The Truth About Wormtail
Disclaimer: If you believe that this is really J.K Rowling, I suggest you lay off the pills for a bit.
Author's note: Ok, so most of the reviews for this fic are from people I actually know, so they don't really count for all that much (though I still love you guys, its just not the same), so I would like some new people to review this chapter, please. And can I just say for one last time that I love writing Slytherins - they're so deliciously evil!
Chapter the third: In Knockturn Alley
Peter followed Lucius and Snape in his rat form into the dingy pub. He could smell plenty of other rats in here, and for a moment he was distracted, but the part of his mind that was still Peter kept him following the target. He had to be careful to keep to the shadows - rats were seldom welcomed anywhere. The two wizards went out into the back yard, where the concealed entrance to Diagon Alley lay. Peter tailed them as closely as he could, weaving between the legs of tables and the drunks who were asleep at the bar.
Once they were in the small walled courtyard at the back of the pub, Snape turned to Lucius.
'What if he doesn't show?' he asked. To Peter's improved ears the voice was deafening.
'Then we eliminate him. Those are our orders,' Lucius replied in a casual tone that chilled Peter to his bones. 'Eliminate' him? The coolness with which this pale man said those words was terrifying.
Snape set his jaw and nodded. If Peter had been in his human form he would have scowled at his old enemy, but as it was all he could manage was a disdainful flick of his whiskers.
They opened the gateway to the long, winding cobblestone street that was Diagon Alley. Peter had never been here at night before. Most of the shops were shut and their windows dark - the normally crowded street was deserted and somehow forbidding. The half-moon cast a weird silvery light on the scene. Quickly, he ran across the cobblestones, noticing that his paws made a faint skittering sound.
About halfway down the street, Lucius and Snape turned into a side alley. Peter made to follow them but soon stopped in his tracks - the pair were headed down Knockturn Alley. Peter had never taken so much as one step down that dark and narrow way, but he knew what lay down there all the same. Only merchants dealing in the dark arts set up shop down Knockturn Alley. Peering into the shadows with his keen rat's eyes, Peter saw that this street, unlike its much more open counterpart Diagon Alley, was most certainly not deserted.
There were furtive movements in the shadows - other rats, but also things much larger and more sinister. From a window ledge the yellow eyes of a black cat, all that was visible even to Peter's sharp senses, peered down at him with great interest. From the front porch of a grimy, boarded-up shop, a low, wheezing breath could be heard from a bundle of rags. Peter shivered uncontrollably. Maybe this adventure wasn't worth the risk after all.
Then he saw Snape holding open a door for Lucius up ahead, and ran as fast as his paws would carry him to get there before the door closed again. He just made it. As Snape shut the door, it almost caught the end of his long bald tail.
'Ah, Regulus,' Lucius said with a cold smile. 'Already here, I see. Good, good …'
Regulus Black was the splitting image of his older brother, with just a few years delay. He was a very handsome young man, with dark eyes and hair and lightly tanned skin. The robes he wore were immaculate - obviously he was here to make a good impression. But unlike his brother, there was no warmth in his eyes, and no softness in his face. Peter scampered up onto a bookshelf so that he could see and hear things better.
'Mister Malfoy,' Black said, respectfully inclining his head. 'Snape,' he added as an afterthought, with a much less courteous nod in Snape's direction, which was returned coldly.
The room they were in was tiny, lit only by a single oil lamp that spluttered on a round polished table in the centre of the scene. It was very cluttered, in Peter's opinion, and some of that clutter seemed to be rather unsavoury - he didn't even want to think about what else might be in that box in the corner that looked like it contained torture instruments; and over there, that looked suspiciously like a human hand dangling out of that chest under the single, filthy window.
The three wizards sat around the table on various mismatched chairs. Lucius Malfoy fixed Black with a penetrating stare.
'So, Regulus,' he said casually. 'You have expressed a wish to join our little society.'
Black swallowed. 'That is correct, Mister Malfoy,' he said nervously.
'You realise, of course, what this might involve for you?'
'I am not afraid,' Black stated in a tone that was obviously meant to be defiant, though his eyes spoke volumes.
'You should be,' Snape said threateningly. Black frowned but Malfoy nodded.
'Severus is right - you have no idea where this path may take you,' he said quietly. 'What made you make this decision?'
'My family is one of the oldest in the land,' Regulus said proudly. 'The noble house of Black wishes to be represented in this noble fight, as is our duty to our brother wizards.'
Lucius smirked at the mention of the word 'brother'. Peter felt that he knew where this conversation was going.
'Brothers, you say?' he began, exchanging a glance with Snape that warned against comment. 'You would join your brothers. But what of your real brother, Regulus? Would you not join him, banding against our noble cause with mudbloods and traitors and half-breeds - shouldn't you be joining him, instead?'
