What Was :: 1 ::
"So, " Voldemort said, debating over whether or not to stand up from his chair. He knew that his legs may bot be able to support him with the throbbing pains in his head. "So,"
Peter whimpered, and a hodded figure pulled harshly on the chains that held his usually thick wrists. He stumbled to the floor.
The Dark Lord continued, swirling a long key between his bony fingers as he spoke. "I hear you were in quite close contact with 3 men, 2 of which almost ruined me that night in the woods. Now Peter, kindly listen carefully and maybe I'll have my men release you from those chains. " Voldemort squeezed his eyes shut for a few seconds, and then cleared his throat. "If you could, please describe your relationship with these people."
Peter was beathing unevenly, almost like he had been running for a long distance. His eyes flicked from Voldemort, to the tall hooded figure, to the locked and barred door to his right.
"Speak," came a whisper. Peter looked up, and saw that Voldemort was now standing quite close to him. He squatted down to be face to face with Peter.
"Hogwarts, sir." he swallowed, "We were in Hogwarts together, same year. I was even in their house, in their dorm. We were friends back then, real good friends. We even made a map of the school together. People called us the Marauders. That was me, Remus, Sirius, and James. All four of us. Now I haven't seen them for about 8 years now. I got a nice letter from James, seems he's getting married." Peter stopped to sctratch something in his ear while looking confused. "Not sure who his bride is, I didn't read that far down. Always thought he'd have married that Evans girl, what's her name - "
"Lillian." Voldemort said through gritted teeth. "Lillian Evans."
Peter saw that Voldemort's grasp on the key was now so tight that his knuckles were becoming white.
"Yeah, yeah that sounds about right. Anyways, I don't think that was the name on the card, maybe it was 'Annabelle' or something like it. Why are you so interested in them?"
Voldemort made a sudden movement towards Peter's neck, but stopped himself. Peter, however, recoiled.
"Peter Pettigrew. I never would have thought that you'd be so interested." he stood, and ordered Peter to do the same. "But, these friends of yours, they always treated you nicely, of course."
"Well, yeah. None of them would ever have said or done anything against me. Like I said, they were my friends."
"But even your friends have done something to you at least once to make you angry."
Peter shrugged his shoulders. "Nope."
"Annoyed?"
"Nope."
"Frustrated?"
"No, I don't think so."
"Aggrivated even?"
"Look, these guys were -"
"Jealous?"
Peter stopped mid sentence.
"W-well, maybe jealous."
"Hmm,when did that happen?"
"I really don't want to talk about it."
"I would strongly suggest you talk about it. I never liked anyone who withheld information from me."
Peter swallowed a lump in his thraot.
"Well, uh, these guys were sort of popular. Morelike the most popular at the school. I became their friend after getting tutored by James and Sirius. We just formed a relationship after a while. But I knew I'd never be as popular as they were. I was okay with that."
Voldemort sneered. "You could have been."
"Could have been what?"
Voldemort clenched his teeth momentarily at Peter's slowness. "Popular. You could have been popular, Peter."
"Oh."
"But it seems to me that what stopped you were your friends. Of course you could have been well known. They stopped you. They must not have wanted competition. You must have posed a real threat in Hogwarts. Peter, it was because of them that no one knew you, or wanted to know you."
Peter looked as if he was contemplating something. Suddenly he narrowed his eyes.
"I don't think they'd do that."
"But they made you jealous, Peter."
"They made me jealous."
"When was the worst time they made you feel that way?"
"I - I don't "
"Damn it Peter! Just tell me!" Voldemort's eyes suddenly flamed red and he seemed to grow a foot taller.
"5th year." Peter shot out. "James got an award from the school after I let him take credit for finding a secret chamber that held some documents about the Ministry. He got all sorts of recognition for it. I almost hated him."
Voldemort smiled an evil grin that Peter didn't see. This was going to be easy here on in. He invited Peter to sit in his chair, even.
*
James stood up from the floor, and pulled Lily to her feet. Lily just wanted him to hold her again, but holding his hand as they exited the bathroom amid stares and whispers was enough to keep the smile on her face. When the two of them neared the nurse's station, a loud applause erupted from the lot of them, the stout nurse looking on the verge of tears.
