A/N: Hullo everyone! I'm sorry for the long wait – I got sucked into a game on my PS3 and only recently escaped. :x (This is often a cause of my various breaks in writing – such is the price of having a burning passion for both gaming and writing, heh) However, I'm still very excited to take this story to all kinds of new places, and I hope to keep the writing and plot as fresh as I can. :)

I've always planned on gradually branching the POV's out to display the experiences and perspectives of the other characters in this alternate reality. Peter will always be the central figure, though, as he's the primary impetus of change. Would you all be okay with that?

Now that that's out of the way – on to the story! :D I hope you enjoy it immensely.

Rise of the Fourth Marauder

Chapter 8 – Carrow's Wild Ride

My father arrived by floo in the Prewitts' living room much more gracefully than I usually managed, despite him still bearing some injuries and painful-looking burns from the severe thrashing I'd dealt him the other day.

"Good day to the both of you," he said to Molly and I, drawing himself up to his full height and sucking in his stomach in an apparent effort to impress the gorgeous witch, "Victor Pettigrew at your service, milady. It is an honor to be welcomed into your spectacular home."

"Molly Prewitt. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance," she said with an amused smile as he kissed her proffered hand. "Thank you for agreeing to meet with us on such short notice."

"I would never allow myself to decline a meeting with a family of your caliber and honor, Miss Prewitt. And, if I may say, there is a simply magnificent aroma in your home. Is that, by any chance, the meal we will be sharing?"

"It is, indeed," Molly said with a large smile. Apparently she's more susceptible to my father's charms than mine…or else she's just faking it to be polite. I took a moment to run my eyes over her ridiculously cute silk dress robe – she'd obviously dressed to impress, which I found a little odd, but, hey, this will be the first official meeting between the heads of our two families, so I can't blame her. "My brothers are already in the dining room; you are welcome to join them there."

"Fantastic!" my father beamed. I could sense he was truly in a very good mood.

"Peter, if you could show him the way, I'll resume assisting Tessa with her preparations upstairs," Molly said, turning to me. As always, I felt my face heat up at the eye contact.

"Certainly," I said with a slight nod.

After she smiled and excused herself, I casted a Muffliato and leaned in to my father. "Father, I would advise you not to mention the Dark Lord around them…Gideon and Fabian are aurors, you understand."

My father turned his head up slightly. "I do think I understand a thing or two about courteous discussion topics, and even more so about the Prewitts' stance on those matters, thank you very much. I certainly would never need any advice from the likes of you."

I raised my hands in a gesture of pacifism. "There's no harm in reminding you, is there? I'm just trying to help things go smoothly however I can."

He sneered and continued to refuse to look at me. "How you can help most, 'son,' is by sitting down, not talking, and doing as you're told. I can see why you need my help in planning your extraction from the marriage contract if this is the extent of your capacity for cunning."

Thanks, father, for the continued vote of confidence. "I'm not claiming to have any expertise in this sort of thing whatsoever; however, I'd like to remind you that it was you and mother who got us into this mess in the first place. Your capacity for cunning seems somewhat limite…"

SMACK! My father backhanded me midsentence, causing me to bite through my tongue. "Show some respect, boy. You realize, don't you, that it was your fault that we had so little to work with? This is the customary age for our family to set up these contracts, and despite being aware of this, you did nothing in school to make yourself more marketable." We glared at each other, in full knowledge that we couldn't exactly break into a duel at the moment. My father took a deep breath and continued, "However, as we've briefly discussed, you have done well to maneuver yourself into this Ancient and Noble House's good graces. And that Molly…is a truly fine specimen of a woman."

I chuckled, swallowing the blood oozing from my tongue. "Tell me about it."

"Have you fucked her?" he said, arching an eyebrow.

I stammered, shocked that he was speaking so bluntly. "I-I, um…I'm working on getting closer to her, I…"

He rolled his eyes. "I thought not. I saw no affection for you in her eyes." He sighed. "Damn this accursed Pettigrew luck that my son would inherit absolutely none of my charm with the opposite gender." He looked at me again. "If you can kill a murderer as flawlessly as you did this week, then surely you can seduce a mere woman, can you not?"

I sighed. "Like you just said quite accurately, I am beyond useless when it comes to the art of seduction."

"You guileless fool," he growled. "If you do not move quickly, you will certainly lose your opportunity with her. Beautiful women give allow themselves just a very brief window of time of consideration before concluding whether a suitor would make either an acceptable mate or a mere friend, if that. You may well have already missed your chance with this one."

"That is a possibility, unfortunately," I said. "However, I believe that more candidates will come about as a result of my demonstration at the Festival last week."

"I'll grant you that," my father said, nodding. "Although typically only Gryffindor witches find great power sexually attractive. You'll want a proper Pureblood Slytherin female, one who values cunning and intelligence above all else, not some moronically headstrong wench from your House. Gryffindor women have the least success in politics, as I'm sure you're aware."

"Funny you should say that; both the Prewitt girls are Gryffindors, you see."

