The Locker Rooms for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team was silent, save Harry's voice: "It's our first match and we're against Ravenclaw. I know we can pull this off, as long as we're working together. Even though almost everyone here is new, we should be able to do this the right way. Our Chasers work well together," he glanced at Ginny, Orlando, and Evan, "we've got a good Keeper," he looked at Ron, whose ears went red, "and our Beaters like to hit things." He looked over at Kim and James, who were glaring at each other, "But our Beaters just need to stop tearing at each other's throats for awhile."
"Honestly, I try to, but no matter what I do, she won't say a nice word to me," James replied.
"Well maybe if you didn't go around tripping me and insulting me and being fresh, then I'd be nicer to you," she replied, sticking out her tongue at him.
"Don't stick out your tongue at me, unless you plan to use it," James spat back at her.
"Stop fighting!" Harry yelled at the two of them. They glared at each other and looked up at their Captain. "If you two can't be in sync, then we're not going to win anything! We won't even loose with dignity. I want you both to shake hands and get over your fighting at least for the time being."
"Fine," Kim replied, and took his hand and shook it roughly. "There."
"Good, now let's go."
They traveled out onto the Quidditch Pitch where the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team was waiting for them in robes of shocking yellow. The sun was out, in perfect conditions for a Quidditch match.
"And the Gryffindor Team finally comes out. Almost the entire team is new this year with all new Chasers and Beaters and Harry Potter as the new Gryffindor Quidditch Captain." The boy that had almost thought that you needed to eat the hat from the Sorting Ceremony, Harold Azaka, was commenting. "There's the handshake between Potter and Chang, neither looks very happy, and the Quaffle is released... and taken into possession by Orlando Gardner of Gryffindor, passed to Weasley, back to Gardner, to Youngblood, he shoots - HE SCORES! 10 - 0 Gryffindor!"
The match went on and Kim found that she couldn't work with James, no matter how hard she tried. Neither of them could read each other's body language and both kept accidentally almost unseating the other.
Needless to say, it was almost expected when Kim got hit in the back with the Bludger that James accidentally swung her way, after she'd hit the other one at the Seeker for the Ravenclaw Team, Cho Chang.
The Bludger unseated her and she fell twenty feet to the ground with a sickening crack and got knocked in the head.
Harry had just captured the Snitch in his outstretched hand when this happened. The game had been won by 230 points, due to Gryffindor's capture of the Snitch. After he'd realized that his Beater had been hit by a Bludger that she couldn't see, he called his team down and they crowded around her.
"Hey, we won!" she said brightly, sitting on the ground next to her broom, which had floated down next to her like a loyal dog. Both of her legs were bent out of shape and broken, and she had had the wind knocked out of her, but otherwise, she seemed fine for someone who had just fallen twenty feet from a broomstick.
Nonetheless, a stretcher was conjured and she was brought to the Hospital Wing for her bones to be mended.
The school nurse completed this task in about five minutes, while the team celebrated. After she'd been healed, they all went into the Great Hall for their Dinner.
During the celebrating and eating, Draco slipped over to Kim and gave her a piece of parchment that read: to change back from your Animagus form, you must concentrate on your original form and circulate your magic through your body. This will become easier in time, so that you can do it by simply concentrating on your animal and then on yourself and changing easily from one to the other.
Kim crept under the table after pretending that she'd dropped her fork and changed into the mongoose and back again. When she rose, she was glowing. Her training was done, and now all she needed to do was to get her curses and hexes down correctly.
She decided that life was good, and when James apologized for sending the Bludger her way, she simply smiled at him, not unkindly, and said nothing.
0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0
The year was going along smoothly and before she knew it, Kim found her life going right again. She'd made up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, as well as Natalie, Anna, Lauren, Ethan, and Eric. She was becoming good friends with Michael, who she learned had a strange fetish for Blood-Flavored Lollipops, and also had gone to see Dumbledore about something that was much more important than reading about the Cruciatus Curse.
It had been Dumbledore who'd called her to his office. She sat down and waited for him while he dealt with a sudden emergency that had to do with Filch and the Barkley twins and involved Mrs. Norris.
When Dumbledore had returned, he was smiling, although he looked strangely older than the last time Kim had been in his office and had been forced to drink the Veritaserum. She had not quite forgiven him.
"Ah, Miss Pettigrew," he said cheerfully. "I expect you are wondering why I've called you to see me?"
