Disclaimer: Don't own, don't hope to own, so don't sue me.
Murphy's Law
Chapter Five ~*~ Dog on a Leash
Wormtail ran as fast as his short stubby legs would carry him.
That was the problem with being a rat; your body was ridiculously close to the ground and your feet small and far apart. Rats can scurry very quickly over short distances, but they are not marathon runners. Even worse, the rodent thought bitterly, was the rain. It soaked his already disheveled fur through, and the scant coat he had was not enough to keep his bones from freezing.
The other problem: there were no sewers to be seen in the countryside.
Inwardly, he cursed the Weasley family for living out in the middle of nowhere. The Burrow was comfortably accommodated, but it was not located near any major cities or even large towns, so the only way Wormtail could make his way to the nearest train for London was to scamper.
He needed to get to his master. Maybe it was the rat's brain that now occupied half of his own consciousness, but being out in the open reeked of danger. It was irrational, this fear that he felt, but it galvanized him towards further efforts of reuniting with his dark lord. Prisoners turned in their foul beds in Azkaban, screaming for his blood as revenge for their master's downfall. There was an equally large amount of people free in England who wanted him dead, having seen their comrades and dreams stripped away from them because of /one filthy rat/.
Wormtail chuckled bitterly to himself, his breaths coming up short and labored. A rat, was that it? He was a rat. He didn't even acknowledge himself as a human or wizard anymore. If called by his real name-"Peter"-he probably wouldn't even answer to it anymore! His identity had slipped past the cracks of reality, vanishing along with his presence in the wizarding world.
They still believed him to be a hero, those fools at the Ministry. How easy it was, to turn the media against the truth! They were so easy to manipulate, a tool as mindless as himself to Voldemort. There was only one threat to that, one problem in the tangled tapestry of his existence, the largest knot of them all-once unraveled, it would sort everything else out…
The problem was named Sirius Black, and, even past Voldemort, he was perhaps the man that Wormtail feared most.
~*~
Remus burst into Snape's chambers in a fashion that would have done his colleague proud. He was really starting to get a hang of the stalking thing; taking long, lengthy strides with a particularly dark air about him. The only thing he hadn't worked out was how to get his robes to billow out behind him in the same manner that Severus' always did. Did he have some sort of fan attached to his rear end to get that effect? Whatever he did, it was damn cool, and Lupin found himself wanting to emulate it (along with, although they'd denied it if questioned, half of the other professors at Hogwarts).
Right now, the news that Mrs. Weasley had just given him weighed heavily on his mind. Pieces were falling into place, starting to complete and sinister and terrible puzzle-one that he determined to be better unsolved. His entire /reality/ had been stripped away from him in just /one morning/. If anything, his ambivalence whether or not to inform Severus of the castle's new… /guest/… had been decided. The words were practically on his lips when he noticed the room's new occupant.
Severus was sitting upright in his bed, petting the head of a /very/ familiar-looking, Grim-like dog.
Remus spluttered, unable to register what was happening here, then blurted out, "Severus, what the hell are you /doing/?!"
The Potions Master stared back up at him unflinchingly and stated in an infuriatingly calm and matter-of-fact voice, "petting our new dog, what does it look like?"
"How did he get /in/ here?!" Remus managed to stammer out.
"Dumbledore brought him in here. Said he was yours. I must admit, Lupin, I didn't expect you to be an animal person," came the ready reply.
"D-Dumbledore? Brought him…?"
"I thought you'd be surprised," Severus continued, as if nothing about the werewolf's behavior was unusual. "Dumbledore told me he'd been missing for a while, but honestly, Remus, what kind of reaction is that? You look like you've seen a ghost, not your loveable /best friend/." The last two words were spoken with an ironic tone to them that made Lupin cringe at how unbelievably /true/ they had been at one point.
"B-But he's not-Harry-"
Snape suddenly turned thoughtful. "Brilliant idea, Lupin," he stated, as if agreeing with something he imagined Remus saying. "He /will/ make an excellent guard dog for Harry. If he's housetrained, we can let him sleep in Harry's room-he /is/ house-broken, isn't he?" He added, as a second thought, bottomless ebony gaze boring into the werewolf's. Padfoot gave a short bark, as if taking offense to that statement.
"Yes, he is," Lupin found himself saying. Was Severus really that energy-deprived? He'd become delirious! It was incorrigible; he could never defeat Sirius' crazy ideas when the man had one back in their Marauder days, and it sure seemed like he hadn't a /chance/ at it now. Just to placate himself, he aimed a venomous glare at the shaggy haystack of a dog, but wondered if he should inform Severus of the creature's true identity.
