Sirius Black rolled over and stared at the ceiling, the blonde witch lying panting beside him. Two months in, and the sex just got better every time. Although, honestly, after twelve years of celibacy, he was sure it would be good with anyone.
However, he thought, Svetlana Krum, who had been quite a pleasant diversion, was a particularly choice witch. The Russians certainly bred for beauty and for brains.
"Lunch?" he asked after he caught his breath. "I'm famished."
Svetlana sat up, her hair cascading over her shoulder like silk. "I would think anyone would be hungry after what we just did," she said with a saucy wink, slipping out of bed and shrugging on a robe the color of pomegranates.
He got up and came up behind her, sweeping her hair aside to kiss her neck. "I suppose I could just eat you for lunch instead," he murmured against her skin, lightly nipping it.
She turned her head, her eyes going slumberous once more. "I wouldn't be opposed—"
A knock on the door interrupted him, and the Russian witch went rigid in his arms. "What is it?"
"Mistress has a caller," came the timid voice of one of her numerous house elves, who always seemed to cringe away from her when they got too near.
Svetlana sighed. "An important one?"
"Juju does not know, Mistress." The voice changed to anxious. "They insisted on seeing yous today. It's that wizard who came last week."
The witch rolled her eyes. "Again?"
"Someone bothering you, love?" Sirius asked, curious.
"No. It's this stupid little man who keeps asking about buying a book the family's had forever," she told him dismissively. "He's been quite insistent. He went to Russia first to ask Mama about it and offered quite a large sum of money for it. When she told him that it had come with me as part of my dowry when I married Kosta, he told her he'd come ask me directly for it. He's already come once and was rather upset when I turned him away, so I'm unsure why he's back again."
His eyebrows shot up. "It must be an important book, if he went to Russia and now came here to try and get it. What book is it? Perhaps I've heard of it?"
She shrugged. "It's really quite inconsequential, just a little book about mythologies that tells a story about different deities and says a little about them. Papa included the book because I enjoyed reading it as a child. There's a few about Bulgaria deities in there, I think, most likely about Morana, the goddess of death, and Zhiva, goddess of life?"
"He's gone to all that trouble for something as inconsequential as a children's book? Is he a scholar?"
"He could be. I don't know." Svetlana finished putting on a casual day robe of emerald green and pulled her hair out from underneath it so it could cascade over her shoulders. "Does it really matter?"
"I suppose not," he acknowledged. "I just find it interesting that someone would go to such an effort for a book you deem inconsequential. A children's book, even."
Sirius tapped his fingers against his thigh as his thoughts raced. Avery had mentioned that he had found mention of certain rituals that could bring back the Dark Lord from the dead, going so far as to assert that there could be one in Bulgaria proper. Something to do with their ancient gods and goddesses, which the Bulgarians seemed to worship in some form or another. He had thought it was a load of rubbish, but Avery had been insistent and even told him and Mulciber that he had talked to Peter about it.
Seeing the possibility that perhaps he could cross paths with Pettigrew, who had apparently lent Avery's assertion credence if he was searching as well, Sirius had pledged to look into the ritual. Satisfied, Avery had gone to Plovdiv, another of Bulgaria's larger cities, to chase down another rumour he'd found promising.
It would be ironic, he thought, deliciously so, if Pettigrew managed to deliver himself on Sirius's doorstep while searching for some stupid ritual that didn't even exist.
Perhaps, he thought, casting a quick look at the sky, there was some truth in karma and the meddling of the gods.
Casually, so very casually, he asked, "Who's the wizard that's bothering you for it?"
"I'm not sure. Some little wizard from England. His name is Dolos Richardson but I just think of him as a rodent. He has eyes like raisins and teeth too long for his mouth." She wrinkled her nose. "He's hideous."
Sirius's heart leapt into his throat but he forced himself to remain calm. It could be a normal wizard, but he wouldn't put it past Peter to go by a fake name. A wizard who hid as a rat for twelve years to escape detection was capable of anything. However, it wouldn't do to put the cart before the horse, no matter how much he wanted to hope.
"Shall I send him away for you?" he asked. "I can take care of him quickly."
