Peter Pettigrew

Before he even has time to consider what to do the scene enfolds dramatically before them. There’s a flash of green light and by the sound of the screams he can tell that someone’s dead but he can’t tell who. Relief floods him as the blonde continues to stand, before running towards the figure and Sirius can’t help but think thank Merlin it wasn’t her. Then before she’s able to do much at all, she’s thrown halfway across the room, the hex contorting her body obvious and painful. It’s then that Sirius can see her face properly for the first time. “Peter, we can’t go. That was definitely Amelia and someone dead. He just killed someone, holy fuck holy fuck I don’t know what to do.”

The scream is enough to send a wave of paralyzing fear through Peter’s body. It’s like that scream was the off switch. He can’t move. He can barely think. He doesn’t see and it’s only because Sirius is right next to him that Peter hears his next words. His knuckles are bone white as he grips his wand. He’s scared too. So scared. “W-We...” He’s not the brave one. He’s never been the brave one. Sirius is the brave one. Not him. “I...” Glenda would want them to try. Would want him to try. “We grab Amelia and we run. We run and we don’t look back.” One last fleeting thought of Glenda and he’s darting towards Amelia, grabbing her arm and tugging her harshly down the hall. There’s another spell that shatters the stone wall next to Peter’s head, sending shards of stone everywhere. Something wet drips down but Peter ignores it. “RUN DAMMIT!”

Halfway stepping through the passage, Glenda turned to face him. It felt terribly wrong going through without him, leaving him there, and she felt a new wave of tears hit her as she thought about going through with it. “Please come with me,” she said again, voice low so as not to alert anyone of their presence. But his expression was enough to know that wouldn’t be the case, and so a moment later she shook her head. “Okay, just, please be safe. I love you,” Glenda whispered, before kissing him.

“I can’t.” Peter’s voice is barely a whisper as he reaches to cup Glenda’s face with his free hand, burying his fingers in her hair as she leans in and kisses him. He kisses her back  letting it last moments longer than it really should. He pulls away only when he thinks he can’t breathe any more. “I love you more.” He pulls his hand away. “Go. Quick. Before they find you.”

Sirius nodded, knowing that they should find their friends. “Where could they be? I think Mooney said something about the library and Prongs was going to be doing something with the rest of the prefects? They could be fucking anywhere.” He frowned, looking around again, nearly doing a double take when he spotted someone they definitely knew. “Oi – Peter, is that Amelia?” He gestured to what looked to be the back of their blonde friend in the middle of a duel with one of the masked figures.

“Damn. Damn. Damn. Okay. We know where Moony is for sure so we’ll have to go there first. Maybe we’ll find Prongs along the way...” He pauses to think for a moment and is pulled out of it by Sirius’s question. “I don’t know. But we should...we should at least help in case it is. That way we can send her to my mum’s place to be safe.”

“Okay,” she nodded, quiet. Hands digging into the fabric of his shirt when he pulled her closer. Glenda closed her eyes as the masked figures walked past, hoping that if she couldn’t see them, they couldn’t see her. Stepping out of their hiding spot when the coast was clear, the two of them continued on. 

He hugs her tightly, deeply afraid of losing her all of the sudden. It’s a world view altering moment for Peter, to know he’d d more than anything to keep her safe. The men in masks pass them and Peter pulls Glenda as silently around the corner as he can, coming to a stop next to the hump backed witch. “This will take you to Honeydukes.” He hurriedly does the spell to open the secret passageway. “When you get there apperate to my mum’s. I’ll bring the others soon, I promise.” e wipes at the tear tracks on her face with his thumb. “You’ll be safe there.”

Sirius looked between the door and the people still hiding and fighting and everywhere in between. “Okay, yeah, you’re right,” he nodded. “Let’s just finish getting them out, alright?” He gestured towards the first and second years cowering under the table. Doing the same as they’d done just a few minutes prior, Sirius threw up another shield charm as they ran towards the door. “What now?”

Oh thank Merlin’s beard Sirius was seeing sense. Although not as much as Peter was hoping. “Yeah. Yeah we can get these guys out...and any we find a long the way...but I think it’s best if we get more people. Can’t fight an army with the two of us.” If he keeps talking Sirius might see sense enough to run with him and find the others. “I don’t know. Find Remus and James?” The girls?”

“We’re not going to die, Peter,” Sirius snapped, his anger not directed towards his friend. Truly, he wasn’t even angry. He was terrified. He wasn’t nearly prepared for this. There weren’t enough DADA classes that could prepare them for this – and these people clearly knew what they were doing. “We’re not going to die and we’re not going to leave a bunch of kids alone here either!”

Sirius’s anger is like a slap to the face and Peter is instantly cowed into submission. If it had been anyone other than Sirius he might’ve fought back, but not now. If he fought back now maybe Sirius would tell him he didn’t want to be his friend anymore. He can’t risk that. “What about the others? We should find more seventh years. We’re no good just the two of us.”

