Disclaimer: If he were mine, I would not share.

Title: W.O.M.A.N [A Sirius Black Tale] P.A.R.T 2.0 [Wonderfully Omniscient, Magnificently Addictive and Necessary; very Necessary.]

Annixia couldn't remember a time she had been so rushed; nor a time she had felt quite so frustrated either, which, she decided, was a major feat considering her experiences over the last few weeks.

Remus had left it at that cryptic comment, dashing off before she even had time to form a coherent sentence and, as the sun descended further in the sky, Nixi had no choice other than to follow him, forgoing the opportunity to wrap up in a travelling cloak or pick up the Marauder's Map when it fluttered helplessly to her classroom floor.

As they fled across the grounds of the school, she mentally sent the first genuinely grateful comment ever to her mother, thinking just how hindered she'd be in her heels without the vast amount of practise she had had no choice but to accomplish.

She had prodded at first, between harsh breaths, begged and demanded in turn to know what had happened to rile Lupin so badly; was it Harry? Was he in danger? They were wrong? About what, exactly? And the Marauder's Map? How did that prove anything?

But he hadn't replied and so Annixia settled for simply keeping pace, tearing her insides apart with burning curiosity and scorching anxiety.

Merlin, if it was about Harry...

It seemed to be a lifetime before they slowed in front of the ever-famous Whomping Willow and Annixia, silent upon demand, simply cocked her head to the side in puzzlement as Remus drew his wand.

What was he doing?

And then it became very apparent as he immobilized the tree with a wave of his wand and led her forward, into a small, virtually unnoticeable plot in the bark, triggered by the pressing of a knot; a tunnel that she had become familiar with in her very last year at Hogwarts.

The Shrieking Shack? She panicked internally – were they going to see Sirius? Was he still there? Had Remus caught him on the Map, is that why they were running, why he hadn't said anything in a way of explanation? Or, she contemplated, quiet out of choice of the circumstance now, did Remus think there was more to it?

He had said something about being wrong, hadn't he?

Terribly wrong.

Annixia mentally snorted; yes, that would certainly be an appropriate statement to describe locking an innocent man away on a horrifying island to be continuously hounded by dark creatures; his friends turned against him, his enemies humoured by the situation;

His fiancé abandoning him...

On second thoughts, she conceded, the humour wasn't quite so easy to find.

They had to crouch low, Remus practically having to army crawl to wheedle through the twists and turns, his stature too tall to simply crab walk. The sight took her back in time:

"Love," his greys eyes sparkled mischievously, "If evenyou'retoo tall to stand in this place, what hope do i have at a crawl?"

Annixia shook her head and continued on until they breached a familiar trap door.

The house was no different; the furniture still old and moth eaten, the surfaces still dusty, the air thick and the walls ripped into as if they had fought an epic battle against a dragon colony. Her eyes zeroed in on five thin lines stretching along the chipped paint.

Treacherous evidence that she herself had been there, not a month ago.

Annixia was glad to escape up the stairs and yet not so pleased to hear tell-tale sounds on the other side of the Master Suite; apparently, a scuffle had taken place. She breathed in deeply, thinking that if she just had a moment to collect herself, a second to reflect on the very little evidence she had been given about just what in the hell was happening around her-

In a shower of red sparks, Lupin disintegrated the door until it was practically unrecognisable.

She hurried in behind him, shocked to find Hermione cowering not far behind the door, Ron on the floor – is arm bloody and leg at an odd angle – clutching a slithering rat in his hands and her own Godson, seething and hesitant, holding her fiancé at wand point, a fat ginger cat settled on Sirius' chest.

What in Godric's name had been going on?

Lupin seemed to gather his wits faster than she did and took his own action; "Expelliarmus!"

Harry's wand and the two Hermione had within her grasp were stolen, airborn for no more than a second when Remus reflexively snatched them, holding tight.

Annixia wasn't sure what to do with herself; she could hardly look at Harry or Sirius without feeling the urge to empty the contents of her stomach and didn't much fancy comforting an indignant Hermione. She thought that, perhaps, she could do some good with Ron – make-shifting a splint for him and maybe wrapping up his bleeding arm.

