"I'll get it back – I have to," Sirius decided aloud, his head in his hands.
"Get it back from Filch?" Peter squeaked.
"You're nuts, Padfoot," Remus said.
James bit his lip as he considered it, "How would you do it?" he finally asked Sirius when he failed to come to a conclusion.
Sirius scratched his head, "That's the thing – I don't know."
Remus shook his head – deciding they'd be better off with advice than without a plan. "You'd need a diversion."
James's eyes brightened as an idea struck him, "Peeves. He'll be more than happy to bother Filch."
Sirius nodded, "When should we do it?"
He looked up expectantly at the other three, but they only turned to one another uncertainly.
"What?" he asked, noticing the skeptical looks on their faces.
"Are you sure it's even possible?" Peter asked tentatively.
"Of course it is!" Sirius answered defiantly.
Peter looked down.
"I'll help," James said suddenly.
Sirius smiled and turned to Remus.
Remus sighed, "Yeah."
"We'll I'm not!" Peter exclaimed, much to everyone's surprise.
"For once I'm making my own decision. I'm surprised you haven't tried to put words in my mouth by now," he continued, shocked at his own daring.
"I'm not getting in trouble again because of you," he finally concluded.
Remus eyed him incredulously, and James gave him a hard look. Sirius, however, remained calm, "Sure, Wormtail. You do that."
He turned to James and Remus. "Let's go now."
They left as soon as Sirius had suggested, and didn't bring anything with them.
Peter frowned as he watched them leave the common room.
He glanced at James's trunk to see the invisibility cloak there. Peter walked over to it, and considered a crazy idea that had occurred to him at the moment.
~~~~~~~~~~
"So, what do you need me for?" Remus asked as they walked down the stairs to the floor where Filch's office was.
"That diversion you were talking about," James answered.
"Oh, Peeves?"
Sirius nodded.
Remus frowned, "I hate to burst your bubble, but how am I supposed to find Peeves if we don't have the map?"
James shrugged, and ran his hand through his hair, messing it up. Sirius hit his head with his hand in frustration, "I forgot the cloak, too."
Remus sighed, "Well, this is working out better than I thought," he said sarcastically.
"Well, we can't get it now, we're already here. If we go back, that'll just increase our chances of getting caught." James said, messing up his hair again – a nervous habit that had always stuck with him.
"Well, then, let's just go in and hope for the best." Sirius said, shrugging his shoulders and stepping inside the office.
It was more of an extended broom closet with filing cabinets than an office. James ran in and began to frantically search through the filing cabinets.
"I guess you won't need me to distract Filch since he isn't even here," Remus said.
Sirius began looking through the filing cabinet drawers as well, "Well, then help us find the map."
"It's not in this one," James said when he had thoroughly searched one of the drawers.
"It's not in this one, either," Sirius replied, growing steadily more disappointed.
James looked around, "Well, it has to be somewhere in here."
"What about that one over there?" Remus suggested, pointing to a drawer that was labeled, *Confiscated and Highly Dangerous.*
"Let's hope that's the one," Sirius said, but before he could reach the drawer, he heard the meow of a cat.
He stopped in mid-step. "Please tell me that was you, Prongs."
"No such luck, mate," James replied.
Sirius turned around slowly to see Mrs. Norris staring back at him. "That stupid cat is *everywhere!*"
James felt as if something had dropped in the pit of his stomach, "Oh blimey, Filch is coming!" he whispered.
They could already hear Filch's footsteps come closer to the door to the office, "What is it, my sweet?" came the rough voice calling out to his cat.
In a short moment of panic, the three marauders knew they would be caught. But, seconds before Filch rounded the corner, they could see Peter's face floating in midair in the corner of the room. A pudgey hand came out of nowhere and motioned for them.
"Get under the cloak!" Peter whispered quickly.
The three of them acted without hesitation, and by the time Filch stepped into the office, they were all completely hidden from sight.
Mrs. Norris hissed at them, obviously knowing they were there, but Filch didn't seem to notice.
Sirius sneezed and Remus stepped on his foot. Peter stumbled slightly, and James tried to adjust the cloak accordingly, so Filch wouldn't see them.
However, the small racket had been quite obvious, and Filch snapped his head around, but only to see that nothing was there.
"Who is it?" he asked the corner accusingly.
He narrowed his eyes at the four of them, almost as if expecting to see a student jump out of midair. (Which, in this case, was very possible.)
He gave a disappointed grunt, and turned back to what he was doing. The four of them inched their way slowly to the door, and by the time they were outside the office, Filch's suspicions were confirmed when he noticed that all of his filing cabinet drawers were opened.
"POTTER! BLACK!"
They started off at a run, no longer trying to stay under the cloak. After running down countless numbers of stairs, they looked back to see that Filch hadn't caught up with them, yet. When they reached the common room, they were sure Filch had given up by then.
