A/N: Well, I definitely haven't received the response for this story that I had expected, but I suppose I'll get a lot of people to read it when I start posting the rest of this story as Harry/Hermione.
As for now, this chapter reveals why Voldemort did not want to kill Lily Potter, and why Wormtail never turned his back on Voldemort.
R/R!!! I'm not gonna do one of those stupid things and say that I'm not posting again till I get so many reviews, but still, a little feedback would be nice!
*****
Chapter Three
Peter Pettigrew dropped, exhausted, into a loveseat in his London flat, putting his head in his hands. He was going to once again, betray his friend James Potter to the dark lord. He had done it first after he had been broken, he squealed every detail of the Potter's vacation to the wizarding island of Atlantis, nearly resulting in the deaths of two of the most important people in the world to him.
But he had no choice. He couldn't die, he was to afraid of what might happen afterwards - or worse - what might not happen. Peter knew that he had not always been fearful of death, but when he began to fear it, he did not know. Every time that he tried to figure it out, the information seemed to slip just beyond his grasp, vexing him to no end.
The second time, well, the second time he betrayed the Potters he had nearly lost his own life as well…
James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were all enjoying a night out on the town, away from the horrors that the wizarding world was swirling in, or so they thought.
Lily had come to meet James at the bar - The Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade, their favorite pub ever since their third year of Hogwarts - with news that Harry had fallen ill, and she needed him to come home and help her with their baby.
James sadly said good-bye to his friends and his alcohol, barely able to stand on his own on a count of the incredible amount of liquor he had consumed. Lily had rolled her eyes at him and told him that she already had a Sobrietus Potion brewing at home, as she had known that she would find him in this state.
They were going to take the Knight Bus home, as James was in no condition to apparate. But as they reached the outskirts of Hogsmeade, where the people no longer dwelled and the magical creatures reigned supreme, they were met with an unwelcome enemy.
"Ah, James and Lily Potter, we meet, yet again." The voice hissed, the same, high pitched, evil hiss that could belong to only one person, and one person alone.
"Voldemort," Lily spat, spinning on her heel to stare at the abomination of a man behind her, his black cape billowing in the gentle summer breeze.
"Huh?" James slurred, squinting his eyes at the evil wizard. "Volshermort you shay? How unforshunate."
Both Lily and the dark lord were taken aback at the statement, both aware of the humor, though the situation was anything but funny.
"Yoush know, Peter shaid its wash a good ideas to gets plashtered tonight, but I reckon he wash wrong."
Lily shook her head unbelievably, while Voldemort, no longer shocked by the slurring of the raven-haired man, laughed. He threw his head back and laughed like the madman that he was.
"If only Dumbledore could see him now, James Potter, Dumbledore's protégé, of sorts, killed while in a drunken stupor, his dear mud blood wife helpless to defend herself."
"If Dumbledore was here you wouldn't be Voldemort," Lily spat back. "You're too afraid of him to even step in the same town as him, let alone face him in a duel. Or are you sure you aren't just afraid of the death he would certainly hand you in battle?"
Voldemort considered her for a moment, never having been spoken to in that tone before. "Brave last words, Mrs. Potter, but I assure you, you are mistaken. No one can match the awesome powers of Lord Voldemort! Allow me to demonstrate, Crucio!"
Lily was ready, and, praying silently for forgiveness, she threw her husband into the line of fire, allowing him to take on the full brunt off the attack. The move had a multitude of consequences.
James screamed in agony, his drunkenness instantly vanished and replaced by incredible pain.
Voldemort was so taken aback by the unexpected move that Lily was able to play her hand. "Reducto!" She screamed, wand aimed at the ground two feet in front of the dark lord. With a loud explosion and an intense heat that could be felt from hundreds of meters away, the ground exploded and engulfed the dark lord in a cloud of dust.
His concentration broken, the curse he had fixed on James was broken, and the young Potter was able regain his senses, and surveying the situation, quickly grabbed a hold of his very shaken wife and signaled the Knight Bus, Voldemort still trapped in a cloud of dust, unable to tell where anyone or anything was, screaming in anguish.