She hurried to his side and pushed some stray red hair from his eyes in a comforting gesture; the pain of his leg and seemingly dangerous situation held his attention, though the rat in his hands seem to become more jittery as she approached.

It didn't bother Annixia too much – she had never been all that fond of rodents.

Remus spoke from the centre of the room, his own wand trained upon Sirius who could only match his gaze; "Where is he, Sirius?"

Nixi furrowed her brow. Where was who? As far as she could see, all the males in the room were clearly present.

Slowly, carefully, Sirius' hand seemed to rise epically before his point landed and steadied upon Ron, who, if possible, paled further. It was the first time Sirius had connected eyes with Annixia since she entered the fray and he saw just how soft they were, how confused.

Ron? What aboutRon?

She mentally groaned – if there was ever a similar situation, before she came running around after her friends, she would be sure to gather the full story first, even if it meant beating it out of said friend.

*Cough* Remus Lupin *Cough*

Annixia took a moment to roll her eyes.

Men.

Lupin was muttering. "But then – why hasn't he shown himself before now? Unless-" Remus' eyes widened drastically, as if he'd just cottoned on to something significant. Lucky him.This time, Nixi refrained from scoffing."Unless you switched without telling me?"

Harry was bewildered; what were they on about? He looked to his Godmother for any kind of answer, green eyes imploring, but noticed that she had her own gaze stolen by none other than Sirius Black, who was nodding, slowly. It clicked in Harry that, at that moment in time, Annixia must have been feeling no less mystified than he was, and either tremendously hurt or immensely angry, possibly both.

Anger ignited out of a protective love for family, and, more than ever before, Harry found himself wanting answers.

No, not wanting: needing.

"Professor Lupin," he interrupted, loudly, "What's going-"

But Harry stopped short and Annixia could see why. As Lupin lowered his wand and held out a hand to lift Sirius back upright, another wave of tension seemed to sweep the room, shrouding them in a cocoon of complete and utter ambiguity.

The two embraced as you would expect brothers to and it shocked Annixia's very system – what did Lupin understand that she had missed? Despite her confusion, one thing became clear to Nixi that wiped her clean of any guilt she felt for the last time she had been in that very room.

She wasn't the only one now doubting his imprisonment.

The three teens in the room, however, were outraged; in fact, Annixia had never heard Hermione's voice reach such a decibel before; "I DON'T BELIEVE IT!"

Everyone turned to her, Annixia gently shushing Ron as he whimpered slightly when it caused his leg discomfort. She took her wand and whispered lowly to him; "I'm not going to attempt to fix it here, alright? Madam Pomfrey is much more equipped for that job but i can splint it for you which should relieve some of the pain."

He gulped but nodded bravely and she took out her own wand, silently moving it as a splint appeared from nowhere, attached to his leg. She helped him stand and sat him on the bed, all the while her mind on the conversation to her left.

"I didn't tell anyone!" She was yelling, pointing an accusatory finger in Lupin's direction, her eyes a brown mess of fury, "I've been covering up for you-"

"Hermione." All eyes turned to Annixia, who was stood in front and a little to the side of Ron, her eyes set but before she could continue Harry had begun, his gaze narrowed and dangerous.

"I trusted you!" He shouted at Lupin, consumed by anger, "And all this time you've been his friend!"

Both Remus and Annixia shook their heads; she knew Lupin would have done no such thing. He defended himself, "I haven't been Sirius' friend for twelve years, but i am now...let me explain..."

Nixi shot him a querying look but he simply retuned it with a pleading gaze; she nodded, grasping at the few nerve endings undamaged, trying to hone in her impatience. Hermione had no such intentions; "NO! Harry don't trust him, he's been helping Black get into the castle, he wants you dead too – he's a werewolf!"

Remus paled and Annixia closed her eyes momentarily. Her headache was returning but she swallowed it back. It was certainly no time to go about throwing a faint. To his credit, Lupin's response was calm.

