Chapter 32: An Eventful Ride
Thanks for all the reviews.
This one popped out of nowhere. I didn't plan on doing what happened, it just wrote itself. I admit most of my chapters do that to an extent, but I usually have an idea of what I'm going to write when I sit down. Not this one, Ron came in and BAM, it started writing itself.
It's a short one.
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Harry and Neville were chatting when the door was opened by one of the redheaded boys. The youngest by the looks of it. He was kind of scruffy looking and had dirt on his nose. There was an air of unsureness about him. like someone who got teased a lot. Harry felt a little bad for him, thinking he might get picked on by his older brothers. that thought was confirmed by the boy's opening statement.
"Hello, can I sit here? My brothers are being prats," the boy asked, looking at the empty seats hopefully.
"Sure, Ron," Neville said, waving for the boy to take a seat. "Meet my friend Harry Potter," he added, indicating Harry, who waved to the kid.
"Are you related to Ivy Potter?" Ron asked, putting his worn trunk in the overhead space. He took the seat indicated and looked at Harry as if to see if there was any resemblance to the girl hero. They did have the same eyes, but that was it.
"Distant cousin," Harry said, telling the cover story. "I've met her once or twice," he offered, knowing it was going to make the boy ask questions, but they planned it that way. The whole point of the cover story was to unravel the myth of the Girl-Who-Lived. Ivy wanted to make others understand that she was just a kid. Sure, she was a rich, spoiled kid, but she was just a kid.
"Really? What's she like? Does she really live in a castle?" came the inevitable questions. Those books, while finally being taken off the shelves, had done their damage. Tony had gotten Waters to sue the author and publishers, but they had been published for over seven years. They couldn't recall them, and they were being sold on the black market. They were sold for a mint. The myths were expounded upon with each telling.
"Yes, really. She's an adorable little girl, who wouldn't hurt a fly. And no, she lives in a mansion in the USA," Harry said, without giving too much away. The United States was a big place, and chuck full of mansions.
"I heard she slew a dragon when she was five," Ron said, with a great deal of awe. His mother told those stories all the time. He grew up listening to the fairytales of the Girl-Who-Lived. He had always wanted to meet her. He had sent her a letter, at his father's request, and got one in return. He never got up the nerve to try again, but he treasured the one he got. It hung on the wall next to his signed Chudley Cannons poster.
"I don't think she'd do that. She's not a violent person. She might sit and have tea with one," Harry said, chuckling at the picture of his twin cousin doing just that.
"Why would she do that? Dragons are dangerous creatures," the redhead said, scratching his nose. "My brother, Charlie, might join her though," he added with a laugh. There was a squeak from his pocket and a rat poked his nose out of it.
Star glared at the rat and hissed. Her hackles rose and she stalked forward.
"Oi, you'd better keep your cat away from Scabbers," Ron said, protectively putting his hand over his rat. That cat was scary.
"That's no rat," Star said in Harry's mind, still glaring at the non-rat. "That's a man posing as a rat," she added, still hissing at the man.
"There's something wrong with your rat," Harry said, peering closely at it. "How old is it?" he asked, leaning back in his seat. He picked up his phone and called Sirius without waiting for an answer. He remembered the stories of how the man and his godmother were betrayed. "Sirius? Yeah, I'm putting you on video," he said into the phone when the man picked up.
A hologram of Sirius appeared over the phone, startling Ron. He looked tired, like he was awakened by the phone. Which he probably was, seeing there was an eight-hour difference in time. It was just after eleven on the train, so it was four in the morning where Sirius was.
"What's up, pup?" Sirius asked, looking around the compartment and seeing the two other boys.
"The redhead has a rat that seems off," Harry said, pointing to Ron. "Star doesn't like it," he offered as an explanation.
"Can I see your rat?" the dogman asked, trying not to sound eager. It would be a dream come true if it was Peter.
"Why?" the boy asked, looking ready to bolt. His hand was still held over his pocket and the rat was squirming to get free. This was getting creepy. Who gets barmy over a rat?