"Indeed? They must be the exception," my father said, stroking his goatee. "And how are you progressing with the younger female?"

"I'd say that I've made at least some progress with her," I said, though I didn't want to get his hopes up about Tessa, as the unhinged girl wasn't exactly politically viable in any way save for her family ties.

"We'll see. At any rate, we've kept them waiting long enough, don't you think?"

"I agree," I said, nodding and leading him through the kitchen and into the dining room, rubbing my stinging cheek.

The Prewitt brothers rose from the food-adorned oak table to greet us. "Welcome to the historic home of the Prewitt family, Lord Pettigrew," Gideon said, gesturing widely as he spoke.

"Father, this is Gideon Prewitt, the current Head of the Prewitt family and a seat holder of the Wizengamot, and his brother Fabian. Gideon, this, as you've guessed, is my good father, Victor Pettigrew."

"I thank you for the clumsy, needless introduction, son." my father sneered to me succinctly. "We are both very much aware of each other due to our interactions at the Ministry." He bowed his head to the brothers. "It is a great honor to be invited here, Milords."

"May the boon of our alliance enrich both our houses," Gideon declared.

"Feel free to take a seat," Fabian invited, so my father and I sat down before the freshly prepared ham dinner and its various mind-numbingly delicious sides. "Molly has graciously lent us the offer to begin dining without her and our cousin Tessa, now that you've arrived, of course."

"It would be my pleasure," I said with a grin, but my father interrupted my arm's reach with his palm.

"We wouldn't dream of dining outside the presence of the culinary artist behind this impressive feast!" he informed them.

"Please, Lord Pettigrew, I insist," Gideon requested, a very slight hint of desperation on his face. I knew how much trouble he'd been having holding himself back all this time.

I looked at my dad with slight exasperation. Do you really intend to irritate the Lord Prewitt? I asked him through Legilimency.

We will score points with the Prewitt ladies if we wait for them, you brainless goat! He admonished me. I grimaced at hearing him say the phrase "score points." As if a woman Molly's age would ever spring for him!

I'm fairly certain that offending the Lord is much more serious than offending the lady in this case, I thought to him with a glare.

You gluttonous pig, he thought back derisively after a moment. "Very well; it would be our distinct pleasure to dine with you gentlemen."

Gideon and I grinned before heaping generous helpings of delicious food glazed with brown sugar onto our plates.

As my father waited patiently, he said, "Forgive me, but I was not aware that the two of you were twins. That does not seem to be a well-circulated fact in our world, so I wonder – is that done on purpose?"

"But of course," Fabian said smoothly. "Very often, I'll secretly attend the Wizengamot in my brother's stead. It just so happens that I have more of a flair for politics, you see, while he's the superior duelist."

Gideon nodded. "Due to this fact, I make most of our outdoor public appearances as Lord Prewitt – that way, if an assassination attempt ever occurred for any reason, I'd be better able to defend myself."

"Fascinating," my father mused. "It is unfortunate that the social climate is so heated that safety measures such as these are required. I'm certain that another reason you are secretive about this is due to the Dark Lord's stance on twins?"

I gave my father a blatant warning glare, but Fabian continued, unoffended. "Naturally. His belief that us twins are in some way a blemish on Wizarding Society is, while completely preposterous, unfortunately shared by many in the Wizengamot. It's a shame that wizards as a whole are so uneducated in matters of simple biology."

"It certainly is a pity," my father said, pursing his lips. He was doing a fine job at playing a moderate. "Our society seems increasingly quick to judge anyone these days. It's a sign of our exacerbated uncertainty in ourselves that many of us seek value and fulfillment in hate and slaughter for wholly unimportant differences."

"War is upon us," Gideon said, setting down his goblet. "The Ministry will not yet admit it, but there is no other feasible end to these developments. As always, the historical Dark Lord cycle has swung back around to its titular climax."

I noticed my father frown, his faith in Voldemort at risk of coming to the surface, so I quickly spoke up to take control of the conversation – I did want it to continue, now that my interest was sufficiently peaked, but I had to make sure to talk over my father, just in case. "I've heard tell that this guy is the most powerful Dark Lord in generations – as aurors, do you know if there's any truth to this?"

Gideon nodded gravely. "I haven't yet encountered him, but all reports indicate that the sheer power he commands is utterly unstoppable. He vaporized an entire city in Ireland instantaneously just last month. A clear threat, that, just to get us shaking in our boots."

"No one has even once managed to block one of his spells in combat," Fabian said with a frown. "We're fortunate that he's such a careful Slytherin that he hasn't already rampaged through and leveled England to the ground."

"Why is he biding his time, do you think? He hasn't issued any demands, has he?" I asked after swallowing a mouthful of friggin' orgasmic casserole.

Gideon looked at Fabian before answering, "He hasn't made any official demands, and likely never will. Any demands that mean anything, at least. Even if we locked up every Mudblood male in workcamps and sold every female into slavery, he would still keep fighting."

