"What the hell happened to you?" Ron asked, standing from his seat as Hermione entered the common room. Hermione couldn't find the words for the situation, instead, she just burst into tears. Ginny ran over to comfort her, Hermione whispered what happened to her and Ginny told the room. Ron grabbed his wand and started out of the room, Ginny sat Hermione on the couch and told Lavender to help her while she went with Ron. On their way to The Great Hall, they ran into Dean Thomas and Seamus.
"What's up with him?" Dean asked Ginny as Ron looked too determined to speak.
"Off to kick some Slytherin ass, they tortured Hermione!" Ginny told them.
"Oh, I'm ready for this," Seamus said, taking his wand from his sleeve and following them, Dean joined the group too. As they walked into The Great Hall they immediately spotted the group of Slytherins sitting at their table, laughing.
"REDUCTO!" Ron roared, shooting the spell at Harry's direction. The spell missed and blew up the vase behind Harry's head. He looked in the direction of the spell, he stood quickly and raised his own wand, "Expelliarmus!"
Ron's wand went flying across the room, when it came to a battle of wands, Harry could not be beaten, he'd been practicing this with his father since he could hold a wand. While Harry was distracted with Ron, a shot of purple light came at them again, "Protego!" Draco shouted from his side, protecting everyone from the spell thrown by Seamus.
Before anyone could figure out what was going on, there was an all-out brawl between the fourth-year Gryffindors and the fourth-year Slytherins. What started out as just a fight between the few people turned into the entire year jumping in to help their friends. Ginny was grabbing Pansy by the hair and tossing her around. Blaise put the Tickling Charm on Dean. Harry lost his wand in the ruckus and ended up having to fistfight Ron once again. The Great Hall was a mess of students fighting and all others trying to leave before they got hit with a spell. Harry got Ron onto the ground and drove his knee into his chest, he wrapped his hands around Ron's throat. Ron looked up at Harry in horror, he knew what Harry was capable of and was sure he was going to kill him. Ron gasped for breath as Harry's grip got tighter.
"I'm. So. Damn. Tired. Of. You. Weasley!" Harry grunted above him, "you've been stalking me, harassing me, HOW DOES HERMIONE WANT YOU! Well, she won't anymore, because I'm gonna kill you, you hear me? I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" Harry felt manic, he could almost feel his fingers behind Ron's neck he was squeezing so tight. Ron made a last-ditch effort to grab Harry's arm and ripped the sleeve on his left arm, revealing the Dark Mark. Harry threw himself back, trying to cover his forearm, he looked incredibly scared. Ron lay on his back gasping for breath. When he sat up, rubbing his neck, he saw Harry scrambling to get out of the room, shielding his arm, but Ron had seen everything.
A prefect must of ran and told a teacher because suddenly all the teachers, who usually skipped breakfast, came storming into The Great Hall. They cast a spell that made the room come to a standstill. Ron, frozen in his spot, looking around at the mess. Tables were turned over, spells stopped in mid-air and yet… Harry and his group were nowhere in sight. They must've sneaked out just before the teachers came after Harry ran. Everyone who was caught was given detention for the rest of the year and the first portion of the next year, stripped of the privilege to ever play quidditch again, and any fifth years who were caught were barred from taking the O.W.L.s. The Gryffindors were fuming because the only people who did not get in trouble were the group of Slytherins that the entire fight was about. Because the teachers came in after they escaped, they were not punished for the fight as it was all hearsay as to whether or not they were even fighting, but one common theme was that Ron started the whole thing. Ron was suspended for the rest of the year, having to go home early and miss his final tests. Because of this, Ron did not know that Harry and Draco did not return to any classes after the fight. Rumor was that they skipped to Hogsmead and then caught a ride home, regardless of what anyone thought, the truth was that they were gone. Blaise and Goyle made as many excuses as they could to hide the boys' absence, but to no avail, the rumor mill had already started.
When Ron returned home to face his parents after his suspension he was given a verbal lashing by his mother. Coincidentally, however, there was an Order meeting the night he returned and he was able to tell them all what he had seen, Harry had The Mark, Lily Potter fainted upon hearing the news. What was worse, since Harry had disappeared from school, even if they told Dumbledore, he would not be able to handle it as he would have. As they spoke, there was a knock at The Burrow door. The Order members drew their wands as James hesitantly walked towards the door. When he opened it, he screamed bloody murder, which caused the other members to jump up and go towards the front of the house. It was a sight enough to cause even the strongest wizard to drop their wand.
Looking like a mix between a zombie and a ghost, yet still maintaining the cleverest of smiles, Sirius Black stood in the middle of the open door frame.
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Harry had stunned his heart, causing his entire body to seize up, including his hand which was grasping Wormtail. The last thing he'd seen before falling back was the shocked look on the young boy's face. He hit the ground, hard. Hard enough to make him blackout. He had to have been laying out there for hours, when he finally came too, he was laying on a soft patch of grass near the portion of the lake that seeped into the forest. He started by moving his fingers, then his hand, his body was unstunned, and surprisingly… unhurt? He shot upright, sending a searing pain to his head, making his eyesight go black. He growled in pain.