Star was poised to pounce. She had one foot in front of her and was rocking back and forth, getting her momentum up.
"Please," Sirius said, his tone soft and pleading.
"I guess," Ron said, taking the rat out of his pocket and showing it to the ghost of a man.
The rat bit Ron on the hand and jumped away. Star pounced on him and caught him by the scruff of the neck. Scabbers turned into Wormtail, but that didn't stop Star. Tentacles shot out of her mouth, and she held him prisoner. Wormtail shrieked and thrashed about, but he was held fast.
Ron was screaming bloody murder, while Harry was soundproofing the compartment. He didn't want them to be disturbed. If others came in, they might lose Peter in the shuffle. That and he was sure the man would not make it out alive. They didn't need witnesses for that. One they could silence, bribe, or talk down, more than that would be difficult.
Neville was watching everything with wide eyes.
"What do you want us to do with him?" Harry asked Sirius. It was up to him after all. This was his betrayer.
"I say kill the bastard," came a voice from the ceiling.
The three boys looked up, Ron still screaming. There, in the corner, was Deadpool.
"Wade? What are you doing here?" Harry asked, looking at the costumed man. The other two boys were confused as to why a grown man was in the compartment with them and why he was wearing what he was wearing.
"You didn't think I'd let you go off without saying goodbye, did you?" Deadpool asked, jumping down from the luggage rack. "Let's unalive this mother fucker and get on with the mushy stuff," he said, pulling his katanas.
"You can't kill him," Neville protested, holding up his hands. He didn't know what was going on, but he wasn't going to let them just kill the man without finding out why.
"This is the man who ratted out Ivy's parents to Voldemort," Harry said, pointing to the still wrapped in tentacles Pettigrew. "And then he killed thirteen muggles, then he framed Sirius for the whole thing."
"Oh, well, that's different. Can't your cat eat him? There'd be no body then," the other boy said, shrugging his shoulder. The rat was a murderer and a traitor. That was evil in his books. Maybe he could hire the cat to go to Azkaban and eat the Lestranges.
"What is going on!?" yelled Ron. He was confused and scared. He just wanted his brothers to come and make sense of what was happening. This was not the way he thought his first train ride was going to be.
He was supposed to make a few friends, eat some candy, play some games and that was it. Not meet a cat that shot tentacles out of its mouth or meet someone who wanted to kill his rat that was a man. It was just too much.
"Calm down," Harry said, turning on his cute factor, which seemed to help. Ron visibly relaxed but was still staring at Star and Deadpool with apprehension. "Star just captured a criminal and Deadpool is going to take him to the Aurors. Right, Deadpool?" he asked, giving the man a wink. He could care less what the man did to the traitor.
"Sure, that's what I'm going to do," Deadpool said, waving to Star to release the man. He grabbed Peter by the arm and jumped out the window with him. Star followed. Neville was right, there'd be no body if she ate the evidence. They came back a few minutes later. "The Aurors were right happy to see him," the man lied badly. You couldn't see his face, but his tone was just bad at lying.
Star sat next to Harry and curled up and went to sleep, her tummy full of Pettigrew.
"That was quick," Ron said, calming down a bit. If the man was a cop, then it was better that Scabbers was gone. He was kinda creeped out that his rat was a man, but better to know now.
"They were waiting at the station," Wade said, still badly fibbing. He really preferred to tell the truth; it was much funnier. Still, these were kids.
"Right," Harry said, then he turned to Sirius, who was looking happy and contemplative. "All done," he said.
"Good. You, enjoy Hogwarts," Sirius said, and he hung up.
"What is that thing?" Ron asked, changing the subject.
So, Harry, Neville and Deadpool showed him what cellphones were and got his mind off the fact that Star was no normal cat, and his rat wasn't a rat. It took the better part of an hour, but Ron got the gist of it. Soon they were playing Exploding Snaps.
"What do I tell my brother about Scabbers?" Ron asked after a while. It had preyed on his mind this entire time. Percy loved that rat. He'd be gutted that it was gone. Did he tell his brother the truth? Would it be in the Prophet? Or would they cover it up? Would anyone believe him if they did cover it up? He didn't know.
