Rat Me Out
Peter Pettigrew sat ramrod straight in his seat, staring fixatedly at the blank blackboard at the font of the room. The room was so quiet that the young Gryffindor thought he might be able to hear a pin drop as the fourth year class listened to the approaching footsteps stomping ominously closer up the corridor outside. In the seat beside him, Peter heard his friend Remus Lupin shift in his seat uncomfortably, and at the desk in front of them James Potter and Sirius Black kept glancing sideways at each other.
At long last, Sirius chose to break the silence, albeit very quietly.
"Why is everybody so bloody quiet?!" the dark haired wondered with a snigger, only for James to mutter:
"Be quiet, Padfoot. It's not funny."
Sirius twisted in his seat until he was looking at the two boys behind him, and his eyes grew wide as he observed:
"There you are, Moony! I was just checking you were still there. For a second I thought you'd swapped seats with Prongs here..."
"You're going to get expelled!" James hissed, folding his arms furiously across his chest. "You're going to get me expelled!"
"It was your idea in the first place!" Sirius hissed back as Remus stared determinedly down at the Transfiguration textbook on the desk in front of him. "And it was hilarious! Even Moony laughed, didn't you Moony?!"
"He laughed for about half a second! It's not funny anymore, Padfoot, it went way out of hand!"
"Well he deserved it, didn't he? Greasy little git..." Sirius muttered savagely, turning back to glare at the blackboard, and James muttered:
"I don't think it matters if he deserved it, Padfoot. We...I mean...you know...! I didn't mean for him to end up in the Hospital Wing!"
"He'll get over it."
"I'm sure he will, but that isn't the point..."
Peter jumped a little when Sirius turned in his chair to demand to know:
"Then what IS the point, James?!"
The entire class turned to stare at them.
"The point is, Sirius," Remus calmly informed the fiery tempered boy sat in front of him, "do you really want to be known as the sort of person who goes around beating other students black and blue?"
"Exactly!" James exclaimed, slamming a fist down onto the table in front of him. "Exactly, Remus! What...what are we, Sirius, if we go around being that brutal?! What are we if it goes beyond a joke?!"
"We weren't being brutal on purpose!" Sirius hissed, slumping sulkily in his chair. "It was just a joke! And like you said, it got out of hand, that's all! It's not like Snivellus is dead or anything...just remember that silly look on his face...!"
Despite himself, James sniggered, causing Remus to let out a distinctly irritated sigh. But before another word could be said the classroom door was flung dramatically open and Professor McGonnogal came sweeping into the room, her footsteps loud, her robes billowing and her face like thunder.
Peter winced as she reached the front of the room, whirling round to look at the assembled students as she demanded to know:
"Which disgraceful, dreadful individual is responsible for this diabolical display?!"
The class was silent.
"I have just been informed by Madam Pomfrey that Severus Snape is unlikely to leave the Hospital Wing for three days! At least!" McGonnogal shrieked, her face growing steadily redder. "And I will find out who is responsible for his condition! Mark. My. Words!" Her gaze seemed to flicker meaningfully over where James and Sirius were sitting, their expressions impressively blank.
The room remained silent.
McGonnogal began to pace up and down the front of the room, her eyes piercing as she glowered at each student in turn, hands clasped tightly together behind her back.
"Until somebody has the decency to stand up and admit to what they have done," the professor informed the class icily, "there will be no Quidditch!"
Even from behind him, Peter could tell that James' mouth had dropped open in horror.
"There will be no trips to Hogsmeade!" McGonnogal went on, causing the rest of the class to begin to murmur to one another at such a notion. "There will be no House points awarded, no chess club, no duelling club and NO HALLOWEEN FEAST!"
"Can she do that?!" Peter heard James utter in horror, only for McGonnogal to ask:
"Do you have something to say, Mr. Potter?!"
"No, Professor..."
"Well I very much hope for all of your sakes that somebody does!"
"If she finds out it was them," Peter breathed, leaning ever so slightly sideways towards Remus beside him. "Are they...will they really get expelled?!"
"After what happened last term?" Remus practically mouthed back. "I wouldn't be surprised."
