Author's Note: Whee! Another chapter finished despite my lack of reviews. Which disappointed me and made me not want to type up this chapter as punishment to those who didn't review. But I decided I wouldn't punish all for some other's lack of consideration. So... to those who did review:
Kitty254781- Ahh, I see. Well, welcome to the story.
Akire138- You are one of the few who actually like Remus/Catherine. Yay for you! And you think James will do something eh? Hmm, that's an interesting concept.
R.T.- Lily's boggart shant be for a while, but you shall see it eventually. You'll also see who the recruit is in time. Why are you asking what's wrong with Lily? I thought that was obvious? Oy. Explanation in the following chapter.
Sissy-6- Thanks. And don't worry about the content. Its just good to know some people actually review.
Black-cat-on-the-wall- I'm glad you loved it then. You may hate me later. Yes, James is naughty, the sex fiend. Lol.
Manny2003- Perhaps. Be patient.
Now go read and review my minions... er, I mean my readers.
Chapter Fifty-Two: Beginning and Ending with Wormtail
Near London Peter was and had been with his parents for the past hour as his grandmother was buried six feet below the ground. It was over and Peter just wanted to go back to James' house and apologize to everyone.
"Peter, dear, did you hear me?" Charlotte asked as she gently put a hand on Peter's arm and squeezed lightly.
"Sorry mother, what did you say?" Peter asked as he looked down at his feet.
"Your mother asked if you wanted to join us for a late lunch at the Leaky Cauldron," Joseph said with a smile that made Peter feel sick to his stomach.
Peter looked up at his father briefly and shook his head. "No, I should get back to James' house," he said quietly.
Joseph smiled, "Of course. You want to make sure Lily is alright. I completely understand. Go on to James' we'll see you later," he smiled broadly and clapped Peter on the shoulder rather hard. "Come on Charlotte darling," Joseph said and turned toward his wife.
"See you later Peter dear," Charlotte said and the two disapparated just as Peter's arm burned and he pushed up his sleeve to see the Dark Mark imprinted jet black on his skin. He hated not being able or rather allowed to go to most of the Death Eater gatherings but still had to feel his arm burn angrily beneath his clothes. He closed his eyes against the lingering pain and headed off to make plans that he probably wouldn't be able to put into effect for a while. He was also preoccupied as to why his father had brought up Lily not feeling well. Confused, he decided to return to James'.
Catherine packed hurriedly. She had another stop to make before returning to James' house and she didn't want to take too long to get back. She couldn't make anyone suspicious, not when she was close to achieving her goal. She apparated to the same small house in Northern Scotland and found another note in the same bold block letters. "STAY SHARP," was what it read and Catherine sighed. She realized she probably didn't have much longer to delay her actions. She burned the note again in the fireplace and disapparated to Lily's bedroom.
Catherine set her bag on the couch and quietly opened Lily's door leading out to the upstairs hallway and closed it silently behind her. She paused, her heart beating rather rapidly despite her control as she listened for anyone coming up the front stairs. Hearing no one, she took two steps toward Peter's door and knocked lightly. 'Who knows if he's gotten back yet?' she thought and when no answer came she opened the door and pushed it open slowly being very aware of creaking hinges.
A quick scan of Peter's room showed no movement and no people. She breathed a sigh of relief and headed toward the dresser and opened the top drawer shifting clothes quickly and carefully. She found nothing suspicious and mentally swore. She moved to the nightstand seeing that Peter had neglected to take the tray table from the previous night down to the kitchen. She shook her head briefly at his laziness and made to open one of the drawers but a popping noise alerted her to the fact that she was no longer alone.
Catherine whirled around and clutched at her heart. "Oh! Peter, you scared me!" she said breathlessly, her heart beating fast beneath her hand as she tried not to look flushed.
"What are you doing in here?" Peter asked angrily as he realized Catherine was standing in his room and the shock of finding her there quickly wore off.