"Tell him Star ate him," Harry said, shrugging his shoulders. "It could have happened," he added, looking at his Flerken. "I wouldn't talk about the tentacles though. No one will believe you," he warned.
"Neville saw it too," Ron said, turning to the other boy.
"Saw what?" Neville said, looking confused and innocent. There was no way he was turning on his best friend. As far as he was concerned nothing happened in this car that wasn't normal animal behavior.
"I see," Ron said, seeing where saying anything would get him. He'd keep their secret for now.
"Anyway," Deadpool said, looking to Harry. "Thanks for the fun ride. Do your homework, cause chaos, play pranks, and chase girls. There I've done my duty. I'm off," he said, and then jumped out the window again.
"Who was that bloke?" Ron asked, weirded out by the costumed man.
"An uncle of sorts," Harry said with a sigh. He loved Deadpool, he really did, but the man was trying.
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Sirius got off the phone with Harry and was ecstatic. Peter was dead. He had dreamed of this day for years. It had kept him going in Azkaban, that, and the fact that he was innocent. Ivy being alive helped, but the thoughts of Peter dead had been good ones that the dementors couldn't take away. Now it had happened.
Sure, it wasn't by his hand, but Deadpool was sure to have made it painful, and funny. That man was not one to just off a bloke with a gunshot to the head. There would have been quips and jeers. He was sad he missed it. He'd have to ask for the memory.
He had to find Remus. Who cared if it was four in the morning? This was news that needed to be shared. He turned into Padfoot and ran to his friend's room and jumped on the bed. He started licking the man's face until Remus smacked him off.
"Sirius, I hate it when you do that," the werewolf said, wiping his face off, getting up and checking the time. "Why are you waking me up at the butt crack of dawn?" he asked. He was ready to conjure a newspaper and start smacking the animagus. It wouldn't be the first time he would have had to do it. Sirius was a spontaneous man. He felt no guilt at waking people for the silliest reasons.
"Harry found Peter and Deadpool killed him," Sirius said, all but jumping in place. He looked like he had just won the lottery.
"What? How the hell did that come about?" Remus asked, sitting up straighter. He wanted to hear this story.
"I'm not completely sure, but one of the kids he met on the train had Wormtail as a pet. I think Star smelled him out," Sirius said, sitting on the bed trying to puzzle out what happened. It had to be pure dumb luck that Peter stumbled into the same compartment as Harry. Not to mention that the Flerken was there and identified that he was not a rat.
"Oh, I guess Potter luck bleeds over," Remus said, remembering all the times James got out of trouble at school through sheer luck. He then yawned. "I'm glad and all, but I need my beauty sleep." He then rolled over and went back to sleep. He'd celebrate it in the morning. He was a cranky werewolf without his eight hours.
"Prat," Sirius said, and he left the room. He forgave Remus for going back to sleep. He knew the man needed it. He had always been a deep sleeper. Even in school he had been the last to wake for class and the first to bed each night.
Sirius was too wired to sleep, even though he knew he had to teach Ivy and Gandr in the morning. He wandered around the mansion hoping to find something to do. He didn't want to watch the telly, that was boring. Everything was closed this time of the morning, so going for a ride was out. He went outside and watched the waves for a while and that calmed him down a bit.
His cell rang. It was Siriusly.
"Hello," he said, looking at her happy face. She must have talked to Harry.
"Well, it wasn't Petra, but at least you got closure," she said, wondering if her rat was hiding in the same place. She remembered the Weasleys from her reality, but they had six girls and one boy. She didn't think they'd let one of their girls have a pet rat. Maybe another wizarding family?
Deadpool had already told her his avenue of going to her reality was closed, so if she wanted to get there, she'd have to find her own way. She was working on it. There weren't any ways in the magical world, but there were in the Asgardian, and Loki had no problem helping her.
"Yeah," Sirius said, a grin splitting his face. He couldn't help but be happy. His mind was still going over images of what Deadpool might have done to the traitor.