"Not at all up to your usual standard, Hermione," he said, "Only one out of three I'm afraid. I have not been helping Sirius get into the castle and i certainly don't want Harry dead..." He shivered and Annixia took a small step forward, as if to comfort him, only to hold herself – now was not the time, "But i don't deny that i am a werewolf."

Nixi went to capture his gaze, only to find herself in a sea of clever grey, the ache in her head dulling slowly. Lupin took a gulp, "How long have you known?"

Before Hermione could answer, Harry's sharp green eyes found those golden ones of Annixia and narrowed dangerously. Nixi wasn't generic enough, usually, to use the term 'o-oh', but deemed it quite suitable for that situation. "How long have youknown?"

She quirked an eyebrow in his direction, her gaze steady, unwavering; "Since we were students here ourselves, actually, and i certainly don't see a problem with that." Her tone was calm, but bordering audacious, as if daring them to counter her statement.

Ron didn't pick that up; "You knew?!" He cried and received a sharp nod from her.

"All of the staff do, and we have full confidence in Remus' integrity." Her tone, on a regular basis, in usual circumstance, would have left no room for argument – she had never enjoyed the prejudices forced upon victims of lycanthropy – but it wasn't a normal day.

Again, Ron gaped, "Dumbledore hired you knowing you were a werewolf? Is he mad?"

Sirius' eyes flickered from the rat in his hands up to the Weasley's face, sparing him a glare, before heatedly gazing once more at the squirming 'animal'.

He'd had to choke back the pride he felt upon hearing Annixia's words and recalled the day she had found out, before the two of them were even together. He had thought back then that she was far too intelligent for her own good; too observant and that one day it was going to get her into trouble, along with her poised, sharp tongue.

And he had been right.

Remus smiled sadly; "Some of the staff thought so; he had to work very hard to convince certain teachers that I'm trustworthy-"

"AND HE WAS WRONG!" Harry exploded, "YOU'VE BEEN HELPING HIM ALL THE TIME!"

As he spoke, Sirius crossed to the four-poster bed, meeting Annixia on the way and basically collapsed on her, shaking from head to toe, though only slightly. She caught him, hands on his chest and moved deftly to the bed, depositing him gently on the other side to Ron, who moved even further from the two of them.

Crookshanks followed loyally.

Harry felt is stomach drop and fall through the floor, as though he was crash landing. A dizzy spell washed over him but he blinked it away in favour of black anger. His Godmother? Was she - ? Had she been doing the same?

Was she a traitor too?

"AND YOU TOO?! I BELEIVED YOU – I LOVED YOU! AND ALL THIS TIME-"

Annixia looked up sharply; "We have notbeen helping Sirius!"

Remus shook his head in agreement, "If you'll give me a chance, I'll explain. Look-" He handed over the three wands he had captured previously, returning each to a stunned owner, "There," he stuck his own down the waistband of his trousers and gestured a still standing Annixia to do the same. She hesitantly slipped it through the loose knot of her hair and he nodded resolutely, "You're armed, we're not. Now will you listen?"

Annixia paced away from the edge of the bed, moving to the window to lean against the windowsill, her eyes flitting from each person in the room to the next, lingering upon Harry and Sirius, the latter of which acknowledged her with a tender look. She returned it with a confused and desperate fleeting gaze.

Harry, Ron and Hermione still seemed to be twitchy, hesitant, not that she could entirely blame them...after all, Anni was puzzled by it and she knew twice as much as they did...

Remus began his story, one she concentrated on utterly, hoping to fill in the incessant blanks in her mind; Harry was the first to speak, however:

"If you haven't been helping him," he questioned them both, throwing a venomous look over his shoulder to Sirius, "How did you know he was here?"

Annixia let Remus answer since he knew a trifle more than she did on the subject matter; "The Map," he explained, "The Marauder's Map. I was in my office examining it-"

"You know how to work it?" Harry interrupted suspiciously.

Remus waved a dismissing hand impatiently, "Of course i know how to work it, i helped write it. I'm Moony – that was my friends' nickname for me at school."

Annixia smiled at the memory, recalling how Lily had once told them that the name referred also to a Muggle prank that was so inappropriate James and Sirius had promptly offered the gesture to McGonagall, who didn't take too kindly to it, surprisingly.