I blinked at his use of the racial slur, but kept listening in interest. Apparently he didn't have any particular fondness for the massive British population of Muggleborns. Perhaps he'd get along better with my father than I had first anticipated.

"He's not one of the more noble Dark Lords in history, that's for sure," Gideon continued, "He only cares about conquering and ruling."

"Then why hasn't he? Conquered and ruled, I mean," I asked. "If that's his only goal, what's the point of being so ludicrously careful when he could just waltz anywhere in the world and claim it for himself with barely any effort?"

"Two main reasons," Fabian said. "At least as far as I can tell. The Dark Lord values all magical blood, and doesn't wish to cause undue death, even to Mudbloods, despite his intense hatred for them. He knows that their genes are necessary for the Wizarding World to keep the bloodlines alive and healthy. Reports indicate that he would prefer throwing them all in sex camps, as Gideon alluded to. The other is that, if the Dark Lord makes too big of a stance, he fears that Dumbledore will finally get involved and destroy him."

"So…fear of Dumbledore is really the only reason our society hasn't been corrupted into a slavery state?" I asked, stroking the peach fuzz on my chin. "So, in a way, perhaps it's good that Dumbledore hasn't gone into battle yet, as the unspoken threat must be doing wonders in slowing down the Dark Lord. We wouldn't want to risk the Headmaster possibly falling in battle at this stage in the conflict, either."

"Indeed," Fabian said. "But it's clear that we must begin planning additional methods by which we can fell the Dark Lord, seeing as we can't rely on Dumbledore to take the offensive, as it seems these days."

"SO!" My father said abruptly, having apparently finally reached his limit on Dark Lord villainizing for the day. "Why don't we discuss something less grave and more befitting this bountiful feast? Such as our plans for usurping this marriage contract, for instance."

Fabian smiled graciously. "Very well. We don't anticipate it being too extremely difficult, despite the stubbornness indicated in Lord Carrow's response. We have several ploys for Peter and Tessa to make use of in this meeting, including one which calls for Peter to summon the rest of our family with the brooch I lent him."

I held up said brooch for my dad to see.

"I see. Sounds promising. And I imagine you selected Tessa to accompany him due to the similarity of their ages? A hypothetical marriage between the two would seem more likely, given that fact."

"It is as you say, Lord Pettigrew," Fabian continued. "However, in return for our assistance with ridding your son of this contract he's trapped in, I'd like to make a proposal. You do not have to accept, naturally, since, because we are now allies, we'd lend our aid to Peter and your family at no price."

"Well, let's hear it," my father invited him.

"We'd like for Peter to make a Pact of Protection with Tessa. He would not in any way be expected to wed her or do anything of the sort with her, at any time. No, it would merely ensure that they would both feel an obligation to keep one another safe at all times."

"That sounds good to me," my father said, not even bothering to look at me for a response. I was excited to do this, anyway; if I was in a Pact of Protection with Tessa, there's NO way I'd ever kill her like I had in the prophetic visions!

I decided to add my input. "I have no issue with that arrangement; in fact, I'd be thrilled to be Tessa's protector. I wonder, though; is there any particular reason she needs one?"

"Peter," my father admonished softly.

"What? Is the simple premise of protecting one's family member not reason enough?" Fabian asked with a wry smile. "You are correct in your assumption that there's more to it, however. Tessa has…accumulated a number of enemies who wish her nothing but pain and suffering in life. Some may even attempt to kill her at some point. Our family…Gideon, Molly, and I, that is…have judged you worthy and capable of keeping her safe from nefarious plots." Gideon nodded in agreement.

I wondered if these grudges against her had anything to do with Tessa's history of violent behavior that Molly told me about. I didn't mind, though – I liked Tessa, past crimes and all, and I couldn't imagine myself ever wanting to see her hurt.

"I have no issue with your proposal," I said, bowing my head.

"Good! Now then…ah! Here's the lady of the hour!" Gideon said as we all rose to greet the lovely Prewitt girls. Indeed, though Tessa's usually far from attractive, she looked nothing short of radiant and desirable as she descended the steps in a tight strapless silk gown of deep green. I'm not sure what Molly did to her, exactly, but her skin actually looked…healthy, miraculously! And her hair looked clean and, dare I say it, sexy, as it cascaded gently and silkily over her desirable, bared shoulders.

Oh, and her breasts were jiggling quite a bit as she walked, too, which is always a nice plus.

Molly was also SELLING it in a HOT violet cocktail dress, with a shockingly plunging neckline. And I'll just leave it at that so I don't ejaculate. These are new pants, after all.

I assumed that Molly was already dressed up for the public appearance her and I were planning to make that afternoon in Diagon Alley.

Tessa soon noticed my eyes roving her body and made a face of disgust…I suppose I should have tried a tiny bit harder to conceal my ogling.

Molly walked Tessa over to my father. "This is the esteemed Lord Victor Pettigrew, our guest for today," she informed Tessa. "Lord Pettigrew, this is my cousin Tessa Prewitt, who has been living in our family home for two years now."