"I'll have to give Deadpool a pressie," she said, thinking on what that psycho would want. He was a strange one. Maybe one of Tony's old guns. Then again, the man was weird enough that a pink tutu might be suitable. She could just see him wearing it with his suit to a dinner party. And she shuddered.
"I'll think of an appropriate gift," Sirius said, thinking along the same lines. Tony would know what Wade would like. He hoped. He wasn't picturing a tutu, thank Merlin, but there were some strange things going on in his head.
"Anyway, I wanted to say congratulations," Siri said, then she yawned. "I had an early morning. I'm going to grab some coffee and head out. You, enjoy your day," she said, and then hung up.
"Yeah," Sirius said, putting his phone away. He sat and listened to the waves some more.
Steve came out just then and looked at him. They didn't spend much time together. They didn't share a lot in common.
"Good morning," Captain America said, stretching for his run. He was wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top. Sirius had to admit the man was ripped.
"Headed out for your run?" Sirius asked, seeing the way he was dressed. He knew Steve ran every morning. He was the only one that did.
Clint and Natasha did their workouts at SHIELD headquarters since they got paid to do them there. It was part of their job to train the recruits, so they got their workouts that way.
Tony only worked out in his private gym with Happy. Bruce and Pepper didn't work out at all. The same with the Asgardians.
Ivy was trained with Natasha three times a week, and the other children joined her, if only to spend time with her. They didn't need the training.
Remus was a werewolf, so he only worked out when he needed to vent the wolf. And Sirius was a man of leisure. He shunned exercise.
"Yup, you can join me, if you want," Steve said, stretching some more. He expected Sirius to say no but decided to offer anyway. It was only polite.
Sirius thought about that for a moment and turned into Padfoot. He sat on his hunches and waited. His tail was wagging behind him in joy. It might do him some good to stretch his legs.
Steve laughed and nodded. "That'll work," he said and started running down the stairs to the beach. They ran on the beach for a good hour, and Sirius was seriously tired when they were done. Steve wasn't even winded.
"Thanks," Sirius said, when they were done. He was stretching with the man. Even he knew how important it was to work out the muscles after a run like that. "I needed to burn some energy," he added.
"No problem. You can join me any time," Steve said, taking a towel and rubbing the sweat off his face. He may not be winded, but it was hot even with the sun still down.
"I'll take you up on that from time to time," the dogman said, moving to go to breakfast, which he could smell. He was starved. He had never burned so many calories in one go in his life.
Everyone else was sitting at the table waiting for them. Steve excused himself to clean up, and Sirius did the same. Five minutes later, they were back and joined the table.
"So, I hear you had good news this morning," Tony said as he served himself some eggs. There were eggs, bacon, pancakes, and cereal with milk. There was also fruit for those that liked to eat a bit healthier. And, of course, Thor's Pop Tarts.
"Yup," Sirius said, and explained what happened on the train as best he could. There were many exclamations of surprise and shock.
"Good for you," many said, happy for the man. Thor's voice boomed in his congratulations. It was a cheery group of people who were eating breakfast, but for one person.
"Ugh, can we not," Pepper said, hating talking about murder during meals. Not that she was a Debbie Downer, she just didn't like it at the table. "I am happy for you, really, but…" she added, trying to explain it without coming across as a bitch.
"Sorry, it's just really good news to me," Sirius said, not completely sorry, but understanding it wasn't meal talk.
"Anyway, lessons start at nine," Remus said to Ivy and Gandr. He was still trying to wrap his brain around their time traveling the day. They would be gone for the day, and then sleep and sometime in the night would repeat the day. They would then wake as if they had just gone to bed once. It was mindboggling.
"Okay," they said as they continued their breakfast of cereal and fruit. They were more than prepared to face the day of learning regular lessons and wanded magic. Well, Gandr wasn't overly thrilled, but for Ivy he would.
"Let's hope your journey to the school room is less eventful than Harry's train ride was," Tony said with a laugh.
"Don't jinx us," Gandr said, seriously.