No, it was more like a question of, "do I want blood and guts to be splattered all over the room this early in the morning?" And, frankly, he didn't. Plus, now he had reason to believe that Sirius /was/ telling the truth-a scenario had had played out in his mind before. If he ever confronted his one-time friend and the other claimed innocence, would he believe him? Before, the answer had been a staunch and unflinching "no," but now Remus was not so sure…
As if to agree, Padfoot gave another bark, this time a happy one, and wagged his tail furiously.
~*~
Grudgingly, Remus was forced to lead the giant black dog to Harry's room, where he conjured a length of rope and knotted it securely across the creature's neck. The other end he tied to the doorknob in a large, bulbous tangle that /no one/, would be able to undo without the aid of a knife or something. Then the werewolf knelt down so he was level with Sirius' pale blue gaze, and told him quietly,
"I have to go see Dumbledore. Right, I'm leaving you here with Harry for five minutes. If you so much as harm a single hair on his head, /nothing/, not Voldemort, not Merlin himself, will stop me from killing you."
Sirius wagged his tail once and whined. Lupin rose, feigning disgust, but practically caving-he'd gotten that puppy-eyed look on more than one occasion of his Marauding career, and better people had succumbed to it. With a sigh, the professor rose and exited.
Sirius waited patiently until he could no longer hear the man's footsteps echoing down the hall. Then he tried to change back to his human form-and gave out a hoarse whine.
The result of his attempts was a sharp pain outlining the nerves of his body, and he cursed and gave an expression of agony in the same breath. He should have /known/ Lupin would have put some sort of Transfiguration-blocking Charm on this damn thing. Why would he trust the former convict in Harry's room otherwise?
The dog hauled himself upright and padded over to the crib. He was about eye level with the side, and he nosed it gently. There was no sign of anything stirring inside it. A brief flash of concern crossed the canine's mind; did something happen to Harry? Why wasn't he moving? Then, he realized that the small child must have been asleep. He would have chuckled if he could; there went the godfather instincts that he'd never known existed! If only James could see him now…
But he couldn't. And because of that, Sirius had sworn to himself to keep Harry safe under any and all circumstances. It was kind of fair that way, wasn't it?
Something shifted in the crib. With a grunt of effort (it was harder than it looked), the great coal-black dog heaved himself upon his back legs, resting his front paws lightly on the rim of the crib, his nails scraping a little against the wood. He pulled his head over, panting good-naturedly at the small boy inside.
The first thing Sirius noticed was the boy's eyes, even before the famous lightning-bolt scar. He didn't think /anyone/ could miss eyes of such an uncanny green shade. They sparkled at him, holding some sort of innate intelligence. Harry didn't seem the least bit surprised to see him. He blinked a little, but that was all the reaction Sirius got.
As a former Marauder, he was a bit disappointed by the response-or, rather, lack thereof. But that quickly passed as he bent his head down and sniffed. Harry smelt strongly of baby powder. The Azkaban escapee laughed mentally as he called up a picture of Snape changing diapers-Merlin, how did the man manage? From the Severus he knew back in school… well, that man was more likely to hang than to take care of an infant.
Sirius has risked his life and limb to escape from Azkaban to protect Harry from this man, and he still didn't trust him.
The shaggy canine stared back down at his young charge. Harry blinked again, some new light coming into those odd eyes, then suddenly stretched out a small arm, as if reaching out for his godfather. Sirius longed to be able to shift back into his human form, to take his godson into his arms and comfort him. For not the first time in his life, he cursed Lupin's book-based knowledge. What dusty old tome did he dig this rope charm from?
Harry seemed to understand what was upsetting his godfather, and gave a slight smile. The expression seemed to brighten up his otherwise solemn face considerably. Even more, Sirius felt something in the rope /give/, succumb to that innocent grin.
For a moment, he froze, shocked at what he thought had just passed. And then, he made the swift transformation back to his human form.
~*~
[
Whee. That took… quite a while. Sorry about that. I /think/ I'm back on the writing track, but it's too early to tell for certain. Hopefully we have some form of more complications emerging, setting us up for future hilarity. D'you know, I actually wrote this chapter about three weeks ago, but didn't post it until today because I wanted to be sure where this was headed? Kind of overly cautious, but it will pay off in the end. I hope.
Also, I started another fic, called [cat in shadows]. It's a lot darker than this one, which makes it lots of fun to write, but as a result, things could get a little weird. I invite you to try it, with the request that you drop a review ^^
Again, thanks for the time. Please, review!