By the time the dust had settled, the Potters were gone.
"POTTER!"
The dark lord had screamed the name into the night, Peter could still remember the chill that it had sent down his spine. He had followed James and Lily, wanted to watch what he had created by slipping the flue potion into the young Harry's food that morning, ensuring that it would come into affect while he and the other marauder's were in Hogsmeade.
He had not wanted to watch his friend die, by any means, but rather he felt that it was his punishment, he had to watch and see what he had done to his friend. But James escaped, and Peter couldn't help but be elated, but the feeling caused him sickness, and he spent the rest of the night spewing all of the alcohol he had consumed. Remus and Sirius had assumed that he just couldn't hold his liquor, but Peter knew the truth.
He couldn't think positive thoughts about the failings of Voldemort, the dark mark on his arm assured that. This was also a night that he had wondered why he betrayed James at all, an answer eluded him, as if it didn't exist. But Peter knew it was there, locked away in his mind, but he had no way of ever retrieving it.
He fell into an uneasy sleep that night, though it was not strange to him, Peter had not slept well in nearly a year, ever since he joined the death eaters ranks…
*****
"So how is my wonderful wife, on this beautiful morning of October the twelfth?" James asked with a smirk, as he rolled over on top of Lily as she awoke.
"Hmm," She yawned, arms outstretched in an effort to rid herself of the kinks sleeping had put in her muscles the night before. "I'd feel a lot better if my knight in shining armor came to me and gave me a kiss."
James grinned and leaned in towards his wife's lips slowly, but she held a hand up to his chest. "Where is Sirius anyways?" She said, smirking. James gaped at her, causing Lily to bust out in laughter.
"Oh come here and kiss me silly!" She ordered, entangling her fingers in his messy hair and pulling his head to her own. Their lips brushed, electricity coursing through every fiber of their beings, and the dove deeper into the kiss, until the need for oxygen forced them apart.
James lowered his head and crawled slowly to his wife's belly, planting a soft kiss on her stomach. "And a good morning to you as well." Lily smiled and pulled him back up to her lips.
Just as Lily and James had started in on their mini-snogging session, a high-pitched wail came from Harry's room. James rolled off his wife and onto his back groaning loudly. "Bloody horrible timing."
Lily smiled and sat up from bed, kissing her husband softly on the lips. "Look on the bright side, ten years from now, Harry'll be in Hogwarts, this one," She patted her belly. "Will be matured enough as to not give us any more morning problems, and hopefully whatever other little lads we have will be past that stage as well."
James smiled as his wife pulled the curtains apart, basking the room in the warm morning sunshine. James savored in the warmth for a moment, closing his eyes and drowning out the sound of his son, he laid his hands under his head and relaxed, forgetting all thoughts of the insecurities of the wizarding world.
Knowing that he could not stay like this forever, he groaned and got up, moving over to the closet so that he could find something decent to wear for work. Well, it wasn't work so much as it was fighting against Voldemort. James had inherited a large fortune from his father before he was killed by death eaters.
James had enough money to live five lifetimes over without earning a penny; but he vowed the day his father died that he would put forth as much money and effort to destroy the man who had killed his father, and he wouldn't rest a day until after his deed was done.
This thought made James groan to himself, as he now realized that he, James, would never in fact be able to avenge his father's death. In truth, he had known all along that it would never be him who cast the final curse on Voldemort, but that it would be Dumbledore, the wisest and most powerful wizard on the planet.
But not even that was true. The responsibility had fallen to either the shoulders of his son, or to the shoulders of the Longbottom's son. James knew, somehow, deep in his heart, he knew that it was his son to which the prophecy referred. It really made no sense why, Neville was a pure-blood, son of two of the most feared and powerful auror's in all the world, Frank and Alice.
While neither was an outstanding auror alone, when together, the Longbottom's were infallible. They were perhaps second-best to only Mad-Eye Moody, but of course, no auror even came close to comparing with him. He also gave most schizophrenics a run for the money in the paranoid department, but all great men have their quirks.