"I thought I would take this down to the kitchen," Catherine said turning and pointing at the tray table. "I didn't want Lily to have to work tonight," she said very convincingly.
"Oh," Peter said laxly unable to come up with anything better to say as he stifled the thought that Catherine had been snooping in his room.
"Well, I'll just take this down and see you later," Catherine said cheerfully as she picked the tray up and walked out of the room thanking herself for not closing the door behind her. She walked the short way to Lily's bedroom and balanced the tray carefully as she opened the door. She set the tray down beside Lily's from earlier and stacked the dishes carefully so she could carry them down to the kitchen.
Catherine leaned against the desk and took a deep breath. "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid Catherine!" she muttered and took another deep breath before taking hold of the trays and bringing them down to the kitchen. She quickly washed them before finding where they belonged and put them away. Catherine left the kitchen quickly and made her way back to the library where Peter had already arrived. Bracing herself for any possible interrogation she said, "I'm back."
After Catherine had left earlier, small talk commenced for about thirty minutes until Peter came in. He had changed out of his funeral clothes and into something more comfortable but he wasn't really paying any attention. He was thinking about Catherine being in his room and it still didn't feel right to him even after he'd told himself she wouldn't have been snooping.
"Hey Peter," Sirius said being the first to notice him walk in.
Sirius's voice drew Peter out of his thoughts. "Hi," Peter said and looked around. He noticed that Lily looked away from him rather quickly.
"So, um, how did things go?" James asked quietly after he'd glanced at Lily knowing that she would be reminded of what had happened at the funeral.
"Fine," Peter said quietly as he dragged his curious gaze away from Lily to focus on James.
"Oh, okay," James said slowly as he searched for a way to start a conversation to distract both Lily and Peter.
"Except for when my father brought up Lily wen I said I should come back here," Peter mumbled as if they could alert him to the reason for it.
"He what?" Lily asked just as Catherine entered the room saying, "I'm back," and all eyes turned to her.
Catherine's eyes quickly traveled around to everyone and she noticed that there was fear in Lily's eyes again. "Er - what's happened?" she asked moving around Peter and over to Lily.
"Nothing. Excuse me please," Lily said and climbed out of her chair before almost running from the room.
Catherine's brow raised curiously, "I'll be right back," she said and went after Lily. She heard the front door close as she neared the stairs and followed the noise outside. "Lily? Where are you?" she called out before she heard bushes rustle on the kitchen side of the house and ran in that direction.
Lily was crouched below the kitchen window with her head in her arms and she was crying again. Catherine crouched in front of her. "What happened?" Catherine asked touching Lily's arm gently only to have it pushed violently away as Lily jumped to her feet and ran towards the large pond. Catherine bolted after her, grabbing her roughly and holding her still. "Damnit Lily, talk to me!" Catherine cried out and Lily stopped struggling.
"He mentioned me, Peter said so," Lily said still sobbing, which she didn't really understand. Her sentences were short and clipped. She practically collapsed and Catherine gently lowered the both of them to the ground holding Lily close letting her cry as she longed to go find Pettigrew and kill him.
"Lily, it's alright. That bastard isn't here, he can't get to you and he won't hurt you. I won't let him. I promise you," Catherine said fiercely and held Lily tightly.
"I just don't understand why I'm so scared of him! I can't figure it out!" Lily said angrily as she continued sobbing and sniffling.
"Shh, it's gonna be okay Lily. You, no, we'll figure it out and then you won't have to be afraid any more," Catherine said gently while she prayed mentally that it was the truth. She couldn't stand watching Lily in such anguish.
"Are you sure?" Lily asked as she looked up at Catherine. Her eyes were filled with the conflicting emotions of fear and hope.
"Yes Lily, I am," Catherine said and Lily put her head on Catherine's shoulder. Slowly but surely she stopped crying.
"I'm sorry I freaked out," Lily said as she leaned back and wiped her face with her hands to get rid of the tears.