]
Murphy's Law
Chapter Five ~*~ Dog on a Leash
Wormtail ran as fast as his short stubby legs would carry him.
That was the problem with being a rat; your body was ridiculously close to the ground and your feet small and far apart. Rats can scurry very quickly over short distances, but they are not marathon runners. Even worse, the rodent thought bitterly, was the rain. It soaked his already disheveled fur through, and the scant coat he had was not enough to keep his bones from freezing.
The other problem: there were no sewers to be seen in the countryside.
Inwardly, he cursed the Weasley family for living out in the middle of nowhere. The Burrow was comfortably accommodated, but it was not located near any major cities or even large towns, so the only way Wormtail could make his way to the nearest train for London was to scamper.
He needed to get to his master. Maybe it was the rat's brain that now occupied half of his own consciousness, but being out in the open reeked of danger. It was irrational, this fear that he felt, but it galvanized him towards further efforts of reuniting with his dark lord. Prisoners turned in their foul beds in Azkaban, screaming for his blood as revenge for their master's downfall. There was an equally large amount of people free in England who wanted him dead, having seen their comrades and dreams stripped away from them because of /one filthy rat/.
Wormtail chuckled bitterly to himself, his breaths coming up short and labored. A rat, was that it? He was a rat. He didn't even acknowledge himself as a human or wizard anymore. If called by his real name-"Peter"-he probably wouldn't even answer to it anymore! His identity had slipped past the cracks of reality, vanishing along with his presence in the wizarding world.
They still believed him to be a hero, those fools at the Ministry. How easy it was, to turn the media against the truth! They were so easy to manipulate, a tool as mindless as himself to Voldemort. There was only one threat to that, one problem in the tangled tapestry of his existence, the largest knot of them all-once unraveled, it would sort everything else out…
The problem was named Sirius Black, and, even past Voldemort, he was perhaps the man that Wormtail feared most.
~*~
Remus burst into Snape's chambers in a fashion that would have done his colleague proud. He was really starting to get a hang of the stalking thing; taking long, lengthy strides with a particularly dark air about him. The only thing he hadn't worked out was how to get his robes to billow out behind him in the same manner that Severus' always did. Did he have some sort of fan attached to his rear end to get that effect? Whatever he did, it was damn cool, and Lupin found himself wanting to emulate it (along with, although they'd denied it if questioned, half of the other professors at Hogwarts).
Right now, the news that Mrs. Weasley had just given him weighed heavily on his mind. Pieces were falling into place, starting to complete and sinister and terrible puzzle-one that he determined to be better unsolved. His entire /reality/ had been stripped away from him in just /one morning/. If anything, his ambivalence whether or not to inform Severus of the castle's new… /guest/… had been decided. The words were practically on his lips when he noticed the room's new occupant.
Severus was sitting upright in his bed, petting the head of a /very/ familiar-looking, Grim-like dog.
Remus spluttered, unable to register what was happening here, then blurted out, "Severus, what the hell are you /doing/?!"
The Potions Master stared back up at him unflinchingly and stated in an infuriatingly calm and matter-of-fact voice, "petting our new dog, what does it look like?"
"How did he get /in/ here?!" Remus managed to stammer out.
"Dumbledore brought him in here. Said he was yours. I must admit, Lupin, I didn't expect you to be an animal person," came the ready reply.
"D-Dumbledore? Brought him…?"
"I thought you'd be surprised," Severus continued, as if nothing about the werewolf's behavior was unusual. "Dumbledore told me he'd been missing for a while, but honestly, Remus, what kind of reaction is that? You look like you've seen a ghost, not your loveable /best friend/." The last two words were spoken with an ironic tone to them that made Lupin cringe at how unbelievably /true/ they had been at one point.
"B-But he's not-Harry-"
Snape suddenly turned thoughtful. "Brilliant idea, Lupin," he stated, as if agreeing with something he imagined Remus saying. "He /will/ make an excellent guard dog for Harry. If he's housetrained, we can let him sleep in Harry's room-he /is/ house-broken, isn't he?" He added, as a second thought, bottomless ebony gaze boring into the werewolf's. Padfoot gave a short bark, as if taking offense to that statement.
"Yes, he is," Lupin found himself saying. Was Severus really that energy-deprived? He'd become delirious! It was incorrigible; he could never defeat Sirius' crazy ideas when the man had one back in their Marauder days, and it sure seemed like he hadn't a /chance/ at it now. Just to placate himself, he aimed a venomous glare at the shaggy haystack of a dog, but wondered if he should inform Severus of the creature's true identity.
