Magnetism

RLRB Fan Fiction

Harry Potter

ObsessiveDevil23

Chapter 26

James had used the floo-powder and the fireplace in his mother's bedroom to connect to the fireplace in Gryffindor common room, and had told no one of his departure from Godric's Hollow, or his arrival at Hogwarts. He'd taken the invisibility cloak and had it wrapped securely around him, even as he span and whooshed out of the fireplace in the common room. A scrawny first year who had chosen to stay at school over the holidays screamed as the fire rushed upwards, but then looked around confusedly as it died back down, and seemingly nothing else had happened.

"Everything okay, Julia?" Called a tall boy from across the room, and James glanced up to see it was their seventh year prefect, Tony Astalis. Julia, the first year, nodded after a moment, and settled back on the sofa with her book, and James picked his way, invisible, across the empty room, and over to the portrait hole.

His first issue was that, if he wished to remain undetected, he needed a diversion. The room was empty, save for Julia and Tony, and they would surely noticed if the portrait swung open and shut again without anyone appearing or leaving. Deftly, James produced his wand from his pocket and aimed it at a large bookcase which took up most of the far wall.

"Bombarda." He whispered under his breath, and watched as the bookcase exploded outwards in an angry and loud burst. Julia screamed again, and this time Tony joined her.

In the chaos, James resolutely reflected he was probably getting way too good at blowing things up (he really was sorry about how many times he'd exploded his dad's potions cabinet), and then he took the opportunity to escape out the portrait hole. The fat lady called out after him, sounding confused as to why she had swung open for thin air, but he hurried along the corridor, keeping his footsteps light. It was well past curfew, and despite his invisibility, he was always wary of Filch's cat ambushing him.

He swiftly made his way down the castle, taking every short-cut he knew – ducking behind tapestries and coming back out three floors down, and sliding down bannisters when the occasion called for it – and then out into the grounds. The air was bitter, and James and glad for the extra layer of the cloak. He pulled it even tighter around him, and berated himself for what felt like the millionth time that day. He shouldn't be here. It was a trap. Peter was tricking him.

But what if Peter wasn't tricking him? What if this was the only opportunity he'd ever get to get his friend back? He'd missed Wormtail terribly – more than he had at first thought possible. Peter had always been there with a quickly thought of excuse, he was a voice of down to earth reason who always seemed to just understand why things were important or not. He was the one that made the rest of the Marauders stick close-knit, and talk out their issues when they needed it.

And all of that had been replaced with a hollow emptiness, since he had disappeared half way through the last school year. It had been replaced with awkward tension and silences whenever Peter's name was mentioned. It had all been replaced with anger and resentment over the boys betrayal. But… but James had to opportunity to bring their friend, to bring Wormtail, back home.

How could he pass it up?

He walked briskly across the snow covered grounds, letting his feet do the thinking. He knew the path off by heart, and felt strangely nostalgic to be under the invisibility cloak, on a full moon, towards the Whomping Willow.

He spared a brief thought to the ceremony Remus and Sirius would currently be undertaking. Moonrise was just a few minutes away – the boys would be knee-deep in whatever Severus had planned for them now. His stomach clenched with worry as he remembered that the last time anyone had tried to remove a mating mark, someone had died… He should be there. But he had to trust Severus, to trust Remus and Sirius, that the three of them knew what they were doing – because for now, he had to focus on Peter.

He stopped, and pulled off his cloak, folding it neatly over his arm, just outside the range of Willow. Some time ago the Marauder's had stopped thinking of her as a tree – and had dropped the words 'The Whomping' from her title, labelling her as just 'Willow'. She was such a part of their lives, and to them, she had a very distinct, if a little prickly, personality. To them, she had been a fifth Marauder – just as much a part of their mischief. She had come to Hogwarts the same year as them, and she knew all the secrets they knew. She had become their girl.

If Peter had meant anywhere by his attempt at a cryptic clue, he had meant here.