Black scowled. 'My brother is a Black only by accident of birth. He is nothing to me. He turned his back on our family - he deserves to be an outcast.'
'Indeed?' Malfoy said, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. 'But what is there to say that you are in fact nothing more than a traitor, just like him? Does blood not run deeper than any other tie? What is there to say that you will not turn us all over to your big brother when the time comes? You must admit, Regulus; by blood alone we already have reason to doubt you.'
Black was shocked - Peter realised that whatever he had been expecting in agreeing to come to this meeting, this was certainly not it. He gaped at Malfoy, open-mouthed for a few moments, before speaking again.
'I can assure you, Mister Malfoy,' he said, talking very fast. 'I hate my brother more than any other man on this planet. He turned his back on his bloodline and therefore deserves everything that is coming to him. Ask my cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange. I would not betray you. If anything, loyalty to my blood will make me even more useful to you, as the Blacks have a long history of-'
'Spare me the history lesson, boy,' Malfoy interrupted. Black dropped his eyes quickly and respectfully. Snape stared at him with an expression of utmost dislike, usually a look he saved for either James or Sirius. Peter supposed that because of the family resemblance, it was easy for Snape to imagine that the two Blacks were one and the same.
'I'm glad we have that sorted, then,' said Malfoy. 'Unless you think he will run to his brother when he gets scared, Severus?'
Snape studied Black's face critically. 'He does look an awful lot like his brother, Lucius,' he growled.
Lucius chuckled. 'Family resemblance is something the lad has no control over, Severus,' he said amusedly. 'In fact, the fact that they look alike is perhaps the only thing that Regulus and his brother have in common.'
Black nodded emphatically but Snape still did not appear convinced. Malfoy, however, seemed pleased with Black's testimony.
'Of course, you will have to prove yourself to our master before the official initiation may go ahead,' he said, smiling at Regulus. 'But as you are in such a well-connected position, I am sure you will have no problem. I will see to it that you have no problem,' he added, baring his teeth slightly in what might have been a grin. Peter shuddered.
'Of course, Mister Malfoy; you're too kind, sir,' Black stammered gratefully.
'Not really,' Malfoy replied, his malicious grin more pronounced. 'I do not do anything if I cannot see the profit in it for myself, Regulus. Tell me: how is your cousin Narcissa?'
'She's well, sir,' Black answered, with a confused frown.
'Excellent,' Malfoy murmured. 'You will arrange for me to meet with her, Regulus. This is your first task. I will see what I can do about your wish to join my master's campaign.' He stood, and both Snape and Black imitated hastily, with Black sinking into a quick bow.
'Certainly, Mister Malfoy. I will contact you to let you know the details of the meeting with Narcissa.' Though Black may not have understood the reason why Malfoy was expressing such an interest in his cousin, he was certainly (and rather wisely, in Peter's opinion) not about to anger this man who seemingly held Regulus's entire future in his hands.
'Thank you for a delightful meeting, Regulus,' Malfoy said, nodding politely. 'We shall see each other again, I assume.'
'We certainly will, Mister Malfoy.'
Malfoy nodded. 'Severus?'
Snape also nodded - curtly, and his eyes never left Black's face. He held open the door for Malfoy and they both left. Peter stayed on the shelf, shivering. This was the sort of situation that he'd dreamed about when joining the Order - espionage and disguises and meetings in dark alleys - this was the sort of thing that turned an ordinary guy like himself into a hero.
He'd forgotten that he was not alone, when Black began to mutter under his breath. It almost caused Peter to topple off the bookcase. Obviously Black had wanted to wait for Malfoy and Snape to be well out of earshot before he began muttering to himself - it might dampen his chances of achieving a place in their organisation.
'Lousy, slimy gits,' Regulus Black muttered, when he thought no one could hear him. 'Think they can treat me like dirt - there was a time when the name 'Black' commanded some respect … this is Sirius's doing … it's all his fault … his slur on our name is holding me back …'
And continuing to mutter in this fashion, he waved his wand to stop the lamp's sputtering, plunging the room into darkness. Then, still grumbling quietly, Black disapparated with a loud crack. Peter willed his body to stop shaking, but despite all his efforts to tell himself that the danger had passed, his rat senses were still playing up. Possibly it had something to do with the pair of yellow eyes still staring at him from the filthy window.
Peter transformed back into himself again, taking care to put his fingernails into the mental image of his body that he was changing himself into. One time, back at Hogwarts, he had forgotten the fingernails. It had been a most painful experience, not to mention the fact that James and Sirius had laughed themselves silly at him.
In this body the cat was obviously no threat, but something about this place still made the hairs on the back of his neck stand straight up. Taking one more brief look around the room he shuddered and disapparated. This was one adventure that he'd sooner forget.
