It's the 20th of December and Edmund and his fellow Slytherin are setting in motion their last prank of the term to the Gryffondors . It implicates the help of two reluctant house elves and Hufflepuffs'
bribery since they're still the only one to know the kitchen's password. Edmund has been chosen to coordinate the whole thing and that's why he's currently on his way from the dungeons to the Great Hall. It's only bad luck he ends up tumbling on his elder brother at one point. The sudden impact knocks him to the ground.
"What are you doing there ?" he asks rather harshly as he proceeds to stand up.
"I'm patrolling, you idiot." Peter hisses through his teeth, his prefect insignia shinning on his chest. "What are you doing there ? It's way past curfew."
Edmund curses silently- how stupid he had been to forget his older brother's duty-, and grumbles, barely audible " S'not any of your business"
"Not my business ?" Peter repeats incredulously. His voice suddenly rises as he goes on. "It's thirty past eleven, you shouldn't even be outside your common room. And there you are, gallivanting around the castle, doing god knows what. Plotting one of your clever Slytherin's tricks, are you ? If you and your colleagues think for one moment you've been subtle these last months, then you're bloody wrong. I've been indulgent since you're my brother, but I can't let it go for ever and you know it."
"Don't play the family card Peter." Edmund cuts suddenly, his voice tight with anger. "I was banned the moment I was sorted in Slytherin, so don't be such a damn hypocrite and admit it for once."
"You've got no right to say that." protests his older brother, clutching his dress. "I've watched your back for ages, and been a lot more patient than I had any obligation to..."
"But you avoid me whenever you can, you barely speak to me here, or even at home- you cannot possibly think I didn't notice."
"It's because you changed !" bursts out Peter. His face is flushed and his next sentences are hurried, as if he wants this discussion to be over as soon as possible. "You're no longer the brother I used to know, haven't been in a while actually, and I'm pretty sure this has something to do with the house you're in. Don't you see ? They're turning you into a selfish, manipulative person who doesn't even acknowledge other people except when they can be of use to him."
Edmund scoffs at this and shakes slowly his head hearing that, because this is so much like Peter to say this sort of thing. To pretend his house is the only one to blame for the evolution of his character, as if he had been brainwashed the moment he joined the Slytherin.
"Do you realize how stupid you sound ?" he eventually answers, raising mockingly his eyebrows. "You seem to forget my flaws-or more exactly, what you dislike about me-are the precise reason I was sent there in the first place. You didn't want talk to me at the time either-I was already growing up to be someone you didn't want to be associated with. It's a bit pathetic you haven't got that yet."
Peter stares at him dumfounded, and so Edmund's able to say he didn't see it coming in the least- a further proof of his blatant lack of perspicacity. He doesn't let him the time to come back with a good retort and instead brushes past him in order to get back to his common room. Peter tries to grab his arm, but he shakes him away. The last thing he wants to hear is another elder Pevensie's tedious sermon.
"I'm not ashamed of the person I'm going to become, Peter." he whispers to him as he passes by. "And even if I was, you sure have your share in responsibility in it."
He doesn't hear Peter's answers as he walks away.
The next morning, the Slytherin's time turner has the same level of jewels it had last time, which meant Peter didn't report to any of the professors. His older brother ignores him as steadily as ever as their eyes meet over their respective table though.