Peter felt such dread descend upon him then that he found himself squeezing his eyes shut at the mere thought.
James and Sirius? Expelled? What then? What would he and Remus do without them? It just wouldn't be right, there being only two Marauders at Hogwarts. They couldn't be split up like that, could they? Would Dumbledore really do that to them? Was their latest prank gone wrong really that serious?!
"I am going to count to three!" McGonnogal was saying, her arms now folded firmly across her chest as she glowered at James and Sirius in particular. "And so help me, if somebody in this room does not have the decency to stand up...!"
Somebody needed to do something, Peter realised wildly. What if James owned up? What if Sirius did?
"One!"
It wasn't worth the risk! They just couldn't risk it!
"Two!"
But the truth would come out one way or another! What then? Merlin, this was it, this was the end...
"Three!"
Peter very nearly jumped a foot in the air when suddenly he heard the sound of chair legs scraping against the stone floor as beside him Remus rose suddenly to his feet.
McGonnogal's eyebrows shot up her forehead as she exclaimed:
"Mr Lupin!"
At the sound of their friend's name, both James and Sirius whipped round to stare up at Remus in horror.
"What're you doing?!" James hissed in panic as Sirius swore colourfully under his breath. "Sit down you idiot!"
"Shut up, Prongs." Remus whispered, only for McGonnogal to inquire:
"Do you have something to tell us, Mr Lupin?"
"Um..." Remus said as Sirius shook his head vigorously, and Peter watched in awe as the young werewolf straightened up, ignoring his friends so that he could look the professor in the eye. "Yes I do." he said, squaring his shoulders a little and giving a little nod. "It was me, Professor McGonnogal. I did it. I hexed Severus Snape."
Peter simply stared.
He could scarcely believe it. How on Earth could Remus lie so readily, when he might very well be risking his school career himself?
"And would you care to explain to us all why precisely you felt the need to behave in such a disgraceful manner?" McGonnogal asked, and Remus pursed his lips together in consideration for a brief moment before, seemingly having had very little inspiration strike him, deciding to coin one of Sirius' favourite responses.
"Because he's a greasy haired little tosser, Professor."
Sirius promptly burst out laughing.
"Detention, Mr. Black!" McGonnogal thundered as Remus' cheeks reddened considerably, and James reached to thump Sirius painfully in the arm to make him be quiet, hissing:
"Shhh!"
"And you think that is an acceptable excuse, do you Mr. Lupin?!" McGonnogal asked, her glassing slipping down her nose a little as she took a step forward that made Peter lean back in his chair.
There was a long pause before Remus confessed:
"In retrospect, Professor, no I don't suppose it is."
"Oh, you don't suppose do you?!" the professor snapped, casting Sirius and James one last dark look as she swept forward. "Pick up your bag immediately and come with me! We shall see what Professor Dumbledore has to say about what you suppose!" And with that she swept off towards the door.
Remus stooped to retrieve his bag, his expression stoic.
"You don't have to do this, you know." James informed him quietly as the werewolf dumped the bag down onto the desk.
"Why not?" the sandy haired boy asked, offering his friend a vague smile, and as he unzipped the bag, Peter pointed out:
"But you might get expelled!"
"Who cares?" Remus mumbled as he shoved his belongings into the bag. "What do I need an education for anyway? You two have the chance to do something with yourselves if you get decent grades here. Nobody's going to give a toss whether I pass my OWLs and NEWTs or not! And besides," he paused to sling the bag over his shoulder, grinning widely. "What's the point of having friends if they're not loyal enough to take the odd hex for you every now and again?" And with that he shot his three friends an exaggerated wink and turned to follow McGonnogal out of the classroom.
"If Remus gets expelled it'll ruin him." Sirius observed darkly as the three Marauders watched the werewolf leave.
"I don't think Dumbledore will expel him." James reasoned as Peter stared after Remus in horror.
"But it's possible."
"Well anything is possible, Padfoot. He's taking a risk."
"Good old Moony!" Sirius grinned, losing his apparent concern quite abruptly once Remus was out of sight. "I knew he'd have our backs!"