But for Peter, the adventure was only just beginning …
Disclaimer: If you believe that this is really J.K Rowling, I suggest you lay off the pills for a bit.
Author's note: Ok, so most of the reviews for this fic are from people I actually know, so they don't really count for all that much (though I still love you guys, its just not the same), so I would like some new people to review this chapter, please. And can I just say for one last time that I love writing Slytherins - they're so deliciously evil!
Chapter the third: In Knockturn Alley
Peter followed Lucius and Snape in his rat form into the dingy pub. He could smell plenty of other rats in here, and for a moment he was distracted, but the part of his mind that was still Peter kept him following the target. He had to be careful to keep to the shadows - rats were seldom welcomed anywhere. The two wizards went out into the back yard, where the concealed entrance to Diagon Alley lay. Peter tailed them as closely as he could, weaving between the legs of tables and the drunks who were asleep at the bar.
Once they were in the small walled courtyard at the back of the pub, Snape turned to Lucius.
'What if he doesn't show?' he asked. To Peter's improved ears the voice was deafening.
'Then we eliminate him. Those are our orders,' Lucius replied in a casual tone that chilled Peter to his bones. 'Eliminate' him? The coolness with which this pale man said those words was terrifying.
Snape set his jaw and nodded. If Peter had been in his human form he would have scowled at his old enemy, but as it was all he could manage was a disdainful flick of his whiskers.
They opened the gateway to the long, winding cobblestone street that was Diagon Alley. Peter had never been here at night before. Most of the shops were shut and their windows dark - the normally crowded street was deserted and somehow forbidding. The half-moon cast a weird silvery light on the scene. Quickly, he ran across the cobblestones, noticing that his paws made a faint skittering sound.
About halfway down the street, Lucius and Snape turned into a side alley. Peter made to follow them but soon stopped in his tracks - the pair were headed down Knockturn Alley. Peter had never taken so much as one step down that dark and narrow way, but he knew what lay down there all the same. Only merchants dealing in the dark arts set up shop down Knockturn Alley. Peering into the shadows with his keen rat's eyes, Peter saw that this street, unlike its much more open counterpart Diagon Alley, was most certainly not deserted.
There were furtive movements in the shadows - other rats, but also things much larger and more sinister. From a window ledge the yellow eyes of a black cat, all that was visible even to Peter's sharp senses, peered down at him with great interest. From the front porch of a grimy, boarded-up shop, a low, wheezing breath could be heard from a bundle of rags. Peter shivered uncontrollably. Maybe this adventure wasn't worth the risk after all.
Then he saw Snape holding open a door for Lucius up ahead, and ran as fast as his paws would carry him to get there before the door closed again. He just made it. As Snape shut the door, it almost caught the end of his long bald tail.
'Ah, Regulus,' Lucius said with a cold smile. 'Already here, I see. Good, good …'
Regulus Black was the splitting image of his older brother, with just a few years delay. He was a very handsome young man, with dark eyes and hair and lightly tanned skin. The robes he wore were immaculate - obviously he was here to make a good impression. But unlike his brother, there was no warmth in his eyes, and no softness in his face. Peter scampered up onto a bookshelf so that he could see and hear things better.
'Mister Malfoy,' Black said, respectfully inclining his head. 'Snape,' he added as an afterthought, with a much less courteous nod in Snape's direction, which was returned coldly.
The room they were in was tiny, lit only by a single oil lamp that spluttered on a round polished table in the centre of the scene. It was very cluttered, in Peter's opinion, and some of that clutter seemed to be rather unsavoury - he didn't even want to think about what else might be in that box in the corner that looked like it contained torture instruments; and over there, that looked suspiciously like a human hand dangling out of that chest under the single, filthy window.
The three wizards sat around the table on various mismatched chairs. Lucius Malfoy fixed Black with a penetrating stare.
'So, Regulus,' he said casually. 'You have expressed a wish to join our little society.'
Black swallowed. 'That is correct, Mister Malfoy,' he said nervously.
'You realise, of course, what this might involve for you?'
'I am not afraid,' Black stated in a tone that was obviously meant to be defiant, though his eyes spoke volumes.
'You should be,' Snape said threateningly. Black frowned but Malfoy nodded.
'Severus is right - you have no idea where this path may take you,' he said quietly. 'What made you make this decision?'
'My family is one of the oldest in the land,' Regulus said proudly. 'The noble house of Black wishes to be represented in this noble fight, as is our duty to our brother wizards.'
Lucius smirked at the mention of the word 'brother'. Peter felt that he knew where this conversation was going.
'Brothers, you say?' he began, exchanging a glance with Snape that warned against comment. 'You would join your brothers. But what of your real brother, Regulus? Would you not join him, banding against our noble cause with mudbloods and traitors and half-breeds - shouldn't you be joining him, instead?'