She wanted to say more but was scared to speak – at this point she didn’t even know if words would come out and for the second time in her life felt truly stunned into silence. This place was meant to be a safe haven, nothing was ever supposed to happen here. Nodding at his words, Glenda said nothing else, and the two continued onward. It was quiet for a few minutes and she truly began to think they’d both imagined it – after all, she’d not exactly seen any of these mask figures herself. But then as though they had heard her thoughts, echoing footsteps and voices that certainly did not belong to any students could be heard coming towards them. Grabbing hold of the hem of Peter’s shirt, she pulled them around a corner, the two hidden just enough not to be seen by any passersby should they continue straight on ahead. 

He’s starting to lose what little calm he had gained, especially when Glenda tugs him around a corner, the sounds of people approaching behind them. He pulls her to him, trying to comfort her. He kisses her temple and whispers, “We have to keep moving. We’re almost there. Nearly.”

“We should do something about your head,” she said quietly, not wanting to draw any attention as they walked briskly down the corridor. “You’re bleeding a lot, Peter.”

“It’s just a head wound. Head wounds bleed a lot. I’ll be okay. No lasting damage, I swear.” He forces himself to stop swiping at it. “It’s not important right now Glenda, not important.”

“Okay,” she nodded, hand firmly gripping her wand as they made their way towards the library’s exit. It was simultaneously loud and quiet, and the sounds felt almost overwhelming. It was difficult to tell what came from where and although she heard voices and shouting, Glenda could hardly pinpoint them. “Which way should we go?”

“The opposite direction I came from.” He tugs her to the left. “It’ll take a little longer but it’s safer. There’s...They’re moving at a fast pace. I don’t...I don’t know what’s going on, Glenda.” He wipes some blood out of his eye. “Once you’re safe though it’s one less thing for me to worry about when I come back.”

“We can’t leave them either,” he said quickly, completely ignoring Peter’s counter argument as he reached down to help them up. “If you want to go look for them you can, Wormtail – I’m not going to stop you.” He looked around, maybe someone should go find the professors. But how could the professors not know this was happening? “Maybe you should go and try to find Professor Dumbledore.” With two younger students holding on to him, Sirius threw up a shield charm and quickly began making his way to the door, wanting to get them out.

“I’m not going to bloody leave you Padfoot!” Peter takes on of the kids from Sirius with a growl. It’s the last thing he wants to be doing. But he’s not about to leave Sirius either. “We’re going to bloody die, Padfoot. Die if we stay here.”

“I – okay, yeah,” she nodded, half hoping they’d run into everyone they needed to know was safe on their way out of the castle. “But something happens I’m going to kill you myself.”

“Nothing is going to happen. I’ll even pinky promise it! We have to get out of the castle in order to apperate. There’s a tunnel on the third floor. Let’s go!”

“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” he nodded in agreement, wanting to be nowhere near the masked assailants but also not wanting to leave a bunch of vulnerable students to potential harm. Whatever was their intention now, these people had killed before. He was about to begin following Peter towards the door when nearly tripped on a few of the younger students hiding underneath the tables. It was then that he realized they couldn’t just leave all of them to fend for themselves. “Wortmail – stop. We can’t just leave all of them!”

“Yes. Yes we can, Padfoot.” He feels no shame in admitting he’s okay with leaving younger students to their fates. His only goal was to get out in one piece. He throws another shield spell up to cover the kids they’ve stumbled over. “We can’t save all of them Padfoot. We have to get the adults! We can’t do that if we’re bloody dead!”

“No,” she shook her head adamantly, although the fear on her face was obvious. She did not want to be here. She wanted to get out as quickly as possible and run far, far away. “No way, I’m not leaving you here. No.”

“Technically, you won’t be leaving me here. I’ll be coming back.” He tries for a smile, he doesn’t know if it’s convincing. “My goal is to get our friends out. I’m getting you out first, okay?”

“I am! Are you saying you don’t think I’m ready for an army of children?”

“I’m not saying you’re not ready I’m just saying...perhaps...we should wait a few years before we let the amazing ladies know we’re on the market, yeah?”

“That’s what I’m saying,” Sirius laughed, stuffing the rest of his roll into his mouth. “There’s no way that the giant squid would win if –” Cut off by the door to the great hall being slammed open, Sirius turned to look, temporarily frozen by the sight. For a split second he thought it was almost a joke – but the masks looked too real and then the flashing red light was aimed far too close for comfort. It hit a student nearby, and Sirius watched in horror as the boy fell to the ground, writhing in pain. It seemed that all at once the room erupted into chaos, and before he could really get his wits about him one of the masked figures stood before him, wand at the ready. “Protego,” he yelled, blocking the spell as he managed to stand from the table, effectively putting a bit of space between himself and the assailant. “Confringo!”

Peter was just about to take another bite when the doors blew open and spells started flying, whatever it was that Sirius had been saying was forgotten. Spells were flying everywhere. He watched a kid go down, felt the spray of debris on his face. His first instinct was to dive under the table, play dead. It was Sirius’s action that spurred him to bravery, if you could call it that. He was next to Sirius casting his own shield spells, mostly protecting them but a handful of others too. “Sirius! We have to find the others and get the hell out of here!” 

“Probably not pleased but at least you’ve prepared me for my army of children.”

“Oh. Yeah. You’re totally prepared for an army of children.”

“No, I’m saying I’ve seen the worst of the worst living with you lot, shitting will be easy in comparison.” 

“I’m trying to decide if I should be offended or pleased as punch? Should I be offended?”