"Oh, sweetheart, don't worry about that. You had every right in the world to freak out," Catherine said and hugged Lily tightly as if the embrace would wipe away all her worries.
Lily sighed quietly and they sat like that for a while before Lily said, "I think I can go back in now."
Catherine looked skeptical. "Are you sure?" she asked dubiously.
"No, but we can't say out here forever Cath," Lily said with a bland smile.
"If you want to we can," Catherine said seriously and Lily laughed.
"Come on, I don't need James to worry about me," Lily said quietly and smiled a little bit.
Catherine laughed internally as she thought, 'Well, you've already signed on for that," and then shook her head slightly to clear her thoughts. "Alright, let's go. I just hope they explained to Peter what's going on," Catherine said helping Lily to her feet. They headed back inside slowly.
As Catherine headed off after Lily James attempted to follow but Remus stopped him. "Let Catherine help her James. I don't think Lily wants a man to comfort her right now," Remus said looking at James compassionately as he knew James was frustrated and angry about the whole situation. James fell back into his chair in something close to disappointment and sighed slightly.
Peter looked on in confusion but he had the distinct feeling that it had something to do with his father. "C-can somebody please tell me what's going on?" Peter asked curiously as his stomach started to fill with nerves.
James looked up and opened his mouth to speak but the words just wouldn't come. He closed his eyes and turned his head from Peter. He couldn't do it, even if he'd wanted to.
Sirius, unable to control his anger any longer, nor his tongue, announced, "Your father is a bastard Peter," as he clenched his fists again.
"W-what did you say?" Peter asked as some ingrained sense of loyalty took hold of his thoughts.
"Sirius," Remus said warningly and Sirius growled angrily and sat down next to James. "Peter, do you know what happened at the funeral today?" Remus asked gently as he stood up and walked closer to Peter with his hands in his pockets.
Peter's forehead crunched up in thought. "Well, my dad complimented Lily and then Lily and James started acting like they were dating, which I knew wasn't normal but I didn't say anything," Peter said slowly and ignored Sirius' angry growl that was concealing the effort it was taking him from bursting out of his seat and shouting.
Remus sighed. "What your father said may have been complimentary but how he was looking at her definitely was not," Remus said slowly as she thought out his words so as not to offend Peter into an angry outburst.
"How's that?" Peter asked in a disbelieving voice.
"Like she was something to be owned and used and then tossed away. Your father was looking at Lily as if she were a whore Peter," Remus said and watched as Peter's eyes widened in disbelief and he shook his head in denial.
"You can't be serious!" Peter exclaimed angrily. For once no one commented about Sirius being on the other side of the room.
"I am. Why else would Lily freak out like she did just now, like she did a few hours ago when she accidentally apparated to Catherine's house because she needed to talk to her and was scared. Lily is scared of your father Peter and everything I've said is the truth," Remus countered and Peter frowned.
"But my father is married! He's not that kind of a guy!" Peter proclaimed.
"Peter, I know this is hard to deal with but you have to believe me. At least for Lily's sake," Remus replied but he knew it was a fruitless effort.
Peter shook his head angrily and yelled, "No! It's not true!" before leaving he library and going up to his room slamming the door in his wake.
Remus sighed and sat down. "Well that didn't go as well as I had hoped," he said and sighed again loudly.
"Does anything ever go as well as we want it to?" James asked and finally opened his eyes.
"In regard to Peter, no," Sirius said angrily. "How can he be so loyal to that asshole? I saw the bruises after holidays," he finished.
"We all did Padfoot, but there wasn't anything we could do because Peter would never ask for our help about it," James replied and sat forward putting his head in his hands.
They were absolutely silent until Catherine came in and took one look at the depressing looks on their faces and said, "I'm guessing that didn't go well." It wasn't a question.
"Where's Lily?" James asked as he looked up at Catherine and didn't see her.
"Cleaning herself up at bit. She'll be here soon, tell me what happened," Catherine said as she came over and sat in a chair looking anxious.