"You wrote-?"

"The important thing is, i was watching it carefully this evening, because both Annixia and I assumed the three of you might sneak out of the castle to visit Hagrid before his Hippogriff was executed. And we were right, weren't we?"

Remus started pacing and Annixia contained a snort. Lupin's tone had been less than impressed nor surprised at that comment as they had both agreed, when the Dementors continued to prowl at Harry, that he was just as much a trouble magnet as his father had been.

"You might have been wearing your father's old Cloak, Harry-"

Harry furrowed his eyebrows and spoke defensively, "How d'you know about the Cloak?"

The hand wafted again; "The amount of times i saw James disappearing under it...The point is, even if you're wearing an Invisibility Cloak you show up on the Map. I watched you cross the grounds and enter Hagrid's hut. Twenty minutes later, you left Hagrid, and set off back towards the castle. But you were now accompanied by somebody else."

"What?" Said Harry, looking as puzzled as Annixia felt, "No, we weren't!"

"I couldn't believe my eyes," said Lupin, ignoring Harry's outburst and primarily turning to address Annixia, "I thought the Map must be malfunctioning." He shook his head and Annixia questioned him with her eyes. Lupin turned back to the trio, "How could he be with you?"

"No one was with us!" Insisted Harry.

Again Lupin ignored him but Nixi wished he hadn't – the story was becoming more perplexing with every word, building to a crescendo and Annixia was trying her hardest to keep up, "And then i saw another dot, moving fast towards you, labelled Sirius Black...i saw him collide with you, i watched as he pulled two of you into the Whomping Willow-"

"One of us!" Said Ron angrily, testifying with his now splinted leg as evidence.

"No, Ron," said Lupin, "Two of you."

Harry shot Anni a look, angry yet beseeching her to explain to him. He was surprised to find her gaze just as alert and concentrated as his own. Remus' keen hand wafted again, "Don't look to Professor Dexter, she knew nothing of all of this, i just thought she ought to come too-" He interrupted himself and Harry felt a twinge in his stomach. That was twice he'd accused her now and both times he'd, apparently, misinterpreted. Fantastic. "Do you think i could have a look at that rat?"

Ron looked flabbergasted and shuffled uncomfortably at Remus' even tone; "What?" He asked, "What's Scabbers got to do with it?"

"Everything." Said Lupin, "Could i see him, please?"

Scabbers thrashed violently in Ron's cupped hands, biting and scratching, attempting escape as Ron seized his ugly bald tail. Crookshanks hissed from Sirius' lap.

The workings of Annixia's mind began to whirl desperately, as she grasped at the puzzle pieces she had been granted. Scabbers? Sirius' innocence? Remus' condition? The cloak? The Map? The nicknames...?

She gasped abruptly, as if surfacing from deep water, and her eyes darted to Sirius and then Remus, back to her fiancé as Lupin gazed intently at the rat, holding his own breath.

"What?" Ron said, prompted by her intake of shocked oxygen, holding Scabbers close while looking frightened, "What's my rat got to do with anything?"

Sirius croaked out suddenly, answering Annixia's penetrating gaze and Ron's question; "That's not a rat."

"What d'you mean – of course he's a rat – "

"No, he's not," said Lupin quietly. "He's a wizard."

Annixia's eyes fell shut, out of what? Relief? Disbelief? Happiness? Wariness? She wasn't sure. All she knew was that she wished Sirius hadn't been so protective when they were younger, wished he had let her see them transform instead of telling her that she would be allowed no part in such a dangerous scandal.

She had derived from their nicknames what animal forms the Marauders each took, clever enough to deduce it after they had explained everything but the finer details to her. But she had never seen Peter or James transform more than once, hardly saw Sirius' alter ego; she never dreamed that, maybe, it had all been different...

"An Animagus," Sirius expressed darkly, "by the name of Peter Pettigrew."

A/N: Slowly but surely, I will finish this story! Sorry for how few and far between these updates are but final term of uni is kicking my arse… I will attempt to be more productive on this front too though! Review please: it's what keeps me churning this story out!