chapter 17 : Justice Served

One night, as Ron was getting ready to sleep, Harry next to him was looking at his Marauder's Map when he was shocked that a name appeared on his map's whereabouts, "Peter Pettigrew".

"Ron ! Ron come quickly and see this…" Harry said eagerly.

Ron: Have mercy my good Lord, Percy already exhausted me earlier with his rat that he lost a while ago.

Harry: Ron, it's urgent!

He came to look at the card and even frowned when he saw the name. They looked at each other and immediately went down to see if Pettigrew was alive and really at the location on the map but they saw nothing while a certain rat was hidden in a hole.

Harry wanted to continue but Ron said they'll look tomorrow and they left before Snape got there.

The next day, Ron borrowed the map from Harry and went to see Lupin with whom they went to Dumbledore's office.

Albus: Young Weasley, you said you had an urgent matter that you wanted to talk to us about...

"Look at this..." Ron placed the Marauder's Map on the table and the two men came to look.

"Oh I know this card well..." Dumbledore said with amusement.

Ron: It gives in real time the names and movements of everyone in the castle.

Lupin: I suppose many students have made bad moves with (smile with nostalgia) ...

Dumbledore: Be sûre (smile)...

Ron: Listen to me professors, this is very serious! It turns out that yesterday Harry and I opened it and a particular name popped up.

" The name of you know who?!" Dumbledore asked seeing Ron's serious face, he knew that he and Harry had faced this man twice before.

Lupin: Was that Sirius Black?

Ron: Peter Pettigrew...

The two men remained silent for a while...

Lupin: It's impossible...

Dumbledore: Are you sure?

Ron: Do you really think I would have bothered finding you if it wasn't true?! I think too much of my laziness to do that.

Lupine: Ronald, if what you say is true then...

Dumbledore: Poor Sirius...

"What poor Sirius? Tell me about…" Ron asked as the two men looked at each other.

Dumbledore: Young Weasley, we thank you for your information and if you are willing, we will borrow this card from you. Professor Lupin and I have to talk about serious things right now...

Ron: Are you serious? Are you going to leave me stranded like that?

Lupine: Ron, it's more complicated than you think. The affair is unfortunate, I promise to explain everything to you afterwards.

" It makes no sense ! You can forget me in your order of the pigeon…" He said as he walked away and while filled with anger and frustration but as he walked, Professor McGonagall called out to him.

McGonagall: Mr. Weasley.

Ron: Professor?!

McGonagall: The Minister of Magic heard of your academic exploits and also of your exceptional performances in Quidditch, we had a very good discussion about you.

Ron: I am fulfilled, I am swimming in happiness.

McGonagall: Stop with the sarcasm my child. I am proud to announce that you will take the admission tests for the England Quidditch national team in a month. You can be proud of yourself and I forbid you from being absent or faking a bad performance, after three years I know your ways my child.

Ron: Professor but my age...

McGonagall: Normally the opportunity is granted to students from their fifth year onwards but you are an exception by the Ministry itself!

Ron: Professor for pity's sake-(interrupted)

"Make us proud Mr. Weasley…" she said as she left with a satisfied smile.

Ron stood there in a daze before leaving with as much energy as a zombie, he felt like the sky was laughing at him.

Later that day Harry came to pick him up with Hermione and Ginny while he was being consoled by Luna and told her that Hagrid was looking for them, he told them to leave without him with an exhausted voice but Harry insisted and Ron followed them.

As they arrived at the half-giant's little stone house, they saw Buckbeak sitting quietly there among the pumpkins. Nearby, Malfoy and his comrades approached and picked up stones to throw at the hippogriff.

"Those idiots..." Hermione got angry and wanted to run towards them but Ron held her by the arm.

Hermione: May I know what you're playing?! They want to hurt Buck!!

Harry: She's right.

Ron: Shut up and just watch...

Malfoy and his friends threw their rocks at Buck when Ron moved his index finger slightly and the rocks came back to hit their faces.

Harry and the others started laughing as Malfoy and his friends ran out of there groaning in pain.

Luna: It was well played, subtle and effective. They are as harmful as nargles. 

Ron: Thank you darling!

"Darling..." She repeated in a very low voice, smiling. 

Hagrid came out of the house and greeted them.

"Ah there you are! Come in, come in quickly, I made some tea! »

Harry: Hagrid, you seem in a very good mood.