"Yes," Kim replied. She had to admit that she wasn't curious at all, as she expected that it had something to do with her being a Death Eater.
"I expect that you know vaguely what this is about?"
"Yes. That was a very dirty trick you pulled," she replied, not bothering to be polite.
"Yes, I agree, it was," Dumbledore replied with a sigh, "and had I known what I'd found out, then I might not have done it at all."
Kim nodded, but she still hadn't forgiven him.
"I know that Mr. Malfoy gave you instructions on Animagus transformation," he said gravely, "and as you know, Animagus transformation is against the law."
"So you're going to expel me?"
"No," Dumbledore replied with a tiny smile, "as I'm not even sure that you're able to transform."
"I can, sir," Kim replied, not wanting to repeat the Veritaserum incident.
Dumbledore surveyed her over his half-moon spectacles, "Would you care to demonstrate?"
Kim didn't reply, but instead changed into the mongoose with the black stripe down its nose and back again. She'd gotten quite good at it since she'd started practicing every night.
"A mongoose? Mongeese are of the weasel family and, unless I am much mistaken, are known for the ability to kill and eat snakes, am I correct?" Dumbledore said curiously. He was looking at her with much interest.
"Yes, sir," Kim replied. She wondered if Dumbledore was catching on to the reasons she'd changed into a mongoose. The truth was, she'd chosen the form of a mongoose BECAUSE of their ability to kill snakes. Draco had given her the idea in the Great Hall that day and she'd decided that if there was one way to get revenge on Voldemort's snake, Nagini, for killing her mother, that was the one way to do it.
"Why would you want to become a creature that has the ability to kill snakes, Miss Pettigrew?"
"Because I plan to use this tactic to get revenge on Nagini for killing my mother, sir." She might as well tell him… he would find out sooner or later, anyway…
"So you're against Voldemort now?" Dumbledore asked.
"I believe that I am, sir. Although it's very difficult to decide when I've been brought up by Death Eaters for my entire life."
"I imagine it would be," Dumbledore replied. "Why have you decided not to follow Voldemort any longer?"
"I don't suppose I should be telling you, Dumbledore," she replied. "I've been sent here to be a spy, but now I'm not even doing that job." She sighed, "I suppose it's because I was accepted here when I first came. Throughout the rest of my life, I've had to act like someone different just to survive. I don't agree with the way the Dark Lord goes about things. I'm not able to choose anything that I want to do, including who I'm going to marry. I also didn't understand why the Dark Lord wanted the Weasleys dead. When I met them, they were very civil, a little suspicious, but very civil and very nice. They're good people and I didn't think it was right to kill them because they don't follow the Dark Lord's plans.
"I also didn't agree with killing Muggles for fun," she went on, "when my mother was killed, I didn't think it was very fun, because she was close to me. It is not the fault of Muggles that they are not magic, nor is it fun to loose a treasured person. I've also thought about what the Dark Lord has said about Muggle-borns and under watch of them, they blend in very well with the wizarding crowd. If you take Hermione Granger for example, she's one of the smartest witches in the school and she's Muggle-born. She's also very nice and does not abuse her magic. I find that instead of it being an insult to the wizarding race, it is a gift to be blessed with magic, although you have been born into a Muggle family. This is now what I think, and I no longer agree with the Dark Lord's plans."
Dumbledore seemed to look at her with a curious half-smile for a moment before speaking, "You are quite right, Miss Pettigrew."
"Thank you, sir," she said breathlessly. "I'd also like to ask you, sir, if I may be so bold, if there is any way I can possibly help you to unseat the Dark Lord from the throne he has gained."
Kim could not believe she was saying this. She'd been christened a Death Eater and here she was having a conversation with Albus Dumbledore about unseating the one who had killed her mother and tightened his rein on her life. She almost wished she could take back the words before she said them, but after she did, it was as though an invisible shadow was lifted from her soul and flew away.
"I think, Miss Pettigrew," Dumbledore said, smiling, "that you can do just that. I would need proof that this is, truthfully, what you feel towards Voldemort before you can actually do anything, however."
"You don't believe me?" Kim asked, disbelieveingly, her heart sinking.
"Yes, I do," he replied calmly, "but I still need proof, just as I did with other individuals. I wonder... would it be too much to ask for you to take the Veritaserum again?"
"That works," Kim replied. She wasn't keen on taking the Truth Potion again, but now that her soul felt lighter, it was as though an invisible person was making its own decisions over what she was going to do - and it felt great.