He looked left and right as if Peter might materialise out of thin air, and then jumped a little as he actually did. James schooled himself gently – Peter had obviously been hiding out in rat form – and had transformed back to a boy when he saw James appear. He looked thinner than when James had last seen him – his hair had grown slightly, and that too was thinner. His robes were shabby, his nails were bitten down, and he had dark rings under his eyes.

James felt himself getting entirely too emotional at the sight, and stepped backwards, if only to stop himself from rushing forward and wrapping his friend in a bear hug. He reminded himself that Peter had run away, had joined the Death Eaters – there could be some evil plot behind this meeting, and James wouldn't be doing himself any favours if he showed himself to be an emotional wreck.

"Prongs." Peter greeted, and James' lip quivered slightly at the sound of his friend's voice, but he faked a cough to cover it with his hand and used the opportunity to scold himself back to control.

"Wormtail." He said back, proud that at least his voice had come out without a wobble. "I came as asked." He added, when Peter just stared at him. Peter seemed to shake himself out of whatever spell he had been under, and nodded, clearing his throat.

"Did you bring the ring?"

James nodded, taking the ring out of his pocket to prove it. He had raked his brains the entire night before, and most of that day, trying to figure out where he had seen the strange symbol etched on the stone before, but he'd come up short, and now his curiosity was threatening to bubble over. Peter was staring at the stone somewhere between awe and terror, and the whole thing was putting James on edge. The two of them stared at each other for some time, neither willing to break the tension that had sprung up between them, and then they both began talking, rushed and pitched, at the same time.

"What is it, Wormtail? Why did I need it?"

"Prongs, you have to help me! He'll kill me otherwise!"

James bit his lip and swallowed heavily, registering his friends words, and after a second of stunned silence, he flopped heavily to the ground, and puffed out a breath of air.

"What's going on, Pete?"

Peter settled down next to him, leaning his back against the knot on the base of the Willow, so that she wouldn't come back to life and start attacking them. He stared out across the grounds to the castle, and waved a hand at the ring James was still holding.

"It's like this initiation thing… The Dark Lord gave all the youngest members these items. He didn't tell us what they were – just that they were important, and he wanted them protected." He began to explain."He wanted us to do it so that even he didn't know all the details of where each one was, or how they were protected. And… and it's supposed to be us proving ourselves. Putting it in a locked room is never going to do. But… but I don't have any ideas, or know any powerful spells. He'll… he'll kill me if he finds out I haven't done as asked."

James listened in silence to the explanation, disgust brewing inside of him.

"So… you want me to do it for you? Like… like helping with your homework?" He clarified. "This is ridiculous Wormtail! I'm not doing anything that could help that bastard gain more power or hurt more people. I… dammit Pete! Why? Why did you join him?"

Peter was looking anywhere but at James. He shrugged his shoulders gently, which only made James more angry, but then he spoke quietly.

"I'm not like the rest of the Marauders. We've always known that. I wasn't sporty, or smart, or ridiculously good-looking. I went along with the pranks, but I never masterminded one. I was riding on your coattails from day one." He explained. "I'm not saying I didn't feel like belonged, because I did, you guys went out of your way to make sure I was included… but then things started changing. Remus got that crush on Regulus, Sirius was making moves on Lily, and you… fuck, you went and started shagging Snape, for Merlin's sake! I mean, if anything was going to suggest that the times were changing, it was you shacking up with our worst nightmare!"

James coughed in protest at the commentary on his love-life, but remembered that since Pete hadn't been around for over a year, he wouldn't realise that things had massively progressed since James' had developed his crush on the Slytherin.

"We're growing up, Pete." He said, instead. "Rivalries get laid to rest, people fall in love."

Peter nodded.

"And friendships get forgotten." He added. He held up a hand when James went to protest, and carried on. "The Marauders were drifting apart, and if I wasn't part of the Marauders then… then I wasn't anything. You can't understand that, because you're the sporty one. You have Quidditch. I didn't have anything outside of the Marauders, and so when Narcissa Black started talking to me, started making me feel special, and telling me that if the Marauders ever broke apart, she had a new group ready to welcome me with open arms, it sounded really nice."