"No." She waved a hand. "I don't want anyone knowing you're here."
Right. She was married, and even though it was rather common for the Purebloods to sleep around once they were bonded, it was only the done thing if it was all covertly done. It wouldn't do to be caught — it could help lay the groundwork for divorce.
"I'll disillusion myself and come just in case," he told her, bussing her on the cheek as he held open the door for her. "If he's being pushy, I don't want you to get in an unpleasant situation."
Svetlana laughed, touching his cheek affectionately as she passed by him and swept down the hall. "You know as well as I can that I can handle it. You've watched me before, just as recently as last week."
He had. She'd opened up a muggle with nasty spell and a look of sincere pleasure in her eyes as they'd had postprandial drinks with Avery, Mulciber and a few others a few weeks back. It had been wrong. So wrong. But something in him had liked the look in her eyes and the way lust made her body taut after she'd done in. Something dark, something twisted.
There were quite a few things this summer that he'd done that he'd wished he hadn't and that he'd come to like and wished he didn't.
As he disillusioned himself, he flatly told her, "Humour me."
He had to know if Peter Pettigrew had miraculously fallen into his lap in his quest for a way to bring back his Dark Lord. It positively defied belief that he could be so lucky.
Svetlana didn't say a word as he followed her into the formal parlour of her townhouse. The room was elegantly appointed, the walls a pale blue and the floors a light tan wood covered with lush carpets.
However, Sirius didn't take much notice of the interior, all of his attention fastened on the wizard in front of him.
It was Peter.
He had thinned out a bit since Sirius had confronted him in the Shrieking Shack, his frame beginning to regain the leaner form Sirius had remembered him having. It didn't help the rest of him, though. He was still on the shorter side, with deeper set, beady eyes and a long nose with a tapered point. His front teeth were still a bit overly long (he'd lost track of how often they had told Peter it was an easy fix, but Peter, intimidated by Madam Pomfrey's sometimes brisk manners, had refused), though his skin was clear and his hair was brushed.
Overall, he looked like a horribly, abysmally normal wizard, not the man who had ruined Sirius's life and helped kill his friends.
"Mister Richardson," Svetlana greeted Peter coldly. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
Peter bowed and then straightened, his manner obsequious as always. "Madam Krum. Th-thank you so very much for meeting me today. I wanted to inquire about the Encyclopaedia of Mythical Truths. I would really like to purchase it from you. I believe it has important information that will help me with a project I am doing with some colleagues."
Sirius arched a brow. Labeling Pettigrew, Mulciber, and Avery's desire to bring back the Dark Lord a project was certainly an interesting way to put it.
"I've told you before that it's not for sale, Mister Richardson." Svetlana gave a tight and unfriendly smile. "It's a family treasure from my father's side, and we do not part with family treasures."
Peter licked his lips. "Are you certain I cannot convince you or your family? Perhaps a trade for something of equal value?"
"No," she said firmly. "I am afraid that I cannot and will not entertain the idea."
"How very unfortunate." Peter sighed and took a step toward her. Somehow, in that one step, he seemed to change and become. What exactly he was becoming, Sirius thought, taken aback, he was not certain of. His back straightened and his head tilted slightly up and to the left in an unconsciously arrogant gesture even as his eyes grew calculating and his mouth firmed.
"Very well," he told her, his tone crisp in a way that Sirius had never heard from him. "I suppose we will have to do this the hard way. Give me the book, or I will kill you."
Svetlana laughed, the sound genuinely amused. "That is quite the threat, and all for a book! Truly, you amuse me."
There was something not quite sane in Peter's eyes that worried Sirius. He had seen that look before: flat and cunning and ruthless. It was something he had seen in his mother's eyes, and now sometimes in his own.
It was a look that boded ill.
"Don't believe me?" this new, unfamiliar Pettigrew asked, drawing his wand and letting it dangle loosely in his hand. He stretched his shoulders and cracked his neck. "I've done worse to get what I want. And unfortunately for you, I'm patient. Even if I don't get it today, I'll get it eventually. I played the long game for years when I was young, you see. Waiting. Biding my time. Pretending to be a friend when I was an enemy. They never saw it coming, just like you won't." He licked his lips again, stepping forward.
