Chapter 4

All canon characters belong to JKR.

Thank you to June for being my beta.

Chapter 4

After arguing for almost ten minutes as to what to do with Severus, Osiris and Crookshanks decided it would be best to at least get him off the floor. Crookshanks kept saying they should wake him up, to make sure he had not sustained further injuries to his head. But Osiris was not in any hurry to have Severus wake up. Osiris levitated Severus onto the couch, and the two friends both sat on the coffee table to wait for him to regain consciousness.

“So tell me now what else you heard in Albus’ office?” said Crookshanks, as he began to lick his paws.

“Harry said he thinks he knows who helped Bellatrix escape. He said it was someone named Pettigrew.” At that moment Crookshanks stopped licking his paw, and looked at Osiris.

“Pettigrew? Are you sure that’s who he said?” asked Crookshanks.

“Positive. Do you know who that is?” Osiris turned and looked at him.

“Do I? That rat bastard, and I don’t just mean that in the figurative sense, is the one who betrayed Harry’s parents. You see, they were all friends when they were in school here at Hogwarts. Then, during the first war, Pettigrew told Voldemort where they were, after swearing an oath to keep their location a secret,” Crookshanks said, as Osiris gasped.

“What? Pettigrew was their Secret Keeper and he betrayed them? That son of a bitch!” exclaimed Osiris.

“That’s not the half of it. After the shit hit the fan at Harry’s parents’ home, Pettigrew faked his own death, and Sirius Black, Harry’s Godfather, lived with the blame of all three deaths for over twelve years.” Crookshanks then jumped onto the couch and leaned into Severus’ face. Osiris tilted his head, as he did when he was puzzled.

“Just making sure he’s still breathing,” Crookshanks said. “Anyway, it turns out that Sirius escaped from Azkaban, too, in Harry’s third year. As it happens, that’s the year Hermione got me. Ron — remember him?” Crookshanks asked. Osiris nodded. “Well, Ron had a pet rat, a rat his family had kept for over twelve years. The exact length of time Pettigrew was thought to have been dead.”

“Ugh, don’t tell me Pettigrew lived with scrotum ears all that time as a pet rat?”

“He certainly did. That rat has faked his death more times than Elizabeth Taylor has changed husbands.” Crooks then jumped back to the coffee table. Osiris looked at Severus, who was beginning to stir.

“He’s an Animagus, then,” stated Osiris.

“That’s right,” Crookshanks nodded. “He can get into the castle, but the good thing is…”

“We’ll be able to spot him,” finished Osiris.

“Right,” added Crookshanks.

Severus gave a deep moan, and then began to wake up.

“Oh, what…what the bloody fucking hell happened?” Severus asked as he grabbed the top of his head. He felt a large bump. His eyes slowly began to focus, as he turned his head and looked around the room. He looked towards the entrance door and saw the shards of the vase that had undoubtedly been the one that broke on his head. He wondered how the vase, which was usually placed on the sideboard, came to fall on his head. Just then, he looked to the coffee table, and saw his answer.

“I should have known,” Severus said as he sat up slowly. “Osiris, why are you trying to kill me? I guarantee you, the Ministry will not give the Snape inheritance to a raven.”

“Severus, I’m so sorry. It was an accident, I swear,” Osiris said. Severus then looked at Crookshanks.

“Don’t look at me. I had no idea what he was up too. I was taking a nap.”

“I’m afraid to ask, but why were you holding a vase over the doorframe?”

“Well, I thought you were Bellatrix, of course,” said Osiris. Severus looked at him and gave him a quizzical look. “Don’t you know?” asked Osiris. Just then, there was a knock on the door.

“Enter!” Severus shouted from the couch. The door opened and Harry walked in, followed by Albus. They immediately looked onto the floor, as their feet crackled the pieces of the vase. They looked at Severus, who was still rubbing his head, then at Osiris and Crookshanks.

“I don’t even think I want to know,” said Harry, as Albus chuckled behind him. Harry did a quick clean-up charm, as Albus sat next to Severus and healed his bump. “I thought you were with Remus and Tonks?”

“I was, but the items they discovered turned out to be ordinary Muggle items. They did not belong to Voldemort, so I came back.” Severus stood up from the couch, and took off his traveling cloak and placed it on the hook in his study. When he came back, he noticed the worried looks on both men’s faces. He then remembered the conversation he was having with Osiris before they came in. “Something is wrong. It’s not Hermione or the children, is it?” he asked.

“No, no, it’s nothing to do with Hermione or the children,” Albus said, then stood and walked to Severus. “But it is serious. Severus, Bellatrix Lestrange escaped from Azkaban this morning. She had help, and right now all we know for certain is she is gone. Harry here thinks Peter Pettigrew may have been the one who helped in her escape.” Albus now guided Severus back to the sofa.

Severus sat down in disbelief. It was almost unheard of for anyone to escape from the prison, especially after twenty years of incarceration. He shook his head and looked at Harry.

“How on earth did he get her out?” asked Severus. Albus recounted the story as Arthur told it to him, not half an hour earlier. “Well, it does not surprise me it took him twenty years to get her out. I imagine it took that brainless twit Pettigrew that long to figure out how to brew the Polyjuice Potion.”

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I'll have another chapter soon. I hope you enjoyed this one.