Dedication: To Tara! More Peter ficcies...though not my usual.
Author's Note: I had to go back and change a few things in this story, to make it fit with OotP. I was actually able to, and I'm glad of it. It works better, all things considered.
And Justice For All...?
Chapter Three
Memorization was *not* something Peter Pettigrew was very good at. Especially under the pressure Brecc was putting on him.
"Petey, Petey Petey..." Brecc shook his head. "You've got it all *wrong*!"
"I'm sorry!" Peter snapped, standing up and turning his back on the lawyer. "I'm trying..."
"Look...let's take it from the top. Who first approached you?"
"Ian Wilkes." Peter said, sighing. The other man was long dead, and therefor couldn't dispute Peter's accusations. Everyone Peter accused or mentioned was either dead, or long mad in Azkaban.
"Good. And how did he approach you?"
"He...he told me he could help me." Peter said. "He knew I was in a lot of trouble..."
"What sort of trouble?" Brecc urged.
"Er..." Peter fumbled. He had forgotten what sort of trouble he was supposedly in.
"You were broke Peter, and you had upset the wrong people..." Brecc reminded him.
"Oh yeah." Peter nodded. He continued on with his story, reciting by rote.
"All right." Brecc nodded. "Much better. Just remember...don't be so damn stiff at your trial."
"I'll try." But Peter had never been a very good actor. Oh, he had his moments, but on the whole... He sighed, sinking back down into his bed.
"Don't sound so glum." Brecc said, clapping him on the shoulder. "You're going to walk out of here a free man."
"Says you."
"Oh, but I know it for a fact!" Brecc grinned widely. "There aren't too many people who can dispute what you're going to say. They're all dead. Even Black...you have no idea how lucky you are for that..."
"Shut up!" Peter yelled. He didn't like thinking about that. He didn't like thinking about that at all. But at least Sirius' name would be cleared.
"Oh, reached a sore spot, did I?" Brecc said, shrugging. "Just saying you're pretty lucky that no one can come out of the woodwork waving a finger and poking holes in your story."
"Fine. But don't ever mention *him* to me again." The idiot lawyer wasn't fit enough to walk by Sirius' grave, as far as Peter was concerned.
"All right I won't...but his name's going to come up at the trial..."
"That's different." Peter glowered at Brecc. "Are we done?"
"For now..." The lawyer nodded. "For now. Oh, and I arranged it so you can have visitors. If anyone would want to visit you." Brecc shrugged, gathering his things and leaving Peter to his own thoughts.
//Visitors. Who would want to visit me?// He sighed, lying down on his bed. He hated this. He hated having to remember all the lies, the parodies of truth. But it was his only chance. Because Brecc was right. No matter how bad he felt, he didn't want to have...well, whatever was going to happen to him. They'd probably just execute him.
Peter sighed. This was going no where. He wasn't going to get off. He couldn't do this. He just couldn't! He'd try, but they were going to see how stupid it all was. They weren't idiots.
//But who's going stand against you?// Peter had to ask himself. Who indeed? There *were* hardly any of them left. If he was careful...if he used his words properly...
//Maybe.// It was a very tenuous maybe though. His mind was waffling back and forth. He was going to walk away, he was going to die. He was going to go free, he was going to go to the executioner's block..
He threw himself down onto his back, wanting to cry. He wished Brecc had just left him, hadn't even given him this tiny sliver of hope.
//Dumbledore'll want me dead.// And they'd listen to Dumbledore. With everything that's happened-or as Peter understood it-they'd listen to nearly anything the Headmaster told them. Brecc hadn't brought that up yet. He was either ignoring it on purpose, or he didn't think it mattered.
//He's stupid, if he thinks it doesn't matter.// That was the biggest obstacle Peter could see. But... //He gave *Snape* a chance. Why'm I so different?// It was, in his mind, a damn good argument. Not one he could use in court, but it sounded nice inside his own mind. So maybe there was a chance.
//There's always a chance.// Peter told himself firmly. And he could do this. He lied to them for nearly a year, he could lie to them for a few hours.
He went over his story in his mind again, to make sure he got it right...
~~~~~~~~~~
