Disclaimer: Nothing, nor characters nor places, belongs to me apart from my vivid imagination :). This is all J.K. Rowling.
A/N This story is dedicated to Lostinsidesave who challenged me to write it ;).
Oh, and just one more thing this is set in GOF; please read and review, that would be awesome .
If Only They Knew
By: She-Elfgirl
Summary: There's a hooded presence in the entrance of a cave. That person has secrets… if only they knew about it.
A hooded figure walked silently through the deserted streets of Hogsmeade. It seemed to be floating, so hurriedly and noiselessly it was moving, hidden by the shadows of the night.
The moon was high and pale in the dark sky, dusted with little stars. March was ending and the air was warm and humid; and nothing could be heard apart from the rustle of the leaves in the trees, caused by the gentle touch of the wind. But the being under the hood was indifferent to all that, having other thoughts in mind, and just kept walking, up the high street to the end of the village.
The shadowy figure walked up the slippery hill, not even noticing the scent of the fresh the grass that was being crushed beneath the swift feet. The shape stopped at the entrance of a hidden, small cavern and waited noiselessly while watching the man who was standing there, sat on the ground; watching his older and thinner profile. It would be so plain easy to just kill him right then, he had no use to the Dark Lord, and nobody would care if he died. But that couldn't happen that night, not so soon.
It was time to return, the Dark Lord was waiting, and he didn't like waiting. As the hooded shadow retrieved a little stone rolled under it and the person inside the cave turned back hastily.
"Who's there?" asked the man jumping to his feet and rushing to the cave's entrance. But the figure had already de-apparated when he checked the surrounding area; and the only thing the man saw was a little cat that flee at his sight.
Sirius Black looked up to the sky above him and took a deep breath relishing in the fresh air. For a brief second there he thought that someone had found him… he thought that he had felt a presence… that he had felt…
Sirius shook his head vehemently, that was impossible. Being locked in Azkaban must have driven him mad after all; he laughed lightly at that idea.
Sirius surveyed the path in front of him, the trail that led down to Hogsmeade. Down in the village the Inns were probably loaded with people drinking butterbeers or Firewhiskey, talking and having a great night. And inside the houses, whole families were sleeping peacefully, they would wake up in the morning and they would go on with their normal lives. But all of this had been denied to him, Sirius Black, at least until he cleaned his name. But just for a moment he permitted himself the delusion of being free, of being inside an Inn or in one of those houses… maybe someday he would recover his freedom.
He sighed, a sad and hopeless sigh, for now he would content himself with going out for a walk. In one second the man had been replaced by a dog; and he strolled down the hill barking loudly when he reached the village.
Many miles away the hooded figure apparated in a dark graveyard; the only thing that could be distinguished in the distance was rich manor on the top of a hill.
Walking in between the graves the obscure being was expecting to see the Dark Lord. But who was standing alone, near a tree, was that sordid Peter Pettigrew instead.
"Pettigrew!" said a cold man's voice coming from the person under the hood "I knew you were alive but what are you doing here you disgusting little worm?" said the man pointing his wand directly to Pettigrew's heart with great loathing. He would be pleased to rid the world of that lousy creature.
"Expeliarmus!" said a cold, inhuman voice and his wand flew out of his hand so fast that he couldn't have stopped it "I've been waiting for you and you know I don't like waiting, I don't like it at all." only then he noticed that Pettigrew had been holding something wrapped in a blanket; he had noticed it because the voice was coming from there.
"Forgive me my lord, I came immediately at your call!" he fell to his knees in a pleading position.
"Why did you take so long, where have you been?" asked the unmerciful voice and Pettigrew smiled malevolently but he ignored him, he would make him pay later.
"I was on the way my Lord." he paused waiting for a response.
"Take me to him!" ordered Voldemort in a low and dangerous voice and Pettigrew, started to walk, shivering in terror, and stopped when they were close enough. "Raise yourself from the ground."
"Yes, my Lord." the hooded man obeyed promptly and flinched when he saw what the blanket was hiding… a deformed small creature… that was what had been left from the powerful Dark Lord.
"You see what I've become?" asked the small creature unemotionally "I might seem week to you… but I still have power enough to detect a liar.
"But I'm not…"
"Show me your arm, I want to see the mark." He complied slowly, knowing what was about to happen and he prepared himself for it. The Dark Lord stretched his small, deformed fingers and touched his dark mark, with a malicious sneer displayed on his features. The touch was light but, although he had been prepared, he let out a shout of pain and fell to the ground unable to ignore the burning ache caused by those cold fingers on the mark.
