Secret Keeper, Re-post Edition
Chapter Six
October 30, 1981
On the morning of the day when they were expecting the long-awaited company to arrive, Lily and James found themselves in unusually high spirits. James, rather than skulking around the kitchen as usual, hummed merrily to himself as he grabbed a blueberry muffin and a copy of the Daily Prophet, which he began to read with abnormal vigor.
"James, you do realize that that newspaper is about two weeks old, right?" Lily asked amusedly, leaning forward to talk to her husband and propping her elbows on the kitchen island that overlooked the dining room table.
James' eyes didn't stray from the article that they were on. "Of course, my dear, of course," he said absentmindedly, not looking at his wife as he happily chewed away at his muffin.
Lily smiled to herself at the sight of her cheerful husband. "Does your new-found state of jolliness have anything to do with the fact that your two immature, juvenile friends are coming to have dinner with us tonight?"
James grinned back at his wife. "I thought you considered them your friends, too, dear," he said. The expression on his face grew darker and slightly more subdued as he continued. "I just wish Sirius were coming... it's hard, not being in contact with him, you know..."
Lily, too, was concerned about Sirius' well being and wished she could have seen him more often, but frankly, she was tired of her husband's gloomy moroseness about his best friend.
"If you're so worried about him, write him a letter," she said, trying to keep all impatience out of her voice. After all, it had to be hard for James to know that someone he cared about so much as in so much danger.
Slowly, James turned his head to face Lily. "Am I allowed to do that?" he asked cautiously. "It won't affect the charm, will it?"
"It shouldn't," Lily replied evenly. "I don't see how it possibly could."
She reached into a side drawer and pulled out a piece of parchment, an eagle-feather quill, and a bottle of green ink.
"Write," she said firmly, planting them over her husband's newspaper. "I'm tired of your constant moping – this will help, and I daresay Sirius will need some relief from boredom."
James gave his wife an appreciative smile. "Thanks, Lily," he said, unscrewing the bottle of ink. He dipped his quill into the bottle and began to write.
The day passed slowly, and the initial joviality that had marked the beginning of the morning faded slightly as mid-morning came, then noon, and then the afternoon. Lily had cleaned the house, taken a nap, woken up, messed up the house again, taken another nap, woken up again, and was now in an extremely disgruntled and very restless mood. James had attempted a letter to Sirius, not thought of anything worth putting in words, given up, polished his broomstick four times, and was now trying once again to compose a suitable letter. It seemed that the prospect of the impending company only made the Potters all the more eager for said company to actually come – because they sure as hell had not been this anxious the day before. Lily, growing wearing of her numerous naps, was now flipping through a cookbook looking for recipes.
"Oooh, look," she said enthusiastically. "This chicken casserole sounds interesting... do you think Remus and Peter would want to eat it if I made it for tonight's dinner?"
"As long as we're not eating escargot I'm sure they could care less."
Lily gave her husband an appraising look but said nothing. James went back to fiddling with the corner of his parchment.
"How far have you gotten with that letter?" Lily asked amusedly.
James glared back at her – he understood that this was her way of getting back at him for his escargot comment.
"I've addressed the envelope," he said tersely.
"Right." Lily smiled serenely.
James gave her one last look before turning back to his depressingly blank parchment. He put the tip of his quill to his mouth, sucking pensively.
"Puttanesca sauce!" Lily exclaimed, looking up from her book. She immediately marked the page.
James cupped his forehead in his hands, sighing. He wrote:
Dear Padfoot,
Lily's making something called 'puttanesca sauce' for dinner... God help me...
It would be a long afternoon until Remus and Peter came.
"Lily! James!" a pleasant voice called out jovially.
James stood up from his seat on the couch, and Lily turned around from her position in the kitchen to see Remus Lupin stepping out of their fireplace, brushing ash off his shabby robes. Remus was not a tall man, but he walked with a sort of stately grace that did not allow him to be perceived as short. His light brown hair was already prematurely flecked with gray at the temples, and his pale blue eyes had a faded, weary look, which made him seem unhealthy than he really was, but gave him an air of venerability. The smoothness and pleasantness of his voice seemed to reflect the calmness and inner tranquility of his personality, which he demonstrated as he greeted the Potters.
