What if?

Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban

Harry stood by Sirius as they watched Lupin and Hermione haul out Wormtail by the arms, Ron limped out after the pair and Hermione saw him struggle and offered him a hand. She helped him over to a nearby root while Lupin kept Wormtail under his wand. Harry glared at the man who had caused the death of his parents; he had been their trusted friend and he had handed them over to Voldemort to save his own neck. Harry didn't regret his decision back in the shrieking shack, but that didn't make it any easier to watch him snivel and grovel under the gaze of what was once his close friend. Harry felt the tension in the air and Sirius took a small step forward.

"I should of killed him." He muttered to himself more than anyone else as he clenched his jaw and shot daggers at the man. Harry placed a tentative hand on his arm and whispered,

"With his life yours is returned." Sirius nodded at him and gave him a wry smile. Harry turned towards his friends and made his way over before kneeling down next to Ron. His leg wasn't bleeding as much but the wound was still deep, harry flinched when he remembered the crack that had sounded out throughout the night.

"You alright Ron?" he asked quietly and shot a gaze at Hermione who looked pale and tired from the ordeal. Harry felt a rush of regret; he had really scared his friends down there. Hermione must have thought he was going to die. He reached over and patted her on the hand and she looked up at him and smiled in thanks. Ron mumbled his reply but Harry was looking at his Godfather as he gazed up at the castle. He smiled and his heart warmed. He was going to get away, away from the Dursley's forever. It was all going to be okay, they would reach the castle and alert Dumbledore, Peter would be taken away and Sirius would be cleared of all charges. He would be able to walk down a busy street without a second glance, Harry wondered what his Godfather was thinking as he sighed and looked at Lupin. Harry followed his gaze and watched the two share a friendly smile. Harry wondered how Lupin was feeling; he must have been over the moon to find out that his best friend wasn't a murderer and that he still had someone from his school years.

Harry thought about losing one of his friends and he shivered. Looking at them now he felt a great sense of happiness, they had both backed him in the shack even when they thought their life was in danger. Hermione had even thrown herself in front of Harry in order to protect him. Harry nodded to himself; his friends were his whole world. If he lost them... Well he wasn't too sure about what he would do. Harry now looked at Lupin in a new light. He had been a man that had thought his last friend on this earth was a traitor who caused the deaths of his other friends. Harry admired him, he would have been so angry if it had been him.

Harry was lost in thought when the clouds moved and Hermione shrieked. Harry snapped his head towards her as she pointed up at the sky. Sirius turned and took in the sight with wide eyes. Lupin was the last to turn and he started to shake as he was faced with the moon. Sirius ran to him, pushing past Wormtail who shielded himself. Harry looked at the pair before his mind kicked in and instinct took over. He lifted up his wand and ignored Wormtail as he flinched and pointed it at his professor.

"Stupefy!" He yelled and a red beam shot out of his wand and hit Lupin squarely in the chest. His professor continued the change but remained unconscious. Sirius stood back before turning to Harry with a grin on his face.

"Brilliant Harry!" Harry blushed and caught Hermione's eye as she stared at him. It wasn't a spell that they had learnt fully yet, but it hadn't really been him in control, his mind had jumped and the next thing he had known was his own voice. Harry let out a sigh.

But before Sirius could train Lupin's fallen wand on Wormtail, Snape burst from the trunk of the tree and blasted Sirius off his feet. Harry yelled and ran forward but he was yanked back by the collar and swung around to meet eyes bursting with anger. Harry didn't see him for long because out of the corner of his eye he saw Wormtail move backwards. Hermione trained her wand on him but he merely laughed and turned into a rat. Snape had not seen the movement and before he could say anything to Harry, he had been pushed back as Harry had run towards where Wormtail was changing.

He pounced on the clothes and got his hands around the rat and a flicker of joy ran through him. Unfortunately his luck was out and to his surprise, Wormtail was changing back into his human form and now he was the one gripping Harry tightly. Harry twisted but his grip remained true, he tried to reach for his wand but Wormtail was there before him. He threw Harry to the ground and used his own wand to bind his wrists before he could even move.

Ron yelled in anger and Hermione advanced upon Wormtail, but he was too quick and she was stunned before she could raise her wand high enough. Ron tried to move forward but his leg betrayed him and he could only watch on in horror as Harry was hauled from the ground and spun around so that Wormtail had his arm around his neck and his own wand pressing into his temple.

It had all happened so fast that Snape hadn't even reacted. Now Wormtail stood facing Snape holding Harry with a tight grip. Snape's eyes watched him carefully; he turned to face him fully and glared at him. Harry wondered if Snape would even try to help him.

"How is the Dark Lord Peter?" he asked casually and Harry stared at him in shock. Wormtail had tensed at the question but he remained silent. "Or have you not found him yet?" Snape smiled a little and pointed his wand at Wormtail who took a step back and tightened his grip around Harry's neck.

