The Truth About Wormtail
Disclaimer: One word. Doi.
Author's note: I can't write any of my other stories now. This one is just too good. Thanks for all reviews. It really gives you a warm fuzzy feeling inside when people you don't know are complimenting your work.
Chapter the second: Of Snakes and Slytherins
Peter wandered away from the rented hall, fuming silently about his situation, and about the fact that nobody cared enough to notice his absence and chase after him.
Just typical.
It was very dark, and the road he was following was little more than a country lane. Vaguely he considered going home, but decided against it. His mother would demand to know why he hadn't stayed at the wedding, and he didn't feel like explaining. He sighed to himself and shoved his hands into his pockets. He supposed that he really should move out of home one of these days.
Shuffling his feet as he walked, Peter thought about Lily, and about how James had come out on top once again. Slowly, Peter's eyes began to adjust to the darkness about him. He wasn't sure how long he had been in love with Lily, but he knew why. She was beautiful. Merlin, was she beautiful. She had hair like fire and eyes like emeralds. Her complexion was like milk and she had a smile that somehow reminded Peter of every happy moment he'd ever had in his life.
Back when they had been at Hogwarts together, Peter had often had Lily help him with his schoolwork. Unlike James and Sirius, who rolled their eyes if he dared to ask a question like it was beneath them to even attempt an answer, Lily was patient and helpful. She never put him down and always treated him as her equal. She certainly never made him feel stupid to the point of idiocy. Whether that was what she really thought behind that stunning smile of hers was another matter entirely, of course. Peter tried not to think about that too much.
He kicked a stone on the side of the road and it bounced ahead of him. He wasn't as stupid as they all thought he was, not really. He knew that Lily, James, Sirius and even Remus felt sorry for him. Well, maybe he wasn't as bright, or as good-looking, or as perfect as the rest of them, but that didn't mean that he had to submit to being the object of their pity. When they noticed him at all, that is.
Just for once, he would like to be the winner.
Just once, Peter wanted to be the hero, instead of James.
Suddenly he stopped and looked around. He had no idea where he was. It was cold and the fields on either side of the road were completely empty, except for a fox that studied him curiously for a moment, and then bounded into some nearby trees. Feeling the darkness rather heavily on his shoulders, he pulled out his wand.
'Lumos,' he muttered. Brilliant white light erupted from the end of his wand, blinding him for a split second. Peter looked around and decided that by illuminating his surroundings he had not, in fact, achieved very much at all. He still had no idea where he was and he still could not see anything that might have given him a clue to his whereabouts. Beyond the little pool of light from his wand the darkness was absolute, so he could see even less than before. Sighing, he sat down on the roadside.
Was this going to be how the rest of his life turned out? Just watching and congratulating his best friends as they succeeded where he had failed dismally, having to live through them and never having triumphs of his own? It sounded like such a hopeless way to live. Well, that was why it would be good for him, a little voice inside his head commented rather insultingly. He'd always been a bit of a hopeless case.
He must have sat by the road there, wallowing in self-pity, for a good hour or more. Finally, he realised that he could no longer feel his toes or the tip of his nose, and stood up. He thrust his wand hand out into the middle of the road and waited.
With a tremendous 'BANG!' the triple-decker, violently purple Knight Bus was suddenly trundling along the narrow metal road towards him. It screeched to a halt and the doors flew open. Peter climbed the stairs.
'Birmingham,' he said, as the driver looked at him expectantly.
'That'll be eleven sickles,' the old driver informed him in a low grunt. A name badge on his wrinkled uniform jacket read 'Ernie Prang, Driver.'
Peter handed over some silver coins and moved down to the end of the bus, where he sat down on one of the beds that were pushed up against the right hand wall. Moodily, he glanced at his watch. It was well past midnight.
The bus lurched and Peter was thrown backwards onto the bed. Sighing heavily, he didn't even bother getting up. Instead, he lay there and wondered if any of his 'friends' had noticed that he'd left early. He doubted this. James and Lily were obviously too busy with their other guests; and the last time that Peter had looked up, Remus had been deep in conversation with Frank Longbottom and his fiancée Alice Lancaster and Sirius had been having a much more intimate chat with one of Lily's pretty muggle cousins.