"Lily, you look lovely as ever. James, why, I do believe that your head has grown even larger since the last time I saw you!" Remus said amiably. He looked much more sickly and tired than James remembered seeing him, but he also looked happier than he had been in a long time. It must be hard on him, having to go through full moon without Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs.
"Yes, and it's lovely to see you too, Moony," James replied, dropping Sirius' unfinished letter onto the table as Lily walked into the living room, sniggering. James gave her a mock death-glare before turning back to his friend. "How are you?"
Remus shrugged, his slumping shoulders adding a look of over-exhaustion to his thin frame. "I'm all right, I guess. Peter came with me, I expect he'll be here any mo- ah, here he is," he said, interrupting himself as he announced Peter's arrival.
James turned to face the fireplace, which had once again turned green. This time, a short man stepped towards them, peering at them with watery eyes.
"Lily, James, how are you two doing?" Peter asked casually. Peter's physique was perhaps the complete opposite of Remus' – Peter, beyond being a few inches shorter than his friends, had the appearance of a man who was short; people just always seemed to be looking over his head. Instead of light brown hair or jet black hair, Peter's hair was a very washed-out shade of blond, so light that it sometimes appeared colorless in the sun. The blond hue matched quite nicely with the dark brown of his eyes. The eyes, wide and innocent looking, were expressive, but not deep and soulful like Remus' faded blue ones – nor were they as unnerving and intense as Sirius' sharp blue-gray eyes. Overall, Peter was a plain person, but his ordinary features were comfortable and palatial to those around him, and the look suited him well.
"Well, now, at least that's a nicer greeting than the one Moony gave us," said James, who was already starting to feel much more light-hearted at the sight of his two old school friends. "We're doing as well as can be expected, nice to have some company though."
"Yes, yes," Peter said airily. "Well, I'm glad that we could make it."
Lily smiled. "I'm glad, too – you have no idea how annoying James was starting to get?"
"How annoying James was starting to get?" Remus asked teasingly. "He was just starting to get annoying?"
"Hey!" James said, trying to look offended at his friend's implication that he was a habitually annoying person (which was true). "I happen to be a very handsome, charming, charismatic man!"
"And so modest, too," Peter added wryly, grinning at the two men. He sat down on the living room couch, where James joined him. Remus opted for a soft cushy ottoman while Lily straddled the back of a wooden chair.
"So," she said, tucking a stray strand of dark red hair behind her ear. "What have the two of you been up to?" Her eyes darted back and forth between Remus and Peter.
Remus sighed, sounding nearly as tired as he looked. "Not much... I've been moping around the house as usual?"
"Still no luck finding a job?" Lily asked softly, concern for her friend glistening in her eyes.
He shook his head dejectedly. "No... not for more than a month, anyways."
Peter patted his friend's back supportively. "You're always welcome to stay with me, if you need to."
Remus smiled weakly. "Thanks – but let's talk about something else other than my depressing life, shall we? What about you, Peter? How's your job at the Ministry?"
"Horrible," Peter announced, giving a mock shiver. "Quite possibly the most boring job imaginable."
James smiled at his friend's sentiment. "What department was it that you were working in again, Wormtail?"
"They've got me in the Department of Magical Transportation – I'm interning for Mr. Sorenson."
"Sorenson? As in Eugene Sorenson?" James asked, his eyebrows shooting into his hair.
"Yeah... unpleasant bloke, him. You know him?"
James remembered Sirius saying (with no small amount of dislike) that Eugene Sorenson was a friend of his father's – but he couldn't bring himself to say his best friend's name, not now, when it hurt so much to think about it.
"I've heard some things about him," he remarked in a would-be casual manner.
Peter sat further back into the couch. "None of them good, I bet."
"No, not really," conceded James. "What're they having you do?"
"Nothing of importance," replied Peter dryly. "I get to monitor the Floo network, doesn't that sound like jolly fun? I'm the one who makes sure that no runaway mental patients are trying to escape asylums by means of magical fires." He rolled his eyes.
Remus winced. "Ouch... suddenly my jobless state doesn't sound so painful after all."
"Tell me about it," said Peter gloomily.
A strange sizzling sound seemed to be emanating from the kitchen.
"Shit!" cried Lily, uttering the rare (for her) swear word. "The puttanesca!"
Remus raised an eyebrow at James as if to say 'What in the holy hell is puttanesca?'
