Chapter 63: Myrtle Warren
It was a fairly bright morning for a mid-September day. Although the leaves were beginning to become golden and slightly showing signs of reddish brown, the sun fought its hardest to give life to the country down below and, for today, was winning the battle, knowing full well that the war would end in the harsh winter weather's victory.
Severus and Lily had been very busy with Prefect duties, but never failed to make rendezvouses to meet for a time to either study, or to compare news of the day, or indeed to cuddle up together in the shadow of their tree by the lake.
They were also getting more and more swamped with homework, as the torturous OWLs grew nearer and nearer with every passing school day.
"Oh no!" cried Lily.
"What is it?" asked Severus, snapping out of his stupor in reading extremely tedious goblin-related notes.
"We've missed lunch! I need my five food groups if I'm to study efficiently!"
"I guess we'll just have to study to a sub-standard degree," smirked Severus.
"Don't piss around with me, Severus Tobias Prince!" snapped Lily. "These are the most important exams of our lives, for the next three excruciating years! We cannot afford to be sub-standard!"
Severus understood Lily's stress, but he couldn't help but hide a smirk of amusement.
"She's got you there, Severus," said a voice.
It was James Potter, arm in arm with Rebecca Castle.
"I don't see you two studying," retorted Severus, straining to keep bitterness from his ill-humour, "I imagine you two were frolicking in the bushes before Lily and I even got here!"
"Ugh, in your daydreams, Prince," said Rebecca, "we're not That careless!"
"Although…" murmured James sultrily.
That earned him a slap in the face, knocking his glasses askew.
Severus hid another smirk, this one of approval. Rebecca was clearly a girl who could keep this version of James Potter in check and proverbially whip him into shape.
"Sorry, babe, sorry!" winced James, rubbing his cheek.
"Forgiven," she said simply before turning to Lily, "so you're hungry?"
"Yeah, I always go into meltdown if I miss a meal," admitted Lily.
"Just pop to the kitchens," replied her friend, "they'll give you all the food you need."
"You really do melt down in the face of hunger, Lils," teased Severus, "I was planning on waiting to see just how long it would take for logic to hit you until Castle mucked it up!"
"Sowwy," mocked Rebecca, "come on, James. I don't think we wanna see Lily's reaction to Prince's omission."
She was right.
Severus was lucky not to have a black eye as he followed Lily to the kitchens.
She tickled the pear and marched inside, still fiery-tempered.
The house elves were happy to oblige her desire for food, and after two corned beef sandwiches and a jug of orange juice, Lily underwent a transformation, back to her chirpy self.
"Better?" asked Severus.
"Better…sorry," she said meekly.
"Forgiven. Always."
Severus froze for a moment before hugging his love. He had just realized the irony in his words. He still had not forgiven Lily Potter yet. He knew he had to eventually, but he still wasn't sure if he could bear to face her again.
"You okay?" asked Lily nervously.
"No, nothing, just thinking of something my…dad said to me once."
"Oh, Sev…let's forget about that son of a banshee and get back to our studies. Fancy reading up on the Astronomy charts for this month?"
"Sure."
Elsewhere, in Heaven, Peter Pettigrew was still contemplating his own death as well as what he had learned of his counterpart from Severus' past life. Not to mention, Severus himself and the truth about him.
At least who you are right now made the right choices, said his friends in Heaven, including Severus' grandparents, both of whom said he was welcome to visit their paradise any time.
But aside from his father, the rest of his time in Heaven seemed lonely and he was desperate to find out whether or not he was destined to be alone in life AND death as his counterpart had been. Neither version had ever been popular or attractive next to their friends and were overlooked by all witches around.
Apparently, his counterpart's closest female partner was Marlene McKinnon (now Marlene Black) when she stopped dancing with Sirius during James and Lily's wedding to offer him a dance out of pity when spotting him clutching his wine glass alone at a table.
"Dad, do you think I have a chance with anybody?"
"Everyone's soulmate comes to them eventually, as long as they found salvation in Heaven. Your other self won't be obviously, but you…yes, I have every faith that there is someone out there for you."
Peter tried to distract himself from his doubts on the subject by keeping an eye on his friends back in his world. He sometimes wished he could be back with them and proving himself as a true friend and Gryffindor, but his sacrifice would have to suffice.
He also hoped that Severus would be able to bring himself to be the bigger person in his current feud with the Potters.
One day, he was expanding his horizons trying to navigate his way through the mysterious white trails to various Heaven locations, wondering if he could find any alternate versions of himself who were not in Hell, if any.
But as he did wander, he saw someone else in the distance, but it certainly wasn't another Peter Pettigrew.
It was a girl, around the age of fourteen or fifteen, around Peter's own age anyway. He was certain he had never seen her before, but felt compelled to see why he would encounter a stranger in Heaven, when all he had met so far were friends, family or relatives of his friends who wished to thank him for several reasons regarding their loved ones.
The girl herself approached him too, looking curious, if not a little sulky.
"Who are you?" she squeaked harshly.
"P-Peter Pettigrew, who are y-you?"
"Myrtle Warren," came the reply.
"Well, um…nice to meet you. Were you at Hogwarts?"
Because unlike her counterpart, in death, Moaning Myrtle went to Heaven from the second universe, and was no longer permanently contained to wearing her Hogwarts robes in which she died in. This version was wearing a radiant pink dress, doing her best to look beautiful, in hopes of finding the man of her dreams if and when he came to Heaven.
