Disclaimer: I do not own Harry potter.

Vengeance and Victory

By: ChoCedric

Peter Marcus Pettigrew, twenty-one years old, knew with a certainty he couldn't deny, as he ran through the streets of London, that Sirius Black was looking for him. And the black-haired man would reak havoc as soon as he saw him, causing a scene in the middle of the street. But little was Sirius Black to know that Peter would cause a scene of his own.

Peter, throughout his life, had never been thought of as a big planner. Underestimated by peers and adults alike, he was the unassuming, quiet little man in the corner. No one seemed to appreciate the expression: "It's the quiet ones you need to watch." And boy, was Peter going to play to everyone's weaknesses.

As he ran, he felt a tide of bitter memories consume him. When he'd first met Sirius, he'd thought he was wanted, that he was finally accepted. To think that he, little Peter, was befriended by someone who was from a purely dark family, was astounding. Sirius, in their first years at Hogwarts, had shown him the true meaning of friendship along with Remus and James.

But as the years had progressed, Peter began to see things, things that he did not like. What he had thought about Sirius was not exactly true; the comments that were now directed at him were often proceeded by a condescending "Look, Peter," or "Oh, just so you understand, Peter ..." Just because he was a little dumb, a little on the slow side, did Sirius really have to rub it in his face?

Then, he had got to thinking about the pranks the Marauders often pulled. It was, more often than not, him who was the lookout. "Be a good man, Petey, and check that no one's gonna catch us," Sirius would say, and James would ruffle his hair, smiling at Peter in that annoying, condescending manner that the boy had come to hate with a passion.

Peter, though, didn't like conflict, so he bottled up all the anger and jealousy he had towards his friends. Even though he was treated like the worm, the tagalong (he truly felt like Wormtail), he kept it all inside. He had loved his friends dearly; to even be allowed to be with popular people at all filled him with pure amazement.

But everything had begun to spiral out of control when he was approached by Lucius Malfoy. Lucius, with his tact and slippery promises, had convinced Peter to do something about his so-called friends, especially Sirius. "Play to your strength. I've noticed you're an excellent actor," he had drawled. Within months, Peter was part of Lord Voldemort's inner circle, and the snakelike Dark Lord had made Peter feel something he hadn't ever felt in his life: more part of a group than the Marauders had ever made him feel.

His anger had mounted when of course, Sirius had been the first one to suspect that Remus was the one passing information to Voldemort. After everything Remus had done for him, how could Sirius do that! But, the deep underlying reason was that he could never think stupid, dumb, slow, pathetic, dunderheaded little Peter Pettigrew could spy on them. Oh, no! Peter was far too pea-brained to ever have an original thought, an original feeling. But Peter had cultivated the sense of unease in the air, often making comments to Sirius like: "Hasn't Moony been acting oddly lately, Padfoot?" and feeling a smug sense of accomplishment when Sirius had nodded in agreement.

The straw that had broken the camel's back, though, was when Peter had been asked to be Secret Keeper. James had asked it with a hopeful look on his face, and had patted Peter on the back when he had beamed "Yes, of course I'll do it," in delight. But deep down inside, anger simmered and bubbled like lava. He knew the reason why James had asked him. It had been Sirius's idea, of course, and James always went along with whatever the great Sirius Black wanted. And Sirius thought that Voldemort would never suspect him, pesky little Peter Pettigrew, of knowing the secret. According to James and Sirius, Peter was expendable. Of course he'd put his life in danger for his friends. After all, he loved them so much, right?

Wrong.

Though Peter had never expected Voldemort to be defeated at the hands of little Harry Potter, he had soon made up a plan in his brilliant mind. No one would find out the truth about him; after all, didn't everyone think Sirius was already the Secret Keeper? And wouldn't it be easier to believe that Sirius was a murderer than Peter? After all, he came from a family of Death Eaters and terrorists. Peter would have the whole world fooled if he just played his cards right!

As he scurried along the streets, with no one paying any attention to him, these thoughts consumed his mind. Sirius, my dear, dear Sirius, you may think you're going to have your vengeance upon me, but I am going to have mine upon you instead, he thought viciously.

Suddenly, he saw the man himself hurrying along the street at breakneck speed. He was violently pushing people out of his way, a truly murderous look upon his face. Ah, same old Sirius, Peter thought snidely. You always think the universe revolves around you and only you. It'll feel so good to finally see your ego plummet!

"I'VE GOT YOU, PETTIGREW!" Sirius screamed, unsubtle as always. "DON'T THINK YOU CAN GET AWAY FROM ME!"

And so Peter was ready to put his plan into action. He stood in the middle of the street, adopting a look of pure terror. "S-S-S-Sirius ..." he stammered. He'd always hated his stutter, but now he was playing on it for sympathy. "W-W-W-What are you t-t-talking ..."

"YOU KNOW VERY WELL WHAT I'M BLOODY TALKING ABOUT!" roared Sirius. "JAMES AND LILY YOU COMPLETE ..." He stopped talking, for fury was blocking his words.

Peter, without anyone noticing, sidled closer to Sirius and whispered in his ear, "You won't get me this time."

Stepping back, he made tears come into his eyes. It wasn't hard – all he had to do was dredge up every memory of Sirius being mean to him, Sirius leaving him out, Sirius thinking he was stupid, Sirius not being a true friend. "LILY AND JAMES, SIRIUS!" he howled, louder than Sirius had. "HOW COULD YOU?"

About a dozen Muggles stopped to listen to the spectacle that was taking place in front of them as Peter's anguished face swam before their eyes.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Sirius roared, raising his wand. "HOW ..."

But Peter was faster. The whole time, he'd had his wand behind his back, and with a muttered incantation, the entire street blew apart. Debris flew everywhere, and the shrill, high-pitched screams of Muggles assaulted the air.

And Peter, his vengeance accomplished, quietly cut off his finger with a small knife, transformed into a rat, and ran into the sewers. No one saw this because they were too consumed with fear and shock after what had just happened.

Ah, Sirius, Sirius, Sirius, you never change, Peter thought triumphantly as moments later, he heard maniacal laughter. You always think you're so smart. Don't you know the laughter is making you look even more guilty? Ah, Sirius. Good job, lad.

And he let out a squeak of rat laughter of his own as he heard cracks and pops of apparition. Moments later, Sirius's laughter stopped. Looking out into the street again, a triumphant rat-smirk entered his face, for his victory had truly been achieved.

Sirius was gone.