Hagrid: Oh yes Harry, thanks to Ron, Buckbeak and I were not found guilty of Malfoy's accident, he defended us in front of the assembly.

Hermione: What assembly!?

Ron: It's a long story, later I'll-(interrupted)

Hagrid: LET ME TELL YOU HOW RON DID JUSTICE FOR BUCK AND ME.

"Mom, please…" Ron complained, massaging the top of his nose as Luna patted his back. Hagrid happily recounted how everything happened as well as the minister's final verdict.

He then thanked Ron with teary eyes and took out of one of the cages a gray rat that Ron, Ginny and Harry recognized, it was Percy's missing rat which Ginny took in her hands.

When they left there, the hippogriff snapped its beak as Ron passed by and bowed to the young man while the others moved forward.

Ron bowed in response before taking one of the ferrets laid out there by Hagrid and feeding Buckbeak by stroking its feathers, Luna also came closer to touch him and Buckbeak let her do so for some reason. 

They stood there with him for a bit when while touching Buckbeak's feathers Ron and Luna's fingers touched, they looked at each other in a daze before a scream interrupted them and it was Ginny's voice.

The two immediately ran towards the direction of the screams to see Harry and Hermione being mauled by the Whomping Willow.

"WHERE IS GINNY?" » he asked worriedly.

Hermione: A big black dog took her into the burrow under the tree.

"IMMOBILIS" he cast a spell on the tree which froze and helped Harry up.

Harry: I'll go get her.

Ron: Let's go together, you girls will wait here and if we don't come back, go find Professor Lupin.

Hermione wanted to speak but they had already entered the burrow. They walked through the tunnel inside which led them to the Shrieking Shack where Ron and Harry took out their wands they heard Ginny's moans of pain and went to look.

Ron found his little sister sitting on an old couch with an injured leg and his anger was not small.

Ron: Where's the dog that did this to you?

"There it is, it's an animagus" She pointed behind them and they turned around to see Sirius Black holding the rat in both hands.

Harry: SIRIUS BLACK!

Ron: YOU...!?

They immediately pointed their wands at him as Ron's eyes held a dangerous glint.

Suddenly, Lupin entered the room and he wanted to disarm Harry with the spell "Expelliarmus" but Ron was much faster than him and with "Accio", Lupin's wand came to him.

"Clever…" Lupin muttered as the girls walked in and seeing Ron and Harry pointing their wands at the two men, they did the same.

Lupine: Ron, Harry...things are not what you think!

"You betrayed my parents, THEY DIED BECAUSE THEY TRUSTED YOU!" Harry said angrily to Sirius who looked at him in confusion.

Lupine tried to move towards Sirius but an arc of electricity came from Ron's wand to hit the spot where he wanted to put his foot, forcing him to stay put.

Sirius: Is that what they told you Harry?! Is that what they told you about me?! I would never have betrayed Lilly and James, they were my friends.

Lupin: Ron, Ron listen to me! You have to trust me, Sirius Black is innocent! Everyone has been fooled and he is the real victim of this whole thing with Harry's poor parents.

Ron: You want me to believe that the man who tried to tear off my little sister's leg is a victim? If he wasn't the one who betrayed Harry's parents then who was it?!

Sirius: Peter Pettigrew...he's the one who did it, NOT ME! For 12 years I waited locked up in AZKABAN!!

Ron:...

Lupin : Ron...? 

Ron : I'm starting to understand! Harry, lower your wand.

Lupine: You understand Ron, your intelligence will always surprise me.

Harry: What are you talking about Ron?! This is the man who betrayed my parents, remember?

Ron: For almost 12 years this field rat remained the same, not a sign of old age, he never got sick and no normal rat has this longevity. (looks at Sirius) Leave that rat on the ground.

Lupin: Sirius, you can trust this boy.

Sirius: I don't want to risk him escaping again.

Ron: I give you my word that this thing won't go anywhere and you and I will have a talk about what you did to my little sister.

Sirius dropped the rat to the ground and in midair, Ron hit it with his 'Cancellatio' spell which reversed the rat's transfiguration back to its human form which surprised Harry and the girls.

Pettigrew tried to crawl away but Ron hit him with "Immobilis" and the two men grabbed him.

Snape came in and immediately pointed his wand at Sirius and Lupin but Ron also snatched his wand away like he did with Lupin.

Snape: WEASLEY!!

Ron: Professor, don't disrupt an important conversation.