Svetlana swayed back just the slightest, her dismissive facade breaking. Peter saw it, and his lips curved. "Oh yes. I was part of a band of brothers in school. We fashioned ourselves the Marauders. Joking. Pranking. Chasing girls. They took me in when I was weak little Peter Pettigrew, too shy, too scared, too weak to be in brave Gryffindor house. They took pity on me and let me join their stupid little group. And then..." he paused, closed his eyes as pleasure washed across his face, "I went with my master to kill one of them and frame another for it. Poor little James, dead on the floor. Poor little Sirius, locked away for a crime he didn't commit. It was delicious. It was easy."
Sirius almost lost his composure at Peter's confession, a maelstrom of emotions roiling within him. Rage, anger, and a disbelieving, incandescent joy shot through him.
Peter had just confessed. Peter had just confessed, in full, to an uninvolved party and clearly not under duress. If he could get Svetlana's memory of the confession, and if he could get Moony to give him his memory of the Shrieking Shack, he could, under the laws of the ICW, be cleared, with Pettigrew convicted in his stead.
His throat closed at the thought. Twelve years of being locked away with the Dementors, and all it had taken was sheer dumb luck, dubious morals, and a secret affair with a beautiful, married witch to reverse his fortunes.
At last, he could be free to live his life as he should have been doing. He could have a home, a life, and a family with the boy he should have been raising all along. All of that was in reach, now, a bright, shining future that he fully intended to seize.
Before he did that, though, Pettigrew had to pay for all that he had done. How lucky, then, that Sirius was here to ensure that happened, as slowly, painfully, and finally as he could manage.
Dropping his disillusionment, Sirius moved out of the corner.
"Hello, Peter," he greeted the other wizard pleasantly. "Fancy meeting you here."
"Who are you?" the wizard asked suspiciously, his grip on his wand tightening.
That was right. Sirius had forgotten he was still hidden behind the facade of Magellan since Svetlana didn't know his real identity. Now, how to let Pettigrew know without giving it all away…
A thought occurred to him, and Sirius's mouth curled into a lazy smile. "Hello, Wormtail."
Peter twitched. Just barely, but he did, and Sirius relished in it. "How in Merlin's name — did you know I was after the book and position yourself accordingly?" He looked at Svetlana. "Or were you just lucky, lucky like you've always been, and were in the right place at the right time? Or perhaps…" His eyes narrowed as they grew calculating. "They must have told you."
Pettigrew's face twisted into a sneer. "I should've known better than to trust fools like Avery and Mulciber with such an important task. They may have bought all your posturing — oh yes, I know all about your activities this summer — but I knew better. You don't have any loyalty to my Lord. You're just a pathetic, broken man looking for revenge."
Sirius bared his teeth, all veneer of civility stripped from him as he stepped forward. "You little snivelling—"
Next to him, Svetlana stepped up and placed a hand on his arm. She'd been quiet as they talked, but now she spoke up, her voice as careless as usual. "Is there a problem, darling?"
He drew in a deep breath, seeking to calm himself. "I know this man." Did he ever. "He and I have a long, bad history between the two of us. Suffice to say that I've been looking for him for a long, long time, and now that he's here, I'd like to...take care of him." Lightly, he stroked her cheek with the back of a finger. "I'm going to dispose of him, now, as we did to those muggles before. Would you like to join me for a little pre-lunch amusement?"
He watched as her familiar bloodlust kindled in her eyes. Taking her wand from its holster inside her robes, she tilted her head. "Ah, darling, how you spoil me. You know how I love to play. Shall we?"
It was too bad, he thought as he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and saw her anticipation, that he was going to have to do something about her, too. He couldn't afford to be sloppy and leave traces of everything he'd done this summer, and Svetlana Krum had done too much and seen too much to be left completely intact.
That was a loose end he could tie up later, however, as he wanted to ensure her memory of today — specifically of Peter's confession — was completely intact. Thankfully, she'd been watching Peter the whole time, her attention never deviating from him, but Sirius would still need to step lightly as he drew the memory from her to make sure it appeared as if only the two of them had been present.