After deciding on his old Gryffindor robes of red and gold, James left the room to prepare coffee for he and his wife, it was the least he could for his wife, who was currently probably throwing out a very dirty diaper.
The morning owl came through the open kitchen window only a moment after James had poured the coffee, it carried a few pieces of junk-mail, which James discarded accordingly, and in the end only the Daily Prophet remained.
He sighed, and flipping it open, made his way to the Quidditch section, hoping to see how his beloved Godric's Hollow Hippogriffs fared against the Arrows the day before.
Brilliant Catch by Hudsworth Saves Day for the Hippogriffs, Final Score, Godrics Hollow 180, Appleby Arrows 150
The article went on to detail the same thing as it sis every week, how the Hippogriffs had no solid chasers, and that they were not going to have a chance at the Quidditch Cup until they went shopping for some real talent.
James knew that he very well could have played for the Hippogriffs, it had been a dream of his really, but like most things in his life, Voldemort had stripped that from him as well. There was no way James could ever play professional quidditch while Voldemort was on the loose, and by the way things were shaping up, that could still be quite some time.
He felt, rather than heard his wife enter the kitchen behind him, and though he couldn't see her, knew she had rolled her eyes when she saw him reading the Hippogriffs report. "You boys and your quidditch," She tutted, placing the newly cleaned Harry in his high-chair, where he was pouting and banging his hands on the table in front of him for food, his messy black hair sticking to his forehead, somehow brightening the already illuminating feature of his emerald-green eyes.
"Yes, well, Harry is going to grow up to become the star player for the Godric's Hollow Hippogriffs, isn't he?" James retorted, smiling at his son while nodding his head, trying to get Harry to agree with him. The toddler just stopped his banging and looked at his father oddly for a moment, before returning to his food.
"Huh?" James questioned, taking a second glance at the baby food now in front of Harry, whereas it had been on the table only seconds before. "Lily, did you…" He motioned at the food their son was eating, and she shook her head, a grin creeping across her face.
"You know what that means don't you?" She asked, her grin now a full-blown smile.
"Magic?"
"That's how I see it," Lily responded, smiling at her baby, while James did the same. Although they were fairly certain, with James being a pureblood and Lily being the fantastic muggleborn witch that she was, they hadn't had any confirmation until just now.
"Our son's a wizard!" He exclaimed, running to his wife and claiming her in his arms, twirling her around as she squealed in laughter. "We've got to tell Sirius! And Peter! And Re-"
James' elated gaze became clouded and dropped to the floor, his happiness forgotten. Lily, knowing instantly what was wrong, gave him a comforting hug, whispering soothing words in his ear.
They broke apart a few minutes later, the moment broken, and Lily smiled sadly before speaking again. "Well, it looks like we've got two great bits of news to tell Sirius and Peter once they come over today, huh?"
James smiled sadly at his wife. "Yeah, great news, great news for Sirius, and for Peter…"
*****
It was a few hours later when Sirius and Peter arrived, the latter with dark circles under his eyes, no doubt because of the Order business from the night before. The two could tell instantly that something was amiss, once they walked into the friendly confines of Number Twelve, Godric's Hollow.
James, though only eighteen hours before had just walked out on one of his best friends life forever, was positively glowing, and kept sneaking glances at his wife, who Sirius had to admit, was looking absolutely stunning in her mesh white skirt and red tank top that stopped short of her belly button. Sirius, of course, told himself that he had had better, but he knew the truth, that Lily was about the most beautiful woman he had ever or would ever see.
"Alright, Sirius, Peter, we've got some great news for you, in fact, two great pieces of news." Sirius yawned and leaned back against the loveseat he was sitting in, pretending to be uninterested while Peter squealed with delight.
"Well, first off," James said, grinning at his son, who was cradled in his arms, "Harry used magic for the first time today!"
Peter squealed like a pig and gave rushed congratulations to Lily and James, flattering them with talk about how great a wizard their son would. Sirius gave James a grin, telling him that now that it was official, they needed to take Harry into Diagon Alley the moment he could talk and christen Zonko's and Quality Quidditch Supplies for the young boy.
