Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling etc.
Chapter 2
Sirius woke up on the lumpy mattress of the muggle hotel he was staying in. It hadn't taken him long to track Peter down but although Sirius wanted revenge, he wasn't sure that endangering innocent people's lives was the way to do it - after all, James, Lily and Harry had been innocent enough.
Sirius rolled off the bed catching a glimpse of himself in the cracked mirror that hung by a dangerously thin piece of string from the nail in the wall. He looked awful; Sirius raised an eyebrow at his reflection and ran a finger over his unshaven chin. His mother would go spare if she could see him now, hair that hadn't seen a brush in two days and filthy robes which showed distinct signs of having been slept in; a disgrace to the family name - mind you, that wasn't much of a change, he had been a disappointment since he was four, when he had made friends with James Potter the 'blood traitor' instead of Robert Avery the 'perfect pure blood'.
He looked into the mirror defiantly, half hoping that if he said James' name, his friend would appear in it, talk to him, just like they had at Hogwarts with their mirrors. But no, that wouldn't work, this was a muggle mirror, and besides, James was gone, nothing would bring him back now - however much he wanted to. He wasn't even sure James would want to come back from wherever he'd gone; time to just accept it and move on - after he'd settled a few scores of course.
Ah well, thought Sirius if I'm going to be a humiliation to my dear family, may as well do it in style, and with that he rumpled his already tangled hair and winked at himself with a trace of the old cheeky menace he thought he had left at Hogwarts and strode out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Perhaps it was because he was so absorbed in his own thoughts, or that the muggle cleaner on the floor above chose that precise moment to start the hoovering, that he didn't hear the effect his slamming had had.
The hotel was a very shabby one and the walls didn't take kindly to being almost knocked out of their supports. The reason Sirius had booked into this particular hotel was because he didn't have much muggle money on him as his present task was more impulsive than premeditated and he had not taken time to go to Gringotts. That, and it was the nearest place he could get to where Peter was staying short of knocking on the grate and asking to stay the night. Anyway, even a grubby hotel is better than the sewers and he didn't fancy sleeping on the street - not all muggles took that kindly to bear sized dogs sleeping on their door steps.
At any rate, the door which Sirius had slammed shut with considerable force was still trembling in its frame but the walls, now motionless had shuddered upon the impact of the 6'6" by 2'6" oaken slab cashing into them and this tremor had been just enough to loosen a certain crooked nail in the rapidly deteriorating wall to the point of twisting loose and sending its previously suspended occupant hurtling earthwards; which it did. Spectacularly.
In a shower of silver shards, the mirror burst from its frame and lay in haphazard fragments, splayed out across the threadbare carpet. The pieces glinted in the morning sunlight filtering in through the grime caked window. Seven years bad luck, and it was only just beginning.
Wormtail squinted up at the early morning sun with increasing dislike. - if only it would stay dark for a few more hours, then he could get away without anyone seeing. He turned and dashed out from behind the crate of fruit he had been hiding behind, towards the dark alley way a few doors hence. The reason behind his bad temper was simple. He was a dead man.
Well, not quite yet, but it was definitely going to happen sooner rather than later if he didn't do something about it fast. He looked around to check their was no one who could see him, and transformed back into his human form.
Casting a weary glance around the corner of the passageway, he sidled out into the street. Cautiously he walked down the street to the supermarket, he planned to leave as soon as possible, but there was no way he was going without food.
Walking down a bustling street and looking inconspicuous was no problem for Peter. He'd managed to look insignificant every day of his life, even at school when he'd had friends he was still the one who everyone had overlooked. James got noticed because of his Quidditch abilities, Sirius got noticed because of his good looks and Remus was one of the smartest people in the entire year as well as being exceptionally strong. That feeling of inferiority was probably why he had joined Voldemort in the first place. For once, he had thought he could really be someone, he wouldn't be the little unnoticed kid anymore, people would look up to him, fear him.
In reality, that couldn't be further from the truth. Being a deatheater just meant he now got pushed around by someone even bigger than James and Sirius; not that they'd pushed him around that much, most of the time they'd protected him from other people. Somewhere inside him, Peter knew he'd just made things worse for himself, because know he'd lost everything, his self respect, his friends and before long, he was sure it was going to be deprived of his life.
He knew who it would come after him, he also knew that this person's greatest weakness was his hot headedness. That was why Peter wasn't afraid enough to abandon all hope just yet, that was why he had let himself oversleep this morning and that was why he was chancing a trip to the shops before he set off again. His life depended on Sirius not going to Remus to tell him Lily and James had switched secret keeper. If Sirius did that, it was all over, the friends had always been able to tell when each other were lying. Remus would trust Sirius and then they would both be after him. The two together would be deadly.