James huffed.

"But they're Death Eaters, Pete! They hurt people! They've killed people!"

Peter nodded.

"I know. I know that in my head, but they're also very charismatic, and what they promise you when you sign up isn't 'we're going to kill all the muggle-borns', it's… 'here's a group that's looking out for your interests'." He explained. "It's only after you've pledged yourself in that what they really expect of you comes to light."

James shuddered.

"Have you… have you hurt people?"

Peter didn't look at him.

"I've done what I need to do to survive." He responded, making James feel faintly sick.

The Quidditch captain played with the ring in his hands, turning it over to see the odd triangular symbol from different angles. It was heavy, and clumsily made, but the black stone in the middle was almost ethereal and dangerous looking. James put it down to being an item belonging to Voldemort.

"I can't help you." He decided. "I can barely understand your reasons – there's no way I could help Him do anything."

Peter stood in a rush, and so James followed suit. Before he knew it, Peter had thrown himself at James and buried his head in James shoulder, sobbing and pleading.

"Oh Prongs, please! You have to! He'll kill me! I swear, I've seen the error of my ways, but I need you to do this for me!"

James stiffened.

"If you know it's wrong then defect – come back to our side."

"He'll kill me!"

"We can hide you."

"He'll find me! You have no idea what he's capable of! James, I swear… I have. I am good. I can… I can be useful to you! I can be a spy!"

James felt his hands shaking, trying to hold up his friend, who was still clutching on to him. He shook his head a little, not realising what he was doing.

"How can I believe that?" He asked.

Peter wailed.

"I have information. I swear it. These items… Lucius Malfoy has one; a diary. Bellatrix and Rudolphus Lestrange have a golden goblet. Regulus Black has a locket, and I got given the ring."

James frowned at him.

"Regulus…?" He repeated. The boy who was sharing a room with his best friend and his lover, was a Death Eater? Did Sirius know about this?

Peter nodded.

"I can give you so much more information. Together we can try and bring him down from the inside… but before then I have to gain his trust – I have to protect this ring." He pushed.

James could feel the cold weight of it in his hand. His mouth felt dry and he couldn't stop staring at Peter. Was there really a chance that he could get Wormtail back? That Pete would atone for the last year by becoming a spy; feeding them information? And all James had to do to achieve it was put a protection on this ring.

It didn't seem like such a bad deal.

He placed the ring on the grass and pulled out his wand. He wasn't sure what his plan was, until it came to him, in a flash of memory. When he had first contracted Cinis, he had been doing as much research as possible, and had looked in the library under 'death by fire', and found instead a powerful dark curse – death by venom.

He pointed his wand at the ring and took a deep breath, channelling all the anger and upset he had been feeling over Peter's betrayal, and then pushing that energy out through his wand.

"Venenimortem." He said, and a horrible green light slithered forth from his wand tip, reminding him of a snake made entirely out of the green light of the killing curse, and wrapped itself around the ring on the ground. It shone brightly for a moment, and then dulled down until the ring just looked like a ring again.

Peter bent to retrieve it, but James pushed him away.

"Don't touch it. It's dangerous now." He explained. Pete produced a handkerchief from his pocket and raised an eyebrow at James, so James nodded. "Yeah." He said, and watched as Wormtail picked up the ring with the cloth. He folded it up and put it in his pocket.

"Where did you learn that curse?" He asked. James bit his lip. Wormtail shrugged. "What does it do?" He asked instead.

"It kills you, rapidly, with poison." He responded. "Wear it or touch it for too long and it will activate it."

Peter nodded gravely and then turned to leave.

"Prongs." He nodded. James frowned.

"Wait, you need to come back and see the rest of the Marauders." He protested. Peter turned back to James with a raised eyebrow, and then a horrid smirk grew on his lips that made James' stomach lurch uncomfortably. When the rat animagus next spoke, his voice was no longer worried or desperate, but cold and calculated.

"You've always been the one who wanted to see the best in people, Prongs. Another word for it is gullible."

And with that, he turned back into a rat and was gone from James' sight.