Lily rolled her eyes at this as James and Sirius started making plans for when they would take the youngest Potter into Hogsmeade. Lily allowed the conversation to continue for a few moments before she cleared her voice to get their attention yet again.
"James and I have another, more important, announcement to make," Lily said, beaming at her husband, her face reminiscent of a glowing candlelight. She rubbed her stomach softly, smiling down at it.
"I'm pregnant!"
This time Sirius responded just as jovially as Peter did, furiously shaking James hand and giving Lily a crushing hug.
"That's brilliant!" Peter yelped, completely sincere. "How far along are you?"
Lily smiled warmly at him. "About six weeks."
While this got a nice response from Peter, it caused Sirius to scrunch up his nose in disgust. "Isn't that right around the same time I had that party at my flat for the start of the new quidditch season?"
James and Lily glanced at each other and blushed furiously, guiltily looking anywhere but Sirius. Peter laughed like a hyena, and Sirius turned green. "Ugh, now I'll have to have that god-forsaken house elf Kreacher clean my flat, top to bottom, and you know how much I hate that house elf," He shook his head in disgust. "I swear that elf will be the death of me someday."
"Oh don't talk like that Sirius," Lily said, through the blazing firelight that was her face. "You'll jinx yourself."
"Yeah, well at least I don't shag in my best friend's flat," Sirius retorted, not angry, but rather enjoying the blushes that he got out of his two friends. "So tell me, so I can let Kreacher know exactly, where did you do it? My bedroom? The bathroom?"
Sirius could almost feel the heat coming from their faces. "Er, why don't we just promise to name him after you and call it even," James suggested, wanting the subject dropped.
"Okay," He said smirking. "But if it's a girl, you have to name her what my Aunt Andy named her last daughter…Nymphodora."
James and Lily gasped in horror, while Peter watched the entire exchange in an elated amusement. "Why don't we just tell him where we did it James?" Lily blurted out unsurely, but then her face took on a more confident look after she saw the reflection of horror on Sirius' face.
James caught on and played along, "Well, which time then? I mean, we did it more than once!"
Sirius mock gagged, and held up his hands in defeat. "Okay, okay, you win. Just name the kid whatever you want and promise never to bring up this subject ever again."
Lily smiled and nodded. "Deal."
Sirius sighed, then turned to Peter. "Okay, now that that's over, let's get down to business."
Peter looked at him in confusion, though he knew from his debriefing from Voldemort that this would most likely be a discussion about the prophecy that would be the dark lord's downfall.
And so the conversation ensued. Wormtail was told everything about the prophecy, and what it entailed. He was very surprised to hear that Voldemort did not know the entire prophecy, and that Snape was in fact a spy, just like he was, only it was the other way around.
Finally they got to the true meat of the matter, and James told Peter that he wanted him as the secret keeper. This floored Peter to no end. "W-what? James, y-you want me? As you're secret keeper?"
James nodded at him, after sharing a smug glance with Sirius that Peter did not understand the meaning of. "Yeah Peter, it's complicated, but we feel like you are the best choice. We'll perform the charm on October Thirtieth, a couple weeks from now. Then Lily and I will be in hiding, as will Frank and Alice."
Peter nodded, desperately hoping that no hint of Voldemort's plans for the Longbottom's crossed his features. Or, in actuality, the lack of plans. Voldemort may be arrogant, but he knows a threat when he sees one. Both sets of couples had defied him three times, and both had put of great fights against him personally. But the deciding factor, in the end, was one that Voldemort alone knew, and refused to tell his inferiors.
So the entire process was told to Peter. It was complicated, but with James, Sirius, and Lily's help, he was sure that he would be able to manage it. But there was one thing that he did not understand. "Where's Moony?"
His question was met with varying reactions, anger from Sirius, remorse from James, and, was it, pity, from Lily?
But their looks told him volumes. Everyone knew there was a spy, it was blatantly obvious after the first two attacks on James, and only five people had the information possible to give them away in those instances. The first two were James and Lily, who were obviously not the traitors, then there was Sirius, the ever loyal friend. The final two were Lupin, the intelligent werewolf, and Peter, the bumbling moron.