"He didn't want to believe us," Remus said quietly and Sirius growled again.
Catherine sighed. "I figured that would happen," she said and rubbed her hands over her face.
Lily walked in a little later. "Where's Peter?" she asked slowly upon seeing his absence from the room.
"Upstairs I'm guessing," James said and stood up walking over to Lily. He could see the evidence of her tears in the redness surrounding her eyes and it pained him. "Are you okay?" he asked his voice barely a whisper.
Lily sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. "I will be," she said and could tell that James needed some reassurance, it was evident in his eyes. She stepped closer and gave James a comforting hug. "Don't worry James. I'll be okay," she whispered in his ear as he became aware of the hug and wrapped his arms around her tightly as if holding on for dear life.
"I'm sorry Lily," James whispered back and sighed wistfully.
"Don't be. It's not your fault. There is only one person to blame for this," Lily replied and they all knew who she was referring to.
Upstairs Peter paced his room. He was angry at what Remus had said; angry at Remus period. Peter tired to come up with a reason to excuse his father of the charges that had to be fraudulent, just had to be, or it would unmake him and his entire existence. But while part of him fought desperately to defend his father, the other condemned him dredging up old memories of beatings while his mother had been out or away from the house for significant periods of time. He sat down at his desk and wrote a letter to his father asking if what had happened and what had been implied were true. He never expected what the consequences of this simple letter would be.
He also wrote a letter to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named that said:
Please reconsider. Something has happened involving my father and the Evans girl that I'm sure will give them cause to ask me to leave. It would be best if I were to suggest leaving myself.
He didn't sign it and didn't need to. The Dark Lord would know who it was from. He sent them both with his owl, named Angel for the halo resembling markings on her head. Peter waited impatiently for word back from both of them and fell asleep on his bed sobbing dryly into his pillow.
A/N: So, tell me what you think. Was Lily too... weird here? Or was it okay. This chapter really makes me paranoid. I'll try to get another one up before I go to my dad's this weekend just because I'm not sure when I'll be back home to update again. Frankie
Kitty254781- Ahh, I see. Well, welcome to the story.
Akire138- You are one of the few who actually like Remus/Catherine. Yay for you! And you think James will do something eh? Hmm, that's an interesting concept.
R.T.- Lily's boggart shant be for a while, but you shall see it eventually. You'll also see who the recruit is in time. Why are you asking what's wrong with Lily? I thought that was obvious? Oy. Explanation in the following chapter.
Sissy-6- Thanks. And don't worry about the content. Its just good to know some people actually review.
Black-cat-on-the-wall- I'm glad you loved it then. You may hate me later. Yes, James is naughty, the sex fiend. Lol.
Manny2003- Perhaps. Be patient.
Now go read and review my minions... er, I mean my readers.
Chapter Fifty-Two: Beginning and Ending with Wormtail
Near London Peter was and had been with his parents for the past hour as his grandmother was buried six feet below the ground. It was over and Peter just wanted to go back to James' house and apologize to everyone.
"Peter, dear, did you hear me?" Charlotte asked as she gently put a hand on Peter's arm and squeezed lightly.
"Sorry mother, what did you say?" Peter asked as he looked down at his feet.
"Your mother asked if you wanted to join us for a late lunch at the Leaky Cauldron," Joseph said with a smile that made Peter feel sick to his stomach.
Peter looked up at his father briefly and shook his head. "No, I should get back to James' house," he said quietly.
Joseph smiled, "Of course. You want to make sure Lily is alright. I completely understand. Go on to James' we'll see you later," he smiled broadly and clapped Peter on the shoulder rather hard. "Come on Charlotte darling," Joseph said and turned toward his wife.