"Now I'll ask again, where have you been?" asked the Dark Lord retrieving his hand away from the aching arm.
"On the way… I was on the way my Lord." he kept lying. The awful baby like creature laughed cruelly and slapped him hard with a simple gesture of his wand. His face burned and he felt hot blood inside his mouth.
"Don't lie to me. You have seen him, Sirius Balck, I know." continued the cruel voice "Now, what I want to know is… did he see you…or were you sighted by anyone else?
"No, my lord, he didn't see me… no one did." there was a hint of unsteadiness in his tremulous voice caused by the pain and Pettigrew smiled yet again. How he would enjoy murdering that sneaky creature.
"Let me see your face, I want to see the truth in your eyes." he stood up shakily and the hood fell, letting his expression exposed for the Dark Lord's examination. He steadied himself and didn't avert his eyes from the Dark Lord inquisitive ones "You're telling the truth now." He decided slowly.
"I am my Lord, I am…" silence fell in the graveyard while the creature wrapped on a blanket stared at him with an icy expression on his horrendous features.
"Do you know for how long have I been planning this? I have waited too long to let you ruin it all over a childish resentment." whispered the Dark Lord in his cold voice and he braced himself for more soreness "Crucio." a holler of pain rose in the warm night, as the man fell to the ground jerking with the excruciating ache caused by the curse; and some crows flew from a nearby tree.
"Why do you think I spared your miserable life, why would I bother to let a weak Wizard like yourself survive?" asked the Dark Lord malevolently while ceasing the torture. The man tried to compose himself on the ground, breathing heavily "Answer me!" another shot of pain made him roll in the ground, his whole body throbbing in ache.
"Because… because I was useful… my… my Lord…" he said as soon as the pain stopped, his voice trembling and his breathing heavy. Through the corner of his eye he saw that Pettigrew was shuddering and he felt contented with it "Because… nobody would suspect of me… nobody would suspect that I survived." He finished a little more confidently.
"Right you are. And I ordered you to travel around the world to reunite allies, to create the greatest Army of all times, my army. Have you done that?"
"Yyess my Lord."
"Good, very good." The creature laughed, a sinister evil laugh "You are one of the few who remained faithful to me. I can see in your mind that you tried to find me." he tried it indeed, for a long time, he thought.
"I did my best to find you my Lord but I was not successful with it."
"I know that, I waited for a long time before Wormtail here have found me." Pettigrew squealed at the mention of his name and the man on the ground smiled inwardly at that "You are a very important part of my plan in the end." continued the voice "I have a few surprises that are going to lead me to the victory. Crouch is inside Hogwarts and he'll bring me Harry Potter and, mark my words, I'm going to kill the boy after I used him for my own proposes. Pettigrew, who everyone believes dead, will help me regaining my strength; and you… you'll be my last strike, you and your Army. I'll use you in the end when no one expects it. No one knows about you, only Pettigrew and he's not going to talk, are you?
"Noo my lord" wailed Pettigrew.
"I'm not going to disappoint you my Lord." said the men still breathing hard from the previous torture.
"Of course you won't or else you would regret it for the brief while I'd let you live." said the Dark Lord cruelly "Now that you're back we go on with the plan; you keep hiding and recruiting Wizards… but before you leave…" Voldemort lifted his wand once again and the man in front of him closed his eyes fiercely "You still have to be punished for almost being caught.
He felt a sharp pain coursing through his body all over again but he didn't mind he had learned how to endure the aching throbs of the Cuciatus Curse; that wouldn't kill him nor drive him insane. And, after all, it was his prize to get what he wanted… and he wanted revenge.
Sirius and his friends, the Marauders, would grieve at his hands; they had always made fun of him, always felt superior. They had never believed in him, in his capabilities… none of them had. He had always been alone, a shadow of what they were. That was why he had joined the Death Eaters to prove himself worthy of the world, to prove the Marauders that he was good enough to be on the group; to prove Sirius that he was worthy… more worthy than he was…
He smiled through his pain; he knew that he was better than all of them. Potter had died along with his precious wife, that jumped-up Mudblood Evans, and soon their beloved son would make them company; Pettigrew was a loser, a mere lackey in the hands of the Dark Lord; Lupin wouldn't ever be anyone, no matter how smart he thought he was; and Sirius… he smiled inwardly, well Sirius had been arrested for a crime that, he was sure, he hadn't committed. He was one of the few who knew the truth, it had been Pettigrew betraying the Potters, not Sirius; but now he was on the loose, an outlaw, it was just a matter of time for him to get caught.