"I'm going to ask you nicely Snape-" but the potions mater cut him off with a laugh

"Oh? Nicely are you? How very thoughtful." Wormtail ignored him and pressed on,

"Leave us now, walk away, turn your back and Potter may live." Harry's heart grew cold and he glanced at Ron who looked at him helplessly.

"Hm, tempting, tempting. Unfortunately for you, I believe that the Dark Lord would want Potter alive, so your threats will get you nowhere." Harry watched Snape with a guarded gaze, why did he know anything about Voldemort, and furthermore why was he offering Harry to him?

"Then who's to say I can't injure him?" Wormtail spat at him and let out a short wheezy laugh. Snape's eyes glinted with amusement,

"Well then, go right ahead Peter, I'm sure Potter deserves it in some way." Harry clenched his jaw and glared at the man across the clearing. Wormtail started to back out of the clearing further and he dragged Harry with him. Harry coughed as his air way was shut of momentarily.

"WORMTAIL!" a voice yelled from the thicket and Sirius emerged glaring at the man holding Harry at wand point. "Get your filthy hands off my Godson." He said in a voice as cold as ice. Harry felt Wormtail shiver but his grip did not lessen.

"Both of you, now, back off or Harry will suffer." Snape did not move but he turned to Sirius and they shared a glance. Wormtail was now dragging Harry further away and they came closer to a small cliff that hung above a hill covered in plants that lead down to the forbidden forest and the lake within. He also used Harry's wand to recover his own from the grown and once it had flown into his hand he had chucked Harry's at Ron.

"Get away from him!" Sirius shouted and made a move forward, Snape tried to hold him off but Wormtail panicked and started to shout a spell.

"CRUCI-" Harry winced as Sirius yelled,

"DON'T YOU DARE WORMTAIL!" and in a flash he was down on all fours and gunning his way towards the pair, Wormtail was cut off as Sirius collided with them and the three of them fell off the edge and rolled down the hill through the thick green. Harry yelled out when he hit the ground, his bound hands had kept him from saving himself and he felt his wrist snap as the ground rushed up to meet him. He rolled and came to a stop in the shadows and rolled over onto his stomach to escape the pain. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to figure out where he was but he was blinded by pain. The ropes were pressing into his wrists and there was nothing to stop the agonizing burn that tore through him. Harry couldn't focus on the shouts and growls and he barely remained conscious as the fight grew silent, there was another flash and Harry saw Sirius fly backwards once more and before long Wormtail was upon him.

Harry let out another yell as he was pulled from the ground and Wormtail punched him across the face before placing something in his mouth to stop him from screaming any longer. There was a silence and all Harry could hear was the distant shouts of Ron. Harry weakly wondered where Snape was when they were both blown off their feet. Harry felt himself fly through the air and he slammed into a tree which knocked the breath from him. The burn of his wrists made his vision go black before it flickered back and he lay staring at the pair in front of him.

Wormtail was on his feet again and Snape was looking at him will a dull gaze, as if this confrontation was merely boring for him. Harry waited for the first move but nothing came. Wormtail glanced back at Harry and made to grab at him and Sirius appeared at his side a growled before turning back into a human and pulling Harry away from him. Wormtail glanced back a forth between Snape and Sirius before he bolted into the forest. Snape watched him run and before long there was a crack that signalled his disappearance.

Sirius was livid.

"What the HELL was that Snape! He ran right by you and you let him get away! Why?" Snape looked at him for a while before answering,

"Potter was safe; Wormtail was no longer a threat." Harry closed his eyes and whished someone would free him from his bonds.

"No longer a threat! ARE YOU BLEEDING MAD? He could have killed all of us tonight and you let him go! His capture was my last chance at freedom!" Snape seemed to have been waiting for this; he chuckled and walked up to his school enemy. Harry watched through half closed eyes as Snape looked down on him.

"What a shame." There was a pause after his words and before Harry could register it there was a bang and Snape was on the ground glaring up at Sirius as a black eye formed. Sirius rubbed his knuckles and turned to Harry and carefully helped him up.

"Now I feel much better." Harry smiled and fell into the warm arms of darkness.

What if Snape discovered Peter Petigrew?

I hope you all enjoyed my play on this scene, this idea had be plauging me for a while, so I started to gather some short pieces of writing on scenes I would have liked to have explore in different ways. I found myself wondering if small changes effected key aspects of the series. I wondered if Snape had seen Wormtail and helped clear Sirius's name, or turned a blind eye. I also wondered if Peter had thought about taking Harry to Voldemort then and there, I mean it was only a year afterwards that Voldemort made his come back, surely Peter must have been close to finding Voldemort.

So, I'd love some feedback and I hope I can provide you with some entertaining material.

What next?

Cedric's demise?

The Deatheaters discovery?

or maybe...

What if Harry had been cut off in the Chamber of secrets instead of Ron? Would Ginny of survived?