"See you later Peter dear," Charlotte said and the two disapparated just as Peter's arm burned and he pushed up his sleeve to see the Dark Mark imprinted jet black on his skin. He hated not being able or rather allowed to go to most of the Death Eater gatherings but still had to feel his arm burn angrily beneath his clothes. He closed his eyes against the lingering pain and headed off to make plans that he probably wouldn't be able to put into effect for a while. He was also preoccupied as to why his father had brought up Lily not feeling well. Confused, he decided to return to James'.
Catherine packed hurriedly. She had another stop to make before returning to James' house and she didn't want to take too long to get back. She couldn't make anyone suspicious, not when she was close to achieving her goal. She apparated to the same small house in Northern Scotland and found another note in the same bold block letters. "STAY SHARP," was what it read and Catherine sighed. She realized she probably didn't have much longer to delay her actions. She burned the note again in the fireplace and disapparated to Lily's bedroom.
Catherine set her bag on the couch and quietly opened Lily's door leading out to the upstairs hallway and closed it silently behind her. She paused, her heart beating rather rapidly despite her control as she listened for anyone coming up the front stairs. Hearing no one, she took two steps toward Peter's door and knocked lightly. 'Who knows if he's gotten back yet?' she thought and when no answer came she opened the door and pushed it open slowly being very aware of creaking hinges.
A quick scan of Peter's room showed no movement and no people. She breathed a sigh of relief and headed toward the dresser and opened the top drawer shifting clothes quickly and carefully. She found nothing suspicious and mentally swore. She moved to the nightstand seeing that Peter had neglected to take the tray table from the previous night down to the kitchen. She shook her head briefly at his laziness and made to open one of the drawers but a popping noise alerted her to the fact that she was no longer alone.
Catherine whirled around and clutched at her heart. "Oh! Peter, you scared me!" she said breathlessly, her heart beating fast beneath her hand as she tried not to look flushed.
"What are you doing in here?" Peter asked angrily as he realized Catherine was standing in his room and the shock of finding her there quickly wore off.
"I thought I would take this down to the kitchen," Catherine said turning and pointing at the tray table. "I didn't want Lily to have to work tonight," she said very convincingly.
"Oh," Peter said laxly unable to come up with anything better to say as he stifled the thought that Catherine had been snooping in his room.
"Well, I'll just take this down and see you later," Catherine said cheerfully as she picked the tray up and walked out of the room thanking herself for not closing the door behind her. She walked the short way to Lily's bedroom and balanced the tray carefully as she opened the door. She set the tray down beside Lily's from earlier and stacked the dishes carefully so she could carry them down to the kitchen.
Catherine leaned against the desk and took a deep breath. "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid Catherine!" she muttered and took another deep breath before taking hold of the trays and bringing them down to the kitchen. She quickly washed them before finding where they belonged and put them away. Catherine left the kitchen quickly and made her way back to the library where Peter had already arrived. Bracing herself for any possible interrogation she said, "I'm back."
After Catherine had left earlier, small talk commenced for about thirty minutes until Peter came in. He had changed out of his funeral clothes and into something more comfortable but he wasn't really paying any attention. He was thinking about Catherine being in his room and it still didn't feel right to him even after he'd told himself she wouldn't have been snooping.
"Hey Peter," Sirius said being the first to notice him walk in.
Sirius's voice drew Peter out of his thoughts. "Hi," Peter said and looked around. He noticed that Lily looked away from him rather quickly.
"So, um, how did things go?" James asked quietly after he'd glanced at Lily knowing that she would be reminded of what had happened at the funeral.
"Fine," Peter said quietly as he dragged his curious gaze away from Lily to focus on James.
"Oh, okay," James said slowly as he searched for a way to start a conversation to distract both Lily and Peter.
"Except for when my father brought up Lily wen I said I should come back here," Peter mumbled as if they could alert him to the reason for it.
"He what?" Lily asked just as Catherine entered the room saying, "I'm back," and all eyes turned to her.
Catherine's eyes quickly traveled around to everyone and she noticed that there was fear in Lily's eyes again. "Er - what's happened?" she asked moving around Peter and over to Lily.
