At the same time Vincent saw the Marauders map, Harry, Ron and Hermione were all gathered with Professor Lupin, Sirius Black, a knocked-out Snape, and 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 fur, and something of the rat lingered around his pointed nose and his very small, watery eyes.
The three of them were standing in shock at the newfound information that was revealed to them, Lupin being a werewolf, Scabbers being Peter Pettigrew, and that he was the one that betrayed the Potters, not Sirius.
Sirius and Lupin stood shoulder to shoulder, wands raised.
"You should have realized," said Lupin quietly. "if Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. Goodbye, Peter."
Hermione covered her face with her hands and turned to the wall.
"NO!" Harry yelled. He ran forward, placing himself in front Peter, facing the wands. "You can't kill him," he said breathlessly. "You can't."
Sirius and Lupin both looked staggered.
"Harry, this piece of vermin is the reason you have no parents," Sirius 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. And your sister, she deserves to see the man that killed her best friend."
"A—Annie?!" Pettigrew froze.
"You didn't only betray my family, but yours as well," Harry said in utmost revulsion, but there was a hint of sadness in his tone.
No one moved or made a sound except Pettigrew, whose breath was coming in wheezes as he clutched his chest. Sirius 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 Sirius. "But think... think what he did...and Annie, do you really think she'd want to see...that?"
"He can go to Azkaban," Harry repeated. "If anyone deserves that place, he does...and yes, of course she'd want to."
"Very well," said Lupin. "Stand aside, Harry, don't worry, I'm only tying him up."
It was a very bizarre scene. Crookshanks leading them out with Lupin trailing behind with Pettigrew on a leash and Ron badly limping due to Sirius biting too hard in his dog form. Lupin helped him by tying up his leg. Hermione went next, followed by Snape who Sirius levitated off the ground, not taking care to avoid any bumps Snape hit along the way. Harry and Sirius both stayed at the back, walking together.
"What—live with you?" Harry said excitedly at Sirius' proposal to live with him. "Leave the Dursleys?"
"Of course, I thought you wouldn't want to," said Sirius 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?"
Sirius 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.
Sirius' face broke into a grin, completely erasing any trace of the ragged figure from before. The two of them didn't speak until they neared the end of the tunnel.
"Oh almost forgot, thank your frie—no, never mind," Sirius stopped himself mid-sentence.
"Hmm? Friend? Who?" Harry asked as they finally reached the end of the hole. Harry glanced curiously at Sirius who was about to answer when his face turned a deathly pale.
Harry didn't realize why until a white light shone through the clouds, basking them all in the moonlight.
"Oh, my —" Hermione gasped. "He didn't take his potion tonight! He's not safe!"
"Run," Black whispered. "Run. Now."
Harry looked to Ron who was chained to Pettigrew and Lupin. He leapt forward to help but Black caught him around the chest and threw him back.
"Leave it to me — RUN!"
There was a terrible snarling noise. Lupin's head was lengthening. So was his body. His shoulders were hunching. Hair was sprouting visibly on his face and hands, which were curling into clawed paws. Crookshanks's hair was on end again; he was backing away—
Sirius immediately transformed into his giant dog form and pounced on the werewolf, engaging in a mess of snarls and claws ripping at each other.
During this time, Pettigrew dove for Lupin's dropped wand and aimed it at Ron and Crookshanks.
Hermione screamed in panic, catching Harry's attention as he caught sight of Ron's terrified expression and Pettigrew's triumphant look as he mouthed his spell—
*BOOM*
Pettigrew was thrown back, tumbling down the hill as a rod smacked into him, blowing up with an unusual force. The three of them turned back to see Vincent catch his rod as he ran towards them.
"Vincent! How—?" Harry asked dumbfounded only for Vincent to rush past.
"I'm after Peter! You guys, help Sirius!" Vincent yelled at them as he jumped down the hill.
"How did he know—Sirius!" Harry was confused for a split second only to turn back. "Sirius! Pettigrew has escaped!"
Sirius, looking all bloodied up, and Lupin seemed to have run off somewhere in the forest. At Harry's call, Sirius instantly bounded after Peter, dragging his bloodied body with immense effort.
"Vincent?! What the bloody hell is he doing here?!" Ron muttered. He grimaced in pain as Harry and Hermione ran to check on him. However, they heard a low whine in the distance, causing Harry to freeze in place.
"Go! I'll be fine, just go and help him!" Ron encouraged Harry who nodded.
Harry and Hermione ran off to assist Sirius, leaving Ron on the ground in pain.
...
Vincent went wide eyed, seeing Lupin's transformation from a distance and Sirius engaging it. He quickly took in everything that was happening and his eyes landed on the unfamiliar man, that he presumed was Peter, aiming a wand at Ron.