"It is a deep pleasure and an honour to make your acquaintance, Miss Prewitt," my father said, taking Tessa's skeletal wrist to his lips, causing her to flush a deep red. "I look forward to getting to know you."

Tessa cleared her throat. "I-it's a privilege to meet you too, Lord Pettigrew…er, um…how do you like your women?" she asked with heavy-lidded eyes.

My father's jaw dropped, though he quickly tried to regain his footing. "N-n-now, see here…"

"Oh, whoops! Did I say women? I meant our house! HAH! How do you like our house? Sorry, I get those two words mixed up sometimes," she said with a broad smile, rocking back and forth on her feet.

"I-it's very lovely," he said, continuing in a lower voice. "Much like yourself, young lady."

Tessa merely raised her eyebrows in surprised amusement, while Fabian and I gaped, Gideon frowned, and Molly shouted, "She's fourteen!"

My father merely chuckled. "I didn't mean it flirtatiously, I was just pointing out a simple point."

"Indeed? Well, you're not a bad sight yourself, stranger." She then pointed to her breasts, and the Prewitts and I groaned in anticipation of what might follow. "What do you think of my titties today? Be honest! I worked really hard on 'em." She snorted. "I just said hard-on. In case you missed that."

"Tessa!" Molly admonished her sharply. "Stop speaking immediately!"

"Uh, wh-wh-what did you just say?" My father gasped, looking at Tessa in shock. "Y-your…breasts…"

"Titties, I think, is the more respectful word," she claimed, chin raised haughtily.

"They're, um…they're…"

"You don't have to answer that, father," I said, striding forth and pulling Tessa away from him before something horrific happened. I didn't know what that would be, exactly, but I was certain that something truly scarring was on the cusp of occurring. "What the hell are you doing?" I whispered to her once we were a few feet away.

"Hey Pete!" she chirped. "It's not my fault. You didn't tell me your dad was so HOT! I wasn't prepared for so much rampant sexiness this early in the day, so I just started talking. I can't help myself when that happens! You know how it is, bitch!"

I looked over at my father and saw that he had indeed heard what she just said, as he was now standing straighter, with his chest puffed out just a bit more.

"I'm fairly certain I'm not the right person to consult for such things," I said exasperatedly. "But most magical adults, as you may well know, retain their youth for a long time. He's…older than he looks." I was careful to say it loud enough for him to overhear, and he glared at me furiously as a result. Which is weird, since he's obviously married. And since Tessa's fourteen. But whatever.

"Psssh, I don't care, as long as his butt's as tight as it is!" she beamed. "DAMN, I'd like to have me some of that!"

"Well," my father said, approaching us again. "She's got a bit of a rough manner of speaking…and behaving, hasn't she? But she does look lovely. I'm impressed." That's a shock! Although, if you take into account how much she was flirting with him, perhaps it's less of a shock that I'd have ordinarily wanted it to be.

Tessa gave him a slutty wink. "You have NO idea how rough I can be, baby."

"And I'm sure he doesn't want to find out, does he?" I looked at my dad meaningfully.

"Focus, Tessa, focus!" Fabian said. "Your, er…uniqueness…is showing."

"Oh, it is? Thanks for letting me know," she said, twisting around to inspect her arse. "Hey, you liar! This dress isn't THAT short."

Fabian groaned and looked at Gideon pleadingly.

"Listen, Tessa, we've got good news," Gideon began.

"Sweet. That's the best kind, in my opinion," she said, trotting back over to the table.

"Yes, well…in return for our assistance with the Carrow matter…"

"Call it the 'Carrow Crisis!' Alliteration is pretty god damned sexy, you have to admit," she informed my dad, who was just staring at her in amazement now.

Gideon kept at it. "…the Pettigrews have agreed to enter Peter into a Pact of Protection with you, ensuring your continued safety for the rest of your…"

"No," she said, abruptly turning stone-cold serious.

Gideon blinked. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

Tessa looked around nervously, her eyes falling on me. "I'm, um…better off without one of those, I think, if it's all the same to you."

"What insolence!" my father crowed. "Your family Lord has made a declaration! You can't seriously think to…"

"Shhh…Honey? You're cuter when you don't talk," Tessa informed him, placing her finger daintily on his lips. "Anyway, I outright refuse to be bonded with Peter for the rest of our lives. No offense, of course, mate," she said.

"How could I possibly NOT be offended?" I cried. "It's not like there's any romantic aspect to this! All it means is that I'll always strive to protect you from harm! And I WANT to always keep you safe, so what's your problem with me?"

"My problem is that you don't even know me!" she said with a frown. "Not yet, anyway. If you did, you wouldn't want to do this for me."

"I know enough to know that I never want harm to befall you," I said. Molly gave me an appreciative smile. "I just don't understand what issue you could possibly take with that!"

Her head fell, everyone in the room at rapt attention. "Peter, if you want to protect me, be my guest. You don't need a pact for that. It's not that part that I have an issue with."

