My Brother's Keeper
by ChatterChick
Summary: Sophie Potter is the younger sister of the infamous Harry Potter. Her life at Hogwarts should be set, but things take an unexpected turn when she is sorted into Slytherin. Being green is never easy, especially when those cunning folk will befriend you just as fast as they would cut your throat.
Chapter 11: Only the Innocent Live
When the spell wore off and Sophie came to, she found herself laying on a dirty old mattress, her body stiff and magically bound. She tried to scream, but found her voice simply couldn't make any noise. She was facing a wall and couldn't turn herself around, despite how much she struggled.
Her captor hovered over her. "Oh, you're up. You had a bit of a fall, nothing major. I - I vanished the blood. Looked worse than it was." He seemed oddly nervous for a dark wizard, and seemed to be trying to reassure the both of them at once. "Didn't want James to get the wrong impression."
He pulled her into a sitting position and Sophie was able to make out that they were in a small, dingy bedroom. Her eyes quickly looking around. They were the only part of her that could freely move. The furniture was all destroyed and the curtains were fraying and even ripped in some places. On top of the dresser was her wand, far out of her reach. This must have been his hide-out all those months. She wondered where it was. Possibly somewhere in Hogsmeade? Although, honestly she had no idea how long she had been knocked out for. It could have been anywhere from minutes to days. She could be anywhere.
Pettigrew mumbled some spells, unfreezing her body so that she could move a little. Her wrists were still stuck together, as were her legs. She tried to ask where they were, but realized how hopeless it was when her lips moved and no sound came out.
Noticing her frustration, Pettigrew offered to remove the spell. "I'm not going to hurt you, you just have to promise not to scream, okay?"
The moment the spell was lifted, Sophie screamed. She could feel the strings of her vocal cords strain, and her voice crack, but she kept screaming, hoping someone would hear.
Pettigrew winced, brandishing Nevile's wand at her. Immediately her scream cut out, despite her best efforts. "I told you not to do that."
She could feel her eyes start to water and her chin start to quiver. This was too much for her, she wanted her dad to come save her. She wanted to go home. Tears started streaming down her face, accompanied by silent sobs. That seemed to alarm Pettigrew just as much as her screaming did. He tried to comfort her, although that only upset her more.
"I think the Longbottom boy - Neville wasn't it? - he'll do as I say. Your dad will be here soon and we'll get this whole mess sorted out. Nice boy, reminds me of his mother," said Pettigrew. He awkwardly patted her shoulder, and Sophie tried to twist it away from him, feeling dirty where he touched her. "I - I know you must be frightened right now, but I promise I'm not the person they make me out to be. I'm not a murderer!"
She didn't want to hear his lies. She had heard the rumours. He blew up a muggle street and killed thirteen muggles when Sirius tracked him down for a crime he committed as a Death Eater. Whatever the original crime had been must have paled in comparison because that explosion was all any would talk about. She could only imagine how many people Pettigrew must have murdered before that. Everyone said he was Voldemort's right-hand wizard.
"D-did you know I'm your godfather?" Pettigrew suddenly asked. "I promised James and Lily to look out for you, and I'm a wizard of my word. Nothing will happen to you. You're just here to make James listen, that's all."
Sophie shook her head. That wasn't possible! Sirius was her godfather. Her parents would never have befriended a Death Eater! Pettigrew was lying, he was lying about everything and he was going to kill her, she hysterically thought.
Behind Pettigrew, Sophie noticed the door to the room slowly creep open. Hope bubbled up in her chest, and she nearly jerked her head up to get a better look. But in a moment of clarity, she decided she needed to keep herself in control and distract Pettigrew for whoever was on the other side of that door.
So she promptly let loose with another round of sobbing, unnerving Pettigrew as he tried to shush her.
"EXPELLIAMUS!" Pettigrew's stolen wand flew into an outstretched hand in the doorway.
The door then burst open, revealing Harry, Ron and Hermione. They looked slightly battered, and had some cuts and scratches on them, but Sophie had never been more happy to see them. She was saved!
Pettigrew's mouth fell open and he slowly backed away from the three wands that were aimed at him. Sophie noticed that his eyes darted towards her wand on the other side of the room, considering if he could make a move without provoking a reaction from the three teens. Pettigrew might be the adult, but he seemed to know that being wandless against three teenagers put him at a serve disadvantage.
She jerked her head, nodding to the wand in hopes that one of them would notice it. Hermione rushed over and undid the jinx that kept Sophie from moving her arms and legs. She also undid the Silencing Spell so that Sophie could speak again. "He's got another wand!" She immediately started screaming, "On the dresser!"