Peter coughed, trying to catch his breath, and James dropped onto one of the couches.
Remus and Sirius both clapped Peter on the back. "You've redeemed yourself Wormtail," Sirius said. The three of them were smiling, and laughing about how close that had been. Sirius kept joking about the look on Filch's face, but James didn't smile.
Something was wrong about Peter, James was sure of it. Did he save their skin because he was sorry about what he said, or was he only covering up for it?
Remus and Sirius didn't seem to notice how curious it really was, but James did. Of course, they wouldn't see his true colors until years after.
~~~~~~~~
AN: Yeah, I think I told you about how this story is going to be full of different people's points of view. Peter's one of 'em. I'm gonna show his "development as a character" or, in other words, "what turned him into the stupid git he is"
hehe.
REVIEWS!
Nixiy: Yes, there is *despite my lack of writing about it* a love triangle between Lucius/Remus/Rebecca, it'll happen in a couple a chapters. Yes, tis a bit scary. I don't like scary, but this story will get scary. For heaven's sakes, it's the friggin rise and fall of Voldemort! *runs and hides* You have a thing for arranging people's weddings, don't you? Well, James and Lily are going to have a VERY (and I mean very) early wedding. The Remus/Becca one is for a couple of years. (which translates into about twenty chapters) YES, THIS WILL BE LONG! *please don't hurt me, I'm still recovering from that fryingpan attack* Not only are the schools shut down, but seminary is as well, WOOHOO! (I'm still creeped out by the "Brother Voldemort" thing. eck.)
Valarauko: The coughing on the map thing was just a random thing on my part. No clue where it came from. Ah, the prophetic junk... they're actually scenes from future chapters. So, I guess that requires patience (even patience on my part, because I REALLY want to write those chapters!) oh, and thanx for the pardon. It makes me feel... *searches for the right word*... pardoned. Luckily, the fires have moved AWAY from San Marcos and more into the mountains. Woohoo! Still no school!
flying-piggy-123: You remembered the moon&water thing? *wipes a tear from her eye* Yeah, that was supposed to be foreshadowing something about Luna. Dun dun dunnn... Glad you liked the Evil Librarian chapter!
soccergirl45: Glad you like it! Woohoo! *somebody likes my story!*
queenlucy-3: Hehe, I just couldn't within my right mind write a story WITHOUT a lily/james kinda thing. Thankies for the spifferific review! *spifferific? wow. that's new.*
"Get it back from Filch?" Peter squeaked.
"You're nuts, Padfoot," Remus said.
James bit his lip as he considered it, "How would you do it?" he finally asked Sirius when he failed to come to a conclusion.
Sirius scratched his head, "That's the thing – I don't know."
Remus shook his head – deciding they'd be better off with advice than without a plan. "You'd need a diversion."
James's eyes brightened as an idea struck him, "Peeves. He'll be more than happy to bother Filch."
Sirius nodded, "When should we do it?"
He looked up expectantly at the other three, but they only turned to one another uncertainly.
"What?" he asked, noticing the skeptical looks on their faces.
"Are you sure it's even possible?" Peter asked tentatively.
"Of course it is!" Sirius answered defiantly.
Peter looked down.
"I'll help," James said suddenly.
Sirius smiled and turned to Remus.
Remus sighed, "Yeah."
"We'll I'm not!" Peter exclaimed, much to everyone's surprise.
"For once I'm making my own decision. I'm surprised you haven't tried to put words in my mouth by now," he continued, shocked at his own daring.
"I'm not getting in trouble again because of you," he finally concluded.
Remus eyed him incredulously, and James gave him a hard look. Sirius, however, remained calm, "Sure, Wormtail. You do that."
He turned to James and Remus. "Let's go now."
They left as soon as Sirius had suggested, and didn't bring anything with them.
Peter frowned as he watched them leave the common room.
He glanced at James's trunk to see the invisibility cloak there. Peter walked over to it, and considered a crazy idea that had occurred to him at the moment.
~~~~~~~~~~
"So, what do you need me for?" Remus asked as they walked down the stairs to the floor where Filch's office was.
"That diversion you were talking about," James answered.
"Oh, Peeves?"
Sirius nodded.
Remus frowned, "I hate to burst your bubble, but how am I supposed to find Peeves if we don't have the map?"
James shrugged, and ran his hand through his hair, messing it up. Sirius hit his head with his hand in frustration, "I forgot the cloak, too."
Remus sighed, "Well, this is working out better than I thought," he said sarcastically.
"Well, we can't get it now, we're already here. If we go back, that'll just increase our chances of getting caught." James said, messing up his hair again – a nervous habit that had always stuck with him.
"Well, then, let's just go in and hope for the best." Sirius said, shrugging his shoulders and stepping inside the office.