And from behind them, the Head Nurse Dora eyed Lily severely, and Lily felt a lump in her throat as Dora came up to her.
Dora had a reputation for being strict.
Moreover, strict with Lily.
Lily watched her as she shook her head dissaprovingly, and tapping her left foot impatiently on the polished floor. Lily swallowed.
Dora handed her a clipboard before walking away. Lily took her hand away from James', and flipped through the papers. James rested his elbow on Lily's shoulder while watching her do this.
On about the third or fourth page, Lily saw a bright yellow post-it note. It read:
Evans,
Don't scare my candy stripers when you're still on vacation for another 4 days.
Go home.
D
Lily looked up, and saw Dora typing numbers for a phone call. She smiled.
"Thank you Dora."
The nurse waved an impatient hand and sat down in a chair.
Lily dropped the clipboard onto the counter, and left, thinking that she was finally getting a break in life - and that things were finally going her way.
*
James and Lily held hands ad they walked down a dirt path in a huge park, just after the sun had set and the first stars had appeared in the night sky. They spoke rarely this time, more content to just be in one another's presence. In a way, Lily preferred this, after everything that had happened, after all the chaos and anxiety, to just be at peace. James felt as though time had stopped for them, just long enough to let everything fall into place. Both of them felt so much in love, and it just radiated off of the beautiful surrounding landscape.
They rounded a corner, and came out to a small clearing, where the ground had been paved with cobblestones, and a few chess tables lined one outer edge. This was where James stopped, and faced Lily. He kissed her softly, and then began dancing with her to a completely mute sound.
"No music?" she asked quietly into his shoulder.
"Oh - er - let's see. What song should I sing?"he said, looking suddenly pensive.
"No, " Lily said with a slight smile on her face, "no, we won't want to wake up any innocent animals in the African Rainforests. No sound is a good sound."
"I beg your pardon? I happen to be a regular at Elga's Kareoke Bar." he said, twirling Lily under his arm.
"That would explain why she went out of business four years ago, then?"
"I -" he started, but his face broke into a lopsided grin and he realized he was defeated. "Okay, fine."
Lily was at the epitome of happiness. She closed her eyes and felt safe with him. It was impossible to imagine how many butterflies were fluttering in her stomach at that moment, but she didn't care much anyways. Lily was going to spend the rest of her life with James, and nothing, nothing was going to change that.
Lily suddenly stopped, and James did the same. Lily could have sworn she'd heard voices. Her back was toward the edge of the clearing. James took her strongly by the hand and swung her behind him. His eyes were narrowed, shoulders stiff.
Lily was trying to keep her breath steady and her heart from pounding so fast. Instinct told her not to make a sound. She too was watching the edge of the clearing, for any sign. Lily wanted to regulate her breathing. She had no idea why she was so scared. It was probably just an animal, she kept repeating to herself.
Deep breaths, in and out, in and - a huge hand clamped suddenly over her mouth. Lily jumped, and squeezed James' hand as hard as she could. He turned around, and within a heartbeat had punched the cloaked figure square in the face. The figure stumbled backwards, although not letting go of Lily. James still held onto her hand, and was about to punch him again, had he not been suddenly seized himself by a similar figure. A few others emerged from the shadows, aiding in the attempt to separate the couple.
"No!" James kept yelling.
Lily could barely breathe, and saw a few wands being pointed at her.
'No,' she thought, well aware of who these cloaked people were.'You can't take him!'
Every particle of her brain was focused on holding onto him. She felt her grip weakening, as the figure tried to step backwards. Lily thrashed out her free arm and legs, fighting against it. She managed to pry her mouth open slightly from behind the hand, and brought her teeth back together as firmly as she could.
The figure cried out, removing his hand for the slightest second. He was bleeding. However, a few of the others stepped in, grabbing her again.
"No! James!" she screamed out. Her grip was slipping on him.
Soon it went from palm to palm, then to fingers, and finally to fingertips, before they broke apart, still crying out to each other. Lily was seized around the shoulders by one, and struck in the face by another. Her world went black as her whole body became limp in the arms of these Death Eaters.
'No,' she kept thinking, 'They can't take James! They won't let him live! They can't take him!'
Soon Lily's thoughts crept back into blackness too. She was captured.
