunt and 


uncle," said Black. "But... well... think about it. Once my name's 
cleared... if you wanted a... a different home..." 
Some sort of explosion took place in the pit of Harry's stomach. 
"What -- live with you?" he said, accidentally cracking his head on a 


bit of rock protruding from the ceiling. "Leave the Dursleys?" 


"Of course, I thought you wouldn't want to," said Black quickly. "I 
understand, I just thought I'd --" 
"Are you insane?" said Harry, his voice easily as croaky as Black's. 
"Of course I want to leave the Dursleys! Have you got a house? When can 


I move in?" 


Black turned right around to look at him; Snape's head was scraping the 
ceiling but Black didn't seem to care. 
"You want to?" he said. "You mean it?" 
"Yeah, I mean it!" said Harry. 
Black's gaunt face broke into the first true smile Harry had seen upon 


it. The difference it made was startling, as though a person ten years 
younger were shining through the starved mask; for a moment, he was 
recognizable as the man who had laughed at Harry's parents' wedding. 

They did not speak again until they had reached the end of the tunnel. 

318 



Crookshanks darted up first; he had evidently pressed his paw to the 
knot on the trunk, because Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron clambered upward 
without any sound of savaging branches. 

Black saw Snape up through the hole, then stood back for Harry and 
Hermione to pass. At last, all of them were out. 

The grounds were very dark now; the only light came from the distant 
windows of the castle. Without a word, they set off. Pettigrew was still 
wheezing and occasionally whimpering. Harry's mind was buzzing. He was 
going to leave the Dursleys. He was going to live with Sirius Black, his 
parents' best friend.... He felt dazed.... What would happen when he 
told the Dursleys he was going to live with the convict they'd seen on 
television... ! 

"One wrong move, Peter," said Lupin threateningly ahead. His wand was 
still pointed sideways at Pettigrew's chest. 

Silently they tramped through the grounds, the castle lights growing 
slowly larger. Snape was still drifting weirdly ahead of Black, his chin 
bumping on his chest. And then 


A cloud shifted. There were suddenly dim shadows on the ground. Their 
party was bathed in moonlight. 

Snape collided with Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron, who had stopped abruptly. 
Black froze. He flung out one arm to make Harry and Hermione stop. 

Harry could see Lupin's silhouette. He had gone rigid. Then his limbs 
began to shake. 

"Oh, my --" Hermione gasped. "He didn't take his potion tonight! He's 
not safe!" 

"Run," Black whispered. "Run. Now." 

But Harry couldn't run. Ron was chained to Pettigrew and Lupin. He leapt 
forward but Black caught him around the chest and threw him back. 

"Leav