0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0
"So, let me get this straight: you went to Dumbledore and you told him that you're going against You-Know-Who," Ginny said breathlessly, "and now you're on our side?"
"Right in one," Kim replied, leaning on her chair. "I'm going to be doing some spying for the Order and since my dad can't know, he can't tell me I can't, so I'm already able to know what's going on with everything."
"You're so lucky," Ginny replied. "I'm glad you're on our side. What made you change your mind?"
"Well, if you want to know, I was only going to tell Dumbledore that I didn't agree with the Dark Lord anymore and wasn't going to be on anyone's side," she said, tipping in her chair, "but... I got kind of carried away and I accidentally went a bit farther and asked if there was anything I could do to help your side, instead. Once I did that, it felt great! I've never felt better in my entire life! So here I am, still a spy, but now for different people."
Ginny frowned, "So now you're going to risk life and limb to get some information for us?"
"Looks that way," Kim replied, then promptly fell over as the chair she was tipping toppled over.
"Wow, that's really brave of you," Ginny said, righting the chair into its correct position.
"Yeah, that's basically what Dumbledore said," Kim replied, sitting back down again, "I don't get what's so brave about basically doing everything that I'd normally do in life with only a little alteration. I mean, sure, I might get caught somehow, but if I displeased the Dark Lord enough, I would've been killed anyway."
Ginny opened her mouth to say something, but Anna and Lauren burst into the Dormitory, talking about something or another. When they saw Kim, their happy expressions dropped from their faces.
"Hi, Kim," Lauren said soberly, "We've got some bad news to tell you."
"Really?" Kim asked, not really interested. "What would that be?"
"Terry's going out with this Hufflepuff girl in the year above us named Hannah Abbot... he doesn't seem to like you anymore," Anna said timidly, "I mean, we all had our doubts when you stopped talking to us all, but-"
"Guys, I don't care about Terry," Kim interrupted. "I only really went out with him because you guys wanted me to and because he seemed like he wanted a date for Hogsmeade. I could really care less."
"Oh," Lauren and Anna brightened, "Okay then. I'm glad you're talking to us again, Kim, we really missed you."
Kim smiled… she had been accepted all over again, as it had been from the start.
0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0
Easter Break was right around the corner when Kim was summoned, once again, to Dumbledore's office. When she was brought inside, there were two other people already there.
One was Snape, who she was slightly surprised to see. The other person she did not recognize, but was slightly startled at his appearance.
"Miss Pettigrew," Dumbledore said, "please have a seat. I know that you know Professor Snape-" Snape's lip curled slightly "-this is Alastor Moody, or Mad-Eye."
"Nice to meet you, sir," Kim said, sitting down.
She immediately saw why this man's name was Mad-Eye. He had two different colored eyes and one was overlarge and its shocking blue pupil was darting everywhere, including the back of his head and around the entire room.
"Pettigrew?" Moody growled, "I'm familiar with that name." He did not look happy.
"Miss Pettigrew has been questioned under the influence of Veritaserum and she's told me willingly that she had been named a Death Eater," Dumbledore said. Kim wondered why he was saying this in front Snape.
"I told you that, Headmaster," Snape said dangerously.
"Miss Pettigrew has also informed me that she wishes to spy for the Order, as you have been doing, Severus."
Kim stared at Snape, wide-eyed. Snape was a spy? She never would have guessed that in her lifetime.
"She's been tested under the Veritaserum?" Moody repeated.
Dumbledore nodded in reply and Kim could've sworn he'd given her a tiny wink.
"Good," Moody growled, "I'm not bringing anyone to Headquarters who hasn't been tested."
"I really must insist on leaving, Headmaster, as I have a class to prepare in ten minutes," Snape butted in.
"By all means, do go, Severus," Dumbledore replied kindly, his eyes twinkling. "Just thought that both you and Miss Pettigrew should know about your spying, so there will be no confusions."
Snape left and Kim turned to Moody as he spoke to her, "So you're going to be a spy, eh? I suppose your dim-witted father dragged you into being a Death Eater."
"Yes, in some ways he did," she replied vaguely.
"Mad-Eye, this Easter Break, Kim is going to be coming to the Order's Headquarters. I want you to fill her in on what's going on then, as now is not the best of times." Dumbledore turned to Kim, "Kimberly, you will listen to Moody and follow his instruction. You must not, under any circumstances, leave Headquarters without telling someone, or tell anyone who belongs to the Order. Am I clear?"