"What, then?"

"It's the forever part. You'd always, always belong in my life from now on." She looked up, with glistening sparkles in her eyes. "That would be a nightmare for me."

I stared at her, feeling a mix of pain and rejection that I hadn't felt since Alice turned me down. "I-I-I…how can you even SAY something like that?"

"Sorry," she mouthed, looking at me sadly. She drew herself up, all eyes on her, and her expression relaxed into a more personable one. "I'm terribly sorry, everyone, but I'm afraid I must decline."

Grinding my teeth together, I closed my eyes and took deep, calming breaths. I couldn't let this get to me. Tessa has always been completely bizarre and, sometimes, really mean. This was no different. Just Tessa being Tessa. I wanted to press her about it later, but she'd probably just laugh it off and act like she hadn't said anything at all.

This sucks.

My father looked at Gideon incredulously. The Prewitt Lord sighed and said, "Tessa…you simply MUST pick someone to protect you. And if you won't trust any of the teachers, nor Peter, who will do?"

"No one," she said, looking sadly away. In a voice that only I could hear, she whispered in a depressed hush, "If someone wants to kill me, I deserve it."

A chill went down my spine as I realized what she said, but she just returned my questioning gaze with a look of blank innocence. Whatever was bothering her, she apparently didn't want to discuss it.

Fabian cleared his throat. "We'll speak of this later, Tessa, but for now, on to our plotting!"

I shook my head of all feelings of dejectedness in order to better focus on my goal.

An hour later, as we stood before the Prewitts' crackling fireplace, I felt Tessa's trembling hand slip into mine. Was she actually worried about this? That didn't seem like a typical response for her.

"Ready?" I asked her with a gentle smile. I didn't want to force her into doing this if she wasn't mentally prepared.

"Oh, yes. Probably," she said, sounding truly nervous.

"Don't worry, you don't need to say anything at all," I told her in an effort to reassure her. "I've got this covered. I just need you here with me." She gave a weak smile and nodded a couple times. She and I hadn't yet discussed her outright denial of my offer of lifelong friendship, and I didn't dare to when we had so much else going on. Things were certainly a bit more awkward between us than they had been, though.

"Tessa…" Molly said with concern from behind us.

"I'll be fine," she snapped back.

"Good luck, Pettigrew," Fabian said, strolling forward and handing me an urn of floo powder. "I am confident that we'll succeed, one way or another."

"You're damn right we will," I said with a cocky grin. I squeezed Tessa's sweaty hand. "Come on. Let's go get me single again."

She laughed nervously as she led me into the firepit. "Okay. Let's."

"Carrow Estate!" I declared, casting the powder downwards, the flames rising to painlessly consume our bodies.

After the familiarly slurping feeling, the two of us popped out in a dismally decorated stone chamber, her hand still tightly squeezing mine. I sincerely hoped Tessa's shaking wasn't as visible as it felt. I would have reassured her again, but Lord Aedipos Carrow was standing right before us, his slack, sallow face stretched into a grin of some kind. His eyes were noticeably circled by dark, blackened skin, a sure sign of lifelong Dark Magic usage. A very hesitant, emotional-looking Alecto Carrow stood behind him, her presence barely felt in the room at all. Both were dressed in elaborate fur robes, intended to impress and intimidate.

"You actually came," Aedipos observed. I tensed a bit, prepared to draw my wand if needed – his words could indicate a trap of some sort. "Welcome to the Carrow Estate, and your future home, young Pettigrew!"

I relaxed and slightly inclined my head. "I thank you for having me, Lord Carrow."

Aedipos clapped his hands, seemingly jubilant. "Fantastic! You look marvelous these days! And with your newfound impact on the world, our two families' intertwined future will be blessed, indeed. Come along now, I'll give you a tour of the premises."

He seems to think he's won already. I'd better set him straight.

Rather than following him as he beckoned, I wrapped my arm gently over Tessa's waist and announced, "Lord Carrow, I do believe you have yet to meet my companion."

"I believe you requested to bring an advisor along," Aedipos said, giving me a stolid smile. "So I merely assumed her identity based on that fact. Besides," he chuckled wryly. "I would never introduce myself to a woman in my own home."

Tessa's lips parted, a snappy retort likely already formed on her unhinged tongue. I squeezed her tiny waist tightly to halt her instinct.

"This is Tessa Prewitt - my intended bride, as a matter of fact," I said, and Tessa and I both raised our chins in defiance, as we'd practiced before.

The atmosphere in the room darkened considerably as both Carrows glared at Tessa, Aedipos's eyes looking quite extensively and critically at my friend's body. Neither Tessa nor I moved, not wanting to display any weakness or discomfort.

After quite a long, intense silence, Aedipos said with deeply sarcastic cheer, "Why don't we all take a seat? Tabby!"

A spotted house elf popped in, immediately cowering and verbally groveling. Aedipos ordered, "Prepare some tea for our guests."