"I'm listening to you, speak!" Harry asked Sirius who started recounting everything that happened, who Pettigrew was and how he betrayed his parent on behalf of Voldemort.

Ron undid the immobilization spell on him they questioned him, Pettigrew confessed that he betrayed them out of fear. When he confessed this, Ron saw a slight murderous glint in Snape's eyes.

He returned his wand to Lupin who thanked him for pointing it at Pettigrew.

Sirius: Lupin we have to kill him now.

Lupine: Completely agree!

Harry: NO!

Sirius: Harry? He practically killed your parents!! They were my friends.

Ron: He's right, killing him here would be very stupid. You spent 12 long years in AZKABAN even though you were innocent and your name was tarnished by the press and the ministry. Confronting him with the authorities will be the way to exonerate you and you will no longer be on the run.

He also returned the wand to Snape who looked at him as if to say that they will talk about this again.

Ron approached Ginny and asked if she was okay, he dragged his wand over her wound slowly and it closed.

"I was so scared little sister…" he said, taking her in his arms to reassure her, then he realized that certain things could obviously scare him but not because it happened to him, because it could threaten his relatives.

They came out of there with their captive and it was already dark, it was a full moon evening.

Noticing this, Snape and Sirius looked nervously at Lupine but he did not transform, he was fine and that greatly intrigued them.

They returned to the school where Dumbledore gathered all the teachers to talk to them and contact the Ministry of Magic.

Three days later a case shook the wizarding world in the newspapers with the article which announced that Sirius Black was in fact innocent of all the charges that had weighed on him for 12 years.

This case caused a lot of discussion because an innocent man had lost 12 years of his life in a horrible place like AZKABAN and they wondered if the ministry was still reliable in convicting innocent people.

Sirius had returned to speak with Harry and Ron was summoned to Dumbledore, he was not at all enthusiastic about the idea.

Ron: Did you want to see me teacher?

Dumbledore: Yes, approach Mr. Weasley.

Professor Lupin was also there and he nodded at Ron who sulked at him, which made him laugh.

Dumbledore: I believe Professor Lupin and I owe you an apology. We greatly underestimated your abilities and maturity but because you are Harry's best friend we were afraid you would tell him about it.

"pffff" Ron shook his head.

Lupin: We're sorry Ron!

Dumbledore: The information you provided us and your discernment helped exonerate a man who lost almost everything and Harry's godfather. I know we've frustrated you and if we could do anything to change your mind and join the Order of the Phoenix then...

Ron: My application for the national Quidditch team, revoke it and maybe I'll think about it.

Dumbledore: Impossible McGonagall and I are relying too much on you to-(interrupted)

"Goodbye Professor" Ron said as he left as both men got a migraine.

A few days later, another piece of news disrupted the surrounding peace. As Pettigrew was about to be transferred to Azkaban, something or someone helped him escape and this once again weakened the influence of the Ministry.

Besides, Professor Lupin had been half-hearted because someone had informed the Ministry of his werewolf status, Ron knew it was Snape and he was very upset because he liked Lupin.

The former professor saw him with Harry and told them that it wasn't bad and that was good because he wanted to help Sirius rehabilitate once he was free again.

He sincerely asked Ron to think about their proposal because he would still like to work with him.

He gave them a chocolate bar and Ron gave him the recipe for the potion before he left.

Time has passed and the selection tests for the England national team which will participate in the Quidditch World Cup this summer in Ireland took place.

Ron had already taken the tests and showed the best results because a certain girl with long, almost white hair was cheering him on.

Ron had initially asked Harry to also nominate himself but he refused because he wanted to make up time with his godfather during the summer, much to the misfortune of Ron who found himself alone.

He made the front page of the Daily Prophet as the youngest player in history to join the national Quidditch team and his name was heard far beyond England as a front page photo of the newspaper, he was seen shaking the Minister of Magic's hand while the expression on his face made him look like someone who wanted to be killed.

The year ended and they were all at the feast, Dumbledore had already presented the four house trophy to Gryffindor and Ron was sitting with Luna as they ate.

Luna: Stop making that face, it can't be that bad.

Ron: Training, friendlies, preparations and that damn World Cup! It's going to take up a lot of my time and I want to sleep during summer!

Luna: I would really like to see you win this cup, I'm going to come and encourage you!

Ron: Is that true?

Luna: Of course stupid (blushes)

They continued to eat and talk. Two days later, they returned home and Ron received his official call-up to the national team.