"Be patient, my darling," said her mother who had died of grief around two years after her daughter's death, "he will come. One day soon, he'll come."
"Yes, I was," sulked Myrtle coldly, "and it got me nowhere except bullied and killed."
"What happened to you?" asked Peter sympathetically.
Myrtle was surprised. Most people she sulked about her death to avoided her like the plague. To hear this stranger show genuine concern and compassion was not a common occurrence to her.
"I was…I was in a cubicle in the girl's bathroom on the second floor of the school. I hid there crying after Olive Hornby teased me for my glasses making me look ugly. But then I heard a boy come into the room, muttering something foreign or other, and I went out to tell him to leave the Girl's bathroom, but then I saw these horrible yellow eyes…and I died. I just seized up and hit the ground. The next thing I knew, I found myself here…waiting for a reunion with my family."
"Do you know how the boy, I assume, killed you just by looking at you?"
"It was explained to me by one of the spirits of my family long gone that I was killed by the future dictator of the Wizarding World, the Heir of Slytherin. He controlled this giant snake that kills with one glance into its victim's eyes. That boy turned out to become Lord Voldemort."
Peter gasped in shock. He was aware of the bathroom being a cursed place and avoided by all the female students. Apparently, the room was cursed because a student had died there, and they all feared being the next to perish in the Cursed Cubicle or something. He had no idea that the rumours held true in the form of this young lady, Myrtle Warren.
"How about you? You seem too young to have died a natural death," said Myrtle plainly.
"You're right. I was killed by the one you call…Voldemort's supporters. One of them was attacking my friends in the Hogsmeade village. I stood up to the guy doing it as he was one of my bullies before his graduation…but I was no match for him…"
"I'm sorry," said Myrtle sincerely, "did your friends die with you?"
"No, but another student elsewhere in the village died, and my friend, Severus, lost his grandfather in the battle too."
"That must been dreadful for all of you," said Myrtle, "but at least you died with your friends. I've never had friends to be there for me when I died. Hell, it was Olive Hornby who found my body. She was sorry she ever made fun of my glasses. She blamed herself for years. I forgave her in the end, she's my friend nowadays here in Heaven. But it's really a…"
She cut herself off, hiding a blush of embarrassment.
"A what?" asked Peter.
"A boy, well, man, I want to encounter," murmured Myrtle shyly, "I've imagined finding the man of my dreams even before I knew I was a witch. I was hooked on princesses being rescued by noble princes and knights and such like…"
Myrtle seemed to have her head in the clouds with her memories, quite literally.
"I've always hoped I'd be good enough for a girl or lady one day, but it never happened. Not in life anyway. I was in the shadow of my friends, who are far more handsome and popular. I mean, I got more respect after I stood up to the bully who ended up killing me, but I was still plain Peter compared to Handsome James, Flirty Sirius, Reasonable Remus and even Super genius Severus. I was hoping I'd grow into some looks by the time I was of age and out in the open world, but…"
"Me too," said Myrtle sympathetically.
She offered her hand in comfort.
Peter took it and almost instantly, a spark and aura fell upon them. They hadn't a clue what it was or whether it was important, but they would later come to realize that they had just been connected as soulmates.
It would take a little time for the penny to drop, but soon, Peter Pettigrew and Myrtle Warren would be a couple, and one day maybe, Myrtle may even become, albeit in death, Myrtle Pettigrew.
Meanwhile, Albus Dumbledore, formerly of Harry Potter's universe was observing Petunia Dursley and her husband closely from afar. He could see that Vernon was far more content in Heaven than his wife.
It was plain for Albus to see that the woman was still dwelling on her lost relationship with her sister and her everlasting hatred for magic. Not just Lily, but magic in general for not being a part of her and making her feel lesser than Lily all her life.
Albus knew full well that he had a lot to do with Petunia's hatred and bitterness. After all, kind as his intentions were, his letter to her rejecting her appeal to go to Hogwarts, was tactless. He should have known that a letter would show far less sympathy and regret than an individual audience with the person doing the rejecting would have done, especially in the eyes of an already uneasy pre-teenage girl, who felt inferior to her younger sister enough as it was, without learning she had the gift of magic, that she could never imagine in her wildest fantasies.
"I will find a way to unite you and Lily again, Petunia Dursley, deserved or not…it's all part of my own penance."
Albus acknowledged all of his faults in his quest for the Greater Good: his prejudiced ways with Grindelwald, his sins during the war against his ex-lover, the fates of all who perished in the wars against Voldemort, orchestrated by himself at times, and how he treated some people, such as Harry Potter, Severus Snape, Lily's sister and even his own sister.
He aimed to make it right by everybody in death, hence his appeal on Severus' behalf to the Higher Ones.
He had already made his peace with Grindelwald and Ariana. Severus was living his new life. His current quest was in helping heal the rift between Lily and Petunia which, oddly to him, seemed to be the most difficult challenge yet. He still didn't have much idea as to how he could accomplish this task.
But knowing himself, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, he would find a way. He was guessing that he could do this, and between himself and him, his guesses were usually proven correct.
A/N: I hope you have enjoyed this chapter, small as it is, but I can guarantee that the next chapter will be much bigger. This filler is to help find some closure for the two more weaker characters of the franchise.
In Chapter 64, Remus once again pries where he doesn't belong, but this time, it is Lily who gets a glimpse of Severus' truth!
Please read and review! Thanks to all!