Unofficial Portkey Archive

Chapter 30: As You Wish

~ 2 months later ~

It was another glorious, sunny day; the first really warm day in a long while. James stood in the main square of Hogsmeade and stretched his arms over his head, letting the sunlight soak into his skin and warm his bones. It had been a long, cold winter and today's unexpected warmth gave him a hope it was over at last.

Sirius' memory of the night of the murder was still non-existent. Even Dumbledore himself could not remove the Memory Charm placed on Sirius, and so he lived in a blissful ignorance of that night. Lily, although James knew she still missed her friend deeply, was smiling again. Laughter passing her lips was not so uncommon any more, and though she still had not divulged the details of Lucius' attack, she seemed more like her old self as the days wore on. More importantly, to James at least, Sirius' desire for Lily was apparently a thing of the past and their friendship was becoming more solid with each passing day. There were less awkward moments between the two boys; James could even talk about Lily without Sirius looking uncomfortable. The passion of Sirius and the murder of Sara Brown were no longer dominating the lives of James Potter and his motley crew of wizards.

At last, he thought, we can all start living again. He stretched his arms over his head as far as he could reach and tilted his face to greet the sun. Something tickled his ribs and he jerked around to face a giggling Lily and Remus.

"Not to disturb the moment or anything," Remus said, "but why don't we get a move on?"

"Big date Moony?" James lightly smacked his friend on the arm and then took Lily's hand.

"Of course not." James could have sworn Remus was blushing, but there were more pressing matters on his mind at the moment.

"Where's Sirius?"

"Filch caught Sirius walking around with a pocket full of Dungbombs. Now he's probably hanging upside down by his toes in the dungeons waiting for the pygmies to come and have their way with him," Lily said airily.

"Otherwise known as detention." James laughed and shook his head, marvelling at the stupidity of his best friend. Sirius was a wiz in classes, mostly without trying, but his lack of survival instincts was astounding.

"So, where are we off to today, kids?" Remus asked nonchalantly. James noticed Remus subtly scanning the sidewalks, as though he was looking for someone.

"DO you have a big date?" James furrowed his eyebrows at the boy, who was painfully aware of the scrutiny he suddenly found himself in.

"Why would you ask a thing like that?" Remus shoved his hands in his pockets and stared determinedly into the nearest shop window as though the items displayed could not be more interesting. Since it was a shop of women's maternity robes, James was not fooled.

"Spit it out, Moony old boy! Where've you been hiding her?"

"There is no her!" Remus insisted.

"Then why are you blushing like a schoolgirl?" Lily asked teasingly.

"I'm doing an impression of you whenever James looks at you," Remus shot back. Lily narrowed her eyes at him and scrunched up her mouth in concentration.

"You need to get a bit pinker in your cheeks," Lily deadpanned. There was a moment of silence before the three companions burst into laughter. The owner of the maternity shop came out and scowled at them, so they muffled their laughter in their hands and ducked inside the Three Broomsticks. They headed for their usual window table and settled into their chairs, ordering a round of butterbeers for which James, feeling exceptionally cheerful, decided to treat for.

"Where's Peter?" Remus asked suddenly.

"Beats me," James shrugged. He saw Lily shrug carelessly out of the corner of his eye and gave her a look.

"What?" she said defensively. "I didn't say anything!"

It was no secret that she didn't care too much for Peter, but she at least tolerated his presence for James' sake. Both boys knew it, and Remus dropped her a wink before downing half his butterbeer with gusto.

"And no twins today either," James said, dropping the subject of Peter. "I wonder what mayhem they're causing."

"Sirius managed to pass Autumn his bag of Dungbombs while Filch had his back turned," Remus said. "I wouldn't go near the entrance of the Slytherin common room for a while."

James and Lily laughed at the thought of Autumn and Spike sabotaging the Slytherin entrance door with Dungbombs. It was just the sort of thing anyone in their group (with the exception of Lily, whom they had not yet managed to corrupt) would do, and had not done for some time. James took a swig of his butterbeer and leaned back in his chair, on arm resting on the back of Lily's while his fingers gently combed her hair as she and Remus talked of this and that. It seemed things were finally returning to normal.