"So, " Voldemort said, debating over whether or not to stand up from his chair. He knew that his legs may bot be able to support him with the throbbing pains in his head. "So,"
Peter whimpered, and a hodded figure pulled harshly on the chains that held his usually thick wrists. He stumbled to the floor.
The Dark Lord continued, swirling a long key between his bony fingers as he spoke. "I hear you were in quite close contact with 3 men, 2 of which almost ruined me that night in the woods. Now Peter, kindly listen carefully and maybe I'll have my men release you from those chains. " Voldemort squeezed his eyes shut for a few seconds, and then cleared his throat. "If you could, please describe your relationship with these people."
Peter was beathing unevenly, almost like he had been running for a long distance. His eyes flicked from Voldemort, to the tall hooded figure, to the locked and barred door to his right.
"Speak," came a whisper. Peter looked up, and saw that Voldemort was now standing quite close to him. He squatted down to be face to face with Peter.
"Hogwarts, sir." he swallowed, "We were in Hogwarts together, same year. I was even in their house, in their dorm. We were friends back then, real good friends. We even made a map of the school together. People called us the Marauders. That was me, Remus, Sirius, and James. All four of us. Now I haven't seen them for about 8 years now. I got a nice letter from James, seems he's getting married." Peter stopped to sctratch something in his ear while looking confused. "Not sure who his bride is, I didn't read that far down. Always thought he'd have married that Evans girl, what's her name - "
"Lillian." Voldemort said through gritted teeth. "Lillian Evans."
Peter saw that Voldemort's grasp on the key was now so tight that his knuckles were becoming white.
"Yeah, yeah that sounds about right. Anyways, I don't think that was the name on the card, maybe it was 'Annabelle' or something like it. Why are you so interested in them?"
Voldemort made a sudden movement towards Peter's neck, but stopped himself. Peter, however, recoiled.
"Peter Pettigrew. I never would have thought that you'd be so interested." he stood, and ordered Peter to do the same. "But, these friends of yours, they always treated you nicely, of course."
"Well, yeah. None of them would ever have said or done anything against me. Like I said, they were my friends."
"But even your friends have done something to you at least once to make you angry."
Peter shrugged his shoulders. "Nope."
"Annoyed?"
"Nope."
"Frustrated?"
"No, I don't think so."
"Aggrivated even?"
"Look, these guys were -"
"Jealous?"
Peter stopped mid sentence.
"W-well, maybe jealous."
"Hmm,when did that happen?"
"I really don't want to talk about it."
"I would strongly suggest you talk about it. I never liked anyone who withheld information from me."
Peter swallowed a lump in his thraot.
"Well, uh, these guys were sort of popular. Morelike the most popular at the school. I became their friend after getting tutored by James and Sirius. We just formed a relationship after a while. But I knew I'd never be as popular as they were. I was okay with that."
Voldemort sneered. "You could have been."
"Could have been what?"
Voldemort clenched his teeth momentarily at Peter's slowness. "Popular. You could have been popular, Peter."
"Oh."
"But it seems to me that what stopped you were your friends. Of course you could have been well known. They stopped you. They must not have wanted competition. You must have posed a real threat in Hogwarts. Peter, it was because of them that no one knew you, or wanted to know you."
Peter looked as if he was contemplating something. Suddenly he narrowed his eyes.
"I don't think they'd do that."
"But they made you jealous, Peter."
"They made me jealous."
"When was the worst time they made you feel that way?"
"I - I don't "
"Damn it Peter! Just tell me!" Voldemort's eyes suddenly flamed red and he seemed to grow a foot taller.
"5th year." Peter shot out. "James got an award from the school after I let him take credit for finding a secret chamber that held some documents about the Ministry. He got all sorts of recognition for it. I almost hated him."
Voldemort smiled an evil grin that Peter didn't see. This was going to be easy here on in. He invited Peter to sit in his chair, even.
*
James stood up from the floor, and pulled Lily to her feet. Lily just wanted him to hold her again, but holding his hand as they exited the bathroom amid stares and whispers was enough to keep the smile on her face. When the two of them neared the nurse's station, a loud applause erupted from the lot of them, the stout nurse looking on the verge of tears.