"You knew he'd lie?" Peter said, sounding quite horrified, and James sniggered at Peter's apparent stupidity as he said:
"Well duh, Wormtail! He's our best mate!"
As it was, Peter discovered some hour later when Remus reappeared in Potions class, Remus had avoided expulsion and was instead required to spend a hefty number of his evenings in detention. The werewolf took his punishment without fuss to begin with and disappeared off every evening to complete one gruesome task or another for the following two weeks. By the end of his punishment he had grown weary of having to stay up until the early hours of the morning to complete his homework assignments. The young werewolf grew tired and distinctly moody and Peter found himself feeling quite sorry for his friend on his first detention-free day, when a second run-in with Professor McGonnogal threatened to land Remus straight back in detention.
Remus hadn't dropped the dungbomb intentionally as he had made his way to the blackboard to complete the chalk-drawn diagram at Professor McGonnogal's request, but his intentions meant very little to the professor when the item in question had slipped out of his pocket and struck the floor with a burst of foul odour, causing the first two rows of the class to shift their desks backwards, their fingers desperately pinching their noses. It hadn't even been Remus' dungbomb to begin with, Peter had been keeping hold of it for Sirius and had complained too much that it might go off in the pocket of his robes, so Remus had consented to taking it from him.
And as Remus had stared in dismay down at his mistake, Professor McGonnogal launching into an irate speech from behind her desk, Peter had felt compelled to do something.
And so he had jumped to his feet, raising his hand high in the air.
"P...professor? Please, Professor!"
McGonnogal halted mid-sentence, turning her piercing gaze to the podgy boy in order to inquire:
"What is it, Mr. Pettigrew?!"
Peter opened his mouth to respond as Remus turned round to stare at him, expression hopeful.
"Go on, Wormtail!" Sirius hissed encouragingly.
"You planted it in his pocket!" James whispered rapidly.
"I...I um..."
"As a joke!" Sirius agreed as Peter struggled to find his voice.
"I...er..." Peter tried, fidgeting in his attempt to speak, but Professor McGonnogal's eyes were searing into him, vanishing his voice in an instant.
He'd never been a good liar, truth be told, James, Sirius and Remus were much better at fooling teachers than he was. And Professor McGonnogal scared him, she always had done, he barely ever put his hand up to answer a question in class...
He'd certainly never attempted to volunteer himself for detention before!
Merlin, detention with Professor McGonnogal! On his own, without James or Sirius keeping him company...
"Um..."
"Yes, Mr. Pettigrew?" McGonnogal said impatiently as Remus' eyes widened somewhat frustratedly.
The whole class was staring at him, Peter realised as his face grew positively pink.
Remus' expression had gone from frustrated to downright unimpressed and Peter felt more embarrassed than ever when the werewolf offered James and Sirius a hopeless shrug.
And Peter knew then that Remus knew he wasn't going to be rescued.
Peter realised it too a moment later when the only word he managed to utter was:
"N...nothing..."
"For goodness sake, sit down, Mr. Pettigrew!" the professor instructed briskly, shaking her head as she retrieved her wand from the desk in front of her, vanishing the dungbomb with a wave of her want, though the smell still lingered, assaulting Peter's nostrils as he dropped miserably down into his seat, and he felt as if he had been punched in the stomach a moment later when the teacher uttered the immortal words:
"Detention, Mr. Lupin! Sit down! Mr. Black, since you seem to find this all so amusing, perhaps you would like to come to the blackboard!"
When Remus dropped heavily down into his seat at Peter's side a moment later, Peter glanced guiltily sideways at him.
"Sorry, Moony." he whispered as Remus snatched up his quill to start copying the diagram off the board onto a fresh sheet of parchment.
"Don't worry about it." the werewolf told him without looking up. Pausing to stifle a wide yawn into his sleeve, the boy concluded: "It really doesn't matter. It's only detention."
And Peter chewed upon his lip in consideration for a long moment before feeling a little cheered by Remus' dismissal, quietly agreeing:
"Yeah, you're right. It's only detention! N...next time, eh?"
"Next time." Remus agreed, still not looking round as he dipped his quill carefully into his pot of ink, and Peter couldn't help but feel as if the werewolf did not entirely believe him...
Finish.