"Y-yes, Great and Holy Lord Aedipos," Tabby gasped, popping away to gather the refreshments. I held out Tessa's chair for her and lowered her into it with my arm, as she clearly attempted to suppress the urge to giggle nervously.

Once we were all seated and the tea prepared, Aedipos sighed – an measured show of intentional weakness on his part. "Mister Pettigrew – may I call you Peter?" I nodded, and he continued. "Peter, I can't say that I did not expect you to attempt to pull something like this. It saddens me that we must go down this route."

I pursed my lips. "Indeed?" Oh, right, I was supposed to apologize for Amycus without showing any weakness. "Oh, yes, might I just reiterate that I dearly regret what happened between Amycus and I."

"What HAPPENED was that you smeared my brother's remains across an entire valley," Alecto cried. "You didn't just murder him – you LIQUIFIED him."

"Aaaannd here we go," Tessa whispered to me.

"SILENCE!" Aedipos screamed in deranged anger as he brandished his wand against his daughter, Alecto flinching away. "You pathetic wench! Can you do nothing correctly?!" He turned to me, smirking a bit. "Once you wed my Alecto, you'll have to make her suffer till she learns her place. She's a stubborn cow, after all." He cocked his head as he considered. "Might you like to do the honors now? She does seem to be in dire need of punishment."

Damn…well…there goes my plan of threatening to mistreat her if I have to marry her. Apparently he wouldn't care at all if I beat her daily.

I shook my head. "Let's get back on topic, for the moment."

Aedipos sneered. "You're still mentally weak, I see. Can't stomach a little everyday torture?"

I raised my eyebrow. I might as well share my prepared remarks, just to see if I can shake him. "Rest assured that, should I marry Alecto, I would give her more pain than you could possibly comprehend. Ever heard of the Transmogrifian Curse?" His face paled intensely – which surprised me. I'd seen the Dark Lord use the curse in my visions, on James – perhaps Aedipos had some exposure to it? I wouldn't ordinarily expect a Dark Wizard to have such a fearful reaction to a curse name. "I have a deep knowledge of a full variety of deliciously painful dark curses. I'd break every bone in each of her fingers, one by one. I'd rip out her teeth and force them down her throat. I'd slowly slice out every square inch of skin on her scalp, one square at a time. Oh, I'd make her suffer…Your daughter will beg for me to finish her off like I did her brother by the time I'm done with her." I grinned wickedly. "You know I have the stomach and power for anything. And I WILL abuse your daughter, Lord Carrow, you have my word on that."

Alecto gaped at me, shivering visibly. Carrow had recovered from his shock and was now giving me a frigid smile.

"Is that so? I do believe you're bluffing. You won't even harm her now, after she just insulted you! You don't have the stomach for it."

I turned to Tessa. "I do think she'd look fantastic with no skin on her face, don't you?"

"Oh, yes, Peter," she gasped demurely. "I should think I'd like to see it! Especially since she's so pudgy! I'm especially fond of that. All that fat oozing sensually out with no skin to contain it? And you know how I love cutting into nose cartilage. Oh, and sticking my tongue in empty eye sockets? That really makes me filthy wet." She slowly ran her hand down from her chest to her crotch, her eyes on Alecto. "All while she's still alive, of course. I'm not into that necrophilia stuff – that's just messed up. Oh, and you don't mind if I take pictures, do you? So I can enjoy them later, naturally. I wouldn't DREAM of releasing them to the press…" as she said this last part, she threw a predatory look at Aedipos, who did gulp this time.

There was a long moment of silence. I threw my arm around Tessa's shaking, bare shoulders, hugging her for a job well done. She leaned into it in response, making me smile.

"You, er…Quite a catch you've found here, with this girl," Aedipos said after a moment. Apparently he chose not to acknowledge our disturbing threats. "She does her family proud. You do realize, however, that you are free to entertain as many concubines as you desire? My Alecto is fine with sharing. Isn't she?" He said, grinning at her ferally.

The now-very-pale Alecto hurriedly nodded.

"So there's no reason at all to sever the ties between our families just because your heart belongs to this lovely young lady."

"Unfortunately for you, Tessa is not the only reason that I do not wish to wed Alecto," I explained, moving on to another tactic Fabian had explained. "You see, I find myself quite offended by what occurred on Yule – your son insulted my family and I extensively, you see, which resulted in his untimely death. You do realize that I cannot, in good conscience, bind with a family that clearly shows so little regard for my own."

Aedipos's lip curled. "Your family is nearly impossible to regard well, Pettigrew. You should be grateful for us even considering you – no other families would!"

I placed my hand on Tessa's – she gave me an attractive smile. "Her family did. My parents were merely too intimidated to approach them, before. And YOU should be abhorred that I murdered your sole heir and the future carrier of your family name."

"New heirs can be produced, as I said before," he said, waving me off. "Amycus was a failure in all regards, anyway."

