The moment Snape's voice rang out, Harry spun around, wand raised instinctively. Draco flinched but quickly stepped back, his eyes darting between Harry and the dark silhouette striding toward them.
Snape's expression was a storm contained: fury sharpened into precision. His wand was already drawn, the tip glowing faintly.
"Potter," he said, his voice low and cutting, "you will step away from him."
Harry didn't move. Sirius Black stood barely a few feet away now, gaunt and ragged, his haunted eyes fixed entirely on Harry.
"You look just like James," Sirius rasped, voice rough from disuse.
"Don't speak his name!" Snape snarled, stepping between Harry and Sirius with a fluid motion that carried years of practice and old hatred.
Draco stared, frozen. This wasn't just another night sneaking out. This was real.
---
The Tension Breaks
"Harry—don't listen to him," Snape commanded, his robes billowing in the cold night air. His wand didn't waver from Sirius.
"Stay out of this, Snape!" Sirius barked, stepping closer. His voice cracked, desperation leaking through. "You don't know the truth—"
"Oh, I know enough," Snape hissed. "I know you betrayed them. I know you murdered Peter Pettigrew. And I know you broke into this castle to finish what you started."
Harry's head snapped toward Sirius. "Is it true?"
"NO!" Sirius shouted, his voice raw. "It was Pettigrew! He's alive—he's here, hiding!" His gaze darted past Harry, to Draco, who flinched under the intensity.
Snape's wand flared brighter. "Lies. Your tongue is as rotten as your soul, Black."
Harry's grip on his wand trembled. The air between them felt suffocating, stretched taut like a bowstring about to snap.
---
The Shrieking Shack Revealed
Before Harry could speak, Sirius bolted—not away, but toward the Whomping Willow.
"Follow him," Snape ordered sharply, grabbing Harry's shoulder before he could rush ahead blindly. "But stay behind me."
They ducked into the hidden passage, Draco reluctantly trailing them with his own wand out, his pale face betraying both fear and fascination.
The passage led them to the decrepit Shrieking Shack, the boards groaning under their weight as they entered. The air was thick with dust and old magic, and Harry's heart pounded in his ears.
Sirius stood at the far end, chest heaving. "Listen to me, Harry. Pettigrew—he's your rat. The Weasley boy's rat. He's been hiding in plain sight!"
"Absurd," Snape snapped. His wand pressed forward, ready to bind Sirius in an instant. "Your insanity has run long enough—"
A sudden rustling from the corner cut him off. All eyes turned.
From the shadows emerged a small, trembling figure. Ron's rat—Scabbers—except as Snape's gaze sharpened, the shimmer of a transformation spell unraveled.
Peter Pettigrew stood before them.
---
The Room Erupts
Draco stumbled back in shock. Harry's jaw fell open.
"Merlin," Snape whispered, his composure fracturing for just an instant.
Pettigrew whimpered, falling to his knees. "Severus—please—you don't understand—"
"I understand perfectly," Snape said, stepping forward like a predator closing in. His wand trembled now not from fear, but from a fury so controlled it felt lethal. "You—killed—her."
Pettigrew sobbed, wringing his filthy hands. "It was the Dark Lord—he would've killed me—"
Harry's voice rose. "You betrayed my parents?"
"Yes!" Pettigrew shrieked.
And that was it.
Snape raised his wand, magic surging at his fingertips—
"Severus, STOP!" Dumbledore's voice rang out behind them, booming with authority.
---
The Interruption
The room froze. Dumbledore stood in the doorway, calm but commanding, his blue eyes glinting as he took in the scene.
"Release him," the Headmaster said softly.
"He does not deserve to breathe," Snape growled, his voice shaking.
"And yet," Dumbledore replied, "he must—for the truth to be heard."
Harry looked between them, chest heaving, torn between rage and confusion. Draco remained silent, his gaze locked on Snape.
Pettigrew trembled like a cornered rat.
This wasn't how it happened before. Snape's second chance had already rewritten the night.