As for himself he was smarter than all of them he had joined the Dark side. He had faked his own death at the command of the Dark Lord. He would be his last strike in the end; he had been the chosen one for Voldemort… only him. And that was why he had kept outside the country never ceasing to fulfill his task of gathering alleys to the cause.
Everybody thought that he was dead, that he had been so weak that he hadn't been able to torture and kill for Voldemort… oh, but he had done it. Nobody knew him though, not even The Dark-Lord… Voldemort… he wasn't afraid of that name but he was a good occlumens and Voldemort thought that he was weak, that he was afraid. He was now torturing him but one day he would know… he would know his true personality… his true meanings.
He tried to control the anger that was filling him, he had always pretended to be loyal to him; he had done everything to gain his trust. When Voldemort had been defeated he had searched for him of course, he wanted to destroy him but he knew he couldn't. Nobody else knew what Voldemort had done to survive to the killing course, but he knew. He knew it because he had been studying Horcruxes ever since he was just a boy. There was one book in the library of his home, which talked vaguely about them. He had become fascinated by them from then on and he understood immediately what Voldemort had done. He was sure that Voldemort had made Horcruxes and therefore nobody could kill him before destroying them… well he knew many things about Voldemort, including his Muggle origins. He wasn't interested in searching Horcruxes though, he had other plans for himself; he would let that task for Harry Potter. He was sure that somehow he would find out about them, having Dumbledore by his side.
Knowing that he needed to assure that Voldemort wouldn't suspect of him before the end he had searched for him to offer his help, to show him his allegiance but he hadn't found him. For years he had kept his searching until recently; his mark had been growing more visible and he had been certain that he had returned somehow. But he decided to keep working, waiting for Voldemort's call, which came right after.
He tried to ignore the stabs of pain coursing through him while the evil creature kept cursing him over and over again. One day he would know… they would all know what he was capable of; in the end he would astound them all when his plans were fulfilled.
First he would kill Pettigrew for destroying his possibility of finishing James Potter with his own hands, like he had planned. Then he would kill Lupin of course, that useless Werewolf; Snape would be his next victim for taking his place as Voldemort's favorite. But this was just the beginning; he would kill them mostly for fun. His favorite part of the plan though would be the most pleasurable to him; he had planned it for years. He would let Harry Potter kill Voldemort but not before revealing himself to him and let him know about his plans. Let him know that he had made a Horcrux by killing that idiot who everyone thought it was him, after deceiving him into drinking Polyjuice potion. That he would make five more with all the important killings he was planning.
Voldemort would be killed by young Potter, he was sure of that and… when everybody thought that they were free from the most hideous Dark Lord of that age, he would kill the Boy Who Lived; he would kill Harry Potter in the place of his father. He would take great satisfaction in this; and with Potter adding to Lupin, Pettigrew and Snape he would only be missing a Horcrux. He would save Sirius for last because he wanted him to suffer, to see his friends and allies being murdered whether by him or the war itself… he deserved it.
He would defeat that miserable half-Blood that was now torturing him, he would defeat anyone who dared standing on his way. He would be invincible; he would be the true Dark Lord, with his true pure blood. He would have all those lousy Death Eaters, who had made fun of him, at his feet… he would have the Wizarding and the Muggle world under his rule. He would be better than Grindenwald, better than Voldemort and much better than any Marauder… he would be better than Sirius at last. Then he'll let him know everything he had done and only then he would kill him; only then he would have finished his revenge. And by killing Sirius he would make his last Horcrux.
Voldemort had made a pause and he lifted his cold black eyes to him, his black hair hanging limp over his still young features, pretending to be frightened.
"Crucio!" said the cruel voice again and he cried out with all his remaining strengths, releasing all his anger. He would proved to be the best… and only then they would all know… who Regulus Black truly was.
A/N: So what do you think about it? I hope it hasn't turned out too bad :). Anyway read and review, please.
Oh, and by the way you should all visit "Harry Potter Challenges" Forum from Lostinsidesaveme I'm sure you'll like it. This story was made for her C2.