It was so simple, there was only one possibility in everyone's mind. Sirius was loyal to a fault, he, Wormtail, was considered to stupid to pull this off, and that left Lupin as the only possibility.
Of course, no one took into effect that though Peter was not the sharpest quill in the bag, it did not mean that the ever cunning Lord Voldemort would be able to use this to his advantage.
Oversights are deadly.
*****
Wormtail was able to hold his head high as he walked the long, darkened corridor to the dark lord's chamber. The only noises being made were those of the footsteps of the death eaters escorting him, and the hissing of snakes as they slithered all over the floor.
But Peter feared nothing today, as he had the information that would make the dark lord most happy, most happy indeed.
He felt not fear as he turned the final corner of the hallway, as he had in the past, but only happiness, jubilation, he would have been grinning madly if it weren't for one emotion that was buried deep inside of his heart, unable to surface itself, but strong enough to keep Wormtail from being overly joyous.
Guilt.
The door creaked open, and his suitors left his side, allowing Wormtail entrance into the dark lord's chamber, where he sat alone in his armchair, the only other presence in the room being that of his pet python.
"Wormtail," He hissed, seeing Peter kneel in front of him. "What news do you have for me today? It better be good, or it will be your last…"
Peter nodded, willing himself to speak without a stutter. "Yes, my lord. Good news, great even."
Voldemort considered him for a moment, then nodded. "Very well, tell me what it is you have to say…"
Peter stood and looked the man straight in the eye, ignoring the pale face and the surrounding atmosphere of hatred and fear. "I know of the spell that the Potter's plan to use for their protection."
Voldemort nodded and smiled, a smile that chilled the bones of even the most malicious of evil wizards. "Tell it to me…"
And he did. Peter told him every aspect of the spell, every angle, exactly what it did. "So all we need to do is find out who the secret keeper is, and force him to tell us the Potter's location," Voldemort said at long last, nearly five minutes after Wormtail had finished his spiel the minutes had scared Peter to no end, but looking back, he was sure that that was exactly what Voldemort had intended.
"I-I already know the identity of the secret keeper, my lord."
Voldemort was instantly interested, but did not let it show. "Who?"
Wormtail smiled. "Me."
Voldemort laughed, a cruel, sinister laugh that sounded worse to Peter than fingernails scraping on a chalkboard. "The Potter's fatal mistake, entrusting their lives to a rat,"
"There is more," Peter continued, once again sparking interest from the dark lord. "What is it?"
"Lily Potter, my lord. She is pregnant."
This bit of news intrigued Voldemort to no end. "Interesting," He murmured. "Very interesting. Perhaps we will spare the young spouse of Potter for now, and allow her to give birth to her child. A child I will raise to be my successor…"
He laughed again, and Peter, terrified so much of the sinister laugh that had haunted his dreams ever since that night in the owlery, that he saved the wizarding world.
Voldemort's own device of fear worked against him, because in Wormtail's moment of fright, and the subsequent torture for showing his fears, he forgot all about the second part to the prophecy, the part that Voldemort did not have.
*****
"Why do you wipe his memory, my lord?" Asked a curious Barty Crouch, as he watched a dazed Peter Pettigrew leave the premises.
"A skill my friend, a very useful skill," Voldemort drawled. "You see, as I did the night I implemented him with the fear of death, I erased all memory he had of why he was afraid, else he could turn against me. In this way Wormtail will keep his fear, that cannot be erased, nor can the memory of that night. But what was erased is the fact that he put up any resistance at all, he believes that he broke after only minutes of torture, and that he is worthy of nothing. I have broken his will, I have broken his spirit, I have broken his mind."
Voldemort gave a sinister smile to Crouch Jr. "And now, he belongs to me."
*****
A/N: So there ya go, chapter three is done. This will only have one more chapter left as a James/Lily fic, then it will be marked as completed and continued under the ship of Harry/Hermione, with the same name.
Cheers!