********

"You want me to what?!" Peter hissed. He listened again, stunned, to what he deemed was the most ludicrous set of orders he had ever received.

"B-But I c-c-can't!" he stammered quietly. "They'll f-find out I'm inv-inv-v-vol-part of this for sure, and th-then I'm d-done for!"

"You will."

To the casual observer, it would have looked like Peter was talking to himself in the shadows. He had been seen whispering to no one often enough so that most people took no notice of it anymore, although it came up in conversation once in a while for a good laugh.

They didn't know Peter was never alone, that Peter was indeed talking to someone, a someone no one else could see or hear. The voice rarely left Peter alone these days. It forever eavesdropped on his conversations and raped his mind for what little information he could give.

Peter heard the orders, but he could not quite believe what the voice was asking him to do. Murder was one thing, but this… this was worse than murder, worse than death itself. The Master had said so, and yet here he was, giving instructions for Peter to perform the very thing the Master had warned against. He didn't understand, but then, he rarely did. Service to the Master was service without question.

He sighed and bowed his head. "As you wish, Master," he whispered, defeated once again by his dependency on his saviour of the dark. The voice gave a soft chuckle in his ear.

"Patience and obedience will always keep you in my favour. The rewards will come Wormtail. Do not doubt me, for I will raise you up to be a beacon in my order, a being that all will bow to, and all will envy and desire at once."

A vision passed briefly in Peter's head, a woman of infinite loveliness, whose smile melted his heart and created a burning sensation deep in his belly. He wanted her, simply because she belonged to the one who he so longed to overshadow. When he was reflected in the glow of the Master, with her on his arm, the world would admire Peter as they had once admired him, and he would be the envy of all things, at last just as good as - no, better than the rest of them.

He spoke to the wind one last time, a man enslaved by his vision of the future.

"As you wish."

**************

Spike watched, crouched underneath a grinning gargoyle with a bottle in his hand. He could have sworn that Peter was talking to himself again, but he was intrigued by the fact that Peter kept referring to a "Master" in his mutterings. I wonder if he's drunk a Babbling Beverage or something. He watched, silent as the shadow he hid in, as Peter rapped his knuckles on the wall, and then settled back to wait. For what, Spike couldn't guess, but it became apparent soon enough.

A secret door Spike had not known about (which of itself was something of a miracle) slid open and public enemy number one stepped out: Lucius Malfoy himself. He handed Peter something small, which Peter stuffed quickly in his pocket as he glanced furtively about. Peter handed something to Lucius, something silver that glinted in the light. . . Spike recognized it as Lily's charm bracelet, the one his sister had given her for Christmas. Peter must have swiped it somehow, but to give it to Malfoy would have to mean. . .

Spike's stomach began to churn, his supply of Dungbombs dropped forgotten from his hands. This was horrible, too horrible too be true. This simply could not be. . . Peter could not have. . .

Lucius drifted back into the shadows of the hall and the hidden entrance slid closed, leaving Peter standing alone in a ray of sunlight. Peter took a deep breath, clearly gathering his nerve for something, then turned on his heel and strode quickly out of sight, heading towards the Entrance Hall.

Like a cat, Spike crept out of his shadow and followed. He wanted answers, and if Peter was the way to them, then so be it.

A/N: Yes, three chapters in one day! What a shock! I felt I owed it to you, seeing as how I've neglected this story for so long. Trust me, my loyal friends, the neglect was not intentional. What with the Marauder's Hideaway being open, and my mod duties on DarkMark and Phoenix Prophecy, I've been rather busy. And that is just my online life! I won't even get into the real world (although if anyone wants to know the amusing story of the power outage my brothers and I played on our neighbourhood as a prank…)

Anyway, lame excuses aside, I swear to post the rest of this as quick as possible so I can get to posting the sequel here. SO, more frequent updates, and yes, I will try to make them longer. *crosses heart* Although, some feedback would be very helpful for me getting motivation…*wink*wink*nudge*nudge* :P

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