Peter's thoughts were so pre-occupied with how no one cared about him that it only dimly registered in his mind when the bus skidded to a rather shaky stop and the doors flung themselves open to admit two new passengers. However, when he heard one of these wizards speak to the driver, Peter snapped to attention.
'Diagon Alley - before sunrise if at all possible,' said an all-too-familiar voice.
The memories of all the times he had heard that voice before struck cold terror into the very depths of Peter's heart. Though the wizard to whom it belonged spoke quietly, it was the kind of voice so distinctive that Peter had no trouble matching it to a face. Slowly, he tried to look up without drawing any unwanted suspicion to himself.
At the front of the bus, two wizards were paying the driver their fare to get to London. One was tall and pale, with a pointed face, slickly gelled blonde hair and pale blue eyes. He wore tailored robes and had about him the air of someone who is used to getting their own way. Peter felt that he ought to recognise this colourless stranger from somewhere, but he couldn't for the life of him think where.
On the other hand, he had no such problem in identifying the second man; no matter how much he wished it weren't so. This wizard was as tall and as pale as his companion, but that was where the similarities ended. Peter remembered this man's greasy, shoulder-length, black hair and his cold black eyes well. And how could anyone forget that prominent hooked nose? He was dressed in sweeping black robes and his skin had a pallid, unhealthy look about it. He hadn't changed one bit since the last time Peter had seen him, which had been at Hogwarts, almost six years ago.
Severus Snape.
Shrinking back a little in an unconscious movement, Peter watched Snape and his blonde friend two beds near to the driver. They were speaking in hushed tones and Peter, sensing that he might hear something important, strained his ears to listen.
'I hope you know what you're doing, Lucius,' Snape was muttering. 'Why we couldn't just apparate …'
'No one will notice us if we travel like this,' his friend Lucius replied. 'It's as close to perfect as I could arrange on such short notice. You're far too impatient, Severus.'
Snape scowled at him, but did not retort. Peter concluded that this Lucius fellow must be Snape's superior in some way. He found himself becoming excited. This could be it - if he just listened hard enough to these two and remembered everything they said so that he could report it later, he might find himself being taken seriously for once, maybe he would even be the hero at the end of the day. If he could just ignore the deeply engrained fear of Snape that threatened to freeze up all rational thought, maybe he would finally earn that little bit of recognition that he so desperately craved.
Wanting to stay out of sight, he moved into the shadows some more. At least being friends with James and Sirius had taught him one or two useful things - like how to hide in plain sight if the occasion arose. When they had been at school, of course, they had usually had the added advantage of James's invisibility cloak, but there had been the odd 'reconnaissance mission' (as Sirius had so fondly labelled them) where a higher level of skill in the area of stealth had been required. Peter concentrated for a moment on calming his breathing as he felt the familiar sensation of his heart quickening in pace.
'Are you sure this is necessary, Lucius?' Snape asked after a minute or so. Lucius was lounging casually on the bed, his eyes closed.
'That would be none of your concern, Severus,' came the soft rebuke. 'It doesn't matter to you the reason behind anything we do. Your only concern is that it is done, and that it is done well.'
'Yes, of course,' Snape muttered, though the scarcely concealed contempt in his eyes was visible even from where Peter stood. 'I forgot my place.'
'Just don't let it happen again.'
Though watching Snape getting berated like this was an excellent form of entertainment in his opinion, Peter wondered if they would ever get around to talking about their secret plan, or whatever it was that they were doing. If he heard nothing, he could report nothing, and all this effort he was putting into staying invisible would be for nothing.
After a while, Snape spoke again. 'Perhaps we should check this vehicle for other passengers,' he suggested. Lucius was unimpressed.
'We'll stay right here and not attract any unwanted attention to ourselves,' he told Snape. 'Besides, anyone who could possibly be a threat to us is at the Potter wedding, so -'
'Potter wedding?' Snape said quickly.
'Didn't you know?' Lucius asked in a bored, drawling voice. 'James Potter got married earlier today - to a mudblood girl, as I understand it.' Peter bristled with anger. How dare he? Just who did he think that he was, anyway?
'Potter's tastes often left much to be desired,' Snape commented sourly.
Lucius chuckled softly, and there was a note of amusement in his voice when he next spoke. 'I forgot about your enmity for Potter,' he said.
'I didn't,' muttered Snape, scowling darkly.