"It's a type of sauce," James explained to his two clueless friends. "Lily wanted to try it on you guys."
"I see," Peter said, sounding a bit weary of being the guinea pig of Lily's newest culinary experiment.
James chuckled at the expression on Peter's face. "I don't blame you, Wormtail. I won't even tell you what happened when she tried to cook Chinese."
"Hey!" Lily's indignant voice rang out from the kitchen. "Don't think I didn't hear that, James Potter! If you have nothing better to do than insult my food you won't be eating it!"
Remus and Peter shared a collective wince.
"It's okay, Prongs," Remus said. "If she decides to starve you, I'm sure Wormtail and I can afford to bring you a few table scraps, isn't that right, Wormtail?"
Peter smirked. "Oh yes, poor Prongs."
James glared at his friends. "She may be cooking the food, but I'm paying for it. If you want any I'd suggest you both shut up now."
Remus merely smiled.
"Dinner's ready!" Lily yelled at the top of her lungs. The smell of something burning filled the room.
James grimaced.
Remus chuckled at his friend's apprehensive look. "It can't be that bad, James. You've lived with it for, what, two years now?" He stood and began to make his way towards the dining room.
"Yeah, but she's never tried to make puttanesca before!"
Grumbling a little to himself, James stood up from his seat on the couch – after all, a horrible dinner would still be better than none at all. Unfortunately for the both of them, Peter must have at the same idea at the same time...
Bang! Peter tripped over one of James' outstretched legs, sending the coffee table and the other man to the floor with a loud crash. Peter himself fell over facedown onto the white carpet. The magazines, newspapers, and parchments that had previously been on the table were now scattered all over the living room floor.
Lily dashed in, still holding a pair of oven mitts. "James, Peter, are you all right?"
"Ow," Peter moaned. He rubbed his right leg as James stood up and began righting the coffee table.
Remus strode over and grabbed his friend's elbow, pulling the shorter man up. "You're not hurt, are you?" he asked.
"Just my dignity," Peter said. Lily helped James shift the table back into its proper position in front of the couch.
Peter noticed this. "Oh!" he said, sounding somewhat embarrassed. "Here, I'll help you with that." He knelt down and began picking up some of the papers that littered the floor, assisted by Remus. Soon, everything had been put back it's proper place.
"James, you really are a slob," Remus remarked as he threw a handful of Daily Prophets back onto the table.
Peter gathered up a sheaf of parchment and stacked them on top of the others that had already been replaced onto the table. "I'm such a klutz," he mumbled.
Remus slapped him lightly on the back. "Don't worry, Wormtail," he said teasingly. "I'm sure we'll let you forget about it in, oh, say ten years."
Lily hit Remus playfully on the arm. "Oh, don't say that, it was just as much James' fault." She nudged her husband's leg with her toe.
"Let's sit down for that dinner, shall we?" James said cordially, hurriedly changing the subject and gesturing towards the dining room with a sweep of his right arm.
"Dinner sounds really good right now," Peter said, still nursing his injured shin.
"Yes, yes," Lily agreed, chuckling. With a wave of her wand, she conjured numerous plates that floated above the dinner table for a few seconds before dropping down with a thud. The four friends sat, Lily and James on one side, the remaining two men on the other.
"I take it Padfoot won't be joining us?" Remus asked quietly, his expression solemn as his pale blue eyes flickered from across the table.
With her wand, Lily summoned the cutlery from the kitchen and distributed it amongst the people at the table. Another flick and the dishes that she had prepared the Muggle way came zooming into the room, skidding to a stop in the center of the wooden table.
"Nah," replied James somberly. "You heard about the business with the Fidelius Charm, right? About Voldemort wanting us dead? Well, Sirius is our Secret-Keeper, and I guess he seemed to think that it would be safer for us if he isolated himself."
"Isolated himself?" questioned Remus, raising an eyebrow. "Where?"
"He's staying in a Muggle house, got a disguise and everything-"
"And an awfully good disguise it was too, wasn't it, James?" Lily interjected, smirking.
James blushed slightly as Peter and Remus looked over at Lily, who was smiling in a very enigmatic manner.
"Care to explain that remark, Lily?" Remus asked, raising an eyebrow at his red-haired friend.