If Remus was after him, he'd have been up at the crack of dawn. Remus was dangerous because he was levelheaded. Being a werewolf had made him remarkably calm in hostile situations because he didn't like to attack quickly for fear of losing control. If he lost control, the ministry would lock him up. When an ordinary witch or wizard got into a fight, they might just be fined or get away with a caution. If a werewolf hit someone, the ministry would put them into Azkaban and throw away the key. Unjust, yes, but since when did laws make sense?
Peter remembered being horrified when Remus had told them about the laws, now he was grateful for them. Remus couldn't do anything to him. Peter had planned it that way, and he'd made sure there was a back up plan; even if Remus wanted to chase him now, he couldn't. It was full moon and dear old Moony would be exhausted from the change; he probably didn't even know that Lily and James were dead yet. On the night they died, Sirius couldn't have gone to him because he would have had to deal single handedly with a ferocious werewolf.
Peter cast an anxious look over his shoulder. He could have sworn someone was following him. Sirius couldn't be here could he? The entire auror squad would be looking for him. Dumbledore should have told them by now that Sirius had been the Potter's secret keeper.
Sirius might be here, but at least, Peter thought for the umpteenth time, it wasn't Moony, Sirius was bound to lose control, at least Peter hoped he would.
He had reached the end of the street by the time he realized he'd missed the shop he was looking for. He doubled back and came face to face with Sirius. To Peter's surprise, he didn't look furious or even angry. He looked- Peter searched for the right word - tired. Then Sirius smiled and Peter suddenly realized that Sirius wasn't furious or irate or even deranged. He looked like a man who had been searching for something all his life and had finally found it. The thing was, that now he'd found it. What did he have to live for?
Panic erupted inside Peter. He'd thought that Sirius wouldn't be stupid enough to confront him in full view of muggles because he'd be afraid of the what the ministry would do to him. He was only just realizing that Sirius didn't care anymore. He hadn't counted on that.
"Hello Worm. How're things?" He asked pleasantly "Seen any old friends lately?"
'Oh s***' thought Peter as he turned to run, and found himself facing a concrete wall.
Amailaya & Aria-wolfstar- Thank you, yes I am continuing with this story, this isn't the last chapter so keep reviewing please. :-)
Chapter 2
Sirius woke up on the lumpy mattress of the muggle hotel he was staying in. It hadn't taken him long to track Peter down but although Sirius wanted revenge, he wasn't sure that endangering innocent people's lives was the way to do it - after all, James, Lily and Harry had been innocent enough.
Sirius rolled off the bed catching a glimpse of himself in the cracked mirror that hung by a dangerously thin piece of string from the nail in the wall. He looked awful; Sirius raised an eyebrow at his reflection and ran a finger over his unshaven chin. His mother would go spare if she could see him now, hair that hadn't seen a brush in two days and filthy robes which showed distinct signs of having been slept in; a disgrace to the family name - mind you, that wasn't much of a change, he had been a disappointment since he was four, when he had made friends with James Potter the 'blood traitor' instead of Robert Avery the 'perfect pure blood'.
He looked into the mirror defiantly, half hoping that if he said James' name, his friend would appear in it, talk to him, just like they had at Hogwarts with their mirrors. But no, that wouldn't work, this was a muggle mirror, and besides, James was gone, nothing would bring him back now - however much he wanted to. He wasn't even sure James would want to come back from wherever he'd gone; time to just accept it and move on - after he'd settled a few scores of course.
Ah well, thought Sirius if I'm going to be a humiliation to my dear family, may as well do it in style, and with that he rumpled his already tangled hair and winked at himself with a trace of the old cheeky menace he thought he had left at Hogwarts and strode out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Perhaps it was because he was so absorbed in his own thoughts, or that the muggle cleaner on the floor above chose that precise moment to start the hoovering, that he didn't hear the effect his slamming had had.
The hotel was a very shabby one and the walls didn't take kindly to being almost knocked out of their supports. The reason Sirius had booked into this particular hotel was because he didn't have much muggle money on him as his present task was more impulsive than premeditated and he had not taken time to go to Gringotts. That, and it was the nearest place he could get to where Peter was staying short of knocking on the grate and asking to stay the night. Anyway, even a grubby hotel is better than the sewers and he didn't fancy sleeping on the street - not all muggles took that kindly to bear sized dogs sleeping on their door steps.