Lucius opened his eyes and sat up, his momentary amusement fading as quickly as it had surfaced. 'It might be wise, Severus,' he warned, 'if you learnt to control your emotions. Hatred so strong can cloud your vision and impair your judgement. Try not to get so caught up in it. It is your greatest weakness.'
Snape lowered his eyes, but it seemed that he couldn't resist a reply. 'You don't know Potter,' he growled.
'I see.' Lucius's voice was suddenly cold. 'Perhaps a change of subject is in order, Severus.' Then he was business-like. 'Have you met this Regulus Black before?'
Peter recognised the name at once. Sirius did not often speak about his younger brother - or any of his family, at that rate. From what had been said, Peter was not surprised in the slightest that Regulus had chosen to make friends with shady characters like Snape and this Lucius person. Peter wondered if Sirius knew the sort of company that his brother was entertaining.
Snape nodded. 'Yes. He was a few years behind me at Hogwarts, in Slytherin.'
'A well-brought-up young man,' Lucius praised, though something about his tone made Peter doubt that he was saying everything that he'd like to. 'I wish I could say the same for his brother.'
Snape scowled even more darkly than he had at the mention of James's name.
'Oh, that's right - you knew Sirius Black as well, didn't you?' Lucius's voice was calm as he studied Snape's face. 'All these enemies, Severus. Powerful enemies too, if I'm not mistaken. You must learn to be more careful, you know.'
Snape said nothing.
The bus stopped abruptly, and Peter had duck down to the floor in order to stop himself from falling out into the light where he would have been seen. Snape and Lucius looked up expectantly.
'Leaky Cauldron,' announced the driver. 'Next stop, Birmingham.'
Snape and Lucius stood up. Peter had only a split second to react, but he knew what he had to do. He would have to follow these two until he had something useful to report to the Order. How else would he ever receive that little bit of acknowledgment that he felt he deserved?
Thankfully, James and Sirius had taught him one or two useful things.
Just like on every full moon before that night, he brought the image of the rat into his mind and concentrated on it. Then came the familiar liquid feeling as his body shrank to rat-size proportions, and then the moment of disorientation as everything had suddenly grown ten times in size. He managed to focus in on Snape and Lucius leaving the bus and quickly scampered after them before the doors could close.
Disclaimer: One word. Doi.
Author's note: I can't write any of my other stories now. This one is just too good. Thanks for all reviews. It really gives you a warm fuzzy feeling inside when people you don't know are complimenting your work.
Chapter the second: Of Snakes and Slytherins
Peter wandered away from the rented hall, fuming silently about his situation, and about the fact that nobody cared enough to notice his absence and chase after him.
Just typical.
It was very dark, and the road he was following was little more than a country lane. Vaguely he considered going home, but decided against it. His mother would demand to know why he hadn't stayed at the wedding, and he didn't feel like explaining. He sighed to himself and shoved his hands into his pockets. He supposed that he really should move out of home one of these days.
Shuffling his feet as he walked, Peter thought about Lily, and about how James had come out on top once again. Slowly, Peter's eyes began to adjust to the darkness about him. He wasn't sure how long he had been in love with Lily, but he knew why. She was beautiful. Merlin, was she beautiful. She had hair like fire and eyes like emeralds. Her complexion was like milk and she had a smile that somehow reminded Peter of every happy moment he'd ever had in his life.
Back when they had been at Hogwarts together, Peter had often had Lily help him with his schoolwork. Unlike James and Sirius, who rolled their eyes if he dared to ask a question like it was beneath them to even attempt an answer, Lily was patient and helpful. She never put him down and always treated him as her equal. She certainly never made him feel stupid to the point of idiocy. Whether that was what she really thought behind that stunning smile of hers was another matter entirely, of course. Peter tried not to think about that too much.
He kicked a stone on the side of the road and it bounced ahead of him. He wasn't as stupid as they all thought he was, not really. He knew that Lily, James, Sirius and even Remus felt sorry for him. Well, maybe he wasn't as bright, or as good-looking, or as perfect as the rest of them, but that didn't mean that he had to submit to being the object of their pity. When they noticed him at all, that is.
Just for once, he would like to be the winner.
Just once, Peter wanted to be the hero, instead of James.
Suddenly he stopped and looked around. He had no idea where he was. It was cold and the fields on either side of the road were completely empty, except for a fox that studied him curiously for a moment, and then bounded into some nearby trees. Feeling the darkness rather heavily on his shoulders, he pulled out his wand.
