A/N: Hi! I love the story right now! I'm going to love this chappie!!! I know I'm getting weird, alright? Bear with me. Some of my stuff is a bit.....duh...and I'm glad that everyone (coughs and points to select people) is sooo intelligent and sees through my dumb mistakes. Correct me. :p

–x–x–

CHAPTER THIRTY: WORMTAIL THE RAT

Sometimes he wondered why Harry wasn't learning quicker. He was wondering at this very moment. Harry's 'training' had done nothing if not prove that everything was much harder than anyone had thought. Except, perhaps, for Harry. Harry knew exactly what he was facing.

Albus had, for once, left his secluded quarters. At times it could become a bit too stuffy for him to stand.

Of course, pacing didn't help. He was doing the exact same thing out here in a quiet corridor at midnight that he would've been doing in his office.

Where is Severus...?

–x–x–

His sides were splitting. Wormtail once again chastised himself for being so inactive. Maybe if he were a bit more active...like James...he wouldn't be completely out of–

his mind. Oh, never mind. He wasn't out of his mind. He'd just been pulled off into another corridor by–

a cloak! A black cloak and a mask over what must be a hideous gruesome face and murderous eyes. His mother had always said how Death Eaters had eyes like–

food. His stomach growled. He was sure the short man could certainly hear it. How could be thinking of food right–

then the man pulled his mask off.

Wormtail's jaw dropped. His heart skipped a beat. Any thoughts of food were immediately swept away and he felt his knees quivering. His breath shortened. His eyes grew wide. If a wall hadn't been next to him he would have fallen over.

–x–x–

Harry had found Ron and Hermione. Finally.

It must be them. It had to be them. This was the last dungeon.

Heart leaping with joy, Harry jumped into a run toward the locked door with the bars on the bottom. He almost missed the cloaked shadows arriving.

Long, sweeping cloaks that glided slowly along the floor toward him. Scabby grey-greenish hands that looked more like grotesque spiders than anything else.

And the breath. The bone-chilling, rattling, sucking breath. Something that sounded like someone dying. Arms crawled with goose bumps at the noise and feeling of it. Life taking, happiness ending breath. Something that could take everything you ever wanted or loved away from you and keep it locked away only to leave the darkest fears and hatred-filled memories that you never wanted to remember.

Harry could feel his heart being squished in his chest by those hands. He could feel that breath stopping his lungs. Limbs suddenly jumping up in bumps. Dark fog filled his vision.

Dementors.

It's getting worse...

He could still see. Feeling as if things were moving much too slowly, Harry slipped his trembling fingers in his pocket, dread covering his heart like a sheet of ice.

"Sirius!" He was screaming, over and over again...

"Expecto..." He said. "Expecto...."

Someone else was speaking, though. It wasn't in the tainted memory. It came from the door.

"Harry! Say it! Expecto Patronum! Say it!"

Now another voice joined the first. "Come on!"

He remembered. Lupin was holding him back as he screamed. At the same time he was saying the words as Hermione and Ron yelled at him, despairingly.

"Expecto Patronum!"

The dementors were gone in a flash of white fur. Prongs chased them down the corridor until he was completely out of sight, leaving the corridor in the dark again.

Harry sat down on the floor right there, exhausted. Hermione and Ron were looking at him quietly while he collected his thoughts. He sniffed quietly, trying to hold back tears.

"Alright." He said quietly, "Let's get you out of this..."

Crawling forward, Harry inspected the doorway. He tried all of the unlocking charms that he knew. He tried a few other spells...

Ron and Hermione were looking at him guiltily.

"I can't get it." Harry said.

"It's all right." Hermione whispered. There was a smudge of dirt on her cheek.

"No it isn't."

"What'll we do?" Ron asked.

Harry thought for a moment. He then stood up, standing on shaky legs.

"I need to get help." He looked down at them again. For once, he couldn't save them. It was a depressing thought. "I'll come back."

–x–x–

Wormtail was looking at himself. He couldn't mistake himself, even now. The man was skinny, though, and rather unhealthy looking. His hair was thinning out on top. He looked, like everyone else in this place, rather deprived of love. Wormtail hadn't felt sorry for anyone else...he didn't even feel sorry for himself.

The man stared at him. The look on his face was unreadable.

They'd been standing like this for at least a full minute. It was getting uncomfortable. Wormtail was no longer short of breath. The silence was buzzing in his head.

They both squirmed at the same time.

Finally, Wormtail's older self spoke. "They didn't tell you," His voice was lower, more grating. It still squeaked, "did they?"

Wormtail shook his head. He couldn't have spoken if he'd tried.

The man looked even more uncomfortable. One silver hand went up to rub a spot on an arm gingerly. Wormtail stared at the silver hand. The man noticed, and quickly plunged the hand into a pocket. Wormtail almost gloated.

"They didn't tell you. Alright." He thought for a moment. "You need to know. There are some things..." He shook his head. Wormtail wondered if he'd gone a bit mad over his time as a Death Eater.

The man stepped past him, looked through the corridors and began speaking in a rapid whisper.

