Peter arrived at the destination not long after midnight, clutching his bag full of all the information he could find. Sadly, it wasn't much, but Peter had managed to go through every single book in the library that might have had information. If there was any more information, it wasn't at Hogwarts.
Peter wasn't too worried about getting caught. He was in a fairly isolated area, and hadn't had a lot of contact with the others since they'd graduated two months ago. There'd been a couple of letters, but Peter hadn't mentioned anything about this meeting to anyone. Patricia had been insistent on keeping this secret.
Peter had just made it up a small hill when he saw something that made him stop dead. Or rather, someone: Severus Snape was standing in front of him, seemingly waiting for someone too. His back was facing Peter, and he didn't seem to have taken much notice of who or what was behind him, so Peter backed up and hid.
'What the hell is Severus doing here?' Peter thought to himself. 'There's no way Patricia asked him to come, she didn't like him much either. She would never have invited him. How would he know to come here?' Peter kept peeking out from his hiding spot, hoping Severus would move on, but he stayed perfectly in place.
After about five minutes of waiting, Peter was about ready to give up on Severus leaving when he saw her. It had been about four years since the two had seen each other, but it was definitely her. And she was walking straight up to Severus. 'Great, she'll get rid of him,' thought Peter, when something unexpected happened.
"Severus, I'm so glad you could make it tonight," said Patricia, and actually sounded like she meant it. "Any sign of Peter yet?"
"I think he's hiding behind that tree there," said Snape, turning to face the spot where Peter was hiding.
"Come on Peter, come on out," called Patricia. "It's okay, he won't hurt you."
"Don't be so sure," Peter heard Snape mutter as he came out of his hiding spot.
"Patricia, hey," said Peter, unsure how to greet his old friend, especially given tonight's revelation. "I was under the impression we would be alone."
"And I was under the impression I'd be meeting someone else," said Snape. "Apparently we have both been misled."
"Aww, don't be like that," said Patricia. "I'm here to try and end a little of the animosity between the two of you."
"You really think you can end seven years of hatred in one night?" asked Peter.
"I said a little," said Patricia. "Besides, we're all here for the same reason, so we should be able to work together."
"I doubt that," said Peter. "I don't think Snape knows about the…things."
"And I highly doubt that Peter knows about why I'm here," said Snape.
"And would either of you have come here tonight knowing the other would be here?" asked Patricia. Neither of them spoke up. "That's what I thought."
"Then why are we both here?" asked Severus.
"And do I really have to work with him?" asked Peter.
"Hey, look, my master was looking for more people to help him, and Peter's research into the Cursed Vaults makes him invaluable," said Patricia. "And Severus, you know many of the people my master works with. You're even friends with a few of them. I daresay you even agree with some of their principles."
"…okay, I'm lost," said Severus. "What are these Cursed Vaults? Who's this master you serve? Which of my friends are you referring to?"
Patricia smiled wickedly. "Maybe I should start from the beginning," she said. "I'm sure you've both heard of Lord Voldemort?"
Author's note: And…that's where I'm gonna leave it, since I believe you're all familiar enough with the characters to know where this is going. Thank you so much for reading this, and now, I get to go back to Harry Potter Abridged.