At any rate, the door which Sirius had slammed shut with considerable force was still trembling in its frame but the walls, now motionless had shuddered upon the impact of the 6'6" by 2'6" oaken slab cashing into them and this tremor had been just enough to loosen a certain crooked nail in the rapidly deteriorating wall to the point of twisting loose and sending its previously suspended occupant hurtling earthwards; which it did. Spectacularly.
In a shower of silver shards, the mirror burst from its frame and lay in haphazard fragments, splayed out across the threadbare carpet. The pieces glinted in the morning sunlight filtering in through the grime caked window. Seven years bad luck, and it was only just beginning.
Wormtail squinted up at the early morning sun with increasing dislike. - if only it would stay dark for a few more hours, then he could get away without anyone seeing. He turned and dashed out from behind the crate of fruit he had been hiding behind, towards the dark alley way a few doors hence. The reason behind his bad temper was simple. He was a dead man.
Well, not quite yet, but it was definitely going to happen sooner rather than later if he didn't do something about it fast. He looked around to check their was no one who could see him, and transformed back into his human form.
Casting a weary glance around the corner of the passageway, he sidled out into the street. Cautiously he walked down the street to the supermarket, he planned to leave as soon as possible, but there was no way he was going without food.
Walking down a bustling street and looking inconspicuous was no problem for Peter. He'd managed to look insignificant every day of his life, even at school when he'd had friends he was still the one who everyone had overlooked. James got noticed because of his Quidditch abilities, Sirius got noticed because of his good looks and Remus was one of the smartest people in the entire year as well as being exceptionally strong. That feeling of inferiority was probably why he had joined Voldemort in the first place. For once, he had thought he could really be someone, he wouldn't be the little unnoticed kid anymore, people would look up to him, fear him.
In reality, that couldn't be further from the truth. Being a deatheater just meant he now got pushed around by someone even bigger than James and Sirius; not that they'd pushed him around that much, most of the time they'd protected him from other people. Somewhere inside him, Peter knew he'd just made things worse for himself, because know he'd lost everything, his self respect, his friends and before long, he was sure it was going to be deprived of his life.
He knew who it would come after him, he also knew that this person's greatest weakness was his hot headedness. That was why Peter wasn't afraid enough to abandon all hope just yet, that was why he had let himself oversleep this morning and that was why he was chancing a trip to the shops before he set off again. His life depended on Sirius not going to Remus to tell him Lily and James had switched secret keeper. If Sirius did that, it was all over, the friends had always been able to tell when each other were lying. Remus would trust Sirius and then they would both be after him. The two together would be deadly.
If Remus was after him, he'd have been up at the crack of dawn. Remus was dangerous because he was levelheaded. Being a werewolf had made him remarkably calm in hostile situations because he didn't like to attack quickly for fear of losing control. If he lost control, the ministry would lock him up. When an ordinary witch or wizard got into a fight, they might just be fined or get away with a caution. If a werewolf hit someone, the ministry would put them into Azkaban and throw away the key. Unjust, yes, but since when did laws make sense?
Peter remembered being horrified when Remus had told them about the laws, now he was grateful for them. Remus couldn't do anything to him. Peter had planned it that way, and he'd made sure there was a back up plan; even if Remus wanted to chase him now, he couldn't. It was full moon and dear old Moony would be exhausted from the change; he probably didn't even know that Lily and James were dead yet. On the night they died, Sirius couldn't have gone to him because he would have had to deal single handedly with a ferocious werewolf.
Peter cast an anxious look over his shoulder. He could have sworn someone was following him. Sirius couldn't be here could he? The entire auror squad would be looking for him. Dumbledore should have told them by now that Sirius had been the Potter's secret keeper.
Sirius might be here, but at least, Peter thought for the umpteenth time, it wasn't Moony, Sirius was bound to lose control, at least Peter hoped he would.
He had reached the end of the street by the time he realized he'd missed the shop he was looking for. He doubled back and came face to face with Sirius. To Peter's surprise, he didn't look furious or even angry. He looked- Peter searched for the right word - tired. Then Sirius smiled and Peter suddenly realized that Sirius wasn't furious or irate or even deranged. He looked like a man who had been searching for something all his life and had finally found it. The thing was, that now he'd found it. What did he have to live for?
Panic erupted inside Peter. He'd thought that Sirius wouldn't be stupid enough to confront him in full view of muggles because he'd be afraid of the what the ministry would do to him. He was only just realizing that Sirius didn't care anymore. He hadn't counted on that.
"Hello Worm. How're things?" He asked pleasantly "Seen any old friends lately?"
'Oh s***' thought Peter as he turned to run, and found himself facing a concrete wall.
Amailaya & Aria-wolfstar- Thank you, yes I am continuing with this story, this isn't the last chapter so keep reviewing please. :-)