And from behind them, the Head Nurse Dora eyed Lily severely, and Lily felt a lump in her throat as Dora came up to her.
Dora had a reputation for being strict.
Moreover, strict with Lily.
Lily watched her as she shook her head dissaprovingly, and tapping her left foot impatiently on the polished floor. Lily swallowed.
Dora handed her a clipboard before walking away. Lily took her hand away from James', and flipped through the papers. James rested his elbow on Lily's shoulder while watching her do this.
On about the third or fourth page, Lily saw a bright yellow post-it note. It read:
Evans,
Don't scare my candy stripers when you're still on vacation for another 4 days.
Go home.
D
Lily looked up, and saw Dora typing numbers for a phone call. She smiled.
"Thank you Dora."
The nurse waved an impatient hand and sat down in a chair.
Lily dropped the clipboard onto the counter, and left, thinking that she was finally getting a break in life - and that things were finally going her way.
*
James and Lily held hands ad they walked down a dirt path in a huge park, just after the sun had set and the first stars had appeared in the night sky. They spoke rarely this time, more content to just be in one another's presence. In a way, Lily preferred this, after everything that had happened, after all the chaos and anxiety, to just be at peace. James felt as though time had stopped for them, just long enough to let everything fall into place. Both of them felt so much in love, and it just radiated off of the beautiful surrounding landscape.
They rounded a corner, and came out to a small clearing, where the ground had been paved with cobblestones, and a few chess tables lined one outer edge. This was where James stopped, and faced Lily. He kissed her softly, and then began dancing with her to a completely mute sound.
"No music?" she asked quietly into his shoulder.
"Oh - er - let's see. What song should I sing?"he said, looking suddenly pensive.
"No, " Lily said with a slight smile on her face, "no, we won't want to wake up any innocent animals in the African Rainforests. No sound is a good sound."
"I beg your pardon? I happen to be a regular at Elga's Kareoke Bar." he said, twirling Lily under his arm.
"That would explain why she went out of business four years ago, then?"
"I -" he started, but his face broke into a lopsided grin and he realized he was defeated. "Okay, fine."
Lily was at the epitome of happiness. She closed her eyes and felt safe with him. It was impossible to imagine how many butterflies were fluttering in her stomach at that moment, but she didn't care much anyways. Lily was going to spend the rest of her life with James, and nothing, nothing was going to change that.
Lily suddenly stopped, and James did the same. Lily could have sworn she'd heard voices. Her back was toward the edge of the clearing. James took her strongly by the hand and swung her behind him. His eyes were narrowed, shoulders stiff.
Lily was trying to keep her breath steady and her heart from pounding so fast. Instinct told her not to make a sound. She too was watching the edge of the clearing, for any sign. Lily wanted to regulate her breathing. She had no idea why she was so scared. It was probably just an animal, she kept repeating to herself.
Deep breaths, in and out, in and - a huge hand clamped suddenly over her mouth. Lily jumped, and squeezed James' hand as hard as she could. He turned around, and within a heartbeat had punched the cloaked figure square in the face. The figure stumbled backwards, although not letting go of Lily. James still held onto her hand, and was about to punch him again, had he not been suddenly seized himself by a similar figure. A few others emerged from the shadows, aiding in the attempt to separate the couple.
"No!" James kept yelling.
Lily could barely breathe, and saw a few wands being pointed at her.
'No,' she thought, well aware of who these cloaked people were.'You can't take him!'
Every particle of her brain was focused on holding onto him. She felt her grip weakening, as the figure tried to step backwards. Lily thrashed out her free arm and legs, fighting against it. She managed to pry her mouth open slightly from behind the hand, and brought her teeth back together as firmly as she could.
The figure cried out, removing his hand for the slightest second. He was bleeding. However, a few of the others stepped in, grabbing her again.
"No! James!" she screamed out. Her grip was slipping on him.
Soon it went from palm to palm, then to fingers, and finally to fingertips, before they broke apart, still crying out to each other. Lily was seized around the shoulders by one, and struck in the face by another. Her world went black as her whole body became limp in the arms of these Death Eaters.
'No,' she kept thinking, 'They can't take James! They won't let him live! They can't take him!'
Soon Lily's thoughts crept back into blackness too. She was captured.