"Sorry! I've never been good with head trauma," a squeaky voice said from his side. Sirius' blood began to boil, he knew that voice anywhere. As soon as his eyesight came back he made a quick move and found his hands wrapped around Wormtail's neck.
"Mercy! Mercy please!" the small man pleaded, gasping for air.
"Tell me why? Why should I show you mercy? WHY SHOULDN'T I KILL YOU RIGHT NOW!" Sirius demanded.
"I'll tell you everything! Please! I know everything about Harry! I can help you help him!"
"Why should I believe you'd want to help Harry?" Sirius asked, loosening his grip.
"H-He's just a boy… And I owe it to you and James! I owe you both, please! Let me clear my conscience."
Sirius let him go, Wormtail massaged his neck.
"Speak! Immediately!" Sirius commanded. Everything came spilling out of Wormtail as though he'd been holding it in for years. He told Sirius about what happened the night he stole Harry, how Voldemort had been training/abusing the boy, where Bellatrix lived and when Harry would be staying with her, and lastly, what this was all for.
"The Dark Lord, he knows about The Prophecy. Snape, Severus Snape, he told him about what he'd heard. The Dark Lord, he thought that meant he needed an Heir and I… That's when I told him about James' son, who would directly fit The Prophecy if what you told me about Lily's due date was right. He wanted to raise Harry to be his successor, he thought that would make him more powerful. He thought… but the Prophecy was not heard in full. He has no idea what this all means because… even if he were to get ahold of The Prophecy, he cannot hear it because it can only be heard by Harry, who it is about. That's what he wants next, he wants to try as hard as he can to get ahold of The Prophecy without using Harry because he knows… He knows if Harry hears it, he will know the truth." Wormtail finished. Sirius sat, trying to make sure every detail of what Wormtail had said stays etched in his mind.
"What did he hear? Even if he did not hear the whole thing, what part did he hear?"
Wormtail closed his eyes tight, trying to retrieve the memory, "'A war is coming. Fought in both vein and blood. Redrawn shall be family lines and those lines will be crossed. A boy, born as the seventh month dies with emeralds in his eyes... claimed blood that is not theirs. They will train and live as equals, and one will become more powerful than the other, because one holds a power the other cannot possess… Beware, for this is the era of the Heir.'"
Sirius repeated this to himself a few times, "What does that mean?"
"We don't know," Wormtail said truthfully, " The boy mentioned, I immediately thought of James, as he was having a son and Lily's eyes are green. Claimed blood that is not theirs, and living as equals, we thought that meant The Dark Lord was supposed to claim him as a son, Harry would claim a bloodline that is not his. The Dark Lord believes he is the one more powerful because he possesses something Harry does not, over the years we've come to realize that is being merciless. Harry is… soft. He's got far too much love in his heart and its proven to be his weakness. The heir, Harry is to be his Heir, The Dark Lord believes that if they rule together, all he wants will come to him. And what he wants… He wants to ride the world of muggle-borns and take muggles as slaves and half-bloods as workers, but what most do not know is he himself is only half-blood. Mother being a witch and father a muggle. Sirius, it is about to get very dark very fast, you must do something with this information, take Harry before he gets too deep."
Sirius stood, offering a hand to Wormtail to help him up as well, "Come with me Peter, come tell your story. You'll be welcomed back with the information you have."
"No!" Wormtail shrieked, "I have an Unbreakable Vow with the Dark Lord to never tell his secrets. Telling them will not kill me instantly, but I will die a slow and torturous death. Sirius, by saying all this, all I wanted was to cleanse my soul, do something good for once in my life, and make it up to James. You will tell him won't you Sirius. And tell him… Tell him I'm sorry and I hope he can one day find it in his heart to forgive me." Wormtail reached into his pocket and took out a battered piece of paper, "I stole this from The Room of Requirement while I've been sneaking around the castle. Take it and find your way out of the forest." Sirius took the map he and his friends had made when they were just boys.
"I will give it to Dumbledore, he will know what to do with it. And Peter… James will forgive you, I give you my word of it."
Wormtail smiled, looking out towards the lake.
"What will you do now?" Sirius asked him, stuffing the map into his robes. Wormtail continued to look out to the lake. He slowly picked up some rocks and stuffed them into his pockets, "forgive me" he said calmly.
Sirius knew what he was about to do, "Until we meet again… old friend." Wormtail took a deep breath, his first breath of freedom in a long time, and began to walk into the water, sinking further with every step. Sirius watched as the small man soon disappeared beneath the surface of the water, and never came back up. He took Wormtail's old wand and carved into a large rock by the lake, "Peter Pettigrew, a warrior, and friend." Sirius watched the water for another moment, then placed the wand by Wormtail's make-shift gravestone. He took out his own wand and revealed the legend of the map, using it to find his way out of the forest.