James felt his face go even pinker, and suddenly, he was quite glad that Sirius wasn't there to make some mocking comment about the lovely magenta-colored flush that he knew had spread across his skin.
"Oh yes, quite an interesting story," said Lily smoothly, shooting a very uncharacteristically nasty smile at her blushing husband. "Well, Sirius was here earlier, you see..."
And with many embellishments and much waving of the hands, she began telling the story to a very amused Remus and Peter.
"So, I'm helping the stupid git put on the shirt," she said animatedly, "when James comes in from the Floo and asks us what we're doing. I've pinned Sirius to the couch and I'm trying to stop him from moving so I can properly button the shirt when James starts having a fit!"
The aforementioned man seemed to be finding his mashed potatoes awfully appealing at the moment. He picked at them zealously, pretending to be wholly absorbed and not meeting anyone's eyes as Lily continued her story.
"Well, James keeps yelling at us, and Sirius and I don't know what the hell he's going on about, until he starts asking us who Sirius is. That's when we both realized that James couldn't recognize his own best friend with Muggle clothes and spiked hair, and thought I had been snogging a stranger behind his back!"
There was a burst of laughter at the table, and James smiled sheepishly.
Peter sniggered. "Prongs, I can't believe you'd actually be that thick! Seriously, who else would be in your house other than Sirius? Or Remus or me?" he added, shooting a glance at his friend. Remus, however, still had not turned his attention away from James.
"Where is Sirius staying?" he asked.
James shrugged, trying not to show his awkwardness at discussing the topic of Sirius and his whereabouts. He had expected that the friendly dinner would help relieve some of the guilt, fear, and anxiety that he felt regarding his best friend; instead, the painful emotions were being magnified. He inhaled sharply. "Some Muggle house, I think. Belongs to his friend's aunt, or something like that."
Peter swallowed a mouthful of spaghetti, complete with puttanesca sauce. "Are you sure it's safe for Padfoot to be staying in a Muggle neighborhood? It's awfully unprotected, isn't it?"
"I offered to let him stay here," James said shortly, leaning back in his chair, "but he insisted on leaving. Anyways, he's probably already put up a bunch of wards and anti-Apparation charms on the house, so he should be all right. He'll take care of himself."
Remus rolled his eyes. "Unless he blows up the house first."
A smirk appeared on James' face, but in truth, he was quite worried that Remus' statement would actually have some truth to it... it certainly sounded like a very Sirius-like thing to do – his friend had been responsible for much more than his share of bangs and explosions when the two of them had attended school. But as much as he knew about his friend's destructive tendencies, James also knew that Sirius could be a very reliable friend if need be – perhaps more reliable than anyone else he knew. And so he shoved his fears to the back of his mind and allowed the smile on his face to widen.
"I'm sure Sirius will be fine," James said firmly, sounding more confident than his nerves would allow him to feel. He felt distinctly uncomfortable at the mention of his conspicuously absent best friend, and the topic of Sirius Black was not brought up for the rest of the meal.
"Well," said Remus lightly, "we ought to be going now, right Wormtail?"
"Yes, I suppose it is getting rather late, Moony," Peter agreed. "Well, we'll visit again, all right, mate?" he said, looking at James. "And Lily. Take care of yourself."
"Thanks Peter," Lily replied, nodding solemnly and giving each of her husband's friends a swift hug. "Make sure you do the same for yourself. That goes for you too, Remus."
"Yes, well. Bye Lily, bye James."
The four friends murmured their good-byes as Remus and Peter stepped towards the fireplace. Within seconds, they had both gone.
"Well," James said, still staring into the fire that his friends had just disappeared into. "I suppose I'd better go finish Sirius' letter..."
Lily Potter only sighed.
Peter sat at home staring at the blank roll of parchment that lay on the desk in front of him. This was the sort of information he knew would be valuable to his master, very valuable. But yet...
Something was holding him back. Something was keeping Peter Pettigrew from delivering this information to Voldemort, from giving him the information that Peter knew would be greatly appreciated. The feeling wasn't guilt... guilt was something that Peter had never in his life felt before...
Fear. The feeling was fear. Peter shuddered at the thought of what would happen to him if anyone ever found out what he was doing, what he was going to do. James would kill him. He knew he couldn't keep the secret forever, but being disemboweled by an angry James Potter was something that he did not want to happen any time soon.