There was a bit of a scuffle as Harry and Pettigrew both raced for where her ebony wand sat on the top of the dresser. Ron tackled Pettigrew to the ground so that Harry was able to get her wand and toss it to her.
Harry had a much darker expression on his face than Sophie had ever seen before, and he was staring intently at Pettigrew.
"Harry - " Hermione softly said. "Let's get Sophie to the castle. Let the professors handle him."
Harry ignored her. "I remember you," he said quietly to Pettigrew. "You were friends with Dad."
Sophie heard herself gasp. If Pettigrew wasn't lying about knowing their parents, was it possible he was honest about everything else? She felt confused, listening to the exchange taking place.
"I heard the professors talking, they said you betrayed our parents. They said that you told Voldemort where to find us. I want to know why."
"You don't know the whole story - " Pettigrew pleaded. "I never meant - "
"Kinda hard to let something like that slip out, isn't it?" Harry sneered. "Having a casual conversation with your Death Eaters pals and the location just happened to come up?"
"It wasn't like that!" Pettigrew pleaded. "I saved you! I came by the day before, the sweets in my pocket had the Dragon Pox virus. You were - you were supposed to be in the hospital when he came. I - I was a spy, and I had to give him something or he was going to kill me! So I tried to get you out of the house before I gave him the location."
It sounded vaguely familiar to Sophie. Remus had said that she and James were at St Mungo's the day her mum was killed.
Hermione shook her head, "That can't be. You would have told Mr Potter what you were doing, you would have set up a decoy. What you did - you wanted someone to be home, or else he would have known you lied."
"You don't understand - " Pettigrew tried to explain. He took a step towards Hermione and Sophie.
"Petrificus totalus!" Ron quickly hit Pettigrew with a Full Body-Bind. His entire body went stiff, as if made of ice, and he crashed to the floor. His eyes were wide and moving around frantically.
"What are we going to do with him?" Sophie asked.
"We could leave him," Harry suggested. "Send one of the professors back."
Hermione shook her head, "The jinx might wear off by the time they find him, or he might know how to undo it without a wand."
"We can't risk him getting away," Ron grimly replied. His eyes flickered from Harry to Sophie.
"Where's Dad?" Sophie asked. "Neville was supposed to owl him. If he's on his way he'll be looking for me."
Hermione looked at her wrist watch. "It's almost nine, Mr Potter should have been contacted by now. It's been about two hours?"
"We'll take him up to the castle," Harry decided. "Remus can floo Sirius to arrest him."
Ron undid the Full Body-Bind Curse and then Hermione quickly bound Pettigrew's wrists together with some Arm-Locking Jinx. They left the tiny room that Pettigrew had used to hold Sophie captive. Hermione lead the way, with Pettigrew following her, Ron behind him pointing his wand at Pettigrew's back, and the Potter siblings bringing up the rear.
"How did you find me?" Sophie asked, looking around the tunnel. She still wasn't sure where Pettigrew had taken her, but it must have been someone on the school grounds.
"Sirius told me they used to hang out in the shack under the Whomping Willow," Harry explained. "I figured it was where Pettigrew would take you if he knew about it too."
Impulsively, she threw herself at Harry, hugging him around the middle and crying. "Thank you, thank you for saving me!"
She knew she was lucky to have Harry as her big brother, and was grateful that he had come to her rescue.
"It's okay," Harry murmured, comforting her for a moment. "Now why don't we catch up to the others?"
The five of them slowly made their way out onto the grounds. It was slow moving since Pettigrew's arms were stuck together and he seemed to have poor balance without them. Twice he crashed to the ground, with nothing to block the fall.
Once outside, Sophie could see that not much time had passed. The sun was still in the sky, although it was starting to set. She could make out someone briskly walking towards them from the castle. She felt herself smile when she saw who it was.
"Remus!" Sophie called out, "Remus over here!"
"Sophie? Is everything all right? You were supposed to be inside an hour ago!" Remus lectured them. "Harry? What are you doing - " The question died on Remus' lips the moment he saw their fifth member. "Peter?"
"Hello Remus," Peter nervously greeted.
Remus aimed his wand right at Pettigrew's chest. Sophie quickly stepped away, relieved that an adult was finally here to handle the situation.
Harry coldly informed Remus, "He had Sophie in the shrieking shack, Neville told us he wanted to ransom her back to Dad!"
"I'm not surprised," Remus glared at Pettigrew. "He's tried to do it before. Force James to take an Unbreakable Vow to let the charges drop against him, in exchange for Sophie's life."
Her blood felt like it went ice cold at that announcement. How come no one told her? She remembered James warning her that Pettigrew might try to use her to lure Harry, but he hadn't mentioned this.