"I'm a Death Eater--"

Wormtail snorted. The man gave him a cold glare before going on, "As you can see. I joined the Dark Lord a long time ago and I'm telling you now that it isn't worth it. If I could change things..." He blinked and shook his head, "but that's what I'm trying to do, if you'll listen to me."

"Are you going to tell me why no one would say this?" Wormtail asked.

He could tell that his older self disliked him almost as much as Wormtail disliked him. "I suppose it was because they didn't want you to know. They don't want you to turn out like you will." He smiled ruefully, "They probably didn't want James and Sirius to find out either."

"What's this have to do with them?" Wormtail asked, spitting out the word 'them'.

"Everything."

Wormtail stood back, looking suspicious as he crossed his arms on his chest. It was a trick that he'd learned at one point or another from James. Something that never failed to make an opponent uneasy.

It didn't work here, however. His older self just laughed, the wrinkles around his eyes folding as a short, crisp chuckle escaped his dry lips.

"Don't even try it. I'm trying to help you here. If you don't listen to me, you'll end up being exactly the same."

Wormtail hadn't thought about this, of course. Too focused was he on making an impression...on none other than himself. He let his arms fall to his sides and listened.

The man told him about his past. He'd joined You-Know-Who soon after he was inducted into the Order of the Phoenix with James, Sirius, and Remus. The man was powerful, and he had promised a sweet revenge on Wormtail's so-called 'friends'. That was probably what had reeled him in. Revenge. The word was so sweet (As Wormtail listened he reminded himself that he hated his friends to no end. That must have been the reason.), and it left a sweet tang in his mind just thinking about it.

His older self then told him something else. It was quite strange to be listening to this, but it must be true. He, Wormtail–the little chubby boy of the gang–had been Voldemort's spy into the Order. Voldemort had learned about the Prophecy and had set out to kill Harry Potter...and Wormtail had been the one to deliver him to his master. Wormtail thought that the sweetness had somehow turned bitter now. Harry had lived. His master had gone.

But at least James and Lily had died. Maybe then they would respect him as one equal to them.

It got better (or worse, whoever's perspective you took on the matter) Sirius was blamed for it. He had been James' secret keeper. They'd changed because Sirius thought it would be good tact. Apparently they'd been wrong.

That only left Remus. Good, sweet Remus. The only one who was somewhat a friend. It wasn't as if he'd been left out–his friends were gone and he'd been left alone. The lone werewolf.

Wormtail was swimming in gold at the end of it, but his older self was not finished. "Are you listening to me? Of course you're not. You're too caught up in your hatred...." Now Wormtail looked at him again. The man continued, "I'm telling you now, the hatred will end. You'll forgive them and you'll only feel guilt for the rest of your life under a madman," (He shivered when he said this.) "Don't you realize, Peter? This is your chance! You can escape from it! Everyone can live and everything will be fine...please listen to me. I know that you're not going to remember this. I know you won't. But maybe if you try--"

They suddenly heard loud footsteps coming close and Sirius' yelling, "Wormtail! Wormtail, where are you?"

Peter Pettigrew gave the boy a meaningful look as he pulled his mask back on and swept off into the shadows.

–x–x–

Sirius was trying to keep his voice steady as he yelled for Wormtail, who he was sure could hear him. He was trying to keep himself from crying his eyes out or running forward to slam his fist right into the rat's face–or both–as he saw him. The little disgusting rat who had murdered his best friend was standing there, alone and calm, as Sirius walked toward him.

Sirius struggled to hold his voice steady as he asked, "You okay?"(you slimy rat, I'm going to kill you–) and Wormtail just nodded, a slight smile in his eyes.

–x–x–

a/n: I have to leave gaps between these dramatic scenes. The next one includes James and Lily and I decided that this is a good place to leave off anyway. CU!

--I've also decided not to respond to flames. Keep getting flames from, strangely enough, anonymous reviewers. ::makes evil connections with flames and anonymous reviews:: but I really shouldn't say anything because I still get a number of nice anonymous reviews...

REVIEW RESPONSES

supernova8610: Did I take too long?? Getting excited now, so I think I'll be updating a lot. Ty!

Sariah Greenleaf: You should send me some piccies of Halloween! I want to seeeee!

Ziptango:First time someone's told me that the author notes are distracting, actually. Just skip over them if you must, but I'm warning you that sometimes they do have important stuff in them...ty for reviewing–I look forward to reading 'em!

Makalani Astral: I don't know if we know who those Death Eaters were. Just more stuff that I had to stick into things. They weren't important, if that's what you meant...

Pleione: lol did you find out for yourself?

Pottersgrl: ::back away:: Okay! Anyway, some fun stuff is happening right now, so I think I'll be fine. Ty for reviewing!

Crystal Travelpiece: Woah, woah, woah. You think I update fast???? Wow. First time anyone has said that ::looks at you strangely before walking off::

–x–x–

As always, thank you to everyone else who reviewed. Please come back and review some more (boy and I desperate or what? Lol)!