Peter fingered the parchment carefully, deep in thought. He drew in a sharp breath. No point in debating with myself, he thought quietly, he'll find out what I know anyways, he knows Legilimency, after all. May as well make it now. He grabbed a quill from the corner of his desk. Trembling, he scrawled a few words at the top of the parchment, his hand quavering as it moved from right to left across the surface of the paper, the ink smearing on his pudgy fingers. Feeling apprehensive, he folded the paper in half and stuffed it into an envelope, which he then labeled 'Master.' Shaking violently, he tied this envelope on to the leg of a small gray owl, who promptly took off and soared into the night sky.
Peter watched as the minute form of the small animal faded into the distance.
Approximately fifty miles away from where Peter lived, a tiny gray owl flew threw a dirty, grimy window and perched itself on the back of a red velvet armchair. Slowly, a hand with unnaturally long fingers reached out and untied the letter from the owl's leg. Hooting, it took off, flying out the same window through which it had entered. The hand's owner stared down at the envelope for a few silent seconds, stared at the word 'Master' written shakily across the front. Then, using the tip of his wand, he slit the letter open and stared at the words that had been scrawled across the piece of folded parchment.
Slowly, Voldemort's face cracked into an evil grin.
"Lucius," he called imperiously, "come here. I require your assistance."
The figure of a slightly stooped man emerged from the darkness. Lucius Malfoy bowed deeply at Voldemort's feet.
"Yes, Master?" he asked respectfully, a painfully obsequious expression on his face.
Voldemort let the slip of parchment drop lazily to the ground.
"See for yourself."
Hurriedly, Malfoy picked it up and read the information on it. Comprehension dawning on his face, he bowed even lower than before as his cold gray eyes skimmed over the messily scribbled words, and he asked, "Shall I capture him, Master?"
"You capture him? You? As capable as I believe you to be, Lucius, you must know that this mission is of utmost importance to me. It cannot be – bungled, so to speak. Do not presume that your abilities are sufficient as to single-handledly apprehend the man," Voldemort said, looking amused. "He is foolish but definitely not stupid – there is quite a difference. You will take Bellatrix and Dolohov with you."
"Yes, my Lord," murmured Malfoy. He gave a deep nod in his master's direction, and then swept away silently, stalking out of the room to find his fellow Death Eaters.
Chuckling to himself as Malfoy's retreating form grew smaller and smaller, Voldemort redirected his attention to the open envelope, which was still resting on the arm of the chair.
"My, my, Wormtail," he said, laughing to himself. "I always knew your presence would come in handy sometime, but even I did not ever imagine that you would make yourself this useful. Well done, well done."
With a sweep of his arm, he sent the empty envelope fluttering to the floor where it finally came to a rest at the foot of the chair, the dim lighting of the room casting an ominous streak of light across its yellowish-white surface.
Voldemort's eyes were alight with anticipation.
"Soon, soon," he whispered in a singsong voice to himself. "Soon, I will have you exactly where I want you, and you will tell me everything."
In a chamber adjourning the room that he had just left, Lucius Malfoy and two other Death Eaters, Bellatrix Lestrange (who was the sister of his wife, Narcissa) and Antonin Dolohov, were gathered around a small table pouring over a map of the Muggle suburbs.
"How can the Muggles use this bloody thing?" Dolohov complained loudly.
Lucius fixed his companion with an icy stare.
"Muggle invention though it may be," he said haughtily, "it is nothing but a simple map. I would it expect it to be within even your capabilites to read it, Dolohov."
Dolohov sneered in return. "As if you actually know how to use, it, Lucius-"
Lucius opened his mouth, about to offer a response to the other man's retort, when Bellatrix interrupted.
"There is no need for your petty arguments," she said coldly, one hand still resting on the open map.
Lucius' eyes flickered slightly from Dolohov to his sister-in-law, and then back, but wisely, he said nothing. All three Death Eaters turned back to the map that was unfurled before them, studying the intricate lines of all different colors and the various shapes and symbols that littered its ruled surface.
"I've found it," Bellatrix's cold voice announced proudly, breaking the silence between the three of them. She pointed to a spot on the map, her sharp fingernail making a tapping sound against the wood of the table. "Here's the road we're looking for."
The two men both peered over her shoulder to see the area that her finger was gesturing to.