"Yes, sir," Kim replied. "But I do have a question, sir."
"What's that?"
"How am I supposed to get to where I'm supposed to go and how will I send you information when I'm not there?"
"You need not worry about conveying information for the time being. That will all be explained later. As for getting to the Headquarters... Moody, am I right in saying you will meet her and the rest of them there?"
"Yeah, that's my job," he growled in reply. "Collect everyone. I realize there's going to be a right crowd of kids then, eh?"
"No, you'll be escorting only Miss Pettigrew. It's Arthur's job to collect the other eight or nine," Dumbledore replied, eyes twinkling. "Miss Pettigrew, you may now go to your last class of the day. I wouldn't want to make you late."
Kim gathered her things and walked out the door, closing it behind her, so that the last thing she heard was Moody's disbelieving voice: "Nine? How can there be nine?"
0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0
Kim soon found herself getting off the Hogwarts Express in no time at all. She heaved her trunk outside and tried to balance her owl (who she decided to name Tam), on the seat of the train. She grabbed a trolley and yanked her trunk into it before placing Tam's cage on top. Killer, who was getting bigger and stronger, had outgrown her pocket space.
She wheeled the trolley onto the platform and was met by Moody, who looked was wearing a bowler hat to disguise his revolving eye.
"Dumbledore tells me you can Apparate," was the first thing Moody said to her, and she nodded. "Good, grab your trunk and owl and memorize this." He handed her a piece of paper that read: The Order of the Phoenix Headquarters is located at number 12 Grimmauld PlaceLondonEngland"Got it memorized? Good." He tossed some sparks from his wand at it and it burst into flame and was destroyed. "Now let's go."
0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0
Very suddenly, Kim found herself in front of a vacant space of lawn in between two different houses. She new better than to say anything, however, and kept her mouth shut. Moody did something to the vacant spot that she couldn't see, but suddenly there was a door in front of her.
"Get in, quick!" Moody ushered and shoved her, Killer and Tam in. "Come down this hallway..."
Kim followed Moody down a dimly lit hallway. She looked around her and noticed a few people in another room that seemed to be discussing something. She walked a little farther along and saw the curtains closed over what didn't look like it was a window. There was an umbrella stand that looked as though it was made of a troll's leg and everything all around her looked as though it would be at ease in the home of the darkest of wizards.
She had to admit that she was surprised that the Headquarters for those working against Voldemort would hide away in a place that looked as though Voldemort, himself, would have been comfortable in. Moody led her up a set of moldy stairs with a clunk clunk. It was then that she realized he had one wooden leg.
Moody led her down another hallway and into a room on the very end of the hall. He opened the door to a bedroom with four beds inside. It was shabby-looking and old with the smell of musty hay lingering about.
"You'll be sleeping in here," Moody said, "and you're going to be joined later by a few others. I expect Weasley will be in here..."
Moody shut the door behind him as he walked along back down the hall with the clunk clunk echoing through the emptiness of the house. Kim sighed and dumped her things on the nearest bed and letting Tam out of her cage to fly around and get a good feel of everything. Then the door opened and two red-haired people popped their heads through.
"Hi, I'm Fred, and this is George," one of the boys said. They both stepped into the room and looked about. Kim then noticed that they were twins and that they both must be Weasleys, due to their vivid, red, Weasley hair and freckles.
"Hello, I'm Kim," she replied, looking curiously at the twins. "Er, are you related to Ginny?"
Fred laughed and George replied, "Ginny's our little sister. There's a bloody lot of Weasleys that're going to be here this Easter Break. Our brother, Bill, is coming, too."
"Wow. I guess Ginny wasn't lying when she said she had a lot of brothers." Kim was beginning to like the twins. They had a certain mischievous air about them that Ethan and Eric also possessed. She giggled, "You remind me of my friends, Ethan and Eric. They're twins, too."
"Are they mischief-makers?" Fred asked eagerly.
"Yeah, they're always trying to shove books up each others' noses and stuff. I remember one time when they turned one of my teacher's hair blue at dinner."
Fred and George grinned at each other. "We've been replaced, George," Fred said.
"Good. Filch could use a new generation of trouble-makers to deal with," George replied.
Kim laughed. She liked the twins a lot: they were funny.
"Fred! George!" a woman's voice called up the staircase. "Come down here for a minute!"
"Mum's calling," George said quietly.
"Why don't you come down, too?" Fred said. "I'll bet we can beat you there."