It was more of an extended broom closet with filing cabinets than an office. James ran in and began to frantically search through the filing cabinets.
"I guess you won't need me to distract Filch since he isn't even here," Remus said.
Sirius began looking through the filing cabinet drawers as well, "Well, then help us find the map."
"It's not in this one," James said when he had thoroughly searched one of the drawers.
"It's not in this one, either," Sirius replied, growing steadily more disappointed.
James looked around, "Well, it has to be somewhere in here."
"What about that one over there?" Remus suggested, pointing to a drawer that was labeled, *Confiscated and Highly Dangerous.*
"Let's hope that's the one," Sirius said, but before he could reach the drawer, he heard the meow of a cat.
He stopped in mid-step. "Please tell me that was you, Prongs."
"No such luck, mate," James replied.
Sirius turned around slowly to see Mrs. Norris staring back at him. "That stupid cat is *everywhere!*"
James felt as if something had dropped in the pit of his stomach, "Oh blimey, Filch is coming!" he whispered.
They could already hear Filch's footsteps come closer to the door to the office, "What is it, my sweet?" came the rough voice calling out to his cat.
In a short moment of panic, the three marauders knew they would be caught. But, seconds before Filch rounded the corner, they could see Peter's face floating in midair in the corner of the room. A pudgey hand came out of nowhere and motioned for them.
"Get under the cloak!" Peter whispered quickly.
The three of them acted without hesitation, and by the time Filch stepped into the office, they were all completely hidden from sight.
Mrs. Norris hissed at them, obviously knowing they were there, but Filch didn't seem to notice.
Sirius sneezed and Remus stepped on his foot. Peter stumbled slightly, and James tried to adjust the cloak accordingly, so Filch wouldn't see them.
However, the small racket had been quite obvious, and Filch snapped his head around, but only to see that nothing was there.
"Who is it?" he asked the corner accusingly.
He narrowed his eyes at the four of them, almost as if expecting to see a student jump out of midair. (Which, in this case, was very possible.)
He gave a disappointed grunt, and turned back to what he was doing. The four of them inched their way slowly to the door, and by the time they were outside the office, Filch's suspicions were confirmed when he noticed that all of his filing cabinet drawers were opened.
"POTTER! BLACK!"
They started off at a run, no longer trying to stay under the cloak. After running down countless numbers of stairs, they looked back to see that Filch hadn't caught up with them, yet. When they reached the common room, they were sure Filch had given up by then.
Peter coughed, trying to catch his breath, and James dropped onto one of the couches.
Remus and Sirius both clapped Peter on the back. "You've redeemed yourself Wormtail," Sirius said. The three of them were smiling, and laughing about how close that had been. Sirius kept joking about the look on Filch's face, but James didn't smile.
Something was wrong about Peter, James was sure of it. Did he save their skin because he was sorry about what he said, or was he only covering up for it?
Remus and Sirius didn't seem to notice how curious it really was, but James did. Of course, they wouldn't see his true colors until years after.
~~~~~~~~
AN: Yeah, I think I told you about how this story is going to be full of different people's points of view. Peter's one of 'em. I'm gonna show his "development as a character" or, in other words, "what turned him into the stupid git he is"
hehe.
REVIEWS!
Nixiy: Yes, there is *despite my lack of writing about it* a love triangle between Lucius/Remus/Rebecca, it'll happen in a couple a chapters. Yes, tis a bit scary. I don't like scary, but this story will get scary. For heaven's sakes, it's the friggin rise and fall of Voldemort! *runs and hides* You have a thing for arranging people's weddings, don't you? Well, James and Lily are going to have a VERY (and I mean very) early wedding. The Remus/Becca one is for a couple of years. (which translates into about twenty chapters) YES, THIS WILL BE LONG! *please don't hurt me, I'm still recovering from that fryingpan attack* Not only are the schools shut down, but seminary is as well, WOOHOO! (I'm still creeped out by the "Brother Voldemort" thing. eck.)
Valarauko: The coughing on the map thing was just a random thing on my part. No clue where it came from. Ah, the prophetic junk... they're actually scenes from future chapters. So, I guess that requires patience (even patience on my part, because I REALLY want to write those chapters!) oh, and thanx for the pardon. It makes me feel... *searches for the right word*... pardoned. Luckily, the fires have moved AWAY from San Marcos and more into the mountains. Woohoo! Still no school!
flying-piggy-123: You remembered the moon&water thing? *wipes a tear from her eye* Yeah, that was supposed to be foreshadowing something about Luna. Dun dun dunnn... Glad you liked the Evil Librarian chapter!
soccergirl45: Glad you like it! Woohoo! *somebody likes my story!*
queenlucy-3: Hehe, I just couldn't within my right mind write a story WITHOUT a lily/james kinda thing. Thankies for the spifferific review! *spifferific? wow. that's new.*