"No disagreement there," I said darkly. "But the Carrow genes are waning, and have been for quite some time." I raised an eyebrow. "The Pettigrew genes, however, seem to be on the rise, recently. I want my children to excel, not to return to YOUR mucky, pathetic level."

"You DARE insult me in my own home?" Aedipos blustered, standing straight up, wand in hand.

"Yes. Yes I do." I said, calmly sipping my tea. Tessa tensed up, ready to fight.

Lord Carrow waved his wand, conjuring two enormous axes that flew towards my seated form. I lazily transfigured my chair into a tall, steel throne, whose support was quickly toppled as the axes cleaved cleanly through the metal with an ear-piercing sound. Tessa immediately bombarded Carrow with some jinxes, but was forced to take on Alecto when the Carrow girl tried to hit her with a Reductor Curse.

Carrow summoned spikes from the ceiling as he brought the spinning steel axes around for another go. I dove from the crumbling throne, the spikes from the ceiling just barely slicing my scalp, and shot a Blasting Charm at him.

He blocked it with a summoned wardrobe. "HAH! Is that all you've…" I interrupted him with an Incarcerous, the chains whipping around his person, completely constraining his wand arms. "Verdimillious!" I cast, electrocuting him thoroughly as punishment for attacking me. I grinned with pleasure as I saw him squeal and his skin blacken as it fried.

Alecto, her clothes now quite shredded, stumbled forward, raising her arm to me. "Cruc-" but Tessa hit her with a seemingly effortless Jelly-Brain Jinx. Alecto stopped in mid-cast, wand falling uselessly from her fingertips before she flopped to the floor, foam spewing from her mouth as she bounced.

"NICE!" I complimented Tessa. "I didn't know you could do that!" My companion's gown was also fairly ripped up, though I tried my best not to look at her now-exposed midriff and hips (and, notably, her thong).

"It's one of my specialties," Tessa said with a wink.

"Okay, Carrow, let me be perfectly clear," I said, forgetting about Tessa's choice of undergarments, walking casually over to him, and suspending him from the ceiling with a few more chains. "I do not believe you want me to kill you. Now, don't get me wrong' I would not at all mind seeing you dead, and I don't care overmuch about the spilling of pure blood, as I demonstrated with your son."

He was mumbling quite a bit now, so I freed his lips from the chains that were gagging him. "You don't want to kill me, Pettigrew – if you do, I-I'd never be able to cancel the marriage contract! You'd be locked in it! Wh-what are you doing?" he demanded when Tessa walked up and pushed his dangling body, causing him to swing back and forth.

She chuckled. "He looks just like a testicle!"

I laughed as well, kicking Carrow in the chest. "He does, doesn't he? Well spotted, my love!" She quickly hushed up and blushed deeply, despite the fact that I was only saying it to keep our cover…I hope she realizes that.

I continued speaking to Carrow. "If you die, the contract will indeed be locked in place…but only until I've killed all other Carrows in existence." I grinned. "There aren't too many of you alive, are there? Shouldn't be too hard to track down."

"Y-you wouldn't…you couldn't ever get away with that! Both the ministry and the Dark Lord would hunt you down if you set out to murder my entire family."

I cleared my throat. "The ministry wouldn't. The Prewitt brothers are aurors, you see, so I believe they'd cover for my massacre of your family quite capably. They've already assured me of that, in fact. And I highly doubt the Dark Lord will lift a finger against me for it – he doesn't seem to have cared at all that your son died, after all. If anything, I'm certain he'll be interested in acquiring my…services, once your family's exterminated."

Alecto squirmed around on the floor, singing through the froth of her mouth, "I can't feel my toes…and I can't feel my BRAIN! And I want to have a pet pumpkin and its name izzz…izzzz…JOSEPH!"

"You're all talk." Aedipos said to me, somehow ignoring his daughter. "I can see it in your eyes. And you're a bloody Gryffindor! You don't have what it takes to do as you claim," he growled, still swinging back and forth.

How much convincing does this asshole NEED?! "If that's what you think, then you're dumber than you look. Alright – let's calm down and think this through logically, shall we?" I said, placing a hand on his chain-wrapped body to stop his swinging. "The reason you want me to marry your lovely daughter is to secure your family's future and reputation, is it not?" He didn't respond, so I screamed, spit flying from my mouth, "I said, IS IT NOT?!" After he finally nodded, I sighed pleasantly. "Good. Now, if you continue forcing your daughter down this path, I daresay that precisely the opposite will happen. Your family's reputation and future will be cut off very abruptly after I'm through with her." I leaned down and stuck my face right into his. "Aedipos – I will kill your daughter if I marry her. You have my word."

He spat in my face. I could feel my face contort in rage, but I stopped myself from destroying him. "You wouldn't kill her, Pettigrew. The Ministry would have you thrown into Azkaban immediately for executing your own wife!"

"Like I said before, you extremely stupid person – I've got aurors in my pocket. I'll be QUITE safe and QUITE able to frame her death on someone else. Now, all this can be avoided, my friend – all of it! As long as you revoke the contract."