'Lumos,' he muttered. Brilliant white light erupted from the end of his wand, blinding him for a split second. Peter looked around and decided that by illuminating his surroundings he had not, in fact, achieved very much at all. He still had no idea where he was and he still could not see anything that might have given him a clue to his whereabouts. Beyond the little pool of light from his wand the darkness was absolute, so he could see even less than before. Sighing, he sat down on the roadside.
Was this going to be how the rest of his life turned out? Just watching and congratulating his best friends as they succeeded where he had failed dismally, having to live through them and never having triumphs of his own? It sounded like such a hopeless way to live. Well, that was why it would be good for him, a little voice inside his head commented rather insultingly. He'd always been a bit of a hopeless case.
He must have sat by the road there, wallowing in self-pity, for a good hour or more. Finally, he realised that he could no longer feel his toes or the tip of his nose, and stood up. He thrust his wand hand out into the middle of the road and waited.
With a tremendous 'BANG!' the triple-decker, violently purple Knight Bus was suddenly trundling along the narrow metal road towards him. It screeched to a halt and the doors flew open. Peter climbed the stairs.
'Birmingham,' he said, as the driver looked at him expectantly.
'That'll be eleven sickles,' the old driver informed him in a low grunt. A name badge on his wrinkled uniform jacket read 'Ernie Prang, Driver.'
Peter handed over some silver coins and moved down to the end of the bus, where he sat down on one of the beds that were pushed up against the right hand wall. Moodily, he glanced at his watch. It was well past midnight.
The bus lurched and Peter was thrown backwards onto the bed. Sighing heavily, he didn't even bother getting up. Instead, he lay there and wondered if any of his 'friends' had noticed that he'd left early. He doubted this. James and Lily were obviously too busy with their other guests; and the last time that Peter had looked up, Remus had been deep in conversation with Frank Longbottom and his fiancée Alice Lancaster and Sirius had been having a much more intimate chat with one of Lily's pretty muggle cousins.
Peter's thoughts were so pre-occupied with how no one cared about him that it only dimly registered in his mind when the bus skidded to a rather shaky stop and the doors flung themselves open to admit two new passengers. However, when he heard one of these wizards speak to the driver, Peter snapped to attention.
'Diagon Alley - before sunrise if at all possible,' said an all-too-familiar voice.
The memories of all the times he had heard that voice before struck cold terror into the very depths of Peter's heart. Though the wizard to whom it belonged spoke quietly, it was the kind of voice so distinctive that Peter had no trouble matching it to a face. Slowly, he tried to look up without drawing any unwanted suspicion to himself.
At the front of the bus, two wizards were paying the driver their fare to get to London. One was tall and pale, with a pointed face, slickly gelled blonde hair and pale blue eyes. He wore tailored robes and had about him the air of someone who is used to getting their own way. Peter felt that he ought to recognise this colourless stranger from somewhere, but he couldn't for the life of him think where.
On the other hand, he had no such problem in identifying the second man; no matter how much he wished it weren't so. This wizard was as tall and as pale as his companion, but that was where the similarities ended. Peter remembered this man's greasy, shoulder-length, black hair and his cold black eyes well. And how could anyone forget that prominent hooked nose? He was dressed in sweeping black robes and his skin had a pallid, unhealthy look about it. He hadn't changed one bit since the last time Peter had seen him, which had been at Hogwarts, almost six years ago.
Severus Snape.
Shrinking back a little in an unconscious movement, Peter watched Snape and his blonde friend two beds near to the driver. They were speaking in hushed tones and Peter, sensing that he might hear something important, strained his ears to listen.
'I hope you know what you're doing, Lucius,' Snape was muttering. 'Why we couldn't just apparate …'
'No one will notice us if we travel like this,' his friend Lucius replied. 'It's as close to perfect as I could arrange on such short notice. You're far too impatient, Severus.'
Snape scowled at him, but did not retort. Peter concluded that this Lucius fellow must be Snape's superior in some way. He found himself becoming excited. This could be it - if he just listened hard enough to these two and remembered everything they said so that he could report it later, he might find himself being taken seriously for once, maybe he would even be the hero at the end of the day. If he could just ignore the deeply engrained fear of Snape that threatened to freeze up all rational thought, maybe he would finally earn that little bit of recognition that he so desperately craved.