No, it was more like a question of, "do I want blood and guts to be splattered all over the room this early in the morning?" And, frankly, he didn't. Plus, now he had reason to believe that Sirius /was/ telling the truth-a scenario had had played out in his mind before. If he ever confronted his one-time friend and the other claimed innocence, would he believe him? Before, the answer had been a staunch and unflinching "no," but now Remus was not so sure…
As if to agree, Padfoot gave another bark, this time a happy one, and wagged his tail furiously.
~*~
Grudgingly, Remus was forced to lead the giant black dog to Harry's room, where he conjured a length of rope and knotted it securely across the creature's neck. The other end he tied to the doorknob in a large, bulbous tangle that /no one/, would be able to undo without the aid of a knife or something. Then the werewolf knelt down so he was level with Sirius' pale blue gaze, and told him quietly,
"I have to go see Dumbledore. Right, I'm leaving you here with Harry for five minutes. If you so much as harm a single hair on his head, /nothing/, not Voldemort, not Merlin himself, will stop me from killing you."
Sirius wagged his tail once and whined. Lupin rose, feigning disgust, but practically caving-he'd gotten that puppy-eyed look on more than one occasion of his Marauding career, and better people had succumbed to it. With a sigh, the professor rose and exited.
Sirius waited patiently until he could no longer hear the man's footsteps echoing down the hall. Then he tried to change back to his human form-and gave out a hoarse whine.
The result of his attempts was a sharp pain outlining the nerves of his body, and he cursed and gave an expression of agony in the same breath. He should have /known/ Lupin would have put some sort of Transfiguration-blocking Charm on this damn thing. Why would he trust the former convict in Harry's room otherwise?
The dog hauled himself upright and padded over to the crib. He was about eye level with the side, and he nosed it gently. There was no sign of anything stirring inside it. A brief flash of concern crossed the canine's mind; did something happen to Harry? Why wasn't he moving? Then, he realized that the small child must have been asleep. He would have chuckled if he could; there went the godfather instincts that he'd never known existed! If only James could see him now…
But he couldn't. And because of that, Sirius had sworn to himself to keep Harry safe under any and all circumstances. It was kind of fair that way, wasn't it?
Something shifted in the crib. With a grunt of effort (it was harder than it looked), the great coal-black dog heaved himself upon his back legs, resting his front paws lightly on the rim of the crib, his nails scraping a little against the wood. He pulled his head over, panting good-naturedly at the small boy inside.
The first thing Sirius noticed was the boy's eyes, even before the famous lightning-bolt scar. He didn't think /anyone/ could miss eyes of such an uncanny green shade. They sparkled at him, holding some sort of innate intelligence. Harry didn't seem the least bit surprised to see him. He blinked a little, but that was all the reaction Sirius got.
As a former Marauder, he was a bit disappointed by the response-or, rather, lack thereof. But that quickly passed as he bent his head down and sniffed. Harry smelt strongly of baby powder. The Azkaban escapee laughed mentally as he called up a picture of Snape changing diapers-Merlin, how did the man manage? From the Severus he knew back in school… well, that man was more likely to hang than to take care of an infant.
Sirius has risked his life and limb to escape from Azkaban to protect Harry from this man, and he still didn't trust him.
The shaggy canine stared back down at his young charge. Harry blinked again, some new light coming into those odd eyes, then suddenly stretched out a small arm, as if reaching out for his godfather. Sirius longed to be able to shift back into his human form, to take his godson into his arms and comfort him. For not the first time in his life, he cursed Lupin's book-based knowledge. What dusty old tome did he dig this rope charm from?
Harry seemed to understand what was upsetting his godfather, and gave a slight smile. The expression seemed to brighten up his otherwise solemn face considerably. Even more, Sirius felt something in the rope /give/, succumb to that innocent grin.
For a moment, he froze, shocked at what he thought had just passed. And then, he made the swift transformation back to his human form.
~*~
[
Whee. That took… quite a while. Sorry about that. I /think/ I'm back on the writing track, but it's too early to tell for certain. Hopefully we have some form of more complications emerging, setting us up for future hilarity. D'you know, I actually wrote this chapter about three weeks ago, but didn't post it until today because I wanted to be sure where this was headed? Kind of overly cautious, but it will pay off in the end. I hope.
Also, I started another fic, called [cat in shadows]. It's a lot darker than this one, which makes it lots of fun to write, but as a result, things could get a little weird. I invite you to try it, with the request that you drop a review ^^
Again, thanks for the time. Please, review!
]