Pettigrew venomously denied that. "I would never kill her! I don't kill innocent - "
Sophie didn't believe him now, wondering what he would say if he could still use her as a bargaining chip and wasn't pleading for his life right now. She shivered, partly from horror and partly from the cold. It was starting to get dark as the sun dipped lower, and it was colder outside than it had been earlier.
"You killed thirteen innocent muggles! Your information lead to the deaths of countless Order members and their families!" Remus yelled, losing his usually calm demeanour. "Your information lead to Lily's death and damn near lead to Harry's! Don't you dare tell me you don't kill innocents! You didn't raise the wand, but your hands are just as filthy!"
"I had no choice!" Pettigrew hysterically explained. "He would have slaughtered hundreds of innocents because they were there, but I made sure they weren't! I gave him information, but I always made sure the innocent lived! I- I saved Marlene and her children. He wanted the whole family, but I convinced him to just kill Patrick!" He was looking at Sophie now. "Lily - Lily would have understood. She died so her children could - "
"Don't you dare!" Remus thundered. "Don't you dare try to justify betraying Lily and James!"
"It's what any parent would have done! James - " Pettigrew ploughed on. "James would have done the same! Lily wouldn't have chosen her life over her children."
"YOU MADE THAT DECISION FOR THEM!" Remus roared. "Lily wouldn't have had to choose if you had just shut your mouth!"
The last bit of sunlight disappeared over the horizon, and Remus started convulsing, dropping to his knees and burying his head in his hands.
"Remus?" Sophie asked, stepping forward, worried about her uncle. Was it possible for someone to get so angry they just exploded?
Hermione's face paled as she looked up at the sky. "Sophie - wait!"
"No!" Pettigrew shouted, cutting off Hermione's warning. "Stay away! He's a werewolf!"
Sophie stepped back, watching with horror as Remus' body began to shift from human into a giant wolf. He threw his head back and howled as the transformation happened. It was possibly the most painful and grotesque thing Sophie had ever witnessed. Claws burst from his fingers and shoes. His face twisted and lengthened into a snout. His limbs stretched while his back hunched over. She could hear the faint sound of bones shifting and snapping.
"C'mon Sophie!" Harry said, pulling her backwards. "We need to get back to the castle!"
Before they ran, Sophie did Pettigrew one small act of mercy. She undid the jinx that bound his arms, leaving him free to turn into a rat and disappear. They didn't have time to bring him to the castle, but she didn't like the idea of leaving him to get torn apart by a werewolf.
She was pulled along by Harry, who had grabbed her hand and was dragging her towards the castle. Sophie wondered if she was slowing him down, as Harry was naturally a lot faster than she. Ron and Hermione were both slightly in front of them. Hermione threw a few spells at the werewolf, trying to slow him down, but they seemed to have no effect other than making him angry.
Sophie glanced over her shoulder, and immediately wished she hadn't. The werewolf was gaining on them, and in moments would be right at her heels. She could see his yellow eyes, his snout snarling as he chased after them.
Out of nowhere a giant stag came galloping onto the scene, charging right at the werewolf and driving him backwards with his antlers. The werewolf howled as if in anger. Still, the stag held his ground, stomping his foot and aiming his antlers at the werewolf. Every time the werewolf tried to take a step forwards, the stag would shake his head and push him back.
A third animal appeared, a giant black dog that was almost the size of a bear. He barked a few times, gesturing his head towards the castle. Deciding that they were better off with the pair of animals who saved them, Sophie, Harry, Ron and Hermione followed the dog away from the Forbidden Forest where the stag was still fighting with the werewolf.
They were almost at the castle when one more obstacle was hurdled at them. It seemed that the presence of humans on the grounds after curfew attracted a new foe. The grass turned to ice under her feet, crunching as they ran. There was a chill in the air, and surrounding them were over a dozen dementors. She could hear faint voices in her mind. She let go of Harry's hand, finding herself slowing down until she was rooted at the spot, clutching her head.
The giant dog was next to her barking and pulling at her sleeve, but she didn't notice him.
"What was I to do? He said he'd spare us all if I gave him Harry - all he wanted was one little boy!"
Sophie recognized that voice now. That was Peter Pettigrew. She stumbled backwards, trying to keep herself from fainting again. The closer the dementors got, the clearer the words in her mind were, and the foggier the surroundings became.
"Crucio!" She could hear Sirius yell this time as Pettigrew cried out in pain.
The little girl started shrieking, "Stop it! Stop it! You're hurting him!"
For the second time that evening, Sophie's vision went black as she hit the ground.
A/N So the actual story is kinda scattered in there, but Peter is basically trying to omit certain details and re-write history so he's not the bad guy.