"Perfect," Lucius said in his characteristic cold drawl. "Then let us go to number six, Chester Lane and pay our dear friend a visit..."
*
Author's Note
Dun dun dun! So, what's going to happen? Will our hero be captured? And how ever did they find his secret hideout? Stay tuned for the next chapter of 'Secret Keeper' by Sophocles to find out!
Okay, enough corny drama. Sorry for the slight delay in my fairly regular updating schedule – this was one of the hardest chapters to write! I had to literally pick apart what I had already written and modify it to make it more detailed, more consistent, and more interesting. I was adding stuff about every few sentences, separating and rearranging paragraphs, choosing better synonyms for some words, sticking a few lines between some paragraphs... a big headache! And it didn't turn out too great either... too much dialogue, not enough other stuff... (insert depressed sigh here...)
And for those of you who may be wondering about what a kitchen island is, it's a little counter in the middle of a kitchen (hence the name 'island'), almost like a table, except that it's affixed to the floor and has no legs – kinda hard to describe. I don't know about where you all live, but they're fairly common in southern California; I've got one in my house.
ALSO – I'm currently working on a short story that touches on the beginnings of the friendship between James and Sirius and am running a bit short on usable characters – anyone want a cameo? Roles go to the first five reviewers who ask – give me a name and a physical description. If it's something too weird or something that I can't incorporate into the story, I'll have to pass you, though. So, yeah, leave the info in a review if you're interested... and I'll let you all know when the story is about to come out...
Reviewers...
To Sailor Sol – wow, you really are evil! I don't think I could even do that to Sirius, and I'm bad enough as it is (you won't believe me now, but wait until this gets into the later chapters...). But don't worry, I probably won't be reaching Robin's level any time soon... (lol... SiriusTorturer1).
To Ronja – yes, you are correct; according to the timeline that J.K. Rowling has set up in the Harry Potter series, Regulus Black should have died in 1980 at the age of eighteen or nineteen – he had to have been born at least almost a year after Sirius if he was the younger brother, but I'm assuming that, being a Death Eater, he must have died after graduating Hogwarts, making him at least eighteen. Sirius was either twenty or twenty-one at the time – Rowling said that Snape was about thirty-five years old, and naturally Sirius would be the same age; however, she was not clear on whether he was thirty-five in 1994 [GoF] or 1995 [OotP].
To Potterfan18 – glad you think I'm doing at least an adequate job of portraying Snape... he's a tricky one. If you've got any suggestions about him, I'm completely open (this is my dignified way of begging you for help). Thanks!
To MPPSexxySiriusRemusJames – that's a 'yes' to your second request but a 'no' to your first...=) Your screen-name is very cute! I noticed how you so very inconspicuously (insert sarcasm here) left the 'W' out of MPP [MWPP] – but I can hardly blame you myself.
To MagikalStar135 – thanks for understanding my crazy need to inflict pain on Sirius! (Just kidding.) As for killing him or making him 'lost beyond repair'... well, just be glad I'm not Sailor Sol (she left a review of her suggestion as to what to do to Sirius, lol – you can check it out, it's very cruel...).
To heather – thanks!
To ChocolateTaco – haha, yeah, that last chapter was the longest one yet... and I think that most of the upcoming chapters will be around the same length... happy? LOL, did the chess thing really make you dizzy? I had to get myself on a serious [Sirius =)] sugar high so that I could write it properly, otherwise my brain probably would have shut itself down from all the paradoxical thinking... hehe...
To snickerdoodle – wow, thanks! I'm really flattered that you would say that! Of course, good writers come from good readers, so I should probably be thanking all the other fan-fiction authors whose works have been so inspiring as to encourage me to do some of my own work... =)
Next chapter – more action than is in all of the other chapters so far combined, which includes a nice rooftop duel. Fun, fun, fun! Shouldn't take too long, because most of the chapter is already finished, actually.
*
"[You] never did anything for anyone unless you could see what was in it for you. Voldemort's been in hiding for fifteen years, they say he's half dead. You weren't about to commit murder right under Albus Dumbledore's nose, for a wreck of a wizard who'd lost all his power, were you? You'd want to be quite sure he was the biggest bully in the playground before you went back to him, wouldn't you?" – Sirius Black, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Scholastic Edition, pg. 370