"Nothing. Excuse me please," Lily said and climbed out of her chair before almost running from the room.
Catherine's brow raised curiously, "I'll be right back," she said and went after Lily. She heard the front door close as she neared the stairs and followed the noise outside. "Lily? Where are you?" she called out before she heard bushes rustle on the kitchen side of the house and ran in that direction.
Lily was crouched below the kitchen window with her head in her arms and she was crying again. Catherine crouched in front of her. "What happened?" Catherine asked touching Lily's arm gently only to have it pushed violently away as Lily jumped to her feet and ran towards the large pond. Catherine bolted after her, grabbing her roughly and holding her still. "Damnit Lily, talk to me!" Catherine cried out and Lily stopped struggling.
"He mentioned me, Peter said so," Lily said still sobbing, which she didn't really understand. Her sentences were short and clipped. She practically collapsed and Catherine gently lowered the both of them to the ground holding Lily close letting her cry as she longed to go find Pettigrew and kill him.
"Lily, it's alright. That bastard isn't here, he can't get to you and he won't hurt you. I won't let him. I promise you," Catherine said fiercely and held Lily tightly.
"I just don't understand why I'm so scared of him! I can't figure it out!" Lily said angrily as she continued sobbing and sniffling.
"Shh, it's gonna be okay Lily. You, no, we'll figure it out and then you won't have to be afraid any more," Catherine said gently while she prayed mentally that it was the truth. She couldn't stand watching Lily in such anguish.
"Are you sure?" Lily asked as she looked up at Catherine. Her eyes were filled with the conflicting emotions of fear and hope.
"Yes Lily, I am," Catherine said and Lily put her head on Catherine's shoulder. Slowly but surely she stopped crying.
"I'm sorry I freaked out," Lily said as she leaned back and wiped her face with her hands to get rid of the tears.
"Oh, sweetheart, don't worry about that. You had every right in the world to freak out," Catherine said and hugged Lily tightly as if the embrace would wipe away all her worries.
Lily sighed quietly and they sat like that for a while before Lily said, "I think I can go back in now."
Catherine looked skeptical. "Are you sure?" she asked dubiously.
"No, but we can't say out here forever Cath," Lily said with a bland smile.
"If you want to we can," Catherine said seriously and Lily laughed.
"Come on, I don't need James to worry about me," Lily said quietly and smiled a little bit.
Catherine laughed internally as she thought, 'Well, you've already signed on for that," and then shook her head slightly to clear her thoughts. "Alright, let's go. I just hope they explained to Peter what's going on," Catherine said helping Lily to her feet. They headed back inside slowly.
As Catherine headed off after Lily James attempted to follow but Remus stopped him. "Let Catherine help her James. I don't think Lily wants a man to comfort her right now," Remus said looking at James compassionately as he knew James was frustrated and angry about the whole situation. James fell back into his chair in something close to disappointment and sighed slightly.
Peter looked on in confusion but he had the distinct feeling that it had something to do with his father. "C-can somebody please tell me what's going on?" Peter asked curiously as his stomach started to fill with nerves.
James looked up and opened his mouth to speak but the words just wouldn't come. He closed his eyes and turned his head from Peter. He couldn't do it, even if he'd wanted to.
Sirius, unable to control his anger any longer, nor his tongue, announced, "Your father is a bastard Peter," as he clenched his fists again.
"W-what did you say?" Peter asked as some ingrained sense of loyalty took hold of his thoughts.
"Sirius," Remus said warningly and Sirius growled angrily and sat down next to James. "Peter, do you know what happened at the funeral today?" Remus asked gently as he stood up and walked closer to Peter with his hands in his pockets.
Peter's forehead crunched up in thought. "Well, my dad complimented Lily and then Lily and James started acting like they were dating, which I knew wasn't normal but I didn't say anything," Peter said slowly and ignored Sirius' angry growl that was concealing the effort it was taking him from bursting out of his seat and shouting.