"Can you Apparate?" Kim asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You betcha," George replied, grinning.
"All right," Kim replied. "Bye!" and she Apparated downstairs.
"How can you Apparate?" Fred asked when she met them downstairs, "you don't look of age."
"I'm not of age," Kim replied.
"You really shouldn't parade the fact that you can Apparate already. It's illegal, you know," Moody growled from the corner.
"Oh, yeah, I'd forgotten," Kim said, feeling slightly disgruntled, "I suppose I can almost do it if I'm in a life-or-death situation, then, right?"
Moody smiled at her through his heavily-scarred face, "No, you can do it, but keep in mind that you're not to go anywhere out of the house without someone else's permission. Now come here, I want to introduce you to a few people. You, too, Weasley and Weasley," Moody added seriously, eyeing Fred and George.
The three of them followed Moody into the other room where a pleasant-looking woman who could only be Mrs. Weasley stood waiting with a good-natured look on her face.
"Fred, George, dears, Bill is here," she said happily. Then she turned to Moody and Kim and looked at Kim for a moment, her expression slightly graver, "Is this her, Moody?"
Moody grunted a barely audible 'yes', and hobbled off, leaving Kim with Mrs. Weasley.
"Well, come on in then, dear," she said in very warm voice. "There's a few people who want to meet you."
Kim nodded, politely and walked inside the room slowly. There was a group of ten people all sitting at what looked like the kitchen table, three of which were Moody, Fred, and George.
Moody rose slightly, "Come here." He didn't seem to know what to call her, but she obeyed. "This here's Kingsley Shacklebolt," a tall, black man with a gold earring nodded to her, "Bill Weasley," he could only be a Weasley, but his hair was long and he had an earring with a fang decorating it, "Fleur Delacour," she looked as though she were part veela with long silvery-blonde hair hanging to around her waist, "Jeremy Chatfeild," Kim supposed this was Michael's father since they looked vaguely alike, "Mundungus Fletcher," Mundungus was a strange man. He had a beer belly and he seemed to look like an older Brandy Randy, "Joe Livingston," Kim dearly hoped that he wasn't James' father, "and Remus Lupin," Remus acknowledged Kim, but she was slightly surprised to see him here. He looked older than the last time they'd met, but still kindly.
"Hello," Kim said simply.
"This is Kim Pettigrew," Moody growled as though he'd rather not have to do the introducing.
A murmur broke out over the table and Kim glanced at Lupin, who was looking at her with new curiosity that lingered in his eyes. She tore her gaze away and looked at her feet.
"Oh, hush," Moody growled, loudly, "she's the new spy."
The table fell silent and everyone peered at her so that she felt like the newest animal that had been brought to the zoo.
"Pettigrew," muttered Kingsley Shacklebolt, "Peter Pettigrew? Wasn't he the spy for You-Know-Who?"
"Shut your traps," Moody growled and Kim felt a rush of gratitude that he was sticking up for her, "she's turned spy against Voldemort for us. This has been proven by the Veritaserum provided by Dumbledore, so if you've got objections, you're welcome to ask him about it."
Kim stared more determinedly at her feet and felt herself turn red.
Nobody said much for at least a minute before Moody spoke up again. "Do you think there's anything he's doing right now that we need to know about?"
Kim shook her head 'no'; "There's nothing going on with the Dark Lord that Snape wouldn't have told you."
Kim felt Moody's normal eye staring at her, "Good. Now you can go back upstairs."
Kim gave a tiny nod of her head and walked out of the room. As she walked down the hallway, hoping to explore, the front door opened and a group of people around her age rushed in.
Kim sulked toward the end of the hallway and watched who had come in. The first person she saw was Ginny, who spotted her as well and rushed over to say hi.
"Guys!" Ginny said as loudly as she dared, "Kim's here as well!"
Seven of the other eight kids that had come in looked at her. Brandy Randy, however, who was also there, didn't look twice at her and followed Mr. Weasley and a blonde-haired woman with a large nose (who had brought them there), into the next room.
Kim spotted Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who were looking at her as though they were surprised to see her there. Her eyes moved over to Natalie, who looked positively alarmed at her presence. Then she rested on Orlando, Michael, and James, who Kim should've suspected she would see.
"Er, I didn't know you'd all be so unhappy to see me... sorry," Kim muttered.
"What're you doing here?" Michael asked in a curious tone.
"I'm staying, too. Not against the law, right?" She took one last look at them and Disapparated with a 'pop' into her room upstairs.