Disclaimer: Harry Potter and his world belong to JKR, I am making no profit, don't sue.
He looks down at Wormtail's lifeless form, entire body shaking. I killed Wormtail, he thinks, over and over. He can't get it out of his head; the words pound relentlessly against his skull. I killed Wormtail. I killed Wormtail.
The duel was short but furious, an outlet for years of pent-up rage. Remus is not one to anger easily, but the man at his feet has ripped apart and torn from him everything he ever loved . . .
Bizarrely, Remus's mind reverts to the meticulous nitpicking his always used to make fun of at school. Peter hasn't torn everything from him. There's still Harry, and of course there's still Hogwarts; there'll always be Hogwarts . . . and his humanity, that he lost before he even knew Peter . . . Harry, Hogwarts, humanity — H's. A hysterical sob rises in his throat. He's just killed the last of his best friends, and all he can think of his alliteration.
He wonders why he feels the need to think at all. Does it matter, anymore? Does anything matter?
A duel, he's dueled with his best friend and won. Remus is no dueler — he's always hated the wildness of it, the rush of flying spells — the lack of control. James and Sirius were the duelers, really — they had the instincts for it. Remus has always had to think about a spell before firing it off. Well, not always. Not today. Today, he didn't think at all, didn't even use spells — he simply let his anger release itself through his wand. And now Peter is dead.
"Remus?" A hand tentatively touches his elbow.
"It's over," he says, without turning. "It's all over now."
A/N: Today's challenge: write a duel. It came into my head to have Remus kill someone . . . originally Bellatrix, but then I decided on Peter. Yeah. Anyway, I'd like it very very much if you would review. And I will respond to your review on my LiveJournal ("homepage" link on my profile).