Vincent tossed a rod, instantly cursing afterward as a small pulse blown the man down the hill. "Forgot about the pulse potion, damn it!"
"I'm after Peter! You guys, help Sirius!" Vincent yelled at them as he rushed past Harry and jumped down the hill, landing at the edge of a forest.
Landing into a roll Vincent took out a slightly silver colored potion and downed it. Throwing the glass bottle to the side, he dashed through the forest
Despite it being almost pitch black, Vincent could see everything as if it was as clear as day. He could even make out details from kilometers away if he focused. The reason for this was the potion he just drank, the Far Sight potion, something he made last year. For a period of time, it improves and increases the range of one's eyesight. After some further testing, he realized that it also works as a night vision effect.
"Now where are you?!" Vincent muttered before spotting a small ball off fur rush through the trees.
With this, Vincent brought out vials filled with white powder and dashed right after. He threw one over head of Peter, smashing against a tree branch as the powder rained down.
"He sure is nimble," Vincent thought grimly as Peter avoided it. "I just need one good shot."
...
Pettigrew felt his heart pumping against his chest as Vincent chased after him. He avoided the first vial, but what about the next ones?
Living with Ron, he witnessed the crazy actions of the mad boy and was absolutely terrified of what was in those vials.
"Get back over here Peter!" Pettigrew didn't know how the boy knew his name, but he didn't wish to stay to find out.
*BOOM!*
Pettigrew jumped back as an explosion sounded in front of him, pushing him back with an invisible force.
"Wha—! Pettigrew barely noticed Vincent's outstretched hand and panicked, transforming back into a human.
Rolling away from Vincent's hands he transformed back into a rat and scurried off again. However, a large metal rod, now completely encasing him due to the size, smacked him into a log.
"How?" he thought, seeing the rod fly back to Vincent. "What the hell is that aim?"
Pettigrew transformed back and groaned in pain as Vincent approached the pudgy man. "Looking at you, you resemble nothing of Sister An. Messy, cowardly, pathetic, what a disappointment."
"S—stay back!" Peter scrambled away.
He shivered at the sight of Vincent's golden eyes that seemed to almost glow in the dark. As Vincent took out another powdered vial, Pettigrew once again transformed only to squeal out in pain as a glass vial shattered against his back, tearing a large cut on his small rat body. The powder rained down on him, making him feel sleepy.
As Vincent approached, he noticed that Pettigrew was trying to resist the impulse to sleep. Vincent didn't smile, nor frown, only giving off a silent, monotone expression.
"Sleep, when you wake up, that's when you'll receive what's coming to you," Vincent muttered.
He picked up the rat and took out some tape of sorts. He wrapped it around Pettigrew multiple times before he was satisfied. Placing it in his shirt pocket, where Nyx and Blimp and keep an eye on it, he turned around to help Sirius and the rest before he heard a low growl. A chill went through his body as he rolled to the side, avoiding some claw that cut deep into a tree.
"No way," he muttered, turning to see a werewolf glaring at him with a hungry look. Vincent got to his feet and stepped back carefully. "Professor Lupin?"
He was answered with a low growl as the werewolf pounced at him.
...
"Hermione! I've found Vincent!"
Harry skidded to a stop as he burst through the trees with Hermione at his side—a Harry and Hermione from an hour and a half later.
They were both breathless and hurried, Buckbeak protesting loudly as they dragged him along. The forest ahead shimmered faintly, as though reality itself hadn't quite settled yet.
There—between the trees.
Vincent.
And Lupin.
Harry's heart dropped. Vincent was on the defensive, clearly being driven back by the werewolf's wild strikes.
"Hermione, he needs help—!" Harry lunged forward.
Hermione seized his sleeve with a white-knuckled grip. "Harry, stop!"
"What are you doing?!" he hissed. "Vincent needs us!"
"I know!" Hermione said sharply, then lowered her voice, glancing around as if afraid the forest itself might be listening. Her other hand clutched the chain hidden beneath her robes. "But we can't. We're not supposed to be here, not like this."
Harry froze.
"If we interfere," Hermione continued, struggling to keep her composure, "if we're seen, if we touch him—then we change what already happened. We don't know how much damage that could do. The Time-Turner doesn't give us permission to fix everything."
"But Hermione," Harry said desperately, watching Vincent stagger back, "he never came back to us. He never made it back."
Hermione's breath hitched. She knew what would happen an hour and a half from now—
—Vincent would be missing, not a trace of him seen in that hospital wing they would wake up later.
Her grip on Harry tightened as the forest echoed with Lupin's howl.
"What do I do?" she thought, panic clawing at her chest. "What am I allowed to do?"
...