Remus sighed. "What your father said may have been complimentary but how he was looking at her definitely was not," Remus said slowly as she thought out his words so as not to offend Peter into an angry outburst.
"How's that?" Peter asked in a disbelieving voice.
"Like she was something to be owned and used and then tossed away. Your father was looking at Lily as if she were a whore Peter," Remus said and watched as Peter's eyes widened in disbelief and he shook his head in denial.
"You can't be serious!" Peter exclaimed angrily. For once no one commented about Sirius being on the other side of the room.
"I am. Why else would Lily freak out like she did just now, like she did a few hours ago when she accidentally apparated to Catherine's house because she needed to talk to her and was scared. Lily is scared of your father Peter and everything I've said is the truth," Remus countered and Peter frowned.
"But my father is married! He's not that kind of a guy!" Peter proclaimed.
"Peter, I know this is hard to deal with but you have to believe me. At least for Lily's sake," Remus replied but he knew it was a fruitless effort.
Peter shook his head angrily and yelled, "No! It's not true!" before leaving he library and going up to his room slamming the door in his wake.
Remus sighed and sat down. "Well that didn't go as well as I had hoped," he said and sighed again loudly.
"Does anything ever go as well as we want it to?" James asked and finally opened his eyes.
"In regard to Peter, no," Sirius said angrily. "How can he be so loyal to that asshole? I saw the bruises after holidays," he finished.
"We all did Padfoot, but there wasn't anything we could do because Peter would never ask for our help about it," James replied and sat forward putting his head in his hands.
They were absolutely silent until Catherine came in and took one look at the depressing looks on their faces and said, "I'm guessing that didn't go well." It wasn't a question.
"Where's Lily?" James asked as he looked up at Catherine and didn't see her.
"Cleaning herself up at bit. She'll be here soon, tell me what happened," Catherine said as she came over and sat in a chair looking anxious.
"He didn't want to believe us," Remus said quietly and Sirius growled again.
Catherine sighed. "I figured that would happen," she said and rubbed her hands over her face.
Lily walked in a little later. "Where's Peter?" she asked slowly upon seeing his absence from the room.
"Upstairs I'm guessing," James said and stood up walking over to Lily. He could see the evidence of her tears in the redness surrounding her eyes and it pained him. "Are you okay?" he asked his voice barely a whisper.
Lily sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. "I will be," she said and could tell that James needed some reassurance, it was evident in his eyes. She stepped closer and gave James a comforting hug. "Don't worry James. I'll be okay," she whispered in his ear as he became aware of the hug and wrapped his arms around her tightly as if holding on for dear life.
"I'm sorry Lily," James whispered back and sighed wistfully.
"Don't be. It's not your fault. There is only one person to blame for this," Lily replied and they all knew who she was referring to.
Upstairs Peter paced his room. He was angry at what Remus had said; angry at Remus period. Peter tired to come up with a reason to excuse his father of the charges that had to be fraudulent, just had to be, or it would unmake him and his entire existence. But while part of him fought desperately to defend his father, the other condemned him dredging up old memories of beatings while his mother had been out or away from the house for significant periods of time. He sat down at his desk and wrote a letter to his father asking if what had happened and what had been implied were true. He never expected what the consequences of this simple letter would be.
He also wrote a letter to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named that said:
Please reconsider. Something has happened involving my father and the Evans girl that I'm sure will give them cause to ask me to leave. It would be best if I were to suggest leaving myself.
He didn't sign it and didn't need to. The Dark Lord would know who it was from. He sent them both with his owl, named Angel for the halo resembling markings on her head. Peter waited impatiently for word back from both of them and fell asleep on his bed sobbing dryly into his pillow.
A/N: So, tell me what you think. Was Lily too... weird here? Or was it okay. This chapter really makes me paranoid. I'll try to get another one up before I go to my dad's this weekend just because I'm not sure when I'll be back home to update again. Frankie