Black scowled. 'My brother is a Black only by accident of birth. He is nothing to me. He turned his back on our family - he deserves to be an outcast.'
'Indeed?' Malfoy said, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. 'But what is there to say that you are in fact nothing more than a traitor, just like him? Does blood not run deeper than any other tie? What is there to say that you will not turn us all over to your big brother when the time comes? You must admit, Regulus; by blood alone we already have reason to doubt you.'
Black was shocked - Peter realised that whatever he had been expecting in agreeing to come to this meeting, this was certainly not it. He gaped at Malfoy, open-mouthed for a few moments, before speaking again.
'I can assure you, Mister Malfoy,' he said, talking very fast. 'I hate my brother more than any other man on this planet. He turned his back on his bloodline and therefore deserves everything that is coming to him. Ask my cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange. I would not betray you. If anything, loyalty to my blood will make me even more useful to you, as the Blacks have a long history of-'
'Spare me the history lesson, boy,' Malfoy interrupted. Black dropped his eyes quickly and respectfully. Snape stared at him with an expression of utmost dislike, usually a look he saved for either James or Sirius. Peter supposed that because of the family resemblance, it was easy for Snape to imagine that the two Blacks were one and the same.
'I'm glad we have that sorted, then,' said Malfoy. 'Unless you think he will run to his brother when he gets scared, Severus?'
Snape studied Black's face critically. 'He does look an awful lot like his brother, Lucius,' he growled.
Lucius chuckled. 'Family resemblance is something the lad has no control over, Severus,' he said amusedly. 'In fact, the fact that they look alike is perhaps the only thing that Regulus and his brother have in common.'
Black nodded emphatically but Snape still did not appear convinced. Malfoy, however, seemed pleased with Black's testimony.
'Of course, you will have to prove yourself to our master before the official initiation may go ahead,' he said, smiling at Regulus. 'But as you are in such a well-connected position, I am sure you will have no problem. I will see to it that you have no problem,' he added, baring his teeth slightly in what might have been a grin. Peter shuddered.
'Of course, Mister Malfoy; you're too kind, sir,' Black stammered gratefully.
'Not really,' Malfoy replied, his malicious grin more pronounced. 'I do not do anything if I cannot see the profit in it for myself, Regulus. Tell me: how is your cousin Narcissa?'
'She's well, sir,' Black answered, with a confused frown.
'Excellent,' Malfoy murmured. 'You will arrange for me to meet with her, Regulus. This is your first task. I will see what I can do about your wish to join my master's campaign.' He stood, and both Snape and Black imitated hastily, with Black sinking into a quick bow.
'Certainly, Mister Malfoy. I will contact you to let you know the details of the meeting with Narcissa.' Though Black may not have understood the reason why Malfoy was expressing such an interest in his cousin, he was certainly (and rather wisely, in Peter's opinion) not about to anger this man who seemingly held Regulus's entire future in his hands.
'Thank you for a delightful meeting, Regulus,' Malfoy said, nodding politely. 'We shall see each other again, I assume.'
'We certainly will, Mister Malfoy.'
Malfoy nodded. 'Severus?'
Snape also nodded - curtly, and his eyes never left Black's face. He held open the door for Malfoy and they both left. Peter stayed on the shelf, shivering. This was the sort of situation that he'd dreamed about when joining the Order - espionage and disguises and meetings in dark alleys - this was the sort of thing that turned an ordinary guy like himself into a hero.
He'd forgotten that he was not alone, when Black began to mutter under his breath. It almost caused Peter to topple off the bookcase. Obviously Black had wanted to wait for Malfoy and Snape to be well out of earshot before he began muttering to himself - it might dampen his chances of achieving a place in their organisation.
'Lousy, slimy gits,' Regulus Black muttered, when he thought no one could hear him. 'Think they can treat me like dirt - there was a time when the name 'Black' commanded some respect … this is Sirius's doing … it's all his fault … his slur on our name is holding me back …'
And continuing to mutter in this fashion, he waved his wand to stop the lamp's sputtering, plunging the room into darkness. Then, still grumbling quietly, Black disapparated with a loud crack. Peter willed his body to stop shaking, but despite all his efforts to tell himself that the danger had passed, his rat senses were still playing up. Possibly it had something to do with the pair of yellow eyes still staring at him from the filthy window.
Peter transformed back into himself again, taking care to put his fingernails into the mental image of his body that he was changing himself into. One time, back at Hogwarts, he had forgotten the fingernails. It had been a most painful experience, not to mention the fact that James and Sirius had laughed themselves silly at him.
In this body the cat was obviously no threat, but something about this place still made the hairs on the back of his neck stand straight up. Taking one more brief look around the room he shuddered and disapparated. This was one adventure that he'd sooner forget.
But for Peter, the adventure was only just beginning …