Wanting to stay out of sight, he moved into the shadows some more. At least being friends with James and Sirius had taught him one or two useful things - like how to hide in plain sight if the occasion arose. When they had been at school, of course, they had usually had the added advantage of James's invisibility cloak, but there had been the odd 'reconnaissance mission' (as Sirius had so fondly labelled them) where a higher level of skill in the area of stealth had been required. Peter concentrated for a moment on calming his breathing as he felt the familiar sensation of his heart quickening in pace.
'Are you sure this is necessary, Lucius?' Snape asked after a minute or so. Lucius was lounging casually on the bed, his eyes closed.
'That would be none of your concern, Severus,' came the soft rebuke. 'It doesn't matter to you the reason behind anything we do. Your only concern is that it is done, and that it is done well.'
'Yes, of course,' Snape muttered, though the scarcely concealed contempt in his eyes was visible even from where Peter stood. 'I forgot my place.'
'Just don't let it happen again.'
Though watching Snape getting berated like this was an excellent form of entertainment in his opinion, Peter wondered if they would ever get around to talking about their secret plan, or whatever it was that they were doing. If he heard nothing, he could report nothing, and all this effort he was putting into staying invisible would be for nothing.
After a while, Snape spoke again. 'Perhaps we should check this vehicle for other passengers,' he suggested. Lucius was unimpressed.
'We'll stay right here and not attract any unwanted attention to ourselves,' he told Snape. 'Besides, anyone who could possibly be a threat to us is at the Potter wedding, so -'
'Potter wedding?' Snape said quickly.
'Didn't you know?' Lucius asked in a bored, drawling voice. 'James Potter got married earlier today - to a mudblood girl, as I understand it.' Peter bristled with anger. How dare he? Just who did he think that he was, anyway?
'Potter's tastes often left much to be desired,' Snape commented sourly.
Lucius chuckled softly, and there was a note of amusement in his voice when he next spoke. 'I forgot about your enmity for Potter,' he said.
'I didn't,' muttered Snape, scowling darkly.
Lucius opened his eyes and sat up, his momentary amusement fading as quickly as it had surfaced. 'It might be wise, Severus,' he warned, 'if you learnt to control your emotions. Hatred so strong can cloud your vision and impair your judgement. Try not to get so caught up in it. It is your greatest weakness.'
Snape lowered his eyes, but it seemed that he couldn't resist a reply. 'You don't know Potter,' he growled.
'I see.' Lucius's voice was suddenly cold. 'Perhaps a change of subject is in order, Severus.' Then he was business-like. 'Have you met this Regulus Black before?'
Peter recognised the name at once. Sirius did not often speak about his younger brother - or any of his family, at that rate. From what had been said, Peter was not surprised in the slightest that Regulus had chosen to make friends with shady characters like Snape and this Lucius person. Peter wondered if Sirius knew the sort of company that his brother was entertaining.
Snape nodded. 'Yes. He was a few years behind me at Hogwarts, in Slytherin.'
'A well-brought-up young man,' Lucius praised, though something about his tone made Peter doubt that he was saying everything that he'd like to. 'I wish I could say the same for his brother.'
Snape scowled even more darkly than he had at the mention of James's name.
'Oh, that's right - you knew Sirius Black as well, didn't you?' Lucius's voice was calm as he studied Snape's face. 'All these enemies, Severus. Powerful enemies too, if I'm not mistaken. You must learn to be more careful, you know.'
Snape said nothing.
The bus stopped abruptly, and Peter had duck down to the floor in order to stop himself from falling out into the light where he would have been seen. Snape and Lucius looked up expectantly.
'Leaky Cauldron,' announced the driver. 'Next stop, Birmingham.'
Snape and Lucius stood up. Peter had only a split second to react, but he knew what he had to do. He would have to follow these two until he had something useful to report to the Order. How else would he ever receive that little bit of acknowledgment that he felt he deserved?
Thankfully, James and Sirius had taught him one or two useful things.
Just like on every full moon before that night, he brought the image of the rat into his mind and concentrated on it. Then came the familiar liquid feeling as his body shrank to rat-size proportions, and then the moment of disorientation as everything had suddenly grown ten times in size. He managed to focus in on Snape and Lucius leaving the bus and quickly scampered after them before the doors could close.