Perhaps if he let her sit for awhile — a few months after he met with the ICW — then anything...strange that happened with her would be unlikely to be connected to her involvement with his case. Or perhaps he could set the stage before he and Hermione left...he could curse her with something—no, he would give her something that would affect her credibility...Yes, yes, he liked that very much.
Next to him, the witch in question whipped her wand in a sharp motion, a red jet of light streaking toward Peter in the opening salvo.
The rat dodged Svetlana's attack, whipping up a shield quickly to deflect it, and cast a reductor curse in return. At the sound of her walls taking the brunt of the hit, Peter's eyes flicked behind her for a moment toward the door, indicating his intent to escape.
It was just enough time for Sirius to take out the second wand he'd procured at the beginning of the summer and cast one of the first spells he'd ever learned.
"Expelliarmus."
Peter's wand flew toward him and Sirius grasped it ("dark chestnut, 9 ¼ inch, dragon heartstring", Peter had told him proudly one night by the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room) in his hand.
"Not much of a dueller still, are you?" he drawled. In quick succession, he cast several immobilizing spells and silenced Pettigrew so he couldn't speak or verbally cast. "All that talk a minute ago, and here you are with nothing left to do but run and hide again. A coward's way out, that is."
Svetlana spoke a word next to him, and the walls of the room glowed a pale lilac for a moment. "The house is warded," she announced a moment later. "There's no way out unless I say so if you did try to escape."
Peter's eyes burned with hatred, but Sirius didn't care. Maliciously, he asked, "Cat got your tongue?"
He yawned as he pointed his wand at Peter. He was going to enjoy the wizard's slow death more than he'd enjoyed anything in a long, long time.
Almost lazily, he said, "Reducto!"
Peter's screams were like music to his ears as he heard the sound of several bones breaking.
That felt good.
That felt very good.
He raised his wand once more. "Expul—"
"No!" Svetlana's shout cut him off midcast. Wand still pointed at Pettigrew, he looked at her as she calmly said, "If you're going to kill him, do it out of the house. His death will affect the energy of the house and leave an imprint. I don't want that here. The authorities could detect it."
He sighed. "Very well." Striding to Pettigrew, he grasped the wizard by the collar and roughly dragged him up. "I'll be back once I dispose of him."
"I'll have the elves make lunch ready for you," she said, as if murdering a man was commonplace enough that it was simply part of the day. "I was thinking soup?"
"Good enough, though do ask them to include some of that bread you had last time. It was delicious. Oh, and take down the wards for me?"
A moment later, he felt them disappear. Grasping Peter's collar tighter, he made sure not to lose him as he apparated them to a sprawling field kilometres from any civilization.
Dropping his baggage with a thud, Sirius wiped his hand on his trousers. "It's just you and me now, Peter." He bared his teeth in the parody of a grin. "I've been thinking about what I would do to you for twelve years, you know. It's a very long time, and some of the things I thought of were quite creative."
Rhythmically, he hit his wand against his thigh as he went on, "I'm not going to just kill you outright. No. First, I'm going to hurt you, and then I'm going to make you suffer, and then and only then will I leave you here while you die, slowly and painfully, just like I was left to rot in Azkaban."
"And you know what the best part of this is?" he asked the wizard, whose breaths were coming unevenly as he futilely tried to struggle against the ropes of the Incarcerous Sirius had cast on him earlier. "After today — after I hurt you, which I will enjoy very, very much, and after I leave you just this side of alive, so that you'll linger here, suffering, with nobody to help you and no way to survive — I'll wash my hands of you. I'll be able to take back my life, which I can do in no small part because of your bragging session to Svetlana earlier, and then I will never think about you again. It will be as if you never existed, and I will happily and joyously live my life as I should have been all these years."
Peter's expression was hateful, but the whites of his eyes showed as Sirius stood directly over him, his wand gripped tightly in his hand. Cracking his neck, Sirius smiled. "Let's begin, shall we?"
Edited 2.13.21