"I'd die first," he said, trying and failing to look dignified. "I won't betray my family honor."

I looked at him exasperatedly. "Carrow – I'll kill EVERYONE! What good is your family honor at that point?"

He grumbled something else.

"Do you want that to be your great contribution to the Carrow dynasty?! That you singlehandedly brought about its end because your honor felt threatened by a 15 year old? If you do not stop the contract, that WILL be your legacy. You will be a failure in the eyes of every Carrow in history. Centuries of history, of magical genes cut off. By you. Is that what you want? I told you, I don't mind destroying all of you. It's no sweat off my back, and it won't weigh on my conscience. But it WILL weigh heavily on yours."

I pointed my wand to his mindfucked daughter, who observed, "Pretty boy's pointing a…(snicker)…a STICK in my face, FATHER! WHYYYYYYY'S he doing that? The people keep on…moving, but the train's already GONE! I don't even know your name, JOSEPH!"

"I will start with her," I said. "I know over twenty-five ways to kill through magic. I do believe I'll use a different method for each family member. It should be quite entertaining."

Aedipos looked between the two of us, his expression faltering.

"So what'll it be?"

He sighed, the tension leaving his body. "…I'll…I'll do it. But this won't be the end of this, Pettigrew! You'll regret ever coming here!"

I produced the marriage contract from my pocket and cancelled his Incarcerous, gently levitating him safely to his feet. "Just cancel the thing."

Moving very sedately, he placed his wand to the parchment and spoke an incantation, removing his name from the binding agreement. Tessa and I looked at each other victoriously.

"Thank you, Lord Carrow. It's been a pleasure doing business with you," I said sarcastically. "Obliviate!"

I gave him a very thorough memory wipe which lasted several minutes, erasing everything pertaining to the contract since his initial meeting with my parents.

I stepped back and smiled in satisfaction at the blank look on his face.

"Wha? What's going on? Who are you?" he demanded in confusion.

"Calm down, sir, you just had a fainting spell. I think you should sit down."

I guided him over to his couch, while Alecto decided that this was the best time to confess, "I had a dream, that, you know, like…I used to be a wombat, Peter!"

"I'm very happy for you," I told her, wiping some of the foam from her lips as she cackled in pleasure. I quickly wiped my fingers off on the couch in disgust.

"I love you," she burped to me, barreling forwards, arms widespread. In terror, I quickly sidestepped her, causing her to miss me, stumble, and impact her head on the corner of the coffee table, drawing blood. "Owie…I don't know…what just…GEH! I can't see ANYTHING!" She wailed in sobbing terror. I put her under a Silencing Charm at that point.

"Sir," Tessa said to Aedipos in a soothing voice, "Before you passed out, the Pettigrews were here. You don't want to marry your precious daughter off to their disgusting family, do you?"

"No!" he spat. "F-fucking Pettigrews. I hate them."

"That's right," she said, caressing the side of his face. "Those fucking Pettigrews are good-for-nothing goat rapists, aren't they?"

I gave her a slightly annoyed look that she returned with a haughty smirk, but I felt generally pleased with our success.

We repaired all the damage to the room (but not its occupants) before flooing back to the Prewitt Overlook.

"That was brilliant, Peter!" Tessa sang as soon as we arrived, ensnaring me in a surprisingly tight hug. "You did great!"

"As did you! I'm glad I had you there to back me up," I said, squeezing her tightly in return and resisting the impulse to grab and squeeze her shapely behind. Apparently due to the hug, she let out a slight hiss, contorting her body against mine in seeming pleasure. I was instantly aroused, despite my efforts to keep a clear head.

She laughed nervously and wiggled away from me, her hands conspicuously covering her crotch. "Um…I would like to help you again sometime, if you ever need me."

"For sure," I said with a blush, raising an eyebrow at her odd behavior. "I'll always accept your help, Tessa – you're one of the few people I trust."

She snickered for some reason. "Th-thanks, Peter. Er, um, shall we…go and let the others know how we did?"

"Naturally, naturally," I said, following her to the kitchen. What the hell was wrong with her now? At first, she was jubilant, then she was aroused, and now she seems like she's trying to avoid me. And at lunch she acted like she HATED me. She's one fuck of a puzzle.

"H-hey, wait…" I stopped her before we reached the others. "Er…which one of us IS more attractive, me or my dad?"

Her eyes widened a moment before she laughed. "Oh, that bothered you, did it?" she giggled and walked away, leaving me without an answer, to my great annoyance.

We spent the rest of the morning regaling our adventures to the Prewitts and my father, to their congratulatory excitement. That was the first time I'd ever seen my father actually proud of me.

A/N: And that's one story arc wrapped up! Or so we think! :D But that's not all! Two more thrilling updates await, esteemed reader!

I know I'm abnormal for updating several chapters at once, but I'd be completely ecstatic to receive reviews for each of my chapters, rather than just the last one. I'm always very curious to hear what you think of all my work, whether good or bad. Any feedback is much appreciated, and taken into serious consideration.

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